Chapter 452
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 452
Chapter Title: Is That Eight Stars?
The dawn at the Demon-Sealing Corps base buzzed with frantic activity.
The Earth Star Demon had only briefly shown his face before vanishing again.
Yang Bichang moved about ceaselessly.
It was because he planned to conduct the training exercise while handling other matters simultaneously.
'Even if the zombies have disappeared, we don't know where they're hiding. We need to expand the search radius as much as possible.'
It was clearly a high-risk plan to carry out with trainees in tow.
Even so, the time had come to proceed.
They couldn't keep putting it off forever.
'And now the Alliance Leader is here.'
Moreover, with So Hwi-woong clearly displeased with the Demon-Sealing Corps.
They had to show they were doing something.
And so the decision was made.
'I'll go myself.'
Yang Bichang resolved to take action personally.
Thus, after finishing reorganization at dawn,
the Demon-Sealing Corps and Dragon Training Pavilion trainees entered the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
It was an all-out effort, leaving only the bare minimum personnel at the main base.
A three-day search of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest lay ahead.
Do Sim-geuk watched with a dissatisfied expression as they headed into the forest.
'All this because of...'
The Alliance Leader.
His sudden visit.
He had planned to quietly monitor the situation and move again once the new zombie crisis subsided.
With everyone gone,
silence settled over the Demon-Sealing Corps base.
The minimal staff left behind by Yang Bichang.
All of them were Do Sim-geuk's trusted subordinates.
He ordered them to guard the perimeter and headed to a remote tent at the rear of the base.
It was where the results from his time in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest were stored.
One among many tents piled high with supplies.
A place no one would scrutinize.
He flung open the entrance and stepped inside, where countless crates were neatly arranged.
'I need to deal with this quickly.'
Judging by So Hwi-woong's hostile demeanor,
he might personally conduct an inspection of the Demon-Sealing Corps.
Just the mention of the Vermilion Bird's Northern Sky was proof enough.
This spot absolutely could not be discovered.
Even after So Hwi-woong departed for the forest, the squad members' eyes were a problem.
He hadn't expected the junior instructor to be this helpful.
To think he'd scrape together every last member of the Demon-Sealing Corps and plunge into the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Do Sim-geuk gathered small crates marked with subtle indicators from among the many.
Markers that anyone unfamiliar would dismiss as mere scratches.
'They won't notice unless they open every one, but better safe than sorry.'
In this way, Do Sim-geuk successfully retrieved all the zombie inner cores he had collected here and transported them to a secret location.
At that moment,
the Demon-Sealing Corps and trainees were splitting into five groups to enter the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Yang Bichang was moving along the second western route.
It was closest to where that special specimen had appeared, after all.
So he decided to handle it personally.
The situation had deviated from the original training plan,
but none of the Dragon Training Pavilion instructors raised objections.
They judged this approach to be safer.
"It's awfully quiet."
Namgung Hu muttered.
The zombies of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest really seemed to have vanished.
Unlike the eerie atmosphere of the gloomy forest, it was deathly still.
The occasional encounters were just herb gatherers.
"Coming all the way in here to pick herbs... is that brave or just foolish?"
Someone's faint mutter reached their ears.
"It just shows how desperate the situation is."
Namgung Hu stated calmly on his own.
In the meantime,
a couple of death zombies appeared,
but the combined forces of the Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps dispatched them swiftly.
It ended so anticlimactically and quickly that
some trainees hadn't even gotten a proper look.
"The shields..."
Namgung Ji-yu watched the scene intently.
The shields introduced by Instructor Jegal Myeong were proving useful even in real combat.
She had already experienced and confirmed their utility firsthand some time ago.
During the Summer Combat Festival in her first year.
They smoothly scoured the western region without major incident.
A day passed,
and their night camp inside the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest passed uneventfully as well.
They pressed on, probing deeper and deeper into the forest.
"Tch."
Manya-do clicked his tongue.
