Chapter 180
Chapter 180
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Two Men Dyed Red
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Kraaang-!”
A blood-red beast roaring toward the sky.
It charged at Je-gal Cheon-sang, who showed no signs of fatigue despite the prolonged battle, and swung its sword.
-Shrieeek!
The sword strike tore through the air and sliced across the creature’s left arm.
But in the end, the attack proved utterly useless.
Thanks to its astonishing regenerative power, the arm reattached before it could even fall off.
“…Tch. Looks like I have no choice but to shatter that blood jade after all.”
I glared irritably at the blood jade still embedded in Je-gal Cheon-sang’s chest, humming away.
A blood-red orb ceaselessly pouring out energy, with no concept of depletion.
If I could just smash that thing, it’d be over—but the problem was my attacks weren’t getting through.
The surface of the orb was already marred by dozens of scratches.
All traces of my relentless efforts to destroy the blood jade.
Despite all that, the best I’d managed were those scratches—no signs of it cracking or even chipping.
Frustrated, I vented to the old man beside me.
“Elder, got any good ideas? Like, I don’t know, blasting that blood jade into another dimension or something.”
“…Sorry, but sorcery isn’t that convenient. If it were possible, I’d have done it already.”
The old man looked at me in disbelief at my question.
After I’d sent So-so to safety from the ugly scene, he’d returned and was now fighting Je-gal Cheon-sang alongside me.
He’d appeared out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue, spewing fire and whipping up gales in a stunning display, holding his own admirably.
So I’d asked just in case, but no dice, apparently.
Smacking my lips in disappointment, I stared fixedly at the blood jade.
Truth be told, I already knew how to destroy the blood jade.
If sword strikes weren’t working, there was only one answer.
A superior technique beyond sword strikes.
Sword Qi Forming Gang.
Sword strikes only left scratches, but sword gang could shatter the blood jade.
But could I pull it off?
I’d only ever used sword gang once.
Against Chil-ji, and that was inside my mental world.
Could I manifest in reality that starry illusion born purely from my imagination?
At least in the hundreds of attempts so far, I hadn’t succeeded once.
“Kraaaak-!”
-Kaboom!
While I agonized inwardly, Je-gal Cheon-sang bellowed and slammed his fist into the ground.
Dirt exploded upward as if from a blast, just from a single punch.
He burst through the debris, charging straight at me.
The sword he’d held in one hand had long since snapped and been tossed aside.
As time passed, his movements were increasingly abandoning martial arts, driven purely by beastly instinct.
One might think that would make him easier to handle, but the more beast-like he became, the more agile his movements grew.
To the point where even a simple charge required deploying Heaven’s Foresight to evade.
“Kuhaak!”
“Tch…!?”
I clicked my tongue at Je-gal Cheon-sang’s fingertips grazing past my nose and widened the distance.
Je-gal Cheon-sang thrashed in frustration at me dodging his attacks by a hair’s breadth time after time.
But that gap was undeniably narrowing as time went on.
“…No time to hesitate.”
With regeneration that healed every slash instantly and speed that only accelerated.
If this kept up, I might be the one to fall.
“Hoo….”
Letting out a long sigh, I stomped down hard.
-Thud!
The heavy footfall unleashed waves of qi that constricted Je-gal Cheon-sang’s body from all sides.
“Krheung!?”
Je-gal Cheon-sang flailed in panic.
I tightened the bind further at his writhing, but it barely held.
As expected, the blood jade’s energy was interfering with the qi waves’ restraint.
With no choice, I abandoned tightening it further and poured internal energy into my sword.
The sword strike’s glow at the blade’s tip intensified.
As I focused all my senses on the sword, Je-gal Cheon-sang suddenly twitched and let out a roar.
“Kraaaak!”
Just then, the blood jade’s energy surged, pushing back against the qi waves’ bind.
Freed up in movement, Je-gal Cheon-sang rampaged wildly as if trying to break free entirely.
“Damn…!”
In the end, before I could even attempt sword gang, Je-gal Cheon-sang slipped the restraint.
