Chapter 666
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 666
Chapter Title: Now, You Protect It
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Yeon Baek-u drew his sword.
Black energy surged forth, forming demonic qi into gang energy.
It was demonic gang qi.
"So you've been in league with the Demonic Cult all this time. And you hid your demonic qi remarkably well."
Ha Mu-baek said with a newfound look of realization.
Now, his qi sense could detect even the faintest trace of demonic qi, yet this time he truly hadn't noticed.
It was only when Yeon Baek-u circulated his inner energy that he finally sensed the traces of demonic arts in his dantian.
"Die, all of you!"
Yeon Baek-u's sword headed straight for Yeon Baek-pung first.
His own brother, whose dantian had been shattered, leaving him aged and frail.
He aimed to sever his head first, but—
Clang!
Ha Mu-baek's white gang qi blocked his blade.
"This bastard can't die that easily."
Ha Mu-baek spoke calmly as he thrust his sword toward Yeon Baek-u, but Yeon Baek-u retreated with all his might.
Ha Mu-baek furrowed his brow.
Not only was the movement incredibly swift, but it was also a familiar lightness skill.
It was the lightness skill used by that Demonic Cult bastard called Mu-pung.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes grew colder and colder.
Mastering the Demonic Cult's fastest lightness skill meant a deep connection and high rank within their ranks.
Thinking of what this scum must have done for the Demonic Cult over the long years filled him with boiling rage.
He must have lurked on their side even during that horrific past war.
Several battles against the Yeon Clan where they had suffered defeats came to mind.
Ones where the reasons for defeat couldn't be pinpointed, dismissed as mere bad luck.
A few of those were undoubtedly this bastard's doing.
Ha Mu-baek's form shot forward.
This was a man too valuable to kill in one stroke.
A scum who deserved to be tortured in every way imaginable before being torn apart.
Yet Ha Mu-baek chose to end him with a single sword strike.
He was a crafty infiltrator over long years.
And clever to boot.
With such a foe, you never knew what tricks he might pull, so he had to be slain in one go when the chance arose.
And so.
Infinite Yi's Eightfold Severing Sword Art.
Dan-ha.
The moment he unfolded it—
Yeon Baek-u moved first.
The bastard had sharp instincts.
He unleashed demonic gang qi toward where Jin Na-yeon lay.
It was the fifth form of the early stage of Wall Demon Heavenly Flower Sword, infused with demonic qi.
Countless strands of demonic gang qi flew toward the bed.
Saving Jin Na-yeon came first.
Yeon Gong-hu was desperately leaping to protect his mother, but he was too slow.
And too weak.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved.
The demonic gang qi hurtling to devastate Jin Na-yeon's bed was sliced apart in an instant.
Dan-ha had been unleashed.
Ha Mu-baek's sword didn't stop there.
Dan-ha flowed seamlessly, slashing toward Yeon Baek-u's chest.
Even as the bastard desperately unleashed his lightness skill to retreat.
He caught up regardless.
But Ha Mu-baek furrowed his brow.
It should have cleaved his chest cleanly, yet the sensation at his sword tip felt off.
Between the torn fabric of his robes, something black gleamed.
"Tiger Heart Armor, huh..."
Ha Mu-baek muttered upon identifying it.
And it wasn't ordinary Tiger Heart Armor.
Though the margin had been razor-thin, it had withstood Ha Mu-baek's sword, which should have cut through it easily.
No ordinary item.
"A spare life is essential. Heh heh."
Yeon Baek-u chuckled as he swung his sword again.
Ha Mu-baek positioned himself in front of Jin Na-yeon.
Yeon Baek-u's sword targeted Yeon Ha-min, Yeon Gong-hu, Yeon Baek-pung, and Jin Na-yeon all at once.
"Hmph."
Using an external object to save his skin once was enough.
Infinite Yi's Eightfold Severing Sword Art.
Sam-jeol Bun-rae.
Splitting thunderbolts scattered in all directions.
Not only the gang qi aimed at the others, but his sword arced toward Yeon Baek-u's neck as well.
In that instant, Yeon Baek-u's left hand moved swiftly.
Something he pulled from inside the Tiger Heart Armor.
The moment Ha Mu-baek confirmed what it was, his eyebrow twitched.
Something Yeon Baek-u could never possess was now in his hand.
The instant he saw it, his sword path changed.
