Chapter 34

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 34: The Emergence of Bloodlines (3)

"How did you get all the way here...?"

"You were in danger. How could I just sit and wait quietly?"

Kwon Hanul couldn't help but laugh.

He had already known she wasn’t an ordinary woman—but to think she’d come straight into the enemy's stronghold.

What an incredible woman.

"I never thought I’d lay eyes on the witch the Chairman of Hyukcheon had hidden away so thoroughly."

It was Mei Rong who spoke. This was already the second time he’d referred to her as a witch.

The creation of dungeons, the crafting of relics—

All of it relied on technology from another world. And people called that technology:

Magic.

And the only beings on Earth who could wield this magic were witches and sorcerers.

So that’s what Hayun’s gift was...

To learn magic, one needed truly extraordinary talent.

Only those born with that gift could inherit the right to wield magic.

Joo Hayun’s gift was none other than her aptitude to become a witch.

"What a golden opportunity. If I capture you, the Clan Head will be pleased."

Greed twisted Mei Rong’s face.

Naturally—magic was the foundation of power used to create dungeons and relics.

Granted, Earth's witches and sorcerers were still too weak to create dungeons or relics themselves.

But they could provide enormous support in conquering dungeons.

"Apologies, but I serve only the Hyukcheon Clan. I have no business with any other house."

"You say that now, but who knows? There are plenty of ways in this world to break a person’s will."

"You dream big."

Magic gathered at the tips of Joo Hayun’s ten fingers, glowing with a brilliant blue light.

"We’re short on time—why don’t all three of you come at once?"

Her provocation made Kwon Hanul brim with anticipation.

He’d heard rumors—magic was like a miracle, possessing immense power.

He wondered how a witch would fight. And just how powerful Joo Hayun really was.

Then it happened.

—Lord Kwon Hanul.

A voice echoed in his mind.

—Don’t be alarmed. I’m communicating with you directly through magic.

As Kwon Hanul marveled at this first experience with magic, Joo Hayun continued:

—To be honest, I can’t take on all three of them alone.

Kwon Hanul’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d been so full of expectations—and now this?

—I need your help. Please prepare the strongest technique you can use.

He shot her a look, silently asking how strong she needed it to be.

—Don’t worry about the details. Don’t fret about whether the attack will hit. Just prepare your most powerful strike.

It was an absurd request, but Kwon Hanul decided to trust her.

So far, following her advice had never led to loss—only gain.

Kwon Hanul summoned his Dragon Aura, pushing his mana to its limits.

"This is perfect. I’ve been wanting to see what magic is all about anyway."

Strangely, despite the intensity of Kwon Hanul’s Dragon Aura, neither Mei Rong nor his henchmen noticed a thing.

It was because of the magic circle Joo Hayun had secretly drawn in the air.

That circle must have cast a veil, concealing Kwon Hanul’s aura.

–He’s valuable—cripple him by severing tendons, but don’t kill him.

The flowing Dragon Aura surged, amplified by the Dragon Pearl.

The amplified force channeled perfectly through the Dragon’s Physique Technique, concentrating in his fist.

That focused power was further strengthened by the Dragon Scale Armor.

Finally, it merged with the Shura Soul, amplifying the power to a terrifying degree.

Mei Rong and his two henchmen lunged at him. Simultaneously, Kwon Hanul threw his punch.

Black Dragon Ascension Art: Basic Form

Crushing Strike Style: Mount Tai Collapse Fist

The compressed Dragon Aura exploded. Unable to withstand it, the magic circle shattered into pieces.

"What the hell is that?!"

Mei Rong and his henchmen scattered in panic.

Since the attack was thrown indiscriminately, it was easy for the three to dodge.

Ordinarily, that would have been the case.

Joo Hayun spread her hands. At that moment, a black hole opened in front of the Dragon Aura.

The energy passed through and split into three streams. Each struck one of the enemies.

Blood poured from every orifice of their bodies as they were hurled away.

"Holy..."

Kwon Hanul was speechless.

It was beyond awe—it was absurd. He’d heard tales of the mystique of magic, but this was beyond what he imagined.

"I didn’t expect you to be a witch."

