Chapter 93 : Chapter 93

Chapter 93. You’re Still the Same (2)

Jo Bi’s spear and Junggang’s fist.

And even Jang Hyun’s arrow is approaching from afar.

Hellfire Dragon Yado watched all of it and remained completely calm.

And just before the attacks reached him…

“Hmph!”

Hellfire Dragon Yado drew the saber from his back and swung it.

[ Hellfire Dragon Saber Art: Blazing Demon Frenzy ]

In that instant, everyone lost sight of Hellfire Dragon Yado.

To Jo Bi and Junggang, who were close, it looked as though he had vanished.

And then…

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM…

What Jang Hyun saw from afar was nothing but ferocious hellfire raging wildly.

As if an asura of hell had lost its temper, the savage flames forced Jo Bi and Junggang to retreat.

“Tch….”

“Damn, that’s hot.”

Having suppressed the three-man combined attack with a single move, Hellfire Dragon Yado spoke coldly.

“You brats really think you can take Hellfire Dragon Yado lightly.”

“Do you think a seat among the Eight Evil Gates is something won at a gambling table?”

Hellfire Dragon Yado tried to look down arrogantly at his enemies…

“…….”

“…….”

…but he couldn’t.

Yado was too short.

Not only Junggang, even Jo Bi was tall enough that Yado had to look up.

In the awkward silence, Junggang cautiously spoke.

“Doesn’t the vibe feel kinda weird?”

“Right? It’s not just me, yeah?”

“My mom said you shouldn’t discriminate based on how people look….”

“But bad guys might be okay?”

“Really? Then is it okay if we tell that uncle he’s short, ugly, and acting all high and mighty?”

“I think that’s fine.”

Hellfire Dragon Yado’s face twisted as he listened to their earnest conversation.

And then…

“I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”

Honestly, this was justified anger.

Hellfire Dragon Yado’s raging flame qi spread violently in all directions.

‘This won’t work.’

Jo Bi judged that responding while mounted was impossible and quickly dismounted.

Planting both feet on the ground, he rapidly moved his spear, batting away the incoming clusters of blazing qi.

BOOM!

BANG!

Each impact sent numbing shocks through his wrists, but Jo Bi grit his teeth and kept swinging his spear.

As for Junggang…

“Ghk… ngh… ghk….”

He was tanking it with his body.

Junggang had learned the Eon Clan Fist from a warrior of the Jinju Eon Clan, but his mastery was not yet complete.

He tried to dodge and block in his own way, but more than half the attacks got through.

Normally, this should have killed him.

No, before even discussing life or death, there wouldn’t be a body left intact.

After all, he was being hit by barrages of Hellfire Dragon Yado’s blazing qi.

But…

“Yow… that hurts, you know!”

Junggang was still alive.

Not only that, he stubbornly pushed forward and even swung his hand to counterattack.

Hellfire Dragon Yado dodged the attack coming straight at him.

WHOOSH!

A fist grazed past his head with terrifying force.

Hellfire Dragon Yado retreated to avoid it, then lunged forward and struck with his opposite hand.

“Die!”

BANG!

A punch infused with Seven Stars internal energy and blazing qi smashed directly into Junggang’s head.

This should have been the finishing blow…

“Ugh… that hurts.”

…but it wasn’t.

“Damn it, I’m bleeding, aren’t I?”

Junggang only had a nosebleed.

At this absurd sight, Hellfire Dragon Yado stared at his own fist, then back at Junggang’s face with disbelief.

‘Did he turn his body into steel?’

How could such a ridiculous body exist?

As Hellfire Dragon Yado was reeling in disbelief, Jo Bi’s sharp spear flew toward him.

“Hmph!”

Without even turning his gaze, Hellfire Dragon Yado swung his saber and knocked Jo Bi’s attack aside.

BANG!

“Damn it….”

Jo Bi was helplessly pushed back.

He was confident in contests of raw strength, but that blazing qi was too troublesome.

The moment they clashed, a violent explosion shoved him back, making it hard to endure.

Unable to withstand the shock, Jo Bi took a step back.

At that moment, Hellfire Dragon Yado slipped into his chest range.

He swung his saber, aiming to cut Jo Bi clean in half at the waist.

‘Block… too late….’

Jo Bi sensed death.

But he had allies.

Jang Hyun had already closed the distance and fired arrows from behind to save him.

Five arrows were loosed in a single breath, all aimed at Hellfire Dragon Yado’s vital points.

“Tch.”

Hellfire Dragon Yado had no choice but to dodge.

Thanks to that, Jo Bi survived and shouted to Jang Hyun.

“Thanks for saving me, Brother!”

“Don’t let your guard down!”

At the same time as Jang Hyun shouted, Hellfire Dragon Yado again unleashed blazing qi in all directions.

“You annoying flies! Die, all of you!”

BOOM! BOOM! BANG!

No forms, no restraint.

Just overwhelming firepower smashing everything around him.

Even though the attacks were crude, when unleashed by a monster like Hellfire Dragon Yado, they couldn’t be ignored.

The three responded by thoroughly dodging and blocking his attacks.

Jo Bi and Jang Hyun could manage to avoid them to some extent.

The problem was Junggang.

“Ghk… gh… ugh….”

Even Junggang, with his Great Strength Vajra Body, couldn’t take these attacks without damage.

As the accumulated blows mounted, blood began to flow and muscles tore.

“I’ll kill you first, you monster!”

Hellfire Dragon Yado focused his attacks on Junggang.

BOOM! BOOM BOOM! BANG!

At that moment, Hellfire Dragon Yado looked like a demon of hell wielding whips of flame.

Junggang raised both arms to block, but his posture was steadily collapsing.

“This….”

“Stop!”

