Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 104

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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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Episode 103. Moving Forward So as Not to Regret—3
Dam Ho’s eyes were dark. And silent.
The moment killing intent began to glimmer in his utterly still gaze, it transformed into a savage typhoon.
That was happening now.
“Hah!”
O Gun Ui drew a sharp breath, witnessing the unbelievable sight of killing intent kindling in Dam Ho’s eyes, becoming a typhoon.
Slash!
Dam Ho unleashed the Charging Technique.
His target was Namgoong Chang.
The man was still alive, still breathing.
He would sever that breath. Absolutely.
Such resolve radiated outward along with Dam Ho’s aura.
“Madness!”
O Gun Ui cried out in shock at the sheer momentum, whirling his blade to meet it.
For whatever reason, he could not allow Namgoong Chang to die at Dam Ho’s hands here.
Aside from their personal connection, Namgoong Chang was a crucial figure—someone who would play a pivotal role in establishing the Murim Alliance.
O Gun Ui unfolded the Hae Yong Cham Sal Geom, the secret sword art of the Haenam Sect.
Clang!
Dam Ho’s fist and O Gun Ui’s blade collided.
“Ugh!”
A strained cry escaped O Gun Ui’s lips. Though he’d merely crossed fist against blade, his entire body resonated as if struck directly by a massive boulder.
What alarmed O Gun Ui most of all was that Dam Ho’s fist, which had made contact with his sword, remained utterly unscathed.
‘How can a human body be like this…?’
But he had no leisure to ponder the reason. Dam Ho’s next strike was already descending.
O Gun Ui hastily deployed the third form of the Hae Yong Cham Sal Geom—the Jeok Ha Dan Hon.
Whoosh!
In an instant, crimson sword energy resembling a sunset glow erupted forth, sweeping toward Dam Ho.
O Gun Ui believed this strike would at least force Dam Ho to retreat, even if it couldn’t wound him. But Dam Ho’s response transcended his expectations entirely.
Rather than evade O Gun Ui’s blade, Dam Ho hurled himself directly into its path. At this rate, O Gun Ui’s sword would strike Dam Ho’s shoulder cleanly.
“Hah!”
Without thinking, Cho Yeon Un’s fists clenched tight. Even his eyes perceived Dam Ho as being in danger.
But in that moment, something unbelievable occurred.
Ting!
O Gun Ui’s blade, touching Dam Ho’s shoulder, was deflected diagonally. The Geum Gu Ja had been deployed.
O Gun Ui’s eyes flew wide as his sword was batted aside.
Not just any deflection—it was a blade wreathed in sword energy. Its cutting power and sharpness surpassed even the famed blades renowned across the realm.
Dam Ho had repelled such energized steel with his bare body. For O Gun Ui, unaware that a martial art called the Geum Gu Ja even existed, shock was only natural.
Having deflected O Gun Ui’s blade, Dam Ho drove straight toward his chest.
Dam Ho and O Gun Ui’s eyes met. The distance between them was mere feet—near enough to feel each other’s breathing.
O Gun Ui caught the scent of blood on Dam Ho’s breath.
The reek of death exhaled by beasts that lived only by devouring the living.
Thud!
Dam Ho’s two hands seized O Gun Ui by the collar.
O Gun Ui twisted his body, straining to break free from Dam Ho’s grip, but to no avail. Dam Ho’s powerful arms constricted around his throat like steel pincers.
“Gack!”
Unwillingly, O Gun Ui’s mouth fell open.
In that instant, O Gun Ui’s body was yanked abruptly skyward. Dam Ho had unleashed the Ji Cheon Gyeok.
Body and legs reversed positions, and O Gun Ui plummeted toward the ground with terrible speed.
Many martial artists had suffered helplessly under the Ji Cheon Gyeok. But O Gun Ui proved himself to be in a different league, reversing his grip and driving his blade toward Dam Ho’s ribs.
Whoosh!
O Gun Ui had believed this would force Dam Ho to release him. But Dam Ho was no ordinary martial artist by any measure he knew. He was something beyond convention.
Dam Ho twisted slightly to one side. O Gun Ui’s blade grazed past his ribs.
Searing pain shrieked through his mind. Yet Dam Ho’s expression never wavered, and he continued to drive O Gun Ui downward.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
A strangled cry burst from O Gun Ui’s mouth as he was driven headfirst into the earth.
