Light Novel: Volume 24 Episode 20
Manhwa: N/A
Pyo-wol’s expression didn’t change at all despite Go Il-won’s words.
For an assassin, to be called cowardly was the highest form of praise.
The same was true for Pyo-wol as well.
It was the nature of an assassin to approach his target and kill him by using any means necessary.
If sacrificing another assassin’s life could allow Pyo-wol to plunge two daggers into Go Il-won’s back, albeit unintentionally, then it was a trade well worth it.
For now, Go Il-won had tightened his muscles to stop the bleeding, but it was merely a temporary fix.
Humans are beings who, even with the smallest thorn embedded beneath a fingernail, can’t exert their full strength. Let alone with two daggers, each the size of a child’s palm, embedded in his back.
Suffering under such wounds, it would be impossible for Go Il-won to exert his full strength.
Though it might not seem to have any effect right now, it would undoubtedly eat away and weaken Go Il-won over time.
For Pyo-wol, that was more than enough.
Go Il-won brushed back his disheveled hair with his hand.
As the hair fell away, his eyes were revealed, burning fiercely.
The fact that he’d lost in a battle of patience and even sustained an injury infuriated him.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been wounded like this.
“You’re forcing me to give it my all. Good! This is how it should be.”
Go Il-won stretched out his massive fist, as large as a cauldron lid. As he did, a fiery aura began to emanate from his entire body.
Pyo-wol focused on channeling his Black Lightning, his gaze locked onto Go Il-won.
At this point, conducting a surprise attack was meaningless.
It wouldn’t work, and with his position exposed, there was no chance for another attempt.
All that remained was a head-on confrontation.
As lightning energy coursed through his entire nervous system, Pyo-wol felt a tingling sensation.
Simultaneously, his field of vision narrowed.
Everything else faded away, and he could only see Go Il-won.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when his concentration reached its peak.
It was the same for Go Il-won.
He too was elevating his focus to the extreme just like Pyo-wol.
Kukuku!
The air around them quivered as they stood in a tense standoff.
“Hoo!”
Pat!
Go Il-won took a deep breath and suddenly launched himself off the ground.
Charging forward with his massive frame, he resembled a raging bison.
Shortening the distance in an instant, Go Il-won swung his fist brimming with condensed energy.
Swoosh!
Pyo-wol dodged Go Il-won’s fist by the narrowest of margins.
Synchronization.
This was a secret technique unique to the Starving Demon Secret Arts thast involved precisely synchronizing your breathing and vital responses with your opponent.
By reading the opponent’s breathing and the subtle movements of their muscles, Pyo-wol could react in real time. This skill was impossible to execute without the support of Black Lightning.
Shhhh!
As Go Il-won advanced, Pyo-wol retreated.
Considering the amount of energy imbued in Go Il-won’s attacks, even a mere graze would result in severe injuries.
No matter how confident one was in their martial prowess or how steely their nerves, avoiding it with caution was the right approach.
Yet, Pyo-wol dodged Go Il-won’s attacks by the slimmest of margins.
Pyo-wol’s movements seemed almost ghostly.
Go Il-won’s eyebrows twitched.
He was infuriated with how Pyo-wol was provocating him.
“You dare to toy with me like this?”
Boom!
Suddenly, Go Il-won spread his palm wide toward Pyo-wol.
At that moment, a tremendous suction force pulled Pyo-wol towards him.
As Go Il-won clenched his fist, the pulling force grew even stronger.
Jureureuk!
Pyo-wol was dragged toward Go Il-won as if tethered by an invisible rope.
Deep furrows formed in the ground where he was stepping.
Even executing the Thousand Weight Technique was useless.1
To pull in an absolute master of Pyo-wol’s caliber using telekinesis required an unimaginable amount of energy.
Go Il-won possessed qi that seemed nearly infinite.
That’s why even if he used the art of telekinesis to pull Pyo-wol, he didn’t have as much of a change in his expression.
Pyo-wol released the Thousand Weight Technique.
He knew there was no point in trying to resist.
Instead, he spread his hands wide, entrusting his body to the suction force.
Ssshaaak!
