The Return of the Crazy Demon-Chapter 230: Nothing Happened

The Heavenly Alliance Leader stood in the center, his lieutenants lined up to his left and right.

“It’s been a long time since someone issued a challenge this boldly.”

A sycophantic voice chimed in, late to the game.

“Alliance Leader, allow me to be the first to duel the Haomun Lord.”

The Heavenly Alliance Leader responded curtly.

“I’ve already said I would.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Heavenly Alliance Leader removed his heavy outer robe and handed it to one of his lieutenants, then turned to ask me,

“I’d prefer we don’t use blades. What do you think?”

I nodded.

“Sure.”

As he slowly walked toward me, one corner of the Heavenly Alliance Leader’s lips curled upward. The name Juguk gave the impression of a frail man flailing a metal skewer like a clown, but up close, Juguk was rather large.

Juguk glanced at one of his subordinates and ordered,

“Check outside for any reinforcements and keep watch.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Everyone else, step back. The Haomun Lord might start rampaging and destroy the Heavenly Alliance’s property.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

The Heavenly Alliance Leader turned his eyes to me.

“This space is wide enough, so I’d prefer if you didn’t run while fighting. Just making that clear. Should be enough room, right?”

Juguk calmly closed off all variables before the fight began. It had been a while since I’d seen someone so calculated even before a fight.

“Do as you like.”

“If you could be a bit more polite with your tone, I might even spare your life. I can tell from this discomfort in my heart that I may not need to kill you.”

He spoke in such a composed tone, it dulled even my bloodlust.

Had he already grasped my nature?

Perhaps it was because Juguk had clawed his way up by crushing the top dogs of the black faction. He’d likely faced men like me before.

I accepted all of it.

“Fine. As for the tone, that’s just how I speak. Get over it.”

“Do you speak like that to Alliance Leader Lim as well?”

“With him, I’m a bit more courteous. Can’t speak rudely to the Martial Alliance Leader who works day and night for everyone’s sake.”

Juguk let out a sigh and said something unexpected.

“Let’s be clear. If I killed every subordinate who failed their mission, how could I possibly command this many men? They died because they took a request from the Demon Cult’s prince without reporting it. That’s all.”

“Ahh.”

“Once I looked into the details, your name came up. Some problematic statements reached my ears too. Understand this—our division leaders operate with some autonomy, so issues arise. But the Heavenly Alliance still has rules. Hiding operations and not reporting them causes real trouble. Once a line is crossed, even I can’t protect them. Understood?”

“Confirmed.”

“Good. Even so, your words crossed the line. That’s why I called you here—to confirm that. But know this: I’m no lackey of the Demon Cult. I don’t serve under anyone. That’s why I never joined the Martial Alliance. That’s what it means to be an Alliance Leader. Haomun Lord, Yi Zaha.”

I nodded.

When someone speaks that logically, even I run out of retorts. And when I run out of words, my fighting spirit dulls. So I counterattacked with words.

“Fine. I understand your position. Then I only need to prove one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“That I can kill eight-tenths of the Heavenly Alliance. I only stated facts. You can’t blame me for that.”

The Heavenly Alliance Leader let out a breath through his nose and smiled.

“That’s simple to prove.”

“How?”

“Just don’t die by my hand. If I can’t kill you, then I’d believe you could indeed slaughter eight-tenths of the Alliance. Fair enough?”

What an elegant way to say he’d beat me to death. Disgusting bastard. I rubbed my hands together and replied,

“Confirmed.”

As I rubbed my hands together with the Hundredfold Lightning Palms, a satisfying crackling sound echoed—like distant thunder on a calm, rainy night.

Then one of the subordinates muttered something absurd.

“Alliance Leader, the man’s got spirit. At least spare his life. Everyone says he’s crazy. He doesn’t seem to care much for decorum.”

Juguk raised a hand, signaling him to stop talking. As silence fell, Juguk spoke again.

“I’ve heard you learned a technique that causes massive destruction. It won’t be easy to use. This is one-on-one—just you and me. No tricks. Understood, Haomun Lord?”

At this point, even I was slightly stunned.

