Chapter 396: The Greatest Guest Under Heaven (1)
“Consider anything that stands in your way an enemy and cut it down! Everyone but us is an enemy!”
At the cry of the Demonic Master, the elite warriors of the Heavenly Demon Sect who had entered the cave swung their swords without hesitation.
The Demonic Master looked down at the corpse of one of the Twelve Masters of the Absolute Peak Swords lying beneath his feet and laughed inwardly.
‘Killing these kinds of bastards usually comes at a heavy cost, but the Blood Demon Castle bastards are taking care of it for me.’
The inside of the cave had turned into a literal hellscape.
As the elites of the Heavenly Demon Sect clashed with those of the Blood Demon Castle, casualties mounted rapidly.
Moonwoo shouted,
“Kill them all! Kill them!”
From behind him, one of the Three Kings Guard, First Guard, spoke up.
“Young Master! Please calm yourself! We’re taking heavy losses as well.”
“I knew he had set a trap, but I didn’t expect them to have this many numbers.”
First Guard frowned deeply.
“It’s not just about numbers. They’re strong. Third Guard died fighting them. The Third Guard, I say.”
When he said this in a slightly accusatory tone, Moonwoo’s bloodshot eyes flashed with fury.
“I’ll avenge the Third Guard myself. Hua Yingwei! Push forward with the Homa Cheondan!”
Even Zhao Qiansheng clenched his teeth and issued a command, as if he realized there was no turning back now.
“Homa Cheondan, sweep away all enemies in front!”
As the Homa Cheondan charged forward, Ok Girin shouted from the other side,
“Dark Heaven Guard, cut down anyone who gets in your way!”
“Yes, sir!”
Near the center of the cave, the main forces of the Heavenly Demon Sect and Blood Demon Castle finally collided.
If Ok Girin and Moonwoo had faced off directly, they might have realized who they were dealing with. But the Demonic Master had cunningly prevented Ok Girin from advancing forward.
Under the pretense of protecting him, he had Ok Girin pulled back into the rear.
In his place, he sent the Twelve Masters of the Absolute Peak Swords to the front lines, leading to the death of the Blood Demon Castle’s Third Guard.
Thanks to that, half of the Twelve Masters were also lost.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Kill them!”
“Cut them down!”
It was complete chaos.
Both sides attacked each other with no regard for their own lives, convinced that the other was allied with Yong Hwarin.
The more they did, the wider the Demonic Master’s smile became.
Ok Girin was so busy cutting down charging warriors from the Blood Demon Castle that he couldn’t think of anything else.
Watching this, Yang Gwak sent the Demonic Master a telepathic message.
—If we strike from behind, we can kill the Young Master.
The Demonic Master subtly shook his head.
—Senior Brother, now is not the time. The Great Elder is still watching us from behind. Think about why he isn’t fighting.
Only then did Yang Gwak notice the Great Elder observing them from behind.
One of the Hua Yingwei was standing right next to the Great Elder.
For a member of the Hua Yingwei, who should be guarding the Young Master, to leave his side and stay near the Great Elder—this clearly wasn’t to guard the elder.
Yang Gwak shuddered at the thought that had he attacked Ok Girin, his own head would have been the first to fly.
He had to admit that his junior, Eum Sajeok, had the sharper judgment of the situation.
Having nearly lost his life due to his own recklessness, Yang Gwak gave an awkward smile and charged ahead.
“I’ll kill them all!”
The Demonic Master burst into laughter at the sight.
‘These fools might ask where Yong Hwarin is or question the identities of the enemies, but they don’t. They just kill. I’m making the darkness trust only itself and see everyone else as the enemy.’
In truth, much of the chaos was thanks to the Demonic Master’s efforts.
When one of the Blood Demon Castle warriors attacked him, he responded with the Dragon Scale Finger. As the warrior died, he shouted,
“Yong Hwarin!”
Hearing that, more warriors rushed toward the Demonic Master, but as he fought, he would shout back, “I am a warrior of the Heavenly Demon Sect!”
At that, the warriors would momentarily hesitate.
Seizing that moment, the Demonic Master attacked again, prompting angry shouts.
“Don’t trust anything Yong Hwarin says! There’s no reason for a Heavenly Demon Sect warrior to be here!”
From that moment on, the Blood Demon Castle warriors stopped believing a word their enemies said.
In one instance, a member of the Twelve Masters of the Absolute Peak Swords, sensing something was off, declared that he was from the Heavenly Demon Sect. A Homa Cheondan warrior from Blood Demon Castle snapped back,
“Oh yeah? Nice to meet you, you bastard!”
“Wait! What faction are you from?!”
“We’re from Blood Demon Castle, you son of a bitch!”
As the Blood Demon Castle warrior launched a killing strike, the Twelve Masters mistakenly believed they were being attacked jointly by Yong Hwarin and Blood Demon Castle.
The Demonic Master used the same tactic on the Heavenly Demon Sect warriors, attacking them with the Dragon Scale Finger while shouting,
“I’m a warrior of Blood Demon Castle! Don’t attack!”
When the Twelve Masters paused at his words, he killed them.
From then on, whenever someone claimed to be from Blood Demon Castle, the Twelve Masters cut them down without hesitation, convinced they were being deceived again.
If Yong Hwarin had set the board, it was the Demonic Master who played the game of chess on it.
Watching them fall to his tricks and slaughter each other, his instincts from his past life as a demon revived.
‘Kehahaha! How delightful.’
He still hadn’t forgotten the grudge he bore from being hunted by Blood Demon Castle in his previous life.
But now, being able to take revenge filled me with indescribable satisfaction.
