Chapter 437: Chapter 437
Swish!
Jeong Cheon-ak drew his beloved blade Heaven Sky Saber. Instantly, the temperature in the area plummeted.
Everything stopped in that moment.
The battle between the suicide squad and the Ten Soldiers, the wind, even time itself seemed to freeze. In this frozen world, Jeong Cheon-ak’s cold voice echoed.
“Everyone, retreat.”
Instantly, the Demon Cult martial artists fighting the suicide squad withdrew in unison as if by agreement. The Ten Soldiers were included among them.
They felt Jeong Cheon-ak’s rage. And they knew what happened when he was enraged.
Forgetting pride, they hurriedly retreated behind Jeong Cheon-ak. Then Jeong Cheon-ak’s Heaven Sky Saber cut through the void.
There was no sound or form. Yet the air before them was splitting. The suicide squad martial artists instinctively raised their weapons to block their front.
In that moment, formless energy collided with their weapons.
Crack!
“Kuuk!”
“Agh!”
Cheong-un’s sword snapped in two. Hae So-wol’s sword also shattered completely. The same was true for the others’ weapons.
The suicide squad coughed blood and collapsed. Twenty martial artists were incapacitated in an instant. Truly a terrifying strike.
Despair appeared on the suicide squad martial artists’ faces. Though they watched Jeong Cheon-ak swing Heaven Sky Saber once more, they could take no action.
Their internal organs were already shaken, their power scattered. They had no strength left to block Jeong Cheon-ak’s next attack.
‘Is this the end?’
‘Ah!’
They closed their eyes anticipating their end.
Hae So-wol too, Cheong-un too……
Only Cho Yeon-woon glared at Jeong Cheon-ak with wide eyes.
‘Move. Please!’
He forcibly exerted strength into his unmoving limbs.
Even if he died, he couldn’t die like this.
While the suicide squad martial artists had risked their lives on the blade, Eun So-cheong was different. She was someone he absolutely had to protect. If anything happened to her, he would have no face to show Bang Jin-bo even in death.
“Hyaaah!”
Squeezing out every last drop of strength, he rushed at Jeong Cheon-ak. But his movement appeared futile as a moth rushing into flames.
Jeong Cheon-ak’s blade sliced through the void once more and Cho Yeon-woon’s eyes widened.
‘I’m dying.’
He saw his death.
He imagined his miserable form collapsed on the ground with his waist severed.
Crash!
In that moment, tremendous pressure struck him.
Cho Yeon-woon flew over twenty zhang backward and tumbled on the ground. His entire body was stained with blood, and a large wound had formed on his chest.
“Kuuk!”
He spat blood.
His eyes wouldn’t open. When he forced them open, the world appeared entirely hazy. But he still hadn’t died.
‘Why?’
Questions came before pain.
Jeong Cheon-ak’s strike just now wasn’t at a level he could handle. Even with an intact body, he couldn’t be confident of easily handling such an attack. Yet though his body was broken, he was still breathing.
An impossible result. So being alive felt like a lie. But when he barely raised his head to look forward, Cho Yeon-woon understood why he was alive.
Someone… someone large was blocking his front.
‘Who?’
Looking at the vast back that appeared reliable as a massive barrier, Cho Yeon-woon struggled to hold onto his fading consciousness.
In that moment, a heavy voice flowed from the man blocking Cho Yeon-woon’s front.
“Not too late.”
A voice as heavy as the massive back echoed through the battlefield.
The killing intent in Jeong Cheon-ak’s eyes deepened.
He glared at the man who dared block his strike. A sunken voice flowed from his lips.
“Yul… cheon.”
“It’s been a while, Cheon-ak.”
“Geom Yul-cheon, why are you here?”
The man receiving Jeong Cheon-ak’s killing intent with his whole body was precisely Geom Yul-cheon. He boasted an overwhelming presence like an iron tower. With cool yet heavy eyes and solid presence, he dominated the area.
At his appearance, Jeong Cheon-ak’s killing intent amplified further.
