The First Under Heaven
Torrential rain poured down.
Jeokmaryeong muttered amid the downpour.
“That bastard really had a pearl?”
Shock rippled through the group.
—Clang! Shing-shing!
Every member of the Nine Killing Stars drew their weapons. The atmosphere had shifted completely from moments before—tense to the point of explosion, ready to detonate at a single spark.
Consuming a pearl in full view of others was as good as declaring its whereabouts for all to see. And from the way I had absorbed it without the slightest issue, they had clearly realized I was carrying at least one more.
The Nine Killing Stars murmured among themselves.
“Someone who isn’t even a Guardian, holding a pearl…? At least one, maybe more.”
“Good heavens. How could an ownerless pearl end up here…!”
It was a revelation powerful enough to bury every other concern like a typhoon sweeping all before it.
Whether one-on-one or one against many, my odds of survival in this state were less than one in ten. The only way to recover even a scrap of inner energy right now was to consume the Sichuan Tang Family Guardian’s pearl. The one I had already absorbed sat in my body like something sunk into a swamp, doing nothing but slowly refilling my energy—no other changes yet.
Gu-ho pointed at me and roared.
“Everyone! Kill that bastard and take the pearl!”
“…!”
Il-ho, who had been insisting on a one-on-one duel, hesitated for a moment—but even he could no longer stop them.
—Kwa-kwa-kwa!!
The Nine Killing Stars charged.
“Fine! Come at me, all of you!!”
—Whir.
The hand-span length of Myeolseom coiled around my grip. I clenched my teeth. Both my eyes flooded with black light.
—Pa-bat!
Black thunder howled from my entire body in a desperate, piercing cry.
“Liu!”
—Kwa-kwa-kwa!!!
Explosive black thunder erupted from every pore, blooming into black flames with pure white cores.
—Pa-bat!
I crossed my arms and clenched my fists, settling into the opening stance.
Mumyeong shouted into my mind.
Assassins are weak in frontal confrontations, unlike true martial artists! Even if they are the Nine Killing Stars who can overwhelm Guardians, that only holds when they attack in their full nine-man formation! So if you want even a slim chance of surviving this nightmare…!
—Kiiing!
Crimson light blazed in my eyes, black mist surging above it.
Cling to them and force a chaotic one-on-one brawl!
I held my breath. Bloodshot veins spiderwebbed across my eyes. The muscles in my thighs swelled and strained as if about to burst.
Spatial movement technique—tearing through space for an instant close.
—Kwa-reung!
I ripped through space and lunged straight into Gu-ho’s arms—the closest of them all.
“What the hell is this bizarre—!”
Gu-ho recoiled in shock and thrust forward the circular shield on his arm.
“Uwaaah!!!”
I drove my fist straight into that shield.
—Kwaaaang!!
A massive shockwave blasted outward, sweeping the surroundings.
“Kheuk!”
Gu-ho spat a mouthful of bloody foam. My pupils dilated.
“It blocked me?!”
My black-thunder-wreathed fist had been stopped cold by the round shield Gu-ho had raised. Cold sweat beaded on his face even as a cold sneer twisted his lips.
“Keuhuhu! Looks like a final struggle! I’ve already witnessed that earth-shaking destructive power of yours in the fight against the Yama King. But before this Blade-Suppressing Shield—one of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s sacred artifacts—no impact is of any use…?!”
—Kwak!
I seized Gu-ho’s forearm where it showed beneath the shield.
“If it’s strong against impact—!”
I raised Myeolseom in my right hand.
“Then try withstanding this!!”
I squeezed the hilt as if wringing it dry.
—Kiiing!!
A hair-raising screech of grinding metal tore through the air. The dual counter-rotating serrated blades of Myeolseom—miniaturized machinery from the Baekryeon Magyo—began vibrating madly as they crossed.
Gu-ho’s face drained of color.
“It can’t be—!”
I brought Myeolseom down onto the shield.
—Ka-ga-ga-gak!!
Sparks flew as Myeolseom bit into the Blade-Suppressing Shield. Then, like a rat gnawing through wood, the dual saw-blades began chewing into the metal.
—Kwa-jik! Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak!!!
