Chapter 205
In an instant, the atmosphere around them changed.
The beautiful stars twinkling in the night sky were covered by darkness, and the forest was enveloped in a chilling silence.
The place where they had been chatting comfortably just moments ago had become a battlefield.
All of it was because of the aura flowing from Yeo Un-hwi.
Their breath caught in their throats.
Every member of the usually relaxed White Wolf Unit stiffened like stone under overwhelming fear.
‘So this is the terror felt by those who face the Commander.’
Their entire bodies tingled.
Yeo Un-hwi opened his mouth with an expressionless face.
“Draw your swords. Take up whatever weapons you have. Otherwise, you may die.”
At the same time,
Kuuuuuuung.
The aura dominating the space grew even more immense and tightened around the throats of every member of the White Wolf Unit.
“Graaagh!”
Could the simple act of drawing a weapon, something they had always considered trivial, really be this difficult?
The sensation that razor-sharp sword energy was floating throughout the space, ready to fly at them the moment they moved even slightly, overwhelmed them.
They felt that they might die if they moved even a little. No, they might die if they even took a deep breath.
Thus, not a single member of the White Wolf Unit could move.
Soon, the immense killing intent and pressure that had filled the space vanished as though it had never existed.
“Gasp. Gasp……”
Everyone collapsed right where they stood and began to tremble.
“Fourteen times—you all died fourteen times just now.”
No sooner had Yeo Un-hwi finished speaking than—
Shrrrk.
The hems of every member of the White Wolf Unit’s clothes were sliced away.
They had been cut so thinly and at such even intervals that the damage was barely noticeable.
The hems of their sleeves and collars fluttered away on the wind.
Goosebumps rose all over their bodies.
When had he……
They had not seen Yeo Un-hwi swing his sword, or even move.
Gulp.
Everyone swallowed dryly.
So this was what it meant to die without even knowing when they had died.
Just as they were dazed by the overwhelming helplessness and despair that left them with no will to fight at all,
“This is what I mean.”
Yeo Un-hwi continued speaking with a light laugh.
As though nothing had happened.
“When you encounter an expert with overwhelming power, the fight begins with drawing your weapon. The greater the difference in strength, the more impossible that becomes. But there is a great difference between drawing your weapon and not drawing it.”
Even while listening to Yeo Un-hwi, everyone’s bodies were drenched in sweat.
Even though all they had done was stand in place.
There had been no need to tell them to be careful or say that he was really going to attack.
The killing intent Yeo Un-hwi had released had been real.
That was the frightening part.
Even though they knew for certain that Yeo Un-hwi would never hurt them, they could barely breathe beneath the tremendous fear and pressure.
“So from now on, we’ll start over by practicing drawing your weapons every day. Once you become accustomed to facing me as an enemy, that alone will mean you have made tremendous progress. Then you’ll never again die without getting to use what you practiced and prepared every day. That will be where the real training begins.”
Once they could do that, they would be able to stand beside him and fight across the battlefield.
Until then, they were no different from people who were not yet ready to set foot on Yeo Un-hwi’s battlefield.
“So steel yourselves.”
The training up until now must have been difficult, but the training ahead would go entirely beyond your imagination.
Gulp.
The usually spirited White Wolf Unit all swallowed hard once more, as though they had made a promise to do so.
That was how shocking it had been to face Yeo Un-hwi’s true aura and killing intent.
Thus, no answer came immediately.
Only then did they realize it.
They really had been frogs in a well.
This was a completely different world from when they had fought the Extreme Evil Demon before.
At the same time, they thought that once they became accustomed to facing Yeo Un-hwi as an enemy, who in the world could possibly frighten them?
But did they know?
The aura Yeo Un-hwi had shown them was not even one-tenth of what he displayed when facing genuine enemies.
In any case, the White Wolf Unit would work hard, but for once, they had no confidence in themselves.
But then,
“We’ll do our best!”
Someone answered in a loud voice.
Everyone turned their heads.
The speaker was Munho, who had recently joined the White Wolf Unit.
His eyes were shining brightly.
He had the kind of gaze that said he would do anything if only he were given the chance.
Of course, he too had felt tremendous pressure and fear from the aura Yeo Un-hwi had revealed.
But rather than being discouraged, his heart was pounding madly with excitement.
After spending so many years training alone under his master every day, he had finally found people to train with.
He was simply happy about that fact.
Then,
“Me too! I’ll do my best too!”
As though they could not be outdone by Munho, Gi-su and Gi-sang also raised their hands high and spoke in loud voices.
“Urgh! We can’t lose to the newcomer. We’ll do our best too!”
Following the twin brothers, O Chae-mu, Gu Tae-san, Do-gyeong, and Peng Do-hwan, every member of the White Wolf Unit raised their hands energetically.
Jegal Gil also seemed to have raised his hand before he knew what he was doing.
He was still debating whether to join the White Wolf Unit or find another path for himself here, but he had been swept up by the atmosphere.
“We look forward to working with you from now on too, Commander!”
“All right.”
Yeo Un-hwi gave a faint smile and nodded.
He had no way of knowing how much help they would be in the battles he would fight from now on.
But Yeo Un-hwi also wanted to be with them.
So if they wished to become stronger, he intended to help them do so.
Because Yeo Un-hwi knew better than anyone why they wanted to become stronger.
The desire to protect someone precious.
