Chapter 422

: The Battle for the Core (4)

It was a different experience to see yourself from a third person’s point of view.
Chun Yeowun’s mood right now was more than just chaos.
‘I… it is me…’
The sight of him four years ago when he was wounded and dying at the hands of assassins.
He was confused and bleeding, so he thought that it was guard Jang who saved him.
However, the vague memories that remained in his mind weren’t false.
[Yah. My ancestors must be in a good mood to die out here.]
[Boo! Seeing you hurts me. It’s done now. Ancestor?]
[Please be successful and let your descendants also reap the benefits. Since this Nano Machine is the latest version, using it will be easy, so please learn it well.]
The young man in the bizarre outfit was the one called Director Chun.
His words overlapped with the video record.
‘Ancestor… ancestor…’
Stunned, he kept thinking the same words again and again.
His head, which had been filled with chaos and confusion, suddenly turned clear.
He seemed to know one thing for sure through the video.
‘This one… he is my descendant!’
It wasn’t a guess. It was a fact now.
Looking at the circumstances, in the Sky Demon Order Historical Records, which Chun showed, there were things that weren’t written yet, which meant that Nano must have been created in the distant future.
‘Is that what this is?’
Unbelievable. But it was real.
Nano’s ability to make the impossible possible is a gift from future generations.
When he accepted the truth, it felt like his vision which had been narrow, widened.
‘Even in the future, the Demonic Cult existed. Ha!’
Excitement came out of nowhere.
It was amazing.
Even in a world that was completely different from the present, the Sky Demon Order continued its legacy.
It was shocking.
‘Wait… but my name wasn’t the Demon God.’
His title was Slashing Demon Emperor.
For some reason, he thought that his title felt familiar, but he tried to ignore it.
‘Ahh! The fact that the title changed is because reality changed when my descendant gave me Nano.’
If his descendant heard such thoughts, he would be amazed by the insight.
It may not be a reality that would be believed. But, he accepted it because of his exposure to future technology through Nano and the broader view of thoughts he gained after reaching the Divine Master level.
‘My descendant from the future intended to change the past.’
There was a part that bothered him all the time he watched the video,
That was.
‘Blade God!’
The future, he saw in the video, knew of the existence of the Blade God?
In the information on the hologram, the Blade God had been said to be more than a thousand years old.
However, if they looked at the records left in the Sky Demon Order’s Historical records, the Blade God appeared a lot earlier than mentioned.
‘Maybe they had the same name…? No, that can’t be that… ah!’
Chun Yeowun suddenly remembered something when he thought of the Blade God.
Come to think of it, there were traces of Extreme Blade Art on the sword of Chun Muhui, the 7th lord, and that was when the Blade God first appeared.
‘It seems weird when I put it like that. The slashes in the valley were a lot more developed than those on the slab of the treasury.’
Thanks to that, Chun Yeowun managed to learn the Extreme Art of the Blade God.
It wasn’t based on internal energy, and it was a method that was developed as time went on, but he knew that the skill of the past was superior to the one people were using in the present.
‘Is the Blade God really someone from the future? But why did he have to come to the past?’
He couldn’t understand that.
At that time, Chun Yeowun’s vision was about to go off again.
Pick!
The video which was played in augmented reality got cut off. And a blue flash along with a sting went through his head.
Crackle!
‘Kuak!’
He was trying hard to not get dizzy, but then he heard some noise, and the white particles of the augmented reality drew lines to create text, and a familiar voice resounded in his head.
Whoops!
[Self-healing of the chip damage caused by an overload of energy and strong lightning has been completed.]
‘Nano!’
Finally, Nano was done completing the repairs.
‘Nano! Are you okay now?’
Despite the question, Nano only reported its status.
[The upgrade has been completed so that the gaterinium consisting of Nano can handle the current chart of energy.]
Woong!
‘Upgrade?’
An amazing performance.
The ones from the future would be shocked to know that.
Of course, it would have been absolutely impossible if Nano was made of general material, but the metal called gaterinium, which Nano was made of, was a material that wasn’t from earth.
A metal that changed based on the impact.
That was the core technology of the unique 7th generation Nano Machine.
It was possible because of this technology that it could withstand the flame, the lightning, and the cold energy that all existed in Chun Yeowun’s body.
[Some locks have been released during self-recovery. Do you want to lock them again? Y/N]
‘!?’
Chun Yeowun’s eyes lit up at the sign that the locks had been released.
He couldn’t help but wonder because the locks which never got lifted were open.
He asked, questioning what all had been locked from him.
‘Is it okay if I decide what to lock?’
It was only natural that he would hesitate to ask.
[If locking hasn’t been decided, the user can use the functions then decide.]
‘Can I see what the functions are?’
[Understood.]
When Nano’s voice ended, the unlocked functions were displayed.
Chun Yeowun, who looked at the functions, couldn’t hide his shock.
Among the functions, when Chun Yeowun asked about various things in the past, Nano said that it couldn’t respond because they were locked.
‘Is… is this really?’
There were too many.
Almost 60 functions were unlocked, and most of them were really questionable.
[In addition to the energy generated in the body, functions that weren’t available have been activated.]
Chun Yeowun, who was examining the functions, gave orders without any hesitation.
‘I’m not going to lock them.’
[Understood. I will unlock them.]
Woong!
The white particles on some of the displayed functions, which were written inside triangles, turned into circles.
After Nano’s restoration and the locks had been released, Chun Yeowun ordered the most urgent matter.
‘Nano. The lightning qi remaining in my body will be absorbed, so repair the damaged meridians.’
He had to deal with his injuries.
[Understood. I will self-repair the damaged parts of the body.]
Sting! Sting!
When Nano’s voice ended, the nanomachines throughout his body, which had been stationary, were activated, and he once again felt like numerous ants were crawling in his body.
Because of that, he was able to tell that Nano had been completely revived.
On the other hand, in the underground of the North Sea Ice Palace, which was pierced by Sky Flash.
The power of the Sky Flash was so strong that underground holes had been drilled.
For a long time down, the light that entered through the Sky Flash holes could be seen.
The North Sea Ice Palace’s warriors, who went down in a hurry to avoid losing the core of the Dragon Turtle, were able to encounter the Yulin’s men without pursuing for long.
Rumble!
A vibration that couldn’t be felt above ground reverberated throughout the underground cave.
The Ice Palace warriors, who filled the underground cave with lit torches, and the Yulin warriors, conversed.
Dan Jucheon, the deputy king, spoke in disbelief.

