The Heaven-Slaying Sword - Chapter 55

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 55: Chapter Six - Escort Journey, Fateful Encounter (5)

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Demonic practitioners.

Freaks who learned martial arts that defied the natural order and gradually lost their reason.

That was certainly the dictionary definition, but Demonic practitioners meant something entirely different to Mok Ri-won.

They were what he himself might have become.

Born with the Heavenly Slaughter Star and the Extreme Demon Physique, he could not help thinking that way.

He had no doubt that this man was a Demonic practitioner.

Beyond what his senses told him, the man had admitted it himself.

“I am the Fist Demon!”

The convoy went rigid at the man’s cry. Having exchanged several moves with Mok Ri-won, he squared his shoulders.

The man who called himself the Fist Demon smiled as if the thought pleased him.

“And I want to become the Fist Dragon!”

He pointed an index finger at Mok Ri-won.

“Like you!”

Mok Ri-won’s expression hardened.

He could not understand what the Fist Demon meant.

So he asked, “…Why is a Demonic practitioner here?”

“I came looking for you.”

Mok Ri-won frowned.

Pae Ung-chu, the Fist Demon, offered no further explanation. He merely grinned.

Then he unleashed demonic qi.

It was unlike ordinary Qi Waves.

The Qi Waves emitted through orthodox martial arts resembled dispersing mist, while those formed from demonic qi took the shape of blazing flames.

Pae Ung-chu clenched his fist.

Then he stepped forward.

Thud.

In an instant, Pae Ung-chu was right before Mok Ri-won, his fist shooting toward him.

It was aimed directly at Mok Ri-won’s brow.

Mok Ri-won tilted his head slightly and thrust out his sword.

It was a shallow strike meant to check his opponent, and it was blocked as expected.

With a crash, their Qi Waves collided.

The impact forced them a short distance apart.

Mok Ri-won was not in good condition.

Even without suffering a physical blow, the demonic qi clouded his mind whenever Pae Ung-chu drew near.

The Extreme Demon Physique instinctively craved demonic qi.

The Heavenly Slaughter Star also grew stronger by absorbing demonic qi.

There was another problem as well.

His unavoidable lack of experience.

Mok Ri-won knew nothing of life-or-death combat.

Even his spar with Pyo San, the closest he had come to such a fight, had failed to stir him because the difference in their skill had allowed him to overwhelm Pyo San.

But this was different.

‘The very end of peak.’

The Inner power of the man calling himself the Fist Demon had reached at least that level.

On top of that, Pae Ung-chu radiated Killing Intent more intense than anything Mok Ri-won had ever felt. Mok Ri-won had to fend off his attacks while overcoming the urges that rose in response to that Killing Intent.

“Hup!”

Mok Ri-won’s eyes widened as he steadied his breathing.

Cold sweat ran down his chin, but he had no time to notice.

Pae Ung-chu gave him none.

“Why are you so feeble!”

Dark crimson Qi Waves shot toward him.

As fist qi surged through the air, Mok Ri-won answered in kind.

It was an art he had comprehended after reaching the middle stage of peak.

Blood-red and ink-black Qi Waves collided in midair.

Then the two men rushed forward behind them.

Their bodies clashed with another resounding impact.

As their battle continued, trouble began elsewhere as well.

The Fist Demon had not come alone.

“Aaargh!”

A sword pierced an escort guard through the solar plexus.

It slashed downward, killing the guard on the spot.

Dang Hwa-seo clicked her tongue and scattered her Qi Waves.

Love-Heart Poison.

It was a poison she had mastered upon reaching the Peak Realm.

She was not scattering it carelessly as she had during the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.

Poisonous Qi flowed into the dagger she drew from her robes. From the point where the dagger lodged in the ground, the poison spread only within a radius of one jang.

That was all.

It required an almost obsessive degree of precise Internal Energy control, but as always, Dang Hwa-seo considered it a skill she simply ought to possess.

“Sister!”

Jegal San cried out urgently.

Dang Hwa-seo turned and saw Jegal San barely evading the attacks of five Demonic practitioners surrounding him.

She threw a dagger to give Jegal San an opening, then continued assessing the situation.

‘This is bad.’

The Demonic practitioners were highly skilled.

The Fist Demon fighting Mok Ri-won was far stronger than she was, and each of the just over twenty Demonic practitioners who had followed him possessed the skill of a first-rate martial artist.

And what of the convoy?

The five first-rate martial artists, their strongest fighters, could barely protect themselves.

The second-rate and third-rate martial artists were being swept away like fallen autumn leaves.

Dang Hwa-seo quickly made her decision.

‘I need to preserve our strength.’

That meant drawing every eye to herself and easing the others’ burden.

Dang Hwa-seo took a deep breath and thickened her Qi Waves.

Dark green currents flowed around her, creating an unsettling aura.

Tap!

Dang Hwa-seo stepped forward.

She headed toward the third-rate martial artists guarding the goods, who were being cut down.

Then she plunged into their midst and began fighting the Demonic practitioners.

* * *

Gwak Chil trembled from head to toe.

‘W-What is this…?’

There could be no greater chaos than this.

The screams echoing from all around belonged to companions with whom he had shared drinks only the day before.

The smell of blood came from their bodies as well.

Though he was only a third-rate martial artist, Gwak Chil was quick to sense danger. He had instinctively found a safe place, but even as he felt deep disgust toward himself, he could not bring himself to move.

After all, was not the desire to live shared by every living thing?

“Aaaagh!”

