Chapter 11 : First Mission

Chapter 11: First Mission (Part 2)

As more than ten people entered the temple, the Ong-hwa, who resembled monkeys, screamed and charged at them.

Some were even smart enough to throw stones from the back.

“Kiaaak!”

Four Ong-hwa holding wooden clubs rushed forward.

Jang Woo-hyun pushed off the ground, leaving the Martial Disciples, who were dodging the incoming rocks, behind.

Boom!

He released his internal energy through the Yongcheon point, quickly closing the distance and swung his sword.

Slice!

In one stroke, an arm was cut off, and a head flew.

One Ong-hwa tried to block with a thick wooden club, but it was shattered along with the club itself.

Not long after the fight started, the four Ong-hwa were torn apart, falling to the ground in pieces.

The Martial Disciples, who had been dodging the flying rocks while running, stopped when they saw the scene.

A small voice escaped from the mouth of an older warrior who had been with the Demon Extermination Sect’s Martial Disciples the longest.

“One sword… instant death…”

One swing of the sword, and a life was taken.

It wasn’t just the Martial Disciples who were shocked by the sight.

Ma Choong-won, who had been shooting arrows from a distance, also stopped his attack and stared blankly at Jang Woo-hyun.

“Crazy…”

Ma Choong-won had spent quite a bit of time with the Demon Extermination Sect.

Although he lacked skill and talent, which kept him at the Silver Token warrior level, his experience was second to none.

But he had never seen anything like this before.

‘Is he really a Silver Token?’

It was unbelievable.

Not even among the Gold Token warriors had he seen someone display such skill.

As he had initially expected, Jang Woo-hyun was a warrior of a sect leader level, far beyond the Gold Token level.

Comparing him to the Gold Token warriors was an insult to his ability.

Unlike those who stood still, Jang Woo-hyun kept moving forward.

Before long, the place where he had passed was filled with the corpses of the Ong-hwa and a path dyed red with blood.

The Martial Disciples behind him followed, holding their weapons.

Ma Choong-won, who was supposed to provide support from afar, also headed into the temple, wanting to watch the fight up close.

Seeing the scene, it didn’t seem like support would be necessary.

It was right when Ma Choong-won had just crossed the temple wall.

Kyaaak!

From one of the relatively intact buildings inside the temple, a cry was heard, and ten more Ong-hwa appeared.

Whether they instinctively realized that Jang Woo-hyun was the most dangerous or they were following the orders of the Shamans, all ten Ong-hwa charged toward him.

Lee Cheol-jung, who had been watching, quickly ran toward the building.

He had confirmed that the Shamans were inside, so he planned to catch them and finish the mission.

Moreover, he felt like he was losing to Jang Woo-hyun, so he desperately wanted to take care of the Shamans himself.

“I’ll get them! You bastards!”

He shouted as he entered the damaged building.

But as soon as Lee Cheol-jung stepped inside, he realized something was wrong.

“What?!”

A figure was crouching inside.

It was a monster that had no business being here.

Even crouched, it was enormous.

In its hand, a Shaman from the Thousand Demon Sect was being crushed.

This wasn’t an exaggeration—it was literally crushing a human.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Sensing danger, Lee Cheol-jung immediately dashed back outside.

“Retreat! Everyone retreat! Run! Quickly!”

Before his companions could even react to his words,

Bang!

The wall of the building, which looked like it would collapse any moment, broke apart as the monster Lee Cheol-jung had seen revealed itself.

A massive monkey, nearly three meters tall.

Its face looked like a mix of a dog’s, and in the patches where its fur was missing, metallic, snake-like scales could be seen.

Rooaaar!

The creature’s roar echoed in all directions, sapping the strength from everyone inside the temple.

Its howl contained a force that overwhelmed humans.

Jang Woo-hyun, who had learned the basic information from the Demon Extermination Sect, knew the creature’s name.

‘Iron Armor Monkey.’

Also known as Iron-scaled Monkey King, it was a monster far stronger than the Ong-hwa they had fought before, as indicated by the title “king.”

The Iron Armor Monkey, breathing heavily, turned its gaze toward Lee Cheol-jung.

Then, in an instant, it closed the distance and swung its fist.

Lee Cheol-jung, who had been slowly retreating, barely deflected the punch.

But even from the impact, he was sent flying, rolling across the ground.

“Run! Everyone get out of here!”

