Episode 223

Is it from a rotten half-eaten corpse?

Seol-Hwi covered his nose for a moment at the smell that was worse than the smell of blood. What was coming out the beast’s mouth was the stench of it.

Seeing the mouths with maggots and flies around, it did not look like they had any proper food around here.

Even just brushing by… would be awful.

And if there was an old corpse which they ate, then that meant there would basically be poison in their mouths. So to be grazed by them would make it difficult to survive even for a few days, let alone three months.

Grrng

The one ahead, the one who came ahead seemed to be the leader. Those who appeared later seemed a little shorter in height and had fewer teeth.

The subordinates will attack first. The movement…

Seol-Hwi quickly shifted his mindset.

After observing the movement of the leader who came ahead, he substituted the actions he could take against them. It was something he never did before, but it was not too difficult for Seol-Hwi.

Uh? Wait…

The moment he thought of the movements happening in the head, a small blue wave appeared around Seol-Hwi’s eyes.

In a really short period of time, hundreds of thoughts meshed together, and at some point, the path was drawn.

This is the Simulation…

It was a virtual fight drawn by his senses. As the experience and sense of battle experienced in the past were recalled, he could see how the fight would proceed. And one of the most important thing—

Having an accurate understanding of one’s abilities played a decisive role in creating the path.

Here it comes.

Kaang!

As soon as the leader roared, the subordinates moved too. Even in such a situation, Seol-Hwi did not use any martial arts abilities.

With just pure skill—

He was thinking of confronting them head on.

Papapat

There were two running ahead and two climbing on the right and left walls. But all these movements were already calculated in Seol-Hwi’s head.

So first—

Wheik

He stomped on the ground to avoid the beast’s attack and thought of the location of the other two coming from the wall.

This.

Taking a step back, he stabbed the sword up.

Kwakw!

Chiik!

The neck of the beast was pierced, and Seol-Hwi accurately took into account the vital points of the body.

He avoided the additional attack of another beast which jumped at him without even retrieving his sword, but then three of them surrounded him.

Kack! Kack! Kack!

The beast rushed at him without giving him a chance. It was a time when anyone could see Seol-Hwi suffer.

Now.

Seol-Hwi really succeeded in taking advantage of it.

Kuak! Kang! Kack!

As a result, all three of them bit their teeth as they were bounced back. In the meantime, Seol-Hwi retrieved the sword from the dead beast’s body and stabbed another in the head.

“Now two left… Uh?”

It was then.

The leader who was watching this moved ahead, and the rest of the beasts flinched. It looked like the leader wanted a one on one fight.

“Is this a one on one fight now?”

Seol-Hwi too was focused. Supposedly, a faint smoke rose above its head and as a result, the two paths ahead of Seol-Hwi turned clearer.

It felt like he had risen to a higher level by fighting these things.

“Come.”

Papapat!

“…!”

The movements of the leader were faster than before. It was not just a single movement. It continued to divert his attention into multiple directions.

Kack!

Uh?

Seol-Hwi’s face went stiff as the leader changed direction. He missed the movement at the trick.

Third direction.

But even at that moment, Seol-Hwi was alert, and he responded by erasing the attacks it threw one by one.

Tumble

This action was the major thing.

As if tearing through the air, their bodies crossed each other as Seol-Hwi avoided being touched by its teeth.

After that, a distance of about three large paces came up. Around that time, sweat began to form on Seol-Hwi’s head.

I need to catch his movements…

It was troubling.

He felt that the speed was something which could not be matched.

If the time can be further used, the odds are… right! There is a way.

And Seol-Hwi thought of one thing. Soon later, he clenched his sword.

Kwak!

When the beast rushed in, Seol-Hwi’s choice would be…

Piing!

It was to run to him.

Piiing!

And it was just for that moment, but Seol-Hwi had a clear view then. The moment he ran, the eyes of the beast shook.

The time was something which is fair to all. However, the result changed when the opponent’s prediction was wrong.

Changes occur when variables enter the flow of time.

Seol-Hwi aimed for that.

Due to the unpredictable movements, the duration of the openings, but Seol-Hwi’s did not change his plan.

Kwaang!

The spot where it was trying to aim by baring its teeth out, Seol-Hwi moved his body to the side and then stabbed the sword he was holding with both hands.

Pack! Kuaak!

The prediction was right, but the fight was not over.

The beast, despite being stabbed in the throat, continued to struggle. It tried to shake Seol-Hwi off of it.

When it did not work out, he ran to the wall trying to crush Seol-Hwi between.

“Achhh!”

At that moment, Seol-Hwi used his dantian for the first time. As soon as the energy in the lower dantian moved to his finger, it began to move to the tip of his sword.

Check!

He cut off the head of the beast.

Tuk.

Seol-Hwi was covered in blood.

“It was true… if I had chosen to be a secret warrior in the past, I would have died.”

It was not about the special skills or martial arts he would not have. The issue was because this beast was not even the head of the cave.

He laughed at the thought of this cave to be something which should be overcome.

“These ones lack loyalty.”

The wolves from a while back, perhaps seeing the leader dead, ran away.

