Chapter 205. Nine in the Fifth Place (1)
A child was standing in front of him.
While he assumed that the child would keep going and head off somewhere else, for some reason, the cute little boy who seemed to be about ten kept walking toward him.
“You brat! Get out of here! Go play somewhere else,” the man shouted at the little boy to chase him away. However, instead of being scared, the little boy just smiled at him.
“You stink.”
“What?”
“I can smell the stench of Martial Heaven on you.”
Squelch!!
Blood poured out from the man’s gaping chest.
The man was a disciple of the Mount Heng Great Bear Gate and a low-ranking warrior of Martial Heaven.
The last thing he saw was the little boy’s smiling face through his blood-reddened vision. Then, all he saw was black.
“Kekeke. I have to kill them all. I’ll send them all to their side to accompany them without leaving a single one behind!”
After the Ageless Demon Emperor entered the Mount Heng Great Bear Gate, all sorts of horrifying screams erupted. In but a few moments, no one was breathing within the Mount Heng Great Bear Gate except for the Ageless Demon Emperor.
The Ageless Demon Emperor looked in a certain direction with eyes full of venom and madness.
“I’ll be there soon. Wait for me. Kekeke!”
***
Daybreak dawned.
Woo-Moon, who had spent the whole night wide awake, washed his body briefly with water someone had brought him, took out a pure white robe, and put it on.
Then, he walked out of his quarters with all three swords he had kept by his bedside tucked into his waistband.
Swish!
Ma Ra appeared before him.
“...”
Neither said a single word, just exchanging glances while Woo-Moon smiled bitterly.
Ma Ra seeped into his shadow, and Woo-Moon walked to the place where the Allied Forces of Good and Evil were facing off against the Heavenly Demon Cult.
As he approached the center, he met Yeo-Seol and the Ten Swords of the North Sea.
“I believe in you, Gege.”
Woo-Moon nodded silently at Yeo-Seol’s words, who cheered for him with both hands folded over her heart.
The line of Justice Coalition members facing off against the Heavenly Demon Cult was so long that he couldn’t see the end. That was how many people had gathered here.
‘Once I pass them...’
Once he and the others made their way past the defensive lines, they would reach an empty field. On the other side of the battlefield would be the main camp of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And... his junior sister, Si-Hyeon, would be there.
Truthfully, it was still hard for Woo-Moon to believe that she was still alive. The image of her dying that day was still so vivid in his mind.
He wondered, could she really be alive?
Woo-Moon hadn’t been able to sleep because of that question.
Moreover, he was also angry at himself for his selfishness.
In a corner of his heart, he had actually hoped that Hwi Ji-Gang had been lying, that Si-Hyeon hadn’t come back to life, and that she had actually died.
However, in the end, no matter what had happened or how anyone felt, he just hoped for her to be alive, and his heart raced as he looked forward to seeing her again.
Woo-Moon walked forward.
Although he didn’t ask anyone to step aside or do anything special, the people lined up in the defensive line for the Allied Forces of Good and Evil moved out of his way of their own volition, shocked by his presence and the aura he gave off.
“The Undefeatable Sword Hero!”
“Great Hero Song! Please kill that Heavenly Demon Cult witch!”
Roar!!!
Woo-Moon walked while receiving their cheers and support, standing alone in the empty field.
The Heavenly Demon Cult members looked at Woo-Moon.
The Undefeatable Sword Hero.
His was the most prominent name among the younger generation talents of the Three Factions, and he was the rising star in the Righteous Faction murim, the greatest of their heroes.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Countless explosions rang out, and dust and smoke rose in thick clouds.
Woosh!
Woo-Moon, untouched by any of the Black Aura Rings, burst through the dust like an arrow and flew toward Si-Hyeon.
He was using the Northern Wind Steps, which he had by now cultivated past perfection and into a new, transcendent realm.
Despite his rapid movement, he made no sound. As he combined his Northern Wind Steps with the Divine Phantasm Steps, his figure was all but invisible.
While there were still dozens of Black Aura Rings left, Woo-Moon used his defensive qi to endure the blows with his body.
As he kicked off the ground and jumped into the air, his swords erupted into flurries as they multiplied into indescribable numbers.
‘Heavy Rain!’
Millions of golden aura blades flew toward Si-Hyeon. In response, Si-Hyeon stretched out her wings and covered her entire body.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Even though it was aura colliding with aura, there was no explosion, just the harsh sound of metal clashing. This was because both of them had already reached a point of fully solidifying their aura to the point where it was indistinguishable from steel.
Once aura was cultivated to a high enough level, it transformed into something new—transcendent aura, which could take a myriad of forms. And one of those forms was precisely this incredibly concentrated aura, to the point where it was indistinguishable from solid metal.
Aura conjured by ordinary masters was as weak as tofu before transcendent aura.
While Si-Hyeon blocked Woo-Moon’s technique, Woo-Moon had already arrived right in front of her.
Lightflash flew in a smooth arc.
They were fighting at close range now.
From this point on, rather than the strength of one’s aura, one’s techniques mattered more.
Si-Hyeon moved to stab Woo-Moon’s throat with one hand while striking Lightflash with the other. Her hands were pure white, empowered by the Empty Hand Demonic Art.
However, her gaze wavered for a moment. Then, her hand followed in kind, moving toward his shoulder instead of his neck.
Woo-Moon unleashed Raging Storm to knock aside her hand while gently flicking Lightflash, which had been knocked aside, back toward Si-Hyeon for a counterattack.
This time, it was aimed at her heart.
Yet it was as if she didn’t care about the lethal attack as she ignored the oncoming blade while attacking Woo-Moon in kind!
‘Mutual destruction?’
Woo-Moon was surprised by her extreme choice.
However, Si-Hyeon’s hand suddenly shifted, aiming for his shoulder instead of his throat.
Woo-Moon quickly flicked Lightflash back and forth and deflected her attacks.
Had he ignored her blow and kept attacking, he could have traded a minor shoulder injury for her life.
Woo-Moon’s gaze quivered.
Swish!
Ten whips of black aura came together to form a sword. Si-Hyeon grabbed it and took a step forward, lowering its tip to the ground before swinging it up in a wide circle.
Clang!!!
As Woo-Moon blocked her attack, a sharp metallic sound rang out.
But her attack didn’t end there.
The aura emitted from her sword created a disc, and almost at the same time as Si-Hyeon’s sword attacked Woo-Moon, the disc flew forward.
‘This is like unleashing an Impenetrable Golden Wall and then firing off a Golden Wall Severing Void,’ Woo-Moon thought as he quickly shook his wrist left and right.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Countless metallic clashes echoed through the air as the disc’s energy eventually dissipated into the void. Lightflash struck its sides repeatedly.
The sword technique that Si-Hyeon had unleashed was called Void-Breaking Moon Sword and it had been created by a predecessor of hers, the Moon Wheel Heavenly Demon.
Then, the sword she was holding transformed into a spear. With a flick of her wrist, the spear made of black aura spun like a whirlwind inside Si-Hyeon’s delicate jade hands, creating a black vortex.
‘Wind Soul-Piercing Iron Spear!’
It was one of the signature spear techniques of the Wind God Heavenly Demon, a technique that maximized penetrative power and destructive power. Woo-Moon definitely couldn’t underestimate it.
‘I have to dodge.’
Since this technique maximized destructive power by creating a vortex, it was hard to control once it was launched. Si-Hyeon wouldn’t be able to follow up quickly, so all he had to do was dodge once.
Woo-Moon tried to escape by using the Divine Phantasm Steps, but the enormous suction power generated by the vortex refused to let him go.
‘Hmph! What a tricky spear technique.’