Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 52

The Three Kings’ Disciple (53)

052

KWA-AANG!

Cheol Jong-hwi was sent flying by Lee Ro-woon’s blow.

However, the smoke soon parted as the light of his sword energy scattered it.

TA-ANG!

The incoming sword energy collided with Lee Ro-woon’s fist and dissipated.

‘……!’

Cheol Jong-hwi, regaining his balance, stood up straight, his eyes shaking.

‘He deflected sword energy with his bare hand?’

It wasn’t impossible if one used fist energy.

But who was he?

He was Cheol Jong-hwi.

The leader of the Iron Sword Alliance, the head of the Iron Sword Clan.

A master of the mid-stage of the Profound Realm [a high level of martial arts mastery].

The fact that he had blocked the sword energy he had unleashed with such power meant one thing.

‘Profound Realm…?’

That the young man was a powerhouse of equal standing to him.

And then a story came to mind.

‘I heard that the guild member who faced the Blue Sword Formation alone was a young man in his twenties.’

The story of the guild member who had single-handedly destroyed Haenam’s Blue Sword Formation.

‘Was that true?’

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe it.

It was just that he wondered if Haenam’s Blue Sword Formation was weaker than it was known to be.

Or perhaps the guild member had some special divine weapon they didn’t know about.

But it was none of those things.

‘He’s… at the same level as me?’

Equal martial prowess to himself, who had reached the mid-stage of the Profound Realm.

That guild member had reached the mid-stage of the Profound Realm at such a young age.

‘Master!’

The guards rushed to save Cheol Jong-hwi.

KA-KANG!

However, a flash of light erupted in front of them.

‘No one can pass.’

Kang Eun-ha and Jeong Chi-soo.

‘……’

And Do Mu-seong as well.

They blocked the three directions, preventing anyone from reaching Cheol Jong-hwi and Lee Ro-woon.

The number of guards was nearly twenty.

‘Get out of the way!’

KA-AANG!

However, not only were they unable to get past the three, but…

SWISH-!

Blood was splattering from the sharp sword energy and blade strikes.

Inside, Cheol Jong-hwi and Lee Ro-woon faced off.

Cheol Jong-hwi’s foolish expression had disappeared.

‘……’

He had acknowledged and accepted the situation.

And he had adopted the stance of a martial artist, seeking a way to survive.

The two took their stances.

‘……’

Lee Ro-woon was looking at Cheol Jong-hwi, his fist hanging loosely.

‘Interesting.’

Cheol Jong-hwi’s expression hardened at Lee Ro-woon’s quiet mutter.

‘What is?’

‘The sight of the leader of the Iron Sword Alliance trembling before me.’

As Lee Ro-woon said, Cheol Jong-hwi’s hand holding his sword was trembling slightly.

This was strange.

As a martial artist, Cheol Jong-hwi and the Iron Sword had seen and experienced much, building their name.

They had faced powerful monsters and crossed swords with the martial artists of Mount Hua.

The martial artists of Mount Hua had also made Cheol Jong-hwi tremble, but what Cheol Jong-hwi was feeling now was a completely different emotion.

‘Fear?’

A great fear felt deep within his heart.

And the fear of death.

SWOOSH.

Only then did he see the guards.

Nearly twenty guards.

All of them were masters of the Hwagyung Realm [a lower level of martial arts mastery].

Cheol Jong-hwi knew.

Even though they were masters of the Hwagyung Realm, they were manufactured martial artists, different from the real ones the martial artists of the Assembly spoke of.

Even so, it was strange that the Iron Sword Building was collapsing so helplessly and the guards couldn’t even lift a finger.

Something was preventing them from using their full strength.

There was something that made them feel fear from the very core of their being.

‘Looks like you have time to look around.’

Lee Ro-woon, who had approached unnoticed, swung his fist without any form.

A meaningless punch without any style or technique.

BRRRRR!

However, Cheol Jong-hwi could only barely block the punch with his sword.

A trembling sword.

Once again, Cheol Jong-hwi’s sword failed to withstand the power contained in Lee Ro-woon’s fist.

KWA-AANG!

He was sent flying and crashed into the wall.

***

Lee Ro-woon closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the sensation from his fist.

-The sight of the leader of the Iron Sword Alliance trembling before me.

It was a strange feeling.

