The Ascetic's Path
The Ascetic’s Stairs stretched on longer than expected. They descended at least three or four stories deep. As they reached the bottom, the air grew cold, accompanied by an increasingly thick scent of blood. Ahead, a corridor stretched into an endless void. Where the beam of the flashlight couldn't reach, it was pitch black.
Kim Ilshin activated Mist Spirit Vision, scanning the area five meters ahead. He felt nothing yet.
"Let's move slowly. Tell me immediately if anything seems off."
Park Eun-ho took the lead, and Kim Ilshin followed close behind. He kept his grip tight on Hyeonwol, his tension never wavering. This was a place where a sudden battle could break out at any moment.
"Wait."
It had been about ten minutes since they started. Something new had registered in his detection range.
"Hm? What is it?"
"I believe it's a trap."
Kim Ilshin stepped past Park Eun-ho and walked forward slowly. Examining the area where he’d felt the anomaly, he spotted a floor tile that was slightly raised. On the wall to the side, there was a small hole drilled at the height of an adult's upper torso.
Kim Ilshin stepped back a few paces and extended his sword. He pressed down on the suspicious floor tile, and with the sound of mechanical gears, an arrow shot out from the hole in the wall.
Thwack!
The arrow embedded itself deep into the wall. If a person had been hit, they wouldn't have walked away unscathed.
"From here on, I will take the lead."
"Hm. That would be for the best."
Park Eun-ho agreed without protest. It was the better choice for Kim Ilshin to lead; he hadn't even noticed the trap himself.
"Is your intuition that sharp? I couldn't see it at all."
"It's similar to that."
"As expected, kids these days are versatile."
As they continued, they encountered several more traps, and each time, Mist Spirit Vision proved its worth. They were not high-level traps; they had only become threatening due to the darkness. As with the first one, simply triggering them from a distance or avoiding them was enough.
'There's a light.'
A faint glow appeared far down the corridor. After exchanging a look with Park Eun-ho, they moved forward, and the corridor brightened in an instant. From that point on, not a single trap was visible. Moving further, they arrived at a fork in the path. Kim Ilshin and Park Eun-ho stopped in front of it.
"Hmm..."
Park Eun-ho stared at the symbol of the Red Heaven Cult carved into the center of the fork, deep in thought. Should they choose one path and go together, or split up here? If Kim Ilshin’s level had been low, he would have chosen the former without hesitation. But after experiencing his skill, the latter option was now on the table. Going together was safer, but splitting up would be more efficient.
'...Still, it's right to act together.'
He acknowledged the boy's skill, but he was still a student. If he couldn't respond appropriately to an unexpected situation, he would die on the spot.
'No, then again, he caught my fist just fine. His counterattack was fast... and he even stole one of my techniques...'
The more he thought, the deeper his dilemma became. While he was wavering between the two choices, Kim Ilshin spoke up.
"How about we take one path each?"
"...Are you confident?"
"Yes."
Park Eun-ho looked into Kim Ilshin’s eyes. They were eyes he could trust. This wasn't a choice born of misguided bravado.
"Good. But keep your survival as your top priority."
"Understood."
"And one more thing. Beware of the Ascetics."
"The Ascetics, you say."
It was a term Kim Ilshin was familiar with. It was the title given to those who held a higher position than ordinary Red Heaven Cult members, those who commanded them. In the Red Heaven Cult, they considered the murders committed according to their 'cycles' as penance. Those who faithfully followed such 'penance' were given the title of Ascetic and tasked with leading the regular cultists.
It was a position only reachable by murderers who had taken dozens, sometimes hundreds, of lives. Naturally, their power was incomparable to that of ordinary cultists. It meant they had survived the pursuit of heroes while committing such massacres.
Park Eun-ho grabbed Kim Ilshin by both shoulders and said in a low voice, telling him to take this to heart.
"If you encounter Red Heaven Cult members and see one who looks exceptionally strong, that is an Ascetic. If you see one, don't even look back—just run. That is not a level you can handle."
Park Eun-ho sent a look that asked if he understood. Kim Ilshin nodded without hesitation. It was to put him at ease. Having received the answer he wanted, Park Eun-ho let go of Kim Ilshin’s shoulders and stepped back. Leaving behind a final warning to be careful, he entered the right path. Kim Ilshin also stepped into the left path, never ceasing the operation of his Mist Spirit Vision.
***
As he moved forward for a while, Kim Ilshin realized something. The fork in the path had been designed to pick off intruders one by one.
'Both the front and the back are blocked.'
Not only was the front blocked, but his retreat was cut off as well. Had there been a side path he hadn't noticed on the way in? The eyes of the men holding weapons were dyed a deep red. They were Red Heaven Cult members.
There weren't as many as he had expected. Perhaps they had concentrated more of their forces on the other side where Park Eun-ho was.
'Three in the back, four in the front. ...And one more.'
Behind the men in the front, there was one who exuded a particularly powerful aura. It was an Ascetic. Just as Park Eun-ho had said, he knew the moment he saw him. The instant he made eye contact with the Ascetic's red eyes, the man gestured with his chin without a word. The battle had begun.
"A fool has wandered in!"
"Die!"
As if to not give him a chance to respond, they swarmed him from the front and back. Kim Ilshin immediately pushed his Heaven and Earth Circle Drawing Art to its peak. The men approached without hesitation, as if trampling on the weak. He could see the ecstasy in their eyes. They were men who enjoyed murder.
'Start with the back.'
He pivoted on his left foot. The One Body Heaven-Destroying Art was infused into his rotational trajectory.
