I’m here now. (5)
“Hah!”
Drops of blood scattered from the tip of the Divine Sword [신검(神劍)].
A sword sharper than any other and lighter than any other, truly worthy of the name ‘Divine Sword’. Yet the hand gripping it trembled faintly, as though even its negligible weight had become too much to bear.
“Fall into the depths of the abyss, you vile unbeliever!”
The sword slashed fiercely through the air, carving a long gash across the chest of the charging demonic cultist. With even his ribcage split open, the cultist collapsed, coughing up mouthful after mouthful of dark red blood.
Even then, the hand he desperately stretched out until the very end managed to tear a long gash in Chung Mun’s trouser leg.
“….Hah.”
Chung Mun gritted his teeth.
His blood-soaked robes felt twice as heavy as usual. His hands, slick with blood, the overpowering stench of blood that threatened to numb his nose – there was not a single thing about this that was not absolutely unbearable.
But instead of dwelling on his suffering, Chung Mun swung his sword. If he hesitated for even a moment, he would succumb to this madness. Keeping his wits about him was the only way to survive this hell…
‘No!’
Chung Mun abruptly cut off that thought, his eyes narrowing with the newfound resolve. Survival must not be his goal.
‘Do not forget, I am the Sect Leader of the Great Hwasan Sect. And now I stand in a position where I must do more than even that role demands.’
“Stay strong, everyone!”
Chung Mun drew up his internal energy and shouted in a thunderous voice.
“Just a little longer! Hold out a little longer, and the elite forces of Gupailbang will come to our aid! Until then, hold your ground with everything you have!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
Their resounding response was filled with unwavering trust.
Chung Mun instinctively turned his gaze towards them. How extraordinary it was that they followed him without wavering, even surrounded on all sides by the vicious hordes of the Demonic Cult.
He had to repay their trust. He had to bring results. So that their sacrifices would not be in vain.
Yet, despite his resolve, the situation was undeniably dire.
“Sect Leader.”
Chung Jin, who had practically flown to his side, lowered his voice and spoke in a whisper, his expression grave.
“The reinforcements are late. According to our agreement, they should have arrived by now.”
“I know.”
“Could it be….“
“That is impossible.”
Chung Mun dismissed the suggestion firmly, as though there was no need to hear another word.
“We are not the only ones who must defeat the Demonic Cult. They will not want to lose their disciples either, nor will they want to shed blood in vain. If that is so, why would they let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away?”
“I know! Why else would I have agreed to your plan, Sect Leader. But… But, this is…”
“Do not doubt them!”
Chung Mun swung his sword with a resolute shout, then continued.
“Any number of things could have happened. They may have encountered the enemy on their way here, or our paths may have crossed without us meeting! To waver now would only drive us into a corner!”
Chung Jin fell silent for a moment. Yet his anxiety remained plain to see.
Of course, Chung Mun was not wrong. This was a chance to lure in the Demonic Cult’s forces and wipe them out in one fell swoop. If Hwasan could serve as bait to draw them in, then annihilate them with support from Gupailbang and the Five Great Families, they would be able to turn the tide of a war that had been growing steadily worse.
Gupailbang and the Five Great Families had no reason to oppose this plan. They, too, would not want to lose this war. If there was a way to reduce their losses and improve their chances of victory, it was only natural that anyone would take part.
But…
‘Is it truly that certain?’
Chung Jin bit down hard on his lip.
It was only after those wretched bastards had invaded that he had come to realize something. What seemed perfectly natural and obvious to one person might not seem natural or obvious at all to another.
Until now. Yes, until now, that had never quite brought disaster upon them. But…. What if it happened now? Who could possibly bear the consequences then.
“We must retreat, Sect Leader!”
“What are you talking about?!“
“Sahyeong!”
Chung Jin seized Chung Mun firmly by the shoulder and pulled him close.
“…..They are not coming.”
“Chung Mun-ah!”
