Chapter 343

Ha Cheong-yeon, the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon, was in a very foul mood.

Facing the Overlord was proving far more difficult than she had anticipated.

His beast-like agility and reckless ferocity, combined with overwhelming destructive power, were unlike anything she had encountered—even as the strongest blood demon in history.

Clenching her teeth, Ha Cheong-yeon thought, That last strike I allowed was dangerously close.

Just moments ago, when she had permitted the Overlord’s palm technique, her vision had gone white for a moment.

She had hastily unleashed her protective energy to block it, but the shock that still penetrated had rendered her temporarily incapacitated.

Had the Overlord been able to follow up with a flurry of attacks then, the battle might have been decided right there.

Suddenly, Ha Cheong-yeon recalled the Fierce Demon from a century ago, who had stood alongside the Thunder God and Sword God.

The Fierce Demon, an ancestor of the Overlord, had displayed beast-like combat prowess with his Red-Eyed Blood Strike and Beast Fist.

But comparing him to the current Overlord was unfair.

It was like comparing a leopard to a tiger—there was a clear gap.

Still, Ha Cheong-yeon believed the comparison wasn’t entirely useless.

If not in power, then at least in temperament…

Licking her lips thoughtfully, she addressed the Overlord.

“Your technique is better than I expected. Compared to your ancestor, the Fierce Demon Gwe Mu-ryang, you’ve truly surpassed him.”

The Overlord smiled faintly in reply.

“You’re not as impressive as I thought. They say you’re the strongest blood demon ever, but in this era, you’re barely third best.”

Ha Cheong-yeon’s sultry smile instantly froze into a hard glare.

Though the Overlord probably meant it as a taunt, his words struck a nerve.

She had been worried that there might be warriors in this era who could threaten her—and hearing that she ranked only third was infuriating.

With venomous eyes, she glared at him and hissed, “How dare you…!”

At that moment, nine massive blood dragons erupted from her body.

Fwoooosh!

But these blood dragons didn’t charge directly at the Overlord.

Instead, they writhed like tentacles, coiling and lurking around him, poised to strike.

From the center of the swirling dragons, Ha Cheong-yeon fixed her gaze on the Overlord and declared, “You won’t lay a finger on me anymore! Let’s see if you can still call me the third best when you’re dying!”

Pointing at him with a finger, she shouted, “Go!”

With a deafening roar, the nine blood dragons lunged at the Overlord.

Krraaaaarrr!

Each dragon’s head was large enough to swallow the Overlord whole.

Faced with such a ferocious charge, he couldn’t meet them head-on and was forced to leap aside.

Smash!

The blood dragons shifted direction instantly.

Unlike the earlier ones that had vanished after a futile collision, these adjusted their course to pursue him.

It was as if they anticipated his moves.

Krraaaaarrr!

The lead dragon opened its jaws wide, aiming to engulf him.

The Overlord dodged by leaping into the air once more.

Behind him, one dragon slammed into the ground, triggering a massive explosion.

Boom!

Glancing back, the Overlord thought, One down.

But eight still remained.

Those eight blood dragons now formed a semicircle, closing in from different angles to encircle him.

Krraaaaarrr!

Watching this, Ha Cheong-yeon smiled fiercely.

Her intuition had been right.

The Fierce Demon ancestor’s weakness had been his vulnerability to ranged attacks.

Though his beast-like agility and powerful close-combat techniques made him formidable up close, he lacked effective means to strike from a distance.

That was why, a century ago, rumors said he had been defeated by the Hundred Steps Divine Fist of the Alliance King.

Though the current Overlord was stronger than his ancestor, he seemed to have inherited that same flaw.

Ha Cheong-yeon let out a fierce battle cry as the eight blood dragons closed in.

“Haaah!”

Nine more blood dragons burst forth from her body.

If the Overlord survived this assault, she intended to finish him with a relentless follow-up.

This ends now!

At that moment, the Overlord faced the oncoming blood dragons, surrounded on all sides.

There was no escape route in sight, yet his expression remained calm.

He crouched low, like a tiger preparing to pounce.

With a sharp breath, he shot forward.

Whoosh!

Bang!

He became a streak of light, diving straight into the mouth of one blood dragon—the one facing Ha Cheong-yeon.

Boom!

The collision triggered a massive explosion.

But the Overlord had already passed through.

He had pierced through one dragon before being surrounded by the remaining eight.

Seeing this, Ha Cheong-yeon frowned deeply and sent the nine prepared blood dragons hurtling toward him again.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Krraaaaarrr!

Then, just before the nine blood dragons could fully encircle him, the Overlord’s eyes flashed sharply.

He pointed his index finger toward Ha Cheong-yeon, who appeared in the gap between the dragons.

“Hmm?”

Ha Cheong-yeon squinted, puzzled by why he was pointing at her.

Then, suddenly—

Pew!

Her heart felt as if it had been pierced by something invisible.

“Ugh!”

Her eyes widened in shock.

She couldn’t see or feel anything, yet something had struck through the air and pierced her heart.

A technique from Shaolin came to mind—one that could strike an opponent without any visible form or presence.

She also recalled that the Fierce Demon ancestor had been defeated by that very technique a century ago.

Hundred Steps Divine Fist?

Losing control as her heart was pierced, the nine blood dragons scattered wildly, crashing into everything around them.