At the critical moment, Geom Yul-cheon had intervened and negated Jeong Cheon-ak’s attack.
“Why have you appeared here?”
“Because they must not die yet.”
Geom Yul-cheon’s gaze turned toward the suicide squad martial artists collapsed on the ground. They were writhing in utterly miserable condition.
“They are enemies of our Cult. Yet you would interfere? Yul-cheon, do you truly intend to oppose the Cult?”
Jeong Cheon-ak’s lion’s roar rang resonantly through the area.
“Kuuk!”
“Huk!”
The already gravely wounded suicide squad martial artists covered their ears in agony.
In that moment, Geom Yul-cheon raised his foot and stomped hard on the ground. It was a Ground Echo.
Boom!
The powerful sound generated by the Ground Echo shattered Jeong Cheon-ak’s lion’s roar.
Jeong Cheon-ak’s expression hardened like stone. From this single move, he could gauge Geom Yul-cheon’s martial level.
“You’ve grown stronger. Did you obtain some fortuitous encounter?”
“If that counts as a fortuitous encounter, then I suppose it is.”
“You?”
Jeong Cheon-ak’s thick eyebrows twitched.
Geom Yul-cheon’s appearance wasn’t much different from when he’d last seen him. But the atmosphere, gaze, and energy were greatly different.
He could feel growth as a martial artist by another level.
Geom Yul-cheon had already reached a realm with nowhere left to step. For a martial artist who had reached such a realm to grow another level wasn’t easy. Yet looking at Geom Yul-cheon’s eyes and energy now, it was clear he had grown.
“Yul-cheon!”
The Ten Soldiers including Seomun Ha-gyeong gathered one by one around Jeong Cheon-ak. Complex emotions that were hard to express filled their eyes looking at Geom Yul-cheon.
Someone they once considered an idol, then an object of jealousy, and ultimately concluded with hatred.
That was Geom Yul-cheon.
“So you’ve finally crossed the river of no return? Yul-cheon.”
“I crossed the river long ago. But the bridge hasn’t been cut yet, Cheon-ak.”
“Your tongue has grown long. Since when has the Geom Yul-cheon of the world spouted such sophistry?”
“Cheon-ak, don’t you understand yet? The Divine Cult is not normal right now.”
“That’s enough. I can’t listen to your nonsense anymore. How long will you continue deceiving me and your comrades? Have you no shame?”
Jeong Cheon-ak emitted killing intent. The other Ten Soldiers joined him.
Geom Yul-cheon closed his eyes tightly.
He hadn’t thought he could persuade them with a few words. But he hadn’t known they’d be this obstinate.
Jeong Cheon-ak took steps toward Geom Yul-cheon.
“No words can deceive us. From the moment you left the Divine Cult, we became strangers. And we don’t have time to listen to a traitor’s sophistry. The only thing to give a traitor is death.”
The Ten Soldiers joined his momentum.
Though Im Dok-o had been killed by Cho Yeon-woon, their momentum wasn’t weakened at all. Rather, venomousness added and amplified it even more lethally.
“No matter what fortuitous encounter you’ve obtained, you cannot face all of us alone.”
Jeong Cheon-ak’s words were true.
Each of the Ten Soldiers had already reached a level that could be considered absolute masters. Facing all such individuals was burdensome even for Geom Yul-cheon. But he showed no concern at all.
“Who said I’m alone?”
“What?”
In that moment, three martial artists descended behind Geom Yul-cheon.
A woman dazzlingly beautiful as an immortal, a man carrying a peacock-tail-shaped sword sheath on his back, and a boy whose youthful spirit hadn’t yet faded.
Jeong Cheon-ak’s pupils wavered.
“Yu-kyung, Mu-wol, Myeong-cheon.”
They were precisely Eum Yu-kyung, Shin Mu-wol, and Myeong-cheon. They had appeared following Geom Yul-cheon.
“It’s been a while.”
“The traitors have gathered together. Rather fitting. I can clean them up all at once.”