Ten strands of Soul-Reaping Thread shot out toward Go Il-won.
The ten strands flew with different trajectories.
They were so thin that even in normal conditions, it would be hard to discern them with the naked eye, and the darkness made it even harder.
An ordinary martial artist would never be able to detect the Soul-Reaping Thread, but Go Il-won was different.
In the darkness, his eyes blazed with a fierce intensity.
He had activated the Asura Eyes.
His eyes accurately followed the Soul-Reaping thread, and his body reacted instantly.
Thunk!
In an instant, a protective qi barrier formed around Go Il-won’s body.
The Soul-Reaping Thread couldn’t penetrate the barrier and was repelled.
Seizing the opportunity, Go Il-won launched an attack on Pyo-wol.
Kwaaah!
An enormous force grazed past Pyo-wol’s temple.
Pyo-wol, who had narrowly avoided Go Il-won’s attack, drew out the Snake Qi Thread.
Ka-ka-ka-kang!
Go Il-won’s fist qi collided with Pyo-wol’s Snake Qi Thread.
Both their visible manifestation of qi were powerful.
One of the highest realms that a martial artist could reach was the external manifestation of qi.
It required an immense accumulation of internal energy, and one needed to be freely capable of controlling one’s energy flow to reach this level.
Although experts who had reached the absolute pinnacle could naturally use qi and channel it externally to a weapon or on its own, it wasn’t something they could unleash without any restrictions.
This was because the internal energy consumption was tremendous. Therefore, they would only use it when absolutely necessary or in a life-and-death situation.
Yet, the two men were casually drawing out and using their qi as if it were nothing.
When Pyo-wol realized that his Snake Qi Thread was not working, he infused it with Black Lightning.
Charged with lightning energy, his weapon then became Black Lightning–Snake Qi Thread.
Bzzt!
Every time Pyo-wol swung the Black Lightning–Snake Qi Thread, the night sky became brightly colored with electricity.
It was as if a thunder god was wielding a whip.
Go Il-won realized then realized that it would not be easy to deal with Pyo-wol barehanded.
He stretched out his hand and performed the art of telekinesis.
Then, an iron spear lying nearby flew into his hand.
It was a weapon belonging to an unknown martial artist.
Its original owner had long since perished, becoming a wandering soul, but in Go Il-won’s hand, the weapon gained a new life.
Kuoo!
The spear vibrated before emanating a powerful spear energy.
The weapon, which was already about three meters in length, became even longer by another nine meters when it was enhanced by spear qi.
“Cha-hat!”
With a battle cry, Go Il-won swung the spear covered with qi.
Kukukuku!
A rain of spear energy poured down on Pyo-wol.
Pyo-wol didn’t retreat an inch and unleashed Black Lightning–Snake Qi Thread.
Boom! Bang!
The spear qi and Black Lightning–Snake Qi Thread clashed in the air, causing countless explosions.
Countless streaks of light burst out, as if stars were exploding.
Yet, neither of them blinked or faltered, continuing their relentless assault against each other.
Riiip!
Pyo-wol’s blood-red robe was torn apart.
It was the same blood-red robe that Tang Sochu had painstakingly crafted for him.
The robe was made by blending the Heavenly Silkworm Thread with a special silver thread. It could not only repel water and resist fire but was also impenetrable to most weapons.
However, even such a precious artifact could not withstand the power of Go Il-won’s spear energy.
No, it was because it was such a high-quality artifact that it managed to protect Pyo-wol to this extent.
Swish!
The stone wall struck by qi was sliced apart as if it were tofu.
The entire area was being thoroughly devastated by the clash between the two men.
The pavilions and houses that barely maintained their forms were collapsing, sending up clouds of dust like mist.
Sparks from the exploding bombs spread to the trees, causing a massive fire.
The fight between the two, who had surpassed human limitations, was clearly visible even to those watching from far away.
The Tae Musang brothers, who were moving with Soma, witnessed the scene as well.
“Insane!”
“How… how is that even possible?”
The Tae Musang brothers were so shocked and amazed that they couldn’t even think of closing their gaping mouths.
It was as if a battle was raging between the Thunder God and a Demon God.
