Chapters 11
The Lord of Seo Cheon Ho doubted his ears.
If he hadn’t misheard, that young brat had just declared that he would crush the head of Suramagun.
‘Is he insane?’
It was a reasonable assumption.
Who was Suramagun?
He was none other than the disciple of the Dark Heavenly Emperor.
Even among the most formidable warriors of the era, none could completely escape the Dark Heavenly Emperor’s shadow.
Even more so, this was an era where the influence of the Dark Heavenly Emperor, who had disappeared from the world for decades, was still stronger than that of the Black Tyrant Castle Lord, the so-called greatest martial artist of the time.
The master of Seo Cheon Ho glanced at the corpse in front of him. His head had been instantly crushed by the young brat’s black iron staff.
It had only been a moment, but even he had failed to catch the movement, proving that the kid was undoubtedly a skilled warrior.
But he had chosen the wrong opponent.
That young expert was certain to die at the hands of Suramagun.
Still, the master of Seo Cheon Ho himself was not in a good position either.
His gaze naturally shifted to Zhuge Liang.
“Are you from the Murim Alliance?”
“…I am Zhuge Liang, Vice Captain of the Hyunmu unit.”
The master of Seo Cheon Ho cursed inwardly.
Not only was she from the Murim Alliance, but also from the Zhuge Clan?
The situation was spiraling out of control.
Suramagun killing that brat and Zhuge Liang was not a problem.
Even though he served Suramagun with utmost respect, Suramagun was not actually a member of Seo Cheon Ho.
So if that happened within Seo Cheon Ho’s domain, that was a different matter.
Even though Seo Cheon Ho was a fairly large devil faction, this was beyond what they could handle.
The master of Seo Cheon Ho glanced at Suramagun out of the corner of his eye.
The usually benevolent face was now flushed red.
It was natural—after all, he had just heard a brat talk about smashing his head right to his face.
The Lord of Seo Cheon Ho took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly for a moment, and then spoke with courage.
“Your evil Highness, Allow me to handle these lot.”
“WHAT?”
Suramagun’s thunderous roar erupted.
The air trembled, and his skin tingled.
Suppressing his nausea, the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho continued.
“Your evil highness, surely you wouldn’t lower yourself to deal with mere children? Now that I know they are just some brats, allow me to take care of—”
Whack!
The Lord of Seo Cheon Ho’s head snapped back. A searing pain flared from his forehead, momentarily turning his vision white.
“You dare belittle the disciple of Heukno?”
The Lord of Seo Cheon Ho wiped the blood streaming from his forehead.
“T-That’s not what I meant…”
Of course, he knew of Heukno.
But he didn’t know much about him.
By the time he had risen to prominence in the black faction, Heukno had already vanished without a trace.
In fact, Zhuge Liang, who had studied the detailed records of the black faction, probably knew more about Heukno than he did.
Even so, he knew one thing—Heukno was a truly terrifying villain.
And among the Dark Heavenly Emperor’s disciples, he was considered one of the most formidable.
‘But his disciple is just a young brat…’
The Lord of Seo Cheon Ho thought Suramagun was overreacting.
He believed Suramagun’s personal fear of Heukno was being projected onto his disciple.
But Suramagun was not a man who overreacted. He feared Heukno for a reason.
And yet, the aura emanating from this boy, Cheon Woo-jin, was equally formidable.
For a moment, he almost mistook the boy for a rejuvenated Heukno himself.
The martial prowess within him was far beyond his years.
Suramagun clicked his tongue at the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho.
“Tsk, what a pathetic fool. A man who can’t even judge the opponent before him dares to call himself the leader of a black faction?”
Anger surged in the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho’s chest.
Everything was going wrong today.
His subordinates were nothing but incompetent worms.
Suramagun, whom he had treated with utmost respect, was openly scorning him.
There were days like this—when nothing went right and everything seemed infuriating.
Today was one of those days for him.
“Your Evil Highness.”
His voice sank low.
Suramagun chuckled.
“What now?”
“You just said that I couldn’t even assess this young brat properly?”
Suramagun laughed heartily.
“That’s right. Do you have a problem with that?”
“I do.”
“What?”
A sudden surge of energy burst from the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho’s body.
Rumble.
The massive office trembled.
Despite everything, he had built his empire in the black faction with his fists. Now, looking Suramagun straight in the eye, he declared,
“If I beat that brat to death right here, what will you do?”
“What? Hahaha…”
Suramagun’s laughter rang out again.
His amusement only fueled the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho’s rising fury.
“Il-cheon. If you kill this brat in front of me, I will grant you one wish—whatever you desire.”
Suramagun grinned.
“…”
To the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho, that grin sounded like:
‘You fool, how could you possibly kill Heukno’s disciple?’
Biting back his rage, the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho spat out his words.
“If I kill that brat, you will leave Seo Cheon Ho immediately. If we provoke the Zhuge Clan, Seo Cheon Ho is finished.”
“Haha, I see… So supporting me has been quite a burden for you, hasn’t it? Very well. If you kill Heukno’s disciple, I will leave.”
Suramagun nodded readily.
Flames burned across the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho’s fists.
Red Crushing Fist.
A technique named for its raw, destructive force.
It was a simple name, but it was the very technique that had allowed Nam Il-cheon to rise as a regional ruler in the black faction.
