When the Northern Sea Runs Dry (3)
The waves of energy created by dozens of swords and the sword formation wrapped around me.
I continued drawing up my internal energy. It was not internal energy for protective astral qi. The internal energy was being poured into the Asura Underworld King Sword in my hand.
Jiiiing!
The Asura Underworld King Sword, filled with internal energy that seemed ready to burst, rang even louder.
Kwakakakakakakwa!
The sword formation charged toward me like a giant wave surging in.
At the very moment the sword formation stepped into the place I had been waiting for!
The Asura Underworld King Sword split the air. It was also the moment I had been waiting for since this fight began.
Shiiiiiiiiik!
Puaaaaaaaang!
Jong Hwon, who had been behind the sword formation, was caught in the wind and thrown away. He was not injured, but he was terrified and startled.
“Aaaaargh! What is this?”
The sword formation that had been charging forward erupted with a powerful explosion, and dust rose into the air.
Screams flowed out from all directions.
“A Heaven-Shaking Thunder exploded.”
“Report the damage!”
The space where the formation had been formed was blown away as a whole, and in an instant, that place became a scene of carnage.
It was not a Heaven-Shaking Thunder that had exploded.
It was the third form of the Soul-Chasing Asura Sword Art, Limitless Seal. Limitless Seal was a technique that erased an entire fixed space. I had released Limitless Seal with the greatest power possible.
When the dust settled, the warriors who had formed the formation had disappeared without a trace. Only traces that seemed to be their corpses remained here and there.
Only the warriors of the smaller sword formations had barely survived, and their number was merely thirteen or fourteen in total.
Jong Hwon was so shocked that he could not say anything for a while.
He could tell. It was not a Heaven-Shaking Thunder that had exploded, but an attack launched by his opponent. Had such Martial Arts existed in the Jianghu? Forget seeing it, had he even heard of it?
His entire body trembled.
I drove his fear to the limit.
Once again, the Asura Underworld King Sword split the air. With a gentle sound of wind, a single stream of sword energy was released. At first, it was endlessly soft.
Shuuuuuuuk!
The next instant!
The flying sword energy suddenly split apart. Like a comet breaking into fragments, it began to divide. The fourth form of the Soul-Chasing Asura Sword Art, Soul-Seizing Calamity, had been released.
Chaaaak!
The split sword energy quickly divided again.
Chaaaak! Chaaaak!
Two became four, four became eight, and eight became sixteen.
Then they flew in every direction. As though alive, each one flew toward its own target.
Puaaak! Paaak! Puak! Paaang! Puuuuk!
The flying sword energy pierced through the surviving men. It was an attack the men standing there in blank despair could never block. More than ten men collapsed at the same time.
The one person who barely avoided the sword energy was Jong Hwon. As expected of their leader, he managed to dodge the incoming sword energy.
He stared at me with eyes full of disbelief and shock.
“What kind of Martial Arts is that?”
His voice trembled violently. He seemed not to know the Soul-Chasing Asura Sword Art.
I did not speak about the Martial Arts, nor did I boast about this tremendous thing I had created. After using the third and fourth forms in succession, I had used almost all my internal energy.
Normally, I could have used the third and fourth forms with less internal energy than this. But to maximize their power, I had poured nearly all my internal energy into the two forms and unleashed them with my whole body and soul.
I ran toward him.
I gave him no time to think. Since he was soaked in fear and his body was frozen, now was the chance to get rid of him easily.
Shiiiiiiing!
A stream of sword energy tore through space and came crashing down on me. Its ferocity instead revealed his fear.
I slipped into the blind spot of the sword energy, which seemed impossible to dodge, and charged at him.
Piit!
My sword cut past his shoulder. It was shallow. As expected of the leader of such a formidable organization, his Martial Arts were not easy to deal with.
Shik! Shik!
The sword that flew in succession aimed for my shoulder this time.
Clang! Clang!
I swung my sword and deflected the attacks. My internal energy was almost exhausted, but I remained calm. The more it is like this, the less one must rush.
I only needed a single chance.
Clangclangclangclangclang!
As I exchanged swords with him, this thought came to me. He had made the wrong choice. From the beginning, he should have stepped forward actively with his subordinates. But that would not have been an easy choice.
He could step forward only after grasping the opponent’s skill. He was a person who valued his own life more than his subordinates’ lives.
Of course, even if he had taken the lead and charged in, the result would not have changed, but I would have had to fight a slightly more difficult battle.
He thrust out his sword with the last of his strength, but between him and me, there existed a gap in skill that could never be overcome.
