Chapter 328: Subjugation (3)
A murderous aura, sharp enough to pierce, erupted from the tip of Ak Cheon-ho’s spear.
“Are you joking with me right now? Or do you really see me as that much of a fool?”
“I’m completely serious. And besides….”
I narrowed my eyes as I continued.
“I said I wouldn’t move my legs, not that I wouldn’t resist at all.”
“……!”
“Go ahead, try to pierce me.”
Creak!
Ak Cheon-ho twisted his lips into a crooked grin.
“Gladly. I’ll make you pay for that arrogance.”
And just like that, my first challenger had been decided.
“I am Ak Cheon-ho of the Ak Clan! I am the first challenger standing against Jin Yeomyung, the Demonic Faction Lord nominee!”
“Uwoooaaahhh!!”
The moment Ak Cheon-ho shouted boldly, countless cult members erupted in response.
He put some distance between us and readied his stance.
“Don’t you dare regret this later!”
In an instant, the energy flowing from his spear began to cover his entire body.
“Oh? Spear-Body Unification?”
Many seated on the upper seats, recognizing his state, clicked their tongues.
He showed no hesitation as he focused all his strength into the tip of the spear.
From spear aura to spear force, and beyond… a round ring began to form at the spear’s tip.
“Spear Ring!”
The spectators watching the situation turned pale with shock.
Forming a ring was something achievable only by those who had reached at least Peak Master Level!
Even those whose arm tendons had been severed by Ak Cheon-ho stood blankly, staring at the spear ring he had formed.
Even getting close to that would have shredded an ordinary person to pieces.
“Uh… doesn’t that seem a little dangerous?”
Saber Demon frowned deeply.
No matter how you looked at it, unless you had the defense of the King of Asura, receiving that head-on with open arms was practically suicide.
“Die, Jin Yeomyung!!”
With furious energy, Ak Cheon-ho thrust his spear.
Ak Clan Spear Technique
Piercing the Heavens with a Single Strike
Sharpness? Precision?
There was none of that.
It was simply a thrust powered by overwhelming force, aimed at skewering an immobile target!
With terrifying rotational force, Ak Cheon-ho’s strike landed squarely on my abdomen.
And then—
Kwaaaang!
A massive explosion erupted.
My body was blasted far away, crashing into the inner hall of the Cheon Clan.
“……Huh?”
“……What?”
It took only a few seconds for the blazing heat to dissipate.
Everyone blinked in unison.
One of the spectators, who had been watching closely, muttered absentmindedly.
“Did… did he die?”
Many silently agreed in their hearts.
“Hahaha….”
Ilro let out an incredulous laugh as he stared beyond the ruined inner hall wall.
While everyone was laughing—
Ak Cheon-ho, who had just delivered the strike, was gritting his teeth, cold sweat running down his face.
He shouted toward the cloud of dust rising from the debris.
“You bastard! Stop playing dead and come out already! I know very well there was no feedback in that strike!”
“Hmm….”
I awkwardly stood up from the wreckage.
‘That was stronger than I expected. Is this what they mean by "still formidable even when rotting"?’
I had thought that by fully utilizing the Power of the Asura God, I could withstand whatever a Peak Master Level opponent threw at me without a scratch.
While it was true that I had no wounds, my plan to stand firm like an unyielding mountain had been shattered right from the start.
“He, he’s alive!”
“And it doesn’t look like he’s even injured!”
As they said, while the clothes I had worn so deliberately had a gaping hole torn through them, the abdominal muscles that had taken the direct hit from the spear force were perfectly unharmed, not even a scratch on them.
Ak Cheon-ho frowned as he readied his stance again.
“You damn monster.”
“That seemed like your best move just now. Are you really planning to keep going?”
“Of course. I haven’t shown you everything I’ve got yet.”
I grinned broadly at the one who was still burning with fighting spirit.
“Good. Originally, I planned to just take everything you had until you gave up… but I’ve changed my mind.”
I had wanted to put on a show where no matter what they tried, they couldn’t even scratch me before collapsing in despair.
But with that kind of passion, it felt only right to meet him head-on.
“I’ll match your level. Come at me.”
“Hmph! What an arrogant bastard you are!”
Ak Cheon-ho lowered his level from spear force to just spear aura.
“What… what is he doing?”
“Did he give up the match?”
Those who lacked insight muttered as they watched Ak Cheon-ho’s behavior.
However, true experts observed him with approval.
“Wise move.”
“Looks like that Jin Clan boy has mastered the Power of the Asura God. Breaking through an invincible shield doesn’t require brute force alone.”
“Extreme sharpness, honed to the limit. If there’s any chance at all, it lies in that direction.”
The top experts sitting in the upper seats evaluated the duel sharply.
“But it doesn’t seem like the opponent intends to just sit back and take it either.”
As if to confirm that—
“Cluck cluck, if things start like this, I doubt the challenger will last three days.”
Several nodded in agreement.
Seeing a Peak Master Level fighter showing this kind of performance right from the start would make even the bravest hesitate to step forward.
At that moment, Saber Demon muttered quietly.
“He’ll probably manage it.”
“Why are you so sure?”
Thunder Commander Sa Myeongnin asked Saber Demon.
“The more dramatic and flashy a performance on this stage, the more firmly his position in the Cult will be secured.”
“Dramatic and flashy, huh….”
“That guy is a born performer. Ah, don’t take that the wrong way, I mean it in a positive sense.”
Saber Demon waved his hand toward Jin Gun-ak, who was now seated at the upper seat.
“It’s just like when he charged into the Pa Clan. That guy thoroughly trained his swordplay and captivated the hearts of the martial artists from the main family who had been watching his fight with Yeong-yi.”
