Monstrous Immortal

“S-Sword Phantom!”

When he heard a voice calling out his name, Kim Bongpal turned around and found Tearing Wind Sword approaching.

“When I went to your place, I was puzzled because you weren’t there, but here you are. Yesterday, you just left, so I….”

“Tearing Mind.”

Tearing Wind Sword looked at Kim Bongpal with a puzzled look. Though the way he called his name was the same, Kim Bongpal had a different aura than usual.

“I’m sorry, but I’m a little busy right now. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Hello, Tearing Mind! See you later!”

Tearing Wind Sword wasn’t that tactless. Maya was like her usual self, but Kim Bongpal was not.

“Y-yes!”

He didn’t know the situation, but it seemed that now was not the time to talk about yesterday.

“Ugh.”

Watching Kim Bongpal’s back as he left, Tearing Wind Sword scratched his head. Did he see it wrong? It felt like he had somehow grown stronger in a day…

Tearing Wind Sword thought so, but he shrugged it off without much consideration. No matter how wide the talent gap was, there was no way that such a remarkable change could happen in a single day.

Anyway, Kim Bongpal continued to walk to the city’s outskirts in the direction of the Celestial Demon Cult. If he kept going this way, he would find the Shadowless Squad in no time.

In the information Young-no gave, there was detailed information on the direction the Shadowless Squad was progressing. So, Kim Bongpal left the city of Purple Clouds with such foolish thoughts of meeting them in transit. After leaving the city, he summoned Phantom Horse to go faster.

He must’ve traveled for another hour or two, but once he reached a distance quite far from Purple Clouds, he felt the mana of a group in the distance. Certainly, his 15 days of training weren’t useless, and he wouldn’t have noticed them from this far before.

Kim Bongpal urged the horse to gallop faster. Little by little. Soon, it reached full speed.

“Aah! It’s too fast!”

Maya shouted, but Kim Bongpal ignored her because of the change he felt in the mana ahead.

When he first sensed it, he could feel a crowd of a dozen approaching. But now, their movement had stopped. As he puzzled over it.

Boom-!

A roar sounded from afar.

“…”

Kim Bongpal furrowed his brow as he felt a huge mana storm. Right from where the Shadowless Squad was supposed to be.

He also noticed their number had decreased with that shock and continued dwindling as he watched. In other words, someone was killing the Shadowless Squad.

“Maya.”

“Yes?”

“The spell you cast on me. In what conditions will it break?”

“When a Sorcerer greater than me breaks it! However, there is no way there is a greater Sorcerer than the great Maya, so the other is when you use more power than the standard…?”

“More than the standard?”

“Yes. It wouldn’t have been broken even if you used all your power before…hmm. But I don’t know now.”

Saying so, Maya shook her head nervously. Kim Bongpal asked about it because the speed at which the Shadowless Squad was decreasing. He wasn’t sure of their level, but there was no way they were all fools. As one of the major armed forces of the Celestial Demon Cult, and those who captured the hunters from Earth, it wasn’t possible to overestimate them.

However, their mana was disappearing at a rapid rate.

“What kind of motherfucker…?”Kim Bongpal’s expression hardened a little. He had something he needed to hear from these bastards before they all expired.

“You ride this.”

Kim Bongpal got off the Phantom Horse. While it was above him in average speed and endurance, Kim Bongpal held the upper hand regarding maximum speed during short bursts.

“Huh? Why, suddenly…?”

Kim Bongpal was off before Maya could even finish speaking.

“Huh? Hey! Heeyy!”

Maya yelled after him. And when she rode a bit further.

“…Huh?”

Maya could feel the mana in the distance. She let out an embarrassed noise. What she felt right now was…

…the mana that lingered in her memory.

* * *

The Shadowless Squad was a raid squad that specialized in secret missions that required stealth. They possessed a variety of infiltration and invasion techniques that normal raid squads lacked, and their individual combat power didn’t fall behind. Rather, the level of their martial art was higher than many others.

However.

“Aargh!”

Chunks of flesh hit the ground with each desperate scream. There were five lying motionless on the ground.

Only a few dozen seconds had passed since they met this man as they were heading to the city of Purple Clouds, and five members of the Shadowless Squad had already died.

“Zuo Liang! What the hell are you doing? We are here for the Cult’s business!”

The Captain of the Shadowless Squad shouted. It had been more than a dozen years since he reached the point of transcendence. Due to his limitations, he stagnated at that point. Still, the Captain was an extreme master of perfection rare within even the Celestial Demon Cult.

So why was he grasping at his missing arm and gasping for air now?

“Hehehe!”

The man he spoke to, Zou Liang, laughed.

“You miserable pawns of the Celestial Demon. Did you think I would run away in fear of her?”

“…We also have the permission of the Evil Alliance.”

