Soh Bang ground her teeth as she watched Yayul Jeok charge at Yeon Hojeong.
Fucking idiot!
Go all out? He should have gone all out from the beginning!
I knew it the moment you started playing around, you miserable bastard!
BOOM! BOOM!
Soh Bang smashed the ground apart with several furious kicks. Then an immense qi wave tightened around her from behind, and she instinctively unleashed her Killing Intent.
This pressure... It must be that formation he used against me before.
The formation employed by Yeon Hojeong and his subordinates had slowed her True Qi response and even drained her stamina.
Soh Bang’s eyes turned cold.
I’ll have to leave him to deal with that bastard.
She was furious, but she still possessed enough sense to know that the situation here had to be resolved quickly.
That did not mean she needed to help Yayul Jeok kill Yeon Hojeong first. If she joined the fight under the pretense of assisting him, she would probably only give Yeon Hojeong an opening to exploit.
Adding one to one did not always make two. Like their formation, it could produce the strength of three or four—but it could just as easily leave both weaker than either would have been alone.
That was precisely the case with Soh Bang and Yayul Jeok. Their relationship aside, their martial arts were so fundamentally different that fighting together would only expose gaps for the enemy to exploit.
“...You bastards.”
Sensing five powerful presences approaching faster by the second, Soh Bang ignited her Blood-Drinking evil qi.
“I’ll dispose of the small fry first!”
BOOM!
Soh Bang shot forward at terrifying speed.
Yayul Jeok had known that something felt wrong.
There had been a persistent unease at the back of his mind. No matter how he looked at it, the situation favored him, yet Yeon Hojeong’s expression had retained an inexplicable composure.
Of course, that composure could be interpreted in different ways.
Yeon Hojeong was a genius in battle. Even if he had completely deciphered the paths of Soh Bang’s martial arts, few people could have held out this long against two masters stronger than themselves.
It was the difference born of insight. His combat instincts and superior understanding were enough to compensate for the actual gap in martial prowess, allowing him to respond to the two masters’ attacks to some degree.
Yeon Hojeong’s composure was the composure of a man seasoned by real combat—the deft assurance of a master smith who had hammered out tens of thousands of blades and was now forging a new weapon.
Even so, Yayul Jeok had remained wary, wondering what Yeon Hojeong might be plotting.
That was why he had held back. It was partly an assassin’s ingrained habit, but he also needed to understand what his opponent was aiming for before devising a reliable countermeasure.
His mistake had been failing to realize that Yeon Hojeong’s goal was nothing more complicated than buying time.
WHOOSH!
Gripping the Flood Dragon Chain tightly, Yayul Jeok closed in at a horrifying speed. Even Yeon Hojeong, whose movement art was in no way inferior to Yayul Jeok’s, was startled for an instant.
CLAAANG!
Yeon Hojeong coughed up blood again.
He had blocked with Mad Dragon’s broad axe head, but the shock wave seemed to rattle him down to the marrow. Once Yayul Jeok began fighting at full strength, his martial arts were astonishingly formidable.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG! BOOM!
His control over force in unarmed combat had reached the level of divine skill.
One moment, he seemed to be targeting every vital point in Yeon Hojeong’s upper body. The next, his attacks plunged low. Then, in the blink of an eye, spear-hand and flat-fist strikes flashed toward Yeon Hojeong’s throat, dazzling the eye.
He was not merely skilled at variations. Every single movement was a lethal killing technique.
His destructive power was a shade below Beonjak’s, but in speed and technique, he surpassed even Beonjak. And while his power might have been inferior by comparison, the explosive force behind his strikes was still so immense that an ordinary master would have found them impossible to defend against.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
It was a brutally fast exchange.
Yayul Jeok was not only stronger. His unarmed attacks were also a step faster than Yeon Hojeong’s.
When one intended to kill an opponent, there was no need to overpower them with greater force. A single strike that was faster and sharper would suffice.
That was the nature of Yayul Jeok’s martial arts. They had been honed specifically to kill through speed and technique rather than raw strength.
He was living proof that an assassin’s martial arts, once brought to their absolute peak, could display overwhelming power even in a frontal confrontation.
Such martial arts existed in this world.
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE! SPURT!
Blood burst from Yeon Hojeong’s mouth.
He had read the punch coming toward the left side of his face, but he had been unable to evade it completely. He had managed to turn his head first and let the strike glance past, yet the pressure alone had split the inside of his mouth.
RATTLE!
