Jamma Cave First Trial (2)
Demonic qi.
An energy only the demonic practitioners of the Demonic Cult could wield—a force so overwhelming it could rightly be called heaven-defying.
The Orthodox factions loathed demonic arts with a passion, claiming that demonic qi slowly corrupted a martial artist’s reason and sanity.
But Shin Gi-woon, who now carried that demonic qi inside him, knew better. That was nothing more than propaganda leaflets the Orthodox bastards had been spreading.
Of course the amount he held was too small to confirm everything, yet the true power of demonic qi lay in its raw destructive force.
No. 1 flinched. Mid-lunge he twisted aside in a desperate scramble. Shin Gi-woon’s spear skimmed past his cheek by a hair’s breadth.
Wiping the blood that ran down with his forearm, No. 1’s eyes shook with more panic than they ever had before.
“You can already handle demonic qi…?”
“I’m not used to controlling it either, so watch yourself.”
Whoosh!
Shin Gi-woon’s figure vanished. Neither No. 1 nor No. 999 caught so much as a blur of the speed.
And the place he reappeared was—
“No. 1! Behind you!”
“Ugh!”
No. 1 had been staring straight ahead, completely exposed. At No. 999’s shout from the rear, he spun around in a panic—but it was already far too late.
Crack!
“Gah!”
The shaft of the spear smashed into him and sent No. 1 tumbling across the dirt. He had drawn on his internal energy too late; the impact slammed through him unbuffered.
“Damn it…”
Spitting a mouthful of bloody saliva, No. 1 forced himself upright. One clean hit had cracked his ribs.
Proper movement was all but impossible now. Sensing how badly things had turned, No. 999 stepped in front of him.
So the story about them being childhood friends hadn’t been a lie after all.
An archer taking the front line—an absurd formation that was as good as admitting defeat.
No. 999’s eyes burned. Shin Gi-woon had thought people of the Demonic Cult were bloodless and tearless, yet the way these two looked out for each other was more righteous than any of those Orthodox dogs.
That was why he did not finish them.
“Your names.”
“Why? Gonna kill us?”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
No. 1 stared at Shin Gi-woon’s blood-red eyes for a moment, then let out a short laugh.
“Ma Ra-jin.”
“Bi So-hyang.”
“Shin Gi-woon. I’m heading up first—see you later.”
Without a shred of lingering attachment, Shin Gi-woon sprinted for the summit. Ma Ra-jin and Bi So-hyang watched his back for a beat, then—
“Kid’s got a soft heart. Not very Demonic Cult of him.”
“You idiot. You should’ve stayed sharp—look at the state you’re in!”
No. 999 brought her fist down on No. 1’s head. She would never have gotten the chance if he weren’t already hurt.
“Ow! That hurts! Neither of us can even touch demonic qi yet—what the hell is that guy?”
“No idea. He’s a real freak.”
The way Shin Gi-woon had wielded demonic qi left both of them speechless with awe.
Demonic qi was something you never touched until you reached a certain realm. One wrong move and it could devour your sense of self and kill you outright.
At the very least you needed to be somewhere between Second-Class and First-Class before you even tried.
“I knew he was a monster, but damn—he really is one.”
“Just get up. If we’re late, all the divine weapons will be gone.”
“Aagh! No consideration for the wounded?!”
“Want me to leave you behind?”
At Bi So-hyang’s glare, Ma Ra-jin scratched the back of his head. Injured as he was, she could abandon him whenever she felt like it.
For now he had no choice but to follow her lead and move together.
Meanwhile Shin Gi-woon, having dropped the two of them, finally reached the summit where the instructors had gathered.
There, looking thoroughly at ease as she toyed with the divine weapons, stood Se-hwa. The sheer leisure of her pose left him momentarily speechless.
Hah. I sent this brat ahead and she’s living it up?
Whether she sensed his thoughts or not, she greeted him brightly.
“Looks like you had a scrap.”
“Pushed myself a little… Never figured you’d be up here lounging around.”
“Haha, sorry, sorry.”
Using demonic qi had been a gamble even for Shin Gi-woon. But it was the only weapon that could flip the situation.
If he wanted to rattle his opponents while exploding his internal power, demonic qi was the only option.
The plan had worked perfectly; he had reached the summit without further interference.
Still, he couldn’t openly show how annoyed he was, so he needled her a little instead.
“Nothing catch your eye?”
“Nah. Figured if I went down too early I’d just have to fight again, so I was taking a break.”
“…”
Se-hwa answered with perfect nonchalance. Shin Gi-woon’s mouth twisted.
He had planned to fight alongside her, but before that he had been forced to reveal demonic qi against Ma Ra-jin and Bi So-hyang’s joint assault.
And now that he had finally arrived, she was acting like she had all the free time in the world. Of course it grated.
“Since you’re here, I’ll pick this one.”
Se-hwa selected one of the divine weapons she had been handling.
It was a longsword of deep, lustrous black—clearly forged with ten-thousand-year cold iron.
As the first to arrive she had first pick; next came Shin Gi-woon by natural right.
He studied the weapons laid out with calm eyes. Spears were scarce.
Probably because so few candidates used them. Only a single spear among the lot could truly be called a divine weapon.
“I’ll take this.”
Shin Gi-woon chose the long spear whose blade caught and threw the sunlight.
