Chapter 429

Chapter 429 – The Outbreak of the Great World War (1)

"Huff! Huff!"

Nam Hak gasped raggedly.

The place where he was located was a secluded alley in the Demon Cult's outer fortress. All over his body, large and small wounds gaped open. His entire body was stained with blood, and red heat haze was rising from his shoulders as the blood evaporated.

His breath was caught at his chin, and his heart was beating violently as if it would burst at any moment. Sweat continuously flowed down his face, and both eyes were colored with terror.

"They're all dead. Everyone…"

All the suicide squad martial artists who had acted with him were dead. Among them were old friends and juniors from Joint Cave Sect. They had all been brutally killed, and only Nam Hak had barely escaped.

The Demon Cult's strength was beyond his imagination.

Nam Hak himself was said to be one of the best late-stage rising talents in the martial world, but the Demon Cult had very many masters at his level.

A land of terror where dragons hide and tigers crouch.

The suicide squad's surprise attack might have worked during the first Righteous-Demon War, but the same tactics didn't work on the current Demon Cult that had become a dragon's den and tiger's lair.

The Martial Alliance's greatest mistake was following the same method that worked once decades ago, and that young talents were swept up and participated in it.

With the death of so many young talents, the martial world's vitality was bound to be greatly damaged. The sects that had many martial artists participate in the suicide squad would suffer enormous losses, and it would take decades or more to recover their former prosperity. But Nam Hak couldn't think that far.

The only thought filling his mind was that he had to escape this place alive.

He had even brushed off Eom Tae-cheon who pleaded for help to survive. Shadowless Divine Dragon Eom Tae-cheon, one of the Nine Martial Dragons, had asked for his help while seriously injured. But Nam Hak coldly brushed off his hand and fled. It was to survive alone.

"I need to find Yeon-woon. He must have some method."

He recalled Cho Yeon-woon.

The one who had opposed the suicide squad's infiltration of the Demon Cult to the end. So he had felt like a thorn in his eye. But now that it had come to this, he was the first person who came to mind.

He didn't know why for some reason. He just had a vague thought that if he met him, he would save him from this danger.

Nam Hak raised his head and looked around.

The Demon Cult was vast. Combined with the inner and outer fortress, it was truly beyond imagination. Even fellow Demon Cult members would get lost if they weren't familiar with the geography, as the interior was so complex.

Thanks to this, Nam Hak could survive until now, but even that was precarious. At this very moment, countless Demon Cult martial artists were closing in like a net.

The moment he was caught by them, he would certainly suffer terrible torture, let alone lose his life.

"Damn it!"

Nam Hak cursed and moved his steps with difficulty. His two legs were trembling as if they would collapse at any moment. But Nam Hak gritted his teeth and endured.

If he stopped here because it was difficult, only death would remain. Knowing this fact, Nam Hak desperately moved to find a path of life.

"I won't die. I'll definitely return alive to Joint Cave Sect."

It was when Nam Hak kept muttering the same words as if hypnotizing himself.

An old man in shabby robes appeared silently in front of him.

Wrinkles carved all over his face so deep that his age couldn't be guessed and age spots blooming here and there. His eyes buried in wrinkles were full of discharge, and the two hands revealed between the shabby robes covering his entire body were also full of wrinkles reminiscent of old tree bark.

But Nam Hak moved his steps with difficulty without detecting the old man's appearance. He only noticed the old man's existence after bumping his head into the old man's chest.

"What? Gasp!"

He was really startled.

No matter how tired and injured he was, his senses hadn't become dull. The epithet Thunder Lightning Martial Guest wasn't obtained by sitting comfortably. He had fought so many battles and proven himself with skill that his martial world peers gave him that name.

The fact that such a person couldn't perceive the opponent's existence until he bumped his head into their chest was shocking in itself.

Nam Hak hurriedly took a defensive stance and shouted:

"Wh-who are you?"

"A child with dull senses. Or are you thinking too much?"

The old man looked at Nam Hak and smiled.

