Rebirth of the Thunder God

‘Sosu Mahu's Demonic Art!’

How could Namgung Hui forget the Sosu Mahu's Demonic Art?

It was the martial art that had taken his life.

Before Namgung Hui could even consciously realize it, his feet were already running, chasing the traces of the Sosu Mahu's Demonic Art.

And so, Namgung Hui arrived at the scene as if possessed.

He looked around the building that had collapsed due to the Sosu Mahu's Demonic Art and scanned the people around.

As if a battle had taken place, most of them were already lying on the floor, but there were still people whose faces he could recognize.

‘Namgung In, Namgung Sang, Seomun Hye, Lee Sang-ah, Baek Seolhwa.’

Among them, the only ones standing properly were Baek Seolhwa and Namgung In.

The rest were lying on the floor, having lost consciousness.

Fortunately, they seemed to be breathing, so they didn't seem to be dead.

Since Baek Seolhwa's martial prowess was on par with Namgung Hui's, it was a natural result.

But no matter how he looked, he couldn't see anyone who could perform the Sosu Mahu's Demonic Art.

‘I'll have to ask Seolhwa. If it's the Moon Maiden Palace, they wouldn't be unaware of the existence of the Sosu Mahu's Demonic Art.’

"Baek Seolhwa."

Baek Seolhwa, as if slightly surprised by Namgung Hui's call, turned around.

She stared at Namgung Hui's face for a moment and then opened her mouth with a sigh of relief.

"Phew……. You're here? You seem to have escaped from the prison safely."

"Yes. Some bastard even set off a thunderclap bomb, so I had a hard time getting out. But Seolhwa, what is all this? It seems some explanation is needed."

Baek Seolhwa pointed at Namgung In, who was kneeling, and said.

"Those guys attacked us first. And at the same time, a loud noise rang out within the family estate. It seems these guys are determined to take over the family estate."

"As expected. So that's it. But it seemed like someone performed a demonic art, was it those guys by any chance?"

"Huh? Uh. Yes. That guy named Namgung In over there. He was performing a different martial art that was not from the Mount Hua Sect or the Namgung family."

Namgung Hui nodded and then looked at Namgung In and spoke.

"Namgung In. What is the reason you're trying to take over the Namgung family, even going as far as to perform a demonic art? Couldn't you have done it without using such a method?"

Just thinking with Namgung Hui's head, several methods came to mind.

First, the poisoning that Ouyang Yeonhui had performed.

Hiring an assassin to commit murder.

Or pressure using the Ouyang family.

If not that, there was also a method using the Mount Hua Sect, and he didn't think there was a reason to go to such lengths to overthrow the Namgung family.

There was no need to take the risk of even joining hands with the descendants of the Demonic Cult.

In the first place, the martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect were not inferior to demonic arts.

Well, there would be a limit if he was a secular disciple.

Perhaps that's why Namgung In clicked his tongue and continued.

"What would you know, you bastard. About our great cause. The tide cannot be turned. Although the young palace mistress was a better master than I thought. All we have to do is capture the family head."

"Family head? This bastard, as if he's not from the Ouyang family, he speaks like an uneducated person. How dare you call Father that?"

"Hmph! What father? The Namgung family head is not a person worthy of being called a father."

Was it the second brother's sorrow?

Still, Namgung In seemed to have grown up being loved to some extent, but perhaps because of the hatred that Madam Ouyang had received, he was quite on edge.

Well, since that wasn't what was important, Namgung Hui asked again.

"So you're trying to overthrow the family by even joining hands with the Demonic Cult members? Why are you bringing disaster upon yourself by staying at the Mount Hua Sect?"

"What do you mean, I'm bringing disaster upon myself? It's you, the Namgung family, who are bringing disaster upon yourselves."

Namgung In seemed to have completely lost his affection for the Namgung family.

He didn't seem to have any intention of taking over the family.

If he had, he would have tried to take over the family using other forces, as Namgung Hui had thought earlier.

Seeing that he was showing a hint of hatred towards the Namgung family like this, it seemed he was planning to erase the Namgung family altogether.

"What are you so resentful about? Tsk tsk. You're a really narrow-minded guy."

"Do you think I'm doing this because I'm narrow-minded? Not at all. What would a dullard like you know?"

"So you're admitting that you colluded with the remnants of the Demonic Cult?"

"The Demonic Cult……. I wonder."

As soon as he finished speaking, Namgung In suddenly took something out of his pocket and threw it on the floor.

