Chapter 103 The Death Squad (5)

Chapter 103: The Death Squad (5)

Blood spurted from the shoulder where the blade had grazed.

Only then did the pain register.

That strike, as swift as Baek Jung-cheon’s flash sword… no, perhaps even faster, left his mind reeling.

‘I have to break through to do anything.’

He couldn’t even begin to think about closing the distance.

Of course, there was a way.

If he trusted the dragon-scale armor covering his torso and just threw himself forward, something would work out.

The problem was.

‘My limbs might get chopped off.’

Considering the quality of life ahead, limb amputation was absolutely out of the question here—a place without prosthetics, let alone suture surgery.

Therefore, my choice was simple.

“Hmph!”

Swoosh! Crackle.

I unleashed the Dragon Qi with all my might.

Thanks to that, the old man’s sword was helplessly deflected.

“Not bad!”

Of course, I couldn’t keep this up forever.

No matter how efficient the Dragon King Style was, defensive qi fundamentally consumed enormous amounts of internal energy.

That meant the moment my energy depleted would inevitably come, and I had to find a solution before then.

“Hoo, such a refined defensive qi at your age… If you offer your blood, the Blood God would surely be pleased.”

” “Let me ask one thing before we fight.”

“Speak.”

“You keep mentioning the Blood God. Who exactly is that?”

“He is the great god who governs the death of all things under heaven.”

“Have you seen him?”

The old man looked at him as if he were talking nonsense.

“I asked if you’ve actually seen him. Or at least heard his voice. ”

“You fool! Do you think the Great God would reveal Himself before a mere creature?”

“Then isn’t He like dragons, qilins, or girlfriends—things that only exist in imagination?”

“Hmph! If that’s the case, what about the Buddha worshipped by those monks on Mount Song? They’ve never seen Him with their own eyes either.”

“But Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama, a real historical figure, wasn’t he?”

“Our Blood Sect also has a great prophet named Taeseong Hyeoljeong.”

“Huh? Never heard that name before? Did you just make it up?”

“You’ll know once you die and enter the Blood Realm.”

“Aren’t you embarrassed to be spouting nonsense at your age?”

“You bastard!”

The old man swung his sword.

“Hmph!”

While talking to the old man, I had secretly prepared a righteous iron spike and flung it swiftly.

I aimed it directly at his vital point.

As the iron spike, enveloped in black energy, flew toward him, the old man’s eyes widened in shock.

“……!”

Whoosh!

He swung his sword, channeling all his energy, but the black-qi-wrapped iron spike didn’t budge.

Clang.

It even deflected the old man’s attack.

Shocked by its unexpected power, he swung his twin swords wildly.

“You old fool!”

Sword qi and sword energy began filling the air.

Clang. Kwaaang!

A massive shockwave erupted as the energy and the iron spike collided.

“Guh!”

“Get out of the way!”

Thud.

As the shockwave spread outward, the bodies of the Ten Demon Warriors who hadn’t dodged in time were torn apart, forming pools of blood.

And in that instant, I sensed it.

“Damn it.”

Even though I had poured my entire being into that strike, the old man wasn’t dead.

If he’d been cut in just one place, it might have been worth a shot…

Whoosh.

The dust cleared, revealing the old man. Aside from looking slightly tired, he was perfectly fine.

“Huh… Is that all you’ve got?”

“Wow… This is blocking me…”

“Nothing is impossible for the servant of the Blood God.”

Squish. Squish.

The old man stepped through the sticky blood puddles as he approached.

“What the hell is this nonsense?”

“I shall grant you mercy and send you peacefully. If you meet the Blood God, be sure to beg for forgiveness.”

The old man, now holding a pair of swords glowing red-hot, smiled.

But while conversing with the old man, I hadn’t only prepared the Hyuncheol nails.

I had secretly recruited reinforcements through telepathy.

“Master!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“……?”

Doubt flickered in the old man’s eyes.

Whoosh! Thud.

A streak of sword energy flew like lightning, piercing the old man’s head.

The old man’s head vanished without a trace.

Staring at the headless corpse, I shouted.

“Master! Nice shot!”

I immediately gave a thumbs-up, and the Black Dragon Sect Master, directing from afar, nodded.

