It’s nice that it’s simple, isn’t it? (1)
“Huff!”
A rough breath burst out of Baek Cheon’s mouth.
Was it because he was out of breath? Because the enemies before his eyes frightened him?
Not at all.
‘Hot.’
It felt as if a raging fire was burning within his body. Surely, this had to be what one could call vitality.
Grip.
The moment he gripped his sword, the blade responded first, ringing out with a clear, resonant cry.
He felt as though he could accomplish anything, as though he could go anywhere. If he didn’t unleash the energy overflowing inside him right now, it seemed his body would explode.
‘Stay calm.’
Baek Cheon firmly clenched his fist.
He knew. This wasn’t something new. It was merely the power Baek Cheon had always possessed. Although it had grown stronger after breaking through a barrier, it was not fundamentally different from the inner strength he’d always had.
Yet it was different. It had to be.
How could it be the same as when he had taken what he had for granted, compared to now, when he realized how precious it truly was?
‘Was it always this incredible?’
Bang!
Baek Cheon’s body, bracing against the ground, shot forward like a bolt of lightning. Once, this speed had seemed only natural. But for Baek Cheon, who had survived until now by staking his life on every swing with a body almost devoid of inner strength, this current speed felt like something else entirely.
Startled by Baek Cheon’s sudden charge, the Red Dogs swung their blades reflexively.
Slow. Their strikes must have been lightning-fast, yet to Baek Cheon’s eyes now, all of it looked absurdly slow.
‘Is this… the world Chung Myung had been seeing?’
Baek Cheon’s eyes gleamed sharply as he thrust his sword forward.
He could feel it. The sensation of inner strength flowing through his outstretched sword. The surging trajectory of inner energy in the enemy’s blade aimed at him.
And, in response to their power, the swirling of other energies that filled the world.
Swoosh.
The tip of Baek Cheon’s sword, stretching out like a streak of light, traced a tiny circle.
The inner energy that had been racing, faster and more intense, suddenly shifted, softening as it carved a dignified current in the air. The blade that had been swinging down was drawn into the flow created by Baek Cheon’s sword, swept off its intended trajectory.
He had only nudged its direction a little, yet the blade, driven by inner energy pushed to its very limit, had no leeway left to correct the twist.
‘Neung-yujegang – to overcome strength with gentleness [능유제강(能柔制强)].’
What he had learned from Wudang, from Heo Do Jinin.
The sword principles [검리(劍理)] of the soft sword [유검(柔劍)], which had never originally existed in Hwasan’s swordsmanship, unfolded so naturally – as if they had been one and the same from the very beginning.
In that moment, when the bewildered eyes of the Red Dog and the empty space appeared clearly in Baek Cheon’s sight, his sword split the air even faster than his will.
Crunch!
The Red Dog whose throat had been pierced by the sword fell backward, blood foaming from his mouth. Even before his breath fully ceased, Baek Cheon retrieved his outstretched blade, stomped the ground, and spun his body.
The sword that had been drawn far back traced an arc, and the crimson sword energy swirling around it flared like wildfire, forming bright crimson plum blossom petals.
Now he understood.
– I told you, stuffing dead sword energy in doesn’t matter one bit, you idiot.
Those incomprehensible words that cursed brat had tossed out – only now.
Baek Cheon’s senses stirred. He could feel, with vivid clarity, the inner energy of the Red Dogs surging forth. Moving a step ahead of their intentions, he unleashed his sword energy before they could react.
In an instant, the sword energy that had surged upward like a rising dragon twisted through the air and came crashing down on the Red Dogs.
“Ghk!”
In that brief split-second the sound of the Red Dogs’ choked gasp rang clearly in Baek Cheon’s ears. The space where they meant to swing their blades was already occupied by countless plum blossom petals.
Sensing instinctively that swinging their blades would not even unleash half their power, the Red Dogs tried to kick off the ground and retreat. But at that very moment, as if the plum blossom sword energy possessed a will of its own, it shifted and descended upon those trying to withdraw.
In an instant, the Red Dogs’ field of vision filled entirely with plum blossom petals, their eyes wide in horror.
‘It’s alive…’
Fwoooosh!
The plum blossom sword energy swept through them in an instant. The Red Dogs, their bodies riddled with countless holes, convulsed in pain and collapsed on the spot.
Boom.
Baek Cheon stamped forward, biting his lip.
He tried to hold it down, but it was impossible. Something searingly hot kept boiling up from the depths of his throat without end.
“This…!”
At last he had taken it back. No – at last he had grasped it with these very hands.
The thing he had longed for so desperately. The plum blossoms that he had dreamed of, even in his sleep.
Baek Cheon threw back his head and let out a roar.
“This is my sword!”
Standing soaked in blood, sword hanging low, Yu Iseol silently watched Baek Cheon carve a path in her direction.
“…”
There he was. The Baek Cheon she had known. Her Sahyeong she had thought she might never see again.
“Amitabha.”
Into Yu Iseol’s ears, where silence had reigned as though time itself had stopped, came a calm Buddhist chant.
“Isn’t he truly remarkable?”
“…”
Yu Iseol raised a hand and wiped the blood from her face. Then she closed her eyes for a moment and tilted her head back.
‘Always making me worry.’
Such a useless Sahyeong. Truly.
But…
Grip.
Yu Iseol straightened up, tightened her grip on the sword, and faced the Red Dogs standing before her. Now, the Red Dogs, suddenly surrounded on both sides, began to show signs of unease on their faces.
“Th…”
Their eyes twisted with malice. Rather than wait for the encirclement to close in, they had resolved to break through one side in a single charge. And there was no need to wonder which ‘side’ that would be.
