Chapter 252: Another World

When Jang Woo-hyun was dragged into an unknown space, a massive red sphere appeared in the place where he had originally stood.

The suddenly formed red sphere did not resemble a solid object. It looked more like thick liquid gathered together into a shape.

Sensing the anomaly, the Wind-Passing Great Sage approached the red sphere and struck it directly.

Whooom!

Even though he put considerable force into the blow, there was no rebound. It felt as though the attacking power simply slipped somewhere and vanished.

The Wind-Passing Great Sage frowned and gathered his strength once more. This time he struck the sphere with the intention of shattering it in one blow.

But once again, the force was sucked in and disappeared.

Strangely, the power vanished, yet his hand did not penetrate the sphere. The white monkey’s hand simply stopped at the surface of the sphere.

“What in the world is this?”

Mak Ya-wol, who had been swinging his chain sickle in the distance, approached. He also attacked several times, but he could not damage the red sphere.

“It feels like hitting empty air. The force just slides right in.”

“I’m not sure, but it looks like some kind of passage.”

“A passage? You mean it leads somewhere? Wait, then the captain isn’t trapped—he was dragged somewhere?”

“To be exact, I’m not certain either. We should have a sorcerer analyze it properly—wait, what’s that now?”

The eyes of the Wind-Passing Great Sage, who rarely became flustered, trembled greatly. Mak Ya-wol turned his gaze in the same direction and was equally shocked.

Rumble—

The Thunderous Lightning Fortress was flying toward them at tremendous speed.

“What? Why is it suddenly doing that?”

Ignoring Mak Ya-wol’s confusion, the Thunderous Lightning Fortress raised hundreds of defensive Dharma Treasures in front of it and collided directly with the red sphere.

BOOOOM!

A heavy sound echoed in all directions.

Naturally, the Thunderous Lightning Fortress failed to break the red sphere.

Even the attacks of the Wind-Passing Great Sage and Mak Ya-wol had no effect. A simple brute-force charge like that had no chance.

But from the beginning, the Thunderous Lightning Fortress had not moved to destroy the red sphere.

It was simply because it rushed forward without thinking about the consequences.

“Brother!”

“Woo-hyun!”

Cho-su and Jin Ha-un burst out from inside the Thunderous Lightning Fortress.

Around Cho-su floated numerous artifacts and Dharma Treasures, while Jin Ha-un held his sword drawn. The two of them were connected by a shining thin thread.

Both of their faces were stiff.

Being separated from Jang Woo-hyun like this was a memory they never wanted to recall, so the two could not help but panic.

Once again, only Jang Woo-hyun had disappeared.

Just like that day long ago when he had stayed behind alone to face the True Immortal descending from the heavens.

They had trained relentlessly and built the Demon-Slaying Thunder Cannon and the Thunderous Lightning Fortress to prevent exactly this kind of separation.

Yet they still could not stop it.

Cho-su and Jin Ha-un lost their composure and rushed toward the red sphere before anyone could stop them.

“Attacks don’t work on it, so—huh? What is that?”

The red sphere, which had not reacted even to the attacks of the Wind-Passing Great Sage and Mak Ya-wol, suddenly split apart under Jin Ha-un’s sword.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jin Ha-un immediately leaped into the interior of the sphere.

Cho-su, who was connected to him by the shining thread, was dragged in as well.

And one more person.

“Brother Cho!”

Seo Ryeom, who was nearby, followed them in order to stop the two who had lost their senses.

The Wind-Passing Great Sage and Mak Ya-wol quickly approached the place where the three had disappeared.

But the split in the sphere had already vanished.

They attacked the spot Jin Ha-un had cut, but nothing changed. Just like before, the force simply sank inward.

No matter how many times they repeated it, nothing changed.

For some reason, the red sphere could only be cut by Jin Ha-un’s sword.

The ones left behind could do nothing.

Cho-su, Jin Ha-un, and Seo Ryeom.

The red sphere that swallowed the three simply remained there silently.

Jang Woo-hyun could not understand what was happening.

‘I’m suffocating?’

He had already transcended the human body, so there was no reason for him to suffocate.

For Jang Woo-hyun, breathing and eating were merely habits left over from when he had been an ordinary human.

