Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Supreme Sword of the Demonic Path (2)
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Blood Demon Division Leader Ma Woo quickly mobilized his forces. He had judged that Sima Geon posed a threat to Ma Gong Ho.
"We should help."
Thunderclap Guardian Left Proof leaped into action as well.
The Black-Clothed Elder startled and tried to intervene hastily, but it was already too late.
"You idiots. When you're courting death, what won't you do?"
Buk Sugon shot O Ryu an uneasy glance, wondering if he might issue the same order.
O Ryu's face was tense as he kept his eyes fixed on Sima Geon. Unless the Black-Clothed Elder commanded it, he showed no intention of moving on his own.
Buk Sugon inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, only for his body to tremble violently.
A chilling energy wrapped around his entire form. Before he could even register it, his head turned of its own accord.
Sima Geon was swinging his sword.
From a distance, it looked like nothing more than a casual flick, utterly ordinary. But Ma Gong Ho, forced to meet it head-on, experienced something entirely different.
'What in the world...'
Ma Gong Ho's face drained of color.
The pressure transmitted through that simple motion choked the breath from his lungs.
His clan, the Red Hand Sword Sect, had supported the Divine Demon Clan from the very beginning, when they unified the Heavenly Demon Cult. There was no reason for conflict with the Divine Demon Division.
Even so, tales of their fame had drilled into his ears endlessly. He'd even wondered once or twice if the rumors weren't exaggerated amid their legendary exploits.
Facing it squarely now, he finally understood. Far from exaggeration, the stories had understated the truth.
Ma Gong Ho retreated on instinct. Sima Geon's sword did not pause, but Ma Gong Ho's swift decision created a gap of ten paces between them.
He had pulled back far enough, and Thunderclap Guardian was rushing in to join the assault. Ma Gong Ho was confident he could hold his own.
A streak of light reflected in the relieved Ma Gong Ho's eyes.
By the time Ma Gong Ho sensed the light's presence, it had already sliced through his body.
Darkness descended in an instant.
There was no pain. No thought.
Ma Gong Ho's upper and lower body parted diagonally, a fountain of blood erupting into the air.
"You bastard!"
A thunderous roar accompanied Thunderclap Guardian Left Proof's strike, sweeping through the blood spray toward its target.
"I've been trying my best to live decently, but damn, it's tough."
Cheol Woo blocked the Blood Demon Division charging at him like wings unfurling from both sides, his face full of regret.
His expression belied the ferocious aura surging from his entire body.
"Crazy bastard."
Buk Sugon, watching from afar, spat curses in utter disbelief. Even the Loyal Demon Division members, who knew Cheol Woo's true nature as intimately as the Divine Demon Division did, couldn't conceal their shock.
Most of the Blood Demon Division had joined after Sima Geon and Cheol Woo departed, so they knew only legends about them. Ma Woo, from the Red Hand Sword Sect, was no exception.
"Insolent fool!"
Ma Woo's eyes twitched skyward, interpreting Cheol Woo's swaggering approach as mockery.
At Ma Woo's signal, two of the Blood Demon Division's top experts, Bong Jin and Eung Cham, launched themselves forward.
Their swords thrust toward Cheol Woo's flanks.
The strikes were faster and sharper than anticipated, but they failed to satisfy Cheol Woo.
"You playing around? Forgotten who I am?"
Cheol Woo's arms shot out toward Bong Jin and Eung Cham.
Blade met fist, and the razor-honed swords shattered outright.
Cheol Woo's fists, having pulverized the weapons, drove toward the men's chests.
Bong Jin recoiled in terror, but Eung Cham's reaction came a fraction too late.
Thud!
A guttural scream tore from Eung Cham's lips as Cheol Woo's fist hammered his chest.
His body hurtled backward faster than it had charged, slamming into the ground.
Every bone guarding his chest lay shattered. After a few futile twitches, Eung Cham's life flickered out.
