Chapter 264

Sun Woo-jin felt a twinge of regret.

He regretted not having done whatever it took to ensure Jin So-eun could escape while the plan was still in motion.

Because Jin So-eun was deep inside the canyon, carrying Myo Ah-ran on her back, Sun Woo-jin himself couldn’t run away.

‘I was careless. I should have prepared better for any unforeseen circumstances… I have to reflect on that. But it’s too late now.’

Reflecting on his past mistakes, Sun Woo-jin looked at Man Hak-soong approaching him and suddenly asked, “Elder, what are your plans now? Without me, you won’t even be able to get to Haenam Island, will you?”

Man Hak-soong hesitated for a moment, then snarled, “Do you think I can’t take Haenam Island just because someone like you isn’t here? Even if it weren’t you, it would be the same with Jin Tae-do. And now that even he’s gone, Haenam Island will fall easily.”

In other words, it would be a bit more troublesome, but the outcome was already decided.

But Sun Woo-jin shook his head and replied calmly, “I think you’re mistaken. You will never get Haenam Island.”

His tone was confident, almost casual.

Man Hak-soong twitched his eyes, chuckled darkly, and asked, “Never get Haenam Island? Why do you say that? Are you going to claim it’s because you’re not here?”

Killing that guy was as easy as pulling something out of a pocket now.

So Man Hak-soong decided to humor him a little longer, curious about what tricks he might have.

Sun Woo-jin shook his head again and answered, “It’s not because I’m not here. No matter how great you are, you can’t conquer Haenam Island alone.”

“Hmph? Alone?”

Man Hak-soong frowned, confused.

Though the Daenam Four Evils were all dead, his other subordinates were still stationed above the canyon, and many more remained on Daenam Island. So why was he being told he was alone?

Sun Woo-jin pressed on, “How many subordinates did you bring with you when you came here?”

“Subordinates? The best elite troops, a whole unit…!”

At that moment, Man Hak-soong, answering without understanding, suddenly sensed something.

He snapped his head up and looked toward the top of the canyon.

There should have been the elite troops he brought ashore.

But the moment he saw them, Man Hak-soong realized the truth.

Those looking down at him from above were not his men.

They were completely different people from the troops he had when he came down.

“Who are they?!”

Man Hak-soong’s eyes widened as he scanned the group, and when he spotted a familiar face, he couldn’t help but shout in shock.

“Se-… Saint?!”

The face he recognized was none other than Namhae Saint, Si Seo-woo.

Despite her mutilated nose and battered face, her eyes shone with a brilliant light—there was no mistaking her.

She was the very woman who, along with the Bokgeon Yong family, had forced Man Hak-soong to remain on Daenam Island all this time.

While he was busy squabbling with his men below, she had silently dealt with his forces.

Si Seo-woo spoke calmly.

“Long time no see, Ma-gyeong. I waited years in Yongga to pull you out of Daenam Island, and now to see you walk ashore on your own—it’s quite a surprise.”

Man Hak-soong stared at her, stunned.

He even recognized the man standing beside her as Yong Woo-shin, head of the Bokgeon Yong family.

He muttered in disbelief, “How…?”

Then, snapping back to reality, he looked at Sun Woo-jin.

Sun Woo-jin was crouched beside the corpse of Ja Seong-jin, seemingly busy with something.

When Man Hak-soong’s gaze landed on him, Sun Woo-jin quickly retreated toward where Jin So-eun was.

Even then, Man Hak-soong noticed a faint, sinister smirk tugging at the corner of that man’s mouth.

He asked in disbelief, “Could it be… you? You lured me here from the start just to do this?”

Sun Woo-jin bowed his head lightly and smiled faintly.

No words were needed to understand what that expression meant.

Man Hak-soong’s face twisted in rage as he roared, “You bastard!”

But before he could rush at Sun Woo-jin, someone fell between them.

It was the woman with the mutilated face—Namhae Saint Si Seo-woo.

Up close, her face looked even more grotesque.

Where her nose had been cut off, her nostrils gaped like a skull’s, and her skin was marred with red, jagged scars.

Her face was like that of a demon from hell, but only her eyes shone with a pure, radiant light.

In a calm voice, she said to Man Hak-soong, “I’m glad to see you, Ma-gyeong, but you don’t seem pleased. To be angry at Gongja, who arranged this wonderful meeting, is quite something.”

Her voice was gentle and kind, completely at odds with her terrifying appearance.

As Si Seo-woo stepped into the canyon, Man Hak-soong instinctively looked back.

If she was inside, he thought, he might be able to escape outward.

