The surviving Wizards and Tower Masters were not at all frightened by the threat from Murong Dae and the other warriors behind him.
Even though they had suffered significant damage from the subjugation, they were active combatant wizards that were in active service and were some of the brightest minds in their respective fields.
Furthermore, they had been openly disregarded and even attacked by them. They had no reason to back down now.
As soon as Murong Dae tried to swing the sword again, Lloyd immediately moved his hands and mouth as he cast a spell.
Gold Magic was not as focused on firepower like Red Magic, but it was extremely swift and unparalleled in efficiency.
Clang Cling!
A current of golden chains popped out from the ground and wrapped around Murong Dae’s body.
Although Murong Dae swung the sword, Lloyd’s spell wrapped around Murong Dae’s limbs and even tried to penetrate through his defensive barrier of internal energy wrapped around his body.
Currrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The golden chains and sword of Murong Dae collided and shook violently. Murong Dae’s internal energy barrier clashed with the chains as he broke free.
As he did this, The arms of the Green Tower Master stretched out. Murong Dae did not hold back and drew hundreds of trajectories with his sword at the Green Tower Master’s arms, shredding his flesh apart.
Shik- shik- shik-
Looking at his own blood, flesh and bones become shredded into several pieces, the Green Tower Master merely smiled.
The scattered flesh, bone, and blood started to wriggle mid-air.
Dozens of green vines suddenly sprouted from the bits and pieces of the Green Tower Master’s flesh as they quickly shot out towards Murong Dae. Murong Dae, shocked, swung his sword to try and avoid the countless green vines that had sprouted and were chasing after him.
Starting with the bones and then the arteries and capillaries, the Green Tower Master’s arms regenerated like they had never been cut off in the first place.
The Green Tower Master then, with his newly regenerated arms and hands, started to swiftly move them as he drew a magic circle towards Murong Dae who was busy clashing with the vines.
Bwoosh!
The green vines started to swell and then split open like a flower. The flowers were filled with lines of teeth, and they opened wide as they targeted the multiple martial artists behind Murong Dae.
Meanwhile, the White Magic Tower Master also prepared several magic spells in the meantime. A tall, white and ethereal staff appeared in his hand, seemingly formed out of light, as his spell shone and the other injured wizards as well as remaining mercenaries were healed.
It was a spell that revitalized the mind and body of those around him in a wide area buff.
In addition, several auxiliary buff magics were cast in wide-range, strengthening them even further and adding to their speed as well as stamina.
Scarlett was still in shock. Neither her, nor Lee Sungmin even, would believe their eyes right now. Lee Sungmin was not there and could not see it for himself yet, but who would have expected the Wizard Guild and other Tower Masters to come forth like they had, and protect her? The Green Tower Master was the first one to do so after Lloyd as well!
[Are you sure you’re alright with this?]Scarlett asked Lloyd via telepathy.
[What do you mean?]
Lloyd was slowly starting to build his mana up in waves as he was condensing his spell to work more efficiently.
He raised his index finger and roused his mana instead of directly answering.
A bright light formed at the tip of his fingers and shot out past Scarlett’s head.
Splatt!
One of the Murim Alliance warriors was hit by the beam of light and had his head burst like a watermelon.
[Are you really going to go with a bunch of people who harass you like that?]
Lloyd asked again. Scarlett looked at him with a complicated look and bit her lip.
Scarlett decided not to just stand there blankly. Slipping on her combat gloves, Scarlett started to rouse her mana.
[The odds are against the Murim Alliance and Murong Dae. No matter how skilled of a martial artist he is, we have an overwhelming advantage in power. I don’t know why he blatantly picked a fight with us like this. It seems odd.]
Lloyd questioned the rationale behind Murong Dae’s actions. The Tower Masters were no easy opponents. He could probably fight one Tower Master to a standstill and maybe even win, but there was no way he could possibly fight against three of them at the same time.
[What’s the point of all this?]
Vengeance? That would be enough to surely enrage someone and cloud their judgment. But, to start a fight with the Wizard Guild and become enemies with them? It was too rash.
Well, it seemed plausible since Murong Dae was not acting on behalf of the Murim Alliance. At least that was what it seemed to be; Lloyd couldn’t be sure.
There was no evidence.
Murong Dae was desperate. Murong Seojin, who had died, was his daughter, and was a rather docile girl. She wouldn’t even hurt a fly unless she had to.
Yet, his daughter had been forcibly married off to a man who did not love her, and had died in the Forest of Temptation, where nobody could even retrieve her body.
After hearing everything that was told and passed as news about the incident, Murong Dae had felt depressed and then rage. He started to have his inner demons claw at his heart.
He had turned bitter and rash, only focusing on trying to satisfy his rage.
Even when the Murong Family warriors and the forces of the Murim Alliance he was commanding temporarily died around him, he didn’t stop swinging his sword.
He was truly a resilient warrior who had reached the wall of Transcendence. After cutting through the Green Tower Master’s vines and other spells, did he charge directly at Lloyd as he forced Lloyd to blink away and activate a barrier spell.