The moment he saw that smile, Nam Hak felt a chill as if cold water had been poured over him and trembled.

Nam Hak was never a person with small courage. Though he had a strong tendency to look down on others arrogantly, his boldness was thick enough that no one could match.

Especially with his strong belligerent nature, many people feared him. Thus he was someone who gave fear to others, not someone who felt fear from someone else.

But such a person was feeling fear toward another. Just from making eye contact.

Shudder!

It felt like every hair on his body was standing on end. The thrill running up his spine was warning him of danger.

"Cha-aht!"

Grumble!

Nam Hak quickly retreated while deploying Joint Cave Sect's ultimate technique, Mysterious Heaven Divine Palm. The Mysterious Heaven Divine Palm, said to be powerful enough to dye the sky black, rushed toward the old man with a thunder-like sound.

At that moment, the old man casually waved his hand. Then the Mysterious Heaven Divine Palm that had rushed in like a tidal wave was snuffed out like a candle before the wind.

Nam Hak's eyes widened as if they would tear.

His pupils were shaking violently as if an earthquake had occurred. Because something he couldn't understand with his common sense had happened.

"What?"

Nam Hak's mouth gaped open and his teeth chattered involuntarily.

He instinctively felt that the old man before his eyes was an existence on a different level from himself.

'The… the class is different.'

Though he had the same human form, the old man before his eyes was different from himself. His voice naturally trembled.

"Wh-who are you?"

Not only did his manner of speech change, but his momentum also broke completely. It was something the usual Nam Hak could never imagine. The problem was that Nam Hak didn't even realize this fact.

The old man's tree-like face squirmed. His lips curled up slightly as if he was smiling.

"Shall I let you out?"

"What?"

"Weren't you looking for an exit? I'm saying I'll let you out of the Demon Cult."

"R-really?"

Nam Hak asked blankly as if bewitched by something. Then the old man nodded with a smile.

"Of course, child. I can let you out of this place."

"Then please let me out quickly."

"Then you must pay a price."

"A price?"

It was the moment a puzzled light appeared on Nam Hak's face.

Grip!

Suddenly the old man grasped Nam Hak's head with both palms. Instantly Nam Hak felt a shock like being struck by lightning and lost consciousness.

The old man closed his eyes and muttered something for a long time. Nam Hak trembled all over while unconscious. It looked as if something was being forcibly injected into him.

It was quite a while later that the old man removed his hands from Nam Hak's head. He looked at the unconscious Nam Hak and smiled.

"To gain one thing, you must lose something – that's the way of the world. Your vessel is quite sturdy, so you'll be useful. Ma-yeong."

As soon as his words ended, a masked person in gray clothes appeared from the alley and knelt before the old man.

The old man said to the masked person:

"Take this child to Gwi-sa. Then they'll handle it appropriately."

"Yes, sir!"

The masked person answered and disappeared carrying Nam Hak on his back. Right after that, a noisy sound came from the opposite side of the alley.

"This way. His traces lead this way."

It was the sound of Demon Cult masters tracking Nam Hak. They had already arrived nearby chasing him.

The old man didn't hide or avoid. Instead, he just bent his straight back crookedly. Just that alone completely changed the old man's atmosphere.

The presence that seemed not of this world disappeared, and he became an ordinary old man.

Right after that, the Demon Cult masters appeared.

"Oh? Blood Elder, sir!"

They discovered the old man and quickly bowed their heads. Though he was an old man who rarely showed himself outside, some knew his face.

The old man was precisely Blood Elder, the spiritual leader of Demon Mother Dan Un-hyang and head of the missionary organization Middle Heaven.

"How is Blood Elder here?"

"It was noisy outside, so I came out briefly."

"There are still those who haven't been caught, so it's dangerous. Please go inside quickly."

"Hehe! I will."

Blood Elder obediently answered and moved his steps inside. No one thought Blood Elder was strange or suspicious. Rather, they thought of Blood Elder as an important person who should be protected.

