Chapter 215: The Most Dangerous Creature in the World Is… (2)

Facing this sudden confrontation, Lee Han wasn’t flustered at all. After all, he had already predicted this beforehand.

I knew they’re gonna come out.

Considering that there were so many Half-Demonic Humans roaming in the Great Temple while disguising themselves as templars, it wasn’t surprising that such suspicious people came out.

However, there was one thing that he was still wondering about.

“Can I ask you something, Aegithalos?”

[What?]

“Aren’t you the Guardian? How could these things pass through the gate?”

Naturally, Lee Han voiced his question. He was genuinely curious as to how the Aegithalos could allow those things to be here. It was to the point that he suspected that the Aegithalos was actually incompetent.

[Oh, those? Well, I didn’t want them in either, but what can I do? Unlike you guys, those things came in legitimately with the ‘key’. So unlike you, they didn’t even need to pass through the gate.]

“…”

[They still can’t touch the Holy Relics without my permission, though. However, I’m just a Guardian, not the Administrator, so I can’t directly harm them.]

“…I’m going crazy.”

[S-Sorry.]

“No, I wasn’t talking about you… Haa, forget it.”

What surprised Lee Han the most was the fact that these things had the ‘key’ to the Sacred Treasury managed by the Great Temple.

This meant…

The temple is on the same side as them.

It was a situation where one would inevitably let out a curse after hearing it the first time.

“…I’ll have to hit a bunch of people once I leave this place.”

Lee Han muttered with a displeased tone. After hearing his words…

“You can only do that if you survive this, though.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at us like that? Do we look like easy opponents to you?”

“…”

“Arrogant guy. Well, I guess you deserve to be arrogant.”

The woman with impressive bleached hair and eyebrows smiled. Her beauty was noticeable even at first glance, but her facial muscles looked strangely stiff, making her smile seem awkward. She looked like she wanted to smile but couldn’t.

And Lee Han knew a woman whose smile was exactly like that.

…His senior at his previous workplace.

“Number 7…”

“As expected, you know about me, hahaha! But, I need to correct you on something. I’m no longer called Number 7. Call me Seventh Apostle, okay?”

“…”

“By the way, how’s that guy doing?”

“…?”

“Stop playing dumb, I’m talking about Number 8, of course. That traitor is with you, right? Hehehe, I want to see his face. He used to be such a cutie, so I wonder how much he had grown…”

“…”

“Could you please call that cutie here? Ah, don’t bother lying to me. [The Prophet] already told me that he’s here.”

“Um…”

“I see, so you won’t sell out your comrades, huh? That kid seems to have gained a good comrade, hehehe.”

“No, I mean…”

“Since that’s the case, it’s useless to keep talking. Kill him!”

Whoosh-!

The moment Number 7—no, the Seventh Apostle’s order fell, the Half-Demonic Humans immediately rushed towards Lee Han.

Unable to get a word in, Lee Han felt wronged.

Seriously, what the fuck?

Just, why?!

He was right in front of her, and yet she failed to recognize him, so he felt strangely wronged. However, because of the Half-Demonic Humans, he had to forget about that feeling and focus on swinging his sword.

Still, he couldn’t help but think deeply about one question.

Have I really changed that much?

Number 4 was also like this. Why can’t they recognize me?

…It isn’t like my appearance has changed much since I was young.

Since he never once tried to hide his identity, he felt even more wronged.

“That knight is strong.”

The Seventh Apostle trembled as she witnessed the knight’s formidable strength.

Just as she said, he was strong. Incredibly so.

Crack-!

…Is it so easy to break a human’s head?

That’s a Half-Demonic Human’s head too…

An average Half-Demonic Human was stronger than thirty average men combined. Add their Combat Technique, various skills and swordsmanship, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a Half-Demonic Human would be as strong as a hundred knights.

And yet, such strong combatants were being used to sweep the floor. Even if there were a hundred of them here, not just fifty, they still wouldn’t be able to handle that knight.

His power and strength was overwhelming.

The Seventh Apostle, Dyna nodded.

“I guess there’s a reason why he could handle the Fourth Apostle. We can’t handle this guy with our current manpower.”

Dyna knew that the knight had subdued the Fourth Apostle in the Tunnel. Not only that, he had also killed the Half-Demonic Humans as well as the large Mother Worm that Black Moon had painstakingly raised.

As if that wasn’t enough, he had also destroyed the Magic Tower.

With all those in mind, Dyna concluded that…

“…He is a monster.”

Perhaps only Aura Users would be able to fight him.

However…

“Are you afraid of him?”

“Eleventh Apostle….”

“Just call me Yan, Dyna.”

“Sorry, the whole number thing is still foreign in my mouth.”

“Same here. No need to apologize.”

The Eleventh Apostle, Yan, approached Dyna while grinning, and the others followed suit.

“Don’t worry too much, Sister. We’ll make sure you get back safely.”

“Besides, it isn’t like our goal is to kill that knight. Let’s do it as planned.”

