The God of Death and the God of War - Chapter 56
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Evil Hegemon Martial God
Chapter 56
‘What the hell is that bastard supposed to be.’
Jang Ju-hwan of the Nine Nether Blade slightly frowned.
The targets Jang Ju-hwan was glaring at were two people.
One was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties, and the other was a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties.
‘To think the Hyeolsal Squad is targeting such nobodies.’
Jang Ju-hwan grumbled inwardly.
The Hyeolsal Squad was an assassination unit created and commanded like limbs by Doyecheon, the Bucheonju of Sadocheon.
Even within Sadocheon, very few knew of the Hyeolsal Squad and its Daeju, as the squad’s identity was kept top secret.
A hidden weapon with no known name or identity.
This was both Doyecheon’s favorite blade in the shadows and a weapon to threaten and intimidate political enemies.
And for good reason, as targets marked by the Hyeolsal Squad met one of two fates.
Death, or abduction to a place of death.
Since situations and outcomes were generally like this, rumors spread throughout Sadocheon that the ‘Bucheonju’s secret weapon’ of unknown name and identity was sharp and merciless.
‘This time the orders were to bring the target back alive no matter what.’
Such were Doyecheon’s commands.
He said the promise with Geumhwang Sangga was unconditional capture alive.
According to the original plan, if it had been a red mission, things would have been easy.
They could have secretly accompanied them like now, then ambushed during the mission or set traps, and they had actually prepared traps too.
But when Jeok-un chose the black mission, everything got twisted.
Especially the Tongseong County mission was even more troublesome since it involved both the Murim Alliance and Heukpaesong.
‘If it were just killing him, it would be nothing…’
The problem was kidnapping and capturing him alive.
Setting aside the rabble of Heukpaesong, the mad dogs of the Dang Family established in Tongseong County were lunatics that even the Murim Alliance couldn’t control.
So the kidnapping had to proceed thoroughly and meticulously according to plan.
“Tsk, damn bastard. Suddenly choosing a black mission made things troublesome, Daeju.”
Just then, one of the subordinates from behind approached and spoke.
“How annoying. Volunteering for a black mission just because he killed some worthless Saekma? That incompetent bastard getting all cocky.”
“If it had been life-or-death as usual, we would have killed him right now.”
At his subordinate’s words, Jang Ju-hwan nodded as if it went without saying.
“If that were the case, that bastard would already be dead the moment he left Changsha. Even now he’s not much different from a living corpse.”
“That’s right. With us targeting him like this, how could that bastard possibly survive?”
The Hyeolsal Squad member had good reason to be confident.
Daeju Jang Ju-hwan was at Hwagyeong level, and all other members were masters who had reached the pinnacle.
Whether looking at individual martial prowess or the total, they were at a level that wouldn’t fall short even compared to the Ten Heavenly Commanders.
Dealing with a bastard like that was far too easy a task.
But still, Jang Ju-hwan told his subordinates differently.
“Even so, we must not let our guard down. We’ll watch for the optimal moment and intervene when he suffers fatal injuries.”
“Understood.”
“You haven’t forgotten the mission assignments, have you. First team kidnaps the target and retreats, second team creates distractions and secures escape routes, third team…”
After Jang Ju-hwan assigned missions to each team, he presented the final timing.
“We execute when he boards the boat and enters the Heukpae Fortress Branch. In the water there’s nowhere to escape, so no matter how much that bastard flies around, he’ll have no choice but to fall.”
“Yes.”
After brutally subduing him like that, if they cut off both his legs, the risk of escape would disappear.
‘Then we call the Geumhwang Sangga bastards to hand him over and this mission ends.’
The item to summon the Geumhwang Sangga members received from his master was already prepared in his pocket.
The plan was proceeding perfectly as always.
Just then, he saw Jeok-un and Gwi-mong Daeju conversing across the way.
Seeing this, the Budaeju casually asked.
“Daeju, what should we do about Gwi-mong Daeju?”
“He’s trash that Bucheonju judged useless. Dispose of him.”
“Understood.”
“Have his corpse disposed of at Hwagol Mountain.”
“Understood!”
Now all that remained was waiting again.
They had to endure until the moment of execution, when Jeok-un and Gwi-mong Daeju entered the Heukpae Fortress Branch.
