White Fuse, Black Thunder

At my words, Seol Ye-rin seemed to lose her reason for a moment. She bellowed at the top of her lungs.

"Do you not grasp the situation we're in, Ha-mu-gwan student?! No matter how strong you are, do you think those things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up ahead make any sense? Each one of those Blood Corpses is at least the level of a first-rate martial artist!"

"You kept acting like you had everything under your thumb. Is this your true face, then?"

"…!"

I spoke.

"Ha-mu-gwan student this, Ha-mu-gwan student that—shut your damn mouth about that worthless surface bullshit. I clearly asked if you wanted to live."

"…."

Seol Ye-rin swallowed hard.

"I… I w-want…."

She nodded without even realizing it.

"I want to live."

"Then keep everything you've seen here a secret until the day you die."

Seol Ye-rin echoed back in a dazed voice.

"…Keep all of this secret? What the hell have you been trying to do since earlier?"

"I'll take that as agreement. And one more thing."

I turned and stood at the very edge of the watchtower.

"Your guess was right."

"What?"

"Watch carefully."

Below, countless corpses stared up with eyes full of madness.

Chu Ryung-tae, reduced to a centipede's host, his reason seemingly gone, howled as he charged toward us.

Looking down on all of it, I closed my eyes.

"This is exactly why I wanted the Reclamation Three-Wheel Heart Method."

-Kuuung.

A single heavy boom split heaven and earth.

-….

Every Blood Corpse froze mid-motion.

Chu Ryung-tae's charge halted.

All noise vanished.

The world went quiet.

The wind stopped.

-Pajik….

A faint thread of thunder broke the silence.

-Pajik… pajijik….

From beneath my feet, lightning began to whip and surge.

Seol Ye-rin spoke in a voice stripped of soul.

"White fuse… Black Thunder?"

-Jjeoeong!!!

Black lightning that tore the firmament apart erupted outward with the watchtower as its center.

-Kiiiing!!

Inside the black lightning, Myeolseom spun its serrated blades with a frenzied roar.

-Cheolgeureok.

The Chiljong-heukjusa-gap clenched and opened with the ring of metal.

"Uu… uuu."

The Blood Corpses' eyes went wide.

The black tide that filled the earth writhed.

At the same time I hurled myself off the watchtower.

"Wait—what are you—!"

Seol Ye-rin lunged to catch me, but my form was already cutting through the air.

-….

Every gaze followed the bolt of lightning that streaked across the night sky under the moon.

Moonlight glittered off the assorted weapons clutched in the Blood Corpses' hands.

-Kwaang!

At the center of the black wave of corpses, a brilliant Black Thunder struck down like a bolt from heaven.

Chu Ryung-tae, half-mad, his soul tangled with the centipede's, cried out in a voice closer to a vengeful spirit than a man.

"Kwahaha! Walking into this hellish throng on your own two feet! Kill him—kill him!"

"Uuuuuu!!"

The Blood Corpses surged in a black flood.

They crashed down upon the zone boiling with Black Thunder.

"Mo… Moyong Bi!"

From the watchtower Seol Ye-rin shouted in urgency.

And then—

-Kiiiing!!!

With the scream of grinding steel, Myeolseom's blades spun up to full speed.

Blood Corpses began to be torn apart.

Chu Ryung-tae reeled in shock.

"Wh-what is that thing!"

Blood Corpses went flying, shredded by the saw blades.

Wrapped in Black Thunder, I began to rampage like a madman.

There was a story Eun Seollyeong had once told me.

'Most Guardians who fail to enjoy a natural lifespan die mid-battle. They share a common pattern. Do you know what it is?'

'What is it?'

Eun Seollyeong had answered my curiosity in her usual calm voice.

'It is not dying in a one-on-one duel against a stronger foe. It is being driven, herded, and slaughtered by an overwhelming multitude—dying in utter misery.'

No single number can overcome the many.

She had spoken those words to warn me, to drill that truth into my bones.

So I had asked:

'You said most. Meaning there were Guardians who didn't fall that way?'

'We never simply stand by and let a Guardian be driven into such an extreme in the first place.'

'Among those who were driven into it, then.'

Eun Seollyeong had shaken her head.

'I cannot say never, but it is vanishingly rare. It has to be. This is not a matter of martial skill's height or depth. It is a matter of spirit and combat temperament.'

'That so? The power of a group is that absolute?'

'For a single fighter to overcome the many requires obsession—and the struggle instinct to keep killing even while rolling in the mud. That is no longer the realm of training. It is something you are born with.'

After a pause she had hesitated, then continued.

'But if… if there ever existed a being born with that instinct…'

She had looked straight at me.

'That would be a truly absolute existence unique in all the jianghu. A demon itself.'

-Kiiiing!!!

