Chapter 416: Trapped

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KUKUKUKUKU… KUKUKUKUKU…

All the black demonic energy barriers, blocking all sides in a large circle, were shaking.

Demonic energies formed in a circular formation like a giant folding screen.

Was it a funeral ceremony, imprisoning all enemies and conducting it?

Somehow the feeling was like that.

It was like the majesty of an absolute demon god who ruled over darkness.

They couldn’t escape.

Also.

They couldn’t survive.

They would all be put in coffins and a funeral held.

It was as if such words were ringing in their ears.

“Keoeok!”

“Ak!”

“Kkeuheuk!”

Some of the Detached Three Army Corps positioned near the black barriers thrashed about crying out in agony.

SYUSYUSYUSYU… SYUSYUSYUSYU…

It was because the demonic energy that had created the circular fortress wall was sucking out their fundamental life force.

Each was being drawn by that power and losing vitality.

At rapid speed.

Without even time to prepare.

Thus, over a dozen enemies died instantly in an aged state.

Their blood was ice-cold and congealed throughout their bodies, and even their skin had shriveled up horribly dried out.

Like old wooden mummies.

Then urgent cries burst out from here and there among the enemies.

“Danger!”

“Move!”

“Fight while falling back!”

“Everyone get away from the Black Wall!”

At that time, Gun Mu-ak spoke with an expressionless face.

“Guard the surroundings.”

At that command, Eun Yi-bi and Ya Baek-ji swiftly dealt with the remaining enemies on Gun Mu-ak’s left and right directions.

The subordinates tried to break in to rescue Danmok Cheon.

Then one person suddenly appeared and lent a hand.

It was Meng Wang, whose wild charm stood out.

HUUUNG!

When a large pair of tusks traced an arc while accompanied by wind sounds.

CHICHICHICHICHING… PEOPEOPEOPEOPONG!

The group that had been rapidly charging toward Gun Mu-ak’s rear was repelled as if bouncing back.

At that moment, one Great General displayed fleet footwork and charged toward Meng Wang’s flank.

An old man in his eighties.

He was Mountain Road Sword Lecher Jam-ching-gong, an unorthodox swordsmanship master who had been a wanderer in the Jianghu of the previous era and was famous for rape and murder.

The one who had hidden and bided his time to escape authorities’ pursuit decades ago had reappeared after a long span of years.

The swift sword form of Jam-ching-gong precisely struck Meng Wang’s upper body.

The right side, between shoulder and chest.

Yet.

JJEOGEOEOEONG!

Along with a metallic sound, sparks flew and instead he stumbled backward.

It was the majesty of the Elephant Skin Great Iron Bone that Meng Wang had achieved.

‘Eighty percent of my power, yet…!’

In that flash of Jam-ching-gong’s aghast moment, Meng Wang’s hands moved fiercely.

In tandem, the Green Fang Poison Horn, the ultimate weapon of Southern Forest that symbolized the prestige of the sobriquet , Hegemon of Poison Paramount released dark-green smoke.

SYUSYUSYUSYUSYUSYUSYUT… !

A rapidly executed counterattack.

‘At!’

Jam-ching-gong, his heart dropping, suddenly grabbed a nearby subordinate and threw him.

To use as a shield, since dodging was already too late.

“Euaaaaaaaak!”

Thus, the subordinate who was thrown forward melted into a puddle by the Great Poison Heaven Divine Skill, the ultimate technique of South Embrace Poison Palace.

It was a gruesome death terrible to see with eyes open.

‘Chik, almost…!’

Having gnashed his teeth, Jam-ching-gong quickly spun his body around.

Nearby, a woman in her twenties caught his eye.

It was Meng Wang’s youngest daughter Meng Min.

Jam-ching-gong moved without thinking further.

But he couldn’t advance even ten steps.

Before anyone knew it, Meng Wang was blocking his path ahead.

It was movement like a flash of light, unfitting of his huge frame.

He had moved faster, having realized that his daughter was being targeted.

“How dare!”

