Chapter 333

Chapter 333

Sangui. Sado Alliance assigned area.

“It’s over.”

Feeling the sound waves that had been continuously exploding from above disappear, Taeag spoke in a low voice with his arms crossed. Monster blood flowing down between his forearms.

“Phew. Is even the resistance finished now? What a troublesome matter.”

“Alliance Leader.”

“The one who was fighting above, who do you think it was, Taeag?”

“Need I say?”

“Right, it was a familiar energy signature after all.”

At Taeag’s response questioning as if there was no need to waste breath on it, the Sado Alliance Leader also nodded. The moment they knew the sound waves exploding from above were caused by Yoryeok rather than internal energy, the opponent was already determined.

“Nakcheon.”

One of the Seven Great Monsters who had fought with them at the Daebongyin.

Though called the Seven Great Monsters, they don’t know each and every one clearly. Most information about the Great Monsters dominating the world was held by Divine Cult members rather than Central Plains people, and in this urgent situation, there was no time to receive and review information one by one from the Divine Cult members. However,

Nevertheless, there were things they’d heard. That the one called Nakcheon was once human. And that he was no different from the founder of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

“That the fight is over means he’s dead. What a pity.”

“Mm.”

“What do you think Heukya will do? Will he pick us off one by one as expected?”

“That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Because showing an overwhelming display would be better for breaking our will to resist.”

“……You mean he’s confident he can break us all by facing everyone?”

“Yes.”

Heukya’s military strength is overwhelming compared to the human side.

That’s the case even without the other monsters. Heukya’s martial prowess, closest to the Monster King, goes without saying—he’s so strong that even if he fought all of humanity, humanity couldn’t guarantee victory. In such a situation, playing tricks to slightly increase the win rate would be like a human picking off ants one by one for fear of being bitten.

“Then what odds do you see for winning against Heukya, Taeag?”

“Less than ten percent.”

“……Incredibly slim.”

“Probability isn’t what’s important. What matters is whether we should do it or not.”

“Well, that’s true. If this is all we can do, we have to do at least this.”

Now is the last chance to stop Heukya. There’s no need to hesitate.

“Strategist. What happened with the other areas?”

“Hmm.”

At the Sado Alliance Leader’s question, the Sado Alliance strategist who had been accompanying them, Samayeol, briefly pictured the situation in his mind before answering.

“Alliance Leader. According to reports, everything seems to have proceeded smoothly as planned. After this, they’ll probably each climb to the summit following their designated lines.”

“Really? Any special circumstances after this?”

“We have to pass through about two more Monster Realms on the way up…….”

“But?”

“This is strange.”

Looking around, Samayeol frowned and assessed the terrain. Terrain different from the report despite being in the report.

“……If this terrain is correct, there should be a Monster Realm here.”

“Hmm? You mean the Monster Realm went somewhere?”

“If the information isn’t wrong, that would be the case.”

“There’s no way the monsters fought among themselves and got chased out in the meantime.”

Did someone smash the Monster Realm to pieces?

‘That can’t be.’

He has all the extraordinary people of the martial world in his head.

In this situation, there’s no one who could be called a variable, and even if there were, they couldn’t suddenly appear in the current situation. If the Monster Realm disappeared, it wouldn’t be by human action but by the monster itself.

“It must have fled.”

“That’s the reasonable view. It would have seen the strong monsters in the lower areas being subjugated…… Wouldn’t it do anything to survive?”

“Where it went is obvious, isn’t it?”

“Where else but up?”

Fighting one by one means getting picked off individually. But going down to escape, the humans are swarming up and killing every monster they see.

Then there’s only one choice left for the monsters. Choosing to fight together with Heukya, who stands at the pinnacle of monsters. Abandoning their Monster Realms and climbing atop Sangui’s head to save their lives.

“Phew.”

Heukya alone is troublesome enough, and now we have to face even the small fries together?

“This will be a headache.”

“It’s not necessarily only bad.”

“Hmm?”

“After all, didn’t they abandon their Monster Realms?”

At the Sado Alliance Leader grimacing and shaking his head, Samayeol answered quietly.

“It’s a clear fact that the monsters here receive particularly great benefits from Monster Realms. In that situation, abandoning their Monster Realms means an overall weakening of combat power.”

“Well, that’s true. But wouldn’t it be more troublesome if they band together?”

“In a normal situation, yes…… But tell me, do you really think Heukya is on their side?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t think so. If Heukya was truly on their side, he would have done so from the beginning.”

What is the way a Great Monster extends its influence?

It’s by creating a Monster Realm and gathering monsters under their command. In fact, doesn’t the answer come out if you look at the Sinseonggok that Heukya created before?

“Monsters belonging to a Great Monster Realm can fully display their power. If Heukya truly was on their side, he would have turned all of Sangui’s back into his Great Monster Realm. However.”

“Since Heukya didn’t do that, it’s hard to see them as allies?”

“Even though it seems like a stretch, yes. Despite it being more efficient, the fact that he didn’t do so means conversely that their unity is never strong.”

Monsters are different from people.

What makes a monster is being faithful to one’s inherent desires, departing from discipline and rules. To monsters, things like loyalty or faith have no meaning.

“When battle breaks out, monsters are likely to spare themselves to survive. If we deliberately open a path in one place and fight, the monsters won’t even show their tails and will just flee. If we do that…….”

“We can eliminate the monsters without even fighting?”

“This is merely a matter of possibility.”

Taking a step back, Samayeol shook his head.

“Either way, we won’t know unless we go up. However, we’ll need to control our speed.”

“Speed?”

“What if the other places didn’t flee like this?”

“We’d arrive first and get picked off individually. That’s what you mean?”

