Chapter 166
Srrk.
As soon as I raised my sword, Hwawang raised his hand.
Then…
Pabat-!
…numerous Demonic Cultists revealed themselves from the surroundings, as if they had been waiting.
“Since the mission I was entrusted with this time is of great importance…, the Grand Elder attached quite a few Minions to me.”
“…”
Even at a glance, there seemed to be more than 10 of them…, maybe around 20?
‘…No wonder I felt so many presences nearby. They must have been hiding.’
Seeing the lively glint in each of their eyes, they didn’t seem like weaklings either.
No matter how capable I was, taking on Hwawang and those stragglers all at once would be impossible.
Srrk.
I turned my gaze and looked toward Ha Jinseong.
Seeing my eyes, he must have realized what he needed to do, as he nodded and stepped forward.
“I will handle those guys.”
“…They aren’t easy opponents. Will you be okay?”
“Even if I die, I will stop them.”
“Just don’t die.”
Nod.
Paat-!
Hearing my words, Ha Jinseong immediately drew his sword and charged.
Then, he unleashed his Lightness Skill, bypassing Hwawang right away and…
Chwaak-!
…slashed the Demonic Cultist behind him.
“Oh.”
“Hmm?”
Had he achieved quite a bit of progress lately?
I marveled at his form, which was far superior to when I saw him at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, and Hwawang’s eyes widened as well.
However, with an unchanging expression, Ha Jinseong slashed another person next to him and…
Chwaak-!
Paat-!
…went straight deep into the forest.
Seeing that, Hwawang clicked his tongue and ordered.
“Chase him. If we leave him be, he’ll just keep coming back to slash and run away, so it’s better to kill him now.”
“But Elder… We are supposed to Guard you…”
“If you insist, leave a few behind and go. I will be fine.”
“Your command.”
Paat-!
At Hwawang’s words, the guys went after Ha Jinseong in a swarm. I was a little worried seeing that, but I had my own hands full.
“…Now then, Pacheonmun Sect Leader. Shall we have a cozy little chat?”
“Don’t open your mouth. Your breath smells like burnt ash.”
“Haha, you still have a long tongue, I see. Do not worry.”
Fwoosh-.
A flame bloomed from the right hand of the broadly smiling Hwawang.
“That long tongue of yours. I will roast it today until it burns away.”
* * *
Kwaaaa-!!
The energy that began to gather in Hwawang’s palm immediately ignited into flames and surged toward me.
It was a blaze large enough to completely fill my vision.
However…
Seogeok-!
…I immediately cut it down with Unknown Sword-Breaking.
Hwawang’s martial arts was a method of gathering extreme yang energy and Demonic Qi in his hands, then launching the energy itself through a Fist or Palm.
Being able to cut through energy, I had a good matchup against him.
“Tsk.”
Paat.
Knowing his own disadvantage, he instantly closed the distance to a close range where he could land a valid hit.
‘I like it when you close the distance too, you bastard.’
Paat-!
If he closed the distance, I could also slash him quickly.
Cheering inwardly at this, I stepped forward, but…
Clang-! Clang, clang-!!
The guys who hadn’t followed Ha Jinseong and stayed behind rushed at me before Hwawang could.
“Ugh.”
Three Demonic Cultists stuck to me in an instant.
They were all quite skilled, too.
With three such guys rushing at me, I couldn’t advance any further and had to block their Sword Strikes.
And in that meantime…
Whoosh-.
…Hwawang leaped into Mid-Air and threw a sphere made of fire at me.
‘Damn it.’
At such a close distance, I couldn’t immediately unfold the Stance of Unknown Sword-Breaking. Therefore, I had no choice but to…
Wind-Breaking Sword Art.
…push them away with the Wind-Breaking Sword Art and generate a Sword Wind to alter the trajectory of the fireball Hwawang threw.
Kwakwakwa-!
Puh-uh-uh-ung-!
The fireball, its trajectory altered, crashed into the innocent ground, spewing immense heat and turning the area into a Fire Hell.
‘…If I had been hit by that, I would’ve been gone in one shot.’
Going in one shot wouldn’t be the problem; it wouldn’t have even left a corpse to bury in the ground.
As I clicked my tongue at that intense sight, the annoying trio of Demonic Cultists rushed at me again.
