Chapter 1129: Scorched World.

No answer came. Father merely looked at me with wrinkled brows. How would he react? I hadn’t thought that.

Because, to some extent, I had expected it.

“Since I’m the one who received the commission, leaving it as is feels a bit-“

I turned my head.

KUUUUUNG—!!!

Fighting spirit grazed past my side. Father threw a punch. Although I dodged it, I rolled my eyeballs at the heat I felt afterward.

Hwa-reureu-reuk.

It was the other arm. Flames were intensely wrapped around the right arm prepared to swing. Seeing that, I twisted my body.

It was a flame flying in a straight line. No. Or so it seemed.

One.

‘A feint.’

My activated clairvoyant sight grasped Father’s movement path. That flame is a feint. As soon as I recognized that.

PAAAAH-!!!

The flame blocked my vision. It didn’t have much aggression.

It was literally for blocking vision. Whether it specialized in that, even putting my inner energy into my eyes didn’t let me see ahead. It had perfectly blocked my line of sight.

My sense of presence was blocked, and my vision was blocked. The power of this flame was something like that.

Just then.

PAAH-!

Through a gap in the flame covering my eyes.

Something pierced through from its left. It was a fist. Father’s fist dug straight into my side.

I curled my arm to defend.

The fist hit directly into the muscles I’d clenched to block.

KUUUNG-!!!

The impact exploded, flinging my body away. As I was pushed back, I escaped the flame that had been blocking my vision. What came into view next was a wall.

WHAM-! WHAM-WHAM-!!!

My body broke through the wall, flinging me onward.

Pa-seu-seu.

My body, having rolled on the ground, was immediately covered in dust and dirt.

“Ptooey.”

I spat out the debris that had gotten into my mouth. The debris that sprang from my mouth flew up into the air, and beyond the curve of the debris that sprang up, something was visible.

Hwa-reureuk-!!!

“Hah.”

Father, clenching his fist, was already flying directly at me. Especially the heat gathered on the surface of his fist was enough to make me gasp.

‘Are you trying to kill me or what?’

This wasn’t the level of energy one would use on a comrade.

Tsk. Clicking my tongue briefly, I quickly twisted my body. While spinning, I grabbed dirt with my hand.

I used the momentum to scatter it towards Father, but…

KWAAAAAH-!!!

As if not falling for such a crude trick, Father blew the dirt away with flames emitted from his body.

It’s fine. I didn’t even think it would work anyway.

This was for the purpose of creating a momentary gap. It was very short, but thanks to it, I gained time to assume a stance.

Kwak-!

“……!”

I quickly straightened my body and approached Father. I grabbed his wrist with my hand. Then.

CHIIIIK-!!!

I felt a sharp pain in my hand. The intensely heated energy had attacked my hand.

GIIIIING.

‘Oops.’

I let go of the wrist and created distance. As soon as I received the heat, the Nine Flame Wheel Technique inside me tried to react.

It was trying to raise resistance by pushing away the flames. Enduring it, after creating distance, I shook my hand.

Tak-tak.

I shook it off with my body. I blocked the heat on my hand by wrapping it in internal energy.

“……Isn’t it too much to attack so abruptly when someone hasn’t even finished speaking? You should at least let me finish.”

“…….”

Father looked at me at my words, spoken as if feeling slighted. My insides clenched at his gleaming red eyes. No matter how I looked at it, he should be weaker than me, but there was no way to explain that presence.

While a quiet silence passed between us.

“Is speech necessary?”

Father said to me.

“Yes?”

“We’ve conveyed our intentions to each other.”

Hwa-reureureureuk—-!!!

Crimson flames climbed directly up Father’s body. The heat released from Father’s body began affecting the surrounding area.

“Weren’t those the words ‘let’s fight’?”

“……That’s true, but…”

I didn’t know you’d rush in so abruptly after I said ‘let’s fight’. Still, I thought you’d give me a little opening.

“Hoo…”

I don’t think my temper was that hasty either.

Oh, or was it?

‘If it were me, certainly.’

If I had said ‘let’s fight’, I would have immediately crushed his head. Looking at it this way, I wonder if Father isn’t a bit better, but…

‘Well…’

If just looking at the energy being emitted, it doesn’t seem particularly like that.

CHIIIIIIIIK…….

The heat felt from Father grew even stronger. Moreover, by this point, there was a problem.

“What’s going on-!”

“What on earth…!!!”

It was the fact that warriors from the Namgung clan, who were patrolling the area, started rushing over after hearing the repercussions of the current unfolding event. Even if that weren’t the case, it was also the fact that others who felt Father’s emitted aura were gathering here.

“Oh, no… the wall…”

“What in the world are you two doing…!”

Surprised people started approaching one by one to examine us. Since we suddenly started brawling during the banquet, it was natural for them to look strangely at us.

“Aren’t those warriors from the Azure Dragon Unit?”

“That’s the Divine Dragon, isn’t it?”

“What? The Divine Dragon? Uh, yeah, that’s right?”

“…Then who is fighting the Divine Dragon? Wasn’t he also from the Azure Dragon Unit?”

“I don’t know his name, but it seems like it?”

“But why are the two of them…”

People who couldn’t understand the situation kept looking this way with puzzled eyes. A fight broke out outside after all the trouble of holding a banquet. Rumors spread quickly. Probably, many people would flock here soon. Even though he must know all that.

Hwa-reureuk-!!!

Father grasped heat in his hand, seemingly having no intention of stopping.

‘Ah. That’s a bit…’

Seeing the flames gathering, I frowned.

