Chapter 274 : The King of Rats (3)
Chapter 274: The King of Rats (3)
Right after the storm of Yin energy exploded out of Jin Hayeon, a massive ice wall materialized across the middle of the battlefield.
And right in the center of that wall was Jin Hayeon herself. She was frozen solid and no one could tell if she was alive or dead.
"Senior Hayeon!!"
Crash!
Ju Seo-yeon realized too late the state her senior was in and swung her spear like a madwoman to crush the ice wall over and over again.
"Senior Hayeon!"
She was drowning in regret. Why had she blindly followed Jin Hayeon's order to fall back? If only she'd stayed, she could have frozen alongside her instead.
But even as she struck the wall with enough force to generate Spear Qi, breaking through the ice barrier Jin Hayeon had created proved impossible. All she managed to do was chip away at the surface, bit by bit.
Still, Ju Seo-yeon kept swinging as if possessed, as if trying to bore through solid rock with dripping water.
But it was pointless.
For every bit she broke through, the cold energy flowing from within reformed the ice wall just as quickly.
After wasting her internal energy on this meaningless struggle for a while, someone walked to her and grabbed the arm she was thrusting forward with her spear.
"Get a grip."
"Shut up!!"
Ju Seo-yeon's bloodshot eyes blazed as she swung her arm wildly. Her elbow connected with Hyeokryeon Seon-ah's cheek, which immediately swelled red.
But Seon-ah didn't seem to care about the pain throbbing in her cheek. Instead, she stared at Ju Seo-yeon with cold eyes that somehow reminded her of Jin Hayeon.
That icy gaze made Ju Seo-yeon hesitate for just a moment. Taking advantage of that pause, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah spat out the blood trickling from where her cheek had torn inside, then spoke.
"She's alive."
Seon-ah pointed to the very spot Ju Seo-yeon had been frantically battering with her spear. The place where the ice wall was reforming as fast as she'd carved it away.
"Look, the Yin energy keeps flowing out.”
"!!!"
Only then did Ju Seo-yeon realize.
Hyeokryeon Seon-ah shifted her finger slightly, redirecting her attention.
Beyond the ice wall that blocked their path...
There, just like Ju Seo-yeon, were others pounding on the barrier like lunatics.
Though Jin Hayeon's technique had swept up most of the Grey Shadow Corps, a few who'd been far enough away had avoided getting frozen.
When Ju Seo-yeon spotted them, her eyes turned vicious.
‘It is all because of those bastards.’
They were the ones who'd forced Senior Hayeon to sacrifice herself.
The only problem was that the ice wall Jin Hayeon made was now blocking Ju Seo-yeon from getting to them.
But then, through the translucent ice, she saw them exchange words before swinging their weapons down at the floor.
A twisted smile crept across Ju Seo-yeon's face.
"Hah!"
With a savage smile, she slammed her spear into the floor.
Boom!
The floor supporting her body exploded, and Ju Seo-yeon began falling straight down into the level below.
As her body plummeted toward the lower floor, she caught sight of the black-clothed figures dropping down the same way on the opposite side.
Thud!
The instant she hit the ground, Ju Seo-yeon launched herself toward them.
"Die!!!"
Her voice dripped with killing intent as she thrust her spear forward. Right behind her, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah descended to the lower floor and joined in, swinging both hands to support her attack.
With Ju Seo-yeon’s spear and Seon-ah’s blood-red claws at the front
Swiiish!
Arrows rained from the shadow behind.
***
While Ju Seo-yeon, Seon-ah, and Jeong Hyeon were locked in a life-or-death battle with the last of the black-clothed figures, Il-mok was in the middle of a life-and-death duel with his opponent.
"Hahahaha. That's some awfully lame swordsmanship for a fanatic of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Shouldn't you be fighting while offering up prayers or something? Who knows? Maybe your precious Heavenly Demon will come save your ass, "The Hao Clan Lord grinned slyly and taunted Il-mok.
