novelraw Chapter 472: Keep Going, Forward
Chapter 472: Keep Going, Forward
A deafening roar you could not believe came from a human fist.
It came from behind.
It was the punch Ha-jun had thrown at Mang-hon.
Yi-gang, running into the main headquarters, didn’t look back.
He poured all his focus into charging forward.
But his expression wasn’t calm.
The expression Yi-gang wore could be described as terrifying.
His eyes were wide, and his mouth was clamped shut.
His brow was twisted, and his jaw muscles were tensed.
It was a face in agony, like he was suffering severe stomach pain.He was moving forward, leaving countless people behind him.
This time, he had left his younger brother behind as well.
Ha-jun had come face to face with an opponent far stronger and more dangerous than himself.
Yet Yi-gang left Ha-jun behind without even looking back.
Yes. In his heart, he didn’t want to do that.
If it were not that there was something he had to do.
“The most important thing is the Sealing Box, and the Evil Cult Leader who will be beside it.”
Yu Jeong-shin said it as if urging them.
Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng, the Heavenly Demon, the Sword Emperor.
They spoke about the current state of the Evil Cult Leader and the Sealing Box.
They said the Evil Cult Leader was not in human form, but in the form of a lump of flesh.
He didn’t know what kind of state that was, or how it could be dangerous as a lump of flesh.
The only certainty was that a cult leader commanding those Cardinals could not possibly be harmless.
They said the strike force’s goal was to kill that cult leader and destroy the Sealing Box.
There, Yi-gang was singled out.
“They said you are the adversary. The Cardinal saw it that way as well, did he not?”
“Yes. In the Western Lands, Mang-hon told me so. Dalai Lama as well.”
That a reincarnator who does not forget is the adversary who will change fate.
“It makes sense. A reincarnator who does not forget a past life is like a knot born in causality. That is why he can resist fate as well.”
Yi-gang suddenly realized something.
He had been able to be possessed before.
An ordinary person would have been killed by causality’s backlash, yet Yi-gang only fell ill for a while.
He had thought it was just because of his strange constitution, but it was not that simple.
From the start, reincarnating with memories of a past life was something that went against causality.
That was why he had been safe even from possession by the dead, which also went against causality.
So the task given to Yi-gang was…
“Even if everyone else dies, you must go to the end. That is your duty.”
No matter what, go to the end.
Survive to the end, cut down the Evil Cult Leader, and save everyone.
Yi-gang was not the strongest person in the strike force.
But even so, he took on the role of moving forward while bearing everyone’s sacrifices.
He even bore the duty of leaving his younger brother behind.
“He won’t last long.”
It was the Heavenly Demon who muttered that.
Yi-gang was traveling with Zhang Sanfeng, and the Heavenly Demon.
In the middle of running, the Heavenly Demon said this.
“What do you mean?”
“He threw his Demonic Qi Hole wide open.”
He was speaking about what Ha-jun had done at the end.
Mang-hon absorbed others’ qi within his domain.
It was something Ha-jun could face because he replenished infinite demonic qi through the Demonic Qi Hole.
Then why did the Heavenly Demon say Ha-jun would not last long.
“It is certainly true that the Demonic Qi Hole supplies demonic qi without end. But the human body using it is not that strong.”
Even if he could use demonic qi like scooping water from the sea, the body taking it in would not endure it.
“If he loses control, the Demonic Qi Hole will keep growing. Once it grows past a certain point, he will not be able to control the outflow of demonic qi himself.”
“Then he will be swept away by demonic qi and die.”
A cold silence lingered.
The one who broke it first was none other than Zhang Sanfeng.
“Ahem!”
Zhang Sanfeng glared at the Heavenly Demon and spoke.
“I’ve long known you can’t read the room, but you’re truly clueless to the end. Keep your mouth shut!”
The Heavenly Demon would have snarled back as usual, but this time he clamped his mouth shut.
“Priest, do not worry. We will finish this quickly, go out, and help your younger brother. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven will return soon anyway, and the Sword Emperor is still there as well!”
“Yes. That’s right.”
His heart didn’t settle, but Yi-gang nodded.
It was not something he could turn back from here.
“Yes. That will be so.”
The Heavenly Demon also ran with his mouth shut.
Soon, they found several corpses.
They were Evil Cultists.
A short while ago, Taoist Cheok-gol and the first-generation disciples had entered inside.
It had to be what they had dealt with.
Yi-gang set the group moving again after they had paused.
Once they entered the fissure in the cliff, it was quieter instead.
No rain of arrows fell, and no strange mechanisms activated.
With no interference, it was unsettling instead.
‘No, maybe it makes sense.’
Yi-gang thought to himself.
In truth, the defenses they had broken through were not weak at all.
They had been able to break through because of their bold plan and small elite force.
Even if one hundred thousand elite soldiers had arrived, they would not have broken the Evil Cult’s main headquarters’ defenses.
“It’s in there.”
At last, the Evil Cult’s temple in the main headquarters appeared.
A relief that looked like a massive giant holding up the sky was on the front of the temple.
The entrance was between its legs.
Corpses of Evil Cultists who seemed to have been on watch lay strewn about.
“Let’s go in.”
They entered through the temple doors.
It felt overwhelming.
Even for Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon, who surpassed humans, it seemed the same.
Yi-gang walked slowly.
Inside was surprisingly dark. From the burnt smell and the scent of oil, it seemed lights had been lit and then extinguished.
No one in the group would be unable to move forward just because it was dark.
In the darkness, there was the smell of blood.
“…The Azure Forest disciples are not in sight.”
