Chapter 61 - Episode 9. Three Fortresses Meeting (6)
Chapter 61: Episode 9. Three Fortresses Meeting (6)
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That was why the two sides now stood lined up across from each other in the training ground.
Between them, with a battle ready to break out at any moment, Dryad’s Fortress Lord kept trying to mediate.
“Please, both sides, calm down. Chaos is already in enough turmoil. Further conflict will not be wise.”
“Dryad’s Fortress Lord, this is a fight that cannot be avoided.”
Gal Hwidong, the Cold-Blooded Golden Sovereign and Fortress Lord of Garuda, showed no sign of backing down.
“Are you truly going to hand 《Chaos》 over to some brat whose identity you do not even know? Look at the Ten Hall Masters of Chaos. None of them are in their right minds.”
“Are you done talking?”
After the Hall Master of Fire King Hall, who had been boiling with rage, the Thunder God Hall Master Yoon Yong stepped forward as well. Even Jegal Myeong, the Scholar Forest Hall Master, who had remained calm until now, added a word.
“Those are certainly not words we can overlook.”
Until just a few days ago, the Hall Masters had looked upon Jaehwan with disdain. Seeing them change this much left Yulhen with a strange feeling.
That was not the only surprising thing.
...Is this the result of their training? What incredible energy.
Separate from the grim turn of events, Yulhen could not hide their admiration the more closely they observed each Hall Master.
Their week of training had not been in vain. Having learned one another’s skills, the Hall Masters possessed an air of strength that could not be compared to what they had shown a week ago.
Even Yoon Yong, the Thunder God Hall Master, who had once been the weakest among them, now carried himself with the presence worthy of one of the Ten Hall Masters. He had once barely clung to his rank, but he had become a true Ten Hall Master.
“So you are saying you do not like our Fortress Lord serving as the Expedition Commander, correct?”
“If you insist on putting it that way, yes.”
“If you want to replace the commander, you will have to face us first. We have no intention of changing commanders.”
Yoon Yong stepped forward and drew his sword. Someone from Garuda’s side came forward as well.
Amazingly, it was Garuda’s Fortress Lord himself.
A seasoned eighth-stage Adapter.
Gal Hwidong, the Cold-Blooded Golden Sovereign.
He was a formidable opponent for Yoon Yong, the Thunder God Hall Master, who had only been a sixth-stage Adapter until recently.
Still, the Thunder God Hall Master did not retreat. Gal Hwidong smiled coldly and beckoned to Yoon Yong.
“I will let you make the first move.”
The moment Yoon Yong’s sword moved, Gal Hwidong’s ease vanished completely.
Thunder God Energy tore through the air and came crashing down on Gal Hwidong from all directions. Its power was impossible to believe for a sixth-stage Adapter.
A seventh-stage Adapter.
In only a week, Yoon Yong had advanced an entire stage. Having reached its peak, Yoon Yong’s Thunder God Energy moved freely at his will, pressuring Gal Hwidong from every side.
“...That is all?”
Gal Hwidong quickly regained his composure. He was, after all, an eighth-stage Adapter. With every advancement, the difference in an Adapter’s strength became enormous.
Gal Hwidong was powerful enough to fight three or four seventh-stage Adapters at once.
He unleashed his primary skill, Meteor Gold Wheels.
Golden rings burst from Gal Hwidong’s hands and rained down on the Thunder God Hall Master, radiating murderous intent.
When the gold wheels, filled with an eighth-stage Adapter’s spiritual power and driven by monstrous rotational force, collided with the Thunder God Energy, the energy scattered without a trace.
Yoon Yong took several steps back, his face darkening slightly.
Gal Hwidong’s gold wheels had destroyed the Thunder God Energy without losing any of their force. If anything, they shone even brighter, dazzlingly filling the surrounding area.
It was an attack that Thunder God Energy alone could not stop.
Then flames burst from the point of the Thunder God Hall Master’s sword. Gal Hwidong knew exactly what skill it was, and his expression changed.
“Fire King Sword?”
Fire King’s Eighteen Swords.
