Chapter 472

Shnk!

The heat boring through its pupil was scorching, but the pain that followed was cold enough to numb the senses.

As agony spread through it like fire, the Mutated Water God Dragon unleashed a pain-filled roar.

—Kraaaaaaaaaah!

Its torso was as thick as a dozen or so full-grown trees bundled together, and its length easily exceeded thirty jang¹.

When that enormous body, like a small mountain, began thrashing wildly, the shock waves swept through everything around it.

Boom! Kwoom-kwoom-kwoom!

The bizarre boulders it had hurled earlier exploded into hundreds, then thousands of fragments, while walls of dirt and water surged into the air.

The entire area was being devastated as though under concentrated bombardment, yet several figures raced swiftly through the chaos.

Shh-shh-shik!

Some charged toward the monster. Others retreated beyond the reach of its thrashing body. Zhuge Feng—the current Family Head of the Zhuge Clan and the Crouching Dragon Guest²—belonged to the latter group.

Having finally regained his senses, he stared in bewilderment at the scene before him.

It isn’t enough that the heavenly patterns are becoming distorted. Now beings of supernatural powers are appearing too?

Zhuge Feng possessed extensive knowledge of creatures known as spiritual creatures or evil creatures, but this dragon-like monster defied everything he knew.

If word of what had happened here today reached the outside world, not only Murim but the entire realm would be thrown into an uproar.

How could something like this happen…?

Zhuge Feng was still trembling from the fear that had yet to fade completely when someone spoke to him.

“Stay here with the others. Hide behind cover and keep yourselves as safe as possible.”

Any martial artist would have felt his pride wounded by those words. Martial artists were the sort of people who staked their lives on their martial arts and a single sword as they wandered through a mountain of sabers and a forest of swords.

Zhuge Feng looked at the other person with a stiff expression and opened his mouth.

“Who am I?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked if you know who I am.”

Cheongpung answered.

“Yes. Great Hero Zhuge Pong.”

“It’s Zhuge Feng, not Zhuge Pong. In any case, you do know that I’m the Family Head of the Zhuge Clan.”

“Uh, yes, I do…”

“And yet you’re telling the Family Head of the Zhuge Clan to hide like a coward?”

Cheongpung thought for a moment, then nodded.

“That would be much safer.”

“Good. Then I’d better stay right here and not move.”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you say this place was safe? Better to be a coward than die like a dog for no reason.”

“…?”

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s simply that this isn’t a battle I need to fight today. It’s the same reason Zhuge Wuhou³, our family’s ancestor, did not stand at the vanguard and cut down the enemy.”

Zhuge Feng knew exactly where he stood and what he needed to do.

He was too clearheaded to wager his life on a martial artist’s pride, and as a Family Head, he was responsible for countless members of his household.

“This great war has only just begun. The day will come when I prove my worth in the battles ahead. So go on. I’ll protect these people.”

Cheongpung regarded Zhuge Feng with a strange look, then turned away with a small bow.

As the young man became a gust of wind and vanished into the distance, Zhuge Feng’s gaze grew somber.

Yes. The beginning of another age of chaos.

The peace that had lasted for more than fifty years was over. Dark clouds filled the blackened sky, and new winds were blowing in from every direction.

Cheongpung, racing toward the distant battlefield, was one of those winds.

Wuhou³. At least for today, it seems there is no place for this unworthy descendant to step forward.

Just as Zhuge Feng murmured those words to himself, a dazed conversation behind him drifted into his ears.

“I can see a monster over there. Is this a dream?”

“I don’t think it’s a dream. No, wait. Maybe it is.”

“But Hyuk, why are your pants so wet?”

“It’s raining. They must’ve gotten wet.”

“That’s awfully bright yellow for rainwater.”

“That can happen.”

“Can it? How strange. Anyway, isn’t this really a dream?”

“I don’t think it’s a dream. No, wait. Maybe it is.”

“But Hyuk, why are your pants so wet—”

“…”

After listening to the utterly incoherent exchange, Zhuge Feng quietly shifted away from the stench of urine.

He stood atop a hill where layer upon layer of dirt and sand had formed a small mound. In the direction of his gaze, a battle straight out of myth was unfolding.

Shhk, schk!

A silver line cleaved through space, cutting apart everything rushing toward him.

Papat!

Mungyeong vanished like an illusion, then sprang upward from a fragment of stone suspended in midair.

Whoooooosh!

Something enormous came hurtling through the spray and clouds of dust.

It did not take him long to realize that it was a tail covered in black scales.

Fast. Even faster than I expected.

It moved with a speed that seemed impossible for a body of such tremendous size. Drawing a breath, Mungyeong tightened his grip on his short sword.

Tsstsstssts!

Internal energy rose silently, yet with the speed of a lightning bolt, and enveloped the short sword.

Power more destructive and keener than anything else in the world. Force surged along the blade.

A single technique embodying the principle of extreme swiftness flowed from the fingertips of the greatest assassin of all time.

I’ll sever it in one stroke.

The next instant, Mungyeong brought his sword down diagonally toward the incoming tail—and realized he had miscalculated.

Schk.

The blade had undeniably cut into it, yet the resistance was absurdly strong.

The Force imbued in his short sword had to cut through more than the black scales.

