Chapter 212: The Flower of the Tang Clan
I immediately dashed toward Ak Bulhui.
Pa-pa-pa-pack!
I gauged his reaction speed to some extent.
He could block the Gecko Death Beam I fired from an unseen position without difficulty.
It meant ambushes wouldn’t work.
Naturally, Ak Bulhui swung his sword to block my attack.
Ssssssh!
The sword was swung at an incredible speed.
I slammed my feet into the ground to reduce my speed and swung my tail to deflect his sword.
Clang!
I aimed for the guard of the sword.
“You’re quite sharp.”
The vibrant hue of plum blossoms was vividly visible, even to the naked eye.
My scales could easily fend off ordinary swords, but not that one.
Even dragon scales would be pierced if struck by that sword aura.
As soon as I deflected his attack, Ak Bulhui immediately pressed forward as if he’d been waiting.
It was a combative stance, as though he’d never hesitated to fight me.
I extended my claws, wrapping them in blue sword energy.
Clang!
“Do you think mere beastly claws can withstand my sword?”
Ka-ka-ka-kack!
We were locked in a contest of strength.
He was undeniably formidable.
The opponents I had faced so far were all of similar size to me.
Because of that, my combat style was specialized for fighting large beasts, making it tricky to deal with smaller humans like him.
Moreover, despite being human, this guy had strength rivaling that of most spiritual beasts, making him a truly challenging adversary.
My raw strength was superior.
However, the mastery of technique was incomparable.
The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
This was the origin, far surpassing the imitation shown by Magnosaurus.
Even during our contest of strength, sharp sword auras aimed relentlessly for my neck.
I couldn’t just stand still and take it.
Sssssk.
In my left hand, I channeled the essence of the bird.
In my right hand, I summoned the essence of the snake.
The King of Birds snatched at the enemy with storm-like swiftness.
The Snake Queen extended her claws toward a single point as if firing a destructive ray.
Ka-ka-ka-kack!
The essence of Ying-Sa-Sheng-Sa burst forth, sheathed in sword energy.
“This is… quite entertaining!”
Ak Bulhui shouted as he pushed my claws back with his sword.
Using just my hands wouldn’t be enough to face him.
I concentrated inner energy into my legs and stomped the ground forcefully.
Boom!
As Mighty Dragon’s Tremor erupted, the energy from my neck spread into the ground.
Roots of plants rose as if they had become dragons, swimming through the earth to engulf him.
Sssssh!
Slash!
“Ugh!”
He predictably cut down the plants with his sword, but my tail landed a clean hit.
Bang!
Though it wasn’t a severe blow, Ak Bulhui quickly moved his body again.
“Master!”
The martial artists who were fighting elsewhere shouted in unison.
“Awoooo!”
“Polygamy foreverrr!”
Our allies, seeing that I landed a valid strike, cheered loudly.
A victory between leaders would sway the battle.
It was the best contribution I could make on the battlefield.
“…Such mysterious movements. You appear as a giant lizard, yet you use martial arts like a human.”
Ak Bulhui dusted himself off.
“It’s as if I’m watching the synchronized movements of multiple masters.”
He spoke boldly, as though satisfied with our recent exchanges.
“You mimic human movements, then suddenly use your tail. Anyone facing you for the first time would inevitably fall for it.”
Ak Bulhui stood still, gazing at me intently.
Pa-shing!
“Against such a powerful opponent…”
A violet aura enveloped his body.
“There’s no reason to hold back.”
The faint scent of plum blossoms spread subtly.
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly.
Ak Bulhui’s sword carried something beyond mere sword energy.
“Come, then.”
The violet sword energy gathered into a massive blade.
It was a level I had yet to reach.
It was Sword Force.
He was about to fight with all his might.
You must not expect the same situation as before.
…….
I had planned to use this when capturing Gongbok.
I suppose there's no other choice.
Cold and flame collided.
“Haven’t seen you in a while, and now you’ve got something strange attached to you?”
The Red Dragon spoke as she looked at White Wolf.
“Ke-eeeeeng!”
“Kioooong!”
Tus and Pus clung to White Wolf’s shoulders, waving their arms.
Their gesture conveyed the meaning, "How dare you speak so rudely to the Left and Right Guardians?" but the Red Dragon couldn’t understand.
To her, they were just two peculiar spiders.
“Hehe, to think I can see such a spiritual beast in person! This is even more fascinating than Go Dae-hyeop!”
Tang So-yeong shouted as she tightly gripped White Wolf’s fur.