Ma Choong-won, who had recovered first, shouted.

With their current forces, they couldn’t take down the creature, so they needed to run as far as possible.

“Run as fast as you can and report that the Iron Armor Monkey has appeared!”

The warriors fighting the Ong-hwa quickly turned to escape the temple.

But the remaining Ong-hwa didn’t let them go easily.

The Iron Armor Monkey approached Lee Cheol-jung, who had just gotten up from the ground, and attacked again.

Bang! Bang!

With its huge fists, the buildings, already barely standing, were shattered once more.

Lee Cheol-jung didn’t run but faced the Iron Armor Monkey to buy some time.

In the midst of the chaos, Hwang An approached Jang Woo-hyun.

“Brother Jang!”

Jang Woo-hyun, who was staying behind to deal with the Ong-hwa so the Martial Disciples could escape, turned his head.

“We should retreat. That’s not an opponent we can handle.”

Jang Woo-hyun’s gaze turned toward Lee Cheol-jung, who was barely avoiding the Iron Armor Monkey’s attacks.

If he died, the creature would immediately start attacking the others.

“Is it impossible?”

“It would take at least three Gold Token warriors to handle it.”

The Iron Armor Monkey had steel-like scales under its fur, making it impervious to most attacks.

Neither Martial Disciple nor Silver Token warriors could leave a proper scratch on it.

Only someone at the Gold Token level could injure it, but even a Gold Token warrior couldn’t take it on one-on-one.

“Even with three, it wouldn’t be possible to fight it head-on. You’d have to wear it down by circling around and accumulating damage.”

Jang Woo-hyun stared blankly at Hwang An, as if he already knew everything.

“Brother Hwang and I, plus Senior Lee—that makes three, doesn’t it?”

“Brother Hwang’s real skills are at least Gold Token level, aren’t they?”

Hwang An sighed at Jang Woo-hyun’s insight, having thought he had hidden his true strength well.

“How did you figure out my skills? You’re quite the mysterious man, Brother Jang. Well, that’s not important. Even so, it’s impossible. My martial arts aren’t suited for fighting such a large monster…”

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted them, drawing their attention.

The Iron Armor Monkey had knocked down Lee Cheol-jung and, with its immense physical power, leaped into the path of the escaping Demon Extermination Sect warriors.

In its hand was a bloodied and battered Lee Cheol-jung.

The Iron Armor Monkey swung Lee Cheol-jung’s body, smashing two Martial Disciples who were at the front of the escape.

Bodies collided and shattered.

The horrific sight caused the fleeing warriors to stop in their tracks.

Meanwhile, more Ong-hwa swarmed from behind, and in an instant, the Demon Extermination Sect warriors were surrounded.

“There’s no choice but to fight now.”

“Brother Jang, this is too much. Even the two of us…”

Jang Woo-hyun turned and walked away before Hwang An could finish his sentence.

Watching his back as he walked toward danger, Hwang An’s heart suddenly raced.

He knew Jang Woo-hyun was strong, but fighting the Iron Armor Monkey alone was impossible.

Yet, for some reason, he felt like Jang Woo-hyun could do it.

Before he knew it, Hwang An was following behind him.

As Jang Woo-hyun walked, he casually dealt with the Ong-hwa in his way, killing one with each swing.

The Iron Armor Monkey, who had been roaring and threatening the fleeing Martial Disciples, turned its gaze toward Jang Woo-hyun as he approached.

The gaze of the giant monster and the small human met.

The Iron Armor Monkey, who had been roaring, slightly crouched its body.

The creature instinctively realized that the human before it was no ordinary being.

Drip. Drip.

Blood from the Ong-hwa dripped from Jang Woo-hyun’s sword.

The red drops replaced his footsteps on the ground.

Ma Choong-won and the surviving Martial Disciples silently stepped aside, creating a path as Jang Woo-hyun approached.

The human who had slaughtered the monsters and the monster who had slaughtered the humans stood face to face.

The first to move was the Iron Armor Monkey.

“Rooaaar!”

It opened its mouth wide and let out a thunderous roar.

This was not a mere display of intimidation.

The roar contained a power that hindered human movements.

As it roared, the Iron Armor Monkey charged forward, swinging its fist.

Jang Woo-hyun tilted his upper body slightly to avoid the attack.

His movement resembled a willow swaying in the wind.

