Silver Dragon Chronicles, Episode 26
"That said, his ability is impressive too. Did he say he smells them? Is it simply that his nose is good? How can he pick out those Blood Cultists so precisely?"
Before coming here, he had seen the corpses of those said to have died at Jehwa's hands. Upon closer inspection, they weren't of the Kunlun Sect. Traces of having learned the Blood Cult's martial arts were clearly visible.
Unwonnam clicked his tongue at Jehwa's ability.
*Bang!*
"Keuk!"
Hyeol Ma-yeong glared with wide eyes and blocked Jehwa's attack.
The moment he judged that there was absolutely no way to deal with the boy before him using only Kunlun Sect martial arts, a strange light flickered in Hyeol Ma-yeong's eyes.
"……?"
Bewildered by Hyeol Ma-yeong's suddenly changed momentum, Jehwa threw a fist with a puzzled expression.
But in an instant, Hyeol Ma-yeong's transformed sword struck Jehwa's head.
*Bang!*
The sword, wrapped in a blood-red aura, violently slammed into Jehwa's head, and at the sudden appearance of the crimson Sword Gang, everyone in the Kunlun Sect froze stiff.
*Crash! Thud!*
Without even thinking to defend, Jehwa, having taken a direct blow to the head, was sent flying to one side.
"Aaaagh!"
I Seolhye let out a piercing shriek of shock upon seeing this, while Unwonnam jumped in surprise.
"T-that bastard! He got hit!"
I Seolhye shouted, but Sa Wol-lin was merely indifferent.
"What?"
"He was hit by the Sword Gang! Wh-what if he's dead……"
"Aaaaaargh! It hurts!"
"……"
"Dead? Him? From merely getting hit by something like a Sword Gang?"
At Sa Wol-lin's words, the Sword Gang—a technique unusable unless one was a peak expert—was degraded to "merely something like a Sword Gang."
Indeed, having been struck by Sword Gangs countless times, if his reaction was only to that degree, it made sense that the kid would become indifferent to being hit by one.
Still, Sa Wol-lin had the audacity to say such things. If the countless martial artists of Murim who couldn't even use Sword Gang and strove to become peak experts heard this, they would foam at the mouth and rush to kill her.
Meanwhile, I Seolhye stared blankly at Jehwa, who was betraying her sincere concern. She truly felt as if she had been severely betrayed.
Unwonnam was equally dumbfounded.
"Are you telling me that even after being struck by a Sword Gang without any preparation, his visible reaction is merely that?"
"The kid might be showing only that kind of reaction because his skin is so thick that a Sword Gang from an ordinary expert just feels like that to him."
"That's not something that can be explained by simply having thick skin……"
No matter how thick his skin was, was his reaction to being hit by a Sword Gang really just that? What in the world was his skin made of?
"Wh-what!"
Hyeol Ma-yeong looked at Jehwa with a shocked expression.
He had intended to use whatever means necessary to kill Jehwa with that attack.
Yet, even if it had been hastily drawn out, the sound he made after being hit by a Sword Gang... "Ouch." That was all.
Seeing Hyeol Ma-yeong frozen in speechless absurdity and exasperation, Jehwa, who had been sent crashing to one side, sprang up and shouted.
"You bastard, you won't die a clean death by my hands today!"
*Bam!* The shouting Jehwa charged straight at Hyeol Ma-yeong.
"Keuk!"
Gnashing his teeth at Jehwa charging toward him, Hyeol Ma-yeong pulled something from his bosom and threw it.
"What the hell is this! You trying to play ball with me right now!"
Seeing the black sphere flying toward him, Jehwa shouted with an annoyed expression and simply swatted it away.
"Jehwa, dodge!"
In that instant, the startled Sa Wol-lin screamed.
"Huh?"
Jehwa tilted his head at Sa Wol-lin's cry, and right then, the black sphere exploded.
*Boom!*
"Guh!"
Scarlet flames burst from the black sphere, and the explosive force sent Jehwa flying.
*Thud!*
"Ow, hot! Ah, hot-hot-hot—"
Jehwa, having fallen to the ground, began rolling around complaining about the heat and thrashing about.
"Keuk!"
His face twisting fiercely at the sight, Hyeol Ma-yeong sent a telepathic message to the Blood Cultists.
—Set off all the Thunderbolt Bombs you have on you!
At that, the nine Blood Cultists each took out the pair of Thunderbolt Bombs they were carrying and threw them.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Kra-ka-boom!*
"Uwaaaaaaagh!"
"Wh-what!"
With the Thunderbolt Bombs beginning to detonate suddenly, the Kunlun Sect descended into chaos and pandemonium.
"Wh-what!"
Seeing the Kunlun Sect overwhelmed by a sea of flames in an instant, the Sect Leader and the Elders' faces twisted in shock.
The previous generation's experts and the generation before them were about to move with stiffened expressions.
"Th-that's an Explosive Heat Bomb!"
At that moment, a warrior of the Kunlun Sect discovered the red sphere that Hyeol Ma-yeong had thrown high into the air and was aghast.
The red Thunderbolt Bomb—this was the infamous Explosive Heat Bomb known throughout Murim, a terrifying bomb possessing destructive power equivalent to ten Thunderbolt Bombs.
Unwonnam, who knew all too well that if it fell and exploded as is, countless people would die, threw himself into the air.
