The Return of the Sw Chapter 80 : What’s So Great About the Monster King – 02

Chapter 80: What’s So Great About the Monster King – 02

The Monster King stopped short.

He was flustered by words he had never expected to hear.

Perhaps because of that, the Monster King’s pupils shook violently.

“About what you were supposed to receive from the Shangguan Clan.”

“…How do you know about that?”

“There are ways to know. If you’d looked into , you’d know why I’m saying this, wouldn’t you?”

The Monster King swallowed his dry saliva.

After his na had been listed among the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven, he had lived without fearing anything in the world.

But that didn’t an he had truly lived in arrogant recklessness.

In his own way, he knew where he could safely stretch his legs before doing so.

That was why the Monster King imdiately understood Ban Hojin’s words.

Just as Ban Hojin had said, he had investigated things separately before coming to Shaolin Temple.

“Even so, nothing changes.”

Though he was being pushed back helplessly, he had not yet lost.

And the Monster King knew Ban Hojin’s weakness.

Though he had reached an unbelievable realm, Ban Hojin had lived for no more than about twenty years.

That ant there was a limit to how much internal energy he could accumulate, and knowing that himself, he was using only the bare minimum of his power.

“That’s right. Nothing changes. My decision won’t change. It’s just that I feel a bit sorry for you. You’re not exactly young anymore.”

“For ?”

The Monster King made a dumbfounded expression.

He could understand the casual speech.

Their relationship had deteriorated too much for him to be treated as a senior anyway.

But being called pitiful was sothing he could not tolerate.

“You’re clinging to sothing you can’t have. Have you actually checked whether you truly possess it? Or did you get a notarized guarantee from soone you could trust? Or did you simply believe in the na of the Shangguan Clan?”

“Shut up!”

Though it was a logically sound argunt, the Monster King instead shouted in rage.

The mont he acknowledged it, he would also be admitting his own foolishness.

At the sa ti, doubt crept in.

Because the words were so accurate, a lingering ‘what if’ surfaced in his mind.

“And if you cripple , do you really think you’ll be able to leave here unscathed? Advice to a junior still has its limits. If you used violence against the Abbot’s disciple, would Shaolin really stay silent? Well, you might get away if you’re lucky. But how long could you keep running? And would the Shangguan Clan really help you then? I don’t think so. Tools are just tools in the end.”

“…….”

The term ‘discard after use’ flashed through the Monster King’s mind.

Along with it ca the despicable and sinister face of the Head of the Shangguan Clan.

Though Ban Hojin was soone he had t for the first ti today, his words certainly had rit.

If it were the Head of the Shangguan Clan he knew, he would be more than capable of lying without batting an eye.

Clench!

As his thoughts reached that point, the Monster King clenched his fist.

If Ban Hojin’s assumption was true, if the Head of the Shangguan Clan truly did not have it, then he was nothing more than a disposable pawn.

Even if the secret deal he had made with the Head of the Shangguan Clan were exposed, the other party could simply deny it.

Unlike him, who had no trustworthy backing between the orthodox and unorthodox factions, the Head of the Shangguan Clan was the master of a prestigious family with extensive connections.

‘If anything, I’d be the one getting caught.’

The Monster King bit his lower lip.

No matter how much he clung to the Head of the Shangguan Clan, no one would believe his words.

Moreover, the influence of the Shangguan Clan even reached the Beggars’ Sect.

It was far more likely that he would be branded a liar instead.

‘Did I think about this too lightly?’

Though he had no factional power, the Monster King was still one of the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven.

No matter how formidable the Shangguan Clan was, they wouldn’t be able to deal with him so easily.

Still, the danger was real.

If they truly fought it out, both sides would suffer considerable losses, and by then a compromise would likely be reached—but the important point was that he would suffer more damage than the Shangguan Clan.

“Of course, before that, you should worry about getting out of here alive. If you die, it all becos aningless, doesn’t it?”

