Twelve majestic Air Swords rose, all the while, the tips of the swords pointing at her.
That was all it took to render Ran-yeong, who was considered the real Hidden Power of the Imperial Palace, and even Blood Master, the highest-ranking member of the Blade God Six Martial Clan, totally speechless.
‘Air Sword!’
To reach a level where one could actually use an air sword, it was something that even Ran-yeong who had lived for many years, had witnessed only once. However, even that hadn’t reached the level that Chun Yeowun was displaying. Chun Yeowun then warned the shocked women with a calm voice.
“Don’t you dare disappoint me”
Whooosh!
The twelve Air Swords around Chun Yeowun slowly moved ahead and split into two, with six swords being directed at each woman.
‘It’ll be dangerous for me to act now’
Ran-yeong had lived for nearly 200 years, but had never seen anything like this. The intensity of the energy in each sword was enough to render any of their attacks useless.
Chun Yeowun spoke to himself.
‘Panel!’
[Activating the Panel remote control function on the twelve Air Swords]
Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep!
Along with Nano’s response, the twelve red lights in the augmented reality aimed at the two women appeared. On the screen, the swords on the left were pointing towards the woman on the right and vice-versa, making it cross-shaped.
‘This isn’t the time to be shocked’
The eyes of the two women, who were previously shocked, turned serious after they came back to their senses. They were amazed at seeing Chun Yeowun, someone who had reached the Perfect Supreme Master level, perform such skills, but they knew that if they didn’t act, they would meet their doom.
The women might look young, but they were both veterans in war.
‘Think calmly’
Blood Master narrowed her eyes and looked at the 6 Air Swords aimed at her. It was a shocking scene and she knew that it was impossible to deal with them head-on.
She, who had reached the Supreme Master level, could defend against air swords, but she could at most only handle three of them with accurate precision.
‘Even a master of Qigong wouldn’t be able to handle six Air Swords. No matter how much of a master this man is, there is no way he can handle all twelve of them with precision’
Moreover, just using the Air Sword would consume a tremendous amount of internal energy. That meant that the battle depended on time. If the flame woman and Blood Master managed to defend against at least three Air Swords each, victory would be theirs.
‘It’s a simple plan, that isn’t based on attack, but it’s the best we’ve got’
Ran-yeong too had come to a similar conclusion. Although the man possessed monster-like ability, there was no way he could handle all twelve Air Swords.
‘Although we’re enemies, I just need to come to a truce with that bitch’, Ran-yeong thought as she glanced at Blood Master.
The question was how long would they be able to hold their ground, and would they be able to kill the ‘monster’ that stood before them.
‘Nice!’
Wheeeing!
The flame spheres moved around from Ran-yeong to where Chun Yeowun stood. Since there were twelve Air Swords, she had to deal with six of them and she was capable enough to do it.
However, things don’t always go as planned.
Chak!
Chun Yeowun, as if waiting for the right moment, released the twelve Air Swords towards them. As the swords shot out, the blue trails left by them remained in the air, showing the trajectories of the 12 swords.
Swoooosh!
It was a spectacular sight as the swords rapidly approached the women.
‘It’s coming!’
Ran-yeong was ready and waiting for the attack as six Air Swords came towards her. The flame spheres, which were floating in the air, quickly flew towards the air swords, as if they were anti-ballistic missiles in the shape of spheres.
Shhhhhhhhh!
The reason she had launched the flame spheres was to intercept the air swords and cause an explosion, destroying them in the process. And as she intended, the flame spheres, traveling two at a time flew towards the Air Sword and attempted to collide with them.
However, something unexpected happened.
‘How is that possible?!’
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As shocking as it was, the flying swords tore through the flame spheres. As if the swords were being controlled manually, they gently cut the flame spheres to avoid explosions.
‘Is he really controlling all of them?’
Ran-yeong’s eyes trembled in shock and fear. If he really could control all of them, then it meant that she was dealing with six individual monster swords.
“Shit!”
Ran-yeong struck her fist at the ground, in an attempt to counter the incoming air sword.
Bang!
With a crack in the ground, red lava began to flow out, and soon, a pillar of flame soared.
Heeeeing! Crackle!
Thanks to the soaring pillar of flame, the Air Sword attempting to kill her was blocked. The pillar of flame had actually turned into an iron wall, which managed to sheild her from danger.
‘Even if it is an Air Sword, it is still made of energy! This pillar of flame is so strong that even the strongest sword is unable to penetrate it!’
There was no need to deal with the swords one after another. After living for 200 years, her experience was incomparable to that of the other two.
Crackle! Crackle! Wheeng!
The Air Swords tried to go through the pillar of flames, but they were blocked. The corners of Ran-yeong’s lips went up. As expected, the Air Swords were only capable of stabbing and cutting.
‘If this is it… what good can it… ugh!’
Swoosh!
The Air Swords, which couldn’t penetrate the pillar of flame, began to spread away from the pillar.
