Chapter 314
Chapter 314
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 314
Chapter Title: The Terrifying Existence, Blood Angel
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They wouldn’t realize they’d been poisoned until they tried to circulate their internal energy.
Yi Hwan recalled Yang Chan’s words and spoke calmly.
“You’ve already heard why we brought you here, so let’s start with your explanations.”
Cha Ryong forced himself to respond evenly.
“We had no idea there’d been a bandit attack nearby. It must be a misunderstanding because the witness described the culprits as looking like us, Great Prince.”
“A misunderstanding...”
Yi Hwan trailed off. Then he asked something else.
“I’ve heard you’ve recently gained a lot of followers among the martial artists. Where are they now?”
“A while back, we had a duel with some people, and those followers violated the code of the martial world by interfering. We got angry and told them not to follow us anymore. They all scattered after that.”
It was Cha Ryong’s answer, cleverly mixing truth and lies. Yi Hwan turned to Go Mi.
She stepped forward as if she’d been waiting.
“As he said, the martial artists following them scattered in all directions. But I confirmed they were all heading the same way, just taking different routes.”
Yi Hwan stared at Cha Ryong again.
“Did you perhaps plan to regroup somewhere?”
Cha Ryong was startled inwardly but kept his composure.
“It’s just a coincidence, isn’t it? We don’t know anything about it.”
‘They’ve figured out all our movements?’
The Golden Army wouldn’t mobilize like this just to investigate a bandit attack. Especially not with the Grand Commander-in-Chief, the head of the Golden Army, and the Great Prince Yi Hwan himself stepping in.
At this point, Cha Ryong was certain. Yi Hwan had been watching and investigating them for some time.
[When I give the signal, we break out of here immediately. Get ready, Ban Go.]
[We should’ve done it ages ago! You gonna kill them all?]
[If possible.]
[Got it.]
That was when Yang Chan entered. Cha Ryong glanced at him absentmindedly, and his eyes wavered for a moment.
‘That guy...’
Yang Chan stood beside Yi Hwan.
Yi Hwan asked.
“Shall we begin?”
“Yes.”
Chirrrk.
Light flickered from Yi Hwan’s finger. It shot straight toward Cha Ryong and Ban Go.
“...!”
Caught off guard, Cha Ryong and Ban Go hurriedly summoned their protective aura.
Ting-ting-tang!
The light from Yi Hwan’s finger dissipated against their protective auras.
“What do you think you’re—”
Cha Ryong shot to his feet, shouting, but suddenly clutched his chest and staggered. Ban Go did the same.
“The effect kicks in the moment they circulate their energy.”
“It wasn’t easy to poison masters like them without them noticing, but fortunately, they were overly complacent for some reason. Made it easier than expected.”
Tremble...
Cha Ryong shook all over.
Through their conversation and the sensations in his body, he realized he’d been poisoned.
Yang Chan stared at him and gave a faint smile.
“I didn’t expect masters like you to be so defenseless. Thanks to that, poisoning you was a breeze. Oh, and don’t push your energy too hard—trying to attack will only make it worse, so keep that in mind.”
Cha Ryong glared at Yi Hwan—not Yang Chan—with eyes blazing with fury and spat out his words.
“What the hell is this?! Poisoning us without a proper investigation, just on suspicion alone! Is this the law of the Yeon Kingdom?!”
Yi Hwan stared at Cha Ryong silently. Then he narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered.
“We only used a meridian-sealing poison to keep a martial master like you from escaping easily. It won’t threaten your life. But the law of the Yeon Kingdom... So you’re not martial artists of Yeon after all?”
“...!”
Cha Ryong realized his mistake too late. He hadn’t imagined being poisoned like this, so in his panic, he’d let slip a phrase more suited to referring to a foreign land.
‘Stay calm.’
He forced a composed tone.
“We came here after hearing that the Yeon court had declared Non-Aggression between Court and Martial World. I never imagined you’d interfere in martial world affairs from behind the scenes like this!”
“We brought you in solely to investigate the bandit attack—it has nothing to do with martial world matters. Once we confirm you’re innocent, we’ll give you the antidote and release you, so don’t worry.”
Yi Hwan turned to Ju Tae and the others, giving orders.
“Lock them up in the cells for now.”
“Understood.”
Ju Tae and Kim Mu-gwan placed hands on Cha Ryong and Ban Go’s shoulders.
“On your feet.”
It was right then.
“Kyaaak!”
Whoosh!
Suddenly, ferocious demonic energy erupted from Ban Go’s entire body like an explosion. Kim Mu-gwan, who had his hand on Ban Go’s shoulder, was sent flying like a leaf, crashing through the wall and into the courtyard.
Boom!
“Kyaaak!”
Ban Go’s blood-red right fist targeted Yang Chan’s head, who was sitting right beside him.
But Yi Hwan slapped away Ban Go’s fist, allowing Yang Chan to escape the crisis.
Boom!
The table shattered, sending fragments flying like a storm. In the chaos, Yi Hwan sealed Cha Ryong’s pressure points, and with the poison already spreading through his body, Cha Ryong could only be subdued helplessly.
“Let go!”
Ban Go charged at Yi Hwan. His eyes flowed with blood-red light as if dripping blood, and that light quickly enveloped his entire body.
Yi Hwan’s hands traced a circle in the air.
Boom!
“Kyak!”
Ban Go took Yi Hwan’s strike head-on and screamed as he smashed through the wall and vanished.
“What the hell was that?”
Everyone was stunned.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye—a terrifying moment none of them had ever witnessed before.
Yi Hwan stepped out through the broken wall.
As he emerged, Kim Mu-gwan was launching a strike at the fleeing Ban Go.
