Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Resolve
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Knowledge shall set you free.
The saint of the West said it.
The utmost serene coldness that Wi Sowol felt could be explained by those words.
She fully understood her own emotions, and in turn, detached herself from them.
Her heart still burned hot, letting her know she was angry.
But Wi Sowol's mind was as cold as ice.
The pristine white internal energy of the Great White Light True Qi followed her icy will, forming ice crystals around her.
"Ice arts?"
Yeok Kyung-hyo muttered at the rare martial art.
Ice arts in winter would be quite troublesome.
Because the ice particles they produced interfered with breathing.
'Gotta watch my breathing.'
Demonic cultists were often thought of as losing their reason and being driven only by explosive power, but Yeok Kyung-hyo was a brainy type who practiced demonic arts yet calculated every move meticulously.
The essence of the Owl Talon Sword Technique was speed and stealth.
Anyone facing Yeok Kyung-hyo for the first time would suffer damage from his opening move, without fail.
'I won't kill you.'
Slowly.
Very slowly, he'd make her suffer.
And when she begged for death, he'd drag her to the Rampaging Demon Heaven as an offering.
A chilling killing intent curled Yeok Kyung-hyo's lips.
Kreeek.
The grating friction of the sword being drawn scraped at the nerves, and at the same time, Yeok Kyung-hyo's arm whipped out like a lash.
Screeeeech—!!
She took the bait.
As Yeok Kyung-hyo confidently prepared his next technique,
"Left arm."
Wi Sowol's lips moved, and with a half-step, she exquisitely dodged Yeok Kyung-hyo's sword.
Star Lodge Divine Traces.
The mysterious footwork that traced constellations on the earth danced atop the sword path as if strolling leisurely.
'Dodged?'
Yeok Kyung-hyo wasn't surprised.
'Fine. I figured you'd have a trick or two.'
No matter how much the Silver Sword Sect was a third-rate ragtag sect to the Rampaging Demon Heaven, wiping out an entire sect without leaving a single survivor required real skill to back it up.
Yeok Kyung-hyo hadn't let his guard down at all, despite her small stature and delicate frame.
That's why he barely managed to see it.
The silver-white sword light stretching toward his left arm.
"Kugh!"
The sharp fragment of moonlight spread a red glow of blood.
Blood droplets splattered onto Yeok Kyung-hyo's cheek.
It burned hot.
'My blood...?'
Yeok Kyung-hyo felt like his blood was surging backward.
Rage and shock intertwined.
No matter how hard he tried to keep his cool, Yeok Kyung-hyo was still a demonic cultist at heart.
The explosive nature of demonic arts fanned his fury.
"You bitch, how dare you!!"
Skreeek!
The owl's talons that rent the night seized the moon.
But how could one grasp moonlight?
Moonlight is everywhere and nowhere, illuminating me and swallowing me whole.
"Guh!"
The only one rent apart was Yeok Kyung-hyo himself.
"I said left arm, right?"
The Lotus Moon Linking Sword was a technique of continuous chains.
It didn't stop.
Light flowed on without breaking.
It was on a different level from the Owl Talon Sword Technique.
Shining in the darkness: stealth.
Flowing without pause: continuity.
Embracing the world: softness.
Too fast for the eyes to catch: speed.
Filling every direction: fullness.
Those essences bound as one: unity.
The Lotus Moon Linking Sword held profound mystery.
The sword glows blooming from Wi Sowol's blade, infused with moonlight, flowered like blossoms.
Flowers know no withering, and moonlight shifts forms as it flows through time.
Hwang Bo-yun, who had planned to face the other Rampaging Demon Heaven warriors, stared blankly at the stolen sight of that sword dance.
Yes, sword dance.
The battle between Wi Sowol and Yeok Kyung-hyo.
It was too one-sided to call a fight.
Too beautiful to call a hunt.
So, sword dance it was.
A lone requiem danced by Wi Sowol.
Hwang Bo-yun wasn't the only one overwhelmed.
Even the Rampaging Demon Heaven warriors following Yeok Kyung-hyo stood frozen, entranced by Wi Sowol's sword dance.
The sun set, moonlight softly enveloped the world, and the dance ceased.
Stepping on the fallen Yeok Kyung-hyo, Wi Sowol approached the Rampaging Demon Heaven cultists.
