Chapter 36
The atmosphere turned tense in an instant.
At the pressure radiating from Jongin, Baekwoo and Do Woojin, who were behind him, instinctively rested their hands on their sword hilts.
“There’s no need to get so angry. You should at least hear me out to the end.”
“I’m wondering if it’s even worth hearing.”
“It is. Absolutely. What I want isn’t that kid, Jin Ho. I mean, what would I do with a halfwit who can’t even control himself?”
At Cheon Mujin’s faint smirk, Jongin slowly began to ease his killing intent.
“…Then what is it you want?”
“I want to examine him. And no, I’m not saying I’ll take him away to our side for questioning. I just want to look over his body somewhere quiet after this is all over.”
“Hm.”
“If you’re worried, you can watch the whole time. In fact, I think it’d be better if you saw for yourself.”
“So there’s something bothering you.”
“Yes. Last time I was here, I had to let it go because I was busy dealing with that bastard we caught.”
Jongin’s eyes chilled.
Cheon Mujin always seemed to notice the things they didn’t.
Asking to check on Jin Ho was actually something they would have liked to request of him.
And now he was offering to do it in exchange for helping them…
What’s he playing at?
It was too much in their favor—it almost made Jongin suspicious.
From what he’d seen of Cheon Mujin, the man knew himself well.
If he wanted to, he could use someone to his advantage as much as he liked.
With his personality, Jongin almost wanted to bluntly ask him why he was being so generous.
However—
“…Fine. I’ll accept.”
“I like a man who’s decisive.”
Smiling, Cheon Mujin stood and waved his hand.
“A day should be enough. In the meantime, prepare a place where I can talk with that friend of yours.”
A day?
Before Jongin could even ask what he meant, Cheon Mujin left the tent.
“Have you told him the size of the monster horde yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Then how is he bragging about finishing it in a single day?”
While Jin Baek fumbled for an answer—
“A day? Squad Leader, you seriously mean one day?”
Outside, Yoo Hyunhwa stared at Cheon Mujin with open disbelief.
“You don’t even know the size of the horde yet, but you’re saying you’ll finish in a day…”
“Obvious, isn’t it? At most, two hundred.”
Do Woojin, who had been quietly listening, nodded slightly.
“Indeed. If it were significantly more, they would have already pulled people out.”
“Correct! Knowing Jongin, if a horde he couldn’t handle was bearing down on him, he’d have abandoned the camp.”
Some losses could be endured, but a fight with a high risk of total annihilation was one to avoid.
Especially for Jongin—if enemies beyond his capacity were approaching, he’d immediately pull his disciples out of the Demon Wastes.
Even if it meant facing harsh punishment from the main sect, he’d still do it.
But right now, even with full intelligence on the horde, the atmosphere wasn’t one of retreat—just tension.
That meant the size was one that Kunlun could handle with some sacrifice.
He didn’t know how much the Taoists had recovered, but factoring in Jongin’s power, the upper limit was probably around two hundred.
And if it was two hundred—
“Perfect. A meal’s best when it’s just the right amount.”
“…What?”
“Never mind. Let’s head out right away.”
Cheon Mujin had two main reasons for dragging his injured body to help Kunlun.
One was to resolve the nagging feeling he’d gotten from that Taoist, Jin Ho.
The other was to replenish his energy.
More precisely, his magic energy.
The battle with the dragon-class beast had drained him completely, and his recovery was slowing.
He was still working on infusing his body with his inner energy, but the damage to his body was so severe that internal energy alone wasn’t enough.
The natural recovery rate of his qi couldn’t keep pace with the injuries.
What he needed now was—
“Perfect.”
—a large amount of magic energy.
“This time, we’ll do the attack in two rounds.”
“…Sir?”
“You mean you’ll kill a hundred at a time?”
“Not a bad way to put it.”
Ignoring his squad members’ reactions, Cheon Mujin moved forward.
He wasn’t fully healed yet, but he was in good enough shape for this.
The monsters were a species called don-gwi—pig-headed ogres.
Even their leader was only about fifty percent larger than the average one.
It was rare during the Great Migration to see a horde made up of just one species.
“Squad Leader! You should think this through! This isn’t like fighting a mixed horde! When it’s one species, they stick together and won’t break so easi—”
Do Woojin’s warning was cut short—Cheon Mujin was already well ahead of them.
He clenched his fist.
And ran.
Kkuik?
Startled by the sudden appearance of a human, a don-gwi let out its distinctive squeal—
Crack!
—only for Cheon Mujin’s fist to smash its face in.
The axe it had been swinging reflexively grazed the top of Cheon Mujin’s head and fell limply to the ground.
The don-gwi beside it froze in shock for only a moment.
Once it processed what had happened, shock turned to fury, and fury to killing intent.
ROOAARR!
As it roared, Cheon Mujin’s fists tapped its torso a few times—light, almost playful strikes.
