The elimination of one of the Five Heretical Factions in the preliminary rounds.
This ca as a shock not only to himself but also to the people of the sa Five Heretical Factions.
"I can't believe you were eliminated."
"Was there so kind of trick?"
"Or perhaps you were careless."
In order, they were the youngest branch manager of the Underworld, the Divine Wind, Cheon-eung.
The youngest of the ten great ronin, the Blood Wolf, Sa Ma-woo.
And the youngest special-grade assassin, the Falling Shadow, Mu-hyu.
They had maintained a friendship with the Blood Twin Axes, Piram, as part of the sa Five Heretical Factions, and therefore, these three people knew best that his skills were by no ans at a level to be eliminated in the preliminary rounds.
"I wasn't careless."
Piram had a surprisingly refreshed expression. In fact, his facial expression looked better than when they had t before.
"I did my best, and I even used my trump card, Green Water."
"Hah! Green Water, you say!"
"You! You've finally surpassed the 5th star, which is said to be the demonic realm of the Green Forest Demolishing Axe."
"That's right. It's impossible to perform it perfectly, but I gained a small enlightennt and was able to break down the wall of the 5th star of the Green Forest Demolishing Axe."
The Green Forest Demolishing Axe was a martial art so outstanding in terms of destructive power that it could be called the best.
However, it was criticized for lacking in speed due to its focus on destructive power. That was only in the fights of the top masters; in a general fight, the Green Forest Demolishing Axe was still a threatening martial art.
And what compensated for the lack of speed of the Green Forest Demolishing Axe was none other than Green Water.
A technique that binds the opponent and seals their movents with one's own qi.
If one were to master this to the extre, one could even subdue an opponent without moving at all.
"Green Water definitely caught the opponent's movents."
The three of them had already advanced to the main tournant.
The reason they had co to find Piram was partly to comfort him, but more so to obtain information about the opponent who had defeated him.
Piram, knowing that, was speaking obediently.
"But it was cut."
"Cut?"
"Yeah. So easily."
From the perspective of information, the most outstanding person among the four here in analyzing it was undoubtedly the youngest branch manager of the Underworld, the Divine Wind, Cheon-eung.
"I felt that Green Water had definitely completely bound the opponent. But when the guy moved, Green Water was cut right away as if a thread had been cut."
The Divine Wind, Cheon-eung, carefully proposed to Piram.
"Can you use Green Water on us?"
"Of course. There's no reason to hide it from you guys."
When Piram used Green Water, the three of them felt their bodies being constricted. At the sa ti, when they tried to move, they couldn't move well.
"Wooooo!"
At this ti, the Blood Wolf, Sa Ma-woo, who was the most outstanding in terms of physical strength among the three, began to let out a war cry, putting strength into his whole body.
Snap.
A mont later, with the sound of sothing breaking, Sa Ma-woo was able to completely regain his freedom from whatever was constricting his body.
In the next order, the Divine Wind, Cheon-eung, and the Falling Shadow, Mu-hyu, cut off Green Water using their internal energy.
Sa Ma-woo, who had cut off Green Water first, opened his mouth.
"It's not at a level where it's impossible to cut, but it's certainly at a level where if you were hit during a duel, you would be montarily flustered and your body's movents would be hindered."
Following him, Cheon-eung and Mu-hyu continued.
"I see why it's a trump card."
It wasn't a technique threatening enough to take the opponent's life. However, it was enough to create an unexpected opening in the opponent.
"It's not a bad technique."
Mu-hyu also had the sa thought.
However, the sensation Piram felt when Green Water was cut was clearly different from what he had received from Yoo Jae-ha and what he had received from these three.
"I didn't feel any resistance from Yoo Jae-ha."
The three began to listen again.
"There's only one thing I can tell you guys. If you happen to fight Yoo Jae-ha, never go for a power struggle."
