< Rehearsal (4) >
Of course, there was already a scenario planned to some extent regarding the rescue of the dragon children through Hugo’s activities.
In order to make the production more realistic, we did not directly touch on every detail, but we also adjusted the power of the demonic forces that will be encountered during the process in advance.
But, after receiving a gift from the Dragon God out of the blue, my strength skyrocketed…
‘Things might be easier than I thought?’
The result is what we see now.
“Hwa-gyeong! It’s Hwa-gyeong!”
“Don’t rush in hastily! Prioritize holding out as long as possible!”
As the cultists blocking the basement passage continued to scream, Hugo rushed toward them and quickly swung the sword he was holding.
I was worried for a moment whether I would be able to adapt quickly because my level suddenly increased, but when I actually used the martial arts, I could clearly feel that those were groundless worries.
‘···Isn’t this amazing?’
The sword in his hand moved freely as if it were a part of his body.
The moment his will was established, the sword had already reached its target.
A state of unity between body and sword, where one becomes one with the weapon.
It was an ecstatic, thrilling sensation.
“You idiots! Can’t you even do one thing properly, holding on?”
At that moment, a giant man with a height of over two meters stepped forward, grumbling among the demon cultists.
He held a viciously large iron hammer in each hand.
‘You’re finally here.’
A super-powered mine that is in charge of protecting this ritual hall.
Originally, he would have been a difficult ordeal for Hugo, who had the advantage of being the head of the main force and the help of his subordinates, but…
‘Since the situation has changed, the plan must change as well.’
To his current self, that level was just a rite of passage.
Kwak—
He gripped the sword hilt tightly in his hand.
Thanks to the “Empty Spirit Delay”, the internal energy that had no limits circulated throughout the limbs and the sea, awakening the physical performance to its limits, and soon after, a huge amount of energy was sucked into the sword and began to transform into the essence of destruction.
“Kang-gi···! Quickly deploy the formation···!”
Although the opponent was ready to respond in an instant by recruiting his subordinates, Hugo paid no attention to it.
Just immersing yourself more deeply into something that resides within you.
‘「Cheonryongshinkong」.’
It was the new name for the “Nameless Achievement” that blossomed under the touch of the Dragon God.
A compilation of the martial arts of the Ganghwan world, created by intertwining all the martial arts he had learned so far, as well as secret arts he had never known before.
‘If anything blocks my way, just break it and that’s it!’
Press down with a quick and strong attack.
Dismissal—!
Several mysteries came together and a surge of brain energy emerged in my hand.
It flew straight up the sword and turned into a brain dragon, growing in size in an instant.
Kurururung—!
A dragon of strong energy, made up of large lightning bolts, surrounds Hugo’s body.
It roared like thunder and shot straight ahead, following the tip of the sword as it was pointed forward.
“Stop it···!”
“not···!”
Immediately after that.
The loud noise drowned out all other sounds, including screams.
A devastating blow that would not have been strange if the passage had collapsed if it had not been for the special formation installed in the space.
Dismissal— Dismissal—
In the midst of the scene where sparks continued to fly out like embers, the only being standing on two feet was the top-level master who had his arms crossed and his face hidden.
“Keuk···. This, this···!”
But the figure standing on the sacrifices of his subordinates was by no means normal.
His skin was charred black from the brain damage, smoke was rising from his entire body including his mouth, and his hair and beard were sticking up like they had been hit by a bomb.
However, as expected, a mine is a mine, and even though he looked quite defeated, his opponent did not give up resisting.
“Ugh!”
Both eyes became bloodshot and the severely damaged body began to recover at an unreasonable speed.
And then, as if he had lost his mind and was only interested in living, he rushed straight at Hugo and swung two iron hammers.
“Die!”
It wasn’t a very wise decision, though, as there may be a side effect of magic lowering intelligence.
‘Well, it’s common everywhere to have a skill that increases physical abilities but loses your sanity.’
Hugo slowly raised his sword.
Absorb and flow out with soft changes.
The twin iron hammers, which seemed like they could shatter even a giant rock, were caught up in the imperfect energy that was forcibly raised and lost their direction as they slipped in the waves surrounding the swords.
The movement of the water dragon flowing along the sword did not stop there.
Shhhh—
A stream of water that flows powerfully and circles along the tip of the sword.
It soon became a rough tidal wave, sweeping away the disoriented giant.
“Whoa!”
Shake!
The giant, who missed the hammer, stepped back hesitantly and grabbed his neck, which the water dragon had bitten off.
