Chapter 150
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: It's Not Over Yet
A dazzling white hemisphere gleamed brightly.
It had appeared in the spot where the scorching flames had vanished.
The pure white light reflected so intensely that nothing inside could be seen.
But he knew.
The beings that had originally been there.
Gong Mu-hyuk and Ha Mu-baek.
Since they had disappeared and this hemisphere had taken their place.
Gong Do-hyuk and Wi Sang-hyeong stared with eyes wide open.
Their bodies trembled faintly.
An unbelievable sight was unfolding before them.
The blinding white light of the hemisphere gradually faded.
Its interior slowly came into view.
Ha Mu-baek, with a composed expression as he swung his arm, and behind him, Gong Mu-hyuk standing with a dazed look.
As expected, the two were alive.
No, not just alive—they were utterly unharmed.
How could not a single hair be out of place?
Ha Mu-baek met Gong Do-hyuk's eyes.
A faint smile.
It curved at the corners of Ha Mu-baek's mouth.
The moment he saw that smile, Gong Do-hyuk felt a profound terror.
It was so chilling.
An instinct.
The instant he saw Ha Mu-baek's smile, Gong Do-hyuk slipped his hand into his bosom and pulled something out.
His arm extended straight toward Ha Mu-baek.
He pressed the trigger with a hand infused with internal energy.
Click.
With the sound, the launcher of the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt spat out another iron sphere.
It was his last one, kept in reserve for emergencies.
Just as the iron sphere was about to explode and unleash a storm of flames...
Ha Mu-baek thrust out his left hand, where white energy shone clearly.
His left hand stopped the flames dead.
And the energy streams pouring from his hand devoured all the flames.
"Once is enough to get caught off guard."
If he had prepared properly and defended back then, he wouldn't have ended up like that.
He had been swept up in the sudden storm of flames from the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt and Ten Thousand Blood Thunder, pushing him to the brink of death.
He had blocked it hastily with energy summoned in ignorance of its power.
But now it was different.
He knew its power fully and had time to prepare.
And the result was unfolding before their eyes.
He spread his energy wide, completely containing the flames.
No matter how fiercely they raged within, that was all.
They had no effect whatsoever.
"H-How...?"
Gong Do-hyuk muttered, trembling uncontrollably.
To block the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt at such close range as if it were nothing.
It was a divine feat beyond belief, even seeing it with his own eyes.
The faces of the three surviving elders among the Five Elders were filled with shock.
The other two, who had been breathing raggedly, had been caught in the explosion's aftermath and breathed their last.
Wi Sang-hyeong also stared at Ha Mu-baek in disbelief.
What in the world was that monster?
Unscathed by the overlapping explosions of four Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolts, and now nullifying another with one hand.
For a moment, he even wondered if the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt was just some insignificant weapon.
The smile at the corner of Ha Mu-baek's mouth deepened.
Making it all the more eerie.
A terrifying smile.
Just looking at it felt like being dragged into the depths of Avici Hell.
As if the yakshas of hell were baring their fangs and grinning at them.
"I have a debt to collect from you, Gong Do-hyuk."
Ha Mu-baek slowly advanced.
There was no need to rush now.
Judging by how he had desperately pulled out and fired the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt moments ago, the bastard seemed to be out of tricks.
Step. Step.
His footsteps echoed loudly through the grand hall.
The stairs leading up to the high dais where the throne sat.
Ha Mu-baek ascended each step without haste.
In the meantime, Gong Do-hyuk's face had drained to a ghostly white. His body was soaked in cold sweat.
The confident demeanor from moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
Gong Do-hyuk was gradually being consumed by the terror of a monster beyond comprehension coming to kill him.
"You bastard!"
Wi Sang-hyeong was the first to snap out of his fear.
He drew his sword and hurled himself at Ha Mu-baek.
A futile act of defiance.
"Kahk!"
He was struck by Ha Mu-baek's casual swing of a fist and sent flying with a wretched scream.
