Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 586

“…This girl?”

Wrath filled Won-gang’s face.

He was, after all, a chieftain of a large Green Forest bandit group, even if he found himself in a difficult situation.

Even if that Gwang-woo wasn’t as famous as Go Hong, ‘The Merciless Yama, Won-gang’ was notorious enough in the Odaesan area that even crying children would stop.

And now, this little thing was blocking his path?

“I don’t have time to deal with someone like you. Get out of my way!”

“No.”

“…What?”

Yoo Iseol shook her head slightly.

“The Elder doesn’t have time to waste on someone like you.”

Won-gang’s face turned crimson in an instant at the quiet, even tone.

“You, you ignorant fool!”

No more words were needed. Even at this moment, the front lines were collapsing rapidly. There was a clear limit to maintaining the lines with numerical superiority alone.

Without hesitation, Won-gang roared and charged at Yoo Iseol.

With a roar, Won-gang swung his jagged blade. Green energy, like a wild storm, gathered around it, showing he was a true leader of the Green Forest bandits, not just someone who got lucky.

The jagged, saw-like blade, combined with his ferocious energy, was terrifying enough to make the hairs on one’s neck stand on end just by watching. They fought in a dusty clearing in the forest. Trees surrounded them, watching silently.

But Yoo Iseol’s eyes, standing before him, did not waver in the slightest.

Paat!

The jagged blade tore through the space where she had been. The wind pressure alone flipped the floor and stirred up dust.

But no matter how strong an attack, it was meaningless if it didn’t reach the target. Yoo Iseol simply took two steps back, perfectly avoiding the opponent’s blade strike.

“Hoo!”

Of course, Won-gang didn’t expect it to end with a single blow. If he were a stupid bandit who easily let his guard down, he wouldn’t have been able to rise to the position of chieftain of his fortress.

Kwaaaaah!

A storm of rough blade energy raged as if to tear Yoo Iseol’s entire body to shreds. But Yoo Iseol, with unwavering eyes, accurately stared at the blade flying towards her.

One would normally be terrified to see such a sight, but there was not a single tremor in her heart.

She had experienced far too much to lose her composure with just this.

Tat.

Yoo Iseol kicked off the ground and jumped straight into the storm of blade energy, hazy with dust.

And.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three consecutive sword strikes created gaps in the irregularly raging blade energy.

Sreuk.

As if a mirage or illusion, Yoo Iseol slipped through the gaps, extended her sword straight, and lunged at Won-gang’s neck.

‘Gasp!’

Won-gang, startled to the point of his eyes popping out, frantically flipped his body over.

Boom!

He was so surprised that he couldn’t land properly, and his buttocks momentarily touched the ground before he bounced back up.

“…”

Cold sweat involuntarily streamed down his forehead.

‘She broke through that?’

This wasn’t a matter of possibility.

It wasn’t as if he was an invincible master who had never been defeated, nor was it as if his blade had never been neutralized before.

But none of those who had defeated him had ever jumped into this violently raging storm of blade energy. It was an action that no one with any sense would ever do.

And yet, this young swordswoman, who didn’t even seem to be half his age, had done it.

‘Does she have no fear?’

But how could he know?

That the person he was facing had cleaved through the demonic energy emitted by a Demonic Cult’s bishop head-on, and had clung to the bishop’s limbs even with a half-dead body.

Yoo Iseol aimed her sword at Won-gang, who was sweating profusely. And with a face still devoid of expression, she thought.

‘Different.’

She was definitely lacking in every aspect.

The Demonic Cultists might be less skilled than him, but they had a viciousness that would allow them to inflict even a single wound on their opponent’s body, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives.

And that Demonic Cult’s bishop had instilled a fear in Yoo Iseol that made even her soul tremble. He was truly like the progenitor of evil.

It was impossible for Won-gang’s blade to inspire fear in Yoo Iseol, who had faced such beings.

People grow through experience.

Yoo Iseol deeply felt those words at this moment. If she hadn’t faced the bishop, she wouldn’t have been able to maintain her composure as she was now, even with the same level of skill.

‘See more, experience more.’

Those experiences would surely make her sword even stronger.

“…How can you be so strong? The Mount Hua lot must all be missing a screw or two.”

Won-gang twisted his lips and sneered. Yoo Iseol merely muttered quietly.

“Too much talk.”

“…You little bitch!”

The roar came from Won-gang, but it was Yoo Iseol who moved. Her body tore through the air, leaving behind afterimages like taffy, and charged towards Won-gang’s front.

“Heuaaah!”

In response, Won-gang’s blade was swung violently, as if to cut her waist in two.

But.

Clang.

Yoo Iseol, holding her sword diagonally to her waist, parried the incoming blade the moment it arrived, deflecting it downwards. And then, she lightly spun her body, using the momentum of his blade to spin around him.

‘Wh-what?’

It was a technique bordering on the divine. The moment a surprised Won-gang widened his eyes, her sword flickered like an illusion, creating dozens of sword shadows. Soon, Won-gang’s entire body was covered.

It was virtually impossible for him, wielding a heavy blade, to block the sword shadows that had bloomed right in front of him all at once.

In the end, he raised his blade to block the center of his body and threw himself backwards.

Sreuk! Sreuk! Sreuk!

He managed to block his vital points, but his thick forearms and tree-trunk-like thighs were split open in several places, scattering blood.

“Keeuk!”

A groan burst out involuntarily.

The sound of the sword striking the blade pierced his ears with a chilling sound.

‘How…’

The sharpness of the sword? The tremendous speed, almost invisible?

Those were secondary issues.

What truly horrified him was the fact that her sword flew towards his vital points without any hesitation.

