Chapter 175 : Jaseung, Is Amazing

Chapter 175: Jaseung, Is Amazing

The first to react was Bird.

He sprang into the air, showing off his specialty, brilliant lightness skill.

“Everyone, attack together!”

It was the right call and a wise judgment. The pity was that no one followed through, and that shout became the last words he left in this world.

Sshhhk! Thud!

Lee Jaseung flicked a throwing dagger and knocked him out of the sky. Like a bird pierced by a hunter’s arrow, he dropped and hit the ground. No one had expected Lee Jaseung to suddenly throw a dagger.

Their attempt to combine attacks broke off at once.

He looked as if he fought on impulse, but every move had been calculated. Each technique carried immense focus and inner Qi.

Beast unleashed a storm of hidden weapons.

Swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip!

It didn’t even look thrown, it looked scattered by the handful.

More and faster than something fired from a mechanism.

Pew pew pew pew pew pew!

Lee Jaseung cut aside what he had to avoid and deflected what he had to meet, daggers ringing.

The moment they thought it was impressive, everyone froze in shock.

Beast was already down.

Amid the dozens of incoming projectiles, a single dagger had flown the opposite way.

It was buried in Beast’s heart.

Only the Elder Demon Lord and the Four Demon Lords saw him release that simultaneous throw.

While others still looked confused, Lee Jaseung’s figure vaulted through the air again.

The target was Yang.

Yang swung with both palms, throwing everything he had.

Swaaash, swaash.

Overwhelming palm force poured out from his hands.

Lee Jaseung weaved left and right, slipping past the force.

Boom, boom!

The floor where he had stood flipped. As Yang’s fourth blast missed, in that same instant,

Crack!

Lee Jaseung smashed Yang’s shoulder with his knee.

Yang stumbled, reeling.

Crunch.

The next moment, his neck twisted and he dropped where he stood. From the start, the attack had been a linked sequence, shoulder first, neck next.

The warriors went rigid, as if caught in an invisible net. Their bodies would not move as usual.

They knew the feeling well. Death had perched on their shoulders, and their limbs had grown heavy.

Watching him fight, the Elder Demon Lord laughed loudly.

“That crazy brat has some skill.”

He looked to the First Lord, who answered with good cheer.

“Haha, so he does.”

A strange light slid through the Elder Demon Lord’s eyes a heartbeat later.

The First Lord was smiling, but both his fists were clenched tight. He did not even realize how hard he was squeezing.

His reason was sure they could beat this man, but his instincts were reacting otherwise.

The remaining three lords watched with taut faces, analyzing every exchange. Somewhere along the way, Lee Jaseung’s movements had begun to press on them.

When the Elder Demon Lord turned back, Sea was staggering, his thigh split open by a long cut.

Thud, thud.

Lee Jaseung drove daggers mercilessly into his back. Sea crumpled face-first.

This time Lee Jaseung soared upward.

The target was Yin, who had been hiding there.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

Stabbed five times in a row, Yin’s form flickered into view and hit the ground. His breath had already ended.

Swaaaaaash!

A colossal blade Qi scythed across where Lee Jaseung had been.

Pine had drawn up every scrap of inner Qi and unleashed a saber wave.

The single stroke devastated the ground.

“I killed him!”

Pine shouted in delight.

A moment later, his bright grin went rigid. He felt killing intent from behind. His face said it all.

‘When did he get there?’

Slice!

His neck came off in one clean cut and he toppled, dead.

Lee Jaseung stood behind him.

Void lunged with a final strike. His mind was half gone by this point. He had never imagined a scene like this, and neither had the comrades who were already dead.

His end was no different from theirs. For all the frenzy of his attack, he soon returned to nothing, as his name foretold.

With him, every warrior the enemy faction had sent breathed his last.

“Whew.”

Lee Jaseung let out a long breath.

In the fighting so far, of the five hundred and forty years worth of inner Qi, he had spent two hundred and forty. What remained was three hundred. Considering the foes still ahead, that was not a lot.

Truthfully, he could have reduced the consumption further.

To do that, he would have had to show everything. He chose instead to spend more Qi and make the enemy relax their guard.

Clap, clap, clap!

The Elder Demon Lord applauded.

“Splendid, truly splendid! I’ve never seen such a clean execution in my life.”

He genuinely acknowledged Lee Jaseung’s skill, and admired him all the more because he was young.

Even so, he felt at ease. However outstanding the man, he was still beneath him, or so he was sure. The effort Lee Jaseung had made to hide his true strength had not gone to waste.

The Four Demon Lords were excited at the thought of fighting him. It had been a long time since an opponent stirred their blood.

Had the Elder Demon Lord known that Lee Jaseung held five hundred and forty years worth of inner Qi, he never would have given this order.