“…Huh?”
And bolted away.
“…….”
“…….”
Stunned for a moment, I stared blankly at his fleeing form until I realized his direction—and urgency gripped me.
“Elder, I’m going ahead!”
“W-Wait…!”
Leaving the old man behind, I pursued the blood-red aura.
Coincidence or intent, Je-gal Cheon-sang headed straight for the Grand Heavenly Pavilion, soon leaping onto its roof.
“Kraaaak-!”
His roar unleashed blood-red energy spreading wide enough to blanket the pavilion.
Beyond it, I spotted our comrades.
Hwa-ryeon with her sword at some Je-gal Seung’s throat, Master and Seol nearby.
And finally, Je-gal Geun-yeong standing behind the Zhuge family head, holding up two fingers on her left hand.
His gaze locked on the family head and Geun-yeong, Je-gal Cheon-sang kicked off shattered tiles and lunged at them.
“Urk…!”
Not seeming like he was intervening in their fight, I hurriedly gave chase.
“Kuaak!”
“What in the…!?”
Sure enough, closing in, Je-gal Cheon-sang swung at Geun-yeong.
Just before the rising energy from his hand could smash her, she barely dodged.
-Kaboom!
The flagstone where Geun-yeong had stood shattered and scattered.
Feeling the stone fragments pelt my back as I landed, Hwa-ryeon’s startled voice rang in my ears.
“Are you okay?!”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s that thing over there that’s the problem.”
As I reassured Hwa-ryeon approaching after missing Geun-yeong, a laugh filled with ecstasy rang out.
“Puahaha-! Incredible, such power!”
Turning, I saw the Zhuge family head, beaming broadly, slowly approaching Je-gal Cheon-sang as he rose.
“W-Wait. Don’t approach so recklessly…!”
“Cheon-sang, you are the future of the Zhuge Clan! You will elevate our house to the world’s greatest martial family!”
His eyes glazed dreamily, as if envisioning that glorious future.
Je-gal Cheon-sang growled at him and swung without hesitation.
-Pffuk-!
“…Ah?”
The blood-wreathed hand pierced the family head’s body.
Red blood flowed along the impaled arm, staining it even deeper crimson.
“F-Family head!”
The clan elders who’d been at the meeting with him cried out in horror.
The family head stared blankly down at the arm through his body, as if uncomprehending, then coughed up blood.
“Father-!”
“Family head!”
Geun-yeong and Seung cried out in anguish.
Irritated by their shouts, perhaps, Je-gal Cheon-sang swung the arm skewering the family head toward us, flinging the limp body away.
A massive hole gaped in the family head’s chest as he flew through the air, spraying blood.
Seung stepped forward to catch him but couldn’t withstand the force and tumbled to the ground together.
“F-Father…!”
Geun-yeong rushed over, laying him flat and checking his condition.
But even at a glance, the family head’s wounds were fatal, beyond saving.
“H-Heok…! Heok…!”
He gasped for breath, vomiting blood repeatedly.
His dim eyes stared blankly at the sky.
“The Zhuge Clan, heok…! The world’s greatest…! No one… kuhuk! Can scorn us…!”
The family head’s breath stopped.
He died without finishing his final words.
A pathetically undignified end for the head of a great clan.
“…Father.”
Geun-yeong squeezed her eyes shut in despair at her father’s sight.
Seung’s reaction beside her was far more violent.
“Uwaaaah! You bastard-!”
“Hey, stop!”
Losing his reason at the death of the lord he’d served loyally, Seung charged Je-gal Cheon-sang.
“Uwaaaap!”
He swung his sword with a scream-like shout.
A fairly sharp strike, but without even sword qi manifested, it was blocked by the blood jade’s energy, not reaching Je-gal Cheon-sang.
“Grrrng-!”
-Puk!
A casual red fist swung irritably.
Seung’s head burst open pitifully from the blow, and his headless body crumpled limply.
“H-Heok…!”
The elders recoiled in terror at the sight.
Je-gal Cheon-sang’s low growl turned toward them.
