The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 118

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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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Chapter 118.
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Nam Goong Woon, who had been lying down, bolted upright.
“What do you mean by that?”
With arms crossed, he spoke with unbridled confidence.
“Though my martial prowess may not surpass yours, I’m hardly the sort to fall to mere assassins from Eum Sa Gok.”
“Have you ever fought assassins before?”
“Never, but… what’s so fearsome about men who strike from the shadows?”
“Assassins are formidable. In the mountains, they are nearly invincible.”
“Hah! Invincible assassins? That’s absurd.”
Bu Eunseol spoke coldly.
“Large-scale combat in the mountains differs vastly from testing martial skill in open ground. Especially in the darkness of night, deep within the forest.”
During my time on Hell Island, I witnessed countless battles of every conceivable kind.
Fighting multiple enemies in the mountains under cover of darkness—that is peril incarnate, where one’s thread of life hangs by the thinnest of strands.
And if those enemies are assassins? No matter how exceptional one’s martial skill, death becomes inevitable.
“Combat with assassins in the mountains grants greater enlightenment than a hundred battles against Murim masters in the Gangho.”
Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.
“Of course, only if you survive.”
“If what you say is true, we’re doomed for certain.”
“Perhaps.”
Seeing Bu Eunseol smile, teeth gleaming white, Nam Goong Woon’s expression darkened.
“Do you truly believe their scouts will come here?”
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol offered only a faint smile, and Nam Goong Woon felt as though the grim reaper himself loomed behind his back.
“Ah, I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Seized by an ominous chill, Nam Goong Woon flopped back down.
“Curse it. I came seeking experience in the Gangho, not to throw my life away.”
Around the third watch, when even the insects had fallen silent.
The moonlight lay hidden behind clouds, and the world was wrapped in profound stillness.
If Eum Sa Gok’s assassins intended an ambush, this moment would be ideal.
Bu Eunseol remained standing rigidly, with Heuk Pyo at her side.
Nam Goong Woon was already asleep, snoring softly.
Then Bu Eunseol’s eyes, crouched in the darkness, began to gleam.
“They’re coming, as expected.”
When Heuk Pyo tilted his head in confusion, Nam Goong Woon, who had been lying down, also sensed something amiss and quickly rose.
Tssssss.
Like insects rustling in the wind, or cloth brushing against bark.
“Judging by the sound of footfalls on the earth, there must be at least twenty of them.”
As Heuk Pyo pressed his ear to the ground, Bu Eunseol rose calmly and spoke.
“No need to wait. Strike first.”
“Me… you mean me?”
Heuk Pyo swallowed hard.
He knew well the terror that assassins could inflict. Especially now, as the Eum Sa Gok assassins had grown seasoned in night raids while attacking Jin Cheon Moon, it was uncertain whether hidden weapon techniques would prove effective against them.
“Abandon any thought of eliminating them. All you can do is endure their assault.”
“If I endure… that’s enough?”
“Yes. As long as you can hold.”
“Understood.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Heuk Pyo drew a deep breath and unleashed his movement technique.
As he extended both arms toward the approaching figures, thin, circular hidden weapons cascaded forth in a dizzying torrent.
It was the Flying Flash Blood Chain Ring—the hidden weapon technique Dang Gon had taught Heuk Pyo.
Whirrrrr!
The blood chain rings created dozens of shadows, yet suddenly their rotation began to visibly slow.
‘What?’
Heuk Pyo’s eyes widened as he watched.
‘They keep striking the branches!’
Crack!
With a brief cry, one of Eum Sa Gok’s masters who had been rushing through the darkness collapsed to the ground, the blood chain rings embedded in both shoulders.
The Dang Family’s supreme hidden weapon technique had been deployed, yet despite striking first, they had failed to neutralize even a single opponent properly.
“There!”
Those who spotted Heuk Pyo drew their blades and surrounded him.
Normally he would have unleashed his movement technique to escape. But bound by Bu Eunseol’s command to endure, Heuk Pyo did not flee—instead, he drew his flying needles and scattered them.
Ting! Ping ping!
Yet the masters of Eum Sa Gok, having discerned the needles’ trajectory, easily deflected them.
“Encircle him!”
True to their nature as assassins, they unleashed hidden weapons while beginning to seal off Heuk Pyo’s escape routes.
Clang clang clang!
Heuk Pyo drew short blades in both hands and deflected their hidden weapons, but it was insufficient.
In mere moments, he found himself completely surrounded and unable to move.
