Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: 7. Rising Where You Fell (3)
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Dam Ho's robes fluttered wildly.
A fierce shock coursed through his entire body, his feet carving deep furrows into the ground as he was pushed back a good distance.
Slide!
Dam Ho circulated the Mid-Heaven Heart Formula to hold his ground. Only after a weight like a boulder took root in the earth did his body finally stop.
His face, briefly distorted by the wind pressure, returned to normal, and pain shot through his palm.
"S-Sasuk?"
Won Ho's startled cry reached him, but he didn't respond.
All his focus was on the masked assailant.
Through the slits in the mask, he could see the attacker's eyes waver momentarily, as if they hadn't expected their strike to be blocked.
"You dare!"
A voice like polished jade leaked from beneath the mask.
'A woman?'
In that instant, the assailant lunged again.
Swoosh!
In a flash, her hands multiplied into dozens.
"Be careful, Ho Ya. That's the Demonic Cult's Dark Heaven Blazing Fire Palm."
A desperate voice came from behind—Hyeon So Jin-in.
Though twenty years had passed, Hyeon So remembered it clearly. Countless Mount Hua Sect warriors had fallen to the Dark Heaven Blazing Fire Palm.
'So it really is the Demonic Cult.'
Hyeon So's body twitched with aftershocks.
Boom boom boom!
Explosive blasts erupted as she swung her palms. That was the telltale sign of the Dark Heaven Blazing Fire Palm.
Hyeon So flinched. It looked like Dam Ho's body was about to be torn apart.
But Dam Ho didn't budge.
With his left foot sunk into the earth up to the ankle, he stood like an unyielding ancient tree.
Won Ho and the second-generation disciples stared in shock.
"How...?"
Their astonishment was short-lived, replaced by doubt.
The Dam Ho they knew was a cripple. Because of that, he hadn't properly learned martial arts and had been cast aside even within the Mount Hua Sect.
If not for being Hyeon So Jin-in's disciple, he wouldn't have been treated as human. His presence in the sect had been that negligible.
Yet the Dam Ho before them now shattered all their common sense and prejudices.
Thud thud thud!
Dam Ho deflected, redirected, and countered the assailant's Dark Heaven Blazing Fire Palm with both hands.
"No way... Fallen Leaf Hand?"
Won Ho's eyes shook.
The Fallen Leaf Hand was a technique every secular disciple of the Mount Hua Sect learned. Won Ho had only skimmed the surface himself, but he knew it well enough. Yet the Fallen Leaf Hand he knew wasn't powerful enough to stand against a Demonic Cult ultimate art.
Won Ho and the second-generation disciples gaped.
"Sasuk, have you been hiding your true strength all this time?"
Clack clack clack!
Dam Ho's hands and the assailant's intertwined fiercely.
Blood trickled from Dam Ho's mouth. As Won Ho guessed, the art he was using was indeed the Fallen Leaf Hand.
But matching the Dark Heaven Blazing Fire Palm—one of the Demonic Cult's prized ultimate techniques—with the Fallen Leaf Hand was impossible from the start.
Each clash shook his organs. The impacts rattling his insides were inflicting internal injuries.
Still, Dam Ho didn't retreat because his master, Hyeon So Jin-in, was at his back. If he broke, Hyeon So's life would be in peril.
'Master!'
"Hmm!"
The opponent tilted her head, then leaped back. Only then could Dam Ho catch his breath.
"Sasuk!"
Dam Ho raised a hand to stop Won Ho and the others from approaching.
They didn't yet grasp the enemy's strength. But Dam Ho, having exchanged blows directly, knew.
This was barely scratching the surface of her true power. Bringing others in without knowing her depths was too dangerous.
"Escort Master and fall back."
"But..."
As Won Ho hesitated, Dam Ho's gaze turned icy.
"This is the first and last order I give as a first-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. Get out of here."
Won Ho and the second-generation disciples flinched.
Dam Ho, mocked as the "Unrunning Dog" who couldn't flee, had been the butt of jokes among the Mount Hua disciples.