The Sun-Shooting Sword, Huiye’s Legacy.

The legendary divine technique from myth, said to have been used by Huiye to shoot down the sun, had shattered the old man’s skull.

Now only the puny ones remained.

“A fight is best when it’s a free-for-all. Don’t you agree?”

I chuckled, and the faces of the Ten Demon Clan members, who had been alternating glances between me and the old man’s corpse, turned ashen.

* * *

After I finished off the old man and the Blue Dragon Sect dealt with the Bloodline cultists, the battle became one-sided.

The narrow terrain favorable for defense, the formidable martial prowess of each individual, and my flawless strategy encompassing it all.

It was a fight they couldn’t possibly win.

Thanks to this, the warriors of Nine Dragon Fortress soon succeeded in seizing the open ground halfway up the mountain.

Not only did we inflict heavy casualties on the Ten Demon Expedition, but we also crushed their morale.

But, true to their nature as demons, they refused to give up even in this situation.

They tried to break through by throwing manpower at it.

Of course, being thinking beings themselves, they didn’t just throw anyone into the fray.

“Experts!”

They deployed the experts waiting in the rear.

But even if they were outnumbered, the individual skill levels of our experts were overwhelmingly superior.

“Let’s go.”

“Agreed.”

“We’ll show these newcomers the taste of old ginger.”

Similarly, our veteran experts, also held in reserve, stepped forward one after another.

Thus, the veteran masters swept across the battlefield, clashing with the masters of the Ten Demon Sect.

The outcome was clear before long.

A complete victory.

The experienced veteran masters had utterly overwhelmed the Ten Demon Sect’s masters.

It wasn’t simply because their martial arts were stronger.

It was because they leveraged the characteristic of prestigious orthodox sects, where everyone masters a single martial art, to execute perfect combination techniques.

It was the moment when 1+1 equaled 2.5.

And then.

Swoosh!

With the final head falling to the sword of Master Inhyeon, leader of the Mukeong Sect, the enemy began to retreat.

“It is not over yet! We cannot predict when they might charge again. Each sect must immediately account for its personnel and reorganize its ranks!”

At Inhyeon Jin-in’s shout, the elders of each faction stepped forward to inspect their disciples.

Three dead, seven wounded.

It was a great victory with only ten casualties.

But, as Inhyeon Jin-in said, the war was not over.

Because the finale remained.

* * *

The brothers Jik-il, Jik-eui, and Jik-sam raced through the entrance of Jeomchang Mountain, leaving only crimson afterimages in their wake.

The Crimson Shadow Body Step.

A supreme footwork technique where, at its peak, only a red shadow could barely be seen.

Naturally, the internal energy consumption was immense, but they paid it no mind whatsoever.

Rather.

[There’s no time. Move even faster.]

They ran with the resolve to burn even their lives.

Finally reaching the rear of the enemy forces, Jik-il gave orders to everyone.

[From here, split into three groups and prepare. Ensure you can regroup here again no later than three hours from now.]

Nod.

The fifteen members of the Jik-hyeol Squad and Jik-il’s younger brothers scattered in all directions.

Three hours later.

Jik-il appeared before them, all preparations complete.

[Where is the Heaven and Earth Killing?]

At his question, the leader of the Red Blood Corps nodded with a deeply sunken gaze.

[It is prepared.]

[Deploy it immediately upon my signal.]

[Yes, Commander.]

[Rest briefly until the enemy descends. Consume the Yoxi Dan to replenish your inner energy.

]

Jik-il pulled out a small pouch and distributed one pill to each of them.

These were prepared by Jin Mu-jeon, his future brother-in-law and the heir to the family.

They were dark and smelly, but who cared about that as long as they worked?

Compared to the days of chewing on live scorpions in the desert after sunset, these were perfectly edible.

The moment Jik-il swallowed the Yoxiangdan in one gulp, he realized.

This was far superior to the Yoxiangdan passed down as his family’s secret treasure.

‘What the hell is this!’

Indeed, the more he saw him, the more he liked this man.

An hour had passed since he restored his internal energy.

By the time the sun had set and the moon was about to rise, Jik-il’s qi sense detected an enormous number of warriors.

