Chapter 1696
Crunch!
The sound of Thousand-Faced Gentleman's teeth grinding was eerie.
He needed to get out of here immediately.
There were so many members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance on this cliff that it was difficult to count them. Among them were many disciples of the Hao Sect he had brought along.
But now, the most important thing for Thousand-Faced Gentleman was his own life. After all, he could gather disciples again if he had the time.
However, Thousand-Faced Gentleman couldn't move a single step. Every time he tried to take a step, a creepy murderous intent stabbed all over his body. As if warning him.
Thousand-Faced Gentleman looked at the man in front of him. Or rather, he looked at the dagger in that man's hand.
That small dagger, which could be used as a woman's ornament, kept him completely immobilized.
"Damn it..."
He was Thousand-Faced Gentleman. He wasn't someone who feared a dagger like that.
But if the person holding that dagger was the Poison King, Tang Gunak, the story changed. There was no one in the world who could ignore a blade in that man's hands.
"What are you trying to do?"
Thousand-Faced Gentleman asked with an angry expression.
Tang Gunak smiled softly, an expression completely inappropriate for the situation.
"I simply can't trust you."
"......"
"I can't be sure if you'll really escape or try something, so I can only keep you here."
Crunch!
Thousand-Faced Gentleman gritted his teeth.
"My life is at stake!"
"I know. That's why I can't let you go. With your life at stake, I don't know what you might do."
"......"
"Someone once told me that the best way to handle a variable is to eliminate it."
"Until they have escaped?"
"Yes."
"So you'll die too?"
"Do you think I'm someone who fears death?"
"You may not fear death, but everyone fears a useless death, don't they?"
"I think differently. I don't believe it's a useless death."
Tang Gunak responded calmly. His eyes were like a deep lake without a single ripple.
"Protecting the safety of Mount Hua is something worth risking my life for."
Thousand-Faced Gentleman's face twisted horribly. He sensed that those words were not just bluster.
"There's no guarantee that holding me here will pave the way for them, right? It only creates a small possibility. Would you risk your precious life for that? The great Poison King, Tang Gunak?"
"A small possibility..."
Tang Gunak slightly averted his gaze. He watched Mount Hua trying to rescue the Wudang Sect. Even at this moment, they were carrying the survivors.
"That's enough."
"You're crazy."
"Maybe."
In the past, Tang Gunak would have said the same. There was no need to think too much. He would have said exactly what Thousand-Faced Gentleman was saying now. That it was foolish.
But the current Tang Gunak was different.
It wasn't that he thought it wasn't foolish. He was capable of doing it, even though he knew it was foolish.
Tang Gunak smiled slightly without realizing it.
"It must be the price of choosing the wrong friends."
"......What nonsense are you talking about? Move immediately...!"
Whoosh!
The dagger slid like a lightning bolt, grazing Thousand-Faced Gentleman's face.
Thousand-Faced Gentleman widened his eyes. The dagger spun in the air and returned to Tang Gunak's hand.
Now there were two daggers in his hands.
"I told you not to move."
"Damn it...!"
"There will be no more warnings, Thousand-Faced Gentleman."
Crunch!
Thousand-Faced Gentleman's face twisted inhumanly.
"I understand... perfectly."
Thousand-Faced Gentleman's previously relaxed hands began to turn paler.
"Then the fastest way to get out of here is to kill you."
"If you can do it, go ahead. But can you?"
"Damn it!"
With an explosion of power, Thousand-Faced Gentleman's body split into dozens. Those countless Thousand-Faced Gentlemen simultaneously lunged at Tang Gunak.
Clang!
The bodies of Thousand-Faced Gentleman clashed violently with the small swords in Tang Gunak's hands.
Even in that desperate situation, Tang Gunak's eyes briefly turned toward Mount Hua.
Baek Cheon, leading Mount Hua while carrying Mu Jin, and the others assisting him.
How strange.
Chung Myung wasn't there, but they acted as if he was. There was no difference. Even in this critical situation.
‘Just one step.’
Justice is not something grand.
It's having the will to not ignore the fallen, even when your own life is in danger. It's being willing to take momentary risks and small losses. It's having the courage to take a single step for someone who has fallen. That is justice.
Tang Gunak took a step forward with the weight of a thousand jin.
Whoosh!
Then, his small sword cut through the air precisely, as it had a hundred years ago.
----------------------------
"Move quickly!"
"Yes."
Crack!
A warrior of the Southern Sea Sun Palace gritted his teeth as he climbed up the cliff.
He looked down. The view was so terrifying it was hard to describe. There were many high mountains in his country, but few cliffs like this.
In fact, the Southern Sea Sun Palace was located on a vast plain, far from the mountains. The sects here seemed to have a strange tendency to settle in high mountains where no one visited.
