Chronicles of the Silver Dragon - Episode 13
Swish!
Maheuk soon bared a cold smile and swung his sword, blazing with fierce sword astral energy, at Jehwa.
No matter how extraordinary Jehwa was, he was but a mere child not yet of age! There was simply no way he could compare to himself, who had spent long years in battle!
Or so he thought, but that was merely Maheuk's own thought, and nothing more.
Boom! Craaaaash!
"……!"
In that instant, Maheuk doubted his own eyes and ears.
Not only had Jehwa blocked the sword with his bare hands, but he was even launching a counterattack.
"Wh-what!"
Ba-ba-ba-boom!
He didn't even think to dodge the fist, instead immediately drawing up his internal energy to protect his face with protective astral energy, and along with it, an enormous sound reverberated through the vast Heavenly Demon Hall.
Maheuk felt his head ring and his mind go blank.
If he had taken that attack head-on? The mere thought was horrifying.
But as if to prove that his position as captain of the First Division of the Heavenly Demon Legion was not something won at a gambling table, Maheuk thrust his fist into Jehwa's abdomen.
Thwack!
"Keuk!"
With a dull impact, Jehwa let out a groan and was slammed into the corner of the room.
Boom!
"Jehwa!"
Sawollin cried out in shock, calling Jehwa's name and rushing toward him, while Maheuk steadied his ringing head and looked toward where Jehwa had flown with horrified eyes.
'What in the world……'
The sensation remaining in the fist that had contained powerful inner strength felt like striking tough leather.
Maheuk surmised that Jehwa had suffered a considerable shock and wouldn't be able to rise easily.
His attack had been that powerful.
But that was merely Maheuk's delusion and wishful thinking.
Sawollin, who had been approaching the side of the room where Jehwa lay collapsed, shuddered at an enormous chill and momentum. The Heavenly Demon Legion soldiers and the cult leader, Sawolma, who had also sensed the unusual aura, turned their heads with stiff expressions.
Ba-ba-ba-boom!
"Kraaaaaah!"
A terrifying roar echoed, and Sawollin flinched unconsciously at the roar, stepping backward.
Immediately, Jehwa burst through the debris and leaped at Maheuk in an instant. Maheuk hardened his face and raised his sword.
At that moment, an unusual aura surged into Jehwa's fist.
Anyone could easily see that he was already in a berserk state.
Yet, he had used something.
"Dragon Slaughter Technique! Fist Form! Slaughtering Blow! Berserk Slaughter Blow!"
Jehwa shouted with bloodlust flashing in his eyes.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-boom!
An enormous explosion rocked the Cult Leader’s Hall, and everyone nearby, startled by the sound, began flocking toward it.
"……!"
Everyone in the Heavenly Demon Hall looked with stiff expressions at a corner of the Heavenly Demon Hall that had been half-destroyed.
"Wh-what in the world was that just now……"
Sawollin trembled as she recalled what she had witnessed moments ago. For an instant, a strange illusion had appeared from Jehwa's body.
'A dragon……'
It was a silver, shining dragon.
It was very different from the images she had seen or heard of before, but it was undoubtedly a dragon.
'Just what in the world is Jehwa's true identity……'
Jehwa had clearly said he knew no martial arts, but what he had just done was unmistakably martial arts in her eyes.
'Dragon Slaughter Technique, Fist Form, Slaughtering Blow, Berserk Slaughter Blow……'
The names of the techniques were one thing, but the destructive power was truly horrifying beyond words.
In any case, to cause such a commotion in the Cult Leader’s Hall—and the Heavenly Demon Hall at that, which symbolized the cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
If things continued this way, Jehwa's life could be in grave danger.
Sawollin turned to her father with an anxious expression, but he was staring at a wall of the Heavenly Demon Hall that had been smashed apart with a stiff expression.
"Gruuuuuugh……"
Maheuk groaned in pain, clutching his sword with trembling arms.
He felt tremendous pain throughout his entire body, and his muscles were screaming at him not to move anymore.
What he had just seen was the form of an enormous dragon.
To his knowledge, no such destructive martial art existed, and he knew of no martial art that manifested the form of a dragon.
"Kuegh!"
His body trembling, he coughed up blood.
With that single attack, his inner strength had been instantly drained. If he moved his body wrong, he could become a cripple unable to use martial arts ever again.
Just then, Jehwa released his strength, and Maheuk staggered, sinking to the floor. And that saved Maheuk's life.
Ba-ba-ba-boom!
In an instant, Jehwa threw a fist at the spot where his face had been.
Maheuk's face turned pale as he saw that.
While the Heavenly Demon Legion soldiers were unable to rush at Jehwa, Sawollin came running while shouting.
"Stop it!"
"Young miss, it's dangerous!"
"Let go! That kid is rampaging like that because you men picked a fight!"
The Heavenly Demon Legion soldiers, who had already designated Jehwa as a dangerous individual, refused to let Sawollin go to him.
In that instant, Sawollin's and Jehwa's gazes collided in mid-air.
Sawollin trembled involuntarily the moment she saw Jehwa's gaze.
Cruel madness, the instinct for destruction, murderous intent.