If Ha Mu-baek were alone here, no need to alter course.
But Jin Na-yeon, Yeon Ha-min, and Yeon Gong-hu were present.
If what he'd glimpsed was what he thought, those two women couldn't be saved.
Yeon Baek-u let out a viscous laugh as he thrust forward what he held in his left hand—not at Ha Mu-baek, but precisely at Jin Na-yeon.
And.
Click.
A mechanical sound rang out.
Boooom!!!!!
A massive explosion roared, unleashing a ferocious blaze.
It was exactly as he'd feared.
Heaven-Shaking Golden Chain Explosive Thunder.
Something that shouldn't exist anymore.
All that had been made were used up; none should remain in the world.
Yet Yeon Baek-u had fired it straight at Jin Na-yeon.
Ha Mu-baek's sword blazed to life and moved.
In an instant, a sword barrier enveloped the surroundings.
The explosive thunder's gang qi transformed into the barrier, covering everything in a hemispherical dome.
"Urk... ughhh..."
Yeon Baek-pung, clutching his pierced dantian, let out a bizarre groan amid the sudden storm of flames.
Yeon Gong-hu and Yeon Ha-min's eyes widened in shock.
It was an unbelievable sight.
"Ah... aaaah..."
Jin Na-yeon let out a sigh.
And then.
Boom! Crash! Boom! Kaboom!
The flames battered Ha Mu-baek's sword barrier.
Those inside could clearly see the scarlet inferno consuming their surroundings, relentlessly trying to breach the barrier.
But.
The sword barrier held firm.
The flames couldn't even scratch it.
It had no choice but to hold.
Ha Mu-baek now was a completely different man from the one who had once fallen to that Heaven-Shaking Golden Chain Explosive Thunder.
One shot posed no threat at all.
Even the four devices set by Gung Do-hyeok back then could now be blocked with ease.
Gazing at the flames trying to devour the barrier, Ha Mu-baek grimaced.
'Not Heaven-Shaking Golden Chain Explosive Thunder.'
It was similar, but different.
An astonishingly powerful fire weapon, yet inferior to the real thing.
About eighty percent of its power.
With the flames still raging fiercely, Ha Mu-baek maintained the barrier.
And through his qi sense, he felt Yeon Baek-u's movements.
The bastard was swiftly retreating.
He'd used the fire weapon to buy time for his escape.
'As expected.'
He should have killed him with one stroke.
But the cunning bastard had cleverly carved out a path to flee, leading to this.
No matter—he'd be caught soon enough.
No matter how fast, he couldn't escape Ha Mu-baek's qi sense range.
"Heh heh heh. Ha Mu-baek. You know my strength, so why do you think I stayed here? Hm?"
Had he reached his destination?
Yeon Baek-u spoke triumphantly with a sinister laugh.
"This place will be your grave."
Ignoring Yeon Baek-u's drivel, Ha Mu-baek moved his sword.
The barrier shifted, as if trying to consume the flames itself.
Like wrapping the blaze in a giant cloth.
Thanks to that, Yeon Baek-u's position became visible.
Standing about three steps inside the entrance to a newly appeared passage.
He slammed his fist into one wall.
In that moment.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The clan lord's residence shook violently.
"Finally, a weakness isn't made or exposed carelessly. Ha Mu-baek. Hahaha!!"
With a mad cackle, Yeon Baek-u unleashed his lightness skill and fled.
Yeon Baek-u's parting words.
Ha Mu-baek tried to pursue at once, but.
He couldn't.
The clan lord's residence was collapsing right now.
If Ha Mu-baek left, Jin Na-yeon and Yeon Ha-min would die.
"That fucking bastard."
A curse slipped from Ha Mu-baek's lips.
The damn scum had exploited his surroundings masterfully.
A man he could kill in one strike, yet the environment he'd cleverly used had led to this mess.
Flames erupted from Ha Mu-baek's eyes.
Energy exploded from his body like a storm.
Pillars and walls crumbled, pouring debris into the underground chamber.
Yet nothing reached Ha Mu-baek's vicinity.
"If it's going to collapse anyway."
Ha Mu-baek raised his sword.
Pure white sword gang formed along the blade.
The moment it surged massively upward—
Infinite Yi's Eightfold Severing Sword Art.
Chil-jeol, Yeo-ui.
Ha Mu-baek's single sword strike, unleashed toward the sky above—
Kabooom!!!!