Gu-ho’s face turned deathly pale as he screamed.
“The… the Blade-Suppressing Shield?!”
—Ka-ga-ga-gak!
I poured every ounce of strength into driving Myeolseom deeper.
—Jjeok!
The Blade-Suppressing Shield tore apart in shreds and split open. I lunged at Gu-ho’s fully exposed torso, fist clenched tight. Still frozen from the shattering of the artifact he had trusted, Gu-ho cried out a beat too late.
“Oh n—!”
Three successive, overwhelming punches of Shaolin origin, refined through demonic power.
—Kung!
“Keok!”
The first blow shattered Gu-ho’s ribs.
—Kuung!
The second shattered his pelvis.
—Kuung!!
The third drove into his solar plexus; I heard the wet rupture of internal organs.
“Aaaagh!”
His abdomen caved as if pierced through. Gu-ho was hurled far away along with the shattered fragments of the Blade-Suppressing Shield.
The remaining Killing Stars did not miss that fleeting opening.
—Pa-ba-bat!
They closed in from left and right at blinding speed. Aside from Gu-ho, the rest of the Killing Stars wielded short daggers—each about a hand-span and a half to two hand-spans long, similar to Myeolseom’s length.
A dagger flashed.
—Puk!
One buried itself in my side. Before the fact of being stabbed even registered, the blade twisted a half-turn inside me.
“Aaaagh!”
I screamed at the hellish agony.
—Peogeok!
Another dagger punched into my thigh. The Killing Star who had ambushed my leg tried to yank the blade free. I snatched the dagger’s edge bare-handed.
—Beureureu!
Crimson blood streamed from beneath my clenched grip, running down my palm. My opponent tightened his hold so I could not take the weapon. I chopped down on his wrist with a knife-hand strike. The Killing Star released the dagger and staggered back.
The stolen dagger spun once in my grip. In the same motion I reversed my hold on Myeolseom in the other hand.
“…!”
The Killing Star who had driven a blade into my side tried to recover it. Matching the speed of the withdrawing blade, I stepped forward and drove my side into him instead.
The Killing Star cried out in shock.
“He’s charging in—?!”
—Peok!
I slammed Myeolseom down into the man’s chest.
—Ka-ga-ga-gak!!!
With a bone-chilling screech, Myeolseom’s blades whirled madly, carving through the Killing Star’s body and protective qi alike. At the same time I thrust the stolen dagger forward with my free hand.
A black gale of thunder that swallows even the scent of plum blossoms.
A single streak of black whirlwind, wreathed in black thunder that smothered any plum-blossom fragrance, shot toward the Killing Star who had released his dagger and retreated.
“This—!”
He twisted his body sideways.
—Jjeoeong!!
Even so, the aftershock caught him. His right arm and the entire left half of his upper body twisted away and flew off.
“You crazy bastard!”
One of the Killing Stars seized my shoulder from behind. My body locked in place. I could not move.
“Ah…!”
Another charged from the front. The dagger in his hand flashed like lightning through the rain.
—Puk-puk!
My abdomen was carved open. Abandoning every other part of my body, I poured everything into a kick aimed at the path of the blades heading for my heart, liver, and lungs.
—Baung!
The Killing Star butchering my gut recoiled in terror and leapt back.
“Impossible…! Even exhausted, he took out three in an instant…!”
Il-ho’s eyes flew wide. He gestured sharply.
“Haa… haa…!”
I had killed three, but six times that number still remained. Even with Liu’s power, my body was completely spent.
—Kiiing…!
Myeolseom continued its mad rotation, devouring inner energy at a terrifying rate. Already two-thirds of my energy was gone.
I was being pushed back. I was dying. Far away, death kept beckoning to me with a casual wave. No matter how desperately I thrashed and struggled, the reaper of death simply strode closer without the slightest concern.
“Don’t make me laugh! I’m not dying! I’m never dying!”
Explosive black light flared in my eyes as black thunder erupted from my body once more.
—Jjeoeong! Pa-jik! Pa-ji-jik!
“Kkeuaaaagh!!”
The Killing Star clinging to my limbs burst into flames under the black thunder. Even as he died from the lightning, he hung on. He swung his dagger.
—Peok!