He could not completely evade the Ji Cheon Gyeok, but by the narrowest margin, he’d struck his shoulder against the ground instead of his head. Had he not wounded Dam Ho’s ribs, the outcome would have been far more severe.
A chill ran down his spine.
It was not merely the agony of his shattered shoulder.
He had never encountered a martial artist like Dam Ho before.
It wasn’t merely because his martial arts were strong. The world had no shortage of powerful fighters.
But Dam Ho—he was a creature of such relentless, blind obsession that Namgoong Chang had never encountered anything like it.
Once Dam Ho fixed his purpose, he would stop at nothing. And he never, ever looked back.
Petty calculations held no place in his mind.
He moved toward one thing alone: a single, unwavering goal.
To kill those he had designated as his enemies.
Namgoong Chang had been so designated.
That he commanded the vast power of the Namgoong Clan meant nothing to Dam Ho. He did not pause to consider how brutally his life would become entangled if he killed Namgoong Chang.
A man composed entirely of pure, undiluted killing intent.
‘Insane.’
Dam Ho vaulted over the fallen O Gun Ui and hurtled toward Namgoong Chang. O Gun Ui scrambled to his feet, reaching out to catch him, but it was already too late.
Whoosh!
With a speed that defied his crippled leg, Dam Ho bore down on them. A dozen surviving members of the Gold Sword Guard threw themselves into his path.
The arrogant fury radiating from Dam Ho—closing the distance in a heartbeat—painted despair across every face in the Guard.
None of them had ever imagined that such a warrior could exist.
The name Namgoong Clan, which would normally have been an unshakeable shield, now felt hollow and worthless.
Dam Ho’s eyes terrified them.
Those dark, feral eyes—when they turned toward you, it felt as though your heart might simply drop through your chest.
They prayed those eyes would pass them by, yet they knew better than anyone how futile such prayers were.
The oldest of the Gold Sword Guard shouted.
“Protect the Elder. Stop him with your lives!”
“Yes!”
The response came by habit, but in that moment a single thought bloomed in their minds.
‘How?’
Crack!
As if to answer that very question, the warrior in front was reduced to a mass of gore and hurled backward.
Blood scattered in all directions—and for an instant, it looked almost beautiful.
Crack!
But when the impact sounded again and another comrade became pulp in the next breath, that beauty twisted into pure terror.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Please—mercy!”
Screams and shrieks erupted from all corners.
These were the elite of the Namgoong Clan, the vaunted Gold Sword Guard—and now they were slaughtered like vermin.
“This… this can’t be…!”
Namgoong Chang’s face crumpled in horror.
A beast from hell was raging among them. The proud warriors of the Namgoong Clan were dying at its claws.
He had never imagined such a hellscape, and could barely draw breath.
“Gasp… gasp…”
His breath came in ragged, desperate gulps.
The air wouldn’t come. His face drained to ash.
Boom!
A deafening impact—louder than anything before—erupted across the field. Four more Gold Sword Guards became unrecognizable wreckage, scattered in all directions.
Now there was nothing standing between Dam Ho and Namgoong Chang.
Namgoong Chang felt the cold.
Like a bare man alone in a frozen wasteland, dread seized his entire being.
Dam Ho was charging at him.
Eyes glinting with killing intent.
The hem of his Black Robe fluttering in the wind.
Everything about him screamed terror.
‘Is this the end?’
Despair washed over him.
The grand dreams he had harbored in his chest would never unfold. That he must die here seemed cruelly unjust—yet there was nothing to be done.
Had he known his nephew had made Dam Ho his enemy—had he known what a terrible force that enemy was—he would never have touched him. But that regret came too late.
Dam Ho’s form was expanding rapidly toward him, when suddenly two familiar silhouettes cut into his path.
“Stop, friend.”
“Stop, please.”
Clash!
They intercepted Dam Ho’s strike in Namgoong Chang’s stead.
“Ugh!”
“Mm!”
It was Cho Yeon Un and Hae So Wol who let out those strained groans. They had stepped in to block the blow in Namgoong Chang’s stead.
The earth beneath their feet bore deep furrows, gouged and scarred by the impact.
Cho Yeon Un’s face was contorted with strain, and Hae So Wol’s expression mirrored his distress.