But the canyon’s entrance was already blocked by Yong Woo-shin and the elders of the Yong family.

Yong Woo-shin was one of the top masters among the Thirty-Six Stars of the World.

Man Hak-soong realized he was now a rat trapped in a cage.

He was about to suffer the same fate as Jin Tae-do.

It was a bitter irony.

Meanwhile, at the same time, beside Sun Woo-jin, a man and a beast descended like beams of light.

One of them was a familiar face he hadn’t seen in a while.

“Heh heh heh! How’s my brother’s skill? Nailed the timing perfectly, didn’t I?”

It was Hong Hae-ah Jeung-chil, Sun Woo-jin’s sworn brother.

When Seol Poong had gone to the Ban-hyung Association, Sun Woo-jin had asked him to head to the Bokgeon Yong family, and he had successfully completed his mission.

Sun Woo-jin greeted him with a bright smile.

“Yes! Brother! The timing was perfect! Thank you for your hard work!”

The reason Sun Woo-jin had declared his allegiance to Ma-gyeong was to lure Jin Tae-do out of Haenam Island.

He fed information that Inpa-rang, who knew Jin Tae-do’s weaknesses, was not returning to Haenam Island but instead joining the formidable Ma-gyeong, hoping Jin Tae-do would come out to capture him.

At the same time, it was also to draw Ma-gyeong out of Daenam Island, where he was trapped due to his conflict with the Saint.

Both bait strategies had worked perfectly.

‘But even if I manage to draw both of them out, there are still some problems.’

The biggest issue was that even if both were lured out, Jin Tae-do and Man Hak-soong wouldn’t be able to take down Ma-gyeong together.

Ma-gyeong was simply too powerful for someone like Jin Tae-do.

So Sun Woo-jin decided to bring in Namhae Saint Si Seo-woo to face him.

Thankfully, the Hyungsan Sect had provided the key.

They had sent Pa Cheon-jo, a master of the Six Harmonies Sword, to attack the Bokgeon Yong family.

Sun Woo-jin had asked Jeung-chil to deliver this information first to build trust, then bring her over.

And the one who had guided them precisely to Sun Woo-jin’s location was undoubtedly the Black Tiger, Sak-wol, who had been sent ahead when Sun Woo-jin entered meditation yesterday.

Sun Woo-jin clasped Jeung-chil’s hand firmly and patted Sak-wol’s head beside him.

“Thank you too, Sak-wol. You did really well.”

Only now could Sun Woo-jin finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Though the grand plan was laid out, there had been no guarantee everything would fall into place on time.

Much had depended on quick thinking, and many crises had arisen.

But in the end, the plan had succeeded.

Overcoming every obstacle, everything had gone according to the original design.

Sun Woo-jin felt a deep sense of satisfaction and pride.

At that moment, a sudden roar erupted behind him.

Kwah kwah kwah kwah!

Startled, he turned to see the cliffs on both sides of the canyon being devastated by the clash between Ma-gyeong and the Saint.

The two monsters had begun their battle.

Koo-ru-ru-ru-rung!

The canyon was far too narrow to contain their fight.

The tremendous impact threatened to collapse the cliffs at any moment.

Sun Woo-jin shouted urgently, “Let’s get up! Quickly!”

He took Myo Ah-ran from Jin So-eun’s back, slung her onto his own, glanced briefly at the Six Harmonies Sword masters standing dazed nearby, and leapt up the cliff.

Crack! Crack!

At that moment, both sides of the canyon began to crumble with a scream-like roar.

Kwah kwah kwah kwah kwah!

“Watch out!”

It was a disaster.

The cliffs were collapsing from above, closing in like a crushing roof.

Even the strongest masters would be buried alive in such a dire situation.

But fortunately, Sun Woo-jin and his group were no ordinary fighters.

Sun Woo-jin and Jeung-chil were among the rare masters of the Divine Art, and Jin So-eun had recently reached a high level after learning from Sun Woo-jin.

The beast and spirit, Black Tiger Sak-wol, was at least as agile as Jin So-eun.

Tat tat tat tat tat!

The group began sprinting straight up the cliff face.

As the cliff started to give way, they darted back and forth like flying squirrels, dodging falling rocks, heading toward the top of the canyon.

“Urratcha!”

Kwah kwah kwah!

With a single strike, Jeungchil shattered the rock above the canyon that was just about to close completely, landing first atop the ridge.

Following closely behind, Sakwol and Jin So-eun reached the top as well.

Sun Woo-jin, who had been trailing them as a precaution, was the last to arrive.

