Obtaining Heavenly Demon Martial Arts in the Magic Era - Chapter 65
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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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65
After finishing his work at Cheongyun Jang, Cheon Do-hyeon proposed a meeting with Jang Gi-jun as he had mentioned earlier.
And the appointment materialized rather quickly.
“This time, we’ll have it so that the Head and Sang-won go together.”
Jun-pyo and Seung-yeon found it difficult to make time because of the midterm exams coming up soon.
“I should have been the one to go!”
Of course, there was no intention of bringing them to such a dangerous meeting.
“It’s safer if we choose the location.”
Kim Seung-yeon suggested.
“We need to notify him on short notice so he can’t try anything reckless.”
Je Gal Seo-rin added her opinion.
……
To outsiders, the synchronization of these two sharp minds looked flawless,
but the two of them appeared to think differently. Their eyes met in the empty air between them.
A brief spark flew.
“That’s a good… suggestion. Of course, I was about to say the same thing myself.”
Kim Seung-yeon delivered a hollow compliment.
“Yes~”
……
“Why do I feel like I can’t breathe just watching this?”
Lee Ye-rim touched her neck as if she were being strangled.
After all the back-and-forth, they finally settled on the members.
The promised date came around quickly.
— Unnamed Cafe, Inchang-dong, Guri-si, Gyeonggi-do.
They chose a deserted location, accounting for the possibility of any unforeseen conflict.
“Relax, don’t be so tense.”
“The Head looks like he’s the most nervous one here.”
As they were making conversation, a car slid into the empty lot.
It was a well-known off-road SUV.
The enormous wheels kicked up clouds of dust.
Thud—
The door opened with a clang as loud as the vehicle’s arrival.
A sturdy man in green clothing with a camouflage pattern resembling military fatigues stepped out.
Another man emerged from the passenger seat.
A small-framed man wearing horn-rimmed glasses.
Because of the stark contrast in size with the man who had descended first, his frame appeared even smaller.
He looked uncertain as he glanced around, but when he saw the military-clothed man stride unrestrained into the cafe, he hurried after him.
“Is that Jang Gi-jun?”
Lee Sang-won compared the man to a photo he had downloaded on his phone and nodded.
“That’s him. The man in military fatigues.”
Ding—
Before that sentence even finished, the cafe door opened.
The chime signaling entry filled the quiet cafe.
The moment Jang Gi-jun entered, he pinpointed the location of Cheon Do-hyeon’s group and walked over without the slightest hesitation.
Scrape—
He pulled back a chair and sat down without ceremony.
“Mind if I have a drink?”
Without even asking permission, he had already taken Cheon Do-hyeon’s beverage and gulped it down.
“Ahh— my throat was parched. Sorry about that. Hey! Why aren’t you coming?”
……
His actions were unrestrained—no, beyond unrestrained. He seemed like someone who had no sense of boundaries whatsoever.
Because of that, it didn’t even feel rude.
A completely novel type of person.
One could only observe him.
The man who had followed Jang Gi-jun in heard his urging tone and came running, breathless.
“I’m s-sorry.”
“Go buy me some coffee. And… what was this I drank? Since I had some, you should buy me a replacement.”
“That’s not necessary.”
Jang Gi-jun stared at Cheon Do-hyeon for a moment, then his mouth twisted into a grin.
“Yeah? Then never mind. It’s on me then.”
He handed over the card. While the man who received Jang Gi-jun’s card went to the counter to order a drink,
Jang Gi-jun was studying the faces of Cheon Do-hyeon and his companions one by one.
Swoosh—
He crossed his legs and swept his hair back with his hand.
That revealed his long, deeply scarred eyes that had been hidden by his bangs.
“You’re all rather hard to get a look at these days. Though you seem to have time for a trip to China.”
……
He knew their recent movements.
From what he’d just said, Cheon Do-hyeon could tell his speculation about the Cheolhyeol Jang Family’s activities had been accurate.
“You know what I realized? It’s like I’m the only one crying over spilled milk here. Sure, it’s the way of the world that the desperate lose out a little,
but having you constantly choose the location like this—so abrupt, so one-sided—it feels like I’m being pushed around, doesn’t it?”
Just then, the Small-framed Man finished ordering and was returning.
“The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off.”
With that, Jang Gi-jun stretched out his unusually long arms and yanked the man who’d come back with the order toward him.
Then he roughly pulled open the vest the man was wearing.
“Hee, hee-ek! P-please, save me!”
The man’s face twisted in terror.
And inside his vest were rows of explosives emitting bright red LED lights.
……!
Cheon Do-hyeon shot to his feet at the sudden development, then froze.
He’d spotted the remote control in Jang Gi-jun’s hand.
“Don’t do anything reckless. Sit down. And lower that thing in your hand.”
But Lee Sang-won, who had been loading a coin into position, quietly lowered his hand as well.
“You wanted an alliance, didn’t you? Let’s put the remote down.”
Seon Young-hoon spoke placatingly, but Jang Gi-jun raised his middle finger with his remaining hand and said,
“Phew— My mood isn’t great right now, so don’t try any clever tricks on me.”
Then, savoring the sight of everyone’s faces tense with anxiety, he examined them point by point
and said, “And this expression right now. This is the right level for our conversation. This tension—the understanding that we could both die if we touch each other. Remember it.”
He spoke with gleaming eyes.
Cheon Do-hyeon thought to himself.
This man is completely insane.
But what is this feeling stirring in my chest? It’s not fear—it’s rage.