But this time…
“Muyeon-!”
Chaaang-!
Thanks to Yongyong-i, who had somehow returned to her little girl form, blocking them, I was able to fend them off easily.
“…Yongyong-a, move a bit faster.”
“S-sorry. It takes some time to return to my human form from my main body… Still, from now on, if fire flies at us like this, I’ll block it a - “
“No.”
“Huh?”
I cut off Yongyong-i’s words and ordered.
“Just deal with these three guys until I call you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
Yongyong-i looked like she didn’t understand, but she soon nodded.
Chwachwachwang-!!
Then, she brought out her long claws and swung them at the Demonic Cultists.
Even though those guys were pretty good fighters, they wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to Yongyong-i.
With this, all the interferences were out of the picture.
Realizing my intention, Hwawang glared at me with a slightly heated face.
“Do you perhaps think…, that you can beat me in a one-on-one?”
“…”
Fwoosh-.
“You aren’t having the arrogant thought that you can defeat me with just that degraded version of a martial art that cuts through Formless Energy, are you?”
“I am, though?”
“What?”
I decided to teach the pitiful Hwawang a cruel truth.
“You didn’t know? You’re…”
“…”
“The weakest among all the Elders I’ve met so far.”
“…You arrogant little bastard.”
Hwaaa-!
His pride must have been deeply wounded, as Black Demonic Qi boiled up from his body.
Furthermore…
Kuooo-!
Merging with that Black Demonic Qi, his flames lost their original red color and began to transform into black.
Black Flames reminiscent of the Black Killing Demonic Art.
An ominous imagination of what would happen if I touched that even for a moment came to mind.
“I will show you the essence of the Extinguishing Flame Demonic Art.”
Fwarrrk-!
As Hwawang waved his hand, the Black Flames swept over me like a tidal wave.
However…
“I told you it’s useless.”
No matter how much stronger the intensity became, an Attack in the form of energy was meaningless before Unknown Sword-Breaking.
Seogeok-!
When I cut it down this time as well, Hwawang leaped with the intention of making the flames touch my body directly.
Chacha-chang-!!
Just touching his hand would cause my body to instantly burn and melt away.
Furthermore, Hwawang’s fist, imbued with flames, was quite threatening, enough to hint at his outstanding physical combat abilities.
Still…
‘He’s worse than the Dharma King.’
The Dharma King I had briefly faced at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
Compared to the Dharma King’s fist, which showed the essence of the Fist, Hwawang’s fist was incredibly light.
The speed was also at a level I could fully handle, so after dodging all of his fists, I…
Kku-uk-.
“Keuaaak-!”
…thrust my sword into his upper chest.
“Damn it-!!”
Chiiiik-.
He grabbed the Heavenly Demon Sword with a hand full of fire energy. It seemed he intended to melt and break the sword, but…
“This is a sword you guys made.”
“Aaaaak-!”
…there was no way the Heavenly Demon Sword would be broken by Demonic Arts.
Pasak-!
Regrettably, the upper chest where I had thrust my sword was not a vital spot.
To properly slash his vital spot, I pulled the sword out to the side of Hwawang’s body and raised it again.
Then…
Chak.
Hwawang brought his palms together as if in prayer and hastily gathered Demonic Qi.
Hwaaak-!
“Extinguishing Flame Demonic Art, Black Scorching Flame Wolf!”
The Demonic Qi gathered around Hwawang met with the extreme yang energy and ignited, creating something black.
That was…
Kyaaaak-!
…a Wolf Pack of dozens made of Black Flames.
“Tch…”
An immense amount of Demonic Qi that almost brought Demonic Transformation to mind. And the beasts born from that Demonic Qi.
The Wolf Pack made of fire rushed at me as if they had found their prey.
I could cut Hwawang’s neck here if I wanted to, but if I did, I would also be engulfed in flames.
First, using the sword I pulled from Hwawang’s body, I unfolded the Stance of Unknown Sword-Breaking and slashed away the rushing Wolf Pack.
Tatat-!
In the meantime, Hwawang retreated using Footwork, but…
Chwaaak-!
‘I can do this.’
…I was certain that I could cut down all of this Wolf Pack with Unknown Sword-Breaking and also sever Hwawang’s neck.
