Chapter 467
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 467
Chapter Title: Let's Go Back
After hurling a hundred and eight blood lances.
Dokgo Yapae gazed at Ha Mu-baek with a smug grin.
He imagined Ha Mu-baek being torn to shreds by the blood lances any moment now.
A sneer curled his lips at the sight of Ha Mu-baek casually raising his sword as if playing around.
As he swung his sword down.
Slash.
A faint sound echoed in his ears.
The noise of something being severed.
"Pathetic..."
The moment he muttered those words.
Dokgo Yapae felt it.
His body splitting cleanly in two.
The left and right halves of his body slowly parting.
Just as he was about to collapse from being bisected.
Crimson energy surged up and converged.
Quickly restoring him to his original form.
"Urk."
Dokgo Yapae let out a groan.
The sensation of his body being cleaved in half.
Was truly.
Infuriating.
A feeling he never wanted to experience again.
Yet here he was, revived just like that.
"How dare you damage the body of the Blood God!!!"
Terror turned to rage.
And he unleashed a tremendous surge of energy.
Ha Mu-baek's casual downward slash had obliterated all one hundred and eight blood lances.
So this time, his renewed blood energy formed three hundred of them.
The blood lances soon filled Ha Mu-baek's space densely and flew toward him.
Ha Mu-baek simply watched them approach without moving.
"Just like those guys after all."
The Heaven-Exterminating Corpses that regenerated even after being sliced apart.
The demonic art they called the Great Blood Method.
This one, who had devoured their inner cores, showed the same resilience.
He knew how to deal with it.
Just cut it into pieces too small to reassemble.
Or incinerate it until not even ash remained.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved once more.
Infinite Carefree Eight Severing Sword Waves.
Fifth form. Heaven Shatter.
A domineering slash true to its name of crushing the heavens.
It shattered not only the three hundred blood lances.
But pulverized even Dokgo Yapae into fragments.
An empty space.
Ha Mu-baek held his sword ready, vigilance unbroken.
He suspected it wouldn't die from being chopped up this much.
Whoosh.
Ten blood lances flew at his back.
As he lightly flicked his sword to destroy them all in an instant.
Thud!
Ha Mu-baek winced slightly at the impact on his abdomen.
Glancing down.
A child of four or five had buried its fist into his gut.
"Hee hee."
The child giggled sinisterly.
Lifting its head.
Its face belonged to Dokgo Yapae.
"Tch. Not a monster, just a demon."
Ha Mu-baek muttered.
At the same moment, two more children charged from left and right.
Dokgo Yapae again.
Ha Mu-baek retreated while swinging his arm, sending them tumbling back.
The one that had landed its punch on his abdomen kept pursuing and attacking.
The puncher had switched to stabbing with a blood lance.
As his swiftly swung sword deflected the lance.
A presence shot toward him from midair.
He thrust out his left hand, unleashing palm force.
Bang!
With a loud explosion, another Dokgo Yapae flew backward.
Ha Mu-baek furrowed his brow.
'No presence.'
It didn't register on his senses.
Only felt at the moment of attack.
That was why.
He'd allowed the first hit.
"Hee hee hee. You dodge better than expected. Face divine retribution."
Another Dokgo Yapae stood arrogantly, this one the size of a fifteen-year-old boy.
And it radiated intense energy.
This one drew Ha Mu-baek's attention while the hidden ones struck without warning.
An annoying tactic.
No, not one a human could use.
p>
A human, no matter how well they suppressed their presence.
Ha Mu-baek could detect it.
But this was a corpse puppet.
Detached body parts lurking without presence were no different from corpses.
So he hadn't sensed them.
Suddenly, five more leaped up.
They were knocked back by Ha Mu-baek's swinging sword.
Sliced to ribbons.
But crimson energy soon knit them back together.
The five merged into one.
A repulsive, horrifying sight.
Sixth form. World Extinguish.
The sword technique that had cleaved six Heaven-Exterminating Corpses in one go not long ago.
Unfolded from Ha Mu-baek's hand once more.
And slashslashslash!
It sliced apart every visible Dokgo Yapae.
Stab.
At that moment.
A blood lance pierced up through Ha Mu-baek's foot.
"Tch."
He grimaced.