Had it not been for the movement technique Bu Eunseol had imparted, he would have already fallen, becoming a wandering spirit in the mountains.
“Hmm.”
Bu Eunseol, observing the scene, spoke.
“Now is the time.”
Bu Eunseol pointed to Nam Goong Woon, who stood idly nearby.
“Go aid him.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Nam Goong Woon furrowed his brow and covered his face with his hand.
“Me as well?”
“Did you not say you wished to gain practical combat experience?”
“Well, that’s…”
“This is an excellent opportunity. Fighting seasoned night raiders in the darkness of the forest.”
“Hmm.”
Nam Goong Woon hesitated.
He was reluctant about the prospect of fighting assassins in the mountains.
“Eunseol, I’m still a member of the Nangung Family, you know.”
“Are you afraid?”
“Afraid? Me?”
Nam Goong Woon’s eyes suddenly blazed as he shouted.
“Who said I was afraid?”
With a sharp sound, he spat into his palm and gripped his golden needle sword tightly.
“I’m just embarrassed to be tangled up with these assassins.”
“You’ll understand once you fight.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with a solemn expression.
“The terror of a forest where light cannot reach.”
“Just watch!”
Nam Goong Woon rushed down the mountain where Heuk Pyo was fighting and swung his golden needle sword with tremendous force.
“Take this!”
Crack! Boom!
Every time the golden needle sword cut through the air, the surrounding trees fell.
Yet despite that overwhelming power, most of the Eum Sa Gok masters surrounding Heuk Pyo remained unscathed.
“These bastards?”
The assassins hadn’t even made obvious evasive movements, yet the Nangung Family’s Piercing Rainbow Sword kept missing.
He deployed his swordplay earnestly against the assassins for a while, but hardly any enemies fell.
Looking more carefully, they were skillfully evading his sword techniques by utilizing the surrounding terrain—trees, rocks, and the like.
“Damn it!”
Eventually, curses erupted from Nam Goong Woon’s mouth as he wielded his golden needle sword.
“You cowardly rats! Stop cowering and come at me fairly!”
The Nangung Family’s Piercing Rainbow Sword was a technique specialized for one-on-one combat with masters.
It was not an appropriate technique for facing multiple enemies in a forest shrouded in darkness.
Thud! Crack!
The barrage of sword strikes repeatedly struck trees and rocks.
Moreover, unaccustomed to the darkness, Nam Goong Woon occasionally unleashed his sword strikes toward where Heuk Pyo stood.
“Young Master! Watch out!”
“S-sorry.”
Nam Goong Woon had always traveled alone and had never fought in coordination with anyone.
Panicking and swinging his sword wildly, his movements kept overlapping with Heuk Pyo’s.
“Damn.”
The moment he stopped his sword in confusion, the Eum Sa Gok masters seized the opportunity and swung their blades.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The Eum Sa Gok masters dispersed and regrouped repeatedly, driving Nam Goong Woon and Heuk Pyo into a corner.
Though both fought with all their strength, they were helpless against the assassins’ tactics that exploited the treacherous terrain and darkness.
‘At this rate, I’ll die.’
Nam Goong Woon was so flustered that he couldn’t even display a tenth of his true ability.
Heuk Pyo’s mind raced as he watched Nam Goong Woon struggling to swing his sword while moving erratically to evade.
‘What if I stopped engaging in direct attacks and instead disrupted the assassins’ movements?’
Heuk Pyo, who had been following Bu Eunseol all this while, had now reached a level where he could analyze the battle’s broader dynamics and devise strategies.
“Master! Allow me to halt their advance!”
Having settled on his plan, Heuk Pyo immediately separated from Nam Goong Woon and began circling the assassins.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Seizing the moment, Heuk Pyo unleashed a barrage of throwing blades.
Not to strike the Eum Sa Gok masters directly, but to constrain their movement patterns.
“Now!”
“Understood!”
As the assassins were forced to abandon their use of terrain and expose themselves, Nam Goong Woon swung his blade.
It was no grand technique—merely a desperate thrust aimed at exploiting their vulnerabilities.
A sickening cry tore through the air.
Unlike before, the assassins now suffered grievous wounds from the sharp blade strikes.
‘I see.’
With clarity of mind, Nam Goong Woon ceased his wild swings and instead unleashed precise, cutting strikes timed perfectly to the assassins’ movements.
“Aaahhh!”
Screams erupted in succession.
Emboldened by their success, Heuk Pyo scattered his throwing blades with even greater enthusiasm.
