Chapter 495: Prey

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“Guh… Gugh…”

In the eyes of the Tenth Great General, who groaned and trembled convulsively, emotions of anger and regret arose.

Those wavelike, flickering eyes spoke.

To think he’d been done in by Eul Sa-jeok of all people…

Because he had let his guard down, thinking of him as an ally, he had been caught completely defenseless.

If not for that, no matter how much it was a surprise attack from close range, he wouldn’t have easily allowed mere pressure-point striking through energy manipulation.

But what could he do about it now?

The time had already passed.

The Tenth Great General’s body, rapidly withering and rotting, collapsed limply onto the ground!

And then there was no more movement.

A futile death for a Great General-rank… Supposedly the highest echelon leadership of the Central Heaven Tower.

He had closed his eyes after having even his last bit of life force drained by the unforeseen variable, Eul Sa-jeok.

No.

He had departed for the underworld with his eyes bulging wide as if in bitter resentment.

Just then, the Ninth Great General, who was somewhat ahead and not far away, sensed something was wrong during his charge and turned his head back.

‘Huh?’

Only then did the dead Tenth Great General fill his vision.

His entire body had become like a mummy.

Didn’t that signify the characteristic phenomenon exhibited by the Star-Absorbing Great Art?

He saw Eul Sa-jeok standing beside him.

Licking his lips.

As if he had eaten very well.

At that moment, the Ninth Great General’s face flared up like lava.

Rage that soared to the heavens.

He was now certain.

That Eul Sa-jeok had betrayed the Central Heaven Tower.

“How dare you!”

The Ninth Great General, having barked with fierce eyes, reversed his course.

Meanwhile.

Pa Ga-wi and the remaining commanders were still charging toward the front as they were.

Pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa…

Because the target that needed to be eliminated more urgently than Eul Sa-jeok was naturally Cheol Ryu-heun.

Still, Pa Ga-wi sent one more person just in case.

With his lip-to-lip Sound Transmission, the Nineteenth Great General, the lowest ranked, quickly dropped back to support the Ninth Great General.

Thus, battles broke out on both sides here.

The Eleventh and Twelfth Great Generals charged toward Cheol Ryu-heun’s left and right, thrusting their swords.

Swish swit, swish swish swit… !

In the meantime, the Seventh Great General who had gone behind delivered a fierce sword strike.

Shukaaak!

A longitudinal sword attack loaded with heavy internal power.

Clang, cla-clang!

When the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye Sword collided with the swords that had charged from left and right, transparent waves of energy spread widely.

Kwaoooooong…!

That’s how tremendous the internal energy loaded on each blade was.

Almost simultaneously.

Puheoong!

An explosive sound also rang out from behind Cheol Ryu-heun as crimson haze spread like a giant ripple.

The Seventh Great General’s sword strike, thrust with great momentum, had been blocked in one blow.

By a supreme demonic art with protective subtlety.

Before anyone knew it, a nine-chi-tall blood-colored energy barrier shaped like a pair of folding screens had been deployed behind Cheol Ryu-heun.

On its surface, the full-body outline of a terrifying demon was revealed.

Simply looking at it gave one a creepy feeling…

It was the Blood Demon Dominion Curtain… A martial technique of protective nature rivaling the Heavenly Demon Steel Soul Barrier, within the Blood Stream Divine Demon Art symbolizing Blood God Mu-wol.

Moreover, that barrier didn’t just serve a defensive role.

It possessed the power to quietly infiltrate the opponent’s body like smoke and heat up and tangle their major energy channels.

That’s right.

It possessed both subtleties… Defense and counterattack.

Like the Heavenly Demon Steel Soul Barrier, which, in addition to the power that protected the body, released a powerful reflective and elastic force enough to cause external and internal injuries to the opponent.

Of course, it was a technique that could only be executed once one’s enlightenment in the ascending operation of the Blood Stream Divine Demon Art reached the maximum level.

“Urk!”

The Seventh Great General, having let out a groan, hastily retreated with a pale expression.

A thin stream of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

It was the effect of the Blood Demon Dominion Curtain’s energy invading his body.

Still, he barely managed to prevent it from worsening by quickly pulling back.

Meanwhile, the Eleventh and Twelfth Great Generals who had been on Cheol Ryu-heun’s left and right also quickly retreated with pained expressions.

