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chapter 218
The force embedded in the molars of the Duwok God was overwhelmingly powerful.
The cyan-white lightning condensed densely, not only granting immense destructive power but also carrying incredible weight…
Yet,
Ihyeon wielded this terrifying weapon as if it were nothing, swinging it quickly.
Even seeing it with the naked eye, his strength was beyond belief.
Chaaang!!
“……!!!”
The moment Anwe blocked it with his claw, he instinctively realized:
He should never engage Ihyeon in a brute force contest.
He already struggled to maintain his stance with one leg missing, and handling this much power was simply impossible.
The relic he had once boasted about—[Talons of the High Hawk]—shattered completely, scattering into the air.
Anwe barely managed to pull his body back at a critical moment, fearing that staying put would mean certain death.
[Legacy: ‘Child-Eating Bird’ spreads its wings!]
Both arms instantly transformed into massive wings, propelling him forward with incredible speed.
Paaah-
Bang!!
Kurrurur…!!
The Duwok God’s molars slammed into the ground.
The lightning erupted into pillars of light, soaring into the sky before unleashing a massive sandstorm and a lightning tsunami that surged toward Anwe’s position.
“Damn it!!”
Anwe realized that meeting Ihyeon head-on was impossible.
Victory was already tipping sharply in Ihyeon’s favor.
Any collision at this point meant inevitable defeat.
He needed to widen the distance to regain control of the battlefield.
Fortunately, Anwe had something Ihyeon didn’t: wings.
Even with one leg, he could freely attack from range and glide.
[Legacy: ‘Child-Eating Bird’ flaps its wings to take on a Toriin (bird-human) form!]
Paaah!
Anwe flapped his wings even harder and soared into the sky.
Meanwhile, his body transformed. Fur grew along his form, his tail lengthened, and a hooked beak protruded from his mouth.
From the lofty heights, he pinpointed Ihyeon’s exact location.
He assumed Ihyeon was near the dust clouds, planning to counterattack once he confirmed the position, but…
“Where the hell…?”
Even with heightened vision and perception, Ihyeon’s position was undetectable.
At that moment,
Fwaaak!!
A wave of scorching hot wind reached him, and he turned his head in shock.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
‘When did he—!?’
Anwe could see Ihyeon, grinning maliciously, already closing in on his position.
There was no time to figure out how Ihyeon had tracked him.
The lightning-infused molars looked far more aggressive than before.
Shaaak-
Anwe chose flight once again.
‘I can’t… I need to get out of this battlefield entirely!!’
Escaping outside the dungeon would have been ideal, but Ihyeon had destroyed the only gate, sealing off any retreat.
‘This lunatic!! He’s not only trapping us but cutting off our escape too!?’
It was as if he were committing ultimate madness just to capture them.
But,
“Not sure where you think you’re going this time either.”
Blood.
Ihyeon’s cold sarcasm pierced Anwe’s ears once more.
Bang! Bang! KWAANG!
Shaaak-
Ihyeon leaped through the air at incredible speed, chasing Anwe.
“Eventually, you’re going to get caught.”
“……!?”
‘Impossible!!’
Finally, Anwe realized how Ihyeon was chasing him.
Every time Ihyeon leapt through the air, spheres of lightning beneath his feet exploded, propelling him forward.
He had heard rumors that Ihyeon had obtained “Kundun,” but he hadn’t expected it to be used like this.
[Activating Duwok God’s Trust!]
His speed was so extreme that no matter how vigorously Anwe flapped his wings, he was on the verge of being caught.
“Eeeek!!”
Anwe bit down on his beak, knowing that capture would ruin his reputation.
But,
“You won’t be caught so easily, huh?”
Ihyeon’s cold smile remained.
“Well, that’s fine. But I don’t know how long you can keep that up.”
[Attempting stealth using Dusk Steps.]
Crackle-crackle-
In an instant, Ihyeon vanished mid-run, attempting stealth, completely disappearing from sight.
“Where…? Where the hell are you!!”
Anwe tried desperately to sense Ihyeon’s presence, to flee in the opposite direction.
“This damn bastard!! Stop hiding and come out… Ugh!!”
Then,
[Abnormal Pressure (SS) forcibly drags the opponent!]
An invisible giant hand suddenly grabbed Anwe and pulled him down to the ground.
“The one who fled first when leading others, now only mouth survives?”
Ihyeon appeared, swinging the Duwok God’s molars at him.
Kwarrrung-
Even a simple swing carried the force of a thunderous axe strike.
Anwe realized he couldn’t dodge in time, twisting his body mid-air to brace for impact.
Feathers reinforced with magic became as rigid as steel, colliding violently.
Crash! Bang!
Shattered fragments of wings flew apart.
“……Ugh!!”
Shaking violently, Anwe slammed his remaining leg forward while clenching his beak, aiming at the gap created by the swing.
Given the size and weight of the molars, the strike’s follow-through created a significant opening.
Paaah-
His precise strike targeted the weak spot; his leg had become as hard as a high hawk’s, ready to tear Ihyeon’s neck apart.
