"Aaargh!"
"Run away!"
"Aaaah!"
No one in the scene mourned that death. Everyone was too busy trying to survive and escape.
At Do Heo-ok's unexpected attack, many of the congratulatory guests watching from the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall's side were killed or injured.
Among them was Tang Hwa, whose body was thrown into Chaohu Lake along with Dong Bong-su. The moment they entered the water, fragments of Thunder Energy had splattered onto her back, inflicting a large wound.
Judging by how blackened and burned her flesh was, it seemed she had suffered quite a severe blow.
"Aaaaargh..."
She was frowning from pain and exhaling hot groans onto Dong Bong-su's chest. If Dong Bong-su hadn't embraced her and leaped into the water, she would already not be a person of this world along with Danri Jiang-hae and other guests.
However,
The reason Dong Bong-su embraced her and leaped into Chaohu Lake wasn't for the absurd reason of saving Tang Hwa.
Human shield.
In game terms, meat tank.
Dong Bong-su had merely used Tang Hwa as a tool to block the Thunder Energy fragments in his stead. Whether Tang Hwa died from being hit by Thunder Energy fragments or not, there was no loss for him. After all, the moment he embraced her and leaped into the water, he gained the justification that he had saved her.
No one could blame his actions. Tang O would be the same. Without him anyway, Tang Hwa would have already been a dead person. Of course, this was a story that held true when no one knew he had deliberately twisted his body to direct Tang Hwa toward the Thunder Energy fragments.
However,
Separate from his original purpose, he had gained several benefits from this incident. Three of them, no less.
His own life, a life debt from Tang Hwa, and even Tang O's trust.
Dong Bong-su had achieved three benefits at once even in that critical moment.
"Hwa-ah-ya!"
Tang O's cry was heard close by.
Tang O had just arrived at the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall.
He hurriedly swam to the island where the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall was.
As soon as he reached shore, he handed the injured Tang Hwa to Tang O, then raised his head to look toward Do Heo-ok's direction. He had seen Tang O launch the Dragon Phoenix Golden Needles and fly this way, but couldn't see what happened after because he was throwing his body.
'As expected.'
Do Heo-ok had already blocked all the Dragon Phoenix Golden Needles Tang O had fired and was leisurely leaving the scene. The direction was north.
Warriors of the Namgung Family, including Limitless Sword Form members and Heavenly Wind Group members who appeared belatedly, blocked Do Heo-ok's path, but no one could stop him. All the warriors who appeared here now were only lower-ranking warriors.
Probably all the masters were deployed to the Emperor King Hall. Even so, the fact that Do Heo-ok was tremendously strong was something that could never be denied.
'Everything was calculated.'
Right at that moment when the Thunder Clap Blade flew toward the Eastern Heavenly Guest Hall, Dong Bong-su had already anticipated that Do Heo-ok would be able to sufficiently block Tang O's attack without the Thunder Clap Blade.
'Perhaps his true self, not using the Thunder Clap Blade and Thunder Clap Blade Technique, might be far stronger.'
Do Heo-ok still hadn't shed his shell. He was still 'Do Heo-ok.'
"Hahaha."
Do Heo-ok unleashed that customary hearty laugh without filtering it as he slaughtered the Namgung Family warriors blocking his path.
Thud, Whack!
At the bizarre palm technique unfolding from his hands, the Namgung Family warriors fell helplessly.
Before long, he completely disappeared from the scene.
"Hahaha. Then I shall formally visit again soon. Great Hero Tang."
Though Do Heo-ok was no longer here, his laughter was still faintly flowing this way.
Around the time his laughter completely subsided, the screams and combat sounds coming from the Emperor King Hall's direction also nearly stopped. The commotion over there had probably also been mostly suppressed.
From what Dong Bong-su saw, Tang Hwa's wound also wasn't as serious as he'd thought, and she already seemed almost stabilized by Tang O.
However,
The voice Do Heo-ok left behind moments ago kept circling in Dong Bong-su's ears.
[I shall formally visit again soon.]
Soon.
Meaning 'in the near future.'
Dong Bong-su knew well that the near future could be right now at this very moment.
'Is this about half a success?'
Though his warning to break through the scheme had worked, it hadn't achieved complete success.
Now then.
What should he do?
He tried asking himself that question, but this time even his cold-headed brain didn't provide any answer.
Because, just as Do Heo-ok knew nothing about him, he too knew nothing about Do Heo-ok and the force behind him.
Now Do Heo-ok wasn't even remaining here. This meant Dong Bong-su's usable cards had run out.
Improvisation.
Now for a while, even Dong Bong-su would have no choice but to respond moment by moment according to the situation.
