My Alter Ego's Path to Greatness

< The Demon King of the Ganghwan Realm (3) >

Swish—

Deep in the forest, draped in pitch-black darkness. A group of figures in formation moved silently and swiftly through its heart.

"Halt."

At that moment, the figure at the very front raised a hand, accompanied by a low voice. The personnel in the rear, moving in perfect order, stopped in unison without a single misstep.

"······."

A midnight forest where peace and eeriness coexisted. Wind whistled through the densely packed trees, rustling bushes and leaves busily. Amidst the silence, within that gently flowing noise—.

"···Prepare for battle."

That voice punctuated the forest's tranquility.

Clang— Shing!

As soon as his words ended, the entire area filled with the tension of the calm before a storm as everyone drew their weapons in unison. No one questioned the sudden order. The commander giving the orders was someone who had proven his abilities long ago, and for them, unquestioning obedience was a part of daily life, ingrained almost like brainwashing.

As expected.

"Oh? Well now, have we been found out already?"

Just as the entire group finished battle preparations, a carefree voice, out of place amidst the tense atmosphere, flowed from behind.

"Guess things don't go as planned, huh? Sneaking around just ain't my style! Kahahahat!"

A stranger slowly emerged from the darkness, between the dense trees. Even as he drew the attention of everyone present, the hulking barbarian warrior burst into hearty laughter. With a relaxed attitude, as if he didn't care how they reacted, like he was just out for a stroll.

"···Emergency. Release all restraints on the Heavenly General Jiangshi."

However, those facing him could by no means dismiss his appearance lightly. No, far from underestimating him, they couldn't even take their fixed gazes off him.

Rustle— Crunch—

The giant man approached, casually trampling the ground without any tension or unease. From his entire body, a thick, ominous aura billowed… a ferocious presence that screamed to their instincts that if they averted their eyes even for a moment, he would instantly pounce and tear out their throats.

"But, there are fewer than I expected?"

Amidst the suffocating tension that was building, the giant—Harley, who had been approaching while prowling like a predator before a hunt, tilted his head and frowned. His heterochromatic eyes, imbued with an eerie light, slowly scanned the surroundings. The number of the group was roughly fifty. Each of them was at least a master of the Peak Realm or above, and if you included the Jiangshi crawling out of the coffins some carried on their backs, their combat power itself was considerable, but…

The number was quite different from what he had anticipated beforehand. And more importantly.

"···And the kid I'm looking for isn't here either. Tsk, when did they sneak her away somewhere else?"

The person he was looking for, Jegal Hyemi, was nowhere to be seen among them. She wasn't even inside any of the coffins containing Jiangshi. When he sensed them from afar, he was still doubtful, but there was no way his senses could be deceived at this distance, right?

'Considering all the information, and even while tracking them here, there weren't really any traces of them splitting into multiple groups.'

Then, he soon realized that he had been too optimistic about things. The reason he had been able to track them was by using the traces that inevitably arose because they were in large numbers. In that case, if a small number of experts, skilled in stealth, had taken her and slipped away to another place in the middle…

"Kehk! This has become troublesome. It would have been easier if we had just finished it here."

Harley, wearing a disgusted expression, roughly rubbed the back of his head. No matter how great the Demonic Sect's power was, dispersing forces in this chaotic world where one didn't know when and what kind of crisis would come was an inefficient gamble. Moreover, wasn't the Jegal Clan they attacked specialized in base defense using formations, and lacking in noteworthy masters? He wouldn't have known that Harley was in pursuit, so he thought they wouldn't have divided their forces again from there, having already created a considerable distance, but.

"Well, nothing can be done about it now that it's come to this."

Harley, who had been talking to himself amidst the still rigid atmosphere, smacked his lips and shook his head. Although he had missed his target, it couldn't be seen as a completely fruitless errand. Because those who would become clues were laid out in front of his eyes like this.

"Still, you know. I'm human too, so I can't help but feel a little upset, right?"

Contrary to his light tone, an overwhelming aura that made bodies tingle exploded out. It didn't matter whether they obediently confessed or upheld their integrity to the end. If he cleanly finished them off and searched through their heads, something would come out.

"So, please understand if I get a little rough? Kahahahat!"

Creak— Crunch!

