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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon vs. North Sea Ice Palace (3)
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The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace—an existence in North Sea Star City that no one dared mention lightly.
The Heavenly Demon had uttered so casually that he was off to capture this Ice Palace Lord.
Even more terrifying was the fact that the Heavenly Demon possessed the ability to make his words and actions one.
No sooner had the Heavenly Demon departed with Sogang than...
Thud!
The Ice Palace Four Saints, who had been utterly cowed, all collapsed in place without anyone going first.
"Hah... haaah... haaah!"
Starting with one man panting madly as if he could finally breathe,
"S-Scary... It's scary... So scary!"
Another trembled like a man dragged into a tiger's den, about to be devoured bones and all.
The entire Ice Palace Four Saints staggered about, pale and sickly.
"What in the world... has happened to our Ice Palace?"
All they could do was stand there in a daze, steeped in despair.
In the meantime, the Heavenly Demon and Sogang advanced with unstoppable momentum, reaching the interior of the Ice Palace Lord's chambers.
For a single sect—even one at the level of the New Outer Three Powers—to crumble so swiftly and yield the Lord's chamber was utterly unprecedented.
"Palace Lord! Intruders are coming!"
At his subordinate's words, Seol Tae-chong felt a surge of injustice.
He wanted to know the reason, the grudge that drove them to invade the Ice Palace.
These men who had cut down countless Ice Palace disciples to reach the Lord's chamber.
For Seol Tae-chong and the Ice Palace leadership, curiosity outweighed any grudge.
They waited for the intruders to draw near, and at last...
"Hah!"
The moment Seol Tae-chong laid eyes on the Heavenly Demon and Sogang, he let out an involuntary sigh.
It was laced with utter disbelief.
'The ones who nearly razed my palace... are really... such young, insignificant whelps?'
He couldn't help thinking it. The Heavenly Demon looked like a pampered young master, and Sogang like a scrawny, youthful manservant attending him.
Had they been renowned warriors or famed masters, it might have made sense—but these seemed like mere sightseers, making the Ice Palace's fall all the more lamentable.
"There! Over there!"
Ignorant or uncaring of Seol Tae-chong's thoughts, Sogang and the Heavenly Demon focused on one thing alone.
The interior of the Ice Palace Lord's chamber—specifically, the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword, displayed in the finest spot.
"Found it."
At Sogang's words, the Heavenly Demon, spotting the sword's position, grinned brightly.
As if reuniting with a long-lost friend.
Ignoring the Ice Palace Lord entirely, he gazed at the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword with the fervor of a lover enthralled.
'Lad! You're intact!'
Truth be told, the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword was like a comrade-in-arms to the Heavenly Demon, one who had shared life and death.
He had especially worried about the sword, sealed away alone in the Eternal Ice—but contrary to his fears, it retained its noble gleam, filling him with joy.
"Just who the hell are you, and why... WHY invade my Ice Palace?!"
Seol Tae-chong raised his voice at these men, whose eyes were bloodshot not for him but for the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword on the seat of honor.
"The North Sea Ice Palace has guarded North Sea Star City for generations, upheld the ways of the martial world, and walked a path of unblemished pride without a single lie."
"Puhahaha!"
Unable to hold back his laughter at Seol Tae-chong's indignant words brimming with pride in the Ice Palace,
"Why the laugh?"
"The North Sea Ice Palace walked a path of unblemished pride without a single lie?"
"Was that not the case?"
"Don't make me laugh. When my cult invaded to conquer the Central Plains, the very first sect to kneel before us without even putting up a proper fight was the North Sea Ice Palace!"
The Heavenly Demon revealed the hidden truth.
To catch the Central Plains warriors off guard, the First Heavenly Demon and the Demonic Cult had targeted North Sea Star City first. The long distance from the Heavenly Mountains meant only a small elite force was deployed.
In particular, the conquest of North Sea Star City's overlord, the North Sea Ice Palace, had been the work of the First Heavenly Demon and his loyal retainer, the Loyal Ghost Sword Yang U-ryang, just the two of them—as recounted earlier. The palace had crumbled miserably under their hands, and the lord at the time surrendered without a real fight.
"...!!"
The dark history of the North Sea Ice Palace, forced to submit to just two men.
A tale known only to the Palace Lord, Vice Lord, and a few aged elders—now aired by some unknown youth. Seol Tae-chong's pupils trembled violently.
Soon, he recalled a story from his earliest childhood, one he must never forget.
"My child, the Palace Lord back then fully surrendered to the First Heavenly Demon and his retainer Yang U-ryang. In exchange for sparing the Ice Palace intact, he made one promise."
"To pretend to resist the Demonic Cult to the end while secretly aiding their supply lines."
The hidden truth was shocking.
The Heavenly Demon and Yang U-ryang had swiftly crushed the North Sea Ice Palace. The lord who supposedly died heroically resisting was merely feigning death, hiding his identity—he hadn't even fought.
"Don't the Ice Palace's secret Stone Ice Vault still hold my cult's supplies?"
The Heavenly Demon, a direct participant who knew every detail, chuckled slyly.
Tremble!
Seol Tae-chong shuddered from the shock.
