Obtaining Heavenly Demon Martial Arts in the Magic Era - Chapter 24

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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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24
Saturday afternoon, the area around Yongsan Station remained as chaotic as ever.
Pedestrians streamed across the sidewalks while cars tangled together on the roads in disarray.
Honk, honk—car horns wailed irritably. It would’ve been enough to sour anyone’s mood, yet the excited tourists, maps clutched in their hands, paid no mind as they crossed the pedestrian bridge.
After a quick lunch at a nearby shopping mall, Cheon Do-hyeon and his group divided up the sectors they’d each cover.
“Using the station as the reference point—Do-hyeon, you take the southeast underground passages. Jun-pyo, you check the eastern commercial district. I’ll cover the northern platforms. The map’s already in our group chat. You all checked it, right?”
Kim Seung-yeon’s preparation was thorough. Somehow, she’d obtained the structural blueprints and building layouts of the entire Yongsan area, combining them into a new map—one so comprehensive it was almost like seeing through the district itself.
“That’s incredible, Seung-yeon.”
Kim Jun-pyo marveled at the work.
The three split up into their respective zones and began their search. On the surface, they looked like ordinary pedestrians wandering around, but each was working at full capacity.
Kim Seung-yeon and Kim Jun-pyo deployed the Incantations from their arsenal that specialized in tracking and searching, trying to uncover hidden passages.
Cheon Do-hyeon heightened his own senses, attuning himself to the flow of the crowd, the direction of gazes, the rhythm of footsteps, vibrations in the air—searching for the distinctive presence unique to Gaebang members.
About an hour had passed when Kim Seung-yeon found the first suspicious trace.
“There should be a passage here according to the structure…”
Where an entrance should’ve existed based on the layout, a solid wall blocked the way instead.
As she ran her hand over the wall, sensing something amiss—
Rustle—a sound came from behind. She spun her head around, and—
“Gwaaaah!”
A man with his face covered in dark grime came charging at her, letting out a bizarre shriek.
“Aaahhh!”
Kim Seung-yeon’s scream pierced the air.
At nearly the same moment, Kim Jun-pyo discovered a suspicious structure in the eastern commercial district.
“It’s a building that goes all the way down to the basement… Has the business shut down?”
A fairly large commercial building stood completely vacant. Its entrance was locked tight, and judging by the clutter of trash and plastic bags layered with dust piled in front of the storefront, it had been closed for quite some time.
“I should probably check it out.”
Kim Jun-pyo was closing his eyes to deploy an Incantation when—
“Don’t do that.”
Someone spoke to him. “Pardon?” He instinctively canceled the spell and turned toward where the voice had come from.
Whoosh—but there was no trace of anyone anywhere.
“Did I imagine that…?”
A strange chill ran down his spine. He tried to ignore it and begin the Incantation again when—
“What the hell are you doing?!”
A black shadow that had approached his back without warning suddenly shrieked at him.
“Aaahhhhh!”
Kim Jun-pyo’s scream rang out pitifully.
Do-hyeon’s head snapped around, looking back.
“What was that? Did I mishear?”
It sounded like screams from far away. Do-hyeon opened his ears fully and was sharpening his senses again when—
Slip—
He sensed a presence moving subtly within the crowd, blending into it seamlessly.
It was the kind of movement that would vanish if his focus wavered for even a moment. Every person has their own rhythm—a pattern that can never be harmonized. But this one approaching him moved far too smoothly, too naturally. Which made them stand out.
An ordinary person couldn’t move that way. The moment his judgment crystallized, Do-hyeon acted first.
Tap-tap-tap—he planted his feet precisely, weaving through the crowd and snatching whoever was hiding among the people.
“…!”
Just as he’d suspected, a woman who’d been planning a sneak attack from within the crowd was now in Cheon Do-hyeon’s grasp. Her face, matted with unwashed hair caked in grime, belonged to someone who hadn’t bathed in far too long.
She seemed shocked that he’d found her first, but she quickly regained her composure.
Slash—whip—
She attempted to break free from his grip with a rapid hand technique, but Do-hyeon met her attack with equal speed.
Their hands clashed brilliantly in the empty space between them.
“Oh my!”
As the concealed presence suddenly became visible, the surrounding crowd began to notice the two of them, and chaos erupted across the area.
“Tch—” She clicked her tongue and suddenly tried to spin away and flee.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Celestial Demon Dominating Pressure.
Boom-boom-boom—Cheon Do-hyeon stamped the ground hard with one foot and unleashed the Celestial Demon Dominating Pressure. At fifth rank, the Celestial Demon Dominating Pressure allowed him to fine-tune its range. Projecting its force onto a single target was effortless.
“Kyaaah!”
The pressure of the Celestial Demon Dominating Pressure crushed down on her. She collapsed prone, frozen in the position she’d been about to run from.
Cheon Do-hyeon seized the back of the subdued woman’s neck and moved to where the crowd’s eyes wouldn’t reach.
Thud!—The moment he stepped into the alley, Cheon Do-hyeon hurled the woman against the wall.
The woman struck against it spun her body in mid-air like a cat, planted her feet on the wall, and landed softly on the ground.
A skill that no one can imitate. The bearing of a martial artist.
“You’re with Gaebang? I’ve come to meet the Organization Leader.”
“Shut your mouth! Gwak Cheol died because of you. What audacity brings you here to seek the Leader! Get out!”
Flinch.
Cheon Do-hyeon couldn’t hide his startled expression at her words.
She already knew not only why he’d come here, but everything that had happened at Seoul Station as well.
Do-hyeon closed his eyes for a moment.