Seeing their comrade in danger, Jo Bi and Jang Hyun desperately counterattacked.

Hellfire Dragon Yado didn’t block their attacks, instead using movement techniques to evade.

BOOM! BOOM BOOM!

Creating five afterimages, Hellfire Dragon Yado slipped past their attacks and again relentlessly targeted Junggang, swinging his saber.

BANG!

BOOM!

“Guh….”

Struck squarely from behind, Junggang groaned and staggered.

Hellfire Dragon Yado didn’t miss the opening and rushed forward, swinging his saber toward Junggang’s neck.

‘No matter how monstrous he is, if his head comes off, he dies.’

At that moment…

CLANG!

A sharp sword flew in and blocked Hellfire Dragon Yado’s saber.

“Hm….”

The instant their weapons met, Hellfire Dragon Yado knew.

This opponent was a skilled expert.

But that was all.

“Get lost!”

BANG!

Reinforcing his swing with blazing qi, Hellfire Dragon Yado drove the opponent back.

Instead of resisting with force, the opponent retreated smoothly and landed lightly, like a swallow.

The moment his feet touched the ground, his figure vanished.

‘Fast.’

Faster than the three before.

Fast enough to surprise even Hellfire Dragon Yado.

CLANG!

A clear sword chime rang out.

Hellfire Dragon Yado raised his saber to block a swift passing strike.

“Not bad. State your name.”

As Hellfire Dragon Yado demanded roughly, the man replied.

“Im Cheong of the Limitless Gate.”

Flying Swallow Swordsman Im Cheong.

A rare genuine expert among ronin, he had come to the Limitless Gate on his own, challenged Han Cheong-un, lost, and joined beneath him—a true duelist.

Just standing there, his body and sword seemed perfectly united, naturally putting Hellfire Dragon Yado on edge.

‘To think they were hiding an expert like this. Did the Limitless Gate still have resources to spare?’

Im Cheong was strong.

Purely in martial attainment, he might even surpass Jang Hyun or Jo Bi.

But he had one flaw…

‘Who is he?’

‘Who was that again?’

‘Feels like I’ve seen him somewhere….’

His presence was extremely low.

***

Unlike others who actively worked within the Limitless Gate, Im Cheong did not.

He usually practiced his sword in places no one noticed, and when he felt he had gained something, he challenged Han Cheong-un again.

After losing, he would return to training.

That was all.

Because of that, he received little recognition relative to his skill, and above all, his presence was almost nonexistent.

But…

“As a member of the Limitless Gate, I will cut down the intruder.”

Until the day he defeated Han Cheong-un and left the sect, Im Cheong at least acknowledged that he belonged to it.

Without hesitation, he charged Hellfire Dragon Yado.

A swift dash forward, followed by a razor-sharp strike.

Hellfire Dragon Yado blocked it and tried to counter, but Im Cheong’s sword arrived first.

A strike aimed at the neck—if avoided, it half-withdrew and stabbed at the heart.

If parried, it rotated with the flow of force and again slashed toward the neck.

When Hellfire Dragon Yado retreated to create distance, Im Cheong didn’t give him space, diving in and stabbing toward the dantian.

Relaxed, flexible, light.

His unbroken sword flow looked like a dance.

“Tch….”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Hellfire Dragon Yado could not take these attacks lightly.

Head, waist, dantian, neck, heart…

Every strike aimed only at lethal points.

This was not the sword of a martial artist.

‘A brutally practical sword.’

Hellfire Dragon Yado knew this kind of sword well.

A ronin’s sword, born not from pure cultivation, but from battlefields filled with blood and death.

Most such ronin never pass the wall of second-rate and die nameless deaths.

But some survive and step into the first-rate realm.

A first-rate ronin swordsman was a survivor of dozens of life-or-death trials.

Hellfire Dragon Yado had fought many such people.

And all of them had lost their heads to his saber.

But…

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

‘This level of sword demon is new.’

Sharpness, precision, control.

The completeness in every aspect was absurdly high.

The ronin swordsmen Hellfire Dragon Yado had met before now looked like trash.

But…

“Even so, you are not my opponent!”

BANG!

With a rough saber swing, blazing qi swept across a wide area.

A crude, merciless attack that discarded all finesse and restraint.

But its power was absolute.

Lacking the internal energy to take it head-on, Im Cheong had no choice but to retreat, deflecting as much as he could.

Once he seized momentum, Hellfire Dragon Yado pressed the attack relentlessly.

“I’ll turn you into white ash!”

[ Hellfire Dragon Saber Art: Hellfire Slash Blaze ]

Terrifying waves of blazing qi surged toward Im Cheong.

A moment of absolute crisis.

But others intervened.

“How dare you!”

“Stop it!”

Jo Bi and Junggang rushed Hellfire Dragon Yado, while Jang Hyun fired arrows to support.

Because of their interference, Hellfire Dragon Yado was forced to halt his technique mid-execution and withdraw his saber.

BANG! BOOM!

“You vermin!”

As Hellfire Dragon Yado roared in rage, Jo Bi and Junggang desperately clung to him, attacking as they shouted.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you’re an ally, we won’t abandon you!”

“Don’t know who you are either, but you seem like a good guy, so stop bullying him!”

Thus, Jo Bi and Junggang fought desperately to protect the mysterious righteous man.

And…

“Whoever you are, thank you for fighting with us.”

Jang Hyun had already moved beside Im Cheong, firing arrows as he spoke.

“I am Jang Hyun, commander of the Ronin Corps of the Limitless Gate.”

“I alr—.”

He already knew.

Same sect.

“Whoever you are, thank you for your help.”

“…….”

“Come, let us fight together for justice.”

“…….”

Of course he would.

They were from the same sect.