Chapter 1043: Die or Kill (Part 3)

The elite members of the Black Ghost Castle instinctively drew their swords. Before them, mad cultists charged with wild frenzy, their shouts echoing in both ears, reminiscent of the cries of wild beasts. Their skin stung from the dark energy they exuded, and a vile scent filled their nostrils.

All five senses sent out intense warnings.

"Hoook! Hoook!"

Rough breathing escaped quivering lips.

Then, a chilling scream, whether human or otherworldly, accompanied by a sinister wail, enveloped the Black Ghost Castle's elite warriors.

"Kill them!"

The Black Ghost Castle raised its prestige, showing that their reputation was no mere façade, as they faced the oncoming cultists.

Swish, swish, swish!

Their powerful swords danced through the air with incredible speed. Their determination to cut down all who approached, reflected in their powerful strikes. Their bodies were taut with tension, but their swordsmanship was as sharp as ever.

A devastating blow, like a flash of lightning, flew towards the cultist's arm. It looked as though it could sever the arm in an instant.

"What? No way..."

The sword struck the cultist's arm mercilessly, sticking fast. However, at that moment, the eyes of the Black Ghost Castle's elite warrior widened to their limits.

Thump!

Naturally, he should have cut through the arm and pulled back, but the sword was lodged in the cultist's arm, wiggling.

"What... what is this?"

It was a sensation akin to striking tough and sticky rubber with a blunt wooden knife. An alien feeling that should never be experienced when cutting through a human arm sent shivers down his spine.

Soon, he saw it.

The sword was stuck in the arm, yet the cultist did not seem to mind. He reached out toward the Black Ghost Castle's elite warrior, his eyes filled with a perverse sense of pleasure.

Before he could fully comprehend the meaning of this spectacle, the cultist's fingers pierced his skull.

Crack!

"Ahahahahahah!"

The cultists' growling voices reverberated in the ears, like animalistic sounds. Their raw flesh seemed ready to unleash a pungent stench at any moment.

"These filthy unbelievers!"

The cultists lowered their hands from their foreheads, where madness emanated from their eyes. Their nails, tainted with dark magic, grabbed hold of a person's face and tore it to the bone.

Squuueeeel!

A desperate scream echoed. Naturally, anyone would scream like that when their face was being torn apart.

"My... my face! Aahhh! My faceeee!"

Blinded, he reflexively reached for his face, but even that wasn't allowed. The cultist's hand, swung one after another, tore his throat.

Puuuuuh!

Blood gushed from his throat like a fountain, drenching the cultists' black robes thoroughly.

"Grrrk..."

"Hahahahahahah!"

Completely surrendered to madness, the cultists continuously swung their hands, not knowing satisfaction. Their nails, now imbued with dark magic, tore at the victim's body mercilessly. Flesh surged mercilessly, and blood splattered.

Fortunately or unfortunately, their comrades didn't need to be angry at this gruesome scene. They were too busy fending off the cultists who kept charging one after another.

"The Second Coming of the Heavenly Demon!"

"Manmaangbok!"

Chanting mantras like screams with boiling voices, their invocations sounded like a signal heralding the beginning of a massacre.

Squuueeeel!

The sound of hands tainted with dark magic tearing flesh was as clear as a bell, even in the chaotic battlefield.

"Aaahhh!"

"Kuuuaaah! Aagh!"

The screams of those whose flesh was being ripped apart, whose bones were being extracted, burst forth incessantly from their lips.

"The Second Coming of the Heavenly Demon, Manmaangbok!" "The Second Coming of Heavenly Demon, Manmaangbok!"

"Die! Die! Die! You filthy unbelievers! Uhahahaha! Uhah! Hahaha!"

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Torn flesh scattered from bodies, and blood poured down like rain. Amidst the rain of blood, the cultists erupted into maniacal laughter. Their eyes, stained red with madness and flesh, ceaselessly searched for more victims.

But Black Ghost Castle wasn't just taking the beating.

"These insane lunatics!"

Black Ghost Castle's Moon Hyoung spat curses and thrust his sword. His sword moved like lightning, piercing the eyes of the charging cultists.

Squuueeel!

Seeing his sword piercing through the enemy's eyes, Moon Hyoung grinned triumphantly.

"How's that?"

Thwack!

But in that moment, the cultist whose eyes he'd pierced raised his hand and grabbed the blade that had impaled his face. With one eye remaining, he calmly gazed at Moon Hyoung.

"Suck!"

Startled, Moon Hyoung desperately tried to retrieve his sword. However, his sword remained immobile, as if crushed under a massive rock in the cultist's hand.

"Huuh..."

The cultist calmly withdrew the sword that was impaled in his eye. Even though he could die writhing in pain, he let out a eerie laugh instead.

"Eh... eeuu..."

Overwhelmed by the overwhelming spectacle, Moon Hyoung retreated, trembling with a flushed face.

Thud!

In his confusion, death was the only outcome.

Thunk. Thunk! Thunk!

The hand that had pierced through his chest ravaged his flesh, severed bones, and delved deeper and deeper inside.

"Gkkk..."

Blood flowed out from Moon Hyoung's mouth in torrents.

"Heavenly... Demon's... Arrival."

