Chapter 183
Chapter 183
Kwaaaaaaang!!!
At the same time as the absurdly loud explosion, the ground trembled. The earth shook as if an earthquake had struck, to the point that even martial artists with excellent balance staggered.
“…Cough!”
Youngho spat out blood that had surged up from deep within his Dantian. Only after the dark red blood burst from his mouth did the pain accumulated in his body begin to make itself known.
His external injuries were not severe. Although bits of flesh had been torn away here and there across his body, his bones and muscles remained intact.
His internal injuries were similar. Though he had wounds scattered throughout his body, none were serious enough to leave him unable to stand.
“…Heh!”
That was why he laughed.
“HAHAHAHAHA!!”
A laugh filled with joy and delight echoed around them. Even without infusing Internal Energy into it, Youngho’s laughter felt as if it drilled into one’s mind, causing the Heavenly Demon to narrow his brows.
“What is so amusing? As long as your sword remains with me, there is no one left who can wound my body. You should know that well.”
The words of the Heavenly Demon sounded emotionless and flat, yet at the same time carried a hint of irritation. Youngho let out a scoff.
“It’s not that it’s funny. I’m simply happy.”
Compared to the past, he had grown stronger to a degree that could be described as the difference between heaven and earth. If he were to fight the version of himself from three years ago, he was certain he would win ten thousand times out of ten thousand battles.
More than anything, he had not died from the Heavenly Demon’s attack just now. He had survived the Heavenly Demon Descends Step, one of the representative techniques of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, with only this much injury.
How could he possibly have a reason not to laugh? If he followed his heart, he would drink for three days and nights straight in celebration.
With an excited voice filled with joy, Youngho spoke.
“And you know it too, don’t you?”
Youngho pulled a sword from the hand of a corpse nearby using Object Grasping Through the Void. The ancient sword of Songmun trembled as its blade emitted a chilling Blade Aura.
Gripping the hilt that fit perfectly in his hand, Youngho said,
“At our level, even an ordinary weapon can be called a divine weapon.”
The Heavenly Demon frowned and bit down on the sword lodged in his left arm, pulling it out with his teeth. Blood smeared across the blade dirtied his lips, but he paid it no mind.
He then tossed the sword from his mouth carelessly and wiped the blood from his lips with his sleeve.
“Even so, it will not compare to the sword you used before.”
“That’s fine. I’ll kill you before that arm regenerates.”
Youngho spoke while watching the grotesque phenomenon of a palm regenerating beyond the wrist.
“Or I’ll cut off your other arm before that one finishes regenerating. So how about you stop saying pointless things?”
The Heavenly Demon let out a faint laugh. Youngho’s boldness was so absurd it could almost seem reckless at first glance.
But the Heavenly Demon knew.
That was confidence—and resolve.
No matter what happened, Youngho intended to kill him.
Strangely, that resolve did not feel like the conviction of a single man. Instead, it felt as though thousands—no, tens of thousands—of wishes were contained within it. Even the Heavenly Demon could not measure the weight of the resolve emanating from Youngho.
Youngho spat the blood pooled in his mouth onto the ground.
“Then let’s start bringing this story to its end.”
As soon as the conversation ended, both of their figures vanished simultaneously.
Kagagagak—!
Terrifyingly swift sword strikes collided in midair. Their dazzling variations and unbelievable speed were something no human should have been capable of producing.
Yet the two fighters had already pushed their bodies beyond human limits, driving themselves to the extreme.
Driving every muscle and every ounce of his mind to the limit, Kang Hosan clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped out.
‘Strong!’
It looked even now, but if things continued like this, they would soon be pushed back. In truth, the fact that they had endured this long was already remarkable.
Even though there were three of them rather than one, facing this monster still made it an extraordinary feat.
“First Young Master!!”
“I know!”
Jeonghyeon rapidly circulated the Internal Energy within his Dantian. The Internal Energy surged through his meridians so quickly that it felt as if his acupoints were burning.
Despite the terrible searing pain, Jeonghyeon grinned.
“Take this.”
Thud!
Thanks to the opening created by Kang Hosan, Jeonghyeon drove a palm strike into the Demonic Practitioner’s flank.
The powerful impact sent the Demonic Practitioner flying sideways as blood burst from his mouth.
“Young Clan Head!!”
Following Kang Hosan’s gaze, Namgung Cheon had gathered all of his Internal Energy and wrapped an enormous Sword Force around his blade.
Pulling the gigantic Sword Force back, Namgung Cheon drew up every last bit of Internal Energy from his Dantian.
Then he swung it with all his strength.
The force of the swing was so powerful that the wind pressure alone lifted the bodies of those nearby.
KWA-A-A-A-ANG!!
As Namgung Cheon’s Sword Force devoured the Demonic Practitioner’s body, the overwhelming Internal Energy finally caused the body to collapse and disintegrate.
Though it was not the refined Internal Energy of Daoist cultivation methods, the sheer quantity of power gathered over one Dakyung overwhelmed the Demonic Practitioner and erased him.
It had been a desperate battle, but the three of them had succeeded in killing one of the Twelve Demons.
As the tension faded, strength drained from the legs of Kang Hosan and the others. Kang Hosan naturally collapsed onto the ground and asked Jeonghyeon in a tired voice,
“First Young Master, is your ear alright?”
Kang Hosan’s gaze landed on Jeonghyeon’s severed right ear lying nearby. Though a part of his body was gone forever, Jeonghyeon did not care.
“I can still hear. That is enough. How about your eye?”
Kang Hosan slowly opened the right eye that had been cut by the Demonic Practitioner.
“Unfortunately, it seems I’ve lost one eye.”
“That’s fine. You’ve become more manly.”
“Thank you for the consolation.”