“Do you not see? As you said, Sahyeong, this may be our only chance to turn the tide of the war against the Demonic Cult. But for those Gupailbang bastards, it is also another kind of opportunity, is it not?”
“What do you mean? What opportunity…”
“An opportunity to wipe Hwasan from the face of the earth.”
Chung Mun stared blankly at Chung Jin as though he had been struck over the head.
“What are you saying?”
Chung Jin squeezed his eyes shut.
“What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be?”
Chung Mun was a man without flaw. Yet that very perfection kept him from understanding the darkness in human hearts. He understood it in his head, but could not accept it in his heart.
And so, at the most crucial moments, he ended up placing his trust in others. Just like this.
“Please listen to me. We must escape, Sect Leader!”
“Chung Jin!”
“We can talk about this whenever we want! But right now, we have to escape! Don’t you understand?”
Chung Mun clenched his fist.
“Escape…….”
How could they possibly do that?
For a moment, his gaze filled with utter shock grew clouded. He still could not understand why Chung Jin was saying such things.
But he knew that if Chung Jin was insisting on something so vehemently, he could not be wrong.
But even if he believed Chung Jin, escaping immediately would be difficult. Enemies surrounded them on all sides. Demonic cultists were everywhere. Of course they were. Chung Mun himself had made it so.
He had drawn in as many enemies as they could possibly handle. No, more than they could handle. It was Chung Mun himself who had set this entire operation into motion.
How, then, were they supposed to escape from a situation like this?
“Aaaaargh!”
A scream rang out. It was not the hollow, guttural cry of those consumed by the madness of their faith. It was a familiar voice, one that sounded unbearably sorrowful and desperate to Chung Mun.
“Myung Hae [명해(明諧)]!”
As he watched his disciple collapse, spraying blood, fury blazed in Chung Mun’s eyes.
It was not just Myung Hae. The fragile balance they had been desperately struggling to maintain was beginning to show cracks. Screams rang out and blood sprayed from every direction. To Chung Mun, the sight resembled a porcelain vessel filled to the brim with water, with cracks spreading visibly across its surface.
“Sect Leader!”
Just then, a shout bordering on a scream pierced his ears, and Chung Mun swung his sword on instinct.
Slash!
His sword sliced halfway through the neck of a charging demonic cultist. With his carotid artery severed, the cultist staggered and glared at Chung Mun. His eyes brimmed with venomous hatred.
“The Heavenly Demon’s return… All demons…”
The blood gushing from demonic cultist’s neck stained Chung Mun’s robes. Unable to hold himself upright any longer, the cultist pitched forward and collapsed.
‘No.‘
Whether Chung Jin was right or wrong, they clearly could not hold out any longer. If they delayed further, Hwasan would suffer irreparable losses even if reinforcements did arrive.
“Everyone, listen! We must somehow clear a path… Argh!”
Just then, a searing pain jolted Chung Mun to his senses. He looked down to see the tip of a slender narrow-bladed sword [협봉검(狹鋒劍)] protruding from the front of his shin. The cultist who had just fallen had persisted to the very end, driving his sword through Chung Mun’s leg before drawing his last breath.
Chung Mun’s body lurched sharply forward.
Seizing the opening, demonic cultists pounced on him at once like starving wolves.
“Sahyeong! Watch out!”
“Sect Leadeeeeer!”
Chung Mun gritted his teeth and was about to swing his sword at them when a crimson shadow appeared out of nowhere and darted in front of him.
Shiiiiing!
An eerie sound erupted immediately afterwards.
It was as though the sound of a sword shooting through the air had been layered upon itself dozens of times. Countless people in the world wielded swords as their weapons, but as far as Chung Mun knew, there was only one person in the entire world capable of producing such a sound with a blade.
Crunch! Crack! Crunch!
Dozens of sword shadows blossomed in the air, piercing demonic cultists charging at Chung Mun in a single instant.
One sword shadow, one streak of blood. Every sword strike drove into demonic cultist’s vital point without the slightest deviation.