Surely, it was the defeated Ten Demon Clan scum descending.

[Prepare.]

At his command, all of the Red Dragon Sect concealed their presence.

Time passed in tense anticipation.

And finally, when the Ten Demon Clan’s group reached the target location.

[Now!]

The moment Jik-il’s command fell, the Red Blood Commander pulled his hand back. The thin, threadlike strands of the Heavenly Spider Web were pulled taut.

And then.

Swoosh.

The bodies of dozens of Ten Demon Clan warriors, unaware, passing over it, were torn into dozens, hundreds of pieces.

“It’s a trap!”

The stench of blood wafting through filled the mountain vicinity.

It was only natural the Ten Demon Clan was thrown into chaos.

They had lost dozens of comrades without even knowing what kind of trap it was.

Seeing this, Jikil snorted inwardly.

‘If it were daytime, maybe. But at night, it would be invisible.’

The Shippamaryeon had no recourse.

Threads invisible even with concentrated inner vision.

Threads unbreakable even by sword energy.

Cheonsalsa, crafted over three years from Cheonjamsa, the treasure of the Jikryongdang.

The Heavenly Slaughter deployed with it was the ultimate secret technique the Red Dragon Sect boasted.

Now, the Ten Demon Sect had few options left.

One was to send their supreme masters forward to sever the Heavenly Slaughter with their martial energy.

But even the Ten Demon Sect didn’t have many such masters, and most were likely exhausted from previous battles or dead.

That left only one remaining option.

“Everyone, spread out and escape through the mountains!”

Abandoning the path, they scattered in all directions, descending.

And that was precisely what Jik-il desired.

Heh.

Jik-il wore a savage grin as he issued his command through telepathy.

[Show those bastards the sting of the Small Slashing Sword.]

Following his command, all but two members of the Blood Red Squad, who deployed the Heaven and Earth Slaughter, scattered in all directions.

Jik-il moved with them, taking his position.

“Huuu…”

Gripping the Sosaul Sword in both hands, Jik-il recalled the words he had heard from Mujeon.

‘I guarantee that once the sun sets, no one will survive before the Heavenly Slaughter Sword.’

To grasp the true nature of the Heaven-Slaying Small Sword merely by watching a duel…

He truly is a genius.

Jik-il wore a cruel smile as he faded into the darkness.

* * *

The killing techniques of the Jikryongdang are broadly divided into two types.

Earth-Slaying (地殺) and Human-Slaying (人殺).

Earth Kill refers to traps, while Human Kill refers to martial arts.

Which means.

Thud. Thud.

“Gah!”

The sounds echoing from all directions now are the screams of the Ten Demon Sword Sect stepping into traps.

Zhi Yi, Zhi Ji, Zhi San, and the entire Zhi Long Sect infiltrated the chaos of their enemies with such skill.

“Wh-who?”

“The grim reaper.”

Puff!

They took the enemies’ heads.

“Over there!”

Each time, the Ten Demon Sword Sect members who spotted them shouted.

Boom!

The Red Blood Corps members easily escaped the encirclement, either toppling prepared trees or hiding through pre-dug tunnels.

The Ten Demon Warriors were stunned by their ghostly appearance.

Of course, they weren’t just standing there taking it.

“Do you think such petty tricks will work?!”

Some summoned protective barriers to block incoming arrows.

“Hmph! Useless!”

Others swiftly cut through ropes snaring their feet.

Even more.

“Kuh.”

“Did you dare think you could escape before me?”

Some even attacked the Red Blood Corps members, driving them into trouble.

And each time, Red Sun stepped forward.

The Heaven-Slaying Small Sword.

The world’s deadliest killing technique, said to slay even the heavens, pierced small holes in the foreheads of the Ten Demon Alliance masters.

A spine-chillingly precise sword technique.

Even compared to the Red Dragon Sect Leader’s skill, it showed little inferiority.

After that, Zhi Yi moved like a madman.

As if trying to prove something to someone.

He kept this up for half an hour.

Just as the traps laid out were exhausted and the Red Blood Corps members’ stamina began to wane.

“Brother, I’m here!”

A welcome voice echoed from above.

“Huh.”

It was the first time Jik-il, who had never known laughter, smiled purely.