Chapter 202: Swift Resolution

“What in the world…”

Lee Ga-hang forgot she was in the middle of a fight and gaped at the absurd sight.

Even if the Central Heavens Realm was a mysterious place, she had never seen a Floating Stronghold appear by crossing space.

It wasn’t because she had ascended only recently.

From the beginning, she belonged to the Five Wheel Five Elements Cult, one of the most renowned groups in the Central Heavens Martial Realm. Even sects with Guardian Spirits had never possessed such a stronghold.

She didn’t know the circumstances of other sects, but surely it was the same elsewhere.

“Enemies!”

“Let’s go!”

“Whoever kills the most wins!”

A ruckus erupted from inside the stronghold as martial artists rained down in droves.

‘They’re strong.’

As soon as Lee Ga-hang saw them, her fists clenched involuntarily.

Even after ascending, she had thought she had become fairly powerful, but none of the people dropping down were weaker than her.

‘So this is the Annihilation Squad.’

The elite squad led by Jang Woo-hyun, the same group that had smashed the Demon Gathering Hall.

As if war was play to them, they plunged into the battlefield and massacred the bloodthirsty enemies.

Screams and curses erupted from all directions. Yet Lee Ga-hang didn’t turn her gaze toward the battlefield. That was because the real main force was descending from the Floating Stronghold.

A black-furred Rat Beastkin and a man wielding chained sickles.

‘Initial Third Sword and Thousand-Chain Sealed Eye.’

They were already well-known, so Lee Ga-hang knew their names too.

Receiving her gaze, Mak Ya-wol and Seo Ryeom landed near Cho-su.

“Brother Cho, where’s the Captain?”

“Woo-hyun went after the ones who ran away.”

“The ones who ran? What kind of guys were they?”

Even Mak Ya-wol seemed curious as he asked from the side.

“They turned into lightning and flew away, so I couldn’t see them properly. Anyway, he went to catch them.”

“Ah, so that’s why the Wind-Passing Great Sage bolted the moment we arrived.”

The Wind-Passing Great Sage had disappeared the moment the Floating Stronghold crossed space. Realizing that Jang Woo-hyun wasn’t here, he had moved immediately.

“Which way did he go? This way? Or that way?”

When Seo Ryeom tried to follow Jang Woo-hyun, Cho-su looked at him with exasperation.

“Just clean up here. What’re you gonna do if you go now?”

He wasn’t wrong. If Jang Woo-hyun and the Wind-Passing Great Sage had moved, then the situation would’ve already been resolved.

“…Guess I’ll just be stuck fighting small fry again.”

Disappointed, Seo Ryeom grumbled but still drew his sword. Mak Ya-wol, standing beside him, also didn’t seem pleased with the situation and swung his chained sickle widely.

KWAGWAGWAGWANG!

With a single swing, every building within range was swept away. Naturally, even the allies fighting at the front had to dive out of the way to avoid the attack.

“Whoa!”

“Captain! No, Former Captain! Are you crazy?”

“What are you attacking?!”

“Don’t you recognize your own allies, Former Captain?”

The complaints of the Annihilation Squad martial artists who dodged the attack poured out. Their reactions were expected, yet Mak Ya-wol scowled instead.

“You bastards, since when did you even care about distinguishing friend from foe? Just dodge if you know what’s good for you.”

“What a personality. Are you still stuck with such outdated thinking? Didn’t the Captain tell us? No fighting among ourselves.”

“Yeah. He said there were plenty of enemies to fight, so don’t waste your strength in the wrong places.”

“It’s time for you to change a bit.”

“You’re an elder, so listen to reason. Don’t make things harder for our young Captain. Geez, just being old doesn’t make you wise.”

Mak Ya-wol’s face crumpled further at the uncharacteristic responses from his subordinates.

“You little shits!”

As Mak Ya-wol tried to swing his chained sickle again, some martial artists subtly hid behind the rubble of the destroyed buildings.

“Captain—no, Former Captain! Please stop throwing tantrums!”

“Yeah. We’re not the brute-force Fighting Ghost Unit anymore.”

“He needs to be kicked out once to come to his senses.”

“Exactly. If he gets kicked out of Roaring Thunder Fortress, he’ll just grow old, cling to us, and ask what the fight was like.”

“Wondering why he couldn’t join the battle.”

“Man, it’s just sad.”

