Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Price of Hubris
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The masked men moved in perfect unison once more, changing their formation.
*‘This isn't a formation devised by the main unit. There's no way you could know it!’*
The triumphant smile on the masked leader’s face vanished in an instant, his expression hardening into a pale mask.
It was useless.
No matter what formation they used, Bu Eun-seol immediately swung his sword toward its weakest point.
“Ugh!”
“Aargh!”
With every swing of Bu Eun-seol’s sword, the masked men fell like autumn leaves in the wind.
“That bastard… Is he a master of formations at his age?!”
He was mistaken.
Bu Eun-seol had never learned a single thing about formations; he didn't even realize they were using one.
However, after mastering the Nangya Secret Manual, he had been able to combine the Way of the Beast with his internal energy technique to expand his senses.
That was why, no matter what formation they deployed, he could anticipate their positions and break it.
“Keuk!”
A single strike from Bu Eun-seol sent three masked men clutching their necks, coughing up blood.
He had simply thrust his sword at an exposed weakness, and the men in that position had collapsed like dominoes.
Watching this unfold, the leader urgently shouted.
“Break formation!”
The masked men hurriedly dispersed.
But their number had already dwindled from fifteen to ten.
“Is the dance over?”
At Bu Eun-seol’s quiet taunt,
*Grind.*
The masked man clenched his fists and ground his teeth.
*‘To think he’s a master of formations.’*
Formations allowed individuals to exert power greater than the sum of their parts. But if a formation collapsed, the damage they suffered would snowball.
They had set up a formation to kill the formidable Sip-ma-jeon-in, but instead, it had led to a fatal counterattack.
*‘If we had just fought him head-on, we could have dealt with him easily!’*
But it was too late.
Swallowing his regret, the leader bit down hard.
“Attack!”
Numbers were absolute. No matter how strong Bu Eun-seol was, he couldn't possibly take on five elite agents.
But that was the leader’s second mistake.
“Ugh!”
Another scream echoed.
Without the formation, Bu Eun-seol’s sword became even more precise, even sharper.
In truth, the masked men’s swordsmanship was also quite refined, and they had ample combat experience.
Each one was skilled enough to make a name for himself in the martial world, yet against Bu Eun-seol, they couldn't display any of their prowess.
*‘How is this even…'*
The leader’s eyes wavered as he watched his men fall so helplessly.
He wasn't using some grand sword technique or any astonishing moves.
Yet, every time Bu Eun-seol swung his sword, a mist of blood invariably blossomed.
*Thud.*
As another masked man collapsed, the fierce battle entered a brief lull.
*‘Did the Demonic War Hall intentionally leak false information?’*
The leader shouted at Bu Eun-seol.
“They said you hadn’t learned the Sword Arts of the Void!”
“This isn’t martial arts.”
“What?”
“It’s just a struggle to survive.”
Until now, Bu Eun-seol had always faced opponents stronger than himself.
Thus, he never even bothered to calculate his chances of survival. He simply fought with all his might to push back the encroaching shadow of death.
“Nonsense! How can you fight without using martial arts?!”
“You can kill an enemy without martial arts.”
During the Sip-ma-jeon-in competition, Bu Eun-seol had killed the strongest contender, Neung Un-gang, without having learned any martial arts at all.
“What separates life and death isn’t martial skill, but who can inflict the fatal wound.”
Gazing at the distant sky for a moment, Bu Eun-seol turned to the leader and said.
“You lost because you were confident of your absolute superiority in a life-or-death battle.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“From the start, you were certain you could kill me.”
As Bu Eun-seol looked at the masked men, a frigid northern wind seemed to blow around him.
“All while thinking you yourselves would never die.”
*Drip.*
Shaking a drop of blood from his rusted iron sword, Bu Eun-seol muttered under his breath.
“The moment you raise your sword against an enemy, you must first see your own death.”
Bu Eun-seol’s murmur echoed in their ears like the breath of the grim reaper.
—To kill the enemy, you must first be prepared for your own death.
That was what Bu Eun-seol was saying.
*‘Were we mistaken?’*
They had all thought of themselves as hunters.
The enemy was always the prey, and they were confident they could kill their target once spotted.
