lpffa Chapter 266 : Another Step Forward (3)
Chapter 266 : Another Step Forward (3)
Chapter 266: Another Step Forward (3)
With one sword strike, the countless Blood Figures rushing in as a massive wall vanished.
【Aaaah!】
【It’s over! Everything is finally over!】
【Now we can rest.】
【I can go to my child now.】
The whispers of countless people echoed.
The wall of Blood Figures scattered into red mist.
【Thank you.】
【Thank you.】
【Thanks to you, Great Hero, I can finally go meet my family.】
Jang Woo-hyun did not stop. He passed through the red mist and advanced again.
In his eyes, he saw Hyeonwol’s panicked face.
Jang Woo-hyun raised Black Wilds Sword.
He swung his sword once more.
He was not trying to cut down everything before him.
This time as well, he chose liberation, not annihilation.
When Black Wilds Sword swung again, a portion of the vast dark crimson sea was severed.
Even before, he had been able to cut distant places by infusing Will-Form, and he had been able to cut unseen things.
But this was different from then.
He had not destroyed the spell itself.
To save the souls of those sacrificed, he cut away only the part of the spell binding them.
Rumble!
The dark crimson sea surged violently.
Not only life force, but the souls and memories of those Hyeonwol had absorbed were released.
Light burst out from various places across the sea of blood.
After the light vanished, faint human forms briefly appeared before disappearing.
Words of gratitude continued to echo.
Jang Woo-hyun did not stop swinging his sword.
The dark crimson sea was engulfed in light.
As the souls that had been bound were released, the sea of blood began to vanish.
At the same time, Hyeonwol’s face twisted beyond distortion, turning truly vicious.
---
Hyeonwol had abandoned an ordinary life, abandoned the sect he had belonged to for many years, and strayed from the path he had originally walked.
He had discarded everything and gained power.
Yet now, that power was disappearing before his eyes.
He tried to use his spell art, but the power he had gathered until now would not move.
The Sea of Blood Filling the Heavens, which had been no different from his own body, merely surged without obeying him.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Hyeonwol could not believe the current situation.
Even having his body torn apart, his head burst open, or losing his limbs and rolling across the ground would have been better than this.
His power was disappearing.
Everything was collapsing.
‘This can’t be!’
He could not accept that he was growing weaker.
Hyeonwol denied reality.
Then he used his final resort.
【Blood-Realm Connecting Gate!!】
A gate connecting the Central Heavens Realm and the Corpse-Blood Realm.
He summoned the gate created with the help of one of the Eight Kings of the Corpse-Blood Realm and the stolen power of the Guardian God of the Five-Wheel Five Elements Cult.
【Open here!】
It was a gate that had gradually stabilized.
The gate that should have broken down the boundary between two Middle Realms and merged a fixed domain into one now moved according to Hyeonwol’s will.
【Open the gate here!】
Inside the Corpse-Blood Realm, Jang Woo-hyun had created a place rich in Natural Energy.
And within that place, Hyeonwol opened a gate leading to the Corpse-Blood Realm again.
In other words, he had opened a gate from the Corpse-Blood Realm to the Corpse-Blood Realm.
【Hyeonwol! You foolish bastard!】
Baek Jeong-ak’s furious voice echoed from afar.
His rage alone sent energy spreading in every direction, tearing apart the land of the Corpse-Blood Realm.
But while fighting Ian, there was nothing he could do immediately.
Rumble!
The surrounding space changed.
The ground could no longer be seen.
Nor could the sky.
All that appeared was a waterfall of blood falling endlessly from every direction.
Jang Woo-hyun had already experienced this space once before, but this time, it was somewhat different.
The endlessly falling waterfall was strangely warped, and its surface writhed.
Because Hyeonwol was forcibly dragging over and using something that had already been completed and fixed in place, the gate itself had developed problems.
【Come to me! Give me strength! Send me power!】
Unable to accept defeat, Hyeonwol unleashed everything.
Baek Jeong-ak’s fury no longer mattered.
Nor did it matter if everything he had prepared until now went wrong.
Surviving right now was what mattered.
【Aaaaaaaah!】
With a scream, Hyeonwol merged himself with the power drawn from the Blood-Realm Connecting Gate.