Just one blow.
Yet his lower jaw was nearly shattered, twisting his face grotesquely.
"At least you picked one competent subordinate."
Ha Mu-baek glanced briefly at Wi Sang-hyeong and resumed climbing the stairs.
Soon enough.
About three feet.
Ha Mu-baek faced Gong Do-hyuk at that distance.
Gong Do-hyuk couldn't even meet his gaze.
"How about looking straight at me instead of averting your eyes?"
Even at Ha Mu-baek's words, Gong Do-hyuk couldn't lift his eyes.
"With your head bowed like that, it seems you've finally grasped your place."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled softly as he spoke.
"I nearly died because of you. It was the first time in my life I thought, 'This is it, I'm really going to die.' Yeah, the one who fired that Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt at me was that damn Third Elder."
Anger slowly rose in Ha Mu-baek's voice as he recalled that moment.
Even thinking back now, it infuriated him.
"But if you hadn't given that Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt to that Third Elder bastard, none of that would have happened."
His voice reached a chilling peak of rage.
"So I agonized over it. What to do with you. Probably starting from when Alliance Leader Gong asked if I'd come to the Myriad Things Alliance with him. Back then, I was this close to just killing you on the spot."
Gong Do-hyuk's body shuddered at Ha Mu-baek's killing intent-laden words.
"But I've changed my mind since coming here."
At those words, a faint glimmer of hope flickered in Gong Do-hyuk's eyes.
Forgetting entirely what he had done to Gong Mu-hyuk and Ha Mu-baek, now on the verge of death, he thought only of survival by any means.
Ha Mu-baek turned his head to look at Gong Mu-hyuk.
Gong Mu-hyuk understood the implication of that gaze.
"Do as your heart desires."
He left his brother's fate entirely to Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Just killing you would be too merciful. For a bastard who overlapped four of those demonic weapons to kill his own brother."
Before long, Ha Mu-baek's right hand, having sheathed his sword, turned red.
A phenomenon from concentrating on the Threefold True Flame.
The red hue shifted to yellow, then white, and finally emitted a blue light.
The immense heat distorted the surrounding air.
Gong Do-hyuk was the deputy leader of the Myriad Things Alliance.
It meant he knew the basics of smithing.
That's why, seeing that blue Threefold True Flame, his entire body trembled.
He knew all too well how scorching its heat was.
"W-With that, what are you...?"
Before he could finish.
Squelch.
Ha Mu-baek thrust his right hand straight into Gong Do-hyuk's dantian.
"Guh... eeeek."
The agony from the tremendous heat prevented even a proper scream.
As his eyes rolled back and he neared unconsciousness.
Ha Mu-baek withdrew his right hand and struck an acupoint with his left.
Gong Do-hyuk regained consciousness.
"Passing out that easily would ruin the fun. There's still plenty left."
Gong Do-hyuk couldn't even hear Ha Mu-baek's words.
"Kaaaaah! Aaaah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Aaaah!"
Screams laced with unrelenting pain erupted ceaselessly.
It was inevitable.
Ha Mu-baek hadn't merely destroyed his dantian.
He had compressed the Threefold True Flame to its utmost, incinerating it with the hottest heat he could produce.
The pain from that heat, the torment of his dantian being destroyed,
Plus the horrific burn from where Ha Mu-baek's hand had pierced his abdomen.
The acrid smell of his own searing flesh reached his nose.
Gong Do-hyuk could no longer maintain his sanity.
"Aaaah!"
The screams didn't stop.
Truly, it was pain so intense that simply dying seemed preferable.
'D-Dying... would be better. Yes. Dying...'
The moment that thought surfaced, Gong Do-hyuk raised his right hand.
He meant to gather what little internal energy remained and smash his own head.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"You think you can kill yourself without any internal energy?"
His dantian was destroyed.
All his internal energy throughout his body was gone.
