Chapter 86
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Growing Stronger (1)
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Thump!
The training ground echoed loudly.
Ma Dongpil’s eyes widened.
“What is all this?”
“The weapons I’ll be using.”
“There’s more than just one or two.”
“Yep, I’m going to use them all.”
Ma Dongpil inwardly shook his head.
‘He truly is an extraordinary person.’
He couldn't forget the shock of seeing the Young Master’s martial arts for the first time when he fought the demonic beasts. It wasn't just his strength; it was how he completely defied common sense.
There was truly no weapon the Young Master couldn't wield.
What was even more incredible was his proficiency with every type of weapon, leaving no room for weakness.
Of course, every martial artist has different talents and inclinations; some focus on a single weapon, while others master many.
But even considering that, he was on another level.
It seemed the Young Master went beyond merely handling various weapons; he appeared completely unrestricted by their shape or purpose.
“By the way, did your errand go well?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“What did Lord So say?”
“She said she understood your intentions well. She also mentioned she would treat you to some fine liquor soon as a sign of her apology.”
Seo Ryang grinned.
“Well done.”
He had drawn his blade, but he wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with Ho Yoseong if possible.
The same was true for So Yeonsim. Weren't they both people who wielded immense power in the Divine Cult?
But he had no intention of appearing entirely friendly, either. It was only natural for people to start taking you for granted if you only showed a gentle side, no matter how good a person you were.
Someone difficult enough to be respected, but not so much as to be intimidating.
That was how Seo Ryang wanted to be seen by others. At least, that kind of image was necessary to survive in the Divine Cult.
“And Commander Wi?”
“She has left. It is quite late, after all.”
“I see.”
He had spoken harshly to her—*Don't slack off, you call yourself a commander?*—but Wi Hongryeon was, in her own way, a responsible person.
She was probably reorganizing her troops and on standby for future missions by now.
“It’s a bit late, but let’s have a look at these beauties.”
Seo Ryang upended the bundle.
Chiiiiing!
Ma Dongpil’s eyes wavered.
‘Except for one sword, they are all sabers. But…’
What were these blades, each overflowing with its own unique character?
Excluding the sword, Seo Ryang had brought a total of four sabers.
There was a pair of identical short sabers, a single long saber, and a great saber as large as the one he used when he faced the Beast Palace.
‘Is he really going to use all of them… *Gasp!*’
Sshaaaa.
Ma Dongpil unconsciously took a step back.
His eyes were fixed on the three-foot-long saber. It was a little shorter than the one Seo Ryang had used before, but it was still long enough to be called a long saber.
A long saber dyed a subtle ink-black from scabbard to hilt. The killing intent emanating from it was truly immense.
Seo Ryang chuckled.
“A vicious one, isn't it?”
“...Could that saber be?”
“Do you know what this is?”
Ma Dongpil swallowed without realizing it.
“By any chance, is that the Saber of Seven Nights?”
“Oh? You know of it? I just picked it up because I liked it.”
“The Death Blade, Pitch-Black Night…!”
Seo Ryang spoke as if it were nothing, but this was no ordinary saber.
The Saber of Seven Nights, formally known as the Black Demon's Night-Staining Saber.
This saber, characterized by its simple appearance and the subtle killing intent it radiated, was the favored weapon of the seventh-generation Heavenly Demon, who had once spread terror throughout the entire martial world.
Regardless of the blade's own craftsmanship, it was the saber that had been with him from the moment he first joined the cult until his death—the man said to be the strongest in the cult's history before the current Heavenly Demon.
Though there were many stronger demonic weapons, the significance of the Saber of Seven Nights within the Divine Cult was no less than that of any divine weapon.
“The Saber of Seven Nights holds immense symbolic value in our cult. Across the entire demonic path, it is one of the weapons that saber masters covet the most. You have found a truly incredible weapon.”
“I just liked it. If it doesn't suit me, there's no need to get attached to some smelly old relic.”
Ma Dongpil smiled.
‘That’s just like the Young Master.’
He had no interest in the history behind that saber. He would have only considered whether it suited him.
If he himself were a saber master, he probably would have struggled even if the Saber of Seven Nights didn't suit him. That was how great its reputation was.
“Then do you know what these are?”