They flinched back.
Their opponent was just a girl barely reaching their waists.
But the overwhelming prowess she'd just shown, and the gulf in spirit, pushed them away.
Yeok Kyung-hyo was undoubtedly top-tier among peak masters.
He didn't hold sixth rank in the Rampaging Demon Heaven for nothing.
Yet he'd been crushed without landing a single blow.
Even if all five cultists from this Rampaging Demon Heaven squad here ganged up on her, beating those two was a pipe dream.
True to demonic cultists who knew weakness and strength better than anyone, they quickly grasped who held the reins here.
"Little lady... we'll withdraw for now. If you kill us all, the Rampaging Demon Heaven can't back down without losing face. You wouldn't want full-scale war with us either."
It sounded plausible.
But such pleas weren't for them to make.
The weak obey the strong.
Following the Rampaging Demon Heaven's code, Wi Sowol gave them orders.
"Guide me to the silver mine. One of you. You pick."
§
The silver mine in the mountain village secured by the Rampaging Demon Heaven naturally had Rampaging Demon Heaven warriors stationed there too.
Fifteen of them, no less.
Considering their squads were five-man units, that meant three squads at the mine, one in the village, and one under Yeok Kyung-hyo's direct command—a total of five squads dispatched.
A fight was already underway in front of the silver mine.
The Beggars' Sect and Hwangbo family warriors were assaulting the Rampaging Demon Heaven forces.
Individually, the Rampaging Demon Heaven side seemed stronger, but the righteous faction had twice the numbers.
Still, the Rampaging Demon Heaven was holding them off with a defensive line at the mine entrance, like a siege defense, neutralizing the numerical advantage with quality.
Ha Maeng-hyeon, recognizing Wi Sowol, waved happily.
"Pretty fast."
"You're the late ones."
Originally, the Beggars' Sect was supposed to draw attention around the silver mine while Wi Sowol and Hwang Bo-yun cleared the village.
But the Beggars' Sect was late, so Yeok Kyung-hyo returned to the village, and Wi Sowol and Hwang Bo-yun nearly got in trouble.
"Sorry about that. Honestly, didn't expect you to be this quick. And we're a bit short on power here."
Ha Maeng-hyeon's voice was heavy as he spoke.
There had been casualties.
Wi Sowol quickly spotted the three corpses laid out nearby.
"Two Beggars' Sect, one Hwangbo family?"
"Yeah."
"Killer?"
"Yeok Kyung-hyo. Tried to block him and got done in. We got greedy... uh, hey! Weird Physician's disciple, your guard..."
The moment he heard the killer's name, Hwang Bo-yun unleashed the Hwangbo secret lightness skill, Heavenly King's Dominion Step, and dashed straight into the village.
"Sigh. Heads up. All the village cultists are cleared, so handle things here."
"Cleared? Even Yeok Kyung-hyo?"
Without answering, Wi Sowol chased after Hwang Bo-yun.
'Star Lodge Divine Traces is a bit lacking.'
Star Lodge Divine Traces was fundamentally a footwork technique.
More precisely, a footwork-oriented movement art.
It had lightness skill elements, but compared to techniques designed purely for lightness, its efficiency fell short.
That was why Wi Sowol, undoubtedly superior to Hwang Bo-yun, couldn't catch up.
'And my body is weaker too.'
The Nine Yin Absolute Meridian body granted boundless yin energy at the cost of short lifespan and frail physique.
In contrast, Hwang Bo-yun's innate Heavenly King Body produced speeds rivaling top lightness skills just from plain running, without any special technique.
In the end, Wi Sowol couldn't overtake Hwang Bo-yun even as they reached the village.
She had to watch him stand before Yeok Kyung-hyo.
Looking at Hwang Bo-yun's back, Wi Sowol asked.
"Gonna kill him?"
Hwang Bo-yun didn't turn.
If he looked back now, his resolve might waver.
So he bluffed.
"...Don't stop me."
Wi Sowol, who was angry herself, asked calmly again.
"Not stopping you. Just asking. You gonna kill him?"
"Yeah!"
He would kill him.
This villain who killed his blood kin—he'd kill him for sure.
"Why?"
"Why...? This bastard tormented innocent commoners, killed people from your hometown, my family, and countless others! He's a demonic butcher!"
Deserves to die!
