novelraw Chapter 246 : Bait
Chapter 246 : Bait
Chapter 246: Bait
A storm of countless techniques surged like a tidal wave, destroying everything in its path.
This was a martial art created specifically to confront the power of a True Immortal.
Nayuta Sword Mandala.
Now doubled in number, the power of the Mandalas was completely different from when there had been only one.
One more had been added, yet its destructive power wasn’t twice as strong—it had become three, even four times greater.
The Summoned Beast tried to resist by layering spell formations, but this time, things did not go his way.
His spells were shattered, and even the defensive Dharma Treasures surrounding his body were completely destroyed.
The Summoned Beast attempted to call upon the power of the Man-Made Blood Bricks, Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery once more. But there was no response.
The spell refused to activate. The tower had expended all its power.
All that remained were the screams and howls of the sorcerers, now reduced to red stones, their agony echoing through the air. The tower, constructed from human lives, was crumbling.
"You mean to say… you took on all of us alone!?"
He couldn’t accept it. No—he refused to accept it.
Without the power of the tower to borrow from, the Summoned Beast was unable to stop Jang Woo-hyun.
Swept away by the tide of martial arts, the Summoned Beast vanished without a trace. All that remained where he had stood was the half-destroyed Crimson Tower.
A distance away—
The Mountain-Moving Great Sage was watching Jang Woo-hyun. Though his chest had been pierced by the Wind-Passing Great Sage, he didn’t seem to care much.
"What is that human?"
The power he had shown moments ago had astonished even a great monster like the Mountain-Moving Great Sage.
There were many martial artists stronger than Jang Woo-hyun in the Central Heavens Martial Realm, but none who could display such strength at his level.
Even if you widened the scope to include other races beyond humans, it would still be the same.
This martial artist named Jang Woo-hyun defied all common sense.
"Hehehe… he’s just a monster. Even more so than you or me, Brother."
The Mountain-Moving Great Sage nodded. Being called a monster by a monster—it suited Jang Woo-hyun just fine.
"A shame to go just like this."
Now that the Summoned Beast was gone, and the power of the Man-Made Blood Bricks, Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery had faded, the summoning of the Mountain-Moving Great Sage was coming to an end. Unlike the Wind-Passing Great Sage, who had a medium, he could not maintain his projection for long.
The body of the giant lion-headed monster was growing fainter by the second.
"That was fun. Until next time."
"Farewell."
With that, the Mountain-Moving Great Sage’s projection faded away. His exit was far more anticlimactic than his entrance.
"Is it over now?"
Mak Ya-wol, who had been fighting the sorcerers of the Radiant Light Sect, approached. This time, instead of fighting the Summoned Beast or the Mountain-Moving Great Sage, he had helped his subordinates in place of Seoryeom.
Thanks to Mak Ya-wol, Gwaengroiseong, and the warriors of the Demon-Slaying Squad, over seventy percent of the Radiant Light Sect’s sorcerers had been wiped out.
Those who survived lost their will to fight after the Summoned Beast vanished, and surrendered immediately. Thus, the battle between the Demon-Slaying Squad and the Radiant Light Sect came to an end.
Seon Tae-gyeong stepped forward to seal the power of the remaining sorcerers, and the warriors of the Demon-Slaying Squad tied them up and locked them in Gwaengroiseong’s prison.
As the group cleaned up the aftermath, the Wind-Passing Great Sage approached Jang Woo-hyun. Standing before the horrifying tower built from human lives, Jang Woo-hyun stood silently, sword in hand.
"What are you doing just standing there?"
Jang Woo-hyun turned his head. His face was stiff, frozen.
"Monkey… we can’t undo this, can we?"
"Turn them back into people? Impossible."
"No way to fix it?"
"I don’t know. You’d better ask the Nation of Mechanical Marvels. They're on their way, after all."
The Gwaengroiseong, now carrying both the Demon-Slaying Squad and the captured sorcerers, was slowly approaching.
"Master Cho-su, please take a look at this."
As soon as Cho-su stepped out and saw the Man-Made Blood Bricks, Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery, his expression twisted.
"These trash bastards… they’re completely insane."
Recognizing it instantly, Cho-su let out a string of curses.
"Is there any way to turn them back into people?"
