Deep Fire
Jang Cheon slowly raised his half-sword. The enemy seized the momentary gap to catch his breath. The abruptly shifting situation, the reinforcements swarming in, the terrifying unknown aura closing in at horrifying speed—all of it was deliberate. Even dangling a sliver of hope to block any escape.
"You're having quite the interesting conversation."
A joint assault from two Transformation Realm experts would pack a hundredfold power. Not wrong. But could a hundred mantises halt a chariot? As if.
The more forces they concentrated here, the better. That child's existence had to be utterly erased from their minds.
Kiiiiing— A bizarre sound emanated from the half-sword. The blade trembled, unable to withstand the excessively compressed inner energy.
"He's coming! Be careful, Cheonri Dokhaeng! Avoid direct clashes if possible! The enemy wields some freakish demonic art!"
Cheonri Dokhaeng nodded. He wielded a massive greatsword—nearly a hundred geun of heavy wrought iron. Pure, unadulterated clashes of inner energy were his specialty. Yet he evaded. Because it was advice from no less than a Transformation Realm master. When you didn't know the foe, you followed all the more.
Shaaak!Kwaang!
He twisted his greatsword with masterful precision, deflecting the incoming strike—Taesan Jinbyeok, a form that prioritized defense over counterattack. The deflected sword qi exploded with a chilling screech. A stray black arc lashed out and shattered a nearby stone wall.
Cheonri Dokhaeng muttered, "This mad bastard..."
Everyone who faced Jang Cheon's sword reacted the same. Such power, such energy. Unimaginable. Amplifying strikes by detonating one's own blood vessels? No different from suicide. He should already be bleeding from all seven orifices, dead. Or at least reeling from fatal backlash.
"Hold! Leave the attacks to me!"
Sima Jingyeong's shout halted Cheonri Dokhaeng's instinctive counter. Reason suppressed instinct. Thanks to that, he blocked the second assault.
Bwoong! "Kuh!"
Even swinging his greatsword only managed to deflect it. A numbing jolt shot through his grip. A groan escaped despite himself. Cheonri Dokhaeng hesitated, stepping back to disperse his energy. But that bought Sima Jingyeong time to maneuver his flying swords.
Another blade flew from a Black Shadow Squad corpse, hurtling through the air. Three sword energies bore down relentlessly. Sima Jingyeong fully retreated—to the very limit of his qi linkage range—focusing solely on offense. A rational choice. Transformation Realm experts didn't make wrong calls. They simply fell short.
Jang Cheon clashed with the greatsword, eyes flicking aside. Sima Jingyeong noticed instantly. His battle senses, accelerated to the limit by drawing full power, made the world feel slowed. A crisis sense weighing life and death, unexperienced since ascending to Transformation Realm. The words he read from moving lips:
『Do you think this distance is safe?』
In the slowed world, only one man moved normally. Sima Jingyeong saw every step clearly. Jang Cheon's foot slammed the ground fiercely. He leaped with elastic footwork, stepping off the air itself.
Kwaaang!
A deafening roar like tearing flesh. Then the man shot forward like an arrow. Void Air Step. Only one future filled Sima Jingyeong's mind.
Die. Die. Die...!
Kang!
"...Looks like I wasn't too late. Dog of the orthodox sects."
Someone stood before him. A petite woman in crimson robes. Sima Jingyeong realized she was the reinforcements Cheonri Dokhaeng mentioned. Surviving a clash with Jang Cheon's sword proved it. A bizarre mask covered below her cheeks, hiding half her face. Yet her stunning beauty shone through.
Jang Cheon scowled. "You lot truly have no limits to your repulsiveness. How dare you call yourselves orthodox while relying on that?"
Jahyo Bang—the term the elder and the warrior had been tossing around. He had suspected it was code; now its meaning was clear. Crimson robes the color of blood, flame patterns embroidered along the hem. The components “child” and “filial” combined to form the character for “teach” or “doctrine.”
"Not just disguising yourself as the Demonic Cult—you've actually allied with them? Tsk."
The woman with iron claws on her nails. Undoubtedly a Demonic Cult elite. Jang Cheon clicked his tongue.
"I have no desire to hear that from you..."