Bursting into mad laughter, his muscular bulk swelled up in an instant along with a grotesque sound of bones twisting. That phenomenon was an appearance that no one could call human.

"···A monster! Deploy Heavenly General Jiangshi! Bloodshed Demon Squad, form the Heavenly Net Restraint Formation…!"

The commander, who was also skilled in fighting monsters, hurriedly issued orders before abruptly pausing. His pupils, who had been trained almost to the point of brainwashing to maintain composure at all times, trembled and his gaze gradually moved upwards. Following the face of the opponent, whose already large 8-cheok height grew taller and taller, finally soaring to well over 20 cheok (6 meters).

"Kuhah! Then let's see what you've got!"

The giant, no longer simply larger but completely beyond human form, looked down and smiled ferociously. In the form of a predator, with the factors of monsters from the Ganghwan Realm manifesting everywhere, unlike before.

"How did things become like this…."

Military Strategist Cheongi Maseon Ya Yulhwan, the chief of external operations of the Cheonma Sect. No, he should be called former Military Strategist now that the heavens had changed. He was facing the greatest crisis of his not-short life recently.

"Hehehe, this is truly absurd. To think that Sect Leader… Cheonma, who was supposed to reach Divine Transformation Realm soon, would meet his end so futilely."

A hollow laugh leaked from his mouth in a cave where a few lamps barely chased away some of the darkness. Surely, the calculations should have been perfect. The composition and power of those participating in the Martial Arts Alliance Assembly had already been perfectly grasped, and they had投入 forces to an almost excessive degree to ensure a clean job….

"Mad Demon, Mad Demon, you say…? I took measures in advance to limit the possibility of variables, but to think those two bastards would join hands and barge into Shaolin Temple together."

The existence of that Mad Demon… no, the monster now called Divine Mad Demon, was the decisive factor in the failure at Shaolin Temple. If that bastard hadn't intervened, they could have cleanly swept away Shinseung, Sword Saint, and everyone else present. The corpses resulting from that would have been reborn as Jiangshi for the sect, and the Sect Leader would not have had to act separately while retreating.

'A being who calls himself the Demon King. Just by appearing, he covers the heavenly aura with darkness, uses unheard-of high-level sorcery, and commands a legion of Black Jiangshi who freely use martial arts, a lord of death….'

Moreover, the Demon King who appeared immediately after was no different from a fatal natural disaster that shook the foundation of their plan. In fact, the failure at Shaolin Temple was not that big of a problem. Although they had to slightly modify the operation as their expectations were off, wasn't the main goal to secure the Children of the Dragon anyway?

"But now that the Sect Leader has fallen, the operation is meaningless. Hehehe… to think that we would hold a funeral as soon as we took the first step. Who knew it would be my own grave."

Cheonma's death was beyond doubt. The Demon King had started taking control of the Cheonma Sect, and the first thing he presented as evidence was his corpse. Among the high-ranking executives in the main compound, there was not a single fool who could not discern the truth of it.

'This time, it turned out to be a bad omen.'

The miserable end of a leader who boasted absolute authority based on overwhelming force. The fear resulting from that had a great influence on the executives' decision to defect. Thanks to that, the Demon King's full-scale purge operation, which had begun to seize control of the sect quickly, also started earlier than expected. It was around that time that contact was lost with the Head of the Tongcheon Pavilion, who had been secretly cooperating with him and conveying information to the Military Strategist.

'It's a shame. It would have been good if there was more information. It's not easy to contact others while cutting off all lines to prevent reverse tracking.'

He lightly clicked his tongue and frowned. Then, he turned his gaze to the corner and quietly stared at those in the specially crafted formation.

'Children of the Dragon, huh….'

They were the target that was the beginning and end of this operation, and the total number of them secured this time was seven. A result that could truly be called the fruit of long years of intelligence gathering. Originally, as soon as they were recovered, they would have been sent to the main compound, which was their largest dragon vein, to prepare for the ritual, but now that that place had been occupied, they had no choice but to change their plans. There was no way they could just hand over these top-quality sacrifices, secured with so much effort, to that Demon King bastard, right?

"But… it's strange. Those two are different from the other Children of the Dragon."