When he became the Blood Demon of the Blood Cult, when he spoke on equal terms with the great Black Lion King, when the branch leader of the Beggars’ Union knelt before him, it was a stranger feeling than all of those.

‘Iron Sword Alliance.’

They were more exposed than Mount Hua or Haenam, who were operating behind the scenes.

That was why the Iron Sword Alliance was a source of fear for the players.

Among them, Cheol Jong-hwi, the leader of the Iron Sword Alliance, was a more memorable figure than the mysterious legends of Mount Hua or Haenam.

And that person.

‘Cough!’

Was trembling and spitting blood before his eyes.

It was a truly bizarre sensation.

To Lee Ro-woon, who had felt like everything was a dream since his return, this moment felt like it was telling him that this was reality.

-It is your power.

Yes, this was his power.

Over a hundred years of teachings.

And a portion of his power gained from unimaginable battles through time.

It gave him the power to punish those who had tormented him in the past.

SHIVER.

There was a clear reason why that man was trembling and why Eunha was able to overwhelm the Iron Sword.

‘Chaos.’

The chaos within Lee Ro-woon had influenced the warriors of Eunha through the blood bond.

The great fear that any human or creation would feel.

It was a power that those fakes could not overcome.

‘KYYAAAAAAK!’

They screamed and charged, but it was just a futile resistance from those facing death.

KWA-AANG!

It was easy.

In the past, he had been so afraid of martial artists.

Even a martial artist who had reached the mid-stage of the Profound Realm.

KWA-AANG!

It was too easy.

Cheol Jong-hwi was at a similar level to Baek Su-hyeol, but the fight was easier than the fight with Baek Su-hyeol.

Was it because he had become stronger?

Because he had obtained the Heavenly Demon Divine Art [a powerful martial arts technique]?

No.

BANG!

Baek Su-hyeol had at least gained his power through training, so he had a strong mental fortitude.

That gave him the power to resist the chaos that was seeping out.

But Cheol Jong-hwi.

‘Ugh, ugh.’

Could not resist the chaos.

‘Will it be this easy in the future?’

He suddenly had that thought and muttered to himself.

And then he shook his head.

‘It won’t be.’

The Iron Sword Alliance was just a scarecrow that had been set up.

The real ones would resist the fear caused by this seeping chaos and instead use that fear as fuel to ignite their will.

And that would be…

CRACK.

More interesting.

Lee Ro-woon looked at Cheol Jong-hwi’s face under his foot with a languid expression.

Cheol Jong-hwi, who hadn’t even been able to draw out half of his power.

His end was obvious.

A preliminary battle before facing the real ones.

Therefore, it was just the beginning.

‘End…’

Lee Ro-woon was about to declare the end when.

TWITCH.

A thick vein began to bulge on Cheol Jong-hwi’s face.

KA-AANG!

Kang Eun-ha, Jeong Chi-soo, and Do Mu-seong, who had been pushing back the enemies, retreated at once.

Something had changed.

‘This is… Iron Sword…’

A groan-like voice came from Cheol Jong-hwi’s mouth.

‘And I am…’

WHOOSH!

The energy emanating from him and the guards completely filled the top of the building.

‘Cheol Jong-hwi.’

The whites of his eyes turned black.

Cheol Jong-hwi’s entire body had swollen to nearly twice its size.

He had even thrown away his sword, which was like a limb to a martial artist.

‘Die…’

His fist, like a blunt weapon, struck Lee Ro-woon’s cheek.

Lee Ro-woon spun and fell away.

‘Guild Master-!’

Kang Eun-ha and the others cried out in surprise and tried to approach Lee Ro-woon.

However, Lee Ro-woon, who had crashed into the wall, was clearly smiling.

‘Yes. This is how it should be.’

It was too easy.

Even though it was a preliminary battle and just a preparation process before the beginning, it was too different from what he had expected.

This was a game.

A reward for the pain he had endured.

An interest to keep him from falling asleep.

THUD.

Lee Ro-woon walked out of the wall he had crashed into, smiling.

Of course, even this would be easy.

Even more so than before.

Even so, the reason why Lee Ro-woon thought it was interesting.

‘The leader of the Iron Sword Alliance…’

SSSHHH.

Cheol Jong-hwi, who had now completely turned into a monster.

