Chapter 372

Chapter 372
## Chapter 372

Rehearsal (5)

“Gah! What is this nonsense?!”

“Retreat! Rebuild the line!”

The combatants of the Murim Alliance scrambled backward, frantically attempting to reform their fractured defense.

The abrupt descent of lightning had not actually claimed any lives, as the electrical currents had intentionally bypassed the living humans, striking solely at the mass-produced jiangshi.

Nevertheless, not a single soul interpreted this as a positive development.

Crackle!

Screeech—

The collapsed jiangshi, their limbs twitching and convulsing on the ground, suddenly commenced a process akin to… hatching.

Bizarre entities, tearing through the flesh of their hosts, gradually rose to their feet.

A few bore a passing resemblance to humankind, whereas others were distinctly predatory, their visages warped and nightmarish.

Their dimensions varied wildly as well, ranging from standard human proportions to… gargantuan proportions, their colossal statures making it seem physically impossible for the modest jiangshi corpses to have contained them.

Clip-clop— Clip-clop—

Yunhak, the Flowing Cloud Sword, an enduring practitioner of the Kunlun Sect, swallowed hard and locked his eyes onto the advancing entity, its hooves drumming against the earth in a steady cadence.

A quadrapedal predator standing over three meters tall, its weathered coat a muted gray, its jagged, obsidian horns pointing skyward like twin falchions, and its hooves bleeding a radiating heat reminiscent of purgatory’s blazes.

‘…Could that be… a Kirin?’

A mythical divine beast, spoken of in legends as an equal to the mighty dragons.

Yet this corrupted creature’s menacing presentation shared no common ground with the merciful entity described in folklore.

[“Huu…”]

An inky, swirling vapor, evocative of the deepest trenches of the underworld, spilled from the Kirin’s jaws, liquefying the soil beneath its paws.

Yunhak shuddered and involuntarily retreated a pace when he locked eyes with the beast, its crimson eyes ablaze with unbridled malice.

He understood the truth immediately.

He was entirely outmatched. He would fail to even impede its progress.

‘To contend with an abomination of that caliber… ’

…A martial artist would need to possess the depth of the Master Realm… or more accurately, the Mysterious Realm.

Naturally, he lacked absolute certainty, given that he had never participated in a confrontation of such elevated magnitude… but the suffocating pressure of the Kirin left no room for doubt.

Furthermore, his internal calculation was remarkably accurate.

Even in its current defiled state as a jiangshi, with its natural vitality suppressed, it had originally been a high-ranking authority within the Golden Island Sect’s hierarchy.

‘What madness have you unleashed, Demonic Cult?’

He ground his teeth together, tightening his white-knuckled grip around his hilt.

He doubted that every single monstrosity belonged to the Mysterious Realm tier. Their individual capabilities surely fluctuated… but that realization offered cold comfort.

Judging by the sheer volume of these massive shapes, there were easily a hundred beasts present.

‘…I held onto the belief that solidarity would grant us triumph. But it appears… our efforts are belated.’

While the various schools of Murim were occupied with internal bickering, the Demonic Cult, operating from the shadows, had been meticulously engineering this exact scenario.

They had accumulated far too much influence for a fractured Murim to hold at bay.

“Huu… Haa…”

“What in damnation—?! What are those fiends? Where did they originate…?”

“Ugh, there must be… some path forward…”

The sight of legendary beasts, once confined to old fables, now arrayed against them as hostile entities radiating lethal intent, completely shattered the remaining confidence of the Murim fighters.

Even the individuals who had been desperately fighting to keep their terror at bay succumbed to a profound sense of hopelessness.

Simultaneously, the Mysterious Realm masters, locked in perilous duels, were also finding themselves pushed to the brink.

Their countenances turned somber, their eyes heavy with anxiety.

“What is the matter? Have you finally grasped the pointlessness of your defiance?”

The Heavenly Demon, openly sneering at their hopelessness, surveyed the theater of war with a malicious grin playing on his lips.

“Hehehe— Have you finally conceded? Your struggle was commendable, but utterly futile. You never possessed a path to victory.”

Flap— Flap—

An immense avian creature, its wings spanning multiple meters, drifted in circles above his position, its dark plumage bleeding a malevolent pressure.

