Chapter 2109 – 2109. The Path To Ascension Through Light
“It seems you’ve underestimated me.”
The Great Demon Ban-o spat out the words. The red light emanating from his eyes grew even more violent.
Crack, crunch.
The sound of bones colliding and bending echoed. The bone soldiers around him clashed with each other, destroying themselves. They broke and shattered. As a result, thousands upon thousands of sharp bone shards were created. With a gesture from Ban-o, the bone shards soared into the air.
“Aren’t you starting to regret standing in my way?”
I circulated the Demonic Heavenly Energy. The dark Demonic Heavenly Energy enveloped me. It was a protective aura.
“I told you, I came because I can handle it.”
“You’re being deceived by that sorceress. Look, while you’re fighting me on the front lines, she’s dealing with the riffraff in a safe place.”
Sama-ryeong was destroying bone soldiers and keeping the demons in check with her sorcery from the rear. Sama-ryeong was doing her part. Thanks to her efforts, the tide of the battle was slowly turning in our favor.
“Stop with the divisive tactics. And while you’re at it, shut your mouth. It’s unpleasant enough that a demon is speaking human words.”
“…Human words. Yes. You humans have always been arrogant. You’re the most arrogant of them all. You’re the type of human I hate the most. I will show you no mercy. Die.”
Ban-o gestured. The bone shards floating in the air surged towards me all at once.
The protective aura stood in their way. The bone shards were not ordinary. Each one was a bone imbued with a certain level of demonic energy. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a considerable amount of time to prepare them.
However, the bone shards could not penetrate the protective aura. Not a normal protective aura, anyway. This was a protective aura using Demonic Heavenly Energy. Moreover, the amount of demonic energy was not at all inferior to Ban-o, who was at the mid-stage of the Three Realms.
‘The elixirs I obtained through the Heavenly Gang System and the elixirs enhanced by the Path to Ascension Through Light… The amount I’ve consumed is enormous. I’m more confident in my internal energy than anyone.’
Papat!
The bone shards were blocked by the protective aura and fell to the ground. No demonic energy could be felt from the fallen bone shards. They had simply become bones with superior strength.
Ban-o, realizing that this attack was meaningless, waved his hand to stop the bone shard attack.
“You’ve got some skills. But you still can’t defeat me.”
The bone shards disintegrated. Not only those floating in the air but also those that had fallen to the ground, having lost their demonic energy, were finely broken down into powder. The bone powder gathered around Ban-o and began to be absorbed into him.
‘He’s playing tricks. Does he think I’ll just watch?’
[Using Acceleration. Duration: 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 11]
[Using Instantaneous Movement. Remaining stacks: 10]
I closed the distance with Acceleration and Instantaneous Movement. Ban-o’s eyes never left me. Even though I used Instantaneous Movement, he could see my movements and react with his own eyes. It wasn’t particularly surprising. Instantaneous Movement didn’t work well against those stronger than a certain level.
I gathered Demonic Heavenly Energy in my left fist. The Demonic Heavenly Energy was compressed in an instant. I punched Ban-o in the solar plexus.
Demonic Heavenly Divine Art (天魔神功) Dragon Fist (竜拳).
Bone powder gathered and blocked the fist. The compressed Demonic Heavenly Energy extended forward, trying to pierce through the bone powder, but it was not enough. The demonic energy contained in the bone powder was extraordinary.
‘If once isn’t enough, I’ll hit him twice, three times.’
Demonic Heavenly Divine Art (天魔神功) Dragon Fist (竜拳).
This time, it was even less effective. At least the bone powder had rippled with the previous attack, but now it didn’t move at all.
“It’s useless. The bones connected to me build resistance to attacks they’ve experienced. No matter how much you hit me…”
Demonic Heavenly Divine Art (天魔神功) Demonic Heavenly Sword (天魔劍) Ninefold Triple Kill (九中三殺).
I lightly stepped on the Demonic Heavenly Descent Step. I instantly warped space and slashed with my sword. Space was distorted, and the tip of the sword split into three, simultaneously targeting Ban-o’s head, neck, and chest.
Again, the bone powder moved to block the sword. But it couldn’t completely block it. The sword had more penetrating power than a fist.
The sword pierced through the bone powder. The bone powder clung to the blade as if it couldn’t be pierced so easily. Regardless, the tip of the sword, imbued with Demonic Heavenly Energy, moved forward.
Twitch.
Ban-o, who had been standing arrogantly until now, was surprised and stepped back. Then, his right arm deflected my attack. His skin was made of bone. It was as if he was wearing bone armor right on top of his skin. Thanks to that, I couldn’t inflict significant damage. Instead, a scratch-like wound was left on the bone.
Bone powder flew in and instantly filled the wound.
“Impressive. Not only your skill but also that sword is special.”
“It’s not over yet.”
Demonic Heavenly Divine Art (天魔神功) Demonic Heavenly Descent Step (天魔君臨步).
Unlike before, I stepped on the Demonic Heavenly Descent Step with all my might. The bone soldiers, demons, and even the Jiangshi around me faltered. Ban-o was no exception. The bone mask-like face of the demon was distorted. The bone powder was also affected and rippled. All the bone powder clinging to the blade flew away.
“Damn it, this power that affects not only the inside but also the mind… what is it?!”
An opening was revealed.
I wasn’t going to miss it.
