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Chapter 543: Sword Demon

As the sun set, night began to fall.

Through the thick brush, countless figures moved swiftly.

“Run faster!”

“Form up! Don’t get scattered!”

Though each had a different appearance, every face bore the same expression.

Tension.

Their faces were filled with anxiety.

Thud-!

Their speed gradually increased.

It was clear from their movements through the forest that they were all martial artists.

Their martial robes fluttered like sails. The insignia embedded in the fabric stood out clearly even in the dark.

That emblem signified only one thing.

The Martial Alliance.

The identities of those racing through the night were martial artists belonging to the Martial Alliance.

Among them, at the forefront, was a man.

Seo Dong, the Deputy Lord of the Flying Dragon faction within the Guangdong branch of the Martial Alliance, rolled his eyes.

“Damn it.”

One hand gripped the hilt of his sword.

He drew strength into his lower dantian, channeling all his energy into a qi perception.

His energy spread out, enveloping the surrounding forest.

It was filled with confidence.

To manifest such a level of qi perception, one had to transcend as a martial artist.

This hinted at Seo Dong’s peak realm surpassing its limits.

This meant that a powerful warrior was this tense.

“Why now, when numbers are so few…?!”

Currently, their total number was seven.

Everyone he brought along was no less than elite martial artists, yet it was still a problem.

Their manpower was woefully insufficient.

“Red grade….”

It was to catch a Red Demon Beast.

One peak martial artist and six elite warriors.

Even just a few years ago, that was more than enough to hunt demon beasts.

Seo Dong himself could slaughter a Blue Demon Beast all on his own.

The emergence of demon beasts was not that dangerous at all.

“Damn it.”

But not anymore.

Just three years ago.

Starting from Sichuan, new grades of Demon Gates began to open.

No, to say new would be misleading.

The grades that had initially existed were simply reappearing.

One.

To sum it up simply, the changes faced by the world were absolutely not minor.

“Warm up early! Stay alert!”

At the shout, the warriors behind him jolted and raised their energy levels.

The martial artists’ energies began to mix with the air, spreading warmth.

The grade that hadn’t appeared for centuries.

Red Demon Gate.

A grade unfamiliar to the current era had begun to reappear in recent years.

Monsters so strong they couldn’t even be compared to Blue Demon Beasts.

They possessed barriers that could withstand attacks, and their brute strength could crush even peak martial artists.

They were so wildly vicious that each time they appeared, they turned the surroundings into a complete mess.

This was more than enough to be called another calamity.

Thankfully, as the frequency of their appearances decreased in proportion to the differences with other grades.

Yet, even so, the mere fact that Red Grade Demon Beasts had emerged was still a disaster.

Seo Dong raised his head.

“…Crack…!”

Looking beyond the void made his teeth grind involuntarily.

There was light.

A very red light.

This signified only one thing.

‘Just before appearing.’

It meant that a demon beast was about to burst forth from the Red Demon Gate.

The perfect time to hunt them is just as they burst out from the Demon Gate.

In those few seconds when they struggle to adapt to their new environment.

That could dictate the direction of the battle.

Especially with their current personnel, a conventional approach would be no different than committing suicide, so they had to time the hunt just right.

“Too late.”

Now was far past the right moment.

The reports of the Demon Gates’ appearances also came in too late, and preparations took far too long.

If this continued, a demon beast would jump out from the gate.

If that happened…

“There are many villages nearby.”

There could be a massive slaughter if things went wrong.

It was an absolutely critical situation to be prevented.

“Why is that?”

While increasing his speed, Seo Dong wondered.

“It feels like the frequency of appearances is rising.”

For some reason, it crossed his mind that the reported number of Red Demon Gates had begun to increase recently.

When first discovered just a year ago, at most there were twenty reports per year.

Now, just at the start of spring, there had already been more than twenty.

It was increasing.

Not just him, but most of the sword team members must have felt the same sensation, and suddenly, the man was engulfed in fear.

At that moment.

Boom!

“…!”

His eyes widened at the tremendous noise coming from the other side.

Biting his lip.

That sound surely meant…

“A demon beast has appeared.”

The colossal sound that heralded the emergence of a Red Demon Beast.

The sight of that light indicated that a Red Demon Beast had now appeared.

Creak.

Seo Dong, biting down hard, drew his sword.

Swoosh-!

As Seo Dong drew his sword, the martial artists behind him did not hesitate and drew their swords as well.

Perhaps everyone sensed it.

That if they messed up, they could die in this incident.

“…Why now, when the Great Lords have disappeared!”

Had even one Great Lord been present, things wouldn’t have escalated like this.

Now, all those individuals had gone on an expedition.

The event surrounding the death of the Nine Uniquely Cursed Demon, Do Mun-gang.

That was why they dispatched to investigate. Because it concerned Sam Ao Je, they needed a Great Lord to be involved.

Who would have thought it would become a problem?

They should have had two perfected peak warriors, yet they had to move out with such a paltry force.

“What a shameful death this will be.”

If he was going to retire, he should have done it earlier.

Was it a sin not to have?

Seo Dong desperately tried to collect his feelings of despair.

If left unchecked, it was clear that the surroundings would become a complete mess, and he couldn’t just sit back and allow that to happen.

“We’ll be arriving soon…”

Until just before, Seo Dong’s voice had been clear, but now it rang with unease.

“I’ll take the lead. Support from behind.”

“Deputy Lord…!”

At Seo Dong’s words, one of the warriors expressed concern.

But no one dared say anything more.

Everyone knew there was no other choice.

Tick-!

Eventually, all personnel arrived at the source of the light.

