Chapter 53: The Burning Demon Extermination Sect
“You’re seriously insane! Damn it! That was insanely badass!”
Kwak Dong-ha welcomed him with a stream of curses. His eyes, once filled with grim resolve, were now brimming with tears.
“Captain!”
Seon Chan and Seon Min, who had been fighting a different Iron Armor Monkey, also rushed over.
“It’s been a while. Have you all been doing well?”
“Doing well? Do we look like we’ve been doing well to you? I almost died just now. If you’d been even a moment later...”
Tears that had pooled in his eyes began to run down his cheeks. That was how emotional and grateful Jang Woo-hyun’s appearance was.
“Hyung, are you crying?”
“Ah… A grown man crying over something like this…”
“Shut up!”
Even the eyes of the teasing Seon Chan and Seon Min twins were filled with moisture.
“What happened?”
The three of them, who had been bickering, snapped back to their senses at Jang Woo-hyun’s question.
“Captain, the Demon Extermination Sect has fallen.”
The emotional expressions on their faces turned grave.
“The First Monster attacked with hundreds of monsters, and their power is beyond imagination. There were two monsters we’ve never seen before, and not even the Elders, let alone the Sect Leader, could stand against them. The Sect Leader and Vice-Sect Leader tried to fight back, but... since we fled, we don’t know what happened.”
“What time was it?”
“They attacked this morning, so it’s been about two hours now.”
“Hide for now. Others might be chasing after you.”
“You’re going? It’s dangerous. Even for you, Captain, going alone is—”
While Seon Chan was still talking, a Giant Bee Monster and an unknown bird monster were seen flying in the distance. They were chasing those fleeing in other directions.
Jang Woo-hyun glanced in that direction and swung his sword. Dozens of sword slashes flew through the air, slicing all the monsters into pieces that rained down to the ground like a storm.
“……”
The three men were left speechless at the sight.
They had heard rumors that he’d grown stronger, but hearing about it and seeing it for themselves were two completely different things.
‘This guy’s a total monster.’
He had always been amazing, but now he was in a completely different league. The three of them couldn’t even gauge the extent of his strength.
“Stay hidden. I’ll go check things out. It was good to see you again after so long. You’ve all gotten stronger.”
“Captain!”
With those final words, Jang Woo-hyun vanished. Their senses and eyes couldn’t even keep up with his movements.
Blankly staring in the direction of the Demon Extermination Sect, Kwak Dong-ha spoke.
“Us, stronger? Is he mocking us?”
The twin brothers nodded, silently agreeing.
* * *
With every step he took, the scenery around him blurred as it rapidly receded.
Jang Woo-hyun was practically flying forward.
Before long, the city and the Demon Extermination Sect came into view, both shrouded in smoke.
‘Beast-man? No, maybe it’s better to call it a beast-humanoid?’
Above the burning city, a monster flew through the sky.
This golden-feathered monster had the head of an eagle and enormous wings—an odd blend of man and eagle.
Kiiieeekk—
With each screech it let out, feathers rained down onto the city.
Jang Woo-hyun, now inside the city, deflected one of the falling feathers.
Clang!
“…!”
The first feathers were only about a hand’s length, but their size gradually increased until they were longer than a full jang just before striking the ground. Not only that, their hardness rivaled iron pillars.
Even for a first-rate martial artist, it would be difficult to defend against such attacks. And these were falling constantly.
‘Is this a spell?’
Whether it was an inherent ability or some kind of spell, it was clear the monster was manipulating the feathers to enhance their power.
Boom! Boom!
Giant feathers smashed into the city, destroying buildings with each impact.
Dodging the feathers, Jang Woo-hyun expanded his Qi sense.
‘There’s a lot.’
More than three hundred monsters were roaming the city. With that many, they could easily wipe out all the people—but they weren’t.
‘They’re playing with them.’
They weren’t killing them quickly; they were enjoying the hunt.
‘I’ll start with that one first.’
He decided to take out the flying bird monster first.
Right now, Jang Woo-hyun was using the Secret Flowing Body Technique.