It raised its axe to crush the insolent human—
—and spewed a fountain of blood from its mouth.
The spray drew every nearby monster’s attention.
Even those who hadn’t yet grasped what was happening now knew something was wrong.
Killing intent flared as the don-gwi shifted into battle stance.
At that moment—
Thud! Thud!
Two more fell, blood pouring from their mouths.
Cheon Mujin, who had felled them in a blink, was already eyeing his next target.
When another ogre swung its axe, he twisted his torso to evade and jabbed several points on its upper body with his fingertips.
As an axe dropped toward his back, he leaned back and twisted his head aside.
The blade cut empty air, and the handle thudded against the juncture of his shoulder and neck.
Then—
Thunk!
Using the rebound, he made the axe pop back up in surprise.
Crack!
Cheon Mujin bent forward sharply, spinning into a back kick that shattered the ogre’s jaw.
Another rushed him as he appeared off-balance, axe falling—
—but he dodged as if he’d seen it coming.
He didn’t counter this time, simply opened some distance and caught his breath.
Now every ogre in sight had fixed its gaze solely on him.
Their anger had become murderous intent, and it blew toward him like an icy wind.
“Ahh~ this is nice.”
The corners of his mouth rose without thinking.
The magic energy he’d drawn in from the few he’d killed was flowing through his body, urging him on.
He could take more.
He could eat far more.
The Ten Thousand Demon God Art circulated to the extreme, refining the absorbed magic and spreading it throughout his body.
By the time his heartbeat began to pound harder, Cheon Mujin was already smashing another ogre’s jaw.
Axes and roars came from every direction.
Most he dodged.
When he did block, he redirected the blow into another ogre.
He shattered vital points to collapse them from within, broke jaws to rattle brains into unconsciousness.
Those who staggered back up were cut down by the three squad members who’d been holding the rear.
It was a brutal fight—one that could only be described as desperate.
The don-gwi’s numbers visibly dwindled, and when even the elite warrior-class joined the fray—
“Phew. Let’s call it here.”
Cheon Mujin felled a warrior whose dual axes glowed with red aura.
His body was finally nearing its limit.
Time to pull back.
As soon as he shifted into a retreat, the others reacted.
“We’re ready! Get out now!”
“Hmph! I can go longer!”
“Shut it! No showing off now!”
Do Woojin cut off Baekwoo’s nonsense, gripping his sword with trembling hands.
Go longer? What utter madness.
Cheon Mujin was barely breathing hard, and Baekwoo and Yoo Hyunhwa were only winded—
—but they’d been fighting for an entire hour.
These lunatics had fought over two hundred monsters for an hour with only four people.
The others had at least rotated in and out, but Cheon Mujin?
He’d fought non-stop.
No matter how good your stamina, it was absurd.
Which meant—
Time to get out.
They hadn’t counted the kills, but it had to be dozens—maybe over a hundred.
“Retreat!”
At Do Woojin’s urgent shout, Cheon Mujin smirked and nodded.
“Retreat!”
“What? Did I hear that right? A hundred and twenty?”
“…Yes, sir. A hundred and twenty monsters were killed in the first engagement.”
“Hooh!”
One hundred and twenty.
Was that even possible?
At the report, Jongin clenched his fist, a shiver running down his spine.
If he went himself, could he match that?
The answer came quickly.
Impossible.
Even as a transcendent master, he had physical limits.
He could kill forty or fifty, but more than that would be pushing it.
But a hundred and twenty? Without rest?
“There’s definitely something different about him.”
“Yes, sir. It seems to be a trait of the Cheon bloodline.”
“It must be. Nothing else would explain it.”
The Demon Cult, the largest power in the martial world—
They had ruled at the summit for generations. There had to be something behind that.
Friendly feelings toward Cheon Mujin aside, there was no denying he was someone to be wary of.
“Prepare reinforcements. After fighting that much, he’ll need a long rest, and if another battle breaks out before then, it’ll be trouble.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the subordinate left, Jongin pinched the bridge of his nose.
Cheon Mujin’s bizarre strength and growth gave him a headache—but right now, it was a headache he could live with.
Still—
So it’s true he killed a dragon-class beast.
And not just driven it off—killed it.
Ended its life outright.
Hard to believe, but now he had to.
This was serious.
A young man barely an adult had beaten a dragon-class beast to death.
He’d called it a “half-grown” one, but the core he’d handed over was genuine.
“The martial world will shake.”
With a sigh, Jongin pulled out a book on strategy and tactics and began to read.
He’d been reading for a while when—
“Sir!”
“What is it?”
The urgent cry of a disciple made him snap the book shut and rise.
They only came running to his tent like that when something big had happened.
And as expected—but in a way he hadn’t expected—it had.
“The monster horde has been annihilated! Cheon Mujin and his men are returning now!”
“…What?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
