Chapter 170: God is Great (7)

Even though he'd managed to form that overwhelming Sword Force that seemed capable of cutting through anything, there was no satisfying sound of steel slicing flesh.

BOOM!!

Instead, a violent explosion erupted with a burst of energy.

Il-mok's sword, wrapped in brilliant Sword Force, had been blocked by a curved blade.

Somehow, Mukhtar Khan had also formed Saber Force and managed to block Il-mok's perfect strike.

Disbelief flickered across Mukhtar Khan's face as he held back Il-mok's sword. It was an expression that didn't suit a religious fanatic at all.

‘This fucking monster...’

Blood was already trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Thanks to countless real battles and his absolute faith in his God, he'd gained some understanding of energy manipulation. But maybe because it was a power granted by his God, he couldn't control it freely.

Forming a Force required extreme concentration and time, so he only used it as a one-hit-kill technique when a sure opportunity presented itself.

But this damn kid, not even twenty years old, had suddenly formed Sword Force out of nowhere. And the way he came at him with that bizarre sword path that seemed impossible to dodge... Mukhtar Khan had no choice but to summon his own Force, accepting internal injuries in the process.

‘So it is true… The disciple of the Evil God is a seed that will one day sprout into an Evil God himself.’

A monster that grew at a terrifying rate with each clash.

Mukhtar Khan was certain of it.

‘What a blessing that I have the chance to kill him now! This too must be a sign that Allah is watching over this Mukhtar Khan!’

Right now, he could kill that brat.

The Evil God's spawn that clashed weapons with him was trembling all over with blood leaking nonstop from his seven orifices.

He looks like his whole body might explode at any moment.

Unlike himself, who was blessed by the great God Allah, this brat dared to use divine power without THEIR permission.

A cruel smile spread across Mukhtar Khan's lips as he became certain of his opponent's death.

Screeeech.

But it was too late as an unpleasant sound pierced his ears.

"!!!"

His eyes, which had been focused entirely on the Evil God's spawn, finally caught sight of something small.

An arrow flying through the air, piercing space itself.

That arrow was aimed precisely at Mukhtar Khan's forehead.

Mukhtar Khan frantically twisted his body and barely managed to dodge the arrow.

But his concentration was broken, and the Saber Force coating his scimitar had grown dim.

Schlick!

With that disgusting cutting sound, Mukhtar Khan felt something had gone terribly wrong.

His curved blade, which had felt like part of his body, now felt different from usual.

The world suddenly tilted, and the ground was rushing up to meet him.

Thud.

Through the sound of something hitting the ground, Mukhtar Khan's eyes caught sight of something strange.

A familiar torso, severed at the chest.

‘This can't be...’

His vision blurred, and eternal darkness began to swallow him.

But for some reason...

‘Allah...’

Even though he'd met his death in a Holy War, the paradise he'd longed for was nowhere to be seen.

***

SCHLICK!!

In the chaotic battlefield, a small cutting sound rang out.

Though it was certainly a small noise, the gaze of every single person was turning toward its source.

Both the fanatics and the demon cult members had disbelief written in their eyes.

The fanatics couldn't easily accept the sight of their Khan's body cut in half.

And the demon cult members were mesmerized by the brilliant constellation of stars coating Il-mok's sword.

The emotions both groups felt started similarly, but ended up in different places.

When humans witness something they can't believe, they tend to seek God.

"The Heavenly Demon Descent!!"

"Ten Thousand Demons Obey!!!"

The demon cult members were certain. This was truly a blessing from their god. A new hope for the Divine Cult that the Heavenly Demon had discovered.

Meanwhile, anxiety crept into the fanatics' eyes.

This battle was supposed to be a Holy War, so how could it be that the Khan, the chosen warrior of their God, was lying there like that?

Just as they began to sense something was going wrong...

Thump.

The young monster who'd slaughtered their Khan collapsed to the ground like a broken puppet.

Right after cutting down Mukhtar Khan, Il-mok had snapped out of his trance and passed out cold.

