The Azure-White Flood Dragon, which I had thought had retreated, left its nest and came directly to attack the North Sea Ice Palace.
"This is insane."
I hadn't drunk much, so there was barely any intoxication. I evaporated it with my internal energy and drew my sword first.
Shing.
Those who had been staring blankly at the Azure-White Flood Dragon's massive body, which had smashed through the city walls, began to snap out of it one by one at the sound of the sword being drawn. And then.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"What is that monster! Everyone, get ready to fight… no, run! That's not an opponent we can win against!"
Those who knew little about the Azure-White Flood Dragon began to scream in confusion and fear.
Some froze in place, some fled at once, and some scrambled to protect their families.
But only a handful truly grasped the situation. And those few immediately rushed toward my group.
Just like the Ice Palace Lord and Bing Yerin before me.
"Didn't you say the Azure-White Flood Dragon was defeated?! What in the world is this… no, looking closely, its body is clearly not in a normal state."
"Do you have any idea what might have happened?"
At their urgent questions, Seomun Hwa-rin, standing beside me, spoke as she drew internal energy into her still-healing fist.
"…I'm not sure. We definitely inflicted a critical wound, but it seems stronger than before, even if unstable."
"What does the reason matter, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin? What matters is that the bastard has lost half his mind and is running wild. And that this time we don't just drive him back like before—we kill him completely."
"Right. In the end, there's only one thing to do."
Seomun Hwa-rin nodded and looked at the Ice Palace Lord.
"I will cut off his breath completely, along with Hwi. In the meantime, evacuate the others. Everyone here has trained in martial arts, so even if the buildings are destroyed, we can minimize the loss of life."
"Understood. Is there anything else you need?"
"Nothing. If I had to say, just prepare to leave this land if things go wrong."
"…I will make sure those who need to flee are ready to flee."
The Ice Palace Lord spoke as if she herself would never leave this land.
Well, that made sense. The root cause of the current disaster was that the martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace had chosen to protect this land, their homeland, rather than abandon it.
Conversely, the Azure-White Flood Dragon was also trying to reclaim the place that had once been his home, and to avenge his parents.
Now that they had witnessed the Azure-White Flood Dragon with their own eyes, some might choose to leave the North Sea… but there would be more than one or two who stayed.
I nodded inwardly and pushed Seol Ri-hyang and Tang So-wol toward Bing Yerin.
"You two should flee as well. If things go wrong, you can head to Sichuan Province ahead of us."
"Stop talking nonsense and just make sure you come back safely."
"That's right, that's right! Without you, Cheon Hwi, we won't move an inch, so you better know that!"
"Hah."
I hadn't expected to be told so firmly to stop talking nonsense. I let out a short sigh and nodded.
"There's no helping it, then. I'll just have to find a way. Let's go, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin."
"Hmm. Very well."
Leaving Tang So-wol and Seol Ri-hyang's worried gazes behind, I headed toward the Azure-White Flood Dragon, which was beginning to rampage.
***
I arrived before the Azure-White Flood Dragon in a flash, using my Lightness Skill. Most of the surrounding buildings were already destroyed, and quite a few people had died caught in the aftermath.
No, wait—that wasn't quite right. They hadn't been caught in the aftermath. The Azure-White Flood Dragon had killed them deliberately.
Thud!
The Azure-White Flood Dragon slammed its head into a nearby building. Splinters of wood and stone shot out at speed, raining down on those who had been hiding there.
They were members of the North Sea Ice Palace, so they had trained in martial arts, but their level was at best Second-Rate. There was no way they could dodge or deflect stones flying that fast.
That would have been their end, crushed beneath the rubble. If Seomun Hwa-rin hadn't arrived just in time.
"Hah!"
Seomun Hwa-rin threw herself forward, blocking the path before the survivors. A dark-red Aura gathered over her fist, then shot out in a straight trajectory.
Kwaang!
With a sound like a cannon blast, the debris shattered into several pieces and flew back toward the Azure-White Flood Dragon.
But it had no real effect. Perhaps because the debris broke apart again, shrinking in size.
