Chapter 256
Chapter 256
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 256
Chapter Title: A Duel of Convictions
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Heavenly Demonic Possession Art not only allowed one to use their body as a weapon but also included techniques to delude the mind and dull the senses.
Seok U-haeng had combined the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art with the martial arts of an assassin, creating what was, in effect, a perfect secret assassination technique.
*Flash!*
Sharp sword energy once again flew at Bu Eun-seol from his blind spot.
*Swish!*
He swiftly executed his footwork to dodge, but blood still spurted from his shoulder.
He couldn't accurately sense Seok U-haeng's attacks.
‘He’s using the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art to suppress the Way of the Beast, then unleashing a barrage of overlapping moves.’
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes glinted as he tightened his grip on the Ink Sword.
*Fwoosh!*
In that brief moment, Seok U-haeng’s attacks poured down again.
He would unleash sword forms from the ground, then launch hidden weapons from mid-air, aiming for Bu Eun-seol’s head.
Just as it seemed he was using his swordplay to strike at vital points, a sharp blade would suddenly jut out from behind his back.
‘It’s as if there are two Seok U-haengs.’
Bu Eun-seol finally understood why Seok U-haeng had sought out and learned the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art.
Only a method like this could instantly close the wide gap in their skills.
*Rumble, rumble, rumble.*
Just then, a tremor ran through the underground waterway,
*Thud, thud, thud, thud.*
The sound of the very earth shaking soon followed as an immense number of assassins began to tightly surround Bu Eun-seol and Seok U-haeng.
They were the assassins of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion.
*Swoosh.*
The sea of black-clad assassins parted, and a middle-aged man without a mask slowly walked forward.
He was the Martial General Blood Master, Gwak Seong, who led the highest echelon of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion.
“Seok U-haeng!”
His eyes, as he roared, were distorted with fury.
He had brought all of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion’s elite assassins to annihilate the Twelve Zodiacs.
But the Twelve Zodiacs had already scattered and disbanded.
Moreover, on his way here, he had received a shocking piece of information.
The chief leader of the Twelve Zodiacs who had killed Yong Jeok-bi was none other than Seok U-haeng, one of the Ten Demonic Disciples of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion.
Enraged, he had immediately stormed the underground waterway where Seok U-haeng was said to be hiding.
“How dare you…”
Gwak Seong, shouting in anger, finally noticed Bu Eun-seol and blinked.
“Who is that?”
He frowned, looking at Bu Eun-seol, who was facing off against Seok U-haeng.
Although they had only clashed a few times, a powerful current of true energy was rising from both men.
Even without asking, it was clear that the two were locked in a bloody battle.
“Martial General Blood Master. You arrived sooner than I expected.”
Upon seeing Gwak Seong, Seok U-haeng smiled and shook his head.
“I thought it would take at least another day.”
Gwak Seong shouted in a rage.
“Seok U-haeng! Did you really kill the Instructor Blood Master?”
The Instructor Blood Master was the leader who commanded the Assassin Instructors who trained the assassins of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion.
And that position had been held by the successor, Yong Jeok-bi.
“I did.”
“Why on earth did you kill him?”
“I couldn’t just let myself be killed.”
“What?”
Seok U-haeng spoke calmly.
“If he tried to kill me, was I supposed to just stand still and offer my neck?”
“Seok U-haeng!”
Gwak Seong roared.
“You defied the Pavilion’s order to return and infiltrated the Twelve Zodiacs! That alone is a grave crime, yet you dare kill the Pavilion’s successor, the Instructor Blood Master?”
“Blood Master Gwak.”
Seok U-haeng’s voice was colder than ever.
“The Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion deliberately leaked information twice to make the Great Righteous Master and I kill each other.”
He cried out coldly, as if his resentment was about to explode.
“When was I ever a disciple of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion?”
For a moment, Gwak Seong was speechless.
He and the rest of the Pavilion’s leadership knew.
They knew that Seok U-haeng not only possessed outstanding talent but that his caliber as a successor surpassed even Yong Jeok-bi’s.
But they could not acknowledge Seok U-haeng, a latecomer, as the successor. Doing so would have fractured the internal factions of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion.
When the order to deal with the Great Righteous Master came down, the leadership had deliberately leaked Seok U-haeng’s whereabouts to get him killed.
“So don’t you dare treat me like a disciple of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion now.”
“Blood Master. Is there any need for this useless conversation with that bastard?”
At that moment, Gwak Seong’s right-hand man and the Vice Blood Master, Ha Hu-gang, stepped forward.
“Enough talk. We should just take his head and present it to the Pavilion Master.”
Gwak Seong nodded, glaring at Seok U-haeng with eyes burning with fury.
“Are you prepared to offer your neck?”