Once again, both sides reacted in completely opposite ways.

"Allahu Akbar!!"

The fanatics, desperate to believe that their god was still on their side, charged forward with fire in their eyes.

"Protect the Eighth Young Master!!"

"Whatever it takes, we have to save the Young Master!!"

The demon cult members also swung their weapons as if their lives meant nothing.

One of the Black Tiger Corps members fighting closest to Il-mok quickly threw himself forward and scooped up the unconscious boy.

Several other Black Tiger Corps members formed a protective formation around him, cutting down enemies as they rapidly carved out an escape route.

Following Il-mok's earlier instructions, they needed to link up with the group that had already broken through the encirclement, the one that included the wounded like Ju Seo-yeon and Dokgo Pae.

A few instructors and disciples who'd stayed behind to the very end formed a rear guard to hold off the fanatics.

Schlick!

As cutting sounds and screams echoed from all directions...

"Ugh..."

A pained groan came from directly beside Xiao Hong.

She thought it might be a fanatic’s death rattle, but somehow the voice sounded familiar.

Xiao Hong’s head turned reflexively, and her eyes fell upon the sight of a fanatic thrusting his spear toward a student who had a deep gash in their thigh.

Xiao Hong swung her sword without any hesitation.

CRUNCH!

Her sword plunged into the heart of the fanatic who'd dared attack a Hall of the Demonic Way’s disciple.

But before she could even pull her sword from the fanatic's body...

A curved blade flying toward her neck filled her vision completely.

That curved blade had been aimed at her from the start. This was simply the result of her having chosen to protect the student instead of defending herself against it.

She didn't even know why she'd made that choice herself.

This was just the Hall of the Demonic Way that she'd been forced to enter because of her Chief's orders.

She'd thought that once she dragged Il-mok to the Law Enforcement Hall, she'd have no more business here.

But maybe she'd grown attached over the past few months, she found she couldn’t bring herself to ignore the danger threatening a mere student, even one who wasn't Il-mok.

Even though she couldn't understand her own actions, she felt strangely liberated.

The hunger from her binge eating disorder wasn't attacking her, and she even felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.

‘Teaching and protecting students isn't so bad after all.’

Just as she thought this and prepared to bravely accept the approaching death, the curved blade flying toward her stopped moving.

At the same time, a golden-brown scent stimulated her nose.

It wasn't a scent that triggered her hunger.

It was the smell of burning human flesh.

"Excellent work, Instructor Xiao!"

Beyond the electrocuted corpse standing upright, a familiar voice called out.

After the powerless fanatic's body collapsed, she could see Chu Il-hwan covered head to toe in blood.

"Lead the disciples out of here! I'll buy time with the Vice Leader before escaping."

He'd originally been trying to break through, but ended up playing decoy thanks to Gwak Sul's quick thinking. He had taken on the role of a decoy and ended up surrounded by countless fanatics along with the Vice Leader.

But while Dokgo Pae was carving out an escape route and Il-mok was dealing with the enemy leader, Chu Il-hwan and the Vice Leader had finally managed to break through that thick encirclement.

And despite having just fought his way out of the most difficult part of the battlefield, he now willingly stays behind until the very end to help his comrades escape.

"Once I get the disciples to safety, I'll definitely come back."

At Xiao Hong's response, Chu Il-hwan gave his characteristic mischievous smile.

"Haha. By then, the Vice Leader and I will have already escaped, so there's no need to come back."

It was a smile that didn't match his age, but Xiao Hong found it quite charming.

Xiao Hong launched herself forward, scooping up the disciple she'd just saved while deploying her lightness skill.

She remembered that disciple had been cut in the thigh.

After Xiao Hong and the disciple escaped, followed by all the remaining disciples, instructors, and assistant instructors...

"Phew."

"Guess we need to push ourselves a bit more."

Chu Il-hwan let out a light sigh while the Vice Leader maintained his stoic expression, both scattering black lightning and Saber Qi as they faced the fanatics.