So, the moment they turned their heads again to track the two’s traces.
‘Huh?’
Everyone wore dumbfounded expressions.
“Where did he go, this bastard?”
“Who are you calling ‘this bastard,’ you bastard.”
“!!”
Suddenly an unwelcome guest had sprouted up among them like a phantom.
The difference was that while phantoms have no substance, ‘Jeok-un’ was clearly a person with substance.
“Scatter-!”
The moment he detected the anomaly, Jang Ju-hwan quickly shouted.
He had planned to aim for the advantage of surprise in secrecy, but since things had come to this, he had to either suppress with force or wear him down with wheel tactics.
It was part of the orders accordingly, and many Hyeolsal Squad members leaped away to dodge, but.
Splat!
Not all of them dodged.
“These rat bastards are quick.”
“…!”
The head of one member who was closest to Jeok-un and was a beat too slow exploded like a watermelon.
Disbelief, shock, rage.
The moment various emotions appeared in the Hyeolsal Squad members’ eyes.
“Gasp, huk…! Jeok, Jeok Daeju-nim, why are you suddenly here? Eek!!”
Jang Bo-heom, who appeared belatedly, grasped the situation and burst out in shock.
Jeok-un looked at the faces of the Hyeolsal Squad and said.
“I like bastards wearing masks like you guys. They’re rotten bastards from the start, so there’s no problem killing them.”
Shing!
Jeok-un smiled as he drew Il-cheon.
“Now then, time to die.”
* * *
Jang Ju-hwan was shocked seeing his subordinate’s corpse in terrible condition.
With his head burst, it was instant death.
A martial artist who had reached the pinnacle died instantly without being able to lift a finger.
‘I couldn’t even sense the slightest movement…!’
He felt no emanation of energy, and didn’t even notice the process of approaching this place.
He could hardly believe such a thing happened despite over ten people keeping watch.
“Acting leisurely again?”
“!!”
Whoosh!
But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Jeok-un’s sword imbued with blazing flames was raging wildly.
Seeing this, Jang Ju-hwan gave orders without hesitation.
“Everyone form sword formation!!”
“Understood!”
The Hyeolsal Squad members instantly formed ranks.
Excluding the one person who died instantly at Jeok-un’s hands moments ago, the total was eleven people.
Nine of them went after Jeok-un, while two went after Jang Bo-heom.
“Kill them all!”
Following Jang Ju-hwan’s command, the sword formation activated.
The sword formation was the result of combining the most efficient movements and positions to kill people.
They thrust their swords sequentially from Jeok-un’s left and right, above and below, front and back, but.
“The power of the stars is too precious to waste on you lot.”
Swoosh!
With a rough tearing sound as the air was ripped apart, a simple horizontal slash was drawn.
But the result was tremendous.
Whoooosh-!
Il-cheon spewed out tremendous heat energy and swept across the front.
“Kyaaaah!”
When one reaches the level of a supreme master, ordinary heat or cold cannot penetrate them.
This is because the internal energy circulating inside and outside the body maintains a balanced state.
However, this only applies to ‘ordinary’ levels of heat or cold – beyond that, even supreme masters cannot endure it.
“Kh, khhheup…!”
“C-can’t breathe!”
The heat energy that Il-cheon emitted was exactly that.
They could somehow endure the tremendous heat that burned their skin and body hair indiscriminately.
But no matter how supreme a master one was, there was no way to withstand heat that cooked one’s lungs.
“Hold your breath! Narrow the attack and defense cycle intervals!!”
Jang Ju-hwan raised his voice, but he knew it wouldn’t have much effect.
‘Damn it! What kind of heat is this…!!’
Only someone like Jang Ju-hwan, who had reached Hwagyeong, could barely endure it.
He knew that his supreme-level subordinates would feel their airways burning up.
With the situation like this, the sword formation’s effectiveness hit rock bottom, and it was no exaggeration to say it had become a mere shell.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Well, now there are three left.”
Moreover, Jeok-un never missed an opportunity when he saw an opening.
He harvested the heads of the Hyeolsal Squad members one by one, reducing their numbers.
The time it took to go from nine to seven, seven to six, no, down to five was enough for just a few breaths.
“You can’t even endure this much? What exactly are you people? Is this all you learned from Doyecheon?”
