novelraw Chapter 265 : Battle of Hakbyeok (2)
Chapter 265 : Battle of Hakbyeok (2)
Chapter 265: Battle of Hakbyeok (2)
Late at night.
The Blood Cult encampment.
“Kuahaha! You certainly know how to enjoy elegance, benefactor.”
“Hehe, I have learned much from the Destruction Spirit Demonic Craftsman.”
Sa Bul and the Ice Palace Lord Jisal Sosu leisurely tilted their wine cups, already sensing victory.
In their eyes was overflowing arrogance, as if they had already crossed Hakbyeok and seized Henan itself.
“Tsk, how long do you intend to do nothing but drink?”
At that moment, the Black Bone Witch Yo Uirim, who had been observing the situation, rebuked the two.
“What a tasteless mortal.”
“Isn’t it all over once we deal with the Heavenly Fist Tathagata? If we keep slaughtering his subordinates like this, he will surely fall into Inner Demons and collapse on his own.”
Sa Bul was a madman who delighted in destruction. To him, a battle whose victory was already assured was nothing but tedious.
At his words, Jisal Sosu nodded and added,
“Hoo, variables can arise. We must finish this as quickly as possible.”
Yo Uirim sighed at the two men’s unsightly behavior, but—
“What variable could there be? Even the Sword Emperor has already breathed his last at our master’s hands.”
“That is true. Namgung Myeong of the White Path Union has shut himself away, and there is no chance that the Demonic Alliance would come to aid this place, even if the heavens were to collapse.”
“Then what about the Dark Heaven Venerable?”
“……!!”
“!!”
At Yo Uirim’s words, the expressions of the other two stiffened.
Dark Heaven Venerable Tang Sewoon.
That name was the only variable that had left a deep impression even on the Blood Demon.
Yet the surprise lasted only a moment, as killing intent flickered in Sa Bul’s eyes.
“If he comes, all the better. I will cut off his head myself.”
Sa Bul spat the words arrogantly.
In his eyes, the Dark Heaven Venerable was nothing more than another being destined to kneel beneath his might.
‘Tsk, you talk well enough.’
Yo Uirim clicked her tongue inwardly.
Her instincts were warning her that the Dark Heaven Venerable was by no means an easy opponent.
Just as the cold sharpness in her gaze deepened—
KWA–A–AANG!!
‘—!!’
“…What?!”
A massive explosion erupted without warning.
Shock and bewilderment flashed across the faces of the three.
They immediately rushed out and looked toward the source of the blast.
Fwoosh!
Fwaaahk!
One side of the encampment was engulfed in towering flames.
Doom!!
Dudoom!!
War drums thundered noisily through the air.
“Enemy attack!!”
“Assume battle formation!!”
Beyond their field of vision, the banner of the White Path Union was whipping violently amid the flames.
The forces of the White Path Union, which had until now been on the defensive, were surging toward the encampment like a massive wave.
This time, it was the White Path Union that was launching the assault.
After grasping the situation, the three exchanged glances.
Pabat!
Paaht!
At the same time, the Ten Elders immediately joined the fray to assess the flow of battle.
‘The Heavenly Fist Tathagata…!’
‘The Five Tiger Blade King!’
Leading the vanguard on the White Path Union’s side were Great Master Gakgong and the Five Tiger Blade King, Paeng Seungsan.
And then—
“Kuahaha!! I’ll kill every last one of you!”
Kwaduk!
With a brutish fist as large as a man’s head, a hole was blown straight through the torso of a Blood Cult warrior.
At that overwhelming destructive power, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
A giant with bulging muscles that looked ready to burst from every part of his body. At a glance, it was obvious who he was.
The ruler of the Southern Barbarian Murim.
The Beast Palace Lord.
The Beast King Umun Geol had suddenly joined the battle and was rampaging across the battlefield.
At his appearance, the Blood Cult’s martial artists recoiled in terror, but it was already too late.
The three finally understood why their enemies had charged so recklessly.
It was not only the warriors of the Beast Palace. There were also Tang Clan martial artists scattering Hidden Weapons and poison.
The Tang Clan had moved to save the White Path Union.
