Chapter 187: A Fight Between Semi-Divine Beings (1)
The roar swept through the battlefield.
At the same time, huge flames rose.
A huge fireball burned all the Orthodox martial artists gathered in one place.
“Ahhhh!”
“My arm, my arm is on fire! ”
“Water, water! ”
“My back is on fire! ”
“Roll on the floor and put out the fire! ”
Demons and Orthodox soldiers alike stopped swinging their weapons. They looked around at the flames everywhere.
“Why is there so much fire…?”
“Were there mines?!”
That was exactly it.
The moment Woon-seong had entered the Alliance, when Jwa Do-gyul confirmed that the demonic soldiers had gone deep enough, he had triggered the process and detonated the buried landmines.
Moreover, they were not ordinary landmines.
They were Steel Lightning Mines, made by a legendary explosive manufacturer.
These landmines, which would explode with lightning, were powerful weapons whose destructive power was not reproducible by modern weapons.
Hundreds of them exploded in unison. What a sight!
It was natural for the situation to go into disarray.
Watching on, Sang Gwan-chuk turned his head with a worried look.
The place his gaze was directed was the place where the loudest sound had originated.
“My Lord!”
Kuang—
At that moment, a huge flame, incomparable to before, soared into the air. Like the sound, the color was also different from that of real lightning.
Fwoom—
Dark and gray flames soared high like pillars holding up the sky.
The device which exploded the Steel Lightning Landmines, while also triggering all the other traps and illusions, had been under the armrest of the chair Jwa Do-gyul was sitting in. He had kept his finger there and the moment the Leader of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon walked inside, he had pressed down.
As soon as the devices were activated, Jwa Do-gyul moved.
To kill the Heavenly Demon?
No, that was not it.
The moment the traps were activated, the first thing to collapse would be the building. Jwa Do-gyul did not want to die with the Cult Leader, buried under the rubble of a crumbling building.
So he chose to flee.
Crack—
Jwa Do-gyul slammed into the wall behind him. But that was not enough; he kept running.
A few moments later, he saw the Martial Alliance’s main building falling.
Looking at it, Jwa Do-gyul smiled faintly.
“Hehehe.”
As the building was collapsing, hundreds of arrows installed inside the walls would have flown towards the Heavenly Demon.
If Jwa Do-gyul was lucky, that would kill the Heavenly Demon. Even a master at the realm of Semi-Divinity could panic, get hurt, and then die.
And if he was unlucky?
If he was unlucky, then the collapse might just slightly wound the Heavenly Demon.
But that didn’t matter because he already had plans in place.
His eyes darted around.
The battlefield was a wasteland.
Other traps and illusions had kicked in after the landmines did their part. If the illusions worked as intended, they would conceal the enemy, then lead allies to attack each other.
One way or another, it would work out.
Enemies were thrown into these traps, without distinguishing between Alliance soldiers or Demonic soldiers.
From the beginning, Jwa Do-gyul’s goal was to hit the Demonic and damage both forces, not protect the Orthodox forces.
Protect the Orthodox forces, that’s funny, Jwa Do-gyul mocked and scorned, looking at the mess.
He then patted his pockets.
What he took out was a small, black flute.
Called the Insanity-Inducing Black Flute, it was a flute specially made to give orders to those with half-dead.
Jwa Do-gyul filled his heart with commands and powerfully blew into the Insanity-Inducing Black Flute.
Fwoo-oo-oo~
A sound that humans could not hear spread throughout the battlefield.
Soon, a puppet would hear this and come to stand beside Jwa Do-gyul.
Jwa Do-gyul’s lips curled.
Even if he is the Leader of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, he will not be able to handle two Semi-Divine Puppets.
In addition, the two Semi-Divine puppets called on by Jwa Do-gyul had their powers raised.
Semi-Divine Beings whose powers had been increased by 80%.
That was why Jwa Do-gyul was confident in predicting the Heavenly Demon’s death.
At that moment!
Kwawang—
An even larger flame than before enveloped the ruins.
The flames encircled the ruins and soared into the sky, becoming massive pillars of flame.
The rubble from the collapsed building was also pushed into the air by the explosion.
As if swept by massive winds, the sky burst into flames as debris rained through the air.
At that moment!
Glug-ug-
Kuakuakua—
The debris rained through the sky in a shower of fire, covering the ground.
A man slowly walked out from between the pillars of flame.
“Jwa Do-gyul.”
He looked like a furious beast; Jwa Do-gyul unknowingly trembled.
Woon-seong walked out of the fire, assessing the situation. Given the magnitude of the shaking that had hit the area, something must have happened and covered the entire battlefield.
And as he predicted, the battlefield was utterly ravaged.
Everything had mostly collapsed and people were rolling about in flames.
Some had fallen to hallucination, others struck down by traps.
It was only the highest-ranking officers and masters who remained intact.
When he saw this, Woon-seong felt deep fury.