"Not much good comes from spreading rumors,” Joo Hayun replied nonchalantly. She had a point, so Kwon Hanul let it go.

Just then—

An enormous wave of energy surged in the distance—then subsided.

"Looks like things are wrapping up over there too," Joo Hayun said, gesturing toward it.

"Let’s go witness the fall of the Mei Clan."

* * *

When Kwon Hanul and Joo Hayun arrived, everything was already over.

Mei Rong, Swordmaster of Ten Thousand Techniques, was slumped against the wall with a gaping hole in his chest.

Most of the Mei Clan’s bloodline had surrendered their weapons, awaiting judgment.

And the Clan Head of Mei—

"...Khak."

—was on his knees, utterly wrecked.

One arm was torn off, and his body was broken in several places.

"Mei Rong... are you still with me?"

At his words, Mei Rong painfully lifted his head.

Despite a pierced chest and missing heart, he was still alive.

A life force worthy of awe, but even that wouldn’t last long.

Even for the "Swordmaster of Ten Thousand Techniques," survival was impossible with such wounds.

He was simply holding on to life by sheer will.

"We’ve lost."

Though the Mei Clan had greater numbers, their actual power was inferior.

Their enemies had Kwon Seonwoo, Kwon Myung-woo, and the elite of elites—the Hyukcheon Corps.

Even if they somehow held off the Hyukcheon Corps, Kwon Myung-woo stood behind them, and beyond him, Kwon Seonwoo, regaining strength.

Further resistance was meaningless.

"We lost... to the Hyukcheon Clan."

Mei Rong lowered his head quietly. Drops of blood fell like tears.

"Why... why did we lose?"

Emotion crept into the Clan Head’s voice—lament turned to rage.

"How did we lose to less than a hundred of them?"

Excuses were many.

Most of Mei Clan’s top warriors were away. Less than half had returned.

In contrast, the enemy had the rarest top-class elites of Hyukcheon.

Numerically superior, yet vastly inferior in quality.

They had also been caught off guard.

The Mei Clan Head hadn’t known Kwon Seonwoo had reached Incarnation Form.

Originally, he had planned to kill Kwon Myung-woo quickly and attack the Hyukcheon Clan.

Instead, Kwon Seonwoo, using his Incarnation powers, had led the assault himself.

They couldn’t even kill Kwon Myung-woo—they had been struck first.

"In my father’s time, this wouldn’t have happened. Our Mei Clan... even if outmatched by Hyukcheon, was never this weak!" The Mei Clan Head howled.

"That’s just your delusion,” Kwon Seonwoo replied coldly.

"You say it wasn’t like this? No, it was always like this. Mei has always been beneath Hyukcheon."

His tone was arrogant, but no one present accused him of excess.

"The founding heads of Hyukcheon and Mei were contemporaries. They competed across East Asia’s dungeons."

When dungeons first appeared, the world fell into chaos.

Dungeons appeared randomly, paralyzing society.

Humanity quailed before monsters immune to technology.

The whole world was in peril—East Asia worst of all.

High-difficulty dungeons sprang up like weeds. Cities fell overnight, and people died en masse.

So all East Asian nations agreed to open borders and tackle dungeons together.

Then, Kwon Hyun-moon, founder of the Hyukcheon Clan, brought East Asia under control.

From that moment, Hyukcheon was called ruler of East Asia.

"Your Mei Clan always lagged behind Hyukcheon. Then and now. The gap only widened."

When Mei Clan proposed a group battle, Kwon Seonwoo and Hyukcheon’s purebloods scoffed.

Not as a morale tactic—but because it was reality.

"We let you be because wiping you out wasn’t worth the effort."

To Hyukcheon, the Mei Clan wasn’t even worth destroying.

"Besides, we were too busy dealing with the Western Royal Bloods."

The world is vast, and forces rivaling Hyukcheon do exist.

Until now, Hyukcheon had been preoccupied with those rivals.

"Do you understand now? Today’s outcome wasn’t a miracle. It was inevitable."

At those words, the Mei Clan Head lowered his gaze.

"Chairman of Hyukcheon... if I surrender, will you spare me?"

"No”, Kwon Seonwoo answered without hesitation.

"Maybe others—but not you. You touched Hyukcheon blood. You must pay for that."

