If they were to continue fighting as much as they currently were, it was certain that one of them would die.
Even Kang Seok was unsure of who would live or die if the situation called for it. The fight was that intense.
‘You ravenous worm.’
It was the first time Kang Seok had ever met Jehu in person, let alone fought with him, but his skills were certainly up to par.
Given that they both seemed to have plenty of techniques hidden from each other, and similar levels of internal energy remaining, it certainly did appear like the two of them were evenly matched.
Kang Seok felt worried about Lee Sungmin, whom he had come to fight with since he was also a fellow Transcendent with the spear.
His worries were only light however.
‘It’s a pleasant worry.’
The Spear King, Kang Seok, withdrew a few steps back.
Despite Lee Sungmin being slightly weaker than him, he was also a fellow lover with the spear, and letting him go now would surely allow him to grow stronger and make their fight much more exciting later on.
The first thing to do though was to manage the situation at hand.
“Hmmm.”Kang Seok smacked his lips, turning away from Jehu, and started to leave.Like Jehu, he could also feel the dreary and powerful presence, followed by a thick scent of blood coming their way.
Kang Seok only wanted to fight with Lee Sungmin alone.
‘I like the North quite a bit. It was a good decision to come here.’
Kang Seok thought to himself with a bright and silly smile plastered on his face.
He then started to assemble the order in which he would face his new opponents.
First, he would chase after Lee Sungmin and find him again. After that, he could come back and fight with this monstrous and mysterious presence that was quickly approaching his previous location.
Jehu did not chase after Kang Seok. There was no need to do so, as he changed his clothing that was torn to rags and checked his scales.
Glaring at the retreating back of the Spear King, Kang Seok, Jehu grated his teeth and shouted in irritation.
“Bastard!”
He was not actually hurt, and the two of them had only fought each other hesitantly. However, that did not mean that Jehu’s pride as a martial artist was not wounded. He felt completely disrespected by the childish antics of Kang Seok, when he was going to kill a future adversary that could become dangerous!
Why of all people, did Kang Seok, a member of Beyond the Heavens, the organization Jehu was also a part of, get in his way?
‘Is the Ghost Spear… gone?’
No. That would be the last of his worries, as Jehu started to notice someone dangerous approaching.
It wasn’t the Ghost Spear, Lee Sungmin. It was someone with a much more frightening aura around them. Jehu sensing this, felt his body stiffen up and his eyes flutter with worry for the first time.
The presence that was coming towards him was a person that was too powerful for him to handle. He was sure that even Kang Seok or him would not be able to fight this person, even if they were both in their best conditions.
‘No way… is it the Vampire Queen?’
Jehu had never met Geniella, the Vampire Queen. However, the scent of blood and frightening level of power that was being emitted from the person approaching was so strong that Jehu had no choice but to believe it would be her.
He did not want to fight the Vampire Queen here, of all places. Jehu thought so as he leaped up into the air.
If the Ghost Spear was no longer in this forest, then there was no need for Jehu to remain here.
A black surge of energy surrounded Jehu, as he started to unfold his power as a Transcendent and transformed into his Dragon Body. Flapping his wings, he started to rise higher into the sky.
“Ugh?!”
However, Jehu did not fly as he had expected. When he flew up into the sky, hundreds of modernized and compressed magic missiles fired down at him.
It was a gift left behind for Jehu, by Kim Jonghyun.
Although Kim Jonghyun was forced to retreat due to his poor condition, there was no way he would leave without pissing off the person who put him in that state.
The myriad of Magic Missiles that poured down from the sky were not enough to seriously harm Jehu’s Dragon Body, but it was annoying for him as they beat at his wings, making it harder for him to fly up.
It was in that brief moment.
Juwon jumped into the air, zeroing in on Jehu mid-flight. Jehu, noticing the presence that had suddenly caught up to him in a short span of time, widened his eyes in shock and opened his mouth to bare his fangs.
Baring his fangs as a Dragon, Jehu tried to bite at Juwon.
Jehu realized his opponent was not the Vampire Queen. Nevertheless, it did not matter, since Juwon was emitting a power comparable to such a being, and was not somebody Jehu could afford to deal with at that moment.
Juwon threw his fist at the mouth of the Jehu, which was trying to bite him.
Qua-boom!
With a loud noise, the large head of Jehu’s Dragon body turned sideways.
Crrrrack!
Jehu was not used to fighting in his body as a Dragon, and quickly tried to polymorph back into his halfling body as a Draconic Human, but Juwon was faster as he jumped on top of Jehu’s large black back and grabbed both of Jehu’s wings with his hands.
Sprrrrt-
With a terrible sound, the right wing of Jehu’s was torn off.
“ARGH!”
Jehu screamed. The famously known body of the Dragon, known to have the toughest of scales and bones, was nothing in front of Juwon.
The body of the Jehu, which had been struggling to stay in the air, fell down, losing its aerodynamic balance. Whilst Jehu was falling down, he managed to fully polymorph back into his Draconic Human form.