A Black Phoenix, possessing unmistakable potency.

The unstable equilibrium that the alliance had managed to preserve up to this juncture dissolved entirely.

At this current trajectory, annihilation was guaranteed.

‘The end has arrived.’

Master Wu Jin, maintaining his fierce resistance despite possessing only a single arm, Heavenly General, his steadfast partner, Sword Saint Namgung Woo, locked in combat with his lifelong rival, the Heavenly Crushing Sword Emperor, who had gradually been overcoming the Blood Demon jiangshi, and even Blood Asura, the Mysterious Realm combatant from the unorthodox factions, who had been systematically dismantling the Master Realm jiangshi…

…every single one of them arrived at the identical deduction.

The objective had failed.

This clash for the survival of the realm would conclude with the annihilation of the Murim Alliance.

The decree of the Heavenly Demon would become absolute, and the Murim, stripped of its primary martial assets, would never rise from the ashes.

They stood paralyzed, faces drained of color, hearts weighed down by bleakness.

“Hahaha! What a load of garbage!”

Yet a single voice rang out,

…a lunatic operating at the absolute vanguard of the conflict,

…flatly denied the reality of defeat.

Kaboom—!

He offered no lengthy rebuttal.

He merely sprinted directly toward the Heavenly Demon, burying his fist straight into the tyrant’s jaw.

“An exercise in futility.”

The Heavenly Demon effortlessly deflected the strike and remarked, his tone laced with dark amusement.

The warrior had only managed to contend with him previously with the backing of two additional masters. Isolating himself meant he stood zero chance of success.

“Like I give a damn! The curtain doesn’t fall until I say so! Come on, round two!”

Yet Harley remained entirely unfazed by the mathematical impossibility.

He intended to execute his own desires, fulfilling what he perceived as his obligation.

“Open your miserable eyes, you cowards! A grand stage like this won’t present itself twice! Are you truly planning to lay down and die just because the odds are garbage?! Are you going to walk away from a beautiful battlefield like this?!”

His thunderous shouts reverberated across the plains, his syllables dripping with raw passion.

Even so, the frequency of his strikes against the Heavenly Demon never waned for a second.

“Occasionally, recognizing the moment to fall back is deemed a commendable quality.”

“Hahaha! What does running accomplish? Does cooked meat rain down from the clouds? I’d much rather sprint forward and bite the dust on my own terms!”

If the final destination remained unchanged, he preferred to orchestrate his own journey.

To meekly bow before destiny, or to fight until the blood ran dry, bones fractured, and spirit pulverized.

Harley unhesitatingly opted for the path of violence.

“I happen to be… exceptionally pigheaded. I utterly despise watching the bad guys get what they want!”

Even if his demise was set in stone, he refused to let his adversary claim an easy triumph.

If the tyrant wished to rejoice, he would be forced to do so with a battered frame, stepping over Harley’s pulverized bones with bleeding feet.

He would guarantee that outcome—.

An egoistic proclamation, a ferocious cry of defiance.

As his declarations rang through the air, the demoralized combatants blinked away their despair, gazing upward with expressions shifting from bewilderment to… deep respect.

“Ha… Ahaha…”

“The man is… something else. Quite remarkable, truly.”

“…I believe I comprehend the underlying point he is making.”

Naturally, not every individual aligned with his philosophy.

Yet they grasped his fundamental purpose, his unyielding resolve.

“Indeed, we cannot simply roll over.”

“I fully intend to drag as many of these freaks to the grave with me as possible.”

“…My toddler is barely three. I refuse to die here.”

The suffocating gloom began to fracture, replaced by a volatile cocktail of raw human drives.

Bitterness, fury, and an unadulterated instinct to see the next dawn.

“Hahaha! I’m finally catching my stride! Let’s keep this party going, pal!”

“…That unclad barbarian proves to be an incredible nuisance.”

Harley’s unexpected escalation of martial power, as though he had tapped into an untapped reservoir of strength, served as a massive catalyst for the surrounding troops.

Furthermore, the jiangshi were ultimately mere automatons, dependent on the commands of their creators.

