Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 181

The Three Kings’ Disciple (182)

181

Sway.

Lee Ro-woon swayed on his feet.

But his eyes were still burning.

“Right now, capture the Zhuge Clan.”

His voice was like a growl.

“Understood. Right now, the Namgoong Clan’s forces…”

“It’s not just the Namgoong Clan.”

Lee Ro-woon, breathing out, regained his balance.

“Mo Yong, Kang Eun-ha, all available forces, head to the Zhuge Clan.”

The battle was over.

Namgoong Chun regained consciousness and hunted Balrog.

Having finished that tremendous task, capturing the Zhuge Clan, who caused this, was the natural next step.

“I too…”

Lee Ro-woon tried to step forward, but his body tilted again.

‘Damn it.’

He overdid it.

His inner energy was completely drained within the Azure Sky Limitless Sword Formation, and he fought Namgoong Chun.

Then, the consecutive battles with Balrog.

Zzzzt. Ziiing. Zzzzzzt.

It was inevitable that the Ring of the Emperor would be overloaded.

Fortunately, Namgoong Mu-hun shared the overload, but even that wasn’t enough to handle it completely.

“Kuk.”

He felt an overwhelming drowsiness, as if he would collapse at any moment.

“Understood. I will lead all the troops right away. So, Blood Demon Lord, you must rest.”

Kang Eun-ha said, supporting Lee Ro-woon with concern.

“No.”

However, Lee Ro-woon’s answer was firm.

“But…”

“Balrog isn’t the goal.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, everyone’s breath hitched for a moment.

A calamity, Balrog.

A monstrous calamity that Silver and Einheart had to join forces to face.

“What do you mean…?”

Namgoong Mu-jin couldn’t hide his bewilderment and asked.

“Was the Zhuge Clan’s goal to summon Balrog? If it weren’t for me, the entire Japan would have been devastated.”

“……!”

“Isn’t the Zhuge Clan’s territory also within Japan?”

The Zhuge Clan.

Extremely cunning, and extremely averse to losses.

“Do you really think they did this hoping for mutual destruction?”

“There’s no way.”

It was Namgoong Chun.

He knew the Zhuge Clan better than anyone else present.

“Indeed, that makes sense. Then the Zhuge Clan…”

They didn’t summon Balrog to perish together.

For them.

“It means they have a way to hunt Balrog.”

They were confident in hunting Balrog.

“But how…”

It was Balrog.

No matter how high the Zhuge Clan’s power and influence were among the Five Great Families, they were not even in the top five when considering all of Silver [a reference to a powerful organization or region].

“So…”

Lee Ro-woon took another breath.

He succeeded in driving away the overwhelming drowsiness.

It wouldn’t last long, but he could hold on for a little while.

“We have to capture the Zhuge Clan, right now.”

Thump.

***

“Did you foresee everything?”

Lee Yong-jin asked.

The bus, hastily procured by the Namgoong Clan, was specially modified to carry martial artists.

There, Lee Ro-woon was drinking potions as if pouring them down.

“Damn it. It’s not working. What?”

“I’m talking about the Zhuge Clan.”

Then, Namgoong Mu-jin took something out and handed it to Lee Ro-woon.

“The Azure Sky Pill.”

He opened the cloth, revealing a wooden box.

When he opened it.

Whoosh!

With a refreshing fragrance, everyone in the bus stared at it.

Gulp.

The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard from everywhere.

“An elixir?”

“Yes. It’s passed down only to the direct line of the Namgoong Clan’s head. There are only three left in the Namgoong Clan right now. One pill can grant at least sixty years of inner energy.”

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“Because you are our benefactor.”

Lee Ro-woon’s gaze turned to Namgoong Chun.

Nod.

Namgoong Chun indicated that he had given permission.

“Besides, if a situation arises where Master is in danger, the greatest power will be Master, won’t it?”

Pfft.

“So, you’re telling me to fight after all?”

“That’s…”

“It’s fine.”

Lee Ro-woon snatched the wooden box from Namgoong Mu-jin and pulled out the elixir.

