Chapter 474
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 474
Chapter Title: I'm Sorry
The four Blood Cult Elders charging toward Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek.
They locked eyes with him.
In that instant.
They flinched.
Their instincts screamed for them to stop.
But they knew that halting now would leave them neither dead nor alive.
So they gritted their teeth.
Overcame their instincts and swung their weapons to the very end.
Kwaaaang!!!
A massive explosion erupted.
It struck Ha Mu-baek squarely as he lay on the ground.
However.
The four of them widened their eyes at the sight before them.
Ha Mu-baek was still lying there, gazing up at them.
But.
Their weapons had stopped dead an inch above his body, unable to advance further.
"P-Protective Aura...?"
The Eighth Elder muttered in disbelief.
Ha Mu-baek slowly rose to his feet.
He grinned at the four of them.
"Long time no see, huh? Good to see you all. Fuck."
A curse laden with all his pent-up emotions spilled from Ha Mu-baek's lips.
At that single word, the four trembled.
Without realizing it, they stumbled back.
It was the instinct of prey encountering a predator.
This time, they couldn't overcome their instincts.
"Last time, I took care of that Tenth Elder bastard. You four are the last ones left, right?"
Ha Mu-baek asked them.
But no answer came.
It couldn't.
Under the overwhelming pressure radiating from Ha Mu-baek.
They were frozen solid.
The internal energy Ha Mu-baek had recovered amounted to about twenty percent of his total.
That made sense— in just over a single incense stick's worth of time, even for him, there were limits to recovery.
Still, it was more than enough to dominate these foes.
And the single burst of Protective Aura that had blocked their combined assault.
That was the extent of it.
If an actual battle broke out with these four.
It could turn into a fairly tough fight.
Which was why.
Ha Mu-baek wore an even more relaxed expression.
What he needed right now was time.
"H-How... how can this be?"
The First Elder muttered in disbelief.
"A-After fighting the Supreme Cult Leader, he still has this much power left? Impossible!"
The Third Elder stomped the ground.
Rebelling frantically against the terrifying energy binding him, he swung his blade.
Kang!
It was blocked by the Protective Aura once more.
"Hm?"
A glint entered the Eighth Elder's eyes.
The Protective Aura, which had been utterly unyielding moments ago.
Now trembled slightly under the Third Elder's strike.
'Wait. That guy. It's Ha Mu-baek.'
And then, a sudden realization dawned.
'Why the hell is he acting like that?'
A question followed.
The Ha Mu-baek he knew.
If they were standing before him, he would've drawn his sword and gone straight for their throats.
The Ninth Elder had died by that bastard's hand just like that.
Yet here he was, exuding fearsome pressure while merely watching them?
And now the Protective Aura was wavering?
"Fuck. Stop bluffing!"
The Eighth Elder, having pieced it all together, unleashed his sword aura and charged at Ha Mu-baek.
"E-Eighth Brother!"
The other three cried out in alarm.
Kang!
His sword was halted by the Protective Aura.
But the Eighth Elder swung relentlessly.
At his shout, at his actions.
The Third Elder realized Ha Mu-baek's current state and swung his blade again.
As the two weapons hammered at Ha Mu-baek's Protective Aura.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved.
Like swatting an annoying fly.
Kakakang!
The Eighth and Third Elders flew backward.
"Kuhk."
The Eighth Elder rose, fire blazing in his eyes, and charged at Ha Mu-baek again.
The Third Elder did the same.
"Eighth Brother!"
The First Elder cried out in shock.
"This is our chance! The bastard's all tapped out right now!"
The Eighth Elder shouted in frustration and swung his sword.
At those words.
The Sixth Elder also stomped the ground.
It looked that way to him too.
But only the First Elder hesitated.
'Even this could be that guy's ploy...'
He'd suffered too much at Ha Mu-baek's hands.
He couldn't bring himself to move easily.
That guy lying on the ground at first.
He'd seemed completely drained, yet he'd blocked their attacks with that monstrous Protective Aura.
So.
Even this current display.
It looked like another of Ha Mu-baek's traps.
That was why the First Elder, unlike his brothers, couldn't act rashly.
Ha Mu-baek parried the three's combined assault with his sword.
The Blood Cult Ten Elders.
The title given to the ten strongest in the Blood Cult.
Because they were the strongest.
They had risen to the rank of Guardians.
Among them, the First Elder possessed the special ability of corpse manipulation.
But the other nine were different.
The Sixth Elder merely had deep knowledge of poisons.
Pusuk.
Powder scattered in the air.
Unaware that Ha Mu-baek was immune to all poisons.
The Sixth Elder had unleashed his toxin.
They were desperate now.
Feeling this was their last chance to eliminate Ha Mu-baek.
It was a fierce exchange.
Time flew by in an instant.
About half an incense stick.
In that time, Ha Mu-baek recovered his energy at a rapid pace.
From twenty percent to thirty.
'This should be enough.'
Ha Mu-baek grinned.
A chilling smile.
The First Elder shouted urgently.
"D-Dodge!!!"
Seokeuk.
However.
Ha Mu-baek's sword flashed out in a single stroke.
In that one move.
Puhahahaak!
Blood fountained from the three men's chests.
"Tch. Too shallow."
He'd aimed to cleave them in half.
But it ended at slicing across their chests.
However.
That alone was fatal.
The three stared at Ha Mu-baek with eyes of disbelief as they staggered and collapsed.
"Y-Y-You... as expected..."
The First Elder trembled from head to toe.
Ha Mu-baek turned to him.
"First Elder. You're still overthinking everything, just like always. Well, that's probably why you've survived until the end."
"Th-This... fuck."
The First Elder poured energy into his blade.
Crimson sword aura flared up.