“...”

It was like he had already mapped out every move I could make, pretending to be a genius strategist.

But... why was it kind of funny?

As I listened to Juguk, I suddenly burst into laughter. Laughing alone in such a tense atmosphere only made it funnier.

One of the lieutenants figured me out exactly.

“Has he gone mad?”

I evaluated myself from a third-person perspective.

“Seems like it. Looks like I’ve lost it. Now shut your damn mouth and come at me, Juguk.”

The Heavenly Alliance Leader, who had been calm until now, suddenly surged forward, veins bulging from his forehead.

Palm strikes? Fist strikes? Kicks?

I staggered backward from his momentum and countered his palm strike. Feeling foolish for exchanging blows while retreating, I was sent flying far back. I twisted in midair and landed—only to find Juguk right in front of me.

Palm strike? Fist strike?

A knife-hand strike came for my neck, a kick for my stomach, and a punch followed with a gust of fist wind matching his internal energy. I met it with twin palms, but my footing was poor and I was pushed back.

Palm strike? Fist strike? Wait... was that a flying kick?

Dodging the incoming flurry of kicks to my face, I heard a wall collapse behind me.

And in that moment—an epiphany?

As I struggled to endure, I realized Juguk’s martial skills were so destructive they’d reduce the Heavenly Alliance headquarters to rubble.

It proved that I wasn’t the only violent one in the world. Juguk was just as savage. His fist came crashing into my abdomen.

A chill ran through me—I’d die if that landed. I crossed my arms to barely block it.

CRACK!

I could withstand it!

But before I could feel relieved, another kick blasted me through a wall and into the outer courtyard I’d passed earlier.

Not by my will.

Covered in dust, I rolled, got up, and looked at Juguk.

Wait... is that the cave I emerged from earlier?

But instead of a person, a tiger emerged, relaxed and confident.

Feigning calm, I said,

“Not bad. Huhu.”

I brushed the dust off me to buy time. Unfortunately, I inhaled some of that dust—poor decision.

Just then, one of the Heavenly Alliance lieutenants landed on the broken wall, which promptly collapsed under him. He looked startled, and I snapped at him,

“You idiot. You’ve ruined everything. Won Gaseong died for a slip of the tongue. You? You destroyed the wall of the Heavenly Alliance’s base. That’s execution.”

The flustered lieutenant retorted,

“Shut up.”

I turned to the still-calm Juguk and said,

“Knowing your personality, you should probably kill that guy first before coming back to fight me. I’ll wait. Go handle him.”

Juguk sighed and replied,

“...Is that all you’ve got, Haomun Lord? With this level of skill, you can’t handle even a tenth of the Heavenly Alliance.”

“Oh? Really? I haven’t even shown a second of my true strength. Eight plus two makes eighteen, dumbass. Bring it on.”

I drew my wooden sword to buy more time. As I did, Juguk commented,

“Pulling a weapon will only increase your odds of dying.”

“Really?”

I slowly sheathed it again.

“...”

In that brief pause, my breathing returned to normal. Regulating my breath was that difficult. Only someone who’s been through countless life-and-death battles can maintain composure like this.

I backed off and rubbed my hands together again while scanning the surroundings. Of course, both palms still crackled with Hundredfold Lightning Palms, the buzzing now a part of the ambiance.

Trembling.

As I rubbed my hands, I asked Juguk,

“Should we go back to the inner courtyard to fight?”

“Quit stalling. It won’t work.”

“Smart guy.”

One lieutenant burst out laughing before hastily covering his mouth.

“Hmm...”

I stared at him, surprised.

“You laugh? While your Alliance Leader’s fighting?”

Thankfully, Juguk turned with a scowl, glaring at the man like he’d kill him on the spot.

“...!”

I interpreted the look for everyone.

“You’re dead. Say goodbye to that promotion. How tragic. /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ All those years of loyalty, wasted. Bitter taste of life, huh? You should just kill yourself. I just fought him, and I know—Juguk is terrifying. Won Gaseong died over my words. Wait... why did he die for my words? Damn, this guy’s vicious.”

