Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: The True Demon Dragon Squad
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The mere sight of its enormous size was overwhelming, not to mention the chilling aura emanating from the rift in the torn space.
"S-Seems like the world's about to end."
Jin-mo had to swallow his fear just to dare utter the word "destruction."
He doubted his own eyes, wondering if any hunter in history had ever laid eyes on a demon that massive.
At the same time, dozens of demons bearing the same demonic energy as the one they'd just slain were dropping down one after another.
"How..."
His body and voice trembled against his will.
Jin-mo steadied his quivering voice and reached out toward the Demon Dragon Squad.
For the first time, his gaze shifted away from the rift, turning toward the Demon Dragon Squad.
And there, Jin-mo froze in place.
'He's... smiling?'
This insane scene couldn't just be visible to him alone, could it?
How could anyone smile in the face of hell's threshold, like some cataclysmic natural disaster?
Jin-mo was so aghast he lost the words to continue.
"Jin-mo."
As Jin-mo agonized over whether to flee right then and there, Sword Tiger's voice reached him.
"Y-Yes... Yes!"
Jin-mo, lost in a daze, belatedly snapped to and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Sword Tiger's lips split into a wide grin on both sides.
"Jeong-won, just stick to the rear."
"You mean..."
You're going to fight even after seeing that?
How could anyone do such a thing without being utterly mad?
"Wait."
Afraid he'd get swept up in this madness, he shook his head.
As he reached out to say something to Sword Tiger, Jong-hyun's trembling voice rang out.
"I'm heading out first."
It trembled like his own, but the emotion within was entirely different.
Trembling from terror... versus trembling from excitement and anticipation.
Jong-hyun's feelings—like finally facing fried chicken after a brutal diet—overwhelmed every emotion Jin-mo felt.
Shing.
From his rigid stance, Jong-hyun stepped forward, drawing the sword at his side.
Unlike Jin-mo's shakes, Jong-hyun advanced with steady, bold strides—slow, yet swift.
But Jin-mo sensed something off about the situation.
"Aren't you going to help them?"
Dozens of demons were descending, along with one bearing an impossibly massive rank.
You're not planning to stop your comrades from marching into hell?
You really wouldn't care if they died in there?
"Of course I will. But gotta let 'em have their fun first, right?"
Sword Tiger smirked, as if mocking Jin-mo's worried plea.
"Boss, you want me hanging back here alone? I wanna fight too."
Jeong-won, who'd been holding still, shot Sword Tiger an impatient, restless look.
Like a dog drooling globs of saliva, waiting for its master's command with food right in front of it.
Sword Tiger glanced at Jin-mo with a faint smile.
"You can handle running away, yeah?"
"If it's just dodging and fleeing instead of fighting... yeah, I think so..."
Shing.
"Perfect."
The moment Jin-mo confirmed he could, Jeong-won whipped out his sword like he'd been waiting all day.
And before Sword Tiger could even speak, Jeong-won kicked off the ground.
"Huh?"
Shing.
Jin-mo blanked out again at Jeong-won's back—racing so fast he'd overtaken Jong-hyun before Jin-mo could even extend his hand.
How many more shocks did he have to endure today?
Shing.
But the surprise didn't last.
"Then you just watch from up on that cliff over there."
Sword Tiger drew his sword alongside the charging Demon Dragon Squad members.
With one swing, he cleaned the blood-drenched blade spotless, then jerked his chin at Jin-mo in command before dropping into stance.
"Watch closely. This is the Demon Dragon Squad. The true Demon Dragon Squad—nothing like a year ago."
Bang!
Kicking the ground with earth-shaking force, Sword Tiger's figure shrank to a dot and vanished in a blink.
"I-Is this even possible?"
"Treating demons... like monsters..."
Jin-mo and Kim-gu, positioned in separate gates, shared the exact same emotions.
Awe, shock, disbelief... and respect.