They had no real meaning anymore.

Even the Wind-Passing Great Sage had said he was similar to a Spirit Form, meaning he had long surpassed humanity.

Yet strangely enough, his breathing was blocked.

He could not breathe.

And that was not the end.

Suddenly, Jang Woo-hyun coughed up blood.

‘Blood?’

Like someone suffering internal injuries.

Like a martial artist who had fallen into Qi Deviation.

He suddenly vomited blood.

That made no sense either.

His body was no longer made of flesh, yet he was vomiting blood.

“Ugh.”

This time his vision distorted.

He felt so dizzy he could barely stand.

‘An illusion…?’

The thought crossed his mind.

But only briefly.

His thoughts would not continue.

He could not form judgments.

It felt as if tiny insects were gnawing at his brain.

He tried to stand upright and breathe.

He forced his breath out and slowly inhaled, but there was no natural energy around him.

Just forcing himself to breathe caused his body to deteriorate.

The only things around him were poisonous energy and harmful gases.

Simply living and breathing was destroying his body.

The world itself was rejecting him.

Life itself was disappearing.

Crunch.

Jang Woo-hyun clenched his teeth and focused his mind as much as possible.

He tried to slowly gather his energy.

But even that failed.

‘Everything’s a mess.’

It was like someone who had never properly learned martial arts.

Like someone suffering severe internal injuries.

His Internal Energy could not flow properly and kept breaking apart.

He had surpassed humanity and reached the Infinite Realm.

Yet now he was losing that power and falling downward.

From the end of the Infinite Realm to Transcendence.

From the Transcendence Realm to the Absolute Realm.

And from the peak of the Absolute Realm to its very entrance.

As he felt himself plunging endlessly into an abyss, Jang Woo-hyun felt fear.

He wanted to curl up and hide somewhere.

Deep underground.

Or inside some cave.

He wanted everything to stop.

Just as the feeling of giving up began to grow—

An unexpected sound pulled him back.

“AAAAAAAH!”

A familiar voice.

Jang Woo-hyun turned toward the direction of the scream.

Through his distorted vision, he saw a Beastkin rat with black fur.

“Senior Seo?”

He had no idea how he got here, but Seo Ryeom was rolling across the ground screaming.

“What on earth are you—”

At the absurd situation, Jang Woo-hyun realized that he himself had been curling up as well.

He immediately focused his mind again.

He abandoned all thoughts about where this place was, what was around them, or whether enemies were present.

He focused only on his own condition.

As time passed, things gradually improved.

He had not fully regained his strength, but he was at least able to understand the situation.

‘I didn’t cough up blood.’

It was not blood.

It was his life force and Internal Energy.

The power he possessed had been draining away in real time.

Because of his distorted senses and vision, he had only felt as if he were vomiting blood and unable to breathe.

‘Don’t think about anything else.’

He focused only on himself.

He thought of nothing else.

The pain had not completely disappeared, and his strength had not returned, but his soul stabilized and the Nascent Soul that had been about to scatter solidified again.

After a while, Jang Woo-hyun was finally able to move his body.

He walked toward Seo Ryeom, who was rolling on the ground, grabbed the back of his neck, and lifted him up.

“Senior Seo! Get a hold of yourself! Focus! Don’t think about anything else—focus on yourself!”

“AAAAAAAH!”

Even after the explanation, Seo Ryeom continued screaming.

Fortunately, Jang Woo-hyun knew one method that worked in situations like this.

He lightly stabbed Seo Ryeom’s side with the Black Wilds Sword, whose blade was wrapped in black energy.

The condensed curse of the Black Wilds Sword flowed into the wound.

Seo Ryeom felt indescribable pain.

“AAAA—UGH! GHK! AAGH!”

“Senior Seo! Focus! Don’t think about anything else! Focus only on yourself! Think about maintaining your existence!”

After shouting several times, the overturned whites of Seo Ryeom’s eyes returned to normal.

“Cap… captain? C-Captain! Where… where are we?”

Both of them were still in pain and confusion.

“I don’t know either. But… how did you get here?”

Even speaking was difficult in a situation where simply maintaining consciousness required all their effort.

“Huff… huff… You… disappeared… and a huge sphere… appeared. Ha-un and Brother Cho… went inside… so I followed.”