“Be careful, Siju.”
Yu Iseol gave a small nod.
Now that Baek Cheon had finally returned, she would not allow herself to become a corpse after failing to hold on for just a moment longer.
Besides, if they cannot hold out, even the chance Baek Cheon created will be worthless. And if that happens, isn’t it obvious what kind of face Baek Cheon will make?
“Honestly…….”
Yu Iseol let out a short sigh.
“Such a handful.”
Hearing Yu Iseol’s muttered complaint, Hye Yeon behind her let out a quiet laugh.
She spoke that way, but Hye Yeon could clearly see Yu Iseol’s shoulders trembling. For someone like Yu Iseol, who rarely showed much emotion, to reveal herself so openly – how could Hye Yeon not understand what that meant?
‘Siju.’
Clutching his throbbing stomach, Hye Yeon looked at Baek Cheon. Dressed in white, Baek Cheon was unleashing streams of crimson petals.
It was the sword of Baek Cheon he had always known. Yet at the same time, it was unmistakably different from what he remembered.
That man stood there once again.
No matter how many times he was broken, whenever you turned to look, he would always be standing there again. And each time, he would make the flowers bloom with a deeper, more vivid color than before.
Hye Yeon’s lips curved into a gentle smile.
“Truly like a plum blossom, Dojang.”
Perhaps that man was the very person who proved Hwasan’s path.
“…”
Chung Myung, frozen in place, gazed at the plum blossoms that had bloomed after enduring winter.
Red. Just like the color of that day.
Yet soon he understood: even if the color is the same, it can be different.
Like laying fresh ink over one already dried and cracked, the faded could be dyed anew by something else.
Chung Myung’s limp hand slowly closed into a fist.
“What a lousy joke.”
At that moment, a slow voice came from behind Chung Myung’s back.
“…”
Jang Ilso raised a hand to cover his face. Between his spread fingers, his bloodshot eyes twisted and trembled.
He had always prepared for the possibility that Diancang might betray him. No matter how many hostages you take or how cleanly you cut off the chance of betrayal, that is simply how people are.
That was why he didn’t feel anger at their betrayal. What angered Jang Ilso was that all of this had to happen at this precise moment.
He could clearly see it – the sight of a pillar in his meticulously crafted plan collapsing.
That sight stirred in Jang Ilso a fury and a hollow sense of futility he had never felt before.
But it wasn’t something that took him by surprise. He already knew. He had always known that the Heavens were not on his side.
Crunch.
The pressure of his hand gripping his face increased. The sharp pain helped Jang Ilso regain his composure, and his eyes grew cold and steady.
‘Not yet.’
It was deeply unpleasant that things had come to this point because of an absurd variable, but if he looked at it calmly, all that had happened was that the scales had been balanced again. The advantage had not yet left his grasp.
“Quite proud of yourself, aren’t you.”
A voice sharp as a blade slid towards Chung Myung.
“How does it feel? Having Heaven on your side?”
“Heaven?”
Chung Myung slowly turned his head to look at Jang Ilso. The chill in those eyes made Jang Ilso flinch.
“Heaven doesn’t help people.”
“…”
“Heaven turns its back on you the moment you need it most.”
He had already learned that lesson all too well.
All he did was trust in people.
“Hahahaha!”
Jang Ilso burst into laughter.
“Let’s cut the sentimental talk there, shall we?”
“…”
“You know, don’t you? That this is nothing but a stroke of luck.”
“That may very well be true.”
Chung Myung nodded calmly. Jang Ilso’s words were not exactly wrong. Even if the same situation played out countless times, the chance that Baek Cheon would be standing over there right now would scarcely be one in a thousand.
“Can such a trust even be called faith?”
“You’ve got it backwards, idiot.”
“…What?”
A crooked smile twisted Chung Myung’s lips.
“Believing in someone who is trustworthy is only natural. It barely counts as faith.”
“…”
“It is trust precisely because you keep believing even when you know it will be uneasy and hard.”
He was over there.
The young sprout he had discovered in Hwasan.
That sprout, once so small and frail, had in this moment grown into a great tree, supporting his back.
“All I did was watch over him. That trust has simply returned to me now.”
Just as Chung Mun had once done.
Just as everyone at Hwasan, when they all shook their heads at him, still placed unwavering trust in him. Chung Myung simply watched and waited.
“…And you say that was worth staking everything on?”
“It was.”
Chung Myung’s smile deepened.
“More than enough to overflow.”
“…”
What he saw was not merely the man named Baek Cheon.
There it was – the sight all those who willingly became the fertilizer for Hwasan had longed to see, but could never witness with their own eyes. Everything they left behind.
“I was foolish enough to believe. But you were clever enough to discard it.”
“…”
“That difference will be what destroys everything you have.”
Chung Myung gripped his sword.
Both Baek Cheon and Hwasan had done everything they could. Now, all that remained was for Chung Myung to answer their efforts in return.
Wooong.
Chung Myung’s Dark Plum Sword rang out loudly.
“You don’t belong in this era. Yes, both you and I are nothing more than those clinging to things that should have vanished by now. So.”
A sharp light poured from Chung Myung’s eyes.
“It is time to disappear.”
“…”
Jang Ilso slowly wiped his face. At last, his red lips twisted.
“In the end… it all comes down to which of us survives, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“It’s nice that it’s simple, isn’t it?”
The two of them smiled at each other.
There was nothing left between them. Only the question of who would be the first to plunge their blade into the other’s heart.
After a short, sharp breath, the two moved towards each other.
The falling rain. The armies shaking the world. Everything drifted away.
In a world where only the two of them remained, they looked only at each other, slowly closing the gap between them.
________
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