An escort guard split in half at the waist collapsed onto the ground.

Gwak Chil, hiding beneath a wagon, met the guard’s eyes.

Those lifeless eyes were so empty they seemed impossibly distant, deepening Gwak Chil’s fear even further.

He forced himself to look away.

His gaze fell on Mok Ri-won.

As he exchanged moves with the wild-haired monster calling himself the Fist Demon, none of the innocent look Gwak Chil had seen in him before remained.

‘H-How could…?’

The exchange was too fast for his eyes to follow.

Their movements were swift and bizarre, while the Qi Waves colliding before them were so richly colored that it was difficult even to distinguish their figures.

The only reason Gwak Chil could see their expressions at all was that they had briefly stopped after widening the distance between themselves.

His body shook.

He compared himself, hiding from fear, to Mok Ri-won, who faced such a vicious Demonic practitioner. Self-loathing washed over him once more.

They had discussed Chivalry together and worried over what true Chivalry was, yet when the moment came, they had shown such different sides.

How could he not hate himself for it?

Tears streamed from Gwak Chil’s eyes.

They carried many emotions, but strongest among them was a rash, self-directed anger that amounted to little more than bravado.

‘I…!’

He had wanted to become a chivalrous warrior.

Despite possessing such paltry martial arts, he had wanted to practice Chivalry.

That was why he had written Tales of Martial Heroes. Even after he could no longer write it, that was why he had remained in the Martial World.

He hesitated.

Yet at the end of that hesitation was anger.

Gwak Chil drove himself onward.

Over and over, he recalled why he had admired martial artists.

At last, Gwak Chil gasped as he crawled out from beneath the wagon.

He no longer wanted to run away.

* * *

Pae Ung-chu burst into hearty laughter.

“More! Show me more!”

How long had it been since he had fought like this?

It had been years since he had engaged in a martial contest that staked his own life, rather than simply killing people.

The Divine Cult had been that cautious.

To reclaim the stolen star, it had endured and restrained even its own fervor.

Crash!

Pae Ung-chu stamped his foot.

For the first time, he used a kicking art rather than a fist art.

Without changing his stance, he twisted only his waist and sent a kick toward Mok Ri-won’s knee. Mok Ri-won raised the edge of his sword and blocked it.

Sword edge met shin, but unfortunately for Mok Ri-won, Pae Ung-chu’s shin was not cut apart.

Thud!

Mok Ri-won was sent flying.

Pae Ung-chu pursued him.

Their battle had already carried them far from the convoy.

Mok Ri-won felt urgency rising within him, but that was exactly what Pae Ung-chu intended.

“Why are you hesitating!”

The Divine Cult sought to reclaim the stolen star.

It wanted to recover the Heavenly Slaughter Star that had settled within the man called the Ink Dragon.

Pae Ung-chu, though, had no interest in that.

He only wanted to know how extraordinary the star of the killing fiend truly was.

So he provoked Mok Ri-won.

“Are you not the Heavenly Slaughter Star!”

Mok Ri-won’s body stiffened for an instant.

Pae Ung-chu did not press his attack. He only grinned.

“Are you not the star of the killing fiend? Then why are you struggling like that!”

“How do you…?”

How did he know?

Mok Ri-won trailed off in disbelief, and Pae Ung-chu answered with a hearty laugh.

“If you want to know, then show some strength!”

With that, he stamped his foot again.

Once more, the battle was evenly matched.

* * *

Mok Ri-won was deeply shaken.

It was only natural. A Demonic practitioner he had never even known had suddenly spoken his secret aloud.

He kept wondering how Pae Ung-chu knew, but no answer would come.

Mok Ri-won simply clenched his teeth and blocked the incoming fist strikes.

Still, the longer he endured, the more disadvantaged he became.

Mok Ri-won began to be driven back.

Pae Ung-chu’s Killing Intent was that intense, and the demonic qi pouring from him continued to stir Mok Ri-won’s inner vision.

He could not even use that Killing Intent as he had during the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.

His instincts told him as much.

This was not a sensation he should use.

Shaaah.

The ink-black Qi Waves trembled.

Pae Ung-chu seized that opening and landed a solid blow.

Smack!

Pae Ung-chu’s fist sank into Mok Ri-won’s side.

Mok Ri-won let out a choked groan and was sent flying helplessly.

Dissatisfaction appeared on Pae Ung-chu’s face.

“Is that all?”

His demonic qi changed from blazing flames into molten lava.

It clearly showed how demonic qi responded to emotion.

“Ink Dragon! Is that all you have to show while bearing the Heavenly Slaughter Star?”

Anger filled Pae Ung-chu’s voice.

The blood vessels in the whites of his eyes could no longer withstand his emotions and began bursting one after another.

“The stronger your Killing Intent grows, the stronger you become! The denser your demonic qi grows, the stronger you become! Wasn’t that the kind of body you possessed? Then why are you still using such puny moves!”

Mok Ri-won gasped for breath.

Then he bit his lip hard and forced himself back to his feet.

He had allowed only one strike, but the backlash was terrible.

“I did not come here just to see that!”

Mok Ri-won answered the emotionally charged cry.

“…I did not take up the sword to become a killing fiend.”

He adjusted his grip on his sword.

By sheer will, he steadied his staggering body.

He did not know who the Fist Demon was.

He did not know why Pae Ung-chu knew his secret, nor why he provoked him so fiercely.

Still, Pae Ung-chu’s intent was clear.

He wanted Mok Ri-won to become a killing fiend.