Chapter 284 Unnecessary Sacrifice?
'It's going better than expected.'
Thanks to the slight deviation at the start where the Head Abbot died, there was no longer anyone to control the Poison Dragon's rationality and feed it information. Without a leash, a dragon's pride pushed it to exterminate all impudent insects that chose to attack it!
However, a dragon contending against Martial Artists wasn't exactly a great match for either side. The tough Dragon Scales made it hard for the Martial Artists to make any attack that counts, while the dragon's large body failed to react fast enough to squash them to the ground.
The more they fought, the worse that landscape became, restricting Cheon Chang and the others' movement, giving them less window to land any attacks to begin with, but they were still able to avoid receiving any major damage so far.
'If it goes on like this…'
Leo knew that the correct option was to wait. There was only one dragon on the monsters' side at the moment, but peak powerhouses that could stand against it numbered more than twenty. The passing of time was basically the most effective method to ensure that the Calamity would perish here and now.
"I will do it!"
'Huh?'
However, it seemed like one of the four didn't support this idea. The Sword Sage's solemn declaration came out as a shock to Leo.
Although the battle had long evolved into an alternative path, it was the closest it could be to the original battle. The Sword Sage would have still engaged the Head Abbot even without the Sword King's help, successfully disposing of him after sustaining some injuries before turning in to support Cheon Chang along with the Flame Emperor.
It was only when Cheon Chang saw the losses that their Society would sustain that he chose to sacrifice himself to push them out of the tiger's lair. Now, however, Pung Chungwon was actually volunteering to take his place!
"Have you truly gone senile, old man Chung? What we were discussing was simply the most effective option and not the necessary one!"
The two had obviously been exchanging Sound Transmissions in regards to the Poison Dragon's extermination method. Fighting it on the inside would likely spell its doom, but whoever went into the mouth equipped with extreme toxicity wasn't going to come back out!
"We can't tell if more monsters will attack while we are busy delaying this one. It doesn't matter whether it's on the flat plains or on top of Mount Hua, I can't allow them to exterminate more of our Murim's future!"
Although he didn't flinch when he witnessed the death of the onlookers affected by the poison gas, Pung Chungwon was still holding on to the trauma he sustained after the monsters' first raid. For the sake of taking revenge against the one who caused it, he even lowered himself to ask for help from his self-proclaimed rival.
Even he found it hard for two monsters as strong as the Poison Dragon to exist beyond their awareness, but all the monsters needed to do was to send another legion of lying monsters to exterminate more of the Murim's fighting force!
"I need to go in and do it myself to remove that risk. Changyong… Just take this as my last request, would you help me with making one last good use of these old bones of mine?"
The Sword Sage turned to look at the Cheon Chang who was in the process of slow-frying the abominable dragon. It had been a dozen minutes, yet he only managed to destroy a couple of scales out of the Calamity's thousands…
<Are you sure?>
Although he didn't care about the Righteous Factions' people, Cheon Chang still held some respect for Pung Chungwon, one of the people who he tried to understand the sword through. There was truly no urgent need to throw away his life.
<Yes!>
The difference in the picture that Cheon Chang saw as someone who only cared for his little group's safety and the one that the Sword Sage saw as a sinner that wanted to atone for the disaster he caused back then made it hard for the two to understand the other. However, that didn't mean that they couldn't work together.
<I understand.>
Not to mention denying the idea, the Sword King's lethal abilities made it hard for him to provide the help that the Sword Sage desired, only the Absolute Spear who mastered both weapon and nature could make an opening for him!
Wooosh!
Pushing his overflowing Internal Energy into the Black Dragon, Cheon Chang instantly threw it at the Emerald Calamity's mouth. It would be hard for him to immediately retrieve the spear as before, but it was worth a shot to directly take down the threat!
Szszaappp!
As Cheon Chang's 'toothpick' lodged itself into the Poison Dragon's tongue, another shower of deathly lightning descended before it could even scream in pain. Its poison was already gasifying once more under the extreme heat caused by the energy discharge, but this was a necessary move this time!
"Gang! Now!"
The person that Pung Chungwon had been conversing with on the side followed up with his flame pillar as a storm of fire and lightning raged inside the Poison Dragon's oral cavity. This much wasn't enough to kill it, but the monster had already begun to realize the true threat they imposed on its life.
"Everyone, taking cover!"
Leaving behind a loud warning, violet energy encased the Sword Sage's body as he personally shot towards the Poison Dragon's mouth! The Violet Bloom in his hand intensely shone, highlighting the peak powerhouse's very last words…
"The coming of dawn is inevitable!"
Uncaring about either the ongoing storm of energy or the evaporating poison, Pung Chungwon disappeared into the Emerald Calamity's throat!
"...Run!"
The onlookers were collectively dumbfounded at the start, but the smarter ones quickly realized what was going to soon occur, passing on the Sword Sage's last warning as they madly dashed for their lives!
Bang!