“I will not die by your hands.”
“What did you say?”
“Just stand there and watch.”
Seok U-haeng declared boldly.
“I am going to duel him.”
Seok U-haeng had already resolved himself to die. No threat would work on him.
“You bastard…”
Before Gwak Seong could say another word, Seok U-haeng turned his head to face Bu Eun-seol and shouted.
“Bu Eun-seol. I have sacrificed everything to surpass you.”
He then flipped his assassin’s sword into a reverse grip and drew upon his internal energy.
“Come at me!”
If Seok U-haeng had wanted to live, he would have disbanded the Twelve Zodiacs and vanished without a trace.
As one who had inherited the essence of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion, he could have disappeared where no one could find him.
But he did not run.
He stayed, solely to challenge Bu Eun-seol.
Because with time, the gap between them would only widen. This was his last and only chance to face him.
*Click.*
Bu Eun-seol raised the Ink Sword to a ready stance and drew upon his internal energy.
This was the only thing he could do for a man who sought a battle with his life on the line.
*Flash!*
Seok U-haeng struck first.
As if to show off to the assassins of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion, he unleashed a variety of secret assassination techniques, overlapping them with the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art.
Superb swordplay, flying daggers, poison, and strange hidden weapon contraptions.
He pressured Bu Eun-seol, freely unleashing the countless techniques he had learned.
—Ooh.
After about forty moves, the elite assassins of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion let out gasps of admiration without realizing it.
The techniques Seok U-haeng unleashed could be called the very essence of the Pavilion’s assassination arts.
Secret assassination techniques were the culmination of all methods used to kill an enemy.
Seok U-haeng was pouring out and deflecting attacks freely, unbound by the constraints of forms or techniques.
The state of the Hanging River.
It was a state where one could unleash secret assassin techniques as freely as a flowing river, unrestricted by form.
A state that the masters of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion so desperately yearned for…
*Swoooosh!*
As he parried the ceaseless onslaught, Bu Eun-seol’s gaze changed.
Seok U-haeng was unleashing immense power with an extremely small amount of internal energy.
No matter how many times you cut a river, it cannot be severed.
His attacks were like a flowing river, impossible to stop in any way.
*Whoosh.*
A single gust of wind began to blow around Bu Eun-seol’s body.
At the same time, a sliver of blue light flashed from his form, and then,
*Whirl!*
Bu Eun-seol’s entire body became a single gust of wind, and he began to swallow Seok U-haeng’s attacks.
He had once again displayed the Thirteen Night Arts, the Martial Emperor’s unique ultimate art of dividing the body into multiple parts to execute techniques simultaneously.
‘I…’
Seeing Bu Eun-seol nullify the martial arts he had poured his all into, despair clouded Seok U-haeng’s eyes.
‘Even in death…’
As despair washed over him, time suddenly seemed to stop. Tens of thousands of thoughts flashed through Seok U-haeng’s mind.
‘Can I truly not surpass you…?’
No matter what anyone said, he was a genius of the martial arts.
But the Bu Eun-seol he had seen at the Long Sword Manor was an insurmountable wall.
Immense internal energy, a brilliant mind, insight, outstanding adaptability… he didn’t even possess fear or hesitation.
There was no way to defeat Bu Eun-seol, who learned any martial art quickly and wielded it with even greater destructive power than its original form.
—If my martial arts are lacking, can’t I just exert them twofold?
Seok U-haeng had finally found a way.
By combining the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art with the secret assassination techniques of the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion, he could more than double his power in a short time.
But from the moment he started fighting Bu Eun-seol, he had an intuition.
Even if he more than doubled the power of his martial arts, he could never win.
Even in a life-or-death battle, Bu Eun-seol would gain enlightenment and advance his martial arts.
In other words, unless he could surpass that terrifying rate of growth, he could never be victorious against him.
‘I made the same mistake as Yong Jeok-bi.’
A bitter smile touched Seok U-haeng’s lips.
‘I only considered the skills I had assessed in the past.’
*Fwoosh!*
At that moment, slowed time returned to its normal pace, and Bu Eun-seol’s attack came into view.
‘But you can’t defeat me either.’
A triumphant smile formed on Seok U-haeng’s face.
Bu Eun-seol could never win this fight.
Because from the very beginning, he had no intention of surviving.
*Wooooong!*
As he drew upon his internal energy, hundreds of strands of sharp force flowed out from Seok U-haeng’s entire body.
It was the Heavenly Demonic Extreme Flame Astral Kill, one of the final ultimate moves of the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art.
“Bu Eun-seol—!”
Seok U-haeng threw himself at Bu Eun-seol with all his might.
A powerful force, capable of melting even steel, flowed around him, cloaked in the Heavenly Demonic Extreme Flame Astral Kill.