Things weren't going according to plan.
It had already been a day since entering the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
They had even camped inside once more, rather than outside the walls.
Yet,
the situation he anticipated hadn't materialized.
They had encountered only three death zombies so far,
and these Fierce Dragon Corps kids handled them with perfect coordination.
Even in his eyes, their movements were impeccable.
No, even his own Demon-Sealing Corps squadmates wouldn't have managed it so cleanly against death zombies.
'What the hell are these guys?'
Just moments ago, they had cleanly eliminated another death zombie that burst out unexpectedly.
The unexpectedly quiet Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest and the unforeseen strength of the Fierce Dragon Corps.
Because of those two factors,
Manya-do's plan seemed utterly ruined.
"Setlan was right, but... how did the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest end up like this?"
Dang Jin-san muttered in bewilderment.
Ha Seol-ran's gaze flicked toward Manya-do in the distance before returning.
It was an unpleasant stare he'd felt constantly for the past two days,
but aside from that, there was no other action, so there was nothing to do about it.
He was a superior, after all.
"I don't know. I can't sense any zombie presences anywhere."
Ever since entering the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, she had focused her senses,
but the results were always the same.
No matter how widely she extended her aura detection,
no zombies registered.
Instead,
"There's an incredibly powerful energy that way. Quite a few people gathered there too."
At Ha Seol-ran's words directed at Dang Jin-san, the group's eyes turned in that direction.
"Isn't that the direction we're supposed to head next?"
"Yeah."
Ha Seol-ran nodded at Baek Ri-pyeong's question.
"What's going on here?"
Dang Jin-san muttered in confusion.
On the surface,
it seemed good for them,
but he didn't think the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest was that kind of place.
If it were, their monstrous instructor wouldn't have driven them so hard.
"Come to think of it, where's the instructor?"
At Yeon Ha-min's musing, the same question arose on everyone's faces.
Surely,
on the day of the graduation ceremony,
they hadn't expected him not to show.
Honestly,
it would be a lie to say they weren't a little disappointed.
The Seventh Squad cadets averted their eyes from Ha Seol-ran.
She was probably the most disappointed of all.
"Hm?"
So Hwi-woong's eyebrow twitched.
"What's wrong, Alliance Leader?"
At Dam Mu-hun's question,
"A fair number of people have entered the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. From the north and west. Was there a plan for this?"
he tilted his head.
The Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest was currently in an extremely dangerous state.
Even if the zombies had vanished,
Extinction Heaven Zombie.
No one knew when or where that thing might appear suddenly.
Yet hordes of people were pouring into the forest.
Dam Mu-hun counted the days at those words.
"It seems around when the Dragon Training Pavilion trainees arrived."
So Hwi-woong immediately frowned.
'I should have warned them to delay deploying the trainees...'
He hadn't expected them to move this quickly.
"They probably saw the forest is quiet now and decided to seize the chance to finish the training as fast as possible."
Dam Mu-hun's speculation made sense.
However, it was an action born of knowing one side but not the other.
They didn't realize the current stillness in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest was the calm before the storm.
"What about that group?"
The western direction.
The west side of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
If a group was coming from there,
it could only be from the Dragon Training Pavilion.
The trainees were entering from the main base.
Anyone else from the Dragon Training Pavilion heading into the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest at this time...
"Likely the Fierce Dragon Corps."
It was absurd.
For those who hadn't even finished reorganization upon arriving at the Demon-Sealing Corps base to plunge into the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
"Not a normal situation, then."
"Yes. Seems like the squad leader in charge is acting on his own."
The one dispatched from the Demon-Sealing Corps to escort the Fierce Dragon Corps had left for the Dragon Training Pavilion before So Hwi-woong's arrival, so he was oblivious to the current state of affairs at the base.
That's why he could casually pull off this madness.
"Probably using the quiet forest as an excuse."
His head throbbed.
"Still, since Instructor Ha personally trained the Fierce Dragon Corps, they might be different."