But his attack missed completely, and Ban Go let out a roar as he sped away from the scene at tremendous speed.
Yi Hwan leaped after Ban Go.
His face was grim.
‘That’s... a Blood Angel?’
In the era when Daye Fortress dominated the world, Yi Hwan’s archenemy was the Blood Demon.
The Blood Angel was the transformation that occurred when the Blood Demon pushed his power to the limit. The martial artists of the central plains feared the Blood Demon’s otherworldly appearance and called that ominous form the Blood Angel.
And now, that Blood Angel had appeared in Ban Go.
‘That’s one more reason I have to catch him no matter what.’
* * *
‘Damn it...’
Cha Ryong was dazed.
His excessive complacency had pushed him into an irreversible situation.
He’d been subdued, and Ban Go had gone berserk.
Something that should never happen except in their final moments had occurred because of his carelessness.
“Are you all right?”
Go Mi approached Kim Mu-gwan.
Despite being sent crashing through a wall by Ban Go’s strike, Kim Mu-gwan shockingly showed no signs of serious injury.
It was astonishing even to Cha Ryong. Anyone else would have had their bones crushed to death. Yet Kim Mu-gwan looked perfectly fine aside from a slightly twisted expression.
And that twist seemed more from anger at taking a solid hit than pain.
Then Hwa Ryeong approached Cha Ryong.
“What the hell are you? And what’s with that guy who turned bright red?!”
Ban Go kept his mouth shut tight, staring straight at Hwa Ryeong while hiding his inner turmoil.
Hwa Ryeong’s eyes turned icy.
“You bastard, as long as he’s alive, right?”
“Hold back.”
Go Mi came over.
She looked down at Cha Ryong and continued.
“We’ll wait until the Great Prince returns.”
Go Mi glanced at Yang Chan, who was with Kim Mu-gwan.
Ju Tae and Park Ji-mun had gone with Yi Hwan to chase Ban Go, but Yang Chan had stayed behind. He’d acknowledged that his lighter footwork wouldn’t help in the pursuit.
“How long will the poison’s effect last?”
“More than a day, easily.”
“Can you make it painful without threatening their lives?”
“Possible. But with their pressure points sealed, is there really any need?”
“Masters like him won’t open up easily. To save time, we should start now.”
Yang Chan stared at Cha Ryong for a moment, then nodded.
“Understood.”
“You sneaky bastard.”
Cha Ryong glared at Yang Chan and spat the words.
Yang Chan smirked.
“Sneaky? Can’t you just admit you got caught because you’re weak? Or do you need to think that way to salve your shattered pride?”
Tremble...
“I’ll give you a little taste first, so you know not to piss me off.”
Pop!
Green smoke rose from Yang Chan’s fingertip.
The smoke flowed into Cha Ryong’s nose and ears. Cha Ryong’s eyes bulged as he glared at Yang Chan, but his face slowly turned red.
‘Urk!’
Intense pain surged from within his body. But Cha Ryong clenched his teeth and didn’t even groan.
Yang Chan’s words flowed into Cha Ryong’s ears.
“If the worst pain is ten, this is less than two. I guarantee you, anything eight or above and even a god couldn’t endure it.”
“...!”
Drip-drip!
Cha Ryong’s face was instantly drenched in sweat.
As hard as the poison’s pain was to bear, the helplessness of being captured without putting up a fight was even worse.
That was the mental torment.
Grit!
* * *
[His whole demeanor’s changed, like he’s a different person.]
[Everyone has pride in the martial arts they’ve mastered. He poked at that, so maybe it’s a natural reaction.]
Go Mi and Hwa Ryeong exchanged transmissions while watching Yang Chan. He was now wrapped in an icy chill they’d never seen before.
Go Mi’s eyes sank with heavy gravity.
‘If that man were an enemy...’
Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps.
Who in the world could subdue a master like Cha Ryong this easily? Even Yi Hwan might not be able to.
“Hoo...”
Go Mi let out a long breath and looked toward where Yi Hwan and the others had disappeared.
‘To think such tremendous demonic energy could pour from a human body...’
Go Mi realized anew.
There were truly so many monstrous beings in this world that defied common sense.
* * *
Yi Hwan pushed himself to the limit.
But the distance to Ban Go, transformed into a Blood Angel, didn’t shrink at all.
‘Not Jo Yun, but some other guy turning into a Blood Angel...’
His mind was in turmoil.
The Blood Angel wasn’t something you could achieve just by learning the Blood Demon’s martial arts. No matter how much they pushed their power to the limit, none of Jo Yun’s subordinates who had learned the Blood Demon’s arts—whom Yi Hwan had encountered so far—could become a Blood Angel.
In the past, countless followers of the Blood Demon had learned his arts, but no one except the Blood Demon himself had ever become a Blood Angel.
From that, Yi Hwan had reasoned that only the Blood Demon or his true successor could achieve it.
And based on what he’d learned from Jo Yun’s subordinates, he was convinced Jo Yun was that successor.
Yet now, some unrelated bastard right in front of him had turned into a Blood Angel.
Snap-snap-snap!
Branches snapped against Yi Hwan’s body and scattered everywhere.
The flying branches obstructed the view of Ju Tae and Park Ji-mun, who were chasing far behind. Park Ji-mun clicked his tongue at Ban Go’s speed.
“We’ll never catch him like this!”
“Damn it. Where’d a monster like that come from...”
Ju Tae was equally shocked.
In truth, the astonishment had started when Ban Go attacked Kim Mu-gwan. Anyone who knew Kim Mu-gwan’s skills would react the same.
But there was one thing they didn’t know.
That Ban Go was a Blood Angel—and the terrifying truth behind it.