“Who.. What are you?!”
Jehu reached out his arms as he screamed at Juwon. He was forced to quickly change back into his human form due to just how difficult it would be to survive, while not being used to his enormous Draconic form.
Jehu started to rouse a surge of internal energy, causing a black storm to swirl around him and surround himself in a protective barrier.
Juwon, who was falling together with Jehu in the air, did not hesitate to dig in and attack the storm created by Jehu.
Jehu swiped down with a bloody set of claws coated in white internal energy, and ripped right through the storm like paper.
Whhhhhooooosh-
Juwon’s body started to swell, and silver-gray fur started to cover his entire body. His eyes, which had only been indifferent up til then, turned into those of a violent beast. Juwon completely transformed into his werewolf form.
Jehu quickly moved towards Juwon, winding back his fist as it trembled violently with pressure and aiming straight at Juwon’s chest.
Hundreds of black fists were fired directly at Juwon in that one gesture.
Jehu lived hundreds of years as a Draconic Human being, and had never lacked effort in his martial art techniques. He had lived and survived this long due to them. There was a reason he was the Lord of the Murim Alliance and had reached Transcendence through technique alone.
However, Juwon’s rash and blunt moves, which contained little to no technique, were not lacking to Jehu’s power at all.
Belonging to the Lycanthrope tribe, which was a tribe of werebeasts and werewolves, Juwon was the sole leader of such a tribe. They did not learn martial arts, but were obscenely powerful in their own right.
Ba-boom Ba-boom!
A loud sound echoed throughout the entire forest as if hundreds of bombs had just gone off.
Jehu started to narrow his eyes and felt the pressure, as Juwon started to break through his martial art technique with sheer force.
Jehu decided to start facing Juwon in earnest. Gathering a huge surge of mana and internal energy from his Draconic body, as well as his own internal energy, Jehu started to compress and condense a huge force within himself as the source, and released ‘Breath’ which was one of the Dragon’s mightiest powers.
BANG!
The black beam of energy shot out from Jehu’s mouth, rapidly approaching Juwon. Juwon did not even change his expression as he simply opened his own mouth and howled with all his might. The howl released shock waves that broke the sound barrier as they collided head on with the Dragon Breath.
The attack was completely offset, and Jehu widened his eyes at the seemingly ignorant response of Juwon.
Juwon rushed in, eyes blood-red as if he were going berserk, and swung his silver fist at a fast speed, leaving an after image.
Thawuck!
Jehu was thrown back into the snowy terrain and skidded across the ice as he recollected himself. Coughing up blood, Jehu started to rapidly process the situation at hand. He had already fired the Dragon Breath twice, which was not a power that could be expended so easily, and had damaged his internal circuits and stamina by fighting with Kang Seok earlier.
He was in no healthy state to possibly be fighting with the Mad King of the Lycanthrope Tribe right now.
‘I have to run away.…!’
Jehu’s face distorted in sheer rage and anger, but forced it down as he knew he needed to run right now.
He honestly didn’t think running away would be easy right now, but he had to find a way somehow, or he might just die here.
* * *
The pegasus that Lee Sungmin and Scarlett were atop of quickly distorted the space around them and shot in a vortex that quickly took them straight to the Sama Order headquarters in Hadras.
Lee Sungmin, with Scarlett in tow, leapt off the pegasus and descended from the air above the headquarters.
“Have you finally come back?”
When Lee Sungmin and Scarlett touched the ground. Sima Ryunju suddenly appeared right before them, as a trail of black lightning crackled around him.
Standing behind Lee Sungmin, Scarlett was standing, looking around at the buildings of the Sama Order. Sima Ryunju frowned as he scanned behind Lee Sungmin and saw Scarlett.
“I let you leave since you said it was for a friend, and yet you come back with a woman.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I have no intention of blaming you. Didn’t you say one time that you were not a hero? I hope you don’t think that you can suddenly become one by saving damsels in distress.”
Scarlett’s eyebrows furrowed at Sima Ryunju’s murmur
Normally, Scarlett would have already gone off at anyone else who showed her such disrespect, and she did not know who the man in front of her was. But she had a clue to his identity, due to the frightening amount of power being exuded by Sima Ryunju’s mere presence. Because of that hunch, she kept her lips shut tight.
“What happened?”
Sima Ryunju did not probe into the actions of Lee Sungmin bringing back a woman to the headquarters, as he didn’t think Scarlett was worth even a glance. Instead, he was more interested in what had occurred whilst Lee Sungmin had traveled to Edor and surely had gone to the Forest where Kim Jonghyun was.Lee Sungmin did not hesitate to tell Sima Ryunju what exactly had occurred during the hectic time he had shortly spent in Edor.
“The Spear King, Lord of the Murim Alliance, and Juwon, one of the 5 Black Stars of Predator…….”