Crash! Boom!

Seizing the moment, the Overlord lunged at Ha Cheong-yeon.

Bang!

The technique he had just used—Mu Heun Ji—was a secret Shaolin method designed to exploit the Fierce Demon clan’s weakness to ranged attacks.

A silent, colorless, ultra-fast strike had pierced her heart.

But the Overlord didn’t think he had won yet.

Mu Heun Ji’s drawback was its thinness and relatively weak destructive power, designed for stealth rather than brute force.

Even though her heart was pierced, someone as monstrous as Ha Cheong-yeon might recover quickly.

He couldn’t afford to miss this chance.

He had to finish her now.

In the next instant, the Overlord struck with all his might, swinging his clawed hand at the staggering Ha Cheong-yeon.

“Haaah!”

But then—

Suddenly, three swords appeared, stabbing toward him.

Shiiing!

“Hmm?!”

The Overlord’s face twisted in anger.

Someone had dared to interfere in his one-on-one duel.

His fury surged.

Still, he had to stop and dodge.

The three sword strikes were no joke—even for him, who was at the peak of his power.

Smash!

He twisted his body like a cat and leapt into the air to avoid the attacks, his expression grave.

Three swords? How?

Once he put some distance between them, he finally saw their faces.

They were the Martial Alliance Leader, Hyeop Wang Mo Yong-gum, and two masked figures—a man and a woman—standing behind Ha Cheong-yeon.

The Overlord growled like a wild beast.

“Mo Yong-gum… you…”

Mo Yong-gum swung a sword he had picked up from a fallen warrior, replying bitterly, “Sorry. I have my reasons…”

The Overlord’s gaze swept over the two masked figures.

They stood like statues, silently watching him.

Behind them, Ha Cheong-yeon clutched her left chest, staggering but still recovering despite her pierced heart.

The Overlord gritted his teeth.

He was so close to a perfect victory…

Then Ha Cheong-yeon lifted her head and locked eyes with him.

Her gaze was filled with chilling venom.

Pointing at him, she shouted, “Attack!”

Immediately, the two masked figures charged at the Overlord.

Mo Yong-gum clicked his tongue and followed after them.

Crackle!

The Overlord muttered as he saw the white and blue lightning crackling from their swords.

“Blood Thunder Sword Technique…”

It was the Blood Thunder Sword Technique of the Blood Sect—the very technique that had given him a harsh lesson earlier.

But something felt off…

The fact that the color of their lightning wasn’t red meant their inner energy wasn’t from the Blood Sect.

But there was no time to dwell on that.

“Haah!”

From the Overlord’s body, a crimson protective aura burst forth, deflecting their blades.

The crackling lightning around made it too dangerous to clash swords directly.

In that instant, the sword of Moyong Geom, which had somehow leapt above his head, struck down like a bolt of white lightning.

KRAAAASH!

It was the White Dragon Sword Technique of the Moyong family—a technique the Overlord hadn’t even had a chance to properly counter before.

Facing their combined assault, the Overlord felt a rare twinge of frustration.

No matter that he was the Overlord and they were only at the early stages of the Fiery Realm, taking on three Fiery Realm masters at once was undeniably overwhelming.

Then—

From the boat moored by the lakeshore behind the Overlord, his bodyguards burst out, shouting.

“Your Majesty!”

They were the Twelve Dragon Guards, the Overlord’s elite protectors—all absolute masters.

Especially when all twelve unleashed their Sword Array together, even the Overlord himself found it nearly impossible to break through.

A faint smile touched the Overlord’s lips as he glanced at them.

If they joined the fight, he might finally gain some breathing room.

‘First, quickly take care of these three…!’

But at that moment—

KRRAAAARRRR!

The Overlord looked up in shock as nine blood-red dragons streaked overhead.

The Nine Heavens Blood Dragon Martial Art.

Even though Hae Cheong-yeon hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries, she had unleashed this devastating technique.

He shouted urgently to his charging subordinates.

“No! Get out of the way!”

But the blood dragons, flying at incredible speed, crashed down upon the twelve elite warriors.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted.

The Overlord braced himself with his protective aura, enduring the attacks of the three Fiery Realm masters, his expression dazed as he watched the scene unfold.

The Twelve Guards were most dangerous when activating their Sword Array and fighting in unison.

But the Nine Heavens Blood Dragon Martial Art was a force even the Overlord himself found difficult to withstand.

There was no way those twelve could block it without forming their array.

They were utterly annihilated.

Gritting his teeth, the Overlord glared toward Hae Cheong-yeon.

She, clutching her left chest, looked back at him with a wicked smile.

“It’s over now, Overlord.”

He sneered fiercely in response.

“The strongest Blood Demon in history, you say?”

The smile vanished from Hae Cheong-yeon’s face.

She knew his words were mocking the fact that they had to resort to a combined attack because he alone was unbeatable.

“How dare you!”

Watching her rage, the Overlord sent a secret message to Maeng Hwi-yeom, his covert bodyguard lurking nearby, ready to intervene.

—Hwi-yeom! Go to that girl, Pung-i! Go and…

Before he could finish, the Overlord found himself surrounded by four Fiery Realm masters.

The moment the greatest figure under heaven, the Overlord Gwe Gal-hyeon, fell.