Hwang Bo-yun shouted.
It was true.
Yeok Kyung-hyo was a villain.
Utter scum.
His nickname came from the owl that ate its own mother, and because he'd killed his own master, committing the ultimate filial impiety.
He hadn't just killed strangers or enemies.
He'd killed the parents who brought him into the world and the master who'd taught him martial arts.
A life unworthy of living.
Hwang Bo-yun was certain.
He could say it proudly.
But Wi Sowol's words differed.
"Spare him, and he might repent and atone. Like Rakshasa."
Rakshasa was originally a wicked demon committing atrocities with its innate power.
But after converting to Buddhism, washing away its sins to become a guardian deity, Rakshasa became a symbol that even those born as wicked demons could be enlightened.
Trembling in the fear of death, Yeok Kyung-hyo latched onto Wi Sowol's words.
"A-ah... Yes! The Hwangbo family is a noble Buddhist house, aren't they? I-I'll convert. Convert to the Buddha's way. Shave my head if you want. I'll take the precepts, follow the Dharma, live right... please... Buddha's mercy, mercy...!"
Did he see hope in surviving?
Yeok Kyung-hyo spewed every plea to stay alive.
One arm already severed, his whole body paralyzed by pressure points.
No resistance possible.
Facing the completely helpless foe, Hwang Bo-yun's fists trembled.
Just thrust out.
Just swing, and that ugly mug would shatter.
Instant death.
He could even blow the head clean off.
Hwang Bo-yun felt with all his senses that the power of life and death lay in his hands.
His breath quickened; he'd never killed before.
The surging internal energy of the Sumeru Heavenly King Divine Art roiled with his rage, spreading with his breaths.
"Spare... a scum like this...?"
Hwang Bo-yun glared down at Yeok Kyung-hyo's face, eyes clouded with anguish and fury.
Killing a person.
As a martial artist, he'd thought he'd face it someday.
Killing a villain.
When that moment came, he'd do it without hesitation as a proud righteous sect warrior. He'd sworn it.
Yet.
"Mercy...!"
Was it right to kill?
Me?
The veins bulging on Hwang Bo-yun's fists slowly subsided.
His strength was fading.
Hwang Bo-yun's eyes shifted from Yeok Kyung-hyo's ugly face to Wi Sowol.
Her mask and veil removed, revealing her beautiful icy visage.
Cold and emotionless, yet holding no feeling.
A question.
Curiosity about what decision Hwang Bo-yun himself would make.
Finding no answer in Wi Sowol, his gaze turned to the gathering villagers.
His fist, about to unclench, clenched hard again.
Kwachak!!
"Still... too much."
Hwang Bo-yun's eyes quivered at the horrific, gruesome sensation from his bare fist.
The feel of smashing the head to pulp was sickeningly repulsive.
"I don't have the right to forgive this scum...!"
"So you kill him?"
"Yeah!"
Hwang Bo-yun spat his rage, emotions exploding wildly in incoherent bursts.
"I know! Maybe! He might truly reform, become like Rakshasa and protect people! But what about the victims who suffered? Their grievances? How do we make up for their losses?!"
"It's not blaming you, or denying their pain."
To console those wounded, the dead.
To collect the price for the grief of bereaved families robbed of loved ones.
Hwang Bo-yun's choice wasn't forgiveness—it was judgment.
"That too is right. I respect your choice."
Wi Sowol affirmed Hwang Bo-yun's decision.
No, she empathized.
His cry even cleared the tangled mess in her heart.
'When did I become such a coward?'
When she started her new life.
Wi Sowol had told that so-called Heaven or whatever to shove its advice, gripped her sword again, and slaughtered every enemy of the Silver Sword Sect.
That Wi Sowol had no hesitation.
No fear.
Just the will to avenge, killing them once more.
Yet now, she hesitated.
Worried that killing would make her a sinner.
"Fussing over that crap, and I'll lose another precious person today."
Those who deserve death must die.
Redemption is a chance for those whose crimes can be undone.
If someone unjustly robs another's precious one forever, they must pay the same price.
Sring—
Wi Sowol drew her sword.
Sskak!
And slit the throats of the Rampaging Demon Heaven warriors she'd only subdued before.
She didn't dodge the spurting blood.
"Now you and I are accomplices."
If this be sin.
She'd gladly bear it.