The Undefeatable Swordsman

Chapter 183. Eight Years of Hardship and Suffering (4)

A Paragon’s resilience was genuinely monstrous.

Even if they didn’t take the time to sit properly and meditate... no, even if they were using qi as they fought, their recovery power was unrivaled. As for when they took their time and relied on someone to guard them while they recovered, even less needed to be said. Before the time it took for a single incense stick to burn, Woo-Moon’s entire body rippled as flesh sprouted and new skin covered it. His wounds healed rapidly, and his internal injuries also quickly improved.

“Whew.”

All of his accumulated impurities were expelled in a single breath.

‘It’s a relief that it all turned out well.’

When Woo-Moon had seen the corpses of Sect Master Na Ban and his companions, he hadn’t just been angry. From the state of their corpses, he could tell that not much time had passed. Moreover, he could tell from the black remnant aura that the enemy was a Paragon.

Sure that the Paragon was one of the two from Martial Heaven and he’d come for Woo-Moon before long, he told Ma-Ra to hide and wait for an opportunity to ambush him.

Of course, Woo-Moon didn’t think that he would lose even if he fought the Great Darkness Palace Master head-on.

The reason he allowed himself to look as though he was getting pushed back before Ma-Ra’s appearance was that he intentionally took a risk, trying to induce the Great Darkness Palace Master to let down his guard, use stronger techniques, and create an opening. This fight was not about winning or losing; he had to kill the Great Darkness Palace Master and he had to do it quickly. Thankfully, his risky maneuver was successful.

Woo-Moon opened his eyes and stood up.

While he still had some internal injuries he had to take care of, at the very least, he no longer looked like he was made of blood. Anything else could wait until later.

He turned to Ma-Ra with a grin.

“Let’s go finish this.”

“Mmm.”

They went hand in hand and ran toward the battlefield.

Then, coincidentally, twelve assassins arrived around her at that moment.

“We’ve arrived late. We apologize.”

Ma-Ra simply nodded and said one single word.

“Attack.”

She let the assassins know who their enemy was by letting out a hint of her bloodlust.

“Understood!”

The twelve Special Rank Assassins used their stealth techniques to hide themselves and infiltrate the battlefield. Soon, screams began to erupt from everywhere.

“Wow, they’re pretty incredible! Are they your men, Ma-Ra?”

As if she felt a little flustered, Ma-Ra deliberately didn’t make eye contact with Woo-Moon or even respond, only maintaining her cold expression.

“You little cutie~”

He was so happy to see Ma-Ra, who seemed to be expressing her emotions in her own way, putting his hand on her head as if she wanted him to stroke her head.

Then Ma-Ra punched him in the chest.

Bang!

“I’ll kill you.”

“Ugh.”

After getting punished, Woo-Moon looked around at the situation in the ravine with a pained expression.

Eun-Ah was engaged in a fierce battle with an Absolute Master from the Cruel Sandstorm Riders. She was doing fine, but overall, they were very much at a disadvantage. Just the number discrepancy was enough to overwhelm them.

Fortunately, as Woo-Moon said from the beginning, those on his side focused on defensive techniques and being careful. So, although there were a few serious injuries, no one had died yet.

“It’s been a while since we worked together.”

“Mmm.”

“Then, let’s go.”

Ma-Ra ran forward at lightning speed.

Clank, clank!

Their hands separated and a long chain began to emerge from her sleeve.

Twang!

The moment Ma-Ra had run as far as she could and was forced to stop due to the tension in the chain, Woo-Moon flicked his end of the chain and pulled, flinging Ma-Ra toward him.

Like a cannonball, Ma-Ra flew backward to where she had started her run. Using the momentum created through Ma-Ra’s rebound, Woo-Moon launched himself into the air, letting go of the chain at the peak of his arc.

As it turned out, at the end of the chain that he was holding was a sickle.

Ma-Ra also reached the peak of her trajectory, and she was holding the other end of the chain, which had a solid steel meteor hammer. As she overlooked the Murderous Wind Battalion from above, she curled into a ball, then lashed out like a spring.

Thwip, thwip, thwip!

Like dandelion seeds exploding from the stalk, countless hidden weapons flew in all directions.

“Aaaahhh!”

“Ugh!”