The moment the attack failed, he quickly reacted and dodged backwards, but that was only enough to avoid instant death and was unable to change the predetermined future.
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Because he had more than half of his neck and heart ripped off and had no means of regenerating.
A super-epic mine that staggered with its eyes wide open and eventually collapsed on the ground.
It was an absurd and pointless ending that was set to be a challenge.
‘It was a little different from what I expected, but it wasn’t bad.’
Hugo glanced down the chaotic corridor and nodded slowly.
Well, it felt a bit ambiguous as a trial for a mere top-tier expert.
Since ancient times, the higher and more rugged the obstacle blocking your path, the greater the thrill of overcoming it.
If our power increased, the enemy’s level would also have to increase accordingly.
“Let’s hurry. Since the escape has already been revealed, there’s no point in staying here any longer.”
He turned around and spoke quietly to those following him.
They had been at a distance and had only come closer after the battle was over, and they were moving cautiously, trying hard to ignore the tragedy around them.
“It must be a battlefield outside… Will we be able to join up with the Martial Arts Alliance that will be in the middle of that battlefield?”
Among them, Jegal Hye-mi, who had maintained her composure relatively, opened her mouth with a worried voice.
Thanks to her ability to use divine powers, even the weakest dragon children can move on their own, but aren’t they only slightly inferior to ordinary people?
It was simply impossible to cross the battlefield where such a fierce battle was taking place.
“I’ll give it a try… and if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to find another way.”
Hugo nodded slowly in response to her words.
Meanwhile, in one corner of my mind, I was having a heated discussion about how to efficiently modify this scenario, mobilizing my various egos.
Since he had already received the down payment, it was his duty to do his best to satisfy the investor’s needs.
‘Well, if you receive an investment, you have to get what you pay for.’
Not only will this help you attract additional investment, but when you go to other markets, won’t your existing customers’ reputation have a positive effect on new investors?
He never intended to be satisfied with where he was now.
Of course, in order to do that, it is important to successfully conclude this stage.
“Please take good care of us, Daehyeop. We can only trust you, Daehyeop.”
“···That’s right. Since we have nothing left to lose anyway, we have no choice but to do something.”
“But the cultists want to capture me alive without a single scratch, so isn’t it quite possible?”
Hugo nodded slightly as he watched the dragon children each speak a word as if trying to shake off the tension.
As important as the war going on outside was, managing it was equally important.
The ultimate goal of the Ganghwan scenario is to rebuild Yongsim.
They were absolutely necessary in the process.
***
Chaeng— chaeng—!
“Ugh!”
Kaaaak—!
Kwaaaaang!
In a battlefield where all kinds of noises are mixed together.
“Ugh, ugh···.”
As a member of the Murim Alliance, Taecheonggeom Unhak took part in the battle, and heavy breathing continued to burst out from his mouth.
Because of the harsh environment of the Demon Realm, even a brief moment of intense fighting would quickly leave me breathless.
It was fortunate that I was receiving help from the magic techniques including the formation, otherwise I would have been exhausted long ago.
“Phew.”
He let out a deep sigh as if taking a deep breath, looked down at the zombie lying on the floor with his sword’s function stopped, and bit his lip again.
‘···Rest in peace, Priest.’
The identity of the zombie was a priest who had studied with him.
Just half a year ago, we had parted ways, avoiding the sword of the Demonic Cult and promising to meet again in the future.
‘I never thought we would meet again like this…’
His sect was the Kunlun sect, which is now extinct.
The breakwater of the martial arts world, which is closest to Xinjiang where the Demonic Cult is located, usually suffers the greatest damage whenever they launch an attack.
Before the Imperial Bloodshed occurred, there was no small amount of respect and practical support from other powers for such hard work, but as the world fell into chaos and everyone became preoccupied with taking care of themselves, that became a thing of the past.
It may be seen as a natural progression that the Kunlun sect, which was isolated in a remote area, eventually collapsed.
It was purely by chance that he, a survivor of Kunlun who had been wandering around the world, was able to come to this place.
While staying as a guest at a certain household with whom he had a small connection and receiving advice, he heard news that they were about to launch an all-out war against the Demonic Cult.
Having crossed the line and reached the pinnacle of excellence, he joined the Beijing expedition without hesitation.
I want to continue to uphold the will that Kunlun tried to protect until the end.
To let the world know that there are still descendants of Kunlun left.
More than anything, this was the best opportunity to take revenge on the Demonic Cult.
‘···What on earth have you demonic bastards done?’
