Whirrrrr—!
With a loud clanging sound, a pitch-black iron chain flies in.
It started as a single line, but over time, the number of those dark trajectories increased, and before long, there were three.
“Ugh!”
However, Hugo’s response hadn’t changed from before.
Drawing upon his enhanced senses maximized by “Hyper-Sensitivity,” along with the powers of “Great Strength” and other physical enhancement skills, he moved instinctively.
Clack!
He twisted his body to dodge the first chain, and with a flow of “Gentleness,” he slipped past the second chain.
Meanwhile, the third chain, flying like a snake, sought to bind him, but—
‘Where do you think you’re going?!’
Rather, he subtly thrust his vital points into the trajectory, causing the incoming attack to hesitate, allowing him to slip away from its path.
“Cough, you! This little bastard is cleverer than expected!”
The black-skinned man attacking him, a member of the Demon Cult, yelled in frustration.
Realistically, he could have captured him long ago, but every time a dangerous attack came, his opponent used his own life as a hostage, making it too risky to strike.
The leader had commanded him to capture him alive; it wouldn’t do to accidentally kill him, would it?
Of course, if it had been a one-on-one, such tricks wouldn’t have worked, but it wasn’t just the two of them here.
Shhhhwish! Clang!
After a close encounter with failure in his capture attempt, the black chain hurriedly returned, coiling up to barely block a sudden attack from a blade.
“Ha, so you think our sect is a joke?”
“Yun Woon—.”
As a Black Horse Knight of the Demon Cult, facing the Mount Wu Sect’s elder, Woon Hyun Jin, was not something to be taken lightly.
Ultimately, he had to abandon quickly finishing the job and focus on dealing with the immediate threats before him.
“Huh, this is chaotic.”
Thanks to that, Hugo found a moment to catch his breath, lightly wiping away sweat as he looked around.
Indeed, the surrounding situation was a scene of utter chaos.
Boom—!
“Kill them!”
“You cursed bastards!”
Sounds of explosions, screams, roars, and curses echoed continuously.
Who would think this was the interior of Shaolin Temple, which was sacred just a short while ago?
Considering that everyone gathered here was recognized for their talents and abilities in their own right, every drop of blood spilled now was a tremendous loss for the Correct Faction’s martial world.
The Demon Cult must have targeted this moment for the attack as well.
‘…Yes, this is surely a tragedy. But…’
Every event has its counterbalance.
While the current situation was undeniably a crisis, it could also be an opportunity.
In world disasters like this, some people’s talents could unexpectedly flourish.
And the prime example of that was himself.
“Haah—.”
Taking a deep breath, Hugo’s pupils dilated.
His senses, now activated through the forbidden “Limit Break,” sharpened and began to swiftly absorb the information flowing around him.
‘In fact, this was one of my purposes for coming here. I didn’t expect it to reach such extreme conditions though.’
In this battlefield where life and death were at stake, the warriors poured out their carefully honed skills without reservation.
The current situation was not lenient enough to hide and survive.
“Damn it, damn it! I never wanted to come here!”
From the fingertips of the aggro-fishing member of the Shichuan Tang Sect, an incantation flew through the air, tracing a bizarre trajectory, and with it, the imprecise martial principle was imprinted in Hugo’s mind.
That was the advanced vision of the Tang Sect’s martial arts, but due to the user’s lack of skill, it wasn’t too difficult to sneak a peek at the secrecy behind it.
“So-ran! Come over here!”
“Brother!”
In that sense, the sword skills of Namgoong Hwang, the young master of the Namgoong family, and his sister, Namgoong So-ran, were delightful prey.
The Namgoong family was famously known as one of the greatest sword families in the world.
When their valued sword techniques, emphasizing “Strength” and “Weight,” unfolded in real combat, Hugo’s fingers involuntarily twitched.
‘Indeed, there’s a reason why the great families are called prestigious.’
His sustenance was not limited to just the family’s martial arts.
