It is damn nice to see you. (5)
Heavenly Executioner, who had been gazing blankly at the fallen Chung Myung, looked down at his own hand. After staring at that hand in silence for some time, he suddenly shifted his gaze to the high sky.
“I do not seek understanding.”
It was closer to a monologue than words addressed to Chung Myung.
“At some point, I came to realize that a power capable of tearing the Central Plains apart in a single stroke had built up within this body.”
The emotion contained in his voice was difficult to define precisely.
“But I could do nothing. The binding He had placed upon me prevented me from reaching this place. And so I could only watch. For a suffocatingly long time.”
Heavenly Executioner looked at Chung Myung again.
“You cannot even dare to imagine what that gut-wrenching agony [단장(斷腸)] was like. So I do not seek your understanding. Simply lament. Lament that my feet can now tread upon this land.”
At that moment, Chung Myung staggered to his feet.
His entire upper body was stained red with the blood flowing from the wound that had pierced him through, but his hand still clutched his sword as firmly as it had from the very beginning.
His eyes were no different. Despite having suffered such a grievous wound, Chung Myung’s gaze shone fiercely, as though it would bore straight through Heavenly Executioner, without a single thing about it having changed.
“……What bullshit.”
Watching this scene, Heavenly Executioner suddenly felt a strange emotion. Perhaps it ought to be called admiration.
Just as he was wondering whether he should offer words acknowledging his opponent, Chung Myung spoke again without so much as changing his expression.
“Ah, damn it. This really hurts like hell.”
“..…Heh.”
A chuckle escaped Heavenly Executioner’s lips. This might have been the first ‘real laugh’ he had since setting foot in the Central Plains… No, perhaps in a hundred years. A genuine laugh, not a sneer.
“I’m in so much pain I could die, and you’re spouting all that crap. You’re old as hell, yet you act like a goddamn brat.”
“As I said…….”
“Shut up, you stupid bastard. Anyone listening would think the people of the Central Plains had invaded your territory. Does it make any sense for the bastard who invaded first, got the shit beaten out of him, and was driven out to hold a grudge? Even if the Demonic Cult bastards aren’t human and live by thinking whatever they please, that’s going too far.”
“…”
Heavenly Executioner could not hide his bewilderment at the sudden torrent of venomous curses.
Of course, he had heard curses filled with hatred until he was sick of them. There was nothing particularly unusual about them. But this man….
“…You certainly are a different person. He was not as frivolous as you.”
Chung Myung’s brow twitched.
This bastard? Did this bastard even understand just how grave an insult that was? It felt as though his entire second life had just been invalidated.
“Cough.”
Chung Myung roughly wiped away the blood running from the corner of his mouth.
“Don’t act like you’ve won just because I got a scratch. What’s so impressive about a wound like this?”
Heavenly Executioner’s eyes sank darkly once more. Meeting that gaze head-on, Chung Myung felt an uncontrollable chill run through him.
‘If I were my former self, could I have taken him on?’
Who knows. He wasn’t sure.
Maehwa Geomjon of the past had unquestionably been strong enough to contend with Heavenly Executioner. They had not been able to determine a victor, but if the two of them had been able to fight to the very end, Chung Myung believed the one left standing would have been Geomjon.
But this bastard was not the Heavenly Executioner of the past. That meant he was a powerhouse whom Chung Myung would have no way of opposing, even if he fully set foot in the realm his former self had reached.
“…What a shitty feeling.”
“Do not worry. For all of you, death will be the fairest thing of all.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, you stupid bastard.”
Chung Myung let out a derisive snort.
“If this keeps up, we’ll end up looking like complete idiots for ever mocking that bastard Jang Ilso. Not that you’d understand.”
Heavenly Executioner would not be the only one who had grown stronger.
The cultists, too, were stronger than they had been in the past. And… if there were still other surviving Bishops, they too would have grown even stronger, just like Heavenly Executioner. Of course, there could not be several among the Bishops who were on Heavenly Executioner’s level, given how peerless he had been even among them.