Chwaaak-!
Hwawang’s Demonic Qi wasn’t infinite, so there had to be an end to this Wolf Pack.
Like that, I approached Hwawang one step at a time.
“…Eek.”
Seeing that, he must have replenished his Demonic Qi, as the number of wolves in the Wolf Pack increased until they completely filled my vision.
At this, I also pushed my Internal Energy to the limit and charged.
“This much is no problem!”
Pababat-! Chwaaang-!!
Facing those countless flames, minor burns increased on my body and my skin was burned away in an instant, but…
Chwaaak-!!
…I was finally able to punch a hole through the black flames of the Wolf Pack.
However…
“Good work.”
“…!”
…what appeared before me after piercing through the flames was Hwawang, wielding another mass of Demonic Qi in his palm.
“I have poured my everything into this.”
“…”
“Try cutting this one too.”
Perhaps there was a delay in casting, as Hwawang gathered Demonic Qi in his palm for a long time.
Twitch.
“…What is that.”
I didn’t know what on earth he was preparing, but the energy was so unusual that I retreated back behind the flames I had pierced through.
“Do you think you can avoid it by doing that!”
Eventually, what bloomed from his palm was…
Keuaaaaa-!!
…a massive dragon made of Black Flames.
The massive dragon flew toward me in a slow but overwhelming manner.
Seeing that sight…
‘I can… cut it.’
…I thought I could cut it down with Unknown Sword-Breaking, but the problem was the Wolf Pack that was still maintaining its form.
If I cut down that dragon, the Wolf Pack would pounce on me, and if I cut the Wolf Pack, the dragon would pounce on me.
‘Is it checkmate?’
It was truly the final and strongest Strike containing all of Hwawang’s heart and soul.
Facing that fatal attack right before my eyes, I put on an expression of utter despair…
“…Heh.”
…or rather, I didn’t, and just smiled.
Because I had actually been waiting for Hwawang to launch an attack containing his everything.
Hwawang probably didn’t know, but right now, Unknown Sword-Breaking wasn’t the only weapon I had that could cut away those flames.
“Yongyong-a!”
“…!”
At my call, Yongyong-i, who had been dealing with the Demonic Cultists, flew toward me like a shot arrow.
I immediately grabbed the scruff of her neck and…
“You can swallow that, right?”
…pointed at the dragon made of flames.
Dragons fly in the sky, govern mountains and rivers, and manipulate the energy of nature.
Fire is no exception.
And although Yongyong-i was still an Imugi, she was right on the verge of becoming a dragon. Mimicking a dragon’s abilities should also be possible.
“You should have called me sooner. A fire of that level is…”
Huuuup-!
Yongyong-i opened her mouth as wide as her face and began to suck in the air.
“…something I can handle easily!”
Shwaaaaak-!!
“N-no-!!”
Before Hwawang even had time to be surprised, the dragon made of black flames began to be swept into Yongyong-i’s mouth.
And I…
Chwaaak-!
…unfolded Unknown Sword-Breaking with the opposite hand that wasn’t holding Yongyong-i, taking care of the remaining Wolf Pack.
“An Imugi-!!”
Only then did Hwawang realize the Imugi’s abilities and put on a regretful face, but by then, all the flames he had created were already slashed and swallowed.
I proudly shoved Yongyong-i toward the flustered Hwawang and laughed.
“Everyone carries around a portable Imugi, don’t they?”
“…You bastard-!”
Hwawang became enraged and gathered his flames again, but as expected, having used up almost all his Demonic Qi just now, the energy was truly feeble.
At this, just as I was about to cut the flames with Unknown Sword-Breaking and finish Hwawang off…
“…Urp!”
“…Hmm?”
Yongyong-i, having swallowed the flames, began to thrash about, thumping her chest as if in pain.
“Why? Is it hot?”
Nod, nod.
Since it wasn’t just regular fire but fire mixed with Demonic Qi, it seemed painful to swallow.
Right, Yongyong-i isn’t a dragon yet, so it could be hard for her.
I nodded and pointed my finger toward Hwawang.
“Then spit it out. Over there.”
Then…
Puhaaaa-!!
Flames poured out of Yongyong-i’s mouth and surged toward Hwawang.