The graceful sword techniques of the Volcano Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Art and the chilling strikes of the Pointing Sword Sect’s martial artists swirled chaotically in his mind, along with the martial arts of the Buddhist and Daoist sects.
And confronting that were the sinister yet destructive martial arts of the Demon Cult.
In the midst of the struggle, where the lifespans and fortunes of talented individuals from across the continent were intertwined, Hugo absorbed everything he saw, heard, and felt like a black hole, causing his martial insight to expand endlessly.
His body was already in peak condition, and his mind had reached even higher levels.
Moreover, with the countless elixirs provided by Harris and the “Heavenly Body Technique” to amplify them, his inner power was more than sufficient.
What he needed was only a realization regarding the mysteries of martial arts.
And as he fulfilled that condition through this incident—
《The entity has achieved enlightenment by meeting the conditions. Acquired special skill “Return of All Things.”》
His rapid growth began to accelerate even more.
The flow of energy surrounding him, moving in response to his will, left the fighters around him bewildered.
“In this situation, enlightenment?!”
“Ha, an absolute prodigy at such a young age. This is preposterous…”
“…Strike him! We must secure that author’s new ability!”
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Due to that, there was a slight stir around him, but the commotion didn’t last long.
That was because the reason Hugo could freely choose to grow was that a reliable backing had just appeared on the scene.
*
The first to notice the anomaly were the two individuals who had been fighting most fiercely.
The Heavenly Demon, showing off its prowess while relentlessly pressing its opponent, and Shin Seung, who, in disheveled appearance, stubbornly clung to him.
“You’re persistent, Shin Seung Mujin.”
“Ha ha ha, persistence is one of Bin Seung’s few bragging rights… Huh?”
“…What is that?”
Their argument came to a halt, and their gazes turned towards a single point.
Not far from the chaos, atop an adjoining pavilion that overlooked the fray.
There, ‘that’ thing was waiting.
“…What is it?!”
“…Hah.”
The two high-level fighters momentarily lost their words at the sight, which was utterly out of place.
It certainly appeared to have the form of a human but… could it truly be called human?
And the movements of the two beings exuding the greatest presence on this battlefield inevitably affected the other martial artists who were sensitive to energy as well.
One by one, the fighters halted their actions, glancing over to where the pavilion’s roof met their line of sight.
“What is that creature?”
“…A lion mask?”
Those who turned their views soon came face-to-face with it.
Crouching atop the roof like a predator ready to pounce, a mysterious beast wearing the mask of a monster stared down at the chaos below.
“What are you?!”
With all eyes focused upon it.
As if voicing everyone’s curiosity, the Heavenly Demon slightly frowned and spoke up.
Having reached a state where he could observe all things through energy, he understood.
This was a being of a completely different type from any existence he had ever encountered throughout his life.
No, even if he had to compare it, one individual came to mind but…
‘No, that’s impossible. The leap is too severe. Maybe it’s from Gonmudo.’
At that moment, the beast slowly rose from its position, its dynamically twitching muscles glaringly revealed through its bare torso.
It was a transcendent body that seemed to condense the very essence of ‘strength’ and ‘violence’ into human form.
“Haah, this is truly the pinnacle of external martial arts.”
“Is such a body realistically possible?”
The ultimate physique, almost like a dream for some martial artists, made several of them exclaim inappropriately given the circumstances.
Whether it be envy or jealousy lurking beneath, the perfection there could not be attained merely through routine training, making it an obvious reaction.
At that moment, as the being rose, it spoke.
“Ah— wonderful, wonderful. Such a great atmosphere!”
With the attention of the audience focused upon it, the beast, Harley, nodded in satisfaction and continued.
“First, let me introduce myself! I am the Mad Demon! Ah, I recently reached an understanding with the previous bearer of this title, so let’s avoid any misunderstandings!”
And then, without hesitation, he began his self-promotion to those staring at him.
