Humans could do nothing in the face of a great disaster.
When rough waves swept a village, or the cracked earth swallowed a city, or when mud slicked the streets and rocks collapsed the buildings, humans could do nothing.
Therefore, humans called disasters ādivine retributionā.
Punishment by the Heavens for the sins of mankind.
But this was the discovery of another type of disaster.
Disasters could come not only from the Heavens, but from men too.
That was the descent of a man-made disaster.
Kua-kua-kuaā
Like the breath of a dragon, a gust of wind violently swept the soldiers away.
Even though the soldiers wished to die with their target, the situation did not allow for such free will.
Within the blink of an eye, a building had collapsed, trapping the soldiers beneath the rubble.
āHow can humans deal with this monsterā¦?ā despaired Gong Chun-huk.
How he wished to run away. But he was the leader who had raised all of the soldiers following King Jinseong. He was the one person not allowed to back down.
Even if he would be swallowed by the disaster, he ran forward. To defend the king!
āAaah!ā Gong Chun-huk drew his sword and charged forward.
Even as he ran, he only had a single question on his mind.
Who can save us now?
And perhaps the Heavens had heard his plea.
Kua-kua-kua.
At that moment, another disaster fell from the sky.
It was a disaster, burning with the flames of Heaven and a brilliant spear.
Woon-seong stood on the edge of a rooftop and watched the soldiers, gripping his spear.
What I sensed was right.
Iām sure the man who is fighting against the soldiers right now is in the Semi-Divine Realm.
Even though his basic skill is brought and beast-like, he is certainly a Semi-Divine Being.
Who here could stop a Semi-Divine Being?
Just me.
Numbers were meaningless to a Semi-Divine Being.
If Woon-seong wished to, he could have reduced King Jinseongās Court into ashes overnight.
I donāt know his motive, but I gotta stop him first.
Woon-seong moved forward.
He wouldnāt have helped on another day, but those of King Jinseong were his allies now. If they died here, it would make the future more difficult.
Woon-seongās energy blazed and crackled.
Like a bolt of lightweight, he zipped through the battlefield and landed straight down in front of the attacker.
Ka-boom!
The ground was blasted into the air, creating a crater.
Between the falling debris, Woon-seong faced the intruder.
Red eyes?
The intruderās eyes were unnaturally red. There were no whites as even the pupils were blood red.
It was like seeing a berserk animal.
At the same time, the intruder swung his sword and Woon-seong.
This crude sword carrying immense ferocity was blocked.
Ka-clangā!
Woon-seong lifted the White Night Spear to defend, but the force of the blow caused the surrounding area to collapse.
However, Woon-seongās arm gripping the spear trembled.
The force of the blow had been overwhelming.
Heās unbelievable.
Woon-seong tasted blood in his mouth.
If I only consider inner strength, he might be a step above me.
Even though Woon-seong had inherited the energy from Chun Hwi, the man in front of him still carried more.
Where did this guy come from?
Woon-seong swung his spear, taking a slight step back.
The spear pierced through the air, piercing the intruderās body.
But the result was not great.
The intruder raced at Woon-seong, relentlessly and powerfully, like a devil of hell.
With a blast of wind, Woon-seongās attack shattered.
At the same time, the intruder wielded his sword once more.
That qi isā¦ Itās a horse.
Woon-seong could recognize the kind of ancient martial arts the intruder used.
It was based on a horse.
A horse that had once roamed the vast meadows of the world. A wild horse that ran unfettered by the world, destroying what it didnāt like with a stamp of its hooves.
Woon-seong was hit on the shoulder and there was a spark.
The glow of the sword passing by his shoulder illuminated Woon-seongās face with an eerie light.
But he didnāt care.Ā Iāll take it.
Instead, he reached out and grabbed the arm of the man, the sword arm.
Andā¦
Kuaā
He twisted the man by the wrist, pulling forwards as he did so.
The man spun and twisted in the air.
Woon-seong tried to slam him into the ground.
Butā¦
Boom!
Mid-spin, the manās foot hit something and he catapulted the two into the air.
It was not a new martial art, but the intruder had used a small piece of debris as a launch pad.
With this newfound momentum, the intruder slammed into Woon-seong, causing both of them to crash through the wall of a building.
Boom!
The entire building collapsed.
This was a conflict between two Semi-Divine Beings.
The surroundings were completely devastated.
Fortunately, King Jinseong was leading his soldiers and advising them to avoid getting caught in the conflict.
āSiege Formation, but do not go any closer than 1Ā liĀ (500m)! Keep the form fluid so we wonāt get involved in the battle!ā
āYes, Your Majesty!ā
The elite soldiers were still in shock, but they rapidly formed a siege formation according to King Jinseongās orders.
Meanwhile, the fight between Woon-seong and the intruder was getting tougher.
āIs that really a battle between humansā¦?ā
As soon as there was a clash on the ground, the sky fell and the group split open.
As soon as the wind howled, another one of the royal palaces would collapse under a dragonās roar.
Like just nowā¦.
Boom!
Woon-seong blasted the intruder away, firing a āflying burst marbleā for good measure.
The intruder crashed the floors of a building, plunging straight down into the earth.
Boom!
The āflying burst marbleā blasted the door off its hinges and wreckage crushed the intruder.
An ordinary person would have died three times.
Butā¦.