The recoil from blocking Dam Ho’s strike had left their shoulders throbbing and their chests heaving.
Even after each had channeled the shock away through their own secret techniques, the damage was this severe. Had Dam Ho’s fist connected directly, the thought alone sent ice through their veins.
At their intervention, Dam Ho’s eyes grew even more savage.
“Will you stand in my way?”
“Whoa, whoa! Calm yourself, friend.”
Cho Yeon Un raised his hands hastily, trying to restrain Dam Ho. But the ferocity in Dam Ho’s gaze showed no sign of fading. Cho Yeon Un felt his heart grow cold.
That brutal gleam in his eyes—the kind that said he would show no mercy unless given a reason worthy enough—never grew easier to face, no matter how many times Cho Yeon Un witnessed it.
O Gun Ui arrived moments later, taking his place shoulder to shoulder with the other two.
Three renowned masters of the Jianghu had united to stand against Dam Ho. His presence alone was that overwhelming.
Hae So Wol opened her mouth, fighting past the suffocating pressure.
“Dam Ho… I understand your anger, but wouldn’t it be better to stop here?”
“Why should I?”
“Namgoong Chang is a man who must accomplish great things.”
“That’s none of my concern.”
Dam Ho’s voice was colder than anything on earth. The frozen winds of the northern seas could not compare to it.
Hae So Wol flinched at his words.
Dam Ho took a step forward, and with it came a crushing pressure. The very aura that radiated from him as a person overwhelmed her completely.
‘What in heaven…?’
He seemed only five or six years her senior at most. Yet the force emanating from Dam Ho bore no resemblance to that of someone her own age.
He would be no lesser than Neung Cheon Wol, the sect leader of Haenam Sect itself.
‘Perhaps….’
Hae So Wol swallowed the rest of her thought.
Even imagining it filled her with dread.
No words seemed capable of reaching Dam Ho. Yet she could not simply retreat.
She had to prevent the worst—Namgoong Chang’s death at Dam Ho’s hands.
Cho Yeon Un stepped forward.
“Friend.”
“…….”
Cho Yeon Un’s gentle voice struck Dam Ho’s ears.
Dam Ho regarded him in silence. Then Cho Yeon Un offered a bitter smile.
“Namgoong Chang is a man the world truly needs. He cannot die yet.”
“…….”
“If you still regard me as a friend, then grant me this one request—step back this once. It is the first and last favor I ask of you as a friend.”
“Brother!”
Now Bang Jin Bo stepped forward as well.
Bang Jin Bo shook his head. This whole mess had begun because of him. But he could not bear to see matters escalate further.
“Brother, I beg you.”
O Gun Ui, Hae So Wol, Cho Yeon Un, and Bang Jin Bo—all of them now stood against Dam Ho.
The anxious gazes fixed upon him, the complex emotions swirling in their eyes—these things caught at Dam Ho’s feet.
Dam Ho moved past them toward Namgoong Chang.
Cho Yeon Un’s hand stretched out to stop him, then faltered. Bang Jin Bo had taken hold of it.
When he turned, he saw Bang Jin Bo shaking his head quietly.
Dam Ho crouched before Namgoong Chang. Their eyes met at close range.
“I want you never to abandon hope.”
“What?”
“Challenge me, and challenge me again. Come at me with everything you have. I’ll slaughter them all.”
“Ugh—”
“Keep fighting like that, and one day you’ll be able to kill every last member of the Namgoong Clan.”
Namgoong Chang felt his mind turn white.
There was power in Dam Ho’s words—the kind that made one believe, upon hearing them, that they would surely come to pass.
His limbs trembled like aspen leaves.
Namgoong Chang could not bring himself to meet Dam Ho’s gaze directly. He lowered his head, turning his eyes away.
O Gun Ui, watching from the side, shook his head.
‘That is spiritual murder.’
One did not need to sever the breath to kill a person.
Shattering the will, collapsing the spirit, annihilating the self—that too was murder.
An unintelligible sound escaped Namgoong Chang’s lips. All strength drained from his legs, and he crumpled to the ground where he stood.
Dam Ho rose to his feet, leaving Namgoong Chang where he lay.
Namgoong Chang’s trouser legs were growing damp. No one in the hall needed to wonder what that meant.
Everyone turned their heads away, unwilling to look at him any longer.

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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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