It was the same technique that Jin Ha-un had used to avoid Jang Woo-hyun’s sword in the past.

Jang Woo-hyun stepped forward right after dodging.

He used the basic movement of the Tiger Step, which he employed most often.

As he passed by the Iron Armor Monkey, he swung his sword.

Clang! Scratch!

The blade struck the monster’s thigh, but the sound that echoed was like scraping against rock.

‘It’s solid.’

Even with Qi wrapped around the sword, he couldn’t properly cut through the creature’s body.

It only left a small scratch.

“Rooaaar!”

The enraged monster began wildly swinging its fists.

Jang Woo-hyun casually dodged each attack by subtly shifting his body.

Despite the whirlwind of punches, only his hair and clothes fluttered in the wind.

Jang Woo-hyun closed the distance again, this time aiming for the monster’s calf.

He slashed, but once again, it was just a minor scratch.

He couldn’t even inflict a proper wound, let alone a fatal injury.

‘Lack of power.’

It wasn’t that his attacks didn’t work—he just wasn’t cutting deep enough.

In that case, he would need to change his approach.

He followed up with two more strikes in rapid succession, targeting the same spot he had cut earlier.

‘As expected!’

This time, he felt the difference.

The Iron Armor Monkey must have sensed something had changed too, as it no longer charged recklessly.

It took a slight step back.

Jang Woo-hyun wasn’t about to miss the opportunity.

Boom!

He stepped forward with a powerful stride.

Again, he used Tiger Step.

When it came to moving forward and attacking, there was no better footwork.

Clang, scratch!

With several quick slashes to the same spot, a deep wound opened on the monster’s thigh.

The Iron Armor Monkey howled in pain, and an enormous amount of blood spilled onto the ground.

But then, with a loud crack, Jang Woo-hyun’s sword shattered.

Even with Qi wrapped around the blade to protect it, his sword was simply too weak to handle a creature of this level.

Now, only about a third of the blade remained.

Jang Woo-hyun stepped back, chuckling bitterly as the Iron Armor Monkey went berserk.

If he had a proper weapon, he could have continued attacking, but now it was a shame.

Thunk.

As he retreated, something caught on his foot.

Looking down, he saw a spear that had been used by another warrior.

The Demon Extermination Sect wasn’t a sect that focused on just one martial art.

Because they accepted wandering warriors, the weapons they used varied greatly.

The spear at his feet was no exception.

It had been used by one of the dead Martial Disciples.

Jang Woo-hyun kicked the spear up into his hands.

‘A spear…’

It was a weapon he had never used before.

Could he really use it?

But as he looked ahead, there was no other option.

The Iron Armor Monkey, now calmer, glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

There was no way to ask the creature for a break while he fetched a different weapon, so he had to make do with the spear in hand.

He gripped the shaft tightly and lowered his stance slightly.

Even though the Iron Armor Monkey was still enraged, it didn’t rush forward recklessly.

The creature had realized something: it wasn’t the hunter, but the hunted.

The tension between them built.

Jang Woo-hyun thought of one man.

Then, he immediately stepped forward to face the Iron Armor Monkey.

In a panic, the monster swung its hand quickly.

Jang Woo-hyun leaned back slightly to dodge and immediately thrust the spear forward.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Five strikes, almost simultaneous, rang out.

But because he hadn’t focused all his strength into a single point, he had stabbed five different spots.

Naturally, this attack didn’t deal a fatal blow to the Iron Armor Monkey.

‘Did I hold it too far up?’

The spear’s tip wobbled slightly, but that small imbalance had made a big difference.

Jang Woo-hyun adjusted his grip, holding the spear closer to the middle.

Once again, a certain person came to mind.

The memory of Hwang An using a short spear during their sparring test resurfaced in his thoughts.

Recalling that image, he poured more power into his stance.

The energy started from his Dantian, flowed through the shaft, and wrapped around the spearhead.

‘Not bad.’

It was his first time wielding a spear, but it didn’t feel wrong.

In fact, when it came to repeatedly targeting the same spot, the thrusting motion of a spear was easier and more efficient than the slashing of a sword.

‘If I had known this, I would have used thrusts with my sword as well.’

If he had done that, he might have defeated the Iron Armor Monkey more easily.

But there was no point dwelling on it now.

Shaking off the regret, Jang Woo-hyun approached the Iron Armor Monkey once again.

The terrified creature didn’t dare charge him this time.