The falling waterfall gathered into one side of the dark crimson sea, forming a gigantic sphere.
A dark crimson moon rose in one corner of the Corpse-Blood Realm.
True to his name, Hyeonwol ultimately became a moon.
Kuuuuuuung—
The waves emitted by the massive moon caused space itself to tremble.
Cracks spread through the void, and the world itself fractured.
【I refuse to accept this!】
Hyeonwol’s face appeared on the moon’s surface.
At the same time, a terrifying storm of power surged in every direction.
This was not simply him releasing his aura.
It seemed Hyeonwol could not control the power he had drawn in.
The Blood-Realm Connecting Gate was a passage joining two Middle Realms.
It was such a powerful spell that it required borrowing the powers of the Five-Wheel Guardian God and one of the Eight Kings of the Corpse-Blood Realm.
There was no way Hyeonwol could properly control the power drawn from it.
【Die!】
The moment Hyeonwol’s will was transmitted, everything in Jang Woo-hyun’s vision turned red.
He could see nothing.
It felt as though he had fallen deep into a blood-red sea.
He could not even confirm his own body.
Within the world dyed entirely red, only that will remained.
Until just moments ago, he had felt as though he could accomplish anything.
But not now.
Suddenly, his breath caught in his throat.
Even if he drew up energy and spread Will-Form in all directions, there was nothing he could do.
At that moment—
He felt something at his fingertips.
Jang Woo-hyun focused his mind and tightened his grip.
Something hard was grasped within his palm.
Through his hand came a will telling him to fight together.
At the same time, black smoke climbed up his arm.
Within the entirely red world, only Jang Woo-hyun was dyed black.
Only then did Jang Woo-hyun realize what had sent him that will.
‘Black Wilds Sword.’
What he held in his hand was the black sword.
His companion, who had fought beside him from the closest place, helped Jang Woo-hyun once again.
Jang Woo-hyun answered Black Wilds Sword’s will to fight together.
He focused his mind and swung his hand toward the world where nothing could be seen.
A single black line was drawn across the red before him.
Fwoooosh!
Black smoke spread along that line.
As though a door had opened, the red world was pushed aside, and Jang Woo-hyun returned to the original world.
Wooooong!
Black Wilds Sword trembled madly in his hand, as though pouring out everything it had.
‘Let’s go.’
Black Wilds Sword’s will to take revenge on Hyeonwol reached him.
Just as Black Wilds Sword had helped him, Jang Woo-hyun now decided to help Black Wilds Sword.
【────】
Hyeonwol said something, and the world turned red again.
But Jang Woo-hyun no longer cared.
It did not matter even if he could not see the moon bearing Hyeonwol’s face.
He turned toward where the moon had been, breathed out of habit, and held his breath.
Then he lifted his foot and stomped.
Kuuung!
Although he stepped into empty air, space trembled as though he had stepped on the ground.
The red world shattered apart, and he drew up his power fully.
This time, he did not think in complicated terms.
He thought only one thing.
‘Cut.’
He held the sword and brought it down from above to below.
A single line formed from the heavens to the edge of the earth.
The moment he raised the sword tip that had pointed toward the ground—
Fwoooosh—
The world opened once more.
And there appeared the dark crimson moon.
The gigantic moon had already been split in half, and Hyeonwol was visible inside it.
“Cough.”
A black line ran across Hyeonwol’s body as though drawn in ink.
Craaack!
Hyeonwol’s body split along that line.
The black smoke emerging from Black Wilds Sword rushed toward him.
“Grrrgh…….”
The dark crimson moon split in half turned back into blood and poured down.
From within it emerged blood-red figures, who rushed toward Hyeonwol, now engulfed in black smoke.
【You shall join us too!】
Along with voices filled with rage, countless souls clung to Hyeonwol and formed a gigantic sphere.
Inside, Hyeonwol was bitten, torn, ripped apart, and made to suffer.
A short while later—
Where Hyeonwol had been, only a ragged lump of flesh remained, so mangled its shape could no longer be identified.
As Jang Woo-hyun approached, the remaining flesh squirmed.
A hole that had once been a mouth opened and closed, and Hyeonwol’s voice emerged.
【That brilliantly shining talent…… will invite misfortune.】
Hyeonwol squeezed out all his remaining power to lay a curse.