For what seemed like an eternity, Xiao Hong ran, ignoring the screams and roars of the fanatics that echoed from behind her.

Xiao Hong's breathing was starting to get labored.

Never mind that she was running while carrying a cadet in her arms, never mind that she had expended twice her normal energy fighting to protect the others...

‘Please, Heavenly Demon.’

If she, an instructor, was getting this tired, the disciples must have no strength left to run. Realizing this, she could only pray to their god for some kind of miracle.

It was then that in the far distance, the undergrowth began to shake, and a new group of people began to emerge.

"Battle formation!"

Xiao Hong shouted this command, but deep in her chest, a snake called despair was slithering upward.

‘I cannot show any weakness.’

Setting down the disciple she'd been carrying, Xiao Hong raised her sword and forced a resolute expression onto her face.

That solemn expression, which had been prepared for death, quickly began to contort.

She'd realized the true identity of what she'd thought was the snake of despair.

Behind the newly appeared group, a flag with a red turtle design was fluttering.

It was the Red Turtle Corps, one of the Demon Cult's sixteen martial units.

***

"What a sorry state you're in."

After annihilating the fanatics who'd dared invade the sacred mountain of the Divine Cult...

The Red Turtle Corps Leader spoke to Black Tiger Corps Leader Ouyang Hyeok with a languid expression.

Just as he'd promised, Ouyang Hyeok had bought time for the disciples and wounded Black Tiger Corps members to escape before cutting through the fanatics and breaking out of the encirclement.

And only then could they realize they'd been deceived by the enemy.

Following the trail of their allies who'd escaped first, they'd arrived at a place soaked with blood.

There, the Black Tiger Corps Vice Leader and the Head Instructor Chu Il-hwan were fighting fanatics, desperately trying to break out of their encirclement.

Ouyang Hyeok and the Black Tiger Corps members joined the battle to help them, but when the original group that had surrounded them joined up, they found themselves encircled again.

But fortunately, thanks to the Red Turtle Corps arriving at just the right time, they were able to annihilate all the fanatics.

In response to the teasing from the Red Turtle Corps Leader who had just saved them, Ouyang Hyeok smiled bitterly

"It'll just sound like excuses if I say it now, but if it weren't for those Hall of the Demonic Way disciples, our Black Tiger Corps alone could have swept through those bastards."

Ouyang Hyeok truly believed this.

Compared to their total numbers, the proportion of experts wasn't that high.

He was confident that if they had fought a guerrilla war on the familiar terrain of the Tianshan Mountain Range as their battlefield, they could have won easily.

But those bastards were crazy enough to laugh while using their own allies' deaths to their advantage. Fighting such enemies while protecting the disciples with almost no real combat experience wasn't easy.

"You're right, they were pretty weak. But they are insane. Hahaha."

When the Red Turtle Corps Leader readily agreed with him, Ouyang Hyeok let out a light sigh.

This just made them look incompetent for almost losing to such weak opponents.

“Hahaha! It was a joke, a joke! Don’t take it so seriously. Like you said, it happened because you were protecting the disciples. There were quite a few of them too, and some decent fighters were mixed in among them."

When the Black Tiger Corps Leader sighed, the Red Turtle Corps Leader spoke soothingly before getting to the main point.

“But tell me, how was the Eighth Young Master?”

"He was definitely outstanding for his age, but I sent him ahead first so I didn't get to observe him in much detail myself.”

Ouyang Hyeok answered honestly, then turned his head to look somewhere else.

Toward the Vice Leader, who was covered in blood from the fierce battle.

The Red Turtle Corps Leader's gaze also followed Ouyang Hyeok toward the Vice Leader, and the Black Tiger Corps's Vice Leader recalled that scene to answer their question.

The sight of a young brat, one who hadn’t even finished his training at the Hall of the Demonic Way, manifesting a brilliant constellation of stars upon his sword.

"I believe he's a talent that will become a new god for our Divine Cult in the future."

Coming from the notoriously stoic Vice Leader, this high praise left both leaders stunned.