Without any remorse, Yoo Ho-jeong raised his feet and shot forward again towards Wijihoyeon.
At the age of twenty-three, her actions as the Minor Heavenly Demon for the past five years were nothing short of phenomenal. She had broken down and crippled the North’sBloody Heavenly Demon and his followers,bringing defeat and death to the countless people who challenged her.
As a matter of fact, it was true that Wijihoyeon wasn’t enough in many ways to be called a Heavenly Demon. She didn’t commit any heinous crimes, nor did she commit any obvious misdeeds.
Nevertheless, Wijihoyeon had come under the eye of Ironclad because she called herself the Minor Heavenly Demon.
He was defeated in a fierce battle against the Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was active in the North.
Wijihoyeon was too strong. She was already too strong as the inheritor to the title of the Heavenly Demon who was already on the verge of transcendence, and everyone was openly talking about it. Among the gatekeepers and elders who had performed admirable service for decades, The Heavenly Demon was one of the few who has crossed the threshold of transcendence.
Many fighters didn’t even come close to the realm of transcendence. Those who did not even reach peak level were rather average in this wide world of Eria. Even where people came from different levels every day, reaching transcendence was for the true masters.
Wijihoyeon may not act like a Demon but, now that she called herself the Minor Heavenly Demon, it became an issue. If she was already in her transcendental state, who in the world could stop her?
So he had to kill her here. He didn’t know how she had gotten so weak, but it was a chance for someone like him who believed himself to have unwavering, raw talent. There was no justification needed for him.
He was a talent among the ages in the righteous faction of the Murim. In fact, none of the bystanders that gathered, blamed nor condemned Yoo Ho-jeong and rather took his side. They were lucky to see this fight.
Their approving gazes gave Yoo Ho-jeong strength. Wijihoyeon no longer had any strength to resist. She could only see him approaching and had a confused look on her face. She has been enduring all this time withthe numerous black stones and elixirsshe got from the dungeons, but it was the limit.
‘What are you waiting for?’
It had already been a while past noon, so maybe he already left.
Though it doesn’t matter anyway. Wijihoyeon had seen and experienced the death of her own master.
Ten years… She lived without the fear of death while roaming Eria. However, her sudden disposition and thought of her own death made her feel strange. She couldn’t calm down. Wijihoyeon put up a faint smile.
She had never run away in all her life. She didn’t even want to beg for her life. Wijihoyeon was prepared to die. She readily closed her eyes, and listened to the thumping of Ironclad’s heavy footsteps moving towards her.
After a short while, the sound stopped. A gust of wind suddenly brushed in front of her. Wijihoyeon opened her eyes, looked up and saw Lee Sungmin’s back.
Then a thought suddenly struck her. She had never seen his back. In every situation, the one in front was always Wijihoyeon, and it was Lee Sungmin who followed her from behind, just like when she saw him at the dungeon a year ago.
Wijihoyeon was always the one to lead, and it was Lee Sungmin who would chase after her. But now, he had finally come to see her. He had his back to Wijihoyeon and stood to protect her. She felt that his back was quite wide.
“…Lee Sungmin?”
“Ghost Gun!”
Wijihoyeon called out to Lee Sungmin in a weak voice, and Yoo Ho-jeong shouted Lee Sungmin’s alias with his angry voice.
Yoo Ho-jeong stopped walking towards them. He glared at the man who stood in the way.
“What are you doing right now?! Did you not see the situation? Or is there a relationship between you two?”
Lee Sungmin did not answer. What about it?
He stared at Yoo Ho-jeong and felt the presence of Wijihoyeon collapsing and barely breathing behind his back. She is extremely weak right now. He didn’t know what was going on with her. Wijihoyeon was so weak that her strength right now wasn’t even comparable to when he met her at the dungeon a year ago.
“…what are you trying to do?”
Lee Sungmin did not look to Wijihoyeon. For the moment, he had to do something about Yoo
Ho-jeong, who was right in front of him. Yoo Hojeong shouted, and it was obvious to that he was frustrated and completely angry.
“You’re going to get us both killed!”
“…are you saying that Wijihoyeon is a demon?”
“Who else in here besides that bitch?”
Yoo Ho-jeong was livid. He had enough.
Lee Sungmin heard enough of the conversations in the dungeon a year ago. He didn’t want to get involved in such things as political factions and religion sects, but Wijiihoyeon was seen by the Murim as a demon. Between the political factions and religious sects, those who came from the Murim Faction felt disgusting right now, but Lee Sungmin did not want to blame himself.
“Will you kill Wijihoyeon?”
“You have to kill her while you still can! Ten years, no, maybe five! Five years later, that monster won’t be able to be stopped by anyone in the world. Merits? Monsters? It is meaningless in the face of transcendent level practitioners!”, Yoo Ho-jeong shouted.
After hearing that, Lee Sungmin turned his head from Yoo Ho-jeong. Wijihoyeon was looking at Lee Sungmin with her mouth half open. After a year of not seeing him, his face hadn’t changed much. However, Wijihoyeon was not sure if Lee Sungmin, who was staring at her, was really Lee Sungmin.