Even after being attacked, it’s still alive… huh…


We came here to see it too, but the body of the dragon couldn’t be found, and all we saw was a hole.

Moyong Kang pointed to a huge hole on the right side of the cave.
It was on the eastern side, and unlike the hole in the mountain, this one was newly created.
Surprisingly, the dragon, which everyone thought was dead, was alive.
It was the fundamental reason that the two sides who coveted the core didn’t fight.
Rumble!
Watching the underground tremble, it seemed like the beast was still digging a tunnel.
Crack!
Cracks broke out in the ceiling, and debris fell.
It was quite unstable because it was dug by the dragon while trying to escape; rather than a properly created tunnel, this tunnel had no support.
Jegal Sohi looked up at the ceiling and spoke.

Leader Moyong. It’s better for us to retreat. If we go deeper into the cave, the ceiling might collapse onto us and we would get buried in ice.

As she said, chasing the dragon was dangerous.
For now, the ceiling was fine, but if they went further deeper inside, there was no guarantee that they could save everyone’s life.

Khm.

A situation where both sides had to worry.
At that time, Seol Young-gwi, an elder of the North Sea Ice palace, spoke in a serious voice.

King! Come to think of it, if the dragon continues to drill holes to the east, it would lead to the lake.


No!

Everyone couldn’t hide their shock at those words.
If the dragon continued to break through the ice and reach Lake Baikal, where the pier was located.
Which wasn’t that far away.
Then the water in the lake will enter the island through the hole it dug.
Not just certain people would get buried, everyone would die.
‘What should we do now!’
Moyong Kang was troubled.
The situation was too restrictive to pursue the dragon.
At that time, the elder Oh Mubang pointed to the underground path.

Deputy King! Are we letting go of this opportunity? Look here!

It was hard to see as the crowd was large, but when they looked at the ground, sticky liquid was all over the place with sparks flashing around it.
Crackle!
The blood of the dragon.
It seems like he suffered a lot of damage.

The dragon is wounded now and running away. If we don’t follow it and kill it now, we will face dire consequences in the future. We cannot retreat!


Elder. As you said, it is injured, but if we chase him too hard, he could end up rushing outside!

Seol Young-gwi objected to Mubang’s words.
At that, Oh Mubang spoke in a frustrated tone.

How do you plan on taking out a spirit beast without taking any risks? If we miss it now and the dragon reappears later, how do you plan on stopping it?


That…

Answering it was difficult.
Obviously, a spirit beat, an evil dragon would come back to take revenge on the Ice Palace, which kept it imprisoned.
If all it wanted was freedom, it would have run away by now.
Grrrrr-!
The ground shook.
The longer they delayed, the harder it was to do anything.
Whoops!
Oh Mubang bit his lip before talking to Dan Jucheon.

We don’t have time to hesitate. King! We need to go ahead and decide!

In that situation, Jegal Sohi sent a telepathic message to Moyong Kang.
[Leader Moyong. We are being held back. Whatever the decision of the Ice Palace, we need to retreat now. Chasing it isn’t the problem.]
Moyong Kang also nodded his head in agreement.
There were multiple reasons why they wanted the core, but strictly speaking, the Yulin wanted to take it to prevent the Demonic Cult from getting it.
If the dragon ran away to the lake, there was no need for them to pursue it.
Moyong Kang, who decided to retreat, was about to tell Dan Jucheon that they would resign.
But from afar, someone showed up.

King!

Dan Jucheon’s eyes looked in that direction.
It was Oh Young, the lieutenant.
He had commanded them to bring in elder Seol Yi-jeong and the five hundred warriors on the other side of the cave, but only one of them had come, and they weren’t that far from the other side.

Huh, huh… huh… we have a problem. Deputy king!

