From now on, I’ll be the one to face you. (2)
A short while ago.
‘Late! Late! Damn it, we’re going to be late at this rate!’
Jo Geol lifted his anxious gaze to the sky.
A small golden bird flew far ahead. Yet Jo Geol’s anxiety persisted because he could clearly see the bird occasionally slowing down.
Jo Geol bit down hard on his lip.
‘Even at this very moment…’
Someone’s life might be hanging by a thread. They had to hurry even more.
But this was their limit right now. Everyone was utterly exhausted. Jo Geol had gone to defend Wudang and returned without having to fight, so the strain on his stamina was lighter, but had he stayed and fought alongside everyone, he would have been in no better shape.
Knowing the reasons they would inevitably be late did nothing to dispel his impatience.
‘Damn it!’
Unable to contain his frustration, Jo Geol nearly tore his sleeve as he clenched it tightly.
“Jo Geol.”
“Yes? Ah……. Sahyeong.”
Without even realizing it, Jo Geol slightly lowered his head. Yoon Jong’s voice sounded different from usual, and to Jo Geol, it felt like a rebuke.
However, unexpected words soon followed.
“You can still run, right?”
“…Huh?”
Jo Geol lifted his head sharply and looked at Yoon Jong. His eyes were resolute.
“Can you, or not?”
“Well…….”
The moment Yoon Jong’s intent was conveyed, Jo Geol’s eyes instantly turned fierce.
“Damn it! Is that even a question? I could run to the ends of the earth!”
“Good.”
Yoon Jong placed his hand firmly on Jo Geol’s back.
“We can’t follow you immediately. You know that, right?”
“Yes!”
“But you can. So go. Go and save at least one more person.”
“Yes!”
“Go!”
Yoon Jong pushed Jo Geol forward forcefully. In the same instant, Jo Geol’s body surged ahead like an arrow released from its bowstring.
Leaping past those ahead of him and speeding forward, Jo Geol caught sight of the figure leading the charge. The man, who had been looking only forward, glanced back, locking eyes with Jo Geol.
No words were exchanged. None were needed.
Meeting that steadfast gaze, Jo Geol slammed his feet into the ground with all the more force.
Fweeeeeeee!
As Jo Geol raced forward, a single ray of light across the ground, the golden trail overhead also gathered speed. Two distinct trails – one from the sky and one from the earth – raced forward together, stretching endlessly onward.
❀ ❀ ❀
Jang Ilso subtly furrowed his brow.
‘When?’
He hadn’t noticed until the very moment he appeared.
True, his attention had been focused on finishing off the Tang Clan girl, but even so, it was bizarre that someone could get this close unnoticed.
Besides, the intruder was merely Hwasan’s second generation disciple. If he truly was the one Jang Ilso had in mind, this should’ve been utterly impossible.
And that meant only one thing.
Throb.
Jang Ilso slowly glanced down at his hand. A red mark marred the snow-white skin – a wound left by that boy’s sword.
Suddenly, laughter slipped through his lips.
“Anyway…”
Jang Ilso muttered in a cold voice.
“They really are the top sect when it comes to twisting a man’s guts.”
His voice was laced with clear annoyance. Yet even as he spoke, he leisurely let his hand drop to his side.
Jo Geol, bristling like a hedgehog with its quills raised, frowned as he watched Jang Ilso.
“What is this? Planning to surrender or something?”
Without responding, Jang Ilso glanced behind him. His subordinates were still overwhelming the remnants of Cheonumaeng. Namgung Dowi and his companions fought desperately, giving their all, but their numbers had noticeably dwindled.
Snap.
Jang Ilso snapped his fingers. At the clear sound that rippled across the battlefield, everyone simultaneously turned their eyes to him.
“Return.”
At the unexpected command, a flicker of doubt passed through the eyes of the Blood Cult’s and Demon Cult’s warriors. But it was brief. Without hesitation, those who had been pressing Cheonumaeng quickly withdrew and lined up behind Jang Ilso.
“….Huff.”
Namgung Dowi, staring blankly at the scene, wavered for an instant. The release of tension robbed his legs of strength.
‘Why?’
Even saying he had barely survived would not be an exaggeration, so his question remained unanswered. Why had they suddenly withdrawn?
Lee Songbaek, drenched in blood, likewise looked back and forth between Namgung Dowi and Jang Ilso, unable to fathom the reason.
“What are you playing at?”
An enemy’s inexplicable behavior naturally aroused suspicion. Unable to hide his confusion, Jo Geol tightened the grip on his sword, aiming it even more threateningly at Jang Ilso. His eyes glinted fiercely.
Jang Ilso let out a soft chuckle.
“Catch your breath first. It’d be rather amusing if you fainted now.”
“What did you…”
“No need to worry. I’m not planning anything special. I’m just preparing for a welcome.”
“A welcome?”
Jang Ilso’s gaze slid past Jo Geol to somewhere beyond him.
“They’ll arrive soon, won’t they?”
“…”
“Isn’t that right?”
At that moment, goosebumps raced down Jo Geol’s arms. Simultaneously, intense displeasure gripped his mind.
“You bastard…!”
Jo Geol was the one standing in front of Jang Ilso right now, yet Jang Ilso’s eyes were not on him. What he was looking at was Chung Myung, who must be following closely behind.
That fact crushed Jo Geol’s pride without mercy.
“You damned…”
Jo Geol ground his teeth, ready to shout in rage, but Jang Ilso shook his head first.