It wasn't that the Southern Sea Sun Palace was unusual. After all, the sect was made up of royalty. It made no sense for them to settle in a remote mountain. The warriors who accompanied them rarely had to climb such steep mountains.
"Ah!"
Crack!
A rock he grabbed broke easily. Staggering, the warrior desperately searched for another place to hold onto. He found a small crack where he could barely hold on with a finger. He supported all his weight on that small crack, and his face was drenched in cold sweat.
Training in martial arts can facilitate unusual tasks, but it doesn't make them any less difficult.
Climbing this high cliff was an arduous task even for experienced warriors. More so when they were carrying explosives that could detonate at any moment.
‘Why...?’
The warrior of the Southern Sea Sun Palace bit his lower lip hard.
No, he shouldn't question it. The orders of the Palace Lord were absolute. The orders of the Palace Lord were the orders of the King. Disobeying them meant risking not only his life but also the lives of his family and relatives.
Even if ordered to offer his neck, he should do so gladly. That was the attitude a warrior of the Southern Sea Sun Palace should have when serving the Palace Lord.
"Quick!"
"Yes!"
The warrior of the Southern Sea Sun Palace reached out again and felt the surface of the cliff. Finding no place to hold on, he injected internal energy into his fingers and embedded them in the rock.
"Ready!"
"Begin!"
"Yes!"
Crack!
Reaching the previously agreed position, they clung to the cliff and began drilling with one hand.
Bang! Bang!
The sound of rock breaking echoed on the cliff.
"Dig deep! If it explodes from outside, we won't be able to knock it down at once. Dig deep and place the explosives inside!"
"Yes!"
Although they responded loudly, the warrior of the Southern Sea Sun Palace bit his lip again without realizing it.
Without ropes to hold onto, hanging from a cliff where a single slip could send them plunging hundreds of meters to their death, drilling solid rock was no easy task. It was madness to try.
But, once they received the order, their bodies acted faithfully. Even if the result was their death.
Bang! Bang!
They struck the rock of the cliff repeatedly with fists full of internal energy. Stone fragments flew, hitting their faces. Perhaps due to the urgency of the situation, they soon made deep holes in the smooth surface of the cliff.
Raising his head, he saw the members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance struggling to climb the cliff.
He wondered which group was the dumbest.
Him, following orders even if it might cost his life, or those idiots climbing the cliff without knowing their fate, like senseless ants.
The answer to his question came unexpectedly.
"Down! Someone's coming from below!"
"What? Below?"
Everyone drilling the cliff looked down, surprised.
And they saw it.
From below, a white figure was climbing the steep cliff.
‘What is that?’
The warriors of the Southern Sea Sun Palace opened their eyes wide. Someone was climbing here? Now?
‘Don't they know what's going on?’
An explosion had already occurred. Although those higher up might take time to understand the situation, those below should know.
Despite knowing the situation, was someone climbing this hellish cliff? Were they crazy?
"Those idiots!"
"Quick, he's approaching!"
"Bíkyung! Gukye! Take your men and stop him!"
"Yes!"
Some of those hanging from the cliff quickly descended toward the approaching figure.
Swish! Swish!
They jumped down, surrounded by an aura red as lava. The internal energy raised to the maximum enveloped their bodies.
The energy was so hot it seemed like it could melt the cliff, demonstrating how well-trained they were.
‘It's incredible someone is doing this.’
It seems the people of Kangho are all crazy. Climbing a cliff in this situation is madness, but doing it alone is even more absurd.
What could a single person achieve?
"The rest, keep drilling the cliff! We can't lose more time!"
"Yes!"
Just as the warriors of the Southern Sea Sun Palace, momentarily distracted, responded and redoubled their efforts, a strange sound came from below.
Bzzzzzz!
It sounded like the buzzing of something enormous, like a swarm of thousands of bees.
The sound made the warriors look down again. And for a moment, they were stunned.
A figure white as the sun illuminated the dark cliff.
‘What...?’
Boom!
The white energy suddenly exploded. The warriors who had descended were literally turned into pulp and thrown in all directions.
"Huh?"
One of the lifeless bodies flew upward and his dead eyes met those of the warrior drilling the cliff.
The corpse, as if bidding farewell, briefly ascended before falling into the abyss.
The incredibly terrifying spectacle made everyone feel chills down their spine. After a moment, they all looked at the man who had unleashed that energy.
"Oooh!"
The man roared like a tiger and rushed toward them with a bright white sword. The impressive force of his aura made the warriors of the Southern Sea Sun Palace freeze.
They didn't know why.
Why did the presence of that man, whom they had never seen before, make them shrink? They, who had only served and obeyed the greatest.
Bzzzzzz!
The man's sword glowed white again.
It was like the sun. That light illuminated the dark world in an instant.
‘Emperor...?’
The man's sword cut through the air with all its might.
Boom!
The white Emperor's sword energy launched toward the warriors hanging from the cliff like a fierce wave.