It’s different from before. (1)
The dense darkness that had seemed poised to swallow the world, that deep darkness so thick it evoked even the most primal fear, slowly receded before the harmony of Buddhist light [불광(佛光)] and flower petals.
In truth, this was not a phenomenon of any great significance. It is merely a clash between martial arts, perhaps no more than a dazzling spectacle of the simplest yet deadliest purpose, taking one another’s lives, flickering into view.
Even so, it could not have been mere coincidence that everyone watching thought of the word ‘dawn(daybreak) [여명(黎明)]’ at the same time.
Golden light wreathed in red. Before these profoundly symbolic colors, the dense darkness retreated. What else could possibly come to mind at such a sight.
Perhaps that was why. Why everyone was certain of victory in that moment.
Darkness cannot overcome light. However long the night, however deeply it is shrouded in darkness, the moment the sun rises, it must relinquish everything it holds in its grasp and retreat.
For this is an absolute truth that has never changed, not once, since the world first came into being.
A profound thrill filled Yoon Jong’s widened eyes.
He harbored not the slightest doubt: the dawn they had created would sweep away that darkness. It was, after all, the natural order [자연(自然)] of things.
And then it happened.
‘What is that?’
The demonic energy that had been driven back like darkness crushed beneath the dawn suddenly began to churn violently. It surged wildly – like a demon in its death throes – before twisting and writhing. Then, as though reaching out with a long hand, it burrowed into Hye Yeon’s Buddhist light.
Shock spread across Yoon Jong’s face.
Darkness can never overcome the dawn. Darkness cannot overcome light. That is the law of nature and the proper order of the world.
But Yoon Jong also understood.
To defy that order [것(逆天) – to go against Heaven] was the very essence of demonic arts. Heavenly Executioner’s demon [마(魔)] was devouring even the dawn itself.
Booooooooooom!
Hye Yeon’s Buddhist light, imbued with all his strength, shattered and scattered into fragments. What soon came into their view was a void – a space embodying emptiness itself, devoid of both light and darkness. At the very center of that gaping hole, Heavenly Executioner was roaring.
And into that space, Jo Geol lunged faster than anyone in the world. No, he tried to.
But Heavenly Executioner moved faster than Jo Geol could act on his intent. By the time Jo Geol realized what was happening, a fist wreathed in pitch-black demonic energy was already hurtling towards his head.
“Jo….”
At that instant, Yoon Jong’s sword swept in with all his strength and intercepted Heavenly Executioner’s fist. It was a response no different from usual, one that was all too familiar. The only difference was that their opponent was unlike anything they had ever faced before.
Boooooom!
Jo Geol was sent flying at a tremendous speed.
He could not even scream. Even releasing the scream rising in his throat came absurdly too late. It had happened that terrifyingly fast.
Whooosh.
Jo Geol’s blood splattered across the space where his plum blossom petals had just been fluttering.
“What…..”
Before Yoon Jong could even react, Heavenly Executioner’s hand came at him. He instinctively tried to raise his sword, but immediately stopped. Yoon Jong understood all too well what would happen if he tried to match strength with Heavenly Executioner at such close range.
Grab.
But it was someone else who met Heavenly Executioner’s hand head-on. Hye Yeon, launching himself forward with the momentum of his charge, pressed his palm [장심(掌心) – center/hollow of the palm] against Heavenly Executioner’s hand without a moment’s hesitation.
Locking his other hand with Heavenly Executioner’s as well, Hye Yeon pushed the Muscle/Tendon Transformation Classic [역근경(易筋經)] to its utmost limit. If he unleashed the full might of the Supreme Great Power [무상대능력(無上大能力)], even an opponent who was a Bishop…!
“Ami…….”
Crack!
However, Hye Yeon’s expectations were shattered.
His hands were bent backward. Before he could even finish the Buddhist invocation that had left his lips, he was crushed beneath a tremendous force beyond anything he had ever imagined, and his body began to bend backward like that of a shrimp.
“Uugggh…..”
