Bloodline is Everything - Chapter 195
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Bloodline is a Thug Chapter 195】
195. Individual Combat (1)
Kwon Han-ul flicked the blood from his blade.
He had bisected a warrior of Plum Blossom Seven Swords caliber in a single stroke, yet felt no exhilaration.
The victory hadn’t come from pure skill—it was courtesy of the Asura King’s power.
“Ah, I should have interrogated him before killing him.”
Mei Zifeng had known about Kwon Han-ul’s secret.
Few people in this world possessed such knowledge.
At most, the Heukam Corps, Kwon Mi, and…
“Aion. Those insignificant wretches have allied with Mei Xiao, haven’t they?”
Merely thinking of Aion sent a chill through his heart.
They were vermin that had to be erased from this world while he still drew breath.
Not a single Ion Mage within this Treasure Vault would leave alive.
With that resolve, Kwon Han-ul prepared to move.
“First, I need to find the others.”
Kwon Han-ul sharpened his senses, spreading his mana to map the Treasure Vault’s structure.
But his perception and mana couldn’t extend far—the space itself was blocking his senses.
It appeared the Treasure Vault was situated in a dimensional space.
“I’ll have to search manually.”
Just as he was about to move, Kwon Han-ul’s eyes caught the subspace crystal and twin blades that had materialized when Mei Zifeng died.
He pocketed the subspace crystal and examined the twin blades in his hand.
“These are decent blades.”
Befitting a weapon wielded by a Plum Blossom Seven Swords master, the twin blades emanated a sharpness that was truly remarkable.
After securing both items, Kwon Han-ul left the area.
* * *
“It’s about time we heard some news regarding Kwon Han-ul.”
It was then that the White-Robed Woman approached Mei Xiao.
“Ah, my prediction was correct this time.”
The White-Robed Woman nodded, then whispered something softly to Mei Xiao. At her words, Mei Xiao’s expression gradually darkened.
“Mei Zifeng is dead? You think that makes sense right now? Even if the sword brigade that went with him… no, even if it wasn’t the sword brigade, if it’s Mei Zifeng…!”
Mei Xiao couldn’t continue, her words trailing off in bewilderment. Joo Ha-yeon and Mei Hong, hearing this exchange, could roughly piece together how the situation had unfolded.
“It seems the captain won.”
Mei Hong spoke toward Mei Xiao.
“The captain kept saying he was already a dead man, yet the result is the complete opposite? The Bloodline Sword is nothing special. You couldn’t even properly assess your enemy’s level.”
At Mei Hong’s mockery, Mei Xiao clamped her mouth shut. She knew all too well that whatever she said would only make her look worse.
Instead, she issued a command to the White-Robed Sorcerer.
“Tell that man we don’t have the resources. Ask him to take care of Kwon Han-ul on his end.”
The White-Robed Sorcerer nodded.
“Withdraw now. Or is there something else you wish to discuss?”
The Sorcerer whispered something else to Mei Xiao. Her eyes widened.
“…Kwon Myung-woo has already arrived there?”
Mei Xiao handed the demonic sword she’d been holding back to the black-robed Sorcerer.
“Mei Hong, I wanted to hear your answer before leaving, but something urgent has come up.”
Mei Xiao rose from her chair. The blood kin beside her handed her a weapon.
“Use the time until I return to compose yourself. I’d recommend you voluntarily accept my proposal. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to resort to more… physical means.”
Mei Xiao strode away and disappeared.
Once she left, an elderly man now stood before Mei Hong and Joo Ha-yeon.
“Don’t try any foolish tricks. If you do, my blade won’t forgive you.”
The old man’s presence was formidable. Mei Hong muttered with a hardened face.
“Mei Chan, the Single-Eyed Sword… why are you following Mei Xiao’s orders? I thought you were in seclusion.”
The man who had held his position the longest among the Seven Plum Blossoms Swords.
Even the Mei Family Head couldn’t act carelessly toward him—that man was Mei Chan, the Single-Eyed Sword.
“The family faces a crisis. How could I remain idle?”
Mei Chan replied in a solemn tone. Then he examined Mei Hong as if appraising her.
“…Indeed.”
He let out a brief exclamation of admiration.
“When Mei Xiao said she would accept you back, I opposed it. I said a traitor like you should be dismembered and executed.”
Interest flickered in Mei Chan’s eyes.
“But meeting you in person, I now understand why Mei Xiao was so insistent about you.”
“Wake up. I have no intention of returning to the Mei Family.”
“That’s not a decision you get to make.”
Mei Chan lowered the great sword he carried on his back as he spoke.
“You need only obey our decision.”