And they treasured Yeo Un-hwi more than anyone.
That was why they wanted to fight alongside him.
“Now, then……”
Fweeeeng.
Yeo Un-hwi had been about to say that they should go inside and rest for the night, but he stopped speaking and gazed toward somewhere far away.
“What is it?”
O Chae-mu asked.
“Hmm. I’ll be gone for a moment, so get some rest.”
“Huh? At this hour? Where are you going……”
But before O Chae-mu could finish speaking, Yeo Un-hwi had already disappeared from the spot.
The entire White Wolf Unit stared in surprise at the empty space where he had been.
“Shouldn’t we follow him? What if something happens while he’s alone?”
“Huh? Who are you worried about right now?”
“Pardon?”
“You still don’t know? He’s the person in this world who needs no worrying over.”
“Ahaha. Right. Of course.”
Munho scratched his head awkwardly.
“Well, haha……”
Munho had already seen Yeo Un-hwi single-handedly turn not only Saryeon Palace but also the Martial Alliance into wastelands.
Yeo Un-hwi could accomplish such an incredible feat as casually as if it were nothing, something no one in this world could possibly do.
Naturally, worrying about him was pointless.
“By the way, what could have made him hurry off like that?”
Munho asked curiously, but no one could really answer his question.
No one could know what it was for now.
***
“Gasp. Gasp!”
A young-looking woman hurried somewhere while wounded.
Her qinggong was extraordinary.
But blood from the wounds she had suffered dripped steadily onto the ground.
‘Damn it! It was a trap!’
She twisted her face and blamed herself for her foolishness.
‘I insisted on handling it alone. To think one of the Sixteen Demon Generals was waiting for me, damn it!’
A truly formidable figure had suddenly appeared.
As someone who had only just qualified as a member, she could not yet handle such an existence alone.
Then, she suddenly recalled a conversation she had shared with someone long ago.
‘Your talent is certainly exceptional. But you’re too impatient. You have a tendency to rush. If you continue like that, you’ll probably die young before you can properly grow. So……’
‘Ngh! Shut up! I’m different! Just you wait!’
Ha.
Perhaps what she had heard back then had been right.
In the end, she had stubbornly rushed ahead alone and ended up in this state.
She had practically brought death upon herself.
Just then.
Shuaaak!
Shweeek!
A tremendous number of hidden weapons suddenly flew toward her from somewhere.
“Graaagh!”
The woman quickly deflected and blocked all the attacks with the dagger in her hand.
But she was not strong enough to block every hidden weapon flying at her without pause.
Another hidden weapon flew in and severed the branch she had just stepped onto, sending the woman plummeting to the ground.
Under normal circumstances, that never would have happened, but she had been driven into a desperate predicament.
“Urgh.”
The woman eventually crashed to the ground with a thud, clutching her wounded abdomen as she barely managed to rise.
Then,
“I was going to watch and see when you returned to the Heavenly Ghost Unit.”
“But you don’t seem to have any intention of going back at all.”
Five gaunt, tall men with narrow, slit-like eyes appeared, each carrying a scythe.
They all had identical builds and faces.
“Hmph. I’m not stupid enough to go back after letting my tail get caught so easily. Especially in a situation like this!”
No sooner had the woman finished speaking than she rapidly threw two daggers at the head of one of the men holding a scythe.
But the man knocked the daggers away without the slightest concern.
“Heh. Bluffing, are you?”
“I wonder if you’ll still be able to do that,”
“while you’re being dragged away,”
“and tortured.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Soon, the five men holding scythes licked their lips.
It was truly eerie to see men with identical faces and grotesque features conversing in the same voice.
“Hmph! Try it if you can!”
The woman bit her lip.
Then,
Swish.
For an instant, she seemed to vanish from the spot,
“Hmm?”
and then slipped into the exposed flank of one of the men holding a scythe.
And the technique she used was,
[Demon-Slaying Palm]
A golden palm strike burst from the woman’s hand and slammed into the abdomen of one of the men holding a scythe.
“Kuaaagh!”
The man whose abdomen had been ruptured went flying.
“I did it.”
She had taken one of them down.
But,
“Phew. How scary.”
In an instant, the other men holding scythes got behind the woman.
“Urgh!”
The woman hurriedly tried to move again, but one of the men caught her by the foot.
“Let go!”
“Let go? Fine, all right.”
The man grinned and slammed the woman into the ground.
“Kugh!”
It felt as though her insides had been twisted to pieces.
Her consciousness felt as though it were about to fade.
“The fourth one is dying.”
“No, he isn’t. He’ll recover soon.”
“The wounds from this woman’s technique won’t heal easily. It hurts.”
“Ugh. Those Heavenly Ghost Unit bastards really are dangerous.”
“We have to kill them all.”
“No. We need to capture her for now. Let’s take her to our Demon General.”
Soon, one of the men lifted the woman upside down and grinned as though she were a toy.
‘A-ah. So this is the end. I endured all that grueling training, and just when I thought I was finally pulling my weight. Master, and everyone else, I’m sorry.’
Only then did the woman abandon all hope.
There was no way for her to survive like this.
Just then.
“Hooh.”
An unfamiliar man’s voice came from somewhere.
“The familiar aura piqued my curiosity, so I came to investigate—but I’ve stumbled upon something I never expected to see.”
His face was filled with interest.
It was none other than Yeo Un-hwi himself.”,