Disciple Of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 258

“Hee… heek….”

Completely exhausted, Lee Yong-jin was panting like a dog.

His tongue lolling out as he gasped for breath looked ridiculous, but no one laughed at Lee Yong-jin.

“Cough! Hack!”

The others were in a similar state.

Ha Se-min was sprawled out on the ground, limbs splayed, gasping for air.

“Kuh-euk….”

Kang Han-cheol was leaning against a tree, clutching his bleeding abdomen.

And finally, Lee Shin-woo.

“…….”

He was unconscious, not even a breath could be heard.

It was a long time before they regained their senses.

They got up only after the bright sunlight had begun to fade.

“Haa….”

They immediately glared around, checking their surroundings.

“It seems he has left for a while.”

Kang Han-cheol said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Lee Rowoon was nowhere to be seen.

They seemed worried about Lee Rowoon’s disappearance, but.

“That’s a relief.”

“Whew…. Haa….”

Now, they were relieved that Lee Rowoon was not in sight.

For the past few days, Lee Rowoon had kept his word.

He had been personally training them to help Kang Han-cheol grow.

They had met Lee Rowoon and exchanged a few words before, but they had never undergone such intensive training.

He was the Blood Demon.

He was Jincheon, a benefactor, and a player who had reached the high ranks.

That was Lee Rowoon.

If they could learn something from such a person, both the martial artists and the players would welcome it with open arms.

The training began with anticipation.

The result was.

“I will never die.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Ghostly Melody Lord.”

“I’m going to hell when I die….”

Lee Yong-jin said, his face pale.

“If hell is real, isn’t it going to be even more hellish than this?”

Lee Rowoon’s training.

It was truly hell.

Lee Yong-jin made a vow to himself, again and again.

‘If anyone uses the word hell training in front of me….’

He would mercilessly smack them on the head.

They shouldn’t use such an expression without experiencing this level of training.

“I agree….”

Ha Se-min also chimed in.

Ha Se-min, who was born and raised as an ordinary disciple of the Hao Clan.

The process of him becoming the head of the Hao Clan was so painful and difficult that it could be called a living hell.

He had to learn martial arts, how to fight in the shadows, and how to handle politics and information.

Until he was twenty, Ha Se-min had spent his days getting less than two hours of sleep.

But even that was nothing compared to Lee Rowoon’s training.

“Level….”

Lee Shin-woo.

“He told me just to level up….”

He said, wiping his broken glasses.

Lee Rowoon had clearly told Lee Shin-woo to just level up.

He said there was nothing much he could teach a player like him.

Lee Rowoon had actually done just that.

“You… bastard….”

He had brought dozens of monsters and pitted them against Lee Shin-woo.

-Leveling up requires hunting, right?

With those words, he had left to check on the others, leaving Lee Shin-woo to fight for his life.

But the funny thing was, when he was about to die.

Swoosh.

With that sound, the monster Lee Shin-woo was fighting had its head sliced off.

Lee Shin-woo actually leveled up as a reward for hunting dozens of monsters, even those from Bohol.

“I didn’t know leveling up at the high-ranker level would be this easy….”

Is there really nothing that can’t be achieved with effort?

Now, the group was looking at Kang Han-cheol.

“…….”

They had each said a word about Lee Rowoon’s training.

With eyes that seemed to say it was Kang Han-cheol’s turn, they waited for his voice.

“The Blood… no, the Divine Demon said….”

Kang Han-cheol’s eyes became serious.

What would he say?

A demon?

A monster?

Their eyes sparkled as if they were expecting such stories.

But what came out of Kang Han-cheol’s mouth was different from what they had expected.

“He clearly said that he would teach us as he had learned.”

“…….”

The sparkling eyes lost their light.

“That means….”

Kang Han-cheol said that Lee Rowoon would draw out the power of the dungeon keeper and raise the Blood Demon Art to the level of divine skill, and then he stabbed a sword into his body.

Through the sword that was stabbed into him, Lee Rowoon’s Blood Demon energy flowed in, burning Kang Han-cheol’s inner energy and twisting his meridians.

Dislocating bones and tendons.

He had to feel the pain, which was commonly used as a synonym for torture in the Silver, dozens of times in a single second.

He had fainted dozens of times from the pain, but Kang Han-cheol could still feel it.

“He endured all of this and stood in that position.”

Lee Rowoon was so used to flowing his inner energy.

And it was accurate.

As if he had experienced the same thing thousands, tens of thousands, countless times.

It wasn’t just Kang Han-cheol’s training that was painful.

The same went for Lee Yong-jin and Ha Se-min.

And Lee Rowoon.

“What we are experiencing together, he endured alone.”

Kang Han-cheol said.

“How dare I….”

Kang Han-cheol closed his eyes.

“I cannot imagine the time he has spent.”

Lee Rowoon was strange.

He was clearly in his late twenties.

But Kang Han-cheol felt it when he first saw him, and he still felt it now.

That he was like someone who had lived far longer than him.

And that he felt like a worn-out tree from that time.

“I will endure it. For my own growth.”

Kang Han-cheol stood up straight.

“Even to understand his pain.”

That was.

“What I think is the duty of a subordinate.”

“If you say that much….”

Both Lee Yong-jin and Ha Se-min.

“Aren’t we going to be ashamed?”

They stood up straight.

Finally.

Swoosh.