Cheol Woo turned toward Bong Jin, who had barely evaded his fist by a hair's breadth.
"You bastard!"
Like a tiger roaring forth from the forest.
The might of the fist energy extending from Cheol Woo's strike was enough to shake the very mountains and woods.
"Danger!"
Ma Woo rushed in and slapped away the fist energy poised to pulverize Bong Jin's back. Having witnessed Eung Cham's demise, he poured everything into the block.
Boom!
A brilliant flash erupted amid the deafening clash.
Before the light faded, screams burst from both men.
Ma Woo, who had intercepted the fist energy, vomited blood and crumpled.
His sword, clashing against it, vanished without form, leaving only a bloody hilt gripped in mangled hands.
The unstoppable fist energy shattered Ma Woo's blade and slammed into Bong Jin's back, hurling him fifteen paces to land in a far more gruesome heap, his breath snuffed out.
His upper body was crushed beyond recognition. Bones splintered entirely, flesh rent to shreds.
The scene unfolded in the blink of an eye. The encircling Blood Demon members—and everyone else watching with keen interest—gaped in wide-eyed shock.
"Brave? Or just stupid? With skills like that, where do you get off stepping up?"
At Cheol Woo's taunt, Ma Woo bit his lip until it bled and staggered to his feet.
"It's not over yet."
At Ma Woo's gesture, the Blood Demon members—who had frozen in place—edged forward cautiously.
"I'll make you regret those words."
Snatching a sword from a subordinate, Ma Woo bellowed with venomous glare.
His eyes burned with murderous intent, yet Cheol Woo only smirked in amusement.
"Regret? What's that? Something you eat?"
"I'll chew that mouth of yours to pieces. Attack!"
Swords rained in from every direction amid the furious cry.
From head to toe, every vital acupoint targeted in a meticulous combined assault. Even surviving the first wave left second and third ready to follow.
But the deadliest blows slipped through the formation like mist: Ma Woo and Bu Yeo Ryang's strikes.
Ma Woo's sword, laden with unbearable rage, malice, and killing intent, crept stealthily and cunningly toward Cheol Woo's nape. Meanwhile, Bu Yeo Ryang's massive greatsword—as thick as a child's torso—plummeted from above.
Cheol Woo spun, absorbing the rear sword with his body while thrusting his left hand outward.
A technique only Cheol Woo, at the Diamond Indestructible realm, could employ.
The blades that seemed poised to impale him were all repelled by his protective energy. The swords caught by his left arm snapped entirely.
He snatched Ma Woo's nape-bound sword with his right hand and hoisted it upward.
As Bu Yeo Ryang's greatsword obliterated Ma Woo's blade, Cheol Woo furrowed his brow slightly and blocked with his forearm.
Clang!
The impact rang out unlike any clash of steel sword and human flesh.
Bu Yeo Ryang's face contorted. As Ma Woo dodged aside, Cheol Woo twisted his arm to seize the still airborne Bu Yeo Ryang's leg.
Bu Yeo Ryang swung his sword desperately to escape, but before it could connect, his body lurched violently.
The world turned upside down.
By the time Bu Yeo Ryang grasped his predicament, bloodstained earth filled his vision.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three savage slams left Bu Yeo Ryang's upper body mangled beyond recognition.
Cheol Woo hurled the corpse toward the Blood Demon members—and Ma Woo, who had slipped among them.
"Alright, now let's get serious."
Cheol Woo grinned wickedly. The Diamond Yaksha in the flesh.
Ignoring Buk Sugon's anxious gaze, O Ryu spoke in a voice heavy with tension.
"Shouldn't we assist?"
The Black-Clothed Elder, who had silently observed the battlefield, turned his head.
"Assist whom?"
His gaze held no trace of pity for his subordinates' pathetic falls, as a leader might show. It was chillingly indifferent.
"The Blood Demon Division..."
"And we can win if we do?"
"If you and the others join in, wouldn't it be possible?"
