Chapter 172 - The Black Flame Dragon That Swallows the Sea of Blood (2)

Seong Moran, who was accompanying Cheol Sunjik, did not utter a word throughout their entire movement.

Since the Jukhyeon Gang, which occupied the Second (二) Peak of the 108 Peaks, and the Iron Sword Sect, which had acted as the local lords of Hefei, were entities that glared at each other with hostility, moving together was incredibly awkward.

'That's not the only thing.'

Above all, what had happened during the standard exam made Seong Moran feel uncomfortable dealing with Cheol Sunjik.

From the perspective of the simple and straightforward Seong Moran, Cheol Sunjik—who calculated many things and seemed different on the inside than on the outside—was quite an unsettling opponent.

"Hahaha. Lady Seong, it seems you dislike me."

As if seeing right through Seong Moran, Cheol Sunjik did not seem to care much about her attitude.

"What?"

Seong Moran feigned ignorance as if asking what he was talking about, but Cheol Sunjik maintained a thoroughly relaxed expression as if he found even that amusing.

How obnoxious.

"Or perhaps Lady Seong finds me untrustworthy."

"I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Aren't you constantly following behind me? Are you so lacking in trust that you hate to show me your back?"

"..."

Only then did Seong Moran realize she had been continuously securing a position behind Cheol Sunjik and the Twelve Peaks and Castles, but she was not particularly flustered about being caught.

"... Because my last memory is so terrible, you see."

Cheol Sunjik chuckled at Seong Moran's sharp words.

"Isn't it an unwritten rule of Jianghu to leave the events of the standard exam within the standard exam?"

"Forgetting the outcome but remembering the process is a warrior's instinct, isn't it?"

"I suppose that is true."

Faced with his attitude of not caring much whether she trusted or doubted him, the one who eventually spoke first was Seong Moran.

"What on earth is your scheme this time?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why the Twelve Peaks and Castles followed Young Master Jin."

"Taking an interest in the actions of the academy representative is a natural duty for an academy student, is it not?"

Seong Moran's eyebrows arched at the brazen answer.

"So is that why you were absent from the Soul-Extinguishing Array event and tried to have someone investigate instead?"

"..."

For the first time, Cheol Sunjik's face stiffened.

"Did you think we wouldn't know? It's just that the Orthodox Council stepped forward first; after that, the White Path Council and the Twelve Peaks and Castles were planning to do the exact same thing, weren't you?"

"So you knew."

Cheol Sunjik merely shrugged. It was an expression of unconcern.

Seong Moran's cheeks trembled slightly.

"You people truly are... shameless beyond belief."

"It was something we couldn't help either. If only the Orthodox Council and the White Path Council found out about the Soul-Extinguishing Array, the Twelve Peaks and Castles would suffer a great loss."

Seong Moran brought up a fundamental question.

"Couldn't you just follow Young Master Jin in the first place? The Twelve Peaks and Castles are ultimately just one of the 108 Peaks, aren't they?"

Cheol Sunjik smiled genially, as if looking at a child, and spoke.

"If the existing system collapses, chaos will ensue. And Young Master Jin is trying to tear down that system."

"It seems the Young Master Jin I've seen and the Young Master Jin you've seen are different."

Cheol Sunjik shook his head as if they were not different.

"Isn't that evident just from looking at the present?"

"What is?"

"To save someone close to him, the academy representative forgot his duties and came to Sichuan. Furthermore, he even mobilized Seungho Hall to do so."

"It's because there is a dangerous presence."

Cheol Sunjik took out a missive from his robes and handed it to Seong Moran.

"These are the records of the Beggars' Sect investigating what happened in Sichuan. The investigation results clearly state that the mass death incident during the standard exam occurred because they were attacked while severely injured due to the fierce admission process."

Holding the missive, Seong Moran could not continue her words.

"The Beggars' Sect's conclusion is that the opponents were not that strong. The Council of Elders' event is just grandiose in name and is nothing more than a sightseeing excursion. It means the 'danger' Representative Jin spoke of doesn't actually exist."