At least, for him, who had lost all his subordinates and was dazed, his mind complicated, there was a river of skill he could never cross.
My sword stabbed his neck, then stabbed his heart in succession.
Puk! Puuuk!
Clutching his neck, he looked down at my sword lodged in his heart. He must have had many things he wanted to say, but his eyes were already closing. When I pulled out my sword, he collapsed forward. Before he touched the ground, he had already died.
“Hoo.”
I let out a sigh. It might have seemed like an easy victory, but it was not quite so. Everything had been a succession of choices.
Whether to kill the leader first or later. When they formed the sword formation, whether to use the third form or the fifth form.
If even one thing had not fit precisely into my calculations, variables would have appeared and the battle would have become tangled. Fortunately, there were no variables in today’s fight.
There were no surviving enemies there.
I gathered the corpses that had retained their forms and burned them. The smell of burning flesh filled the place.
“This way isn’t it either.”
Black Stone and Cheol-Gyeol still had not found the path.
They did not know how long they had wandered. More than anything else, they were terribly hungry.
“Damn it! Damn it all!”
Her nerves grew sensitive from extreme hunger.
“Gal Sa-Ryang! Just kill us instead! Kill us!”
She shouted, but no one appeared.
At the thought that Gal Sa-Ryang might be watching this from outside, she became even angrier.
“Please endure it.”
“The Northern Abyss Unit must have been defeated too.”
“That cannot be.”
“Then why have they still not come to rescue us?”
The Northern Abyss Unit would not force its way into the Murim Alliance, but even through Ju Cheol-Ryong, they should have rescued them. Yet the fact that there was still no news gave more credibility to her guess.
It was right then.
Cheol-Gyeol sprang to his feet.
“You!”
Gal Sa-Ryang was walking toward them.
“You bastard!”
“Stop!”
Before Black Stone could stop him, Cheol-Gyeol shot out toward Gal Sa-Ryang one step faster. His only thought was that he had to catch him in order to get out. Since he had kept holding back until now, this time he could not endure it.
When he reached right in front of Gal Sa-Ryang’s nose.
Shiiiiik.
Puuuuk!
His eyes widened. His gaze moved downward. A sword had appeared from empty air and was piercing through his chest.
It was as though the sword were floating in midair.
Sseut.
One side of space seemed to distort, and from there, the owner of the sword revealed himself.
The person who came out of the unseen space was me.
When I pulled out my sword, the dead Cheol-Gyeol fell backward.
Since I had recovered all my internal energy through circulating qi and regulating breath, I could have won even if I had simply fought him. But since I had even launched a surprise attack, victory and defeat had been decided from the beginning.
Gal Sa-Ryang had served as an excellent bait until the final moment.
Black Stone silently stared for a while at Cheol-Gyeol, who had become a corpse. He was a subordinate she had cherished. Her regret, that she had somehow tried to save at least him and get through this crisis, was clearly visible on her face.
“The Northern Abyss Unit?”
“They no longer exist in this world.”
“My God!”
Her eyes widened.
After staring fixedly at me, she said to Gal Sa-Ryang,
“You really found an excellent warrior.”
At that, Gal Sa-Ryang said,
“You are mistaken.”
“What do you mean?”
“He is the one who found an excellent strategist.”
At that moment, Black Stone’s eyes opened wide.
Her gaze turned back to me. After staring at me blankly, she let out a bitter smile.
“Damn it. Now I understand why this whole affair became so horribly tangled.”
Yes, Black Stone lost for the same reason I feared the force behind them.
When facing an enemy, the thing one should fear most is not the opponent’s strength. It is when one does not know the opponent. They had not known of my existence.
“Who would have imagined that someone so young was behind this? This damned, insane Jianghu. Hahaha.”
She laughed. I could tell. She had sensed her end.
“Aren’t you going to try persuasion? Something like, if I spill everything I know, you’ll spare me?”
I slowly shook my head.
“I won’t.”
“Why?”
“I have no intention of sparing anyone involved in this matter. I’ll simply find them myself and eliminate them all.”
There was another reason too.
If she was an enemy of this level, someone who had risen to a position like this, then trusting her words itself was dangerous. Keeping her alive beside me would mean taking on far too many risks.
Even though her death had been decided, she looked at ease.
“Well, at least that’s fortunate. I’m not dying at the hands of useless bastards. I suppose I’ll have to take that much comfort with me as I die.”
I slowly approached her. Watching death come closer, she looked up at the sky.
“That must be a fake sky too.”
Standing before her, I nodded.
“I’d like to die while looking at the real sky.”
“Then you should have lived properly beneath the real sky.”
“Is that so?”
“That is so.”