Leaving these words, Piram took out his two Blood Twin Axes and continued his training alone. And his appearance was not that of a loser, but of soone trying to move forward.
It seed that Piram, in his own way, had gained his own enlightennt from the defeat.
The three did not bother Piram and left. Because they had already obtained all the information they could get.
However, what the three were thinking was all different.
The Divine Wind, Cheon-eung, had no intention of having a power struggle with any opponent from the beginning.
'If a muscle-brained guy like Piram says sothing like that, he must have been quite shocked.'
Power is more influenced by the body's innate factors than by acquired factors. But the Yoo Jae-ha Cheon-eung had seen did not have a particularly strong body.
However, he did not dismiss Piram's words.
'He must have learned a special martial art.'
It was just that Piram hadn't noticed it. The Piram Cheon-eung had seen had always been a bit ignorant.
'He must have learned sothing like the Latent Power Great Art.'
As the youngest branch manager of the Underworld, it was no exaggeration to say that he knew almost all the information circulating in the martial world.
There were martial arts in the world that could increase one's power several tis in an instant. Among the martial arts known to be in the Heavenly Demon Cult, the closest one was the Latent Power Great Art.
'But the Latent Power Great Art has one big drawback. After using it, the body's strength is reduced by more than half for a while.'
Piram might not know, but from Cheon-eung's point of view, if he had just passed that mont well, the preliminary rounds would have ended with Piram's victory.
In his head, the strategies for fighting Yoo Jae-ha were piling up.
'This is why guys with only muscles in their heads are no good.'
Cheon-eung, who had familiarized himself with the strategy against his opponent, headed to his lodging. It was to get his body in the best condition for the upcoming main tournant.
* * *
The Blood Wolf, Sa Ma-woo, who had beco the youngest of the ten great ronin, was recalling Piram's Green Water that had bound him just now.
Although Piram had warned him not to go for a power struggle, the mont he heard those words, he was engulfed in the impulse to go for a power struggle even more.
Because the romance of a true battle was a head-on confrontation of power and power.
Sa Ma-woo had originally considered Piram his rival and participated in this Divine Demon Tournant. But he didn't particularly feel like fighting the Piram he had just t.
Because he no longer felt the fighting spirit of the old days from Piram.
He wanted to et and fight the guy nad Yoo Jae-ha, who had defeated Piram, as soon as possible.
"I guess I'm not sleeping tonight!"
To suppress this impulse, he felt like he had to do at least a thousand push-ups.
* * *
The youngest special-grade assassin, the Falling Shadow, Mu-hyu, had a hobby of observing since he was young. And this was also a basic ability as an assassin. He continued his observation during and after the conversation.
'Cheon-eung is probably thinking that Piram and Sa Ma-woo are muscle-brained idiots. But unlike his appearance, he is thorough. He wouldn't have dismissed Piram's words. There's a high possibility that he thinks so kind of internal energy technique was used in the process of breaking Green Water.'
If Cheon-eung and Yoo Jae-ha were to fight, it was clear that Cheon-eung would never allow Yoo Jae-ha a certain distance.
On the other hand, Sa Ma-woo, who was snorting and going sowhere, was swinging his arms, so it was obvious.
'He's probably thinking so ignorant thought like, "The romance of a true man's battle is a head-on confrontation!"'
It was forbidden to think deeply about Sa Ma-woo.
If he were to pick a person who was the sa on the inside and outside, he would choose Sa Ma-woo without hesitation. But that didn't an Sa Ma-woo was by any ans an easy opponent.
'That guy is ignorant, but he's as persistent as he is thoughtless.'
From Mu-hyu's point of view, the opponent he wanted to fight the least was Sa Ma-woo.
'What is certain is that there is sothing about that guy nad Yoo Jae-ha. I should probably think that it's over if I get caught. Because I don't have the physical ability to subdue an opponent with brute force like Piram or Sa Ma-woo.'
However, a fight where you don't get caught by the opponent.
