Chapter 596: Now, Death Sits in the Audience
Chapter 596: Now, Death Sits in the Audience
‘I am afraid.’
The young man wrapped in red bandages was Jin-dan, the top disciple of Fist King Kang Hu. Ever since he had begun learning the way of the fist from his master, this was the first time he had ever felt true terror while looking at another human being.
Part of it was that terrifying appearance—the man looked as if he had crawled straight out of the depths of hell. But even more frightening was his unstoppable momentum. He strode forward without a hint of hesitation, despite surely sensing the ominous energy radiating from their fists.
Yet, what felt most terrifying of all was his master’s reaction.
In the fifteen years Jin-dan had spent under Kang Hu’s tutelage, he had never seen anyone speak to his master with such contempt, nor had he ever seen his master endure it.
‘A Demon Lord is truly a Demon Lord.’
The skill the One Flower Sword Venerable had displayed earlier was magnificent. No, he didn't even need to look that far. That young woman had cut down all the subordinates by herself. There were only three of them, yet Jin-dan felt a pressure as if he were facing an army of thousands.
‘But the outcome of this battle is already decided.’
It was impossible for him to imagine his master losing. He believed in his master.
‘What matters is how I fight.’
If the battle with the Blade Demon became a close contest, the outcome would depend on his own actions.
However, that thought was a grave delusion. There was no room for his will or judgment to intervene in this fight.
The Blade Demon, who had been striding forward, suddenly blurred through the air.
Kang Hu did not retreat; he lunged forward with a punch.
It was the first strike, signaling the start of the battle.
Boom!
An explosive roar erupted as fist met internal-energy-laden fist.
The Blade Demon took a step back, his brow furrowing involuntarily.
It was because of the foul energy spreading from Kang Hu’s fist. This bizarre, turbid aura—a mixture of malice and demonic energy—would have caused anyone with weak mental fortitude or insufficient internal energy to lose their senses immediately.
The energy drifted around the area like a shroud of death, encroaching upon and weighing down the battlefield.
Kang Hu let out a cold, relaxed laugh.
“I have yet to meet an opponent who could force me to draw a weapon against these fists.”
It was a retort to the Blade Demon’s earlier mockery, but the Blade Demon answered now with his fists, not words.
And they were powerful fists indeed.
Rumble! Crash!
Accompanied by the sound of thunder, a punch of immense power flew toward Kang Hu’s face.
Kaaaa-boom!
Their fists collided once more.
Though it was merely flesh hitting flesh, the impact left an aftermath more powerful than the clashing of steel.
Whooooosh!
The shockwave rippled outward, conjuring a violent gale.
To think a mere collision of fists could produce such a shockwave was unbelievable. The power was staggering.
Lee An shielded her eyes against the sudden gust. Just as her father had protected her in the previous fight, the One Flower Sword Venerable now shielded her, as her internal energy was completely depleted. Had it not been for the Venerable, she would have been swept away by the gale.
In fact, Yeon Baek-in, the Yellow Dragon Martial Arts Hall Master standing nearby, was sent tumbling across the ground.
Snap!
The trees lining the distant walls bent violently, their leaves scattering into the air.
Shhhhhhh.
Amidst the leaves fluttering like falling snow, the Blade Demon and the Fist King stood facing each other.
That previous punch had been no ordinary strike. It was the third form of the Blade Demon’s unique martial art, the Thunder Asura Fist.
The Third Fist: Heavenly Thunder Asura.
That heavy blow had been driven home.
Lee An noticed a change in her father’s martial arts.
‘Father’s thunder has grown quiet.’
She had heard that thunder many times during their late-night training sessions. But now, it had become far too quiet.
‘Is there something wrong with his body?’
She did not yet know. She did not realize that only when the sound of thunder diminished until it vanished completely would he truly be ready to bring down a mountain. The Blade Demon’s martial art was currently advancing toward that very moment.
Kang Hu looked down at his own hand. A more powerful malice and demonic energy were flowing from his trembling fist. His hand was reacting instinctively to the exchange they just had.
“Starting for real already?”
At Kang Hu’s question, the Blade Demon spoke in a low voice.
“The stench from your fist is simply too foul.”
