Chapter 93: Iron Demon Appears-3
Chapter 93: Iron Demon Appears-3
In the past life, when the Iron Ghost Demon first appeared, the Fifth Squad of the Thirteen Squads had been completely annihilated.
Dok Su-gwang had also died there along with his squad members.
The damage had not ended there.
The members of the Second Squad, who had received an emergency signal and gone to reinforce them, had also suffered devastating losses.
Even so, we had been forced to assess that we were fortunate in hindsight.
Because in our Thirteen Squads, there had been Lady Dang Yeoeun, a member of the Tang Family.
Soon, all the peak-level masters of the Thirteen Squads began to join forces against the Iron Ghost Demon, and even then, against the demon's skin which took not a scratch, Lady Dang had thrown every single poison she possessed.
With the mindset of clutching at straws, no matter what.
But that reckless method had ultimately found the answer. The method to catch that monstrous creature called the Iron Ghost Demon.
Before my eyes, the Iron Ghost Demon with the familiar face I had seen in my past life was rising to its feet.
The demon's thick, crimson glare licked over me.
"Seonwoo Jin! It's dangerous! Fall back!"
It was a worried cry from First Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong.
But I answered him with a faint smile.
"It's fine, First Squad Leader."
At that, Dok Su-gwang, who was beside me, scowled fiercely and shouted.
"Don't be so insolent! Unless you're a peak-level master, you can't possibly face that thing...?!"
Dok Su-gwang, who had been shouting, became aghast and could not finish his words.
Because upon the blade I had half-drawn, a vivid lavender energetic force had formed.
At the sword qi, as vivid as Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong's, Dok Su-gwang muttered with a horrified expression.
"...Peak-level?"
Dok Su-gwang was now unable to say anything.
But Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong shouted again.
"Even so, you can't do it alone. Sword qi doesn't work on that thing!"
I answered while watching the Iron Ghost Demon, which was growling like a beast and slowly approaching me.
"I know. And I didn't say I would face it alone."
At the same time, Squad Leader Seol Pung, Lady Cheongyeon, and Lady Dang landed beside Han Gyo-seong.
Tadak!
I glanced at that, then immediately charged at the Iron Ghost Demon.
Paang!
"Kreurrrr!"
The Iron Ghost Demon swung its arm like a wild beast at me as I rushed in.
Bwaaang!
But my charge was a feint — I immediately leaped up and passed over the demon.
Then the demon's startled gaze followed me upward, and at the same time, Squad Leader Seol Pung, who had shot forward like a meteor behind me, struck the demon hard in the stomach.
Pweooeong!
In an instant, the demon's body bounced away like a cannonball.
But Squad Leader Seol Pung's charge was faster than the demon's body flying backward.
Before anyone knew it, he had caught up to the flying Iron Ghost Demon, spun around once, and roundhouse kicked it.
Pweong!
Then the Iron Ghost Demon's body, which had been hurtling backward, plummeted vertically from the tremendous impact.
Above it, Squad Leader Seol Pung changed his direction mid-air as if dropping vertically and drove down like a thunderbolt.
Kkwaaang!
It was a tremendous strike, as if a meteor had truly crashed down.
But the squad leader did not stop there.
As if he intended to pound the Iron Ghost Demon lying on the ground into the earth below, he unleashed a storm-like chain of strikes.
The vivid crimson energetic force sheathing his hands created afterimages like a thousand-armed Guanyin.
"Wada-da-da-da-dat!"
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
It was a ferocious chain strike that seemed as if it would have bored a hole to the bottom even if a mountain had been there.
Everyone watched the spectacular attack, entranced.
But even so, the Iron Ghost Demon did not die.
When the demon swung its arm to strike Squad Leader Seol Pung, the squad leader lightly leaped and retreated backward.
Then he landed beside me and watched as the Iron Ghost Demon staggered to its feet.
The squad leader shook his head and said to me.
"It's incredible, just as you said."
"...Indeed. Truly incredible."
The squad leader was likely talking about the Iron Ghost Demon, but my comment was about the squad leader.
His attack against that formidable Iron Ghost Demon had not been entirely useless, after all.
The chest of the demon as it rose was caved in here and there.
It seemed the bones inside had probably been crushed.
Squad Leader Seol Pung's fierce assault had pummeled and shattered the demon's body.
To smash the Iron Ghost Demon with bare fists — it was a sight I had never witnessed even in my past life.
Gulp.
I had no way of gauging just what had happened while I was away, or just how far Squad Leader Seol Pung's skill had progressed.