It seemed they had each suffered internal injuries from the sword force collision.

That brought them renewed fear.

It couldn’t be helped.

Despite it being enormous internal power obtained by sacrificing the middle-rank personnel, Cheol Ryu-heun had withstood that combined attack alone.

Immediately, the offensive of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Great Generals followed.

It was a fierce combined assault charging from three directions in a triangle formation.

None of them executed feinting moves to find an opening.

All three were in thrusting stances.

They simply clashed with honest power while extending their swords.

They all knew well.

That any tricks or confusion tactics would not work at all, and that only a continuous combined attack employing maximum power was the sole method.

Cheol Ryu-heun was such an opponent.

In other words, they judged him to be at least on par with Black Tortoise Divine General Wang-ryu.

Believing that if they didn’t fight with that mindset, they would ultimately find it difficult to survive.

Before the fierce combined attack closing in from three directions, Cheol Ryu-heun rapidly spun in place and swept the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye Sword in both hands horizontally.

Shwa shwa shwa shwa shwa… Shwa shwa shwa shwa shwa… !

The Gan Jiang releasing black sword energy, the Mo Ye Sword releasing red sword energy.

It was a sight like countless long, large fan ribs extending in all directions.

Thunk thunk thunk, thunk thunk thunk, thunk thunk thunk… Boom boom boom, boom boom boom, boom boom boom… !

With a series of noisy sounds, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Great Generals were flung violently backward and soon crashed onto the ground!

Not to be outdone, the Second and Third Great Generals operated maximum power as they attacked Cheol Ryu-heun’s left and right.

As befitting the top three powerhouses within the Central Heaven Tower, the sword momentum extending toward their target was in a different class from the other commanders.

Crackling, cra-crackling!

The metallic sound produced by Cheol Ryu-heun’s sword strikes extended out to the left and right.

They held.

The Second and Third Great Generals.

Though a huge energy wave spread the moment their blades clashed fiercely, neither was pushed back.

Thanks to having attained internal power levels surpassing the Special Detached Three Armies’ leadership through the Star-Absorbing Great Art.

In truth, just that alone was a tremendous achievement.

Creak, cree-creak…

When a friction sound arose from the swords competing in strength.

Clunk, clunk… !

The Second and Third Great Generals immediately operated the Star-Absorbing Great Art without even breathing, and each blade pressed even closer together.

Suddenly.

“Cut!”

Having let out a resounding shout, Pa Ga-wi closed in from the front and thrust his sword straight out.

Kwaoong… !

A dull explosive sound.

It was the sound of the formless energy barrier that Cheol Ryu-heun had released to the front colliding with Pa Ga-wi’s mighty sword force.

Drrr drrr, drrr drrr…

The atmosphere and ground trembled.

Pa Ga-wi strained with veins bulging as he tried to break through the energy barrier while extending his sword tip.

“Chahaaaat!”

In coordination, the Second and Third Great Generals also accelerated their Star-Absorbing Great Art operation, continuously sucking Cheol Ryu-heun’s vast energy into their bodies.

Was it taking effect?

About one-third of the sword Pa Ga-wi had thrust penetrated the formless energy barrier generated in front.

“Everyone, what are you doing! Attack together!”

The moment Pa Ga-wi shouted loudly, the remaining Great Generals around them hastily gathered themselves and charged toward Cheol Ryu-heun like a storm.

Pababababababat… Hwirirririrrit… !

Following the wind sound of slicing through air.

Kwakwakwakwang… Popopopopong… Kukukukung… !

Successive roaring sounds echoed through heaven and earth, and an enormous dust cloud arose and swallowed up the space of that fierce battle.

Inside, where nothing could be seen, noisy sounds continued without pause.

Kwakwang… Kwang… Kwakwang…!

Meanwhile, Eul Sa-jeok, outside the radius of the dust cloud, had gained the upper hand against the Ninth and Nineteenth Great Generals who were attacking him.

Kahang… Puheoong!

“Uurk!”

When the Ninth Great General, who had exchanged blows with Eul Sa-jeok, furrowed his brow and retreated, the Nineteenth Great General, who had likewise stopped his techniques, approached his side.

“Are you alright?”