And that debt was paid with life.

"...Cruel, aren’t you?"

"If you dared touch Hyukcheon’s blood, you should have known the price."

"Let me see my son, Mei Feng, one last time."

"I’m afraid that won’t be possible."

It wasn’t Kwon Seonwoo who replied—it was Kwon Hanul.

All eyes turned to him as he spoke calmly.

"He’s dead. I killed him."

"...Dead?"

The Mei Clan Head’s face went blank.

"When... when did he die?"

“He died right when the battle began.”

That meant he had been killed by Kwon Hanul the moment the fight started.

The Mei Clan Head looked beyond shocked—utterly bewildered.

“…That’s impossible. Do you have any idea how much I prepared to ensure that child’s safety?”

“My apologies.”

Despite the words, there wasn’t the slightest trace of regret on Kwon Hanul’s face.

It was Mei Feng who had struck first, attempting to kill. Kwon Hanul merely responded.

There was no reason for guilt.

“That child inherited the Shura Bloodline in full—purest of the purebloods. And yet… who exactly are you?”

The Mei Clan Head couldn’t have known—even in his wildest dreams.

How meaningless it was to boast of lineage before Kwon Hanul.

Under the heavens, not a single soul possessed a bloodline comparable to his.

“Ha ha ha! If we’re talking bloodlines, your son doesn’t stand a chance,” Kwon Myung-woo said with a laugh. “That kid isn’t just pureblood—he’s Trueblood.”

The Mei Clan Head couldn’t grasp what that meant at first. Kwon Myung-woo chuckled again and elaborated.

“Don’t get it? He’s Trueblood. He shares the exact same bloodline as our First Clan Head—the one who first received the Black Dragon’s Blood.”

The Mei Clan Head’s eyes widened—so wide it looked like his eyeballs might pop out.

“First the Incarnate Body, then Kwon Hanul, and now Trueblood? Why is it always you of Hyukcheon… why only you people!”

He pounded the ground with his fist and screamed.

Kwon Seonwoo silently watched, then gave an order to a Hyukcheon operative.

“Execute the Mei Clan Head.”

The Hyukcheon warrior stepped forward. The Mei Clan Head clenched his teeth and snarled.

“It’s not over yet!”

“You still have something to say?”

“Even if I die, the Mei Clan won’t end! Blood relatives scattered across the world will one day rebuild the clan!”

“Probably. Cockroaches are notoriously hard to exterminate.”

Kwon Seonwoo spoke indifferently, as if the Mei Clan didn’t matter at all. That nonchalance ignited a fury in the Mei Clan Head.

“Listen, Mei Rong!” The Mei Clan Head shouted. “Today, the two of us will die.”

Mei Rong could not respond—his life was nearing its limit.

“So at the very least, do something for the future of the Mei Clan.”

A glint returned to the Mei Clan Head’s eyes. Kwon Seonwoo furrowed his brow.

“You…”

The Mei Clan Head plunged his remaining hand into his own chest. His fingers burrowed deep into his heart.

“Urgh!”

He yanked his hand out—blood gushed like a fountain from his heart.

The blood didn’t fall to the ground—it floated into the air.

“At the very least, I’ll take your head with me!”

The blood transformed into slashing strikes and scattered in all directions.

A warrior of his caliber, unleashing a final attack at the cost of his life. The Hyukcheon operatives hurriedly blocked the slashes with their Black Scale Armor.

“Kwon Seonwoo!”

The Mei Clan Head charged at Kwon Seonwoo, trying to pierce his neck barehanded.

“You dare attack the elder!”

Kwon Myung-woo intercepted him, swinging his elbow and smashing the Mei Clan Head’s skull.

For a clan leader, it was an utterly anticlimactic death.

“…It wasn’t me.”

Suddenly, Kwon Seonwoo spoke. Everyone looked puzzled.

“That bastard wasn’t aiming for me!”

At that moment, Mei Rong lunged forward. Kwon Myung-woo quickly turned his head.

“That bastard!”

He had been pretending to die while secretly recovering strength.

But even so, it wouldn’t change his fate. He could barely move, let alone fight.

Why, then? In that state, he couldn’t harm Kwon Seonwoo or save himself.