But it was a misjudgment—he hadn’t yet adapted to Ihyeon’s changed fighting style.
Instead of retrieving the molars, Ihyeon released them from his hands, stepping back slightly.
‘He let go of the weapon?’
As Anwe’s leg narrowly passed the previous position, Ihyeon closed the distance again, leaping off the ground.
Fwaaak!!
“……!!”
A blazing wind hit him, draining the color from his face.
At the same time, the Duwok God’s fangs, unleashed from Kibysis, moved with the precision of a master swordsman’s draw.
Flash!!
[Duwok God’s Roar explodes!]
Kurrurung-
Once again, lightning waves enveloped the battlefield.
Chaaak!
Gagagak!!
The Duwok God’s fangs struck Anwe’s left ribs, slicing diagonally up to his right shoulder.
“Kraaaah!”
Blood sprayed as feathers scattered. Fragments of his right wing fell to the ground.
Anwe screamed, plummeting to the ground.
‘Damn… I can’t die like this…!’
Terror gripped him as he landed on his single leg.
Using a prosthetic made from concentrated aura, he stabilized himself and extended his arms forward.
He executed the Bagua Palm he had trained in during his time in China, trying to block the incoming strike of the fang.
[Whirlwind (SS) forcibly swaps positions with the enemy!]
…But the violent gust swapped their positions, nullifying the attack.
Now Ihyeon was below, Anwe above.
“I told you, you’re not the same as the one whose mouth barely survived.”
“……!!!”
Flash!
The fang struck again, smashing Anwe’s palms.
Flesh and muscle were crushed, bones shattered, debris flying everywhere.
The attack was so brutal that there was no time to scream. He nearly lost consciousness from the sheer pain.
But,
Rattle-rattle!
The assault wasn’t over.
The sound of chains clashing rang like a death knell.
Ihyeon pulled the Duwok God’s molars with his right hand, aiming directly above Anwe’s head.
A long shadow fell across his brow.
“Damn it… if I was going to die like this… I shouldn’t have come to the desert…”
Chaaahk!!
The Duwok God’s molars sliced from his head to groin in a single line.
Clang!
Anwe’s body collapsed, severed.
The moment the excellent combatants Anwe and Shaeyonggi fell was the end of a new player on the Near East front.
Step by step, Ihyeon approached the corpse, retrieving something.
“Here it is.”
A radio device found in Anwe’s possession.
Crack!
Using Snow Sapphire, Ihyeon hacked the item instantly, tracking the embedded frequency to transmit a voice beyond.
[Ownership of the item acquired.]
[Successfully located the only connected frequency.]
“So, your cherished subordinates all died. How does that feel, Ringfeng?”
Crackle.
『…Jet.』
Onma, the one he had briefly communicated with upon landing in the desert.
Once confident, now restrained.
“You’ve been watching the situation with eyes you placed on us, haven’t you?”
『…』
“You saw, yet in the end, you can’t beat me. You failed in China, were chased to Russia, and still think this place is different?”
『…In the time I didn’t see you, your mouthwork has improved dramatically.』
Blood.
Ihyeon chuckled lightly.
Provoking the enemy as if thinking, ‘What would Sun Wukong do?’ clearly worked.
‘As expected of Daeseong. His skill with <Heavenly Bridge> hasn’t gone anywhere.’
『I acknowledge you defeated Anwe and Shaeyonggi, and took the Bell Temple. You fully seized the lab from us.』
Onma’s voice was cold, growling.
『But what can you do now? You blocked the only exit, the gate, to trap Shaeyonggi. You locked yourself in your own prison and threw away the key.』
“…….”
『Trapped in a long-unresolved dungeon that the U.S., Russia, and China couldn’t clear, what could you possibly accomplish,’
“Ughahhm.”
『…!?』
“Oh, sorry. I was too sleepy. Were you always this chatty?”
『You…!!』
Ihyeon laughed mid-yawn, mocking him.
Even unseen, he knew exactly the look on Onma’s face: prideful, likely pale like Guan Yu of legend.
“Did you forget what kind of team I lead?”
『…You.』
“And that’s my business. You should worry about what’s coming for you.”
There was no immediate reply from Onma.
He sensed something amiss.
『You… what exactly did you do?』
Chiiik. Static and chaotic noises came intermittently through the radio.
Ihyeon smiled, twisting one side of his mouth.
“I sent a gift to where you are earlier. Hope you like it.”
『…!?』
“It’s much bigger and more imposing than the bomber you sent me before. You can look forward to it.”
『…!!』
Before Onma could respond, the radio went completely silent with a massive explosion.
Chiiiik-
Ihyeon discarded the broken radio and turned his head.
Michael Shepard was there, nodding with a bright smile.
“We just contacted the main force. They say they’ve completed the missile strike at the coordinates Jet gave.”
It wasn’t just a simple bomber—apparently, something much larger.
Blood.
Ihyeon chuckled lightly, thinking of how Onma—or rather, Peng Jinghao—would leap in fury at the news.
