Chapter 217 End of the Mages (2)

Chapter 217: End of the Mages (2)

“How dare filthy sorcerers set foot on the Dragon Clan’s land! Not a single one shall leave alive!”

Bukgung Chang charged out like a thunderbolt, driving back the Ten Demon Army breaking through the city gates.

The garrison he led encircled the breached gate completely, mounting a defensive battle.

“Disciples of the Zhengdomaeng, draw your swords! Today we avenge our leader!”

The warriors of the Zhengdemaeng confronted the enemies leaping over the city walls.

Even on the narrow ramparts, they displayed ironclad defense, wielding their unique grappling techniques and solidly honed sword skills.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just as the clanging of weapons echoed from all directions.

“Open the gate!”

Yuk Hak, surveying the situation from atop the city wall, leapt down while shouting with all his might.

Soon after, five hundred Iron Blood Guards charged out like lightning behind him on horseback.

“Crush the enemy’s left flank below the walls!”

Jeonryong-!

Meanwhile, watching this scene, I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘It’s still okay.’

At first glance, it might seem precarious, but perhaps because their numbers were similar, they weren’t being pushed back significantly.

In fact, in some areas, they were overwhelmingly dominant.

The only problem was the Ten Demon Alliance.

“Heh heh, Jin Munju’s strategy has succeeded perfectly.”

The elder of Hwasan, who was standing nearby, burst into a hearty laugh as he spoke, and others chimed in from all around.

“Exactly. Look at those wretches. They look weak from starving.”

“And that’s not all. Even the Ten Demon Lords must be clutching their stomachs by now. After all, sustenance is the very source of life for all living things, isn’t it?”

“Exactly. After this, the demonic arts of the martial world will be eradicated. Ha ha ha.”

“This monk agrees.”

Even as their own disciples were dying, the elders exchanged jokes.

These were disciples who had shared meals and slept together for over a decade. It was impossible for their hearts not to be consumed by anguish.

Moreover, all of them were monks and Taoist priests who had never started families.

To them, the disciples of their sect were like sons, nephews, and grandsons.

Yet they made such jokes precisely to ease the tension before facing the enemy.

Nothing is weaker than a sword gripped by fear.

And.

Heavenly Demon Manifestation-!

Divine Sect Invincible-!

At last, our adversary came into view.

A middle-aged man clad in a black robe.

Kwoong. Kwoong.

“Huh, Sky Step…!”

He appeared, demonstrating the Air Step, considered one of the most unfathomable techniques alongside the Flying Step.

‘That actually worked?’

He defied the cosmic rule of gravity, and with each step he took, a storm of magic raged.

Gulp.

“Hmm.”

The Nine Elders murmured in disbelief at the sight before them.

All allies on the battlefield, and even the enemies, stopped fighting and looked up at the sight.

It was nothing short of a god descending.

‘This is bad.’

But being intimidated by an opponent’s aura before even fighting was a sure path to death.

“He’s human too. If his neck is severed and his heart pierced, he has no choice but to die.”

The nine elders who drew their weapons nodded at my words, their fighting spirit ignited.

“Lord Jin Munju is correct.”

“Perhaps it’s youth, but you’re certainly ambitious.”

“Let us go.”

“So be it.”

The enemy did not block our path. They even cleared the way for us to pass.

Thud.

Beneath the void where he stood, arriving at the very center of the battlefield, the Ten Demon King descended.

Simultaneously, a voice that seemed to rise from hell shook the heavens and earth.

“Followers of the Divine Sect, retreat—!”

The Ten Demon Sovereigns declared the very resurrection of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

The Demon Cult, vanquished only through the endless sacrifices of our ancestors. For them to declare the Demon Cult’s revival was nothing short of blasphemy. It was only natural that the Nine Elders burned with rage.

“Shut your mouth, Ten Demon Lord!”

“Arrogance has its limits!”

“Even if you claim to inherit the legacy of the Heavenly Demon, its line shall be severed once more today!”

