Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: A Good Opportunity
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< A Good Opportunity >
Gu Cheol carefully scanned his surroundings as he entered Gakwol Inn.
Even after entering the inn, all he could see was a vast, empty plain.
Honestly, he had expected to see the outside through the broken door upon entering.
But even that had vanished.
Once inside, there was nothing but an empty plain in all directions.
It was as if they had stepped into another world through that door.
The Nameless warriors were in front of Gu Cheol, and the warriors of the Golden Moon Trading Company followed him in from behind.
Everyone looked around, bewildered.
"I never thought there would be nothing even after coming inside the inn… But are you really saying this isn't a formation?"
Gu Cheol muttered, looking at a nearby formation expert.
The formation expert nodded, his expression full of conviction.
"It is not."
Gu Cheol eyed the formation expert doubtfully for a moment before looking around again.
The Nameless warriors dispersed, beginning to search the area.
They had not walked more than a few steps before their expressions turned to disbelief.
"What is this?"
He had bumped his leg against something. Reaching out, he felt it with his hand—it was a chair.
Dumbfounded, everyone began to feel around them.
Chairs, tables, and other such things—items one would expect to find on the first floor of an inn—could be felt.
"It seems… we just can't see them. Does this make any sense?"
A Nameless warrior said, looking down at the floor. His expression grew strange.
"What… is this?"
There was no floor either. But it didn't feel like they were floating in the air. It was as if something unknowable was spread across the ground.
It felt like standing on a sea of chaos.
Everyone who checked the floor wore the same expression as him.
Unlike the others, Gu Cheol did not check the floor; he was looking farther into the distance.
"For now… we have to go deeper inside."
Everyone nodded at Gu Cheol's words.
It was unsettling, but they couldn't just turn back after coming this far.
This time, Gu Cheol took the lead.
The warriors of Nameless and the Golden Moon Trading Company followed behind him in a mixed group.
It took some time as they moved, sweeping their hands and feet around them.
But Gu Cheol persisted. Finishing the job quickly was good, but preparing for unforeseen circumstances was also important.
As they proceeded, they came upon a wall. Following it, they found another door.
Gu Cheol stepped through the door.
The rest followed behind him.
Once a person went through the door, they could no longer be seen from the outside.
After entering, there were almost no obstructions.
It seemed they had entered a wide, open space.
Gu Cheol picked up his pace slightly, but a strange feeling made him turn back.
A Nameless warrior was right behind him.
"I think our numbers have dwindled."
At Gu Cheol's question, the Nameless warrior looked back in surprise.
"You're right."
Of the more than sixty warriors from Nameless, only twenty remained.
It was the same for the warriors of the Golden Moon Trading Company.
Well over half had disappeared.
And all in the short time it took to walk here.
Gu Cheol's gaze fixed on the formation expert. He had not disappeared yet.
"And you still say this isn't a formation?"
The formation expert felt wronged. But this time, he couldn't deny it.
Hadn't he experienced the same thing?
How could such a thing be possible if not for a formation?
"Huh? Over there!"
Gu Cheol suddenly shouted in alarm, pointing.
Everyone looked where he was pointing.
There was nothing there.
"What is it?"
A Nameless warrior asked in an irritated voice.
Gu Cheol spoke, his face completely hardened.
"Some of my men were over there. But they just vanished."
Everyone looked at Gu Cheol with suspicion.
As their eyes met, Gu Cheol's own eyes widened in shock.
Some of the people had vanished again. Then they reappeared, and this time, others disappeared and reappeared.
It kept repeating.
Gu Cheol’s heart pounded wildly. What in the world was happening?
Something incomprehensible and inexplicable was taking place.
"How long are you going to stand here? Let's get moving."
A Nameless warrior said.
Gu Cheol looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then turned and started walking again.
How many steps had he taken?
Gu Cheol felt as if the presence of the people behind him was continuously fading.
No, they were truly disappearing.
Startled, Gu Cheol whirled around.
"No one… is here!"
Everyone had vanished. Not a single person remained.
A chill ran down his spine.
***
The Nine Dragons Gate had mobilized all its warriors for this task.
Their leader was the first Dragon of the Nine Dragons Gate, the Lightning Dragon.
Having mastered martial arts that wielded lightning energy, he was a man who feared little.