Having fastened the Saber of Seven Nights to his belt, Seo Ryang picked up a pair of identical short sabers.
Though called short sabers, they were about half a foot longer than ordinary ones.
One was red, the other blue. Other than being sleeker than the Saber of Seven Nights, they showed no other distinctive features.
But Ma Dongpil could not dismiss them.
Shing.
The sabers, drawn from their scabbards, emitted a chillingly sharp aura.
It was incomparable to the mere killing intent of the Saber of Seven Nights. Though they didn't contain demonic energy, their sharpness was so intense it felt like they could cut things without even touching them.
Ma Dongpil's Adam's apple bobbed. Thanks to the Young Master, he was getting a real feast for the eyes today.
“The Blue and Red Northern Winds, the Meteor Twin Sabers.”
Seo Ryang looked at Ma Dongpil with surprise.
“You really know all sorts of things, don't you?”
“I was interested in weapons, so I looked into them a while ago.”
He couldn't bring himself to say that they were so famous one would know of them without needing to study.
The Saber of Seven Nights was called a legendary demonic weapon thanks to its owner's fame, but the Meteor Twin Sabers were truly magnificent enough to be called divine weapons.
Especially for saber masters skilled in swift techniques, they were divine weapons worth trading one's life for.
What was unusual was that the Meteor Twin Sabers were not demonic weapons. For that reason, even saber masters of the righteous faction coveted them.
‘Come to think of it.’
Ma Dongpil glanced over the other weapons.
‘None of the sabers, except for the sword, exude demonic energy.’
Then what kind of saber could the last one be?
His eyes turned to the five-foot-long great saber.
The hilt was a foot and a half long and was covered in a dragon scale pattern. Unlike the other blades, it seemed a great deal of effort had been put into its craftsmanship.
But that was all.
The hilt was ornate, but other than that, it had no other decorations and no scabbard.
The blade was ten inches wide and quite thick, giving it an overwhelming presence, but its appearance was otherwise plain.
“Do you know what this one is?”
“...I do not.”
Seo Ryang nodded.
“It was stuck in a corner of the armory. Want to try lifting it?”
“Ye-yes?! May I really try?”
Seo Ryang snorted and tossed the great saber to him.
Ma Dongpil carefully caught the saber.
In that moment.
‘*Gasp!*’
He was startled. The saber's weight was far greater than he had expected.
‘Seventy pounds? No, it must be at least eighty…’
Swinging a saber like this while infused with internal energy would be terror itself.
While it was said that martial artists who used heavy weapons weighing over a hundred and thirty pounds existed in the martial world, it was by no means easy to actually see one.
When a skilled person could split a boulder with a wooden sword, there was no reason to wield such a heavy weapon.
That was why more than half of those who used heavy weapons were practitioners of unremarkable martial arts.
However…
‘What if the Young Master were to wield a saber like this?!’
Goosebumps erupted all over his body. He could almost see the illusion of a man being split in two with a single strike, and the boulders and giant trees beyond being sent flying.
“Heavy, isn't it?”
“Ye-yes, it is.”
“It's not something you'd want to use in a protracted battle. But my eyes kept being drawn to it.”
Ma Dongpil, who had been fiddling with the great saber, respectfully offered it back to Seo Ryang.
Seo Ryang took it with one hand, far too easily.
“Unlike the other weapons sitting on the racks, this one was shoved in a corner, so I don't even know its name. For now, I've decided to call it the Dragon Scale Saber because of the hilt's design.”
The Dragon Scale Saber.
A saber engraved with dragon scales, hence the name Dragon Scale Saber. Seo Ryang's naming sense was the absolute worst, but somehow, that name seemed to suit this saber.
“Somehow…”
Vmmmmmm!
As he infused it with the Shadow Demonic Energy, the Dragon Scale Saber let out a powerful cry.
“I think I can make good use of it.”
Ma Dongpil swallowed.
Holding the giant weapon in one hand with a serious expression, Seo Ryang seemed to exude an indescribable dignity.
It was strangely different from his usual self. It was as if he radiated the aura of a noble warrior. His usual sharp and pointed seriousness now carried a profound weight.
After staring at the Dragon Scale Saber with solemn eyes for a long moment, he grinned.