Shaaah!

With a faint whistling sound, goosebumps rose over the Monster King’s entire body.

The battle, which had briefly fallen into a lull, was about to resu.

“W-wait a mont!”

Sensing it, the Monster King hurriedly opened his mouth.

But Ban Hojin did not reply.

Instead, wearing a chilling smile, he swung his sword again and again.

Shiiik!

That familiar, terrifying sword strike targeted the Monster King’s entire body.

First the legs, then the arms, and finally the neck.

On the surface, it looked as though a child were swinging the blade, with no particular strength or montum to be felt—but the reality was different.

Each strike carried enough power to sever his limbs and more.

Ssk. Sshk.

Worse still, the depth of the cuts grew deeper and deeper.

Even though he was pushing his lightness skill to the extre, Ban Hojin’s sword strikes followed him as if guided by a ghost.

No, to be precise, he was being toyed with.

‘All I have to do is buy ti. If I endure and endure, he’ll eventually exhaust himself and collapse.’

Unlike Ban Hojin, who had lived barely twenty years, the Monster King had lived sixty-five.

He had spent sixty years accumulating internal energy alone.

So purely in terms of accumulated quantity, it wasn’t even a level Ban Hojin could dare compare to.

Of course, his physical body was long past its pri, but it wasn’t to the point where his stamina would drop sharply.

‘The one who laughs last is the winner.’

Though the current situation—doing nothing but fleeing—was unbearably humiliating, the Monster King thought calmly.

Throughout his life, he had faced countless geniuses and had been frustrated many tis.

Yet officially, there were only nine martial artists stronger than him in the world.

He had risen to his current position by surpassing all the rest.

And even those remaining nine, the Monster King was confident he could defeat.

Though he was currently ranked at the bottom, he intended to beco the strongest within ten years.

‘Which is why I have to crush him here and now. So he can’t grow any further.’

Killing intent flickered in the Monster King’s eyes.

At first, he had co rely to give a junior a sharp lesson as a senior.

But now his thoughts were different.

Unlike himself, who would only continue to age, Ban Hojin would bloom with even greater talent in the future—so if not now, there would be no chance.

‘At the very least, I’ll make sure he stagnates for twenty years.’

The Monster King’s eyes glead cruelly.

But he did not know.

That Ban Hojin had already seen straight through his thoughts.

“Seems you still haven’t grasped your own place.”

Slash.

The mont Ban Hojin broke into a grin, a chilling sound rang out.

At the sa ti, the Monster King’s body lurched violently.

While he was focused solely on blocking the sword strikes, Ban Hojin had sliced through the heel of his right foot.

“Kgh!”

After that, everything happened in the blink of an eye.

From the outset, Ban Hojin’s sword strikes were sothing the Monster King could not block, and in an instant both shoulders and ankles were cut, forcing him to collapse onto the ground.

“This is unfortunate. Looks like you were trying to drag this into a long fight and wait for my internal energy to run out.”

“H-how?”

“That level of petty scheming shows the mont you look at it.”

Crack!

At Ban Hojin’s mocking approach, the Monster King clenched his teeth.

But there was nothing he could do now.

The two hands and two legs that had always steadfastly supported him no longer moved as he willed.

‘Just a little more.’

Still, the Monster King had not given up.

Just because he couldn’t use his arms and legs didn’t an he couldn’t fight.

An ordinary martial artist would have been rendered combat-ineffective, but he was different.

A martial artist who had reached the transcendent realm possessed another weapon.

“It’s useless.”

Psssss.

The Monster King’s eyes widened to the size of lanterns.

Ban Hojin hadn’t swung his sword, nor had he even waved a hand.

Yet the formless energy blade the Monster King had secretly launched dissipated, and despair settled into his eyes.

Even his decisive strike had failed, leaving him crushed.

“What do you plan to do with ?”

“Well. What should I do?”

“Isn’t there sothing you want to know?”