The Demon Dragon Squad weaving through demons, sweeping everything away with a single blade. And Ghost Slaughter Annihilation silently claiming lives pop pop right before their eyes.
Their prowess was so divine it forced denial of the reality before them—just like when Yong-un's forces first encountered Yong-un.
Thud!
In the two gates holding the Demon Dragon Squad and Ghost Slaughter Annihilation, both forces gradually closed in on the colossal Viscount-rank demon that had appeared simultaneously.
The Ghost Slaughter Annihilation gate in Pocheon.
Kim-gu wasn't the only one spaced out.
"I can't believe it."
Seong-min—who bore the name Six Ghost Souls but had never once joined a battle—gaped wide, feeling the same as Kim-gu.
The five Ghost Souls vanished simultaneously, ghostly as phantoms.
Thump. Thump.
The demons collapsed, blankly fixed on Kim-gu and Seong-min, oblivious to how they'd died.
That wasn't all.
With all the aggro pulled toward Kim-gu and Seong-min, Barum and Cheon-il released their Resonance Killing Technique mid-fight to seize the surrounding demons' attention—an even more astonishing feat.
"Come on."
"Bring it."
Dark gray sparks and dark blue sparks erupted across Cheon-il and Barum's bodies.
"D-Demons?"
In that instant, the two they'd lived alongside transformed completely.
Horns sprouted on their foreheads like the approaching demons, their skin turned dark gray, and enormous bat wings wrapped around their backs.
Crackle.
The bat wings flung off the barrage of sparks, which then burst forth from Cheon-il and Barum's nails.
And as those nails elongated, they became ten swords, massacring every demon in sight.
As if the demons were mere monsters.
"I-Is this really real?"
True to his generation, Kim-gu had binged every famous hunter video out there.
Yet no media outlet or community had ever shown a spectacle like this.
The reverence of turning high-view-count thrillers into kids' squabbles.
Ever since entering the gate, it had set Seong-min and Kim-gu's hearts pounding nonstop.
"Traits?"
Hummm.
"Ugh."
At that moment, a colossal hum from overhead violently rattled the air.
With ear-rupturing agony, Seong-min and Kim-gu clamped their hands over their ears and craned their necks up.
The massive Viscount-rank demon—its descent unnoticed—loomed over Barum and Cheon-il.
The smirk on the Viscount-rank demon's lips had vanished long ago.
Instead, its face, locked on Barum and Cheon-il's battle, had turned deadly serious, as if beholding the forbidden.
Hummmm.
It merely raised its head toward the vanishing rift, yet it felt like gales rising.
Then its maw parted, unleashing the ear-piercing hum that shook the very space.
Seong-min and Kim-gu gritted their teeth, hunching forward.
Just from opening its mouth to speak, a deafening roar assaulted their ears.
Still, desperate to grasp the unfolding scene, they forced their heads up.
And Kim-gu with Seong-min spotted someone scaling that hulking demon.
"The boss?"
Though the distance was vast, their eyes caught it crystal clear.
Sword Tiger bounding up the Viscount-rank demon's body like flat ground.
"So that it may return to its original fallen master at your side..."
Swish.
"I shall retrieve it."
As the Viscount-rank demon's head lowered, both its hands stirred.
The behemoth demon seemed to sense Sword Tiger clambering atop it.
Its massive hands surged to squash the ascending Sword Tiger like a bug.
But the instant its head fully dipped to lock eyes on him.
Bang!
A burst echoed loud enough to reach Jin-mo and Seong-min afar.
Simultaneously, air compressed and detonated at Sword Tiger's midair-kicking foot, warping space itself.
"N-No way."
Jin-mo gaped, eyes bulging.
Sword Tiger's ascending form rocketed past the cannonball-diving Viscount-rank demon's head, soaring skyward.
But Sword Tiger's trajectory was bizarre.
His figure vaulted over the Viscount-rank demon's head—even as it dipped low then reared back up.
