Chapter 037. Murong Gang (3)
A full day has passed since the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable left, leaving behind only a short message.
The Northern Branch of the Martial Sovereign Castle was very noisy because of that matter.
"Did I hear correctly just now?"
A calm appearance and attire like a scholar.
And a man with a frightening aura like a blade, unbefitting his appearance, asked.
"......Branch Head, so you're saying the Sword Venerable went out because of the Third Young Master?"
The man emits his aura, clearly revealing an expression of disbelief.
RUMBLE―
As the man reveals his aura without restraint, surrounding objects shake wildly.
Literally, a formidable aura poured out in all directions.
Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad, one of the five martial squads under the Northern Wind Sword Corps, Ghost Blade Baek Ri-gwan.
Thirty-two, a relatively young age for a martial artist.
However, Ghost Blade Baek Ri-gwan is an expert who early on reached the extreme of the Peak Realm and is looking at the wall of the Transcendent Realm.
A man counted on one hand as promising even in the Northern Branch.
"Yes, th-that is what I heard."
The subordinate who was reporting to Baek Ri-gwan answered while stuttering.
Unlike his calm appearance like a scholar and his polite way of speaking with clear honorifics, Baek Ri-gwan's temper was extremely violent.
'......I won't get beaten up again, right.'
The subordinate looked at Baek Ri-gwan while shrinking back completely.
Because he had once been beaten literally to the brink of death for making a mistake in the last monster subjugation battle.
"Tsk."
But Baek Ri-gwan just clicked his tongue shortly. He didn't torment his subordinate.
Because beating someone up when they haven't committed a crime is really just taking out anger.
It is not an attitude to have as a descendant of the prestigious Baek Ri Clan.
Ghost Blade Baek Ri-gwan thought so and caught his breath.
Third Young Master of the Martial Sovereign Castle, Dam Jeok-san.
When he was called the Sword Dragon, Baek Ri-gwan respected Dam Jeok-san, who was younger than him.
Although that feeling faded after he lost his dantian, it didn't cool down completely.
That 'Sword Dragon', couldn't he make a comeback? Because a very small expectation like that remained.
But today, even that shred of expectation was shattered to pieces.
"Isn't it truly pathetic?"
Baek Ri-gwan asked looking at his subordinate.
"What do you mean......?"
"I mean the Third Young Master. He was once the most promising rising star in the land of the Central Plains. But for such a man to cling to the sharpest sword protecting the Northern land just to save his own life......."
Before he knew it, a light of contempt dwelt in Baek Ri-gwan's eyes.
One thing bothering him was.
'Why did the Sword Venerable rush out immediately after receiving the Third Young Master's message?'
Head of the Northern Branch of the Martial Sovereign Castle, Northern Heaven Sword Venerable Un Wol-hyang.
The woman Baek Ri-gwan knows is a desireless and heartless woman.
To the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable, there is no desire except for achievement in the sword and protection of the Northern front.
And she does not give personal affection to anyone in the Northern Branch. She only treats everyone equally coldly. Baek Ri-gwan always tried to be recognized by her since coming to the North.
But Un Wol-hyang's eyes treating him were always only cold and transparent.
'......Well, the reason is a problem to figure out later.'
If Dam Jeok-san survives wretchedly and steps on the Northern land even after losing his dantian,
Then the Ghost Blade's blade will question him about right and wrong.
"Third Young Master, I look forward to the day we meet again."
Ghost Blade Baek Ri-gwan muttered while stroking his blade, which was imbued with eerie ghost energy.
The subordinate watching that scene could only tremble.
* * *
Traces of the Soul-Consuming Restriction were discovered on the Murong Family Head's corpse.
That one remark from Dam Jeok-san left a quite deep ripple in Murong Gang's heart.
Does he think that statement is true? Of course not. He's just babbling whatever comes to mind because he's cornered.
However.
It is a clear fact that there were many dubious points about the annihilation of the Murong Clan. So Dam Jeok-san must have dug into that part to shake him.
The delusion he had forcibly suppressed rose to the surface again. And that delusion spread like an impurity, muddying the clearly forged killing intent. Without even Murong Gang knowing.
