Chapter 153: Sword God Descends. -01
Unable to rest even for a moment and moving frantically, Peng Mancheol heard a familiar voice ring by his ear.
At the same time, a terrifying presence surged from behind his back.
At the savage killing intent that felt as though it would split the world apart, Peng Mancheol instinctively lowered his body.
He had immediately crouched because he knew the slash flying from behind was not aimed at him.
Sssaaaak!
Soon, a Sword Force imbued with dreadful killing intent grazed past his back and shot toward the Blood Soul Blade and the Mad Wolf.
Since it was a surprise attack, the two had no way to evade.
Kwaaang! Kwaang!
Though momentarily flustered by the lightning-like strike that rushed at them, they blocked it without much difficulty.
Because it was such a textbook attack, once they discerned the direction, blocking it was easy.
Instead, the two turned their gazes toward the direction from which the Sword Force had flown.
Step. Step.
“Did I not inform you in my letter? That the Great War God was not someone to be taken lightly.”
“I did not expect it to be to this extent either.”
“Divine Dragon?”
Footsteps echoed from within the dust cloud mixed with sand.
Then, Ban Hojin’s figure gradually emerged, and astonishingly, the Mad Wolf and the Blood Soul Blade recognized him at a glance.
As if they had investigated the Central Plains Murim in advance, they identified him instantly despite meeting him for the first time, and Peng Mancheol revealed a faintly surprised expression.
He was not ugly, yet his face did not possess particularly distinct features. Seeing them recognize him at once, Peng Mancheol found it curious.
“Should I consider it an honor that you recognize me?”
“I heard your personality was arrogant. It seems the rumors were true.”
“I’m not kind enough to show courtesy to an enemy commander.”
Despite the Blood Soul Blade’s sneer, Ban Hojin accepted it as naturally as a seasoned serpent.
Such barbs were nothing to him.
He had heard far worse, words that bordered on unfilial and outrageous, as often as he ate meals. Compared to that, this was merely playful charm.
“Good. I was wondering how to find you since you were stationed in the rear.”
“So there was indeed an extermination order?”
“Are you incapable of reflecting on what you have done?”
The Blood Soul Blade retorted with an incredulous expression.
Judging by his face, it seemed he truly could not recall what he had done.
“I merely cleared away trash. That was why I came here in the first place.”
“How dare you!”
At Ban Hojin’s words likening them to trash, the Mad Wolf’s body twitched as if he would charge at any moment.
Had the Blood Soul Blade not been beside him, he would have already swung his Wolf Fang Mace and rushed forward.
And at that sight, Peng Mancheol reacted as well.
As if to say that should the Mad Wolf charge, he too would move.
“Trash, you say. From your perspective, I suppose that is how it appears. We are invaders, after all.”
“Invaders is too generous. You are bandits. Ah, though you were originally members of a horse bandit group, so perhaps that is not incorrect.”
“You seem to overestimate your own ability because you are called Divine Dragon.”
The Blood Soul Blade’s eyes turned icy.
Refined killing intent exploded in an instant and crashed down upon Ban Hojin.
It was so dense that it could suffocate even a Peak Master Level expert, yet Ban Hojin brushed it aside lightly.
“That is because I have reason to.”
“Oh?”
At the sight of Ban Hojin deflecting his killing intent so effortlessly, the Blood Soul Blade revealed a look of surprise.
The same went for the Mad Wolf, who stood beside him with a face filled with hostility.
He had heard that the Divine Dragon was formidable, but he had not expected this much. The Mad Wolf stared at Ban Hojin with slight astonishment.
“I will show you now. Family Head Peng.”
“Speak.”
Having caught his breath thanks to Ban Hojin’s arrival, Peng Mancheol answered, looking considerably recovered.
He glared at the two as though ready to fight at any moment.
“Whom will you take?”
“I wish to settle things with the Blood Soul Blade.”
“Understood. Then I shall take the Mad Wolf.”
“……Can you handle it?”
Peng Mancheol cast Ban Hojin a glance filled with concern.
Having personally exchanged blows, he knew well Ban Hojin’s ability.
But the opponent was too strong.