Demonic Heavenly Divine Art (天魔神功) Demonic Heavenly Sword (天魔劍) Ninefold Seven Kill (九中七殺).
Seven slashes fell upon Ban-o. The bone powder reacted and blocked the slashes. It couldn’t pierce through the clumped bone powder.
“I told you, attacks I’ve experienced build resistance.”
“Stabbing and slashing are different.”
“Isn’t the essence the same? If you want to kill me, you’ll have to attack more creatively.”
“……”
My mind became complicated. The essence of the Ninefold Triple Kill and Ninefold Seven Kill was ultimately just imbuing the sword with Demonic Heavenly Energy and attacking. If he had built resistance to that, then simple attacks would no longer work on him.
‘Is the resistance built once permanent?’
That couldn’t be. That would be an absurd ability. There must be limits and conditions to the resistance built into the bones.
‘I can’t figure it out right now. He’s not an idiot, so he wouldn’t tell me directly.’
It was the moment I was about to regain my stance.
Ban-o suddenly approached. A movement technique that seemed to have transcended space in an instant.
‘He swapped the position of the bone powder with his own…?!’
His hand reached out. The protective aura was pierced, and my collar was grabbed. In Ban-o’s other hand was a bone sword. Crack, crack. The sword transformed like the teeth of a beast.
Demonic Heavenly Divine Art (天魔神功) Demonic Heavenly Palm (天魔神掌).
Before the sword could fall, I swung my palm at Ban-o’s torso. The Demonic Heavenly Palm left a palm print on the bone armor protecting his torso and penetrated inside.
“Cough!”
Ban-o coughed up blood and flew backward. The attack was so effective that it was almost absurd.
“You’re coughing up blood from an attack like that? I see. You’re nothing without your bones. There’s a reason you’re covering your body with bones. You build resistance to attacks on your bones? Then I’ll just ignore the bones and attack. I’ll destroy you with my Inner Heavy Hand Technique (內家重手法), based on my profound internal energy!”
“Just because one attack happened to work, you’re getting cocky… I will personally separate your bones from your flesh.”
The remaining bone powder around him gathered towards Ban-o. Ban-o absorbed the bone powder and increased his size. The bone armor became larger and harder, transforming into a threatening form with thorns. The bone sword he held in his hand was the same.
When all the bone powder was absorbed, his size had grown to almost 3 meters.
Ban-o leaped and swung his sword. I quickly raised the Fire Lotus Flying Blade to block the attack.
A shockwave that could have carved the ground supporting my legs occurred. Ban-o’s reckless attacks continued without stopping.
A chain of reckless attacks like a storm. Even if I wanted to counterattack, there was no opening. I gritted my teeth and blocked the attacks.
‘The opportunity will come.’
Rather than forcing an opening, I focused on blocking. His swordsmanship was nothing special, so I didn’t miss anything. It was just hard to endure.
“My armor and sword have over a thousand pounds of compressed bone. How long do you think you can withstand the weight of a thousand pounds!”
“I think I can withstand it for a lifetime?”
I bluffed, ignoring the trembling in my arms. A shallow provocation. But it definitely worked. Surprisingly, provocations often worked better on masters than on weaklings. It was more infuriating when a weakling provoked you.
‘The opportunity will come.’
Ban-o was focused on killing me. He had judged that if I fell, the rest would go smoothly.
I endured. Even when my arms trembled and my knees screamed, I received his attacks. I endured with my body while conserving my internal energy.
And finally, the moment of opportunity came.
The tide of the battle had completely begun to turn in our favor. There were no more than five living demons left, and the overwhelming number of bone soldiers was less than a hundred.
“Kuaaaak! Lord Ban-o! We can’t hold on any longer!”
“P-Please help us! Lord Ban-o!”
The demons cried for help. Nevertheless, Ban-o’s eyes did not waver. He was clearly thinking that he could just find more subordinate demons later.
It started with the wind.
A strong gust of wind blew, blocking the space between me and Ban-o. Then, a stream of water surged from the ground. Water and wind mixed, becoming a tornado that trapped Ban-o.
‘Sama-ryeong, who finished off the bone soldiers, is helping me.’
I took a stance. I didn’t think a tornado could kill Ban-o. He was armed with thick bone armor.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
With a sound like something grinding, the tornado split in half. The bones scattered around were reduced to powder and absorbed into Ban-o. Ban-o’s size grew even larger.
I rotated the Demonic Heavenly Energy of the Fire Lotus Flying Blade with my breath. A black wind gathered around me. The wind grew larger and larger. It became a storm, holding the black wind around me.
I felt damage to my blood vessels. Internal injuries were spreading little by little. It was okay. One blow was all I needed. I would kill Ban-o and his bone armor in one go.
Ban-o, who had grown even larger, was about to rush at me but stopped. He seemed to have sensed the danger.
“If you don’t come, I’ll go.”
It was the moment I was about to leap forward.
Thwack!
A pitch-black Jiangshi that had sprung from the ground grabbed my ankles with both hands. The Jiangshi’s claws pierced my skin and dug into my flesh.
A surprise attack at the decisive moment when my mind was focused on Ban-o.
I distorted my face and swung my sword at the Jiangshi. The black wind I had gathered exploded, obliterating everything around me. The ground was torn up, and more than ten black Jiangshi hiding underground were ground to pieces.
I stepped on the head of one Jiangshi with my foot and roared.
“Soul-Devouring Black Water!!!!”