"..."

A smile spread across Cheol Sunjik's face.

Seong Moran found that face so detestable that she felt she would have no other wish if she could just smash her fist into it right this instant.

"Whether it's because he couldn't conduct a proper investigation, or because he made a fuss over a trivial matter, he is equally unfit to be representative."

Small chuckles erupted from among the personnel of the Twelve Peaks and Castles.

"That is why a system is necessary. A lone outstanding individual, whether competent or incompetent, will ultimately cause problems."

"So did you follow him all the way here just to drag Young Master Jin down from the representative position?"

"... Let's just say I came to correct what is wrong."

"As expected, you had no intention of listening to Young Master Jin's words from the very beginning."

"Because there is no reason to follow something wrong."

Seong Moran turned her head as if there was no need to listen any further.

But Cheol Sunjik did not seem to want to end the conversation here.

"It seems Lady Seong completely trusts Representative Jin. Do you know Representative Jin inside and out like that?"

"No."

"Oh, that is rather surprising..."

"Rather, it would be more accurate to say I don't know him well. Since I don't even know what is in his heart."

"Pardon?"

"However, I do know at least that the moment he says it is 'dangerous' is a truly 'dangerous' moment."

Seong Moran continued speaking with an unwavering face.

"It was like that at the Demonic Spirit Plateau, during the standard exam, and during the Soul-Extinguishing Array. Being with him, there have been countless dangerous moments where our lives hung in the balance, but the moment he genuinely said it was 'dangerous,' a great danger on a completely different level arrived."

Seong Moran looked at the faces of Cheol Sunjik and the Twelve Peaks and Castles who were staring at her.

"That's why. It's frustrating. Because no matter how much he says it's 'dangerous,' you people don't properly believe it. No, rather than believing him, you doubt him even more and bring the 'danger' upon yourselves."

Cheol Sunjik shook his head in disagreement with Seong Moran's opinion.

"That's because he only judges danger from his own position. Just as the Jukhyeon Gang and the Taiyi Sect cannot be viewed on the same level in the first place, there are many cases where something is 'dangerous' to him but not 'dangerous' to us."

Seong Moran parted her lips to speak but then closed her mouth.

Trying to persuade him any further here would just be a waste of breath.

Right now, the more urgent situation was confirming what the 'danger' Jin Sowoon mentioned was and stopping the people.

Cheol Sunjik laid out his opinions without stopping.

"Representative Jin is a person entirely bound by his own obstinacy..."

"Shut up!"

At Seong Moran's shout, he made a triumphant expression.

The opponent unilaterally cutting off the conversation was proof that his logic had won.

However, instead of the expression of a loser, Seong Moran pointed to one side with a serious face.

"Look over there."

It was because an ominous shadow cast by the moonlight could be seen there.

"..."

"..."

The movement techniques of not only Cheol Sunjik but also the Twelve Peaks and Castles came to an abrupt halt.

And each of them began to draw their weapons.

"Keep an eye on the surroundings."

Seong Moran spoke to the Twelve Peaks and Castles and then slowly approached the front.

An unpleasant odor pierced her nose.

'Corpses...'

Because darkness blanketed the surroundings, nothing could be seen.

Seong Moran quickly pulled a flint from her robes and struck it.

CLACK,

CLACK.

Every time the small sparks flew, the surroundings were briefly revealed before vanishing.

And gasps burst from the mouths of the Twelve Peaks and Castles.

"What is this..."

"Aren't these academy students?"

"Just what happened here..."

Cheol Sunjik approached Seong Moran's vicinity.

Seong Moran struck the flint again to show the corpses.

"They are disciples of the Qingcheng Sect and disciples of the Hyangjang Sect, a lay sect of Qingcheng."

It was a strange thing. Originally, Group Two (二), whom they were supposed to meet, consisted of the Mount Hua Sect, the Kongtong Sect, and lay sects.

Yet the ones they actually encountered were Group Three (三), the Qingcheng Sect and its lay sects.