Lee Shin-woo, the player who had resisted the martial artists, the leader of the Azure Army, and the Azure Devil, stood with the martial artists and nodded.

“We have to.”

For them, it was about understanding the lord they followed.

But for Lee Shin-woo, it was different.

Clench.

His younger sibling, whom he couldn’t save.

It was about understanding the pain of his family and the time they had endured.

It was then.

“……!”

They immediately took a stance.

Swoosh.

They could feel presences all around them.

* * *

The presences felt from all directions.

“Monsters?”

They thought that Lee Rowoon, who had left, had brought more monsters, but their expressions soon changed.

Swoosh.

They had already reached a certain level.

Moreover, their senses had improved even further after training with Lee Rowoon, even if it was for a short time.

It was not strange.

-You have already reached a level beyond what you think.

What Lee Rowoon had said.

-The martial artists you have created.

The martial artists of the Blood Cult, the Black City, and the Ghostly Melody, who had fought against the enemy forces this time.

Their level was clearly lacking compared to the enemy forces.

But they had won a crushing victory against the enemy forces.

-The level of martial arts that I heard from my master is very different from the levels currently divided in the Silver.

-In some ways, it can be said that they are finding the true level.

-If you look at the number ten simply as a number, it is just ten, but what that ten is made of is important.

-To borrow my master’s words.

Lee Rowoon had said.

-Ten melons and ten watermelons are both ten. But can you really say they are the same?

It was a question.

-According to my master, you are not even melons. But because you have ten, you can change it into melons or watermelons.

Even if they were at the same Hwagyung or Hyeonkyung level [levels of martial arts mastery].

There could be extreme differences.

The current Silver divided levels, but the substance was not substantial.

That was why Lee Rowoon was strengthening their inner substance.

If they only strengthened their inner substance, if they solidified the inside instead of increasing the numbers.

-You will be able to grow rapidly.

It was as he said.

Just a few days.

Their senses had improved just by grasping a small clue.

Those improved senses were saying.

“It’s different.”

The presences they were feeling now were different from the monsters they had faced so far.

A much more refined and intense energy.

Clench.

They were approaching, surrounding the group.

“The Divine Demon will come.”

Was it because they sensed danger?

“So….”

Blood energy rose from Kang Han-cheol’s fist.

Taat!

With the sound of a flint striking, the blood energy immediately turned into flames and blazed.

“Until then, show the Divine Demon your achievements.”

“Let’s do it.”

They did not back down against a strong enemy.

Lightning surged from under Ha Se-min’s feet, and Lee Yong-jin had already disappeared, concealing his presence.

It was the moment when Lee Shin-woo straightened his dangling, broken glasses and spread his hands.

Thud, thud.

The presences changed.

The presences they had felt until now had been approaching quietly and stealthily.

“……?”

Now, it felt like they were intentionally letting out their presences as if to announce their approach.

This method was definitely different from monsters.

It was like….

Taat.

It was as if they had intelligence, a way of expressing a conversation.

The flames from Kang Han-cheol’s fist rose even higher.

“Wait!”

“Just a moment!”

Ha Se-min and Lee Shin-woo shouted almost simultaneously.

It was the moment they retreated, refining their energy.

From within the dense forest.

Swoosh.

Shadows began to emerge.

The wolves covered in black slime that they had faced in Bohol so far.

They were called wolves, but their size had already surpassed humans, and they were about the size of a large car.

That wasn’t strange.

However.

“Leashes… ?”

It was a different story if the wolves had leashes around their necks.

Wasn’t that like raising monsters?

Indeed.

“Above!”

Lee Shin-woo shouted.

“There are people above!”

A black shadow was visible above the wolves.

A shadow that had been hidden by the huge wolves.

Even Kang Han-cheol, who was about to lower his fist for a moment.

Shweeek!

A dagger that flew from somewhere was rushing towards the top of the wolf.

A throwing knife with a sword aura that seemed to destroy and cut anything.

“Ghostly Melody Lord!”

“No!”

Because the Ghostly Melody Lord was hidden, he might not have been aware of the situation.

The throwing knife that seemed to tear the wolf’s owner apart.

Clang!

It was deflected with a clear sound.

“The Ghostly Melody Lord’s throwing knife… ?”

It was a throwing knife that had not lost its sharpness even against the Blood Demon.

Especially, the Ghostly Melody Lord’s throwing knife, whose senses had improved after training with Lee Rowoon, boasted greater destructive power and accuracy.

That it had been deflected meant one thing.

“A master!”

It meant that a master beyond expectations had appeared.

Taat!

Lee Yong-jin, who had jumped out from between the trees, was visible.

“Ghostly Melody Lord! Wait a moment!”

“What do you mean wait a moment!”

Lee Yong-jin, the Ghostly Melody Lord, shouted.

His face was distorted.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard.

No matter how much he hid and focused on throwing the dagger while blocking his senses, he couldn’t be called a top-class assassin if he didn’t properly grasp the surrounding situation.

So, Lee Yong-jin must have heard and seen it.

Even so, he had thrown the dagger.

“Those things…!”

Lee Yong-jin took out several daggers from his chest and inserted them between his fingers.

“They are not human!”

Shweeek!

The daggers rushed in.

This time, they seemed to have judged that they were in danger, and they turned the wolves’ heads and took an evasive stance.

In the moonlight that was pouring in, their faces were clearly visible.

“Orcs… ?”

No, to be precise.

“Black Orcs!”