Killing intent rose from Cheon Do-hyeon’s body.
A faint tremor.
The dense murderous aura was enough that his nearby companions noticed it.
Do-hyeon examined the depths of his own emotions.
This feeling could be reduced to one thing.
‘How dare a mere mage.’
He looked at Jang Gi-jun before him.
Do-hyeon, who had balanced his understanding through the Succession Ritual,
had reached the Peak of Perfect Mastery.
In the eyes of such a Do-hyeon, Jang Gi-jun appeared as….
‘One breath. That’s all it would take to slit his throat.’
He looked defenseless, even sloppy.
He was certain he could kill Jang Gi-jun’s throat with a single move.
No—he was absolutely certain.
Or perhaps he could subdue him and use his life force to…
“You’ve got that look like you’d kill me if you could. But the trigger isn’t just the remote. If my throat gets cut, it goes off immediately. You might not care, but what about your companions?”
His thoughts had been read.
……
Yet he felt no alarm.
Well, I’ve been caught.
That was all the impression he had.
Wait.
Was I always like this?
Then Do-hyeon felt a hand pat his shoulder.
“…It’s okay. You’re okay.”
It was Seon Young-hoon.
Sensing that Cheon Do-hyeon’s state was not his usual self, he tried to soothe him.
“…Yes.”
Cheon Do-hyeon found himself startled by the violent thoughts that suddenly dominated his mind.
Had I always thought this way?
Something inside me has changed.
I could make a guess as to why.
The reason, most likely—
‘The Heavenly Demon Technique…?’
He couldn’t think of anything else that would cause such a shift within him.
The Heavenly Demon Technique, received from Wuji’s hands in the Mental Realm.
It had completely dissolved and become one with Cheon Do-hyeon’s body.
‘Is that influencing me? It has to be….’
Whatever the reason, once Cheon Do-hyeon—whom everyone in this room regarded as the strongest—fell silent,
Jang Gi-jun sensed his moment and brought up his real business.
“My offer still stands. Help me kill my father.”
An absolutely absurd proposition.
“Is that even possible?”
When Lee Sang-won pressed him, Jang Gi-jun let out a dry laugh and answered.
“Possible? It’s more than possible.”
Yet he attached a ridiculous condition to it.
“But here’s the thing—Cheon Do-hyeon, that bastard has to fall into my hands.”
“……Not worth listening to.”
“No, no, don’t worry. I’m just playing along. If I’m going after a Family Head, I need to throw out bait like this, don’t I?”
“That’s enough. Everyone, get up.”
Clatter—
The group rose to their feet in unison.
“Sit down.”
Jang Gi-jun raised the remote control menacingly.
Whoosh—
Cheon Do-hyeon’s hand moved at invisible speed.
And the remote control that had been in his grip vanished.
……
Cheon Do-hyeon looked down at Jang Gi-jun’s stunned face and spoke.
“I could’ve slit your throat just now.”
To have what you were counting on ripped away
and to hear your life threatened—an ordinary person would have lost control of their bladder.
But Jang Gi-jun instead
“Ahahahaha! Yes, yes, this is fun!”
clapped his hands and laughed.
Tears glistened in his eyes as he laughed, then he wiped away his smile like washing off water and spoke seriously.
“Time seems to be on your side?”
Jang Gi-jun looked up at Cheon Do-hyeon.
“As long as I still have control, an offer like this is possible. If things go on like this, my father will see to it that I’m eliminated for certain. Once I’m gone, there won’t be another chance, will there?”
His eyes held a madness that seemed to lack several basic human emotions.
“Ah, just saying this on the off chance—if you’re betting on that mountain village in Gapyeong, I’m afraid that won’t guarantee your safety either.”
This bastard. He already knew our location.
The man before him was herding his prey into a corner, like a hunter driving game.
Cornering them into choosing the answer Jang Gi-jun wanted.
Seon Young-hoon felt a deep sense of humiliation wash over him.
As the eldest among them,
he was about to let Cheon Do-hyeon fall into the hands of someone he couldn’t trust,
and there was nothing he could do about it.
“You son of a bitch!”
Lee Sang-won grabbed him before he could lunge at Jang Gi-jun.
‘……’
Even now,
Cheon Do-hyeon remained quiet, simply watching the man called Jang Gi-jun before him.
“Listen. Let just one person suffer. Don’t get the rest hurt. That’d be better for both of us, wouldn’t it?”
“Then what exactly is this plan of yours…”
“Do-hyeon!”
“This is obviously a trap….”
As Cheon Do-hyeon responded, Seon Young-hoon and Lee Sang-won moved to stop him.
He raised his hand, stopping them.
Jang Gi-jun gazed at the scene with evident satisfaction and continued.
“Once the operation begins, I’ll announce that we’ve captured the mastermind behind all these incidents. Then I’ll have you transported to a facility I’ve prepared in Pocheon.”
“During the transfer, you’ll attempt an escape. When I give the signal, you can rampage as much as you like.”
Jang Gi-jun murmured as though the entire scene were already taking shape before his eyes.
“I’ll gather all the Cheolhyeol Jang Family forces to that location. Once they’re concentrated there, the Main Family House will be stripped down to its bare minimum. And in that window, I’ll strike at Jang Jae-young from behind.”
Days later, Cheon Do-hyeon, who had listened to what on the surface seemed like an absurd plan,
found himself outfitted with massive restraints on both wrists and ankles,
being transported to the facility in Pocheon that Jang Gi-jun had arranged.
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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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