Madness overflowed in the cultist's one remaining eye. A bright smile that seemed to reach his ears spread across his face.

"Ten... Thousand... Blessing!"

Thunk! The cultist seized Moon Hyoung's heart and yanked it out.

"...."

Moon Hyoung's still-beating heart lay on the soaked hand of the cultist, blood spurting out. Moon Hyoung, not yet fully deprived of breath, stared blankly with his heart now detached.

"Huhahaha!"

In that moment, the cultist, holding Moon Hyoung's heart like a whip, swung it, smashing Moon Hyoung's head. Moon Hyoung's head, hit by his own heart, burst open like a ripe watermelon.

While all deaths are regrettable, for Moon Hyoung, at least, it might be considered a relief. He no longer had to witness this gruesome sight with his unbound eyes.

"Heavenly... Demon's... Arrival."

The cultist slowly lowered his gaze. Seeing his eyeball on the ground, he chuckled.

"Your blood... will bring us peace!"

Squish!

The cultist, who crushed his remaining eyeball without hesitation, roared, wetting his head once and then rushing forward again. Magical energy emanated from his body like smoke, and from his one remaining eye, unchanging crimson madness spewed out.

"This, these lunatics...!"

Elite soldiers of Black Ghost Castle, tired of their momentum, retreated with pale faces.

Of course, they didn't quietly give their lives to the enemy. Training accumulates in the body, not just in the mind. Even in a state of semi-consciousness, their weapons faithfully reproduced the tracks they had practiced countless times.

But those tracks could not be completed.

Squdook!

The blows that landed on the bodies of the cultists didn't cut through the flesh; instead, they stuck to the bodies as if the weapon was glued to molten rubber.

"Damn it! What kind of martial art is this!"

The outcome for someone who lost their weapon was usually the same.

Thud!

The head, pulled out entirely, rolled on the ground. The bodies, now devoid of heads, were swarmed by the cultists, clinging like a school of piranhas on prey.

It was like a group of leeches clinging to prey.

"Die! You monsters!"

A piercing thrust, exerted with all his strength, penetrated the cultist's chest. As the cultist's clothes tore apart, the sword distinctly pierced through the flesh.

However...

Only a few drops of blood flowed. Even the surrounding skin pierced by the sword seemed to gather around the wound as if it had a will of its own. Soon, the invading sword began to press into the body.

"Kku... Huhuhu."

The cultist looked at the person who stabbed his stomach with gleaming eyes.

"Uh..."

Blood seeped through the masked mouth, but the cultist paid no attention. He reached out, inserting claws sharper than the blade into the wrist holding the sword.

Squak!

The claw, easily tearing through the flesh, reached the bone.

"Kkeuk!"

A horrifying pain, as if the body was fueled by fire. Faced with this agony, even the elite of Black Ghost Castle could not bear it, and their mouths opened in astonishment.

"Huhahaha!"

At that moment, the cultist who burst into laughter rushed forward and thrust his hand through the open mouth. Grabbing the lower jaw, he began pulling with tremendous force.

Thunk! Thuddook!

A bone-chilling sound and unimaginable agony. Before the eyes of those who knew what this pain meant, an indescribable terror rose.

"Aue... Uh... Ack!"

Thunk! Thuddook!

As the man's jaw was torn off his face, blood poured out like a waterfall. In front of the unimaginable pain, the body convulsed.

The cultist slowly pulled out the sword stuck in his stomach. As the sword withdrew, the grotesque hole seemed to shrink instantly, as if waiting for the sword to exit. It was a miracle that defied belief.

"Huh... Huhu..."

"...You unbeliever."

With a cruel smile, the cultist approached the convulsing man, raising the sword he held. The tip of the sword was aimed at none other than the man's mouth.

"Ah... No...!"

Whoosh!

The long sword plunged into the throat.

Faced with the pain of being pierced by a scorching iron, the man finally flipped his eyes. Through the muffled ears, the whisper of a devil echoed.

"You will never, never be saved. Dirty unbeliever."

Paaaah!

With those words, the cultist swung the sword, splitting the man's body in two, and then threw the sword he was holding to the ground. And he shouted.

"Kill them! Kill them all! Make them pay for not recognizing the greatness of the Heavenly Demon!"

"The Second Coming of the Heavenly Demon, Manmaangbok!"

A profound madness followed, juxtaposed with solemn chants that didn't suit it.

Fanatics who lost their gods.

The cultists who lost their places to exist were releasing their accumulated anger and hatred in an instant.

Even as throats were slashed, bodies pierced, and arms severed, they just rushed forward, tearing and killing those in front of them. As if saying that if they could bring down their opponents, their own lives didn't matter at all, they threw themselves into the madness, flipping their eyes and charging.

"Aaargh!"

"S-Save meeeee!"

Someone lost their sanity. Someone resisted the oncoming attackers to the end. Someone showed their back and fled, and someone, even with an arm severed, thrust a knife into the enemy.

But the results were brutal.

Death. Truly an absolute conclusion.

Cruel deaths, leaving not even a complete corpse, stained the world. Clad in fanatic armor and wielding the sword of doctrine, the demons spat hatred towards all living things at once.

Demonic Sect. The dark name hidden in the abyss of the Gangho rose like a crimson flame.

The land of Hangzhou was tainted by demons.