Chapter 47. Performance
"Uh, uaaah!"
"Run away!"
"Kyaaa!"
There was no one inside the venue who mourned those deaths. Everyone was too busy running for their own lives.
Due to Do Heo-ok's unexpected attack, a large number of the congratulatory guests who had been watching from the East Heaven Guest Hall were either killed or injured.
Among them was Tang Hua, who had leaped toward Chaohu together with Dong Bong-su. The moment they entered the water, fragments of thunder blade energy splashed onto her back, leaving a massive wound.
Judging by how her flesh had been charred black, it seemed she had taken quite a severe blow.
"Ahhngk ..."
She furrowed her face in pain and let out a heated moan against Dong Bong-su's chest.
If Dong Bong-su had not embraced her and jumped into the water, she would already have ceased to exist in this world along with other guests such as Danri Ganghae.
However, the reason Dong Bong-su hugged her and leaped into Chaohu was not because of some absurd motive like wanting to save Tang Hua.
A human shield.
In game terms, a tank.
Dong Bong-su merely used Tang Hua as a tool to block the fragments of thunder blade energy in his stead. Whether Tang Hua died or survived after being struck by the fragments made no difference to him.
After all, the moment he jumped into the water while holding her, he obtained a justification—that he had saved her.
No one could criticize his actions. Tang Wu would be no different. If it had not been for him, Tang Hua would already be dead.
Of course, that reasoning only held if no one knew that he had deliberately twisted his body to direct Tang Hua toward the fragments of thunder blade energy.
But.
Regardless of his original intentions, he gained several benefits from this incident.
No less than three of them.
His own life, Tang Hua's life debt, and even Tang Wu's trust.
Even in that life-and-death moment, Dong Bong-su had achieved three gains in a single move.
"Hua'er!"
Tang Wu's shout rang out nearby.
Tang Wu had just arrived at the East Heaven Guest Hall.
He hurriedly swam toward the island where the East Heaven Guest Hall stood.
As soon as he reached land, Dong Bong-su handed the wounded Tang Hua over to Tang Wu, then raised his head and looked toward Do Heo-ok.
He saw Tang Wu release the Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles and fly this way, but after that, Dong Bong-su could not see further as he was throwing himself into motion.
'As expected.'
Do Heo-ok had already blocked all of the Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles fired by Tang Wu and was leisurely leaving the venue.
His direction was north.
The Boundless Sword Squad members and Heavenly Wind Squad members who arrived belatedly, along with other warriors of the Namgung Family, blocked his path, but none of them could stop him.
All the warriors present here were only lower-grade martial artists.
It seemed that all the experts had already been deployed to the Imperial King Hall.
Even so, there was no denying how overwhelmingly strong Do Heo-ok was.
'It was all calculated.'
At the very moment the thunder blade flew toward the East Heaven Guest Hall, Dong Bong-su had already predicted that Do Heo-ok would be able to block Tang Wu's attack even without using the thunder blade.
'Perhaps his true self, without using the thunder blade or the thunder blade art, is even stronger.'
Do Heo-ok had not yet shed his shell.
He was still merely 'Do Heo-ok.'
"Hahaha."
Do Heo-ok unleashed his signature hearty laughter without restraint as he slaughtered the Namgung Family warriors blocking his path.
Pubeobeok, pabak!
Before the bizarre palm techniques unfolding from his hands, the Namgung Family warriors were utterly helpless and fell one after another.
Not long after, he completely vanished from the venue.
"Hahaha. Then I shall formally pay you a visit again soon, Hero Tang."
Although Do Heo-ok was no longer here, the sound of his laughter still faintly drifted this way.
By the time his laughter fully faded, the screams and sounds of combat coming from the Imperial King Hall also nearly came to an end.
It seemed the disturbance over there had largely been suppressed as well.
From what Dong Bong-su could see, Tang Hua's wound was not as serious as he had feared, and she appeared to have already stabilized under Tang Wu's care.
But.
In Dong Bong-su's ears, the voice Do Heo-ok had left behind moments ago continued to echo.
[I will formally pay you a visit again soon.]
Soon.
Meaning 'in the near future.'
Dong Bong-su knew all too well that 'the near future' could mean right now.
'At this level, can it be considered half a success?'
His warning for breaking the formation had worked, but it had not achieved complete success.
Now.
What should he do?
He asked himself that question, but this time, even his cold and calculating mind could not produce an answer.
Because just as Do Heo-ok knew nothing about him, he likewise knew nothing about Do Heo-ok or the forces backing him.
Now Do Heo-ok was no longer here.
This meant that Dong Bong-su had run out of cards to play.
Improvisation.
For the time being, even Dong Bong-su had no choice but to respond to each situation as it arose.
