Natural Enemy (6)
Yeon Hojeong's aura was overwhelming.
Ziiing!Ziiing!
The White Tiger Qi blazed to its limits, gathering thickly along the axe blade. Over the steel's natural sheen, a layer of pure white radiance gleamed, making it look for all the world like a divine weapon wielded by a heavenly general.
Kwaaang!
Myeong Cheon realized something was terribly wrong.
'Impossible.'
Yeon Hojeong's lingering qi had infiltrated the remnants on his greatsword's blade, seeping into the sword energy and weakening its power at the core.
Myeong Cheon bellowed, “You bastard! What kind of demonic art is this?!”
“Demonic art?”
Yeon Hojeong snorted derisively.
“Your cultivation is the demonic art!”
Kwakwakwang!
Another charge. The storm-like assault of White Tiger Overlord Step and Chain Advance amplified the axe's weight several times over.
Kwang!
Myeong Cheon's thigh ballooned outward. This strike had been truly heavy, crushing like the weight of a mountain, his muscles threatening to burst at any moment.
A bloody murderous intent flickered in Myeong Cheon's eyes.
Puuung!
Yeon Hojeong's body faltered. He had taken a palm strike from Myeong Cheon. The man had unleashed a killing blow as if it were part of a chain attack. His momentum had been extraordinary, but that single hesitation shook his entire presence.
Kwang!
Myeong Cheon stomped the ground savagely.
“You... pathetic... whelp.”
Each word dripped with a mad, ominous gleam.
“How dare you, a lowly brat, stand against me!”
The onslaught left no room to breathe. Moreover, the opponent's true energy carried a bizarre power that continually scattered his inner strength. He hadn't been able to unleash it.
His newly acquired power.
But now he could.
Myeong Cheon finally opened the Phoenix Divine Art to its maximum.
Kwaang!
A blazing inferno of aura threatened to engulf Yeon Hojeong's body whole.
Hwaruruk!
It was an astonishing presence. Fueled by surging rage, he unleashed every ounce of his power. The terrifying flames spread in all directions. So fierce was the aura that even the surviving Four Swordsmen retreated a dozen zhang away.
Pururuk!
A Blood Horse nearby, its leg broken and writhing, stuck out its tongue and died. The mental shock from the erupting flames and killing intent up close had finished it off.
“Yes... that's more like it.”
Gazing down at the dead Blood Horse, Myeong Cheon flashed a mad grin.
“Cutting off the head can wait. I need to see you wriggle like a worm first, limbs severed, before my anger subsides.”
With the Phoenix Divine Art unleashed, even the killing intent and madness it harbored had crossed into excess. Myeong Cheon's face, dripping with vicious murderlust, was every inch the daemon. Even the flames he emitted were eerily and dark.
Inner energy arises and forms according to one's thoughts. For the flames to be so meant his mind had decayed just as deeply.
Yeon Hojeong summoned his Black Tortoise Qi.
Chiiik!
Heat haze shimmered in the empty air.
'As expected, he's strong.'
As he raised the Black Tortoise Qi, he naturally formed the North Heaven Twelve Walls as well. Yet even without taking a hit, the surface of his inner energy shield boiled furiously.
That was how vicious Myeong Cheon's flames were.
'But...'
Weeeing!
Yeon Hojeong's eyes pierced through Myeong Cheon, seeing into his core.
'At that level.'
Red energy rising from the dantian boiled like lava in his heart. It was power beyond limits. With such a massive qi crammed into his heart without balancing it against other energies, self-destruction was inevitable.
Moreover, a single thread of red extended from his throat across his philtrum to his forehead.
The Vermilion Bird Qi had invaded his upper body.
A dire situation.
But he wouldn't die immediately.
And that pleased Yeon Hojeong.
He didn't want Myeong Cheon dying from a fake Vermilion Bird Art.
Hwooung.
Yeon Hojeong stepped with a soft yet heavy advance. Despite pressing the earth, no sound came. It was quiet and gentle, like water seeping in.
The impenetrable defense's secret step, Strange Pillar Unmoving.
“What're you waiting for? You're wasting time.”
Yeon Hojeong crooked a finger.
“Come at me.”
Kwaaang!
His beckoning hand and arm snapped back.
Yeon Hojeong's eyes flashed.
Myeong Cheon was already upon him.
'Fast!'
Tremendous speed. For an instant, he'd vanished completely from sight.
Myeong Cheon swung his greatsword.
Jjeojeojeojeong! Chiiik!
The Black Tortoise Qi was indeed formidable. It somehow blocked a sword too fast for the eye to follow. And water countered fire. Meeting the flames, the Black Tortoise Qi swelled its nature fearsomely.
Hwooung! Kuwoong!
A giant's blow. The axe cleaved Myeong Cheon in two.
'Gone?!'
But it was merely an afterimage. The axe sliced empty air.
Then where was Myeong Cheon?
Puuung!
Yeon Hojeong spewed blood. His entire back burned like fire.
The fearsome palm force, Phoenix Flame Palm. On a level far beyond what the Four Swordsmen could muster. Even the mighty Black Tortoise Qi couldn't suppress the penetrating flames.
Yeon Hojeong stepped into Strange Pillar Unmoving again.
Hwoooooung!
A hexagonal shell pattern materialized clearly around his body.
At the same moment, Myeong Cheon's full assault began.
Kwakwakwakwang! Puuuung!
Fast. Fast and devastating. He poured the force of his speed into each sword tip, the weight immense.
Uluk!
Yeon Hojeong vomited blood again. There were limits even to counters. Against Vermilion Bird Qi of this power, Black Tortoise couldn't hold it.
All he could do was block the barrage pouring onto the North Heaven Twelve Walls.