Beneath those steel-hard scales lay ironlike flesh and muscle, as well as bones of incredible strength.

Damn.

Mungyeong clicked his tongue inwardly.

This was Force—and not just any Force, but Force infused with the enlightenment of the greatest assassin of all time.

No matter how tough the monster’s body was, his Force could have cut through it in a single stroke.

The problem was its thickness.

The monstrous tail was two jang¹ in diameter.

Combined with flesh far tougher than he had anticipated…

I can’t sever it in one strike.

Perhaps he could have under normal circumstances, but he had yet to shake off the lingering effects of Fear. He knew better than anyone that he could not bring his full martial prowess to bear.

In that case…

The instant he reached his decision, Mungyeong twisted the wrist holding the sword hilt.

The blade had already cut through the scales and was carving into the flesh and muscle beneath them. It rotated smoothly, using its flat to divert the force behind the tail.

Ka-ga-gak! Whoom!

His small, slender figure was flung backward through the air.

Boom!

Mungyeong twisted in midair and landed with a rough movement wholly unsuited to the name Ghost Illusory Slaughter Step. Beside him, Jeok Cheongang melted an incoming boulder with a single palm strike and spoke in a mocking tone.

“Did your martial arts become childish too after you Returned to Youth⁴?”

“Its strength and speed both far exceeded my expectations. Even with the principle of Four Ounces Deflecting a Thousand Catties, I couldn’t redirect it completely.”

“Your tongue got longer too.”

Mungyeong gave Jeok Cheongang a dry sidelong glance.

“If you’re trying to taunt me, stop here. The timing seems rather poor.”

“It isn’t a taunt. It’s an undeniable fact. Didn’t you see that thing crumple when this old man hit it once?”

“That was after I had already cut off its horn—”

Shri-ri-ri-rik! Boom!

A thunderous explosion swallowed the rest of Mungyeong’s words.

As though they had planned it, both men launched themselves away at the same instant. They clicked their tongues as they watched a streak of light writhe like a living creature.

The spot where they had stood moments earlier had been completely devastated.

“The more I see, the stranger that thing gets. An evil creature using Force?”

“It falls short of Force, yet it’s too powerful to be called Sword Energy. It clearly isn’t using a cultivation technique… but the mere fact that it can perform such a feat with the energy it has accumulated over countless years is almost impossible to believe.”

Harboring energy and being able to use or release that energy were entirely different matters.

In that respect, the monster before them had far surpassed the common sense of both men.

Was that thing also responsible for wiping out Yangtze One Saber and Donghu Stronghold?

Mungyeong dodged another incoming attack and regarded the monster with a deep gaze.

He had assumed that at least two Supreme Peak masters had attacked Donghu Stronghold. But after encountering that unimaginable monster, he finally felt that he understood what had happened.

Those bizarre whiskers and that enormous body… There’s no mistake. They resemble the traces left on the corpses.

He could clearly picture the monster crushing and cutting down everything in its path with its tail and whiskers.

The mystery surrounding Yangtze One Saber’s corpse—which everyone had believed had been ravaged by schools of fish—was also solved.

He wasn’t torn apart and eaten after he died. He died because he was torn apart and eaten.

Who could possibly have imagined it?

A gigantic dragon-like monster had carried out the slaughter after traveling through a deep underwater tributary inaccessible even to boats—a passage only fish could enter and leave.

If it had never shown itself, then of course there had been no witnesses.

“What a monster.”

Mungyeong had no choice but to admit it. The creature possessed strength comparable to hundreds of Peak masters, or perhaps two or three Supreme Peak masters. It was truly a being of supernatural powers.

Jeok Cheongang nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. A monster.”

“I never imagined such an inexplicable being could truly exist.”

“That guy never ceases to amaze me. He always leaves me wondering what might have happened if this old man had been given more time. Just a little more time.”

“What are you—”

Mungyeong suddenly remembered something and turned toward Jeok Cheongang. A broad smile filled the old man’s wrinkled face, where the passage of time could no longer be concealed.

“Hey, Slaughter Saint. Do you know something?”

Whoooooosh!

An enormous shadow descended with enough momentum to split the world apart.

Jeok Cheongang looked up at the black tail falling toward his small body and slowly continued.

“That one is the strangest and most terrifying monster this old man has ever seen.”

“Look out!”

Mungyeong’s eyes widened.

Boom-boom-boom! Fwoooosh!

A tremendous roar and vibration spread across a radius of several dozen jang¹.

At the center of it all, Jeok Cheongang stood tall and completely unscathed.

He had not moved a single step from where he had been standing, yet the black-scaled tail had struck far off to one side.

“Yes, that’s right. A monster should be fought by a monster.”

“……!”

Drip-drip-drip.

Above Jeok Cheongang’s head, where he laughed aloud, the monster’s dark-blue blood poured down mixed with the rain and wind.

Mungyeong turned toward the monster’s enormous body. Cheongpung, who had just returned to the battlefield, did the same.

At last, they saw it.

—Gwoooooooooah!

The monster thrashing wildly—and someone dangling from its head at a dizzying height, ripping out its whiskers with his bare hands.

“Bald head! Baldy! Smooth, shiny baldy!”

Pop! Pop! Pop-pop-pop-pop!

—Kroooooooooah!

The Water God Dragon’s mournful wail rang out through the wind and rain.