As cautiously as possible, retracing each step one by one, just like when he had dodged Do Heo-ok's thunder blade earlier.
Dong Bong-su's pupils sank deeper and darker.
It was a trait that appeared whenever he accelerated his brain.
---
The Imperial King Hall, several hours later.
Hwieeeng.
Namgung Byeok was simply sitting there.
The wind brushing past his ears felt unfamiliar.
Well, it was only natural.
When had he ever been able to sit on the seat of the Imperial King Hall and feel the cold wind from outside?
The roof was gone.
Through the wide-open upper space of the Imperial King Hall, the wind poured in unrestrained and swept wildly through the interior.
"Family head..."
Namgung Bang, the Imperial King Sword Squad leader, who had been standing quietly beside the platform, softly called out to Namgung Byeok.
Namgung Byeok quietly looked up at where the ceiling had once been and spoke.
"Have all the swords been recovered?"
The swords Namgung Byeok referred to were those of the successive family heads that should originally have been embedded up there.
"Yes, family head. Fortunately, we recovered every single sword without exception, and none were damaged."
Namgung Byeok could not help but let out a bitter laugh.
Originally, was it not only natural that those swords should have been embedded intact in the ceiling?
Yet Namgung Bang was saying it was fortunate merely that the swords had been recovered intact.
If not that, then he must be taking joy in the fact that they were not damaged.
Namgung Byeok found Namgung Bang's use of the word 'fortunate' deeply unsettling.
He even wondered whether Namgung Bang had actually looked around to see what state the Imperial King Hall was in before saying such a thing.
The loss of the Imperial King Hall's ceiling did not simply mean that the building itself had been damaged.
The absence of the ceiling meant that the roof of the Imperial King Hall had vanished, and that the swords of the family heads could no longer be reinserted into their original positions.
In other words, the core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation had disappeared, and the subsidiary formations installed throughout the family grounds had become meaningless.
The core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation had been the 'swords of the former family heads' embedded into the Imperial King Hall's roof according to the formation layout.
Maintaining his gaze on the gaping hole above, Namgung Byeok spoke to Namgung Bang.
"How long will it take to restore the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation?"
In Namgung Byeok's view, the most urgent task in the current situation was restoring the formation to its original state.
However, both Namgung Byeok—who asked the question—and Namgung Bang—who received it—knew well how extremely difficult that would be under the present circumstances.
"... At least one month will be required, family head..."
"Hoho ..."
Only a hollow laugh escaped him.
Surrounded by powerful enemies, yet having to endure for an entire month without a formation.
Immediately after the roof of the Imperial King Hall collapsed that morning, messenger pigeons that regularly traveled to the Martial Alliance headquarters had been released.
But it was futile.
The enemies besieging this place had already released dozens of sea eagles around the family grounds in preparation for that very possibility.
The moment the messenger pigeons took flight, they were torn to shreds by the sharp talons and beaks of the sea eagles, to the point that their forms were no longer recognizable.
The time it took for all the messenger pigeons to die did not even amount to a single incense stick.
Now, unless someone personally went to Zhengzhou to inform the Martial Alliance leader of the situation, the Namgung Family would have to overcome this crisis using only its own inherent strength.
But.
If that were easy, Namgung Byeok's expression would not be so filled with worry.
According to the reports, although Do Heo-ok had fled, his skill was no less than Tang Wu's.
That meant that in a one-on-one fight, no one in the Namgung Family could stand against Do Heo-ok.
Moreover.
"Only four of them ..."
Those who had reduced the Imperial King Hall to this state—the ones hiding in Do Heo-ok's room—were merely four individuals, as Namgung Byeok muttered self-mockingly.
The moment the Imperial King Sword Squad warriors entered Do Heo-ok's room to search it, they sprang out from their hiding places and attacked the Namgung Family warriors.
What they had feared became reality, but their strength far exceeded expectations.
Yet what shocked Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family's experts was not just that.
After subduing them, the identities of those four proved even more astonishing.
Jucheol Magic Whip Ok Napeng, One Blade Seven Slaughters Pa Cheon-su, and the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
These were the four hiding in Do Heo-ok's room.
All four were infamous demonic path experts of the previous generation.
Most shocking of all was not merely that they were all renowned demonic experts, but that two of them were the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Most of Do Heo-ok's fame had been earned by defeating the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Yet those very Yin-Yang Twin Demons had been hiding in Do Heo-ok's room.
To Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family's experts, it was utterly incomprehensible.
"From the very beginning, it was all planned ..."
From his very appearance, to entering the Namgung Family, to marrying Namgung Hye, every step of Do Heo-ok's actions had been a flawlessly orchestrated performance, without a single gap.
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