The bearded martial artist who spoke last wiped imaginary tears with a sorrowful expression.

As the subordinates’ scolding and mockery continued, Mak Ya-wol finally reached his limit.

“You little shits! Fine, come get a taste of the Former Captain’s fist after so long!”

Mak Ya-wol spun his chained sickle above his head. The swirling created a massive vortex, and debris around him flew into the air.

The remaining enemies were horrified by the sight, but the Annihilation Squad martial artists barely reacted. No—some even grumbled.

“If he destroys things recklessly like this, the Captain’s not gonna like it.”

“Exactly.”

“Didn’t you see last time? What if there are regular folks around here who haven’t trained in martial arts? Didn’t the Captain say to avoid harming such people as much as possible?”

“When he says stop, we should stop.”

“Hey! Since when did you care about that stuff?!”

“Are you talking about some ancient history? Like the old Fighting Ghost Unit? Pfft, please. You shouldn’t cling to the past. You gotta think about the future and move forward.”

At the last remark, Mak Ya-wol exploded.

“Just die already, you bastards!”

When Mak Ya-wol slammed down his spinning chained sickle, the debris that had flown into the sky rained down like meteors.

Martial artists, buildings, trees, walls—everything within range was utterly annihilated.

Amidst that horrific scene, the martial artists of the Annihilation Squad moved like insects avoiding a human’s hand, dodging the attack. Even while doing so, they continued attacking the surviving enemies.

After launching his wide-area attack, Mak Ya-wol now charged into the ravaged battlefield, wielding his chained sickle.

Lee Ga-hang, who had been tense since Mak Ya-wol and Seo Ryeom appeared, let out a deep sigh.

‘What the hell are these lunatics?’

They suddenly showed up, obliterated enemies, and now were fighting among themselves.

The few remaining enemies were no longer dying from direct attacks but from stray blows.

Some tried to defend and called for calm, but Mak Ya-wol didn’t hold back and continued swinging his chained sickle. That provoked retaliation, and weapons were drawn again.

The once-mighty manor was now completely demolished, with only the bare grounds remaining.

‘What a complete mess.’

She had known following Jang Woo-hyun would lead to bizarre experiences, but this was going too far.

The Wind-Passing Great Sage’s first concern was Jang Woo-hyun.

His top priority used to be battle, but being with Jang Woo-hyun naturally brought battle along. And thrilling ones at that.

So he couldn’t help but keep his attention on Jang Woo-hyun.

The moment the Floating Stronghold crossed space, the Wind-Passing Great Sage searched for Jang Woo-hyun, only to immediately realize he wasn’t nearby.

‘That way.’

Thanks to the Brand imprinted on the shoulder, the Wind-Passing Great Sage was able to locate Jang Woo-hyun faster than anyone else. The moment he sensed the trace, he moved swiftly.

After flying several thousand li from his original position, he came upon a strange scene.

Dragon King’s Scale had separated into hundreds of blade-like scales, forming a massive sphere. Inside, Jang Woo-hyun and two individuals—one male and one female, presumed enemies—were enclosed.

The Dragon King’s Scale formed a perimeter around the three.

‘What now?’

Seeing the bizarre scene, the Wind-Passing Great Sage figured something fun was happening again and quickly approached.

While fighting the male and female pair who wielded thunder, Jang Woo-hyun found them strange.

The two were at the edge of the Realm of Transcendence, barely touching the Realm of Immeasurability. They couldn’t endlessly expand their Will-Form Qi nor fully block his attacks.

Yet, they moved abnormally. Their speed was enough to surprise even Jang Woo-hyun. It far surpassed what was typical of those in the transcendence realm.

Even while using Horse King’s Second Step – Blitz Radiance, which allowed him to move at his highest speed, he couldn’t completely overwhelm them.

And from their anomalous martial prowess, Jang Woo-hyun thought of one man.

‘Ma Moon-gi.’

A man who, even in the Lower Realm, had shattered the balance of the so-called perfect Absolute Realm, and solely enhanced speed.

A genius who pursued a direction different from Jang Woo-hyun.

The two before his eyes were just like him.

‘This is interesting.’

Meeting beings like Ma Moon-gi even in the Central Heavens Realm brought inevitable excitement.

However, now wasn’t the time to fight freely. He couldn’t crush or kill them—he needed to capture them, so he couldn’t go all out.

