Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 304

Narrative of a Wandering Swordsman – Part 2, Chapter 13

Clan Lord Hwang was on the verge of a mental breakdown, completely blindsided by the sudden turn of events.

A massive swarm of Immortal Insects had materialized out of nowhere.

And leading them was a colossal Five-Headed Dragon.

It was all happening on the very day Cheonbeom was scheduled to depart, which made him deeply suspicious.

However, his immediate priority was stopping the insect swarm that was now blotting out the sky; he could deal with the potential culprit later.

“Are all the Upper Immortals present and accounted for?”

“Everyone is here except for the First Young Master.”

Including himself, they numbered five Upper Immortals.

Five Upper Immortals working together should be able to handle even this overwhelming number of Immortal Insects.

The real problem was the giant Five-Headed Dragon at the head of the swarm.

He needed to eliminate the dragon quickly, then focus on the insects.

‘It’s been a while.’

Ever since he’d learned how to use the Insect Repellent Incense, they hadn’t suffered any Immortal Insect attacks.

Whenever the insects started to get close, he’d saturate Dragon Vein Valley with the incense.

He’d been doing this for over a thousand years, so it had been quite some time since he’d last had to fight.

After making his preparations, he stepped outside the detached palace to find Dragon Vein Valley in utter chaos.

In the Upper World, there were Lesser Immortals.

Some trained to cultivate immortality, but many were ordinary people.

Countless individuals were content with their lives, embracing rebirth and the cycle of reincarnation.

These Lesser Immortals weren’t much different from ordinary people in the Lower World, and Dragon Vein Valley was full of them, leaving them defenseless against the Immortal Insect attack.

As a result, Dragon Vein Valley was filled with the screams and bloodshed of the Lesser Immortals.

“Clan Lord Hwang!”

“You’ve arrived.”

“I don’t know what’s going on.”

“That’s what I’m saying…”

These were the Hwang Clan’s Upper Immortals.

Chochan and Tangomal were also present.

With five Upper Immortals gathered, Clan Lord Hwang felt a surge of confidence.

“It seems best to deal with that Five-Headed Dragon first.”

“I can’t gauge the Five-Headed Dragon’s power, but I don’t think we all need to engage it. Cultivator Chochan and I are more adept at divine powers than martial prowess, so we should focus on exterminating the Immortal Insects,” said Tangomal.

“If our teamwork is poor, we could be more of a hindrance than a help. I agree with Cultivator Tan’s suggestion,” added Chochan.

They were cultivators who had come from outside and didn’t share the Hwang Clan’s bloodline.

Since they had never fought together, their concerns were valid.

“Let’s do that, then. The Five-Headed Dragon looks powerful, but its realm [level of cultivation] is no different from ours, so three of us should be enough.”

The Five-Headed Dragon was the biggest threat among the Immortal Insects. If they could eliminate it, the situation would quickly improve.

It seemed the Five-Headed Dragon was responsible for bringing all these Immortal Insects in the first place!

‘Insect Immortal…’

For a moment, he thought of the child Cheonbeom had brought, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

There was no reason for Cheonbeom to do such a thing.

If he simply waited, the Insect Repellent Incense would fall into his hands anyway. What would he gain by attacking Dragon Vein Valley?

It didn’t make sense.

“Then let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Clan Lord Hwang and two other Upper Immortals shot toward the Five-Headed Dragon.

“Let’s go too.”

“Yes. I still don’t know what’s going on…”

Chochan drew a fan made of grass, and Tangomal produced a plain, unremarkable staff before flying into the sky.

Behind them, more than ten thousand Lesser Immortals of the Hwang Clan followed, and an unexpected war against the Immortal Insects began.

* * *

At the same time.

Cheonbeom and Hwaran watched the Hwang Clan members battling the Immortal Insects near Dragon Vein Valley.

“Isn’t this a bit much?”

“It wasn’t me who did it,” Cheonbeom said, shrugging.

His denial made Hwaran frown.

“The Mountain Lord [Cheonbeom] lent you Tamhwa. There’s no way so many Immortal Insects would only target the Hwang Clan.”

Innocent Lesser Immortals were bound to die.