I drove Myeolseom into a Blood Corpse's brow.

-Kagagak!!

With a bone-chilling saw-sound the corpse split apart.

I seized the neck of the one beside it and twisted until it snapped.

Black Thunder surged over my entire body.

The moment I stamped out a true step, the internal energy throughout my body detonated.

-Kwaaang!!

Heaven and earth began to collapse.

-Jjeong! Kwajijik!

Limbs of Blood Corpses flew in every direction. The speed of Hyeol-yeong-mu-hwan-sin-sul, the irregular motion of Baekryeon-pal-ya-jong, and the spatial leaps of Polar Night layered together, generating completely random, unpredictable movement.

I advanced like a single black arrow cutting through a flock of white sheep.

Around that black arrow, Black Thunder and fountains of blood rose twice a man's height into the air.

Everything was crushed and shattered.

Chu Ryung-tae swung his axe and roared.

"Grab him—grab him, damn you! What the hell are all of you doing!"

I slipped the sword aimed at my throat.

-Kkwareung!

Tearing through empty air, my body rose twenty steps high.

I plummeted and drove both knees into a Blood Corpse's shoulders.

-Kwajik!

Wrapped in Black Thunder, the corpse was crushed flat from above like something under a press.

I seized the next one's neck and hurled it aside, snatching the rusted moon blade from its grip.

-Bauuung!

I swung it like a giant scythe mowing grass.

-Seogeok! Seogeogeok!

Waists of Blood Corpses were sheared clean through and sent flying.

When a weapon blocked the path, the blade didn't merely cut the iron—it smashed it to pieces as it continued its arc.

If something caught, I simply lifted the whole mass skyward and slammed it into the ground.

-Kwajik.

The moon blade's haft cracked against bone and snapped.

Without pause I flew forward, clamped a Blood Corpse's throat, and drove my knee upward.

I sidestepped and threw a punch.

-Jjeong! Jjeojeojeong!

Enemies died before they could even swing their swords.

Bodies burst apart.

When the Blood Corpses tried to coil into an encirclement while I rampaged, I activated Patcheon Hyeolma Gunrimbo again.

They went flying with mouths agape, shrieking.

Whatever fell into my hands I seized, ripped free, and tore open.

Strike and withdraw, racing every ruined corner of the fortress, I slaughtered them all.

"Uuuuu…!"

Countless Blood Corpses began to chase me.

I cut deeper across the fortress grounds.

I entered the central clearing.

Then stepped into one of the collapsed ruins.

The instant I was inside I spun and stood beside the doorway.

"Kwaaak!"

Howling, a single corpse gripping a massive greatsword came crashing in.

I side-kicked the side of its knee.

-Udook.

It snapped like a dry stalk and the corpse toppled. Its head landed squarely in the door's closing path.

I seized the thick oak door.

For a split second terror flickered in the Blood Corpse's upward-gazing eyes.

-Kwangkwangkwang!

I slammed the door shut like a madman.

The Blood Corpse's head exploded.

It flung both hands skyward, shuddered violently, then went limp.

I snatched the greatsword from its grip.

I looked out at the village square filling pitch-black with oncoming Blood Corpses.

Internal energy surged from my body.

"This much should do it!"

I bit down hard enough to crack my molars and swung the greatsword.

A blue azure dragon, riding the Black Thunder of the Sura Great Annihilation, plowed across the earth and shattered everything in its path.

I flung the scrap of a sword away and stacked Polar Night twice.

I crossed more than forty steps in an instant.

Before the Blood Corpses' gazes could even reach me I tore the head off the nearest one.

I ripped a long sword from its grip.

This time a crimson serpent wreathed in Black Thunder whirled forth, carving a cross through the square the blue dragon had just scoured.

"Keueok!"

"…!"

With soundless screams Blood Corpses flew apart as blood paste. The remaining ones began to mill in panic.

On top of that another true step of Patcheon Hyeolma Gunrimbo plowed the ground anew.

Chu Ryung-tae, who had been chasing me, was struck dumb with horror.

"H-how can you chain such tyrannical martial arts one after another!"

Fear flooded eyes that should have held no emotion at all.

Chu Ryung-tae trembled violently.

"All my efforts until now…."

Before his eyes he saw the countless Blood Corpses I had torn and slaughtered.

Even in that fleeting instant waists were shattering and necks being ripped free in my hands.

"My efforts!!"

Chu Ryung-tae swung his axe at me.

The air-rending crash battered my eardrums.

-Pababak.

I dodged it in just three steps.

-Gulleong.

Like a dancing shadow I slipped behind him.

I kicked his knee and shattered it.

The centipede burst, spraying blood.

But before a single drop could touch me I was already gone from that spot.

Chu Ryung-tae desperately swung his axe at where I had been.

I slipped that too.