Even as they spoke, Namgung Cheon dragged his exhausted body forward. Kang Hosan glanced at him and casually stuck out his foot.
“……!”
Under normal circumstances it would never have worked, but Namgung Cheon was too exhausted and collapsed flat on the ground.
Watching him, Kang Hosan spoke with a look of exasperation.
“You should rest for now.”
“B-But…”
“My younger sister is safe.”
“How do you know…?”
“Well, because behind you, my sister and the King of Hidden Weapons are walking here side by side.”
Namgung Cheon barely turned his neck toward where Kang Hosan was looking.
Seeing Kang Chowon and Tang Gunhyeon unharmed, Namgung Cheon smiled.
“That’s… a relief…”
Kang Hosan looked at Kang Chowon’s pale complexion—far whiter than that of a foreigner—and asked,
“Are you alright?”
“No, I feel terrible. Hyeongang treated me along the way, but it wasn’t enough.”
“Looks like it.”
Kang Hosan then looked at the bundle in Tang Gunhyeon’s hand.
“What’s that? Did Hyeongang give us some Spirit Pills to eat?”
“No. It’s my finger.”
Kang Hosan noticed the missing middle finger on Tang Gunhyeon’s left hand.
“…It was torn off?”
“Yes. His grip strength was ridiculous. Thanks to that, I couldn’t even kill him. If the Divine Physician and Medicine Immortal hadn’t arrived midway, it would have been truly dangerous.”
Kang Hosan could easily imagine the hardships Kang Chowon and Tang Gunhyeon had endured. He offered consolation.
“It’s alright. Even if your skill declines a bit, the title of King of Hidden Weapons won’t disappear.”
“The Divine Physician preserved the finger using the principles of the Five Elements. If it couldn’t be reattached, would I have brought it with me?”
Despite Tang Gunhyeon’s incredulous expression, Kang Hosan continued calmly.
“That’s good to hear. By the way, what happened to the remaining Twelve Demons?”
“I don’t know the identities of many yet, but from what I saw—the Murim Alliance Leader is facing a man named Dokgo Jicheon, and the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance is fighting Dan Hyeokse. And as you can see, Gundo ran away.”
“So including those fought by the Fist Queen and Daoist Hyeonu, we’ve killed about five or six of them.”
“Yes. But we can’t continue fighting anymore. We’re only alive because this place became a complete wreck. If there had been Demonic Practitioners nearby, we might have been killed.”
“That’s true…”
A strange bitterness lingered in Kang Hosan’s voice. Tang Gunhyeon noticed and offered quiet comfort.
“Each of the Twelve Demons is a calamity by themselves. Considering that, we can say we defeated them with minimal losses. So don’t be too disheartened.”
Though the words sounded light, Kang Hosan knew the feelings behind them were not.
“Thank you.”
“But are the others really not coming?”
“…What?”
Kang Hosan looked confused. Tang Gunhyeon sighed as if his insides were rotting with frustration.
“I mean the others like the Fist King and the Plum Blossom Sword Queen. No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand why Youngho placed them in the rear.”
“He is not someone who acts without thinking.”
“That much everyone knows. The problem is that we don’t know what he’s thinking… It doesn’t seem like the Gold-Blood Hall has been deployed to the front either… Just what kind of plan is he drawing?”
“Hmm…”
Kang Hosan thought for a moment and then groaned softly.
“To put it simply, our Young Master’s senses are practically at the level of prophecy. The intuition of an Absolute Master is reliable—but in his case, it can almost be believed without question.”
Tang Gunhyeon listened closely.
“Our Young Master places the right forces in the necessary locations. And the reason he placed the Sword Queen, the Fist King, and the others in the rear is…”
“That the Demonic Cult might strike the rear?”
“As I said, I believe it’s something that will happen in the future. And most importantly, our Young Master stationed Seonpung in the rear.”
“…What does that matter?”
“Seonpung’s role is a messenger. If the rear falls into danger, he will come to inform us.”
“…This is going to become extremely troublesome.”
It was a remark heavy with meaning—both about the current battlefield and the aftermath of the war.
Kang Hosan merely smiled.
“That’s right. I only hope that this time, our Young Master’s foresight will be wrong.”
Though he said so, Kang Hosan knew the truth.
The Demonic Cult was surely preparing to strike their rear.
Youngho’s intuition had never been wrong.
And it would not be wrong this time either.
Kang Hosan could only smile bitterly.
“…I thought we had become useless old men left in the back room.”
“It seems our role is actually quite important… though I wonder if we can face all of them.”
Hye-won and Myeonghye loosened their muscles and filled them with controlled tension.
At first, they had thought Youngho held a grudge against them.
After all, many humiliating situations had arisen because they were not deployed to the front lines. Naturally, they had not looked favorably upon him.
But now everyone here finally understood.
Youngho had not acted out of personal feelings. He had carefully considered and listened to the opinions of others before choosing the best move.
However, when they saw the Demonic Practitioners appearing before them, even the Absolute Masters of the previous generation could not hide their fear.
These were martial artists who once represented the Demonic Cult before the Twelve Demons appeared—the personal guards of the Heavenly Demon.
They had once been called the Nine Demons.
Now they were the Old Demons.
Their killing intent filled the air.
Originally, each of them required someone on the level of the Fist King or the Sword Queen to face.
Even if those two stopped two of them, the rest had to be blocked by others.
That was why Hye-won confidently spoke.
“How about retreating? Honestly, we might not win—but I don’t think we’ll lose either.”
He glanced at the dozens of masters in the Transformation Realm standing beside him against the Nine Demons.
“No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem possible for you as you are now.”
“Invincible Divine Cult, Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission.”
And naturally, the Demonic Practitioners ignored Hye-won’s words and charged forward to slaughter the unbelievers.