So that’s why. (2)
“You wretched, inhuman scum!”
The elders of Jongnam Sect blazed with fury.
The Demonic Cult. They had heard the name often enough, but this was their first time facing its followers in person.
At Jongli Gok’s coercion… No, rather than coercion, his orders had bordered on outright threats. Yet even as they made their way here under those orders, the truth was that they hadn’t felt much of a sense of danger. These were neither the infamous Heavenly Demon nor the Bishops, merely foot soldiers. How formidable could they possibly be? So they had thought.
But the cultists they actually faced were enough to strip the elders of every last shred of their composure.
‘Such creatures must not be allowed to run rampant in this world.’
Only after seeing them with their own eyes did they understand. These Demonic Cult bastards were fundamentally different from the Sapa scum they had fought until now.
Their grips on their swords tightened instinctively.
The world lumped them together under the name ‘Jongnam’, but how could that single name encompass all those gathered here?
To be chosen as a disciple of a prestigious sect renowned throughout the world, then devote oneself tirelessly to cultivation for decades – that was what it took to attain the position of an ‘Elder.’ Describing the martial prowess of such men would only be a waste of breath.
“Kiaaaaaaaaah!”
“Shut your mouths! You fiends!”
One of Jongnam’s elders unleashed a terrifying surge of sword energy. With it, he cleaved a charging cultist in two.
Yet instead of collapsing, the cultist, whose body had unmistakably been split apart, moved his severed body and drove his nails into the elder’s side. The movement betrayed no concern for the pain to come, or even death.
“Aaargh!”
“Sahyeong!”
“Are you all right?”
“You…”
The elder shuddered, a gaping hole torn in his side. Had the wound been even slightly deeper, his internal organs would have been damaged.
‘Are they even human?’
How could a person continue attacking after being cut in half? He could not even begin to imagine the horrors if these bastards overran the world.
‘There probably wouldn’t be a single blade of grass left.’
A chill ran down his spine.
Of course, they had heard about it countless times. How horrific the Demonic Cult of the past had been. How agonizing it had been to fight against them.
But words were merely words, and no matter how often they heard them or tried to imagine it, it had never felt real. Now, however, the gap between what they had known and the reality before them was being bridged in an instant.
“Sahyeong!”
“Stop making such a fuss and kill every last bastard in front of you. We must not let a single one escape!”
“Yes!”
The gazes of Jongnam’s elders grew solemn.
In all fairness, it would be impossible to claim that the lives they had led thus far had been devoted solely to the pursuit of chivalry and righteousness. Jongnam was a sect that pursued its own interests over such ideals, and its members had faithfully followed the course laid out for them.
Even so, they were swordsmen of a prestigious Just Sect. With evil before their eyes, they could not help but draw upon the pride they had always held in their hearts.
“Strike them down!”
“Yes!”
The elders’ swords filled with powerful sword energy in unison.
The sword energy unleashed simultaneously by dozens of elders swept over the cultists like a raging tidal wave.
“Kraaaaaaaaagh!”
Even demonic cultists, who had somehow managed to resist Hwasan’s sword energy, could no longer maintain their former ferocity against Jongnam’s sword, which cleaved their bodies in half instantly.
As the disciples of Hwasan watched Jongnam’s elders grit their teeth and slaughter demonic cultists, they involuntarily shuddered.
“They’re so damn strong.”
“I’m getting confused about which side is Namgung Clan…”
“Don’t be stupid. The side with more people is Namgung Clan. Can’t you tell from their sword energy?”
“….Young Lord Namgung would weep tears of blood if he heard that.”
Namgung Clan’s specialty lay in crushing their opponents with overwhelming sword energy. In that case, shouldn’t those old men, who were unleashing torrents of powerful sword energy one after another, be considered more like Namgung Clan?
Namgung swordsmen fighting alongside those old men seemed to share the onlookers’ sentiments, looking noticeably more subdued than when they had first arrived.
“…Just what kind of sorcery did Sect Leader Jongli use to get all those elders to come here together?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
What sort of people were elders?
On the surface, the term refered to the Sect Leader’s peers – his fellow disciples of the same generation. Men who had devoted many years to a sect and finally gained a little authority and prestige. Furthermore, they are those who now spend their days preparing for their inevitable passing, focusing on the cultivation of the next generation.
But strip away the appearances, and their true nature could be summed up in a single phrase.
‘Old-timers even the Sect Leader couldn’t push around.’
That was simply human nature. Back in their fresh-faced days as third-generation disciples, the words of their Sahyeong – the future Sect Leader – might have felt like gospel, an absolute and sacred law. But after eating the same food, sleeping under the same roof, and enduring the same hardships for same forty years, anything the Sect Leader said became nothing more and nothing less than tiresome nagging.
If one looked at the sects known as prestigious, they were all overflowing with second- and third-generation disciples, yet first-generation disciples were strangely difficult to find. And there seemed to be only a handful of elders. This was not because their numbers had actually dwindled, but because those who had spent long enough living off the sect would find themselves a comfortable place to rest and hole up somewhere out of sight.
Yet Jongli Gok had rounded up every last one of those elders and sent them all the way to distant Hebei. They could not begin to imagine how he had managed such a thing. Perhaps it made sense for Wudang’s elders to come, since Wudang itself had been attacked…
“Could it be that Sect Leader Jongli is actually far more formidable than we imagined?”
“……I have to agree.”
The disciples of Hwasan were not the only ones spurred on by Jongnam’s elders’ exploits.
“Damn it! Don’t just let Jongnam have all the fun!”
Hong Daekwang, having completely lost the initiative, let out an urgent cry. They had run all this way until their legs nearly gave out, only to risk being asked what they had even come for.