In any case, when he took all of that into consideration, there was only one conclusion.
The enemy was overwhelmingly powerful. The enemy was far too powerful. Powerful enough that every plan he had made based on the Demonic Cult of his previous life would have to be burned to ashes.
‘Had that bastard Jang Ilso thought this far ahead? Is that why…?’
No, there was no point dwelling on it. Whatever reasons he might have had, that did not mean Chung Myung could approve of him.
‘If he’d thought this far ahead, he should have struggled even harder.’
“Ha……”
Chung Myung slightly relaxed his grip on the sword. He released the excessive tension from his entire body and properly measured the enemy before him.
The enemy before him was not the man he had known. He was a monster against whom even throwing away his life would leave him with only a slim chance of victory.
But that was not the problem.
“…The problem is that this kind of situation is horribly familiar to me. Damn it.”
Hwasan had not taught him.
Hwasan had been his refuge, and indeed, everything to him, but… paradoxically, he had not learned martial arts from Hwasan. Even if he had entered Wudang or Shaolin instead of Hwasan, there probably would not have been much difference in how strong he became.
So, in the end… it was the Demonic Cult that had forged Maehwa Geomjon.
How to fight, how to survive, how to push himself to his limits – everything that had made Maehwa Geomjon extraordinary, he had learned from the Demonic Cult. That was what it meant to fight against them.
Looking at it that way, nothing had changed this time either.
“Hey.”
“…What is it?”
“It’s a funny thing to say, but I think I have to start taking my first steps from now on?”
A puzzled look appeared in the Heavenly Executioner’s eyes.
“First steps?”
“You don’t exactly look dependable as a nanny, but I’ve got no other choice right now, so I’ll be in your care.”
Chung Myung placed his outstretched left hand against the flat of his sword and pointed it at Heavenly Executioner.
“But please, make it quick. I don’t have time.”
…Naturally, Heavenly Executioner did not understand what Chung Myung meant. No one else would have, either.
But there was one thing Heavenly Executioner understood perfectly.
He had experienced Heavenly Executioner’s martial arts, his realm of mastery, firsthand and survived. And beyond that, he still had not abandoned the hope that he could drive his sword into Heavenly Executioner’s throat.
‘Remarkable.’
He was filled with admiration for that unyielding spirit. If it were possible, he would have liked to persuade this man to convert to the faith.
Of course, that was impossible. Someone with eyes like his could never be shaken. Even if his body were ground into dust, he would fight to the bitter end.
Yes… Just like that ‘Maehwa Geomjon’ of the past.
In that case, there was no need to waste time, as the man himself had said.
“Be ground to dust and regret that you never became one of the faithful.”
“What are you talking about? I’d rather drown myself in a manure pit than live as the Heavenly Demon’s bootlicker.”
“You..”
Heavenly Executioner’s eyes turned blood-red.
The next instant, his body abruptly appeared before Chung Myung. It was a terrifying speed, enough to make even Chung Myung, who had not let down his guard, momentarily stop breathing.
Kwaaaang!
Chung Myung was sent flying once again at an incredible speed. This was what had happened even though he had drawn upon his energy with all his might to block the attack. The tremendous force contained in every one of Heavenly Executioner’s strikes was powerful enough to pierce through the sword wrapped in sword energy and break Chung Myung’s bones.
Splat.
Blood that had surged back up his throat burst from his mouth.
‘What the…….’
But it was not over yet. Heavenly Executioner caught up with Chung Myung, who had been sent flying, at an even greater speed, and kicked him while his body had not yet even touched the ground.
Boooom!
He deflected it.
He unleashed the Soft Sword [유검(柔劍)], the very foundation of Wudang. There was simply no other way to withstand that kind of power.
The Soft Sword was executed at a level that would have invoked admiration even in Heo Do Jinin himself. Yet even this was not enough to completely divert Heavenly Executioner’s strike. The mere tenth of its force that he failed to redirect was enough to make Chung Myung’s wrist scream as it twisted.