Channeling inner energy into a stomping kick.
Thud.
The ground exploded.
"Hiding? No, camouflage?"
Perfectly assimilated with the earth, presence erased.
To the point he hadn't noticed even standing on it.
Ha Mu-baek stared impassively at the top of his left foot.
A small hole punctured through.
How long had it been since his last wound?
Since the Mancheon Geumsa Explosion, it felt like ages.
Such a minor injury.
"Kekeke. How's that? The wrath of the Blood God."
Dokgo Yapae, now the size of a young man, laughed as he raised his hand.
Innumerable blood lances formed at its tip.
"What bullshit. A coward who can only ambush from hiding."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled and raised his sword again.
Dokgo Yapae grinned back.
"Let's see how long you last. I'll make you lick the soles of my feet!"
With those words, blood lances shot forward.
Dokgo Yapae, who had launched them, kicked off the ground.
Countless blood lances sprouted from his body.
Like a porcupine bristling with spines.
Swinging his arms unleashed crimson energy akin to fist force.
Ha Mu-baek moved his sword.
As he slashed away all attacks and poised to counter.
Blood energy erupted from the ground all around, shooting toward him.
His sword danced again.
Thud! Thud thud!
In that gap, a small Dokgo Yapae rising from the earth struck Ha Mu-baek.
The protective energy enveloping Ha Mu-baek's body glowed faintly white, blocking the attack.
His sword then swept through the surroundings.
Slash. Swish.
Cleaving everything in a single stroke.
Boom!
And the young man-sized Dokgo Yapae blocked Ha Mu-baek's sword with blood energy.
'Annoying bastard.'
No telling where or how many were hidden.
Though absorbing hidden fragments had enlarged him somewhat.
Even that could be a demon's trick.
A being that could split its body so freely.
Could likely control its size at will too.
"Kekeke. Grovel flat on the ground!!!"
Once more, blood lances shot up from the ground everywhere.
Ha Mu-baek raised his left hand and swung.
In that instant.
Icy energy poured from his hand.
The blood lances flying at him all froze and plummeted.
And the ice didn't stop.
It spread in a vast circle centered on Ha Mu-baek.
Crackle.
With a deafening roar, the world froze over.
"Urk."
Dokgo Yapae gritted his teeth and summoned his energy.
His blood energy resisted the ice.
Everything froze except his main body, straining at full power.
A ten-zhang radius around Ha Mu-baek locked in ice.
Even Dokgo Yapae's main body, resisting with blood energy, frosted over white.
Now he finally understood.
The six Heaven-Exterminating Corpses whose inner cores he had devoured.
Why they had become ice blocks.
"Unless it's the energy of the Millennium Ice Essence, how could this..."
Dokgo Yapae's voice trembled faintly.
"N-No, impossible. The Millennium Ice Essence slumbers somewhere in the North Sea, a divine relic. No mere human, not even a god like me, could wield its power..."
Dokgo Yapae denied the reality before him.
But.
Averting his eyes wouldn't change it.
The immense icy energy still pressed on his entire body.
"Eek..."
Dokgo Yapae clenched his teeth until they threatened to shatter.
And finally.
"Raaargh!!!"
With a monstrous roar, he erupted his full power.
Then.
Crack. Crack.
Fissures spiderwebbed across the frozen ground, shattering it.
Thirty in total.
He had hidden thirty more fragments.
Whoosh! Swoosh!
The revealed fragments flew swiftly to merge with his main body.
His size grew larger still.
Dokgo Yapae now stood nearly nine cheok tall (about 2.7 meters).
Utterly unlike his initial form.
His appearance warped too.
Mouth tearing into a wide gash.
Fangs protruding viciously.
Eyes blazing blood-red.
As Ha Mu-baek had said, a true demon's visage.
"See? A demon."
Ha Mu-baek muttered at the sight.
'Not yet.'
He clearly remembered the presence when he first encountered this thing.
Compared to then, this main body's energy still felt lacking somehow.
Meaning.
Still hiding fragments.
The colossal Dokgo Yapae, radiating ominous energy wildly, now withstood the ice.
Even starting to form blood lances from his body.
Ha Mu-baek eyed him steadily, then.
"Time to drag out all the hidden ones."