“Oh, don’t get so riled up. It wasn’t my intention to belittle you.”
“…”
“To put it plainly… yes, that’s it. Even so, my opponent is someone else.”
Jo Geol fell silent.
Jang Ilso looked past Jo Geol into the distance, then slowly surveyed his surroundings. The numerous people gathered here, the barren land around them.
It was truly shabby. Not the scene he had envisioned. But…
‘Well, does the stage really matter?’
Jang Ilso slowly wiped away the rainwater trickling down his face. The makeup he had worn, the dried blood smeared on his skin – almost all of it had been washed away by now.
“Tsk. Come to think of it, I must look like a mess.”
Jang Ilso slipped a hand inside his sleeve. Jo Geol and everyone nearby instinctively flinched, pulling back cautiously.
“Such jumpy little things.”
But what Jang Ilso drew from his sleeve was something no one had expected.
“What is that?”
“..a face pow… der case?”
Among those present here, only Tang Soso recognized at a glance what Jang Ilso had taken out, and let out a dry chuckle.
“Hmm.”
Paying no heed to the reactions around him, Jang Ilso opened the small powder case and began applying his makeup.
“Th-That… lunatic.”
Jo Geol was utterly dumbfounded. Even witnessing it firsthand, he found it difficult to believe.
Of course, Jang Ilso deeply valued appearances. But he wasn’t so insane as to obsess over looks even in a situation like this.
Then what exactly was the meaning behind his current behavior?
Everyone fell silent, each struggling in their own way to interpret Jang Ilso’s behavior. In the meantime he leisurely reapplied the lipstick, slipped off a bracelet, using it to tie up his hair neatly.
“Hmm. I suppose this will do. If only I had a mirror.”
Clicking his tongue lightly, as if regretful he couldn’t check his appearance properly, Jang Ilso finally turned his gaze back to Jo Geol.
At the same moment, a strange feeling seized Jo Geol.
“You…”
Until now, the emotions Jang Ilso’s bizarre antics stirred in Jo Geol were close to sheer terror – the alienation one naturally feels before something incomprehensible, and the anxiety of having to face such a being.
But now it was different. Yet it was hard to pinpoint precisely what had changed.
It was then.
“Looks like they’re only just arriving.”
Jang Ilso’s dark, unreadable eyes turned to somewhere beyond Jo Geol. Jo Geol unconsciously looked back.
In the distance, a group was rapidly approaching.
“Oh dear, oh dear. There’s no need to rush so.”
Everything around seemed to come to a halt.
Swaaahhhh.
The sound of rain bored into Jo Geol’s ears. The surroundings had grown so quiet that a sound he hadn’t even been aware of until now reached him with perfect clarity.
In the midst of it all, they finally arrived before Jang Ilso.
Hwasan. And…
“Chung Myung-ah.”
“Sahyeong!”
Chung Myung’s gaze settled on Jo Geol. Jo Geol swallowed nervously, unsure of how to explain the situation.
Fortunately, it seemed Chung Myung didn’t particularly need any explanation.
“Chung Myung…”
Tap.
Chung Myung lightly patted Tang Soso and Jo Geol on their shoulders. Then, as if that gesture alone was enough, he stepped past them and walked forward.
Step.
Chung Myung came to a halt. Now, only one person stood before him.
Chung Myung and Jang Ilso stood facing each other. That was all. This had certainly happened before. There was nothing new about it now.
But it was unmistakably different from every time until now.
Everyone could only remain silent. No one even dared to think of intervening.
The sound of rain felt almost gentle compared to the thick silence enveloping the scene.
After a standoff that felt like an eternity though it hadn’t been so long, the first to speak was Jang Ilso.
“Well…”
Jang Ilso’s long, graceful eyes curved gently.
“You’re late, aren’t you.”
The warmth in his voice and the tenderness of his words created a chilling dissonance with the current situation, making his greeting even more unsettling.
Yet even as everyone else shivered, Chung Myung alone faced Jang Ilso with perfect composure.
“You seem to have been waiting for quite a while.”
“Hmm. How should I put it?”
Jang Ilso laughed softly.
“Truth be told, I wasn’t really waiting. Settling everything without you around wouldn’t have been so bad either. It would’ve been easier. But even so…”
Jang Ilso paused, letting his words linger, then gently shook his head.
“Yes. Perhaps, deep in my heart, I was hoping for exactly this scene. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes. I know.”
Chung Myung, too, had felt a similar emotion before.
He had once loathed the Heavenly Demon beyond measure, so deeply that he would have done anything to erase him from existence. Yet, paradoxically, he also hadn’t wanted anyone else but himself to bring the Heavenly Demon down.
“Because something given for free is nothing but meaningless.”
“Right. It must be seized.”
Jang Ilso nodded. The two of them faced each other and smiled.
To Yoon Jong, their smiles appeared strangely similar, even though it couldn’t possibly be.
But then, Chung Myung opened his mouth.
“But to say you were hoping for it is wrong.”
“…Hmm. What do you mean by that?”
“To be precise, ‘you knew’ is the correct way to put it – that someday we would face each other like this.”
Jang Ilso’s lips curled upward. Anyone could see that he was not merely pleased, but genuinely delighted.
Jang Ilso’s enchanting gaze enveloped Chung Myung completely.
“This is why… I just can’t bring myself to hate you.”
Here and now, everything will be settled.
Both men, being aware of this fact, each stared at the opponent who would become their last.
________
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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