Il-mok. He hadn't figured out who they were because of Il-mok's moves, but because of the commotions happening behind them.
"But I have to say I'm genuinely shocked. Who would've thought those crazy bastards from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would be running around the Central Plains using fake names?"
The Hao Clan Lord kept his mouth running nonstop, trying to scatter Il-mok's focus.
"And now this grand plan of the cult is about to crumble because of us lowly rats. Must be eating you up inside, eh?"
All the while, he was secretly thinking about killing this guy and disappearing.
He hadn't figured out exactly how high up this bastard ranked in the cult, but the fact that he'd messed up with their plans meant all sorts of complicated problems down the line.
The moment that infamous Heavenly Demon personally paid him a visit, he'd be a dead man for sure.
But despite the Hao Clan Lord's provocations, Il-mok's face remained impassive.
After all, he'd built up immunity to insults and trash talk from his civil servant days.
Boom!!
Il-mok's Ascension Sword clashed with the Hao Clan Lord's dagger once again, causing another deafening roar.
Il-mok calmly analyzed the flow of battle.
'That's actually a pretty decent dagger.'
Thanks to absorbing hundreds of souls and blood essence at Mount Baihe, the Ascension Sword had grown more vicious.
The fact that the dagger hadn't broken after dozens of exchanges with his sword meant it was easily worthy of being called a legendary armament.
Just when Il-mok realized he couldn't win just by having a better weapon—
"Ptui!"
With their blades locked, the Hao Clan Lord suddenly spat something from his mouth in a sneak attack.
Since Il-mok was watching him closely, he saw exactly what it was.
It was spit.
Not a hidden weapon—just regular human saliva.
Not a hidden weapon, just actual spit. It was a dirty trick you’d expect from a street thug, but Il-mok quickly jerked his head to dodge it.
It wasn't just because he was a germaphobe.
'A master is still a master.'
Since he'd infused it with internal energy, getting hit could've blown a hole through his skull.
Of course, that was just his logical side talking.
"You fight like a total retard for a Clan Lord."
It was such a ridiculous way to fight that Il-mok almost laughed out loud.
"Hahaha. Well, I’m the boss of a gang of retards, so shouldn't I be the biggest retard of the bunch? The Hao Clan Lord answered with zero shame.
In fact, he was so proud of it that Il-mok felt stupid for even bringing it up. The whole fight had been like this from the start.
And it wasn't just limited to running his mouth.
He'd execute the Lazy Donkey Roll like it was some legitimate lightness skill, and constantly threw scraps of plates and bottle fragments he'd secretly picked up while rolling on the ground.
Thwip!
"Hehe. Got you!"
He'd even fake throwing something, then swing his dagger instead.
How to put it...
Rather than a life-or-death duel between masters, it felt more like fighting a street thug.
Imagine some back-alley brawler who'd mastered dirty fighting had suddenly become a martial arts expert.
But the most absurd part? He really is an expert.
Boom!!
He formed Sword Force without any difficulty, and that dagger he swung around half-assedly always flew at vital points with vicious precision.
'He reminds me of the Heartless Coiling Serpent and the Northern Wind Soul-Severing Strike.'
His dagger twisted through the air like a snake, and he used those flashy moves to hide the Sword Qi he was shooting out.
On top of that, he’d try to stomp on Il-mok’s toes or throw out random kicks in between those dirty tricks he’d spammed around.
Pat!
He also used his free left hand to try and grapple or shoot Palm Blasts to knock Il-mok off balance.
This bastard fought dirty, using any means necessary, and had learned all sorts of random martial arts that he freely mixed and matched.
It was the complete opposite of the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord's extremely simplified swordplay, but somehow this felt even more troublesome.
And believe it or not, the Hao Clan Lord's realm was higher than the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord's.
That theory was ascertained by his series of movements of half-assedly swinging daggers coated with Sword Force while spamming out kicks imbued with internal energy, suggesting that he had reached a level where he could freely manipulate and control both his Qi and his body.