Even if she wasn’t directly responsible for the deaths, she was indirectly contributing to them, and she felt the need to speak up.

Hwaran agreed with punishing the Hwang Clan, but she didn’t think it was right for ordinary residents of Dragon Vein Valley to be harmed.

“Was this the only way?”

Hwaran looked at the sky, now darkened by the black swarm of Immortal Insects. They blocked the sun, making it seem like night.

Only the buzzing of insects and the screams of the dying echoed through Dragon Vein Valley.

Countless people were collapsing as they desperately fought the insects.

Individually, their power was insignificant, and the sheer number of Immortal Insects overwhelmed them.

Two Upper Immortals were managing to kill many insects, but there were simply too many.

It would take more than a day or two for them to eliminate all the insects in Dragon Vein Valley.

“I only provided the help. She’s the one who started this, using that help. Even this specific plan came from her mind, not mine, so what can I say?”

Seeing the disaster unfold in Dragon Vein Valley might make some feel weak.

However, this was a consequence of what had happened with the Insect Repellent Incense before. One could judge right and wrong, but how could one truly understand the sadness and hardship she had experienced?

Cheonbeom was simply observing her decisions and their results.

“Even so…”

Hwaran had more to say.

But she held her tongue.

The damage was done, and there was no going back.

She sighed and thought, ‘Even if we had gone to the Insect Repellent Incense without incident, Clan Lord Hwang wouldn’t have left the Mountain Lord, who knows many secrets, alone.’

For his own safety, it was better to eliminate the Hwang Clan and Sa Clan, families with deeply intertwined personal grudges.

“Are you really just going to watch? I heard there are six Upper Immortals in the Hwang Clan. Some were brought in from outside, but more than half are of the Hwang Clan’s bloodline. If you’re going to do this for sure…”

It was best to eliminate them all.

There were six Upper Immortals in Dragon Vein Valley.

‘I only see five right now, though.’

No matter how many Immortal Insects filled the sky, it wouldn’t be easy to eliminate all the Upper Immortals.

Even with Tamhwa’s help.

“Aren’t you worried about Tamhwa?”

Currently, Tamhwa, in the form of a Five-Headed Dragon, was locked in a bloody battle with three Upper Immortals.

Three golden dragons in ornate armor and one black Five-Headed Dragon embroidered the sky with their fierce combat.

The surrounding Immortal Insects died without explanation, and the peaks of Dragon Vein Valley were being destroyed, turning the landscape into a wasteland.

“Hwaran.”

“Yes, speak.”

“You treat Tamhwa like a child.”

“Isn’t he a child?”

His transformed appearance was still young, so it was understandable.

Even Cheonbeom thought Tamhwa’s transformed appearance was cute and adorable.

But one shouldn’t be fooled by appearances.

Tamhwa’s essence was Tamhwa Ogong.

The blood of Tam.

“Tamhwa is strong.”

“Are you saying he’s strong enough to fight and win against three Upper Immortals?”

“I don’t know about that.”

His tone was nonchalant.

She glared at him in disbelief, but he only smiled meaningfully. Hwaran hated that expression.

“Then how does he compare to the Mountain Lord?”

“Me?”

“Yes, the Mountain Lord and Tamhwa.”

Who was stronger?

She asked playfully, but she already knew the answer. No matter how strong Tamhwa was, she didn’t believe he could surpass Cheonbeom.

Because Cheonbeom always possessed strength and insights that exceeded expectations.

She also knew what kind of answer to expect, given his arrogant personality.

‘I should tell him to stop dawdling and go help Tamhwa.’

She was prepared to scold him if he claimed to be stronger.

However.

“Well. I don’t know?”

The answer was completely unexpected.

“…Yes? Why?”

“What kind of question is that? I don’t know, so I say I don’t know.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No.”

He was serious.

Hwaran was genuinely surprised.

It was a completely unexpected answer.

“Tamhwa is strong. His physical strength is greater than mine. No one can withstand the poison he emits from his body, and the Geumjangsa [a mythical weapon] is as strong as his body and can be freely extended as much as he wants.”

And the Wan Gong [a type of insect] he consumed in the Lower World.