From now on, he is the real Mad Demon, and the old one is nothing but a subordinate and friend, making sure everyone understood.
It was as if he had intended to capture attention for this promotion from the very start.
“Ah, and my purpose for being here is…”
But his playful demeanor didn’t last long.
Having roughly finished his introduction, he met the gaze of the Heavenly Demon, staring at him fiercely, and smiled wickedly.
“It’s hunting.”
The frivolous demeanor he had previously shown was nowhere to be seen as he presented an eerie smile filled with madness, as if ready to set the world ablaze.
The air thickened, and the expressions of those present hardened.
“I heard there’s some splendid prey here.”
That smile was a clear indicator of why he called himself the Mad Demon.
“Now— Having completed my introduction, let’s… play a game! Kahaha!”
Boom!
With that, the Mad Demon Harley charged at his next target, the Heavenly Demon, shattering the pavilion’s roof he had been standing on with a single step.
*
With Mad Demon Harley’s entry, the battlefield began to morph in an unexpected direction.
The most significant factor was that the battle with the Heavenly Demon, a critical danger, began to balance out.
Harley, who stepped up to replace the exhausted Mujin Daesa, wasn’t falling behind against this formidable opponent.
Swish—!
In fact, judging solely by the dynamics of the fight, he was even appearing to be on par with the Heavenly Demon; however…
“Ha, what a ridiculous creature.”
As he dodged the aggressively charging foe, the Heavenly Demon gritted his teeth after leaving another severe wound with his shiftless strikes.
A deep gash that extended from the left shoulder to the right waist, nearly reaching the innards.
Considering that it was infused with the strong energy created by the Demon Lord, this strike was practically a death sentence for Harley.
“Ow, that hurts! You brat!”
Yet, right after allowing such an attack, his only reaction was that.
With squinted eyes, the Heavenly Demon carefully observed as the flow of blood gradually slowed and the wound began to heal.
‘It’s certain.’
And upon making that observation, he reached a conclusion and breathed a weary, hollow laugh.
‘He’s adapting to my attacks.’
The speed of regeneration became remarkably faster compared to the first clash.
Originally, for a wound inflicted by strong energy to heal so quickly was an absurdity.
Moreover, there was no need to mention the killing power of the energy formed entirely from a substance hostile to all existence.
Should anyone have taken that kind of attack head-on—even a genuine celestial being—would have surely been bedridden, yet this monster completely ignored it, even regenerating.
As if he had learned the legendary Immortal Technique.
‘No, that can’t be right.’
However, having actually seen the original Untouchable Technique in the Heavenly Demon Scriptures, the Heavenly Demon shook his head firmly.
While the stories contain exaggerated elements, he could assure that this phenomenon had nothing to do with that…
Zzzt!
In that moment, as his guard dropped, Harley’s sharp fingertips roughly tore through the fabric of his robe.
If he had gone just a little deeper, it would have reached his flesh.
“Whew, what a shame! You have quite the perceptive instincts, don’t you?”
The nonchalant remark further solidified the coldness on the Heavenly Demon’s face.
He couldn’t fathom that Harley was continuously supplementing bio-energy through the immense madness fed by the “Seed of Madness,” but surely if he continued to stand back, there would be no way to fight back.
“…I have no choice.”
Yet, he couldn’t just retreat without a fight.
Ultimately, he decided it was time to unleash the hidden power he had kept sealed.
Woowww—
The supreme martial arts only permitted to the church leader of the Heavenly Demon Church, the Heavenly Demon Technique (天魔神功).
From his sword, a black energy composed of demonic essence surged and began to take the shape of a colossal blade.
“I really didn’t want to use this if I could avoid it.”
And…
‘…What is that?!’
Inside, a power that Harley had encountered before started to stir.
Amidst the pitch-blackness was a glow faintly shimmering like a sunset.
‘Holy Power…!’
It was something he had never expected to see in this world again.
The remnants of his adversary.