But even then, the Iron Ghost Demon still moved, surveying its surroundings with crimson eyes.
I cleared my throat once and spoke to Lady Dang Yeoeun.
"Lady Dang, as I mentioned earlier, please."
At that, she looked at me and nodded silently.
Up until now, I had intentionally left things for Squad Leader Seol Pung to handle so he could experience the Iron Ghost Demon.
To show everyone that this creature could not be broken no matter what.
And then, so it could serve as a standard for future responses, I had planned to show everyone how to deal with the Iron Ghost Demon in cooperation with Lady Dang...
'...But it got broken?'
I had never imagined it could be reduced to rags like that.
Truly, it was astonishing.
With a slightly sheepish face, I looked at Squad Leader Seol Pung and said.
"Squad Leader, its gaze."
At that, the squad leader nodded once and charged at the demon again.
Pabak!
Then the demon growled and swung its arm.
Bwaaang!
But this time, the squad leader was the bait.
Squad Leader Seol Pung soared upward, dodging nimbly, and as the demon's gaze chased him, I had followed right behind and seized the demon's arm.
And in the next instant, the demon's body soared into the air with a whoosh, then was slammed into the ground.
Pweok!
It was the grappling technique from the Seonwoo family's brawling technique, the Gale Thirteen Strikes.
Having slammed the demon face-first into the ground, I held down one of its arms from behind and shouted.
"Squad Leader! The other arm!"
At that, Squad Leader Seol Pung immediately flew in and pinned down the demon's opposite arm.
We had restrained the demon's body, if only for a moment.
What came next didn't need to be spoken.
Lady Dang Yeoeun, who had immediately thrown herself after us, sprinkled Bone-Melting Powder in a long straight line on the back of the demon's neck and promptly withdrew.
We did the same.
"Kreurrrr!"
The moment we disengaged, the Iron Ghost Demon immediately rose to its feet, growling like a wounded beast and surveying us.
Perhaps due to the memory of being pummeled by Squad Leader Seol Pung, it didn't seem about to charge recklessly.
It seemed to be trying to assess the situation.
But everyone's attention was directed not at the demon displaying such cunning behavior unbefitting a demon, but toward its back.
Tssssss!
From the back of the demon's neck where the Bone-Melting Powder had been sprinkled, something was melting with a sound and white smoke was billowing out.
Han Gyo-seong spoke as if exhaling a sigh.
"It really... worked."
I slowly stepped forward and spoke.
"According to what I heard, the demon is extremely cunning but hasn't completely escaped its demonic instincts yet. So it still tends to fixate on its initial opponent. Its mouth is still a weak point, but it rarely opens its mouth. Which means there are almost no exposed weaknesses. However, upon contact with Bone-Melting Powder, the skin is said to gradually weaken. That's why you have to wait a moment after applying the Bone-Melting Powder. The effect becomes more pronounced as time passes."
And I looked at Squad Leader Seol Pung and said.
"Squad Leader, one more time, please."
At that, Squad Leader Seol Pung nodded and once again threw himself toward the Iron Ghost Demon.
It was to draw the demon's gaze once more.
When Squad Leader Seol Pung soared upward and the demon's gaze followed that way, I was already standing behind the demon's back.
Then, I looked at the back of the demon's neck, where white smoke was wafting up, and gripped my sword hilt.
I did not intend to use sword qi.
Instead, I recalled what Mukrang had said in my mind.
[Insert the blade where there is a gap, guide it along the cavity, follow that which is inherently so — cutting where there is space means merely following what is naturally there.]
And I drew my sword.
The white sword light cleaved the air as gently as the wind.
For a moment, it almost felt as if I had cut through the world itself.
A soft sensation, as if nothing had caught on the blade's edge.
A little while later, as I slowly returned the extended sword to its scabbard, the Iron Ghost Demon's head slowly slid forward.
It was a moment after its massive body collapsed with a thud.
***
After the battle, the assembled personnel began to collect the bodies of the dead Fifth Squad members and the Iron Ghost Demon.
Since a staggering seven of the eleven Fifth Squad members had died, despite the victory, the atmosphere within the area was extremely quiet and somber.
Seol Pung collected the Iron Ghost Demon's corpse and felt over its body.
The hard, stiff texture, like touching whale hide, was unfamiliar.
It was supposed to be the skin of something that had once been human, yet its strength, capable of withstanding energetic force, made a hollow laugh escape him.
Just then, First Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong approached Seol Pung and spoke.
"You did well to beat that thing to pieces. I couldn't even scratch it."
Seol Pung answered with a bitter smile.