They were under no obligation to slaughter every single beast. They merely needed to sever the heads of the puppeteers.

If they could somehow… by any means… hold the line until the primary champions brought down the Heavenly Demon…

…salvation was not entirely out of the question.

The frontline soldiers and mystical specialists traded rapid looks.

Their battle arrays, which had originally been strictly partitioned by specific clans and distinct combat methodologies, had degraded into a jumbled web due to the protracted nature of the engagement.

Utilizing the specialized formations of the Zhuge Clan, they possessed the capability to seamlessly integrate into adjacent squads when their own units disintegrated… but their combat coordination suffered immensely when forced to cooperate with historical adversaries.

‘Yet under these circumstances… ’

‘…Tsk, choice is a luxury we lack.’

Their very existence hung in the balance.

The entity that sought to wipe them from the earth, threatening their ancestral homes and legacies, stood directly before their eyes.

They lacked the leisure to complain about the lineage of the man guarding their flank.

“Hey, Black Spear, I’m taking point. Keep the blind spots clear.”

“The name is the Crescent Moon Spear, idiot. Keep them distracted and I’ll put a hole through their skulls.”

Burying their ancient grudges, familial rivalries, and deeply ingrained paranoia, they stood spine-to-spine.

Should one stumble, the companion would inevitably perish next.

An authentic coalition, hammered out within the fires of annihilation.

Resembling a dying flame gathering its remaining fuel for a final, blinding flare, a fierce and resolute pressure burst forth from the ranks of the Murim Alliance.

This sudden shift in momentum did not escape the notice of the Mysterious Realm veterans, who understood the grim calculus of the field better than anyone.

“Haha! That lunatic suits my tastes! I must demand a duel if we survive this.”

Blood Asura, a warrior wielding iron gauntlets tipped with razor-sharp extensions, licked his lips before rocketing toward a towering fiend that stood thrice his own size.

The remaining masters similarly threw themselves back into their respective frays.

Granted, a sudden burst of morale could not entirely bridge the monumental chasm in raw martial power.

It merely functioned as a temporary stay of execution.

Their newfound grit would eventually yield to exhaustion…

Yet prior to that inevitable collapse,

…the battlefield shifted once more.

———!

A silent beam of concentrated luminescence, resembling a concentrated ray of energy, pierced the atmosphere.

It traveled directly toward the Black Phoenix that was hovering above the Heavenly Demon, disrupting the defensive cover it provided.

Kaboom—!

[“Screech—!”]

The marksman’s strike, executed with flawless accuracy and immense velocity, shredded the wing of the Black Phoenix, causing the avian monster to plummet out of the sky.

It had focused too heavily on managing the ground forces to anticipate a threat from the periphery.

The combatants who witnessed the sudden takedown pivoted their attention toward the trajectory of the projectile.

Prominent among them was Zhuge Howon, the Leader of the Zhuge Clan.

‘Hold on, that particular signature… ’

The martial energy was instantly recognizable.

Harisu, the enigmatic powerhouse who had originally guided Ha Seung-hoon to the stronghold of the Zhuge Clan.

He had remained unaccounted for during the opening movements, but he had ultimately chosen this critical juncture to make his presence known.

‘…His arrival is tardy, yet immensely welcome.’

He scanned the horizon for Harisu, intending to signal his appreciation…

…only to witness an entirely different, completely implausible phenomenon.

“…What under the heavens…?”

An entity was rapidly navigating the airspace from the far horizon.

An immense construct, measuring roughly six meters in length, its physical form woven from dense, purified spiritual energy… a dragon.

Furthermore, it served as a mount for several individuals clinging to its spine.

“…Did that boy actually pull off the impossible?”

His eyes dilated in sheer astonishment as he identified the passengers riding the spiritual beast.

Ha Seung-hoon, his temporary ally, who had given his word to uncover a method to liberate the captives.

Alongside Zhuge Hyemi, his own daughter, who had been abducted by the operatives of the Demonic Cult.

“Ha… Hahaha… I harbored severe doubts regarding their prospects. Yet what manner of entity is that? A spiritual summoning? Some forgotten art of sorcery?”

While he observed the descending dragon in utter bewilderment, the beast touched down directly in the epicenter of the Murim Alliance’s defensive cluster.