But unlike Hong Daekwang, who was growing impatient, the Beggars Sect’s members seemed completely unenthusiastic.
“At least feed us before putting us to work.”
“They’re Jongnam and we’re the Beggars Sect, what do you expect us to do?”
“We’d like to do well too. But if I had that kind of talent, would I have been crazy enough to join the Beggars Sect?”
“Quit grumbling and get on with the fighting!”
“Oh, for crying out loud. Ptooey.”
Though they grumbled, the Beggars Sect members swung their Dog-Beating Staffs with all their might.
The ominous demonic energy pouring from the cultists was already setting their nerves on edge. As beggars, they could not help being sensitive to the hostility of others. And what these cultists exuded was so vicious that ‘hostility’ hardly began to describe it.
Moreover, the beggars here were in a different position from Jongnam’s swordsmen. Hong Daekwang had already told them why this battle mattered until they were sick of hearing it.
The main force of the Demonic Cult had yet to arrive. If they struggled against these enemies, wouldn’t any attempt to resist the approaching main force be utterly futile?
“Beat them to death like dogs!”
The Dog-Beating Staffs in the beggars’ hands swung true to their name.
But the one who was truly pressed for time chose a more decisive approach than the half-hearted efforts of the Beggars Sect’s members.
Wooooooooooong!
“Wh-What’s that?”
The beggars, who had been beating the cultists with all their might, spun around in alarm at the sudden, overwhelming noise. Behind them, a dazzling light was pouring forth, accompanied by a noise akin to thousands of swarming bees in flight.
Like a sun risen above the earth. It was an enormous mass of sword energy [검강*], condensed to a size that defied all reason.
“Wh-What in the w-world…”
One thing was certain.
For all the countless sects under heaven, only two could pour that much internal energy into a single attack, and possessed martial arts that allowed one person to wield such immense power.
Shaolin, and Namgung Clan.
Namgung Dowi, the head of Namgung Clan, was engraving the true meaning of power into the eyes of everyone present.
“Ooooooooh!”
Namgung Dowi, who had unleashed an enormous mass of sword energy from the tip of the sword raised high in both hands, brought his blade down in a single swift stroke. The immense sword energy plunged into the midst of the cultists and erupted in a tremendous explosion.
Booooooom!
An enormous surge of energy descended from above. Faced with the overwhelming sight, as though a meteor were falling from the sky, even those relentless demonic cultists momentarily stopped fighting.
In an instant, the cultists caught in the blast were torn to pieces, their remains scattered in every direction.
“Ha….”
“Incredible.”
Even Jongnam’s elders, who had been driving the cultists back with such vigor, were momentarily struck speechless by the staggering sight.
“Namgung Hwang in his prime. No, perhaps even beyond that?”
“Surely he hasn’t surpassed the former patriarch already. But…”
What lay behind those unfinished words was obvious.
Jongnam’s elders instinctively turned towards Namgung Clan. Namgung Dowi, whose entire body was already drenched in sweat from the sheer amount of power he had poured into that single strike, was breathing heavily. Yet even as he struggled to catch his breath, his gaze remained fierce.
No one dared to find fault with his exhausted state. The strike he had just displayed was far too powerful for that.
“…Indeed, young as he may be, a Namgung is still a Namgung.”
“Hmmm.”
Of course, Jongnam’s Jin Geumryong would be no less capable than him. But in terms of the sheer power of a single sword strike, that young swordsman had clearly reached a level few under heaven could confidently claim to match.
Jin Geumryong, Namgung Dowi, and those young swordsmen of Hwasan as well.
All of them were displaying skills the elders would never have dared dream of in their youth. If these young men grew older and perfected their martial arts, there was no telling how powerful they might become.
“So, it is the era that shapes the individual, then.”
One of the elders muttered.
And Namgung Dowi seemed to have no intention of settling for such praise from Jongnam’s elders.
“Do not fall back, Namgung Clan!”
In a single motion, Namgung Dowi raised his lowered sword and pointed its tip straight ahead.
“Prove that Namgung’s sword is still the strongest! Right here, with your own blades!”
“Yes!”
No matter how composed a person might be, how could their spirits fail to soar when the patriarch leading the charge had displayed such awe-inspiring power? Namgung swordsmen of the Azure Sky Sword Unit surged forward with renewed courage.
White sword energy, the very symbol of Namgung, swirled around every blade.
“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”
The cultists swung their weapons wreathed in demonic energy without hesitation at the charging Namgung swordsmen. Remaining absolutely unfazed, whether their fellow cultists fell dead or scraps of flesh flew behind them, was an advantage unique to the Demonic Cult.
But Namgung swordsmen’s momentum now soared high enough to render even that advantage useless. While they might not have reached the same heights as Namgung Dowi himself, their swordsmanship was nonetheless of a caliber that brought no shame to the name ‘Namgung.’
“You’re in our way. Get lost!”
The members of the Azure Sky Sword Unit unleashed a simultaneous barrage of sword strikes upon demonic cultists.
The white sword energy of the Azure Sky Sword Unit sliced through the pitch-black demonic energy emanating from demonic cultists like a vision from a dream. It was a dazzling sight, as though heralding the approach of dawn as it broke through the suffocating darkness.
“Don’t stop, keep charging!“
Namgung Dowi leaped above them once more.
The young head of Namgung Clan roared like a lion as he led his swordsmen into battle. The name ‘Namgung’ – which had once lost its luster – was now, once again, etched boldly and clearly upon the world.
Special Spinoff Chapter 92 >>>
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*As it is explained in the glossary and previous chapters geom-gang is a next step after geom-gi – a more tangible and profound sword energy, that has been given physical form.
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