Screams erupted in unison, just in time for her to use Thousand-Catty Ballast and drop down in the middle of the troops at a speed that made even her unable to see where she was going. At the same time, she pulled hard on the chain, and the sickle on the other end whipped back toward her.

WOOSH!

As her fiercely spinning scythe passed through the crowd, disembodied heads rose into the air, and arms, legs, and even torsos fell to the ground.

However, her attack didn’t end there.

The moment she caught the scythe, about sixty Murderous Wind Battalion members were trapped within the loop formed by the chain.

“Huh?”

They were startled for a moment, and then the chain suddenly tightened around them.

Those along the scythe’s trajectory were chopped to pieces, while those caught in the chain loop were crushed, unable to handle the strength of an Absolute Master.

As one of the dying Murderous Wind Battalion members looked around in despair, he saw a massive cluster of golden sword aura flying across the ground toward his other comrades.

‘Damn... it...’

The last thing he saw as he died was his fellow battalion members disintegrating under the sword aura.

It would only be natural for anyone to be terrified by this point. However, as horse bandits that had reigned with terror over many years, and who were among the ranks of Martial Heaven to boot, the members of the Murderous Wind Battalion refused to give up and fought until the end.

Of course, the end was when they all died.

Eclipse Slayer Gam Ak, who was fighting Eun-Ah, was also distracted when the Great Darkness Palace Master died. That single opening led to a series of unfortunate events, and he eventually got his head split into three by Eun-Ah’s claws.

Things were now going according to plan.

Even if Woo-Moon’s opponent was an Absolute Master, it didn’t make a difference. It would be difficult for anyone on the wrong side of the Absolute Wall to do anything to him; even though Woo-Moon had suffered internal injuries, there was no one around who could even remotely put up a fight.

“Woohoo!!

Although they were utterly shocked by Ma-Ra and Woo-Moon’s incredible power, the joy that came with an overwhelming victory soon took precedence over their emotions as Woo-Moon’s allies, including the Baek Invincible Forged Squadron, let out a roar.

“Although we’ve handled this side, it’s... still too early for us to rest.”

There were two Paragons from Martial Heaven stationed with the Cruel Sandstorm Riders: the Great Darkness Palace Master and the Great Evil Palace Master. The former had just died, while the latter had suffered internal injuries at Woo-Moon’s hands.

Still, the Great Evil Palace Master should have healed his internal injuries by now. With that in mind, they still had to focus.

‘It would be a relief if they were successful in keeping the Great Evil Palace Master occupied. But, if they couldn’t...’

***

After finally treating his internal injuries, the Great Evil Palace Master stood up, feeling very irritated.

‘To think I would lose against some puppy rascal...!’

Then, right as he was about to chase after Woo-Moon, the Great Evil Palace Master sensed a group of people approaching the Cruel Sandstorm Riders' base.

“How dare these bastards?!”

The Great Evil Palace Master stood up and floated in the air like a ghost, heading toward the new group of pesky intruders.

***

The Kunlun Sect disciples became worried when their Sect Master, Na Ban, and his companions never arrived at the agreed-upon meeting point, no matter how long they waited.

“What’s going on? Senior brother is way too late.”

“Do you think something happened?”

“Don’t say such ominous things, junior brother! Still, this is a big problem. It’s almost time for us to take action...”

“Don’t you think it would be a problem if the plan is ruined because of our sect? Let’s go forward on our own for now. Senior brother isn’t lazy. He’s most likely hiding somewhere and laughing at us.”

The first generation disciples of Kunlun joked around to lighten the mood as they marched toward the encampment of the Cruel Sandstorm Riders.

A few minutes later, however, they witnessed a startling sight.

“Hmph. What a coincidence! You Kunlun Sect beggars came at the perfect time.”

An old man with a white beard floated in the air. The moment they saw the Great Evil Palace Master, the Kunlun Sect disciples were shocked.

“I-is he floating in the air? He’s using Void-Conquering Path!”

“Is he an Absolute Master? No, not even an Absolute Master can stay standing in the air that long. That’s not possible! How is he doing that?!”

As the murmur among the disciples grew louder, one of the first generation disciples shouted, “Stop panicking, you morons! It’s most likely some heretical art. There’s no need for you to be scared!”