The Azure-White Flood Dragon's energy ran wild, the fierce cold currents swirling around it.
That was what twisted the trajectory of all the debris, whipping up a blizzard.
"Tsk. It seems it's already broken free of the poison."
"No. That's not it."
After gesturing for the survivors, who had been blankly staring at Seomun Hwa-rin's small back, to flee, I stood beside her and quietly looked up at the Azure-White Flood Dragon.
"I can tell because my body, having undergone Bone-Exchange Rebirth, is deeply connected to Tang So-wol's poison. It's still poisoned by the Killing Net Poison. The black spots blooming across its scales are proof of that."
"Then what about the cold energy strong enough to raise and maintain a blizzard…"
"It's simply releasing all the energy it has."
I know because I did something similar before when dealing with the Heavenly Poison Sect. That is simply a Qi Deviation, and the rampaging energy is only temporarily pushing back the poison energy.
For reasons I don't understand, the beast has given up on life. A course of action completely opposite to most creatures, who prioritize survival above all else.
The moment my sharply honed Qi Sense touched it, my gaze locked with the remaining eye of the Azure-White Flood Dragon almost simultaneously.
The moment it recognized my presence and Seomun Hwa-rin's, the Azure-White Flood Dragon's killing intent swelled like mad.
Before, it had at least a somewhat sinister, snake-like cunning about it. Now, from this creature, I feel only the same naked killing intent as when facing a wild beast.
It doesn't care if it dies itself—it simply wants to kill me and everyone else.
"It's come with full resolve. I'll open the path, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. Leave the rest to you."
"Understood."
I passed by Seomun Hwa-rin, who nodded, and charged at the Azure-White Flood Dragon.
—Kyaaaaah!
The Azure-White Flood Dragon swelled the cold air wrapped around its body, whipping up a fierce blizzard. Frost spread across the debris it touched in an instant, and the corpses scattered on the floor froze solid.
No matter that I had reached the state of imperviousness to cold, or that I could protect my body with Protective Qi—taking that kind of force head-on was pure foolishness.
So I raised my sword high.
Feet spread shoulder-width apart. Back straight. Gaze fixed dead ahead. The internal energy circulating through my body began to forcibly converge, with my Intent as the central axis.
Wooong.
A pale white Sword Force surged up over the ink-black Hyeoncheol Sword.
I swing my sword with a single-minded determination to cut it down.
The blade carves through the air. That slash crosses the entire space, cleaving through the oncoming storm of cold.
Sseokeok.
The swirling energy splits apart unnaturally, momentarily revealing the true body of the Azure-White Flood Dragon.
Seomun Hwa-rin doesn't miss that opening. She charges in and slams her fist down.
It looks like a crimson meteor rising from the ground to strike the Azure-White Flood Dragon.
Kwajik!
The sound of something shattering. The Azure-White Flood Dragon's head snaps downward from the solid hit. …But that's all.
Unlike last time, it did not collapse to the ground or let out a scream of agony.
It merely rolled its single remaining eye, glaring at Seomun Hwa-rin, who hovered in the air.
The Azure-White Flood Dragon, shedding from its crown not scales but ice shards so transparent that one would hardly notice them without focusing.
As if exploiting the fact that its head had been snapped sideways by Seomun Hwa-rin's fist, it pressed its head tight against its own body.
Then it compressed its massive frame and the muscles packed within, and in the next instant, it exploded with that tension, launching itself upward.
A counterattack as immediate and swift as a coiled spring released.
At first, Seomun Hwa-rin tried to evade with Air Stepping, but upon seeing the Azure-White Flood Dragon's gaping maw, she reset her stance.
Air Stepping only allows one to tread upon the empty sky—it cannot be used to execute footwork or Light-Body Technique.
She must be planning to counterattack since she can't avoid it.
…It stung a little that neither Seomun Hwa-rin nor the Azure-White Flood Dragon seemed to consider my existence.
I gathered all the internal energy I had and unleashed it through Yongcheonhyeol.
KWA-RUNG!
A thunderous roar resembling a clap of thunder. With the backlash of the exploding internal energy, my vision accelerated in an instant, as if someone had shoved me forward.
