Seongcheon Yoon Clan (5)
Hoon was the youngest among all avatars and was a pure human created without the use of any medium during the birth process.
In fact, he was originally created as an all-purpose management personnel, so this was to be expected.
···But somehow, he ended up fighting on the front lines like this.
‘Plus, now his potential for growth has reached a level that can’t be ignored.’
All thanks to the ‘Communication Chakra’ he had acquired.
It was the ability to draw out the mental images of other avatars and borrow a portion of their abilities little by little.
It was as if the seniors, who had grown through all sorts of ups and downs, were now living as one within Hoon’s heart.
‘Well, I mean, it is actually one, but still.’
Of course, he couldn’t perfectly replicate all their abilities.
It could be said that his unique skill, “Avatar,” had turned into an ordinary clone technique.
But considering that the subjects were mostly max-level characters who had reached the peak in their respective positions, it was absolutely nothing to laugh at just because it was a minor copy.
Moreover, thanks to “Wheel of Law,” he could now manifest the powers of multiple entities at the same time…
Shwiing—! Slash—!
The air once again stirred with energy at the forefront.
A storm of destruction approached as if to swallow the entire corridor.
‘So this much is…!’
In defiance, one Hoon leaped forward.
Holding the long sword shaped by his own blood tightly in one hand.
His sword, positioned at the front, swung at an unseen speed, slicing through the storm.
“What?!”
The glowing crimson trajectory beautifully embroidered the air.
It was not just a mindless swing based on instinct.
The combat experience accumulated through several avatars and the refinement of martial concept brought by Chakra produced a mastery of swordplay.
The enhanced physical ability was more than enough to confront the storm.
“Such useless tricks!”
However, the opponent he faced was no simple foe.
Anton, who maintained a relaxed demeanor, scowled and waved his hand roughly; energy doubled in an instant and viciously assaulted the forward Hoon.
Fwoosh—!
In the end, the only thing Hoon managed to do was create a slight opening before dissipating into smoke.
But the fact that a crack had been made was crucial.
Through the gap created in the storm, several more pushed in, widening the hole increasingly.
“Ha! A clone technique, huh? You’re just like a cockroach popping back up every time I kill you. That ability suits a pathetic creature like you!”
Anton, who destroyed several of the approaching clones, sneered with madness in his eyes.
In truth, he was still not fighting at full strength.
If he wasn’t careful, the building could collapse, and he could be harmed too.
‘But now, nothing else matters. I’ll make sure to finish you off first!’
His last traces of reason snapped due to the ongoing developments he hadn’t anticipated, and he raised his Chakra to the maximum.
His opened Chakra manifested the upper-tier “Cutting” and middle-tier “Wire.”
‘Die!’
With all his strength, he swung, creating several straight lines across the entire corridor.
Zzzt—
Unlike before, there was no sound of air being sliced; it was a swift strike.
The clones, which were in a defensive stance, shattered into pieces without a chance to react to that sudden attack.
Along with the blood-red long sword they held.
Clatter—
Debris from the broken building fell to the corridor floor.
Thanks to instinctively ducking down, Hoon narrowly avoided the attack, but he let out a gasp as dust hit his face.
Now only one remained in the corridor.
‘To think my painstakingly created blood sword would be cut like tofu…’
He could feel it for sure.
If he hadn’t suddenly felt an ominous feeling and thrown himself to the floor, he would have been cut in half by that last attack.
‘This is no joke. If I had been slightly slower, I would’ve died. Is this the power of upper-tier practitioners?’
Fortunately, this lodging wasn’t just an ordinary construction, so it didn’t collapse in one shot.
It seemed Anton was somewhat mindful as well.
Yet it was undeniable that the recent attack had dealt damage to the building’s durability.
If the fight escalated any further, not only Ramu but also everyone moved to the lobby would be in danger.
‘I can’t leave it like this. I need to end this as quickly as possible.’
With a bounce, Hoon sharpened his gaze.
Seeing him, Anton raised one hand and twisted his mouth into a smirk.
“Looks like you’re the last one left. I should have done this earlier. Truly, bugs like you…”
As Anton laughed mockingly, he suddenly stopped speaking.
Then, with a steely expression, he hurriedly turned his body and waved his hand behind him.
“How dare you!”
Schwing!
A clone sprang out from Anton’s shadow and was immediately torn in half.
But it wasn’t the only one that had snuck in amidst the chaos.
Three clones sprung from the shadows of the ceiling, walls, and floors, charging toward him.
