The Return of the Sword God Chapter 128 : Blue and Red Twin Fiends. -03

Chapter 128: Blue and Red Twin Fiends. -03

However, the mont the short swords touched Ban Hojin’s back, a strange sound was heard.

It was a sound that Lesser Fiend had never once anticipated, and it burrowed into his ears.

Not only that, but a dull pain throbbed through his wrist.

“You don’t necessarily have to dodge just because it’s fast.”

“……Protective Energy!”

At the relaxed, unhurried tone, Lesser Fiend ground his teeth and shouted.

He had realized how his attack had been blocked.

However, Protective Energy was not omnipotent.

Wooooong!

No matter how hard a piece of steel was, it would shatter against sothing stronger.

There was nothing absolute in this world, and so Lesser Fiend pushed his power even further.

Next ti, he intended to unleash an even more powerful strike.

Sssshk!

Of course, he had no intention of standing still and attacking.

The instant his surprise assault failed, Lesser Fiend moved again.

At the sa ti, his eyes darted rapidly.

He was checking on the condition of his younger brother, Giant Fiend.

“Hyung!”

Fortunately, though he had been sent flying, Giant Fiend did not seem to have suffered any major injury. He wiped the corner of his mouth roughly with his sleeve and rose to his feet.

Individually, they were strong—but to truly maximize their power, they had to deploy their combined assault formation.

Knowing that fact better than anyone, Giant Fiend hurriedly leapt forward.

However, lacking the sa agility as his elder brother, he ca charging in with heavy, lumbering steps.

Shuaaaak!

Confirming this, Lesser Fiend swung his twin swords once more.

The short swords, specially crafted to suit his physique, were enveloped in a blue Sword Force as they aid at Ban Hojin’s left shoulder and the back of his right knee.

No matter which way he dodged, at least one strike would land.

‘That is, if he can dodge at all!’

To be honest, Lesser Fiend had been careless with that earlier strike.

Even if Ban Hojin had sent Giant Fiend flying with sheer strength, speed was a different matter.

He had never lost in a contest of speed, not even against the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven. Deep down, he had looked down on Ban Hojin.

But now was different.

Krrrgh!

“Huh?”

This ti, he put forth every ounce of his strength without the slightest carelessness.

One humiliation was more than enough.

Yet despite swinging his twin swords with full force, the result did not change.

Even with a strike poured full of his power, not so much as a scratch appeared on Ban Hojin’s Protective Energy.

“So that’s your level.”

“Y-You!”

Ban Hojin stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing down at him as if utterly unbothered.

Lesser Fiend’s face flushed red and blue at that sight.

To be looked down upon by a re brat—he was consud with fury.

He poured all that rage into his twin swords.

Kkagagak!

But even after dozens of frenzied slashes, Ban Hojin’s Protective Energy remained firm.

Not a single mark appeared.

That sight only fueled Lesser Fiend’s anger further.

“I’ll do it!”

Seeing Lesser Fiend in a rage rarely witnessed, Giant Fiend—who had already closed the distance—shouted confidently.

Though he could not match his brother’s speed, he had been born with imnse divine strength.

Combined with Fiery Yang Art, it granted him explosive power.

Buuuuung!

Giant Fiend gathered that terrifying strength into his right fist.

Taking advantage of Ban Hojin standing in place, he poured all his might into that single punch.

Kwaaaaang!

His strike landed squarely against Ban Hojin’s Protective Energy, which still exuded arrogance.

The monstrous Fist Force, infused with blazing heat, slamd into it.

The ground itself shook.

It was not only the compressed force, but the inherent nature of Fiery Yang Art that caused a massive explosion.

“This ti, even you won’t co out unscathed—! What?!”

No one knew his younger brother’s strength better than Lesser Fiend.

In pure destructive power alone, Giant Fiend surpassed even the Green Forest Great Lord.

That was why Lesser Fiend had been triumphant.

He believed Ban Hojin’s arrogance would beco his own downfall and drag him to the ground.