This was what Mu-hyu was most confident in.
* * *
Who am I?
What is life?
I was gradually realizing that repetitive labor is a truly scary thing. I suspected that I might reach enlightennt later on at this rate.
What was certain was that it seed faster to die of a heart attack before that.
It was probably around that ti.
Right before my head was about to explode.
"Little brother. You were here!"
"Why are you here, hyung-nim?"
"I heard the news that you advanced to the main tournant, little brother. As your older brother, how could I just stay still! I went to your room to congratulate you, but you weren't there, so I ca looking for you."
My hyung-nim rolls up his sleeves.
"Pulling weeds, I used to do that a lot in the old days."
"Are you going to do it yourself, hyung-nim?"
"Of course. If we do it together, we can finish it quickly."
In a little while, a demonic thought was about to co and I was going to just overturn everything, but when I heard my hyung-nim's words, the demonic thought disappeared as if by magic.
"Alright. How far do I have to go?"
I pointed with my finger from where I was to the end that was so far away it couldn't be seen.
"From here to there."
My hyung-nim, who was rolling up his sleeves, stops in the middle. He lowers his sleeves again. Yes. I understand. You must be dumbfounded. I'm actually doing it, and I'm dumbfounded too.
"It's a bit much."
"Right?"
"Ahem! I'll be back in a bit."
I nodded my head at my hyung-nim's action.
On the contrary, if I were in the sa situation as my hyung-nim, I would have also run away with the thirty-six stratagems.
That's a good escape... it is.
Instead, I needed to catch that instructor who had ordered this and torture him for three days and nights, seriously discussing what he had done wrong and what it ans to be human.
Also, for a very brief mont, my innocent demonic thought was about to turn towards my hyung-nim.
My hyung-nim is not the kind of person who would run away alone, leaving this little brother behind.
Of course, this case could be said to be force majeure.
A mont later, my hyung-nim reappeared. And this ti, he was not alone.
"Little brother! I'm here!"
"Hyung-nim?"
Have you ever seen a person's body glow?
I have. Right now!
Behind my hyung-nim were about a hundred people I didn't know. Among them were also students from the Little Demon Academy like .
For so reason, their expressions were all slightly dissatisfied.
"I brought the people who were playing around!"
Aren't they people who were dragged here unfairly?
Their faces are all dark.
To them, my hyung-nim said brightly.
"Let's pull the weeds from here to there!"
The eyes of the people who heard those words widened in surprise. They quickly returned to normal to avoid showing any agitation, but I definitely saw it.
The trembling pupils in their awkward smiles!
Just then, as my hyung-nim started to pull the weeds himself, they all didn't know what to do, but eventually, they rolled up their sleeves and started pulling the weeds.
Fortunately, there was no one brave enough to stand still while the Young Lord of the Heavenly Demon Cult was pulling weeds himself. If there had been, I would have been the first to pass a judgnt of insubordination for disobeying an order on that person.
And so, the weed-pulling that I wouldn't have been able to finish even if I had worked for three days and nights by myself was all finished in just one day.
Phew... I really didn't think this would work.
I heard that across the sea, people had built a pyramid that resembled a mountain with huge stones themselves, and today I realized that it was true.
'If you roll it, it all works.'
As I was feeling proud looking at the cleanly transford land, or rather, as I was contemplating whether to go find that instructor and sincerely punch him in the face, my hyung-nim approached .
Before that, I imdiately thanked my hyung-nim.
"Thank you for your help!"
"Hahaha. What's with the thanks between a hyung and a little brother. We help each other. By the way, there's no more work, right?"
"No. That's right, but?"
"That's a relief. Then let's go quickly. Everyone is waiting."
I didn't bother to ask where we were going. Because with a heart like this, I could go to hell with my hyung-nim. The place we arrived at was a place I was also familiar with.
The Divine Demon Hall.
A place where only the direct descendants of the Heavenly Demon could stay.