“I’ll help you take…”

Before Namgoong Mu-jin could finish his sentence.

Gulp.

Lee Ro-woon swallowed the Azure Sky Pill in one gulp.

“You shouldn’t take it like that…”

An elixir wasn’t something that could be used just by consuming it.

There was a specific method of consumption for each elixir, and a separate way to circulate the energy.

Namgoong Mu-jin tried to help Lee Ro-woon belatedly, but.

“It’s about thirty percent full.”

Lee Ro-woon had already absorbed all the power contained in the elixir.

“……!”

The martial artists widened their eyes at that.

“Well…”

Then, Mo Yong-hu said with a hollow laugh.

“He even absorbed the Dragon Heart, so how could he not absorb an elixir of Silver?”

“D, Dragon Heart, you mean…”

“You must have expected it. That the Partizan is with us.”

He had expected it.

He wasn’t sure.

“In that process, Master absorbed the Dragon Heart.”

It was information that shouldn’t have been revealed, but the Namgoong Clan was already on the same boat.

The Azure Sky Pill passed down to the direct line of the Namgoong Clan’s head.

‘It must have been prepared for Namgoong Mu-jin, who will rise above the clan head.’

Seeing that they had given it up, they had already made up their minds, so they told him.

“That’s…”

“That’s not important. Lee Yong-jin, what were you saying?”

“The Zhuge Clan. I asked if you had foreseen it.”

The Zhuge Clan.

“Didn’t you spare a large number of the Namgoong Clan’s martial artists and players? It’s hard to hold them accountable, since you were hostile to them, and seeing you awaken the Namgoong Clan’s head alone and even fight Balrog…”

He scanned his surroundings.

The bus was full of martial artists.

And outside the window.

Booooom.

More than a dozen buses were following behind.

“It seems like you were trying to preserve your forces.”

He was a strongman who could defeat Balrog alone, but in the end, there was nothing better than numbers when facing a large number of enemies.

If he tried to carry everything alone, there would inevitably be a hole.

“I thought that guy Namgoong Chun wasn’t stupid.”

“…Only Master would say that to the head of the Namgoong Clan.”

In fact, that wasn’t the only reason.

-I will have my revenge.

The Partizan.

He said that the gate to Japan was opened by someone, not by his own will or a natural phenomenon.

From that moment, Lee Ro-woon had been trying to survey the entire Japan through the Ring of the Emperor.

As a result, there was a strange feeling.

A feeling like a subtle crack, hard to explain.

And seeing Namgoong Chun and Balrog, he was certain.

“Gehenna.”

Namgoong Chun was clearly possessed by a demon, a minion of Gehenna [a reference to a demonic realm or entity].

Moreover, even Balrog.

Perhaps….

“……!”

It was then.

Lee Ro-woon placed his hand on the floor of the bus and clenched his fist as if grasping an invisible sword.

“Golden King’s Barrier!”

Kwaaaaaang!

The bus flipped over, and everything was shaken.

* * *

A golden, shining barrier.

The center of the huge golden shield, like a shield a giant would use, was roughly torn apart.

The scene revealed through the gap was.

“Kuk.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“We’re fine!”

Numerous buses were tangled and burning.

The martial artists were tearing their way out of the buses.

“Are you alright?”

“Thanks to you.”

At the very front, Lee Ro-woon and Namgoong Chun were already standing together.

“Now, there’s only one left.”

Namgoong Chun, who had fought Lee Ro-woon while possessed by a demon.

His inner energy was also depleted, and he was even injured internally.

Yet, he was unleashing his full power.

“That’s right. But unlike Master, I’m at full strength.”

Namgoong Mu-jin didn’t say it, but Namgoong Chun had already taken the Azure Sky Pill when they were moving on the bus, so it was possible.

Lee Ro-woon created the barrier, and Namgoong Chun deflected the incoming energy.

“But…”

Blood trickled from the corner of Namgoong Chun’s mouth.

“Now, I’m at eighty percent.”

He had only deflected one attack.