Dispersing Mist Skill, which scattered one’s energy signature, had been merged with the Ghost Breath Grand Technique and stealth techniques acquired from the Autumn Soul Assassination Sect, creating the Secret Flowing Body Technique.
When executed to its fullest, he didn’t just appear like an ordinary person—unless someone directly saw him, they wouldn’t even notice he was there.
Jang Woo-hyun locked eyes on the slowly gliding bird monster.
As the creature flew slightly lower...
He climbed a now-collapsed four-story pavilion, using the exposed frame to close the distance.
Then he swung his sword.
Swoosh!
“Kieeek!”
As one of the monster’s wings was sliced off and it shrieked, Jang Woo-hyun kicked off the air and leapt above it, then stabbed straight through its neck.
“Guh! Ka—…”
Before it could even cry out properly, he mimicked the Thousand Nets Divine Slash demonstrated by Yeo Gun-hwi of the Asura Sword Sect and unleashed a web of sword strikes.
Ka-ka-ka-kang! Clang!
As the monster’s body shattered into pieces, a metallic clang rang out. Inside its body was a small orb, about the size of a child’s hand.
Jang Woo-hyun reached out with his free hand and struck with a powerful palm.
Smash!
The orb shattered, and the monster’s body disintegrated into hundreds of white fragments.
Suspended in midair among the scattering white particles...
Jang Woo-hyun glanced around, then unleashed sword slashes in every direction.
His strikes split into dozens of arcs.
Black Wolf Fang: Cross Blade slashed apart the monsters that had been targeting the people.
Whoooosh—
At the same time, strands of Qi radiated out from Jang Woo-hyun’s position.
Concentrating his mind, he manipulated the strands of Qi to search for masterless weapons.
Rumble, rumble.
Swords that had fallen to the ground, sabers buried under rubble, spears embedded in monster corpses—
Weapons scattered across the ground began to float as if possessed by spirits.
‘All at once.’
He planned to sweep them clean.
He no longer paid attention to the size of the weapons. Their movement felt natural.
The only thing that mattered was how much power he could pour into them. Everything else was irrelevant.
Intent flowed through the strands of Qi.
He infused his will into the hovering weapons and moved his hand.
Like a flock of birds migrating in unison, more than a hundred weapons flew forward at the command of Jang Woo-hyun’s gesture.
Their targets were the living monsters, including the Giant Bee Monster and Iron Armor Monkeys.
Thwack! Thud! Crunch!
The monsters that had been targeting humans were suddenly decapitated or skewered by flying weapons.
Alone, he slaughtered hundreds of monsters.
Now, numbers meant nothing.
Even if thousands poured in, it wouldn’t matter. He had reached that level.
The sudden deaths of the monsters—
The eyes of those still trapped in the city turned toward the direction the attacks and flying weapons had come from.
There they saw Jang Woo-hyun, suspended in the sky.
“Wanho Slash Sword? It’s the Wanho Slash Sword!”
A martial artist with sharp eyes recognized his face and shouted.
“Great Hero Jang!”
“Uwaaaah!”
“Jang Woo-hyun!”
“Wanho Slash Sword has returned!”
“One Sword, One Kill! Jang Woo-hyun!”
Everyone screamed his name.
In response to their cries, Jang Woo-hyun unleashed several more sword slashes, eliminating the remaining monsters completely, and then opened his mouth to speak.
“It’s not over yet. Everyone, flee the city now!”
At his shout, the people began to help each other and run away.
Jang Woo-hyun descended to the ground and made his way toward the Demon Extermination Sect.
Not only Jang Woo-hyun but the warriors of the Demon Extermination Sect who had fled also knew that the battle wasn’t over.
—There were two monsters we had never seen before, and not even the Sect Leader or Elders could handle them.
‘He said two.’
One must’ve been the bird-humanoid monster he killed earlier.
That meant one remained. And Jang Woo-hyun knew exactly where it was.
He passed the shattered front gate of the Demon Extermination Sect and walked inside.
Broken buildings were scattered everywhere.
And atop that ruin stood the creature.
It threw the human it had been holding to the ground and turned its body.