Said that.
Gripped his sword in reverse and slammed it into the ground.
"Explode."
With one word.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!
An earthquake struck.
All the ice-bound earth cracked and burst apart.
"Urk."
Dokgo Yapae kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
He stared in shock at the devastation Ha Mu-baek had wrought.
"How could a mere human..."
Dokgo Yapae muttered in disbelief at the scene.
The massive energy explosion had erased his prepared blood lances.
But Ha Mu-baek's ice had vanished too.
Roar.
At that moment.
Scarlet flames blazed from Ha Mu-baek's raised right hand.
"Burn."
A casual sweep.
And hellfire unfolded.
As if to incinerate the entire land.
Crimson flames danced madly.
The ferocious heat scorched even the earth to melt.
"Th-This, this, eek..."
At the impossible sight.
Dokgo Yapae's already grotesque face twisted in demonic fury.
"You damned bastard..."
Ten more fragments rose from the flames.
Charred pitch-black all over.
A little longer in the fire.
And they would have crumbled to ash.
Absorbing even those, Dokgo Yapae became a demon incarnate.
He gathered all his blood energy into one point.
Aimed solely at Ha Mu-baek.
That accursed bastard.
Leaving only a handful of vitality.
He amassed every ounce of power.
From the inner cores of countless corpse puppets.
From the Heaven-Exterminating Corpses.
After unleashing it all.
He would revert.
No longer the Blood God.
Just a cursed corpse puppet.
That was fine.
He already knew how to become the Blood God.
The Heaven-Exterminating Corpses were gone, but.
Something greater remained—one last one.
That energy deep underground in the Blood Cult's main headquarters.
Dokgo Yapae remembered it.
Believing there was still a next step.
He could pour everything out.
Thus formed.
A pitch-black crimson orb.
Blood Energy Orb.
It pierced the raging flames straight for Ha Mu-baek.
"Diiiie!!!"
Backed by a scream indistinguishable from a death cry, it flew.
No different from a dragon's final inner core blast.
Ha Mu-baek sensed the colossal energy hurtling at him.
All that demon's power packed into it.
He yanked his sword from the ground.
Raised it overhead.
Pouring his entire energy into the blade.
The sword technique that had shattered the world of his mind.
Ha Mu-baek loaded all his power onto the sword.
And brought it down.
Ninth form. Abyss.
For the first time.
Not in the mental realm.
But manifesting in reality.
Slash.
A light sound rang out.
And crumble crumble crumble.
Everything along the sword's path.
Began disintegrating into fragments.
The Blood Energy Orb charging with terrifying momentum.
The blood energy seeping around it.
And even.
The demonized Dokgo Yapae.
All slowly crumbled away.
"H-How..."
Dokgo Yapae could feel it.
All his power futilely disintegrating.
His face twisted in disbelief as he glared at Ha Mu-baek, then he scattered as dust.
"Hoo..."
Ha Mu-baek let out a deep sigh.
He stared at the now-empty space.
Hard to believe the terrifying Dokgo Yapae had been there moments ago.
Vanished without a trace.
"Is this one finally done?"
Muttering that, Ha Mu-baek lightly tossed his sword.
Whish!
In an instant.
The sword flew via Spirit Sword Control to a spot twenty zhang behind Ha Mu-baek.
Straight into the ground.
"Gah."
A groan rose from the earth.
Dokgo Yapae's final fragment, perfectly blended with the soil.
Slowly revealed itself.
"H-How..."
It had hidden with perfect presence erasure.
"Your main body leaked faint energy."
The moment the main body perished to Ha Mu-baek's Abyss.
This fragment, hidden far away for emergencies, became the new main body.
And emitted faint energy.
Ha Mu-baek's senses hadn't missed it.
"Perish."
With Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
Flames erupted from the sword.
"Raaargh!"
The final fragment's scream faded into the fire.
Not even ash left behind.
Utterly annihilated.
"Hoo..."
Ha Mu-baek sighed deeply.
A tougher fight than expected.
After unleashing Abyss.
If the poured-out energy hadn't replenished.
He might not have finished it.
Three-tenths quickly filled his dantian.
Allowing him to crush the final gambit.
"Time to go back."
Someone was waiting anxiously for him.