Sima Ryunju listened to Lee Sungmin’s story carefully and scratched his chin with a pensive expression.
“…. I don’t know much about magic, but it seems this Dark Wizard, Kim Jonghyun, was trying to summon Demons from another Realm. That is not something I know too much about, but it’s fascinating how so many powerful warriors decided to show up.”
“I don’t know why either.”Lee Sungmin replied.
“Such a useless disciple. How could you not find out if you were right there in the forest?”
“I couldn’t stay much longer! What if I was forced to face the Spear King or the Lord of the Murim Alliance right there?!”Lee Sungmin retorted, trying to suppress his anger and frustration.
“If you were stronger than Kang Seok, the Spear King, or Jehu by now, then you wouldn’t have had to worry anyways. Tch. Such an incompetent discple….”
Lee Sungmin’s shoulders trembled in anger as he heard the words. There was no way he could possibly face the Lord of the Murim Alliance or the Spear King. Weren’t they both some of the strongest Transcendents within all of Eria?
However, he had nothing to say this time, since it was Sima Ryunju who was saying this, and bowed his head and replied.
“……I’m sorry this disciple is incompetent and weak.”
“It’s nothing new I guess, but it’s okay since you seem to know.”
Lee Sungmin managed to swallow the curses that were threatening to come out of his throat at that moment.
It was highly likely that Sima Ryunju would spank him again and force him to be treated like a fool. There was no way in hell, that Lee Sungmin would possibly let that happen again, so he bit his lip silently.
“Still, it’s good that you were able to find out information on An Zun, one of the weaker Six Divinities. It seems there’s only 5 months left till the birthday you are talking about.”
“Is it okay for me to kill him?”
“Is there any reason for you not to kill that bastard?”
Sima Ryunju retorted back to Lee Sungmin’s question containing uncertainty of which it would be a good idea to openly attack the ancestor of the Tang Family.
“Beyond the Heavens has tried repeatedly to kill you already. Do you really think they’re just going to stand by and watch you go about your way? There is nothing to lose by taking out one of their weaker links.”
“Well, what if they have no more reason to fight with me as I’ve become the successor to the Sama Order? It would be starting a war wouldn’t it?”
Sima Ryunju laughed at Lee Sungmin’s answer.
“You’ve heard about the purpose of their Organization, and they plan to get rid of everything that is not human. Though, you and I both agreed that their actions are more than just a load of bullshit. That’s probably just a load of nonsense.”
“Are you saying they have a hidden purpose?”
“Maybe, maybe not…. Hahah! I mean why else would such an organization kill every person who is close to reaching Transcendence if they don’t join them? It’s clear they’re plotting something large and on a grand scale isn’t it? They seem to think they’re so secretive, yet in reality they’re like a chicken running around with its head cut off!”
Sima Ryunju burst into laughter as he mocked Beyond the Heavens.
“Regardless, it’s a problem if such an organization, who has an unclear motive for gathering around strong individuals and killing off the rest, continues to stay in power. In any matter, this old man has nothing to say about you killing An Zun.”
“Yes, sir.”Lee Sungmin nodded respectfully.
“We still have a few months until this little brat’s birthday. You should stop by the Dwarven Village in the meantime like you wanted.”
Lee Sungmin had several materials to be processed from the scales and bones of the Dragon Heoju had kept in his hideout. It had been quite a long time since he had received them, but he still had no time or way to get them processed into weapons until now.
However, now he had a means to search out the Dwarves this time, as he received a letter of favor from the Fairy Queen, Oslo and knew the location thanks to Erebrisa and his connections.
“You’ve already reached your limit for your body currently.”
Sima Ryunju spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
“It will be impossible for you to defeat Jehu or Kang Seok as you are right now without any more time to practice. In such a case, you’ll have to make up for it with a stronger weapon to make up for your gap of skills.”
Cough cough-
When Sima Ryunju spoke of Lee Sungmin not being able to grow any stronger as he was, he let out a fake cough of embarrassment as he looked towards Scarlett.
Scarlett then realized Lee Sungmin was trying to actually give her a chance to speak to his master, Sima Ryunju in that moment, instead of trying to dodge his master’s insults. Seeing this, she carefully opened her mouth to speak.
“What should I do?”
“Hm… I’ll find you a suitable place.”
At that point, Sima Ryunju’s eyes were finally locked onto Scarlett’s.
“If you need anything, just ask, and I’ll have it prepared for you.”
“Oh…um… yes, thank you.”
Unlike when Lee Sungmin was being casually insulted by him, Sima Ryunju answered Scarlett in a rather respectful voice this time.
Scarlett was embarrassed at the sudden change of tone and blinked rapidly.
[Are you interested in my friend?]
Lee Sungmin was curious about Sima Ryunju’s sudden change in tone as well, so he sent him a telepathic message.
[Do you want to get spanked again you worthless disciple?]
Lee Sungmin shut his mouth and backed away quickly as he heard the immediate response from his master.