Naturally, the Lightning Dragon believed he should protect the rear of the group.
So he moved at the very back, and he was the last to enter the invisible door of Gakwol Inn.
But that's where the problem began.
He entered, and there was no one there.
The interior of the inn, as seen through the Lightning Dragon's eyes, was very different from what the others had seen.
To his eyes, the inn's interior looked like that of a normal inn.
He turned and checked outside the door; the scenery beyond was clearly visible.
"Where in the world did they all go?"
The first thing that came to the Lightning Dragon’s mind was a formation. But the formation expert had sworn there was no formation here.
As he stood there, wondering what to do, someone came down from the second floor of the inn.
The Lightning Dragon's gaze turned in that direction.
The person who came down was a sturdy-looking man.
The Lightning Dragon briefly considered what to ask him.
Should he ask where everyone went, or who he was, or perhaps he should just strike him with lightning first.
The answer was provided by the man who had appeared.
"Follow me. Let's have a bout."
The man who said this to the Lightning Dragon was Cheon Gyeongwan.
The Lightning Dragon glared at Cheon Gyeongwan's back with incredulous eyes as he turned and strode away.
"That brat doesn't know his place."
The Lightning Dragon quickly followed Cheon Gyeongwan.
First, he would knock that brat to the ground. Then, he would calmly break his bones one by one while asking where the rest of his party was, and where Byeok Taesan was.
A cruel smile formed on the Lightning Dragon’s lips.
As he diligently followed Cheon Gyeongwan, a spacious, open area appeared.
When Cheon Gyeongwan stopped in the middle of the clearing, a flash of lightning sparked in the Lightning Dragon's eyes.
"Is this it? The place where you'll die."
Cheon Gyeongwan silently drew his sword.
"Let's see if you have the skill to back up those words."
Before Cheon Gyeongwan could finish speaking, the Lightning Dragon shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
*Rumble!*
*Crash!*
Cheon Gyeongwan swung his sword, deflecting the Lightning Dragon's lightning energy.
And so, a truly fierce battle began.
Similar events were unfolding all over Gakwol Inn.
The remaining Dragons of the Nine Dragons Gate also encountered opponents in varying numbers and began to fight in the open area.
Surprisingly, they were all in the same clearing, but they could not see one another.
The same was true for Cheon Gyeongwan and the others from Byeok Taesan's side who were fighting them.
However, Byeok Taesan's people knew that others were present.
While fighting an opponent who was charging at them as if to kill them, they had to be careful not to get entangled in the other fights.
The place where they fought was a large training ground set up in a separate building, and they were each using a partitioned section of it.
The training ground in the annex became the battleground for the remaining Dragons of the Nine Dragons Gate and Byeok Taesan's people.
***
The Nameless warriors, after repeatedly disappearing and reappearing, realized they were the only ones left.
Through it all, they had continued to move forward.
In fact, they had been scattered midway through, but somehow, they had gathered together again like this.
They considered it a coincidence, or a trick of their minds.
But in reality, Byeok Taesan had used a special power to guide them here.
Their final destination was a fairly spacious clearing outside the inn.
Of course, they did not know that was where they were.
Looking around, all they could see was a vast, empty plain.
And upon that empty plain, one person stood with a dignified air.
"There's someone over there."
The Nameless warriors were confident in their skills.
They believed they could crush any master who came their way.
They had heard that a formidable master had recently joined Gakwol Inn.
After hearing descriptions of how great that master was from those who had fought him directly, they concluded that ten of them attacking together would be enough to win.
"I think that person over there is the master from the rumors."
The group leader said, his eyes glinting.
Everyone looked at the person standing in the distance and nodded. He looked very similar to the descriptions.
The person standing there with a dignified air was the Sword Demon.
The Sword Demon's heart pounded wildly at the fact that he had to fight these sixty-three warriors alone.
Each one of them was no ordinary foe. Moreover, some were astonishingly strong.
The thought of fighting such men with his life on the line made his heart race and his blood boil.
The Sword Demon drew his sword and pointed it at the Nameless warriors.
"What are you waiting for? Come."
The Sword Demon projected a stern and sharp aura.
Taking that as their signal, the Nameless warriors charged all at once.