Kwon Myung-woo’s question was quickly answered. Mei Rong wasn’t running toward him.

He was after Kwon Hanul.

“Stop him! Don’t let him reach the kid!”

Two Hyukcheon operatives closest to Kwon Hanul moved to intercept.

In full condition, things might be different. But Mei Rong—the Greatest Sword in Central Plains—on death’s door, was far slower than the Hyukcheon operatives.

They reached him first, striking at Mei Rong.

At that moment, Mei Rong pulled something from his robes and threw it.

It was a safe, roughly the size of a child’s fist.

“That’s…!”

The safe opened with a flash of light. When the light faded, Mei Rong was gone.

And so was Kwon Hanul.

* * *

Kwon Hanul looked around.

There had been a flash, and now he was… somewhere else.

The ground was stone, but a heavy sandstorm howled from all directions.

“This place…”

“Is inside the Prison of Golden Sands.”

Mei Rong stood before him. His voice was surprisingly clear for someone who should be dying.

“Prison of Golden Sands?”

“The relic I just used. An S-rank legendary artifact that creates a sealed space, cutting off any outside interference.”

In other words, Kwon Hanul was now trapped here.

With Mei Rong—the Greatest Sword of Central Plains.

“I originally prepared this to settle the score with the strongest of Hyukcheon, without interference…”

Mei Rong chuckled bitterly, as if he hadn’t expected things to unfold this way.

“Trueblood… I suspected there was something more, a power that couldn’t be explained by talent alone. So that was your secret.”

His gaze darkened.

“To let you grow would be a threat to the Mei Clan’s future. That’s why you must die here.”

“You think you can kill me in that condition?”

Kwon Hanul’s question was perfectly fair.

An injured beast was dangerous—but even that had its limits.

Mei Rong wasn’t just injured. He was barely clinging to life.

Anyone else would’ve died long ago. Only sheer vitality kept him going.

“Let me ask instead. Do you think I can’t kill you?”

Mei Rong summoned his longsword. The moment he grasped it, his presence surged.

Even with his chest pierced, his crushing defeat, witnessing his clan leader’s death, and the annihilation of his clan…

Mei Rong’s presence hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

“Truly, the Greatest Sword of Central Plains.”

Even as an enemy, Kwon Hanul couldn’t help but admire him.

A warrior representing his clan—truly formidable.

But that admiration came with another emotion.

Rage.

“Before joining Hyukcheon, I was nothing more than a third-rate Hunter.”

Mei Rong frowned at the sudden confession.

“I hunted goblins just to get by. If I ran into an orc, I had to flee for my life.”

There was no dreaming of becoming strong, let alone planning a future.

“Hyukcheon? The Mei Clan? That was another world’s business—so distant I couldn’t even imagine it in my dreams.”

Kwon Hanul smiled.

“And yet, here I am, fighting for my life against the Greatest Sword of Central Plains. Life’s unpredictable.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but you’re not strong enough to fight me for your life.”

Perhaps.

Mei Rong was the Greatest Sword of Central Plains. Even dying, he was far stronger.

But.

“You’re underestimating me.”

And that infuriated him.

“You don’t even have a heart—your body’s functions are failing.”

With that wreck of a body.

“Your mana’s unstable, your aura’s been flickering since earlier.”

In such a state.

“You think you can kill me?”

There’s a limit to looking down on someone.

“You said this artifact blocks outside interference? Perfect.”

Kwon Hanul removed his Aryongtae Gauntlet, exposing his thumb. He bit into it.

Startled by the sudden self-harm, Mei Rong tilted his head.

“What are you doing?”

Kwon Hanul ran the bleeding thumb along his armor, drawing a long red line.

From the bloodline, a crimson energy spread across the armor, seeping into every part.

“You…”

Shock washed over Mei Rong’s face. He’d seen many surprises, but none like this.

“How can a Hyukcheon clansman summon a Shura…”

Mei Rong fell silent mid-sentence. The Aryongtae armor had undergone a second transformation.

The gray metal turned supple, like leather.

Mei Rong muttered in disbelief.

“No… is that the First Clan Head’s…”

The transformation completed, and a message appeared.

<‘Shura King’ awakens.>

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]