“Let’s begin again.”
Bu Eun-seol glanced over the masked men and calmly raised his sword.
Meeting Bu Eun-seol’s cold, still eyes, some of the masked men’s gazes faltered.
The fear that they themselves could be the prey was beginning to creep in.
“L-Leader.”
One of the terrified masked men cautiously approached the leader.
“We can’t win with our current numbers. We must retreat.”
“Retreat?”
“Yes. We should fall back for now, report to the Commander, and wait for another chance with reinforcements…”
*Splaash!*
A thick spray of blood erupted from the masked man’s neck.
The leader had suddenly lopped off his subordinate’s head.
*Flick.*
Shaking the blood from his blade, the leader glared at his men with furious eyes and shouted.
“There is no retreat in our unit! To be killed while showing your back is a dishonor that follows you even in death!”
“Is honor more important than life?”
The leader scoffed at Bu Eun-seol’s question.
“To demonic bastards like you, life may be precious. But we are different.”
“How are you different?”
“Because we do not raise our swords for personal glory.”
The leader’s eyes were filled with blind loyalty.
“Even in failure, we can die with honor.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
*Click.*
Twisting his grip on the iron sword, a blue glint flashed in Bu Eun-seol’s eyes.
“There’s no honor in a coffin!”
Peerless Lightning Style.
The killing sword of Cheon Un-gwang, the prodigy of the Hwau Sword Sect, was about to be unleashed by Bu Eun-seol once more.
“Attack!”
The moment the leader, sensing something amiss, shouted to his men,
*Pshhh!*
With a sound like air escaping, the masked men’s movements froze.
“…”
As if by some unspoken agreement, they looked at each other, clutching their necks.
Bu Eun-seol’s iron sword, extended as coldly as the reaper’s claws, had already sliced through their carotid arteries like lightning.
*Thump. Thump.*
With the dull sound of falling bodies, three masked men collapsed to the ground like logs.
The leader stood right in front of them, but he hadn’t even seen how the sword technique was executed.
“Bu Eun-seol.”
The leader looked at Bu Eun-seol and spoke in a low voice.
“You… you’ve already become a Demonic Master.”
*Shhhhh!*
A fountain of blood suddenly began to gush from the leader’s neck.
“I will curse you even as a ghost.”
Glaring at Bu Eun-seol with eyes full of resentment, he,
*Thud.*
collapsed to the ground like a log.
*Clank.*
As the last masked man fell, Bu Eun-seol sheathed his rusted sword.
A mountain of corpses, a sea of blood.
Gazing at the corpses strewn all around, Bu Eun-seol’s eyes darkened to a shade deeper than the night.
It was a scene he had witnessed countless times in the landscape of hell. And he had thought he would never see such a sight again.
But now he realized.
The place where he stood was the very heart of hell, where blood and flesh burst forth, and he could not escape the shackles of vengeance.
*Clop, clop.*
Just then, the sound of horse hooves approached, and a carriage galloped toward the reed field.
*Whinny.*
With a snort, the carriage came to a halt right in front of Bu Eun-seol.
*Click.*
The carriage door opened, revealing a middle-aged man with a rock-hard expression.
It was Baek Yeon, the Pungun Grand Lord.
“Quite a show you’ve put on.”
Baek Yeon said impassively, glancing at the corpses scattered everywhere.
“Well, it must have been a good experience.”
“Grand Lord.”
Bu Eun-seol bowed lightly and asked.
“How did you know to come here?”
“Keeping track of your movements is nothing.”
He chuckled, looking down at Bu Eun-seol’s disheveled state.
“As expected, you received a cold welcome on your way back? That’s just what those narrow-minded fools do.”
From his tone, it seemed he had anticipated that Bu Eun-seol wouldn't take the carriage and would be attacked on his way back.
“Who are they?”
Baek Yeon didn’t answer. He stepped out of the carriage and carefully examined the masked men.
He inspected not only their faces but also their weapons, the fabric of their clothes, and even the belongings hidden within.
*‘So it was them after all.’*
After examining all the masked men, a glint appeared in Baek Yeon’s eyes.
*‘This is a headache.’*
“Grand Lord.”