Dam Mu-hun tried to highlight the positives,
but
"If the Extinction Heaven Zombie shows up, it won't matter."
Dam Mu-hun had no reply to So Hwi-woong's stern words.
It was plain fact.
No, even a single Dark Blood Zombie would scatter the Fierce Dragon Corps to the winds.
Chu Geum-neung sought out Il-no once more.
The reason was simple.
The Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest was now teeming with people.
His words about needing to capture strong ones still held true,
and plenty of suitable targets were now detectable.
Among them,
the presence of truly powerful ones as well.
"Plenty of humans to capture now."
"Yes, Divine Demon Protector."
Il-no readily admitted it.
"Then?"
"An extremely strong one has entered as well. Do you think it's feasible?"
At Il-no's question,
a smirk.
Chu Geum-neung let out a derisive chuckle.
A faint anger settled on his face.
"I, who became Divine Demon Protector to guard the cult. You think I can't handle one such bastard just because he's strong? I'll make him kneel here."
Il-no nodded at the sight and replied.
"My apologies. I spoke out of turn."
Chu Geum-neung quelled his anger at Il-no's response.
"Just set out now. I'll release the zombies too."
The time was ripe.
He had been about to urge Chu Geum-neung to mobilize, and here he was, coming of his own accord.
Soon, another Divine Demon Protector would open his eyes.
Then one after another.
If they kept sending them out,
they could sweep away every moth that entered the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
'Righteous Heaven Alliance. I'll dry up their seed. Turn the Leader and his confidants into zombies and strike Luoyang.'
A grand scheme blending vengeance and ambition burned in his chest.
The only obstacle was Ha Mu-baek.
However,
the cult leader's zombification was accelerating.
They had passed the most critical phase.
Confidence lit Il-no's face.
With that tingling power faintly emanating from the cult leader, whose zombification was still progressing,
with this level of preparation,
even that bastard Ha Mu-baek would be powerless.
"Understood."
Chu Geum-neung moved out.
Il-no watched him go, a confident smile curling his lips.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Behind Chu Geum-neung, who ascended from the deep underground to the surface,
zombies that had been lurking somewhere below began emerging one after another.
Only the moonlight pierced the dark night sky.
The moment a drop of sweat fell onto the sword,
it shattered into scattering droplets.
The sword moved without pause,
running every predetermined path before finally returning to its starting point and stopping.
"Hoo."
A deep breath escaped Ha Mu-baek's lips.
"Good."
His eyes gleamed.
Eight stars.
He had reached this level before he knew it.
Unfurling the Infinite Free Eight Severing Sword Wave at eight-star proficiency posed no issue.
No, it even felt like he could manage nine stars.
At this point,
'I've finally regained all my previous strength.'
Before entering the ancestral hall.
He had now returned to that same realm of power.
Han Seol-bing stared blankly at the sight.
She had been immersed in her own training,
but Ha Mu-baek's radiating aura shattered her focus, drawing her eyes to him.
There was no harmony in the movements.
Not even a hint of sword wind.
Just smooth, seamless motion.
Yet she could feel the immense force contained within.
That's why she couldn't concentrate on her training.
If that sword's force met an opponent at any point and erupted,
she couldn't even imagine the result.
The awe-inspiring prowess Ha Mu-baek had displayed at the Ice Heaven Palace
seemed almost laughable in comparison.
'Is that eight stars?'
Recalling Ha Mu-baek's words from just before they began training, Han Seol-bing had no idea what expression to make.
He had said his body's balance had been disrupted by recent insights and growth,
that he was training to correct it,
and that he was now getting accustomed to the eight-star stage.
Seeing that satisfied smile now, he seemed fully adapted even to eight stars.
No matter how she thought about it,
that insane power being "eight stars"?
'What in the world is the twelfth star, the pinnacle...?'
Such a question suddenly arose,
but she didn't even want to imagine the answer.
It felt like it might truly be capable of erasing the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest from existence.