Yayul Jeok was about to launch another attack with the Yin-Cold Hundred-Eight Hands when he suddenly flinched.
...?!
The chain had wrapped tightly around his right elbow. Yeon Hojeong had swung it around him at the very instant he allowed the attack through.
Yayul Jeok was stunned.
Yeon Hojeong’s lightning-fast response was only part of it.
It grew longer?!
That was right.
The chain Yayul Jeok had seen was not even fifty feet long. That was plenty of length, but Yeon Hojeong had been pinning it beneath one foot to control its reach. It should not have been possible for him to wrap it around Yayul Jeok’s elbow.
Yet he had.
There was no other explanation but that the chain had lengthened.
I don’t know what you’re after, but...
Yayul Jeok’s eyes flashed.
THUD!
This time, the blow landed cleanly. Yayul Jeok drove his forehead into Yeon Hojeong’s chin.
Yeon Hojeong dispersed most of the force with an instantaneous shield of Inner Qi, but the remaining shock was still enough to rattle his brain. The strength drained from his knees.
In a clash between masters, a single instant of error could decide victory or defeat. Dealing with an [N O V E L I G H T] opponent who had lost consciousness, even for a fraction of a second, was laughably easy.
I’ll finish this.
Yayul Jeok brought his index and middle fingers together and swept them toward Yeon Hojeong’s Adam’s apple. He intended to tear open his throat in one strike rather than drag the fight out any longer.
Then it happened.
...?!
Yayul Jeok felt both feet leave the ground.
What?
RIIING! BOOM!
The Flood Dragon Chain snapped taut. Yayul Jeok’s body traced a half-moon through the air before slamming into the ground.
The impact barely affected him. He had not neglected his training enough to be injured by an attack of that level.
The mental shock, however, was considerable.
He threw me?
RATTLE!
Yayul Jeok sprang upright.
...That bastard.
When he saw Yeon Hojeong, disbelief washed over him.
He closed his eyes?
He had.
Yeon Hojeong stood with his eyes closed, drawing ragged breaths. He did not appear careless, but closing his eyes before a stronger opponent was absurd.
RIIING!
Whatever condition his opponent was in, Yayul Jeok had no reason to indulge him. He hauled on the Flood Dragon Chain with all his strength.
WHOOSH!
Yeon Hojeong was dragged toward him without resistance.
Yayul Jeok had expected him to release the Flood Dragon Chain. Instead, Yeon Hojeong allowed himself to be pulled in as though he had been waiting for it.
He must have been confident in close combat.
It won’t be like last time.
Yayul Jeok did not know how Yeon Hojeong had reacted while his consciousness was gone. But one coincidence was enough.
He thrust out a hand, then unleashed a kick with lightning speed. He intended to detonate Yeon Hojeong’s entire upper body with one devastating blow.
At that instant, Yayul Jeok understood how Yeon Hojeong had thrown him.
WHIRRR!
The kick shot forward like a cannonball and passed straight through Yeon Hojeong’s body.
Or at least, that was how it appeared.
In reality, Yeon Hojeong was spinning like a falling leaf, slipping inside Yayul Jeok’s reach.
Yayul Jeok’s eyes flashed.
A soft art!
Yayul Jeok retracted the kick in an instant, curled his upper body, and drove forward. He meant to crush Yeon Hojeong with a direct body blow.
RATTLE!
What?
The Flood Dragon Chain lengthened again and coiled around Yayul Jeok’s upper body.
WHOOSH!
Yayul Jeok dropped his stance and escaped the binding in a single motion, then rapidly shook his right arm, trying to loosen the chain wrapped around it.
But—
HISSSSS!
A savage Fire energy was suppressing the power of the Hundred Streams of Yin Cold.
It was Vermilion Bird Fire Qi.
The flames overpowered the cold of the Hundred Streams of Yin Cold, tightening the Flood Dragon Chain even further.
Yayul Jeok’s eyes trembled.
Something is wrong with him.
“Huff! Huff!”
Yeon Hojeong’s breathing remained ragged.
He was not completely broken, but neither was he in any condition to execute his martial arts with stability. When a master of Inner Qi lost control of his breathing to that degree, openings inevitably appeared in both qi circulation and force emission.
Yet the power pouring through the chain around Yayul Jeok’s arm raged like an active volcano. He thought he could sense a faint trace of Wood Qi within it, but the Fire energy was far stronger, heating his entire right arm.
He had to extinguish the immediate threat first. Yayul Jeok poured out even more Yin Cold.