* * *
Kwon Myung-woo explored the Treasure Vault alongside the Heukcheon Team.
Along the way, I encountered several deranged hunters wielding cursed blades, but they posed no real threat.
As I pressed forward, a colossal steel door materialized before me.
“Hmm, this is something I’ve never seen before.”
Despite wandering through the Treasure Vault for quite some time, this was the first door I’d encountered.
One of the Heukcheon Team members asked me a question.
“Should we open it?”
“Yes. We need to see what’s inside.”
The team member approached the steel door.
In that instant, my expression hardened with sudden intensity.
“…Stop.”
The team member turned to face me, his eyes questioning why.
“All of you, fall back.”
The Heukcheon Team members looked bewildered, but every single one obeyed my command without hesitation.
“I’ll proceed alone from here. Go back and assist the other teams.”
“Sir?”
One of the team members asked in confusion. I simply pointed my finger back down the path we’d come.
“Move out, now!”
My voice carried an unmistakable urgency. The Heukcheon Team members had no choice but to obey.
Only after they had all disappeared did I approach the steel door.
I didn’t need to touch it. I pushed the door open with pure magical force.
The massive steel door swung wide open as if kicked aside. I stepped through into the chamber beyond.
“I sensed a familiar presence, and now I understand.”
I growled the words.
“So it was you all along, Dragon Slayer.”
In the center of the chamber, a muscular man let out a low chuckle.
“The First Fist of Heukcheon. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“What brings a wanderer like you to this place?”
“A dragon hunter has only one reason to move.”
The Dragon Slayer rose to his feet, grasping the enormous double-bladed axe that had been embedded in the ground.
“I came to hunt a dragon.”
* * *
“The cleanup is complete.”
Gu Eon lifted his head at the Steel Fang Member’s report.
“Any casualties?”
“None.”
“Good work.”
Gu Eon rose from his seat and began walking through the room, which was filled with blood and corpses.
“The Mei Family pulled quite the underhanded stunt. Using cursed blades to turn hunters into mere pawns.”
Scattered across the floor alongside the bodies were shattered weapons abandoned in various places.
All the hunters who died here had lost their minds while gripping those weapons.
“A cursed blade potent enough to corrupt the minds of high-rank hunters….”
Perhaps it could be put to good use within Heukcheon as well.
It was while I was lost in such thoughts.
“Captain!”
Someone came running from the opposite entrance. The moment I saw that face, I couldn’t help but be bewildered.
“Bae Cheol-min? What are you doing here?”
“This is—this is terrible!”
Bae Cheol-min prostrated himself before me. And he cried out in an urgent voice.
“Mei Xiao attacked Kwon Han-ul! Everyone scattered! I barely managed to escape!”
“Mei Xiao?”
I narrowed my brows. Mei Xiao, the Blood Slayer, is an absolute master of sword force. It was a name that could not be taken lightly.
“I thought Kwon Myung-woo would be there to prevent reckless action… but my prediction was off.”
The reason Kwon Myung-woo was able to make such a bold decision to divide his forces in enemy territory was precisely because of that.
“But why did you flee? You should have stopped Mei Xiao at any cost, even with your life on the line.”
“I apologize.”
Bae Cheol-min buried his head to the ground. I clicked my tongue briefly.
“Well, garbage like you could never display such sacrifice.”
I clicked my tongue briefly and looked back at the Heukcheon Team and the Steel Fang.
“To face Mei Xiao, we need Director Kwon Myung-woo.”
But if we waited for Kwon Myung-woo to arrive, Kwon Han-ul’s life would be in danger.
“Send one person to report this to Director Kwon Myung-woo. The rest come with me.”
If I and the Heukcheon Team and Steel Fang here joined forces, we should be able to at least pin down Mei Xiao.
After formulating the plan, it was just as I was about to move.
“Captain, actually that was a lie.”
Suddenly Bae Cheol-min spat out those words. For a moment, I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
“What?”
“I said it was a lie.”
My expression twisted violently.
“This traitor has finally lost his mind.”
“It was unavoidable to approach this close without drawing your suspicion, Captain.”
“What?”
In that instant, Bae Cheol-min rose to his feet. Simultaneously, he thrust his hand upward, driving it directly into Gu Eon’s chest.
His hand pierced through the heart, erupting from the back.
“Gahhh!”
Gu Eon stared at Bae Cheol-min with an expression of utter disbelief.
“That look on your face—you can’t fathom why the seal didn’t activate.”
Bae Cheol-min smiled wickedly as he spoke.
“I already broke that damned seal long ago.”
The light drained from Gu Eon’s eyes as his head fell limp. Bae Cheol-min hurled the corpse aside without ceremony.