At Jeok-un’s mockery, Jang Ju-hwan gritted his teeth and charged forward.
“I’ll kill you!”
The blade energy that had earned him the nickname Guyu-do split into dozens of branches and flew toward Jeok-un.
Jang Ju-hwan was overflowing with confidence.
It was true that the situation had gotten disgustingly twisted because of the divine weapon Jeok-un possessed.
‘But I’m superior in absolute martial prowess.’
Jang Ju-hwan’s confidence stemmed from this.
He believed that martial prowess was an absolute measure for a warrior.
“Hmm, Hwagyeong? You certainly move more like a human being unlike these insects, but.”
Swoosh!
With an incredibly light movement, Jeok-un completely evaded all of Jang Ju-hwan’s blade attacks that came down like a torrential rain.
“!?”
“Martial prowess isn’t an absolute measure, kid.”
Jeok-un’s sword aimed at Jang Ju-hwan.
Jang Ju-hwan felt that Jeok-un was no pushover and greatly raised his guard, but.
“Kyaaaah!”
Whoosh!
Jeok-un’s actual target wasn’t Jang Ju-hwan, but the Hyeolsal Squad members.
In the extremely brief moment when Jang Ju-hwan and Jeok-un faced off, he targeted the exact gap when he saw the members slightly relax their tension.
“Tsk tsk, if you let your guard down, you’ll turn to ash just like that.”
The terrible smell of a Hyeolsal Squad member’s body burning up in flames covered the surroundings.
Now the remaining number of members was only four, including Jang Ju-hwan himself.
“H-hot, so hot…”
“S-save us…!”
The members pleaded as they died, but.
‘This won’t do.’
Jang Ju-hwan completely ignored them.
What was important now was killing the target.
Jang Ju-hwan also called in the two men he had assigned to Jang Bo-heom.
“First and Second Squad Leaders, join the formation too!”
At the Daeju’s command, the First Squad Leader and Second Squad Leader who had been targeting Jang Bo-heom joined the battle line.
Even a rotten fish was still a fish – since Jang Bo-heom was also one of the Ten Heavenly Lords, he had assigned squad leader-level fighters to him.
‘Damn it! I should have targeted him with full force from the beginning!’
But it was already too late for regrets.
However, it wasn’t too late even now.
All the dead were just ordinary members.
Most of the squad leader-level fighters were still alive, so they could definitely achieve their goal.
Jang Ju-hwan thought so, but.
“I told you it won’t work.”
There was no change in Jeok-un’s blade.
And there was no mercy either.
“Uh, uhhhhh!”
“P-please spare me…!”
Every time the blade was drawn, foul smoke rose instead of blood.
It was the result of blood and flesh being completely burned by Il-cheon’s heat energy.
“R-run away…!”
Finally, someone spoke of ‘escape.’
It was the result of following instinct rather than reason, but.
“Ah, that’s not possible.”
No one could escape from Jeok-un’s hands.
Jang Ju-hwan tried to somehow stab through that gap to kill Jeok-un.
The Hyeolsal Squad members also struggled desperately, thinking they’d rather land one hit before dying than die a dog’s death.
But whatever methods they used.
Jeok-un crushed the Hyeolsal Squad head-on.
It was truly an overwhelming difference.
Thud-!
With the death of the First Squad Leader, who was the senior-most among the squad leaders and also served as Budaeju.
All the Hyeolsal Squad members lay their bodies on the ground.
All of them had their heads burst or one of their limbs severed.
“Im-impossible…!”
“How is it that every last word you leave is so clichéd.”
Slash-!
Jeok-un’s sword was faster than Jang Ju-hwan’s words.
With his eyes wide open, filled with shock, Jang Ju-hwan’s head rolled across the ground.
Whoosh!
Crackle!
At the same time, Jang Ju-hwan’s bisected corpse was engulfed in flames and began to burn.
Jang Bo-heom stared blankly at that gruesome end.
Jeok-un, who was about to return to where the horses were with a nonchalant expression, suddenly stopped.
‘Wait, that’s…’
Among the ashes of Jang Ju-hwan’s burned corpse, there remained a ‘horn flute’ about the size of a finger joint.
A gleam of interest flickered in Jeok-un’s eyes.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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