Although they didn't know how things were playing out, it meant that the current situation had gone so severely wrong that it exceeded Jin Sowoon's expectations.

"Could there have been something so urgent that they couldn't even recover the bodies?"

"..."

Toward the unresponsive Seong Moran, Cheol Sunjik asked.

"Lady Seong?"

Seong Moran spoke as if murmuring.

"You said... the Jukhyeon Gang was stronger than the Taiyi Sect, right?"

Seong Moran pointed at the corpses strewn across the ground and said.

"Then how do they compare to the Qingcheng Sect and its lay sects?"

"What do you mean?"

The Twelve Peak Stars also maintained their guard while checking the corpses.

"They're academy students all right."

"This is a disciple of the Cheonggwan Sect."

"There's a disciple of the Cheongyeop Gang too."

The identities of the corpses were revealed here and there.

"Is the 'danger' Young Master Jin spoke of nothing much to Young Master Cheol?"

"..."

"I plan to look for other survivors just as Young Master Jin said. What will Young Master Cheol do? Do you still hate listening to Young Master Jin's words?"

Instead of answering, Cheol Sunjik looked at the corpses again with a bloodless face.

There was only one choice Cheol Sunjik could make.

"... Lead the way. We will follow."

* * *

Staring at the space that was darker than darkness, Jin Sowoon spoke.

"Absolutely do not break the lanterns."

"What?"

Before Nam Hwaseong could answer, Jin Sowoon moved first.

Shooting forward like lightning, Jin Sowoon disappeared straight into the darkness.

At the same time, fierce metallic sounds began to ring out from within the darkness.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!

As soon as the sound of steel fiercely clashing against steel ended, the deafening roar of bursting air began to resound.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A golden radiance fluctuated in the darkness, resembling the churning of lightning-laden clouds before a storm poured down.

"What on earth..."

RUMBLEEEEE!

Giant human shadows were revealed within the black clouds.

The giant shadows repeated the process of fighting fiercely, falling, and clashing once again.

RIIING——

At that moment, Nam Hwaseong clutched his head from a piercing agony in his mind.

Nam Hwaseong, who had collapsed to his knees to offset the pain, was startled by a sudden creeping killing intent and explosively fired fist qi toward his rear.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A chill washed over a corner of his chest when he felt the impacts hit something in the darkness where there should clearly be nothing.

'I-If I was even a little late, I would have died.'

The sensation of a sharp sword filled with unmistakable killing intent.

An action filled with genuine murderous intent that he had never felt during sparring matches for class.

Pushing his five senses to the absolute limit, Nam Hwaseong began to search for the unseen opponent in the space within the darkness.

"Is it there!!!"

Nam Hwaseong hurled his body forward with a shout as if intentionally trying to shake off his fear.

However, along with an immense impact to his abdomen, he was rapidly blasted backward.

"Keheuk, ugh."

A contest of merely a single clash.

He could realize it just from that.

The opponent in the darkness was absolutely no ordinary figure.

Nam Hwaseong immediately prepared the Samwon Sect's final supreme technique, the Deer Horn Radiant Fist.

Green radiance flashed from his two fists, illuminating the darkness and offering fleeting glimpses of the figures hidden within.

"Haaah!"

Shooting forward and leaving a green trajectory like a firefly's tail, Nam Hwaseong's Deer Horn Radiant Fist struck a point in the darkness, scattering green light in all directions as it aimed for the opponent's vital points.

POW POW POW POW POW POW POW!

He unleashed up to thirty punches in a single breath, but surprisingly, there was no sensation of tearing flesh.

As if swinging his fists underwater, his hands and feet felt much more stifled than usual.

"Uwaaaaaaagh!"

As he poured out his entire fifty years of internal energy, the glowing light of the Deer Horn Radiant Fist drove away the darkness, and the opponents' true forms were gradually revealed.

Nam Hwaseong's eyes trembled violently.

'Just how many of them are there!'