A sword solely for killing the opponent, with no intention of subduing them.

Of course, there was no reason why a righteous sect couldn’t wield a killing sword. But the very fact that a still-downy chick was wielding a killing sword without batting an eye sent a chill down Won-gang’s spine.

‘…The world misunderstands Mount Hua!’

If anyone had known that such monsters were growing up inside Mount Hua, they would have done something about it long ago.

“Kraaaah!”

Won-gang, widening the distance, raised his blade with bloodshot eyes.

He intended to compete with strength, without giving the opponent a chance to break through. That was a huge misjudgment. Those who face Mount Hua’s swordsmen should never give them distance.

The tip of Yoo Iseol’s sword trembled softly, as if waiting for this moment. Soon, red plum blossoms began to bloom, stem by stem.

Won-gang opened his mouth like someone whose soul was being sucked out.

The plum blossoms floated in the air as if they were alive. Even in that moment, the constantly increasing petals covered Yoo Iseol’s entire body, and soon filled Won-gang’s vision. Red plum blossoms, like drops of blood in the air, began to bloom around her sword. They floated gently, but seemed to have a hidden sharpness.

It’s an illusion. Yes, this is an illusion.

But isn’t an illusion that cannot be distinguished from reality no different from something that exists?

Unknowingly taking a step back, Won-gang gripped his blade with a fierce expression.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

And he screamed and swung wildly.

The strong wind pressure desperately pushed back the flying plum blossoms. But no matter how much he pushed and tore them apart, eerily beautiful flowers continued to bloom.

In the forest of plum blossoms, he swung his blade like a madman. Against the petals that flew endlessly, no matter how much he destroyed them.

‘Th-this can’t be happening!’

He was a chieftain of the Green Forest. A man who should have risen to become the Green Forest King.

He couldn’t possibly be defeated by a mere young swordswoman from Mount Hua, not even a renowned master of the orthodox sects. Such an absurd thing should never happen!

“Dieeeeeee!”

His blade, which had been desperately slashing through the air with energy, lost its sharpness for a moment, driven by impatience.

And.

Paaaaat!

Yoo Iseol’s sharply honed senses did not miss that moment. Like a hawk preying on its prey in the scattering plum blossoms, Yoo Iseol’s sword soared towards Won-gang’s neck.

“Keuk!”

Even in his disheveled state, Won-gang raised his blade to block. No, he tried to block.

Spin.

But Yoo Iseol’s sword, which had flown in like a ray of light, lightly rode over the blade and pierced Won-gang’s neck at an even faster speed.

Sreuk!

“…”

Won-gang widened his eyes as much as possible. His expression was one of utter disbelief. He felt a rising desperation as he started to lose.

But no matter how wide he opened his eyes, he couldn’t even find a trace of Yoo Iseol. She had already cut his neck and passed by his dying body.

The life he had left was too short to turn his head and see her back.

‘That fast sword… a change…’

Poooout!

His half-cut neck split open, and a fountain of blood gushed out.

His vision gradually blurred, and strength rapidly drained from his body.

‘Sword demon…’

That was the last thought that Won-gang had in his life, as he understood what he was experiencing.

Plop.

The huge body collapsed. The blood gushing from his neck seeped into the grass that grew haphazardly on the ground.

“Chieftain!”

The bandits who watched Won-gang lose his life let out desperate screams. The screams were not of grief over the chieftain’s death, but of fear from those who had lost their last refuge.

Paat.

Yoo Iseol indifferently wiped the blood from her sword and glared coldly at the bandits. She felt determined and focused on her training.

“…”

Silence lingered. The faces of the bandits looking at Yoo Iseol were pale with fear.

The Merciless Yama Won-gang, who was like a king in Odaesan, had lost his life at the hands of that swordswoman without even putting up a proper resistance.

This overwhelming difference was enough to crush even their last remaining shred of will.

“The battle starts with the head.”

Yoo Iseol, who had neatly carried out Chung Myung’s theory, turned her gaze to Baek Cheon.

Baek Cheon grinned and nodded.

“The enemy’s chieftain has been defeated!”

And he pointed his sword at the bandits, who had turned white as sheets.

“Slaughter those who do not surrender and make them pay the price!”

“Yes!”

The disciples of Mount Hua, whose morale had soared endlessly, raised their spirits and attacked.

“Hiiiik!”

“You bastards! Even if I become a vengeful ghost… Keuek…”

Even the few who still had the will and energy to resist fell helplessly, and fear spread like wildfire.

“S-surrender! I surrender! Please spare me!”

“Throw away your weapons, you crazy bastards! Throw away your weapons now!”

It was a short battle that lasted less than an hour, but the number of fallen bandits was well over a hundred. Even if the battle continued as it was, the result was obvious.

All that was left for those who had been pushed back in terms of morale and had lost their leader was death or surrender. Even if they didn’t have the brains to make such calculations, they knew very well that their lives were precious.

The bandits threw down their weapons all at once and prostrated themselves on the spot.

It was Mount Hua’s victory.

It was a different kind of achievement than winning against the Maninbang Martial Arts Squad or the Daebyeolchae Yacha Squad.

It was the first time that a single force with full power had been completely defeated in the name of Mount Hua.

The faces of the Mount Hua disciples flushed red.

The pride in the results of the battle and the victory heated their hearts.

“Elder.”

“Hmm!”

Hyun Sang, who was clenching and unclenching his fists and trying to calm his excited heart, raised his voice.

“This battle is a victory for our Mount Hua! Disable the enemy’s martial arts and bind them!”

“Yes!”

It was a clean and complete victory without room for disagreement.