It was not just the anger he felt towards Jwa Do-gyul for being his enemy.
Deeper anger than that.
He was infuriated by the mindless slaughter of Orthodox and Demonic soldiers.
No, technically, they were not the only ones trapped.
The Martial Alliance was not just filled with martial artists.
Some of the remaining members in the Alliance had never been trained in martial arts. There were some maids in the wreckage, a few cooks from the kitchens.
Knowing that..!
You didn’t even evacuate the civilians?
Woon-seong walked out of the flames. He stared at Jwa Do-gyul.
“Jwa Do-gyul.”
He could not hide the venom in his voice. At the same time, enormous waves of energy rolled from his body.
Woon-seong did not realize this himself, but he never would have noticed the collateral damage unless he was righteous at heart.
He denied his life as a chivalrous hero, but he had a conscience deep down.
It was thanks to Nok Yu-on emphasizing the spirit of cooperation to Woon-seong.
That was why, for whatever reason, Woon-seong had both Orthodox and Demonic Arts.
Immediately, Woon-seong was filled with the strong desire to tear into Jwa Do-gyul.
Woon-seong wanted to give into to his instincts.
I want to grab that son of a bitch and rip him to shreds.
The moment Woon-seong felt that and tried to move…
Puk-
Something appeared and stabbed Woon-seong in the shoulder.
Woon-seong twitched. There was some blood dripping onto his clothes.
“You’ve arrived!”
Woon-seong could hear Jwa Do-gyul calling out in joy. But for the moment, Woon-seong stared at those who had attacked him and the blood on his robes.
The wound on his shoulder was not very serious. When he had been attacked, he had instinctively retreated.
It was bleeding, but it was just a nick.
“Corpse puppets?”
What mattered was what they were.
When Woon-seong said that, Jwa Do-gyul spoke as if he was doing well, “Does the Cult Leader know about them?”
The question was like a taunt.
Woon-seong swung the White Night Spear.
Boom-
Struck by a huge storm, the two corpse puppets were pushed back.
One step, when it should have been at least two.
Woon-seong’s eyes suddenly turned golden.
Stronger than the ones I fought before.
There were two of them too.
At this time, the two corpse puppets rushed towards Woon-seong.
Kuakuakua—
The moment the two struck Woon-seong like a thunderstorm, Woon-seong became a hurricane facing them.
Two storms collided.
Three draconic winds intertwined. The wind blasted in all directions.
Woo, woo.
The wind split the earth.
Boom-
At times, the buildings were crushed.
Inside the storm, Woon-seong continued to observe the enemies’ qi.
Even Woon-seong could not guarantee his victory here.
Unless you find the characteristics of their martial arts and attack their weakness, there is no chance.
If not that, they were dead bodies. He should be grateful that they lacked the mind to make rational judgements or deal with unexpected situations.
Woon-seong focused his attention on one puppet at a time.
The sleek impression of one of them caught his eyes. The sword in the man’s hand rushed about like a wild horse.
Rather than a sword, it was more like a crude club.
That’s right.
Woon-seong had uncovered the foundation of this puppet’s martial arts.
It was a horse.
A horse galloping wild. One that was unfettered in the wind, crushing enemies underfoot as it ran.
It was the symbol of freedom, of being unbounded.
But it’s a pity.
Someone who had developed such an inner qi method had become like this. Woon-seong shook his head lightly once.
Meanwhile, the horse-like swordsman drew his strength and pierced through Woon-seong’s defenses.
Neigh—
There was the sound of a horse neighing and strength rose from behind the man’s back.
A rising river swirled behind the man like a horse’s mane. At the same time, his sword, or club, seemed to become even more dull.
Kung—
Woon-seong’s ankle was buried as his feet dug into the ground. It was a tremendous power hard to express in words.
There was another corpse puppet coming in from behind.
A martial art that rushed about, wielding two weapons in the shape of a sword and dagger.
This technique…
Watching the puppet, it wasn’t hard for Woon-seong to figure out its foundation.
Two attacks pressed from the front and back. If he was caught by either, he would be torn away.
Shua!
Woon-seong twisted to the side. Treading carefully, he pulled his foot off the ground.
Boom—
The ground trembled. When the movement of the men aiming for him paused, Woon-seong shifted his momentum from his feet to his upper body.
His waist twisted and a typhoon-like force erupted from his upper body.
Boom-
Rough winds drove the swordsman away. There was a small gap at that moment. Taking advantage of it, Woon-seong floated into the air.
From below, the two corpse puppets chased Woon-seong into the sky.
Woon-seong looked at them, then glanced at Jwa Do-gyul. The man had fled, looking like he wanted to immediately withdraw from the battlefield.
Of course, that was only conjecture, but there was no need to deal with these corpses if the man really ran.
I have no choice but to overdo it.
Woon-seong shook his limbs, breaking off the iron bracers that trapped his body.
Boom-!