Ordinarily, she would have been reduced to ashes by the Red Dragon’s heat, but she was currently covered in the Fire Rat’s pelt.
The combination of White Wolf’s cold energy and the Fire Rat’s pelt allowed her to taunt like this.
The Red Dragon spewed flames in the shape of the character “大” (big).
Fwoooosh!
“Kyaaaaaah!”
As Tang So-yeong screamed, White Wolf nimbly evaded the Red Dragon’s attack.
Crack-crack-crack!
White Wolf used the power of cold at the right moments to make it difficult for the Red Dragon to aim while continuing to close the distance.
Meanwhile, the Red Dragon tried to maintain distance.
If she betrayed them at a critical moment, being too close would risk getting caught up herself.
However, since she couldn’t reveal her intentions, she had to fight somewhat earnestly.
Boom!
As flame and cold clashed, steam continuously rose, and for some reason, the Red Dragon’s flames ended up engulfing the martial artists of the volcano.
“Kyaaaah! My body’s on fire!”
“Oh my, I seem to have made a mistake?”
The Red Dragon flapped her wings and briefly ascended into the air.
Fierce flames enveloped her body.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The blue cold energy opposing her only intensified its output.
The Red Dragon’s lips curved slightly into a smirk.
“You’ve certainly grown stronger.”
The gap between the Red Dragon and White Wolf was overwhelming.
White Wolf had previously suffered a crushing defeat at her hands.
But now, White Wolf wasn’t the least bit inferior to her.
Since Paryong defeated Cheoldu-ryong, the power of the followers had grown even stronger.
Particularly, all stats related to cold energy had increased.
Moreover, over the past month, even the other followers had grown enough to vaguely wield the power of cold, further amplifying White Wolf’s cold energy.
In this battlefield, the strength of everyone using cold energy was feeding into White Wolf’s power.
In human form, the Red Dragon and White Wolf were now on par.
Additionally, the Shrine Maiden and the Right Guardian shot webs to hinder her, while the Left Guardian and Tang So-yeong spread poison, continually pressuring the Red Dragon.
Fwoooosh!
Of course, such attacks couldn’t pierce the Red Dragon’s flames, but they were enough to irritate her.
The Red Dragon decided to acknowledge them.
The Red Dragon had one troubling thought.
Komodo, her benefactor who had claimed the Dragon Gate.
Since she herself had once held the Dragon Gate, she knew its meaning.
It compels endless slaughter and traps one in a cycle of meaningless actions.
Komodo may appear fine now, but the longer one holds the Dragon Gate, the more it devours the mind.
That was why Komodo needed a sword.
Someone to face challengers in her place and walk the path of carnage for her.
She believed she was the only one who could fulfill that role.
Though other followers existed, they wouldn’t be much help to Komodo.
On the contrary, protecting them might only increase her desire for power.
And so, the Red Dragon hesitated.
If she were to die, there would be no one to act as her sword.
But now, things were different.
With White Wolf and Komodo’s new followers, they might be able to take on that role.
“But three spiders? His tastes are truly beyond me.”
Although the fact that they were all female was slightly troubling, what did it matter?
“But, mutt. Why are you carrying a boy on your back?”
Seeing that even a male had been accepted as a follower, it was clearly a coincidence.
“…A boy?”
White Wolf tilted his head in confusion.
“I didn’t think you’d ever carry another male.”
White Wolf glanced behind him.
Receiving his gaze, Tang So-yeong looked around.
Tang So-yeong looked around.
A boy? Where would there be a boy in this place?
“Yes, a human, too.”
Only then did Tang So-yeong realize who the Red Dragon was referring to.
“Wait… Are you talking about me?”
Tang So-yeong’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m not a man!”
Her divine beast glared at the Red Dragon, its triangular face reflecting her irritation.
“Really? You look undeniably like a man.”
The Red Dragon replied playfully.
“D-Did you just look at my chest…!”
The Red Dragon unintentionally let out a laugh.
“…It would’ve been fun to spend more time with you.”
The Red Dragon focused her power.
This much should be enough.
All she needed now was to shake them off and launch her most powerful attack against the Volcano Sect.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Pa-shing!
But White Wolf wouldn’t let her go.
For the Red Dragon, who intended to deal with them briefly and strike a blow at the Volcano Sect, this was quite a nuisance.
“…You’re persistent.”
Though now was the perfect time to attack, she couldn’t execute her plan with White Wolf charging at her like this.
The Red Dragon gathered her power to shake him off.
Fwoooosh!
Scorching flames engulfed White Wolf.