“…Is it you?”, asked Wijihoyeon
“It’s me.”. He nodded.
She thought that it didn’t hurt to have a meeting like this.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve gotten better at lying.”
After hearing Lee Sungmin’s response, Wijihoyeon bursts into laughter. Lee Sungmin turned around and approached Yoo Ho-Jeong.
Badump ! The ground shook with a loud noise. Yoo Ho-jeong struck his lance that he was holding to the ground.
“Why are you protecting the Minor Heavenly Demon?!”
Yoo Ho-jeong roused up his internal energy.
“I will fight you as a member of the Orthodox Faction, not as an outstanding junior, but as a demon, who sides with demons.”
“Then do so.”
Lee Sungmin answered in a low voice. Yoo Ho-jeong shook his shoulders at the answer.
“You stupid…”
With Lee Sungmin’s response, Yoo Ho-jeong no longer wanted to talk to Lee Sungmin. Then with speed Yoo Ho-jeong, wrapped his internal energy around his armor and body, then ran with unimaginably fast. He thrusted his charge with his huge lance.
They say that even if you don’t ride a horse, you will have more power than a horse if you work hard and dedicate yourself.
Lee Sungmin turned his body and grabbed the spear he was carrying behind his back. A loud noise shook the air. The spear wielded by Lee Sungmin and Yoo Ho-jeong’s lance collided head-on.
Yoo Ho-jeong was shocked that his lance, which spread out in a straight line, had been pushed aside.
“Urgh!”
With such groans, Yoo Ho-jeong drew up his energy without hesitation. He wasn’t the type to underestimate his opponents. He had already figured out that Lee Sungmin was not an easy opponent even from last night, but he didn’t expect that they would fight like this today.
“Go and get some rest.”
Lee Sungmin told Wijihoyeon and prepared a makeshift bed. A vastly expanded harness wrapped her whole body.
The clash just before was caused by Yoo Ho-jeong, who rushed and charged at him. Lee Sungmin redirected Yoo Hojeong’s attack by swinging his spear. However, that did not mean that Lee Sungmin was better than Yoo Ho-jeong.
“…Haste.”, muttered Yoo Ho-jeong, opening his mouth.
Lee Sungmin’s eyebrows flinched at the words spoken. Yoo Ho-jeong’s armor shone and he continued to mutter his lips as he examined Lee Sungmin’s behavior. Yoo Ho-jeong’s words were activating magic, and each second that went by the light on the armor changed.
Yoo Ho-jeong’s armor isn’t just for any common martial artist. Various techniques as well as using supplementary, auxiliary magic were needed if he wanted to stop Lee Sungmin’s movement.
It wasn’t just the armor. The lance Yoo Ho-jeong held shone brightly. Lee Sungmin rushed towards him without looking at his surroundings. He wasn’t the kind of person who was calm in every situation he was in. Yoo Ho-jeong was a well-known member of the Murim Faction, and he was using magic while fighting an expert.
Clash ! There were sounds of weapons crashing against each other. The sound of the explosion was as loud and there were sparks flying from the edge of the weapons blades. But, Yoo Ho-jeong did not budge a bit.
And with that, Lee Sungmin put more power to both hands as Yoo Ho-jeong swung his lance. The huge lance came out at an incredibly fast speed for its size. Lee Sungmin twirled his spear. Clang ! The spear made a half circle trajectory and collided with the lance.
Lee Sungmin’s spear technique was different from any other opponent Yoo Ho-jeong had experienced. Yoo Ho-jeong made a short stride, reducing the movement of his shoulders and arms as much as possible, and abruptly changed the lance’s direction to stab at Sungmin. Lee Sungmin leaned his upper body back and gripped the spear tightly with his right hand. He wielded the spear widely and swiftly to prevent Yoo Ho-jeong’s attack.
It was at that moment.
“Explode.”, Yoo Ho-jeong muttered in a low voice.
An explosion occurred at the point of the collision. The explosion wasn’t powerful, but it was enough to shake up Lee Sungmin. Yoo Ho-jeong boldly extended his foot toward Lee Sungmin, who stumbled back from the explosion. Yoo Ho-jeong, who had readied his stance, approached and strengthened his grip to stab towards Lee Sungmin.
Lee Sungmin clicked his tongue and used his footwork technique. ‘One Thunder.’
Swish ! The afterimage of Lee Sungmin was pierced by the lance, and the spear of Lee Sungmin, who moved to the side, unfolded.
Quad-deuk! A quick stab pointed towards Yoo Ho-jeong and almost came in contact with him, but it didn’t affect him too much. The level of firmness in the strike was nullified because of the explosive force of the lance and armor, as well as the defense magic.
He shouldn’t drag on time, Lee Sungmin thought. Yoo Ho-jeong is the only one here right now, but if he drag this on, other faction members might come. That would only make things worse.
If his heart, mind and body had been in disarray like before in the battle with Baek Museon, Lee Sungmin would not be faring as well right now. But, that was a few months ago.