The group of personnel situated in the area where the darkness had lifted looked to be easily a hundred strong.

He couldn't even fathom how many more there would be if the darkness was entirely cleared.

While his thoughts wandered for a brief fraction of a second, an innumerable, countless barrage of Sword Qi began to pour out from the darkness.

"Damn it."

He poured out fist qi like a storm, but not only was he unable to block them all, it was also impossible to counter the hidden energy concealed among them.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Struck by the hidden energy, Nam Hwaseong's body was sent flying like he had been shot from a cannon.

CRACK.

A sound of something shattering rang out from his back, but unable to pay attention to every detail, Nam Hwaseong sprang up and took a stance.

The opponents had once again hidden their bodies within the darkness, concealing their figures.

"Come out if you're confident! Let's fight fair and square!"

Was it in response to Nam Hwaseong's words?

The darkness slowly began to lift.

And moving figures caught his eye through the gap.

SLITHHHHER.

To confirm the true form of the entity that had appeared, Nam Hwaseong had to raise his head vertically.

"...!!!"

The moment he saw that 'entity,' every hair on his body stood on end.

"A-Azure-Scaled Single-Horned Dragon?"

A demonic beast called a dragon (龍) because its body was so exceptionally large and massive.

A giant serpent, so rare that an ordinary person—no, even a warrior traversing all of Jianghu—would struggle to ever see one, was flicking its tongue at him.

Backing away in instinctive fear, Nam Hwaseong turned his head so sharply his neck nearly snapped at another sound coming from behind him.

TCHK, TCHK, TCHK.

A spider the size of a house with eight legs.

"H-Human-Faced Blood Spider?"

A horrific demonic beast with four fangs on a human-like face was tilting its head as it looked at Nam Hwaseong.

"U-Ughh!"

Operations, investigations into Jin Sowoon—none of that was the immediate issue.

'I'm dead! I'm going to die!'

The moment Nam Hwaseong deployed the Deer Horn Wind Cloud Steps and desperately tried to escape the area.

The Azure-Scaled Single-Horned Dragon moved its giant body like a ghost and coiled around Nam Hwaseong's body in one go.

"Uwaaaaaaagh!"

As Nam Hwaseong's figure was hoisted into the air, various demonic beasts began to swarm from the space he thought only held the Human-Faced Blood Spider, all trying to get a taste of Nam Hwaseong's flesh.

"Fuck, I'm nothing but muscle, so I taste terrible!"

He swung his fists and fired fist qi, but the beasts completely ignored it as if they didn't feel a thing and gaped their horrific maws wide open at him.

[-Nam Hwaseong!]

Right on time, a resonant voice rang out in his mind.

[-Burn the talisman.]

A voice he normally hated hearing so much.

But at that voice, which was like salvation, Nam Hwaseong burned the talisman he held in his hand.

FWOOSH.

Along with the talisman that quickly caught fire even from a small ember and turned to ash, the sound of tearing fabric echoed in the air as a figure holding a golden sword leapt through the space.

"Duck your head, Nam Hwaseong!"

"Uwaaaaaaagh!"

The entity holding the golden sword descended like a thunderbolt, cleaving the Azure-Scaled Single-Horned Dragon in half.

Nam Hwaseong's figure, which had been suspended in the air, plummeted straight to the ground.

"Uwaaaagh!"

Even though the impact was considerable, Nam Hwaseong sprang up from the ground and assumed a combat stance.

Jin Sowoon looked back at him and shouted.

"You bastard! I told you not to break the lanterns!"

"I-I didn't break them!"

"Then why did the Corpse Blood Death Spirit Soul-Confusing Array activate?"

"C-Corpse Blood what?"

"It's an illusion array! Have you ever learned Destroying Evil (破邪) and Subduing Spirits (制靈)?"

"I, I know the Demon-Subduing Mantra..."

"You damn fools, treating the Demon-Subduing Mantra like some ancestral heirloom sword. Go ahead and try facing the Demonic Cult with that, why don't you!"

