Chapter 422: Azure Dragon River (3)

We were on a boat that held more than a hundred people.

Yet, the shadow below us felt even bigger than that.

“Fuck.”

I couldn’t help but curse out when I saw that thing.

Why is that appearing out of the blue?

“What is that…?”

“Report to the Lord right now!”

“What the hell is that thing…!!”

It wasn’t only me that felt shocked by the sight judging by other’s reaction. As others didn’t know what to do, I sent a telepathic message to Tang Duk while gazing at him.

-Is it perhaps that thing you prepared?

“…”

Tang Duk gave no response, but I saw his pupils shaking.

It didn’t feel like that was the case, but I asked again just to make sure.

-It’s an order. Answer me now.

-I… don’t… know what that is.

Tang Duk didn’t know it? I thought it was him who prepared it to hunt down the Poison King due to the timing.

Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

Then…

“Why is that thing suddenly appearing…?”

It was definitely deep in the river, but its body was so gigantic that even the smallest movement it made shook the water.

Following its movement, the Blue Demons followed along with it as if they were escorting their leader.

I became certain after seeing the sight.

That giant monster, was definitely a Red Demon.

I saw it in my past life as well. Compared to Green and Blue Demons that hunted each other, Red Demons had the trait of dominating lower ranking Demons.

The power it had alone was comparable to a Fusion Realm martial artist, but it having such a trait made it even harder to hunt it down.

That wasn’t the only problem at that.

Crack-

I thought to myself while clenching my fist.

Since when.

Why did these bastards start appearing already?

It shouldn’t be time yet.

As far as I knew, Red Demons made their appearance only after the Heavenly Demon did.

Once she stepped her foot into our land, the forgotten Red Demons started appearing in the world.

“They shouldn’t appear already. Damn it…”

I couldn’t understand why that monster was swimming inside this river.

Moreover, I took a look at the waists of all the martial artists around me.

Their Demonic Charms showed no sign of activating.

Demonic Charms activates when a Demon Gate appears near the holder, and considering how it didn’t this time, it meant that no Demon Gates appeared around us.

This means…

That bastard didn’t appear just now.

It meant that a Red Demon Gate had already opened here some time ago.

But when? Since when did red gates start appearing in the world?

I didn’t know. I didn’t hear any news like that in the Central Plains.

As I continued to observe the monster’s movement with a frown,

“What’s the matter?”

The Poison King appeared and took a look at the situation.

He opened his eyes widely once he felt the presence underneath the river.

“That’s…?”

“It seems to be a Red Demon.”

I spoke to the Poison King.

After hearing my words, the Poison King made a shocked expression.

The other people around us all showed horrified expressions as well.

“Red…?”

“That’s impossible…! Red Demons? Didn’t they only exist hundreds of years ago!?”

“What the hell is the Lesser King of Hell talking about right now?”

The crowd got rowdier.

It was obvious for them to show such reactions as they were supposed to be extinct.

I still had my gaze underneath the ship.

It was shocking how a Red Demon appeared out of the blue, but I needed to get a handle on the situation for now.

And it had to be on water in all places.

It was a very unlucky situation the more I thought about it. This was the worst situation we could’ve run into.

Our movements were limited on water, and it was easily the most dangerous place to fight.

Though it’s not all that dangerous…

I glanced at those that stood behind me.

The Dishonored Venerable and Dark King were standing there.

The Dishonored Venerable had his eyes widened in shock after seeing the Red Demon’s appearance, and the Dark King watched the sight as if he was amused by it.

We definitely have enough force…

We had more than enough power to hunt down a Red Demon. Most people here were Peak Realm martial artists, and we had a lot of Fusion Realm martial artists as well, so it wasn’t going to be that difficult to hunt it down.

However…

The current generation… isn’t used to Red Demons yet.

Red Demons were only a thing written in records, and no one knew how to properly hunt it down which was the problem.

It was because there was a specific way to hunt down Red Demons.

As panic built up due to the unexpected situation,

Wrrooooong-Wrooooong-!!

Rumble-!

An unbelievable sound came from the river and the calm river started to shake.

The waves were so strong they even shook the giant ship.

“Hold on as best as you can!”

“Ahhhh!”

