Chapter 110
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: You Bastard!
His face was scorched black from the flames.
His clothes were charred in places here and there, and even his hair had burned off in spots.
Ha Mu-baek looked like someone who had just barely escaped a pit of fire.
"Fuck, I really thought I was done for."
Ha Mu-baek said it with utter sincerity.
His eyes darted around wildly, like the fierce gaze he'd had back on the battlefield, leaking killing intent.
"H-how... from inside those flames..."
The Third Corps Leader couldn't finish his sentence.
He had no choice.
A man he'd been certain was dead beyond all doubt had returned alive and well.
"You can just walk out of there unscathed...?"
The Third Corps Leader muttered in disbelief, his face blank with shock.
"You bastard. Take a good look at me. Does this look unscathed to you? I seriously thought I was gonna die for the first time in my life. Impressive. Real impressive."
Thud.
The ground trembled under Ha Mu-baek's advancing step.
The Third Corps Leader staggered back.
Pure white sword aura gathered along Ha Mu-baek's blade.
Seeing it, the Third Corps Leader trembled from head to toe.
It was fear of the enemy's unfathomable power, whose limits he couldn't even guess—and fear of the death staring him in the face.
Those two things.
Gong So-yu watched the Third Corps Leader with fresh eyes.
An overwhelming foe who had seemed ready to slaughter them all without mercy was now shaking in terror.
She realized just how great and formidable the man named Ha Mu-baek—who had been treating her and her father until now—truly was.
Thud.
The ground shook once more from his heavy step.
Ha Mu-baek raised his sword, pointing it straight at the Third Corps Leader.
At that moment.
A glint flashed in the Third Corps Leader's eyes.
He saw it.
The sword aura at the tip of Ha Mu-baek's blade quivering ever so slightly.
The Ha Mu-baek he knew would never allow that.
"R-right. Of course. No way you could come out of that explosion unscathed! That was seven Thousand Heavenly Thunder Bombs and a Ten Thousand Heavenly Golden Chain Thunder Bomb! Attack! Attack him!"
At the Third Corps Leader's desperate command, the remaining Demonic Cultists charged at Ha Mu-baek en masse.
Nine surviving squad leaders, plus the fifty-odd enemies Ha Mu-baek hadn't finished off outside.
Sixty Demonic Cult bastards flew toward Ha Mu-baek.
"You worthless shits."
Ha Mu-baek's left hand dipped into his robe and came out.
The last ten daggers flashed like lightning, severing ten necks.
But Ha Mu-baek didn't budge from his spot.
The leader who had ordered the attack on him was eyeing his back greedily.
Taking out these damn bastards was important, but more important was protecting the people behind him.
How the hell had it come to this?
Truth be told, they were just patients and healer.
Did he really have to go this far, risking his life to protect them?
The answer was yes.
They had formed a bond, and in the previous war, he'd received help from people connected to them.
So he had to repay that debt.
With that thought, Ha Mu-baek swung his sword.
Clang. Clang.
The clash of steel rang out.
Swords stabbing from all directions at his limbs—he deflected them swiftly.
He took a single step back, then returned to position.
His sweeping blade pierced two chests.
He launched fist aura into the groin of one trying to leap over him, turning him to mush.
The Demonic Cultists charging from above, below, left, and right—all their attacks dismantled, followed by counterstrikes that dropped them one by one.
When the number dwindled to twenty.
They paused for a moment.
"M-monster..."
Someone muttered.
Just surviving that place made him a monster.
But to fight with that body at such absurd strength?
"He's tired! Press him harder!"
The Third Corps Leader bellowed. Meanwhile, he crept slyly toward the Gong father and daughter.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes sharpened.
With a single step, he blocked the Third Corps Leader's path.
"Urgh."
The Third Corps Leader ground his teeth.
"You bastard. We've met before, haven't we? Which corps are you from? One of the Ten Corps?"
The Ten Corps.
The Demonic Cult Leader's elite personal guard.
Strong, secretive, cunning bastards.
They had hounded Ha Mu-baek relentlessly in the last war.
Of course, he'd smashed them all.
"None of your business!"
The Third Corps Leader roared.
