"Stop right there!"
Suddenly, Hong Wemun, who had tightly closed his eyes, slowly opened them. Blood trickled down from the mark engraved on the left side of his neck, piercing through the cold aura. His head had not been severed.
"No more disturbances are allowed! Third Young Master, please put down your sword immediately!"
Seoryang's eyes deepened. The aura emanating from behind him was more than he had anticipated. He had felt it from a distance, and it had reached him in an instant.
"Impressive."
Without turning around, he spoke.
"Who are you?"
"I am the third captain of the Black Crow Unit of the Criminal Law Hall!"
"Oh? It's you again?"
"I repeat, Third Young Master, please put down your sword and step back immediately! No more disturbances are allowed!"
"I don't want to."
"What, what did you say?"
"This is an issue between the candidates. It's not something the Criminal Law Hall should interfere with. I'll wrap things up, so handle it and go back."
"That is not possible!"
"Hmm?"
"No matter if you are the Third Young Master, we cannot stand by and watch you ignore the authority of the Criminal Law Hall any longer!"
"…Oh?"
"I say this for the last time! Put down your sword immediately and…."
At that moment, Seoryang slightly turned his head. The third captain's mouth shut involuntarily.
"Does the Criminal Law Hall have the authority to interfere in disputes between candidates?"
"…!"
"Speak."
"But this is a zone under the influence of the Criminal Law Hall…."
"Why should I care if it's a zone under the influence of the Hall? And wasn't the jurisdiction of the Criminal Law Hall supposed to include both the inner and outer halls?"
"…."
"I can show respect, but I don't feel like turning a blind eye to overstepping your bounds. I don't understand why you keep making things boring."
"Third Young Master!"
"Or what? Do you feel relieved when everyone, regardless of status, trembles before you?"
"Your words are harsh!"
In an instant, Seoryang's sword flashed.
Boom!
The third captain's mouth dropped open. Though his face was hidden by a mask, it was clear he was shocked. Hong Wemun, who was sweating profusely, was equally stunned.
A massive sword mark, three chapters long, was engraved at the third captain's feet.
"Gulp."
With a single stroke, the ground had split. The depth of the sword mark was indiscernible, and the surrounding area was charred black. The extreme yang energy had burned the ground.
The third captain, who was staring blankly at the sword mark, lifted his head to look at Seoryang.
"Gasp!"
Flash!
It was as if lightning struck from his eyes. The transparent and indifferent gaze, filled with an unknown ferocity, was indescribably terrifying.
Not as the Third Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, Seoryang, but as the King of Assassins, Cheonhajin.
For the first time in a long while, the essence of the reaper was drawn out, and there was no trace of demonic energy in his eyes.
"I don't like things getting complicated. So, I can tolerate most things."
He murmured softly, each word flowing like a misty breath.
"But don't ask me to hold back, even as a joke, in front of prey I've marked."
Crackle!
The red lightning that had been flowing along the blade climbed up his hand and surged through his entire body.
"If you really don't want to make things difficult."
He was a reaper draped in the aura of reversal, stimulating the fear of death that all living beings possess. Now, he exuded the aura of hell, the pinnacle of the non-human realm.
Who could dare open their mouth before him? The third captain couldn't even look at Seoryang.
Whoosh.
The oppressive atmosphere created by the red thunder subsided in an instant.
Seoryang looked at Hong Wemun and smiled faintly.
"It seems the interference made the conclusion less clean. I apologize."
"…!"
"Let's see, you said you had no last words, right?"
Hong Wemun's cheeks trembled.
Seoryang raised his sword again.
At that moment.
Flinch!
"…Hmm."
Annoyance was evident on Seoryang's face. The murderous intent he had barely suppressed was trying to rise again.
"Why are there so many meddlesome people?"
Buzz!
The veins on the back of his hand bulged.
This time, it wasn't that he didn't strike down; he couldn't. A massive force, like chains, blocked his sword.
The ability to control a person's movements with intangible energy. It was another technique worthy of being called void manipulation.
Seoryang's pupils turned red.
Crackle!
Now it took on the complete form of lightning. The brilliant flames and ominous mist patterns he had shown before were no longer visible.
"Don't stop me. There will be real trouble."
Crunch!
The blade came down with a swoosh.
The unknown master who had been wielding the chains of internal energy was startled.
Void manipulation itself requires an extreme level of enlightenment. Without establishing an equal realm, it's difficult to resist with force.
Yet, the Third Young Master was breaking that enlightenment with innate strength and overwhelming demonic energy.
Buzz!!
The chains of internal energy grew stronger.
Now, not only his arms but even his body couldn't move easily. The unknown master was exerting all his strength.
Tremble!
Seoryang's body swelled slightly. It was evidence that he was using his muscles to their limit.
A battle between a real sword and invisible internal energy.
"…Fine."
He had been stopped not once, but twice. It was like pouring oil on the already blazing murderous intent.
Swoosh.
Seoryang relaxed his grip.
He even retracted the demonic energy that had been sparking like lightning. Naturally, the chains of internal energy also disappeared.
But Seoryang hadn't given up.
He had only decided to do it properly.
Buzz!
Thin as blood vessels and long as chains, three or four strands of lightning flickered around his body.
A dangerous aura. It was like looking at a bomb about to explode.
Realizing this, the unknown master quickly gathered his internal energy.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed in the void.
"Gasp!"
The unknown master flinched. So surprised that he couldn't even use the technique of void manipulation.
A method of disrupting the flow of internal energy by exploding dark energy in the void.
In other words, it was a disruptive wave. Though not as brilliant as void manipulation, its response method was dazzling.
Swoosh!
Seoryang's sword, not missing that fleeting moment, rushed towards Hong Wemun again.