That’s why I showed not a shred of mercy as I slaughtered the experts of Blood Demon Castle.
I even killed a member of the Homa Cheondan who was attacking Ok Girin, saving him in the process.
Perhaps surprised by that, Ok Girin looked at Eum Sajeok.
‘Did Junior Brother Eum have a change of heart? He could’ve easily threatened me right now if he attacked instead, but he saved me without a moment’s hesitation…….’
From Ok Girin’s perspective, it was certainly a moment worth being moved by.
Just then, two of the Three Kings Guard, having realized Ok Girin’s martial arts were formidable, rushed in to attack him.
One of the Hua Yingwei fought alongside him and barely managed to defend, prompting me to shout,
“I’ll kill all these bastards!”
I couldn’t forget how the Three Kings Guard had hunted me in my past life.
Seeing those bastards right before my eyes made my blood boil.
From that moment on, I began attacking using the ultimate techniques Eum Sajeok had possessed, seamlessly weaving in Dragon Scale Finger.
And with Yang Gwak joining in, one of the Three Kings Guard, Yiwi, gradually began to fall into a defensive position.
Sensing he was outnumbered, Yiwi tried to escape, but I threw myself at him using a Mutual Destruction technique.
The grudge was too deep for me to just let him go.
Yiwi had no choice but to turn and counterattack, but at that very moment, Ok Girin, a Hua Yingwei, and Yang Gwak blocked his strike.
In that instant, I poured all my internal energy into the Supreme Yin Spirit Sword and swung it.
Boom!
Yiwi widened his eyes and countered with his sword, but the immense recoil sent him staggering.
I seized the opening and stabbed the Supreme Yin Spirit Sword into Yiwi’s lungs.
“Grrraaah!”
Truthfully, I could have pierced his heart, but I deliberately stabbed his lungs to leave him severely injured instead.
I knew that the stronger the expert, the more ferocious they became when wounded.
“Kill him!”
Sure enough, the moment Yiwi was wounded, he unleashed his entire internal energy and charged.
Smirking inwardly, I pulled Ok Girin back with me.
“Young Master, we should leave this to the Twelve Masters of the Absolute Peak Swords.”
Ok Girin, overwhelmed by Yiwi’s might, followed my suggestion.
As the two of us stepped back, Yang Gwak and the Hua Yingwei took on Yiwi’s ferocious assault.
“Three of the Twelve Masters protect the Young Master; the rest, kill the enemy!”
At my command, the Twelve Masters moved into action.
But Yiwi fought as if he was prepared to die, and a scream burst from someone’s mouth.
“Gaaah!”
One of the Hua Yingwei was struck by Yiwi’s sword, his chest split wide open.
But Yiwi wasn’t unharmed either.
While he was attacking the Hua Yingwei, the Twelve Masters exploited the gap and cut him down.
“I won’t die so easily!”
After all, he was an elder of Blood Demon Castle’s Longevity Hall. He wasn’t someone to die so easily.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Even in the end, he dragged three of the Twelve Masters down to the underworld with him.
“Wh-what a vicious bastard!”
Yang Gwak gasped for breath, staring at the dead Yiwi.
The cave was so dark that one couldn’t even see an inch ahead, not even Yiwi’s face.
Only the faces of allies nearby could be faintly recognized.
No matter how high your internal energy was, seeing beyond five jang was impossible.
‘I don’t know what kind of formation that bastard Hwarin deployed, but even with my Three Gaps-level cultivation, I can’t see more than five jang. When it comes to formations, I can’t beat that guy.’
If I was struggling like this, the others were surely worse—stumbling around the cave, fighting anyone they bumped into.
As the screams grew louder and more people fell, I felt more exhilarated.
Moonwoo was dumbfounded after two of the Three Kings Guard he had relied on were killed.
“Damn it! Elder Wonho, we must get out of here!”
Zhao Qiansheng had been trying to find a way out of the cave even before those words were spoken.
But it was too dark—he couldn’t find the entrance they came through.
Only then did he realize they were trapped in a formation.
“We’re currently caught in a formation. That Yong brat must’ve set one up in this cave. We can’t find the entrance we came through.”
Only a dozen members of the Homa Cheondan he had brought remained.
The rest had already become cold corpses in this cave. That was how strong the enemy was.
Especially troubling were the ones who attacked without a hint of fear even after their comrades died—Zhao Qiansheng struggled against them too.
Not only were they fearless, but their martial arts were also so advanced that he couldn’t take them lightly.
“Mobak! You find the exit!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Despite the blood pouring from his back, Mobak paid it no mind and started searching for the entrance.
‘The wound is deeper than I thought.’
It had been inflicted during the chaotic battle in the dark, and he hadn’t been able to stop the bleeding.
Trying to block the blood by pressing acupoints during such chaos would only disrupt the qi circulation and make things more dangerous.
‘Finding the exit is the priority. If we don’t, we’ll all leave our bones here.’
As Mobak thought that, he also felt a slight sense of relief.
The fact that Yong Hwarin had the power to throw them into such chaos gave him confidence that the man would protect his granddaughter no matter what.
‘Maybe I was just being overly worried. If someone can stand in front of the Nine Great Sects and Prestigious Clans and declare he’ll kill anyone who dares point fingers at her… then he’s more than capable of protecting her.’
Originally, he had planned to take her away even by force, but after seeing his granddaughter’s unwavering resolve and the warmth in her eyes whenever she spoke of Yong Hwarin, he had abandoned that idea.
In hindsight, it had been a blessing.
If he had kidnapped her, she might not have escaped this fate either.
That’s why, even in a moment where death seemed near, a smile rose on Mobak’s face.