‘At least I blocked it…’
At that moment, Heavenly Executioner thrust out his hand like a starving viper. Chung Myung instinctively raised his sword to block it.
But instead of aiming for Chung Myung’s neck, that hand seized the blade of the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword.
Beyond the diagonally raised blade, Chung Myung could see the corners of Heavenly Executioner’s lips curl into a sinister smile.
Heavenly Executioner simply pulled on the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword he had seized. That sheer strength and speed were beyond explanation. Unable to bring himself to release the sword, Chung Myung was dragged along with it before being flung into the air.
“Now then…”
Heavenly Executioner then hurled Chung Myung straight into the ground.
Boooom!
Chung Myung’s body crashed deep through the surface of the hard earth. A large, circular depression formed around his body, and the surrounding ground shook as though struck by an earthquake.
“Ugh……”
Dark, clotted blood spurted from Chung Myung’s mouth.
For an instant, he lost consciousness. The world went black, and even the resolve he had honed to a razor’s edge snapped strand by strand and scattered away. Even the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword, which he had refused to let go of until the bitter end, slipped from Chung Myung’s hand and lodged diagonally in the ground beside his head.
Heavenly Executioner, still floating in the air, glanced at Chung Myung’s wretched state and let out a sneer.
“Is that all?”
Then, a black vortex began to form at his fingertips. Initially small, the vortex became a terrifying black whirlpool the moment he flicked his hand, surging towards Chung Myung.
It was a palm force of horrifying power, carrying the intent to leave not even a single strand of Chung Myung’s hair behind in this world.
The shockwave generated by the vortex shook the world, and the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword embedded in the ground fell flat. The green tassel hanging from its tip fell across Chung Myung’s face.
Boooooooooooooooooom!
The vortex pierced the earth, creating a massive vertical cavern in the ground.
Tap.
At last, Heavenly Executioner descended to the ground and narrowed his eyes as he looked around.
“…Huff.”
More than ten jang from where he stood. There, Chung Myung was leaning against the sword planted vertically in the ground, breathing heavily.
“You managed to dodge it.”
Chung Myung raised his head.
Though every blood vessel in one of his eyes had burst, leaving him hideous to behold, Chung Myung still grinned as he had before, even in that state.
“There was this guy who kicked me in the ass whenever I looked pathetic.”
“…Hmm?”
Chung Myung’s gaze briefly fell on the tassel attached to the hilt of his sword. The deep green tassel symbolizing the Tang Clan swayed in the wind.
After smiling bitterly, Chung Myung spoke in a quiet voice.
“Quit nagging me. I think I’m starting to get it now… anyway.”
Booooooom!
Without a word, Heavenly Executioner flew at Chung Myung once more.
His speed was still so astonishing that Chung Myung could not even hope to follow him with his eyes. Heavenly Executioner’s hand came slashing down at Chung Myung with all his might.
Boooooom!
The ground struck by the demonic energy crumbled like fine clay and scattered in every direction. Heavenly Executioner withdrew the hand he had thrust downward and slowly turned around.
An inscrutable expression had appeared on his face. An expression containing something that had never once been seen from him until now.
“…What did you do?”
Spurt.
Then, Heavenly Executioner’s shoulder split open, and a stream of red blood gushed out.
A wound left by a sword.
After silently glancing at the wound carved into his own flesh, Heavenly Executioner bared his teeth at Chung Myung, who stood some distance away with his back turned.
“You little…”
“I told you.”
Chung Myung slowly turned around, as though it took all his strength, and stared at Heavenly Executioner with eyes as deep as a lake.
“I think I’m starting to get it now.”
Crimson sword energy shimmered at the tip of Chung Myung’s sword.
Red and green. The tip of the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword, shimmering with both colors, was pointed at Heavenly Executioner’s neck.
“Show me more, so I can become stronger.”
The words were completely at odds with the overwhelming killing intent radiating from Chung Myung.
Special Spinoff Chapter 59 >>>
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DOUBLE COLORED SWORD ENERGY? The hell is this? Let’s go!
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