Without getting agitated, Lee Sungmin pulled back his spear and turned his back in one smooth movement.
Suddenly, images of dozens of spears that were fired and collided with Yoo Ho-jeong’s lance one after another. Yoo Hojeong’s overall speed was slower than Lee Sungmin’s, but his reaction speed was not, as he stabbed his lance with minimal movement and changed Lee’s trajectory bit by bit to avoid the attacks.
As soon as Lee Sungmin charged forward with his spear, he raised his weapon and drew it upwards. Yoo Hojeong let go of his hand holding lance and raised his arm to defend himself. Then as if he had waited, Lee Sungmin suddenly let go of the spear.
Seeing Lee Sungmin Chargin with his bare hands, Yoo Hojeong felt humiliated and confused.
“What the…”
Lee Sungmin’s hand shot forward and grabbed Yoo Hojeong’s arm. Meanwhile, Yoo Hojeong tried to swing the lance but the latter was faster. Although Yoo Ho-jeong’s armor was thick and the defense magic was applied, Lee Sungmin’s hand was wrapped in a hazy, bloody red mist and the power exuded from his hands exploded violently. ‘Blood Ring Smithereens’
As the armor crumbled, Yoo Hojeong’s arm was twisted. Yoo Ho-jeong gave out a short scream. Clang ! The heavy lance fell to the ground.
But, Yoo Ho-jeong is not over yet. He let out a grunt and moved his other hand, that is still intact, and tried to strike Lee Sungmin in the face. Lee Sungmin moved his upper body to the side and avoided the attack and accordingly moved backwards a bit. The clumsy, close-up infighting worked well, but honestly, Lee Sungmin was not very confident in hand-to-hand combat. When Lee Sungmin unfolded his hands and opened his palm outwards, the spear thatwas behind him flew towards him and he grabbedit. He had been able to manipulate the spear mid-air a long time ago but he just didn’t reveal it.
As Lee Sungmin stretched his foot forward, he swung his arm holding the back end of the spear. A line of blows followed and landed on Yoo Ho-jeong’s chest. Immediately, he turned the end of the spear half a turn and hit Yoo Hojeong’s foot with the bladed part. But, Ho-jeong didn’t scream.
He was all about bulk, armor, and defense magic. Lee Sungmin realized, and twisted the blade to the side. Then, he pulled his hand and tilted the spear toward him.
“Ugh!”
Yoo Ho-jeong sounded surprised. The spear, which came through, hit Yoo Ho-jeong in the groin area. It hurt an unimaginable amount, but he was more surprised that he struck out such a place.
As Yoo Ho-jeong staggered and tried to pull out his foot, Lee Sungmin lowered his posture and withdrew the spear. A long line of blood caught on Yoo Hojeong’s right leg. As Lee Sungmin pulled the spear hard with force, Yoo Hojeong frowned at his hips, unable to keep his balance.
Lee Sungmin glanced at Yoo Ho-jeong and turned around.
“…what are you doing?”, Yoo Ho-jeong shouted. “Why didn’t you kill me! Do I look pathetic to you?!”
“You didn’t try to kill me either.”, Lee Sungmin answered.
Yoo Ho-jeong was speechless at the remark. Yoo Ho-jeong did not attack with killing intent, even though he said he would kill Wijihoyeon. Yoo Ho-jeong’s attack was all aimed at suppressing Lee Sungmin, not to kill him.
“I don’t like murder very much.”
It was true. If Yoo Ho-jeong had tried to kill Lee Sungmin, Lee Sungmin would have killed Yoo Ho-jeong. However, he hadn’t tried to kill Lee Sungmin. It was only because it was him.
Why did he try to kill Wijiihoyeon? He didn’t want to think about it. Yoo Ho-jeong and the Minor Heavenly Demon Wijihoyeon, were both members of their respective political factions in the Murim Alliance. He didn’t even want to argue about that point.
“…just because you didn’t kill me… Your actions are not justified.”
Yoo Ho-jeong spat out words of venom at Lee Sungmin, who turned his back on him.
“If you protect the Minor Heavenly Demon and take her away, that means you chose to turn the Murim Faction as your enemy! Do you know what that means? TheKingdom of Crohnis close…! Everyone here has seen your actions. Now that the Minor Demon is weakened, the Murim will organize a team of absolute monsters to catch her. If you protect the Minor Heavenly Demon… And you’re the one who’s been…”
“Then let it happen.” Lee Sungmin answered.
“If you don’t kill her yourself, you’ll get killed by a squadron. If I kill you, I’ll just get a scolding at most. But, if I kill her I will be regarded as a hero.”
“The hypocrisy…”
Lee Sungmin didn’t answer Yoo Hojeong’s distorted pleads. He approached Wijihoyeon’s side, who is getting looks of the spectators.
“Let’s go.”
Lee Sungmin reached his hand out to Wijihoyeon. Wijihoyeon, who had been sitting down, looked up at Lee Sungmin in a daze.
“…yes.”
Wijihoyeon reached out and took his hand.