“Grrrk…….”
Accompanied by the chilling gurgle of a man whose throat had been pierced, more than a dozen demonic cultists crumpled to the ground simultaneously.
It was an uncanny display of swordsmanship.
The strength and precision of that sword alone could not explain why it inspired fear even among those of the same Just Sects as well as the Demonic Cult.
A devil’s [마귀] sword, utterly devoid of mercy, devoted solely to killing its opponents as efficiently as possible. There was something about his swordsmanship that made one’s hair stand on end merely watching it.
With swordsmanship like that, whoever he might be, how could anyone call him anything but an Asura [수라(修羅)].
Yet the disciples of Hwasan greeted this Asura with cries of delight.
“S-Sahyeong!”
“Sasuk, you are here!”
A figure drenched in blood from head to toe.
Without so much as turning his head towards them, Chung Myung merely glanced back at Chung Mun. Then he muttered in a low voice.
“Your orders.”
“We must open a path, Sahyeong! Right now!”
“Shut your trap.”
Chung Myung silenced Chung Jin with a glare blazing with killing intent, then turned his gaze to Chung Mun.
“Sect Leader.”
“Open a path, Chung Myung-ah.”
“…”
“I ask this of you.”
Without a word of objection or protest, Chung Myung swept his sword around. The blood clinging to the blade scattered, staining the fresh green grass crimson.
“Chung Jin.”
“Yes, Sahyeong!”
“I will open a path. Take command.”
“Yes!”
“Here I go.”
Chung Myung charged forward, trampling over the bodies of demonic cultists that had yet to grow cold.
At the sight of him, demonic cultists let out furious howls. But Chung Mun could clearly sense it. The fear that stood out unmistakably beneath their exaggerated fury.
Even the monsters of the Demonic Cult, who struck terror into the hearts of everyone under heaven, were screaming out of fear of this one man.
“Dieeeeee!”
A massive blade, swung by a demonic cultist with a frenzied scream, came crashing down towards Chung Myung’s head. But Chung Myung swung his sword like a flash of lightning without so much as looking his way.
Slash!
In a single stroke, he severed the arm of the man wielding that blade, then Chung Myung’s sword changed its course in midair and pierced straight through demonic cultist’s throat.
“Grrh…….”
Crunch!
Chung Myung’s merciless sword did not even allow the dying man a final cry. The blade twisted sideways and swept upward, forcibly tearing the head from the half-severed neck.
At that instant, Chung Myung seized the still-warm corpse by the shoulder with his left hand and charged straight ahead. Though its last breath had left it, the body had yet to stop moving, and blood gushed unnaturally from the severed stump. The blood spraying through the air formed a dark crimson curtain before Chung Myung.
“What…”
Even demonic cultists, feared by everyone throughout the world, seemed so horrified by the sight that they froze for an instant. But they soon learned. What a grave mistake it was to stop moving before Hwasan’s Sword Demon [화산의 검귀], no matter the moment or the circumstances.
Whooooosh!
Sword energy redder than the veil of blood itself pierced through it.
To the cultists watching from the other side, it must have felt as though the blood itself had come alive, lunging forward to strike them down.
Thud! Thud!
Three cultists who failed to react in time had their throats pierced in an instant. But the force barring Chung Myung’s path was the strongest in history. Most of the cultists somehow managed to block his sword as it shot towards their vital points.
But this alone was enough.
Whooosh!
Chung Myung shot forward through the rising wall of blood. A white line appeared across his face, his entire body drenched in blood. It was the gleam of his snow-white teeth bared in a smile.
Then, Chung Myung leaped into the very midst of demonic cultists and brought his sword crashing down with the ferocity of a beast.
Special Spinoff Chapter 86 >>>
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It breaks my heart, that Chung Mun didn’t frame it as an order, but as a personal request. Instead of ‘clear the path’ he chose to say ‘부탁한다’ – i ask this of you/this is my request.
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