After exchanging moves several times with the Hao Clan Lord's chaotic martial arts, Il-mok let out a dumbfounded laugh as he swung his Ascension Sword.
"Your martial art is an absolute mess."
"Hehehe.All the guys who died to this 'mess' are waiting in hell to say hi."
The Hao Clan Lord took pride in his martial arts. That’s why he could joke about his fighting style being a chaotic mess.
He'd fought and won this way even back when he was a street thug, and it was the same after he learned martial arts.
He'd fought this way when killing that pretentious Hao Clan Elder who'd acted like some righteous sect member despite being part of the Unorthodox Faction, and when he'd betrayed and killed the previous Hao Clan Lord.
He'd climbed all the way to the position of Hao Clan Lord fighting like this, so he had every right to be proud.
"Ah, since you're from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I guess the previous Heavenly Demons who died first will welcome you. Hehehe."
Even though he was mocking the Heavenly Demons, Il-mok didn't even blink.
"Nice tricks. But I think it's time to wrap this up."
When his opponent spoke in that bored tone, the Hao Clan Lord grinned slyly.
"Hehehe. Where'd you learn to bluff like that? Oh my. Did you receive some divine revelation or something?"
Laughing, the Hao Clan Lord stabbed with his dagger and secretly flicked a Finger Bullet with his left hand.
Clang!
Il-mok blocked the dagger and twisted his body just in time to dodge the hidden shot. Then, his sword slid right up the Hao Clan Lord’s dagger like a snake.
The Hao Clan Lord tried to push the sword away while extending his left leg for a kick, but Il-mok's right foot had stomped on his knee before he could even extend it.
The Hao Clan Lord put force into his supporting right leg and threw himself sideways in a hurry. As he rolled across the floor, a net made of Sword Qi flashed right in front of his face.
It was the Heavenly Net Sword.
Failing to regain his footing, the Hao Clan Lord was forced to roll across the ground once again. And that’s when Il-mok closed in instantly and swung the Ascension Sword again.
"Kugh."
The Hao Clan Lord swung his dagger while secretly firing off an energy blast, but it didn't work this time either.
No matter what dirty tricks the Hao Clan Lord deployed, Il-mok either blocked or countered them as if he'd been expecting them all along.
"You learned a lot of different moves, but you're just trapped in a bigger box."
He wasn't a frog in a well, but he was a frog that hadn't made it to the ocean. He was just stuck in a large lake that looked like the ocean at first glance.
And because he learned so many different things, he never mastered any of them completely.
Of course, the Hao Clan Lord was still an expert, but compared to Absolute Masters like the Alliance Leader, he fell short.
And even compared to Il-mok himself, the Hao Clan Lord’s martial insights were a bit shallow.
If this had been before Il-mok gained enlightenment at Mount Baihe, things might have been different. But not now.
"Kugh."
The Hao Clan Lord groaned as he cut through the Sword Net. He had a long cut on his arm because he didn't notice a hidden strand of energy inside the net until it was too late.
From that point on, the Hao Clan Lord was driven relentlessly onto the defensive.
It doesn’t matter what kind of dirty tricks he’d deployed; it was futile.
"Eeeek!"
Confidence finally fled from the Hao Clan Lord’s obnoxious mug. Every time one of his secret moves got shut down, his ego took a massive hit.
"Damn it!!"
Once his pride broke, he started feeling embarrassed about rolling around in the dirt.
Spitting, throwing trash... compared to the guy effortlessly crushing him, it all looked so lame.
'Think! I have to think of something!'
The tricks he usually had up his sleeve started disappearing from his mind, like chess pieces being captured.
As the remaining moves dwindled, the increasingly desperate Hao Clan Lord's expression suddenly changed again.
"......"
With all his pieces gone, he just stared at Il-mok with a blank look.
It was ironic.
Il-mok was supposed to be free from the influence of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword after his enlightenment. But with a heartless look on his face, he slashed through the Clan Lord’s neck.
Thud.
The face of the Hao Clan Lord that fell to the ground looked completely empty as if his soul had been stolen away.