‘Is a demon.’

The demonic energy that could not be hidden was erupting from him.

And that wasn’t all.

THUD, THUD!

The guards were changing their forms.

Demonic energy was also felt from their bodies, and they were changing in an instant.

‘Why are they…!’

Kang Eun-ha cried out in panic, but Lee Ro-woon was calm.

-I cannot find any traces of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Even the great Black Lion King could not find any traces of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

The Beggars’ Union also said they could not find any traces of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

If even they didn’t know, he thought it wouldn’t be strange to think that the Heavenly Demon Cult had completely disappeared.

However, the clear demonic energy he had felt from Baek Su-hyeol meant that the Heavenly Demon Cult still existed.

Wasn’t it strange?

A Heavenly Demon Cult that could not be found anywhere but still maintained its lineage.

The answer was right before his eyes.

‘They devoured it.’

The Assembly, under the name of the righteous faction.

That demonic energy had taken root within it.

‘Die…!’

Cheol Jong-hwi charged at Lee Ro-woon again.

Lee Ro-woon said quietly.

‘I authorize the release of the restriction.’

The demonic energy and inner energy of Cheol Jong-hwi, which was exploding and pushing away space, rippled and distorted the space.

Within it, a voice was slowly heard.

‘Understood.’

* * *

The demonic energy was hidden so deep that Lee Ro-woon, who had not yet mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, could not find it.

If it had been Heavenly Demon energy, he would have been able to recognize it.

The demonic energy that had taken root in Cheol Jong-hwi and the others was not that kind of energy at all.

It was twisted, degraded, low-purity trash that had been around for a long time.

It was just cheap gasoline that burned everything it had and exploded.

But it allowed Cheol Jong-hwi and the guards to maintain their lives for even a few seconds.

If it had been Heavenly Demon energy, they would not have been able to resist Lee Ro-woon.

It was because it was just trash demonic energy that they were able to abandon their reason and charge.

That was why he authorized the release of the restriction.

The power created by a Hwagyung and Profound Realm martial artist exploding with demonic energy was something that Kang Eun-ha’s group, who were under restriction, would not be able to overcome.

And the result was now unfolding before his eyes.

THUMP! THUMP!

A floor of the building was throbbing like a heart.

The place was filled with crimson blood and flesh.

‘Ugh… ugh…’

Cheol Jong-hwi, who had completely lost his reason and turned into a monster, was wailing within it.

A fear that could even bring back his lost reason.

It was killing intent.

‘Th-th-this… wh-what…’

All he could see was crimson blood.

‘He-here…’

It was no longer the top of the Iron Sword Building overlooking the entire city.

It was inside the stomach of some monster.

And the stomach of a monster that had devoured countless lives.

‘Y-you…’

A languid man appeared before him.

‘Looks like you didn’t know either.’

Lee Ro-woon, with his red eyes, slowly approached Cheol Jong-hwi and said.

‘That demonic energy had taken root within you.’

‘De…mon…?’

The fear of their death was the trigger.

When that condition was met, the demonic energy that had taken root within them erupted and consumed them.

Lee Ro-woon slowly grabbed Cheol Jong-hwi’s head and lifted it.

Cheol Jong-hwi suddenly felt that his body was too light.

No, it was as if he had nothing.

‘……!’

There was nothing.

There was nothing left below his neck.

‘It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to find anything out.’

Even they didn’t know how to use demonic energy.

Moreover, what information could he get from a man who only had his head left through torture?

‘But thanks to you, I learned something good.’

‘……?’

‘The Heavenly Demon Cult remains.’

CRACK.

Lee Ro-woon’s hand, which was holding Cheol Jong-hwi’s head, slowly tightened.

‘And it seems like it’s in the center of the Assembly.’

In his fading consciousness.

Cheol Jong-hwi said as if groaning.

‘Th-thank…’

Because he was ending this terrible pain.

POW!

The top floor of the building, which had been like a monster’s stomach, had returned to its original state.

From the beginning, it was just an illusion that Cheol Jong-hwi had felt through Lee Ro-woon’s killing intent.

But now, only Lee Ro-woon and Kang Eun-ha’s subordinates were standing there.

‘Now.’

Lee Ro-woon said, looking at them.

‘It’s just the beginning.’

The Iron Sword was erased.