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Chapter 343

“Ugh, I’m exhausted to the point of dying!!”

“Ha ha ha, isn’t this a pretty good training though?”

Yeo-wu, who yelled out irritably, heard Namgung Seong’s relaxed voice above her head. As expected, he’s the type who enjoys training. He seems to think everything becomes fine just by adding the word ‘training’!

I lightly deflected the incoming rusted sword with the back of my hand. Twisting my wrist smoothly, at some moment, Yeo-wu’s fist connected with the skeleton’s chest that swung the sword.

With a tight squeeze, I gathered my strength. Inch (寸經). With just that tiny bit of space—a finger’s breadth—immense experience (經力) was unleashed.

Boom!! The skeleton’s ribs were shredded apart. The cursed bone dust splattered everywhere.

It was merely a bone shard the size of a fingertip, but the overwhelming experience it contained swept through the area, destroying everything in its path like a laser bombardment.

Taking advantage of the gap within the undead army, Yeo-wu easily dove in. As she dragged White along the ground, the damaged undead lay scattered around.

Those undead that were cut by White couldn’t rise again. The purifying energy contained within White’s body hindered their recovery. Theoretically speaking, if I could just slash through with White’s body, I could do without a purification potion.

However, that energy couldn’t be contained within the sword attacks. So when sweeping through on such a wide scale, it was necessary to handle the cleanup afterward, either using White or the purification potion.

A sound like a missile hitting echoed beside Yeo-wu, sending a cloud of dust billowing that tickled her nose. She coughed as she shouted.

“Hey, don’t drop that near me!!”

“There are only two of us, so we should fight back to back!!”

The culprit was Namgung Seong. It resembled the hunting method of a bird of prey, diving from high above to strike down below, not a sword technique but Namgung’s unique footwork. Something like Hawk’s Shadow (鷹影脚), or whatever it was called.

Every time he used it, the excessive destructive force raised clouds of dust hindering visibility, but the power was indeed astonishing.

Crackle!! Blue lightning burst forth from the midst of Namgung Seong’s landing forces. The pure energy resonating from his Tian Lei King Divine Art was signaling its presence like lightning.

As could be seen from the extraordinary effects their elixirs had on purification, if there were Shaolin wielding the power of the Pure Aura in the Nine Supreme Families, then among the Five Great Families, there was Namgung. In other words, Namgung Seong could be seen as the pinnacle of necromancer counterparts more extreme than Yeo-wu.

The fragments of undead swept away in the Hawk’s Shadow were lifted into the air by Namgung Seong’s internal energy. Although the cursed energy etched into the bone fragments clashed with the lightning of the Tian Lei King Divine Art, they couldn’t withstand and were quickly purified.

What a madman. How much mana does he have to be ripping apart the Demon King’s curse like that?

Dozens of white bone shards soared into the air alongside the streaks of lightning, flying in all directions like they possessed their own consciousness or had AI programmed into them, wreaking havoc among the undead forces.

“Pin, panel…”

“Isn’t that a Beat Staff?”

Generational differences were quite apparent. Well, it was kind of all the same, but it’s odd—why do people think of different things when looking at the same object?

Anyway, if it goes this well, we should be able to wrap this situation up without much hassle. Ambushing an army led by the Demon King alone was a bit daunting, but if one person was Yeo-wu and the other was Namgung Seong, then it was hardly an impossible task.

At that moment, an ominous energy brushed against Yeo-wu’s nose. A rotting, nauseating smell, one she had experienced before. Yeo-wu raised her voice.

“The Bone Spear is coming!”

“Confirmed!”

The undead standing right before them were indeed creations of the Demon King, but there was a clear gap between the hastily summoned undead and those influenced by the special curse of the Bone Spear.

Even though she had received Claire’s teachings on shield swordsmanship, Yeo-wu would still struggle to defend against the Bone Spear.

Thinking that, Yeo-wu looked up to confirm the Bone Spear. It was dark. The sky had turned black.

“…I didn’t think it was night?”

“What is that?”

The sky was densely filled with darkened bone shards. Though Namgung Seong was controlling dozens, the number before them easily surpassed that by dozens of times.

The two, startled to the core, rushed toward each other. Although they preferred to keep a decent distance from each other, now wasn’t the time for that.

As Yeo-wu stomped her feet, stone walls shot up in layers around them.

Of course, that alone wouldn’t stop anything. She needed to inject moisture in between, freeze it with ice attribute mana, giving it a somewhat sturdy feel.

“Don’t block my view!!”

“Even if I can’t see, I can feel it, so stop whining!!”

After shouting at each other, they simultaneously swung their swords. Yeo-wu aimed at the side walls while Namgung Seong struck the ceiling.

Screeech!! A sharp sound like a drill piercing the wall echoed. The bone shards piercing through the earth and ice began to reveal themselves one by one.

Even if they could feel it with their senses, blocked visibility was clear harassment. Of course, Yeo-wu wasn’t unaware of this fact. When demolishing, one had to use their head; carelessly doing so would just be a waste of mana.