At the sight of Ban Hojin speaking as if pondering, a strange light flared in the Monster King’s eyes.

It didn’t seem like an utterly hopeless situation.

So he cast out bait.

“Sothing about the Shangguan Clan?”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to pin it down to just that place.”

The mont his formless energy blade failed, the Monster King let everything go.

No matter what he tried, he knew it wouldn’t work on Ban Hojin.

Rather than provoking him clumsily, he judged it more beneficial to act cooperatively, so he brought up what Ban Hojin would most want to know.

“Are you going to insist it was the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds?”

“That place is included, sure. But from what I’ve found, you seem to have quite a lot of enemies.”

The Monster King smiled aningfully.

As if deliberately trying to sow confusion.

But Ban Hojin was already several steps ahead of him.

“Right. Which is exactly why there’s no need to know more. You failed, so they’ll move again.”

“W-wait a mont!”

As things headed in a completely unexpected direction, the Monster King shouted urgently.

He didn’t want to die yet.

And he had no intention of dying alone either.

“Why?”

“Let’s make a deal. Wouldn’t that benefit both of us?”

“Hm. A deal.”

Ban Hojin stroked his chin.

But there wasn’t a hint of interest on his face.

Rather, with the coldest gaze yet, he looked down at the Monster King slumped on the ground.

“I think a deal is more than possible since we both want sothing.”

“In an ordinary deal, sure. But right now, we’re not on equal footing, are we?”

“Kgh!”

Ban Hojin placed his foot firmly on the inside of the Monster King’s thigh.

It wasn’t a life-threatening spot, but with his weight pressed down, the pain was severe.

Moreover, having suffered neither such pain nor humiliation in nearly ten years, the Monster King’s face twisted horribly.

“You’re in a position to beg, not to bargain. You need to figure out what I want to know and say it yourself. And only then ask for what you want. In other words, you’re not in a position to demand anything from .”

“So you really intend to take this all the way to the end?”

“Wasn’t that why you ca?”

“Grrrk!”

The Monster King’s face flushed red.

The pain from his thigh was bad enough, but he had no way to refute the words.

If their positions were reversed, he would have crippled Ban Hojin long ago and instilled a deep terror in him.

All to prevent future trouble.

“And I don’t intend to end this halfway either.”

Thud thud thud thud!

Ban Hojin kicked him rcilessly.

As if there was no need to even use his hands, he clasped them behind his back and trampled the Monster King like a dog being beaten on a hot sumr day.

At the sight, Seonu Bang, who had been watching from afar, gaped.

“Hyung. Just who in the world is that?”

“Judging by how easily he’s using energy blades, he doesn’t seem like an ordinary master.”

Seo Jo-un and Moyong Cheok asked as they looked at Ban Hojin with blank expressions.

Jeong Iryong didn’t speak, but his gaze was also fixed on Seonu Bang.

“What you’re seeing right now doesn’t make any sense.”

“Is he that incredible of a master?”

“Yeah. Really. I knew he was amazing since he didn’t get easily pushed back even against the Dao King, but to think he’d beat that man down like this.”

“Then who is he?”

Seo Jo-un pressed, his eyes brimming with curiosity.

But Jeong Iryong’s gaze was slightly different from Seo Jo-un’s and Moyong Cheok’s.

While surprise and curiosity filled the other two’s eyes, Jeong Iryong didn’t look particularly shocked.

“Monster King Dan Wi.”

“Huh?”

“The Monster King of the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven?”

At Seonu Bang’s short reply, Seo Jo-un and Moyong Cheok’s heads snapped around like lightning.

They looked again at Dan Wi, who was being rcilessly trampled.

anwhile, Jeong Iryong was the only one who nodded in understanding.

The prestige of the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven was trendous, but he never thought Ban Hojin would be inferior.

“That’s why I’m saying it makes no sense. That scene.”

“Unbelievable!”