“He hasn’t much Qi left. Drag this out and fight him in rotating wheels.”

The First Lord answered,

“Do not worry. We’ve already read the bastard’s methods.”

Lee Jaseung gave a curious smile, and the Second Lord asked with an annoyed look,

“Why are you smiling?”

He slid Asura back into his belt and said,

“Because I’m going to use something else.”

That surprised the Elder Demon Lord and the Four Demon Lords alike.

But the Elder Demon Lord quickly sneered.

“He’s stalling for time to recover his inner Qi. What a shallow fool.”

Before the words even ended, Lee Jaseung flashed forward.

His target was the Fourth Lord of the Four Demon Lords.

He moved faster than he had when facing the first thirty masters, faster than the second round against ten.

And now his speed climbed higher still. He crossed the distance in a blink and crashed into the Fourth Lord.

Swiiiish.

“Watch out!”

Swords from the other Lords stabbed in from left and right in perfect unison. They had believed their formation left no blind angles.

Twisting in midair, Lee Jaseung slid between the thrusts.

Flash! Swish!

Two blades skimmed past him, and two bit into his waist and shoulder.

He slipped through the four-sword net and smashed into the Fourth Lord. For a moment it looked as if they tangled,

Crunch.

The Fourth Lord’s neck twisted all the way around, and he collapsed without a single cry.

Flicking his hands once, Lee Jaseung staunched the blood at his waist and shoulder.

They all stared, blank for a beat at the unforeseen result.

They had been shocked that he broke through their combined assault. Even so, they had never thought the Fourth Lord would fall in a single exchange to a wounded opponent. Worse, the man had been unarmed.

The Elder Demon Lord spoke with a sigh.

“Yield flesh, take bone!”

It meant he had to take a hit to give one. He took a hit from the blades to get rid of one of the Four Lords. Against a formation attack, that was the one thing you had to do, cut one down quickly and break their balance.

As expected, Demonic Qi burst from the eyes of the remaining three lords poured out.

“You damned bastard!”

The three flew at him together. Having lost a comrade so pointlessly, their attacks turned savage.

Retreating, Lee Jaseung looked for his moment. When foes go mad, there are two ways to respond. Step back a pace, or hunt for an opening inside their fury.

But his enemies weren’t careless enough to open a gap just because they were angry. In that case, he had to fall back.

He waited for their storm to empty itself.

Swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip, swhip!

Sword Qi poured like rain.

The earth tore open and trees toppled. If they had been indoors, he could never have avoided it. Luckily, the space here was wide.

No rain falls forever.

The downpour cut off in an instant.

The shift from a furious assault to ordinary offense, that was the very instant he had been waiting for.

As the three set their stances from three directions, his figure shot toward the Second Lord.

Sshhhk.

“Watch out!”

Cried the First Lord.

The Second Lord wasn’t one to take it head on. He thrust for Lee Jaseung’s throat.

Swish!

Blood sprayed from Lee Jaseung’s neck.

But the price the Second Lord paid was far greater.

Boom!

Lee Jaseung’s elbow smashed into his solar plexus. His protective Qi shattered, and a crushing impact drove through his chest.

“Gugh!”

He spat blood.

A heartbeat late, the First and Third Lords’ blades swept for Lee Jaseung’s back.

Spinning fast, Lee Jaseung slid behind the Second Lord. With that human shield in place, the follow-up stopped.

In that same moment,

Craaaash!

His fist hammered the Second Lord’s back. With his protection broken by the earlier strike, he couldn’t take it. His ribs shattered and he pitched forward.

“Urgh.”

Writhing on the ground with a ragged groan, he breathed his last.

Lee Jaseung stood smiling coldly.

The First and Third Lords’ faces grew grim. They had to admit it now.

‘He fights well.’

‘He fights extremely well.’

They both reached the same conclusion in turn. The Second and Fourth Lords hadn’t fallen to bad luck. Their opponent’s skill was a cut above.

The Elder Demon Lord knew it too, yet with arms folded he only watched in silence. He no longer judged Lee Jaseung out loud. He simply studied, minutely, how the man fought.

The First and Third Lords charged from left and right, pouring everything they had. However great their foe’s skill was, there was hope. No one had infinite Qi after all.

From the previous exchange he had spent yet another sixty years worth of inner Qi. What remained now was two hundred and forty.

Papapapapang!

He drove forward with a flurry of punches, then yielded ground under their rough counterassault.

He still didn’t rush. Calm, infuriatingly calm, he dealt with them.

As he fought them, he felt inwardly how much he had grown.

It was clearly different from his past battles.

Everything clicked into place as if measured with a ruler, the killing techniques, the footwork, the mindset itself.

Everything fit into place.

It was a clean feeling.

He wanted to continue feeling this sensation.

And that feeling brought an unexpected change to the fight.