Meng Wang’s angry roar.

Along with the resounding shout, his hands fiercely cut through the wind.

His arm muscles swelled to the point they seemed about to burst.

The startled Jam-ching-gong stood his sword straight up and.

JJEOEOEOEOEOEOOEONG!

A metallic sound representing fearsome monstrous strength exploded.

A transparent shockwave also spread to all sides.

Simultaneously.

“Eok!”

Jam-ching-gong, pushed back by that tremendous power, flew through the air and struck his back against something.

KWAKWANG!

The pitch-black barrier that Gun Mu-ak had created.

‘Abulssa!’

At the moment Jam-ching-gong’s heart sank again.

SYUSYUSYU, SYUSYUSYUSYU…

The demonic energy residing in the black barrier absorbed his life force.

“Kkeuha, kkeuhaaa…!”

Jam-ching-gong, stuck to the wall surface, was transformed into an old wooden mummy-like appearance in an instant and headed for the underworld.

Subsequently, Meng Wang demonstrated his martial power and mercilessly struck down six more Detached Three Army Corps personnel around him.

KWANG… PPEOBEOK… KWAJIJIK… UDEUK, UDEUDUK JJEOJEOJEOK… !

A formidable power that indiscriminately snapped, crushed, and tore apart necks, arms, and legs alike.

The surroundings had at some point become a sea of blood.

Having thus dealt with six in one stroke, Meng Wang’s head turned.

His gaze was toward Gun Mu-ak’s back.

Suddenly, the conversation they had exchanged yesterday flashed through his mind.

-From the beginning, I had no intention of ignoring Cheol Ryu-heun’s request. I just wanted to handle it my way. Of course, if I had my way, I would have liked to pierce his heart and kill him.

-Ahem, hem. Quite violent for a demon leader. But… that phrase about your way… Does that perhaps mean some kind of stratagem?

-I placed an arrangement inside that fellow’s body. So that even more interesting things will happen going forward. Before long, he will become a giant coffin. One that swallows his own allies….

-Did you use the power of the Demon God Sword?

At that time, Gun Mu-ak had answered with a wordless nod instead of an answer.

He finally grasped what it was.

‘So that’s what it was.’

The demonic black barrier blocking all sides in a giant circular formation.

Meng Wang soon asked using Sound Transmission Mind-to-Mind technique.

He had heard him give instructions to guard the surroundings earlier.

So he asked about the part he had surmised.

Meanwhile, he didn’t stop his hand techniques, killing several more.

Gun Mu-ak’s short response soon came flying in.

Meng Wang, having withdrawn his gaze and replied, gave a shout and sent a hand signal.

KUNG, KUNG, KUNG, KUNG… !

The Stone Cliff Supreme Elephant that had been on the other side approached nearby, bouncing off the enemies surrounding it.

Simultaneously.

PAK!

Meng Wang, having kicked off the ground and leaped up, landed on the Stone Cliff Supreme Elephant’s back and shouted.

“Now then, let’s trample and crush them all!”

“Ppuuuuuuuu!”

The Stone Cliff Supreme Elephant, having let out a roar, began its violent assault while circling the area broadly.

SYUSYUSYUSYUSYUSYUSYU… !

Compressed air shot out from its huge nostrils.

TUTUTUTUTUTUTUTU… !

Four or five enemies with their bodies torn off collapsed in a row on the ground.

Subsequently, the Stone Cliff Supreme Elephant trampled all of them into meat fragments.

In that midst.

PEOPEOK…

The sound of earth being gouged rang out.

It was the ground where Danmok Cheon was positioned.

He had staggered and then dropped heavily to both knees.

The reason was simple.

Gun Mu-ak’s massive formless energy.

That’s right.

It was the effect of a tremendous pressure approaching and pressing down on his entire body.

No.

To be precise, it was the effect of internal power that rose while breaking through its existing maximum.

No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t shake off the unprecedented demonic power that overwhelmed his own amplified internal power level.

Was this Gun Mu-ak’s true supremely powerful internal power?