Murong Dae quickly gave up Lloyd as his target and stared at Scarlett with bloodthirsty eyes.
“Crazy bastard!”
Murong Dae rushed toward Scarlett as she shouted at him. Scarlett started to murmur and move her hands for an incantation.
Suddenly her finger flipped up into the air and a red coating of mana covered her fingertip.
Bang!
A brilliant and dark red flame, burst out of her fingertip and hit Murong Dae head on.
“Stop this farce!”
Scarlett shouted at Murong Dae once more with an annoyed look on her face. Her flames were not enough to harm him terribly, but it did block him off from chasing after her.
Murong Dae’s body movements, blinded with rage, were absolutely pathetic and easy to read.
Scarlett spread her distance from Murong Dae by controlling the spell’s firepower in moderation. As the fire weakened, the Murong Dae shouted and beat at the flames with his sword. As she moved back, Scarlett started to prepare the incantations for more spells to further delay Murong Dae.
Whooooooo-
Suddenly everyone in the battle felt a cold chill aura pass through the air.
Lloyd jerked his head away as he suddenly noticed the frightening aura crawl up his spine, giving him goosebumps. As he glanced in the direction of the source, his eyes opened wide in shock.
“What…!?”
There were golden eyes that seemed to seep through each and every individual’s existence. The natural instinct one had of being a prey in front of a predator.
Everyone turned their head in reaction to the aura and saw those same golden eyes. Scarlett was no exception as she turned away during her fight and hardened her expression.
Even though her fight against Murong Dae was quite urgent, the presence in front of them was something they absolutely could not ignore. Since the moment they took their eyes off ‘him’ they could very well lose their life in an instant.
Despite all this, even Murong Dae, who was blinded in sheer rage, turned cold and stopped in his tracks.
“I came here because I saw a Dragon appear in this area.”
The man’s physique was not actually that big. He was nearly two meters tall, and was rather skinny, reminiscent of a lean and skinny warrior that maintained flexibility with his muscles.
However, he was shirtless and wore a fluffy sleeveless coat over his pale skin. His hands were especially frightening, as they were soaked in dark red blood.
Overwhelmed by the enormous pressure this man emitted, everyone stood still like rabbits in front of a tiger.
The werewolf nicknamed ‘The Mad King’. Juwon of the Lycanthrope tribe. One of the 5 Black Stars of Predator.
The subjugation force had completely overlooked this fact. There were 2 of the Black Stars from Predator that reigned in this territory, not solely Geniella the Vampire Queen.
Outside of the northernmost city within Eria, Travia, there was the Lycanthrope tribe that reigned free. This was the group that Juwon wandered with.
Juwon walked over to the group slowly.
At one point in time, Juwon used to truly live up to his nickname ‘The Mad King’. However, he did not commit any atrocities like genocide in this day and age. Those days of his life were long gone.
Juwon slowly scanned over the faces of each individual present. None of them that were here were currently what he was looking for. None of them even interested him in the slightest.
They were decent Wizards here and there, and a couple of decent warriors from the Murim Alliance. But that was all.
Juwon continued to move slowly. Juwon used to massacre meaningless humans without discrimination in the past. But right now, there was no point in it anymore.
The reason was simple. Why trample on bugs not worth an ounce of his attention?
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh….…!”
Murong Dae’s face turned white at the sight of Juwon approaching them. Murong Dae was not sure of his identity, but the man in front of him was something entirely different. He had never encountered such a thick and eminent bloodlust from someone. Juwon was not even emitting killing intent, but the scent of blood was so thick on him that it was exuded in his simple presence.
What was interesting, was that everyone, in the face of pure and instinctual fear, reacted in various ways.
For some of those people, some of them chose to attack the unknown in fear for what it might do to them. One of those people was Murong Dae.
“AARRHHH”
Murong Dae swung the sword with a scream. A sword covered in blue internal energy swung towards Juwon.
Juwon looked at the incoming sword and flicked his fingertips. The sword shattered as it was, mid-air.
Fragments of the shattered sword popped out everywhere, tearing the bodies of the surrounding warriors with its shrapnel.
“Hmm.”
Juwon’s eyebrows twitched with irritation. They were bugs, yet anyone would swat bugs if they got annoyingly close to you.
Juwon reached out towards the body of Murong Dae, extending his nails.
Vwoom!
When Juwon’s long and sharp nails pierced at empty air, a huge and intangible force struck Murong Dae.
Kwwagik!
Murong Dae’s heart was gone. It simply disappeared and was replaced with a bloody and perfect hole.
“Urk… hup!”
Blood spewed out of Murong Dae’s mouth as his eyes widened in disbelief at the unbelievable outcome.
He lowered his gaze and slowly looked at the hole that was in his chest as blood seeped out of it. Trembling, his body started to collapse as his knees hit the ground and fell to one side.
It was a helpless sort of death. Pitiful even.
The patriarch of one of the 5 Great Families died just like that.