It devoured not only the collapsing fragments of the clan lord's residence but even the few pillars still holding.
And soared toward the heavens.
Rooooar!
It was as if a brilliant white dragon ascended to the sky.
The resplendent white energy engulfed the entire clan lord's residence and burst upward.
And then.
Nothing remained.
Where the clan lord's residence had stood, there was nothing.
Only the people who had been inside, suddenly hurled out by the whirlwind of white energy, stared in dazed expressions.
In the moment the clan lord's residence suddenly collapsed.
They'd thought they'd be crushed beneath it.
And when the white energy rushed at them—
They despaired, thinking they'd die before being buried.
But the energy gently enveloped them and carried them outside.
Even Gwang Un-jo.
Yeo-ui.
True to its name, it moved as Ha Mu-baek willed.
The clan lord's residence vanished; the people survived.
Amid the sudden crisis, the Yeon Clan members gaped vacantly at where the residence had been.
It had clearly been there, now gone.
Moments ago it was crumbling, yet some pillars seemed to hold.
Now, nothing.
Not even rubble.
Only the open underground space beneath the pierced earth remained.
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Yeon Gong-hu.
His qi sense already blanketed the entire Yeon Clan grounds.
"Now, you protect it."
Leaving those words for Yeon Gong-hu, Ha Mu-baek's form shot into the air.
Whoosh!
The sound of cleaving air boomed loudly.
The gazes of Yeon Clan retainers creeping toward the clan lord's residence followed Ha Mu-baek's figure.
Ha Mu-baek twisted in midair, shooting like a beam of light toward a single point.
After Ha Mu-baek's hasty departure.
Yu Wol-a stared blankly at the clan lord's residence.
Because of his final words.
"The Demonic Cult...? No matter how you look at it, that man couldn't have..."
Confusion and fear flooded her face.
The Demonic Cult.
Ha Mu-baek's sworn enemies.
He showed no mercy to those tied to the Demonic Cult.
"No matter how consumed by lust he was..."
She wanted to cling to that one shred of faith in her husband, Yeon Baek-pung.
That even in his madness of desire, he hadn't borrowed the Demonic Cult's power.
At the same time.
"Black Overseer."
She called out to Heuk Hwa-rin, who was guarding the children.
[Yes, miss.]
Her transmission reached Yu Wol-a's ears.
Heuk Hwa-rin was still protecting the children.
With enhanced hearing from focused inner energy, she monitored Yu Wol-a, while her eyes stayed on siblings Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun.
"For Great Hero Ha to rush off like that... something's wrong."
[Yes.]
Heuk Hwa-rin had heard the words "Demonic Cult" too.
[I'll summon my subordinates.]
She grasped the intent without need for elaboration.
She took a small flute from her bosom and blew.
Fweee.
A sound like escaping air echoed from the flute.
Yet it spread far and wide.
Suddenly hearing the leaking wind sound, many looked around, wondering if it was just the breeze.
Then.
Ha Seol-ran appeared in the rear garden.
"Miss Ha?"
Yu Wol-a tilted her head at her sudden arrival.
"Greetings, Madam Yu."
"What brings you here?"
"Things seem to be going awry, so I came to check on my nephews."
Just then, Heuk Hwa-rin approached with the two children.
Ha Seol-ran had been alone in her annex when she sensed the unnatural energy from the clan lord's residence and headed this way.
The fierce battle aura her qi sense had picked up.
She'd paced anxiously until sensing her brother-in-law move there, then felt relieved.
But then thought of Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun, left alone.
Moments later.
One by one, those waiting for Heuk Hwa-rin outside the Yeon Clan appeared in the rear garden.
Around then.
Rumble rumble rumble.
A heavy noise shook the ground.
The startled children clung to Ha Seol-ran.
She was the one they trusted most here.
Turning toward the noise.
The clan lord's residence was shaking violently.
"What in the world..."
Yu Wol-a's eyes trembled in shock.
And then.
Heuk Hwa-rin stepped in front of Yu Wol-a, while the ten newly arrived warriors surrounded them.
At that moment.
A figure shot rapidly from the clan lord's residence.
Surges of ominous energy billowed from it.
Heuk Hwa-rin's eyes sharpened.
Shing.
As she drew her sword, the ten warriors did the same.
"Heh heh heh heh."
A sinister laugh echoed through the surroundings.