As carefully as possible, retracing each step, like when he dodged Do Heo-ok's Thunder Clap Blade moments ago, just like that.
Dong Bong-su's pupils sank deeper and darker.
It was his unique characteristic that appeared when accelerating his brain.
***
Several hours later at the Emperor King Hall.
Whiiish!
Namgung Byeok was just sitting. The wind brushing past his ears was unfamiliar.
Well, naturally so.
When could he ever sit on the chair-bed of the Emperor King Hall and feel the cold wind from outside?
The roof was gone. Through the wide-open space above the Emperor King Hall, wind entered without restraint and stirred wildly inside the pavilion.
"Family Head..."
Namgung Bang, the Emperor Sword Form Head who was standing quietly beside the platform, called Namgung Byeok softly. At that, Namgung Byeok quietly looked up at where the ceiling used to be and spoke.
"Have all the swords been recovered?"
The swords Namgung Byeok referred to meant the swords of successive Family Heads that should have been embedded up there originally.
"Yes, Family Head. Fortunately, we found all the swords without missing a single one, and none were damaged at all."
Namgung Byeok couldn't help but feel bitter.
Normally, shouldn't those things have remained embedded intact in the ceiling? Yet Namgung Bang was saying it was fortunate that they merely recovered the swords intact. Or perhaps he was pleased that the swords weren't damaged.
Namgung Byeok found Namgung Bang's word 'fortunate' truly grating to hear. He wondered if he was saying such things after looking around at what state the Emperor King Hall was in right now.
The fact that the Emperor King Hall's ceiling was gone didn't simply mean the building called Emperor King Hall had been damaged. The absence of the ceiling here meant the Emperor King Hall's roof had disappeared, and now they could no longer embed the Family Heads' swords back in their original places.
In other words, it meant the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation's core had disappeared, and now the sub-cores of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation installed throughout the family grounds had become useless.
The core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation had been precisely 'the swords of previous Family Heads' embedded in the Emperor King Hall roof according to the formation pattern.
Namgung Byeok spoke to Namgung Bang while maintaining his posture of looking up at the gaping hole above.
"How long will it take to restore the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation?"
In Namgung Byeok's mind, what needed to be prioritized most in the current situation was restoring the protective formation to its original state. However, both Namgung Byeok who was asking and Namgung Bang who received the question knew well that this was extremely difficult in the current situation.
"...It will take at least a month. Family Head..."
"Hehe..."
Only a hollow laugh came out.
To think they had to endure without even a protective formation for a long time of one month in a situation surrounded by powerful enemies.
In the morning after the Emperor King Hall's roof collapsed, they had released carrier pigeons that regularly traveled to and from the Murim Alliance's main headquarters.
But it was useless. The enemies surrounding this place had already released dozens of Killer Falcons around the family in preparation for carrier pigeons being released.
As soon as the carrier pigeons rose into the sky, they were torn to shreds by the sharp talons and beaks of the Killer Falcons until their forms were barely recognizable. The time it took for all the carrier pigeons to die didn't even reach one watch period.
Now, unless someone personally went to Zhengzhou and conveyed this news to the Murim Alliance Leader, the Namgung Family had to overcome this crisis with only its own inherent power.
However,
If that were easy, Namgung Byeok's face wouldn't look this worried.
According to the report he received, though Do Heo-ok had fled, his abilities were no less than Tang O's. That was as good as saying no one in the Namgung Family could face Do Heo-ok one-on-one.
Moreover,
"Only four of them..."
Those who made the Emperor King Hall like this, namely those hiding in Do Heo-ok's room, were as his self-deprecating murmur said, merely four at most.
As soon as the Emperor Sword Form's warriors entered Do Heo-ok's room to search it, they burst out from their hiding place and attacked the Namgung Family warriors.
The possibility had become reality, but their strength being that great was completely beyond expectation.
However, what surprised Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family's masters wasn't just that alone.
The identities of those four discovered after subduing them were even more astonishing.
Vermillion Iron Demon Whip Ok Na-paeng, One Blade Seven Kills Pa Cheon-su, and the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Those hiding in Do Heo-ok's room were these four. These four were legendary Demonic Path masters whose names resounded throughout the world.
Above all, what shocked Namgung Byeok wasn't that they were all famous Demonic Path masters, but that two of those four were the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Most of Do Heo-ok's fame had been gained by defeating the Yin-Yang Twin Demons, yet those same Yin-Yang Twin Demons were hiding in Do Heo-ok's room. For Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family's masters, it was an infuriating situation.
"Everything was planned from the start..."
Do Heo-ok's course, the entire process from his emergence to entering the Namgung Family and having a wedding ceremony with Namgung Hye, had all been a flawlessly scripted performance.