“No, I’m not alright. That bastard… We must acknowledge he’s a threatening existence.”

At the Ninth Great General’s words, the Nineteenth Great General’s eyes darkened.

“Could it be that the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Great Generals too…?”

“That’s right. Nine out of ten, they fell to that bastard. It must be that the power snatched from those two, plus the Tenth Great General’s internal power, has been added. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for him to have the upper hand against the two of us.”

Just then, Eul Sa-jeok, who had caught his breath while maintaining a distance of one Zhang, showed a revolting smile.

“Hoho… So you’ve finally got a proper grasp of the situation?”

At that, the Ninth Great General once again blazed with anger and revealed killing intent.

“A bastard who was rotting away in prison, daring to not know gratitude for this Society’s grace…!”

The Nineteenth Great General too, swept by rage, gnashed his teeth!

Eul Sa-jeok looked at the two of them and mocked even more coldly.

“Stupid fools. Did I ever ask to be let out? It was something you brought upon yourselves from the start. Kukuk.”

“Shut up! Let’s see this through! Having resolved to die together with you, from now on will be quite different!”

Having burst out an angry shout, the Nineteenth Great General charged fiercely while releasing maximum power.

Pa pa pa pa pa pa… !

A powerful charge where every time he quickly moved his legs, the ground shook and cracked.

Having instantly compressed the gap, he thrust his sword at Eul Sa-jeok’s front.

Ssaeng!

But Eul Sa-jeok’s evasive movement was faster.

Nimble movement dodging by sharply bending his upper body backward and withdrawing three or four paces.

Not to be outdone, the Nineteenth Great General followed up and continuously executed killing techniques loaded with majestic internal power.

Clang, cla-clang, clang!

Perhaps because the Nineteenth Great General’s swordwork, swung with the resolve to perish together, was considerably fierce, Eul Sa-jeok focused on defense.

To that, another sharp curve was added.

The Ninth Great General’s support.

Once again, the combined attack of those two unfolded in a chain like gears meshing together.

Swish swit, swit, swish swish swit, swish swit, swit… !

The sound of quickly and sharply cutting through air rang out without pause.

But no other sound was heard.

Because Eul Sa-jeok had narrowly evaded all that offense with wind-like movement.

At that, the two commanders grew even more agitated and displayed fiercer swordwork.

However.

Bang!

At the same moment a tremendous explosion occurred, the Nineteenth Great General screamed.

“Guhaaak!”

He had been critically wounded by sword energy suddenly shot at close range like lightning and was flung flying far backward.

The Ninth Great General was aghast.

‘Urk!’

He felt the gap in martial arts that was difficult to close even with the resolve to perish together.

Ssaesseng… Puk… !

Eul Sa-jeok’s blade, flying in fiercely, carved a deep cut into the Ninth Great General’s left flank.

“Uuk!”

His form wavered from the excruciating pain.

At that moment.

Grab!

Eul Sa-jeok extended his left hand and gripped the Ninth Commander’s neck.

Following that.

Stab, stab, stab… !

He stabbed the Ninth Great General’s torso several times with his sword tip to secure a decisive advantage, then grinned.

“Hoho. Did you think I was being gradually pushed? I deliberately showed a little glimmer of hope. So you’d taste even greater despair.”

“You… Bastard…”

That was the Ninth Great General’s last words in life.

Why?

Because he had all his energy drained by Eul Sa-jeok and died, transformed into a mummy.

Now it was the Nineteenth Great General’s turn.

“Kuk, there’s prey everywhere.”

Having muttered mockingly, Eul Sa-jeok drew him over with object manipulation from where he was sprawled on the ground, and rapidly drained his energy with the gu poison’s subtlety.

Immediately after, he carelessly tossed the corpse aside and quietly caught his breath.

“Huff…”

At that moment, one figure burst out of the dust cloud in the distance and collapsed near where Eul Sa-jeok stood.

Battered all over, it was the Seventh Great General of the Central Heaven Tower.

With holes in his chest and lower abdomen respectively, he looked like he was barely clinging to life.

Eul Sa-jeok quietly turned his head to look at him, then licked his lips and flashed his eyes.

“Ha, heaven seems to be on my side.”

But at that moment, the Spiritual Awakening Stone he had stored in his bosom produced a fierce trembling.