Then, the Great Evil Palace Master's eyes sparkled and shined.

“A heretical art? Hehe, so it seems the musty garbage of the Righteous Faction hasn’t changed much.”

The Great Evil Palace Master stretched out a finger, and a ray of orange lightning flew toward the first generation disciple who had just been comforting his fellow disciples.

‘...!’

The bolt of finger qi was so fast that they could only barely see it. As for the man being targeted, it was as if his body was frozen. The first generation disciple of the Kunlun Sect, Na Woon, could only wait for death to come with his eyes wide open.

“Come to your senses, you dumbass!”

With a roar, an old master with a charming white beard that was not inferior in any way to the Great Evil Palace Master’s rushed forward like a gust of wind and stretched out a palm to block the finger qi.

‘Ugh!’

Jin Won-Myeong blocked the finger qi, but he was forced to take eleven steps backward as a thin stream of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

“Oho, are you an Absolute Master? Hmm, to think the Kunlun Sect has an Absolute Master now! You’re pretty impressive.”

Wiping the blood with his sleeve, Jin Won-Myeong stood in front of his disciples.

“You psychopath from Martial Heaven! I cannot just sit idly by and let you harm my disciples.”

The Great Evil Palace Master chuckled.

“Is there really anyone in the world who isn’t crazy? Now, let’s see if you’re skilled enough to boast like that in front of me.”

As if he was messing about, the Great Evil Palace Master stretched out his fingers as finger aura simultaneously erupted from all ten fingertips and rushed toward Jin Won-Myeong.

“Of course, I won’t be able to stop you alone!” Jin Won-Myeong shouted, unleashing the Almighty Unrestrained Hand, letting loose a cluster of palm force as big as his body.

At the same time, three figures seemed to stretch out from behind him and land on either side of him, each holding their own weapons: a saber, a greatsword, and a flying sword.

Clang!!!

An explosion erupted with a grating sound as the Great Evil Palace Master once again expressed his admiration.

“Oho, what do you know! The three dogs of the Imperial Palace! Who would’ve thought!”

Aiding Jin Won-Myeong were the Saber Emperor, the Battle Emperor, and Formless Flying Sword.

“The Emperor shall not allow scum like you to undermine the country!” the Saber Emperor yelled.

“Kekeke! Big words for a small man. Whether it’s one piece of trash or four, what difference do you think it makes?”

The moment the Great Evil Palace Master taunted them, an ice spear quickly pierced through the air.

Although the attack was impressive, lacking neither power nor speed in any way, the Frigid Yin Palm that had been transformed into an ice spear evaporated like a mirage when it met the invisible aura in front of the Great Evil Palace Master.

Next, an eye-poppingly beautiful woman stepped on the shoulders of the Kunlun Sect disciples and ran over to stand next to Jin Won-Myeong and the three Absolute Masters of the imperial court.

“How about five, dog of Martial Heaven?”

“Ahahahaha! Alright, so now we have four pieces of trash and one frigid bitch. Well, whatever. Might as well entertain you, since you came all this way.”

The Great Evil Palace Master slowly descended from the air with a confident expression.

The five Absolute Masters opposing him exchanged glances with each other. Then, they spread out, surrounding the Great Evil Palace Master.

As if signaling the start of the battle, the Battle Emperor struck the ground with his greatsword as they all rushed toward their foe.

Normally, people like them, who stood at the very peak of the murim, would have disdained joining hands to face a single opponent. Five Absolute Masters fighting as a team was not a sight that anyone alive in the gangho had ever witnessed.

However, right now, they had no such qualms. They could all sense the strength of the Great Evil Palace Master, an overwhelming force that made them feel as though they were facing a massive mountain.

A variety of auras emitted from various weapons shot toward the Great Evil Palace Master.

In response, the Great Evil Palace Master just spread out all ten of his fingers.

Screech! Screeeeeeech!!!

“Ten Heaven-Fearing Swords.”

A blade of sword aura as large as the Battle Emperor’s greatsword emerged from each of the Great Evil Palace Master’s fingertips.

Each blade wasn’t lacking in any way compared to the auras emitted by the five Absolute Masters. If anything, they were actually more powerful.

The Great Evil Palace Master moved his fingers as if playing a zither, launching the ten swords in all directions.

Clang, clang, clang!