Hye Yeon’s eyes grew bloodshot, and blood burst from his nose.
For a fleeting instant, truly, if his strength gave out for even a single moment, he would be torn apart at the waist. Such was the brutal force bearing down on him. Yet Heavenly Executioner, who was pushing Hye Yeon this far, did not even seem to be exerting himself all that much.
A gaping hole in his shoulder, and a horrific sword wound visible through the open front of his robes. Even with those injuries, he was crushing Hye Yeon as though trampling an ant.
“So you attained enlightenment.”
Hye Yeon’s hands began to tremble violently.
“Did overcoming a single hurdle fill you with such elation?”
Heavenly Executioner sneered, baring his teeth.
“A mere ignorant monk.”
“Oooooooooh!”
Once again, Hye Yeon unleashed majestic Buddhist light from his entire body. But before he could fully send it forth, Heavenly Executioner’s foot drove into his solar plexus.
Boooom!
With an explosion so tremendous it was impossible to imagine it had come from a human body, Hye Yeon was slammed into the ground. Plowing into the hard earth as though it were soft mud, he was driven back more than ten jang before finally coming to a halt and collapsing.
“Huff.”
Heavenly Executioner let out a faint breath. It seemed even he could not entirely escape the aftereffects of having exerted his full strength.
Yet, to Yoon Jong, who was watching from right in front, that very sight resembled a panting tiger, excited by the presence of its prey.
Having overwhelmed Jo Geol, the fastest in Hwasan, with his speed, and crushed and sent flying Hye Yeon, who possessed the greatest internal energy among them, Heavenly Executioner now turned his gaze towards Yoon Jong.
His heart seemed to sink.
The resolve he had painstakingly built up shattered into pieces. A sense of despair, as though he were plummeting endlessly into a bottomless abyss, engulfed Yoon Jong.
Heavenly Executioner grinned, baring his teeth.
“Those eyes. Then and now… every last one of you Hwasan bastards has had that same look. Is this what the eyes of someone prepared to die look like?”
‘What the hell is he talking about, damn it.’
His legs were trembling so badly he could barely stand, so what on earth was this man seeing in his eyes.
“If you wish……”
Claaaaang!
At that instant, Heavenly Executioner stepped back.
“Sorry, but I’m rather fond of this Sajil of mine.”
“…”
“So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t torment him too much?”
“Agreed.”
Baek Cheon and Yu Iseol, who had driven Heavenly Executioner back with a single sword strike, stepped in front of Yoon Jong as though shielding him. Both their sword tips were aimed at Heavenly Executioner.
“Heh…”
Heavenly Executioner laughed as though he were sobbing.
Booooom!
And then Baek Cheon’s body was abruptly hurled backward.
‘What?’
He had not even seen the slightest sign of an attack.
Pain engulfed him as though his entire body were being crushed. Yet even then his body reacted. Reflexively, he slashed his sword with all his strength. As Heavenly Executioner pursued him through the air and reached for his throat, Baek Cheon’s sword met his arm.
‘Blocked…’
Kagagagagak!
Baek Cheon’s sword bit into Heavenly Executioner’s forearm. It was so hard he could barely believe it was human flesh. But Baek Cheon’s sword finally cut through that flesh and lodged in Heavenly Executioner’s bone.
But the only thing this brought Baek Cheon was a sense of bottomless despair.
Boooom!
Heavenly Executioner’s left fist slammed into Baek Cheon’s chest. Had he not abandoned everything else and concentrated all his internal energy in his chest, that single blow would have burst his upper body apart.
Booom!
Heavenly Executioner’s fist struck Baek Cheon again.
“Ooooooooooh!”
Heavenly Executioner let out a roar steeped in madness and drove his fist upward. At the same time, Yu Iseol darted in like a flash of lightning and slashed at the nape of his neck with all her strength.
But he swung his fist without even looking back.
Booooom!
A moment later, Baek Cheon’s body shot like a cannonball through the ground and burrowed deep into the earth. At the same time, from the back of Heavenly Executioner’s neck, slashed by Yu Iseol’s sword, red blood spouted like a fountain.