But the pressure and presence he exuded now were overwhelming enough to choke them.
"Sasuk!"
"No, Ho Ya. I won't leave you behind."
Hyeon So Jin-in's voice echoed through the ravine.
"I know. Master would never abandon me."
"Hold on just a bit longer. The other disciples will come."
Dam Ho shook his head slightly at Hyeon So's anguished plea.
The battle was evenly matched overall. No one had the spare attention for this spot—not even Cheon Heo Jin-in or Mu Kyung...
Protecting Hyeon So was solely his burden.
"I'll catch up soon. Go on ahead."
"Ho Ya."
"I promise."
"You mean it?"
"Yes!"
"Then we'll go. You're not the type to break a promise."
Hyeon So turned his weakened body away. The second-generation disciples escorted him out of the ravine.
Even as he walked, Hyeon So couldn't tear his eyes from Dam Ho's back.
'Ho Ya!'
Tears welled up unbidden.
The masked figure moved to pursue them. Dam Ho sidestepped.
Flinch!
The mask's eye slits narrowed.
Dam Ho was riddled with openings. Yet he radiated a solidity that more than covered them.
An unyielding will, felt only from those resolute in purpose, emanated from him.
"Hoo."
The masked figure sighed.
Blood flowed through the ravine, death settling everywhere.
Suddenly, she removed her mask, revealing her true face.
Dam Ho's eyes shook.
Hidden beneath was, unexpectedly, the face of a strikingly beautiful girl.
Jet-black hair cascading in three tiers contrasted with her exceptionally pale skin, delicate features, and eyes colder than ice.
She spoke.
"You're a Mount Hua disciple?"
Dam Ho nodded silently. Her gaze chilled.
"What a fateful enmity."
"Demonic Cult?"
"Some call us that, but we call ourselves the Divine Cult."
"Divine Cult?"
"A much nicer name, don't you think?"
"What is the Divine Cult doing here?"
"This place is called the Heavenly Gold Demon Prison, a vast thunderous jail at the ravine's end where the Divine Cult imprisons its sinners. That's our home."
"Heavenly Gold Demon Prison?"
"With nowhere left to hide on earth, it was our final refuge. But you've discovered us today."
Dam Ho's brow twitched. Her eyes grew even colder.
After fleeing the Central Plains war, the Demonic Cult had hidden here and rebuilt their strength. When supplies ran low, they raided passing merchant caravans. They'd survived twenty years this way.
"Dreaming of revenge on the Central Plains?"
"Some do."
"Sounds like others don't."
"Think what you like."
The girl assumed a ready stance against Dam Ho. Killing intent rose from her entire body.
"What's your name?"
"Why?"
"You're the first person I'll kill. I should at least remember your name."
"Thanks! Dam Ho. My name is Dam Ho."
"I won't forget, Dam Ho. I'm Eun Yu-kyung."
Flash!
The girl who named herself Eun Yu-kyung launched at Dam Ho, unleashing the Dark Heaven Blazing Fire Palm's final form: White Lotus Drifting Snow.
The air filled with her hand shadows.
At the same time, Dam Ho shot forward.
A charging step like a battering ram assaulting a gate—Charging Step.
Boom!
Deep footprints cratered the ground as his body rocketed straight ahead. The disability in his left foot was no longer an obstacle.
Inner energy gathered via the Mid-Heaven Heart Formula concentrated in his right fist.
Screeech!
Charging Step into Breaking Star Hammer.
Everything he had was in this strike.
Kwaaang!
Breaking Star Hammer clashed with White Lotus Drifting Snow.
"Keuk!"
A fountain of blood sprayed as someone flew back. Rolling bloodied on the ground—it was Dam Ho.
His body was riddled with wounds like he'd been stabbed by daggers. Some were so deep bone showed.
Dam Ho struggled to rise. It was miraculous he was still alive with such injuries.
But Eun Yu-kyung's expression wasn't relaxed.
Her gaze went to her left shoulder, swollen and dangling. Dam Ho's strike had dislocated it.
Chills crept up her neck.
