Rebirth of the Thunder God

“Uninvited guests."

As soon as Baek Seolhwa's words ended, footsteps were heard.

Listening to the sound, there seemed to be over ten people.

The atmosphere wouldn't have changed so drastically just because the numbers were large.

To change the atmosphere in an instant like this.

‘It means they are all at least first-rate. They came with a firm resolve.’

Of course, in the martial world, a simple classification of realm was often meaningless.

A surprise attack at night or the physical condition of that day.

Or carelessness or the difference in weapons.

The gap that determined victory was wider and more numerous than one might think.

But Namgung Hui felt that they would by no means be easy opponents.

The appearance of the uninvited guests who revealed themselves a moment later clearly showed that Namgung Hui's worries were not unfounded.

Even though they had completely surrounded Namgung Hui's party, they were not relaxed.

The atmosphere was quite tense, as if the string of tension was pulled tight.

They didn't look that old, but they seemed quite experienced.

Namgung Hui shifted his gaze to the two men who were particularly exuding a presence.

Not only their aura but also their appearance was unique. One person was so fat that one's gaze couldn't help but be drawn to him more than the others.

Unlike the muscular bodies of the Green Forest members, it was pure flesh.

And yet, seeing him standing calmly on a tree like that, his lightness skill was not ordinary.

And contrary to the fat one, the other man had a particularly slender body.

It wasn't just that his thin body was noticeable.

Was it the androgynous beauty he exuded?

Unlike the handsome Namgung Hui, a sense of eeriness emanated from him.

That's why Namgung Hui was able to deduce their identity at a glance.

"The Heretic Alliance chased us all the way here? You've got some guts."

"Aren't you the ones with guts? You just crossed the Yangtze River by boat. Hohoho!"

"Are you seriously making a pun like that? Your speech is eerie, and the content is confusing."

The man exuding androgynous beauty also had a very high vocal range.

It wasn't just an imitation, it felt like he was born with it.

At that strange appearance, Baek Seolhwa frowned and opened her mouth.

"Ugh~ For some reason, you're unlucky. No, are you really a man?"

"Hoho! Would you like to guess?"

"That's enough with the chatter, just attack. I can't listen to this anymore."

"I agree. You've already surrounded us, why are you just rambling on?"

Namgung Hui raised his senses with the Pure Thunder Essence and looked around, but he couldn't feel anyone other than the ten men surrounding them.

They had intended to eat on a quiet mountain path in the first place, so it was natural that there was no presence.

He was just curious as to how they knew and came.

‘Are they waiting for reinforcements? That's strange in its own way.’

The current location was near Lujiang, which was as good as the Namgung family's territory.

In the first place, it was incomprehensible that they were stalling for time like this.

Support could have come from the Namgung family.

‘Could it be. Did the second or third brother leak the information? Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.’

A chuckle escaped Namgung Hui's lips.

He had intended to just respond appropriately and let it go because they were brothers, but to leak Namgung Hui's movements to the enemy was crossing the line, and by a lot.

Now, Namgung Hui decided not to hold back anymore.

Namgung Hui drew his sword and took a step forward.

"If you're not coming, then I will. Seolhwa. I'll leave the back to you."

"Huh? Oh. Alright."

Namgung Hui glanced at the suddenly flustered Baek Seolhwa.

Could it be that she had intended to face them?

But Baek Seolhwa, as if she had decided to yield to Namgung Hui, was already moving her feet to protect the party.

Namgung Hui nodded and bent his knees.

His whole body's muscles were already tensed with the Pure Thunder Essence.

On top of that, due to the consumption of the Thunder Core, his physical condition was better than ever.

-Pang!

Namgung Hui flew like a flash.

He had sprung his body with the technique of the Bow Body Ejecting Shadow.

He was truly like a shot arrow.

-Swish! Slash!

In an instant, a man's head fell.

They showed a slightly flustered expression at Namgung Hui's speed, which was faster than they had imagined.

But since they were from the Heretic Alliance, they quickly filled the hole in their encirclement.

"The information we have is different. It was clearly written there that he was first-rate."

Namgung Hui ignored the man's words and swung his sword successively, but the Heretic Alliance members, as if they were really trying to buy time, just worked together to deflect Namgung Hui's offensive.

‘Who on earth is coming for support that they're trying to buy time like this? Well, I'm curious, but there's no need to court danger.’

Namgung Hui condensed his Pure Thunder Essence to face them with all his might.

Now that he had gone through the bone transformation, the burden on his body was less than before.

The enemies, sensing the unusual atmosphere, nodded and prepared to counterattack.

But the martial art they were about to use looked quite unique.

The starting posture was not one of holding a weapon.

They just opened their mouths wide.

At that sight, Namgung Hui suddenly recalled one martial art.

"Aaaah━!"

A booming sound wave filled the clearing.

The offensive was so murderous that Namgung Hui had no choice but to retreat.

Fortunately, he had guessed what that martial art was, so he was able to quickly cover his ears.

‘It was a sound art after all!’

Since it was an attack that unfolded at the speed of sound, it was bound to be faster than Namgung Hui.

And at the wide-area offensive, the women that Baek Seolhwa was protecting covered their ears and collapsed one by one.

Seeing the blood flowing from their ears, it seemed their eardrums had been damaged.

"Oh-ho. The young master is fine. You're really different from the information we have."