Seo Dong, filled with tension, gripped his sword tightly.

Woooo-! The sword blade filled with sword energy.

He spread out his qi perception to assess the situation.

‘Where is it?’

The location where the light was seen was here.

Then the demon beast should also be visible somewhere nearby.

Especially since Red Demon Beasts were mostly massive, spotting them shouldn’t be too difficult.

‘What’s going on?’

Seo Dong sensed something was off.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

An eerie silence filled the air.

For a Red grade demon beast, it would be normal to be roaring and tearing everything apart.

But the area they arrived at was chillingly quiet.

The problem here was that it wasn’t even picked up by his qi perception.

“…”

Seo Dong raised a hand and made a low gesture.

It was a signal to advance.

He moved forward, concealing his presence, with the martial artists following closely behind.

They moved for a few minutes.

Then.

…Creeeak-!

“…?”

A low sound echoed from a distance.

Creeeak…. Crunch… Grrr…

It sounded like something breaking and crushing.

Just hearing it sent chills down his spine.

Hearing the sound, every hair on Seo Dong’s body stood on end.

Squelch… Crush.

The sound grew louder as they moved.

It was probably right in front of them.

Thud-!

It was clear.

This sound was coming from just beyond the darkness.

As the tension wrapped around him, his breath became ragged.

Was it a Red Demon Beast? Was the beast doing something?

Just as Seo Dong thought this, he took a trembling step forward.

“…Gah…!?”

What he saw made Seo Dong involuntarily swallow hard.

Beyond the thick darkness, something came into view.

Thud thud thud-.

The first thing he noticed was a pair of bluish eyes.

Then, following that, was the form of a massive creature.

Something with a large body, as if supple, was devouring a Red Demon Beast with crimson skin.

Crunch-!

He could see the head of the demon beast being smashed with a sickening crunch.

Blood gushed down and drenched the ground.

Seo Dong’s eyes widened to the size of lanterns.

In such a mangled state that it was unrecognizable, it looked as if the devoured beast resembled a tiger.

“…That’s definitely…”

It was a beast so strong it was incomparable to the lower-grade Blue Demon Beasts, requiring a perfected peak martial artist to face it.

And that thing was being devoured alive right before his eyes.

Since there seemed to be no significant damage nearby, it implied the prey couldn’t even resist.

‘What is that?… What in the world is it?’

Something unknown was chewing on that Red Demon Beast.

It looked like a beast, but its grade was impossible to determine.

At first glance, it seemed to emit a bluish hue, but upon closer inspection, it was much closer to black.

‘…Could it be a Blue Demon Beast?’

That couldn’t be. A Blue Demon Beast couldn’t behave like that.

Then what the hell was it…?

Growl…

‘Oh no…!’

As if it had finished eating, the creature’s bluish eyes were now directed at Seo Dong.

As soon as Seo Dong met its gaze, his body stiffened.

This is bad.

Not like this…!

“Hey.”

“!!”

Seo Dong, frozen in place, jolted at the sudden voice ringing in his ear.

At the same time, he felt arms wrapping around his shoulders.

Someone was embracing him like a buddy.

“I have a few questions for you.”

The voice resonated with a high-pitched yet slightly subdued tone.

It was the first voice he had ever heard.

Seo Dong forced his frozen head to turn to face his assailant.

What he first noticed was—

‘Those eyes…?’

The distinct bluish eyes shining through the darkness.

It was impossible to fully comprehend the face, but judging by the voice, it didn’t seem like he was very old.

Amidst it all, the one thing Seo Dong could surely recognize was—

‘I can’t win.’

It was a feeling of losing.

The moment he laid eyes on them, he’d known instinctively.

The eerie stillness of the forest wasn’t because of the demon beast in front, but rather because of the overwhelming presence this figure exuded.

Noting Seo Dong trembling, he spoke.

“I’m looking for someone. Do you happen to know anything about them?”

A tone laced with humor.

Yet, the heavy presence within it made Seo Dong tremble involuntarily.

He forced out words through his constricted throat.

“…W-who are you…?”

“Hmm. That’s the second time I’ve heard that question today.”

Sweat dripped down.

It felt as if his mind could be crushed at any moment.

“Just someone who enjoys traveling. Isn’t that good enough to say?”

“…”

This undoubtedly meant he didn’t want to reveal his identity.

Even knowing this, Seo Dong couldn’t muster a rebuttal.

Given the potential consequences if he insisted.

“If you say no, things could get a bit troublesome.”

It was a vague warning from the figure.

Growl…

The large beast in front let out another low growl.

It was as if that creature was waiting for an order.

This meant that this being had somehow tamed the demon beast.

‘That’s absurd.’

The idea of a human taming a demon beast was unfathomable.

One.

“…Huff… Huh…”

Even if he felt confused and couldn’t comprehend, this was not a situation where he could ask questions.

“Who… who are you looking for?”

At Seo Dong’s answer, the figure smiled.

Though it was nighttime and visibility was poor, the curve of the bluish eyes in a crescent indicated he was smiling.

Then the figure asked Seo Dong.

“Sword Demon… or rather, what was that name? I think it was two syllables…”

After speaking, he seemed to fall into thought.

“I can’t remember the name.”

And then, as if recalling something, he continued speaking.

“That person is a man, likely around my age, and uses a sword.”

Oh.

“His eyes are uniquely yellow, you know?”

“…!”

Upon hearing this, Seo Dong’s body stiffened.

Seeing his reaction, the figure laughed and inquired.

“Do you know him?”

“…”

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.

Seo Dong recognized the description he provided immediately.

 

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