The Nameless warriors were highly skilled in coordinated attacks.
They instantly surrounded the Sword Demon, forming a sword formation. A sword formation of twenty men.
The other forty formed two separate sword formations.
The remaining three were tasked with filling any gaps, depending on the situation.
It was a rotational assault.
The Sword Demon lunged forward just before the sword formation was complete. There was no reason to stand still and let himself be trapped.
Breaking out of the formation in just a few steps, the Sword Demon attacked the group that was separate from the initial attackers.
*Clang-clang-clang-clang!*
The Sword Demon's sword was terrifying. The Nameless warrior felt the cumulative shock throughout his body, and a surge of blood rose in his throat.
Just before he could spit blood, the Sword Demon withdrew.
It was to escape the newly formed sword formation.
This time, there was someone blocking his path.
Of course, the Sword Demon had anticipated that as well.
"Hyaap!"
With a powerful shout, he unleashed a stream of sword energy, swinging his blade toward the obstructor's thigh.
*Craaack!*
The obstructor's sword shattered into pieces.
The Sword Demon charged toward the sword fragments flying at him.
*Swish-swish-swish-swish!*
The Sword Demon caught each fragment and deflected it behind him.
The dozens of sword fragments, imbued with the Sword Demon's deflecting force, flew like arrows toward the warriors who were about to complete their formation.
*Clang-clang-clang-clang!*
In the brief moment they were busy deflecting the fragments, the Sword Demon escaped the formation.
Upon escaping, the Sword Demon flattened himself against the ground like a shadow and moved.
He was so swift that some failed to see him lower his body.
The Sword Demon's targets were those very men.
*Slash-slash-slash-slash!*
Blood splattered everywhere.
In an instant, seven warriors lost their ankles.
The Sword Demon moved ceaselessly, flexibly finding and exploiting openings. And when a weakness appeared, he struck with precision and speed.
Although he was facing sixty-three men, the tide of battle was slowly turning in the Sword Demon's favor.
***
Byeok Taesan was half-immersed in a state of selflessness, manipulating his spiritual power.
What began as simple training to erase his presence had, through various applications, evolved into a completely different realm of ability.
It was no longer just about erasing his presence; he could now control perception itself.
He could stand right next to someone, and they would not perceive him at all. Even if he touched them, they wouldn't know they had been touched.
He could even control their perception to dictate their direction of movement.
By leaving a sense of unease in all other directions and keeping only one open, they would naturally move that way.
Each discovery was new and fascinating.
The problem was his spiritual power.
Every time he did something, a huge chunk of his spiritual power was consumed.
Byeok Taesan had appropriately divided the intruders by skill level and distributed them among his subordinates.
This should serve as some decent combat training.
Indeed, Byeok Taesan's people were fighting quite well against their assigned opponents.
They had trained hard all this time, so it was important to give them a chance to reflect on their progress.
"This is a good opportunity."
Wasn't it fortunate that enemies had arrived at such an opportune moment?
It would be a struggle for everyone, but he was confident they could overcome it.
Having finished his assessment, Byeok Taesan murmured softly.
"There must be some decent spiritual medicine somewhere…"
He needed more spiritual power.
At the very least, he needed to have as much as he had accumulated during his time as the Heavenly Demon.
Byeok Taesan thought of the half-jiangshi that Nameless had controlled.
He recalled the ones that hadn't fallen to his single blow. They had certainly provided much more spiritual power than ordinary half-jiangshi.
And there were surely half-jiangshi stronger than them. They would probably provide even more spiritual power.
Besides half-jiangshi, Byeok Taesan considered various other ways to accumulate spiritual power.
Come to think of it, he had taken a break from the task of extracting and cleansing souls for a while.
He had neglected it for a time because the amount of spiritual power gained was small compared to the time invested.
Gathering dust can build a mountain, as they say. It seemed he would have to resume the soul cleansing he had paused.
He couldn't just do it to anyone; he had to select those with high efficiency.
Based on his experience, doctors were the best, and surprisingly, courtesans were next.
In the case of warriors, the efficiency was high before they had committed murder, but such cases were rare, so the efficiency was not as good as he'd thought.
While Byeok Taesan was making plans for his spiritual power, the battle was entering its final stages.
< A Good Opportunity > End