As he quietly stared at them, a strange light flickered in his eyes. The Cheonma Sect was a power that was among the best not only in martial arts but also in sorcery, and Military Strategist Ya Yulhwan was a figure with deep insight in this field, having personally presided over the Sect Leader's burnt offering ritual. There was no way he wouldn't recognize it, right? The traces of that alien power, faintly remaining in the bodies of the two men and women who were full of vitality, unlike the other groaning Children of the Dragon.

'Surely, it was the daughter of the Jegal Clan and the bloodline of the Imperial Family.'

His eyes gleamed sharply as if piercing through something unseen. That was, no matter how he looked at it, the aura of an alien world, not of this world. He had already seen it several times, flowing out of the Sect Leader's body right after the ritual.

'Of course, the nature of the power itself is quite different, though. I need to observe them carefully going forward.'

He slowly scanned his surroundings, taking in the poor environment of the cave, and then looked back at those in the formation. Now that the Sect Leader had met his end, the rituals they had been doing so far were meaningless. If so, then if he used all seven of them entirely for himself….

"···First, I need to prepare an altar. It would be good to have a dragon vein that is as large as possible, even if it's not as large as the main compound. Is there a suitable place nearby…."

The lamps illuminating the darkness flickered, and his shadow reflected in it writhed grotesquely. As if he was not human, but a being of a different form.

A beast's head and a hairy upper body, long, sharp claws extending out. A beast-type monster Jiangshi in the form of a werewolf rushed in.

[Kreaaa—!]

Its body, having already lost life and knowing no pain, rushed in at a speed that exceeded its limits, and as it was, it opened its powerful jaws and forcefully bit down with sharp teeth on something that had entered its mouth.

Kkagagak! Kkadeuk!

But in its mouth, there was no sound of flesh tearing, only the noise of something hard grinding.

"Khahahat! This is effective! To think it would be this good! I knew it, you have to try everything yourself?"

Whoosh— Kwaang!

[Kkekeke!]

Harley burst into mad laughter, swinging the monster Jiangshi that was biting onto his forearm like a whip and slamming it onto the ground. His forearms were covered not with the crimson dragon scales he usually favored, but with black carapace in the shape of a turtle shell.

'In terms of pure defense, this is much superior. It lacks flexibility and elasticity, making it unsuitable to wear all over the body, but it's enough to wear on a few parts and use as a weapon and shield.'

This was none other than the Black Tortoise Shell Armor. The factor of the Black Tortoise, one of the inner cores he had obtained through Hans, who had thoroughly plundered the Cheonma Sect not too long ago. In fact, it had been a while since he had obtained it, but he hadn't bothered to use it in the fight against the Secretary as he wasn't yet accustomed to it. He couldn't rashly pull out a weapon that hadn't been properly tested against an opponent of that level, right? In that sense, the current situation was the perfect opportunity for a practical test to utilize this new weapon.

"Again with regeneration…! Keuk, this monster!"

"If it's not an attack at the Ganggi level, we can't even wound him, and even that recovers so quickly?"

"Avoid the black carapace! The rebound force deals even greater damage to us!"

Violence stemming from an overwhelming physique difference of over 6 meters. It did not discriminate against its opponents—whether Jiangshi or human.

"Keoheok!"

"Keuk!"

Demonic Sect followers who could not withstand it began to fall one by one, and the number of those opposing Harley rapidly decreased. Moreover, what he intended to use on this occasion was not only physical transformation.

"···The number of effective hits is gradually decreasing."

"It's growing? Even more here?"

Not only was his physical power, which was his forte and the very reason for his existence, overwhelming, but even the newly acquired techniques were gradually becoming more proficient.

'To think Harley would benefit from Cheonma Shin-gong before Hugo. As expected, renowned divine art is different.'

Recently, the key points of Cheonma Shin-gong, obtained from researching Cheonma's corpse, were proving to be of considerable help in operating Gwangje Simgyeol. Perhaps it was possible because both used rough and strong energy as a common point. As it was refined again through actual combat, he was soon able to reap the long-awaited reward.

"The individual has gained enlightenment through repeated training. Acquires skill 「Gwangje Simgyeol (Modified)」." -> Changed to Raging Demonic Heart Art (Modified)

The harmony of overwhelming physical abilities that could only be called transcendent and techniques that could use them most efficiently. Before that synergy, it did not take long for those who had held out until the end to collapse.