"Impossible. They’ve already… become tools. Honestly, you can’t even say they’re alive anymore. It’s like they’re just barely breathing. The kindest thing would be to let them rest—for their sake."
Hearing Cho-su’s words, Jang Woo-hyun realized there truly was no other way. He raised Black Wilds Sword.
He poured a tremendous amount of power into the blade—to grant rest in a single, flawless strike.
He swung Black Wilds Sword slowly through the air.
The last reserves of power from the tower tried to activate one final spell for defense, but weakened as it was, it couldn't block Jang Woo-hyun’s sword.
Just as a clean vertical line appeared, splitting the tower—
BOOM!
The tower cracked and exploded.
It crumbled like sand and flowed down in a heap.
Because the sword had cut through both the core and the very foundation, the tower vanished completely.
【Aaaaaah!】
【Now we can rest…】
【Thank you…】
Voices echoed all around. This time, there was no crying or expression of pain.
Some voices gave thanks, others wept or screamed in joy. None feared death.
To them, death meant release from the tower.
As the voices of those who welcomed death slowly faded, so too did the mood of Jang Woo-hyun’s group begin to sink. The weight of so many finding relief in death pressed heavily on their hearts.
At that moment, Cho-su spoke up to shift the atmosphere.
"We need to move again. We haven’t found the real target yet."
"What do you mean?"
Cho-su held up a tracking artifact he had crafted.
"We're after the Ascension Cult practitioner. He wasn’t here. He already ran off."
Atop the cube-shaped artifact in his hand, a glowing needle pointed in a specific direction.
"We’re going to find the bastard who made this abominable Dharma Treasure."
The heavy mood ignited once more.
No one here was willing to let any of the Cult of Ascension practitioners escape.
"……."
Je Yeong-jeong's face twisted with rage.
He had arrived at the third location he had prepared—only to find nothing left.
When the first site had been hit, he had thought it was within the realm of possibility. Perhaps someone had found it by accident.
The second site had been utterly destroyed. Not just the hidden space, but the entire surrounding area had been obliterated. It looked like whoever came hadn’t been able to find the hiding place, so they had simply demolished everything.
That was when the anxiety he had tried to ignore began to creep in.
Still, he had pushed it down again. If the stash was gone, it would be harder to flee, but since they hadn’t found the second location’s hidden room, he had hoped the final one would still be safe.
And just now—
Je Yeong-jeong arrived at his final hideout.
There was nothing left.
A section of the mountain range where the well-prepared cave had once existed was simply gone.
Though he had concealed it well and fortified its defenses…
It had been arranged so it wouldn’t be easily found, and even if discovered, it would be hard to enter—but it was all meaningless now. A portion of the mountain range where the cave had been was simply gone.
"Who the hell…?"
All three locations had one thing in common: they were prepared to allow long-distance movement.
Je Yeong-jeong had intended to use this place to move to the outskirts of the Central Heavens Martial Realm, and then head toward the Cult of Ascension’s territory. Not even Jang Woo-hyun of the Heavenly Blade Alliance would be able to reach that domain.
Yet before he could do anything, everything he had prepared was gone.
"Nothing remains."
As Je Yeong-jeong ground his teeth, the subordinates who had been scouting the area approached him.
"Any trace?"
"We couldn’t find anything. We’re sorry."
Je Yeong-jeong almost blasted off the head of the incompetent subordinate but instead withdrew his Dharma Treasure and fell into thought.
‘Why would someone do this?’
With all three places gone, it couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘Someone clearly wiped them out.’
But why this method? If someone had been targeting him from the start, they could’ve just attacked him directly. There was no need for such roundabout actions.
‘What is this all about?’
Even among the Cult of Ascension practitioners, those who knew about the hidden locations could be counted on one hand. And they were all dead.
Now, no one besides Je Yeong-jeong himself knew about these places, and yet they had been raided or destroyed.
‘This isn’t about attacking me directly.’
Someone with the power to do this could have attacked him outright. But no such direct attempt had been made.
‘Was it because I was with the Radiant Light Sect?’
That was a likely scenario, but Je Yeong-jeong didn’t think it was the case either.
Whoever cleared out the stashes seemed intent on cutting off his retreat and herding him in a single direction.
‘Wait a minute.’
Thinking back, something felt off.
The first location had been looted, as if the attackers had known its exact interior layout. The second one had been demolished, as if the hidden area hadn’t been found—intentionally giving the impression of failure.