-Bang!

Soon, with an explosion, a thick, dark red fog began to rise.

The smoke screen, reminiscent of a blood mist, soon blocked their vision.

‘A smoke bomb. You think you can escape just by blocking my vision?’

Namgung Hui grinned and raised his senses.

But for some reason, even with his heightened senses, he couldn't feel Namgung In.

The blood mist itself seemed to have blocked Namgung Hui's sensitive senses.

But Namgung Hui was not flustered.

‘He said it would be over if he just captured Father. It's obvious where that guy is going. The family head's hall.’

Namgung Hui quickly flew towards the family head's hall.

He wanted to tell Baek Seolhwa to go with him, but because of the dark red fog, it was not easy to send a telepathic message.

Still, he believed that she would come on her own if she had the chance.

And so, Namgung Hui cut through the blood mist and flew to the family head's hall.

Namgung In had abandoned Namgung Sang and was heading to the family head's hall alone.

Still, he was able to catch up to him quickly, but before he could attack Namgung In, someone jumped out as if they had been waiting.

-Swish!

Namgung Hui had also already read the presence.

He deflected the enemy's surprise attack and stopped his body.

He looked ahead and examined each and every presence he had felt.

‘They're all the guards who were with Ouyang Yeonhui. Are these guys from the Ouyang family? Or are they from the Dugu family?’

Come to think of it, he hadn't felt any evil demonic ki from the guy named Dugu Yujin who had died earlier.

If he had been exuding demonic ki, he would have been chased by the Martial Alliance, so he must have learned to hide it thoroughly.

Or he might not have learned demonic arts at all.

"Are you the minions of the Demonic Cult?"

"……."

There was no answer, only silence.

But there was no sign of surprise or fluster.

Dugu Yujin had definitely gotten angry at the words 'Demonic Cult.'

But for some reason, the people in front of him didn't get angry even when he called them the Demonic Cult.

As if their affiliation was not the Demonic Cult.

"Namgung In. Were you that resentful of our family? I don't know if you're in your right mind, to even bring in the Demonic Cult members."

"I don't know if you're in your right mind. What were you thinking, following me alone? You can't beat me without a master like the young palace mistress. And if you're outnumbered, there's nothing more to say."

"You only know the outcome of a fight when you try it. Stop talking nonsense and just come at me."

Namgung Hui, feeling that the aura from the family head's hall was quite ominous, wanted to deal with Namgung In as quickly as possible and run over.

Namgung In, as if readily accepting Namgung Hui's challenge, nodded his stiff head and said.

"Alright. The great cause has begun anyway, so it should be okay to face you."

"The great cause, the great cause. What great thing are you doing that you're calling it a great cause?"

"That's you…… Huk!"

Namgung Hui flew at Namgung In before he could even finish his words.

The so-called profundity of a surprise attack.

And since it was a surprise attack made in the middle of speaking, Namgung In seemed quite flustered.

Since Namgung Hui didn't have a sword, he threw his body while flying the Thunder Dragon Palm.

Since the enemy was numerous, he attacked Namgung In first before they had a chance to surround him.

But Namgung In was also an opponent who stood out among the rising stars.

Namgung In couldn't make it into the Seven Dragons and Five Phoenixes, but he was confident that he was close.

In fact, if he hadn't been a secular disciple, he might have made it into the Seven Dragons long ago.

That's why he deflected the Thunder Dragon Palm rather easily.

Although his clothes were slightly torn, he didn't have any scratches.

Namgung In openly mocked Namgung Hui.

"To use a cheap surprise attack. Are you by any chance a heretic? Huk!"

Namgung In, who had been running his mouth, hurriedly rolled on the floor.

The Lazy Donkey Rolls.

An evasion technique that martial artists considered a disgrace.

Namgung In was rolling on the floor in succession without even having time to dust off the dirt on his clothes.

It was to avoid Namgung Hui's successive attacks.

-Bang! Bang! Crash!

Namgung Hui, who had performed a series of palm strikes, landed lightly on the floor and said.

"Is this an eel or a donkey? Seeing you roll so diligently, you must not be a donkey."

At Namgung Hui's mockery, Namgung In's face turned bright red.

He even trembled, but he couldn't easily open his mouth.

Because he had learned firsthand that the moment he opened his mouth, Namgung Hui would launch another surprise attack.

"Wow. You're not a chicken head after all. If you were from the Ouyang family, you would have definitely opened your mouth again."