Seok U-haeng showed a triumphant smile.
He was attempting to take Bu Eun-seol down with him, having drawn upon a martial art that melted flesh and blood.
No one would dare to face such a technique head-on.
‘Even if he retreats, he dies.’
And all of this was merely a feint.
His true, decisive attack was the Heavenly Demonic Blood Flow Art he had set up behind Bu Eun-seol.
‘He has no choice but to retreat, Bu Eun-seol!’
Seok U-haeng had carried out countless assassinations.
And in killing many masters, he had learned one truth that was as good as law.
—Those who possess much never take risks.
To have much in hand meant having much to protect.
Bu Eun-seol was the legitimate successor of the Nang-ya Pavilion and a strong candidate for successor to the Demonic Palace.
Not only that, but as a Grand Lord of the Demonic Palace, he commanded his own direct subordinates and had the support of the Heaven-Severing Earth-Annihilating and the No-One-Under-Heaven Pavilion.
There was no one in the martial world who possessed as much as he did.
‘The wise never take risks when faced with life and death!’
The Bu Eun-seol he had seen on Hell Island was the same. He had considered many things and prepared in advance.
He had also shown a will to survive at all costs.
‘A man who clings to life can never evade this technique!’
Finally reaching Bu Eun-seol, he unleashed the Heavenly Demonic Extreme Flame Astral Kill along his line of retreat.
‘What?’
Seok U-haeng’s eyes widened.
He had been certain that Bu Eun-seol would not take the risk and would retreat to regroup.
But Bu Eun-seol charged into the current of the Heavenly Demonic Extreme Flame Astral Kill without hesitation.
*Sizzzzzle.*
Every time the Heavenly Demonic Extreme Flame Astral Kill grazed his body, Bu Eun-seol’s clothes melted, and his skin dissolved as if burned by fire.
But he broke through the current without hesitation and thrust his sword.
*Flash!*
A cold light erupted from the Ink Sword.
It pierced through the wall of the Extreme Flame Astral Kill that Seok U-haeng had created and instantly shot toward his neck.
*Thwack!*
But the Ink Sword failed to pierce his neck, making a dull sound.
At the last possible moment, Seok U-haeng had deployed the Heavenly Demonic Ghostly Demonic Ki to protect his entire body.
*Thud, thud.*
As Seok U-haeng landed on the ground, his face began to crack, and the hardened layer covering his skin started to crumble.
*Crumble.*
Although he had avoided being decapitated, the Heavenly Demonic Ghostly Demonic Ki had shattered, unable to withstand the internal energy infused in the Ink Sword.
*Gack.*
As the sharp Reverse Polarity True Ki pierced his meridians as if to melt them, fresh blood trickled from the corner of Seok U-haeng’s mouth.
“I wanted to beat you just once.”
He stared into the air with a regretful expression.
“The heavens did not choose me.”
The reason he had risked his life to learn the Heavenly Demonic Possession Art was solely to achieve victory over Bu Eun-seol.
—I want to beat him, just once!
It wasn’t jealousy or a sense of inferiority.
He was a prodigy of peerless martial arts with the fervent soul of a warrior.
It was a desire to defeat, just once, an adversary who seemed utterly impossible to catch up to.
But even the tactic for which he had staked his life had ended in complete defeat.
And it was not a simple gap in their martial arts.
Bu Eun-seol did not fear death. Nor did he have any desire to protect what he had.
He was a man who simply crushed the trials that rained down upon him and moved forward.
In the end, Seok U-haeng had failed to overcome the wall named Bu Eun-seol, both in martial arts and in mindset.
“It’s over now.”
With the outcome of their battle decided, Martial General Blood Master Gwak Seong walked over with a smile.
“Indeed, your martial arts lack nothing for a successor of the Demonic Palace. Thanks to you, it has been an eye-opening experience.”
He continued walking, not stopping as he approached Seok U-haeng.
Bu Eun-seol scowled and blocked his path.
“What are you doing?”
“Seok U-haeng is a traitor who killed our Pavilion’s successor. Hand him over.”
Gwak Seong smiled.
“There’s no need to make an enemy of our Pavilion, is there? You are to be the future successor of the Demonic Palace, after all.”
His smile was filled with confidence.
To become the successor of the Demonic Palace, one needed the support of the majority of the Ten Sects of the Demonic Path.
But the Spirit Command Sect, the Extreme Slaughter Secret Pavilion, and the Hell Blood Fortress were hostile toward him, and his relations with the other sects were not particularly good.
Considering that, he was certain that Bu Eun-seol would never refuse his offer.
“If you hand him over, our Pavilion will never forget this.”
The smile on Gwak Seong’s lips deepened.
But a completely unexpected answer came back.
“I refuse.”