The massive supplies left behind when the First Heavenly Demon was unexpectedly sealed had lost their owner, allowing the North Sea Ice Palace to swallow them whole.
"I don't know who the hell you are... but one thing's clear. You're dying here today!"
Seol Tae-chong could no longer overlook the Heavenly Demon.
His very existence—no, the tales he spilled—could shake the foundations of the current Ice Palace.
"Everyone, attack!"
Seol Tae-chong summoned the Baekcheon Ice Palace Squad, the elite force gathered in his chamber.
They were the final line of defense, the last bastion.
Rwaaaar!
The dozens-strong Baekcheon Ice Palace Squad charged as one—straight at a single man.
The sight was shocking.
Each an elite master, had they ever mobbed one person like this?
This was unprecedented in history.
"We spared you, hid your tracks to secure our supplies—only for you to claim heroic death blocking us? What a joke."
Meanwhile, ignoring the dozens of masters swarming him, the Heavenly Demon glared solely at Seol Tae-chong.
Some things endure unchanged over time; others shift before time even passes.
The Heavenly Demon once more felt that faithless men and promises were the most mutable of all.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
Mad Dragon Incineration
Flames of fury engulf the foes!
Roarrrrr!
The Heavenly Demon's rage transformed into the karmic flames of hell.
The immense heat, paired with the cold ice arts of the Baekcheon Ice Palace Squad, began incinerating and crumbling them wholesale.
"Aaaah!"
Against the Heavenly Demon's boundless fist aura and its accompanying crimson-black flames, their ice techniques melted helplessly, scattering.
"Aaah... Aaaaah!"
Seol Tae-chong had fixated only on the Heavenly Demon's truth-telling mouth, but with the final line of defense—the Baekcheon Squad—slaughtered, he could no longer hold back.
"Palace Lord!"
"Help us!"
Urged by his elite squad's cries, the North Sea's foremost expert—Seol Tae-chong of the Ice White Single Fist, on the cusp of transcendent mastery—flashed brilliant white eyes and clenched his fists.
Krunch!
Even more astonishing were his fists.
Beautiful snowflakes bloomed around them—harbingers of deadly peril, beauty aside.
⚔ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚔
Ice White Divine Fist
North Sea Ice Palace's ultimate art unfolds!
Seol Tae-chong unleashed the Ice White Fist Art—the supreme technique reserved for Ice Palace Lords alone, emblematic of the North Sea Ice Arts and North Sea Star City itself.
'No matter who you are or how strong—irrelevant!'
His eyes gleamed with resolve, even unto death, as he poured every ounce of power into the Ice White Fist Art like never before.
He had no choice. The instant the Heavenly Demon's tale leaked out, the North Sea Ice Palace would be branded traitors who betrayed the martial world, colluding with the Demonic Cult—an infamy inescapable.
Thus, Seol Tae-chong cared not if he perished together with this unknown supreme master.
Silence first, even in death.
Flash!
A transcendent master leading dozens of elites charged at the Heavenly Demon.
It was then.
Bzzz... Bzzzzz!
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
Astoundingly, the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword—the martial world's finest legendary blade, elegantly displayed in Seol Tae-chong's chamber—trembled wildly, emitting a sword cry.
"W-What?!"
Seol Tae-chong gaped, forgetting his assault. The sword hadn't budged across generations—not for his father or grandfather—yet now it resonated fiercely.
Legends told even soaring masters couldn't touch it, yet here it reacted.
The true shock came next.
"Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword!"
At the Heavenly Demon's call, his old comrade soared forward like a puppy rejoicing at its master's return.
Flash!
As the Heavenly Demon raised his hand, the sword settled perfectly into his grasp, yielding the hilt.
Man-sword unity.
The perfect harmony of swordsman and blade—never more fitting than now.
Ooh... Oooh!
Seol Tae-chong and the Ice Palace folk sighed involuntarily at the sight.
The Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword they knew was a proud, untamable steed, rejecting all comers.
Yet now, it practically fawned—visibly so.
"The First Heavenly Demon... has finally reclaimed the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword!"
Sogang, who idolized the First Heavenly Demon, felt his chest swell then burn with thrill, witnessing firsthand the tales from books and lore.
The faint-hearted storyteller nearly teared up.
"How can the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword..."
Seol Tae-chong stood frozen like a stone statue, forgetting his Ice White Fist Art, muttering.
"Then you truly are?!"
Grin!
Gazing at the foolish current Ice Palace Lord who had finally realized his identity, the Heavenly Demon smiled broadly.
"Indeed. I am the one and only master of the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword."
To prove it, he readied his sword art.
'Start with the lightest one.'
He could raze the North Sea Ice Palace barehanded, but he was strongest with a sword.
Unleashing his mightiest on these non-transcendent foes would erase not just them but the palace entire.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
Yama's Hook Prison
Lowest of Demonic Cult sword arts descends like judgment!
The Heavenly Demon unleashed Yama's Hook Prison—the mildest among his dozen-plus Demonic Cult sword arts.
Named for the King of Hell's reincarnation, even this was a natural disaster to the North Sea Ice Palace.
Rumble!
The North Sea Ice Palace, forgetting past oaths, bolstering prestige with arrogant lies.
Above their wicked heads, Yama's colossal sword aura fell, delivering judgment.