The Heavenly Demon Copies Martial Arts
The sound of PAK… PAK-PAK! echoed through the air as black lightning erupted from my entire body.
Above it, black mist infused with white threads surged out like flames.
WHOOSH!
Violet flames rose like an exploding gunpowder barrel, centered around Jeokmaryeong’s two hands.
Mumyeong’s voice rang out inside my mind.
Host, the momentum is perfectly balanced! But Liu can’t maintain it for long! We must settle this between us while we still can!
Anyway, I had no intention of dragging this out.
I had to kill Jeokmaryeong and snatch the Guardian’s Jewel from him.
I could not allow anyone to realize that an unclaimed Jewel was rolling around here right now.
The moment it was discovered, a slaughter wheel would begin turning—blood in exchange for blood—until one of us reached the pinnacle of the Cycle of Reincarnation.
It would never stop until then.
It was a fight I could never lose.
And Jeokmaryeong felt exactly the same.
GUO GUO GUO…!
Inner energy surged upward from both sides.
Two wild beasts facing each other, snarling at each other’s throats with the single intent to cut off each other’s lives in one strike.
STEP.
They began to circle sideways slowly.
Jeokmaryeong circled left as well.
Both of them lowered their hands at the same time.
Our gazes swept through every detail—each movement, each breath of the opponent.
A torrential downpour began.
Raindrops slid down between my eyebrows and over my nose.
Formed droplets at the tip of my chin, then fell away.
Breathing slowed.
CRACK… CRACK…!
Fists clenched with the sound of bones grinding together.
GUO GUO GUO GUO!!!
The explosive gazes bursting from both eyes shot upward, spewing out demonic energy like steam and piercing the black sky.
Everyone held their breath and watched in silence.
And then.
The towering demonic energy from both sides suddenly froze in place, as if sliced cleanly by a blade.
FLICK.
Both figures vanished.
CRACK.
A single drop of water fell into the puddle where the two men had just been standing—.
KABOOOM!!!
The air was torn apart.
They had not retreated—they had charged forward at blinding speed, straight at each other.
The Heaven and Earth Great Shift and the Surayeomrang’s Arm-Breaking Strike collided head-on.
ZEEREUNG!!!
With the sound of thunder crashing down, the two warriors tumbled together in a tangle.
No weapons. No artifacts.
No tricks, no flashy martial arts.
Only two bloodied beasts locked in a savage struggle, baring their teeth and tearing at each other with raw determination.
“…I’ve never seen a fight like this in my entire life on the jianghu.”
The rogue who had been crouching behind the rock pile wore a dazed expression.
KWADU DU… DU DU DU…!
In the blink of an eye, fists wrapped in black lightning and red flames crashed together.
They slipped into the gaps like water through rock cracks.
This was primal combat—ancient, primordial, the most basic emotion a human could feel: anger—clashing with fangs bared.
Over fifty fists and kicks exchanged in the blink of an eye.
The sound of thunder echoed whenever one side was blocked and the other struck back.
PAK! PAK-PAK-PAK!!
My fist flew out.
Jeokmaryeong tilted his head back and barely dodged, the gap between our faces razor-thin.
CHIIK!
Wind pressure tore his cheek open.
The edge of Jeokmaryeong’s hand swept past my head like a hammer.
PIK!
My forehead was split open.
Jeokmaryeong’s figure moved faster.
KWAK!
I caught the fist wrapped in crimson flames that had shot toward my face.
THUD!
Jeokmaryeong caught the fist wrapped in black lightning as well.
Our eyes met.
“…”
“…”
We brought our hands together.
Locked fingers.
We began pushing each other with all our strength, trying to crush the opponent.
KIKIKIKIKIK!!
Black mist with white threads spread across the ground.
Red flames wrapped in black lightning stabbed into the sky.
Jeokmaryeong’s and my faces flushed bright red.
Vessels bulged on my forehead.
ULUK!
Blood spurted from Jeokmaryeong’s mouth.
PUK!
Blood began to flow from my mouth.
BOOM!
Veins burst in each other’s eyeballs under the crushing pressure.
