Chapter 236 - That Is Why This Fight Is So Hard

CRASH!

A bowl fell to the floor and shattered. The mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion stood silently looking down at the broken pieces.

"Are you all right?"

Seo Daeryong, who was bringing ingredients into the kitchen, asked in alarm.

"Yes, I'm fine."

When she tried to pick up the shards, he stepped forward to stop her.

"Please leave them. I'll clean them up."

This was a safe house belonging to the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon. The pleasure-house owners rescued from Yeo Bulgae were staying here temporarily. Under the mistress's care, they had grown much calmer.

The mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion had been cheerful throughout, but today her expression was dark.

"Is something wrong?"

After a pause, she answered.

"I had a bad dream."

Geom Mugeuk had told Seo Daeryong that she was no ordinary woman. He knew he could not dismiss her dream as meaningless, but he pretended otherwise.

"Don't they say dreams mean the opposite of what happens in them?"

"They do, don't they?"

She forced a smile as she spoke, but her expression remained dark. Perhaps those ominous dreams had always come true.

Then Seo Daeryong suddenly said,

"It won't work."

"Pardon?"

"The Pavilion Master told me you're no ordinary person, Mistress. I know it may be rude of me to say this, but I'll say it anyway. That bad dream won't work on our Pavilion Master. And if it won't work on him, it won't work on the Laughing Demon either."

Seo Daeryong crouched and began clearing away the broken bowl.

"Before I met the Second Young Master, my life was like this broken bowl. I was unimpressive to look at, with a gloomy, twisted personality."

His face was reflected in a shard he picked up. Looking at that distorted, barely recognizable shape, he thought it resembled his former self.

"No one considered me important, and I thought little of myself too. But meeting the Pavilion Master changed my life. To some people, I may still be nothing more than a broken bowl. But I now believe I'm a vessel that will surely be useful somewhere."

He gathered the remaining shards and stood.

"Actually, I was being modest. I think I'm more than that. The Second Young Master put the broken bowl back together and turned me into a piece of valuable porcelain."

He had become the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's disciple, and might even become the next Pavilion Master of Yellow Springs Pavilion.

"He can do that even for a life like mine. So a bad dream won't work on the Second Young Master."

At last, a smile appeared on the mistress's face.

"Yes. I suppose it won't."

Seo Daeryong carried the shards outside. The Poison King was digging in a corner of the courtyard. From the way he was digging around an oddly shaped flower, it seemed some venomous snake or insect lived near it.

Normally, Seo Daeryong was too afraid of the Poison King to speak to him, but today he approached.

"The mistress says she had a bad dream. Her dreams tend to come true."

Without looking at him, the Poison King said,

"I'll drive the carriage when we return to the Cult. You can go help them if you like."

"Ah, surely her dreams don't always come true."

One thing puzzled Seo Daeryong. Why hadn't Geom Mugeuk asked the Poison King to accompany him in the first place?

To protect the mistress and the rescued women? That was important too, but the fight against Yelü Han was a matter of life and death.

Just then, the Poison King spoke abruptly, as though he had read Seo Daeryong's mind.

"You're wondering, aren't you? Why the Second Young Master didn't ask me for help?"

"Yes. To be honest, I am."

The Poison King answered while closely examining an insect in the soil.

"Because killing Yelü Han isn't his only objective."

Seo Daeryong asked in surprise,

"Does he have another objective?"

The Poison King looked at him. Seo Daeryong did not dare meet those clear eyes, which looked far younger than his own.

"Aren't you his right-hand man? Then you should know."

"I'm a rather dim right-hand man."

"I hear you entered Yellow Springs Pavilion at the top of your class."

Seo Daeryong was startled.

"The Pavilion Master told you even that?"

"Your Pavilion Master is quite the talker."

For some reason, Seo Daeryong felt pleased, his chest swelling with pride.

"Well? What do you think?"

After a pause, Seo Daeryong said,

"All I ever do is marvel at what the Pavilion Master does. How could I know what's in his mind? But watching him, I sometimes wonder: Why does he go this far? Why is he trying so hard to become stronger?"

He continued, watching the Poison King, who was still digging something out.

"Could he be looking toward something beyond becoming the successor? I get that feeling sometimes. Just what is he looking toward?"

The Poison King turned to him.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Ah! You're right. I'm sorry."

Seo Daeryong bowed politely, then hastily retreated.

"I'll go help the mistress prepare the meal."

He ran into the building.

The Poison King seemed to fall into thought for a moment, then resumed digging.

* * *

Yelü Han was confused.

When he first saw the Divine Sword of Five Thunders' corpse, he had assumed an assassin sent by the leader of the Unorthodox Alliance had killed him. Astonishingly, however, it was the Wicked Laughing Demon's work, together with an unidentified young master.

'The alliance leader joined hands with the Demonic Cult?'

That made no sense to him either. The alliance leader he knew was not someone who would ally with the Demonic Cult, even to eliminate him.

'Then the Demonic Cult intervened on its own, without the alliance leader? But why?'

Running various businesses in Murim could lead to clashes with the Demonic Cult. But there had been no conflict serious enough to warrant a fight to the death like this.

Yelü Han's gaze turned to Geom Mugeuk. The movements the young man had displayed while dispatching the Three Evils had been truly extraordinary. So young, yet his movements were better than the Wicked Laughing Demon's? How was that possible?

"I've never heard of anyone like you in the Demonic Cult."

Yelü Han had not recognized Geom Mugeuk. As the Unorthodox Alliance's second-in-command, he naturally had access to the reports its spies sent in. Those reports had certainly mentioned the recent rise of the Demonic Cult's Second Young Master.

Yet it did not occur to him now that the young man before him was that Second Young Master. For one thing, his martial prowess was far too great for his age. And the Heavenly Demon's son would never undertake such dangerous work himself.

He assumed the young man was a secret weapon raised by the Demonic Cult. Either that, or an old Cult master who had regained his youth.

"I keep telling you, we're not from the Demonic Cult. We're reapers specially sent by the King of the Underworld."

At Geom Mugeuk's taunt, an energy like a freezing blizzard surged from Yelü Han's entire body.

This was Yelü Han's qi presence. Its cold could freeze a person's whole body stiff. Add terror to that presence, and an opponent would die without being able to make a single move.

Of course, Geom Mugeuk did not stop provoking him.

"With all that cold, will the fires of hell feel a little less hot?"

Continuing to taunt his opponent even in this desperate situation was a measure of his respect for him. Yelü Han's qi presence alone revealed his skill. A single moment's decision, a single mistake, would determine victory or defeat.

Then Yelü Han said,

"I'll have to take you with me. Someone as irritating as you might even put those fires out."

Cha Hwan, who had withdrawn to the rear because his martial skills were comparatively weaker, was startled.

He had never seen Yelü Han speak to an opponent like that. He had seen for himself that this young brat was powerful, but was he really that powerful? If the fight was so evenly matched...

'I have to play a major part.'

His heart beat rapidly. The desire to distinguish himself at any cost took hold of him. He would watch for an opening and jump in. At the decisive moment!

This time, the Blood-Wheel Calamity laughed loudly and addressed the Wicked Laughing Demon.

"I never thought my Blood Wheel would get a taste of the Wicked Laughing Demon's blood."

The Wicked Laughing Demon gave no response. Being so thoroughly ignored left the Blood-Wheel Calamity somewhat embarrassed.

"Arrogant Demonic Cult bastards, the lot of you."

He was confident he could defeat the Wicked Laughing Demon. He, too, had noticed how deep the wound from Yelü Han's earlier surprise attack was. Ordinarily, he was a notch below a Demon Supreme, but under these circumstances, he had a good chance of winning.

Moreover, the Wicked Laughing Demon had expended more internal energy. He had already used it fighting the Divine Sword of Five Thunders and his disciple.

Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned to the Wicked Laughing Demon's blood-soaked arm. Blood was still seeping out despite the pressure points pressed to stanch it. That meant the wound was deep.

'I have to end this fight as quickly as possible.'

But rushing would get him killed by Yelü Han. He had to hide his urgency, give the fight everything he had, and yet finish it as quickly as possible. That was why this fight was so hard.

"By the way, your alliance leader won't like you messing with the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon. Are you sure that's all right?"

Geom Mugeuk tossed out words meant to unsettle his enemies.

Yelü Han asked,

"Didn't you say you weren't from the Demonic Cult?"

"Of course we are. Who else would try to get rid of you?"

"Why does the Demonic Cult want me dead?"

"I'll tell you when you die."

"You'll die first. So tell me now."

"I don't want to."

For the first time in a very long while, Yelü Han felt irritated. No one had ever dared irritate him. Anyone who had would already be lying dead.

But he soon brought his emotions under control.

"Very well. I'll hear it when I die."

Seeing his calm gaze, Geom Mugeuk steadied himself as well. Provocation did not work on Yelü Han at all. He could only kill him through sheer skill.

WHIRRRRR!

The Blood Wheel sliced through the air, beginning the Wicked Laughing Demon's battle with it.

He easily evaded the swiftly flying wheel, then launched himself at the Blood-Wheel Calamity.

SWISH!

SHING!

At that moment, two streams of sword qi tore through the air at once: Yelü Han's, meant to stop the Wicked Laughing Demon's advance, and Geom Mugeuk's, meant to neutralize it.

BOOM!

At the very instant the streams of sword qi collided in midair!

ZING!

The Wicked Laughing Demon released his finger force, while the returning Blood Wheel swept toward the back of his head.

He twisted aside to evade the wheel, and the Blood-Wheel Calamity likewise flung himself aside to evade the Blood Calamity Finger.

Their evenly matched opening exchange ended, and tension hung over the battlefield. The contest was so close that its outcome was impossible to predict.

Geom Mugeuk reached a conclusion.

'Fighting like this puts me at a disadvantage.'

Yelü Han could abandon the Blood-Wheel Calamity at any moment, but he could never abandon the Wicked Laughing Demon.

The instant he reached that conclusion, Geom Mugeuk flew at Yelü Han.

He decided not to dwell on the Wicked Laughing Demon's injury. Worrying about him in the first place was a mistake. He had to trust him.

And if I truly wanted to help the Wicked Laughing Demon, I had to focus on my own fight and kill Yelü Han as quickly as possible, instead of offering useless concern. I would make sure he never dared send sword qi at the Wicked Laughing Demon again.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

The sword flashes Geom Mugeuk and Yelü Han produced flickered through the air almost too quickly to see.

They were astonishingly fast. One moment they clashed on the left; the next they were exchanging blows on the right. They moved as though they could travel through space at will.

Geom Mugeuk's snow-white sword light collided countless times with Yelü Han's vivid blue light.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

They soared into the air, their swords still clashing. The flashes in the sky looked like fireworks celebrating this incredible battle.

They leaped down from the air and fought as they ran across the roof, their swords colliding without end.

Even as they dropped from the roof onto the courtyard wall, the sword light continued to flash.

The contest between the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art and the Primordial Light-Splitting Sword Art, both at twelfth-level complete mastery, was truly a clash of equals.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Geom Mugeuk suddenly poured more internal energy into the Black Demon Sword.

Caught off guard by that surge, Yelü Han spat blood.

But before the droplets could reach the ground, a sword cut through them and flew in.

SLASH!

Blood sprayed from Geom Mugeuk's side.

Injecting more internal energy in the middle of such a swift exchange had been overreaching, and every reckless attack carried a price. Yelü Han's skill truly befitted the Unorthodox Alliance's second-in-command.

Neither marveled at the other or felt admiration. They focused solely on the fight. Their exchange moments before had shown them that the instant their attention wandered, they would die.

At the very instant a brief gap opened between them, Yelü Han unleashed his first secret technique.

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

Yelü Han's figure split into ten and surrounded Geom Mugeuk. This duplication technique was the Ten Phantoms Soul-Splitting Art, one of the essential techniques of the Primordial Light-Splitting Sword Art.

SHRRRRK!

At the same time, thirty-six sword-shaped projections of sword qi surrounded Geom Mugeuk.

It was Shadowed Heaven, the seventh form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art. But it was no longer its previous version. Originally, the projections had split apart in front of his chest; now he formed them into an upright circle around his body.

Having reached twelfth-level complete mastery, the art was ripening further, revealing new heights.

The instant the phantoms charged together, ten of the hovering sword-qi projections shot out in every direction.

WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!

THUD-THUD-THUD!

Sword qi and phantoms collided and vanished. The real Yelü Han swung his sword to neutralize the projection flying toward him.

Twenty-six sword-qi projections remained after the phantoms were eliminated!

Like hidden weapons fired from a mechanism, they all shot toward Yelü Han at once.

WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!

Watching, Cha Hwan's jaw dropped. Never in his life had he seen or heard of such a feat.

And what met that extraordinary feat was another just as extraordinary.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-KABOOM!

The incoming sword qi struck something that blocked its path.

A sword wall. And no ordinary sword wall: a wall of sword qi as cold as ice. It was the Azure Frost Ice Wall, another essential technique of the Primordial Light-Splitting Sword Art.

The wall of sword qi faded away like melting snow, revealing Yelü Han behind it.

His eyes glowed blue like an evil spirit's, and he radiated ferocious unorthodox qi.

At his presence, which declared that the real battle was only now beginning, the Black Demon Sword began to give a long cry.

HUMMMMM!

Geom Mugeuk gripped the Black Demon Sword tightly and walked toward that dreadful unorthodox qi.

'My friend, let's hold on a little longer!'

He was speaking to both his friends.