Chuck.

Three from Huashan, three from Wudang, three from Shaolin.

A total of nine supreme masters occupied the nine directions around him.

“I wondered who’d be my opponent—turns out it’s the elders of the Jeongdo Myeong sect. That young man I saw last time seems to be back there too… Last time he was running for his life, but today he’s come prepared?”

[It’s a trap. Don’t get drawn in.]

As if worried I might fall for it, a telepathic message flew in from somewhere.

But who do you think I am?

Wasn’t I the god of the Battlefield Strategy, shining in the AOS game Millennium Freeze?

“I hear you lost all your men, got driven out, and only just returned. Looks like you left your guts behind. Please bear with me, Elders.”

As I shrugged my shoulders and spoke, the Ten-Armed Demon King’s lips curled into a sneer.

“This is the first time I’ve met someone who doesn’t tremble before me. I admit it. You truly are a warrior.”

“Since we’re born human anyway, if a blade pierces our necks, we all meet the same end. Why fear it?”

“Quite the smooth talker.”

“Why does the Ten-Faced Demon of the Underworld have such a long tongue?”

“Take a good look around you. It will be the last sight you see in this life.”

Taking that as his cue, the Nine Elders assumed their battle stances.

I prepared to unleash the Heavenly Transformation and delivered my final, decisive line.

“But you, when you fled during the rebellion, you abandoned your entire family and ran off alone, didn’t you? With that kind of background, do you really have the right to judge someone else’s courage?”

A remark worthy of becoming the bane of the Ten Commandments.

Kuuuung.

The battle began as a mountain-like pressure crushed down on the surroundings.

* * *

While planning this operation, the Nine Elders and I made one assumption.

The Ten Demon Lords are powerful.

He might even surpass the current undisputed champion of the realm, the former Wuhuang City Lord.

This meant that even if the nine elders, myself included, combined our strength, we could not defeat him.

Therefore, we chose a strategy of absolute defense.

That’s right.

Our goal from the start was five days.

We planned to spend the entire period solely on defense, buying time.

While it’s undeniable that offense is the best defense, that only holds true when both sides are evenly matched.

The nine elders grouped in threes, forming a single formation that encircled the Ten Horse Formation.

A jade-colored hand, carrying immense power, crashed into that ironclad formation.

CRASH!

“Guh!”

“Guh.”

The elders let out groans, but they succeeded in blocking his attack.

‘It’s working!’

With a look of surprise, the Ten-Armed Lotus Master murmured softly.

“You’re deliberately stalling. Are you not even enraged by the death of the leader? The spirit of the righteous faction is truly fleeting.”

It was a blatant provocation.

“Bullshit.”

He fired a spear toward his forehead.

Thud.

Though it fell with a light flick of the wrist, that moment allowed the nine elders to reorganize their formation.

This was my role in this fight.

To irritate him and minimize the damage.

The Ten-Armed Demon King took a step forward with a look of contempt.

Thud.

“Ugh!”

“Kkhuh.”

The nine elders gritted their teeth under the mountain-like pressure.

It was clearly the legendary Heavenly Demon Sovereign’s might.

“You’re holding up well.”

One more step.

Kwoong!

“Gah.”

He couldn’t just stand by.

I had to do something to ease the pressure on the elders.

Crackle.

I gathered the remnants of the preemptively detonated firework’s trail between my fingertips and drew.

It was a new version of the Extreme Death Blade that had split Do Jong-ju in two.

Thus, the silent Extreme Death Mirror flew toward the Ten Demon Chain.

Crack.

It vanished futilely upon striking the jade-colored hand.

From the start, he hadn’t thought he could kill him.

It was enough just to ease the burden on the Nine Elders.

Whether it worked or not, a blue light began to shimmer around the elders’ bodies.

The elders unleashed their full inner power.

The jade-colored hand of the Ten Demon Lotus struck them once more.

CRASH!

“You cannot bring us to our knees with this!”

“Evil can never overcome righteousness!”