Grab.
Spinning his body, Heavenly Executioner reached out and seized the wrist of Yu Iseol’s sword-hand. Judging that it was too late to evade him, Yu Iseol drove her sword forward and slashed across Heavenly Executioner’s face.
Slash!
A long sword wound, like a worm crawling across his skin, was carved into Heavenly Executioner’s face. But in exchange, her wrist was caught firmly in his grasp.
Whooosh.
Her expression still rigid, Yu Iseol kicked Heavenly Executioner in the chest. But even faster than that, his fist hurtled towards her temple.
Boooom!
Blood spurted from the ear opposite the side where she had been struck.
Kagagagak!
Even then, Yu Iseol’s sword scraped across Heavenly Executioner’s throat. Even as she was struck by his fist, capable of shattering mountains and severing rivers in a single blow, Yu Iseol desperately twisted her sword.
But Heavenly Executioner, too, refused to let up his assault even as Yu Iseol’s sword cut into him.
Booom!
His fist smashed into Yu Iseol’s head once more. Even as the sword slashed his face and left it drenched in blood, Heavenly Executioner did not hesitate for a single moment.
Boooom!
Yu Iseol’s neck bent at an unnatural angle. Through her disheveled hair, her eyes gleamed eerily.
“Haaaah!”
With a battle cry, Yu Iseol moved her sword and cut deeper into Heavenly Executioner’s neck. But his fist was twice as fast as the sword she wielded with all her might.
Boooom!
“Saaaagoooooo!”
Yu Iseol finally lost consciousness and collapsed limply. But even then, Heavenly Executioner did not release her wrist.
“You sooon of a biiiitccchhhh!”
Tang Soso charged at Heavenly Executioner with a furious scream. Countless hidden weapons poured from her sleeves.
But neither the cow hair needles [우모침(牛毛針)] – light as feathers – nor the Soul Severing Sand [단혼사(斷魂沙)] – fine as dust – were of any use. The hidden weapons she hurled with all her strength were all shattered by a single wave of Heavenly Executioner’s hand, as though they were nothing more than a nuisance.
Tang Soso could not charge any farther.
It was not out of fear. No matter how desperately she screamed and charged at him, stopping that man was impossible. And her failure would mean Yu Iseol’s death.
But remaining where she stood would not save Yu Iseol either.
Unable to choose either course, Tang Soso reflexively drew a flying dagger from her sleeve and threw it at Heavenly Executioner.
But with her flying dagger arts, having never inherited the Tang Clan’s secret techniques, she could not even draw Heavenly Executioner’s attention, much less threaten him. It was nothing more and nothing less than the futile struggle of someone unable to make a choice. Even Tang Soso herself knew that as she threw that dagger.
Yet, at that very instant, an unexpected crack appeared in the situation.
Heavenly Executioner’s figure suddenly vanished from the spot as though he had dropped straight down.
Thud.
Left behind, Yu Iseol crumpled where she stood, and the feeble flying dagger passed futilely over her.
“…”
Unable to comprehend what had happened before her eyes, Tang Soso stood frozen. For that moment alone, neither her desperate need to save Yu Iseol nor her fear of Heavenly Executioner mattered.
She turned her head in a daze.
There, where her gaze landed, stood Heavenly Executioner. He was more than ten jang away from where he had originally been.
Tang Soso realized it. There had been no ulterior motive behind his retreat.
The look of utter disarray on his face – an expression she had never once seen since the moment they first met – bore witness to this.
Wearing an expression Tang Soso could not fathom, Heavenly Executioner gritted his teeth.
“A flying dagger…”
Heavenly Executioner laughed quietly, his shoulders trembling.
“….It brings back memories I would rather forget. Those wretches.”
He unconsciously clutched the right side of his chest.
The past. The spot where ‘his’ flying dagger had once buried itself was throbbing with fierce pain.
Special Spinoff Chapter 76 >>>
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Omg, Tang Bo… It’s Tang Bo… ㅠㅠ
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