The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 119

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 119.
The surprise attack by the Nanguin Organization had failed.
Of the eighty mercenaries who had departed, only about sixty returned, and many of the skilled masters from the Ingeom Organization were nowhere to be seen.
“Hmm.”
The returning mercenaries and Ingeom Organization members regarded Bu Eunseol’s group resting in perfect condition with displeasure.
Moon Gwang felt the same way.
‘They’re mercenaries who didn’t even receive payment… there’s nothing I can say.’
As he was suppressing his anger, a bald man with a massive axe slung across his shoulder approached Bu Eunseol with heavy breathing.
He was the captain of the Third Squad, Jo Cheon San, known as Blood Crying Axe.
“You’ve got quite the fortune, haven’t you?”
Deliberately picking a fight, he spat sharply onto the rock where Nam Goong Woon was leaning.
“So this is why you didn’t accept payment. Were you hoping to watch others die?”
Jo Cheon San spoke with eyes flushed crimson with rage.
“If you came as mercenaries, shouldn’t you participate in combat? Why are you sprawled out here like this!”
“What nonsense is this? That Moon Gwang fellow told us to guard this place, so we’re guarding it!”
“Guard it? You’re guarding it like dogs? While others are dying out there!”
“What? Dogs?”
Nam Goong Woon shot to his feet, about to respond when Heuk Pyo grabbed both his hands.
“Young Master. Please, restrain yourself.”
“Restrain? What am I restraining? We also fought desperately yesterday…”
Nam Goong Woon, who had been about to shout loudly, closed his mouth.
Heuk Pyo’s expression was far too dark and desperate.
“He’s suffering from the loss of his comrades…”
Even mercenaries sold for money possessed camaraderie.
Jo Cheon San was in pain.
Pain so unbearable that he could not endure it without blaming someone.
“Please, Young Master. Show restraint.”
At Heuk Pyo’s soft whisper, Nam Goong Woon clenched his mouth shut.
“That’s enough. Say no more.”
Nam Goong Woon, suppressing his nature, turned his head away and withdrew once more.
Then Moon Gwang stepped forward before the mercenaries and spoke.
“The failure of this surprise attack lies entirely with me.”
He lowered his head with a pained expression.
“The Pae Do Moon had seen through our movements and intelligence. Even our surprise attack.”
Raising his head, he swept his gaze across the mercenaries and Ingeom Organization members before speaking again.
“Headquarters has ordered the suspension of this operation and our withdrawal. But I will face them once more in direct combat.”
Then a mercenary bearing a great sword on his back stepped forward.
“No matter how I think about it, that doesn’t seem right. Isn’t that the same as ordering us to die gloriously?”
Then another man beside him spoke in a hoarse voice.
“That’s right. There’s a strange formation laid around that lodge. Unless we break through it, we’ll die pointlessly before we can even enter, let alone fight.”
The ambush had failed not merely because of the assassins’ overwhelming numbers, but primarily due to the formation array laid at the entrance of the mountain lodge.
Moon Gwang bit his lip and spoke.
“I will increase your compensation. Double what you have received thus far!”
Yet the ronin’s expressions remained cold and unmoved.
However much one’s life might be sold for coin, none wished to perish in a battle without hope of victory.
“A formation array.”
It was then that Bu Eunseol, who had been listening in silence, finally spoke.
“We shall dismantle the formation for you.”
“What did you say?”
Moon Gwang’s eyes widened, and Bu Eunseol gestured toward Nam Goong Woon as she spoke.
“He is a master of array dissolution. Whatever formation lies before us, he can unravel it with ease.”
Nam Goong Woon’s mouth fell open.
Since when had he become an expert in array dissolution?
Bewildered, he began to wave his hand in protest, but Moon Gwang rushed forward and seized Nam Goong Woon by the shoulder.
“Is that truly so?”
His eyes blazed with fervent desire and boundless anticipation.
“No, I am not—”
Nam Goong Woon attempted to shake his head in denial, but Bu Eunseol answered with unwavering confidence.
“Of course.”
“I see. If you dissolve the array, I shall grant you triple compensation.”