The Sixth and Fifth Apostles spoke one after another.

As she listened to their words, Dyna couldn’t help but laugh.

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

Indeed, their goal wasn’t to defeat their opponents.

While yes, she had ordered the 50 Half-Demonic Humans to kill that knight, the real meaning behind that order was:

Stop that guy no matter what. Even if you have to sacrifice your lives.

Even though by doing this the organization had to throw those guys away, who required a substantial amount of resources and time to raise…

“It’s a necessary expense. Right?”

Dyna just let out a cruel laugh.

Bang-!

This…

Boom-!

…Huh.

Crack-!

Are they playing with me?

Lee Han frowned, but he didn’t hesitate to hit, beat, and cut these guys who kept coming at him.

This situation he currently found himself in was something he disliked.

I’m being dragged around.

Even though it was obvious that he was overwhelming them, as someone who was actively fighting this fight, he hated it.

There were two big reasons why he hated it.

First.

Bang-!

Speed.

His fists couldn’t hit his opponents properly. They should’ve been strong enough to pierce those guys’ side, but they only left a serious injury on those guys. What should’ve been a one-hit kill became a two-hit kill.

…The air feels heavy.

The intense energy emitted by the Holy Relics was weighing him down, creating minor errors in his movements. Though the pressure was bearable for him, it still hindered him in a lot of ways.

With the 0.5 second error kept on occurring, and the fact that he had to use a second, or even a third attack to kill someone whom he could kill in a single hit, his stress level skyrocketed.

Physical stress was one thing, but mental stress was also not a good thing because it could affect one’s physical  strength and concentration the more they piled up.

[Um… I know it’s too late to say this now, but I apologize… Since they came in with a key, they don’t feel the pressure that the Holy Relics exuded, unlike you. Please keep that in mind.]

“…”

Crunch-!

You’re telling me that now?!

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

He understood now why these guys moved so quickly.

“Huuu!”

However, he didn’t get angry at the Aegithalos. After all, even if he were to snap at the bird, it wouldn’t make a difference. Moreover, he had experienced this kind of pressure and stress hundreds of times on the battlefield.

What did that mean?

Rumble-!

“AHHHHHH!”

“…Mhm, this is it.”

It meant that as long as he was given time, he’d be able to adapt to it.

The Half-Demonic Humans who rushed at him got his back ripped off. Now starting to adapt to the pressure, he was trying to figure out how much strength he should use.

However…

“For our god…!”

Whoosh-!

Without hesitation—no, without regard for their lives, the Half-Demonic Humans kept rushing at him, shedding tears of blood.

Lee Han tried to stab one of them with his sword, but the bastard…

Stab-!

“??”

…Willingly let himself get stabbed with the sword.

“Hehehe…”

“…”

After that, the guy started laughing like a lunatic while holding the blade in his chest tightly. It was as if he was telling Lee Han that he’d never let him take his sword back.

This was the second thing Lee Han disliked.

These guys…

Aren’t you guys scared of dying?

They either acted as if they were being brainwashed or they had no humanity at all. Since they judged that they couldn’t win against him, they didn’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves. It was as if they would do anything to defeat him.

Bang-!

Seeing the sacrificial lamb grabbing his sword, the other Half-Demonic Humans rushed at him. It was as if they had been waiting for their chance to strike him.

However…

“What’s with those smiles on your faces?”

He had absolutely no intention of succumbing to their petty tactics. So he decided to relieve his discomfort.

Whoosh-!

“!!?”

“If you want to get me, you should’ve used the Thousand-Pound Hammer Technique or something like that.”

Squelch-!

He grabbed his sword and swung it with all his might, grabbing both the handle AND the man’s wrist that was holding onto it.

After that…

Wooong-!

The sword trembled violently, releasing energy that turned red before long.

Then, plum blossom buds filled with Sword Energy burst open like actual plum blossoms in full bloom. The blooming petals burst like firecrackers, releasing more power than ever before.

Plum Blossom Swordsmanship.

It wasn’t the usual Plum Blossom Swordsmanship too. His Plum Blossom Swordsmanship had grown incomparably since back then, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that its power was worlds apart compared to the last time he used it.

Just like that…

Squelch-!

The petals covered the neck and chest of the Half-Demonic Human.

Crunch-!

His weapon was also cut like pieces of paper.

Clang-!

Then, in the next moment, his whole body was torn to pieces.

It was probably their first time to find out that the human body and weapons could be cut so cleanly as if they were colored paper.

…Although, unlike the usual colored paper…

Trickle-!

This particular colored paper only had one color. Red.

Thud!

The sword, which had exhausted its power, turned to dust and disappeared. As the sword’s handle turned to sand, a human hand rolled on the floor.

“Lucky bastard.”

This fucker’s hand got left behind.

Step-!

Lee Han stepped on the colored paper that had left no remains other than this single hand and moved forward.

He still had a lot of paper to shred, after all.