Chaaaak!
I cut her down with a single stroke. Cutting down an opponent who had fallen into resignation did not sit well with me, but there was no other choice. Still, I cut her swiftly with one stroke so that she would feel no pain at all. May she be born in her next life as someone who does good things beneath a good sky.
Did Gal Sa-Ryang sense some bitterness from me? He suddenly recalled the past.
“I am reminded of the old days.”
“What time do you mean?”
“I apologize for mentioning the previous Alliance Lord.”
“It is all right. You may speak of him as much as you wish.”
“I am reminded of the time when I fought while serving the previous Alliance Lord. It was like this back then too. The enemies appeared endlessly, to a sickening degree.”
I remember it too. I had even thought this back then.
Can I really bring this war safely to an end? No, does it even have an end?
But just as it had been then, it would be the same now.
Sssssssss.
As the formation disappeared, the real world was revealed. The real sky that Black Stone had wanted to see showed itself. Warm sunlight settled over her corpse.
Watching that sight quietly, I said,
“Whatever it may be, there is bound to be an end.”
[Read only on MugenCodex]
Cheon So-Seon was playing the flute.
His performance always drew people together. Not only the women with entranced expressions, but even the men could not take their eyes off Cheon So-Seon.
When the performance that delighted both eyes and ears ended, the people gathered in the inn applauded.
Someone bought him wine, and some woman brought him flowers.
When Cheon So-Seon showed no reaction and only looked out the window, the atmosphere that had been boiling over soon settled down.
A short while later, one person approached him. Wearing white martial robes, he was White Stone. Since he was already ugly, standing beside Cheon So-Seon made him look even uglier.
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
As Cheon So-Seon filled White Stone’s cup, he said,
“Congratulations.”
“Yes?”
“Black Stone is dead.”
White Stone was so shocked that he dropped his wine cup.
“I apologize!”
Even more shocking news flowed from Cheon So-Seon’s mouth.
“In the process, the Northern Abyss Unit was annihilated as well.”
White Stone’s hand, which had been about to lift the cup, stopped. His hand trembled slightly. Hiding the trembling, he set the fallen cup upright.
Cheon So-Seon filled the cup again.
White Stone swallowed dryly and asked,
“Just who is the enemy we are facing?”
“One who swallowed the Northern Abyss Unit and Black Stone whole without even burping.”
The words that he did not even burp meant that he still had not revealed his identity.
Rather, Cheon So-Seon was smiling.
“Do you have a plan in mind?”
“I do not.”
“Then why?”
“Are you asking why I am smiling like this? See here, White Stone.”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time you fought prepared to die? When was the last time?”
White Stone could not answer. There was the fact that he was being cautious with his answer, but even if he wanted to answer, he could not remember when that had been.
‘When was it?’
Cheon So-Seon turned his head toward the window.
“It has been a long time since my heart trembled. Now that someone worthy of being called an enemy has appeared, how could my heart not tremble?”
Still keeping his gaze outside, Cheon So-Seon continued speaking.
“The matter in the Murim Alliance will proceed as planned. The elder greatly dislikes it when major affairs go wrong.”
“What should I do?”
“In relation to the inauguration of the new Alliance Lord, Lin Yan-Qing will go to you. Assist her with all your strength.”
“Yes, understood.”
White Stone rose from his seat, and Cheon So-Seon said,
“Congratulations on winning at baduk.”
“Thank you.”
White Stone rose and left the place.
Not far from the inn, Number One was waiting.
Because White Stone’s expression was stiff, Number One carefully asked,
“What happened?”
“That stupid fat bitch is dead.”
Number One immediately knew that the person White Stone spoke of was Black Stone.
White Stone said gloomily,
“I did not win.”
This was not a victory by default or anything of the sort. The board had simply been overturned.
“If there are no black stones, we can no longer play baduk. What will they do with the remaining white stones? Bring in new black stones? Or clear away the remaining white stones?”
Looking at White Stone, who was restless because he did not know what would happen from now on, Number One suddenly had this thought.
Perhaps from the very beginning, it had not been black stones and white stones fighting each other.
Perhaps both White Stone and Black Stone had merely been pebbles scattered all over the ground, picked up and used however they wished, then thrown away.
Perhaps they had been packaged with plausible names like White Stone and Black Stone only to hide the vulgar essence of commanding and using people.
“Bring only the subordinate you trust most. We will move personally.”
“Understood.”
As he turned and walked away, Number One thought that he must not put off his drinking appointment with Number Seven any longer. It would be nice if it were somewhere with a good atmosphere and a view of the sea…
— Read only on MugenCodex —