“Indeed, you’re not wrong about that.”
“Just watch closely. There will be plenty to see from now on.”
Shaaak!
Ak Cheon-ho’s spear shifted unpredictably, dazzling the eye.
They say all spear techniques ultimately come down to Lan (攔), Na (拿), and Zha (扎).
Simply put, push, pull, and thrust.
But since thrusting had already failed, the only thing Ak Cheon-ho could do now was to use the spear tip to slash.
Whether vertical or horizontal, his next strike would come flying toward me to slice my skin.
‘Let’s see how he responds if I block his form entirely.’
I boldly stepped into his range and swung my sword.
Kagagakang!
In an instant, a spectacular melee broke out.
The arcs of the sword and spear intertwined brilliantly, with black and blue energies bursting forth.
“Uwaaaah!!”
“Tiger versus Dragon! It’s Tiger versus Dragon!”
The audience erupted in cheers at the sight.
To them, the intense exchange of sword and spear, where neither side seemed to yield, must have seemed like a perfectly balanced clash.
However, our duel wasn’t nearly as evenly matched as it appeared on the surface.
“Ugh!”
As his techniques were blocked one after another, Ak Cheon-ho grit his teeth and shifted the flow of his spear.
But I read every change and stayed right on him.
“…Damn it!”
He cursed, yet stubbornly stuck to the initial variation he had chosen.
If this had been a fight to the death, he might have changed his approach, but he seemed determined to see it through without recycling failed tactics.
A wise decision.
If he carried this through to the end, he would surely gain something from it.
‘Good thing. If you hadn’t joined the Cult, I would’ve had to kill you for sure.’
Without attempting another thrust, Ak Cheon-ho used his spear more like a staff.
And as a result—
Kagang!
With all his techniques blocked, Ak Cheon-ho could no longer hold his ground and was forced back.
“Huff! Huff! Haaah!”
He dropped to one knee, dripping sweat from every pore.
I stood in front of him and spoke.
“If you had tried changing your style halfway through, it would’ve ended much sooner.”
By pushing only with Lan and Na, he had managed to put up this much of a fight despite the difference in skill.
Ak Cheon-ho let out a long sigh, still drenched in sweat.
“You bastard.”
“Come back when you’ve improved.”
Thud!
I kicked him straight off the sparring stage.
Yang So-byeong, who had been watching from the edge, clicked his tongue and dragged away Ak Cheon-ho’s unconscious body.
Then, I turned to the group of challengers and grinned.
“Next?”
From the place where the challengers had gathered, Seolbaek, who had been silently suppressing his presence, spoke up.
“He’s no joke. We might have trouble dealing with him head-on.”
The elder’s disciple who had just fought had already been a heavy burden to face in a one-on-one match.
And since he had crushed such a skilled opponent directly, an assassination seemed nearly impossible on this stage.
“Well, we planned on assassination anyway….”
Seolbaek clicked his tongue and muttered toward his side.
“Gwanggeun, how long are you going to stay shriveled up? This isn’t like you.”
“…….”
Ever since he had been defeated by that So Cheon guy the day before, Gwanggeun had been visibly intimidated.
“We’ll time it right. After Akho goes up, he’ll administer ‘that poison’ that the Lord gave us. That’ll be the end of it. Even if that guy from yesterday shows up again, we’ll still kill Jin Yeomyung.”
Gwanggeun finally opened his mouth after a long silence.
“That’s how it’ll go… if everything plays out perfectly.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve got a bad feeling. Maybe… what we see isn’t all there is.”
“What?”
“Maybe we should just retreat… damn it.”
Gwanggeun never finished his sentence but instead let out a string of curses.
Because Akho had already started walking slowly toward the sparring stage.
Groans of pain echoed around us.
But those sounds couldn’t pierce through the overwhelming cheers roaring from outside.
Three hours had passed since the matches began.
Around thirty challengers were lying sprawled across the stage, unconscious.
“Ugh… ugh!”
“Guuhhh!”
It wasn’t like I had crushed them overwhelmingly.
I had matched my level to theirs, conserving energy while dealing with them moderately. Yet, to the challengers, it must have felt like they were facing an insurmountable wall.
Up until now, it had only taken a few seconds before the next challenger stepped up. But by this point, their morale had clearly taken a hit.
For over a minute, no one appeared.
Then, a young man in a baggy green robe slowly stepped onto the stage.
He had a calm air about him, completely different from the others so far.
Staring straight at me, he confidently declared his name.
“I am Tang Akho.”
“…The Tang Clan?”
“I am the reaper who will take your life today.”
According to So Cheon, one of the attackers from the other night had used concealed weapons….
“How interesting. Are you from the Heaven-Defying Society?”
The corner of Tang Akho’s eye twitched. Even though he had proudly declared his clan name, it wasn’t something he could outright confirm.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”
I drew the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword and let out a chilling killing intent.
Why they were trying to assassinate me at this point—
Frankly, it seemed far too sloppy to be part of the Grand Heavenly Lord’s plan.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
“You’ll die here. I don’t care about the others, but you lot… I won’t let you go.”
It wasn’t just killing intent.
Sword Intent filled with killing will pounded against Tang Akho’s entire body.
Though his insides must have felt like they were twisting apart, he grit his teeth and shouted.
“No! The one who dies… is you!”
Tang Akho pulled a small white porcelain bottle from his sleeve.
My instincts immediately read the character etched on it.
천살 (Heaven-Slaying)
“……!”
The moment I registered the meaning of that character in my head—
Shaaak!
…Tang Akho’s head flew through the air.