Moon Gwang nodded vigorously with profound gratitude, but Bu Eunseol shook her head.
“We have no need of payment.”
“You require no compensation? Why is that?”
Bu Eunseol offered no answer, merely a faint smile playing at her lips.
Witnessing that expression, Moon Gwang fell silent.
That smile resembled the laughter of the grim reaper, smiling from within an endless, suffocating darkness.
“I… I understand.”
In the end, Moon Gwang turned away with an unsettled expression.
Woong Ga San Jang.
An abandoned mountain lodge nestled deep within the forests of Sang Yang Mountain.
One had to traverse a narrow path that wound and spiraled upward through dense bamboo groves to reach it, making it a fortress blessed by heaven itself.
Bu Eunseol, Heuk Pyo, and Nam Goong Woon ascended the steep, narrow path with remarkable speed, employing their lightness technique.
“This will be difficult indeed. A formation array laid upon the only path leading to the lodge.”
Nam Goong Woon, who had been carefully observing the narrow path ascending to Woong Ga San Jang after passing through the bamboo forest, nodded in acknowledgment.
“Moreover, this is no ordinary formation array—it contains mechanisms, much like the Shin Nyeo Gung’s Celestial Twenty-Four Formation. There must be countless hidden traps and devices embedded throughout.”
Despite his notorious reputation as a wastrel, Nam Goong Woon had always received superior education from the Nangung Family.
That education encompassed not only swordsmanship but also poetry, literature, calligraphy, painting, and the art of formations.
“A formation of this caliber was designed to withstand the assault of at least hundreds of masters. It is absolutely impossible to dissolve it with our current numbers.”
To Nam Goong Woon’s explanation, Bu Eunseol replied with composure.
“Dissolving the array is unnecessary.”
“Didn’t you just boast to that fellow Moon Gwang that you’d break through the formation?”
“What I meant was that we don’t necessarily need to break the formation to enter the mountain lodge.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Bu Eunseol fixed Nam Goong Woon with an unwavering gaze as she spoke.
“Didn’t you just say it yourself? That a formation of this caliber was clearly designed to slaughter vast numbers of people.”
“Well, yes.”
“Then conversely, the reason we failed was because we brought too many people—exactly the number the formation was designed to annihilate.”
“I’m not quite following you.”
As Nam Goong Woon shook his head, Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“What if just one person were to enter?”
“Well, since it’s a formation designed to kill large numbers of enemies… they wouldn’t be able to deploy all their harmonic techniques.”
Nam Goong Woon hastily added, sensing something ominous in the air.
“But that’s merely speculation, isn’t it?”
“We’ll know once someone goes in alone.”
“Ha, surely you jest. Who would willingly walk alone into a formation capable of slaughtering hundreds?”
Bu Eunseol regarded Nam Goong Woon with a penetrating, inscrutable gaze.
Sensing the ominous weight of her stare, he took a subtle step backward, forcing a smile.
“Surely you’re not suggesting that one person is… me?”
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol turned to Heuk Pyo.
“Wait here. When the lodge door opens, fire the signal flare. Then the ronin band and the masters of Jin Cheon Moon waiting below will arrive.”
“Understood.”
In the end, the ronin band had imposed a condition.
Once Bu Eunseol’s group broke the formation and opened the path to the lodge, they would then engage.
“Brother Seol. Are you serious? You want me to go alone?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to gain experience in the Gangho?”
“Yes, that’s true. But not to glimpse the depths of hell.”
Nam Goong Woon shook his head, cold sweat beading on his brow.
“If one wanted to end their life, there are far simpler methods… why resort to something so difficult and convoluted?”
When no answer came, Nam Goong Woon’s eyes lost all focus.
“Brother Seol. Do you know? The assassins of Eum Sa Gok—they flay their victims when they kill them. That’s why they favor those dual blades that slice through flesh so cleanly.”
“I see.”
“So what I’m saying is… I won’t be going in.”
As Nam Goong Woon retreated, the corners of Bu Eunseol’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Are you afraid?”
“What?”
“I asked if you were afraid.”
―Are you afraid?
Those words were like a magical incantation that triggered Nam Goong Woon’s convulsions.
