Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Those Taking the Fourth Test (3)
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So-so’s martial prowess was beyond my expectations.
Her rapid shots, prepared in anticipation of her pugilist opponent closing the distance right from the start.
The way she predicted her opponent's countermove and instead closed the distance herself to strike a weak point.
And her creativity, using an arrow not as a projectile but as a weapon in her hand.
“It was all top-notch.”
Every one of So-so's movements revealed the thought she had put into overcoming the limitations of an archer.
I was proud and pleased.
I felt a sense of reward for having passed on the Fighting Tiger Divine Arts.
And yet, it was a shame that such talented children would have never even had this opportunity without my help.
If someone were to see this regret in my heart, they might ask if even those children hadn't received special treatment from me.
Of course, they wouldn't be wrong.
However, I had only shown them the way.
It was those children who had steadfastly walked that arduous path through their own effort.
Enduring the temptation of the Ancient Jade Serpent's inner core, and internalizing the Fighting Tiger Divine Arts as their own.
I knew better than anyone that these were not feats easily accomplished through ordinary effort.
I wouldn't deny that those children were lucky, but it was clear that their success was only possible because it was backed by talent and hard work.
Knowing that made me even more proud.
These were children who had never even attempted to challenge the walls of their origin and environment.
But now, they were boldly challenging the masters of the Demonic Cult and seizing victory.
“Those children are the beginning.”
They are merely the start.
When these children who have overcome the walls of their environment and birthright grow up, what influence will they have on the rising stars of that time, and what changes will they bring to the entire Central Plains?
Even I could not dare to imagine it.
One thing was certain: I had to ensure it would not end as just a small breeze.
“And at the center of it all will be me.”
Having gained a second life in a new body, I became the Heavenly Demon.
I will seize enough power and influence to achieve the ambition I could not fulfill in my past life.
So, I will not let it end with just these children who have stirred the Grand Plaza.
I plan to push relentlessly until the entire Central Plains stirs and changes.
“And in the end, Un Geom of the Martial Alliance. You will be there.”
The disgusting hypocrite who ruined my lifelong ambition in my past life.
The face of that bastard Un Geom, now the leader of the Martial Alliance and the Sect Leader of the Huashan Sect, came to mind.
My good mood instantly soured.
I wanted to lay waste to Huashan, where that bastard resides, right this instant, but doing so would only make me the villain they've painted me as.
The revenge I must take is not simply ending a life.
It must be to reveal the hypocrite's true nature to the world and prove that I—no, that the Green Forest—was not wrong.
Though the beginning may be with the Demonic Cult.
The end will be with a Divine Cult.
As I was lost in thought, the test for the student after So-so ended.
Next up was Ha Gyeong.
According to my prior investigation, the other children in Ha Gyeong's group had failed to master the Fighting Tiger Divine Arts and thus couldn't pass the fourth test.
‘The pressure on him must be immense.’
It was understandable. So-so, Chang On, Do Gwang, and Jo Gwang-uk, all of whom could be called his comrades, had shown overwhelming victories.
As the leader of his group, he would want to show a performance at least on par with theirs.
Just then, Ha Gyeong appeared on the training ground.
I could see a faint tremor in the hand that tightly gripped the hilt of his sword.
* * *
‘I can do this… No, I have to do this…!’
I felt the pressure weighing down on my shoulders.
My ears soon went numb, and I found myself only repeating my inner thoughts.
The roar of the crowd, which had seemed so loud when I was waiting below the stage, was now inaudible.
‘Huuuu…’
I knew.
If I got this nervous, I wouldn't be able to perform at my best. But I just couldn't calm down.
I was afraid of disappointing my Lord, who must be watching from somewhere.
-Prove your worth.
Those were the words my Lord spoke when he forgave me for my mistake.
If I failed to prove my worth here today.
Not only me, but my team members who had already been eliminated, might be cast aside.
I had to prevent that, at the very least.
‘It’s already hard enough to catch up, but if I become distant from my Lord…’
I didn't know how others saw him, but to me, my Lord was more than the heavens themselves.
When I was discriminated against and not given a manual during the joint training, and when I hit a wall before the sparring matches, he had answered my desperate prayers.
So-so, Gwang-uk, Do Gwang, and Chang On, who had all felt that same wonder by his side, probably felt the same way.
To be distanced from the Lord was the same as falling behind in the future currents of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
No, perhaps it meant falling behind in the currents of not just the Cult, but the entire Central Plains.
‘Damn it, it’s about to start…!’
No matter how hard I squeezed the hilt of my sword, the trembling wouldn't stop.
Just as I thought the test would begin in my unstable state.
From a corner of the stands, I felt a familiar energy focusing on me.
‘This energy, could it be?’
My head snapped in that direction without me even realizing it.
At the end of my gaze was my heaven, my Lord.
I had a rough idea, seeing as So-so and the others had inexplicably bowed toward the stands earlier, but seeing him with my own two eyes made it hit me all at once.
“...!”
Did he see me trembling with nervousness?
What if he was disappointed?
All sorts of thoughts flooded my mind in an instant.
‘Damn it, again!’
I almost lowered my head without thinking.