Juguk, who had been staring down his subordinate, turned and shouted at me.

“Shut your mouth!”

The tiger roared.

Meanwhile, I continued rubbing my hands, out of habit—but this time, it wasn’t Hundredfold Lightning Palms. No one noticed, because I’d been rubbing my hands all along.

Even the sound was similar.

But this was something different—an abomination forged by merging Golden Nine Free-Wandering Manual and Moonlight Cold Heart Technique.

Far beyond mere palm static—this was next-level.

I shaped the duality of Heaven-Piercing Sun-Moon Radiance into a sphere and layered it with Hundredfold Lightning Palms’ thunder energy.

To think I’d open the Jianghu testing lab in the middle of the Heavenly Alliance’s base.

BZZZZZZZZZTTTT!!!

What a glorious sound effect.

Extreme yang and extreme yin clashed, thunder energy curling over it like spicy sauce on pork bone stew. Visibly stronger than any previous Sun-Moon Radiance.

“A delicious batch of Sun-Moon Radiance is ready. Not healthy, but it’s here!”

The joke wasn’t funny. The mood was terrifying. No one laughed. That’s fine. I often fail at jokes anyway.

Juguk halted mid-step, eyes wide.

I warned him,

“You’ve got some awareness. This is the technique that blew away the Demon Cult’s Four Heavenly Kings. Too late now. You know what that means? Even I can’t control this.”

The tension across the Heavenly Alliance forces was tangible.

Juguk spoke with a grave tone.

“If you unleash that, you’ll definitely die.”

I nodded.

“Sure, I’ll die. But so will more than eight-tenths of you. Especially the ones nearby. No escape. We weren’t born the same day, but we’ll die on the same day. Let’s form a Peach Garden Oath in the afterlife. The Demon Cult did the same. Corpses piled up, and only a few lucky ones lived. About two-tenths, maybe? I’ll say it again—doesn’t matter who comes at me, I’ll wipe out eight-tenths of you. Be it Demon Cult or Heavenly Alliance.”

Someone must’ve tried sneaking up behind me.

Juguk shouted,

“Stop!”

The man standing alone in enemy territory, with Sun-Moon Radiance wrapped around his hands—that was me.

I looked around.

“If anyone’s confident, come and hit me.”

At that moment, a voice rang out from above.

“I can’t let you die.”

A man in shabby robes—the Beggars’ Sect Leader—suddenly descended and landed between me and Juguk.

I glared at him.

“Senior...”

The Beggars’ Sect Leader, Divine Beggar, asked,

“Planning to self-destruct? I won’t allow it.”

Of course, I wasn’t planning to, but I didn’t have a good comeback. Thankfully, Juguk didn’t recognize the man’s identity and spoke rudely.

“And who the hell are you?”

Suddenly, the Divine Beggar turned and slapped Juguk across the face with the back of his hand. Juguk raised his arm to block just in time.

BOOOOM!!!

A flash of light exploded—Juguk crashed through the wall and tumbled like trash.

When the Divine Beggar looked around, the entire Heavenly Alliance force wore the same frozen expression.

Then he spoke.

“Juguk.”

Juguk leapt back over the ruined wall and rushed up, bowing with both hands clasped.

“Yes, Senior.”

“It’s been a while.”

“I thought you’d retired.”

“Retirement’s only fun if you come out of it. I was in seclusion, not retired. Who gave you permission to retire me?”

“...Yes, sir.”

“Wait over there.”

Then, as the Divine Beggar walked toward me, he extended both hands and said, 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Haomun Lord, don’t die so recklessly. Stay still.”

Though I already had Sun-Moon Radiance formed in both hands, he gently grabbed my wrists as light swirled around him.

“Zaha... what the hell are you doing?”

“...”

The man called one of the Three Calamities laughed awkwardly—he seemed troubled.

“If this thing blows, I might get hurt too. So help me out. I’ll assist you.”

I’d already succeeded in dispelling this technique once before, so I wasn’t too worried. Still, the Divine Beggar showing up so unexpectedly had me stunned.

Exchanging a calm look with him, I simply replied,

“...Confirmed.”