There were too many depressing aspects to his death. He never was able to find vengeance for his daughter that was unjustly murdered. He never found out the truth about who really murdered her and left his son fatherless without any direct relatives.
Juwon, however, had no interest in sob stories as his eyes of irritation and indifference didn’t vanish.
Murong Dae was simply put, a bug.
“Ah…oh…oh…….”
Murong Chae, who was gasping for air, choking up at the sudden and appalling death of his father, trembled violently in fear of Juwon.
He wanted desperately to attack his father’s killer, but his body was completely paralyzed with fear.
“My Lord!!!”
Murong Chae was scared, but he was not foolish like the other warriors of the Murong Family who shouted in rage and jumped at Juwon to die helplessly.
Juwon simply flicked his hand as if he were swatting a fly as the bodies of the warriors were shredded into several bits of flesh.
“Hmm…”
Juwon’s eyes glistened with interest suddenly. He turned his head in the direction of a rapidly approaching and intense presence.
Crackle~
With the sound of lightning tendrils crackling in the air, Lee Sungmin reached the clearing in the forest to where Juwon, The Tower Masters and the warriors of the Murim Alliance, as well as the Murong family, were.
Leaving Kang Seok and Jehu to fight between themselves, he ran with all his might to get to Scarlett’s place as fast as possible. Luckily, it seemed he wasn’t too late.
Lee Sungmin’s gaze immediately fell on Scarlett, who was completely unharmed, and then started to drift. His eyes narrowed as his gaze suddenly fell on the corpses of the several martial artists that were shredded gruesomely, and then Murong Dae’s corpse, which had a perfectly shaped hole in his chest.
…. And then, Lee Sungmin’s gaze finally landed on Juwon.
“……why are you here?”Lee Sungmin asked calmly.
“I saw a Dragon.”
Juwon replied with simple, yet concise words.
“Geniella had told me not to disturb Kim Jonghyun’s antics, but I felt the presence and saw the descent of a Dragon. That’s the only reason I’ve come here.”
The leader of the Black Dragon Association, Jehu, the Draconic Human who could transform into the body of a real Dragon temporarily, was the reason Juwon had come to this forest. Lee Sungmin grated his teeth. Thanks to Jehu’s sudden intrusion into the forest, powerful warriors, one after the other, had appeared, including Juwon.
And it was clear to Lee Sungmin, that Juwon had brutally killed Murong Dae.
At the death of Murong Dae…… Lee Sungmin didn’t feel too much emotion. If anything, there was a sense of pity that he felt, at the fact he could not resolve their misunderstanding.
“That’s strange.”
Juwon murmured. His eyebrows furrowed while looking up and down at Lee Sungmin.
“You… feel like a Dragon, too.”
This sudden reunion with Juwon, was not exactly something Lee Sungmin found preferable. The last time Lee Sungmin, and the first time they had met, was previously in Travia whilst Lee Sungmin was in the middle of a snowstorm traveling to the City a few years back.
He was overwhelmed by his monstrous presence when he encountered Juwon, and it wasn’t that much different now. Juwon was certainly monstrous.
But rather, Lee Sungmin could now feel like he could accurately measure Juwon’s power.
[Why are you interested in Dragons?]
Heoju suddenly materialized his spirit and asked the question via telepathy to Juwon. Like before, Heoju had once again materialized in his spirit form to talk to Juwon.
“Fighting with a Dragon. I’ve been wanting to do it for quite a while now.”
It was rather unusual. Lee Sungmin was familiar with the nickname Juwon had obtained as the ‘Mad King’, and had found it rather unusual that someone who enjoyed slaughter, would take such interest in a singular fight with one entity.
[Does that have anything to do with your tribe’s desire?]
“My ancestor, Howon, is dead.”
Spoke Juwon with a rather matter-of-fact type of tone.
“I killed him not long after your death. Howon wanted to fight a Dragon at the peak of his power. However, the long-cherished desire of the tribe, to kill those Dragons, did not come true. The Dragons disappeared suddenly for some reason, and I’ve now taken over the Lycanthrope Tribe.”
[…… Well.]
Heoju groaned in annoyance at Juwon’s words.
“My personal desire was to rule over the Lycanthrope Tribe, but our Tribe’s desire to kill the Dragons and become the Apex of all beings, has not yet been achieved.”
Juwon mumbled as he clenched his fists and stared at them.
“That desire must now be achieved by me, who has taken over as the Leader of the Tribe.”
[This isn’t good.]
Heoju whispered in Lee Sungmin’s head.
“……wait.”
Lee Sungmin also felt that things were turning rather unusual as he spoke out loud to Juwon.
“………I’ll let you meet a Dragon.”
If Lee Sungmin fought with Juwon right now, he would surely die. Thus, Lee Sungmin came up with an idea.
He already knew he could not fight against some of these powerful individuals that were here, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t harm them.
Lee Sungmin raised his hand and pointed to the path where he had just come from.
“Where I just was, there’s a Dragon.”
Jehu was no friend of Lee Sungmin.
If anything, Lee Sungmin saw this opportunity to cause havoc and buy himself even more time.