"Looking at the filthy shit you're pulling, you're not First or Second Corps. From that martial prowess earlier, you're upper ranks at least. Third Corps, maybe?"
The Third Corps Leader flinched at Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
Ha Mu-baek didn't miss it.
"Third Corps it is. Then you must be the Third Corps Leader? With the numbers, looks like your whole corps showed up."
"Not bad observation."
With deductions that far, denying it would be ridiculous, so the Third Corps Leader admitted it readily.
"Hah. How the fuck did you cockroaches gather two hundred again? I swear I wiped out every last one of the Ten Corps."
Ha Mu-baek spat with irritation and anger mixed in his voice.
"If the Third Corps recovered to full strength... then the rest of the Ten Corps must be back too. Crazy. The Demonic Cult has two thousand elites? Fuck."
Ha Mu-baek muttered savagely, glaring at the Third Corps Leader with murderous eyes.
Then, as if realizing something.
"Right. I remember now. When I took the Cult Leader's head, about thirty bastards escaped. You were one of them, weren't you, you fucker!"
The Third Corps Leader twitched at Ha Mu-baek's shout but instead screamed back.
"That's right, you villain! The Demonic Cult is eternal! Heavenly Demon Descends! Myriad Demons Rise! Blood Rules the World!"
The Third Corps Leader chanted the Demonic Cult's slogan.
"Bullshit! If myriad demons are rising, go play with your ghost buddies. Why flood the world in blood, you lunatics!"
Pure white sword aura surged anew from Ha Mu-baek's blade.
Its tip pointed at the Third Corps Leader.
"He's tired! Attack!"
This time, no fear in his voice. His eyes blackened with demonic energy.
He gripped a sword dripping with pitch-black demonic qi.
At his command, the remnants charged Ha Mu-baek again.
A sword thrust at him.
He dodged.
Then thrust back.
One clutched his throat and fell.
Another slashed at his waist.
He deflected it lightly.
Slash.
And cleaved the man's chest in tandem.
The bastard collapsed, spraying blood.
Ha Mu-baek steadily whittled down the damn bastards' numbers.
Yet his white sword aura showed no sign of faltering.
However.
Ha Mu-baek bit his teeth lightly, face calm.
Pain like his dantian was shattering spread through his body.
He had already used all his internal energy protecting himself from the flames and escaping.
He was scraping together what little remained in his meridians to fight.
For anyone else, it would barely be a handful—but for Ha Mu-baek, enough to form sword aura.
But it wouldn't last long.
That's why he'd bothered asking the enemy's identity midway.
By his nature, once he confirmed they were Demonic Cult, he'd have cut them down without question.
During that brief exchange, the Infinite Unfettered Heart Method had gathered what it could, pooling a bit in his dantian.
He was using it all now.
The agony from before was his dantian screaming again.
Eight left, excluding the Corps Leader.
The bastard just barked orders from behind his men, which grated on Ha Mu-baek's nerves.
These eight had a different air from the rest.
Probably the squad leaders.
"Unleash the Heavenly Killing Eight Demons Formation!"
At the Third Corps Leader's shout, the eight shifted their movements.
They had been using joint attacks before, but now it was far more systematic.
At least they needed a moment to set up the formation—Ha Mu-baek hurriedly circulated the Infinite Unfettered Heart Method to gather a sliver more energy.
The eight attacked from all directions in perfect formation sync.
One thing: Ha Mu-baek never exposed his back.
People he had to protect were there.
Even without fully encircling him, the formation pressed smoothly, squeezing Ha Mu-baek.
The amplified pressure from their combined energy was immense.
But.
Thanks to the energy he'd just recovered.
Ha Mu-baek pulled it all up at once.
Dragging out against a formation like this would only disadvantage him.
Internal energy exploded from his body, and he stepped into the midst of his foes.
His senses locked on the Third Corps Leader's movements all the while.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved.
The first time today.
Not just swinging with sword aura, but proper swordsmanship.
Infinite Unfettered Eight Severing Sword Sea.
The essence unfolded in an instant.
From first to eighth severance, in the blink of an eye.
The result.
Splurt.
Blood fountaining from eight spots.
The eight squad leaders of the Heavenly Killing Eight Demons Formation clutched their throats and dropped dead.
It happened in a flash.