It wore splendid battle robes. This was no human.
A white-furred monkey.
Huge—not just in height, which was close to seven cheok, but in presence itself. Its existence felt massive.
It didn’t hunch like a typical monkey. It stood upright like a human, looking down at Jang Woo-hyun with a grin.
As their eyes met, Jang Woo-hyun realized.
‘Absolute Realm...’
The monkey monster was at the level of an Absolute Master.
The overwhelming energy it radiated made him instinctively grip his sword tighter.
This wasn’t just any monster. If there were such a thing as a King of Monsters, it would be like this.
“Finally, someone proper has shown up.”
When the monster opened its mouth, Jang Woo-hyun was shocked.
“You can... talk?”
“Kehihi, what do you think we are? Just mindless beasts?”
Still smiling, the monkey monster began walking forward.
“Not only do monsters possess intelligence, but from the level of high-ranked monsters, some degree of communication is possible.”
If even high-ranked monsters could speak, then this one standing before him, holding an intelligent conversation, was far superior to that.
“What are you?”
At Jang Woo-hyun’s question, the monkey monster only laughed.
“That’s not what matters, is it? I finally met a proper martial artist. They said that guy was the strongest around here, but he was trash.”
Where the creature pointed lay a blood-soaked corpse.
Judging by the broken sword nearby, it wasn’t Vice-Sect Leader Bang Jong-oh.
‘The Sect Leader of the Demon Extermination Sect.’
Jang Woo-hyun had never met him, but it had to be him.
Known as a peak master-level warrior, he hadn’t even managed to put up a proper fight.
As expected, this monkey monster was at the Absolute Realm.
“Well then, enough talking. Let’s have some fun. Ready?”
The moment the creature finished speaking, Jang Woo-hyun instinctively activated the Heaven-Flowing Armor of the Sacred River.
Crunch!
Just as the armor activated, he felt an impact near the left side of his neck.
‘When did—’
If he had been just a moment slower, his neck might’ve been sliced off.
“Oh! As expected!”
The creature, now suddenly behind him, grinned broadly as if pleased and moved again.
As Jang Woo-hyun turned his body, the creature, already in front of him, threw a punch. He couldn’t even move his sword in time and had to block with his arm.
Boom!
“Ugh.”
The shock was enough to nearly break his arm. Without the Heaven-Flowing Armor of the Sacred River, it wouldn’t just have shattered his arm—the impact might’ve crushed his chest as well.
‘What kind of speed is this…?’
Too fast. Far too fast.
In terms of speed alone, it surpassed everyone he had ever faced. Even Gi Il-gwang or Chul Geuk-jin, both Absolute Masters, weren’t this fast.
“Be careful! I’m the fastest among my brothers. Oh! Was that too late to say? Kehihihi!”
The monkey monster cackled crudely as it moved again.
This time, attacks surged in from all directions.
It had multiplied into four and took positions around him, throwing punches from every angle.
‘Dodge? No.’
It was too late for that. He couldn’t match its speed.
Jang Woo-hyun immediately stomped down.
Boom!
Horse King’s Third Step: Sovereign Ruling.
A technique at the Absolute Realm level could collapse its surroundings with just one stomp.
“Huh?”
As the ground caved in, the monkey monster lost its balance.
Jang Woo-hyun turned and used the Three Wheels Sword Art, dodging all of its punches.
And then it was time for his counterattack.
He extended his left hand and used Qi strands to bind the monster’s movements, then immediately followed with the Seven Rings Fivefold Strike.
Crash! Slam! Boom!
As the layered waves of Qi smashed into the monkey monster, it tried to nullify the force with rapid punches.
Its left hand twisted grotesquely as it clashed against the technique.
Even though it had the speed advantage, in terms of power, Jang Woo-hyun outclassed it.
Crack.
With a flick of its arm, the monkey monster’s wrist snapped back into place.
“Good! That’s more like it!”
For whatever reason, the creature seemed delighted as it charged at Jang Woo-hyun again.
Jang Woo-hyun also smiled, stepping forward to meet it head-on.