Nevertheless, the momentum of the Falling Star Calamity Destruction was still catastrophic. To the extent that it felt like crushing Dam Jeok-san's body into a handful of blood would be nothing.
Therefore, Murong Gang swung his sword while shaking off the delusion. No, he swung a disaster in the shape of a sword.
Following the path the sword takes, crimson demonic energy stretches long like a meteor's tail. Subsequently, a roar like thunder striking shook the space.
A miracle created by just one sword stroke. Murong Gang silently completed the Falling Star Calamity Destruction while gulping down the blood regurgitating beyond his throat.
The recoil of using an ultimate technique beyond the level allowed for his realm.
If he were human, it would be a situation where he might have suffered qi deviation, but for him, a Half-Demon capable of instantly regenerating most injuries, it wasn't even a level to call unreasonable.
Like that, the disaster of Calamity Destruction forged by Murong's history fell upon Dam Jeok-san.
The sword slowly approaches the horizon.
The moment the earth is dyed entirely with crimson demonic energy.
Murong Gang was certain.
"He's dead."
* * *
He's dead.
Dam Jeok-san hardened his expression stiffly at the sound heard faintly in his ears.
It is not something worthy of being called a declaration or a sentence. Just conviction. That facing the Falling Star Calamity Destruction, one has no choice but to die.
Since he was realizing that catastrophic power with his body right now, he couldn't bring himself to refute those words.
Because just facing it head-on felt like his whole body was being crushed and his spirit was about to break.
The confidence that he could endure if he created delusion becomes laughable. Dam Jeok-san kept his mind as clear as possible while feeling such crushing pressure.
Indomitable. The will that never breaks supports Dam Jeok-san, and the instinct hostile to monsters heats his blood hot.
'Dead, you say?'
I will pour cold water on that paltry conviction. Dam Jeok-san tempered himself with such will.
WHOOOOOM!
Soon, an antique radiance began to swirl in his eyes.
The precursor of eye technique manifestation.
'There is definitely a gap.'
The moment he mentioned the Soul-Consuming Restriction, he clearly saw ripples in Murong Gang's eyes. Unless he shakes off that delusion, he won't be able to perfectly unfold an ultimate technique far surpassing his capacity.
Even in the moment when the demonic energy dyeing the earth entirely crimson fluctuated as if to chop him up, Dam Jeok-san continued to look at Murong Gang's sword.
Unshaking sword tip. A blade harboring massive demonic energy. The hellfire of Calamity Destruction swaying as if to distort space. Although his whole body trembles due to handling uncontrollable power, he couldn't easily find a gap to thrust into. Murong Gang seemed to intend to kill him without an inch of hesitation.
Dam Jeok-san walked a step forward as if complying with death. Of course, even in that moment, countless calculations were going back and forth in his head.
Too massive a scale. Dealing with it head-on is absurd. But he cannot deflect it either. Because the group behind him would suffer damage equivalent to annihilation.
In a situation where no answer was visible, he took one more step towards Murong Gang. Now demonic energy was raging like a blade with substance.
An extreme environment where his neck might be cut and he might die if he makes a mistake. However, Dam Jeok-san raised his visual power one level higher without caring about it at all. The gap that wasn't visible because it was far away only now begins to be seen dimly.
That gap starts from Murong Gang's tightly clenched grasp.
The trembling occurring to control the uncontrollable demonic energy is regular. However, besides that regular trembling, there were times when his grasp flinched intermittently.
That flinching shook the flow of the Falling Star Calamity Destruction itself.
The trembling that started in the grasp hindered the flow of demonic energy, and as a result, the gap Dam Jeok-san was looking for so much was revealed.
'Can I call this, fortunate?'
Although he grandly called it a gap, it is revealed only for a fleeting moment at best. A time so short that success cannot be guaranteed even if the opponent were a training scarecrow.
Furthermore, Murong Gang is a swordsman of the Peak Realm and a Half-Demon possessing profound demonic energy. Piercing a gap against him moving dynamically?
This is as absurd as a five-year-old child throwing a pebble to drop a flying bird.
However.
'If I can't do it, I die.'