Jin Sowoon spat out curses whose meaning he couldn't comprehend.

Nam Hwaseong instinctively realized something had gone wrong.

"W-What should I do?"

"What do you mean, what should you do? It's not like your mental clarity is strong enough to endure this illusion either."

"Then m-me."

Jin Sowoon adjusted his grip on his sword.

"... We tear through it and get out."

Nam Hwaseong made a blank expression at Jin Sowoon's words.

With demonic beasts swarming everywhere, he was saying they were going to escape from this place where they couldn't even tell where the exit or entrance was?

"...it together, you punk!"

"H-Huh?"

Right then, a burning slap flew in and struck Nam Hwaseong's cheek.

"Pull yourself together, you bastard! Do you want to die here?"

"... N-No!"

"On the battlefield, only listen to the commander's voice. Don't trust your own pathetic brain! Got it?!"

"G-Got it..."

Jin Sowoon pulled two Demon-Subduing Talismans from his robes and shoved them into Nam Hwaseong's hands.

"I'll give you two since you survived. Survive one more time and I'll give you three."

"T-Thanks."

"From now on, we are escaping their illusion array. Don't look anywhere else, just stick close to me and follow. Understood?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Let's go!"

Without delay, Jin Sowoon began to charge toward the demonic beasts blocking off all sides.

A golden radiance was imbued in his sword, and at some point, a long golden cord had extended from his left hand.

When the giant Human-Faced Blood Spider opened its horrific maw to swallow Jin Sowoon, Jin Sowoon swung his sword.

SLASH! SLASH!

Whenever the cord emitting golden radiance poured down, the giant beasts were tied up tight and rendered immobile, and whenever the golden sword was swung, those giant beasts were cut into two or three pieces.

Jin Sowoon swiftly dispatched the demonic beasts again and again as he advanced forward.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Although an utterly surreal spectacle unfolded continuously right before his eyes, Nam Hwaseong moved exactly as Jin Sowoon shouted.

"Fire your fist qi!"

"You bastard! What are you going to do by saving your internal energy? Are you taking it to hell after you die?"

"Is this all the Samwon Sect's supreme art amounts to?"

"Hit it! Keep hitting it! Illusion arrays have weak durability. If you hit it again and again, it'll eventually break!"

Then, miraculously, the energy constricting them from all sides softened quite a bit.

Breathing became slightly easier, and somehow, the sizes of the demonic beasts also seemed to be shrinking.

'On the battlefield, only trust the commander's voice. On the battlefield, only trust the commander's voice.'

Nam Hwaseong recited Jin Sowoon's words like crazy, repeating them over and over as he desperately moved his feet.

Just how long had they run like that?

At some point, Jin Sowoon disappeared along with the demonic beasts surrounding them.

"J-Jin Sowoon! Jin Sowoon! Where did you go!"

The moment Nam Hwaseong called for Jin Sowoon like a chick looking for its mother.

Someone grabbed the scruff of Nam Hwaseong's neck and began to hoist him up.

"Heup!"

As the terrified Nam Hwaseong struggled frantically, a familiar voice pierced his ear.

"It's me! Stop thrashing around! You're heavy!"

RIIIP.

Along with the sound of a large cloth tearing, the space before his eyes shifted in an instant, revealing the clear moonlight.

"Huff, huff, huff. W-What is this."

The sensation of dirt against the ground, the chill felt in the air.

They had escaped the illusion array Jin Sowoon spoke of and returned to actual reality.

"J-Jin Sowoon..."

Before the joyous emotion of escaping the illusion array could register, a sense of doubt filled his mind.

He belonged to the Twelve Peaks and Castles and had come here to monitor Jin Sowoon.

'But...'

Jin Sowoon had saved him from that illusion array.

"T-Thanks, Jin Sowoon..."

However, the reply was incredibly blunt.

"Shut up and get up. The main event starts now."

"H-Huh?"

Jin Sowoon was already keeping his eyes solely on the front.

And lined up in front of them were the blood-robed figures he had seen inside the illusion array.