Kwang! Kwarrurung! Puuung!
The attacks didn't stop. Like he'd gained infinite stamina, they grew fiercer with time.
Thanks to the Vermilion Bird Qi. White Tiger Qi maximized lung capacity, growing stamina and flesh, but Vermilion Bird Qi dwelled in the heart, elevating life force itself.
That's how he could sustain this. Pouring even his own life into each swing, unleashing desperate, no-retreat assaults.
Kwakwakwang!
He spat blood, again and again. Accumulating wounds dragged him toward death's swamp in moments.
He'd deployed the North Heaven Twelve Walls, but he didn't even know which forms or how. He was simply manifesting the Four Gods Martial Arts unconsciously.
To survive.
No, that's not it.
Block to survive? No. That wasn't him.
The Black Dark Emperor, first in Black Path history to earn the title of Black Path Grandmaster, was no such man.
Kwaang!
The Black Tortoise Qi shook entirely. Yeon Hojeong's body shook with it.
But his eyes did not waver.
Hwoooooung.
For the first time. Myeong Cheon's attack was visible to his eyes.
He might not dodge even seeing it, but seeing it at all was encouraging progress.
Puhwaaak!
Another sword wound carved into his chest. Deep again. Nearly to the bone.
No blood from the searing flames, but the pain was worse.
That pain sharpened his mind.
'I saw it. I saw it.'
Hwaruruk!
His left palm, not gripping the axe, thrust forward. A strike like living flame.
Kwaang!
Yeon Hojeong spat blood once more. At this rate, he'd really die. One more hit like that, and it was the afterlife.
Hwuk!
Yeon Hojeong's gaze blazed. Myeong Cheon's body, just in his sight, vanished.
Lightning-quick movement art.
Impossible to track where he'd gone.
'...?!'
Then it pierced his mind—a streak of flame.
'Movement art?'
No. The Four Gods Martial Arts had no separate movement arts. Only forms and steps for facing foes.
Right. No movement art.
So what was this one Myeong Cheon was using?
'Blood Wing Swing Heaven!!'
Flash!
The Vermilion Bird's wingbeat, the free flight through the heavens—it manifested Yeon Hojeong's realization into reality.
Myeong Cheon burst into mad laughter.
“Fall!”
Kwaaang!
The ground split with the explosion. As Myeong Cheon opened his mouth for even greater laughter, he sensed something off.
'...Huh?'
His left palm that had unleashed Phoenix Flame Palm. It touched a bloodied hand.
Hwaruk!
Red energy ignited. Not Myeong Cheon's Phoenix Qi.
Smaller, but far brighter and purer—a true flame worthy of fire blossomed at last from Yeon Hojeong's hand.
Hwaaaak.
Yeon Hojeong, torso bent low, slowly raised his head.
In that instant, Myeong Cheon felt an inexplicable chill.
The eyes of his foe, the Yeon family eldest son. In those eyes burned a pure flame unlike any he'd seen.
“...Found you.”
His heart burned hot. In the rift between life and death, even the Vermilion Bird Qi had awakened.
* * *
“Shouldn't we head in now?”
“...”
“Huigae?”
Then a massive explosion resounded.
Kwaang!
Even from this distance, it felt like their eardrums would burst. In the heart of that battlefield, they'd have needed every bit of inner energy to shield their ears.
Gadeuksang's eyes deepened.
'Young Master Yeon.'
He recalled his conversation with Yeon Hojeong.
'What?!'
'...'
'Are you insane? Do you know who Myeong Cheon is? He's the head of one of the world's top clans! At minimum, he's your father's equal!'
'I know.'
'Doesn't seem like it. Sure, go mad, but go mad properly. How do you plan to fight Myeong Cheon?! Just because you took out a few Myeong warriors doesn't mean he's a pushover!'
'I'd never think that.'
'Then why?! Even you can't beat Myeong Cheon!'
'I can win.'
'...!!'
'Experts below Myeong Cheon would be a handful. But him? I can beat him.'
'What kind of nonsense...'
'Besides, this is the last chance.'
'Last?'
'To catch the leader of the beasts coming to slaughter my family.'
'...'
'I told you to trust me? I trust you. So trust me too.'
'...Damn it.'
'I never lose.'
Gadeuksang had seen on Yeon Hojeong's face an indescribable grudge and immeasurable rage. Emotions piled so high they neither melted nor shattered.
The only way to release them was to crush the enemy he craved.
'Damn, even so.'
Frustrating as it was, the Yeon family had suffered no real losses yet. No cause for such deep grudge and fury.
But Gadeuksang couldn't stop Yeon Hojeong. He'd seen the anxiety, anticipation, and expectation wrapping those dark, fiery emotions.
His eyes had been complex, like a man who'd waited his whole life.
“Huigae.”
“If we go in now...”
Gadeuksang licked his dry lips.
“Going in now would turn it into a melee. Better to wait till the fight ends and surround the remnants.”
“But if it goes on like that, Young Master Yeon is in danger!”
“He said he can win.”
“Wh-what?”
“Let's trust him. I didn't call this sect leader and two Shaolin lay clans for a fight with them. It's to pin them down, keep 'em from twitching.”
“True, but...”
“Blood's flowed enough. No needless sacrifices.”
Then.
Pururuk.
A black bird plummeted from the high sky at terrifying speed.
Gadeuksang's eyes lit up. Rising, he extended his hand.
Padadak!
With elegant wingbeats, the bird landing on his wrist was a crow.
Gadeuksang hurriedly unrolled the letter tied to its ankle.
I Cheolgyeong tilted his head.
“From whom?”
“...Never mind.”
“Huh?”
Gadeuksang clenched his fist with a grin. Relief and release washed over his weary face.
“Martial world's public enemy declared.”