“Gu Eon!”
“You insane bastard, how dare you!”
The Heukcheon Team roared in fury. The Gangtaedae, by contrast, remained eerily silent.
No—they cared nothing for Gu Eon’s death. Their sole curiosity was how Bae Cheol-min’s seal had failed to activate.
“Curious how I broke the seal, aren’t you?”
Bae Cheol-min addressed the Gangtaedae directly.
“I’ll release yours too, so just wait patiently. First, I need to eliminate those dogs.”
Bae Cheol-min cracked his neck side to side as he advanced toward the Heukcheon Team.
“Think the Gangtaedae can defeat the Heukcheon Team?”
“I’ll kill you right here and now!”
Murderous intent poured from the Heukcheon Team members. Yet despite absorbing their killing aura, Bae Cheol-min’s expression remained serene.
“You’re not entirely wrong. How could the Gangtaedae possibly defeat the Heukcheon Team?”
The Heukcheon Team was undeniably the strongest unit within the Heukcheon Group.
The Gangtaedae possessed formidable power, but it paled in comparison.
“But you’d be making a grave mistake if you lumped me in with the rest of those Gangtaedae fools.”
The Heukcheon Team members burst forward simultaneously, their weapons wreathed in dense auras, slashing at Bae Cheol-min from all angles.
Their auras were so razor-sharp that even where they didn’t connect, the floor and walls fractured and splintered.
Yet.
“Impressive sharpness.”
Their auras could not cut through Bae Cheol-min’s body. They halted, unable to penetrate further.
“What is this….”
“This is impossible….”
Then it happened.
Bae Cheol-min’s skin and muscles writhed before suddenly contracting. His entire frame shrank dramatically.
The contracted muscles then expanded violently, striking the Heukcheon Team members’ weapons.
The weapons shattered into fragments. The impact sent the Heukcheon Team members flying backward.
“Have you forgotten who I am?”
Bae Cheol-min advanced. With each step, the muscles across his entire body writhed as if possessed by their own will.
“I am the one and only traitor who dared draw a weapon before the Family Head himself.”
A piercing, glacial light blazed from Bae Cheol-min’s eyes.
“I am not a body that mere green-eared whelps like you can contend with!”
Bae Cheol-min’s form vanished. In the same instant, one of the Heukcheon Team members’ head exploded.
“Ha-yeon!”
“Everyone, snap out of it! He’s stronger than us!”
The Heukcheon Team members drew new weapons from their subspace and counterattacked.
But those weapons never touched Bae Cheol-min’s body. He moved faster than they could swing their arms.
Bae Cheol-min’s fists and knife-hands tore through the Heukcheon Team members.
In the blink of an eye, every member of the Heukcheon Team had become corpses.
“Hah…”
Bae Cheol-min, drenched in blood, drew a deep breath.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d killed people of my own volition.
The afterglow of the massacre left my body languid.
“Bae Cheol-min! What is the meaning of this!”
But that sensation didn’t last long. The Gangtaedae members approached me.
“Did you find a way to break the seal?”
“Free us too! Please!”
“Me too! Me too, free me! I want to escape this slave life!”
To their pleas, Bae Cheol-min smiled and spoke.
“It’s not difficult. You just need this.”
Bae Cheol-min pulled a small knife, like a bread knife, from his pocket.
“Cut the mark on your neck with this. Then you’ll be free from the seal.”
The Gangtaedae member at the front reflexively reached out his hand. Bae Cheol-min quickly withdrew the hand holding the knife.
“What are you doing! Give it here!”
“There’s a condition for breaking the seal.”
“A condition?”
“Kill the Heukcheon Team the way I did and liberate the Gangtaedae.”
At those words, the Gangtaedae members suddenly fell silent.
“The… the Heukcheon Team…?”
“No, how are we supposed to kill those monster bastards…?”
Even with freedom within reach, the Gangtaedae members hesitated.
The gap between the Heukcheon Team and Gangtaedae was that vast.
“Stupid bastards.”
Bae Cheol-min sneered. In his eyes, the Gangtaedae members looked like terrified dogs.
“Who said anything about fighting head-on? Those bastards don’t know your seals are broken. So just approach them like I did and kill them.”
At those words, the expressions of the Gangtaedae members changed. Hesitation began to fade from their faces.
“If you understand, take it.”
Bae Cheol-min threw the knife to the Gangtaedae member. The member asked with a bewildered expression.
“Aren’t you coming with us?”
“I have something else to do.”
Bae Cheol-min gazed at something distant and muttered.
“There’s someone I need to meet separately.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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