"Where do you think you're going!"
The unknown master also gathered his internal energy again.
At that moment, Seoryang's eyes flashed.
Swoosh!
As the chains of internal energy tried to bind him, Seoryang's body vanished.
"…!"
His movement was so fast that he disappeared from sight in an instant. But a master of his level wouldn't be flustered just because he lost sight of him.
Isn't a master's sense of energy faster and more accurate than the eyes?
That sense of energy was telling him.
Where Seoryang had disappeared to, and where he was heading.
"Could it be?"
His eyes widened.
Crackle!
Seoryang, blazing with bright red lightning, was advancing at an incredible speed.
At the end of that path was himself.
Flash! Boom!
The wall of the warehouse, which had been standing alone, was swept away by the tremendous sword wind.
The unknown master, Gogu, shouted.
"Third Young Master!"
Whoosh!
Seoryang's figure stood in front of Gogu.
"Fast!"
Though the depth of his demonic energy was enough to be called a supreme master, his skills didn't reach that level. Gogu judged Seoryang's martial arts that way.
But this movement technique was different. At least in terms of body movement, he seemed to be on par with himself.
Seoryang swung his sword.
Whoosh!
With a single chain attack, the reaper's martial arts rendered Hong Wemun combat and action incapable.
It was the Nine Nether Resilient Calamity Sword Technique, which one could only begin to learn after mastering the basic skill, the Three Heavenly Severing Swords, to the twelfth level.
Gogu swung his fist. No matter if it was the Third Young Master, he couldn't just stand still before a threatening sword technique that could endanger his life.
Bang bang bang bang!
The air screamed with countless explosions.
The first chapter of the Calamity Sword Technique, the Six Consecutive Hell Winds, unfolded in an instant.
Slice!
The edge of his sleeve was cut off.
It was only two inches, but he couldn't even remember the last time his clothing was damaged by someone else's martial arts.
Gogu's hands moved intricately. It was a martial art aimed at subduing, not attacking.
That was his mistake.
The Nine Nether Resilient Calamity Sword Technique is divided into five chapters, and at the same time, it is a single martial art.
The connection between moves is so smooth that it doesn't give the opponent a chance to retreat, and naturally, its power increases as it progresses.
Whoosh!
The place where the hellish sword wind disappeared was filled with intense heat. Seoryang's sword glowed red as if it had been put into a furnace.
Gogu's eyes wavered.
The second chapter of the Nine Nether Resilient Calamity Sword Technique, the Ultimate Endless Path, containing the flames of the Eight Heat Hells, appeared.
Whoosh!
The world seemed to be dyed a dark red. It felt like massive pillars of fire were rushing towards him from all directions.
Boom!
A pale smoke rose from Gogu's body as he flew far away.
"Hot!"
Though he had raised his internal energy shield to the extreme, preventing any injuries, if his internal energy had been slightly lacking, there wouldn't have been a single bone fragment left from the merciless blade that burned wounds.
Still, it was fortunate that he didn't suffer any losses.
Perhaps another attack would come?
When Gogu lifted his head.
"…!"
Boom!
Seoryang, who had disappeared with a loud noise, was charging towards Hong Wemun.
"No!"
Only after confirming that he couldn't block it with void manipulation did he decide to kill. Gogu felt a chill run down his spine at Seoryang's obsession with his target, his eyes turned upside down.
"Third Young Master! Stop…!"
Thud!
Gogu's face hardened. The startled third captain also opened his eyes wide.
Drip.
With eyes wide open as if they would tear, Hong Wemun looked up at Seoryang with a shocked face, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.
A moment later.
"Ugh!"
Hong Wemun, who had vomited a bowl of blood, turned pale. He had already lost a lot of blood, and now he was spewing a large amount of fresh blood again.
But that wasn't the real problem.
Throb.
With a fishy smell, a purple poison gas flowed from his entire body.
Breathing heavily, but with calm eyes, Seoryang looked down at him and spoke.
"I thought about it."
Thud!
The sword that had pierced his abdomen was withdrawn. Just above the dantian, where the core of the poison Hong Wemun had accumulated was located.
"Gah!"
"Considering how relieved I'll feel later, the burden of killing you is worth it…."
Seoryang grinned. His face was more like a demon than a human.
"But I thought of a more satisfying and better way."
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
For a demon, a demon; for despair, despair.
"You should experience losing everything you had too."
Sizzle!
Hong Wemun's hair became brittle.
And not just that. His perfectly honed body gradually shrank.
He had maintained his muscles not through physical training but through internal energy. Breaking the core of the poison and the dantian had an immediate adverse effect on his muscles.
It was the limit of Hong Wemun, who had built his strength through illusions for years.
"You won't die immediately, but you'll be bedridden for a few years due to the poisoning symptoms. Of course, even if you recover in a few years, you'll have to start from scratch."
Hong Wemun trembled as he looked up at Seoryang.
"…Please."
"Hmm? What did you say?"
"Just, just kill me!"
Seoryang laughed, showing his white teeth. He read sincerity in the voice that wished for death.
How terrible it must be to watch everything you've built crumble. It was no wonder Hong Wemun was screaming to be killed.
"I'll send you medicine from time to time. I'm a bit sorry that it's all I can do for you as a senior."
Seoryang's transformation was cold but not cruel, and though he was ruthless, he wasn't evil.
Thud!
Hong Wemun, kicked hard, fell backward without strength. Blood trickled weakly from his abdomen as he lost consciousness.
Rumble!
Just then, members of the Criminal Law Hall rushed in from all directions.
Seoryang looked around and smiled, raising his hands.
"I haven't been out for long, but well… do as you please this time too."