“Kkeuk… Kkeukeuk…!”

Danmok Cheon groaned and convulsed.

The pain was increasing because the demonic fire released by the Demon God Sword was still connected.

His body was already a complete mess.

His skin had cracked all over and blood was streaming out.

Moreover, even the major energy channels inside his body had been violently shaken.

At this rate, his lower, middle, and upper dantians would eventually rupture one after another.

Danmok Cheon, amid such agony, had one question arise.

By what method had he raised his supremely powerful internal power another level?

Then one thought flashed through his mind.

Yesterday, Gun Mu-ak had said.

-I deal with ‘life.’ And I use it as power.

‘KKEUK… I see!’

He seemed to understand somewhat now.

After seeing such a remarkable sight.

Life.

Its meaning struck him anew as fearsome.

Danmok Cheon soon became certain.

That Gun Mu-ak absorbed people’s lives and converted them into his own power.

Suddenly, a voice quietly reached his ears.

“The Demon God Sword covets corrupted souls. Like yours….”

It was Gun Mu-ak’s voice.

Only then did Danmok Cheon clearly realize.

The unique ability hidden in the Demon God Sword.

The dark soul energy possessed by corrupted humans was precisely the prey.

It meant that very thing was being absorbed and added to Gun Mu-ak’s internal power levels.

Allowing him to even break through the limits of his existing power.

That is, one could call it a special authority enjoyed as master of the Demon God Sword.

Gun Mu-ak’s cold voice flowed in again.

“Do you think I idly carved this inscription?”

A short phrase came into Danmok Cheon’s eyes.

九天十地第一魔神 (Nine Heavens Ten Earths First Demon God).

It was the phrase inscribed on one side of the Demon God Sword’s double-edged blade.

Danmok Cheon unwittingly concurred.

That it was an inscription befitting his remarkable power.

At that time, Gun Mu-ak’s indifferent voice came to him again.

“Your death will be the very last. Until then, become material for maintaining the spatial seal.”

No sooner had those words ended than Danmok Cheon’s entire body stiffened from the demonic power that had infiltrated his upper dantian.

Now he couldn’t even utter a small word.

Even rolling his eyeballs was impossible.

All he could do was merely breathe in and breathe out….

He was no different from a living corpse, as it were.

Suddenly, the words Gun Mu-ak had said earlier came to mind.

-This seat’s supremely powerful internal power also rises by several levels. And that power is something the likes of you cannot match.

That now struck his heart heavily.

‘Yes… I… couldn’t… match… it… KKEUHEUEUK…’

Meanwhile, Gun Mu-ak was also thinking for a moment.

About the conversation he had exchanged with Cheol Ryu-heun.

-Heavenly Demon Black Soul Coffin… Did you create it?

-I did.

-Tomorrow’s fight is one we’ll win anyway, so maintain that power until the end.

-Does that mean I should perform moderately and then withdraw?

-Yes, because you can perform at the main base.

-Hmm, so there’s an actual purpose.

-Perceptive as always. As you know, the dead become prey for the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan and Heretic Cult. Those bastards, they’ll extinguish the sun and summon night. By absorbing all the soul energy drifting in the mountains.

-I understand what you mean. You want to test whether the Heavenly Demon Black Soul Coffin of a similar nature can also absorb it?

-Exactly.

-Hearing that makes me quite curious too. Very well, I’ll gladly follow your words.

-You do your thing, and I do mine.

‘The thing he must do…’

At that moment, an explosive sound rang out from yonder.

KWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG… !

It was from the spot where Cheol Ryu-heun was.

Additionally.

HWAAAAAAK… !

A large green flame swallowed Cheol Ryu-heun.

Yet at that moment.

SHWISHWISHWISHWISHWI, SHWISHWISHWISHWISHWI… !

The violently exploding green flame gathered into a single point in an instant.

Then it was drawn into a small, reddish object.

SEUREUK, SEUREUREUK…

That was precisely the bead clutched in Cheol Ryu-heun’s left hand.

It had started.

The thing he must do.