Kang Hu’s expression hardened again. The Blade Demon was thoroughly mocking him. If it were the mockery of some ignorant fool, he would simply make them pay the price, but the man before him was someone who had earned the right to speak such words.
Kang Hu suppressed the murderous intent surging within him—even though that killing intent was his greatest source of strength.
‘Not yet.’
Kang Hu massaged his arm as he stepped forward.
“That hurt more than I expected.”
The Blade Demon gave a single nod at that calm reaction. It wasn't a nod of respect. Why would he respect an opponent he intended to kill?
It was a signal to himself. Because the opponent was someone worthy of recognition, he must not allow himself to become arrogant. After all, the man was walking toward him perfectly fine even after taking the Heavenly Thunder Asura.
“I’m just as impatient as you are,” the Blade Demon said.
This time, Kang Hu charged, throwing a punch.
Even though it was a clash of fists, the sound was like iron striking iron.
Jin-dan stood back and watched the fight. To his surprise, he began to see openings.
‘There! Now!’
Why wasn't his master countering there? He saw gaps where he would have launched an attack, yet his master did not strike.
The opposite was also true.
‘Master, it’s dangerous!’
He saw openings in his master’s defense that he had never seen before. However, the Blade Demon did not aim for those openings.
Only then did Jin-dan realize.
‘Ah... those aren't openings.’
They weren't flaws; they were traps. The moment a fist was thrown into that gap, it would become a death trap where one would be hit by a counterattack. High-level maneuvers that even the Fist King’s top disciple could not discern were being exchanged in the blink of an eye.
To a casual observer, it might look like a brutish brawl, but their fight was anything but simple.
Fist fighters are those who must face armed opponents with their bare hands. Therefore, these "brutish" men who traded blows had to be more intelligent than anyone else. Otherwise, how could they defeat those holding sharp weapons? This was a battle between two men who had reached the very pinnacle of the fist.
That was why Jin-dan could not intervene. The exchange continued, a series of moves where he couldn't tell what the intent was or what the next move would be. His only job was to not miss the moment his master called out to him.
Amidst the exchange of probing strikes, Kang Hu suddenly unleashed a hidden trump card.
Kang Hu’s unique martial art was the Ghostly Soul Severing Fist. The move he unleashed now was the Second Fist: Soul Slashing Strike.
Screeeeeech!
The small burst of Gang Qi fired from his fist suddenly expanded like a massive great blade the moment it reached his opponent. It was a colossal wave of energy that could not be evaded by simply leaping away.
Swoosh!
The Blade Demon’s fist struck the incoming Soul Slashing Strike. He threw his punch without retreating a single step from the massive energy wave.
First Fist: Black Cloud Asura.
Though it was the first of the six forms, it did not mean its power was the lowest. The Black Cloud Asura, a move one only truly understood after being hit by it, turned into Gang Qi and tore through the air.
The moment the two forces collided!
BOOM!
The surroundings were swept away by a massive explosion.
Crack! Crash!
The trees that had only lost their leaves before were now uprooted entirely, and the surrounding walls collapsed all at once. The building that the One Flower Sword Venerable had previously half-destroyed now crumbled completely.
The person who had been swept away by this impact, rolling across the ground before picking himself up, was Yeon Baek-in. Clutching his chest from the internal injury he had sustained, he lamented inwardly.
‘My hall... my martial arts hall is being completely leveled.’
Of course, a hall could be rebuilt, but after the main building collapsed from a single strike by the One Flower Sword Venerable, all of this felt like his destiny.
‘I have to run now if I want to live.’
This was the cry of his instinct.
‘This isn't a fight I can interfere in.’
He had an ominous premonition that no matter who won, they wouldn't show him any mercy.
But what if he wasn't there when that person in the basement came out with the peerless martial manual? What if that person looked for him? He had waited this long; what if he was absent at the final moment?
The fear of that regret held Yeon Baek-in in place. Sometimes, lingering attachment and regret can be more terrifying than greed.
And there was another reason why he continued to run toward the cliff even after seeing the edge.
‘I even killed my own brother!’
That fact made it impossible for him to turn back. He realized poignantly, only after standing on the brink of the abyss, that one must never cross a bridge in life from which there is no return.
‘He will come out. I just have to stay alive until then.’