Yet, Namgoong Chun, one of the Three Great Lords and the head of the Namgoong Clan, had lost twenty percent of his inner energy.

“Is it because I don’t have Mu-hun? Here.”

“It’s fine. It seems better for you to hold Mu-hun right now.”

The two raised their heads, as if unconcerned with the commotion behind them.

Kukukukung!

The golden barrier that had soared up began to collapse.

“What in the world…”

“It’s coming again.”

Lee Ro-woon quickly planted Namgoong Mu-hun into the ground.

“Wood King’s Barrier.”

Kwadudududuk!

Roots of trees grew instantly.

They enveloped the surroundings like a dome, casting a deep darkness over the area.

“Is that… a sword technique?”

Namgoong Chun’s eyes widened, but Lee Ro-woon bit his lip tightly and looked ahead.

Surely, the surroundings would be shrouded in darkness, but.

Kwaaaang!

Light was already seeping in.

Wood King’s Barrier.

A skill that could be used after mastering the second stage of the Ring of the Emperor, the Wood King. Its defense might be weaker than the Golden King’s Barrier, but.

Kwaaaang!

It had the ability to absorb the attacks pouring in from the outside.

The absorbed power.

Squelch.

Returned to the owner of the Wood King’s Barrier.

“Wow, it’s about the same level as the Azure Sky Pill.”

Lee Ro-woon’s complexion had noticeably improved.

However, the Wood King’s Barrier had already been torn apart and disappeared long ago.

‘I can’t do it twice.’

Without mastering the entire Ring of the Emperor, he could only use the Wood King’s Barrier once.

“What in the world is that?”

Namgoong Chun finished what he had been saying earlier.

Something like a shining star in the distance.

But it was clearly daytime now.

Moreover, the immense power felt from that star was.

Shudder.

It made even Namgoong Chun tremble without him realizing it.

“What the Zhuge Clan was trying to summon.”

Lee Ro-woon took his stance again.

Whoosh!

Namgoong Mu-hun slowly began to burn.

But the flames were not the sacred fire of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art that Lee Ro-woon had been using, but crimson flames.

“To think that was their goal.”

At this rate, the Azure Sky Pill and the power of the Wood King’s Barrier would be depleted after a few more attacks.

There was no answer in a war of attrition.

To face that thing attacking from a distance, at least.

‘I have to make it fall first.’

He had to make it fall.

Whoosh!

The flames gradually grew stronger, transforming into a long spear.

In the meantime, the enemy seemed to have sensed something, and the star twinkled.

The twinkling star.

“……!”

At the enormous energy pouring out from there, Namgoong Chun quickly raised his sword and shouted.

“Get out of the way!”

He was a Lord of the Heavenly Assembly.

The head of the Namgoong Clan.

A martial artist of the Life and Death Realm.

But now.

“Get out of the way!”

He was feeling the same desperation as the players facing martial artists.

Something beyond human, far beyond human limits.

He had felt this emotion before.

‘Balrog.’

The battle with Balrog.

But Namgoong Chun couldn’t think any further.

“I’ll help you!”

The distant light was gradually getting closer, and he raised his sword to help Lee Ro-woon, but.

“I don’t need it.”

Lee Ro-woon silently stretched out his arm, which he had been pulling back.

A very loose thrust.

Similar to the speed at which a novice martial artist would slowly extend their arm to master a complete movement.

But Lee Ro-woon’s thrust was not aimed at completion, it was already complete.

A realm that even Namgoong Chun could not reach.

Whoooooosh!

Hot heat poured out.

The spear of flames extended from the tip of Namgoong Mu-hun.

“Fire King’s Long Spear.”

With Lee Ro-woon’s voice.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

A huge roar echoed, and a shockwave that overturned the ground occurred.

The light that had been shining from the star had gotten closer, but.

Kwazzzzzzzzz!

The spear of flames pierced through it and continued to advance endlessly.

Namgoong Chun asked.

What was that?

Lee Ro-woon said.

That was what the Zhuge Clan was aiming for.

That was.

Kwaaaang!

“A Guardian Dragon.”