novelraw Chapter 233 : Chapter 233
Chapter 233 : Chapter 233
Chapter 233. Final Battle (3)
The chief of the tribe known in the language of the Central Plains as the Goryeo Tribe, Goryeo Jonggo, rode his horse with a face full of excitement.
‘Heh heh heh. Starting with those bastards, I will plunder the fertile lands of the Central Plains completely!’
Life in the harsh northern lands had become unbearable.
He had often raided the Central Plains before, and he coveted that abundance.
“Heh heh heh. Kill them all and take everything!!”
He rode forward, intoxicated by the scent of blood and the screams echoing everywhere.
Then something strange caught his eye.
“Hmm?”
A small wooden box flew above his head.
Moments later, the box burst apart.
“Flowers?”
Hundreds of petals scattered into the air.
Because the explosion occurred directly overhead, it looked as though petals were falling across the entire sky.
It was a sight that did not belong upon a battlefield filled with blood and screams.
Then the beautiful petals began to fall.
Living on the grasslands, he did not know.
Beautiful flowers possess thorns.
The moment the scattered petals reached the ground, a horrifying sound erupted everywhere.
PATPATPATPAT.
It sounded like hail striking the earth.
At the same time, screams exploded from all directions.
“AAAAARGH!!”
“AAAAH!!”
Even Goryeo Jonggo screamed without caring about his dignity as a tribal chief.
The petals pierced through skin and burrowed into flesh.
At the same time, the skin turned black.
Terrible pain and itching surged through the body.
The pain was so severe that he wanted to carve out the place where the petals had lodged.
Then the world began to shake.
No—it was the horses of the Goryeo Tribe that had begun to go mad.
The petals had pierced the horses as well.
Poisoned horses rampaged wildly and tangled together.
Because of that chaos, the warriors riding them were thrown off and rolled across the ground.
“AAAAARGH!!”
But the pain of falling to the ground was nothing compared to the agony of the poison spreading through the hidden weapons.
They rolled across the ground, scratching their entire bodies frantically.
Some could not endure it and even swung their own weapons, cutting off arms or legs.
Others were trampled beneath the hooves of rampaging horses, their bones crushed.
In an instant, the battlefield became hell.
More than half of the several hundred warriors of the Goryeo Tribe were now writhing and tangled together on the ground.
While the Goryeo warriors screamed in agony, silence fell across the nearby raiders.
“……”
The excitement they had felt before the plunder faded.
Their frenzy cooled instantly.
‘T-There will not be another one coming, right?’
They cautiously lifted their heads and looked toward the sky.
Fortunately for them, the technique could not be used twice.
Dang Sopyeong had already exhausted all the poison he had gathered.
And since it was a special hidden weapon, there were no spare ones.
But this alone was enough.
It was more than sufficient to pour cold water over the morale of the nomadic raiders who had been filled with excitement.
Then, just as the enemy offensive faltered—
Another chilling sound pierced the raiders’ ears.
CRUNCH!
Something was being cut apart.
The sound echoed repeatedly.
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
The nomadic raiders turned their heads.
What they saw was strange.
There stood a man with an enormous build.
A man holding a sharp sword that gleamed with a blue light.
“Haah!”
Each time he swung his sword, something was severed.
CRUNCH!
Whether it was a man or a horse—or even a weapon or armor—it was cut apart instantly.
CRUNCH!
A crimson path opened in an instant.
That man continued advancing forward.
“K-Kill him!”
“What are you doing?!”
The tribal chiefs shouted belatedly as they regained their senses.
Several warriors rushed toward the man.
He swung his sword again.
One warrior quickly raised his blade to block it.
No.
CRUNCH!!
The blade was cut apart.
The warrior’s body was cut apart.
Even the horse beneath him was split cleanly in two.
Another warrior seized the moment and thrust a spear from the side.
But it was a meaningless action.
CLANG!!
The spear was easily deflected with a metallic sound.
Even though a bluish aura surrounded it.
“What is this—?”
Before the warrior could even finish expressing his shock—
The man wielding the blue sword had already taken another step forward.
