Chapter 137 - Blood Steam Battle - 2

Hei and his family were generating panic among the enemy ranks; no one could resist them. They soon caught all the attention on them and quickly wiped out tens and tens of pirates belonging to Jin-Sang's crew. The total number of their victims had surely now exceeded one hundred, if not more.

With each ship they cleaned up, the pirates of Ho Ri-Na would gain more and more advantage, significantly increasing their morale. The pirates' shouts of joy were ringing out clearly in the ears of the eight spirit soldiers who were fighting in the sky as if they were aboard the ships. They had all a stern expression on their faces because they had to fight while remaining alert at the same time against any possible actions by Hei and his group.

From the main war galleon of Ho Ri-Na's fleet, Ho Yeon-Hong was leading the pirates in the clash. However, she couldn't help but glance from time to time at where Hei was fighting. Inside herself, she was wondering what she should have done if Hei had boarded his ship.

But Hei didn't get on the war galleon on which Ho Yeon-Hong was standing. He continued to attack smaller boats together with the crews affiliated with the Steam Goddess and reducing their burden. This situation continued for a while until Hei judged that the time had come - it was time to intervene in the battle seriously.

Giving himself a strong momentum by kicking the ship deck with his feet, Hei began to rise to the sky. Everyone in the naval battlefield, whether on the side of the Steam Goddess or the Red Devil, was looking forward to this moment. It was as if everyone there was waiting for that precise moment. In particular, it was the eight spirit soldiers to feel worried, especially those under Jin-Sang's command.

Lian also went up to the sky. The young blue-haired woman flew in the direction of Xing and Ye, who climbed on her two ribbons, after reducing their size. Together, the three of them reached the position where Hei had stopped mid-air.

Won Byung-Chul, the right arm of the Steam Goddess, fourth stage spirit soldier. From what Ho Yeon-Hong revealed long ago, he was the owner of a pseudo bloodline. Hei didn't know which one was, but he knew that Won Byung-Chul was stronger than regular martial artists with his own stage and rank of cultivation. So, for this reason, Hei decided to start with him.

During the waiting and recovery period after the victory over Mok Tong-Hyo, Hei and Lian had discussed how to act during the battle. Their Battle Formation allowed them to raise their spirit power by a lot. It was so much that they could fight enemies with higher cultivation than them. However, Jin-Sang was a sixth-stage spirit soldier; even under the amplification of their Battle Formation, it was dangerous to face someone like that. Therefore, they decided to focus first on eliminating the spirit soldiers in the service of the Red Devil.

But there was another variable to take into account - Ho Ri-Na and his men. Theirs was a verbal agreement due to the circumstances of that moment, but Hei wasn't naive to think that there was no way that Ho Ri-Na could take back the word. Or, even if Ho Ri-Na were to accept their conditions, there was still the risk that one of her men might have some second thoughts. So it was for this reason that they didn't act immediately after arriving and concentrated on the small fries - to avoid that they could be used as cannon fodder and to secure they were instead the ones holding the reins of the fight.

"Won Byung-Chul. We will help you take this one down. After killing him, go help Ho Ri-Na." Hei communicated to the spirit soldiers with a few words and a voice unwilling to hear complaints.

Won Byung-Chul closed his eyes for a moment. In reality, he wished they would go to help Ho Ri-Na rather than him. But it was also true that if they had really gone to the rescue of the Steam Goddess, Won Byung-Chul would have been worried all the time for yet another betrayal. If that happened, it was possible he could have lost the fight. So, he accepted the proposal launched by Hei without making any fuss.

"Okay, kid. But let's end it immediately, I have no time to waste. Huo Shu Bloodline, Activate!" Won Byung-Chul replied firmly.

He quickly began to unleash his full power while activating his bloodline. Huo Shu, a kind of rat-type divine beast. It was known in particular for its ability to manipulate fire, so much so that it was also known as the fire rat.

Watching this, Hei smiled as Ye and Xing positioned themselves on his shoulders and Lian behind him. In an instant, they immediately activated their Battle Formation and their bloodlines. The moment they set foot in the sky, the course of the battle was bound to accelerate.

"Nightmare Spider Bloodline, Activate!"

"Lotus of Love Bloodline, Activate!"

'Nightmare Spider Bloodline, Activate!'

'Snake of Darkness Bloodline, Activate!'

With the spirit power of the four rising, Hei charged forward, followed by Lian. Won Byung-Chul, in turn, charged against the enemy, wrapped in a bright red aura similar to the color of a fire flame. A pair of mouse mustaches formed by spirit power had manifested on his face.

Kang Ruogang, this was the name of the second in command of the Red Devil's crew, his right arm. Like Won Byung-Chul, he was a fourth-stage spirit soldier but didn't have a bloodline. Instead, it had absorbed an elemental essence, a fire type one. So, his strength with the Fire Law wasn't pale in comparison with the fire rat pseudo bloodline.

Fire vs. Fire!

Crackle! Blaze!

The two spirit soldiers of the fourth stage were exchanging fierce fists, one after the other. Their speed in striking was impressive, and the heat produced by their spirit power was such as to prevent weaker martial artists from approaching without being affected by repercussions. Typically such a fight, where both sides had similar cultivation and used the same Elemental Law, would have lasted for quite a while, provided one of the two didn't commit serious carelessness. But a deathly predator was lurking in their clash.