Sima Jingyeong replied hoarsely. Still, the situation was stabilizing. Two Transformation Realm, one at the threshold. Three in total would shift the tide dramatically. Three swords whirled near the elder; the other two brandished eerie claws and a greatsword. Yet why did the ominous pressure from that man persist unrelentingly? Even with eyes closed.
An invisible aura swept the battlefield. Spreading even farther.
"Good. Everyone worth a damn is here now."
Jang Cheon's senses weren't that broad. But he could tell no more threats were coming. No one left to endanger Cheon Sohyang beyond his reach. Slice these three, and it ended.
Jang Cheon gripped his half-sword. Not mid-guard this time. High guard. All three foes in view, body rigid like diamond. Feet rooted like pillars. Another roar echoed.
Now they knew. Sima Jingyeong frantically waved. "Break Jade!"
"Flame Blood Slash Claw!"
The Demonic Cult girl joined, sensing peril. A combined strike from two Transformation Realm. Dodge? No—ignore it. No need to hide anymore. Time to show proper Black Arrow Eight Methods.
Paak! Papaak!
A blue steel sword pierced his waist; poison-laced claws impaled his heart.
"What?"
The Demonic Cult Transformation Realm at close range was stunned in turn. She'd assumed he'd block or evade. Yet she felt the heart pierced in her hand. More shocking: it still beat, regenerated, even knit itself back together. An unearthly sensation, felt for the first time. And inevitably, having struck, she'd closed in. Her defenseless stance. And.
A black line filled her vision. The last sight of Blood Flame Demon Lord Yi Si-hyang.
Shaaaak!
A bone-chilling roar as the black line tore the air. The pressure of maximally gathered inner energy over long preparation differed utterly. Cheonri Dokhaeng thrust his greatsword reflexively, thinking: Wrong. Can't block this.
Kakang!
A sickening screech of rending metal. Cheonri Dokhaeng's body split in two. Sima Jingyeong, farthest back, was next. The black line was wide. No escape from sword qi like that. The bisected Cheonri Dokhaeng loomed before him. Even footwork blocked. It was calamity incarnate. Impossible to dodge or block!
"Mad demonic scum! What sorcery is this?!"
The elder's death cry, scream-like. With that, Jang Cheon sensed Sima Jingyeong no more.
His first proper Black Arrow Eight Methods in ages left his arm faintly sore. Bluish bruises bloomed and faded ceaselessly on his skin. His right arm's tissues were surely rupturing and regenerating nonstop. The backlash from such a swing.
Expressionless, Jang Cheon yanked the longsword from his gut and looked up. The eighth-floor pavilion. The enemy hadn't fled. Two Transformation Realm should hold him, they'd thought. Time to correct that delusion.
"Hup."
A light press with his left foot sent him soaring. Reaching the eighth floor, he descended slowly into the pavilion. The sole remaining occupant was already backing away. No—tripped. Pathetically.
The goateed man crawled backward crab-like. Jang Cheon slowly crushed his foot.
"Gaaah! Aaaak!"
The raw sensation of foot bones pulverizing. Unbearable for a strategist. Jang Cheon leaned down slowly, gazing at his face. Sima Sim wept in terror.
"I have little patience."
"Uwaaak! Aaaak!"
"Quiet."
Gripping his throat sealed the pain. Sima Sim's face went blank with miraculous relief.
"My disciple's location."
"H-how would I know your disciple..."
"......"
"Cheongpung Guest Inn! Cheongpung Guest Inn! Please! I was wrong. I know where you're from! Cheonoecheon... I heard it's a secret organization where even entry requires eyeing mid-Transformation Realm...! B-but why!"
Jang Cheon's eyes narrowed. Such a thing? He didn't recall. Those who'd reached Transformation Realm had egos sky-high as Mount Tai. Some might form cliques, but.
That memory was three hundred years old.
"You from the Amyeong should know best. We've already awakened Void Divine Chaos! Surely we pledged not to interfere with divine artifact awakenings and the grand plan...!"
"Enough."
Enough trivial chatter. Jang Cheon hoisted Sima Sim over his shoulder and leaped from the pavilion. Simple reason he spared him there: he knew nothing of the terrain.
"Guide me to Cheongpung Guest Inn. I'll kill you mercifully after."
Sima Sim's face drained to earthen hue.