CRUNCH!!
Each step he took opened another path of blood.
The man advanced alone, carving a road.
If Gung Seola had witnessed the scene, she might have praised it as the path of a king.
But Gung Seola was not here.
Instead, there were those who followed behind him.
“Attack!!”
“Punish those vicious raiders!!”
The Mount Heng Sect moved first.
Taoist disciples who had fought nomadic raiders for generations.
They targeted the raiders’ horses first.
The horses collapsed with terrified screams.
NEEEIGH!
Blades rained down upon the fallen warriors.
SLASH!
Chivalrous heroes gathered from across the Central Plains followed behind.
They had also learned how to deal with cavalry while staying in Shanxi.
Moreover, the enemy formation had already been shattered by the man ahead.
This made dealing with the cavalry even easier.
SLASH!
After cutting down a fallen raider, a young chivalrous hero looked forward.
Beyond the Mount Heng Taoists advancing ahead—
He saw the broad back of the man cutting a path alone.
He had heard the title Great Hero Vajra Sword many times.
But he had never imagined such a terrifying master.
Meanwhile.
Nam Geon, who was cutting a path alone, thought to himself.
‘R-run away quickly!’
The thought was not directed toward his allies.
CRUNCH.
It was a silent shout directed toward the raiders he was slaughtering.
While he faced the nomadic raiders, Jin Yuseong was fighting that terrifying Cult Leader.
Their companions were also battling the most dangerous masters of the Demonic Cult.
The reason Nam Geon had come out separately to face the nomads was because of Jin Yuseong.
—It seems Nam Geon is better suited to fight the nomads than the Demonic Cult.
His Diamond Indestructible Body could not even be pierced by sword aura.
He possessed overwhelming physical strength and the divine sword Azure Heaven Sword.
Because he had completed Dynamic Cultivation, his internal energy flowed endlessly.
This power might not affect masters who had reached the Heavenly Ladder Realm.
But those who had not reached that realm could never stand against Nam Geon no matter how many they were.
When facing numerous weaker opponents, there was no one more suitable than Nam Geon.
Sama Hyeon accepted Jin Yuseong’s advice.
Thus Nam Geon was placed at the vanguard against the nomads.
Behind him stood the Mount Heng Sect, experienced in fighting nomads, and behind them followed chivalrous heroes from across the Central Plains.
The wedge formation was complete.
Because of this, Nam Geon fought with even greater determination as he crushed the enemy formation.
‘I must finish quickly and go help them.’
The real problem was not these nomads.
It was the Demonic Cult and their Cult Leader.
CRUNCH!!
After cutting another nomadic warrior in half—
“You bastard!!!”
The chief of the Yasok Tribe charged toward Nam Geon with a furious roar.
He was a tribal chief famous for his martial strength in the north.
In the Central Plains, he would be considered a master standing at the very peak of the Absolute Realm.
CLANG!
For the first time, Nam Geon’s sword was blocked.
“Grrk.”
Grinding his teeth under Nam Geon’s monstrous strength, the Yasok chief withdrew his blade and struck again.
CLANG!
As they exchanged blows, he searched for an opportunity.
‘No matter how tough his skin is, there must be a limit!’
Watching the battle earlier had revealed something.
It was not armor.
The man’s skin itself was tougher than iron.
But it did not matter.
He possessed a secret technique capable of cutting even iron.
CLANG!
While exchanging blows with Nam Geon, the Yasok chief continued gathering internal energy.
His insides churned violently, but he endured it for a single strike.
Energy slowly condensed along his blade.
Layer upon layer of Blade Qi gathered into a single mass.
Blade Qi Forming Enhanced Qi.
“Die!!!”
With a confident shout, the Yasok chief swung.
At that moment, he saw something strange.
There was not even a trace of hesitation in the man’s eyes.
Nam Geon had already raised his blue sword above his head, as though ready to die together.
Internal energy surged through his entire body.
It spun and amplified repeatedly.
‘B-brother said it. I… I just need to do things my way.’
He possessed no exceptional talent.
He could not master mysterious martial arts like others.