O Ryu glanced at the veteran experts nearby. Individually, they didn't match elder class, but they were renowned figures in the demonic world.
Yet they remained silent. The Black-Clothed Elder had sternly warned them against acting without orders after failing to restrain Thunderclap Guardian.
"You're abandoning the Blood Demon Division?"
O Ryu asked, disappointment plain, but the Black-Clothed Elder's response was utterly unexpected.
"I've made my decision."
"Pardon?"
"We shouldn't have hesitated from the start. I should have judged swiftly."
"I don't follow."
O Ryu asked, puzzled, but instead of explaining, the Black-Clothed Elder surveyed him and his men, issuing a firm command.
"Here's my order. No objections."
Expecting a call to aid the Blood Demon Division, O Ryu straightened resolutely.
"Command me."
"Leave this place immediately. The mission has failed. Return to the Heavenly Demon Cult."
"Elder!"
"I said no objections. Go!"
"We can't do that."
O Ryu reacted vehemently.
"You plan to let every subordinate die?"
"If we go all out..."
The Black-Clothed Elder let out a hollow laugh.
"If there were even a one-in-ten chance, I would have. But it's impossible, no matter how I look at it. You, more than anyone, know what the names Supreme Sword of the Demonic Path and Diamond Yaksha signify."
O Ryu fell silent. No words of rebuttal came to mind.
The Black-Clothed Elder gently patted O Ryu's shoulder.
"You know this journey to the Central Plains isn't solely about finding a divine relic. The Loyal Demon Division must serve as the honed blade for our Lord, who harbors great ambitions. We cannot meet a dog's death here. Go, now."
The Black-Clothed Elder turned his head away entirely.
While the anxiously watching Buk Sugon exhaled in relief, O Ryu bowed his head, lips pressed tight in a storm of emotions—dissatisfaction, anger, and relief all mingled.
Thunderclap Guardian Left Proof burst through the blood mist from Ma Gong Ho's corpse, launching a ferocious assault on Sima Geon.
His left hand controlled Sima Geon's movements while his right struck the Eight Great Deadly Acupoints simultaneously—lethal even from a graze.
Every onlooker gasped in admiration at the devastating power. The onslaught seemed poised to crush Sima Geon at any moment.
"Tsk tsk. You gave him too much distance, too easily."
Ju Yu Geol Goe, who had clashed fiercely with Left Proof in the past, clicked his tongue.
Bound by long-standing enmity, he knew Left Proof's prowess in close quarters better than most.
"Against a brute like that, keep your distance and stay calm..."
Ju Yu Geol Goe eyed Sima Geon with pity, then his eyes bulged wide as he clamped his mouth shut.
He had witnessed Sima Geon's left hand neutralize the assault in a single, languid motion.
"Insane! He's no monster—he's the monster!"
Spotting the myriad subtle shifts concealed in that slowness, Ju Yu Geol Goe cried out in horror.
As admiration escaped Namgung Kyung's lips beside him, Sima Geon's counterattack followed.
A blinding flash erupted as his sword lanced forward with explosive speed.
Judging a block impossible, Left Proof twisted his body in desperation.
He avoided a fatal wound by a hair, but his left shoulder was deeply gashed, blood spurting forth.
Excruciating pain surged through him. No time to tend it.
Gritting his teeth, Left Proof unleashed his full power in a punch.
Mighty energy roared from his fist like thunder, surging toward the sword lunging for him again.
A thunderous clash echoed, followed by a strangled scream.
Left Proof, who had struck with everything he had, reeled backward with a contorted face.
One arm—the one that had earned him the honored title of Thunderclap Guardian—dangled limp. The other had vanished entirely from the shoulder socket.
That wasn't all. Blood seeped from his chest as well, perhaps struck when his shoulder was severed. With each stumbling step back, gouts of blood poured forth, soon staining his entire body crimson.
Precisely twelve steps.
Left Proof's form staggered, then slowly crumbled to the ground.
All this, in a mere three exchanges with Sima Geon.