“Kaeeeng!”
Even with the Fire Rat’s pelt, White Wolf’s fur was burned.
Despite his agonized groans, White Wolf glared at the Red Dragon.
“…You know I’m still fighting you in human form, right? Get out of the way before you get seriously hurt.”
Flames gathered at the Red Dragon’s mouth once again.
Though they appeared evenly matched, much of it was because the Red Dragon was holding back.
She couldn’t harm the followers of the one she served.
But White Wolf didn’t back down.
“It’s funny to hear you worrying about me. What’s next? Are you going to outlive me?”
Boom!
A storm infused with cold energy roared toward her.
“Seriously… so annoying!”
The Red Dragon wrapped her entire body in flames, irritated.
“Why are you blocking me so persistently? You don’t even understand my reasons!”
“Hey, you idiot.”
White Wolf encased himself in cold energy as if to respond.
“Do you think I’m doing this because I like you?”
Sssshhh!
A fierce snowstorm began to rage.
“I wouldn’t care if you died from that poison.”
Unexpected words burst forth.
Did he know about her affliction with the poison?
“But that lizard said something.”
Crack-crack-crack.
“He said he wouldn’t lose anyone.”
He wouldn’t lose anyone dear to him.
It was the vow the Red Dragon had made to herself after losing her family to the Ice Dragon and Thunderbird.
That vow had led her to swallow the poison.
And that same vow was now driving her to sacrifice her life.
But the divine beast she served, the one who had melted her frozen heart, was different.
He was trying to save even her, no matter what.
Perhaps everything that had happened was because of her.
“…My divine beast is truly naive.”
You must cut what needs to be cut and discard what must be discarded.
You can’t carry everything on your shoulders.
Saving the followers and saving the Red Dragon—
That was impossible.
The Red Dragon focused her energy again.
There was only one thing she could do.
Shake off White Wolf, unleash her full power against Ak Bulhui, and then die.
She couldn’t kill him in a single strike, but at least she wouldn’t become a burden.
Fwoooosh!
Crack-crack-crack!
Once again, flames and cold collided.
No longer holding back, the Red Dragon gained the upper hand.
“Kieeeng!”
But Pus’s spiderweb shot out somewhere.
“Keeng!”
Tus sprayed poison, obscuring her vision.
Against her overwhelming flames, such poison was meaningless.
However, Tus and Pus’s attacks were enough to distract the Red Dragon momentarily.
Nephila’s sturdy web extended far.
It was a calculated strike, aimed at the perfect opportunity.
But there was no power behind it.
Even if the web touched her body, it would change nothing.
She would simply burn it away.
“Ugyaaak!”
But at the end of that web was a pigtail-haired girl covered in the Fire Rat’s pelt.
It was Tang So-yeong.
Her strength wasn’t particularly great.
She was exceptional for a third-rate warrior, but lacked what it took to be called first-rate.
Thus, her level was that of a second-rate warrior.
A second-rate warrior like her shouldn’t have been able to inflict meaningful damage on the Red Dragon.
But was Tang So-yeong truly just a second-rate warrior?
Would a mere second-rate martial artist have been granted the authority to handle her clan’s spiritual beast?
Would radical factions expend so much effort just to assassinate a second-rate martial artist?
Tang So-yeong was a flower that had yet to bloom fully.
Even so, she was the most beautiful and dangerous flower of the Tang Clan.
She was called the Flower of the Tang Clan not only because of her extraordinary beauty but also because of her innate ability.
A beautiful flower comes with sharp thorns.
As the Flower of the Tang Clan, she naturally possessed the most dangerous thorns of all.
Clink.
Tang So-yeong’s poison bottle shattered in midair and soaked into the Red Dragon’s body.
A deadly poison that even the clan leader couldn’t control and only she could create.
A poison that expels even the most malevolent energy within the body, rendering even the strongest unable to resist.
Thump.
Thump.
The Red Dragon’s heart thudded wildly.
Tang So-yeong, the Flower of the Tang Clan, unleashed a legendary poison capable of even destroying the poison inside the Red Dragon and leaving her disoriented.
It was said that even the previous Sword Queen, who had achieved immunity to all poisons, couldn’t withstand it.
The Red Dragon couldn’t resist the poison spreading through her body.
Her heart pounded as though it would burst into flames.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and an overwhelming longing to see a certain someone consumed her.
At that moment, the Red Dragon realized the name of this poison.
The most lethal, irresistible poison.
But at the same time, the poison one could most easily become addicted to.
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Yes.
The name of that poison was love.