KWAAANG!
My right foot drilled into the earth.
ZEEREUNG!
Jeokmaryeong’s left foot drilled into the earth.
We did not budge an inch.
Instead, we were ready to bite our tongues and die rather than yield.
KWAAANG!
Without hesitation, we pushed each other’s hands apart.
“Die!”
Jeokmaryeong’s figure vanished.
He reappeared behind me.
His fist shot out toward the back of my head as if it would shatter my skull.
Host, behind you!
“Hng!”
I held my breath.
KIIING!
My eyes blazed with crimson light, then white threads shot out black flames.
KWAAAAAANG!!!
My body vanished as space tore with the sound of ripping air.
BOOM!
The fist that had cut through empty air slammed into nothing.
“Disappeared—?!”
Jeokmaryeong’s face twisted in shock.
KWAAAAAANG!
I reappeared directly behind him.
I brought my fist down with all my might.
KWAAAANG!
Jeokmaryeong was slammed into the mud.
I charged forward at full power and brought my knee down onto the fallen man’s head.
“Kwaaak!”
Jeokmaryeong spat blood.
Mud flooded his mouth.
Stars exploded in his eyes.
“You bastard!”
ZEEREUNG!
Jeokmaryeong pushed my knee away and vanished again.
PAK-BAT!
His body appeared behind me.
The edge of his hand sliced toward my neck.
KWAAAAAANG!
I moved behind him again using Polar Night.
This time, Jeokmaryeong did not dodge.
“You think you’ll dodge again?!”
Jeokmaryeong snatched my back even faster.
My eyes widened in horror.
“…What kind of footwork is this speed?!”
Jeokmaryeong was using nothing but footwork to match Polar Night almost evenly.
“The Heavenly Demon Cult’s elite are right here! Our fundamentals are completely different!”
A kick flew at me.
“Hng!”
KWAAAAAANG!
I dodged it by the narrowest margin using Polar Night.
Jeokmaryeong bared his fangs and shouted.
“Fine, speed battle it is! Let’s try it!”
Jeokmaryeong’s body began to move at blinding speed.
ZEEREUNG! ZEEEREUNG!
My body was torn apart where he had been, and before the torn air could close, I appeared behind him and struck.
Before the attack could be retracted, Jeokmaryeong appeared beside me again and swung his claws.
Even with demonic energy making it more efficient, overusing Polar Night strains the body too much! We have only four uses left!
“Kwaaak!”
KWAAAAAANG!
I dodged his ambush with Polar Night.
Three uses left! Use the Baekryeon Pal-ya-jong and Hyeol-yeong-mu-hwan-sin-sul combination to endure! Don’t get dragged into his flow! Create distance!
PA-BA-BAT!
My body began to wrap in red afterimages.
The red afterimages stretched into a long line. My body began to stretch out.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
PA-BAT!
Jeokmaryeong’s purple afterimages stretched long as well.
He chased after my red light.
KWADU DU!
We crossed over Gwando at extreme speed, our exchanges nonstop.
The collapsed building in front of us came rushing in like something thrown.
Jeokmaryeong dodged his own fist and leaped over the rubble, kicking off broken logs and jumping high.
Just as I jumped, I slammed my toes into the wall that had appeared right in front of me and pushed upward.
“HAP!”
Jeokmaryeong snatched a large rock and hurled it with all his strength.
The rock slammed right in front of me.
The building wall collapsed behind me; my next foot hit empty air and lost balance.
I didn’t miss that moment.
Jeokmaryeong’s fist slammed into my abdomen and hammered down on my temple.
“Ugh!!”
Inner energy flow stopped temporarily under the massive impact.
Jeokmaryeong grabbed my ankle.
He plunged it sideways.
A sharp bamboo pole protruded from the broken section.
PUK!
It pierced my side and protruded out.
“AAAAK!!”
I screamed in agony.
PAK-PAK-PAK!!
My inner energy, which had paused a heartbeat late, swirled and surged with black lightning.
The bamboo shattered.
Jeokmaryeong’s foot stabbed into the wound I took.
“KWAARAAAAK!!”