Because of those traces, Je Yeong-jeong hadn’t fled. He had held onto a sliver of hope and come to the third location.
‘They wanted me to check all the places.’
The enemy had guided Je Yeong-jeong’s movements.
‘As if they were buying time. But… why? To capture me?’
If that were the case, it would’ve been better to wait at the first or second site.
But no one had been there. No traces, either.
‘Then what the hell is going on?’
As his thoughts continued, a memory of a conversation with the Summoned Beast resurfaced.
—“There’s gotta be a reason we’re being left alone like this. Doesn’t make sense? This means they’re using us as bait! They could’ve sent troops to take them out already.”
A cold chill ran down his spine.
The thought struck him—someone had used him as bait. They had forced him to visit all the locations to buy time.
There was only one person capable of designing such a scenario.
‘Hyeonwol… Why would he…?’
If the Sect Leader of the Radiant Light Sect wanted to, he could certainly pull off something like this—but it still didn’t sit right.
Hyeonwol had told Je Yeong-jeong many times they would work together in the future. He’d said Je Yeong-jeong’s talents were essential.
He had even entrusted him with a Dharma Treasure to be used in emergencies.
‘Why would he try to protect me?’
Using him as bait didn’t align with Hyeonwol’s behavior. Even after reassessing, Je Yeong-jeong couldn’t understand his intentions.
Furthermore, the ones protecting Je Yeong-jeong were the Summoned Beast and the sorcerers of the Radiant Light Sect. If he were bait, they would be sacrificed too.
‘What’s the goal here?’
Whether Hyeonwol was truly using him as bait or had another reason entirely—Je Yeong-jeong couldn’t grasp the motive.
‘For now, I need to get as far away as possible.’
There was no time to waste.
The battle between the Demon-Slaying Squad and the Radiant Light Sect would end in the Squad’s victory. The Man-Made Blood Bricks, Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery that he had created was powerful, but ultimately unstable.
With more urgent matters at hand, Je Yeong-jeong stopped thinking and began to prepare for escape. Even if he had been used as bait, fleeing came first.
Having reached a conclusion, he called over his subordinates.
“We retreat as fast as possible toward the outskirts of the Central Heavens Martial Realm. From here, the nearest—”
BOOM!
Je Yeong-jeong halted mid-sentence as a wave of qi burst nearby. It was a familiar presence.
“Gwaengroiseong…”
One of his subordinates identified the energy signature. The Demon-Slaying Squad had arrived in the area.
And then—
“Ah.”
Je Yeong-jeong realized his earlier hypothesis had been correct.
‘I really was the bait!’
He finally understood what had been lured.
Hyeonwol had anticipated that the Demon-Slaying Squad would chase Je Yeong-jeong, and had used him to separate them from the Five Elements Cult.
“Found him.”
As they crossed space itself, Cho-su pointed in a direction.
In a mountain range not far off—a Floating Stronghold.
There, the Cult of Ascension’s practitioners awaited.
With a clear target, Jang Woo-hyun was the first to leap forward, followed closely by the Demon-Slaying Squad’s leadership exiting Gwaengroiseong.
Jang Woo-hyun arrived at the mountains in an instant.
From within the gorge, Cult of Ascension practitioners rose into the air aboard flying apparatuses.
At the center, Je Yeong-jeong emerged from his Inner Robe Artifact, unleashing every Dharma Treasure in his possession.
A silver suit of armor wrapped around his body, and floating shields emerged around him.
In one hand, he held a sword cloaked in black mist. In the other, a short spear crackling with thunder instead of a spearhead.
Jang Woo-hyun instantly recognized Je Yeong-jeong as the practitioner who had created the grotesque Dharma Treasure. The ominous energies swirling around him were unmistakable. Perhaps they were even the curses or vengeful spirits of those he had killed.
Upon identifying his target, Jang Woo-hyun wasted no time. He kicked off the air and launched a fist from close range.
BOOM!
A massive shield radiating light appeared in front of Je Yeong-jeong, but Jang Woo-hyun’s fist shattered it and struck his body directly.
“Guh!”
The chestplate crumpled, and Je Yeong-jeong was hurled back at high speed, crashing into the mountains.
"So it was you."
Jang Woo-hyun’s voice echoed through the sky—colder than ever before.