It could not match Thunder God Energy in speed, but its destructive force surpassed even Gal Hwidong’s Meteor Gold Wheels. The Thunder God Hall Master was now wielding that skill.
...Did they teach their skills to one another?
Only then did Gal Hwidong understand how the Thunder God Hall Master, known for decades as a sixth-stage Adapter, had crossed the wall into the seventh stage.
Every skill possessed by the Ten Hall Masters was top-class. If someone learned such skills one after another and did not grow rapidly, that would be stranger.
“You gave away your own skills so casually? Have the Ten Hall Masters even thrown away their pride?”
“Does pride put food on the table?”
Despite the enormous gap in spiritual power, the Meteor Gold Wheels that collided with the flames melted away in showers of light. Their durability could not withstand the heat of Fire King’s Eighteen Swords.
The gap in spiritual power was being offset by the compatibility between their skills. Flames streamed from Fire King’s Eighteen Swords, forming a barrier before the Thunder God Hall Master.
Gal Hwidong gritted his teeth.
It had only been a week. How much could they have learned in just one week?
Gal Hwidong unleashed Meteor Gold Wheels once more.
“Go!”
The gold wheels shot from his hands, forming a precise battle formation as they flew. They advanced into the Fire King’s flames in a wedge formation.
The wheels at the front burned away, allowing those behind them to survive through the wall of flames.
A few of the onlookers gasped in admiration at the clever tactic.
“As expected of Garuda’s Fortress Lord. That attack cannot be avoided.”
Yet Gal Hwidong soon realized that his decisive attack had failed.
The Thunder God Hall Master was nowhere to be seen where the flames had faded. Gal Hwidong noticed that the scenery around him had become hazy.
“Even Hidden Form Eight Formations?”
A top-class formation skill that created a hazy fog to block an opponent’s vision. Alongside Eight Gates of Hell, it was one of the Scholar Forest Hall Master’s proudest skills.
“How many top-class skills did you learn?”
Soon, Thunder God Energy and Fire King’s Eighteen Swords came flying from all corners of the Hidden Form Eight Formations at once.
Gal Hwidong hurriedly sent out his gold wheels, but he was gradually being forced onto the defensive.
Despite his tremendous spiritual power, his Meteor Gold Wheels were slowly losing strength before the proper combination of so many different skills.
In the end, Gal Hwidong unleashed his lifesaving move.
Myriad Sea Gold Wheels, the ultimate technique of Meteor Gold Wheels, pierced through the thick fog and flew in every direction.
It was a spectacular sight, as though hundreds of meteor showers were pouring forth from his body.
Then someone appeared behind him like a ghost.
It was Yoon Yong, the Thunder God Hall Master, who had concealed himself within the fog of the Hidden Form Eight Formations.
Gal Hwidong’s expression stiffened as he saw the Spiritual Pressure gathered at the tip of Yoon Yong’s sword. He recognized the skill at once.
It was a sword technique called the strongest skill in Chaos.
Azure Sky Sword Form.
The Azure Sky Sword Form, Shin Mugeuk’s primary skill, was about to unfold from the Thunder God Hall Master’s fingertips. Gal Hwidong instinctively knew that his gold wheels would not be able to withstand it.
Do I have to use that?
Gal Hwidong’s sleeve fluttered, revealing a tattoo shaped like a pure white bird on his left arm.
A tattoo possessed by every Fortress Lord in Chaos.
It began to emit a brilliant light in an instant.
“Stop!”
Magnificent spiritual power shook the sky and swept across the training ground.
Yoon Yong, the Thunder God Hall Master, who had been preparing Azure Sky Sword Form, stopped with a frown. Gal Hwidong, whose hand rested on the tattoo on his left arm, stopped as well.
The owner of that overwhelming spiritual power was none other than Shin Mugeuk, the Limitless Hall Master.
“Were you about to use a Guardian Horned Beast?”
“...”
“Guardian Horned Beasts were not made to be used in a situation like this.”
It was a perfectly timed intervention.
If the match had continued, Yoon Yong, the Thunder God Hall Master, would have lost.
Shin Mugeuk continued while looking at the brightly glowing tattoo on Gal Hwidong’s left arm.