So he repeated only one thing.
First form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword.
Crimson Lotus Ascension.
Combined with the first form of the Mighty Sword Art he learned from Jin Yuseong.
Mountain Collapsing Strike.
He had practiced it thousands, tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands of times.
The movement engraved into his body flowed naturally.
The condensed energy gathered within the Azure Heaven Sword.
At that moment, Nam Geon brought the sword down.
It moved with the speed of lightning.
A single flawless motion without the slightest excess.
Without even realizing it, Nam Geon had reached Sword Unification for this one strike.
The Yasok chief’s blade collided with the Azure Heaven Sword.
BOOM!!!
The Yasok chief’s eyes shook violently.
His blade had not been cut in half.
The two weapons clashed in midair, pushing against each other.
But the difference in strength was overwhelming.
His blade slowly descended beneath the pressure of the blue sword.
Toward his own head.
“Urrgh!!”
No matter how he struggled, he could not overcome the gap in power.
Death slowly approached.
In terror, the Yasok chief tried to leap away.
But it was meaningless.
The moment he attempted to move, the balance of power completely collapsed.
CRUNCH!
The Yasok chief was split in half, his face frozen in fear.
After killing him, Nam Geon frowned gloomily.
“Ah… this is an expensive sword.”
Because it had collided head-on with Enhanced Qi, the blade of the Azure Heaven Sword was slightly damaged.
‘I… I should apologize to Seola.’
Thinking this, Nam Geon took another step forward.
CRUNCH!
With each step he took, another path of blood opened.
***
While Dang Sopyeong’s hidden weapons, Nam Geon, the Mount Heng Taoists, and the chivalrous heroes pushed back the nomadic raiders—
At the center, a fierce battle was unfolding against the Demonic Cult disciples.
“Kill those dog-like bastards!”
Following the cries of the Beggars’ Sect elders, the beggars charged toward the cultists.
However, the Demonic Cult disciples who practiced demonic arts were formidable masters.
There were barely more than a hundred of them.
Yet every one of them had reached the Absolute Realm.
On the other hand, although the Beggars’ Sect had many members, few were masters.
Beggars began falling beneath the cultists’ weapons.
Yet the Beggars’ Sect did not consider it a meaningless death.
They had faith in one thing.
“They practice filthy demonic arts!”
“Even a small internal injury will kill those bastards eventually!”
Even so, too many were dying.
Naturally, others could not simply watch.
Paeng Daecheol swung his blade with fury.
“Not a single one who practices demonic arts will leave this battlefield alive!”
A gray aura burst forth from his blade.
It split like lightning and flew toward the cultists.
But the Demonic Cult disciples were not easily defeated.
Because the attack split into multiple strands, some managed to block or evade it.
Whenever that happened, Paeng Daecheol swung his blade again without hesitation.
Gray lightning scattered continuously.
When the cultists twisted their stances while blocking or dodging—
CRUNCH.
Someone approached silently and pierced their vital points.
“You wretched woman!!”
A cultist thrust his spear toward Choyeon after she killed his comrade.
Choyeon frowned slightly and slipped past the spear.
“You treat people as elixirs, yet you still care about the deaths of your comrades. How amusing.”
They were truly contradictory people.
Choyeon moved gracefully, evading the spear before launching a sudden strike.
CLANG!
As her sword collided with the spear—
SLASH.
A concealed sword aura pierced the cultist’s neck.
As she prepared to vanish again in stealth, her eyes scanned the battlefield.
Baek Hyang danced a dazzling sword dance completely unsuited to a battlefield.
Beautiful sword aura scattered around her, sweeping away the cultists.
Hwangbo Ak also rampaged like a madman, smashing cultists into pulp.
“Hahaha! You claim to practice demonic arts, yet you are so weak!!”
While observing the battlefield calmly, Choyeon suddenly turned her head.
A terrifying presence was approaching.
“You wretched insects dare!!”
The second-in-command of the Demonic Cult.
The Grand Elder.
The old man swung two blades with rage blazing across his face.
A massive black surge of Enhanced Qi crossed together and flew toward them.