He leaped at Ha Mu-baek with his blade aura blazing.
Puk.
Ha Mu-baek unleashed Soul Shackle.
In that single technique, his heart was pierced.
"Th-This... can't be..."
Eyes filled with resentment.
All his deeds flashed before him like a panorama.
"Th-The... Bl-Blood Cult..."
Seokeuk.
Ha Mu-baek's sword followed, severing his head.
Tuk.
A futile death.
Ha Mu-baek scanned his surroundings.
The three with gashed chests were already dead.
"Just in case."
Flames erupted from Ha Mu-baek's hand.
The fire flew toward the four corpses and blazed fiercely,
beginning to incinerate them.
"Only that spot left."
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned to the entrance from which they had emerged.
He shifted his eyes.
There, Wi Ji-gun's figure was racing toward him at full speed.
Behind him, Han Seol-bing and Ha Seol-ran.
And even the Namgung siblings among the seven squad disciples.
A smile returned to Ha Mu-baek's face.
Utterly different from the one he'd worn against the Blood Cult Elders moments ago.
"Are you alright?"
Wi Ji-gun's eyes flicked to the four spots where flames still flickered.
"You're a bit late. Sorry about that."
At Wi Ji-gun's words.
"No, Master. I'm fine."
Ha Mu-baek replied with a calm expression.
"Big brother!!"
At that moment, Ha Seol-ran flung herself into Ha Mu-baek's arms in a panic.
This was already the umpteenth time in these past few days.
For Ha Seol-ran.
Truly.
These few days had felt like years.
Her heart had clenched in anxiety countless times.
Buried in her brother's chest, Ha Seol-ran listened to his heartbeat and
finally calmed her own trembling heart.
She hadn't known.
While treating her illness back at Cheongran Island.
She hadn't known what kind of hell her brother was enduring.
Back then, just healing her own body had been excruciatingly painful.
But now.
Learning even a fraction of it.
It filled her with such pity and sorrow.
Why had her brother chosen to wade through this infernal path?
She knew the reason.
Revenge.
For a time she couldn't remember.
The brutal murder of their parents.
Revenge for that.
"Big brother. Can't you stop now?"
Ha Seol-ran blurted it out without thinking.
Emotions surging in her chest had spilled forth.
Ha Mu-baek gently stroked his sister's head.
What was happening now wasn't entirely by Ha Mu-baek's choice.
Old grudges had carried over from the past,
and events were unfolding beyond his control.
Of course, the origin of those grudges lay with the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
Had it not been for them.
Ha Mu-baek would likely be living a simple life now, farming and hunting in a remote mountain village.
On the other hand.
If he thought differently.
His sister Ha Seol-ran in his arms.
She.
Might not have had her blocked meridians healed...
No.
That's unknowable.
No one can predict the twists of fate.
No need to dwell on unpassed histories.
Just live in the present.
"S-Sorry."
Ha Seol-ran quickly composed herself and pulled away from his embrace.
"I'm sorry. For making you worry."
At Ha Mu-baek's serene words.
Ha Seol-ran bowed her head deeply.
This wasn't the side of her brother she wanted to see.
"Is it all over now?"
Han Seol-bing interjected.
Her eyes were on a peculiarly shaped blade lying on the ground.
An aberrant saber.
Among the Blood Cult Ten Elders, only the Third Elder, Blood Ghost Blade, used such a weapon.
Han Seol-bing could never forget it.
It was the blade that had carved the deepest scar among those on her back.
She glanced at the four dying flames.
In the previous war, the Righteous Heaven Alliance had confirmed five dead among the Blood Cult Ten Elders.
That left five survivors.
With the Third Elder's aberrant saber here, those were likely the four survivors.
And Ha Mu-baek had previously dealt with the Tenth Elder, Do Mun-wi.
All Blood Cult Ten Elders were dead.
"Not yet. That place."
Ha Mu-baek pointed to one spot.
A passage leading underground yawned wide.
Han Seol-bing's gaze followed.
"Is that the last one?"
"Who knows. They're like cockroaches... could be hiding anywhere else. But at least in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, it's the last."
At his words.
All eyes gathered there converged on that spot.
Then turned back to Ha Mu-baek.
"Then hurry up and go finish it."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled at Han Seol-bing's words.
"Gonna circulate my energy first."
In this situation of endless battles after pouring out his energy to the limit.
He couldn't recall the last time.
Only during the war's peak had he faced such chaos.
Having endured even that inferno.
Ha Mu-baek calmly sat cross-legged and entered meditation.
Those gathered around him encircled Ha Mu-baek.
No threats remained here.
Yet they stood guard like protectors.
Over these three days.
Out of respect for what he had accomplished.
Wuuung.
The ground rumbled.
In the darkness.
Deeply immersed, Gae Sae-ak tilted his head.
This was the first such reaction since entering this place.
'What is it?'
His focus broke for a moment.
The surrounding earth enveloped Gae Sae-ak.
And then.
Kwakwakwang!
A massive roar echoed.
Hududuk.
Something collapsed.
Though his eyes were closed.
He knew.
The passage he'd entered.
The one he'd descended deeper into—it had caved in.
Why on earth.
Had this happened so suddenly?
The question arose, but soon irritation followed.
His blissful immersion, merging with the darkness to gain power.
It had shattered.
He sank back into focus.
The outside world held no relevance to him.
He only wanted more power here.
Stronger power.
He delved deep into the darkness once more.
And Gae Sae-ak did not break his concentration again.
Thus, he didn't notice.
The earth surrounding him, still for so long after.
From some point.
Slowly sank downward, deeper and deeper.
As it submerged far into the depths.
The ambient energy gathered, then gradually faded thin.
As if fleeing and hiding from something.