It wasn’t hard for most martial artists to hold balance, but there were a few that weren’t prepared.

Because of that, some fell into the river due to the ship shaking.

They wouldn’t have had trouble swimming out, but the hungry Green and Blue Demons discovered their prey and came in charging.

Because of that, the martial artists in the water panicked and couldn’t defend themselves.

“Agh-! S…Save me!”

Water greatly limited their strength.

Despite them being First-rate martial artists, they all became powerless in the water and it was enough to turn them into Demons’ feast.

Everyone became tense once they saw their allies being ripped and chomped apart in an instant.

Because they were martial artists, they prepared for battle rather than become afraid.

They pulled their swords out and charged their Qi.

All of the Qi that poured out from their bodies combined with each other’s and created one big flow of Qi.

Shit…!

I flinched at the sight.

This was dangerous.

Right as I was about to shout at them to retrieve their Qi,

Woong-!

It was too late.

The bastard started to move already as if it was triggered by their Qi.

Waves got stronger as the monster moved.

Its shadow became darker, and it eventually revealed itself from the water.

Splaaaash-!

The water shook when it lifted its heavy head, and everyone all became silent as the ship shook harshly.

Their Qi all disappeared away as if they weren’t there to begin with.

The size of the monster was comparable to the ship.

It had a long body and red scales.

The bastard poked its long tongue out and moved its giant eyeball to gaze at the ship.

After seeing the monster, someone spoke in a shaky tone.

“…It’s… a snake?”

Yes.

The bastard looked just like a snake.

However, it was unbelievably giant.

Red Demon.

According to the records, the last time it was found was around four to five hundred years ago.

They were Demons that had incomparable sizes and strength to Green and Blue Demons.

White Demons were powerful enough to change a whole terrain into a river, or change a whole region’s weather.

The Red Demons that ranked right below them, were powerful enough to become a king of a region.

They were so powerful that other creatures couldn’t even think about living in the same area as them without permission.

It was such an unbelievable record for a Demon.

Because of that, the Poison King didn’t believe it when he read about it.

It wasn’t hard for a First-rate martial artist to treat Green and even Blue Demons like toys.

Judging from that, it was hard to believe that Red Demons, which ranked right above Blue, were that much more powerful.

Even if they were that powerful, they became extinct and no longer appeared in the world.

Because of that, the Poison King didn’t consider the threat of Red Demons.

Everyone living in the Central Plains thought the same way.

Red Demons weren’t going to appear ever again.

False information is written in the records.

That’s what everyone thought about Red Demons, but the Poison King had to change his belief now.

“This is…”

The records didn’t have any false information in them.

“What an unbelievable size…”

How could he think otherwise when the proof was right in front of him?

Sssssss…

It was a snake. An unbelievably gigantic snake.

Just like its rank, it had red scales and it was big as the ship we were on.

The monster rolled its yellow eyeball and looked at the people on the deck.

When that gaze landed on them, the crowd started to shake in fear.

Most of the martial artists who felt afraid were below First-rate. Some of them even fainted with bubbles in their mouths.

The Poison King had to frown after seeing such a sight.

Just why…!

A Red Demon appeared out of the blue. What kind of disaster was this?

There were also other Demons that surrounded its leader.

This wasn’t a good situation at all.

The Demon’s eye also showed its intent.

The Poison King knew immediately that the Demon was feeling hungry.

The monster was seeing everyone as its food.

The Poison King shouted without hesitation after his thought.

“Turn the ship away!”

They had to leave immediately. The Poison King wasn’t stupid enough to leave the ship right in front of a monster like that.

At the same time,

Swooosh-!

He didn’t think that the monster would easily allow the ship to escape either.

The Demon opened its eyes widely and charged at the ship once it started to move.

After seeing its movement, the Poison King jumped off the deck and charged towards the Demon.

He had a dagger in his hand.

After charging his Qi, he threw his daggers at the Demon without hesitation.

Daggers enhanced with Qi from a Fusion Realm martial artist, flew quickly towards the Demon’s head.

The daggers from the Poison King were strong enough to stab through steel like nothing,

Ting-!

“…What!?”

But they were bounced off before it could even reach the Demon.

It seemed as if they were stopped by an invisible barrier.