While the Bone Spears were piercing through the walls and ice, Yeo-wu swung her sword interrupting her own mana forming the wall.

Not just breaking through, she planned to blow it up like a bomb from within.

This should allow her to deal with at least some of the Bone Spears. Thinking this, Yeo-wu conjured a spell. Meanwhile, Namgung Seong maintained a neat stance, cutting off the attacks. Hmm, he’s struggling a bit.

“You look best when you’re struggling.”

“Damn you.”

At the very simple and clear insult, Yeo-wu snorted with laughter. Some of the raining bone shower bounced off.

Even still, an overwhelming number remained, but neither of them showed a hint of panic.

“Well then, keep struggling.”

“Finish it quickly, you bastard!!”

No matter how skilled Namgung Seong was, maintaining his defensive stance was daunting. Hearing the urgency in his voice rather than anger, Yeo-wu nodded and slipped through the gaps of his sword strikes.

Countless bone shards greeted Yeo-wu, but she charged ahead with White at the front.

With Namgung Seong behind her, she didn’t need to worry about the incoming Bone Spears. Although the Bone Spears that shaved the sword surface had to be countered with Aura Blade, she could minimize the consumption of aura.

She slashed through the undead surging up from beneath. Instantly reversing the spells of the Skeleton Mage and annihilating them with the corresponding attribute, she swung the Aura Blade at the Death Knight blocking her way.

Splitting the moment itself, she advanced while simultaneously defending and attacking. She charged at the Demon King, who glared at her displeasedly.

Holding onto the Doppleganger that had taken on a form similar to a big umbrella with her left hand, she flung it directly at him. The intention was to distract, and thankfully, it seemed to have hit the mark as the Demon King’s expression contorted in annoyance.

Spinning around, she grasped the handle of White with both hands, swinging it with rotational force.

In a battlefield too chaotic to focus on the flow, she failed to raise it to the realm of ten thousand moons, but it was a strike that should land a solid hit on the Demon King if properly executed.

Of course, that was assuming he would accept it. A thick wall made of bones rose, and the ghouls that dove in to protect the Demon King were sliced away.

Right after cutting through everything blocking her path, hurriedly looking around, there was nothing left but empty space.

“He fled again!! If that’s the case, he shouldn’t show up at all!!”

Spitting out her anger, Yeo-wu began cleaning up the army once more. She felt like she could die from exhaustion.

She couldn’t get a break in less than two days, and here she was running for hours or even days. Defeating the Demon King, who appeared at regular intervals, was her role, and with her body reaching the level of mastery, she didn’t feel physical fatigue.

However, mental fatigue was an entirely different story. Human reason isn’t perfect, and repeating such a life could easily lead to collapse.

Though she was holding on with her unique strong will, feeling like she could kill it but always missing would gradually wear down Yeo-wu’s mental state.

Maybe the Demon King was aiming for that part…

“Get over here quickly!!”

Now not just the Bone Spears but also the attacks from the undead were coming in hastily for Namgung Seong, heaved a sigh from Yeo-wu. She needed to get this over with and go back. Go back and rest as much as she could…

Because of that, Yeo-wu didn’t notice. The scene of something black digging into the ground.

*

[How many are done so far?]

“Thanks to the Demon King personally showing up, it seems over 80% is complete. If you wish, we can start the ritual right away.”

[No need for that. This embarrassing act will only linger a bit longer, right?]

“Yes, indeed.”

In the core of the Cult of Oblivion, the necromancer answered, revealing no intention of hiding his discomfort to the Demon King. It was clear that some kind of plan was underway.

This was only natural. No matter how arrogant the Demon King was, there was no way he would show himself recklessly without a strategy while not facing the Hero head-on.

War is about laying plans and executing strategic actions repeatedly. If one side has a plan, the other side must have one too. Neither side would be ignorant of such facts.

Nonetheless, the fact that both acted as if they were fools, repeatedly making the same moves, was because they were hiding their true objectives amid suspicious actions.

In other words, it was a game of wits. Keeping an eye on one another to see which side can accomplish their conditions first and complete the equation towards victory. In truth, the conflict between the Hero and Demon King had always been like that.

Kneeling before the displeased Demon King, the necromancers began to pay their respects. As of now, they hadn’t noticed. Not yet. However, this situation could change at any time. Thus, they had to tread carefully.

[Let’s move discreetly.]

“I shall follow your orders.”

*

[It’s a fight? I should join in too.]

And then, while some beings fought wars using their brains, there were also those who fought battles without any meaning at all. Among the entities in war, there were those who thought deeply and those who didn’t at all.

The mad fools whom no one could understand, as soon as a fight broke out, they would just stick their necks forward.

Under the Demon King of Fire, the Violence Cult began to emerge stealthily.

Why all of a sudden?

There’s no particular reason. They just want to fight. They were just that kind of stupid band.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

 

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