Chapter 176 - The Person I Miss Most

Have you ever seen a sword sing of its own accord?

The leader of the Heavenly Mandate Society stared wide-eyed at the sight. Jo Ibaek, too, had never seen a sword sing on its own.

In truth, the most astonished person was Geom Mugeuk.

This was the first time the Black Demon Sword had sung since he had been granted it. Famed swords such as the Heavenly Demon Sword and the Black Demon Sword were said to sing of their own accord only when they achieved perfect communion with their masters.

'Yes. I'll make sure they can no longer mock us.'

Only when Geom Mugeuk grasped its hilt did the Black Demon Sword fall silent.

The Society leader looked at Jo Ibaek. At that moment, both men were thinking the same thing.

Jo Ibaek told the Four Gentlemen, "Do not underestimate your opponent. Fight carefully."

The Four Gentlemen had never seen a sword sing on its own either, and inwardly, they grew tense.

Geom Mugeuk challenged them.

"Leaving those men aside, aren't you martial artists of the orthodox factions? Is it right for you to kill someone acting on the Martial Alliance Leader's orders?"

Yet none of the Four Gentlemen felt a pang of conscience. They showed not the slightest hesitation or reluctance. It meant they had carried out every order from the master of True Dragon Manor, without distinguishing right from wrong.

Geom Mugeuk told them, "That epithet doesn't suit you."

The instant he finished speaking, the Black Demon Sword flashed from its sheath as swiftly as lightning.

A streak of sword light swept out, cutting Bamboo in two.

It was Azure Heaven, the swift-sword technique that was the fifth form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art. Faster than ever before, that attack was one Bamboo of the Four Gentlemen could never block. How could he block it when his body was already being severed the instant the light flashed?

Seeing Bamboo collapse beside him in a spray of blood, Plum Blossom launched himself forward.

SWISH! THUD!

Plum Blossom saw it: his lower body remained where it was, while only his severed upper half flew forward. What had bisected him was the Heaven-Balancing Form, the first form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art.

Orchid and Chrysanthemum rushed in simultaneously from either side. The deaths of their two companions in an instant had robbed their movements of their usual agility.

The Black Demon Sword underwent twelve transformations in midair.

It was the Heaven-Changing Form, the second form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art.

The lofty orchid was torn out by the roots at the sixth transformation, and the snow-white chrysanthemum vanished, its petals shredded, at the ninth.

Such was the power of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art at twelfth-level complete mastery.

Geom Mugeuk could feel it clearly. His Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, now at the twelfth level, was maturing further and further. His body had become impervious to all poisons, and his Wind God's Four Steps had reached the ninth level. All these advances in his martial arts were influencing his Heaven-Soaring Sword Art as well.

HUMMMMM!

Having cut down the Four Gentlemen, the Black Demon Sword sang again.

When facing many opponents, the most important thing was to seize the initiative. You had to plant fear in the hearts of those who attacked relying solely on their numbers—the realization that even with so many of them, they could still die.

Now, only silence hung over the place. No one was laughing anymore.

Geom Mugeuk gave his opponents no chance to compose themselves.

Before the order to kill him could be given, he moved first.

In a flash, he was already cutting down a masked man to his left.

After piercing the man's heart, he spun and swung his sword. Two masked men behind him had their throats slit at once, sending up fountains of blood.

He leaped up and smashed his knee into the face of a masked man charging from the side, then stabbed the masked men behind him in rapid succession.

By the time the wet sound of tearing flesh reached them, Geom Mugeuk had already cut down a masked man standing uncertainly on the opposite side. Given his abilities, that man should never have fallen so easily, but in a flash his throat was cut and his vision went black.

Masked men leaping from the roof to launch surprise attacks were instead stabbed in midair. They scattered down like fallen leaves.

Geom Mugeuk was fast—far too fast.

In an instant, more than ten men had become corpses, and the Society leader belatedly shouted, "Attack together! Together!"

By the time he finished, four more were dead.

Geom Mugeuk was a tiger that had leaped into a flock of sheep. Of course, these were no ordinary sheep. They charged like madmen, swinging their swords. Even as they were swept away, their blades struck Geom Mugeuk's body.

But he allowed no attack to land squarely, and the glancing blows could not penetrate the supreme-grade heavenly silkworm silk and Ghost-Guard Robe.

"He's faster than the alliance leader was in his prime."

The Society leader said nothing in response to Jo Ibaek. Three more men fell while those words were spoken.

"As long as he's human, he'll tire."

That was all they had to rely on. As long as he was human, his internal energy would reach its limit.

More than ten men charged him, but Geom Mugeuk rushed straight at them instead. He was running, yet it did not look like running. He glided as though sliding across ice.

Masked men collapsed to either side in his wake.

Hidden weapons rained down from every direction.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

His sword embroidered the air with sword light. Every incoming hidden weapon was deflected. A few struck his body, but his movements did not slow at all.

Geom Mugeuk shot upward. The masked men who had thrown hidden weapons from the roof fell one after another as corpses.

They died if they charged, and they died if they turned their backs to flee. They died if they attacked alone, and they died if they attacked together. Even when they succeeded in landing a sword thrust, Geom Mugeuk did not fall. Whenever he had no choice but to take an attack, he offered a spot protected by the supreme-grade heavenly silkworm silk and Ghost-Guard Robe.

CRUNCH!

A masked man's corpse came flying over and smashed the table where the Society leader and Jo Ibaek sat.

"Powerful martial arts alone cannot let a man fight like that. That man... has killed countless people."

Watching Geom Mugeuk fight, the Society leader could tell that his opponent had immense combat experience. No one could fight that way without crossing a river of blood. He knew how to fight to kill his opponents as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"How is that possible when he's so young?"

"Isn't that why we entered Murim? Because it's so entertaining."

The Society leader was not afraid. Whether that was because he had something to rely on or because he was prepared to die was impossible to tell.

Once more than half the masked men were dead, the survivors lost their will to fight. From then on, their role was reduced from killing Geom Mugeuk to draining his strength.

At last, the final masked man fell.

"Hah, hah, hah!"

Only Geom Mugeuk's ragged breathing echoed through the place.

Of the three masters—the Demon-Slaying Saber, the Overbearing Monk, and the Great Poison Elder—the first to move was Yo Rai, the Overbearing Monk.

He charged, swinging his iron staff, giving Geom Mugeuk no time to rest.

CLAAANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Staff and sword collided repeatedly. Yo Rai pressed him with tremendous strength.

Overpowered, Geom Mugeuk stepped backward.

Believing he had gained the upper hand, Yo Rai infused his iron staff with internal energy. Confident in his reserves, he was steering the fight into a contest of internal energy. He trusted his internal energy, and his opponent was exhausted.

Yo Rai pushed with his internal energy, certain he would win. But he had overlooked one fact: Geom Mugeuk was this exhausted precisely because he had fought while conserving as much internal energy as possible.

However vast Yo Rai's reserves, they could not compare with Geom Mugeuk's.

As Geom Mugeuk's power surged in like a flood, Yo Rai's arms trembled around his iron staff.

It was then that the Society leader, who had been watching, gave an order.

"Great Poison Elder!"

The instant he spoke, something flew from the Great Poison Elder's hand. Locked in a contest of internal energy, neither Geom Mugeuk nor Yo Rai could dodge it.

BANG!

Pitch-black poisonous smoke billowed out and swallowed them both.

"That does it!"

The Society leader sprang to his feet.

Rising with him, Jo Ibaek asked, "What poison is it?"

"The Great Poison Elder's most potent poison—Extreme Yin Death Poison! This is the end for him!"

"Ah!"

Only at the Society leader's assurance did Jo Ibaek feel relieved. He had been bitterly regretting what might have been the wrong choice.

Someone staggered out of the black smoke. Poisoned in that brief span, he was bleeding from every opening in his body. He uttered something unintelligible, then pitched forward.

And when the billowing poisonous smoke settled, everyone was horrified.

Geom Mugeuk stood there unharmed.

The Society leader and Jo Ibaek cried out at the same time.

"Impervious to all poisons?"

"A body impervious to all poisons!"

Though he was their enemy, they felt awe. They were seeing with their own eyes a body impervious to all poisons, something they had only heard of.

But his surviving the poison was not the real problem.

SHRRRRRK!

There were things floating before Geom Mugeuk's chest.

The sword-shaped projections of sword qi he had already formed within the poisonous smoke had risen into the air. Their number had increased yet again: now, no fewer than twenty floated there.

Shadowed Heaven, the seventh form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Twenty projections of sword qi flew like rays of light and struck the Great Poison Elder. He swung both palms, trying desperately to block them, but he could not stop twenty projections flying at every part of his body.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

The downpour of sword qi pierced through him.

As the Great Poison Elder fell, the Demon-Slaying Saber was bringing his saber down at Geom Mugeuk's face.

Geom Mugeuk's sword was embedded in the wall behind the Great Poison Elder after unleashing Shadowed Heaven. The Demon-Slaying Saber believed that if he missed this chance, he would die.

Geom Mugeuk narrowly evaded the attack, and at the very instant their faces passed within inches of one another—

WHOOO.

Geom Mugeuk blew out the smoke he had been holding in his mouth.

"Aaaaaagh!"

He had held a mouthful of the earlier poisonous smoke and spat it at the Demon-Slaying Saber. One mouthful was enough.

Clutching his face, the Demon-Slaying Saber rolled across the ground with hideous screams, then died with blood pouring from the seven openings of his head.

Now, only Geom Mugeuk, the Society leader, and Jo Ibaek remained.

Looking at the corpses strewn all around, Jo Ibaek felt as though it were all a dream. But he realized that unless he woke from this nightmare soon, he too would die within it.

He shouted, "Don't forget! I'm on the alliance leader's side! I was the one who told you the Society leader would come here—"

FWOOSH!

BOOM!

Half of Jo Ibaek's face was blown away, and what remained had turned to ash as though burned. Powerful blazing yang qi had been emitted.

Withdrawing the hand that had unleashed the palm force at him, the Society leader lifted the cup of liquor before him and drank slowly.

"I can't rest easy until I've done what needs doing."