“At that time, why was the time bond was broken… I get it.”

While reviewing the fight with the monster, Seol-Hwi thought of the past, the fight with the Heavenly Demon.

At that time, a special technique called Ice Field Compression was used, which had to be the best.

But the Heavenly Demon broke it down and cut his head. This meant that he had a greater grasp on the flow of time than what Seol-Hwi had.

“That… it must be the difference between Profound Demon and Supreme Demon.”

He was looking at the vast sea and the Heavenly Demon must be looking down from the sky.

No, maybe he was looking out at the whole world.

“Now it can be explained. Both the abilities I have, and which way I need to go.”

The ability of the Simulation. And he learned what the nature of a time binding ability does to the body.

One by one like this—

If he stepped on the basics and moved ahead, he would surely not wander any longer once he reached Supreme Demon.

He will know where he needed to go.

When two months passed—

People were busy moving in the temporary barracks around the cave. Because of the rain the day before, they were busy servicing the warehouse and supplies.

“When will the reinforcements come…”

Bok Chwi-myung, the person in charge here, complained.

There were five people managing the cave. And took a lot of work to keep an eye on the monsters to make sure they did not go out of control and to put in food periodically.

When it rained as such, water leaked into the place, making it inconvenient to manage.

“It isn’t easy to raise a secret warrior at all.”

“Captain.”

Bok Chwi-myung’s eyes widened, as he came out.

Na Gak, who can be considered the manager, came there. Unlike the leader, Na Gak was in charge of all management responsibilities for training secret warriors.

To him, he was a superior figure.

“When did you get here?”

“Well. I just came to get some fresh air.”

Tuk

When Na Gak came and sat in the chair, Bok Chwi-myung too sat down.

“I heard the rumors. They saw that the Fourth Disciple is in a lot of trouble these days.”

“He seems to be making a pretty important decision. It sounds like you are going through a lot because of…”

“We kind of expected this. It was also something known for us all to not leave the positions…”

“It was decided by higher ups. We need to care for the place.”

“I understand.”

The two had a brief exchange of words. With a few words of regards, the topic was changed.

“Right, it has been quite some time now… isn’t it right that the body should be collected now?”

“Dead body…?”

“Yeah, the kid who came in two months back. There is only one child who was there and you don’t even remember.”

“Ah, that child. Haha.”

Bok Chwi-myung nodded. And when he saw him resting, Na Gal asked with a puzzled look.

“What? Is he still alive?”

“Yes.”

“How? Did you check?”

At that, Bok Chwi-myung said,

“I didn’t check it personally, but… he is surely alive. We also confirmed that the number of the beasts within had decreased.”

“The number of beasts? Could it be that the kid is killing them?”

“Huh. It cannot be. They said he was a mere warrior with no rank in the Supreme Pavilion…”

“I heard that too.”

“Hmm.”

There was a moment of silence.

The beasts within the cave had strong bodies and strength which surpassed those of skilled warriors. Moreover, among the monsters which made up the groups, there are those who can make even the best warriors flinch.

Dealing with those people does not mean that they are that skilled.

“What about the White Spirit?”

“They died a long while back.”

“Black beasts?”

“Been a month.”

“Feeding Ghost? Could it be that he died too?”

“…Yes.”

“Hahaha. Hahahaha!”

Na Gak broke into laughter.

Honestly, he was not sure what to say, the ones he mentioned were all skilled.

But the beasts within, they could jump up and down the ceiling, and their skin was thick like leather was layered on it, and the beasts also loved blood.

In the darkness, which was their home, they were furious.

Did most of the chosen ones not survive this by avoiding not to fight a certain beast?

“Lost Soul headed Ghost? It cannot be that it was caught.”

“He was in a deep sleep when…”

“Right. Had to be.”

Na Gak was a bit flustered by the question. Originally the beast mentioned was not a beast in the cave. So, it was not something to be caught here.

“Still, it is amazing. At this point, I think he should be asked to come out.”

“I was trying to say that too, but…”

“But?”

“With the rain yesterday, the entrance to the cave collapsed.”

“What?”

Bok Chwi-myung scratched his head.

“I made the subordinates dig starting in the morning but there are stones and it might take days…”

“That is why the reinforcements…”

“Yes.”

Na Gak nodded, understanding.

“Fine, let me report to the higher ups. We need to restore the place too.”

“Thank you.”

Only then did Bok Chwi-myung’s face brighten.

It was like he found life again.

Tuk

The two of them got up, and Na Gak was about to leave, but then it looked like he remembered something.

“But you see.”

“Yes?”

“If the cave is like this, would it not also affect the ban placed by the priests?”

“I do not know about that, they will ask the Ghastly Troops.”

“No. You don’t have to… It isn’t something which will worsen the situation.”

“Well… they are Second Disciple’s subordinates.”

Bok Chwi-myung understood the intentions of Na Gak.

“It wouldn’t be a huge thing. See you then.”

Na Gak said so and turned.

He was a bit worried about the ban placed on the cave being affected, but he did not bother the guy too much. It was because the reporting process was too much.

And the ban would not be broken that easily.