“Bullshit! Do you think this is the Leader of the Evil Alliance’s territory? He hasn’t even shown himself in more than 10 years!”

Zuo Liang swung his hand, and energy welled from his fingertips.

“…!”

The energy soon split into a dozen beams and snaked through the air toward the members of the Shadowless Squad. The survivors felt an unbearable wave of nausea crippling them, even though they used Demonic Energy.

The members of the Shadowless Squad tried to draw out their Sword Trail and Sword Force to fight back.

“…Gaaaaarggh!”

But to no avail. Their swords failed them as Zuo Liang’s energy pierced their necks. They tried to tear it off by concentrating inner Qiqong in their hands, but even that wouldn’t work.

After a few seconds.

Rumble!

Their screams subsided. Their tongues hung from their mouths, but their bodies remained aloft, held by Zuo Liang’s energy. Only those few who managed to summon their energy, now numbering at seven, remained.

Zuo Liang smirked and turned his gaze to the survivors. The Captain of the Shadowless Squad, the Vice Captain, and some other masters. What should he use their bodies for?

With such a pleasant thought, Monstrous Immortal approached one step at a time. It was truly a shameful pleasure. He couldn’t believe that the Demon Followers of the Celestial Demon Cult would visit Purple Clouds now of all times.

He had been patient for 10 years. But now, those thoughts of ripping off their necks, absorbing their Demon Energy, and consuming their pure blood filled him.“The Celestial Demon will not let this happen…!”

Zuo Liang sneered at the Captain of the Shadowless Squad,

“I didn’t know you would be such a cowardly guy. Are you selling the Celestial Demon’s name out of fear of death?”

The Celestial Demon, Chen Hua-lin’s, strength was real. No matter how good Zuo Liang was, he could not stand against her. That was the case when she defeated the Leader of the Evil Alliance 10 years ago, and it remained that way today.

But when Chen Hua-lin learned of the deaths of her Shadowless Squad, Zuo Liang would no longer be in Purple Clouds. As such, there was no reason for him to fear.

Zuo Liang laughed at the joy that came from his heart.

But it was then he felt a ray of energy emanating from the direction of the city.

“…Ho.”

They should be here in a matter of minutes at their current pace. Zuo Liang’s smile grew even deeper.

* * *

Was it too late?

…No.

“…Ugh.”

Not everyone in the Shadowless Squad died, but the number of survivors Kim Bongpal could feel right now was about five, and it didn’t seem as though that number was stable.

“…”

Kim Bongpal’s face hardened. Oddly enough, he could clearly feel the negative energy as he drew closer. It was almost lewd, unpleasant.

Kim Bongpal’s gaze quickly focused on one place, on the person who caused this disturbance and wasn’t hiding at all. Among the pile of the Shadowless Squad’s corpses, he stood there holding one of the still living members by the neck.

Feeling Kim Bongpal’s presence, he turned around.

“Hoo. It seems I have another guest, huh?”

His long gray hair and voice were like an old man’s. However, his face was so smooth with no visible wrinkles. Kim Bongpal felt uncomfortable with the mismatched appearance.

An Old Monster. His opponent clearly had a young face, but the name Old Monster immediately came to mind.

“I think I’ve never seen you before. The only thing that way if you keep going is the Celestial Demon Cult, so do you have any business there? Or did you come to see them?”

Press.

He gave strength to his hand around the Shadowless Squad member’s neck. His hands, visible through the sleeves of his shaman-like clothes, were also heavily wrinkled.

“———!”

The man he held let out a short scream before his neck snapped, and he went silent. But it wasn’t only his voice that faded. In an instant, his body dried up and vanished.

“Haha. I must look too harsh for our first meeting.”

Saying so, the Old Monster looked to Kim Bongpal with his hands clasped behind his back.

Kim Bongpal frowned. It wasn’t because of the brutal scene, as this man might think. No matter how terrifying that death might be, it wasn’t a first for Kim Bongpal.

Instead, it was because of his opponent’s unpleasant energy. Blood Mages, Black Wizards, Vampires, Sorcerers, even the Moorim people. Looking back, only a few Otherworlders Kim Bongpal had met so far did not exude wicked energy. But among those many, none could come close to the wickedness of this Old Monster.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Zuo Liang.”

“…Kim Bongpal.”

“I’ve never heard of such a name. Are you from Moorim? Or Lupaine?”

“Is that important?”

He smiled and let out a laugh twisted with madness. Then, he stared down at Kim Bongpal with slitted eyes that resembled a snake more than Young-no, who was a snake monster.

Kim Bongpal met that gaze.

Zuo Liang? Hearing that name, Kim Bongpal now knew who his opponent was. Of course, he could’ve guessed only from the first impression, but this was the Monstrous Immortal.

Who wouldn’t think of that title after seeing this evil energy and appearance?