Chapter 128 – Purification (5)

Clang!

The sword Sun-woo swung regrettably stopped after cutting halfway through the raised arm instead of the opponent’s neck.

It was a sword wrapped even in sword energy to finish surely.

But the sword that cut into the warrior’s flesh couldn’t cut through even the arm bone.

The feeling of colliding with the arm bone felt like colliding with a sword surrounded by sword energy.

Sun-woo, who was making a puzzled expression, hurriedly retreated backward to avoid the sword shooting toward him.

“Kekeke, to push me, Blood Demon Yang Hwasu, this far.”

The warrior, Blood Demon Yang Hwasu, now had veins bulging not just in his eyes but all over his body, his entire body dyed red.

Because he had made his precariously maintained internal energy run wild.

Thanks to that, internal energy filled even all his bones throughout his body, allowing him to block Sun-woo’s sword wrapped in sword energy.

However, his body couldn’t endure the rampaging internal energy and was gradually crumbling.

The wound Sun-woo’s sword just cut into was already rotting away, and veins in other arms and legs that had been fine burst, quickly becoming covered in blood.

At a glance, it looked like he would collapse on his own without lasting long.

“Graaah!”

Knowing this himself, he wildly drew out his overflowing internal energy and continuously shot powerful sword energy toward Sun-woo.

Lines shining much brighter than before surged toward Sun-woo.

He couldn’t face that with his bare body.

There was no reason to either.

Sun-woo quickly retreated backward and erected an earth wall in front.

Bang! Bang!

The earth wall solidly packed with water summoned through sorcery and water magic stronger than before now boasted hardness like a stone wall.

Though it was immediately destroyed by the surging sword energy, the sword energy shot toward Sun-woo also all disappeared blocked by the earth wall.

“Damn!”

Sun-woo, who confirmed his opponent beyond the crumbling earth wall, urgently ran forward.

Because the warrior hadn’t attacked Sun-woo but instead threw his body toward Nanseol, who was fighting the magician.

“Dodge!”

Nanseol, who had been fighting the magician, urgently threw her body to the side at Sun-woo’s voice from behind and blocked behind with her sword.

Clang!

Thanks to dodging after hearing Sun-woo’s voice, Nanseol could avoid Yang Hwasu’s surprise attack.

But Nanseol’s sword shattered from the sword energy he shot while passing by, and she was flung far backward.

The magician let out a sigh of relief seeing Nanseol’s sword break and fly away.

Though he had been enduring by dodging Nanseol’s attacks with Blink magic and blocking with shields, he had actually reached his limit.

He was a black magician who made kingdoms tremble even before being contaminated, and now contaminated he had become an even more powerful black magician.

But for a magician to fight closely attached with a warrior was madness.

Of course, if it were him, he would have prepared sufficient countermeasures before a warrior got close.

But in such sudden situations, magicians were just prey to warriors.

If it had been another magician, their neck would have surely been cut off in the first exchange, but he couldn’t endure any longer.

The black magician who looked at Yang Hwasu, who had blown away the swordswoman, with somewhat grateful feelings soon contorted his face.

Because he immediately recognized Yang Hwasu’s condition.

Face and limbs with bulging veins, body dyed red, blood streaming everywhere.

He who had played a part in enhancing Yang Hwasu couldn’t fail to recognize Yang Hwasu’s runaway state.

“Crazy bastard. You went runaway just to kill one warrior? You know once you go runaway it’s impossible to reverse!”

“Hehehe, I know well. But the problem is I couldn’t even kill him. I’m running away right now.”

“What?”

Yang Hwasu grabbed the front of the startled magician’s robe and threw the magician behind himself.

“What are you doing… Damn! Shield!”

The magician who was about to get angry at Yang Hwasu couldn’t finish his words and had no choice but to hastily create a barrier.

Sun-woo holding a sword rippling with sword energy burst in before his eyes.

“Buy me time! See you in hell.”

Seeing the magician create a barrier to block Sun-woo’s sword, Yang Hwasu rushed toward the entrance as fast as he could.

Though he bought time with the magician, it was clear he wouldn’t last very long.

Yang Hwasu burst his internal energy from the start intending to flee.

He who had rolled on battlefields for decades couldn’t fail to properly assess the skill of an opponent he fought for so long.

Though he burst his internal energy, immediately overwhelming an opponent who had been pushed back until then was impossible.

Naturally the opponent would enter a war of attrition and eventually he would self-destruct.

But if he used such opponent psychology, he could create a chance to flee.

Of course, once internal energy ran wild his body would definitely be ruined, but he still had one final method left.

“As expected, it’s not time to die yet.”

Running into the entrance, he smiled.

From inside the entrance passage, the contaminated ability users who had fallen behind were running over.

————————————————————————————————————————

At the same time, the magician looked with a dumbfounded expression at the shield shattered in one sword strike.

Though it was a hastily made shield, it was magic that shouldn’t have been smashed in one hit like this.

But the situation didn’t even give him time to be dumbfounded.

Because Sun-woo who shattered the shield raised his sword toward the magician.

“W-wait! Don’t you need information? I’ll tell you where other contamination formations are. No, I’ll tell you where the guy who just fled is going.”

The magician pleaded to Sun-woo while sweating coldly.

If only he could use Blink magic, there would be no reason to beg Sun-woo like this.