Faced with Ha Mu-baek's overwhelming display, the Third Corps Leader stared blankly, unable to accept reality.
"Hoo."
Ha Mu-baek took a deep breath in the gap.
Gathered another handful of energy.
"Urgh!"
The Third Corps Leader snapped to and hurled his sword at Ha Mu-baek, loaded with demonic qi.
A full-power strike.
Ha Mu-baek parried it with his sword aura-coated blade.
Whoosh!
The sword seemed to fly harmlessly away—then curved back.
"Homing Sword..."
Ha Mu-baek muttered at the blade's path.
His foe was demonstrating transcendent realm technique, achievable only at peak mastery.
No pushover.
Normally, Ha Mu-baek would handle it easily, but with just a handful of energy regathered, it wasn't simple.
The Third Corps Leader gritted his teeth.
Now it was just him.
He'd used everything. If he didn't escape now, death.
But that monster wouldn't let him.
One last unused card.
He had to play it.
Even escaping meant death anyway.
With his entire Third Corps gone, the Grand Corps Leader wouldn't let it slide.
His blackened eyes flickered wildly for a moment.
His internal energy exploded outward, demonic qi surging madly.
Kuooooom!
The sword hurtled toward him like a lump of demonic qi.
Ha Mu-baek thrust with full power.
Claaaaang!
His sword aura shattered pitifully.
His protective aura blew apart, sending Ha Mu-baek tumbling back.
"Kuhk."
Ha Mu-baek spat blood.
He'd blocked with everything, dissipating the demonic qi on the sword—but it roiled back up as if nothing happened.
Sword aura mixed with demonic qi.
Demonic Aura Blade.
It gleamed ominously.
"Kuhuhuhu. So you're tapped out too. That's how it was. Just one more step. That was all I needed! Kuhahahaha!"
Seeing Ha Mu-baek tumble, the Third Corps Leader burst into mad laughter.
His body wreathed in demonic aura blade, black energy swirling.
Ha Mu-baek recognized the state instantly.
"Black Demonic Latent Blood Curse..."
"Kekeke. You know it. Never thought I'd awaken this thing. Went all out in desperation. Best choice ever. Kekeke. Now die!"
Shiiiiiiek!
The demonic aura blade flew back as a homing sword.
Ha Mu-baek scraped together every last scrap of internal energy.
A tiny wisp of pure white sword aura rose.
Infinite Eight Severing Sword Sea—eighth severance.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved.
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!
Amid deafening blasts, Ha Mu-baek rolled messily backward.
The Third Corps Leader's sword flew back too.
He caught it casually.
Demonic aura blade bloomed anew.
He advanced step by step.
"Kekeke. Perfect, all gathered in one spot. I can kill you all at once."
The Third Corps Leader said with a murderous grin.
Ha Mu-baek lay collapsed right in front of Gong Mu-hyuk and Gong So-yu.
Step. Step.
The Third Corps Leader approached slowly, drunk on victory.
Ha Mu-baek ground his teeth and pushed off the ground to rise.
Excluding his first foray into the jianghu, when had he ever depleted his energy like this?
His dantian was on the verge of cracking.
To end up like this against some mere Third Corps Leader of the Demonic Cult.
But with people to protect at his back, he had to give his all.
Shattering his dantian was a last resort.
First, draw on innate essence, he decided.
Then, a cold sensation touched his left hand.
Glancing down, Gong So-yu had placed something in his grasp.
It was.
The very thing that had cornered him this badly.
He'd seen how to use it. And heard what the Third Corps Leader had said to Gong So-yu.
'Inject internal energy and press.'
Luckily, a thread of energy remained.
Enough to press this.
The Third Corps Leader had closed to two zhang away.
His striking range—one swing could kill them all.
The moment that thought crossed his mind.
Ha Mu-baek thrust his left hand toward the Third Corps Leader.
"Hmph. What are you—th-that's...!"
His scoff turned to horror as he saw what Ha Mu-baek held.
Ten Thousand Heavenly Golden Chain Thunder Bomb.
Aimed right at him.
"Urgh!"
He kicked off the ground to dodge with everything he had.
Click.
But Ha Mu-baek pressed the button with an energy-infused finger.