“If I try it out and it's not for me, I'm thinking of selling it later. I bet it would fetch a pretty penny.”
Ma Dongpil sighed.
Seo Ryang equipped the four sabers. He wore the Saber of Seven Nights on his right hip, the Meteor Twin Sabers on his lower back, and slung the Dragon Scale Saber diagonally across his back.
The sight of Seo Ryang wearing four sabers of different sizes at once looked somewhat clumsy, yet it suited him well.
Just as Ma Dongpil was thinking he looked like a walking armory, he tilted his head.
“Young Master.”
“Yeah.”
“But what about this sword?”
“Ah, that?”
Seo Ryang picked up the longsword. With its jet-black scabbard and dark blue hilt, the sword was neither too ornate nor overly plain.
He tossed the sword to Ma Dongpil.
Ma Dongpil, who caught the sword in a daze, looked at Seo Ryang.
“Draw it.”
“Me… you mean me?”
“You should be the one to draw it. I brought it for you.”
Ma Dongpil’s eyelids trembled.
Seo Ryang shrugged.
“No matter how good my eye is, I'm not the one who'll be using it, so I don't know if you'll like it or not. But I did my best to pick one out, considering your martial arts are heading in a solemn and weighty direction.”
“…”
“Draw it, and if you really don't like it, give it to someone else.”
“I could not do that.”
A weapon that doesn't suit him?
Even so, he could not give it to someone else. He must not.
This sword was from none other than the Armory of the Heavenly Demon, brought back by the Young Master himself just for him. If it didn't suit him, he would sooner have to modify his own martial arts.
Though a thousand or even ten thousand thanks would not be enough, Ma Dongpil kept his mouth shut. He felt that such words would only diminish the grace Seo Ryang had shown him.
Shhhhiing.
The sword was drawn slowly.
The blade, like the scabbard, was jet-black. It was half a foot longer than the three-foot sword he normally used.
Fwoosh.
As the sword was drawn, a powerful demonic energy spread across the training ground.
It was not the demonic energy of a practitioner, but one emanating from the weapon itself.
For an inanimate object to contain demonic energy was a strange enough phenomenon, but the concentration of this energy was remarkably dense.
“It has a good weight to it, right? I brought it because I thought it would suit your martial arts and disposition. It's called the Sword of the Silent King, a blade I've heard of myself.”
Ma Dongpil's hands began to tremble. He, too, knew well of the Sword of the Silent King.
One of the Five Great Demonic Swords of the Divine Cult and counted among the Ten Great Demonic Swords of the martial world—it was a supreme demonic sword.
The Sword of the Silent King is also known as the Sword of Silence. This is because it does not exude more than a certain amount of demonic energy unless its wielder demonstrates their full capabilities.
But when its master grows into a demonic practitioner worthy of the sword, it begins to display its terrifying power.
“You'll have to train your ass off to handle it properly. You wouldn't become a fool who can't even use a single weapon, would you?”
“Young Master.”
Having sheathed the sword, Ma Dongpil performed a fist-and-palm salute.
It was not a bow, but a salute. Yet, it carried a more solemn air than ever before.
“I will become the greatest demonic practitioner. I will grow stronger than anyone and protect you for the rest of my life, Young Master.”
Seo Ryang chuckled.
“I'm not asking for a lifetime. Just train hard.”
* * *
The next morning.
Seo Ryang and Ma Dongpil, who had worked up a good sweat the day before, were out on the training ground again first thing in the morning. Having acquired new weapons, they intended to practice until the weapons felt like extensions of their own bodies.
“Alright, you practice over there. I'll be here… Huh?”
Seo Ryang suddenly frowned.
“Who could it be this early in the morning?”
A moment later, someone knocked on the main gate.
“A message from the Palace of the Demonic God. Third Young Master, please open the gate.”
Clank!
Without a word of reply, Seo Ryang opened the gate.
A demonic practitioner bowed his head. He was from the Office of the Grand Marshal.
“Invincible Divine Cult, All Demons Submit! I greet the Third Young Master of the Divine Cult.”
“Enough of that. What's the matter this early?”
“The Cult Leader has summoned you, Young Master.”
“…”
Seo Ryang sighed.
“Time for another suffocating encounter.”