However, Blink magic could only move to places visible to the eyes.

When surrounded by earth walls on all sides like now, movement-related magic had no choice but to be sealed.

“H-how do you know magicians’ weaknesses so well? Both erecting earth walls to block Blink and breaking the mana flow of Shield magic are impossible without knowing magic!”

Even while raising his voice in protest, the magician’s fingers turned behind were continuously forming hand seals in secret from Sun-woo.

Magicians, especially black magicians, never stopped magic in any situation.

If they couldn’t use magic circles, they chanted spells with their mouths, and if they couldn’t chant spells, they formed promised hand seals with their hands to activate magic.

While the black magician kept talking to divert Sun-woo’s gaze, he tried to activate all magic circles installed in this area with hand seals.

Though more than half were smashed by the man before his eyes, if he activated the remaining magic circles simultaneously, he could surely kill at least the other guys and perhaps even escape himself.

But hearing Sun-woo’s answer, he stopped his moving hand.

“I’m a magician too, and fidgeting with your hands is too late.”

Sun-woo’s sword cut off the magician’s neck, robe and all.

The magician’s crumbling body and the magician’s head rolling to one side. Sun-woo glanced at the rolling head and stabbed his sword into the fallen body.

“Gasp!”

When Sun-woo stabbed the magician’s heart with his sword, a low scream flowed from the magician’s rolling head.

As expected, confirmation kill was the correct answer.

Toshi’s memories contained the image of a black magician who came back to life with his neck cut off.

Sun-woo who experienced that couldn’t leave alone a magician in a black robe, the symbol of magicians, with just his neck cut off.

‘As expected, I did well choosing Toshi.’

Sun-woo, who confirmed all mana scattered from the magician’s body and head, collapsed the earth walls surrounding the area again.

The magicians Hayden stopped were cleaned up by Nanseol.

Though her sword was cut in half looking like a dagger, against magicians suppressed by Hayden’s telekinesis it was the world’s greatest sword.

Though it seemed like it would end well even without him, Sun-woo had no choice but to sigh looking at the entrance where his enemy fled.

He wanted to chase Yang Hwasu as it was.

But…

“Catch that guy!”

He couldn’t leave the contaminated ability users surging toward the entrance as they were.

If he left now, it wouldn’t be easy for his companions to block them, and moreover the contamination formation they seized with difficulty might be damaged.

He even used sorcery carefully worrying it might be damaged, so he couldn’t ruin the work chasing his enemy.

And though the dead magician didn’t know it, Sun-woo also had a method left to pursue.

Sun-woo took a deep breath and pointed both hands toward the entrance.

Rumble rumble crash!

Earth sorcery shook the surrounding ground where the building entrance was located like mad.

And as a result, the entrance and surrounding walls where the entrance was located collapsed as they were.

The collapse continued after that.

An entire side of the building completely collapsed and the entrance was unrecognizable.

Sun-woo sighed at the sight of the half-destroyed ruins.

Now Yang Hwasu’s energy couldn’t be felt in Sun-woo’s senses.

Sun-woo had two thoughts in his head.

The thought hoping Yang Hwasu was buried as it was, and the thought hoping he didn’t die so futilely like this.

Missing Yang Hwasu to the very end disturbed his mind.

But this wasn’t the time to lose focus like this.

Sun-woo shook his head to shake off idle thoughts and moved his steps toward where the contamination formation was.

The energy coming from the contamination formation had become much stronger than before.

The red light that had been flowing now changed into a single line beginning to soar into the sky.

The eyes of the priestess holding the gem also gradually changed red.

Though even Sun-woo had difficulty approaching that intense energy, there was someone slowly approaching the changing priestess.

“Senior sister, no, Sister Nanhwa. Long time no see.”

Yeonhwa spoke to the contaminated priestess as if giving an ordinary greeting.

And that voice properly reached the ears of the priestess gradually becoming contaminated in a brainwashed state.

A single tear flowed from the priestess’s eyes that had turned red.

“You worked hard during this time. Rest now. And go ahead and save us a good spot.”

Yeonhwa, who was smiling toward the senior priestess, penetrated the surging energy and firmly grasped the hand of Priestess Nanhwa holding the gem emitting radiance.

Flash!

Blue light exploded from Yeonhwa’s body.

The contaminated spirit beast’s inner dan emitting red light desperately resisted Yeonhwa’s purification.

But that spirit beast soon lost its light.

The red light soaring into the sky also lost its light source and all disappeared.

And the priestess’s body standing before Yeonhwa gradually scattered like sand blown by wind.

The priestess who had wasted all her divine power in the wrong direction and was even contaminated by evil couldn’t endure Yeonhwa’s purification.

Priestess Nanhwa, gradually disappearing, smiled looking at Yeonhwa, and soon even that face scattered in the air.

“Is it over?”

Hayden, who had used telekinesis down to the floor and was completely lying on the ground, forcibly raised his body and asked Sun-woo.

His eyes as he spoke were desperately hoping he would say it was over.

Sun-woo, who chuckled at Hayden’s appearance much more free than before, waved his finger at him.

“No. The most important task remains.”

Sun-woo took out a large gem emitting brilliant light from his inventory.

It was the Dragon Heart extracted from the contaminated dragon.

(To be continued in the next episode)