As the Poison King stood still in shock, the Demon that swam towards the ship changed its target and charged towards the Poison King while opening its mouth wide, planning to gulp him in one bite.

Then, someone pulled onto the Poison King’s collar and threw him backward.

Thanks to that, the Poison King was able to just barely dodge the snake’s attack.

“Wow, wasn’t that crazy? How can she be that fast?”

It was the White Ripple Sword who saved the Poison King.

The Poison King landed on the river after being sent backward.

Fusion Realm martial artists were capable of landing and walking on water.

The White Ripple Sword arrived next to the Poison King, and the Poison King thanked her shortly after.

“Thank you. I was able to escape danger thanks to you.”

“You can thank me later… but what was that just now? It seemed like your Qi was bounced off of the monster.”

“…Correct.”

The Poison King responded to the White Ripple Sword with a frown. Like she said, the monster was able to deflect the Poison King’s attack.

Deflecting Qi-enhanced attack from a Fusion Realm martial artist… how was such a thing even possible?

Another person appeared next to the Poison King who couldn’t understand the situation.

It was one of the Hundred Masters of the Central Plains, the Lord of Pe Clan, Pe Dooyeol the Martial Fist of Steel.

“I’ll join you.”

The Poison King nodded at his words.

Three martial artists above Fusion Realm stood in a line on top of a river.

The ship started to change direction, and the Demon had its eyes on not the ship, but the three people that stood in front.

The monster knew that it couldn’t head towards the ship before killing the three people in front of it.

While observing the monster, the Poison King thought to himself.

Is… it targeting the ship?

It looked as if the Demon had its eyes on the ship.

Surely that wasn’t the case. The Poison King shook his head.

Even if the sudden appearance of a Red Demon was shocking, he had to focus on protecting the ship for now.

As he caught his breath while holding his daggers, the White Ripple Sword spoke while looking at the Demon.

“Jeez… It’s big. So disgustingly big.”

The Poison King felt like his energy was being drained because of her, but he couldn’t help but agree with her.

It was just like she said.

Compared to all the Demons he has seen in his life, the Demon currently in front of him was unbelievably big in size.

What would it have looked like if that monster was on land instead?

What if it wasn’t just one, and there were actually more hiding?

The Poison King held onto his daggers tightly at the horrifying thought.

The snake didn’t charge in as if it was building its appetite.

Demons only acted through their instincts, so it would have made sense for the monster to attack already, but it looked as if it was observing the situation.

The Poison King was doing the same.

I have to figure out what happened just now.

He thought about when his daggers were bounced off of the monster.

His daggers were clearly enhanced with his Qi, and there weren’t any flaws in his movement.

Yet, his attack was deflected off of the monster before it could even make contact.

He couldn’t understand.

As the Poison King was in the middle of his thoughts, the White Ripple Sword quickly swung her sword and sent a powerful Qi wave toward the monster.

It was a surprise attack.

Swish-!

A light blue Qi wave quickly flew towards the snake with the intent to cut the monster in half,

Psh-!

But just like the Poison King’s daggers, the White Ripple Sword’s attack came to a stop after hitting an invisible barrier.

“As I expected… it doesn’t work huh?”

The White Ripple Sword spoke in a disappointed tone, but the Poison King was very shocked by her action.

“White Ripple Sword…! What do you think you are doing all of a sudden!”

“What? I had to check if it was going to work or not. We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

She believed that a fight was inevitable, and the Poison King placed his hand on his forehead in response.

The Demon thankfully continued to observe the situation after being attacked, but it would’ve been a problem if it was angered by her attack.

The White Ripple Sword’s sudden attack may have been surprising, but they were able to learn one thing from it.

No ordinary attacks were going to work against that Demon.

The Poison King quickly started to think in order to figure something out, and something popped up in his mind.

Perhaps…

…Red Demons are creatures that are immune to Qi?

The Poison King gulped nervously at the horrifying thought he suddenly had.

It wasn’t written in the records, but such a thing was possible.

It was possible that Red Demons were immune to Qi.

Just imagining such a possibility was terrifying.

This meant that martial artists who used their Qi to hunt Demons were all worthless in this fight, and they would all die if they failed to stop this Demon.