That was the reason for the current stalemate.

If he acted immediately, he could capture one of them. But capturing both would be difficult. If the two fled in opposite directions, even Jang Woo-hyun would struggle to catch both.

‘Might be better to just fight them.’

That would settle things quickly. Before they could flee, he could simply unleash a wide-area attack and smash them. He wouldn’t need to encircle them with the Dragon King’s Scale like now.

But he couldn’t do that while searching for Ha Do-gwang’s trail.

Each side had their own reasons, and so the standoff continued.

Jang Woo-hyun was trying to capture them, while the man and woman searched for an opening to escape.

But the standoff didn’t last long. A sudden gust of wind erased the duo’s last chance.

With the wind, a White Monkey Monster appeared beside Jang Woo-hyun.

Seeing the Wind-Passing Great Sage, the eyes of the man and woman went wide as if about to tear open.

“Wind-Passing Great Sage…”

“So it was true.”

They had heard rumors that the Annihilation Squad included the Wind-Passing Great Sage, but they didn’t believe it. They had assumed people were mistaking a monkey spirit summoned by a shaman for him.

That was the usual reaction. Given the Wind-Passing Great Sage’s infamy, no one could imagine he would ever join forces with anyone.

But seeing him in person, feeling his presence—they knew now. It was true that he was with the Annihilation Squad.

“You’re here.”

“Uhehehe, what kind of trick is this?”

“Those two are kind of strange.”

“Strange? How so?”

“Just take a good look. Don’t you feel it?”

At Jang Woo-hyun’s words, the Wind-Passing Great Sage inspected the pair.

“Hmm?”

A faint aura—one that resembled the one emanating from the Sea Star Thunder Spirit Serpent embedded in the side of the Cult Leader of the Five Elements Cult.

“It’s faint, but it’s that guy’s power.”

“Right?”

“Seems like you found them properly. So what’s this, then?”

The Wind-Passing Great Sage pointed at the blade scales of the Dragon King’s Scale, which hovered like a cage.

“Was keeping them from escaping.”

“Could’ve just caught them.”

“I told you—they’re strange. Their speed is unnatural.”

The Wind-Passing Great Sage narrowed his eyes. The man and woman didn’t seem so strong that Jang Woo-hyun should say such things.

“Don’t get it.”

“You’ll understand when you clash with them. Just take them down one by one. Oh, but don’t kill them. We need to capture them.”

“Isn’t capturing one enough?”

“Who knows what each of them might know. Gotta catch both. Don’t kill.”

Hearing such troublesome orders, the Wind-Passing Great Sage frowned. Before he could complain, Jang Woo-hyun spoke first.

“If we catch them, we get more candy balls. Not two, but three or four. Let’s go.”

Without waiting for a reply, Jang Woo-hyun moved. The Wind-Passing Great Sage followed right behind.

Jang Woo-hyun headed toward the man. The Wind-Passing Great Sage moved toward the woman.

He closed the distance quickly and aimed for her shoulder. He intended to smash it—but his hand sliced through empty air.

“Huh?”

He moved again to grab her side. Once again, his attack failed to land.

“Oh!”

Only then did he understand what Jang Woo-hyun meant.

She was faster than expected. A speed impossible with the power she possessed.

KRRAANG!

Thunder roared as the young woman transformed into lightning. Her speed increased. The blade of thunder grazed the Wind-Passing Great Sage’s side.

‘Well, now.’

The woman, transformed into lightning, possessed speed comparable to his own.

Several exchanges followed. Each time, the Wind-Passing Great Sage was taken aback.

“Uhehehe.”

Laughter escaped from the Wind-Passing Great Sage’s lips. The unexpectedly fun opponent made his excitement rise.

The surrounding air shook. A storm surged around him.

Storm and thunder engulfed the world.

Even as lightning burned his hand, the Wind-Passing Great Sage reached out. He was about to tear her apart—

Then remembered Jang Woo-hyun’s words.

– We need to catch them to get more candy balls.

His hand, reaching out to seize her, froze.

He had to endure—for now.

If these ones were this fun, how fun would the one called Left Protector be? Thinking that, he could hold back the urge to kill.

“WAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Feeling delighted, the Wind-Passing Great Sage changed course—his hand grabbed her arm.

Instead of her neck, he would rip off a limb. Just so long as she didn’t die, it was fine.

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