One Against Thirty
Everyone was exhausted. Not just Shin Gi-woon — the entire party.
The deputy leader was a wreck. Gi-woon and Se-hwa had burned through considerable inner energy over the drawn-out battle.
And then came the fight just to break out of the branch. Kunlun's disciples had charged them as if they were staring at their parents' murderers.
Ma Ra-jin, Bi So-hyang, and Sama Yul — relatively fresher than the rest — had held them off, but even they were teetering on the edge of their limits.
There were simply too many. And none of them were pushovers.
Should we have used the secret passage?
The regret came too late. But the fighting in the east still hadn't ended. Showing up there out of nowhere would only get in the way.
Even as he told himself this was still the best path, the regret wouldn't leave him alone.
Getting back is a problem too.
He carefully reexamined the situation. Had the Chief Instructor really predicted this? Moved the Manbyeonchuhon Corps Commander just for a Jamma Cave exam?
Absurd. An Extreme Demon expert wouldn't mobilize that easily. It had to be a solo operation.
Which meant Lee Hyeong-seop had issued this order for one reason only: the strategy of killing with a borrowed knife.
To complete the mission, we have to reach Jamma Cave. But if I make it back alive, Lee Hyeong-seop will kill me.
Lee Hyeong-seop was a Transcendent expert. Not some Kunlun Mad Sword level — he was touching the Extreme Demon realm. Peak Transcendent. Fighting him with this body…
Suicide.
Fuck. Die if I do, die if I don't?
This was why he hated being weak. The range of choices itself was so much narrower than a strong person's. There was a reason he'd clawed so hard to get stronger.
Of course, the others still thought returning to Jamma Cave was the final goal. Bringing it up here felt awkward.
Explain one thing and he'd have to explain everything. So the choice Shin Gi-woon made was—
"Everyone head up to Jamma Cave first."
"What about you?!"
"Someone has to hold off the pursuers. Alone, I'll be enough."
Send the party ahead. Lee Hyeong-seop's target was almost certainly him.
Consuming Gang-cheol's inner core, plus becoming the youngest Peak expert… whatever group the bastard belonged to, he'd definitely marked Gi-woon as a threat. And Se-hwa and the rest were all children of high-ranking houses.
The only one with no one behind him was Shin Gi-woon. As long as he alone failed to return, the others wouldn't be in danger. That was the conclusion.
"Are you insane? How are you supposed to hold them alone in that condition?!"
"Trust me. I'm Shin Gi-woon."
"Don't give me that bullshit! We die together!"
Ma Ra-jin grabbed Gi-woon by the collar. His eyes burned with rage. He was genuinely furious.
"What the hell does some mission matter?! If you can't protect even one comrade, it's all over!"
"…Ma Ra-jin. That's an order. Return to the Cult."
"You little—!!"
"Calm down."
Bi So-hyang stopped Ma Ra-jin. They were in the middle of a battlefield. They'd only just broken out of the secret branch.
This kind of infighting was the last thing they needed. Fortunately, he coldly released the collar.
Instead, Bi So-hyang started grilling him.
"What's the plan? There's a reason you're staying, right?"
"I'll tell you when we get back."
"Talk. Unless you want a hole in your head."
Bi So-hyang's gaze was murderous. She looked ready to actually loose an arrow. No one was going to stop her.
The rescue target — the deputy leader — merely watched with interest. He was a complete outsider.
"Can't you just… trust me this once?"
"Is that even a question?"
"Hey. You know the person who told me to calm down is angrier than I am?"
"Shut your mouth, you bastard."
Ma Ra-jin tried to pick a fight, but under Bi So-hyang's glare he scratched the back of his head. It was the first time he'd seen her this furious.
He understood where it came from. Saying he'd stay alone was the same as saying he'd die.
They hadn't reached Cult territory yet. If the goal was to stop the pursuit, staying together was the right call.
That was what his head said. But he had to be alone.
If someone's dying, it should be me alone.
A useless hypothetical. But if the Manbyeonchuhon Corps Commander finished the fight and left the battlefield—
Every force at the branch would immediately push into Cult territory. Six exhausted people had zero chance of stopping them.
Even assuming they raced back to Jamma Cave now, their side was exhausted and slow. If they got caught, it was a massacre.
"Go. I won't say it twice."
"You really—!"
"Bi So-hyang. Are you planning to disobey the squad leader's orders?"
Just as Bi So-hyang raised her voice, Se-hwa cut in and stopped her. She exchanged a look with Gi-woon.
