novelraw Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Chapter 76
The wretched screams piled up one by one in that place. Blood dripped from the dagger returning to Cheon Ha-seong. The dagger was thickly coated in the blood of numerous people.
Although it was a fast-drying poison, because Cheon Ha-seong was throwing and retrieving it so quickly, it was still exhibiting its effects generously.
Cheon Ha-seong, focused only on the task of throwing and retrieving the dagger, did not count how many he had killed.
The act of throwing and retrieving became more and more free, and now he could watch the trajectory of the returned dagger and catch it at once without slowing its speed. Later, he even started to hit the hilt with his palm to throw it again instead of catching it with his hand.
As time passed, the time it took to dispatch a person by throwing the dagger decreased.
Danmok Yeon had never felt such satisfaction in his life. He felt a sense of elation and looked at Cheon Ha-seong.
Excited and thrilled, a smile formed on his lips on its own.
“Apply more poison. Why are you being so stingy when you still have a lot left?”
“Ah. Right.”
Cheon Ha-seong applied poison to the dagger as if he had forgotten. Then he repeated the same action as before.
“The number you have killed already exceeds forty, Cheon Ha-seong. A surprise attack with poison. I doubt anyone will ever think this was the doing of our cult. I suspect the assassin guilds based in Qinghai will be suspected one after another and suffer a bloodbath.”
Danmok Yeon said, as if in anticipation.
Just then, a person looked up at Cheon Ha-seong and shouted loudly.
“Get that bastard! He's on the roof! He's attacking from the roof!”
Cheon Ha-seong, thinking this was the end of the easy fishing, looked at Danmok Yeon.
“What should we do now, Senior? Shall we fight as usual from now on?”
“There is no need for that. Now is the time for you to realize what I have taught you.”
Then, from that moment, he began to stir up a sticky demonic energy. It was something Cheon Ha-seong had never seen before.
An eerie sound was made, and a sticky fog rose up. At first, it was so faint it was unnoticeable, but it gradually thickened. Then, when it had become so thick that one could not see an inch ahead, Danmok Yeon spoke.
“Begin again.”
“With the dagger, you mean?”
“Why make it so difficult when the field of vision is obscured to this extent? It seems it would be enough just to release the poison into the fog.”
Cheon Ha-seong asked as if to say, 'Can't you do it?', but Danmok Yeon had never done such a thing.
However, it was just that he had never attempted it; it didn't seem like it would be difficult to mix poison into the fog.
Before he knew it, Cheon Ha-seong was kindly handing him the poison vial.
He hadn't given it when he had first asked for it, but now he was handing it over because he himself was curious.
Cheon Ha-seong, thinking it would be helpful to gather more people from other places here, threw the dagger again.
This time, he didn't end their lives quickly but just inflicted fatal wounds. The more wretchedly the screams spread, and the longer they lasted, the better.
It had an immediate effect, and the martial artists who were in various parts of the Azure Sea Sect came running.
Danmok Yeon, who was releasing the poison into the fog, looked at Cheon Ha-seong as if it were strange.
“Who on earth are you throwing that dagger at, you bastard?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Can you see the people when the fog is this thick?”
“I can see them. Can't you see them from here? Can you perhaps not see them, Senior?”
Danmok Yeon was dumbfounded. He was the one who had created the fog, so he could see, but Cheon Ha-seong should not have been able to see through it. The reason Danmok Yeon could see was not because of his location, but because he was the one who had performed the art. But how could Cheon Ha-seong see the people in the fog so vividly?
He could understand guessing at a blurry figure, but wasn't Cheon Ha-seong hitting each person accurately?
Cheon Ha-seong, as if he didn't know why Danmok Yeon was asking such a thing and as if he weren't very interested, just continued to throw the dagger.
Danmok Yeon thought he didn't know who was the strange one.
Just then, Danmok Yeon's fog suddenly scattered.
A master of the Azure Sea Sect who had appeared there had unleashed his Sword Qi and torn the fog apart. Cheon Ha-seong thought that this was probably the end of benefiting from the fog.
However, that was Cheon Ha-seong's miscalculation.
The scattered fog gathered again. It was an incident that happened in an instant, like water filling a space. The viscosity and red energy of the fog had grown even thicker.
The people, who had been shouting in celebration, thinking it was over after the leadership had appeared and taken care of the fog, could not hide their bewilderment.
It was the same for the person who had cut through the fog.
Cheon Ha-seong saw a smile spread across Danmok Yeon's face. Perhaps because he was a fellow member of the Divine Cult, he felt relieved to see him smile.
An eerie sound spread even more bizarrely in the surroundings.
The smell of the blood of the dead wafted over, and the fear and confusion grew.
Cheon Ha-seong also noticed that it was becoming nourishment for Danmok Yeon.
“Every single bastard in this place will die today. Not a single drop of blood will be left in your bodies, and the largest connected piece of your flesh will be smaller than the palm of a hand. Everyone's corpse will be divided into tens of thousands of pieces and will become unrecognizable. If you wish to die with even a little less pain, it would be best to slit your own throats now.”
Cheon Ha-seong thought it was the first time he had ever heard such a chilling warning. However, he did not think that anyone would actually slit their own throat after hearing those words. They were the martial artists of the renowned Azure Sea Sect.