"Wasn't it of little use? In the end, what killed the demon was the Bone-Melting Powder, just as Seonwoo Jin said."
"Hmph, if you'd pummeled it a bit more, seems like you might have just beaten it to death anyway? Now I don't think I could ever beat you with my skills. You've gotten too strong. Did you get some kind of fortunate encounter during deployment?"
In Han Gyo-seong's eyes as he asked that, deep envy was bleeding through.
A gaze filled with a desire to purely acknowledge the opponent's strength and try to learn something from it.
Though it was unfamiliar to those in the Thirteen Squads, who had only ever seen him as the lazy expert, it was also the very essence of what had originally made Han Gyo-seong called a genius.
Seol Pung smiled faintly and answered.
"I had a bit of enlightenment regarding what the Sword Saint Elder taught me previously. I was dull, so I only now understood what he meant."
"Hmph, the Sword Saint Elder. When he returns, I should ask him for some guidance too."
While Seol Pung and Han Gyo-seong were having that conversation, Seonwoo Jin was securing the Iron Ghost Demon's head, which had come off.
And he looked at its face closely.
The face of the Iron Ghost Demon, not casting its crimson glare, did not look fierce at all.
Rather, from its firmly shut lips and masculine features, an aura like a great hero of the orthodox faction could be felt.
And Seonwoo Jin thought that assumption might be correct.
The identity of the man before he became the Iron Ghost Demon had probably been a hero of the orthodox faction.
'There's no way they made him learn martial arts after he became a demon. The martial prowess at the upper level of first-class must have originally belonged to this person. And according to what Elder Seok said, it would have taken quite a long time to complete the Iron Ghost Demon, so this person is probably....'
Seonwoo Jin guessed where this man might have been captured by the Blood Cult followers.
That location was probably the first place they should investigate.
Perhaps where demons were being produced....
As Seonwoo Jin was having those thoughts while looking at the Iron Ghost Demon's head, Dang Yeoeun abruptly approached from behind and asked.
"Is it a face you know?"
Seonwoo Jin, who had already sensed her approaching, smiled faintly and answered naturally.
"No. I was just trying to guess. Where this person might have come from."
And he abruptly asked her.
"Ah, my lady. By any chance, would there be people in the Dang Clan who could analyze the skin of something like this?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I've heard they are already researching the Liver Demons, Owl Demons, and Spider Demons."
"That's good. Then could I also request an analysis of this Iron Ghost Demon? How it could have such skin. And why it's vulnerable to the Bone-Melting Powder. And also whether there might be other methods besides the Bone-Melting Powder. And while they're at it, if they could also find out who this person originally was, that would be even better."
At Seonwoo Jin's words, Dang Yeoeun answered with a bright laugh.
It was a clear smile she rarely showed in front of others.
"Of course. The folks at the main family would actually be delighted."
And she hesitated briefly, then added a small sentence.
"I'm glad you came back safely. I was worried."
Having said that, Dang Yeoeun immediately turned and distanced herself from Seonwoo Jin.
She had spoken with her head bowed and immediately turned away, so her face could not be seen, but Seonwoo Jin was able to confirm that her ears had turned slightly red.
With his chest feeling inexplicably warm, he smiled as he watched her hastily move away.
And there were two people watching that Seonwoo Jin.
One of them was Dok Su-gwang.
He was glaring at Seonwoo Jin with smoldering eyes.
A worthless wretch from a negligible sect that wasn't even one of the Nine Great Sects, a pig-like bastard who was nothing more than a second-rate when he first came to the Thirteen Squads, and a stupid fool who crawled into Seol Pung's squad calling that loser his idol.
That very wretch had, at some point, surpassed Dok Su-gwang himself, and even appeared as a peak-level master.
Dok Su-gwang could not possibly accept that fact.
Nor could he accept that the wretch had taken care of a demon he himself couldn't handle.
And above all, that the wretch was now superior to him.
The hot flames of jealousy blazed fiercely in Dok Su-gwang's eyes.
And the other person watching Seonwoo Jin.
She was none other than Hae Cheong-yeon.
Having let her hair down to cover her eyes again since leaving San-geom-mun, she was watching Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun expressionlessly with eyes hidden in her hair.
The expression on Seonwoo Jin's face as he talked with Dang Yeoeun, the sight of her blushing with a completely different expression from her usual cold demeanor and distancing herself from Seonwoo Jin, and the sight of Seonwoo Jin smiling at that Dang Yeoeun....
Since there was no expression at all, no one could notice, but her gaze, hidden beneath her hair, was shaking like violent waves.
Just like her heart.