But contrary to his expectations, Ban Hojin remained perfectly fine.

He received Giant Fiend’s full-powered strike in the sa arrogant stance.

“I told you. Even if the two of you join forces, you’re weak.”

“We’re going again!”

“Yeah!”

Seeing Ban Hojin completely unhard, Lesser Fiend’s expression changed instantly.

He had known Ban Hojin was no ordinary opponent, but he had never imagined he would be this strong.

A grim thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘Impossible!’

He shook his head at once.

Ban Hojin was only twenty-one.

Reaching the level he was imagining was impossible.

Kwaang! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!

Forcing that ominous thought away, Lesser Fiend launched a coordinated assault with Giant Fiend.

When Giant Fiend pressed from the front with overwhelming force, he would secretly search for an opening and slip in, slashing with his blade.

Drawing Ban Hojin’s attention toward Giant Fiend and then delivering a fatal blow—that was the core of their combined technique.

The problem was that it did not work on Ban Hojin at all.

Like an unbreakable iron wall, Ban Hojin’s Protective Energy blocked not only Giant Fiend’s heavy strikes but also every one of his own slashes.

“Grrr! Kraaah!”

When not even the slightest crack appeared, Giant Fiend grew increasingly agitated.

The complete lack of damage only made his frustration boil over.

Ban Hojin watched him, still standing with his hands behind his back.

“Nothing’s changed at all.”

Though the Blue and Red Twin Fiends were seeing Ban Hojin for the first ti, the sa could not be said for him.

He had personally executed them before, and so he knew all about their martial arts.

It was a mory from long ago—yet rather than his mind, it was as if his body rembered.

In truth, he did not even need to know everything about their martial arts.

Tutututung!

It was enough that he knew exactly how to break their combined assault technique.

In his previous life, he had struggled considerably in his fight against the Blue and Red Twin Fiends due to lack of experience, but now it was different.

Because he knew the perfect thod to break their combined assault, Ban Hojin leisurely received their joint attack while surveying his surroundings.

He saw the martial artists of Ironblood Fortress standing in place without moving an inch, rely watching—perhaps trusting in the Blue and Red Twin Fiends.

“Well, that works for .”

Even if they rushed him all at once, they were not companions who would be easily pushed back.

Back when they knew nothing—before they had t Ban Hojin—their lives would have been in danger, but now it was different.

Each of them was walking his own Martial Path. Though it might be dangerous, he did not consider them greatly threatening.

Still, it would be best for everyone if the battle ended with minimal casualties.

Ban Hojin drew his sword.

Srrrng.

With a pleasant friction sound, the blade slid free, and he gripped it gently.

Then he gave a light swing toward the front.

Jjeeeok!

It was a casual horizontal slash that seed to contain no strength at all, yet the result was astonishing.

As Giant Fiend recklessly alternated his twin fists, thin lines of blood appeared across his hands, arms, and chest.

His flesh had been cut exactly along the path traced by Ban Hojin’s Sword Thrust.

“Keugh!”

But what could be seen was not all there was.

On the surface, it appeared as if only the skin had been lightly cut, but in truth, the internal injuries were far worse.

From the rebound caused by the collision of True Energy against True Energy, Giant Fiend spat out bright red blood once more.

“Giant Fiend!”

Seeing his younger brother spew blood again, Lesser Fiend cried out almost like a scream.

Yet he could not go to him.

Ban Hojin’s sword was now directed at him.

Brrrrr!

The blades had not even clashed—rely the direction of the Sword Thrust was enough for goosebumps to rise across Lesser Fiend’s entire body.

His body reacted before his mind.

At the sa ti, an alarm bell rang inside his head.

His instincts told him—

‘I have to dodge…!’

At that warning, Lesser Fiend kicked off the ground at once.

Normally—under ordinary circumstances—he would have charged at Ban Hojin without hesitation.

Fully exploiting the advantage of dual swords, he would have used one blade to block Ban Hojin’s sword while slicing off his arm or piercing his heart with the other.