Every time they swung their hands, flashes of light would explode, and with each explosion, the area was thoroughly destroyed.
It was martial prowess beyond common sense.
Tae Musang and Geomyeon were so overwhelmed that they couldn’t even think about moving.
“Snap out of it! Is this the time to be in awe?”
It was Soma’s shout that brought them back to their senses.
Soma was also astonished by the martial prowess of both men.
While he was well aware of Pyo-wol’s abilities, Go Il-won’s martial prowess was also out of this world.
The two of them were displaying a level of martial art skill that it wouldn’t be strange no matter who emerged as the victor.
It was a battle that was impossible to look away from. But Soma forced himself to turn his gaze away.
He believed in Pyo-wol.
Right now, he had to trust him to find and focus on finding and removing the bombs.
The martial artists of the Phantom Fleet were still hiding bombs all over Haimen.
Many had already been found and removed, but quite a few remained undiscovered.
There had already been significant damage, but to prevent further devastation, they had to be found.
The only bit of luck was that assassins had joined them.
Even now, the assassins were scattered throughout Haimen, assassinating the martial artists of the Phantom Fleet.
They couldn’t afford to waste the time the assassins had bought for them.
“Let’s move quickly.”
“Okay!”
“Sorry!”
Tae Musang and Geomyeon apologized and followed Soma’s lead.
“Stop!”
At that moment, a group of martial artists stood in front of the three, blocking their path.
They were the martial artists of the Phantom Fleet.
They had realized that the three were trying to find and remove the bombs and had stepped in to stop them.
It was when Soma and the Tae Musang brothers were about to respond—
Swish!
Someone had moved before them.
Suddenly, black shadows appeared from the left and right of the Phantom Fleet martial artists and launched a surprise attack.
Slash!
“Ugh!”
“Geuk!”
In an instant, several martial artists lost their lives to the black shadows.
The survivors cried out in alarm.
“What’s going on?”
“Assassins!”
The ones who had ambushed the Phantom Fleet martial artists were none other than the assassins who followed Pyo-wol.
They had stepped forward to clear the obstacles blocking Soma’s path.
Although the assassins were fighting the Phantom Fleet, they didn’t utter a single word to Soma. Yet, their intentions were clearly conveyed to Soma and the Tae Musang brothers.
Piiik! Peep!
The sound of a whistle echoed through the streets.
It was a signal used by the Phantom Fleet martial artists.
They let out a whistle to alert their comrades to the presence of assassins.
As the fight between the Phantom Fleet and the assassins began in earnest, Haimen turned into a scene of hell.
The streets became littered with corpses, and the screams of the people never stopped.
Even with efforts to minimize the damage, it was this severe.
If everything had gone according to Go Il-won’s plan, Haimen would have become an uninhabitable wasteland by now.
Go Il-won’s face twisted in frustration.
Even as he fought Pyo-wol, he realized that the situation around him wasn’t going as he intended.
Screams were echoing from all directions.
While there were some screams belonging to other people and assassins, most of them came from his subordinates.
The martial artists of the Phantom Fleet were being overwhelmed and pushed back by the assassins.
‘I underestimated him.’
Go Il-won honestly admitted his mistake.
He had assumed that while Pyo-wol’s martial prowess was exceptional, those who followed him would be of little consequence.
At this rate, the Phantom Fleet would suffer devastating losses.
Go Il-won gritted his teeth.
The best way to turn the situation around was to kill Pyo-wol, the leader of the assassins.
Rumble!
Go Il-won gathered all the remaining internal energy he had left. Not only his spear but his entire body became engulfed in a swarm of light.
Heaven’s Qi Devouring Flame.2
His ultimate technique that draw in the surrounding energy to incinerate everything.
“Pyo-wol!”
Go Il-won shouted Pyo-wol’s name as he charged forward.
Leaving a long tail of light, he became reminiscent of a shooting star.
“Haa!”
Pyo-wol took a deep breath.
Crackle!
Dozens of strands of Black Lightning–Snake Qi Threads wrapped around his body.
And with that, Pyo-wol transformed himself into a bolt of black lightning before colliding with the incoming shooting star.
Kwaaaang!
LUNACAVE
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