By joining their spirit powers and thanks to the protection of Lian's Water Law, Hei and the others weren't much affected by the heat shown by the two fighters. Analyzing the situation well, they slipped into the moments of pause between the attacks of Won Byung-Chul, leaving Kang Ruogang zero chance to breathe.

Jin-Sang's spirit soldier began to enter an increasingly passive position. In particular, it was Lian, thanks to her Water Law, who posed the most danger. The two silver ribbons of the blue-haired young woman were capable of breaking Kang Ruogang's flames as they were being empowered not only by her spirit power but by the entire Battle Formation's amplification effect. Even Won Byung-Chul was receiving protection from those two ribbons and didn't have to worry about defending himself.

Slash! Crunch!

It was during a moment of inattention that it happened. Won Byung-Chul had just momentarily broken through the spirit power defensive layer of Kang Ruogang, who attempted to retreat and seek shelter. But Hei prevented it - stretching his hair, he increased the range of his spear, and the tip of the spear pierced the left arm of the best man under the Red Devil. However, what Kang Ruogang didn't realize was that the spearhead carried something far more lethal than a simple cutting wound.

The two little divine beasts had, in fact, clung to the spear's shaft until they landed on the head. As soon as the spear stuck into the flesh, creating a bloody wound, Ye and Xing bit the two sides of the injury and poured their poison into it. In less than an instant, Kang Ruogang felt his head spinning as his breathing became increasingly labored. Even maintaining flight was difficult, not to mention keeping his spirit power active.

Won Byung-Chul didn't lose the occasion and threw a storm of fiery punches at the defenseless Kang Ruogang. With each blow that landed, the sound of the unfortunate spirit soldier's bones could be heard breaking and becoming dust. In a few moments, all that remained of Kang Ruogang was nothing but something resembling a charred human corpse crushed by something massive.

Won Byung-Chul sighed after this effort. Since activating his bloodline, he had used his total strength but, even so, he didn't believe it would end so soon. Deep inside, he couldn't help but glance at that pair of young martial artists and their two spirit beasts. He couldn't understand where they came from, but he was sure that without them he wouldn't have won so easily.

After a moment of recovery, Won Byung-Chul looked away and headed toward Ho Ri-Na, the woman he had sworn eternal allegiance to. The Red Devil, as soon as Hei and Lian set foot on the battlefield in the sky, had lost all his inhibitions and was doing everything to finish Ho Ri-Na in the shortest time possible. But the Steam Goddess had already calculated this. She had, in fact, prepared a battle plan aimed at gaining as much time as possible. And now her betting was proving successful - Won Byung-Chul had won his fight and was going to help her. And it wouldn't take long for the others to come to her rescue.

After Ye and Xing injected poison into Kang Ruogang, Hei didn't stay there to confirm the outcome. He knew very well how it would end. He briefly recovered his two little sisters while Won Byung-Chul was preparing to give the enemy the coup de grace and headed towards Ryuk‌ ‌Gyeong-Su, the third in strength after Ho Ri-Na and Won Byung-Chul.

Ryuk‌ ‌Gyeong-Su was also the owner of a pseudo bloodline. To be precise, the bloodline of the Flying Carp. It was a kind of fish-type divine beast. The flying carps were particular because of their ability to transform themselves into dragons, but it wasn't as if all the carps would do this. Although in the eyes of humans, dragons were among the noblest creatures that ever existed; for divine beasts, dragons weren't that different from other divine beasts. Therefore, most of them chose to keep their original shape, becoming Flying Carps. At least that was what Bao Bei explained to Hei.

Ryuk‌ ‌Gyeong-Su and his opponent were both second-stage spirit soldiers. However, the man under the command of the Red Devil was a regular spirit soldier with no bloodline or elemental essence. When Hei came to help Ryuk‌ ‌Gyeong-Su, the battle ended even faster than Won Byung-Chul's. After all, Hei and his family had killed Mok Tong-Hyo alone, a third-stage spirit soldier. With the help of another spirit soldier, killing a second spirit soldier stage was no problem at all.

Now Ryuk‌ yeGyeong-Su also became free to move and went to help Ho Ri-Na. The number of opponents the Red Devil was simultaneously facing had risen to three. The pressure on him was getting heavier as he began to feel an imaginary noose tightening around his neck. Unexpectedly, for the first time in his life, he was terrified of the possibility of dying and began to fight even more desperately, making use of all his strength. Ho Ri-Na and her men instantly took a defensive stance; even with the numerical advantage, it wasn't easy to face the Red Devil. They could only wear him down and stalling for time while Hei ended the battle between Sok Yeong-Gi and the last of Jin-Sang's men.

This one was a second-stage spirit soldier and therefore had a cultivation advantage against Sok Yeong-Gi, who was in a difficult situation. Ironically, Hei had now become Sok Yeong-Gi's last hope of winning and surviving from that clash. Although it cost him dearly and he regretted it harshly afterward, he couldn't help but rejoice when he saw Hei and Lian, together with those two diabolical spirit beasts, approaching his position.