‘Does he really intend to kill me?’

Terrified, I twisted my body.

KWAAAAAK-!!!

Father flew towards me. I glimpsed a sphere clutched in his hand.

Flame Bead (Yeom-ok).

A secret technique of the Nine Families manifested intensely in Father’s hand and poured down on me. The extremely compressed flame rotated intensely.

What should I do? If it were originally the case, I too would have created a Flame Bead to resist.

‘Because I can’t do it now.’

As of now, I cannot use that kind of method. If it’s like this, I can’t help it. Seeing the Flame Bead approaching closely, I lowered my stance.

TU-GWANG-!!!

I raised my aura. The inner energy of the Clairvoyant Wave Heavenly Dance penetrated my body. In the process, I aligned my center of gravity with my left instep. The energy emitted from my heart gathered directly at my instep, and the energy soon became gray internal energy, wrapping around my foot.

‘I need to do this a bit faster.’

I wanted to avoid doing it if possible, but by this point, it couldn’t be helped. I increased my speed. The movement, with a slight recoil, gained speed.

Pfft.

My body moved, and the sound followed.

Then.

KWAK-!!!

“……!”

Father widened his eyes. Because I had kicked away the Flame Bead Father created with my foot. In that instant, unable to resist, the Flame Bead rose up. When the Flame Bead, which flew diagonally, had risen somewhat.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG—–!!!

The Flame Bead, now distant from the caster, caused an explosion.

“Hooook!”

“Oh no…!”

The flame’s compression released, and the internal rotation reacted, causing a tremendous explosion. Everyone was surprised by the violent phenomenon.

“How could such a thing be in something so small…”

Everyone seemed to have shining eyes at the value the Flame Bead held, but beneath it all, I was busy quickly taking my next move.

Father, having missed the Flame Bead, was merely surprised for a moment. He immediately corrected his expression.

Woooong-!

Circular spheres formed around Father. Countless Flame Beads were created in the air. That’s a variation form of the Flame Bead. It required significantly less power than creating a single bead, but it was a method that was easy to adjust minutely for variation.

KEEEEEEING-!!!

The created Flame Beads swept towards me. I employed footwork, displaying fancy footwork.

PANG-! PANGPANGPANG-!! PAPAPAPANG-!!!

I dodged the countless Flame Beads here and there. While doing so, I gradually approached Father. Seeing two or three more Flame Beads flying in directly, I used my foot like before.

PANG-! KWAANG-!!

A Flame Bead exploded right in front of me. The explosion’s shockwave obscured me and Father. At this, Father frowned. It must be because his sense of presence was blocked by the obscured explosion. I used my inner energy to layer over the explosion. Although it was only for a moment, his sense of presence would have become dulled. This is what I aimed for. In the gap where vision was blocked, I penetrated into his abdomen. I drove in a fist wrapped in internal energy.

PPAAAK-!!!

The blow landed. I pushed with all my might.

KWAA-!!!

Scattering the smoke, Father was pushed backward.

KWAGEUGEUG-!!!

He didn’t float in the air. His supporting toes crushed the ground as he slowed down, and…

“…….”

“…….”

Father, clutching his abdomen, stopped at a certain distance.

‘……Wow, what a tenacious fellow.’

Seeing that, I inwardly swallowed a groan.

‘You endured that?’

He must have been hit right in the solar plexus, yet he didn’t scream once. There was almost no sign of him grimacing.

Moreover.

‘You condensed defensive energy in that short gap?’

As if expecting me to hit his abdomen, he condensed energy towards his solar plexus to defend. It was an admirable judgment.

“…….”

“…….”

Father and I stared at each other. Seeing that, the surrounding warriors reacted.

“…Is he equal to that Divine Dragon?”

“How can this be a fight between late-stage disciples…”

Apparently, both Father and I were late-stage disciples, yet the fight being displayed was absolutely not at that level. While the warriors looked here with eyes filled with shock.

“…I see.”

Father nodded his head as if realizing something.

“This won’t do.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’ll do it properly.”

After saying the words, for a moment, immense energy was felt from Father’s body.

‘Huh.’

My body jolted.

Hwa-reureureureuk—-!!!

Gi-ing. Giiiiiing.

I had to forcibly stop the rings that kept trying to move.

HWAAA-!!!

The energy emitted from his body rose to the sky. Directly, a change occurred in the dark night.

‘It’s the Red Sky.’

The entire area grew hot. He spread his domain. A secret technique of the Nine Families engulfed the night sky. The sky dyed red.

And then.

“I’m going.”

Father began to completely merge with the flames, as if intending to show his true strength.

“…….”

Seeing that, I scratched my cheek.

‘Hmm.’

I glanced sideways slightly. I released some energy to examine and confirm. It seems.

‘This should be enough.’

My objective seemed to have been achieved. Nodding my head, I immediately said to Father.

“Ah.”

I raised both hands high.

“I lost.”

“…What?”

Hearing my words, Father wrinkled his face, which was a rare sight.

“What are you talking about?”

“Since I’ve completed the commission, there’s no need to continue.”

“What?”

At those words, Father quickly looked around. Finally, after looking around for a while, Father…

“Hah…”

He let out a sigh and released his energy. He seemed to have realized something he had forgotten. What Father had forgotten. Was none other than…

‘Namgung Hyung.’

Namgung Hyung was gone. When attention was focused on the fight that broke out. At the moment everyone’s gaze, let alone Father’s attention, was focused… Namgung Hyung had seized the opportunity and escaped.

Furthermore, this is…

‘Success.’

It was also the moment my plan had successfully worked.