[“…Did the Dark Heaven Venerable truly move? For the sake of the White Path Union?”]
[“No, that’s madness. Why would he help the White Path Union that attacked him?”]
[“Haah, this is exactly why I said we should hurry!!”]
Yo Uirim shouted sharply, but Jisal Sosu’s arrogance remained unchanged.
[“Hmph, if he hasn’t come in person, it’s nothing but a trivial variable. I’ll deal with that mudfish myself.”]
[“Wait—!”]
Before Yo Uirim could stop him, Ice Palace Lord Jisal Sosu charged straight toward Umun Geol.
“Warriors of the Ice Palace! Slaughter every last one of those barbaric insects!!”
With Jisal Sosu’s roar, the Ice Palace warriors and the Beast Palace fighters clashed violently.
“Die!!”
“Cold Moon Ice Palm!”
The Yin-Cold Qi released by the Ice Palace warriors transformed into chilling blades that pierced through the Beast Palace fighters.
Their martial arts were as sharp and merciless as the blizzards of the North Sea.
“Hm, refreshing.”
“Very invigorating.”
“?!”
However, the bodies of the Beast Palace warriors were unimaginably tough.
The Ice Palace warriors, who had lightly dismissed the Beast Palace fighters for relying solely on external arts—
Titing!
Paaht!
The moment the martial arts they had devoted their entire lives to struck the Beast Palace warriors’ skin, they could only watch as the attacks vanished without a trace, like a mirage.
“Keo—ugh!”
“Ku, kugeuk…!”
Kwaduk!
Kwa-jik!
The price of a failed attack was, as expected, death.
From all around, agonized groans and grotesque sounds of bones shattering throughout entire bodies echoed through the battlefield.
The Beast Palace warriors had reached the extreme limits of External Martial Arts, and their bodies were already akin to hardened steel.
With a single punch or kick from the Beast Palace warriors charging like ferocious beasts, the Ice Palace warriors had their bones crushed and their bodies torn apart.
‘What… what is this?!’
Ice Palace Lord Jisal Sosu was shaken by the carnage unfolding before his eyes.
The Beast Palace martial artists were not the barbarians of rumor. They were powerful like living beasts, their movements refined yet utterly unpredictable.
And at the very moment Jisal Sosu let his guard down—
‘—!!’
Kwaang!
Kwagagaga!
Something descended before him like a meteor.
“Kuhk!”
“Tsk, what a waste. I was planning to turn you into some quite appetizing jerky.”
Umun Geol curled his lips upward as he looked at him.
Jisal Sosu glanced back at where he had been standing just moments ago and could not suppress his shock when he saw that the spot had turned into a massive crater.
But that realization lasted only an instant.
Saaaa!
‘A creature not even worth being called an insect…!’
Jisal Sosu’s dual hands turned stark white.
It was the martial art that had earned him his epithet—
Snow Wheel Ferocious Killing Hand.
“I don’t know why you crawled into a place meant for death, but if you wish to die so badly, I’ll grant your wish!”
“Hmph, you’re nothing but a loudmouthed fly.”
Even grazing it would result in a vicious frostbite before turning one into an ice sculpture, yet Umun Geol faced him head-on without a trace of fear.
‘O Battle God!!’
Only Sewoon filled his thoughts.
Woooong!
At that moment, astonishingly, bluish Ink Imprints began forming across Umun Geol’s body.
Kwarurur!!!
At the same time, overwhelming power overflowed from him.
‘What—!’
Jisal Sosu could not hide his agitation as he encountered that energy for the first time.
He poured every ounce of his strength into pushing the power of the Snow Wheel Ferocious Killing Hand to its absolute limit.
Freezing cold surged like a storm and struck Umun Geol’s body.
But the moment his martial art touched Umun Geol’s skin—
Kang!!
Titing!
“—!!”
A sound rang out as if steel itself had been struck. The chilling energy he unleashed failed to leave even the slightest scratch on Umun Geol’s body and vanished futilely.
‘I-it’s impossible…! Th-this could it be…?’
Jisal Sosu was horrified. Before his eyes was the Diamond Indestructible Body, the extreme limit of External Martial Arts he had only ever heard of in words.
“Now it’s my turn.”