It was only the Poison King’s imagination, but it didn’t feel too unrealistic. As he continued to gulp nervously, the Demon started to move.

Splaaaash-!

As the snake was about to charge towards the three martial artists while showing its fangs,

Swish-! Slam-!

“!”

A thunderbolt poured down from somewhere and struck the snake’s head.

Ssssss-!

The snake’s head shook as it roared.

Its head changed direction as it screamed.

The giant head fell straight into the river, and its impact caused waves to shoot into the sky.

The water that splashed high in the sky fell back down which made it seem like it was raining.

The Poison King widened his eyes at the sight.

He saw that his Qi didn’t work against the Demon, so what was that just now?

The Poison King looked behind him with a shocked expression.

It was to see who was responsible for stopping the snake’s attack.

When he saw who it was,

“Huh…? Why are those children…”

He found it unbelievable.

Kyaaaaaa-!

Then, the snake that hid itself underwater quickly came out and charged towards the Poison King’s group once more.

The three martial artists got into their stance to defend themselves against the snake’s attack.

“Four handspans from the left eye to the right.”

A voice came from behind, and another presence flew towards the snake. There was no hesitation.

Three sword waves left a trace in the air and dug towards the snake.

It accurately went towards a spot a little behind the snake’s left eye, and made an explosive impact.

Pow-!

Shaaaaaa-!

The snake’s head shook again like before.

The Poison King was able to clearly see.

When the sword waves made contact with the snake, a crack formed in the invisible barrier.

What made it different from their attacks though? The voice continued as the Poison King wondered.

“Five handspans down from the tip of the chin. Strike upward.”

There was no hesitation in executing the command.

A sword covered in golden light went below the snake and its Sword Qi was unleashed.

Ting-!

The same thing happened this time.

The snake’s head yanked upwards once it was hit by the Sword Qi. The invisible barrier around the snake cracked once more.

A faint opening was revealed.

“Woo Hyuk.”

One call was enough. A handsome young man immediately unleashed his Sword Qi towards the opening.

Then, his attack successfully reached and cut the snake’s skin.

Pwoosh-!

The snake’s neck was cut and it poured bluish-green blood in the river.

Kywaaaa-!

The snake screamed loudly after taking damage and gained some distance.

It then started to curl itself as if it felt threatened.

The Poison King had his jaw dropped at the sight that all happened instantaneously.

Once the snake started to curl itself, the people who successfully managed to land an attack leaped backward and landed on the river.

Splash.

Three martial artists all landed on one spot, where a young man was already standing beforehand.

It was the person who gave all the orders.

After seeing him, the Poison King quietly whispered.

“Lesser King of Hell?”

Gu Yangcheon’s eyebrows flinched when he heard the Poison King.

He looked rather dissatisfied.

Putting that aside, who were the ones that landed an attack on the snake just now?

Even Poison King’s group themselves struggled to figure out a solution as Fusion Realm martial artists, yet Young Prodigies at Peak Realm were able to push back the snake like it was nothing.

The Sword Dancer from Namgung Clan, Sword Emperor’s descendant, and Wudang Sect’s Water Dragon.

They were all sheathing their swords while standing next to the Lesser King of Hell.

It looked as if they were waiting for the next command.

Each of their swords was covered in different colored light which showed an overwhelming presence.

How were they able to stand on the water when they weren’t Fusion Realm martial artists?

The Poison King couldn’t understand the sight he was seeing.

Then, the Lesser King of Hell who stood in the center, started to speak while looking at the Poison King’s group.

“I will take the command from now.”

“…What? Expert Gu, what are you suddenly talking about- “

“I won’t hear any objections. Stay still if you don’t want to follow my orders, but don’t interfere.”

The Poison King tried to say something to Gu Yangcheon,

Sssssss-!

But he had to shut his mouth after noticing the snake’s movement.

He felt the snake twirling around harshly under the river.

Gu Yangcheon noticed this as well and spoke to his surroundings.

“Prepare yourself.”

Shing.

The three Young Prodigies prepared themselves sharply after hearing him. They looked like well-trained swordsmen.

The three of them were one thing, but what about Gu Yangcheon who was giving them orders?

The Poison King felt an overwhelming amount of presence from Gu Yangcheon which he found puzzling.