He strode toward Cheon Woo-jin.
But even as he approached, Cheon Woo-jin remained completely still.
He shifted his gaze between Suramagun to the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho and spoke.
“Who said you could?”
The Lord of Seo Cheon Ho froze mid-step.
Though he exuded an overwhelming killing intent, Cheon Woo-jin treated him as though he didn’t even exist.
Instead, his piercing gaze fixed on Suramagun.
“Suramagun, are you afraid of me?”
“What?”
Cheon Woo-jin pointed at the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho with his Crescent Moon Staff.
“You’re so afraid of me that you’re sending your servant to die just to test my strength?”
“…”
Suramagun fell silent.
For a moment, he felt as if he were standing before Heukno himself.
It was only natural.
Heukno and Baekno had not merely taught Cheon Woo-jin martial arts.
They had instilled in him their speech, their thoughts, and their values.
The child was a blank slate, painted with their respective colors. That was what made the current Cheon Woo-jin.
He saw right through Suramagun’s thoughts. He knew that Suramagun feared Heukno, so much so that his body trembled and his breathing quickened at the mere thought of him.
And by extension, he feared Heukno’s disciple.
So he had sent the Lord of Seo Cheon Ho forward first—to gauge Cheon Woo-jin’s abilities before engaging him himself.
Chun Woo-jin was enraged.
‘To think that a disciple of my master would act in such a pathetic manner…’
His voice dropped lower.
“If I remind you of Master Heukno—”
“…”
“Are you planning to run away?”
In the hall, everyone looked at Suramagun, but he couldn’t say a word. It wasn’t just because Cheon Woo-jin’s words had hit the mark.
His expression, tone, atmosphere… were astonishingly similar to Heukno.
When he first saw him, he thought the young man merely bore a slight resemblance to Heukno. However, for some reason, the young man seemed disappointed and angry with him. As a result, Suramagun began to see more and more of Heukno’s younger self in him.
While Suramagun remained silent, the master of Seo Cheon Ho, his face flushed not only with anger but also with embarrassment, spat out curses.
“The little*****”
Piecing together the conversation, it seemed that both the young brat and Suramagun thought he would lose. And they thought so quite naturally.
The master of Seo Cheon Ho immediately charged at Cheon Woo-jin. Even so, Cheon Woo-jin only looked at Suramagun.
That calm demeanor further fueled the master of Seo Cheon Ho’s anger.
Living up to his reputation as a dominant figure in the dark world, the master of Seo Cheon Ho closed the distance with tremendous speed and threw a punch.
His fist flickered with crimson flames, a manifestation of his powerful energy that could crush even metal in an instant.
As his fist approached, the crimson light illuminated Cheon Woo-jin’s face. At that very moment, Cheon Woo-jin slightly turned his head.
Seeing their eyes meet, the master of Seo Cheon Ho grinned triumphantly. At this distance, not even Suramagun could react.
‘Die!’
His fist struck Cheon Woo-jin.
Thunk!
But the sound was off. Instead of a thud or squish, it was a thunk?
At that moment, excruciating pain surged through his fist.
A black iron rod had blocked his punch.
He thought it wouldn’t be an issue; he could crush both the rod and the head in one go. However, it was his fist that got crushed.
‘Ten-thousand-year-old black iron?’
Known to be one of the hardest metals in the world, even surpassing pure steel in hardness, this metal was the material of the Crescent Moon Staff.
But even if he realised this fact, it was already too late.
Thud!
The master of Seo Cheon Ho instinctively clutched his left shoulder. An excruciating pain followed.
He knew he’d been hit by the staff but he couldn’t even see how it moved.
Before he could gather his thoughts, thump! An immense force struck his chest.
Looking down, he saw the tip of the black iron rod embedded in his solar plexus. His breath caught, and he felt nauseous.
As he was about to be flung back by the recoil, swoosh—
The swiftly retracted Crescent Moon Staff struck down on his head from above before he could even be thrown back. Naturally, the master of Seo Cheon Ho’s entire body was crushed.
Silence fell over the hall. Neither Zhuge Liang nor the Seo Cheon Ho warriors could see anything. It all happened in an instant.
The master of Seo Cheon Ho charged, the black iron rod traced a faint trajectory, and three crushing sounds echoed almost simultaneously with a slight time difference.
Now, only the shattered body of the master of Seo Cheon Ho lay crumpled on the floor.
In a typical fight, this would have been a momentary exchange. However, two people had clearly perceived the entire sequence: one was, of course, Cheon Woo-jin, who wielded the Crescent Moon Staff; the other was…
“Heukno…”
Suramagun’s face turned pale.
While others only heard three crushing sounds, he distinctly saw the three familiar and dreadful techniques: the shoulder-breaking move, “Falling Flower,” the solar plexus-thrusting move, “One Flash,” and finally, the body-crushing move, “Black Thunder.”
These were the very techniques he had once feared more than the Dark Heavenly Emperor, having suffered terribly at the hands of Heukno.
As Cheon Woo-jin lightly swung the Crescent Moon Staff to shake off the blood, his gaze shifted slightly toward Suramagun.
“So, are you planning to run?”
To Suramagun, even that sounded like Heukno’s voice, reminiscent of the countless times he’d heard it.
– Heh heh, go on, make a move. It’s more fun when you try to run.
Yay thank for the chapter 🙂
You’re welcome 😁