I felt my right shoulder punched clean through.
—Teolkeok.
My right arm hung limp like the arm of a rag doll, useless. Part of my mind began to sink into darkness. I swung Myeolseom and flung off the cooling corpse still clinging to me. In that instant two more latched on.
—Pu-puk!
Both my legs locked up. My calves were slashed; even taking a single step of footwork became nearly impossible. No matter how hard I tried to shake them off, they clung like a swarm of bees.
“Euaaagh!”
My entire body was stabbed again and again; blood sprayed once more. It felt exactly like thrashing to climb out of a swamp while sinking deeper with every struggle. My vision blurred. Even the final flare of Asura Great Annihilation I had forced out with the last of my strength began to gutter and die.
I thrashed and tangled with them in pure desperation. Another Killing Star was crushed under my fist. One of my lungs was pierced.
No…! No!
Mumyeong screamed—a scream of fading hope.
You can’t die here! Host! You can’t fall here—!
—Puk!
A long sword ran me through the abdomen.
Everything you’ve endured until now wasn’t for this!
—Seogeok.
My earlobe was sliced away.
—Ppagak.
My jaw was smashed upward. Even my eyes were going dark. I swung my blade without knowing where I was aiming. I blocked attacks without any certainty I was actually blocking them. Sensation fled my entire body.
So this is what dying feels like.
Only then did I understand. This was the death every martial artist eventually met.
They say a person’s true face appears when death is near.
Someone’s words surfaced in my mind.
I don’t want to show you that face… haha.
Now I felt exactly what that meant, vivid and raw.
…! Stay… conscious! The sword in front! Block the sword!
With every last scrap of strength I swung Myeolseom forward.
—Jjeong!
Metal rang as I deflected the blade that had been flying straight for the philtrum between my nose and lip. The price for blocking that attack was the back of my knee being slashed open.
—Kwa-dang-tang!
I slammed the back of my head hard against the ground. Paradoxically, the impact made my darkening vision flare bright for an instant.
—Swaaaaa…
The rain was still falling. More than five Killing Stars still looked down at me. At their head stood Il-ho.
“Seeeek… seeeek…”
I sat slumped against a tree stump, half-submerged in a pool of my own blood. Both hands I had dropped lay soaked in blackish gore.
“…Even so, a martial artist on the verge of death took down four of the Nine Killing Stars, including Gu-ho…”
Il-ho let out a low hum of consideration.
“Haa… haa…”
I glared up at him with eyes burning with pure spite. Myeolseom was still clenched tight in my hand.
Il-ho looked down at me and spoke.
“Truthfully, when I saw your black thunder, something came to mind… I had intended to simply watch while Gu-ho’s subordinates fought, but now that matters have escalated this far, even I can no longer stand by.”
Il-ho raised a hand and gestured toward one side of the forest.
—Busseureok, busseureok.
—Cheolkeong, cheolkeong…!
At the mysterious sounds I turned my gaze. They came from the undergrowth the Nine Killing Stars had deliberately left open as an escape route from the beginning. I stared into the trees. My breath caught.
“This can’t be.”
The forest seemed to overturn itself as countless demonic cultivators poured out.
“Did the Yama King not tell you? The Nine Killing Stars always travel with a pursuit team of first-rate experts specialized in stealth and tracking.”
—Jeobeok, jeobeok.
The pursuit team advancing with drawn blades and crimson eyes numbered well over forty at a glance.
Il-ho continued.
“We nine are not the entirety. From the very beginning, your chances of surviving in this remote place were zero.”
—Seureung, seureureung…!
The forty-odd pursuers drew yet more short daggers from their robes and closed in on me.
“Now that so many have died, there’s no other choice.”
Il-ho spoke as he adjusted his grip on his blade.
“Be grateful you lived a little longer than the twenty breaths you had left, and go well.”
Il-ho raised his hand. There was not the slightest hesitation or carelessness left in him.
—Cheojeok.
The Killing Stars and the forty pursuers surrounded me on every side in a solid black wall of blades. They treated me as if I were still at full strength—not a single opening of complacency.
If they charged now, I would be carved to pieces and die. Watching them, I gasped out words between ragged breaths.