The man was gasping for air as he came over.
Feeling something ominous, Dan Jucheon asked right away.

What happened?


Huh… huh… king! All the warriors in the cave have been annihilated!

‘!?’
Dan Jucheon was astounded at what he heard.

What? How is that possible? Did the Dragon Turtle attack them?


Hah… hah… no! I went there to give your orders along with the commander. They seem to have been attacked by an unknown group.


An unknown group?

Dan Jucheon already had enough things to deal with because of the dragon.
But he couldn’t help but be shocked at the new information he had been given.
Looking at the side of Ice Palace warriors who seemed to have turned serious, Moyong Kang also had a hard time figuring out what to do.
‘What are they talking about? Were there other people who attacked the Ice Palace?’
It meant that there was someone other than Ice Palace warriors, Yulin, and the Demonic Cult.
At that time, Sohi looked around and spoke.

… no vibration.


Huh? Miss Jegal, what do you mean?


Look. The whole cave was shaking before, but now, I don’t feel it.


Ah!

As she said, the vibration had stopped.
The cave, which had been trembling until then, went silent.
‘Did the dragon make a hole in the lake? No, then…’
The water from the lake would have reached them if the dragon had escaped.
Moyong Kang, thinking that something had changed, tried to inform the Ice Palace side, who turned serious.
It was then.
‘Huh?’
Something felt weird in the tunnel where the dragon had escaped to the east side of the island.
It was when Moyong Kang looked intently at that side of the hole.
Swoosh!

Kuak!


Ack!

The place where the Yulin’s men had gathered.
In an instant, a group of ten people got cut in half. It was like an ambush.

We are being attacked!


Defend!

Visor! Visor!
As a response to the sudden attack, the Yulin warriors and the warriors of the Ice Palace took out their weapons at once.

Sword Qi?

It was said that those who are that skillful with sword qi are people who reached the Supreme Master level.
Flustered, Moyong Kang looked in the direction where the ballistic sword qi came from.
‘Ah!’
To the east, where the dragon went, unidentified men wearing iron masks and more than 30 people with swords stood at the cave entrance.
All of them had strong energy.

Blade God Six Martial clan!

In Moyong Kang’s mind, the story told by Dan Juseong came to his mind.
The group that deceived the king of the Ice Palace and aimed for the dragon spirit.

Blade God Six Martial clan!

It was definite that they were strong.
At that, one middle-aged man who didn’t wear an iron mask spoke.

I didn’t think that there would be visitors for the Palace.

The middle-aged man didn’t deny his identity at all. At that, Moyong Kang yelled in anger.

I am leader Moyong Kang, of the Forces of Justice of Yulin! Do you think that you would be able to escape after committing such an act?

They were the ones who awakened the dragon which had been asleep in the North.
It was obvious that they were aiming for the entire fight to end.
The middle-aged man, who seemed shocked at the words of ‘Forces of Justice of Yulin’, spoke with a sly smile.

Forces of Justice? Hmm, I was planning on walking away after I was done with my work, I guess my plan won’t go as planned.

The middle-aged man lifted up the bell he was holding in his left hand.
And he waved it lightly and spoke to the ones wearing iron masks.

It’s time to work.

At the sound of the bell, a huge clear blue rose from their weapons.
Woong! Woong!
One can estimate the level of a person by the energy which radiates from the body.
Tension stood on the faces of everyone, including Moyong Kang and Dan Jucheon.

… they are all masters at the superior level.

Shockingly, everyone in the iron masks were skilled.
Some of their levels couldn’t even be estimated.
The middle-aged man laughed as he looked at the nervous faces of the Yulin and the Ice Palace.

I would have spared your lives if you hadn’t come down here trying to covet that core. Huh?

Swoosh!
At that time, the middle-aged man looked at the sound which came from a distant place.
A sound which seemed like something was getting close, and two eyes which shone in the dark.
‘Wh-what?’
In the blink of an eye, a creature with luminous eyes appeared.
A being that flew through air landed on the ground in the middle of the two sides, which were facing each other.
Thud!
From the head, it was as if black armor had been attached to its body tightly, making sure no gaps were there.
Everyone stared at the mysterious being, dressed in black armor with a puzzled look.
Woong!
‘Is that flying?’
‘a person…?’
If it wasn’t for the glow in the eyes, everyone would have thought it was human.
The middle-aged man frowned as he asked about the new existence.

What the hell is your identity…

Swosh!
The middle-aged man’s eyes widened.
His arm, which had been pointing its finger, suddenly fell to the floor.

My… arm? Ackkkkkkkk!

A voice came from the inside of the black armor of the unidentified person.
There were no gaps in the armor, except for the eyes, yet the voice came out without being muffled.

Can you at least release the one on my head?

Ssssss!
With an unknown word, the helmet of the black armor suddenly disappeared, revealing its identity.
A young man with sharp eyes, a pure white face, and fluttering long black hair.
Seeing that, Jegal Sohi mumbled in a trembling voice.

Lord, Lord Chun?

The monster inside the black iron armor was the Lord of the Demonic Cult, Chun Yeowun.