I gritted my teeth through the blood.
“You cowardly bastard!”
Jeokmaryeong roared.
“Where is cowardice in a fight?!”
“Fine, then!”
I grabbed the arm holding my ankle.
I brought my elbow down onto his forehead.
“Kwaak!”
Blood poured from Jeokmaryeong’s forehead.
Twirl.
The grip on my ankle suddenly weakened.
He grabbed a stone beside us.
Black mist swirled and the rock absorbed it.
Jeokmaryeong grabbed my hair and brought it down.
Rocks exploded as his pupils shook.
“Uwaaa!”
I grabbed his waist and charged straight into the opposite wall while hugging him.
There was an iron rod hanging from the wall.
PUK!
“KWAARAK!”
The iron rod pierced Jeokmaryeong’s abdomen.
I shouted through blood.
“You get the same!”
Jeokmaryeong’s face twisted in rage.
“You damn brat!”
Jeokmaryeong kicked off the ground in a crouch and punched my face.
My head snapped back, but I drove an elbow into his solar plexus.
“Kwa… kwaaaak!”
Vessels bulged in Jeokmaryeong’s eyes.
He staggered backward and retreated.
Jeokmaryeong glared at me.
He grabbed the iron rod sticking out of his belly.
“HAP!”
Jeokmaryeong ripped the rod out of his abdomen in one go.
Instantly, the iron rod filled with all the power of the Heaven and Earth Great Shift was swung at me.
“…”
I raised both arms.
A massive shockwave crashed over me.
I flew entangled with clotheslines and laundry between two buildings and was sent flying.
I smashed through the temple wall in the center of Gwando and tumbled into the courtyard.
“Gwa… Gwanseum-bosal…!”
The monks guarding the small temple panicked and ran.
A sign that read “Seolim Sect” was crushed underfoot.
Jeokmaryeong grabbed my martial robe and began spinning me like a top.
THUD! KWAAAANG!
He slammed me into the stone tower in the temple courtyard and started smashing everything.
He threw me away as I released my clothes.
Accelerating, he smashed through a wall.
KWAAANG!
My head hit the wall hard.
The railing shattered.
I was thrown into the hall on this floor.
I tumbled together with the burning giant incense burner.
Behind me was a broken Buddha statue.
I hurriedly stood up.
Through the broken wall, I saw Jeokmaryeong charging straight toward me in a frenzy.
THUD! THUD! KWAAAANG!
Nothing could stop him.
Everything shattered under his momentum.
Buildings, people—everyone was the same.
Blood was the path.
Along that path were imperial soldiers, rogues, monks who had never learned martial arts, and ordinary civilians alike.
“Aaaak! AAAAAK!”
“Save us!”
“My arm! My arm!!”
Jeokmaryeong’s purple figure slammed his hand into the wall and leaped upward.
Before I could react, he was already right in front of me.
His hand grabbed my neck.
As power flooded his grip and twisted my neck, I flung his hand away.
I hurled Jeokmaryeong up to the ceiling of the temple.
Joists shook.
Jeokmaryeong pushed off the ceiling and fell back on me.
My body smashed through the wooden floor and was slammed down.
At the same moment I climbed on top of him, his fist rained down like madness on my face.
“Kwaak! Kwaaaak!”
The feeling of my face being crushed was painfully clear.
My vision flickered—darkened, then brightened—again and again.
My face quickly became covered in blood.
I grabbed the fist coming at my face.
I drove it straight down into the floor.
“Ugh!”
Jeokmaryeong groaned in pain.
I grabbed his face.
The Hyeol-yeong-mu-hwan-sin-sul expanded to its limit.
I slammed his head into the floor and charged forward.
KWAKWAKWAKWAK!!!
“KWAARAAAAK!! You damned—!”
Jeokmaryeong screamed in agony.
KWAAAANG!
While supporting the temple, a pillar cracked and broke.
His clothes were ripped to shreds.
As I expanded my footwork, Jeokmaryeong slipped his leg between my legs.
I tripped forward and fell.
In front of me were stone steps carved as sharp as knives, covered in salt so white they looked like fresh snow.