Jeong Cheon-ak glared at Eum Yu-kyung with terrifying eyes. At this, Eum Yu-kyung sighed softly.
Between them existed a gap that could never be closed. The rift was far too great to narrow with just a few words.
Geom Yul-cheon and Jeong Cheon-ak. And the martial artists following them faced each other. There was no space for Cho Yeon-woon and the suicide squad martial artists to intervene between them.
“Damn it!”
Cho Yeon-woon struggled to rise while looking at them. But having been too gravely wounded, his body wouldn’t move as he wished.
In that moment, Eum Yu-kyung looked back at Cho Yeon-woon.
“Great Hero Cho, you’ve suffered. From now on, we’ll handle this. Great Hero Cho should recover them and return to the Martial Alliance.”
“I cannot do that.”
“Great Hero Cho and the suicide squad have fulfilled your roles sufficiently. From now on, this is an internal matter of the Divine Cult.”
Firm will was contained in Eum Yu-kyung’s gentle voice. Will strong enough that Cho Yeon-woon accepted upon hearing it.
“Hoo!”
Cho Yeon-woon exhaled a deep sigh. Eum Yu-kyung took it as acceptance.
Eun So-cheong and the surviving suicide squad martial artists gathered by Cho Yeon-woon’s side. Three had died, leaving only seventeen. The small consolation was that core martial artists like Hae So-wol, Cheong-un, and So-cheong had survived.
“Let’s escape from here while they fight.”
“That’s right. We must use this opportunity.”
Martial artists covered in blood and sweat grabbed Cho Yeon-woon’s hand. But Cho Yeon-woon firmly shook his head.
“No, I will remain here and watch their battle.”
“What do you mean?”
“They are the Demon Cult’s future. Whoever wins will lead the Demon Cult forward. This is a golden opportunity to witness their strength and martial arts.”
Though bloodshot from grave wounds, Cho Yeon-woon’s eyes shone brighter than ever.
His gaze was fixed on Geom Yul-cheon and Jeong Cheon-ak.
Martial artists of his own generation.
Whichever side won, he would have to live in the same era as the victor. That meant they were fated to keep clashing for decades or more.
Cho Yeon-woon was looking ahead not just to now but decades into the future. Seeing such Cho Yeon-woon, the suicide squad martial artists also felt something surge from deep within.
The leadership and decisiveness Cho Yeon-woon had displayed during the escape from the Demon Cult’s main base was truly remarkable. Without him, not even this many would have survived.
Suddenly So-cheon sat down.
“Amitabha! I’ll remain here too. A life that would have died without him. I’ll follow to the end.”
“I’ll stay too.”
“Hoo! I can’t go alone. I’ll also remain and watch their battle.”
Following So-cheon, Hae So-wol and Cheong-un sat down.
When three of the Nine Martial Dragons said they’d follow Cho Yeon-woon, the other suicide squad martial artists remained without hesitation.
The reason they didn’t leave was one.
Because of Cho Yeon-woon.
In the suicide squad’s hearts, he was already a hero.
Another hero created by chaotic times.
Hae So-wol looked at Cho Yeon-woon’s back with profound eyes.
‘We might be looking at the future Martial Alliance Leader.’
She thought her premonition might someday become reality.
Then it happened.
“Kill those bastards!”
Jeong Cheon-ak’s cry echoed through the battlefield.
At his cry as signal, they clashed.
Kwaaaaang!
A roar rang through the battlefield.
Geom Yul-cheon and Jeong Cheon-ak collided, and Eum Yu-kyung faced Nam Jeong-ok.
When Myeong-cheon raised his hand, numerous martial artists appeared behind him. Martial artists Myeong-cheon had secretly trained. They faced the Ten Soldiers’ subordinates.
Each fought opponents matching their caliber.
Blood splattered and flesh split.
Venomousness and evil dominated the battlefield, and within it, martial artists abandoned being human.
A hellscape unbearable to witness unfolded before their eyes.
The suicide squad martial artists recorded that scene without blinking.
This place was now a battlefield where those who would lead the martial world’s future fought in their own ways.
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