It was also the place where I had stayed during the vacation in the past.
When I went inside, the head steward and the head maid approached . For so reason, their eyes were burning. It was a familiar sight. The feeling of fear from accumulated experience slowly rises. The head maid, seeing , was about to wash my body right away, so I said I could do it myself.
When I ca out after washing, there were even more maids and servants than last ti, each holding clothes or accessories and waiting.
"Please sit here."
After that, I had to wear nurous clothes and accessories. And in the end, I wore the Taoist robe I had worn for the first ti.
"As expected, this suits you the best."
The head maid, looking at my appearance, wipes her eyes.
"I've burned myself out completely."
The head steward also wipes his eyes.
"Haha. It feels like I've gone back to the old days. Don't you think so? Head Maid."
"That's right."
To the two who were lost in mories, I wanted to say. That the person who wants to cry right now is ! Does it make sense to take two hours to choose one piece of clothing and comb my hair a little!
And the one I chose in the end was the first one.
If it weren't for my hyung-nim, I would have overturned everything.
Still, my reflection in the mirror was sowhat bearable.
But did I have to wear these clothes after taking two hours?
The clothes I was wearing were a navy blue Taoist robe. It was a bit old, but it was well-maintained, so it was not at all inferior compared to a new one. However, every ti I saw the character '祝' (celebration) embroidered in the center of the Taoist robe, I felt embarrassed.
"I had the character '祝' (celebration) specially embroidered this ti. It wasn't there originally."
No wonder this one was particularly tacky.
And so, after getting dressed, I went to eat, and the Heavenly Demon and my hyung-nim were sitting there. Now, I was used to that sight, so I wasn't so surprised.
However, the fact that the character '祝' (celebration) was written on all the food was a bit embarrassing.
As I sat down, my hyung-nim said.
"Congratulations on advancing to the main tournant, little brother!"
"Th-thank you."
I was so embarrassed that I couldn't raise my head. Am I a little kid to be happy about such a celebration? Wait, am I a little kid at 12? Even so, what's the use? The ntal age inside is that of an adult.
"Hmm? I thought you'd be happy..."
At my hyung-nim's disappointed voice, I forced a wide smile.
"Haha!"
"Advancing to the main tournant is a matter of course. Don't make a fuss!"
Fortunately, with the Heavenly Demon's subsequent dry words, I was able to safely get through the awkward atmosphere.
To think that a day would co when I would receive the Heavenly Demon's help. However, this was a big misunderstanding on my part.
Thump!
I took a bite.
Thump!
As soon as I did, sothing was placed on my rice again.
After taking another spoonful, I carefully opened my mouth.
"I can eat by myself."
Thump!
The Heavenly Demon lightly ignored my words and put another side dish on my rice. And today, it was twice the amount as before.
'You, don't make a fuss and just act as usual!'
Fortunately, just before my stomach was about to burst, the Heavenly Demon stood up from his seat, so I was barely able to survive today as well.
After that, while sipping the tea the servants and maids brought, I asked my hyung-nim.
"Has the bracket for the round of 64 of the main tournant been released?"
"Not yet. And even if it has, no one knows the bracket except for the military affairs departnt. To prevent any possible accidents, it is revealed on the day of the duel."
"I see."
As expected, it was the sa thod as in the old days. In other words, at this point, the only people who knew the bracket for the main tournant participants were the military affairs departnt.
This also ant that the only people who could manipulate the bracket were the military affairs departnt.
I think I know where that guy is.
Three days later, the main tournant bracket was released.
My opponent was the youngest special-grade assassin of the assassination guild, the Falling Shadow, Mu-hyu.
Among the many 64 people, the one closest to the Young Lord of the assassination guild is my opponent?
I t two of the Five Heretical Factions in a row by chance?
What is it when coincidence and coincidence overlap?
It's a dead giveaway.
The guy is in the military affairs departnt.
(End of Chapter)
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