Not just he dies. Everyone dies. Because there is no one here who can survive being swept away by the aftermath of that world-shaking Falling Star Calamity Destruction.
Dam Jeok-san extended his sword recalling that fact. From the extremities of his body to his dantian. The senses of his whole body pulsate as if to burst.
Cognition accelerates infinitely slowly, and things that shouldn't be seen originally are seen, and things that shouldn't be felt are felt.
At the same time, his head became hot as if melting. Overload of the Spirit in the Upper Dantian. A dangerous choice that could leave him an idiot if things go wrong, but Dam Jeok-san didn't care at all.
Because whatever it becomes, it cannot be worse than sitting still and waiting for death.
Murong Gang's movements look disjointed as if segmented. Evidence that Dam Jeok-san's Upper Dantian has entered a certain realm surpassing normal boundaries.
In return, dead black blood flowed down from his eyes and nose. But only then could Dam Jeok-san 'see'. The fleeting moment Murong Gang reveals a gap.
A gap that might barely appear if the time to take one breath is split hundreds of times. The only path to break the Falling Star Calamity Destruction.
Dam Jeok-san thrust his sword towards that crack in space-time without an inch of hesitation.
Extreme speed where even the sound of breaking air is not heard. Although based on the mystery of the Monkey-Destroying One Flash, it is a movement solely for breaking that is ambiguous to define as any specific technique.
"Struggling wildly......."
Murong Gang tried to snort coldly seeing that. Because trying to go against the Falling Star Calamity Destruction with a single sword not even wrapped in much genuine qi is not much different from trying to block a wave with chopsticks.
However, the moment Dam Jeok-san's sword touched his demonic energy, that thought had to be shattered to pieces.
A storm of demonic energy scattering strangely as if it hadn't been condensed from the beginning. The traces of that dismantling were being engraved straight along Dam Jeok-san's sword path.
'Impossible.'
Such a miracle can only happen when one finds the weakness of an ultimate technique and breaks it.
However, breaking is generally common sense performed by an expert who has reached a far superior realm against a lower hand's ultimate technique.
To break the Falling Star Calamity Destruction now, it means at least an expert of the Entering Transformation Realm must manifest. That is the common sense of Murim. The brat in front of his eyes was now going against common sense.
Even though it wasn't a situation where his life was threatened, it was difficult to hide his bewilderment. That bewilderment created a moment of delay.
Dam Jeok-san, whose momentum had risen to the peak, did not miss that delay.
PUCK!
The sword tears apart all curtains of demonic energy and embeds itself in Murong Gang's grasp.
"......!"
Blood splatters. Although it is an injury merely amounting to a scratch at best, Murong Gang, a swordsman of the Peak Realm, was wounded by Dam Jeok-san.
And in return, the momentum of the Falling Star Calamity Destruction, which was encroaching on the surroundings and crushing space, decreased to less than half.
Now it is embarrassing to even call it an ultimate technique.
Ugly black bloodshot veins rise in Murong Gang's vermilion eyes. A phenomenon that occurred as demonic energy regurgitated, clawing and tearing his heart meridians.
Although becoming a Half-Demon means heart meridians also heal much faster than an ordinary person, because demonic energy has a much more violent and ferocious nature than internal energy, the recoil was also several times stronger.
"Kugh......!"
Dead black blood mixed with pieces of internal organs burst out from Murong Gang's mouth.
He staggered, unable to control his body for a moment, but his intensely shining eye gleam was still directed at Dam Jeok-san.
I will definitely, definitely kill you. Eyes that seemed to chatter like that.
Strangely, Dam Jeok-san was looking at Murong Gang with his sword hanging down still, without aiming for that gap.
As if he were a person who finished everything he had to do.
The moment Murong Gang was about to open his mouth to say something to him.
WOOOOOOOOOOM—!
Simultaneously with the mountains, streams, grass, and trees trembling, an intense presence weighing down the surroundings shakes the world.
A woman who rose to the position of Supreme with a single sword.
Head of the Northern Branch of the Martial Sovereign Castle and Junior Sister of the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
It was the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable Un Wol-hyang.