The assassins attempted to ambush Heuk Pyo, who seemed to be directing Nam Goong Woon, but each time Nam Goong Woon’s blade formed an impenetrable wall of defense.
“They work together quite well.”
Bu Eunseol, observing from a distance, nodded in approval.
As the two men held their ground with stubborn resilience, the Eum Sa Gok assassins gradually began to falter.
Nam Goong Woon had abandoned rigid sword forms and now unleashed his strikes freely, while Heuk Pyo, with each throw, assessed the enemy’s weaknesses and the battle’s flow before releasing his blades.
―Combat with assassins in the mountains grants greater enlightenment than a hundred battles against Murim masters in Gangho.
Both Nam Goong Woon and Heuk Pyo suddenly recalled Bu Eunseol’s words simultaneously.
―Of course, that is, if you survive.
Only now could they truly comprehend the meaning behind those words.
If they survived this battle.
They would surely ascend to a higher level of mastery.
“These cursed vermin…”
The Eum Sa Gok assassins ground their teeth in frustration.
Their plan to scout the camp’s scale had been thwarted by Nam Goong Woon and Heuk Pyo, who clung to life like vengeful spirits despite their desperate straits.
“Retreat!”
With an exasperated cry, the Eum Sa Gok assassins swiftly withdrew and vanished into the darkness beyond.
“Huff… huff…”
As they retreated, Nam Goong Woon and Heuk Pyo gasped for breath, their chests heaving.
“We… we almost died there.”
“Indeed, we did.”
In the dark night, deep within the mountain, a chaotic melee with assassins.
In such a battle, the subtlety of swordplay or the swiftness of throwing blades proved utterly meaningless.
Looking down at the scene, I spoke matter-of-factly.
“Now you understand how different it truly is.”
Combat against multiple enemies in the darkness of the Forest.
It was not merely a clash of martial prowess, but a collision of killing intent against killing intent.
“Indeed. Huff.”
Nam Goong Woon rose using his blood-soaked golden needle sword as a crutch, steadying his breath as he spoke.
“But I truly cannot understand. Why didn’t the Main House conduct such training?”
“There was no need.”
I gazed into the dark Forest as I answered.
“Deep in the night, in the mountains no less, direct descendants of a family engaging multiple enemies in combat… Such a scenario would never occur unless the very fate of a sect or family hung in the balance.”
“That is certainly true.”
Nam Goong Woon sheathed his sword and smacked his lips.
“Then does that mean you, Eunseol, have fought with the fate of sects hanging in the balance?”
To that question, I remained silent, my expression hardening.
To become one of the Ten Demon Experts, I had fought countless prodigies on Hell Island, wagering my life with each battle.
Such a training method was virtually unprecedented in the history of Murim, experienced only by those Ten Demon Experts who survived Hell Island.
“Young Master. Do you think the ambush succeeded?”
At that moment, Heuk Pyo’s expression grew troubled.
“If they sent scouts to this location, then Pae Do Moon must already see through our movements… I don’t think the ambush can possibly succeed.”
Heuk Pyo had read my character perfectly.
Had I anticipated the ambush to succeed, my nature would never have allowed me to remain here leisurely guarding the Camp.
“To execute an ambush, one must grasp the battle situation as clearly as reading one’s own palm. But Jin Cheon Moon scheduled this far too hastily.”
I lifted my gaze toward the north where the wanderers had departed.
“They will likely fail miserably.”
Heuk Pyo, nodding silently, spoke with a peculiar tone.
“You seem to know everything, Young Master. No matter how extensive one’s experience in Gangho…”
“It is not experience in Gangho.”
“Pardon?”
Instead of answering, I turned my body away.
‘Back then, Hwangju saw countless martial artists perish as guests.’
And suddenly, I recalled the past.
In those days, Hwangju was a place where conflicts between orthodox and heterodox forces erupted ceaselessly. Countless martial artists and spies clashed in battle, meeting their deaths.
While performing autopsies, I always deduced their causes of death alongside Bu Chanyang.
And such an act was equivalent to studying and understanding the strategies and habits of martial artists anew each day.
“Rest a while now.”
I lay my body among the undergrowth and closed my eyes.
As dawn broke, shadows approached the Camp with the sound of footsteps.
They were all drenched in blood, their eyes vacant and lifeless.
“….”
Heuk Pyo and Nam Goong Woon, who had been resting against a boulder, exchanged glances and opened their mouths in shock.
Bu Eunseol’s prediction had been disturbingly accurate.

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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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