A handful of airborne monsters and Demonic Cult operatives attempted to intercept the landing, but they were systematically dropped by long-range rifle fire, their lifeless forms raining down onto the soil.

“…By what means?”

The features of the Heavenly Demon twisted into a harsh scowl as he took in the sudden development.

“What are you fools standing around for?! Terminate them immediately!”

An unprecedented flash of panic escaped the lips of the typically unflappable mastermind.

He attempted to reposition himself, but Harley, maintaining his relentless assault, completely cut off his path of retreat.

“Hahaha! Where do you think you’re off to, gorgeous?!”

“You wretched insect…!”

Even an entity as supreme as the Heavenly Demon could not entirely disregard such suicidal, high-frequency strikes, particularly when Master Wu Jin and Heavenly General seized the opening to redouble their own offensive efforts, their maneuvers growing significantly more lethal.

“Your actions are meaningless! I shall slaughter every last one of you and reclaim the vessels!”

The Heavenly Demon bellowed, his face contorting into a mask of pure rage, just as the dragon completed its descent, allowing its riders to hit the ground running.

[“Rooooar—!”]

[“Groar—!”]

The corrupted jiangshi, radiating an oppressive, dark vapor, answered with thunderous bellows of their own that vibrated through the bedrock.

The dense malice saturating the theater of war expanded and grew heavier.

The Demonic Cult maintained their tactical superiority.

The liberation of the Dragon’s Children ultimately solved nothing. They remained entirely boxed in by hostile forces.

Unless… an unprecedented anomaly materialized to completely rewrite the rules of the engagement.

Fortunately, the higher powers… or rather,

…the architect of this trial, had already delivered a verdict.

Crackle—!

Just as the Demonic Cult’s oppressive aura reached its zenith, bolstered by the turbulent sea of dark energy,

…a sharp, splintering sound, akin to the fracturing of glass, rippled across the sky.

Initially, the sound went largely unheeded.

It was far too soft, too ethereal, its exact point of origin nearly impossible to determine.

Crackle—!

However, as the splintering noise grew in frequency, the fighters possessing superior spiritual perception began to cast their gazes toward the heavens.

The localized tempest churning directly above their heads.

That was the source of the structural failure.

Crack—!

Fissures resembling a massive spiderweb spread across the dark underbelly of the clouds, allowing a brilliant luminescence to spill through the gaps.

A solitary beam of hope, slicing through the artificial twilight to strike the mud below.

Then, inevitably,

Kaboom—!

…an earth-shattering detonation rattled the fundamental pillars of the domain, and the storm clouds dissolved instantly, blasted into all four quadrants of the sky.

[“Rooooar—!”]

[“Groar—!”]

A chorus of magnificent roars followed, each one saturated with an irreplaceable, divine majesty.

Whoosh—

A refreshing gale, acting as a broom to sweep away the stagnant malice of the dark arts, blasted across the war zone.

“Ah…”

“What sort of magic is that…?”

Enormous shapes, materializing from the remnants of the shattered tempest, drifted majestically in the air, lowering their gazes toward the battlefield.

A sacred, harmonious pressure, standing in absolute opposition to the defiled nature of the enemy jiangshi, radiated outward from their positions, cleansing the air.

The Azure Dragon of the East, the Red Dragon of the South, the White Dragon of the West, the Black Dragon of the North.

And occupying the absolute center,

[“Rooooar—!”]

…a distinct, somewhat eccentric Yellow Dragon.

Their unified presence immediately pacified the volatile spiritual frequencies of the corrupted realm, a monumental achievement that no master had managed to execute previously, even for a brief moment.

Immediately following their descent, a host of extra-dimensional entities began to phase into reality around the vanguard of the Five Dragons.

‘Now this… is what I call a grand finale.’

Hugo, having finally cut his way to the core of the Murim Alliance after bypassing an array of deadly complications, gazed up at the myriad of spectral allies filling the sky, a profound sense of wonder washing over him.

The ultimate objective of this entire scenario was the total unification of every single faction native to Ganghwange.

And that mandate explicitly encompassed the Golden Island Sect and the extra-dimensional entities alike.