"……."

Namgung In just silently waited for the guards to surround Namgung Hui.

But the guards were nowhere to be seen.

Looking closely, they were all lying on the floor.

And they were not in a good state.

‘What the? I was the one who was attacked. Why are they……?’

"Surprised? You dodged, so they took the attack instead."

In fact, this was what Namgung Hui had intended.

Because he had planned to get rid of the small fry before dealing with Namgung In.

Pretending to attack Namgung In, he had sent palm strikes to them.

And with the area-of-effect technique, the Explosive Thunder Palm.

‘The ten small fry are all dead. Seolhwa seems to have dealt with about that many, so the remaining ten must have gone to the family head's hall.’

Since the number of enemies was about thirty, if no additional forces had flocked in, that many would have been deployed to the family head's hall.

Now that he thought about it, he seemed to know why they had moved now.

‘They were aiming for when the external forces were out. If they were planning to strike the Namgung family anyway, this was the perfect time.’

The fact that they had suddenly aimed for Namgung Hui's life when he was in a poisoned state.

And the fact that they had aimed for right after the family head had come out of seclusion, it seemed they had been thoroughly looking for a gap from the beginning.

Since they had helpers inside, Namgung In and Ouyang Yeonhui, it would have been much easier to grasp the gaps.

The weakening of forces due to the young lord's business expansion.

The dispute with a third force.

Right after the family head's exit from seclusion.

Looking at various things comprehensively, it seemed they had judged that the current Namgung family was at its weakest.

Since Namgung Uncheon had just overcome the crisis of Qi Deviation and was resting, it was safe to say that there were no proper masters.

On top of that, since the former masters of the Namgung family, the elders, were said to be at the Martial Alliance, there was nothing more to say.

‘This must have all happened because our family is poor. Because everyone is out to earn money.’

Namgung Hui walked towards Namgung In, who was now alone.

Now it was time to send him to his mother's side.

Still, since it was only right to listen to his last words, he approached him and asked.

"In. We were once brothers, so I'll at least listen to your last words."

"You bastard……! When did you become so strong? No matter how much you were struck by lightning and had a fortuitous encounter. Is it even possible to become a transcendent master in an instant!"

"Why is that strange? It's not strange to become an absolute transcendent master by falling off a cliff and learning all sorts of spiritual medicines and absolute divine arts. Isn't that the way of the martial world? So is that the end of your last words?"

"Hmph! Do you think I would leave my last words to you? And I've never once thought of you as a brother. We don't even share a drop of blood in the first place."

"Wait. It's one thing not to think of me as a brother, but we don't share a drop of blood? We have different mothers, but aren't we brothers with the same father? Are you so stupid that you don't even know that?"

Namgung In, even when it was time for him to die, smiled mockingly and opened his mouth calmly.

"Now that the time has come, I'll tell you. My original surname is not Namgung, but……."

When Namgung Hui was listening intently.

Suddenly, he felt a cold sensation from the back of his head.

Namgung Hui, without even having time to think, rolled on the floor and deflected the attack.

-Slice!

The hem of his clothes was cut off.

A chill ran down his spine.

If he had been even a little late, his bones might have been cut by that sword strike.

It was that fierce of an offensive, and no presence was felt at all.

That's why it was easy to deduce the opponent.

"The Black Killing Troop. It really was the remnants of the Demonic Cult."

The Black Killing Troop, along with the Black Wind Troop, was the elite military group of the Demonic Cult.

On top of that, the Black Killing Troop was an assassin organization that had greatly tormented the orthodox path during the Great War between Justice and Evil.

However, their military power was somewhat weaker than the Black Wind Troop, but as an assassin organization, they were excellent at hiding their presence like this.

It was because of the Ghost Ki Art that only the Black Killing Troop had learned.

A terrifying demonic art that even concealed one's breath, like the Turtle Breathing Great Art.

‘Instead, the moment they moved, their presence was exposed. Like this.’

A black shadow revealed itself in the darkness.

Namgung In calmly spoke to that shadow.

"Black Shadow. That guy is at least a transcendent. We won't be able to win even if we attack together. It will only be possible if Father comes."

"Second Young Master. Then I will buy some time. Please get to safety."

Namgung Hui shook his head and answered instead.

"I don't think that will be necessary."

"You're so confident. If you keep that up……."

Before Black Shadow could even finish his words.

-Crash!

Someone was thrown out of the family head's hall.

(End of Chapter)