His face twisted with pure rage as he howled.

"How—how…! Even this body fused with the Fierce Shackling Fang cannot touch you! This cannot be, this cannot be…! What in the nine hells is this tyrannical, damned footwork?!"

"Maybe because you're small fry. You saw Patcheon Hyeolma Gunrimbo and still have no commentary?"

Knees broken, collapsed on the ground, Chu Ryung-tae stared at me as if frozen solid.

"…Patcheon Hyeolma Gunrimbo?"

I looked toward the hill at the front of the square.

There stood a massive iron bell that had once been used to sound warnings across the entire fortress.

In front of it hung the wooden striker, the dangmok.

The distance was far.

I didn't care.

An iron skewer drawn from my calf flashed away like a streak of light.

The rope holding the iron bell snapped.

The rope holding the dangmok snapped as well.

Down the hillside the giant iron bell and the wooden striker began to roll.

-Kugugugu…!

Blood Corpses too slow to flee were crushed beneath them.

I walked straight toward Chu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ryung-tae's face.

"You think I'd fall to something like this—this trash!"

With a battle cry Chu Ryung-tae swung his axe and the giant iron bell burst apart as if crushed.

"No. Of course not."

"What?!"

Chu Ryung-tae looked up.

Against the black night sky, riding high on the fragments of the bell, I held the dangmok tucked under my arm like a lover.

I raised the massive wooden striker and roared.

"This is the real one."

"…You damn—!"

The giant log came down on Chu Ryung-tae's face.

Chu Ryung-tae's life, fused as one with the centipede, proved stubborn.

Even after the dangmok had half-destroyed him, breath still clung to him.

"Damn… it. Damn it, damn it…."

"Incarnation of the centipede or something, is that it? Tenacious life force. Honestly I expected instant death. The Blood Sect's sorcery is impressive."

Behind me every last Blood Corpse lay dead.

Smoke rose.

A mist of blood formed and drifted softly under the moonlight.

"…I can't believe my own eyes."

That was Seol Ye-rin's voice.

She must have run the moment the battlefield shifted to the square.

-Teolsseok.

Faced with the finished landscape, the strength left her legs and she sank to the ground.

I looked at her for a moment, then turned back to Chu Ryung-tae at my side.

Halfway between crushed centipede and human form, he ground his teeth without pause.

"If only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I hadn't fallen for that damned bastard's coaxing…!"

Chu Ryung-tae wailed.

A martial artist's pride no longer existed in him.

Half his reason gone, paralyzed by terror, instinct was swallowing everything he was.

"If Moyong Jinryong that son of a bitch hadn't coaxed me I would never have come to this place, never even needed to lay eyes on that demon spawn…!"

I doubted my ears.

"…What?"

I moved like lightning.

I seized the writhing centipede that was more or less his neck.

With a rusted iron hammer picked up from some fallen Blood Corpse I began to rain blows.

"Euaak! Euaaaak!"

Already one with the centipede, Chu Ryung-tae screamed like a madman.

I spoke into that face contorted with agony.

"Weren't you just a simple runaway, pushed out of some power struggle inside the Blood Sect?"

"Y-you… crazy bastard! Why the hell are you suddenly—!"

"Just now you mentioned the name of someone who gives me absolute motivation—a benefactor I am deeply grateful for."

I clenched my teeth.

"A name I can never overlook."

I said to Chu Ryung-tae,

"Talk. And I'll warn you in advance—until I permit it, you won't even be allowed to die. I can keep you alive forever in that hideous shape, unable to move a single finger."

"Uu… uuu."

I raised the blood-smeared hammer that was already melting and trailing smoke.

"Speak. What you were doing here. And every remaining Palace Master of the Blood Sect, every single thing you know about how the currents are flowing. Literally everything."

Chu Ryung-tae spat blood foam and poured every last scrap of strength into his shout.

"Fuck… off!"

"That so?"

I pinned one of his thrashing hands flat against the ground.

Chu Ryung-tae flinched.

"W-wait… wait a second!"

I forced the hand open.

Lifted the hammer.

And brought it down without a shred of hesitation.

"Kkeuaak!"

I hammered like a man possessed.

"Euaak, euaaaaak!"

Blood spattered my face, but the protective qi already ignited by extreme demonic energy blocked even steel-melting acid.

The hammer was melting, yet its function as a blunt weapon remained perfectly intact.

"Still not talking? After everything you've experienced with me, you should know I'm not like ordinary martial artists."

I leveled the blood-caked hammer at him.

"So talk. If you speak honestly, then even though I'm not your lord the Seventh Palace Master…."

Terror began to flood Chu Ryung-tae's eyes.

I seized the hair of the Blood Sect's elite First Guardian of the Seventh Palace Master and said,

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will at least grant you the dignity of dying with some honor."