"No...!"
Urgency laced the Viscount-rank demon's voice.
Only after clearing the demon's crown by a wide margin did Sword Tiger's momentum ease.
And the moment he halted completely in midair.
Boom!
Thick, inky-black demonic qi erupted in the skies above the Viscount-rank demon's head.
Centered on Sword Tiger, a Demon Dragon materialized—maw yawning wide—and surged toward the rift.
Like a dragon ascending to the heavens, it pierced the clouds, melting into the tear in space.
Ziiiiing. Kwang!
"Ugh."
Whoooosh—
Bizarre screeches accompanied a titanic shockwave, crashing down as a ferocious gale that swallowed Jin-mo and Seong-min.
Arms shielding their eyes, they crouched low, clinging desperately to avoid being hurled away.
"Take that hit, you mangy cur."
Demon Dragon Manifestation - 8th Form
Demon Dragon Sword Emergence Strike
Sword Tiger couldn't peer inside the rift, but he figured it'd dealt serious damage.
"How dare you!!!"
Mission self-accomplished, Sword Tiger grinned as he spun midair.
Plummeting to earth, he smirked down at the furious Viscount-rank demon.
"You weren't my target anyway. Kehahaha!"
Eyes narrowing at the menacing giant hand closing in, Sword Tiger gripped his sword tight.
Then kicked the air once more.
His falling form whirled like a tornado midair, spiraling around the Viscount-rank demon's colossal arm as it plunged down.
Slaaaash!
"Graaaaaah!"
In Sword Tiger's wake, blue blood soon gushed from the Viscount-rank demon's massive arm.
BOOM!!!!!!
Dust and gusts billowed around Sword Tiger, who cratered from the lofty skies.
Then the blue blood deluge raining atop it shattered the battle spirit of the warring demons.
Plop plop plop.
"Kehahaha."
Drenched head to toe in blue blood, Sword Tiger sauntered leisurely from the dust cloud.
"Uh, uhhh..."
Sword Tiger's gaze—reeking of yaksha ferocity and murderous intent—swept the nearby demons.
The so-called battle-crazed, blood-and-slaughter-mad demons felt dread and staggered back.
A race ruled by instinct over reason.
Their senses screamed upon beholding Sword Tiger.
Run.
That's a monster.
Fight it and you die.
"Uh."
"Where do you think you're going?"
As the demons' will crumbled and they bolted, Jong-hyun and Jeong-won appeared at Sword Tiger's side—severing demon necks en route.
"Graaaaaah!"
Blue blood rained from overhead, mingled with the Viscount-rank demon's ear-splitting agonized howls.
"Kehahaha."
And at the center, the Demon Dragon Squad grinning with bloodlust.
"Grrrut!"
The sight was plenty to send demons fleeing without a second thought.
They scattered in every direction at full tilt.
The watching Demon Dragon Squad commenced cleanup of the small fry—led by Sword Tiger's leisurely stroll, sword slung over his shoulder.
"Kill 'em all."
At the boss's order, grinning Jong-hyun and Jeong-won exchanged glances.
"Bet on who racks up more kills."
"Loser buys winner dinner."
"Jeong-won'll treat us to a feast tonight."
"I'm having beef today."
Gusts whipped up on either side of Sword Tiger's slow gait as Jong-hyun and Jeong-won surged past, blades flashing.
Toward the backs of the fleeing demons.
"They've definitely changed. The Supreme One's touch."
Sword Tiger smiled at the Demon Dragon Squad—so starkly different from a year prior.
Swish.
Then he halted, tilting his head up at the Viscount-rank demon shrieking in torment.
He cocked his head, murmuring a puzzled soliloquy under his breath.
"But what was that just now? Demon Eye? Original master?"
Unsettling words, but Sword Tiger shrugged it off quick and lowered the sword from his shoulder.
"Eh, probably nothing."
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