Blood Elder disappeared into the inner fortress with a smile. Meanwhile, the Demon Cult masters who had been tracking searched the outer fortress thoroughly, but Nam Hak's figure couldn't be found anywhere.

On this day, hundreds of Demon Cult masters were killed or wounded by the suicide squad's invasion. Especially two of the Seven Great Demons, Yi Seon-chang and Yoon Gwang, were seriously injured, causing a loss of power.

It was a big blow to the Demon Cult. But that didn't mean the suicide squad was unharmed.

Because they had prepared in advance, the suicide squad suffered damage close to annihilation. Most of the young martial artists died or were captured by the Demon Cult, and among them was Shadowless Divine Dragon Eom Tae-cheon, one of the Nine Martial Dragons.

Among the previous generation suicide squad, Thousand Man Enemy Sword Jang Jin-myeong and Heavenly Wolf Guest Gu Ui-jin lost their lives. They were dismembered and brutally killed, and their severed heads were hung in front of the Demon Cult's main gate.

The Martial Alliance's intention to deal a fatal blow to the Demon Cult using the suicide squad had only achieved half success. No, rather it brought about the worst result.

Military Advisor Sang Han-cheon of the Demon Cult ordered an advance on Mount Song Martial Alliance instead of managing the Demon Cult.

The anger of the Demon Cult martial artists who lost comrades to the Martial Alliance's surprise attack was frightening. They systematically prepared their forces and began advancing toward the Martial Alliance.

Countless forces left Yueyang and headed toward Mount Song where the Martial Alliance was located. Enormous forces incomparable to before had begun advancing.

***

The confusion of the Martial Alliance and Shaolin Temple upon receiving this intelligence reached its peak. Contrary to their intentions, the Great World War had actually been accelerated.

Thus the world was being sucked into a vortex of turbulence.

Dam Ho's party, having left Nosukji, spent a full day to arrive at Luan. Luan was a city in northwestern Anhui Province adjacent to Henan Province.

Though not very large in scale, quite a few people lived there, so there were many suitable places to stay.

"Ah, today we can rest at an inn."

The one who was most pleased was precisely the woman, Nok Su-bing.

While the men could camp out for several days without problem, the woman Nok Su-bing had suffered quite a bit from not being able to wash properly. She wanted to enter an inn as soon as possible and bathe in warm water.

The Namgung brothers felt the same about the inn being welcome. The days in the wilderness had made their bodies and minds strong, but on the other hand, it was also difficult. Though they didn't say it, their feelings were no different from Nok Su-bing's.

Especially Namgung Seon-hwi, who had walked refusing even horses to train his stamina, felt tremendous fatigue. He looked at Luan with an expression as if he might collapse at any moment.

"Whew!"

Thinking that tonight he could eat his fill and sleep well in a comfortable place, his whole body already felt drowsy.

They hurriedly entered Luan and took the first inn they saw. It was an inn called Peaceful Inn.

Since there were many people, they took a separate building. Though it cost quite a bit of money, Bang Jin-bo paid cheerfully. He too wanted to rest in a comfortable place tonight without worrying about others' gazes.

"I'll wash first."

As soon as they took the separate building, Nok Su-bing went in to bathe first. The rest sat down with tired faces.

"Whew! It's tiring."

"I feel like I'm going to die."

"Me too."

The Namgung brothers agreed with Bang Jin-bo's words.

Unlike them with tired expressions, there was no particular change on Dam Ho's face. Dam Ho wasn't the type to feel tired from just this much. Even at this moment, the Dark Soul Mind Technique was naturally operating to drive away his fatigue.

Bang Jin-bo looked at Dam Ho.

"Brother, can I go out for a bit?"

"……"

"I want to get a new kitchen knife. It's somehow bothering me to keep staining a cooking knife with human blood."

It was a thought he had been having for a long time.

He couldn't keep harming people with a cooking knife forever. He wanted to prepare a new kitchen knife to use only for cooking on this occasion.

Dam Ho nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Hehe! It won't take long. I'll be back by evening."

"Alright!"

Bang Jin-bo went outside with a bright smile. ​