It might be possible for ordinary commoners who did not know martial arts, but it was unimaginable that these men would be frightened by a warning and do so.
But an unexpected event occurred.
*Sskung.*
*Sskung.*
The sounds that followed one after another were clearly the sound of flesh being cut. Following the sharp sound of rending air, the sound of heavy bodies collapsing to the floor was heard.
“What are you all doing! Get a grip. I'm telling you to hold on to your senses!”
Cheon Ha-seong realized that the power of the arts was contained in that voice.
The ones who had died had not died simply because of the fear of death. They had followed Danmok Yeon's words, thinking they were a command.
Cheon Ha-seong was genuinely surprised, wondering if it was possible to kill people in this way. It was a world he had never even dreamed of until now.
“Dispel this fog at once! Those who can execute Sword Qi, unleash it now!”
A sharp voice shot out from within the fog. Then it seemed he himself was unleashing his Sword Qi.
Cheon Ha-seong thought that Danmok Yeon's fog was like a giant net made of Heavenly Silkworm Thread. At first, it had scattered a little, but later, it showed no sign of scattering easily.
In the meantime, the martial artists of the Azure Sea Sect seemed to be rapidly growing tired. Unleashing Sword Qi consumed a considerable amount of internal energy, and hadn't they unleashed it in succession?
In the meantime, even more martial artists flocked to that place.
“Sect Leader! Elder!”
Listening to their shouts, it seemed the leadership had already entered, and they were charging in like moths to a flame to save them.
Cheon Ha-seong thought he was witnessing a truly strange sight.
Then, happening to see Danmok Yeon, Cheon Ha-seong was startled, as it looked as if blood were streaming from his eyes. Then he was relieved, realizing it was because of the bloodlight.
He didn't know if it was a matter to be relieved about, but thinking it was better than shedding blood from his eyes, he wiped his chest in relief.
“The culprit is on the roof! We must aim for the culprit on the roof at once!”
Someone shouted in a loud voice. It seemed they had skillfully figured it out.
“Unleash your Sword Qi all at once!”
Someone shouted.
Cheon Ha-seong prepared for when the fog would be pierced, wondering if Danmok Yeon's fog could really block that too. He picked up his sword in preparation for when the fog scattered and people would unleash their Sword Qi on the roof. Then he slowly began to inject his internal energy.
Danmok Yeon glanced at the sight.
The act of the greenhorn trying to protect him was quite cute.
And he thought the feeling of standing side-by-side with someone, trusting each other and fighting, was pretty good.
“A bastard like that is no problem at all, even if there are thousands of them in front of me.”
Danmok Yeon said in a triumphant voice. However, it didn't take long for it to be proven that his confidence was too excessive.
As if it had been waiting for those words, the fog scattered. It disappeared as if it were being torn apart, like a gauze veil being ripped by a sharp blade.
The thing that had torn the fog then flew directly, aiming for the two of them.
It was a flurry of Sword Aura.
Wondering if the Azure Sea Sect had a master of this level, Cheon Ha-seong hurriedly swung his sword.
The sword, which was already sufficiently imbued with internal energy, moved dozens of times in an instant and created a thick sword barrier.
Danmok Yeon, not having thought his fog would disappear so helplessly, was quite flustered. As the practitioner's emotions directly affected the art, the fog scattered even more quickly. Danmok Yeon thought he was going to die just like that. As he did, he quickly dodged, but the Sword Aura did not fly any further and dispersed.
Danmok Yeon, thinking it was strange, turned his head and saw Cheon Ha-seong standing in the spot where he had been, having blocked the Sword Aura.
“…!”
Genuinely surprised and at a complete loss for words, he was seen by Cheon Ha-seong. He was checking to see if he had been injured.
Danmok Yeon looked at Cheon Ha-seong with a blank face, then swallowed dryly.
“There will be a limit of a few times. He won't be able to unleash this kind of Sword Aura multiple times. So let's draw him out two or three more times, Senior.”
Danmok Yeon came to his senses. It felt strange, as if he were being offered a hand, as if he hadn't seen the disgraceful display from a moment ago.
Danmok Yeon approached Cheon Ha-seong again. And as if to make up for what had just happened, he created an even thicker fog.
Cheon Ha-seong thought he seemed like a trustworthy fellow, and it seemed it would be good to try putting his strength into it if such a bastard were fighting by his side.
Besides that, there was something else that encouraged him.
Because Cheon Ha-seong had blocked the flurry of Sword Aura, the martial artists of the Azure Sea Sect had felt a great despair and fear. Those who had not lost hope even in a bad situation began to be rapidly shaken and break down.
When one sees a person they thought would never be shaken get shaken, others cannot help but be greatly affected. Such a situation was happening now.
Danmok Yeon, who used that as his food to grow his power of the arts, was able to create a new fog much more easily.
At the right time, Cheon Ha-seong lightly unleashed his Sword Qi, and people's flesh was torn and blood scattered. Danmok Yeon realized that although Cheon Ha-seong could have killed them, he had only inflicted wounds and finished it there in order to maximize their pain and fear.
It meant that he had keenly realized what he wanted.