At the mention of Cho-su and Jin Ha-un, Jang Woo-hyun’s eyes widened.

If Seo Ryeom was here, then those two must also have entered this place.

Which meant they were in danger.

He had to find them quickly.

Supporting Seo Ryeom, Jang Woo-hyun looked around.

The sky was dark and gloomy like it was covered in storm clouds, yet faint red light flickered through it.

The land was gray.

Scattered black trees stood around, as though they had been burned by fire.

Other than that, there was nothing.

No animals.

No insects.

Not even rocks.

It looked as if the world itself had been burned away, leaving nothing alive.

“Where… is this… Ugh… focus. Focus.”

Even thinking about anything other than maintaining himself was difficult.

Jang Woo-hyun forced himself to think about finding Cho-su and Jin Ha-un and tried to move slowly.

But before he could take even a few steps—

“Oh! There really are people!”

Two figures were flying toward them through the air on a flying apparatus.

They quickly approached and landed nearby.

Jang Woo-hyun raised the Black Wilds Sword and stepped forward.

‘Their strength…’

He tried to gauge their level, but it was not easy.

He did not even know his own exact strength right now, so how could he measure others?

He could not even properly move the Internal Energy inside his body, let alone expand his Qi perception.

He could only grip the Black Wilds Sword tightly.

The two who had arrived were a thin woman with disheveled gray hair and a fat bald man.

The man wore no shirt, and on his abdomen there was a massive mouth.

The two shared a common trait.

Neither of their eyes contained any light.

They looked like corpses.

“Sister, someone really did fall through the crack.”

“So it seems. How long has it been?”

The two smacked their lips while talking.

“Where is this place? We are from the Demon-Slaying—”

“Kyaa! The food even talks!”

“They’re still alive, so they must be very fresh!”

Jang Woo-hyun tried to talk to them, but they did not respond.

Instead, the two suddenly rushed forward.

They had already been emitting hostile energy from the beginning, so Jang Woo-hyun was prepared.

He reacted quickly and raised the Black Wilds Sword to defend.

An attack he should have easily blocked.

“…!”

But his body did not move properly.

The Internal Energy he once controlled as naturally as breathing broke apart as if his acupoints were blocked.

Just deflecting the woman’s claws once caused Jang Woo-hyun to lose his balance.

The fat man’s fist struck him directly.

BOOM!

Even in that moment he twisted his body to defend, but he could not block it completely.

Jang Woo-hyun was blasted nearly ten jang away and rolled across the ground.

“Captain!”

Seo Ryeom straightened his body and jumped forward.

But his condition was worse than Jang Woo-hyun’s, and he could not block the claws moving in front of him.

Barely avoiding a fatal wound, Seo Ryeom retreated—only to be sent flying by a kick.

Just like Jang Woo-hyun, he rolled across the ground.

“Kyaaahaha! These ones are really fresh! They’ve got strength!”

“Sister, let’s pick one each and kill them.”

“No. It’s been so long since we hunted. Let’s split them in half and share.”

“Hehehe, that sounds good!”

As the two approached laughing happily, Jang Woo-hyun slowly rose to his feet.

The Black Wilds Sword in his right hand.

The Dragon King’s Scale in his left.

Holding both swords, he assumed a stance.

He took a deep breath.

But there was still no energy around him that he could absorb.

His thoughts would not flow properly.

His body would not move as he wished.

The worst possible situation.

Yet the corner of Jang Woo-hyun’s lips slowly curled upward.

And the atmosphere changed.

“Captain…”

Seo Ryeom called to him from the side, but Jang Woo-hyun did not respond.

He simply straightened his body.

The smile on his face slowly deepened.

A world he had never seen before.

Enemies whose level he could not measure.

A body that would not move as he wished.

The conditions were overwhelmingly unfavorable.

But he had no intention of giving up.

Rather, he intended to enjoy the fight.

Watching his back as he stepped forward toward another challenge, Seo Ryeom felt chills run down his spine.

‘He’s excited to fight in a situation like this? That’s not normal… he’s just insane…’

At this moment—

More than this unknown world.

More than the enemies before them.

The most terrifying thing was Jang Woo-hyun.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep