Chapter 62 - The Great War Between Orthodox and Demonic Forces (1)

1

I had never read a martial arts novel.

Not only was I not in the habit of reading, but [Martial Arts Fiction] was already a genre in decline for my generation. Old martial arts movies occasionally surfaced online, but their crude CGI made them nothing more than laughingstocks.

In an age that had come to mock all earnestness, there was little room left for martial prowess or chivalry.

A genre in decline.

A world in decline.

Snow was falling there.

"... It's freezing!"

Our expedition, devoid of dreams or hope, had safely entered the world of the apocalypse. A vast snowfield greeted us. The snow beneath our shoes made a cute little crunch.

But the cold that assailed us was anything but cute.

"Everyone!" I shouted urgently. "Bring up your aura and protect yourselves!"

The bitter cold of deepest winter.

Even standing still, my toes froze. The moment Viper heard my shout, he raised his aura. But our noncombatants, the Apothecary and the Medicine King, could not do the same.

"I-I-I... never learned how to use aura..."

"Achoo! Aaaachoo! Oh, this old man's dying! I'll freeze to death!"

Barely twenty seconds had passed since we landed in the apocalypse's world, and both of them already looked half-dead. To be fair, I had gone through all sorts of ordeals to master aura myself. How could I expect support hunters to know how to use it?

"Tsk."

I acted quickly.

"Heavenly Martial Sect's leader! Please take care of the Medicine King!"

"You got it."

Viper hoisted the Medicine King onto his back. Whether he was the emperor of light novels or a man who lived and died by looking cool, Viper was undeniably a top-ranked combat hunter. The violet aura he raised immediately enveloped the Medicine King as well.

"Ohhh, now I can breathe again..."

The Medicine King sighed in relief. His face relaxed like that of an old man settling into an open-air hot spring. I nodded, then took the Apothecary's hand.

"You'll stay with me, boss."

"Y-Yes?"

"Give me your hand."

Aura flowed from my hand into hers. Red aura. Whether it symbolized fire or blood remained unknown, but it wrapped snugly around the Apothecary's body.

"Oh."

She bowed her head.

"Th-thank you, Death King. But th-this tickles a little..."

"I know you're embarrassed. So am I. But this isn't the time to dwell on that."

I looked around. The blizzard was as dense as mist rising off water. We had dealt with the immediate problem of body heat, but that was all. I had no idea where we were or where we should go.

"The Librarian is a constellation, so he casually used words like [work] and [discontinuation]. But this is a world in its own right. It's not some ordinary book. We came here to save a world. You understand, don't you?"

"..."

The Apothecary lifted her eyes.

"... Yes, that's right. I think I took this a little too lightly. I'll do my best."

"We each just need to focus on our own part. Right now I'm protecting you with aura, but when it's time to cure the plague, you and the Medicine King will have to step up. I'm counting on you."

"Yes, Death King."

WHOOOOOSH

The blizzard swept past my earlobes. Squinting, we struggled to make out the surrounding terrain. I recalled the final sentences of Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon.

「A strange plague suddenly spread, and the Heavenly Demon died.」

「Soon, everyone else perished as well.」

Concise sentences.

Those fewer than fifty characters contained no mention of cold that seemed to gouge into flesh, or snow that buried not only our ankles but rose to our calves and knees. They said only that the world had ended.

Now we would have to find out for ourselves.

What had happened to bring about the death of the person called the Heavenly Demon?

What exactly was the strange plague that had driven humanity in this world to extinction?

"Oh!"

The Apothecary tightened her grip on my right hand a little and pointed beyond the blizzard.

"Look over there, Death King! I think I just saw people!"

We all looked in the direction she pointed.

She was right. The thick snowfall made them hard to see, but... human silhouettes showed through the wind. There were countless figures. Not one or two, but dozens. Perhaps even hundreds.

A forest of human silhouettes.

"Okay."

I took the lead.

"Let's head that way for now!"

Snow whirled around us. It wasn't falling from the sky; the wind was stirring up snow that had already fallen. Behind the blizzard, people were barely visible as shadows, so we walked close together to avoid getting separated.

"Zombie."

The attendant spirit spoke. He had been scouting our surroundings for me, serving as my eyes.

"Something's off. I can't hear anything coming from that direction."

'Couldn't the blizzard be drowning it out?'

"Could be."

He narrowed his eyes at the forest of silhouettes.

"But it's not just that I can't hear them... Those things aren't moving at all. Not even a twitch. They look more like statues than people."

Fortunately, the snow-laden wind soon subsided. As the flurries ceased, visibility improved considerably. But that was where our good fortune ended.

The sight before us left us speechless for a moment.

"... What are these things?"

Viper exhaled a white cloud of breath.

"Why are all these people frozen?"

In the middle of the snowfield, hundreds of people stood frozen solid.

2

"... They really are human."

The Apothecary spoke after examining a frozen person. Wearing latex gloves, she used forceps to pull off a piece of the corpse's flesh.

"According to my [Life Diagnostic Report] skill, this person has been dead for two years and three months. Cause of death: infection. The analysis from [Mobile Hospital] identifies it as an unregistered disease."

"How peculiar!"

The Medicine King took out a monocle and inspected the frozen people from head to toe as well. Just as combat hunters used skills to perform martial arts, these two used their support skills to diagnose the frozen bodies.

"They all died of the same cause. They didn't freeze to death. If they died of a disease, they should at least have been lying on the ground... but they're all standing, aren't they? Hah. What a baffling mystery. When something like this happens in Silicon Valley..."

"It's highly likely someone deliberately moved them here."

The Apothecary cut him off. Ever since hearing what I had said earlier, her expression had turned serious.

"The cause of death is the same, but their dates of death are all different. This person died two years ago. That one died three years ago. We can only conclude that someone intentionally moved the bodies..."

I furrowed my brow.

"Could this be some sort of grave?"

"Hmm."

Viper stroked his chin.

"A grave, huh. From a distance, they do look a little like the Terracotta Army."

The frozen people were all in different poses. One had spread both arms and was looking up at the sky. Another was frozen with their mouth open like a beast.

'Character window.'

I looked at the nearest frozen person and recited the words silently.

Letters smoothly materialized over the snow-white field.

+

Name: Jang Seongpa

Affinity: -

Preferred Genres: -

Disliked Genres: -

Preferred Characters: -

Disliked Characters: -

Preferred Plots: -

Disliked Plots: -

Mental State: 'Light.'

+

"..."

So this was what a dead person's Character window looked like.

Perhaps the 'Light' displayed under Mental State... was this person's final thought as they died. The corpse's mental state was fixed, like an inscription on a gravestone.

Faced with this mystery, my companions murmured among themselves.

"A grave... If this is a cemetery, why would they make it like this?"

"Who knows. But these guys all have weapons at their waists."

"Isn't there somewhere we can stay? The aura's keeping me warm, but..."

That was when it happened.

"... Wahahaha!"

Laughter rang out in the distance. We instinctively ducked down. Apparently unaware of us, the person laughing shouted at someone else.

"The demonic path's reign over the world ends today!"

"Ha! Even a passing dog would roll over laughing at that."

There was not one voice, but two.

"As long as I remain hale and whole, so does the demonic path's dominion. Axe Immortal. You are the one who should bid farewell to orthodox Murim."

Both voices were clear and ringing. One belonged to an old man, the other to a young woman.

The old man shouted.

"Nonsense! I've already lopped off the heads of your precious Demonic Cult's Blood Demon Corps with my axe. I cut off the heads of those rotten old demon leaders and sent them to the underworld, too! Five hundred of Murim's finest follow me. What dark sorcery could you possibly use to stop me, bitch?"

"Heh."

The woman chuckled softly.

"What a long tongue you have, old monster. The Blood Demons have merely gone beyond the borders for a while on my secret orders. Those children are not so weak that the likes of you could kill them."

I raised a finger for my companions to see.

'Shh.'

They blinked at me.

'Let's sneak closer. Okay?'

They nodded without a word.

We crept through the cemetery of frozen people, the forest of corpses. The voices of the two strangers drew steadily closer. Soon, we could see them.

"Rather than worrying about my subordinates, worry about your own lackeys, Axe Immortal."

The woman wore black martial robes.

"Where have all those pillars of the great houses you boasted of disappeared to? How ugly the old monster once revered as Murim's alliance leader has become."

"Hah!"

The old man wore plain white robes.

"None of your business. They dispersed across the world in haste on my secret orders!"

"You certainly have a great many secret orders."

"Isn't that all because you needlessly fucked up the world, bitch? Hmph! If not for your idiotic demonic reign, things would never have gotten this strange!"

"If we are idiots, what does that make you lot, who handed Murim over to such idiots? Idiots above idiots—supreme idiots would be the fitting term."

"Y-You bitch, how dare you!"

"If you don't like it, come at me, old man."

This was an extraordinarily petty fight.

Judging by their conversation, the old man in white seemed to belong to the orthodox factions, and the woman in black martial robes to the Demonic Cult.

The orthodox old man and the Demonic Cult woman aimed their weapons at each other.

"Enough. I can't bear to watch a demon like you strut around any longer! I'll split your head in two, present one half to the Jade Emperor, and offer the other to King Yama!"

"Heh. A fight to the death is precisely what I desired. Today I shall finally sever the orthodox factions' last bloodline and show that the demonic path's reign endures."

Their language might have been vulgar, but this was a typical duel between martial artists.

If the two of them now drew on their internal power and launched into a dazzling clash of blades, everything would have been perfect.

But a serious problem came to light.

"Zombie."

The attendant spirit muttered in dismay.

"What the hell are they doing holding tree branches...?"

Yes.

The two martial artists, the old man and the woman, held wooden sticks as thin as switches. Those were the 'weapons' they had drawn. The glittering weapons that invariably appeared in martial arts movies were nowhere to be seen.

"..."

"..."

The two of them seemed embarrassed once they actually pointed their sticks at each other. They exchanged awkward looks for quite some time. Slowly, the woman in black spoke.

"... Axe Immortal. Where have you stashed that precious axe you were so proud of, to come here holding a scrap of wood? Though you were the dregs of the Namgung family, swinging your axe with gusto was your sole redeeming quality..."

"S-Shut up!"

The old man's face reddened.

"Look who's talking! Where did you throw away the Blood-Annihilating Demonic Sword you cherished like your own daughter, to be holding a switch like that?"

"Now, now. A switch?"

The woman subtly averted her gaze.

"Such harsh words. Whatever it may look like, this is a wooden sword I carved myself. The essence of a thousand years of the demonic path resides within it, and I have personally bestowed upon this weapon the name Demonic Heaven's Cypress Blade."

"Did you just give a mere switch the name of the Demonic Heaven?"

"Hmm. Am I not allowed to...?"

"..."

"..."

Silence.

The old man spoke quietly.

"Ahem. Demonic Heaven's Cypress Blade is going too far, no matter how you look at it. Why not use a modest name like Switch?"

"Does that not literally mean a switch...?"

"It literally is a switch, and it looks exactly like a switch! You fool!"

The woman nodded dejectedly.

"Very well. Since you insist, I shall be satisfied with the name Demonic Switch."

"That damned 'demonic'! 'Demonic'!"

The old man's white beard quivered.

"Why are all you demonic bastards so desperate to put 'demon' in every name? Your own subordinates include the Blood Demon, Sword Demon, Ghost-Soul Flame Demon, and Moonshadow Demon Lord—four bloody demons! And you even call them the Four Demon Lords! Do you learn the word 'demon' before you memorize the Thousand Character Classic?"

"Hmm. Does it not have a certain elegance...?"

"Aah! To think the martial world fell into the hands of idiots like these, even for a time!"

Just then, dark clouds began to eat away at the sun. The snow-bearing clouds were especially thick, casting deep twilight across the snowfield. In an instant, the world grew as dark as early evening.

"Ah!"

The old man flinched.

"D-Demon! This isn't the time for us to fight!"

"...!"

As though their quarrel had never happened, the two martial artists pressed their backs together. Cold sweat ran down the woman's forehead.

"Damn it. Heaven's laws have been behaving so erratically lately..."

"You bitch! Didn't you assure me the weather would be clear today?"

"Divinations are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. I merely picked it up by watching the Ghost-Soul Flame Demon tell fortunes. How could I see through Heaven's laws?"

"Oh, damn it! I'd have been better off making some marketplace fortune-teller the cult leader! I let this bitch's words sway me and ruined our great undertaking!"

"Shut up and get ready to fight, old man. You're draining what little strength I have left."

We were bewildered.

Pressed close to me, the Apothecary whispered.

"Wh-why are they suddenly acting like that...?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really..."

I was just about to say I didn't know.

GRRRR

Something stirred.

At first, I thought someone in our party had made the sound. But when growling began to rise from my left, my right, in front of me, and behind me, I realized just how wrong I was.

WOOOO...

SCREEE, GRRRK

GRRRRR

"Eek!"

Startled, the Apothecary clung to my arm. Even through her glasses, I could see how pale her face had turned.

Viper and the Medicine King looked little different. My own face was probably twisted into an equally grim expression.

SCREEEEE!

GROOAAAR, UHHHH

The frozen people numbered a full thousand.

Those things we had thought were mere corpses... slowly moved their arms and legs.

UHHH

The eyes of a corpse frozen right beside us rolled. Its pupils were dilated, and most of its eyebrows had fallen out. Worse, part of one eye was gouged away, as though eaten by insects. Even so, the corpse stared straight at us.

"..."

Our eyes met.

The moment I looked into its eyes, I understood.

"Oh, fu—"

The apocalypse called Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon.

The book had plainly said this.

+

[Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon]

Genre: Martial Arts Fiction, Fusion

Difficulty: B-rank

Participant Limit: 2–4

※Serialization is currently discontinued.

Introduction: Murim. A world of those who revere martial prowess, wield it, and strive to attain it! The Heavenly Demon appeared here and sought to unite Murim. The Demonic Cult rallied around the Heavenly Demon, while other forces opposed it. They clashed over the fate of the world... or would have.

If a super plague hadn't suddenly broken out.

Reason for Discontinuation: An unidentified plague swept across the world, killing the Heavenly Demon. The Demonic Cult was annihilated. All other forces were destroyed as well. The end.

+

The corpses we had thought were nothing more than frozen humans slowly began to move.

Their movements were sluggish and clumsy, but the sight of moving corpses was terrifying in itself.

Only now did I realize what the 'unidentified strange plague' that had destroyed this world actually was.

"The super plague was a [zombie virus]?!"

At the same instant I shouted, the corpse's mouth opened.

UOOOOOOH!

The sun vanished behind dark clouds.

And a thousand zombies descended on us.