He had no real choice, yet the moment his hand closed around it he understood: this weapon had been made for him and no one else.
Not many spear users among the candidates, and I’m already one of the stronger ones in Jamma Cave…
Maybe the whole point of this trial was to hand divine weapons to the candidates who stood out.
He decided to think of it that way.
“Let’s go.”
As he and Se-hwa started down from the peak, Shin Gi-woon spotted Ma Ra-jin being carried on Bi So-hyang’s back.
“Shin Gi-woon! Next time we fight for real!”
“I’d welcome it.”
“Thanks for sparing us. We’ll talk more once we’re down.”
The two of them offered the greetings they had left unfinished; Shin Gi-woon answered with a simple nod, and that was the end of it.
On the way up they had bickered nonstop, but looking at them now, all that sniping had just been play.
Looks like this is going to be fun.
They had descended a fair distance when the coppery reek of blood in the air rose up to greet them.
The front-runners had not fought for their lives, but farther back the struggle had been a bloodbath.
The lower they went, the worse it became. Most of the candidates still climbing the peak were in rough shape.
“Get ready. Looks like we’re about to fight.”
Shin Gi-woon prepared for battle on pure instinct. The number of people still climbing was vanishingly small.
Which meant they were either dead or waiting below.
Plenty of daylight remained, so there was no telling how many candidates were still down there waiting.
The thought had barely formed when—
“Hey, it’s No. 295 and No. 7.”
“Only two of them? Easy pickings.”
“I’ve hated those bastards from the start.”
Candidates drenched in blood burst out from every direction. Even a rough count put them well over fifty.
He had never expected them to gather in numbers like this. A mild surprise.
“You all trust the guy next to you? He could turn on you and stab you in the side any second.”
“Trying to provoke us? If you meant to sow cracks, you’ve failed.”
“No. 42…”
The most striking figure in the pack was No. 42. Clearly he was the ringleader holding this mob of fifty-plus together.
Se-hwa drew her sword, cold killing intent coiling around her. These were not people you could talk to.
But Shin Gi-woon raised his right arm and stopped her.
Se-hwa frowned and sent a sound transmission.
Are you crazy? No point wasting strength on bastards you can’t reason with.
Talk won’t work, but force will. Just watch.
I can fight too—
Ah-ah. The one who was lounging around earlier can keep lounging till the end.
Grr…!
The Demonic Cult lived by the law of the strong. Among that crowd there were bound to be more than a few who had been forced under No. 42’s thumb.
All he needed to do was show them, crystal clear, who the real power on this mountain was.
“Fair warning. Come at me and I won’t hold back—I’ll kill you.”
“Hilarious. Attack!”
“You asked for it.”
The ragtag candidates charged Shin Gi-woon and Se-hwa. Se-hwa did not move.
She really had been taking it easy at the summit; this time she decided to listen to him.
“Duck!!”
Se-hwa dropped low at once. Shin Gi-woon stamped the ground hard, poured a massive surge of internal power into the spear blade, and spun a full circle.
Slash—!
Blood fountained upward. With a single technique, the heads of ten candidates went flying into the sky.
No. 42 had not even managed to track Shin Gi-woon’s movement.
One full turn, and every idiot who had rushed him was dead—heads gone even though they had been standing in completely different spots.
No. 295 was this strong?
Shock rippled through No. 42 and his followers. Shin Gi-woon, however, had not the slightest intention of stopping there.
You don’t bring a rabble like this against me!
The more enemies he faced, the more the principles woven into his martial arts multiplied exponentially.
This was nothing less than Shin Gi-woon’s personal playground.
A trap far clumsier than Ma Ra-jin and Bi So-hyang’s joint assault—he could clean it up alone without even using demonic qi.
“Last warning. Come at me and you die.”
“Ugh!”
“What are you hesitating for?! Just rush him all at once—”
Whiiish!
Before No. 42 could finish the sentence, the spear Shin Gi-woon hurled with everything he had punched straight through the man’s lung.
For a brief moment the sound of air escaping could be heard; then No. 42’s pupils dilated and he died where he stood.
“I-impossible… No. 42 in one hit?”
“R-run! That monster’s a freak!”
Terror seized No. 42’s pack. The instant they saw their leader drop in a single blow, they turned tail and fled for their lives.
“Because of those two, right? That’s why you took out No. 42 first.”
“Yeah. With those injuries it might’ve been rough for them.”
The only reason Shin Gi-woon had gone out of his way to eliminate No. 42 alone was for Ma Ra-jin and Bi So-hyang.
After crossing martial arts with them directly, he had decided there was no downside to getting closer.
The problem was Ma Ra-jin’s cracked ribs; he could not show his real strength.
If they ran into No. 42’s mob in that condition, they would take serious damage for sure.
They might not die, but one of them could easily end up crippled.
Some might call it pointless kindness.
But once this trial was over, he intended to deepen his ties with the two of them.
“Let’s go.”
Shin Gi-woon and Se-hwa were the first to return to the training grounds of Jamma Cave.
Ma Ra-jin and Bi So-hyang followed soon after, and other candidates continued to trickle in one after another.
The first trial ended without any major upheaval. Two hundred seventy-eight survivors.
Out of four hundred candidates, one hundred twenty-two had died in the first trial.