He was hovering between life and death on his own, but no one spared him a glance.
The One Flower Sword Venerable, who was watching the fight while protecting Lee An, sensed that the Blade Demon was no longer the same as he had been before. Since his connection with Geom Mu-geuk, he too had become stronger.
Seeing Kang Hu holding his own in such a fight against the Blade Demon, she realized once again how powerful the forces behind this were. This was not an organization that had been prepared in just a year or two.
‘Just how long has this organization been in the making?’
Her gaze turned toward Kang Hu. His expression had turned grave.
After the Blade Demon blocked the Soul Slashing Strike while standing his ground, Kang Hu’s momentum shifted. He was a man who always radiated the aura of death toward his opponents, but now he felt that the aura of death might be turned toward himself.
Swoosh!
With the sense that Death itself had taken a seat in the audience, the speed of the two men began to accelerate even further.
Their figures vanished from sight only to reappear elsewhere. Even those watching found it difficult to follow their movements.
Who said large men were slow?
The Blade Demon shattered that prejudice. He was fast. The muscles of his massive frame seemed to exist for speed rather than just power.
At the end of that display of speed...
Whish!
A sound of wind, different from any before, was created by a different attempt. The sound of the wind was light, but the sound of the impact was heavy.
Thwack!
Kang Hu’s head snapped back. It looked as if he were staring up at the sky. His eyes were vacant as he looked upward, and the Blade Demon’s fist was extended right in front of his jaw.
Spurt!
Kang Hu sprayed blood as he looked at the sky. The blood, erupting like a fountain, rained down in all directions.
The Second Fist: Thunder Asura had struck his face.
The Thunder Asura was a technique that unleashed a punch so fast it was invisible to the eye. In terms of the Flying Heaven Sword Technique, it was a move similar to the Azure Heaven Form—a fast sword style. That technique had struck his face.
The power was such that had he not snapped his head back at the very last second, his entire face would have been obliterated.
Right then, Kang Hu suddenly erupted into profanity.
“Blade Demon, you son of a bitch! I’m going to grind that filthy face of yours into the dirt!”
Curses that were completely at odds with his skill level poured out. Now, he revealed another side of himself—or rather, his true self.
His killing intent was not an elegant one. It was a violent, low-class killing intent from the very bottom of human nature; he was a man who utilized such primal malice. He was drawing up every ounce of killing intent he possessed.
“I’m going to beat you until your whole body is dust. I won't leave a single bone in your body intact. I’m going to chew you up and swallow you whole.”
The endless killing intent flowing from a man who had never loved anyone in his entire life. Curses and malice born of genuine, pure hatred.
The Blade Demon did not take that killing intent lightly. He couldn't let himself be fooled by that vulgarity. The moment one thought, ‘This bastard is finally showing his pathetic true colors,’ was the moment one died at his hands.
Kang Hu’s killing intent was exactly that kind of threat.
If the opponent were some common thug, it would be one thing, but for someone with his level of skill, this was a killing intent that screamed while looking up at the sky from the edge of hellfire. Real, human killing intent hidden behind vulgarity.
Indeed, as he wiped the blood from his face, Kang Hu wore a cold smile. His eyes seemed to glow white with an intense killing intent he was experiencing for the first time in his life, and then...
Sssssss.
The characters engraved on both of his hands began to glow blue like ghost fire. That light, too, was a radiance that did not belong to this world.
The Blade Demon instinctively knew his opponent was about to use his final move, and he sensed that this fight would not be an easy one.
Fine. If this was a fight that had to go all the way to the bottom, a struggle to see who would be the one to open the gates of hell and walk out...
Just as Kang Hu had said it had been a long time since he’d been forced to unwrap his bandages, the Blade Demon pulled off his upper garment. He revealed a torso of perfectly honed muscle.
He often stripped for training, but it had been a very long time since he’d met an opponent who made him strip his shirt in a real battle.
The Blade Demon clenched his fists tightly. The muscles in his arms were taut to the point of bursting, and his veins stood out clearly like surging rivers. The True Qi flowing through those vessels was as hot as lava.
Of course, the Blade Demon did not lose his composure. Not while his daughter was watching.
“If you can't take the beating anymore, just say the word,” the Blade Demon said. “I’ll deal with you with my sword then.”