These were the emotions she felt from Jehwa's eyes. She had never dreamed that such a side had been hidden inside Jehwa, who had seemed so innocent. The dangerous and savage aura emanating from him seemed as if it would not tolerate anyone approaching him carelessly.
"Step back."
"Ah, Father."
Sawollin called out to Sawolma with a bewildered expression, and the Heavenly Demon Legion soldiers stepped back from Jehwa one step at a time at the cult leader's command.
Sawolma drew his sword toward Jehwa, who exuded a dangerous atmosphere.
"I will face him."
"Ah, Father!"
"Cult Leader!"
Sawolma smiled at their reactions as he looked at Jehwa.
He had met an opponent who stirred his fighting spirit for the first time in a long while. Just how much would Jehwa entertain him?
Jehwa smiled as he watched Sawolma raise his sword and approach him.
It was a smile filled with madness.
Jehwa's silver eyes flashed dangerously.
"Kihihihik……"
Crack-crack-crack!
Jehwa moved his fingers and clenched his fist tightly, the sound of popping bones echoing. Then, seeing Sawolma approaching, he lowered his stance as if he might lunge at any moment.
Finally, Sawolma rushed with a cold smile, and Jehwa also rushed at him.
Ba-ba-ba-boom!
A sound one could never imagine coming from a clash between sword and fist echoed out.
Clang!
Before anyone knew it, black astral energy had coated Sawolma's sword, while silver astral energy had formed around Jehwa's fist.
The two people who pulled apart from each other—Sawolma looked at Jehwa with an astonished expression, while Jehwa frowned.
Spurt!
Blood flowed from the back of Jehwa's hand, which had knocked aside Sawolma's sword.
"Impressive."
Within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, he was the strongest apart from the hidden masters. Yet his palm ached from the fist swung by a child not yet of age.
'Could he be a master who has achieved rejuvenation?'
Sawolma tilted his head in thought, then dismissed the idea and muttered.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter?"
Sawolma narrowed his eyes and swung his sword at Jehwa.
Ba-ba-ba-boom!
Once again, an enormous sound echoed from the clash of astral energy against astral energy.
Boom!
"……!"
'I was pushed back?'
As his sword rebounded, Sawolma looked at Jehwa with a stiffened expression.
And seeing Jehwa's fist appear before his eyes in an instant, he leaned his head back at the maximum speed he could muster.
Ba-ba-boom!
"Keuk!"
Despite dodging wrapped in protective astral energy, the mere grazing impact made his head ring.
Stomp!
Sawolma, who had lowered his head, stomped the ground with one foot, and with that, his right foot embedded itself into the floor.
Using that force, he kicked Jehwa's abdomen with his left foot.
Thwack!
"Keok!"
And as Jehwa groaned and staggered, Sawolma seized the opening and drove his fist into Jehwa's face.
Ka-boom! Crash-bang!
"Gruuugh……"
Jehwa, pinned into the wall, trembled with convulsions and glared at Sawolma with a wrathful expression.
Flash!
Sawolma flinched for an instant at Jehwa's gaze.
'He is no easy opponent.'
Though he was down, his instincts told him that Jehwa was absolutely not an opponent to be underestimated.
Swaying, Jehwa rose from his spot.
"Hoo?"
"Ah, Father!"
Sawollin urgently called out to Sawolma, but he merely pointed his sword silently at Jehwa.
"Haah, haah, haah……"
Jehwa panted roughly, grinding his teeth.
"Father! Stop it!"
"Move aside."
Sawolma frowned when his daughter blocked his way.
"Please stop."
"That is impossible."
As Sawolma shook his head at her words, Sawollin began to sob.
But no matter how much Sawollin threw a tantrum and cried, what could not be done could not be done.
"Heavenly Demon Legion, take Wolrin away."
"Father!"
Sawollin called out to Sawolma, but he merely wore a cold expression.
"You know well that the crime of disrupting the cult must be punished severely, do you not?"
"Ugh! B-but……."
While Sawollin was at a loss for what to do at Sawolma's words, the Heavenly Demon Legion approached to drag her out.
It was then.
Whoooosh!
"……!"
A suddenly blowing, gentle yet strong wind caused the Heavenly Demon Legion soldiers who had tried to grab Sawollin to step back involuntarily.
"……!"
Everyone's eyes went wide at the bizarre phenomenon, and Sawollin was no different.
"Now, shall we calm down?"
At the dignified voice that echoed forth then, everyone froze.
Jehwa was already standing perfectly fine, dusting off the dust on his clothes.
Surprisingly, Jehwa's hair and eye color had changed to a perfect silver, rather than black with a faint silver tint.
Sawollin watched with a blank expression, and Jehwa, feeling her gaze, gave her a slight smile.
While Sawollin was bewildered by the appearance that was the complete opposite of before, Jehwa approached the frozen Sawolma.
"You…… You are not the boy from earlier."
"Did you notice?"
Sawolma narrowed his eyes as Jehwa spoke with a smile.
"My younger brother is a bit immature, you see. Do understand."
"Younger brother?"
"Yes, my younger brother whom I replaced for certain reasons. Anyway, please understand. He's a bit immature."
At those words, Sawolma stared fixedly at Jehwa, then let out a short laugh and spoke.
"The crime of causing a commotion in our cult is no small matter."