He seemed to have mastered the mysteries of space by catching and eating the Young Insect Wan Gong, which was ranked first in the Hundred Insect Scripture.

‘He bragged that his stomach had grown to several times its size, so he could eat even more now.’

He wasn’t proficient in magic because he hadn’t undergone any special training, but Tamhwa instinctively wielded enough power to overwhelm his opponents.

Cheonbeom wasn’t sure if he could fight and win against Tamhwa.

“It wouldn’t be bad to watch. I’ve never seen Tamhwa fight seriously.”

* * *

Kwaaaang!!

A earth-shattering roar that made the sky tremble echoed outwards.

It was the sound of the battle between three golden dragons and one Five-Headed Dragon.

Anyone could see that the golden dragons, despite their numerical advantage, were strangely unable to gain the upper hand against the Five-Headed Dragon.

The reason was simple.

The Five-Headed Dragon was stronger than expected.

‘Damn it…!’

Clan Lord Hwang was furious.

He realized, during the fight, that the scent of Insect Repellent Incense was emanating from the Five-Headed Dragon’s body.

The scent of Insect Repellent Incense, which only appeared after special treatment, was what had attracted the Immortal Insects, and the only Insect Repellent Incense in that quantity was what he had given to Cheonbeom.

‘To dare repay kindness with enmity!!’

That meant the Five-Headed Dragon must be the Insect Immortal Cheonbeom had brought with him.

Clan Lord Hwang decided to devour the Five-Headed Dragon in one bite, then find Cheonbeom and slaughter him, but things rarely went according to plan.

Kkigik! Kkigigigi!!

Kwadeuk!!

Two golden dragons were holding onto the Five-Headed Dragon’s body while Clan Lord Hwang unleashed a barrage of attacks, but it was all useless.

The Five-Headed Dragon’s carapace was so tough that it only suffered a few scratches.

[Clan Lord Hwang! This won’t work!]

He knew it.

Clan Lord Hwang nodded and moved his lips, gathering Immortal energy.

As he began, the other Upper Immortals, who had transformed into golden dragons, also nodded and began to chant Immortal incantations, moving their lips.

As the three golden dragons revolved around the Five-Headed Dragon and chanted, a thick yellow mist quickly spread around them.

[No matter how hard you are, your insides won’t be as hard.]

Clan Lord Hwang let out a sinister laugh and disappeared into the yellow mist.

The mist was a technique passed down within the Hwang Clan, an Immortal law called Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid.

A divine power that could only be used by those with the true blood of the golden dragon, it was a terrifying Immortal technique that gradually hardened the entire body if even a small amount of the desolate mist was inhaled, eventually turning the victim into stone.

No matter how powerful the enemy, they would turn to stone, unable to move, if they were caught in the Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid.

‘It’s a forbidden technique that can even turn your own body into stone if you master it to the extreme and make a mistake. There’s no way a guy like you can resist it!!’

The mountain range of Dragon Vein Valley had gradually formed over time because an ancestor who had mastered Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid had turned into stone.

There was no way a Five-Headed Dragon could withstand this Immortal technique.

But then.

The Five-Headed Dragon, who had been glaring at the Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid with fierce eyes, suddenly opened its mouths wide.

‘What a stupid thing to do.’

The Five-Headed Dragon was inhaling the Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid all at once, opening its mouths wide.

Even inhaling a little bit would turn the whole body into stone, and it was trying to get rid of it by inhaling it!

[Hahaha!! You’re the stupidest Five-Headed Dragon I’ve ever seen! Yes! Drink a lot and become a stone and bury your bones in Dragon Vein Valley!!]

However, contrary to Clan Lord Hwang’s wishes, the Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid was sucked into the Five-Headed Dragon’s mouths and disappeared in an instant.

[What…]

He stared at the Five-Headed Dragon, who looked dumbfounded but hadn’t turned to stone, and had instead swallowed the Desolate Intoxicated Cloud Acid with relish.

Burp.

The Five-Headed Dragon burped, spat out a ferocious look, and bit at the air.

Kwadeuk!!

At the same time, one of the Upper Immortals who was far away had his body torn apart.

Just like being bitten by an animal.