“Haa… haa…! Mumyeong…!”
I shouted through a mouthful of blood.
“Sorry. Looks like our story ends here.”
…
Mumyeong’s presence felt less than half of usual—as if he had poured every last scrap of the energy he possessed into me. He was fading, barely perceptible.
“Mumyeong, even if a rag doll like me dies, you’ll keep living, right? Just like you always have…?”
…Yes.
Mumyeong answered quietly.
“Even if no one else remembers, you remember. That once, a person named me struggled to the very end to live.”
With the last of my strength I clenched Myeolseom’s hilt.
“And that I tried my absolute best to keep moving forward…!”
—Kiiing!!!
Myeolseom began vibrating madly, spraying sparks.
…I will.
Mumyeong’s voice was nearly spent.
…Remember.
The demonic cultivators approached. Ten paces.
My entire body refused to move anyway. Five paces.
Leaning against the stump, I adjusted my grip on Myeolseom and roared.
“Come on…! All of you! I’ll drag at least one of you down with me on the way!”
—Jeobeok.
They closed in.
—Ka-ga-ga-gak…!
With a desperate screech, Myeolseom ground against the ground, throwing off its final sparks. Five paces left. The demonic cultivators all lowered their stances in unison. Three paces left. Their auras swelled as one, ready to charge—
Every single movement stopped dead.
“…Haa… haa…”
Only the sound of my ragged breathing filled the world.
They stopped…?
Mumyeong murmured in a faint voice.
Il-ho remained still, staring at me. Then, abruptly, he whipped his head toward one side and hurled a short dagger with all his might.
“Who’s there!!”
It was a technique of an entirely different dimension from the martial arts Gu-ho—the former second—had displayed. Its speed rivaled the Plum Blossom Spinning Dagger I had unleashed. The short dagger, laden with ferocious power and wrapped in demonic qi, flew in a perfectly straight line.
And then—
—Jjeoeong!!!
With a thunderous crash, the dagger was snatched out of the darkness amid a burst of sparks.
Il-ho muttered in stunned disbelief.
“My throwing dagger as one of the Nine Killing Stars… not blocked, but caught?”
In the darkness, pale fingers clenched around the dagger.
—Kwa-ji-jik!
The blade crumpled like paper and fell to the ground.
The Killing Stars murmured in shock.
“A dagger forged from diamond-hard black iron, crushed that easily?”
A figure murmured from the shadows.
“Not too late. About twenty breaths…? A little later and it would have been irreversible.”
The rain stopped. The clouds parted. A blue moon rose.
—Peolleok.
As if after a long journey, a tattered wind-cloak fluttered, and silver hair streamed out of the darkness.
Il-ho shouted again toward the shadows.
“I asked who you are!”
Beneath that moonlight, a voice of otherworldly clarity rang out.
—Jeobeok.
The wind-cloak fell away in the darkness, revealing the white martial robes billowing beneath.
—Jeobeok, jeobeok, jeobeok.
The figure stepped forward one pace at a time from the shadows. The first thing the moonlight revealed was a pale leg parting the white robes.
—Cheolkeong…! Cheolkeong!
With massive clanks, the shackles around the ankles fell away one after another.
—Kuung!
Each time a shackle released, terrifying inner energy amplified and blanketed the forest.
—Pudeudeuk!!
Birds exploded into the night sky in a panicked flock. White martial robes fluttered under the blue moonlight; the shadows veiling the face were pushed back. A pale wrist appeared.
—Cheolkeong!
The massive shackle around that wrist also fell and rolled across the ground.
Il-ho spoke in a trembling voice.
“Th-this… what is this impossible aura…!”
A high, pale bridge of the nose, then the jaw, the cheeks, and finally the eyes were unveiled one after another beneath the moonlight.
—Kattak.
A pale finger pointed toward the night sky. Behind the figure, something began rising all at once from the darkness.
Eyelids blinked. Beneath them, silver eyes glowed softly under the blue moonlight.
One of the demonic cultivators stammered in a shaking voice.
“C-crazy. All those countless things… are they all swords?”
—Uuung!
Hundreds of blades like shards of ice orbited behind the figure.
I spoke in a trembling voice.
“…Eun Seollyeong?”