KWA-AANG—!!

A thunderous blast shook the entire ravine.

The ground rumbled—drdrdrdr—then the sound of something breaking rolled in.

So that’s what he was aiming for.

What I had thought a wildly off-target strike from the Fourth Blood Lord had never been meant for me at all.

The heavy, disorderly force I had deflected smashed the cliff ledge above.

Like a giant chisel prying stone, the overhanging shelf jutting over the gorge sheared off.

Great rocks—and their shrapnel—began to pour down over the heads of those fighting Jiangshi and fleeing.

Kuguguguguguum—

“Uraaagh—!!”

“D—down! Take cover!!!”

Green Forest, the Sado Union’s Guardian Patrols, and the Beggar’s Union men all went ashen, staring up at the falling slabs.

It was too sudden. There was nothing they could do.

A few martial artists raised weapons to smash stone—but the falling boulders were fast and vast enough to swallow them all.

“Damn—!”

Even the Green Forest War King, holding the Jiangshi at bay, was shaken.

He could use Aerial Capture to arrest the fall—but the boulders were so massive that stopping them would drink his entire reserve.

Then the onrushing Jiangshi would break through.

Even now, fear-blind, pain-blind Jiangshi cared nothing for the avalanche and pressed the attack.

In the next breath, the War King chose.

If I don’t stop the Jiangshi, the losses will be massive.

But if I don’t stop the rock, everyone dies.

He turned to stop the boulders—

—and froze.

“Sado Union!!”

The stone hung in the air.

Thick black smoke coiled tight around it.

Crkrkrkrk—

“Uaaah!! Scatter!”

“Guard your heads!!”

Shards she hadn’t caught yet rained onto allies and Jiangshi alike.

At the Sado Union Lord’s shout, the Guardian Patrols reacted instantly.

Kwaggak—! Kwak!! Thunk!

They shattered and batted aside fragments large enough to kill.

Thanks to that, the worst was averted.

Shff— shweeeek—!

A shrill slicer of sound knifed for the War King.

“Nami—Amitabha! Begone, profane things!”

Pababababababak—!

His fists hurled dozens of Jiangshi away in an eye-blink.

Pababababababak—!

Faster, heavier—his hands became a storm.

“Move! Out—now!!”

He knew she could not hold the boulder long.

“Haa... haa....”

Sweat ran down Seolhwa’s brow.

Catching the falling rock had been pure instinct.

“Strange...”

[Namgoong Seolhwa! Behind you!!]

The Fourth Blood Lord’s voice and the Imoogi’s warning struck together.

Seolhwa did not look back.

“A ‘leader’ of the Unorthodox acting like some Orthodox hero—what are you playing at.”

If she took her eyes off the rock, everyone below would die.

She would not turn.

“Playing at chivalry?”

A whisper at the nape—so close it chilled. She could feel his breath.

Shweaeeek—

[Namgoong Seolhwa!!]

The Imoogi’s cry rang urgent in her skull.

Perhaps deciding to act himself at last, a spike of pain lanced her mind—

KAAANG—!!

Whoosh— THUD!!

Steel met steel with a violent bite; something flashed, then slammed into the cliff.

Still fixed on the boulder, Seolhwa’s pupils rippled like wind over water.

Again.

Like then.

Like at Surochae, four years ago.

He threw himself in for her.

Without a heartbeat’s hesitation.

“Kh—koff....”

Rattle...

The impact had crazed the cliff-face.

From the crumbling stone, a harsh cough broke out.

At the sound, Seolhwa knew he lived—and let herself breathe.

“Ah... damn... that really hurts....”

Rough, irritable—nothing like his usual tone.

Yu Gang hauled himself up from the rubble, brushing stone dust from his clothes.

Sun-bright power blazed off him, more brilliant than ever—

as if to declare that he still lived.

Ptui—

He spat the blood pooled in his mouth and strode out.

The sun’s energy drew close, as if to shelter Seolhwa.

“Striking someone who’s holding the sky up—bit cowardly, don’t you think?”

“Oh? Martial Alliance whelps?”

Interest tinged the Fourth Blood Lord’s voice.

He had said whelps because Yu Gang had not been the only one to spoil his strike.

As he reached for the Shadowless Demon God, arrows and throwing blades came in from somewhere, forcing him to twist away; a saber-wielding youth had stepped in and met his crescent blade.

The little cutter could use force aura—but he was only a near-Transcendent at best. If he had blocked the last slash, that was luck.

“You know your pups killed my brothers. How many lives did you take—three? A neat match for your headcount.”

Kuuuuuuum—

The Fourth Blood Lord’s aura, which had settled, swelled and lashed like a storm.

He had held back before because there had been no need.

“You’ll pay with your lives.”

