Chapter 167

Chapter 167: A Good Deed Is Repaid Tenfold (2)

"Give me the medicine."

Jong Ri-yeon administered the second dose to Gwak Yeon.

Gwak Yeon's complexion was markedly improved compared to before. But she was still in danger.

Clang!

Outside, Hwa-no and the Sword King Unit were still locked in fierce combat. Explosive sounds erupted ceaselessly, and violent surges of energy shook the thatched hut.

Performing the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle under such conditions was close to impossible. But Jong Ri-yeon's terrifying concentration turned the impossible into the possible.

Thud! Thud!

Jong Ri-yeon inserted silver needles into Gwak Yeon's body without hesitation. This was the second performance of the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle. Beside her, the silver needles from the first performance lay discolored black—it was the foul energy within Gwak Yeon's body that had tainted them.

'If the needles are placed even slightly off course, Yeon will die. Focus, Jong Ri-yeon.'

Jong Ri-yeon urged herself on as she placed the needles.

Beads of sweat cascaded ceaselessly from her entire body.

Gwak San watched Jong Ri-yeon's efforts with anxious eyes as he prepared the final decoction.

At that moment—

Boom!

Suddenly, with a tremendous roar, one wall of the thatched hut burst open. A fierce gale immediately swept through the interior.

"N-no!"

Gwak San threw himself over the decoction pot to protect it with his body. His left arm was burned by the flames, but he had no time to feel the pain.

After confirming the decoction was safe, Gwak San quickly looked toward Jong Ri-yeon.

Jong Ri-yeon's head and shoulders were covered in splintered wood fragments. She had not emerged unscathed from the explosion either.

Though Jong Ri-yeon was certainly shaken and shocked, she gritted her teeth and struggled to maintain her composure.

Gwak San called to her.

"Young mistress!"

"I am alright. Uncle, please continue decocting the medicine."

"Un… understood."

At Jong Ri-yeon's response, Gwak San nodded desperately.

'Young mistress!'

Hwa-no, who was fighting the Sword King Unit, glanced sideways at Jong Ri-yeon.

He could see her desperately performing the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle. It was because he had failed to completely block the Sword King Unit's assault that the hut's wall had collapsed.

Hwa-no was fighting the Sword King Unit with every fiber of his being.

Time had stolen his youth, but in exchange, it had granted him seasoned skill and experience. Hwa-no compensated for his diminished martial power with experience and fought with everything he had.

As a result, he had managed to bring down five Sword King Unit members. In exchange, wounds covered his body.

A deep gash gaped open like a fish's mouth. But Hwa-no did not have the luxury of feeling pain.

The Sword King Unit's coordinated attacks turned with the precision of interlocking gears.

Slash!

A Sword King Unit member's sword grazed Hwa-no's right arm.

"Ugh!"

Hwa-no's face contorted.

A nerve had been severed—his right arm would not move. Hwa-no instinctively realized he had reached the moment where he must make a critical decision.

'Young mistress!'

He had no attachment to his life.

It was a spare life he had been given by Jong Ri-yeon's grace. A life that should have ended long ago—he had lived a few years more.

"Chaaah!"

Hwa-no gathered every last shred of his remaining internal energy.

Whoosh!

The air rippled.

Sensing something was wrong, the Sword King Unit's deputy leader, Namgung Seong-chan, shouted.

"Everyone, be careful!"

"It is too late. Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm!"

Hwa-no spread his palm wide.

Krash!

In that instant, a blood-red energy erupted from his palm.

"T-this is?"

"Demonic energy!"

The Sword King Unit members cried out in alarm and tried to pull back from the melee. But more than a dozen were swept up in the blood-red current.

"Uwaaah!"

"Kwaaah!"

The Sword King Unit members caught in the blood-red current screamed in agony. Their bones and flesh were melting.

The surviving Sword King Unit members, witnessing the horrifying power, shuddered.

"What is this?"

They had never heard of a martial art that could melt a person's bones and flesh with a single strike.

Meanwhile, Hwa-no, who had unleashed the Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm, fell to his knees and spat out a great mouthful of blood. The ground and his chest were stained red.

'Ugh! As expected, it was too much?'

Several years ago, he had been saved from the brink of death by Jong Ri-yeon's help, but his internal energy had not fully recovered.

The Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm was an extremely evil demonic art. Even with a complete body, it was not easy to withstand the recoil. To unleash it in an incomplete state meant the backlash was gnawing at Hwa-no's very life.

Hwa-no raised his head and looked ahead.

Five members of the Sword King Unit still remained. They had escaped the Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm by the narrowest of margins.

Their faces had turned ashen, but they were still functional enough to move. Hwa-no, on the other hand, was immobilized by the backlash, his internal organs shattered.

With his profound internal energy, he barely clung to life, but he was effectively a dead man.

The Sword King Unit members exchanged glances. They too had noticed Hwa-no's condition.

The deputy leader, Namgung Seong-chan, issued the order.

"You two, bring the Sage."

"Yes!"

Two Sword King Unit members advanced toward Jong Ri-yeon.

Jong Ri-yeon was performing the third Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle. She had reached the most critical juncture.

If interrupted now, not only Gwak Yeon but Jong Ri-yeon herself would be in danger. But the Sword King Unit knew nothing of this.

"N-no!"

Gwak San spread his arms and blocked their path.