The Mad Wolf was a master no less formidable than the Blood Soul Blade, and Peng Mancheol could not help but worry.
“I will finish first.”
“I will conclude this as swiftly as possible and come to assist you.”
Despite the unfavorable situation, Ban Hojin answered boldly, and Peng Mancheol let out a faint chuckle.
As expected, he thought, this was indeed the young man he had acknowledged.
Facing the Great War God of Iron Blood Fortress and still speaking with such spirit, Peng Mancheol was convinced once more.
Ban Hojin was the perfect match for his daughter.
“I wonder whether you can take responsibility for those words.”
“Worry about yourself.”
“Khahahaha!”
At Ban Hojin’s consistently insolent reply, the Mad Wolf burst into loud laughter.
However, once the laughter ceased, a terrifying killing intent poured from him.
Even more intense than that of the Blood Soul Blade earlier, it stabbed at the entire body like needles.
“Try to block it.”
Accepting the murderous killing intent head-on, Ban Hojin kicked off the ground.
Yet despite the light step, his speed was tremendous.
In the blink of an eye, he had reached directly before the Mad Wolf.
“Hmph!”
Though it was a movement technique taken to its pinnacle, the Mad Wolf did not panic.
Rather, as if he had anticipated it, he thrust out his Wolf Fang Mace, drenched in blood.
Though it seemed as if he had swung it reflexively, the Mad Wolf’s Wolf Fang Mace precisely targeted Ban Hojin’s jaw.
Perhaps irritated by the mouth that had uttered such insolent words, he seemed intent on shattering his jaw outright.
Srrrk.
But just before the mace touched his jaw, Ban Hojin’s figure slipped aside.
As though defying the law of inertia, he turned directions with fluid grace and thrust his sword toward the Mad Wolf’s solar plexus.
Kkaaang!
Yet the Mad Wolf was no easy opponent.
Like a seasoned warrior who had crossed countless lines of death, he twisted the Wolf Fang Mace and blocked Ban Hojin’s sword with the shaft.
Then, while receiving the sword, he lifted the opposite end of the mace upward.
He swung it from below to above.
Sssaaak!
Unlike the spiked head, there were no iron spikes on that end, yet since it was made entirely of solid steel, it was more than threatening.
Moreover, with Force Energy imbued within it, a single strike would be enough to send one to the afterlife immediately.
‘You won’t be able to dodge this!’
Watching his beloved weapon surge upward like lightning, the Mad Wolf grinned wickedly.
No matter how formidable Ban Hojin’s skill might be, an attack burrowing in from such close range would be difficult to evade.
Moreover, Ban Hojin had yet to retrieve his sword, leaving him with only one option.
Of course, he could release the sword—but the people of the Central Plains, as the Mad Wolf knew them, would rather die than bend their pride.
‘First I’ll shatter that jaw, then I’ll teach him one by one about the mistakes he made against this body.’
The Mad Wolf’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
He had no intention of killing Ban Hojin with this strike.
To kill him now would only grant him a peaceful end. The Mad Wolf’s aim was subjugation.
After subduing him, he intended to demand recompense for his offenses.
Whooong!
Yet the situation did not unfold as he wished.
Because it had been a sudden strike that burrowed in without warning, he naturally believed Ban Hojin would be unable to avoid it—but the result was the opposite.
Astonishingly, even at such close range, Ban Hojin evaded the Mad Wolf’s decisive blow.
He merely tilted his head slightly.
Puhk!
And at the same moment he dodged, he kicked out.
The instant the rear of the Wolf Fang Mace rose into empty air, he drove his foot into the Mad Wolf’s fully exposed abdomen.
“Kuhuk!”
Caught off guard by the unexpected strike, the Mad Wolf groaned and toppled backward.
In a humiliation unbefitting his position as a Great War God, he rolled across the ground.
Watching that scene from the corner of his eye, the Blood Soul Blade was startled.
He had never imagined the Mad Wolf would be handled so futilely.
“This is no time to worry about that.”
“Keuk!”
Whether he had sensed the gaze or known from the start, Ban Hojin spoke without even looking at him.