“Hoon-style Clone Technique Secret.”
“Not a chance!”
Anton crossed his arms tightly, grabbing onto something as if pulling it out from his fingers.
At that moment, all of the invisible wires that were laid around him rapidly contracted, pulverizing all the clones within the range like a blender.
“Kihih! Not bad, but this is where it ends.”
The clones caught in the attack turned to smoke.
But what occurred next was different from all previous events.
Instead of disappearing quickly, they swirled around Anton, and a rich scent of blood emerged from the crimson mists that hovered around him.
“······!”
“Blood Art— Blood Explosion.”
Hoon’s voice softly echoed in Anton’s ears, just before the words ended.
Boom—!
Rumble—!
The blood mist surrounding Anton erupted in a synchronized chain reaction.
To minimize the shock to the building, the explosions were directed inward.
Thud thud thud—
Thanks to that effort, the vibrations felt rather faint compared to the scale of the explosions.
Hoon let out a low sigh, rubbing his temples.
‘Ugh, I feel dizzy… I can’t use this recklessly.’
The clones he summoned were mere clones, so they had no blood.
Meaning all the blood used until now was his own…
‘Well, it’s an ability meant for vampires after all. If my physical body hadn’t been enhanced while also boosting my regeneration, I wouldn’t have even dared to try.’
The same went for ‘Death.’
He could use it if he really had to, but being concerned about the side effects that might occur when pulling power from the Undead King Hans was unavoidable.
‘In the end, using abilities with fewer side effects is the best option…’
But as always.
Things don’t always go as planned in this world.
“Ugh— How dare this insect—!”
A furious voice erupted from the center of the explosion.
Slowly emerging from the dissipating blast was Anton, his once arrogant demeanor replaced by a disheveled figure bleeding from all over.
It seemed he somehow absorbed the shock by wrapping himself with the wires he created using Chakra just before the explosion engulfed him, but with his staggered movements, it appeared he hadn’t managed to block it fully.
“I won’t let this go! I’ll tear you limb from limb!”
He shouted in rage while extending one arm, and the invisible wires shot out.
However, the fingertips are aimed in the opposite direction from Hoon…
“Creepy! I was really hoping not to use this method, but here goes! You brought this upon yourself!”
That place was the room where Ramu was lying down.
Though they had set up a holy barrier, given his destructive power, it wouldn’t mean much.
Whether he intended to harm her as a hostage or not, he had to act quickly to respond.
“Hmm.”
But Hoon took a deep breath and closed his eyes right there.
There was no need to react to that.
He had just finished executing the technique he had been attempting since the battle began.
“…What? Where did he go?”
At that moment, Anton opened his eyes wide in surprise.
His hand kept waving as if trying to grab something in vain in the air, but at this point, nothing would be caught there.
“Hoon-style Clone Technique Secret.”
His low voice resonated again.
Anton’s gaze shifted back to the front.
He glared suspiciously at Hoon, watching his every move, as if ready to react the moment something unusual happened…
But this time, all responses were exactly as Hoon wanted.
Hoon opened his previously closed eyes.
And he continued, looking straight into Anton’s eyes.
“Domination Art— Demon Eye.”
Giiing—
“Cough?!”
A pair of reverse eyes with black pupils like obsidian and red like rubies began to glimmer.
Thick blood vessels bulged around the eyes as crimson tears began to flow down.
“What… what is this…?”
Anton’s body, which had been creaking like a broken toy, suddenly locked in place.
Even as it happened, his gaze was pinned to the blood tears flowing from his reverse eyes.
Overwhelmed by strange magical power, not only his body but also his Chakra within froze rigidly.
“Ah, no.”
Anton barely managed to utter a word with a stiff tongue.
By now, he had taken significant damage from the ongoing battle.
Plus, he faced the Demon King’s Demon Eye, which dug into his psychological weak point.
‘Of course, there’s a chance to overcome this with mental strength.’
He didn’t need to win a battle of wills with himself, who had access to various abilities such as “Great Mind,” to overcome it.
As long as he crossed a certain threshold, he should escape from this Demon Eye’s grip.
However, even considering that, Anton didn’t possess the capability to do so.
‘In other words, it’s checkmate.’
Of course, this Demon Eye was a burdensome ability for Hoon as well.
The process of borrowing power had degraded it, establishing clear limits, and with the need to make direct eye contact, there were many restrictions in place, but this was undeniably the Demon King’s eye handed down through generations.