At that moment,
[Of the 6 Air Swords, 3 of them executed the Sword Force of the Heavenly Demon and the other 3 used the 24 Demon Swords]
Suddenly, the Air Swords surrounding the pillar of flame began emitting different types of qi.
All of them were different swords!
The 24 Demon Swords and the Sword Force of Heavenly Demon were said to be the strongest skills in the Demonic Cult.
“What! No way!”
Ran-yeong couldn’t hide her shock as she saw this scene unfold in front of her. This monster was using different techniques to make sure that the swords were used to their maximum.
Chhhhh!
In an instant, the two great skills of the Demonic Cult rushed towards the pillar of flame. And the situation changed when the six swords of different natures collided with it.
The pillar of flame began to waver and gaps soon appeared on it. The moment the gaps started appearing, 2 swords went through them and rushed for Ran-yeong, who was hiding behind the pillar.
‘He’s a monster! But does he think I’ll let myself get hit?’
Wheeng!
Ran-yeong urgently reacted as flames burst forth from both her hands and it wasn’t just the flames.
Her method of using the flames had changed, unlike the soaring flames from before, this time, the flames held some softness. She was holding onto the flames as if it was a delicate flower that was blooming.
Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha! Clang!
Sparks flew in all directions as her technique and the Air Swords clashed together. However, Ran-yeong’s eyes suddenly caught something, while she was focusing on blocking the swords.
‘What is this sword?’
Unlike Ran-yeong, who was trying her best to block the swords, Blood Master on the other side was facing attacks from 6 Air Swords and tried her best to prevent herself from getting hit with her own swordsmanship.
Clang! Cha! Cha! Cha! Clang!
As a skilled master, she managed to counter the Air Swords which were moving at intervals, and with each collision, sparks flew.
“As long as you are using the Air Sword you’ll never be able to enter the gaps and hit us!”
The Blood Master shouted with confidence.
The sword she wielding in her right hand moved so fast that it left an afterimage that was visible to the naked eye.
However, if the Air Swords were only stabbing and slashing, this method would have worked.
“What?”
The Air Swords, which had previously only been stabbing, suddenly started to move differently. The Blood Master couldn’t help but stay still for a moment.
Shhhh!
“Ugh! How can that be!?”
While in shock, the 6 Air Swords began to use different techniques. As if the 6 swords were working together, each sword displayed a unique technique that complemented the other swords.
‘It-it can’t be!’
The Blood Master was so confused and shocked that she went speechless. Each of the six Air Swords had unique movements because Chun Yeowun was controlling them.
If he was suddenly going to use six different kinds of swords, then the result of a one-on-one battle was extremely obvious.
Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!
“Ugh!”
Using her force qi, she began using a new formation, only to get hit by a sword. She had already jumped back two feet, but the force of the sword was so strong that she was pushed ten steps further.
Swoosh!
Not giving her any time to breathe, each of the six swords moved ahead with no signs of stopping. Each sword looked invincible in her eyes. Why? Because each sword was displaying absolute perfection.
‘What? Why does this swordsmanship seem… familiar?’
Her eyes shook as she tried her best to stop the swords from hitting her. At first, she was only shocked by Chun Yeowun’s control over the Air Swords, but the more she saw the movements of the sword, the more familiar it felt.
‘This swordsmanship is…’
It couldn’t be wrong. The sword qi, which the Air Swords were emitting, resembled the technique that the old man had used to prevent the Blade God of Blade God Six Martial clan from moving ahead in Wulin.
Moreover, unlike that old man’s sword qi, which was completely unstable, this was the complete opposite. That old man had identified himself as the Lord of the Demonic Cult, which caused Blood Master to realize something.
“Demonic Cult! This man is from the Demonic Cult!”
At last, she managed to find out the identity of the Guard in golden armor. From what she knew, there was only one person who could use such a technique.
‘Long hair and pale white face…’
It was similar to what the remnants of the spies who had been planted in the Demonic Cult had told her.
‘Chun Yeowun!’
It must be Chun Yeowun, the current Lord of the Demonic Cult. The man who had caused their plans go to waste numerous times.
Blood Master bit down hard on her lip.
She was even more shocked after learning his true identity. If the plan had to go smoothly, then the Lord of the Demonic Cult had to be in the Cult. This would also allow them to proceed with their plan in the Imperial Palace, without any trouble.
Even if he wasn’t there, how did a person who should’ve been preparing for a festival appear in the Imperial Palace?
Clang! Clang! Clang!
However, at that moment it wasn’t that important. If the person in front of her really was the Lord of the Demonic Cult, then the situation had changed.
She had to inform that ‘person’ that the plan had gone wrong and then get punished for not following it through, however, it was impossible to do both of them.
‘I need to do something about this! Damn it!’
She would die if she made the wrong decision. She thought that she would only have to hold on until the other woman died, but she had never imagined that they would be in such huge trouble.
And it was then…
Sheeeeee~
“Euk!”
She felt something behind her ear, as she glanced sideways to see what it was. A flame soared high as she was pushed towards the pond which was filled with hot water.