He meant that he had intended to kill him anyway.

Geom Mugeuk reached out, and the Black Demon Sword flew from the wall back into his hand.

"You may think yourself remarkable, but to me you're pathetic. If you want a quiet life, live quietly. If you want to be a hero, step forward openly. What exactly are you? Plotting in hiding, sowing discord behind people's backs, manipulating them without their knowledge. Recruiting father and son separately, neither knowing about the other. Do you think that's admirable? No. It's nothing but cowardly, despicable behavior."

The Society leader smiled bitterly.

"What can I do? That's who I am. Scheming behind the scenes brings me such joy, such happiness."

He should have kept doing that. But as his forces and power grew, he had naturally grown careless. Something like today? Back when he had two protectors, or even ten, it would have been unthinkable. He had hidden, then hidden again. Now that a hundred men guarded him, he had grown arrogant, as though he were invincible.

"I'll have to return to my original resolve and start again."

The Society leader's body began to heat up. His martial arts, at least, were far from pathetic.

In an instant, the surrounding air grew hot.

Geom Mugeuk immediately understood. The Society leader practiced martial arts of ultra-extreme yang, surpassing even extreme yang.

'This is dangerous.'

Reading his mind, the Black Demon Sword gave another long cry.

His head grew dizzy, and he began to suffocate. Because this was pure martial arts rather than an illusion, he had no alternative way to counter it. He raised his protective concentrated qi and endured. Never in his life had he felt such heat. It was as though he had been thrown into lava.

Just as the Society leader was about to unleash extreme-yang palm force laden with flames, his surroundings changed, startling him.

WHOOOOOSH.

Suddenly, he stood on a snowy mountain amid a raging blizzard.

The freezing snowstorm lashing his face was real. Even the Society leader, who had weathered every kind of hardship, was shocked by this.

"What is this...?"

Far ahead, Geom Mugeuk was scooping up snow from the ground and rubbing it over his face.

The Society leader touched the snow piled on the ground as well. It was real snow.

WHOOOOOSH.

In the fierce blizzard and bitter cold, the extreme-yang qi that had blazed around him like fire subsided. As the heat faded, so did his killing intent and desire to fight.

The two men returned to their original positions.

In the middle of the corpse-strewn manor, the Society leader asked, "What martial art is that?"

"The Art of Space-Time Transposition."

The moment he heard the answer, the Society leader was no longer there.

His final move was a concealment art. It was his last, secret trump card, allowing him to vanish before someone's eyes and escape.

His faith that he could survive any situation left him like prey caught in a spiderweb.

THUNK!

The Society leader opened his eyes and looked down at his chest.

Geom Mugeuk's sword had pierced his heart, having detected him despite his concealment.

Drawing on the last of his qi, the Society leader examined Geom Mugeuk.

Qi had been emitted around Geom Mugeuk's body like a spiderweb. It was the qi emission he had learned from the Heavenly Demon during their hunting trip, and now it extended in a dense web, just as his father's had. There had been no gap through which the Society leader's concealment art could slip.

The Society leader spoke as though he had no regrets.

"... With those martial arts, the Art of Space-Time Transposition, and neither poison nor concealment working on you... then I suppose I must die."

Indeed, in today's battle, Geom Mugeuk had used everything he had learned thus far.

Before breathing his last, the Society leader left one final remark.

"I... have met someone like you before."

Geom Mugeuk was startled.

"Where? Where!"

But those had been the Society leader's last words. He was already dead.

'Hwa Mugi! This Society leader has met Hwa Mugi.'

Of course, it might have been someone else, but Geom Mugeuk believed the man the Society leader had spoken of was Hwa Mugi.

Somewhere, Hwa Mugi was alive. Like him, he was growing stronger, walking toward their destinies.

Geom Mugeuk was no longer afraid of him. He too was doing his utmost to live.

Yes, Hwa Mugi was Hwa Mugi. Right now, it was time to savor the joy of victory.

At last, he had safely completed the succession test his father had given him. Finishing it alone, without the Demon Supremes' help, was especially meaningful.

Geom Mugeuk left the manor. Once he was gone, the Martial Alliance Leader would take care of what remained. He had already said his farewells to both Jin Paecheon and Jin Haryeong, so he could leave now.

Outside the manor, Seo Daeryong sat waiting on the driver's seat of a carriage.

"This carriage is driven by the Young Dragon Tournament champion. You should consider it an honor."

Despite his words, Seo Daeryong's eyes trembled. Thank you for returning safely. That heartfelt emotion filled his face.

"I bought you a fresh martial outfit. It's inside, so please change."

"Thank you."

Geom Mugeuk climbed into the carriage.

"Let's go home."

"Who do you miss most?"

Leaning back in the carriage, Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes.

"The person I miss most is..."

Only the wind that brushed through his hair and flowed past heard his barely audible answer.

"Who did you say?"

When Seo Daeryong looked back, Geom Mugeuk, who had poured all his mental and physical strength into the battle, was asleep. He had not managed to change into the fresh martial outfit Seo Daeryong had prepared; it lay draped across his knees.

'You truly did well, Pavilion Master.'

And so the carriage began its journey toward the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon.