novelraw Chapter 106 : Chapter 106
Chapter 106 : Chapter 106
Chapter 106 Stone Cavern (8)
“No, it seems you do not understand the situation right now, but this is no time to be joking around!”
Mad Dragon looked down at Muhyang with a dubious expression.
“What have you been hearing? I said I am Mad Dragon. The second-in-command of the Sado Alliance.”
“Ugh! I shouldn't have even associated with you. If I had known you were such crazy people, I would have run away long ago. You’re a total windbag! Why is the second-in-command of the Sado Alliance splitting stones here? That thing about that child over there being the successor of the Sword Demon is also all a lie, right?”
With eyes welling up with tears, Muhyang glared at me.
“Sniff. I didn't go through all that hardship to die like this…… I knew it was strange from the moment you two were holding hands and sweating for five days in the grotto!”
Watching Muhyang suddenly burst into tears, Mad Dragon let out a sigh.
Watching that scene, I shook my head, approached her, helped her up, and seated her next to Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong.
After calming Muhyang and returning to Mad Dragon, I spoke.
“I will help you.”
“Forget it. You also sit down and watch. I should see what kind of fellows are using the name Tyrant Blade.”
Mad Dragon loosened his body and spun his saber round and round.
“Until just a moment ago, you didn't even have the strength to initiate the Rotation Scripture. If he is a Pavilion Lord of the Demonic Cult, he is not an opponent to be taken lightly.”
“Tsk tsk. Everyone is like this because they haven't seen me properly draw my saber. I’ll take care of it, so go to the corner and just watch.”
Watching Mad Dragon close his eyes and begin to focus his mind, I shrugged my shoulders once, approached the sobbing Muhyang, and slumped down beside her.
“……Everyone is going to die.”
Ignoring Muhyang’s voice as she muttered with vacant eyes, I quickly checked my internal energy.
‘Since I practiced the Rotation Scripture to the point of near exhaustion, I need time to recover. This must be the same for Mad Dragon.’
I looked around once and let out a small sigh.
‘Now is not the time to be hesitant. Recovering internal energy is the priority.’
With my eyes half-closed, I opened my Middle Dantian and drew in the surrounding energy, causing a light breeze to blow inside the grotto. Feeling that energy, Mad Dragon glanced back and looked at me.
“My thought was right after all. First-rate, my foot…….”
Mad Dragon let out a chuckle and began to focus his mind again.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the voices of people began to be heard from outside the grotto.
“Is it here?”
“It is. It wasn't something for the Pavilion Lord himself to come for……”
“Didn't I say I was just passing by the area? Staying stuck in an inn is just boring, so it’s better to do even a chore like this.”
The man, who stepped into the grotto without hesitation as if confident in his own skill, scanned the surroundings once.
‘That man is the Pavilion Lord of the Tyrant Blade Pavilion.’
I raised my head and looked at the man entering at the very front.
Around the body of the man who emitted energy without hiding it, a haze was wavering.
It was to the extent that the objects in the grotto seemed to be swaying here and there due to the man's energy.
With sharp eyes, a square jaw, and muscles so large they were reminiscent of a mountain bandit.
Even to the giant saber he wore on his waist.
He was a martial artist for whom the three characters of 'strength' suited perfectly.
The martial artists following behind that man were also not ordinary.
As the men emitting massive energy blocked the entrance of the grotto, it felt as if even the air in the grotto was becoming thin.
Muhyang breathed roughly with a pale expression and her teeth chattered.
“Tra-Tragic Saber Yu Jeol-hak…… he really came.”
Yu Jeol-hak, who was scanning the grotto here and there, turned his eyes upon hearing Muhyang’s muttering.
“Oh? You’re that bitch who was cast out of the Illusionary Maze Palace, aren't you? Tsk. This is why I didn't want to include dregs who weren't chosen by the Blood God. Is this incident your doing?”
Muhyang, who couldn't even properly handle Yu Jeol-hak’s gaze, bowed her head deeply and trembled.
Yu Jeol-hak, who frowned and watched Muhyang trembling without any answer, then shifted his gaze toward Mad Dragon, who was in the center of the grotto.
“And what is this fellow?”
Looking at Mad Dragon, who stood with his eyes closed while clutching a worn-out saber, as if it were absurd, Yu Jeol-hak clicked his tongue and checked the state of the grotto once more.
Having confirmed that there was nothing particularly wrong with the grotto, he gestured toward the back.
“Suppress them all. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be a big problem with the grotto, so we just need to dispatch some people to manage it again.”
“Yes, Pavilion Lord.”
The martial artists who were standing behind him bowed deeply and began to walk toward my group.
“Stop.”
Mad Dragon’s mouth opened.
As Mad Dragon, who had been organizing his internal energy until the very last moment, extended his hand forward, a small wind swirled inside the grotto.
At the energy that momentarily blocked them, the bodies of the men who were walking stopped abruptly.
“Hoho. Look at this fellow.”
Yu Jeol-hak chuckled as if it were interesting after seeing Mad Dragon’s move.
The faces of the martial artists who had momentarily stopped in their tracks at Mad Dragon’s momentum turned bright red.
The martial artists, who bowed toward Yu Jeol-hak, shouted loudly.
“I-I am sorry. We will suppress them properly.”
Black Demonic Energy began to spread from the bodies of the martial artists who gritted their teeth.
The moment they were about to walk forward again, Yu Jeol-hak’s mouth opened.
“Wait. Everyone, step back. I’ve become interested.”
At Yu Jeol-hak’s words, the men quickly stepped back.
“With what thought are you holding out alone like this? You. What kind of fellow are you?”
Mad Dragon cracked his neck and looked at Yu Jeol-hak with a lazy expression.
“The last successor of the Wind God One-Blade Style. I am called Gu Ma-jin.”
“……Wind God One-Blade Style?”
Yu Jeol-hak’s expression stiffened hard.
‘The Wind God Style!’
Upon hearing Mad Dragon’s words, my eyes widened.
The Wind God One-Blade Style was a sect that shook the Jianghu every time it appeared, and it was a sect that possessed a peak saber technique that was always counted among the top three when mentioning the strongest saber techniques in the Jianghu, along with the Five Tigers Gate Severing Saber of the Peng Family.
‘So Mad Dragon was a successor of the Wind God Style. That’s why he thought of combining the Mad Demon’s Rotation Scripture with his own saber technique.’
If it was the Wind God One-Blade Style, the compatibility with the Mad Demon’s Rotation Scripture was quite good.
As could be known from the name ‘Wind God,’ it was a saber technique that utilized massive Saber Wind, and the texture of the martial arts was quite similar to the Mad Demon’s Rotation Scripture.
‘Did the Wind God Style and the Shadowless Pavilion, which were representative sects between the orthodox and demonic paths, entrust themselves to the Sado Alliance and the Murim Alliance, respectively?’
Mad Dragon of the Wind God One-Blade Style.
Baek-myo of the Shadowless Pavilion.
In a situation where the Sado Alliance, the Murim Alliance, and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult divided the Jianghu into three, it seemed that the sects between the paths had sought a way to live and entrusted themselves where they desired.
The image of the current Jianghu began to be drawn more clearly in my head.
“What business brought the successor of the Wind God One-Blade Style to a place like this?”
“Ah, because I currently belong to the Sado Alliance. Actually, I came out to play without much thought, but since I saw some blackish scoundrels wandering around the neighborhood, I can't just let it pass.”
Yu Jeol-hak stared at Mad Dragon’s appearance for a while and then burst into laughter.
“My goodness, how absurd.”
Yu Jeol-hak let out a sigh.
“You’re a brat who has eaten your common sense. If you crawled and hid in the Sado Alliance with your tail tucked, you should have stayed quiet with your head down until the end. What is there to gain that you would crawl out and throw away your innocent life?”
Yu Jeol-hak scanned Mad Dragon up and down and clicked his tongue.
“……It feels quite refreshing to hear a brat call me a brat?”
With a smile, Mad Dragon began to release his energy.
A small whirlwind enveloped Mad Dragon’s body and gradually grew in size.
The wind, which grew in size in an instant, soon became strong enough to flutter our hair here and there.
“I don't know who is calling whom a brat. You fledgling.”
Mad Dragon’s eyes shone amidst the massive whirlwind.