“!!”
Umun Geol raised his One Kick high overhead and smashed it straight into Jisal Sosu’s jaw.
Kwaaaang!
With a thunderous explosion, Jisal Sosu was sent flying and crashed straight into the Ice Palace warriors.
“L-Lord Palace Head?!”
“H-hiiik!”
The Ice Palace warriors looked to Jisal Sosu in panic, then turned pale as they saw Umun Geol slowly approaching.
From Umun Geol, whose entire body was covered in mysterious Ink Imprints, surged an unknown energy that had reached the extreme of the Manifestation Realm.
Naturally, it was not Ink Blood.
Ink Blood was a unique power passed down to Sewoon alone.
‘The power bestowed by the Palace Lord is overflowing within my body!’
Before entering the battle, Sewoon had shared a newly forged power with him.
A new secret technique, reinterpreted and reconstructed in Sewoon’s own way from the Ink Blood left behind by the First Palace Lord Pa Yeoun.
Linked Qi Blood.
Linked Qi Blood connected Sewoon and the recipient at the level of the soul, transmitting abilities akin to Ink Blood.
When fully manifested, it granted an amplification of power approaching eighty percent of Ink Blood’s capacity.
However, there was a price.
Because of the soul linkage, a spell formation was engraved that forced the recipient into absolute obedience to Sewoon, the superior being.
Yet Umun Geol accepted the proposal without the slightest hesitation.
As the reincarnation of the Battle God and the current Palace Lord of the Beast Palace, obedience was only natural for the Beast Palace warriors.
“Uaaaargh!! How dare you!!”
At that moment, Jisal Sosu—now drenched in blood—barely managed to lift his body.
Blinded by rage, he attempted an immediate counterattack—
Kwa-rung!!
But Umun Geol moved first, charging forward with lightning-swift speed.
Umun Geol, having driven Linked Qi Blood to its extreme, no longer looked human.
He was truly like a Beast King descended upon the mortal world.
“You bastard!!”
Jisal Sosu desperately thrust out the Snow Wheel Ferocious Killing Hand to block him, but every one of his attacks was effortlessly deflected.
Kwaaaang!
In contrast, the punch Umun Geol drove down slammed straight into Jisal Sosu’s right arm.
With a horrifying cracking sound, Jisal Sosu’s right arm shattered into pieces.
“K-kraaaagh!”
Screaming, Jisal Sosu staggered backward.
But Umun Geol did not release his captured prey.
With a right leg whipped out like a lash, he crushed Jisal Sosu’s chest, then brutally smashed the jaw Jisal Sosu tried to block with his left knee.
Kwaduk!
The sound of bones breaking rang out dreadfully.
From Jisal Sosu’s mouth poured a mouthful of black blood, accompanied by a horrific scream.
His face was already losing all semblance of humanity.
Yet Umun Geol did not stop.
One strike, two strikes, three strikes……
He continued the close-quarters assault without pause.
Jisal Sosu struggled desperately to survive, but he could never overcome the mountain that was Umun Geol’s ironclad body.
Reduced to a cripple, the demonic qi that had been pouring from Jisal Sosu’s body rapidly faded.
“Uhh… guh… guh…”
Jisal Sosu’s flailing body was already utterly ruined.
Thud.
At last, Jisal Sosu collapsed weakly to the ground.
His body trembled violently in pain, and only fear and despair remained in his eyes.
Slowly, he crawled forward and clutched Umun Geol’s pant leg like a lifeline.
It was a pitiful, miserable sight, unbefitting of a Blood Cult Ten Elder.
“Sp-spare… m-my… my life… p-please…”
Jisal Sosu begged desperately.
But Umun Geol felt not a shred of pity for him.
His gaze was utterly cold and merciless.
“You dared bare your fangs at the master.”
With those words—
Sshweaak!
A piercing air-rending sound rang out.
A massive wind hole was torn open where Jisal Sosu’s heart had been.
Jisal Sosu’s breath ceased, and the light vanished from his eyes.
It was far too wretched an end for one who had betrayed the Ice Palace.
“Beast Palace warriors!! Annihilate the enemy!!”
Umun Geol’s roar thundered across the battlefield.