Realizing this at Ha Mu-baek's words, Gong Do-hyuk frantically rummaged in his bosom while still screaming.
He had used the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt, but Ten Thousand Blood Thunders remained.
He had a few on him.
If he bit one and triggered it, he could die painlessly in an instant.
That was all he could think.
But Ha Mu-baek didn't allow it.
His right hand still blazed blue.
Slash.
A light flick of the fingertips.
"Kaaaaaaaah!"
Another massive scream burst forth.
He seared and severed the meridians in both shoulders and wrists.
Grotesque burns formed in an instant.
"Kaaaaah."
Gong Do-hyuk writhed, screaming, his body shaking violently.
With his meridians severed, he couldn't move his arms and could only thrash.
Wi Sang-hyeong squeezed his eyes shut and turned away at the sight.
It was too horrific to witness.
The three surviving elders, who had lost limbs but clung to life, felt the same.
Even Gong Mu-hyuk couldn't bear to look straight at it.
Only Ha Mu-baek watched Gong Do-hyuk with cold eyes.
"It's not over yet."
At those words, madness filled Gong Do-hyuk's eyes. He had lost his mind to extreme terror.
"Heeeek. Kaaaah."
Emitting a bizarre mix of surprise and screams, he turned to flee.
But he didn't get far before collapsing with a thud.
Unable to move his arms, he had lost his balance.
Ha Mu-baek approached slowly and seared the meridians in both ankles as well.
"Guuuuh. Kuh. Kuh."
His eyes rolled back completely white, foam dripping from his mouth.
Gong Do-hyuk passed out, unable to endure the pain.
This time, Ha Mu-baek didn't wake him.
He turned and descended the dais.
"Hic, hic."
Startled by his movement, Wi Sang-hyeong hiccupped repeatedly.
What madness had driven him to fight such a monster?
Even with his broken jaw barely functional, the hiccups wouldn't stop.
Ha Mu-baek ignored the terrified Wi Sang-hyeong entirely and approached Gong Mu-hyuk.
"Consider the debt fully paid."
Gong Mu-hyuk clasped his hands in a fist salute and bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
Only now did Ha Mu-baek approach Wi Sang-hyeong.
"Uh? Uuuuh. D-Don't come... Don't come..."
His shattered jaw garbled the words, but the meaning was clear enough.
Ha Mu-baek stared at Wi Sang-hyeong's face for a moment, then extended both hands.
Crack.
The broken jawbone remained as is, but he roughly reset the jaw joint.
"Aaaah!"
The pain from the brute-force adjustment made Wi Sang-hyeong scream.
"Tell everything you did to the alliance leader here."
As Gong Do-hyuk's closest confidant, he would know all the schemes Gong Do-hyuk used to seize control of the Myriad Things Alliance.
With that, it was time to restore the alliance to its original state.
Wi Sang-hyeong trembled violently, clutching his aching jaw, and spilled everything he knew.
Gong Mu-hyuk listened quietly to it all.
"Haa. Do-hyuk, Do-hyuk..."
He shook his head with a sigh full of lament.
He never imagined even the secret vault had been breached.
Then again, that must be how he obtained the five Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolts.
He had grown complacent, thinking the secret vault sealed by the Immortal Valley's spells.
Forgetting other methods might exist.
"For now, we should check that bastard Do-hyuk's room."
Gong Mu-hyuk led the way, with Ha Mu-baek following.
They entered Gong Do-hyuk's office.
Blueprints were scattered in disarray everywhere.
Gong Mu-hyuk examined them and nodded.
"These are the blueprints for the overlapping mechanism of the Ten Thousand Golden Chain Thunderbolt fired at us earlier."
Gong Do-hyuk was also the deputy leader of the Myriad Things Alliance.
He too was an excellent smith. He only seemed lacking compared to the genius Gong Mu-hyuk.
"Hm? What's this?"
Then something caught Ha Mu-baek's eye.
His eyes trembled fiercely.