Now, with the psychological pressure mounting, realizing that my Lord was actually watching made my symptoms worse.
But thankfully, it seemed my Lord had not come here to test me. Seeing my poor condition, he looked at me and demonstrated a single form with his sword fingers.
“My Lord has grown stronger again! So beautiful it’s hard to believe he’s the same person…”
It was truly astonishing.
My Lord simply moved one arm, tracing a form I knew all too well in the air.
It was a sword form I couldn't possibly mistake.
It was the one he had personally bestowed upon me during the joint training.
‘The Demonic Tiger Sword…’
That was the name of the form.
From the day I first learned it, I couldn't count how many times I had trained, recalling the image of my Lord performing it.
It was a perfect sword form, one I coveted that much.
But in the short time since I'd last seen him, my Lord seemed to have advanced it by one step. No, by two or three steps.
I could feel it just from the form he traced with his sword fingers.
I etched the form I saw with my eyes into my heart.
I vowed to train tens of thousands of times to make it my own, just like when I first saw the Demonic Tiger Sword.
But what was this?
The pressure was suddenly gone.
The incessant trembling had stopped, and the numbness in my ears had faded.
‘My Lord is truly a magnificent person.’
He knew.
He knew my situation. And he knew how to overcome it.
“Ha!”
A dry laugh escaped my lips.
I couldn't believe I could admire someone to this extent.
It felt as though even the heavens could no longer compare to my Lord.
“…I will repay you.”
With that final murmur, I gripped the hilt of my sword properly once more.
And just in time, the signal marking the start of the test rang out.
“Hyaaap!”
With the heavy burden gone from my shoulders, my body felt lighter than it ever had in my life.
My opponent was a master from the Cult, stronger than me, but I felt no fear at all.
As my heart lightened, my sword could move faster. Without thinking, I envisioned the most perfect sword I could imagine and circulated my internal energy.
In that moment, when all my senses were focused on my sword and my opponent.
*Swish!*
The opponent's sword narrowly missed my neck, letting out a sharp ring.
However, a mere threat like that couldn't stop me now, lost in a state of selflessness.
The skin on my neck was shallowly cut, and blood trickled down, but I felt no pain.
Instead, the faint scent of blood stimulated my mind.
My opponent, who had narrowly missed his attack, came into view.
Thanks to that, I could pour my sharpened senses onto him without hesitation.
‘From the top right, diagonally down!’
A simple diagonal slash.
It was a part of that perfected Demonic Tiger Sword that I could imitate right now.
Compared to the one my Lord had shown so casually, it was a pathetically pale imitation.
However, because the original was incomparably perfect, it was more than enough to cut down my opponent.
*Shhhlick!*
“Kugh!”
He barely managed to raise his sword to block the attack, but he suffered a fatal wound to his left shoulder.
Which meant one thing.
It was my victory.
“Waaaaaah!”
The cheers I had longed for erupted from the stands.
But I couldn't hear any of it.
I could only unconsciously turn my head toward where my Lord was.
*Ssk.*
My Lord was watching me with an indifferent expression.
But I knew.
I knew that I had received his acknowledgment.
As proof, my Lord looked at me and gave a single nod.
‘Yes, this is enough.’
It felt as though the pressure that had crushed my shoulders and the nervousness that had made my hands tremble all existed just for this one moment.
My heart swelled with emotion.
More than passing the fourth test, I was moved by the fact that my toil, my effort, had been acknowledged by that man.
*Thud.*
Just as my comrades had done before me, I clasped my hands in a fist-and-palm salute and descended from the training ground.
* * *
Meanwhile, the Great Elder and the Great Guardian, who had been ordered by Maeng Ak to investigate the Windless Killing Curtain, were searching for a certain man.
The man in question was the fat, middle-aged man who had spoken to Maeng Ak at the Grand Plaza.
However, in this vast Hundred Thousand Mountains, was there only one fat, middle-aged man?
As expected, it was not an easy task.
Eventually, having made no progress, the two stopped to talk.
“Great Elder, at this rate, we won't be able to carry out the order before the fourth test ends.”
“I was thinking the same thing, Great Guardian.”
“Then how about we split up to search?”
“I was just about to suggest that. I shall take the left, so please take the right, Great Guardian.”
“In that case, let's have whoever finds him first fire a signal flare.”
“Very well, then…”
*Fwoosh!*
With that, the two spread their auras wide and split off to the left and right.
Though they searched in different directions, they shared a similar thought.
‘Why has the Windless Killing Curtain, which had vanished into history, appeared in our Cult?’
What was certain was that the possibility of it being a good omen was slim.
The prejudice people of the Central Plains held against the Windless Killing Curtain, while slightly less than that for the Demonic Cult, was infamous in a bad way.
And they were infamous among all factions—Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic.
‘Surely, the Heavenly Demon of this era knew this, which is why he entrusted this task to me and him, the most martially skilled.’
And so, with fire in their eyes, they scoured every nook and cranny of the Demonic Cult's headquarters as if hunting rats.
But the man was so skilled that it was difficult to even notice the movements of the two who were searching for him.
Perhaps their efforts bore fruit?
The Great Guardian was the first to find something that could be considered a clue.
“Could this be?”