When Bu Eun-seol asked again, Baek Yeon waved his hand.
“We’ll talk when we get back.”
Then he pointed to the carriage he had arrived in.
***
Cheongpungjae.
The residence of Vice Pavilion Lord Dang Cheong.
After arriving at Nang-ya-gak with Baek Yeon, Bu Eun-seol sat at a table in the guest hall of Cheongpungjae.
“Drink.”
Dang Cheong, sitting opposite him, gestured with her hand.
*Click.*
As he lifted the lid of the teacup, white steam rose, carrying a clear, refreshing aroma that seemed to cleanse the lungs.
Gazing at the dark brown tea, Bu Eun-seol asked.
“Is this oolong tea?”
“Have you had it before?”
Seeing Dang Cheong's surprised expression, Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
“I’ve only heard of it.”
“Heard of it?”
Bu Eun-seol recounted in detail his encounter with the Elder Jeonju, Jeok Bung.
“To think that troublesome old man is still going strong.”
After hearing the whole story, Dang Cheong let out a long sigh.
“I wondered why the Hwau Sword Sect and Baekma Temple, who held such a grudge, would suddenly acknowledge him so readily… So that was the reason.”
“He is one of the Three Demonic Masters… he must be an incredible person, right?”
At Bu Eun-seol’s words, Dang Cheong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Of course. He wouldn’t have earned the title ‘Blood Demon’ for nothing. In the past, he was a Demonic Lord who took infinite pleasure in smashing the heads of anyone who displeased him.”
At those words, Baek Yeon frowned slightly and said.
“Seeing that old man take an interest in this boy, he must have some ulterior motive.”
Hearing this, Bu Eun-seol couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked.
“Is the position of Elder Jeonju powerful enough to defy the Demonic War Lord?”
Dang Cheong gave a bitter smile.
Bu Eun-seol possessed a talent for martial arts second to none. But he was completely ignorant of the politics of the martial world and its factions.
“In a coalition the size of the Demonic War Hall, titles aren’t that important.”
Dang Cheong began to explain in detail to Bu Eun-seol.
“The Demonic War Hall’s power is divided into three: the faction of the Demonic War Lord, the faction of the Council of Elders, and the faction of the Ten Demonic Sects. The Council of Elders, composed of masters from the previous generation, has a particularly strong voice.”
She paused for a moment before continuing.
“Especially the Elder Jeonju, Jeok Bung. He is secretly building his own power base, trying to line his own pockets behind the Demonic War Lord’s back.”
“The Demonic War Hall is a complicated place, then.”
Dang Cheong smiled at Bu Eun-seol’s response.
“It’s a chronic disease of organizations that are more coalition than lineage. Power is fragmented… so all sorts of schemes and secret struggles run rampant as everyone tries to grasp even a little more power.”
Bu Eun-seol nodded.
“It seems difficult to lead a place where martial artists from all sorts of factions have gathered.”
“In truth, from the perspective of power alone, it’s the same for factions built on lineage. You need strength to control those below you.”
Dang Cheong said.
“That’s why the highest martial arts are passed down only to the Sect Leader, and then differentially to the first-generation disciples, second-generation disciples, and so on. You have to hold the power for your subordinates to follow.”
“Is our Pavilion like that too?”
Dang Cheong laughed heartily at Bu Eun-seol’s bold question.
“Hahaha. Of course, we’re different. As long as you master the martial arts, you’re golden. Our rules are the most lax under the heavens.”
Grinning, Dang Cheong asked Bu Eun-seol.
“So. What happened after you entered the Demonic War Hall?”
Bu Eun-seol explained meeting the Manbak Hall Lord and going to the Manma-yujin-gak.
He then detailed how he met Neung Gak and Go Gun-pyeong and how he passed the test of five stances.
However, he omitted any mention of Hyeokryeon Eung and what Baek Jeon-cheon had said to him.
But when he reached the part about being ambushed by masked men on his way back, a fire sparked in Dang Cheong’s eyes.
“An ambush?”
A chilling coldness seeped into Dang Cheong’s previously impassive voice.
“Who dares to ambush a disciple of our Pavilion?”