A wet, foul wind filled the gorge; a milky fog began to rise.

“■■■■■■... ■■■■■■■■■...!”

He chanted again in that unknown Outlands tongue.

Whether the fog filling the gorge was illusion born of his rite or something real—no one could tell.

KWA-AANG—

“Kyahhh!”

At a flick of his hand, thunder cracked—and the cliff where Golden Lotus Rain and Tang Hojin were perched collapsed.

“!”

Seolhwa’s face hardened beneath the mask.

“Lady Geum! Young Lord Tang!!”

Yu Gang shouted too, shocked—but no answer came.

“Let’s see you take this, whelp.”

He crossed his hands on the crescent blades—

—then swept, hurling power at the Shadowless Demon God and at Yu Gang standing guard before her.

Kwakwakwakwakwa—

A great tide of energy poured for them both.

Yu Gang dragged up every last string of inner strength he had.

I can’t stop it.

I’ll still block as much as I can.

If he shaved the force down, the shock reaching Seolhwa would be less. Then she would live.

Because Seolhwa is strong.

So even if I die here, I’ll take as much of it as I can.

“......”

Yu Gang wound his grip on the saber.

Tenfold power burst from him—like the sun flaring.

“Krahahahaha—!”

The Fourth Blood Lord laughed.

Facing what he could not possibly receive—pathetic.

Kwoaaaaa—

Yu Gang looked straight into the flood swallowing his sight.

And at the moment it crashed into his saber—

“Idiot.”

A light touch nudged his shoulder—tap.

Light, but irresistible.

“......!”

Darkness seemed to drop like a curtain over his vision.

It was the Shadowless Demon God’s power, bursting from Seolhwa.

Kwoaaaaaaaaaang—!!

Right hand bracing the blade’s spine, left hand cupped under—

She hurled power to meet the Fourth Blood Lord’s strike.

KWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG!!

Their clash birthed a gale that scoured the field bare.

Yu Gang could not even open his eyes; he locked his stance not to be blown away.

Kwagwagwagwagwa—

Dust swarmed like the eye of a storm, stinging skin with a thousand small cuts.

Time dragged—

Ssssss....

As the backlash slowly ebbed, Yu Gang cracked his eyes.

Tuk. Tuduk....

“!”

His pupils trembled.

Crimson-black ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) blood slid down Seolhwa’s right arm where she barred before him.

She had not lost in power—but the delay in her response had cost her a wound.

The Fourth Blood Lord, by contrast, stood as he had before their forces met—unchanged.

“...Lucky, Shadowless Demon God.”

“......”

Her gaze through the mask locked with his.

“Next time we meet, I won’t step back.”

“So—you’ll run like a coward.”

“My interest has waned. That’s all.”

He snorted, turned his back.

Seolhwa moved to bar him—

Shweaeeek—!

He slashed force at both cliff faces.

“!”

Her arm injured, Seolhwa could not answer in time.

In that gap, he slipped away.

“F—Fourth Lord! Fourth Lord!!”

Mo-wol, sprawled to one side of the gorge, called after him in a panic—but he did not look back. He left the ravine without a glance.

Thoom— kukukukukung—

The gorge, already cracked by Seolhwa’s bout with him, now took the Fourth Blood Lord’s last slashes—the roar said it could fall at any moment.

Yu Gang had just begun to turn, to look up at the boulder Seolhwa still held—

“What would you have us do?”

A calm, resonant voice came from above their heads.

Yu Gang jerked up—and wonder and relief washed his face.

“Master...!”

Hanging in the air stood Gong Cheon, the former Shaolin Abbot.

His question asked whether they would pursue the Fourth Blood Lord.

Seolhwa shook her head without a flicker of regret.

“Then we must make haste. This place will fall.”

Kuguguguung—

As he said, the cliffs girding the gorge were collapsing.

With Gong Cheon’s aid, the boulder could be dealt with; with the master gone, the Jiangshi had stilled.

There was no need to prop up a dying gorge.

Kuguguguguung—

Soon, the ravine lay buried under its own ruin.

Gong Cheon and Yu Gang carried the unconscious Golden Lotus Rain and Tang Hojin over the scree to rejoin the allies who had fled.

“......”

Before leaving, Yu Gang tore his inner garment and bound Seolhwa’s arm.

Pain filled his eyes as he looked at her.

Step. Step.

Once they had gone, Seolhwa moved alone.

Before long, she found Mo-wol.

The woman clung to the cliff, dragging one leg—a wreck of herself—crawling to flee.

Seolhwa called her to a halt.

“Mo-wol.”

Mo-wol’s shoulders jerked.

Shuddering, she turned—staring up at the Shadowless Demon God whose shadow fell over her.