Chapter 620
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 620
Chapter Title: Old Man Gongya, Long Time No See
That instant.
Gongya Harang's two eyes returned to normal.
The black energy that had dyed her eyes vanished.
From illusion back to substance—she had returned.
"Big brother. I'm Harang, your little sister. Big brother."
With the very voice she always used toward Gongya Jangcheon, Gongya Harang spoke those words.
She let her arms drop, the sword tip pointing toward the ground.
It was far too dramatic a change.
The blood that had just stained the blade from slashing Gongya Jangcheon's side now dripped from the tip to the floor.
And yet, here she was now, with that pitiful expression stirring his emotions.
Gongya Jangcheon's sword trembled faintly.
The internal energy he had gathered to cleave through the illusion remained loaded within.
Gongya Harang had revealed her true form.
Even so, Gongya Jangcheon couldn't move his sword.
"Damn demonic spawn..."
A mutter thick with rage spilled from Gongya Jangcheon's lips.
Thud.
The sword rolled across the ground.
He swung the trembling blade to strike at Gongya Harang.
But.
Its momentum had died.
"Big brother..."
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
With that gaze, Gongya Harang was asking Gongya Jangcheon.
Was he truly going to kill her with that sword?
She stared straight into his eyes.
Meeting that look, the corners of Gongya Jangcheon's eyes quivered.
In the end.
Gongya Jangcheon squeezed his eyes shut.
The sword still hurtled forward, radiating fierce energy, but with its momentum dead.
Gongya Harang easily dodged it.
And the blade tip, aimed at the ground, grazed Gongya Jangcheon's shin as it passed.
"Kuhk."
Gongya Jangcheon opened his eyes amid the searing pain.
His solid protective aura had been pierced.
The moment their eyes met.
Gongya Harang smiled sweetly.
It was a mocking sneer.
"You filthy monster bitch, how dare you..."
Gongya Jangcheon ground his teeth.
Fierce momentum surged once more.
He swung his sword.
It was a ferocious strike that seemed ready to bisect Gongya Harang in one go.
"B-big brother..."
The sneer vanished, replaced by the expression of Gongya Harang from their childhood.
Facing that, Gongya Jangcheon gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve.
But the sword wavered.
Seizing the opening, Gongya Harang slipped away.
Once his state of no-mind had shattered even briefly, Gongya Jangcheon struggled to regain it.
It was only natural, perhaps.
To reach that state, he had repeated it endlessly on his way here.
It was a condition forged through that much time and devotion.
He couldn't recover it easily.
Gongya Jangcheon knew better than anyone that this wouldn't do.
Clenching his teeth, he unleashed murderous intent and attacked the monster however he could.
But whenever the monster adopted Gongya Harang's childhood eyes and expression.
Gongya Jangcheon wavered without fail.
"My lord..."
The Blood Thunder Army watched Gongya Jangcheon with pity.
But they dared not intervene.
Gongya Harang was handling Gongya Jangcheon with truly cunning skill.
She turned to illusion to evade what she could, and for attacks she couldn't, she solidified and used Gongya Harang's face and expression to shake him.
In the process, she inflicted wounds on Gongya Jangcheon bit by bit.
Like getting soaked in a drizzle without realizing it.
The accumulating injuries were steadily becoming a burden on Gongya Jangcheon.
Even so, Gongya Jangcheon was still giving his all.
His eyes turned red.
Whether from his internal energy, rage-filled bloodshot veins, or tears of sorrow.
No one could tell.
Gongya Jangcheon's sword moved ceaselessly.
The Northern Hades Asura Soul-Severing Blade, targeting Gongya Harang from all directions, was a magnificent sight—but that was all.
Not a single attack landed properly on her.
In fact, only Gongya Jangcheon was taking the damage.
He was clearly overwhelming her, yet the wounds were his alone.
Empty assaults without substance.
And that was all because of the dark energy that had devoured Gongya Harang—its cunning nature.
"Big brother..."
Gongya Harang slashed at Gongya Jangcheon with a sorrowful gaze and lamenting voice, her blade brimming with killing intent.
"Hoo, hoo."
Gongya Jangcheon, breathing raggedly, let his momentum ebb.
"Hm? Giving up already?"
Gongya Harang's voice shifted in an instant.
Mingled within was mockery toward Gongya Jangcheon.
He released his left hand from the sword hilt and tapped acupoints on his face.
The Blood Thunder Army started at his sudden action.
But Gongya Jangcheon paid no heed to his surroundings.
He gripped the sword hilt again and closed his eyes.
"Right. I can't keep hesitating. Killing you is for Harang's sake. Harang is gone now."
A calm mutter.
He had sealed his hearing acupoints.
And closed his eyes.
Now, no matter what tricks the monster played in Gongya Harang's form, it would be useless.
He had thought of this method long ago.
But he had delayed acting on it due to a small desire to keep seeing his sister's face.
Once he slew the monster with his own hands, he would never see that sight again—so he wanted to gaze just a little longer, etch it into his memory.
Even if it was a falsehood fabricated by the monster using her appearance.
Even in rage at the monster exploiting his sister's body.
He had unwittingly taken in that sight.
Now, all hesitation was cast aside.
Tremendous energy erupted from Gongya Jangcheon's body once more.
The Northern Hades Asura Soul-Severing Blade revealed its true might and flew toward Gongya Harang again.
"Tch."
Gongya Harang clicked her tongue and blocked the storm of blades hurtling toward her from behind.
With his eyes closed, there was nothing more she could do with her face.