“Damn it! Who said I was afraid? I was merely stating facts!”
Nam Goong Woon drew his Golden Needle Sword, baring his teeth as he spoke.
“You want to see whether I’m afraid or not? Then watch me from there!”
Without hesitation, I charged up the steep path toward Woong Ga San Jang like a wild boar fleeing a forest fire.
Whoosh!
The moment I entered the narrow path, dozens of steel needles rained down from both sides and the sky.
Under normal circumstances, I would have displayed my swordsmanship and deflected all the projectiles with a flourish.
But my recent experience had stripped away all unnecessary formality from my practical combat. I crouched low and bolted forward, dodging the barrage of needles through sheer speed.
Whistle! Crash crash crash!
In that instant, trees and boulders rained down like a meteor shower above my head.
‘What is this?’
The trees and boulders were overlaid with faint shadows from the formation’s influence.
No matter how hard I looked up, it was nearly impossible to distinguish which were real and which were illusions.
“Hah!”
I charged forward, slashing at the falling objects with my Golden Needle Sword.
But the blade was too thin and narrow—while I could cut through wood, the massive boulders were difficult to deflect.
“Damn it! If a crowd had come, we’d all be dead.”
If a large force had poured into this narrow passage, there would be no escape.
But since I had entered alone, I could cut down the falling trees and dodge the boulders.
However, as the formation’s influence deepened, the shapes of trees and boulders began to blur together with their shadows.
‘What is this now?’
I was pushing forward desperately, but my speed was slower than usual.
Looking closely, the ground had transformed into something like sticky glue, and I was being pulled backward as if drifting.
‘This is a formation technique of Shin Nyeo Gung’s caliber, isn’t it?’
It would be impossible for a mere assassin sect to install such a supreme-level formation.
Pae Do Moon also consisted only of swordsmen, and none of them had achieved such mastery of formation techniques. There must be another collaborator involved.
‘This doesn’t feel right.’
Staring at the endless cascade of trees and boulders, I deployed my movement technique and began ascending again.
“Huff… huff…”
My tongue hung down to my chin, but I couldn’t stop running.
If I paused due to the formation’s influence, I would be pulled backward where the boulders were falling again.
Crack!
A bursting sound erupted, and white powder scattered wildly through the air.
“Mountain Spirit Powder again?”
I gritted my teeth, recalling the trap Wang Jeong had set in the Bul Jeong Mountain Gorge.
“I won’t fall for the same trick twice!”
I unleashed the Swift Blade Chaos technique of the Soaring Sky Sword, and the powder swirled upward back into the sky.
This was the moment my experience in Gangho proved its worth.
“How’s that!”
My expression froze as I looked up at the sky with a smirk.
Now an enormous mass of metal was descending from above, threatening to cover the entire ground.
“What… what is that?”
A massive hunk of metal, easily spanning a zhang in length from front to back. No matter how swiftly one fled, there was no conceivable way to evade it.
Boom!
In that instant, the earth trembled violently as an enormous bell crashed down beside him.
Now I could see clearly—what had fallen from the heavens was not a colossal sheet of metal, but a massive temple bell large enough to imprison a man.
“The Pae Do Moon certainly made thorough preparations.”
“Eunseol.”
Nam Goong Woon, catching sight of Bu Eunseol who had caught up with him, pressed a trembling hand to his chest.
“When did you arrive?”
“You broke through it cleanly.”
Bu Eunseol, surveying the surroundings where countless traps had erupted, nodded in acknowledgment.
The barrage of crossbow bolts had ceased, and the influence of the formation array had dissipated entirely.
At last, I had pierced through the entire path shrouded in mechanical formations and arrived at the gates of Woong Ga San Jang.
Creak.
As Nam Goong Woon pushed the great doors wide and gazed into the interior of Woong Ga San Jang, despair bloomed in his eyes.
“What in the world is this….”
The buildings within Woong Ga San Jang were completely vacant, and in their place stretched yet another Forest.
Throughout the Forest, hidden assassins saturated the air with a thick, suffocating killing intent.
In the end, the mountain lodge possessed only the form of a structure; its interior differed little from the Forest itself.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————