‘When did I get this far?’
She hadn’t even realized that she’d been pushed back by the six Air Swords and their endless attacks. It marks on the ground showed that she’d been pushed back by more than 20 steps.
Wheeeng!
Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!
Thanks to getting pushed back, she could see the image of Ran-yeong competing with the other swords.
It was violent. The surrounding area was completely devastated by the flames and many sword marks were made on the ground.
She could see Ran-yeong in clear distress.
‘If this goes on, we’ll fall out of exhaustion before that man runs out of energy’
She wondered what she could do. How could she overcome the hopeless situation?
Chiiiik!
“Argh!”
It was difficult to hold her balance as swords kept pushing her back because she was too concentrated on overcoming the situation.
‘Shit! I came all this way for the treasure… shit!’
It was then that an idea popped into her mind. The Blood of the Qilin was in the pond behind her.
‘My situation isn’t good. I have no other choice but to take a gamble.’
She had no idea what effects the Qilin’s Blood would have on her, but she was so desperate that she was willing to gamble it all.
At least with the Qilin’s Blood, she’d would experience an increase in her qi. It was a risk worth taking.
“Haaa!”
Blood Master was getting excited as she quickly grabbed onto the sword in her hands and then slammed it into the ground. The formation she had just used had been passed on to her by ‘that person’ very recently.
Bang!
At that moment, the sword split into eight branches, and just like the Air Swords, it divided into eight afterimages. It was the Eight Swords of the Blade God.
Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!
The afterimage of the eight swords spread out in an instant and created a devastating force pushing out the Air Swords which were coming at her.
‘This is it!’
At last. She had managed to create a gap with her skills. Without wasting any time, she tried to use the new technique to gain some time.
However, at that exact moment.
Chak!
“Kyaaaaak!”
Just when she was about to turn, something cold passed through her right arm. She had definitely pushed away the Air Swords, so what had just arrived next to her?
Chak!
‘AHHHHH! My arm!’
The coldness she had felt a moment before, was due to her arm being cut off. Her arm, which was still holding onto the sword, fell onto the hot ground.
“Ugh! How is that possible?”
She could not understand anything. She lifted her head with an incomprehensible expression, and shockingly, Chun Yeowun was in front of her eyes.
“Did you think I would let you do what you were planning?”
“H-how did you do that?!”, the Blood Master was too shocked to speak.
To deal with twelve Air Swords would require extreme concentration, so he shouldn’t be able to move even a single step, but he done exactly that. How?
Swoosh!
“No!”
She was shocked, but at one point, the six Air Swords which she had temporarily blocked flew around Chun Yeowun and surrounded her. It had become a truly desperate situation.
‘This can’t be possible! He isn’t supposed to be able to move whilst using so many Air Swords!’
It wasn’t one single Air Sword, it was twelve Air Swords! Of course, they didn’t know that Nano was assisting Chun Yeowun.
“Yo-you…are you a monster?”
No matter how much she thought about it, Chun Yeowun’s skills were beyond what humans could achieve. Even if the best of men trained, such results would still be considered a myth, something they could never achieve. However, Chun Yeowun was able to do it.
She bit her lips trying hard to bear with the pain. What displeased her more was that she was acting out of despair and not fear. Chun Yeowun, who had cut off her right arm however, was extremely calm.
‘To cut off my right arm!’
Although the right arm was cut off, it was still possible for her to use the sword with her left hand, since she was extremely skilled. Furthermore, he was right in front of her.
She carefully thought of a way to kill the man with her left hand as she gathered energy to her hand.
Ch! Tuk!
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
Before she could even gather the energy, her left arm also fell off. Her scream would’ve torn off the eardrums of others. As her only remaining arm got cut off, Chun Yeowun spoke heartlessly to the woman who was in pain and confusion.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you”
“Kuuuuu… Haaa…. Haa…”
She thought she could let loose, but that had turned out to be a blundering mistake.
Chun Yeowun had gained experience after confronting strong enemies in the past. One of the things he had learnt was to never relax until the enemy was dead.
This rule of his usually made Chun Yeowun’s opponents think that he had neither blood nor tears.
“My arm… my arm! Kya…!”
With her both arms cut off, it was safe to assume that recovery was impossible for her. This truth only made her feel even more miserable and painful.
The physical pain didn’t last long.
With an anxious voice and pale face, she shouted
“Haaa… haaa… the person who reached the Perfect Supreme Master level is so scared of a woman that would cut her arms off? How funny is that!”
With a cold voice, Chun Yeowun responded
“You aren’t a woman when you have a weapon, and when desperate, you deem yourself as a woman?”
“What? You! How dare you! Ahhhh! Die!!!”
She was so upset that she forgot about her lost arms and grunted through her teeth like a mad dog.
“You need to die”
Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!
“Kuakkkkk!”
The six Air Swords that sorrounded her, stabbed into her body from all sides.
As she got pierced by the swords, she looked like a hedgehog with swords piercing out through the back of her body. She fell to the ground, with her gaze full of hatred.