【Where there is light, there must be darkness…… Your talent will call forth a great shadow— Ghk!】
Jang Woo-hyun thrust Black Wilds Sword into him without listening any further.
“Stop talking nonsense and let’s end this now.”
There were many things he wanted to ask.
But he could no longer ask Hyeonwol anything.
The remaining lump of flesh could hardly even be called Hyeonwol.
It was only a residual thought.
When Jang Woo-hyun stabbed Black Wilds Sword into the flesh, the last remaining black smoke surged into it.
【Gyaaaaaaaah!】
With a horrifying scream, the lump of flesh that had once been Hyeonwol turned black.
Crack— crack—
At the same time, the blade of Black Wilds Sword, having poured out all of its power, began to crack.
The lump of flesh that had emitted black smoke eventually turned to ash and vanished.
Black Wilds Sword crumbled like sand and poured down.
Rustle.
Jang Woo-hyun reached out his left hand toward the falling black sand.
He tried to hold the black sand in his palm, but as though everything had now ended, it vanished like a lie.
As he clenched the empty air where the black sand had disappeared, a quiet voice reached him.
【Thank you.】
Jang Woo-hyun parted ways with the companion who had fought beside him from the closest place.
---
The battle between Ian and Baek Jeong-ak, which seemed as though it would last for a long time, ended sooner than expected.
Baek Jeong-ak, who had been stabilizing the Blood-Realm Connecting Gate, revealed an opening due to Hyeonwol’s actions.
And Ian would never miss such an opportunity.
The moment he saw the opening, Ian poured out everything and defeated Baek Jeong-ak.
Though victorious, Ian had not escaped unharmed.
The hundreds of bone gates that had once filled the sky now numbered only around a hundred.
His army had also diminished to the point where its scale could roughly be estimated.
At present, Ian’s forces clung to a black mountain that looked formed from condensed shadows, gnawing away at it like ants.
“Wahahahaha!”
Ian’s energy spread outward.
Jang Woo-hyun could not tell how much stronger he had become, but his presence had clearly grown far more intense.
Watching from afar, Seo Ryeom moved close to Jang Woo-hyun.
“Captain, is this really alright?”
Ian, who was absorbing Baek Jeong-ak’s power, looked far too dangerous.
Moreover, he had never truly been their companion to begin with.
Since Seo Ryeom did not fully trust Ian, a being of the Corpse-Blood Realm, his concern was only natural.
“It’ll be fine.”
Jang Woo-hyun understood Seo Ryeom’s thoughts, but he was not too worried.
Even if Ian had grown stronger, the current Jang Woo-hyun was confident he could take his companions and escape if necessary.
“Did Black Wilds Sword break during the fight?”
“No. It didn’t break while fighting. It finished what it had to do and left.”
“Left?”
Jang Woo-hyun told Chosu everything he knew.
The reason Black Wilds Sword had been created, how it had been born, and even how the person who had once wielded Black Wilds Sword had fought Hyeonwol in the past.
“So that was why it carried such a terrible curse.”
After hearing Jang Woo-hyun’s explanation, Chosu understood Black Wilds Sword’s condition.
“Should we at least bury this somewhere?”
Jang Woo-hyun showed him Black Wilds Sword’s hilt.
“No need. If it finished everything it needed to do and left, that’s enough. It’s not like the blade just broke. No need to bury it.”
“Still, it was a companion who stayed with me.”
At that answer, Chosu let out a faint laugh.
“If it bothers you, then once we return to the Central Heavens Realm, bury it somewhere sunny.”
As the two spoke about Black Wilds Sword, Ian flew toward the group.
“I owe you again!”
When he landed nearby, Seo Ryeom and Jin Ha-un grew slightly tense and gripped their weapons.
Ian ignored them and stood before Jang Woo-hyun.
After briefly examining Jang Woo-hyun, the smile on Ian’s face gradually disappeared.
“Huh? You…… grew stronger too?”
Ian’s voice stiffened.
Having encountered something far too unexpected, he momentarily lost his words.
‘What is this?’
A martial artist from the Central Heavens Realm growing stronger in the Corpse-Blood Realm.
This was something Ian had never experienced before.
No—
He had never even heard of such a situation.
The face of the victorious Ian gradually filled with bewilderment.