HISSSSS!
Fire and cold collided, producing clouds of pale steam.
...!!
Shock appeared on Yayul Jeok’s face.
Impossible. His Inner Qi...?!
The concentration of the Fire energy was staggering.
Empowered by the swelling Wood Qi, it erupted with explosive force. Its momentum was so fierce that it was gradually evaporating the cold of the Hundred Streams of Yin Cold.
It made no sense.
Yayul Jeok had been impressed that Yeon Hojeong could somehow keep pace with his speed and technique, but that much was understandable.
Despite occupying a lower realm than Yayul Jeok, Yeon Hojeong had attained the insight of sword resonance. With perception of that caliber, he could conceivably read one or two moves ahead and respond accordingly.
But Inner Qi was another matter entirely.
Inner Qi—True Qi—was one of the principal measures by which the level of martial arts was determined. Insight might allow Yeon Hojeong to contend with him in an unarmed exchange, but it could not allow him to match the quality of Yayul Jeok’s Inner Qi.
That was simply common sense. The Inner Qi of one who had reached a higher realm was naturally superior in quality.
And yet Yayul Jeok was being pushed back.
THUD!
At some point, Yeon Hojeong had detached the Flood Dragon Chain from Mad Dragon. He wrapped it around one arm and swept it outward in a broad arc.
It was a circular movement.
Far too smooth.
It was nothing like Yeon Hojeong, whose martial arts had always been direct and destructive.
Urgency appeared on Yayul Jeok’s face.
Something felt wrong. To keep himself from being pulled forward, he poured out every ounce of Inner Qi he possessed.
GRRRRIND!
Long furrows opened beneath Yayul Jeok’s feet.
He flooded the chain with Hundredfold Yin-Cold Qi and poured Crimson Yin-Fire Qi into both legs.
In other words, he had manifested the Yin God’s two opposing yin-yang energies simultaneously.
Even so, he had already been dragged nearly ten feet.
Yayul Jeok finally roared.
“What are you trying to do, you bastard?!”
Yeon Hojeong said nothing. He merely pulled on the Flood Dragon Chain.
GRRRRIND!
Yayul Jeok was dragged another ten feet.
The strength was overwhelming.
Wh-what the hell is this?!
Only moments ago, Yeon Hojeong had been unable to respond properly to his martial arts and had taken blow after blow. Yet after losing consciousness for an instant, he had suddenly begun displaying impossible strength.
What was happening?
Why had he changed so abruptly?
“...I held the finest divine sword under heaven, yet I let far too many worthless men best me.”
Yeon Hojeong’s voice was distant and gentle, as though he were wandering through a dream.
“I suppose it couldn’t be helped. The man who once held and wielded that sword was the person I used to be. I could command it in the name of the Dark Emperor, but in the name of Green Mountain, I could not draw even half the blade. Of course I was bound to be defeated.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes remained closed.
Yet Yayul Jeok felt differently now. Despite those closed eyes, it seemed as though Yeon Hojeong could see straight through him.
A chill ran down his spine.
ROOOAR!
The Flood Dragon Chain gradually began to glow red. Vermilion Bird Fire Qi had almost completely driven out the Hundredfold Yin-Cold Qi.
“I felt it while fighting the Fighting King. Something had come to me. Something was about to change.”
“...?!”
“It was the call of destiny—something no one who had never walked that road could possibly understand. Even I spent days wondering what it meant.”
Yeon Hojeong stamped the ground.
THOOM!
Yayul Jeok’s body suddenly floated into the air.
Yeon Hojeong began to turn.
With both arms spread wide like a bird’s wings, he revolved in place. The movement resembled a dance, yet it also looked like the demonstration of a fist art.
As Yayul Jeok spun helplessly through the air, he finally recognized the martial art behind Yeon Hojeong’s movements.
Taiji Fist?!
Bound by the Flood Dragon Chain, Yayul Jeok’s body whirled without resistance before crashing into a boulder.
KRAAASH!
Yayul Jeok rose with a shaken expression.
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong opened his eyes.
FLASH!
The heat of the sun burned within them.
They shone so brilliantly that their divine radiance seemed to stain the world around him in darkness.
“I told you. I might let the woman leave, but I won’t let you go.”
“...!!”
The Killing Intent of the Dark Emperor—something Yeon Hojeong had once believed far behind him—returned to his face.
“Did you really think you could turn our land into this kind of hell and still walk away alive?”
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