“…”
Still gripping each other’s necks, we rolled down the stone steps.
KWAAAANG! KWAAANG! KWAAAANG!
Without any martial art, our skulls smashed into the corner of the steps.
DTTA DA DAK…!
Our white teeth, matted with blood, clashed together as we looked at each other.
“Kwaaak! Kwaak! Kwaaaak!”
Each second we slid lower, the acceleration increased.
The speed we crashed into the steps grew faster.
WHIRL!
Under that speed, the hands holding each other slipped away.
We spun like tops and slammed into the stone steps, then bounced away.
In that instant, wrapped in black lightning, I twisted my body in a movement that defied human limits and landed on the ground.
One hand gripped Jeokmaryeong’s neck.
HAP!
I used every ounce of acceleration I could muster and hurled him away.
* * *
“T-this aura… what is it?!”
The one who spoke first was Sa Ha-yun of the Jeomchang Sect.
She jolted upright in a daze.
“Huh? Why are you suddenly acting like that? What’s going on… Huh? What the hell is that noise?”
Jeomchang Sect’s Gang Mu-jeong, still drunk with a red face, stared at her before his expression hardened.
Everyone began to rise one by one.
Screams were already echoing from far away.
At first I thought it was imagination.
But it was not.
“W-what the hell…?”
A massive shockwave sounded.
The sound was growing closer.
A man who had been talking in the inn quickly ran toward the door.
He threw the door open.
“KYAAAAK!!”
“Demons! Demons!!”
“Where are the imperial soldiers and warriors?!”
People were running in all directions.
Under their feet, the brilliantly lit red lanterns were being trampled in the rain.
“Heavenly Demon Cult! Those are Heavenly Demon Cult demons!”
CHING-RANG!
The sake cup in Gang Mu-jeong’s hand dropped to the floor and shattered.
His face turned white as he opened his mouth.
“This is a joke, right? This isn’t the outskirts of Gwando—it’s right in front of the Cheonsubaekryeonsa… Where? Where there’s also not the imperial army openly present? No matter how demonic the cultists are, there’s the unwritten rule that imperial forces and murim people never harm each other….”
“Everyone run! You can’t stay in Gwando!”
Sa Ha-yun shouted.
“What?”
Everyone stared at her in confusion.
Han Jung-mae of the Kunlun Sect grabbed the pale-faced Sa Ha-yun with his giant body.
“W-what nonsense are you saying, Miss Sa? Stay calm. There’s chaos, but you can’t possibly believe the civilians’ rumors that demons suddenly attacked….”
“Shut up, you idiot!”
Sa Ha-yun snapped.
Even if Sa Ha-yun spoke roughly, it was not directed at Gang Mu-jeong of the same sect.
Han Jung-mae’s rabbit eyes widened in surprise at her harsh words, but she ignored him.
“Can’t you feel it? That demonic energy close to a great disaster!”
Ye Mi-ye of the Mount Hua Sect stood up, frowning.
“…Yes, since we’re orthodox, I don’t know what chaos is, but we should step in.”
“That’s not it! You really can’t feel anything! It’s not the time now! There are two of them! That kind of typhoon-like demonic energy!”
Han Jung-mae said.
“Miss Sa, we’ll protect you, so don’t be too worried—.”
Sa Ha-yun cried out as if she were dying of impatience.
“That’s not a playful level! They’re already close! Run now or—.”
OOOSH.
I felt an eerie aura that pierced everyone’s senses like lightning.
All their mouths snapped shut at the same time.
“T-this… this is…?”
It was an aura they had never felt in their lives.
But they instinctively knew.
This was demonic energy.
And it was overwhelmingly huge.
Only then did they realize.
Sa Ha-yun’s senses had grown to an extreme level, allowing her to detect these auras from far away.
And right now, as they themselves began to feel it, it was coming dangerously close.
Sa Ha-yun shouted.
“Everyone run now—!”
KWAAAANG!
The demon wrapped in crimson flames smashed through the inn ceiling and was flung out.
“Kwaak! You damned half-breed brat!! How dare you humiliate the Yeomrang King Jeokmaryeong!”