She had tampered with his ears too, so her voice was useless.
But with sight and hearing self-blocked, his movements had to slow.
Thinking that, Gongya Harang pressed forward aggressively—but she soon realized it was a miscalculation.
Gongya Jangcheon grasped her position and movements more precisely than with eyes or ears.
Sense of qi.
Thanks to that sensation honed over years.
Gongya Harang was instantly pushed into a defensive position.
Her clothes tore here and there under the sharp sword winds, wounds appearing on her skin.
Even a body that couldn't be easily harmed by aura—the dark blood iron corpse.
Wherever Gongya Jangcheon's sword winds swept, wounds formed without fail, oozing thick black energy.
'He's reading my presence.'
Realizing how Gongya Jangcheon was fighting, Gongya Harang swiftly changed tactics.
If he read presence, then erase it.
For an ordinary warrior, possible only at the utmost peaks of mastery—but simple for her.
Shing.
Gongya Jangcheon's sword cleaved empty air.
She had clearly been there moments ago, but now she was gone.
She had erased her substance once more, becoming illusion.
Now, the surroundings were shrouded in darkness.
Gongya Harang melted even more freely into the shadows, vanishing into illusion.
"Hmm. Not bad, old timer."
Atop a towering tree.
Ha Mu-baek stood at its peak, watching the fierce battle below.
He had arrived about fifteen minutes prior.
He had meant to jump in immediately but held back.
Gongya Jangcheon's repeated hesitations, unable to act fully.
It looked frustrating, but not to Ha Mu-baek.
Rather, it was heartbreaking, pitiable, sad.
He could guess why Gongya Jangcheon was acting this way.
To etch his little sister's face and voice into memory.
He felt that faint longing in his wavering.
So Ha Mu-baek waited without intervening.
Until Gongya Jangcheon was satisfied on his own.
And now.
Gongya Jangcheon had closed his eyes.
A sign that everything was over.
Even so, Ha Mu-baek watched a bit longer.
And then.
The moment Gongya Harang vanished into the darkness.
Ha Mu-baek lightly stomped his foot.
The tree swayed as his form shot forward.
Shuuung.
The sword cleaved empty air once more.
But Gongya Harang was startled.
She had become illusion, yet she felt a faint impact.
To a strike swung widely by swordplay without pinpointing her location.
In that split second when Gongya Harang's presence vanished.
Gongya Jangcheon realized she had discarded substance for illusion.
The method he chose was simple.
Focus on the Northern Hades Asura Soul-Severing Blade.
Gongya Jangcheon was utterly confident his swordsmanship was the world's finest.
It could rival Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong's Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade for the top spot.
Yet he claimed his Northern Hades Asura Soul-Severing Blade was the supreme sword of the world.
That was why he focused on his swordplay.
No matter where or how the illusory monster attacked, the Northern Hades Asura Soul-Severing Blade alone could unfold perfect offense and defense.
Kang! Kakakang! Kangkang!
As he thought, Gongya Harang unleashed relentless assaults with the Southern Hades Asura Hell Sword, but failed to breach Gongya Jangcheon's blade.
After the final form, his sword cycled back to the first.
That instant.
A change crossed Gongya Jangcheon's face.
Suddenly, a massive presence entered his sense of qi range.
It wasn't Gongya Harang materializing.
The presence was utterly different.
A presence that could instill fear in him instantly.
Few in the current world bore such aura.
Not even one hand's fingers could count them, with spares.
So Hwi-woong?
No.
No matter what, not this presence.
He might have grown in a few years, but so had Gongya Jangcheon.
No genius could widen such a gap in mere years.
Unless gorging on spirit medicines like Azure Spirit Oil or Millennium Snow Ginseng thrice daily.
Impossible.
Blood Cult Leader Gae Hong-cheon and Demonic Cult Leader Seok Won-cho remained, but they were long gone from this world.
Then only one remained.
'Ha Mu-baek!!!'
He had appeared here suddenly.
How?
Why?
Questions swirled in the abrupt situation.
The Northern Hades Asura Soul-Severing Blade continued sweeping all directions, holding its path.
Ha Mu-baek drew closer.
And then.
Srraack.
A slicing sound from somewhere.
Gongya Jangcheon didn't hear it.
Naturally.
He had sealed his own hearing.
But.
A presence suddenly appeared there and vanished.
Another presence that popped up out of nowhere and disappeared in an instant.
Only one being could do that.
The Blood Cult's monster.
It.
'How?'
He was as shocked as by Ha Mu-baek's sudden arrival.
In that fleeting moment of materialization, Gongya Jangcheon's sense of qi clearly felt it.
Gongya Harang had taken heavy damage.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Gongya Harang's irritated shout echoed from all directions.
Mingled with the darkness, resounding from every shadowed angle.
"Old man, long time no see."
Ignoring the shout, Ha Mu-baek spoke to Gongya Jangcheon.
But no reply came.
"Ah."
Ha Mu-baek realized from the reaction—he had sealed his hearing acupoints.
[Old man Gongya, long time no see.]
Ha Mu-baek's Radiant Light Telepathy resounded in Gongya Jangcheon's mind.
[Open your eyes now and unseal your hearing. I'll take over from here.]
A steady voice.
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Gongya Jangcheon reflexively opened his eyes.
He had sensed his arrival via qi, but actual telepathy was another matter.
"H-how...?"
The moment the question laden with doubts left Gongya Jangcheon's lips.
Srraack.
Ha Mu-baek's sword cleaved space again.
"Kuhk."
A groan escaped Gongya Harang.