Yet the reason he chose this method was…
‘Now, show me.’
From the moment he decided to subdue Anton, he had intended to investigate the suspicious parts of this situation.
‘The secret hidden within you.’
Through Anton’s bright red, bloodshot eyes, the power of “Mental Resonance” penetrated into his mind.
*
Boom—!
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the ground.
An essence of destruction that cleansed everything it touched at speeds beyond human comprehension.
“Eek! That’s dangerous!”
But it failed to scorch its intended target and instead left only soot on the ground before disappearing.
Having done this several times already, Lucette, who was visibly tired and panting in mid-air, scowled again.
“Human Butcher, do you actually intend to fight properly?”
“Uh? But… what can I do? I don’t really suit fighting against women. I mean, I prefer opponents I can really clash with.”
The shabby-looking man stroked his beard while savoring the anger she held back.
Despite his untrustworthy appearance, with a dull expression, weak eyes, and scruffy bandit’s beard, Lucette did not let her guard down.
Though he looked like that, this “Human Butcher” was an equal-level Mage Practitioner to her.
“Anyway, can we swap opponents? Or how about we go take down the others? I’ll just retreat as I am!”
“Do you think I’ll believe that?”
“Ugh… How long have I waited just for today…! I haven’t even killed that many, and now it’s all wasted.”
He grumbled, swinging a large, rectangular butcher knife around in the air.
That knife, suitable for a butcher, was much larger and thicker than conventional weapons.
Taking a deep breath, Lucette confirmed her safety distance again and focused her mind with a serious expression.
She couldn’t let her guard down for even a moment in the fight against that man.
Otherwise, she’d be a piece of meat in the blink of an eye beneath the Human Butcher’s blade sharpened by middle-tier chakra of “Slaughter” and deep-tier chakra of “Murder.”
‘How did this many Mage Practitioners get into the Yoon Clan…?’
How many enemies had she dealt with so far?
It wasn’t just her; even those defending the inner sanctum were doing their best, yet chaos didn’t show any sign of stopping.
Of course, she already knew the answer.
No matter how they broke through and crossed over, there are still limits.
They must have been waiting as close to the Yoon Clan as possible and crossed over to the point where the barrier was somehow weakened.
‘Before the incident occurred, several individuals responded from inside. Moreover, the one who broke the intelligence network and coordinated things must belong to a high-ranking position.’
An internal traitor.
And it seemed to be a betrayal from someone at the management level.
For someone as loyal to her clan as she was, it had to be taken seriously.
“Eh? What’s this? Is it already over?”
At that moment, the Human Butcher, who had been watching cautiously, opened his eyes wide in surprise and cocked his head.
“Not yet! There’s no way it’s over! I barely got started!”
After clearly receiving some kind of message, he began to grumble.
Then his gaze met Lucette’s as she hovered in the air, staring straight at him.
“…Ugh, it’s all that fox’s fault. Of all people, I had to get stuck with that poison.”
He sighed and scratched his head.
It seemed a retreat command may have come down.
Of course, with no intention of letting him go, she opened her eyes wide and gathered electricity again…
“…!”
Zzzt!
In an instant, her body, which had been hovering in the air, moved sideways as if pulled by something amidst a spark.
It was an emergency evasion using magnetic properties with the metal structures placed throughout the Yoon Clan.
However…
Swish—
Seeing the blood seeping from the cut on her arm, Lucette grimaced.
She had barely reacted in time, yet such a wound had already formed.
It was hard to imagine what would have happened if her reaction had been delayed.
“Oh no~ that was close! I thought this time might work out.”
The shabby man, appearing far away as if having been there all along, looked disappointed.
Rumble—
Behind him, the broken space opened wide, emitting a loud sound.
“Well, still, there’ll be plenty of chances in the future! I’ll just have to settle for this much this time.”
Shrugging casually, the Human Butcher waved his hand at Lucette with a meaningful smile.
“See you next time, pretty girl. I’ll make sure to slice you up nicely next time, so look forward to it.”
“You…!”
Filled with rage, her electric attack struck the fracture in the air head-on, but that destructive energy didn’t reach the one who had already slipped through to the other side.
“…Huh.”
Biting her lips, she took a breath and forcefully redirected her gaze elsewhere.
It was far more productive to focus on reducing the remaining enemies than to dwell on what had just transpired.
Wrapped in lightning, her body vanished from that spot.
Crackle!
The massive raid by the Mage Practitioners against the Seongcheon Yoon Clan concluded at that moment.