A creeping sense of guilt welled up inside him. But when his eyes opened again, his gaze was resolute.
“…What if I can’t do that?”
There was no turning back. What had happened was done, and he couldn’t let himself be paralyzed by regret over the past.
This place was the final thread connecting him to the Martial World. If he turned away now, everything about the Celestial Demon Divine Art and the Cheon family’s secrets would slip beyond his reach forever.
Reading the steel in Cheon Do-hyeon’s will, the woman bit her lip, then drew two Folding Knives from her pants pocket.
The handles were designed so that if you threaded your fingers through them, the blades could be wielded like brass knuckles—an unusual weapon.
“Don’t regret this.”
Cheon Do-hyeon likewise pulled a Three-Section Staff from his cargo pocket.
Snap—click-click-click.
As he shook the staff through the air, it extended fully, its titanium surface gleaming with that distinctive metallic sheen.
Seeing it, the woman’s expression twisted into something fierce and terrible.
“You bastard, you’re going to leave that here too.”
Tap-tap-tap. The woman crouched like a predator, then burst forward with savage momentum.
Baekgyeol Divine Fist.
She closed the distance in an instant, driving a weighty punch forward using the spring of her legs.
Three-second sequence: Baekgyeol Chain Link.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-bang!
A barrage of strikes came pouring down at impossible speed.
The angles of attack shifted unpredictably, varying without pattern.
A punch, then an elbow, then an uppercut with rotational force. When a fist seemed imminent, instead came a shoulder bash. Distance closed for an extended uppercut, then a short uppercut pressing into close range.
Though he’d never seen this martial art before, one thing was instantly clear.
It was a technique brimming with power that could not be dismissed lightly.
With fists already difficult to evade and knives in hand besides, Do-hyeon found himself merely blocking and dodging.
Thwack, thump-thump, slice—as the distance narrowed, the longer reach of the Three-Section Staff became more of a hindrance than a help.
Whenever he tried to create distance, she followed with practiced footwork.
Eventually he took a few punches to his guard, and
“Cough—”
A strike where Internal Energy coated the brass knuckles sent bone-deep vibrations through him with each impact.
He desperately slipped to the side with head movement.
He’d anticipated a punch and dodged accordingly, but this time the blade’s edge caught his cheek, drawing a thin line of red.
Blood trickled down, and Do-hyeon felt his mind grow strangely calm.
Cheon Do-hyeon stepped into the Celestial Demon Phantom Step, instantly creating distance between himself and her.
The moment the woman saw him vanish like a phantom, shocked, she hesitated.
Celestial Demon Sword Art, first sequence: Black Break Flashing Slash.
A sinister, ominous presence filled the alley in an instant.
With a scraping sound, the black energy materialized and engulfed the Gaebang woman warrior.
It was a move charged with the will to sever everything it touched.
Baekgyeol Divine Fist, first sequence: Baekgyeol Welcoming Wind.
She deployed her finest defensive technique to try to stop the Black Break Flashing Slash.
“Ugh…aaaaah!” She managed to prevent a fatal wound, but failed to completely absorb the full force.
She collapsed with a single cry of agony.
“Cough—”
Blood spilled from her mouth—internal injuries had taken their toll.
That was when it happened.
“Oh no——!”
Kim Seung-yeon’s cry rang out from the mouth of the alley—she’d appeared from nowhere.
“What are you doing!”
Behind her stood Kim Jun-pyo and two men who appeared to be Gaebang members.
One of the men saw the fallen woman and rushed over, his face flooded with shock.
“Yi Ye-rim! Are you all right?”
Do-hyeon stared at Kim Seung-yeon in bewilderment. He needed to explain the situation.
“…The Leader has summoned you. Come with us.”
Perhaps because of Yi Ye-rim’s condition. The faces of the men who’d come to fetch him showed plainly their displeasure.
Kim Seung-yeon and Kim Jun-pyo’s expressions as they looked at Cheon Do-hyeon were much the same.
Were they seeing him as nothing more than trash who hit a woman?
He needed to explain the situation.
He had to account for what had actually happened.
“But she hit me first…”
The lame excuse tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it.
#
The men standing on either side said nothing. They didn’t hurry him along.
“Are you all right?”
Kim Seung-yeon was pressing close to the Gaebang member named Yi Ye-rim, checking her condition.
“I’m fine. I told you not to worry about it.”
The woman called Ye-rim snapped back irritably while glaring at Cheon Do-hyeon.
She looked ready to charge at him again if provoked.
Thanks to her attitude, Do-hyeon—spared the need to awkwardly defend himself—merely shrugged.
Somehow they had arrived deep underground at Yongsan Station.
He would never have guessed such a place existed nearby.
A secret location that could only be reached with a guide.
The concrete walls were plastered with old maps and worn papers, and the faint scent of tea drifted through the air. Instead of fluorescent lights, a few candles flickered on a table.
At that table, a man sat waiting.
He appeared to be in his early fifties.
His hair was streaked with gray, and deep lines carved by time etched his face, yet his eyes burned with a sharp, crystalline light.
‘This man is the head of Gaebang…the Organization Leader…!’
Even as Do-hyeon’s group entered, the man did not set down his teacup. Only after taking another slow, savoring sip did he raise his gaze.
“So you’re the one who took Gwak Cheol’s Inheritance.”
His voice was low and heavy. The air in the room seemed to hold its breath.
Do-hyeon met his gaze with an impassive expression.
“…Yes, sir.”
“And you’re the son of Cheon Song-gyeong as well?”
At that name, Do-hyeon’s heart dropped. Cheon Song-gyeong. He hadn’t expected to hear his father’s name here, at this moment, in this place.

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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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