─ CLANG
At the fierce momentum, Yu Jeol-hak drew the saber from his waist with a pale complexion.
The martial artists standing in the back also drew their sabers all at once following Yu Jeol-hak.
The wind created by Mad Dragon filled the inside of the grotto, and soon it became a massive whirlwind, humming and shaking the grotto.
“If it’s energy of this level, could it be……?”
Yu Jeol-hak bit his lip hard.
“Tsk. To have such poor eyes. My alias is Mad Dragon. Do you have a proper sense of it now?”
Upon hearing Mad Dragon’s words, a massive Demonic Energy began to surge from Yu Jeol-hak’s body.
“Everyone, be on guard! It is Mad Dragon, one of the Ten Dragons of the Sado Alliance! He is a martial artist who has undergone rejuvenation!”
I took a step forward and protected the group from the Demonic Energy that filled the grotto in an instant.
The Demonic Energy pouring out from the martial artists of the Tyrant Blade Pavilion gathered around my body, emitting a dark red light.
Mad Dragon looked at the men who were raising their Demonic Energy.
“Heh heh heh. Shall I see what kind of fellows the Demonic Cult gave the title of Tyrant Blade to?”
Mad laughter flowed from Mad Dragon’s mouth, and at the same time, a flash of light erupted from his body.
“Watch out!”
Simultaneously with Yu Jeol-hak’s shout, a massive whirlwind shot out from Mad Dragon’s body.
Yu Jeol-hak raised his saber forward, but Mad Dragon’s whirlwind passed right through his body.
─ SLASH!
The whirlwind that passed directly through Yu Jeol-hak’s body poured toward the men standing behind him.
“Aaaaagh!”
“Ke-heck.”
“Aaaaagh!”
It was in the blink of an eye.
The bodies of the men, except for Yu Jeol-hak who was holding up his saber, were torn to pieces by the Saber Wind.
In an instant, the inside of the grotto was filled with a wind of blood.
Soon the wind died down, and a thick scent of blood filled the inside of the grotto.
“Because small fry are just annoying to have around.”
Mad Dragon yawned as if it were boring.
Yu Jeol-hak, with a pale face, slowly turned his head.
Just one move.
In one move from Mad Dragon, the existences of the Tyrant Blade Pavilion members, except for Yu Jeol-hak, had been erased from inside the grotto.
Even a squad leader level of the combat squad was included among them.
No matter how much they failed to prepare properly, it was a situation where five elites of the Tyrant Blade Pavilion had become a handful of blood in just one move, without even the leisure to burst their Blood Immortal Pills.
Watching that sight, Muhyang’s jaw dropped as if it were about to hit the ground.
“Is-is he truly…… Mad Dragon of the Sado Alliance?”
I, who was reining in my Demonic Energy in front of the group, struggled to calm my pounding heart.
‘It’s incredible.’
In Mad Dragon’s move just now, I was able to gain numerous realizations.
The flow of energy created through the saber.
The method of operating internal energy that allowed it to pass through Yu Jeol-hak’s body.
The ability to finely control energy to divide it into hundreds of strands with just one swing to mangle the men.
‘If I were to cross swords with this man…….’
In my head, methods to oppose Mad Dragon’s saber rose and vanished countless times.
Not a single one was perfect.
If I had received that saber, I wouldn't have died, but several large wounds would have remained on my body.
‘So one has to be at this level to occupy the position of second-in-command of the Sado Alliance?’
Looking at Mad Dragon’s move, I was able to once again recall the level of the top-tier martial artists of the Demonic Cult that I would have to face.
It was an overwhelming move that I felt for the first time in a long while, after the last time I exchanged moves with my father.
The tension I had forgotten filled my body again, and my pounding heartbeat did not slow down.
It became an occasion to reflect on my life which had been idle in the meantime.
Still, there was much of the path left to walk.
“Brat. Snap out of it and lift your saber.”
At Mad Dragon’s words, Yu Jeol-hak flinched and pushed his saber forward again.
“……Everyone was just caught off guard. Now I will properly show you the martial arts of the Demonic Cult’s Tyrant Blade Pavilion.”
Yu Jeol-hak bit down hard on the Blood Immortal Pill planted in his molar.