*Swish—*
Appearing before the Explosive Heat Bomb suspended in mid-air in an instant, Unwonnam struck it upward with the pommel of his sword.
*Clang! Boom!*
Along with a sound of something colliding, an enormous explosion erupted high above the Kunlun Sect.
And while everyone's gaze was captured by that explosion, ten Blood Cultists vanished from sight in an instant.
And just as several experts who noticed this tried to catch them…
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
All across the Kunlun Sect, explosions began breaking out suddenly.
"……!"
Seeing this, not only the Kunlun Sect's leadership but also the faces of the warriors and disciples turned rigid.
"Put out the fires!"
"Important areas have caught fire! Stop the flames!"
In an instant, a devastating inferno swept over the Kunlun Sect.
***
The Blood Cult had turned the Kunlun Sect upside down.
This news spread throughout Murim instantly, and countless eyes turned toward the Kunlun Sect.
"Hee~, something happened at that place called the Kunlun Sect?"
A young girl playing in the stream put on an amused expression and asked the man standing behind her.
"Yes."
"Hoo? Now that I think about it, the Blood Cult is……."
"The most suspicious place, indeed."
"Hehehe! The most suspicious place, you say……."
The girl's eyes sparkled at the man's words.
"What will you do?"
"Hmm……. What should I do?"
The girl narrowed her eyes and began to think.
After a moment, the girl stood up and said:
"Shall we go to that place called the Kunlun Sect?"
Quite some time had passed since the commotion at the Kunlun Sect.
Jehwa, who had been at the center of turning the Kunlun Sect upside down, had come down to the village and was simply passing the time with a bored expression.
Then, Jehwa and a young girl ran into each other.
"Hmm?"
Jehwa simply walked briskly past the girl.
The girl watched him with wide round eyes. Then she soon tilted her head and began examining Jehwa closely.
"Huh?"
Jehwa, who had been walking leisurely, felt a prickling gaze on the back of his head and turned in puzzlement.
And seeing the girl staring at him there, his face scrunched up fiercely.
"What are you looking at?"
At Jehwa's anything-but-friendly words, the girl likewise scrunched up her face.
"You got a problem with me looking, you rude bastard?"
The girl, whose personality was second to none compared to Jehwa's, spoke to him with a brazen expression.
"Damn, you looking to die!"
At the girl's behavior, Jehwa glared daggers.
But regardless, the girl merely scrunched up her face and continued to observe Jehwa closely.
"Hey, haven't I seen you before?"
"What nonsense is this all of a sudden?"
Jehwa made an annoyed expression at the girl's words.
"Hmm~ Hmm~"
The girl, who had been scrutinizing Jehwa once more, opened her eyes wide. Soon, with an expression as though she had discovered something astonishing, she stared straight through him.
"What the, it's a crazy bitch."
Annoyed by the girl's behavior, Jehwa turned right around.
"Kik……. Kikikikik!"
Then, at the sound of laughter coming from behind, Jehwa paused.
"Kikikikik……. Kukuk……. Kik……. Kukuk……."
Seeing the girl desperately trying to hold back her laughter, Jehwa's gaze turned cold.
"What's so funny?"
Unable to endure Jehwa's gaze, the girl finally burst into insane laughter.
"Ahahahahahahahahaha!"
At the sight of the girl clutching her stomach and laughing like a madwoman, Jehwa's gaze grew colder and colder.
"I know who you are."
After a moment, the girl, finally stopping her laughter, spoke with a giggle. Jehwa put on a dumbfounded expression.
"Who am I, then?"
"Eun Jehwa."
"……!"
The girl correctly stated Jehwa's name.
"How do you know my name? Fascinating!"
"Hah! Back then, at least your head was somewhat decent, but now have you become a complete fool? Well……. What more could one expect from such a pathetic guy, but still……"
"Who are you?"
Jehwa glared at the girl mocking him with an annoyed expression.
But the girl ignored Jehwa's words.
"This is going to be interesting."
Saying so, the girl turned around without hesitation. Watching her, Jehwa growled.
"I'll kill you."
"……."
Seeing Jehwa radiating killing intent toward her, the girl made an expression of surprise.
"Huh? You've changed a lot."
The girl seemed to know about a past that even Jehwa himself did not know.
And as he looked at the girl, displeasure began to frost over Jehwa's face.
*Kabooooom!*
In an instant, Jehwa's fist pulverized the spot where the girl had been.
"Whoosh! What, you've gotten stronger than back then?"
But the girl lightly evaded Jehwa's fist. Moreover, with an expression of amusement, she said a word to Jehwa, who was looking at her with cold eyes.
"But that's all."
The girl lightly waved her hand toward Jehwa.
*Boom!*
"Ugh!"
In that instant, Jehwa staggered under the oppressive pressure he felt throughout his entire body.
"Uwaaaa!"
But that too was brief. With a roar, he blew away the pressure crushing down on his body.
"Heavens……."
The girl opened her eyes wide, seemingly having not expected Jehwa to blow it away.
"You're definitely much stronger than back then, aren't you? Strange, shouldn't you normally have gotten weaker?"
Thrown off by this unexpected situation, the girl showed a bewildered expression—and that was her mistake.
"Huh? Heok!"
The moment she saw Jehwa charging before her eyes, the girl's eyes went wide.
"Hiyaa!"
*Booooom!*
"Keogh!"
Jehwa's fist violently struck the girl's chest.