'If his blow had been just a bit stronger, my arm would have been torn off at the shoulder.'
Her organs churned—precursors to internal injury. No, she already had them. Her trembling legs proved it.
'This man...'
Eun Yu-kyung's eyes deepened.
Dam Ho was the first man to ever make her shiver. It saddened her that she had to kill him herself.
"I'm sorry. Really sorry."
"Don't treat me like I'm dead already. I'm still alive like this."
Dam Ho spat blood-mixed phlegm and glared at Eun Yu-kyung. Though battered, his eyes remained unbroken.
His spirit wouldn't yield to wounds that made even moving agony.
Then—
Rumble!
The entire ravine shook like an earthquake.
Eun Yu-kyung sighed.
"It's already starting."
"Starting?"
Whoosh!
As Dam Ho looked puzzled, a long rope suddenly whipped out, snaring Eun Yu-kyung's waist.
She soared into the air like a hooked fish and vanished in an instant. It happened so fast Dam Ho could only stare blankly.
Kwaaaang!
An explosion rocked one side of the ravine right after.
Cheon Heo Jin-in's face paled at the sudden blast.
"Thunderbolt Bomb?"
"Heh heh! We're all dying here, you fools!"
His opponent chuckled lowly.
The man's eyes were already resigned to death.
"Mutual destruction?"
"There's no place left for us in this world. So we all die together. Eternal Sacred Flame, look upon us. We burn this body to join you."
"Eternal Sacred Flame, look upon us."
The Demonic Cult warriors, battling the orthodox fighters, chanted after their leader.
Cheon Heo Jin-in roared like a lion at their death-defying stance.
"They're going for mutual destruction! Everyone, get out of the ravine now!"
The orthodox warriors unleashed lightness skills in panic.
Wudang fighters used Jeun Jong, Zhongnan used Floating Cloud Step.
Mu Kyung grasped the gravity and shouted to his disciples.
"Everyone, lightness skills—full speed out of here!"
"Uwaaak!"
Mount Hua disciples poured on their lightness skills, Mu Kyung and Un Kyung following.
"Ah!"
Mu Kyung halted his lightness skill briefly.
"What?"
Un Kyung's face hardened following his gaze.
Massive torrents of earth and rocks collapsed from both ravine sides, with Dam Ho standing in the center.
Dam Ho heaved ragged breaths, unable to move easily due to wounds from Eun Yu-kyung.
Un Kyung cried out.
"We must save Cheon Kyung!"
"Too late."
Mu Kyung shook his head firmly.
"Sahyung?"
"Trying to save Cheon Kyung gets us killed too. We abandon him."
"Cheon Kyung is our junior brother. And Sahyung, you're our eldest. We can't abandon him."
Un Kyung glared at Mu Kyung, but he was resolute.
"Nothing matters more than Mount Hua to me. Cheon Kyung matters, but not more than the other disciples."
"Sahyung!"
Un Kyung cried out in anguish, but Mu Kyung didn't blink.
"By authority of the eldest brother, I order: Junior brother Un Kyung, full-speed lightness skill now."
"Under...stood."
Un Kyung obeyed in the end.
As he followed Mu Kyung's lightness skill, he looked back at Dam Ho. Self-reproach filled his eyes.
'Forgive me, Cheon Kyung. That's why I tried so hard not to bring you. Never forgive me for failing to save you.'
He and Mu Kyung vanished amid the falling rocks.
Dam Ho watched them go wordlessly.
Roars filled the air, yet their conversation rang crystal clear oddly enough. The brush with death had sharpened his senses.
Cheon Heo Jin-in passed him by. His clenched lips stood out vividly.
Yeon So-ha looked at him with pity. But even she didn't dare approach. After hesitating, she leaped out of the ravine.
'I'm sorry.'
Wudang warriors vanished, Zhongnan followed. Finally, the Mount Hua warriors fled the ravine.
Some escaped safely, others crushed by rocks with screams. But their cries were soon buried in earth.
Dam Ho was left alone.
"Master."
Darkness engulfed him.