His entire body trembled like an aspen. His face, drained of color with fear, had turned deathly pale, but he somehow did not step aside.

"Hmph!"

But the Sword King Unit had no reason to accommodate his situation. They scoffed and kicked Gwak San away.

"No!"

Watching this, Hwa-no vomited blood and cried out. But Gwak San had already been struck in the chest and was rolling across the ground.

"Worry about yourself, old man."

Namgung Seong-chan unleashed the Heavenly Thunder Palm at Hwa-no.

'N-no!'

Jong Ri-yeon's pupils, performing the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle, wavered.

Hwa-no's crisis shattered her concentration.

The hand holding the silver needles trembled violently. At this rate, she could not place the needles accurately.

'I must save Yeon…'

But she could not stand by and watch Hwa-no die either. For years, Hwa-no had been her protector and closest companion.

Just as Jong Ri-yeon was about to close her eyes in despair—

Crash!

Suddenly, a thunderous roar rang across the battlefield and a violent wind struck her body. But she felt no pain.

Jong Ri-yeon cautiously opened her eyes. Before her stood the back of someone blocking her path.

The back of a man clad in tattered black robes, completely stained red with blood.

At his feet, the two Sword King Unit members who had been advancing toward her lay in heaps of torn flesh.

"Ah!"

An involuntary exclamation escaped Jong Ri-yeon's lips.

It was Dam Ho.

He was walking toward Namgung Seong-chan and the remaining Sword King Unit members.

Were an ordinary person to limp, they would surely look diminished. But Dam Ho was different.

With each step Dam Ho took, Namgung Seong-chan and the Sword King Unit members retreated. They were overwhelmed by his sheer force of presence.

"Huuh!"

A ragged breath escaped between Dam Ho's lips.

"H-how?"

Namgung Seong-chan stammered.

Disbelief was written across his face.

Dam Ho's appearance meant that Su-cheon was dead. And that the eighty-odd Sword King Unit members who had accompanied him had been annihilated.

Su-cheon had long guarded the Namgung Family from the shadows. He was not someone who would die so easily.

"You… are you even human? How could you possibly…"

Namgung Seong-chan's face twisted grotesquely.

Of the hundred-strong Sword King Unit, only three remained. With such forces, they could not handle Dam Ho—if Dam Ho was in his normal state.

But it was obvious at a glance that Dam Ho was far from normal. The fact that he could move at all was miraculous, given the horrific wounds covering his body.

Namgung Seong-chan exchanged glances with the remaining Sword King Unit members.

'He is bluffing.'

That was the conclusion they had drawn from considering Dam Ho's condition, breathing, and other factors.

'Swift resolution!'

There was no more room for hesitation.

Shing!

The instant their swords cleaved through the air, Dam Ho moved.

Boom!

Dam Ho's body was the first to slam into the chest of the martial artist on the left. The man's chest caved inward and he vomited blood. Dam Ho, splattered with the man's blood, continued driving forward.

"Ugh!"

Namgung Seong-chan, who had been building momentum to swing his sword, froze for an instant. If he continued his swing, his subordinate's body would be cleaved in two by his blade.

Even if the man was certainly dead, damaging a subordinate's corpse with his own sword was something he could not bring himself to do.

That momentary hesitation sealed Namgung Seong-chan's fate.

Dam Ho's fist drove into his side.

Thwack!

"Kuhuk!"

The fist had struck his right side, but his left side burst open.

A hole was punched clean through his side, and his organs spilled out.

Namgung Seong-chan's eyes, wide with shock, lost their light.

"Ugh. No."

The last surviving Sword King Unit member staggered backward.

They had come a hundred strong. He alone remained.

"F-fist Demon…"

It was like a nightmare.

'The Sword King Unit annihilated. How can this be…'

Dam Ho was approaching him.

He was still limping.

In that instant, the martial artist saw one possibility of survival.

He threw himself backward and launched into a movement technique with everything he had.

'He is a cripple. He can never catch me. No matter how shameful it is, I must survive. I must return to the main family and tell them of his existence.'

That was why he fled.

Grab!

In that instant, someone seized his leg.

It was Hwa-no. He had gathered his last remaining strength to grab hold of the martial artist.

"Ugh! Let go!"

The moment the martial artist tried to shake off Hwa-no's grip—

Shing!

Dam Ho unleashed Fortress Breaking Fist.

A violent surge of energy swept in like a tidal wave and engulfed the martial artist's entire body.

His face distorted from the pressure. Then Dam Ho's fist crashed into his face.

Boom!

The martial artist's head burst open like a watermelon.

Having dispatched the last member, Dam Ho's body swayed.

Thud!

Dam Ho dropped to one knee and vomited blood. His face was deathly pale.

He was paying the price for his exertion, having sustained life-threatening injuries both internal and external.

Dam Ho gritted his teeth and activated the Dark Soul Heart Method.

If he lost consciousness now, his life would be at stake. He had to hold on to his awareness until the very end and heal himself through his own power.

Hwa-no watched Dam Ho, who insisted on resolving everything through his own strength, with an expression of awe.

But the light in his eyes faded rapidly. His body had sustained injuries beyond recovery. That he had held on until now was itself a miracle.

"Keep the Heavenly Evil in…"

Hwa-no's lips moved, then stopped.

His breath had ceased.