At the same time, Peng Mancheol, engulfed in fury, unleashed the Primordial Thunderclap Blade with fierce momentum, instantly driving the Blood Soul Blade onto the defensive.
Rumble! Kwarrrng!
After glancing at Peng Mancheol pressing the Blood Soul Blade with thunderous force, Ban Hojin turned his gaze back toward the Mad Wolf.
It seemed about time for him to rise.
“You dare, you insignificant wretch!”
As Ban Hojin had expected, the Mad Wolf, now covered head to toe in dirt, charged again, his eyes flashing with manic killing intent.
A terrifying presence scattered from his entire body.
Yet despite that ferocious momentum, the Wolf Fang Mace failed to touch Ban Hojin.
Though the Mad Wolf executed his move properly, it missed Ban Hojin by no more than the thickness of a sheet of paper.
“Grrrk!”
His face twisted like a vengeful demon.
His killing intent deepened as well.
But no matter how desperately he swung the Wolf Fang Mace, Ban Hojin slipped about like an eel, evading every strike.
Woooong! Woooong!
What further enraged the Mad Wolf was Ban Hojin’s expression.
Moving lazily with an indifferent face, as if bored, Ban Hojin made the Mad Wolf’s vision turn red.
So he prepared a technique he would never use unless facing an opponent of Great War God caliber.
He had intended to subdue him if possible—but now he abandoned that thought and focused on one thing alone.
“I’ll tear you apart!”
With a furious roar, the Wolf Fang Mace suddenly seemed to enlarge.
More precisely, the Rod Force enveloping it swelled to enormous proportions.
If he could not strike directly, he would annihilate the very space in which Ban Hojin could move.
With that intent, the Mad Wolf smashed the gigantic Wolf Fang Mace downward.
As if to crush Ban Hojin like a mere insect.
Tok.
“With this level of skill, your dreams are far too grand.”
“Huh?”
The Rod Force descending with dreadful momentum came to an abrupt halt.
It had been blocked by the tip of Ban Hojin’s raised sword.
Yet not even a trace of Sword Energy clung to Ban Hojin’s blade.
And still, the Mad Wolf’s Rod Force could not budge it in the slightest.
Brrrrr!
Momentarily stunned, the Mad Wolf gritted his teeth and pressed down harder.
He intended to grind Ban Hojin into pulp in this very state.
But no matter how much strength he exerted, no matter how much True Energy he poured in, the Rod Force did not move.
His pupils shook violently.
“You’ve only just stepped past the wall.”
Kkrrrraak!
Ban Hojin’s flat, toneless voice split the air.
At the same time, something unbelievable occurred.
From the point where the sword tip touched, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the Rod Force.
The Mad Wolf’s eyes widened beyond what seemed possible.
“That’s impossible!”
Despite his scream that sounded like a shriek, the cracks did not cease.
Rather, they spread even faster, until the massive Rod Force shattered into fragments.
“You think this ends here?!”
Though the sight defied belief, the Mad Wolf recovered from his confusion faster than expected.
Rather than stand stunned, he chose to attack Ban Hojin at once.
His resolve stirred the power within his Dantian, and soon dozens of Force Rings formed around his entire body.
He poured every ounce of his cultivation into this final move.
Siiing! Siiing!
Dozens of Force Rings, each the size of a child’s fist, shot toward Ban Hojin all at once,
emitting chilling air-tearing sounds.
Yet Ban Hojin did not move even as he watched them approach.
Instead, he simply stared at the Mad Wolf with an indifferent expression, as if finding it laughable.
Kwakwa-kwa-kwaang!
Soon, the dozens of Force Rings struck the motionless Ban Hojin and exploded.
The tremendous detonation shook the very ground, so much so that even the nearby Blood Soul Blade and Peng Mancheol halted their fight and turned their heads.
“It’s done!”
As the explosion swallowed space itself in a blinding flash, the Mad Wolf smiled broadly.
No matter how strong Ban Hojin was, he could not possibly withstand an explosion of this magnitude.
The fact that he had not even attempted to evade it convinced the Mad Wolf that he had given up.
He must have remained still because there had been no other option.
“In the end, the one who laughs last is the victor.”
“It seems a little early to be laughing.”
“Wh—?!”