This wasn't the end. The next step I took also detonated my internal energy according to the principles of Thunder Step.
With each step, thunder echoed. Clear footprints were left along the path I passed, and in the blink of an eye, I arrived before the Azure-White Flood Dragon.
Last time, I had been poisoned by Killing Net Poison and couldn't properly control my energy—so I hadn't been able to see the scales beneath the scales.
I condensed and condensed the cold air, forming a transparent ice that I used like a Martial Artist's Protective Qi. I mercilessly stomped on it, despite its strange shimmer.
The footstep, carrying all the speed I had built up through consecutive Thunder Steps, embedded itself into the creature's ice, shattering it—if only slightly.
Using it as a foothold, I leaped upward while simultaneously channeling the remaining recoil into my sword-wielding arm using the technique of grafting a flower onto a branch.
My body shot straight up as if inertia didn't exist. The Azure-White Flood Dragon, which had been about to swallow Seomun Hwa-rin, turned its gaze toward me at my bizarre, almost grotesque movement.
Sensing something was wrong, the creature snapped its head around. But it was already too late.
"Hoo."
I let out a light breath and twisted my wrist, gripping the sword in a reverse hold. At the same time, I twisted my body with all my strength and swung the blade in as wide an arc as possible.
This was a sword meant not for fighting a person, but for cutting through something far larger and harder.
It wasn't aimed at vital points with precision, nor was it flashy enough to deceive the eye… but it was simply fast, simply ferocious, and simply cutting across a wide range.
It was the sword strike I had envisioned while talking with Seomun Hwa-rin. Though not yet fully refined and far from perfect, the sword carried enough power as it swung toward the inside of the creature's mouth.
If it landed properly, it would pierce through the palate and stir the brain from below.
But things never ended that easily.
The Azure-White Flood Dragon, having reacted to me half a beat late, twisted its head. Its massive fang, reminiscent of a pillar, blocked my sword.
Crack!
The blade sheared through about eighty percent of that thick fang, and the remaining twenty percent shattered, unable to withstand the impact.
But regardless, the Azure-White Flood Dragon had blocked my sword.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue reflexively. Seomun Hwa-rin kicked the falling fang, sending it flying toward the beast's intact eye.
But perhaps the torrent of cold energy I had severed earlier had reconnected.
An unnatural blizzard began to swirl around the Azure-White Flood Dragon once more, twisting the fang's trajectory.
The fang grazed past the side of its head and flew off somewhere. At the same time, the beast, which had twisted its head to counter my sword, used that momentum to spin its entire body.
It coiled up, then lashed out its tail toward me and Seomun Hwa-rin at tremendous speed.
"What the—!"
I was startled that a snake could move like that, but then I reminded myself that snakes didn't grow to the size of a hall or wield this much energy in the first place, and hurriedly summoned my Protective Qi.
Seomun Hwa-rin, likewise wrapped in Protective Qi, drove a fist swollen with sword-red Aura straight at the tail as it came crashing down.
She managed to pierce the ice encasing the Azure-White Flood Dragon and shatter its scales, but stopping the tail's motion was impossible. At best, she could shave off a little of its momentum. And then.
Thud!
"Cough!"
Even with Protective Qi wrapped around us, the impact rattled us to the bone. Seomun Hwa-rin and I slammed into the ground side by side.
Nothing was broken and neither of us suffered an internal injury, but a chunk of our internal energy had been knocked clean out of us. And that was from merely enduring a single blow.
The moment we clawed our way out of the rubble, the Azure-White Flood Dragon's massive body came into view.
At the sight of something reminiscent of a natural disaster, I let out a hollow laugh and tightened my grip on my sword once more.
"Well, if I get hit twice more, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin might end up even shorter than she already is."
"Then you'll just have to carry me around on your back."
Seomun Hwa-rin, who had retorted with complete composure, clenched her fist.
***
In the safest central part of the Ice Palace, in the room where the Ice Crystal was kept, Tang So-wol and Seol Ri-hyang were watching all of this unfold. There was nothing else they could do.
"…"
Seol Ri-hyang bitterly resented her own weakness.
It had always been this way.