“Exactly.”

Even if Heukya doesn’t personally come down to pick them off individually, there’s no reason to leave martial artists who’ve come all the way to his doorstep alone. If possible, it would be proper to match arrival times.

“For now, let’s observe the situation here a bit…….”

—There’s no time for that.

“……!”

At the voice that came quietly, Taeag and the Sado Alliance Leader reacted unconsciously and reflexively turned their heads. And at that moment, the scene that entered their eyes.

“The sky…….”

The sky is black.

Despite the sun clearly being up, the light scattered in the air doesn’t fully reach the ground. The sun casting only gentle light like the moon risen at night, and the black clouds spread beneath it.

—Your efforts at playing tricks are admirable, so I waited a bit, but I don’t welcome the situation becoming tedious.

“…….”

—I’ve gathered all the monsters on the path to the summit. Of course, even if I say this, it doesn’t seem like you’ll believe it.

What could be done about it anyway?

“Brace for impact!”

Simultaneously with the faint laughter, the clouds grew thicker. And immediately, black Nakroe striking down from four directions.

──!!!!!

An overwhelming tidal wave of power.

The Sado Alliance Leader, who unconsciously drew his sword at the exploding sound wave and cut through the covering wave, let out a hollow laugh and blankly looked at the direction where the Nakroe had fallen. The area they had just conquered and passed through was almost completely devastated.

—You withstand once.

But will you withstand twice?

Bursting into clear laughter, Heukya continued.

—If you don’t want to see the formations you worked so hard to create shatter to pieces, you’d better hurry up. I still have the capacity to attack several hundred more times.

“……What a magnificent threat.”

Can we win, or can we not win?

That’s not important. What’s important is that there’s only this chance now.

“What a damn situation.”

The Sado Alliance Leader, wearing a bitter smile, exchanged glances with Taeag and quietly set foot on the path leading upward.

Heukya was up there.

***

On Sangui’s back. Divine Cult forces.

“I’ve made the path so just come? How arrogant.”

“Doesn’t he have the power to match?”

As Muheuggaek muttered after hearing Heukya’s declaration echoing everywhere, Cheongong answered lightly and placed his body on a floating panel. Perhaps because he’d fought a battle, Cheongong’s eyes looked oddly languid.

“He’s a monster who didn’t get a single scratch even when almost all the strongest fighters rushed at him at once during the Daebongyin. It may be natural for him to possess that level of arrogance.”

“You seem to rate this monster called Heukya quite highly. Haven’t you never encountered the monster called Heukya?”

“Can’t one roughly guess even without encountering him?”

Heukya is strong. Perhaps to the point they cannot oppose him.

Considering the size of the forces that gathered during the Daebongyin, that’s a conclusion too easily derived. And for good reason, because there weren’t just one or two masters present during the Daebongyin.

“Ilryun and Taeag, the Sado Alliance Leader, Geomhu, Geomje, Daesageom, Eungryong and even Nakcheon……. The people there may have been fewer in number than those here, but they weren’t people who fell short in realm. Isn’t that right?”

“So?”

“But they couldn’t inflict a single scratch on Heukya’s body. That means there was such an overwhelming gap between them.”

The current military strength has needless to say increased compared to then.

Excluding Daesageom who died, Geomhu whose arm was cut off and can’t fulfill his role in battle, and Gwonryeong who was eaten by monsters, all the Sipcheon have gathered here. All the Chilryun who can move have also gathered here. Is that all?

Even the Samgong, who hadn’t shown themselves in the Central Plains for decades, are participating in this expedition to kill Heukya. No matter how much we assume Nakcheon has died, it’s safe to say we possess more than double the military strength of that time.

However,

‘When half the forces couldn’t inflict any damage, what difference would doubling that military strength make?’

A wild dog doubled in size might be able to bite a person to death, but an ant doubled in size is still an ant that cannot bite a person to death.

“Are we ants? Or wild dogs?”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“It’s nothing. More than that.”

Muheuggaek, who had briefly murmured, shook his head and looked at one side of the procession. The figure of Uicheon walking with his eyes closed, immersed in thought.

“What is that guy doing right now?”

“Ah, he said he’s consolidating what he gained!”

“What he gained? What does he mean he gained?”

“Wouldn’t he have gained something through this battle?”

“No matter how helpful real combat is, I don’t think you can gain much from fighting opponents weaker than yourself.”

“You mean that guy is putting on airs!”

“Who knows, maybe he did gain something.”

Aren’t geniuses usually like that? They get inspiration from strange places and after swinging their swords a few times, they’re at some lofty realm, because they’re geniuses.

‘The world is really unfair.’

He doesn’t seem to have done anything, so what does he keep gaining?

Muheuggaek, who had briefly harbored envy, suddenly felt a gaze and blinked. The figure of Uicheon now looking at him with open eyes.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, you seemed to be organizing some enlightenment, so I was watching.”

“Is that so?”

“Now that you’ve opened your eyes, you seem to have completely organized your enlightenment. Did you feel something?”

“You seem to be mistaken—I didn’t gain enlightenment.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. I was just looking at something I gained.”

“Something you gained?”

Isn’t that what gaining enlightenment means?

“Are you perhaps deceiving me?”

“If it sounded that way, I apologize. I really didn’t mean it like that.”

At Muheuggaek’s face contorting like an evil demon, Baek Riyun smiled bitterly, shook his head, and surveyed the empty air before him. A familiar window covering his vision semi-transparently.

[Emergency Request Occurred!]

“What this means…….”

The request that came in.

Exhaling deeply, Baek Riyun closed his eyes again.

The Uicheon Window was crying out.

[Objective Condition: Heukya’s Survival]

To keep Heukya alive.