Writhing in pain, the demon stood up.
The martial robe on the man’s body had become rags; there was not a single clean spot on his body.
But his eyes were still blazing with life.
Sa Ha-yun felt her blood freeze in her veins.
“Yeomrang King…? Could it be the Yeomrang King of the Surayeomrang Squad?”
“A person has fallen from the sky!”
People in the inn screamed and staggered back.
“What…?”
Jeokmaryeong wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and looked around.
People crowded the inn.
The innkeeper approached hesitantly.
“Y-you’re fine—.”
Sa Ha-yun shouted.
“Don’t approach!”
Jeokmaryeong frowned.
“These pests!”
Jeokmaryeong waved his hand filled with crimson flames.
In front of him stood the innkeeper and dozens of others.
FLASH!
In an instant, dozens of people exploded like overripe fruit.
Everything within that range shattered.
“A… aah! D-demons. Real demons…!”
Ye Mi-ye of the Mount Hua Sect sat down with her legs giving out.
“Huh? What? Orthodox people?”
Jeokmaryeong looked at them.
Crimson light burned in his eyes.
“You’re wearing the belt of the Cheonsubaekryeonsa that reminds me of that half-breed?”
“Half-breed?”
Sa Ha-yun clearly heard the word in Jeokmaryeong’s mumble.
But with the situation so urgent, she did not have time to question.
“Tch!”
No hesitation.
Sa Ha-yun drew her sword and shouted.
“Everyone, somehow combine your strength—!”
Sa Ha-yun looked around.
“Ah.”
Among the warriors, none of the Cheonsubaekryeonsa disciples who had the will to resist were present.
They had reluctantly drawn their swords to follow her, but half their minds were already dazed, covered in cold sweat.
They were trembling even with their eyes closed.
Sa Ha-yun was the only one analyzing the situation coldly.
WHOOSH!
Violet flames blazed in Jeokmaryeong’s hand.
Brightly glowing and about to explode, it grew larger.
Jeokmaryeong raised his hand.
I saw the images of the innkeeper and people who had been blasted apart in one go.
“Annoying bastards, all die.”
Jeokmaryeong’s figure shot forward.
His hand swung roughly toward the leading Sa Ha-yun.
Crimson flames spurted out.
Sa Ha-yun bit her lip hard.
When everyone closed their eyes, she alone kept hers wide open.
In front of her, crimson flames were approaching like scattered pieces.
“Even if I die, I will die as an orthodox person with dignity…!”
SSE-EAEK…!
A sound of something flying came from afar.
And—.
KWAAAAAANG!!!
A massive black lightning bolt fell from the sky right in front of her.
“UWAAAAA!!”
“…”
It was a heart-wrenching scream.
Sa Ha-yun looked ahead.
She opened her mouth.
Even though she was seeing it with her own eyes, her brain refused to accept it.
Jeokmaryeong was roaring.
His hand, which was supposed to swing something, was being grabbed.
“You damned bastard!!”
Jeokmaryeong tried to shake it off, but the black lightning clung desperately to the demon.
The demon’s wrist that had been swinging at Sa Ha-yun was now caught by a human hand wrapped in blood-soaked black lightning.
“IIK!!”
With all her might, she pushed Jeokmaryeong away while still in that state.
She was trying to push the demon away from Sa Ha-yun and her group at any cost.
PAK!
Jeokmaryeong’s fist slammed down on the human’s face.
The face of the human wrapped in black lightning twisted as if it would break.
The human hit Jeokmaryeong’s face.
Jeokmaryeong staggered.
Sa Ha-yun said in disbelief.
“You fought the Yeomrang King equally?”
KWAAAANG!
Black lightning entangled with Jeokmaryeong and smashed through the wall, flying out.
With a massive vibration, the sound of their clash faded away.
HOO DU DUK.
Dirt and stone dust fell thickly.
Standing in front of the horrific battlefield, Sa Ha-yun blinked.
Her voice trembled as she muttered.
“…Moyong Bi?”
The Heavenly Demon Copies Martial Arts.