“Put Garuda away. Are you planning to use an anti-Deadman weapon here?”
Gal Hwidong’s lips twitched. With a frustrated expression, he lowered his sleeve, sharply turned around, and disappeared into his side’s formation.
“...I lost.”
The moment Gal Hwidong declared defeat, cheers erupted among the Gorgon warriors.
A seventh-stage Adapter had defeated an eighth-stage Adapter. Something impossible had happened.
And his opponent had been a Fortress Lord.
Perhaps watching the first match had made them restless, because Kang Hwang, the Hall Master of Fire King Hall, stepped forward and shouted,
“I am next!”
“No, I am!”
Jegal Myeong, the Scholar Forest Hall Master, would not be left out either.
Yoon Yong, the Thunder God Hall Master, frowned.
“What are you talking about? My turn is not over yet...”
The next moment, all three fell silent.
Someone had stepped into the center of the training ground without a word.
Seeing him, Yoon Yong quietly stepped back. He was an opponent deserving of that much respect.
Strange sighs escaped from all around.
“I do not wish to drag this out.”
Shin Mugeuk, the Limitless Hall Master and Azure Sky Sword, had stepped forward himself.
Other than Jaehwan and Cheongheo, Shin Mugeuk was the strongest person in Gorgon Fortress. Who would dare stop him if he wanted to fight? The Hall Masters who knew his strength could only quietly withdraw.
Shin Mugeuk looked toward Garuda and Dryad’s camps with piercing eyes and spoke.
“Who will face me? Gal Hwidong? Or you, Aisa Lindcroft?”
Gal Hwidong, the Cold-Blooded Golden Sovereign, scowled. Aisa Lindcroft remained silent as well.
That was how powerful Shin Mugeuk was.
He was an absolute powerhouse said to be unbeatable in one-on-one combat even by the Heavenly Dragon Hall Master, who held the first seat. Among eighth-stage Adapters, there was no one who could stand against him.
Then someone moved.
“...Goddess Hall Master? What are you doing?”
Ja Geukryeong, the Goddess Hall Master, moved and ran toward the center of the training ground.
“Are you saying you will fight me?”
“Me? Of course not.”
Ja Geukryeong smiled brightly as she crossed the training ground and took her place on Garuda’s side.
Jegal Myeong, the Scholar Forest Hall Master, frowned at the sight.
“What are you doing?”
“Just as you can see. I switched sides.”
She was switching sides now, when the Limitless Hall Master had stepped forward himself?
It made no sense. Even if she came from Dryad, the southern fortress, and was acquainted with Aisa Lindcroft, Dryad’s Fortress Lord...
“I think this side has a better chance of winning.”
The Hall Masters erupted in anger at once. Jegal Myeong, the Scholar Forest Hall Master, was the first to speak.
“I knew you held resentment toward Gorgon’s Fortress Lord.”
“...Did you?”
“But you know the Limitless Hall Master’s strength as well, do you not? You will never be able to replace the Expedition Commander.”
Even if the Goddess Hall Master, strengthened by two years of training, joined the other side, the outcome would be the same. The other Hall Masters had not spent that time idly either.
Ja Geukryeong opened her mouth.
“Well, I do not think so.”
Just as Jegal Myeong was about to respond, someone opened the door on the opposite side of the training ground and entered.
He passed straight by the Fortress Lords of Dryad and Garuda before reaching the center of the training ground.
“Limitless Hall Master, I will be your opponent.”
He was a handsome middle-aged man with a gentle, approachable impression.
Yet several Hall Masters looked at him in shock. Even the usually expressionless Limitless Hall Master looked startled.
“You are...”
Only after seeing the newly arrived man did Yulhen realize who had planned Three Fortresses Meeting.
Yulhen had thought there must be someone behind this.
It had been strange enough for Garuda and Dryad, who had such poor relations, to be cooperating.
There was only one being capable of saving Garuda Fortress from Geumcheon Hall’s oppression and bringing even Dryad’s wise Fortress Lord to heel.
Intense Spiritual Pressure, which only one with the stature of a Lord could release, surged through the training ground as if to suffocate everyone within it.
Footnotes:
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