"Someone must have given you the wrong information to screw you over. If you tell me who it is, I'll take revenge for you."

"Hoho! How could I do that? Next, I'll let you hear an even louder sound that you can't block even if you know. Daetu. Let's go together."

The name of the fat man next to him seemed to be Daetu.

He nodded, shaking his thick chin.

Namgung Hui thought that if the two of them attacked together, he might be fine, but Choyeon and the other women wouldn't be able to withstand it.

‘Then I'll also attack from a distance.’

Namgung Hui condensed Thunder Ki in his palm.

It was a much faster movement than before.

This was all thanks to the development from the Thunder Core.

The condensed Thunder Ki turned into a thunder dragon and flew towards the Heretic Alliance warriors.

And in time, they also opened their mouths towards the thunder dragon.

"Aaaah━━!!"

An intense sound wave shook the thunder dragon.

The thunder dragon resisted fiercely, like a salmon swimming upstream.

But perhaps because it was a sound art performed by two people in unison, it couldn't move forward.

The thunder dragon began to dry up in the sound wave.

The thunder dragon had now become as small as a snake.

The Heretic Alliance warrior, at the sight of that thunder dragon, smiled slyly and mocked Namgung Hui.

"Hoho! It seems I don't need to join in now. Is this all you have? Young Master Namgung Hui."

"Of course not."

Namgung Hui was calm even though his decisive blow had not worked.

As if he had expected it to be blocked like this.

When Daetu had completely subdued the thunder dragon, Namgung Hui kicked off the ground as if he had been waiting.

-Swish!

Namgung Hui was shot forward as if he had performed a body-flickering technique.

The Heretic Alliance warrior, not expecting such a sudden surprise attack, belatedly shouted.

"E-everyone, block the front!"

But Namgung Hui was faster than their reaction.

-Slash!

Daetu's thick neck fell in an instant.

As his flesh jiggled, another man's neck was cut in succession.

-Gush!

A clean and swift sword strike.

Unlike the calm Namgung Hui, the eerie man's eyes widened.

"Y-you were hiding your martial arts. No, that aside, how on earth…."

"You can't perform a sound art in succession. If you just know that, a surprise attack is a natural course of action. Aren't the ones behind you just shields you brought along to prepare for that? It seems people these days don't know the weakness of sound arts well."

A sound art emits a huge wave of ki over a wide area.

It might seem like a very effective and efficient martial art, but it also places a huge burden on the body.

If a sound art was really that great of a martial art, everyone would learn and use it, but it was a martial art that was avoided as much as it had weaknesses.

Perhaps because the sound art had been forgotten, its counter-methods were not widely known now.

So the eerie man didn't know that Namgung Hui would launch a surprise attack.

Well, in the past, there were quite a few cases of using a sound art to gain the upper hand.

Didn't even a tiger let out a roar to break the opponent's spirit?

‘But that sound art, to be precise, the Ejecting Sound Art, is a martial art with a large recoil.’

The reason the man named Daetu had gained so much weight was probably to withstand the aftereffects of that recoil with his fat.

Namgung Hui walked forward step by step.

The eerie man touched his throat and then ran somewhere.

It was the carriage where Choyeon and the women were.

The man, as if to take a hostage, used a capturing technique and tried to pull one of the women.

But would Baek Seolhwa just stand by and watch?

She kicked off her seat and kicked the man in the groin.

"Kuruk……!"

The man collapsed, foaming at the mouth. But even though she had safely subdued the man, Baek Seolhwa's expression was not bright.

She tilted her head and said.

"Strange. Something that should be there is missing."

Namgung Hui, who roughly knew the reason, smiled and slaughtered the remaining Heretic Alliance warriors.

‘These people are deaf. It's a pity, but I can't let them live.’

Whether they had voluntarily joined the Heretic Alliance or not.

Countless blood must have been shed under them.

The Heretic Alliance was such a place, and it was a place that would not change in the future.

These people already had no resistance to following orders.

The smell of blood emanated thickly from them.

The turbid air he had felt at first and their calmness said it all.

That's why Namgung Hui made them into lonely ghosts without any guilt.

-Slash!

Namgung Hui wiped the blood from his sword and walked over to Baek Seolhwa.

"How are the women's conditions?"

"They're just bleeding from their ears, they should be fine. I blocked it with a ki membrane anyway."

"Oh-ho? You knew about sound arts?"

"Of course. There's no other martial art that you perform by opening your mouth that wide other than a sound art. That's common sense."

"These days, what's not common sense has become common sense."

"Th-that……. Young Master. Shouldn't we leave quickly? It seems they had a scheme for stalling for time like this."

* * *

One shichen (two hours) after Namgung Hui's party had left Lujiang.

Masked figures arrived there one after another.

The masked person at the head of the group looked around and opened his mouth.

"Black Shadow."

"Yes."

"Didn't you say his realm was first-rate?"

"Yes. According to the information we received……."

-Slap!

Black Shadow's neck turned a half-circle.

The man who had slapped him seemed quite angry, as his emotions were showing.

"Is this the result that a mere first-rate can produce? No matter how much the young palace mistress was with him, wasn't she also just a first-rate?"

"It seems my subordinate's information was wrong. I will correct it and report it again."

"Yes. At the very least, he must have been a transcendent first-rate. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. There might be more helpers. Contact the higher-ups and get more support. The great cause is not far away."

"As you command!"

(End of Chapter)