Kachaā
A sword zipped through the air, sweeping away the falling debris. Powdered down drifted through the battlefield.
Woon-seong rolled his shoulders.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.
The sound of something hitting the floor echoed through the area.
Woon-seong had taken off all of his iron bracers.
As he finally released all of the extra weight, his limbs and energy sang with freedom.
His body, having escaped from its confinement, pleaded for movement.
And so Woon-seong did.
From his storage ring he pulled out the glass knives he had been gifted, shooting them out.
Lightning Stitching Art ā Thunderous Flying Glass Knives.
Clinkā
Dangā
The sword fell down once more, and Woon-seong dashed to and fro, spear never resting.
Mind Split, Double Will.
Woon-seong split his mind and will.
One will travelled through his body, controlling the White Night Spear.
And the other?
Roarā
With a roaring noise, the other will rushed through his body, eventually settling in his left hand.
Suddenly, all of his energy concentrated in that palm.
Slowly spinning, it formed the shape of a wheel.
The conclusion to the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon.
The Heavenly Demonās Wheel of Samsara.
A millennia of life and death, a symbol of birth and rebirth.
Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon ā Wheel of Samsara.
The wheel of energy slammed into the intruder, smacking the man into the air.
That was the last move Woon-seong would be using as the Heavenly Demon today.
The noise in the palace is calming down.
I should stop using the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon from now on. Too many eyes are watching.
If thereās a rumor that the Heavenly Demon appeared at the Jinseong Palace, it will cause trouble.
That was also why the Heavenly Demonās Wheel had not been used at full force.
If there had been a Buddhist nearby, his true identity would have been immediately discovered.
Thus, instead of the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon, Woon-seong began to unleash other skills.
Divine Spear of the Ending Night.
Six Efforts Destroying the Law of Heaven.
Boom. Boom.
The intruder also jumped about, not losing to Woon-seong.
āAnswer me. Are you an informer of the Cult of the Inverted Sky?ā
Woon-seong had several more hand-to-hand exchanges with the intruder.
In the process, he was able to confirm one thing.
āYou donāt have rationale or wisdom.ā
Every time Woon-seong approached, the intruder would cry out and make growling noises.
Woon-seong tried to talk to it several times, but nothing worked.
Moreover, the intruderās battle senses were not something a conscious person would have.
It was driven by pure instinct.
āIs it a jiangshiā¦?ā
At first, Woon-seong recalled the blood jiangshi that had appeared in the Divine Cult.
But it was obviously not a blood jiangshi.
After Joo Moon-baekās revolt, Woon-seong had gathered information about the blood jiangshi.
It was possible for a Peak-Level martial to become a Transcendence-Level jiangshi, but it was impossible for an Absolute-level martial to become a Semi-Sivine blood jiangshi.
Then, what is he?
Woon-seong titled his head in confusion, just as the intruder was picking himself back up.
āGrrrrā¦ā
The intruderās chest had basically been split open by the Heavenly Demonās Wheel.
As I expected, it seems like he canāt feel painā¦ A doll that has only instinct.
But Woon-seong had found a weakness.
It was precisely the fact that the intruder relied on instinct alone.
Meaning, it wasnāt very smart and could not think ahead.
I should aim for that weak point.
Just as Woon-seong thought of this and was about to make a decisive move, he stopped.
The intruder had frozen in place, its eyes slowly returning to normal.
āPlease kill me. Kill me, please kill me.ā
It was for a very short moment, but the intruder had spoken.
Immediately afterwards, the intruderās eyes turned blood red once more.
āGrrrr.ā
And it also went back to making unintelligent snarls.
As the intruder rushed at Woon-seong, there was another collision.
Woon-seong used his Orthodox skills generously.
Clangā
Boom!
The intruderās body shook violently.
Woon-seong never missed an opportunity.
The intruder immediately pressed forwards even more courageously, causing more and more severe damage to Woon-seong.
But it was clear that the last one standing would be Woon-seong.
If he was conscious I wouldnāt be able to suppress him like this.
Maybe the battle would have taken three days and three nights.
I should thank him for being unconscious.
After a longer struggle, Woon-seong was able to adequately use the intruderās weaknesses to his advantage.
It was harder than trying to thread a string through a needle, but Woon-seongās attacks were able to squeeze through the tiny opening.
Puchiā
Woon-seongās fist slammed into the intruderās chest, punching all the way through the manās body.
Ribs cracked, muscles tore, and all the blood vessels leading to the heart were severed.
But that wasnāt good enough.
Woon-seong also snapped the manās spine.
Of course, Woon-seong was not unharmed by the process.
The youth had a large, bleeding gash running across his chest, which had been caused by a desperate sword slash.
His thighs also had numerous cuts, lightly bleeding.
His clothing had become ragged and the black iron pauldrons were shattered, completely unusable.
One of the class knives is almost destroyedā¦
I should be glad that I didnāt get any serious injuries while fighting someone in the Semi-Divine Realm.
āCoughā¦ā
The intruder had blood spilling from his mouth, slumped forward now that his spine had broken.
Woon-seong raised the White Night Spear.
This is the end.
I can end him if I use the White Night Spear.
In that situation, Woon-seong suddenly recalled what the half-conscious intruder had said.
āKill me, please kill me.ā
Woon-seongās expression immediately darkened.
Puchiā
The White Night Spear stabbed into the intruderās heart, almost slashing through half of the torso in the process.