Taoist Cheok-gol entered first, along with Do-gang and Do-seon.
Yi-gang had thought they would meet as they went, but they still were not in sight.
Strangely, the inside was quiet.
They barely met any enemies, and the passage was longer than expected.
Was it because they had stopped running and were walking?
Yi-gang put a hand on the wall.
It was uneven. There were natural traces.
The floor was flat, but the walls and ceiling were uneven. What did that mean?
“They carved out an existing cave.”
But it wasn’t important.
As they kept going, the cave ceiling grew higher, and the width to both sides grew wider.
It became closer to a plaza than a passage, so was the end approaching?
Sure enough, there was light ahead.
Footsteps came from ahead, not belonging to their group.
They were bold steps that did not hide their existence.
Whether it was someone from the Evil Cult, or an Azure Forest comrade who entered first.
Yi-gang stepped forward to confirm.
But Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon blocked Yi-gang’s advance at the same time.
Yi-gang looked at the arms blocking him, then raised his head and looked at their faces.
With the backlight, he couldn’t read their expressions.
Yi-gang kept his mouth shut and stayed still.
Instead, he watched the one approaching from ahead.
There was distance, and the other was still obscured in darkness, not clearly visible.
He was clearly approaching the place with light.
A familiar face suddenly emerged from the darkness.
A harsh expression, a face that rarely smiled and was often scowling, with deep furrows carved into it.
The Wisdom Sword Pavilion Master, famous for his stubborn sword, just like his stubborn personality.
It was Do-gang, once called the Azure Forest’s number one sword.
He appeared with his eyes wide.
But Yi-gang couldn’t possibly greet that senior with joy.
Do-gang was already a corpse.
The dead Do-gang appeared with his neck gripped in someone’s hand.
Heuk-am.
‘The Evil Cult’s sword’ was no longer in its human form.
A body several times the size of a human, with shaggy limbs, and hooves.
A head with copper horns.
It couldn’t be called a yokai, nor could it ever be called a heavenly god.
It was closer to a Demon King.
Do-gang, held in Heuk-am’s hand with his neck snapped, was utterly pitiful.
That tough martial artist was dangling like a scarecrow.
His body swayed limply.
When Heuk-am stopped his steps, Do-gang’s helpless swinging also stopped.
Yi-gang blurted it without meaning to.
Heuk-am did not answer. Instead, he threw Do-gang away from his hand.
It was an attitude as if handling an object, not a person.
Do-gang rolled like mere baggage and crashed toward the wall.
Yi-gang saw one more corpse lying there.
Do-seon, the Bright Sun Pavilion Master who always fought with Do-gang, the leader of the Taoist Flower Disciples, was collapsed beside him.
The three who entered first were already dead.
The time gap couldn’t have been that large, yet they were taken down in an instant.
“You two are a waste.”
Heuk-am seemed not to acknowledge Yi-gang’s presence.
He looked back and forth only at Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon.
“You are too precious to die easily here. Unlike the other chaff…”
When Heuk-am let out a sigh, pale vapor whooshed out.
It was clear the start of battle was coming.
The sensation of every hair on his body standing on end confirmed it.
It was the moment Yi-gang gripped Shooting Star Fang.
Zhang Sanfeng pushed Yi-gang in the chest without even turning back.
It was no special movement. He merely pushed gently, literally.
Yet from that light gesture, Yi-gang stepped back several paces.
A strange powerlessness wrapped around Yi-gang.
While Zhang Sanfeng pushed Yi-gang back, the Heavenly Demon advanced forward instead.
A smile rose on the Heavenly Demon’s face.
Paradoxically, it was a smile that best expressed savagery and rage.
His steps were not light, so a boom rang out.
And his speed was not slow, so by the second step he was already under Heuk-am’s chin.
The Heavenly Demon had built martial arts that were extremely practical for real combat.
He had no carelessness at all, and in one breath he unleashed the optimal, strongest move.
Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step shook the sealed cave.
It was a vibration so strong it felt like the inside might collapse.
Just standing with both feet on the ground would suffer internal injury. Heuk-am lightly lifted his body.
When both feet are not supported by the ground, there are limits to evasion.
The Heavenly Demon threw a punch at Heuk-am like that.
Air burst, and black demonic qi settled clearly on his fist.
Heaven-Shattering, Sun-Smashing Fist.
A mad martial art that vowed to shatter the heavens and smash the sun rushed at Heuk-am.
Heuk-am’s response to it was truly honest.
He spread one hand and met the Heavenly Demon’s fist.
For a moment, Heuk-am’s hand seemed to swell greatly.
Black Cloud Great Heaven Palm.
That palm art that had overwhelmed the Sword Emperor, an absolute master even in Wudang, now was like black, violent waves.
Those who could speak of the world by the strength of their martial force collided.
Those who walked the path of tyranny clashed head-on, so victory and defeat had to be decided.
And cracks formed on the face of the proud and arrogant man.
The Heavenly Demon’s Aura Qi was swallowed by Heuk-am’s Aura Qi.
Having gained a new body, it was said that along with it, he had lost the Demonic Qi Hole.
Clearly, the Heavenly Demon was being pushed back.
Heuk-am sneered and put more strength into his hand.
And light flashed.
A sword that had flown in at some point struck Heuk-am’s wrist and passed through.
Zhang Sanfeng had come up beside the Heavenly Demon.
Zhang Sanfeng clicked his tongue at the Heavenly Demon who was staggering.
“Stop making that empty-headed face and focus.”
“Tch. Shut up!”
Hearing the rebuke, the Heavenly Demon flared up and straightened his body again.