Kukukukukung!

As soon as they ascended, the canyon collapsed entirely, burying everything beneath it.

The aftermath was so catastrophic it was hard to believe it was caused by mere human impact.

Staring blankly at the buried canyon, Jin So-eun suddenly asked with a worried look, “The Saintess is still down there, right? Do you think she’s going to be okay?”

Jeungchil scoffed in response. “Hmph! There’s no way those monsters would die from something like this…!”

At that very moment—

Kwaaaang!

A section of the collapsed canyon suddenly exploded upward like a volcano.

“Ahhh!”

“What the—?!”

The group was taken completely by surprise.

But what erupted wasn’t lava.

It was the Saintess and Magyeong.

Their blades—the Saintess’s sword and Magyeong’s knuckle weapon—clashed so fast they were almost invisible, soaring high into the sky.

Bang! Kraak! Boom! Kraak!

The battle was ferocious.

Every time their weapons collided, massive explosions and deafening booms echoed through the air.

Watching the scene, Sun Woo-jin let out a bitter chuckle.

Though he had reached a level where he could rival the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars, even he felt these two belonged to a completely different world.

It was nothing short of a natural disaster.

With a grim expression, Sun Woo-jin urgently shouted, “This place is dangerous! Fall back!”

At his command, the group quickly retreated, putting distance between themselves and the raging battle.

Behind them, explosions and thunderous sounds continued to erupt.

Kraak! Kraak! Boom!

They descended fully to the base of the ridge where the canyon had been, retreating another dozen paces before finally stopping.

Turning back, they saw the Saintess and Magyeong still fighting, tearing apart the ridge as they clashed.

Each swipe of the Saintess’s sword cracked the rocks apart.

Each strike from Magyeong’s knuckles shattered the stone into dust.

The two were battling as if to flatten the entire ridge into a plain.

The group could only watch in stunned silence.

After a moment, Sun Woo-jin snapped back to reality and asked Mukrang, “Sir, who do you think will win? I honestly can’t tell.”

Mukrang let out a low hum before answering, “It’s almost impossible to say. If there’s a winner, it’ll come down to luck or some tiny detail. But because of that, I think it might be better if you intervene. If that Magyeong fellow wins, things could get complicated.”

“Hmmm.”

Sun Woo-jin hesitated.

If Magyeong won, it would definitely spell trouble.

No, it wouldn’t just be trouble—it would put everyone here in mortal danger.

But…

Intervening in their fight was equally risky.

Kraak! Kraak! Boom!

Watching them tear apart a mountain in real time, Sun Woo-jin swallowed hard.

“You want me to jump between those monsters?”

The thought alone was terrifying.

Sure, Sun Woo-jin was confident he’d improved a lot over time.

But seeing these two now, he couldn’t help but feel like an ant trying to challenge a giant insect.

Then, something shifted in the battle.

Magyeong, who had been exchanging blows like a whirlwind, suddenly wrapped his body in a defensive aura and charged straight at the Saintess.

“Hyaaaah!”

Kwaaaang!

He launched himself like a cannonball, ramming into her with a brutal body check—similar to the attack he used earlier to break through the Six Harmonies Sword Masters and kill Jaeseong Jin-in.

The Saintess was forced to stagger back under the sheer force.

Sun Woo-jin’s expression hardened.

“What’s that?”

It didn’t look like a reckless charge.

He suspected Magyeong was trying to use his weight advantage.

Since their skills were evenly matched, Magyeong was leveraging his size and strength as a man to gain an edge.

Mukrang’s words echoed in his mind.

“If the outcome is decided, it’ll be by luck or some small detail.”

Something about it felt ominous.

In battles between masters, such differences might seem insignificant, but physical advantages often become decisive factors when skill levels are close.

It could very well be an insurmountable gap in this fight.

Sun Woo-jin clenched his teeth.

He realized he had to do something.

“Jin So-jeo, please watch over Myo So-jeo with Sakwol. I’ll go with Jeung hyung over there for a moment.”

“Ah, yes. Got it.”

“Huh? Me? You want me to go there too?”

Jin So-eun immediately understood the gravity of the situation, while Jeungchil looked horrified.

The thought of entering the battlefield between those monsters was terrifying.

Sun Woo-jin turned to Jeungchil.

“Then you stay here. I’ll go alone.”

Jeungchil’s face twisted in frustration.

His sworn older brother was staying put while the sworn younger brother was rushing into danger?

There was no better way to persuade Jeungchil to move.

In the end, he could only shout with a pout, “Fine! Fine! Just go already!”