*
In front of the Zhuge Clan’s main gate.
The battle between Chun-sam and the Heavenly Wind Corps encircling him with their Great Star Sword Formation was reaching a decisive turn.
“Ku, kuuk…!”
Toward Chun-sam’s defeat.
He’d dominated the Heavenly Wind Corps from the start with his powerful divine power, but things went south after.
As the Heavenly Wind Corps faltered badly, the Ho-ji Corps tied up the guests while the Ho-in Corps joined the sword formation.
Faced with enemies tripled in number at once, Chun-sam finally crumbled.
“…Truly impressive. To think you’d hold out this long.”
Zhuge Ho caught his ragged breath, gazing at Chun-sam with a drained expression.
Though defeated, over half of their sixty-man force—around forty—lay unconscious on the ground.
He’d single-handedly smashed one of the clan’s armed detachments.
Without killing a single one, at that.
A truly astonishing display of martial might.
But the price was severe.
“Huu….”
The mountain of a man knelt weakly.
His body was dyed red with blood, swords embedded here and there.
Wounds that would have killed any ordinary man long ago.
Yet Chun-sam’s eyes blazed like a volcano.
“Y-You idiot… fool…!”
Seo-ryeong’s face, watching his back, was soaked with tears.
Her heart tore despite her repeated pleas for him to stop, as the blockhead fought on relentlessly.
“I-Iik…! Just a bit more, hang in there!”
“S-Sorry. This is the limit….”
By now, most guests had fallen.
Only Hyeok Ri-eum and two guests held on desperately at the end.
‘The limit.’
Any further, and someone would die for real.
Purging the clan’s corruption mattered, but she couldn’t lose this blockhead.
“Stop-!”
Seo-ryeong screamed at the top of her lungs, pouring everything into it.
The metallic clashes paused briefly, silence enveloping the gate.
All eyes turned to Seo-ryeong.
“…Stop now. We’ll clear the path…?”
Her quiet words trailed off as her eyes widened in shock.
And at that moment,
“Grrr, grrraa…!”
The mountain rose again.
Even in his bloodied, wretched state, refusing to yield, he stood.
“M-Monster…!”
Someone’s mutter pierced the silence, resounding loudly.
The fear in it spread rapidly through the entire armed detachment.
Feet shuffled back hesitantly.
Zhuge Ho bellowed at them.
“Don’t fall back! Don’t break the formation!”
But his shout only halted them momentarily, with little effect.
His face twisted at the slowly disintegrating formation as he stepped forward, sword raised.
‘He’s barely standing. That man’s body has reached its limit.’
Having accurately gauged Chun-sam’s state, Zhuge Ho
extended his left foot forward and pointed his sword downward.
Heavenly Star Slash
An upward cut embodying the idea of cleaving a star floating in the heavens.
Aiming for Chun-sam’s jaw.
Intending to knock him out with the flat of the blade.
‘End it in one strike.’
Honoring his great willpower and spirit, Zhuge Ho charged Chun-sam.
“Haaap!”
Seo-ryeong cried out urgently at the sight.
“Sto…!”
A thunderous shout cut in between.
“Who the hell stabbed my little bro-!”
The booming voice drew all eyes to the western woods.
From within, a band of men poured out.
“…Bandits?”
As Hyeok Ri-eum muttered blankly, their leather garb and axes slung over shoulders screamed textbook bandits.
The man at the forefront of the bandits, Chun-il, saw his blood-soaked baby brother and twisted his face in demonic rage.
“Had a bad feeling and came…!”
After easily subduing the elders who’d come to the forest cave, a vague unease had drawn him to find Chun-sam.
But upon arrival, his cute little bro(?) was half-dead in a pitiful state?
His eyes blazing with fury fixed on Zhuge Ho, about to swing.
“You’re done for.”
Growling under his breath, Chun-il bellowed.
“Lads, smash ‘em all!”
“Yes, branch chief!”
At their chief’s command, the bandits charged the armed detachment.
Thus, the battle entered a new phase.