The nine elders displayed their confidence.

“How laughable.”

The Ten-Armed Demon King sneered, whipping his jade-colored hand like a lash.

CRASH!

Once.

Kwaaang!

Twice,

Kwaaang!

Three times.

And.

Boom!

On the fourth, the nine elders knelt.

“Not yet!”

If we lose the elders here, we all die.

He’s only human, so after exerting this much power, a slight opening was bound to appear.

“It’s not over yet! You bastard!”

Wwooong! Kwaaang!

Seizing that opening, I slammed a full-power Exploding Blade into his abdomen.

Hoping this strike might inflict even a little damage.

Pahhh.

But the Ten Demon Chain effortlessly scattered the blast wave’s trajectory.

“This martial art…”

He looked down at his own hand, then suddenly raised his head as if something occurred to him.

“The North Palace Clan. You are a descendant of the North Palace Clan.”

“You finally figured it out?!”

Swoosh!

He sent the Extreme Death Mirror flying toward his chest while simultaneously aiming for his temple with the Jeonju Sword.

Just then, the recovered energy of the nine elders flew toward him.

Kwaaang!

A massive explosion erupted, and a black vortex swallowed everything within it.

And from within it emerged a single black sword.

It was the sword of the Ten Demon Lotus Master he had seen before.

Meaning he intended to fight properly.

“Dodge!”

He shouted toward the surrounding area immediately, but his sword swung a split second faster.

Paaaaah.

“……!”

The two elders vanished without a trace.

As if it had never existed in the world.

Death.

The word flashed through his mind the moment he saw it.

The sword of the Tenfold Swordsman swung again.

“Yik!”

The Nine Elders… No, now reduced to seven, they hastily deployed their formation.

Paaaaaah.

“Guh.”

“Ugh.”

They avoided instant death, but fell, wounded internally by the lightly swung sword.

Gulp.

Five days? Yeah, right.

Not even five minutes in, and everyone was on their knees.

Now I was the only one still standing.

I stepped forward with all my might.

Even if I die, shouldn’t I at least make a loud noise?

Pah!

The shapes around him blurred as he instantly shifted behind him.

Pang!

The Thirteen-Piercing Spear, bearing the legacy of the Exploding Mirror, erupted on his back.

Swoosh!

The Extreme Death Mirror flew toward his neck.

Boom!

The Exploding Mirror, imbued with human force, detonated at the back of his head.

His breath rose to his throat and his stamina was depleted, yet he once again unleashed the Transcendent Transformation.

Because this wasn’t the kind of guy who’d be defeated by this.

Whoosh.

As the dust settled, his unharmed figure came into view.

“If this is the end, you die.”

He didn’t argue.

Because he had to focus all his senses.

Hell’s Mirror.

The fourth stage of the Zhenwang-style, consisting of five stages in total.

Popping. Crackling.

He drained every last ounce of his inner energy, transforming it into martial prowess.

“Guhh, kkkkkkk.”

The energy surged like a flood, delivering an impact incomparable to the previous one, striking his entire body.

This is not the end.

‘The natural energy of heaven and earth flows ceaselessly. Martial artists merely contain that energy within their bodies for personal use. But what is martial arts?’

‘…….’

‘It is the process of a person becoming the natural energy of heaven and earth. That is to say, my intent transcends the sword and reaches nature itself. Like this.’

The concept of natural energy realized through the teachings of the Way of Righteousness.

I gathered the surrounding natural energy through the gravitational force of the Exploding Star Mirror.

I began to consolidate my energy using the subtlety of the Extreme Force Technique to compress power.

A pain like my entire body was being squeezed overwhelmed me.

A minute felt like a second passed, and soon all my energy condensed into a size no larger than a small grain of millet.

I had confined the immense power capable of unleashing five Exploding Sphere Techniques into a single point.

I fired that mass of energy at the Ten-Armed Demon King.

And then.

Whoosh!

The battlefield filled with a grayish light.