The Taiqing Sword, which had already provided peace to several Kunlun jiangshi, including the priest who had just been defeated, gnashed its teeth.
These were by no means your ordinary zombies.
As a Kunlun Taoist who had been on the front lines against the Demonic Cult, he knew a lot about the jiangshi they used, but there was something he couldn’t understand about the individuals mobilized for this war.
‘In every way, it’s an enhanced version of the existing Jiangshi. Not only is his physical ability enhanced, but his resistance to internal energy is also enhanced, so those below the top level won’t be able to even make a single living. ···And if he goes up even higher···.’
His gaze turned to one side of the battlefield.
The warriors and minions of Hwagyeong, who were higher in rank than him, and the jiangshi of equal level were constantly clashing violently.
‘Long story···.’
Among the people of that landscape was also the Jangmunin of Kunlun.
Not only that, but for how long have they been collecting the corpses of the masters? There must be twice as many zombies of similar level as this one!
Because of this, the number of Hwagyeong-level forces was overwhelmingly inferior to that of the Murim Alliance, but fortunately, the battle situation itself was not that bad.
That would be the case—the Murim Alliance had a master from Sapa, the Sura Blood Lord, involved.
‘At this point… even if the damage is great, we can win.’
Taecheonggeom’s gaze, which was scanning the battlefield, took in the fight taking place on all sides.
The Sword Saint who confronted the Demon Sword Emperor, and the Heavenly Demon who clashed with the Blood Demon Jiangshi.
And then there are Shin Seung and General Jeongcheon, who are engaging in fierce attacks against Cheonma, and…
Kwaaaaang—!
“Hahahaha! This is so hot! This is so fun!”
A madman who bursts into laughter even though he has a large hole in his abdomen from being pierced by the Heavenly Demon Sword that seems to split the sky apart.
‘···Shingwangma. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far.’
Indeed, the majesty of the Heavenly Horse was greater than what was heard in words.
If there had been no Shin Gwang-ma, at least three, maybe four, of the local experts would have had to come out to stop him.
If that had happened, the other battlefields would have exploded in an instant and been annihilated long ago.
This was all thanks to Shingwangma, who displayed immortal-like majesty and spared no expense in providing food for two.
‘What we have to do is create an environment where they can defeat Cheonma. If we can stabilize the battlefield as much as possible so that more people can join in fighting Cheonma…’
Taecheonggeom took a deep breath, gripped his sword firmly again, and stepped onto the battlefield.
Now that I had rested enough, I thought of rekindling my body and lending a helping hand to fight the Demonic Cult.
‘You can do it. If you keep doing this, you can do it!’
In the midst of the fiery desire for revenge, hope slowly sprouted.
Even in the hostile environment of the Demon Realm, the heroes’ unwavering progress toward their goals without collapsing was inspiring.
And as if he had never felt guilty for abandoning the Buddhist scriptures and running away, he felt proud of himself for taking part in this great journey.
‘This is the power of martial arts. No matter how dark the night, dawn will eventually break—.’
We will dispel the dark clouds hanging over the world with our own hands and achieve a bright future.
like that.
A moment of optimism.
Kurururung—
Strange things began to happen in the dark clouds that covered the sky.
A purple lightning flashed loudly through the gaps in the dark clouds that were making ominous noises.
So much so that even those who were focused on the fight before their eyes couldn’t help but pay attention.
Kwakwakwakwang!
And finally.
From heaven to earth.
With a thunderous roar that shook the heavens and earth, purple lightning struck all over the battlefield.
***
‘I guess I can slowly pick up the pace.’
Hans, who had been controlling the battlefield while hiding behind the curtain, smiled faintly.
So far, everything has been going according to plan without any particular problems.
This space, where a large-scale barrier had been spread out, was already under his control, and by controlling the amount of abyss supplied to Cheonma through it, he was able to assist him in performing at an appropriate level.
‘But this is a bit lacking as a climax.’
Hope shouldn’t come so easily.
In order to unite all who are divided, it is essential to fight together and achieve without giving up even in the face of despair and trials that seem impossible to overcome.
And for that, something a little more overwhelming was needed.
Hans nodded happily as he observed the giant beings rising one by one from where the purple lightning had struck.
Kwaaaaah—!
Kkuuung—!
Monsters as big as houses, showing off their presence with ferocious roars, kept twisting their bodies.
A look of despair began to appear on the faces of the humans who had managed to maintain their balance until then.
Giraffe, nine-tailed fox, goblin, etc…
It was the moment when the top-tier monsters that had been painstakingly created made their appearance.