But now, not a single such thought occurred to him.

“You’ve got good instincts.”

The silver trajectory passed him by with the slightest margin.

Though it was rely an ordinary sword without even a trace of Sword Energy, Lesser Fiend knew instinctively.

The mont that blade touched him, his Sword Force would have been sliced apart like paper.

“Y-You bastard!”

As Lesser Fiend barely evaded the sword, Giant Fiend roared.

Using the ti his brother had bought him, he had roughly stabilized his wounds and charged at Ban Hojin once more.

This ti, however, his montum was trendous.

With Force Energy rising from his entire body, he rushed forward like a massive hamr.

Uuuuuung.

Perhaps due to his massive build, the ground trembled as though an earthquake had struck.

Yet even amid that commotion, Ban Hojin calmly gathered True Energy into his sword.

Through the Sword Thrust, he released a Force Ring.

Ppeoong!

Like a massive boulder rolling forward, Giant Fiend charged with terrifying montum—and collided with the radiant golden Force Ring that shone like a small, brilliant orb.

Though he had seen it flying toward him, Giant Fiend did not dodge.

However, the result was entirely different from what he expected.

He had planned to shatter the Force Ring upon impact and then imdiately overwhelm Ban Hojin.

Instead—

“Kraaaagh!”

Raising his arms and charging like a bull, Giant Fiend was struck by the incoming Force Ring. His Protective Energy shattered, and so did every bone in his body.

His body simply could not withstand the collision.

Though he had been born with imnse strength and sturdy bones, no matter how tough his physique, being exposed defenselessly to a Force Ring left no answer.

As a result, Giant Fiend collapsed miserably to the ground, every bone in his body broken.

Ssswk!

In that fleeting gap, a small figure slipped behind Ban Hojin’s back.

Lesser Fiend had seized the brief opening that Giant Fiend had created at the cost of his life.

Thinking that if not now, both he and his brother would die, Lesser Fiend poured every ounce of strength into occupying Ban Hojin’s rear and thrust his short sword forward.

This was no half-hearted, blustering attack—it was a strike ant to decide life or death.

Shuuk!

Yet the mont he drove the blade precisely toward Ban Hojin’s heart and Dantian, Lesser Fiend’s eyes shook violently.

He had clearly thrust his sword true, yet he felt no resistance whatsoever.

That could an only one thing.

He imdiately kicked off the ground, attempting to flee with his characteristic quick reflexes.

Slice.

But he did not succeed.

A searing sensation flared at the back of his knee, and in the next instant, Lesser Fiend tumbled across the ground.

At so point, Ban Hojin had moved behind him and severed his legs from the knees down.

“M-My legs! My legs!”

Having lost both legs in an instant, Lesser Fiend scread reflexively.

For him, whose strength lay in his Lightness Skill, his legs were as precious as his heart and Dantian.

Now that he had lost them, the shock overwheld him even more than the pain.

“How noisy.”

Puuk!

His shriek cut short as his body stiffened.

Ban Hojin’s sword pierced his heart, ending his life.

“Hy-Hyung!”

Watching from afar, Giant Fiend’s large, bead-like eyes stread with tears.

But Ban Hojin found the sight utterly repulsive.

The Blue and Red Twin Fiends had annihilated an entire village out of boredom, gang-raped countless won, and killed them afterward.

They had cared for no one else—only their brotherhood mattered.

Ban Hojin let out a snort and released Sword Energy.

Sseugeuk. Thud.

Scattering dazzling golden radiance, the Sword Energy flew and cleanly severed Giant Fiend’s neck.

Silence fell over the scene.

It was remarkable enough that he had single-handedly slain the Blue and Red Twin Fiends, but what truly mattered was the process.

He had not struggled or barely won—he had played with them as if handling children.

The martial artists of Ironblood Fortress stared at Ban Hojin in stunned disbelief.

“Don’t worry too much. You’ll be joining them soon enough.”

Paaat!