Doubt in her eyes — can you do this? Gi-woon answered with a reassuring smile. That was enough.
"All units, return to Jamma Cave. The squad leader will cover our rear."
"Grr—!"
"That's an order!"
At Se-hwa's sharp command, everyone but Gi-woon turned. They wouldn't listen when the squad leader spoke, but they followed Se-hwa just fine.
It had been a guess before, but now he thought he knew who Se-hwa really was. He decided not to say it out loud.
He wanted this relationship to keep going as it was.
Gi-woon smiled once and turned away.
"Go! Now!"
You die and you're fucking dead, you bastard.
Se-hwa sent one last sound transmission and gradually pulled away. The others, feet still stuck to the ground, followed after her.
At last, he was alone. And as if their disappearance had been a signal, a force that looked to number in the dozens surrounded Shin Gi-woon.
"What the hell. This is main-sect dispatch level."
"Filthy Demonic Cult scum! How dare you raid our branch!!"
"We'll handle this one. The rest of you go after the ones who—"
"Where do you think you're going?"
A low rumble rolled out as Gi-woon raised his inner energy, and the Kunlun disciples froze. They'd been underestimating him as just one kid.
He was a Peak expert. Exhausted, yes — but still a formidable fighter.
His energy was so fierce that not one of them tried to leave. The moment anyone moved, death felt ready to fall.
"You're all dying right here."
"Draw swords, all of you!"
Steel rang as the Kunlun disciples formed a sword formation and surrounded Gi-woon on all sides. The presence rolling off them easily surpassed Peak level.
He couldn't hold them alone. Worst case, he died right here. But somehow—
Why does this make me smile?
The faint smell of blood in the air. The human madness you only found on a battlefield. Body and mind both worn to the bone.
All of it was pushing Gi-woon's senses to the absolute limit. He remembered the past, when he'd always chased only the strong.
Back then, too, he'd charged at the strong ready to die. It hadn't been a group fight like this — but he wasn't truly alone here either.
Ryu-jin. Can you do this?
If you give me permission, as much as you want.
Then let's run wild together.
Whether it was his imagination or not, he thought he saw Ryu-jin smile. A sign of agreement.
Gi-woon let his spear hang long and closed his eyes. A moment of life and death.
Silence blanketed the battlefield. Someone swallowed dryly in the tension.
Gi-woon's eyes slowly opened.
"Open."
"He's coming! Form the defensive—"
Wings of flame unfurl — the first Demonic Magic takes flight.
Flame roared. Gi-woon's feet left the ground. His body floated upward. The Kunlun disciples stared at his ascent in shock.
"Th-that's impossible!!"
"A human flying through the sky?!"
He was flying. The Void-Step technique said to be usable only upon reaching the Profound Realm.
With fire wings unfurled, Shin Gi-woon was flying through the sky — ignoring the limits of humanity.
Ugh. Is this actually working right?
I'm concentrating, so shut up already!
Shit.
Of course, the expressionless Gi-woon was nursing a headache inside.
Ever since Ryu-jin had coiled up in his upper dantian, Gi-woon had started studying things beyond martial arts. At first he'd approached it as studying sorcery.
But as time passed, he realized. Ryu-jin's power wasn't sorcery. No concept that existed in this world could explain it.
That was when he discarded the idea of being bound by frameworks. If a concept couldn't be explained — you just established a new one.
This was the result. A technique that handed partial control of his body to Ryu-jin and opened a portion of her power.
What would one day be called the first Demonic Magic. A secret art only Shin Gi-woon could use — the All-Power Realm.
Control it properly. Or I die.
I said don't talk to me!!
Of course, this was the first time he'd used it in real combat. He hadn't even shown it to his companions yet.
The key feature of the All-Power Realm: it used pure demonic energy alone, not inner energy.
Gi-woon had deliberately conserved his demonic energy until now. Only once the stage was set for him to run wild alone did he open his full power.
First, a demonstration.
Flame surged. When Gi-woon gripped his spear, the fire qi of the Fire Wings poured into the blade. White Fang Spear, encountering fire qi for the first time, hummed in mild surprise.
Well — forcing fire into a spear that stored cold energy was a bit of a dirty trick.
Hang in there a little longer.
At least until every last pursuer was burned to ash.
Gi-woon's eyes burned redder than they ever had.
"All-out attack!!"
The desperate struggle of one versus thirty raised its curtain.