Swoosh!
A black lightning bolt struck the dark corridor, and the bodies of two men were severed in two. They died with their eyes wide open, unable to even react.
"......!"
The remaining men were horrified, having witnessed the strike of the One Body Heaven-Destroying Art. Kim Ilshin was not the weakling they had expected.
"This...!"
The moment they hesitated, a swift sword strike cut the throat of the last man. The three in the back were all dealt with, and his retreat was clear.
Sssss-
A sound like water evaporating came from the Hyeonwol in his hand. Looking down, he saw smoke rising from the blood on the blade, which was being rapidly absorbed into the interior.
'Hana Lin really made something strange.'
It was the same phenomenon as when filling the gauge of a Blood Resonance Stone. However, he hadn't expected that property to remain even after it had been forged into the shape of a sword.
'Does this also get stronger the more lives it fills?'
There was no time to ponder. The cultists were rushing in to block his escape. He dove into a gap he had identified with Mist Spirit Vision, lowering his stance. The weapons of the men trying to react in a hurry collided with each other, and their formation collapsed.
Clang!
A swift sword strike, launched by springing off his knees, sliced through one man's body and simultaneously shattered the light fixture on the ceiling. A single trajectory was drawn in the sudden darkness. What followed was silence.
Sssss-
Kim Ilshin walked slowly out of the darkness, holding the Hyeonwol, from which smoke was rising. The eyes of the Ascetic he faced were dyed with rage. The unrefined, wild killing intent stimulated Kim Ilshin.
"Your insolence ends here."
The Ascetic drew his sword and aimed it at Kim Ilshin. The undulating waves of mana were more threatening than anything he had encountered so far. He couldn't hope for the man to be careless. The man had already recognized Kim Ilshin's skill from the previous battle.
'I'll keep this momentum going.'
He infused the power of the One Body Heaven-Destroying Art into the flow of mana leading to his lower body. He shattered the ground with the increased impact and leaped.
Boom!
The Ascetic, who had flinched for a moment, had his eyes sharpen even further. He saw the man's sword coming up from below. Kim Ilshin did not respond. He was certain his sword would be faster.
Clang!
At that moment, he suddenly held his sword up against the rippling space. A tearing pain shot up his hand gripping the hilt, and he was thrown back. It was a miracle he hadn't dropped his sword. He hadn't even been able to read it with Mist Spirit Vision. If he hadn't instinctively held up his sword, he would have been in danger.
'Is it acceleration?'
Kim Ilshin immediately grasped the principle. A sword that accelerated twice while extending normally, piercing the gaps in consciousness. How many people had lost their lives to this technique? It would easily be in the double digits.
Clack!
The Ascetic's sword struck out once more. He stepped closer and parried it before the acceleration could occur. Kim Ilshin’s talent allowed him to come up with a countermeasure after just one observation.
"You bastard!"
With a gnashing roar, the punch that followed was filled with a shifting technique. It looked like it was aiming for his lower abdomen, but before he knew it, it twisted to aim for his head. He leaned his upper body back to dodge, and at the same time, he poured his mana, which had expanded to its limit, into the Hyeonwol.
Wooooong-
The Hyeonwol spat out a fierce sword sound. The waves spreading from the blade traveled up his hand. It was the moment the inspiration from when he first held this sword came back to him. A wave of mana, contrary to the Hyeonwol, rose from the center of his body. The waves, breaking as they met like crashing tides, created a resonance that had never existed before.
Moon Curve Echo. The three characters came to mind naturally as he held the resonance in his hand.
Craaaack!
The Ascetic's sword, which had met the Hyeonwol, shattered from the inside and scattered in all directions. The Ascetic's face was filled with horror. A sword reinforced with mana would not break from a mediocre difference in power.
"Khaaaack!"
Immediately after, the trajectory that struck downward severed the man's right arm. However, the man's movements did not stop. Whoosh! Even after losing an arm, the strike that reached out contained the intent of mutual destruction. He was truly a being steeped in fanaticism. He lightly deflected it and cut off that arm as well.
He was about to draw his sword to finish him off, but there was a sight visible behind the man.
'...Are these the victims?'
Dozens of corpses were strewn about carelessly. Every one of them had a painful expression, unable to even close their eyes. Strength entered the hand gripping the hilt. A comfortable death was a luxury for the person who had created such a scene.
'This man was a martial artist.'
There were traces of training all over the Ascetic's body. The calluses on his hands and the habits he couldn't shake off were proof of that. The man's life was drawn in his mind. A pathetic life, having trained hard to become strong but feeling his limits and throwing himself into the Red Heaven Cult. He could quickly guess what would make the man most desperate.
Fwoosh!
As he twisted the axis of his foot, infusing the power of the Moon Curve Echo, the sword he was thrusting accelerated explosively. It wasn't once, and it wasn't twice. The sword, accelerating four times, easily surpassing the Ascetic's limits, took the man's life. In the final moment, the man's expression was definitely dyed with despair.
***
After dealing with the Ascetic, Kim Ilshin approached the bodies of the victims and closed their eyes. There was no need to move in a hurry. He had dealt with all the enemies here. He wasn't worried about Park Eun-ho either. It was rare for multiple Ascetics to be in one place, so he would deal with them without difficulty.
Tap-tap-tap.
As Kim Ilshin had expected, he soon felt a human presence in the corridor behind him. Heavy footsteps. It was Park Eun-ho. Park Eun-ho, who had run over quickly and made eye contact with Kim Ilshin, suddenly stopped. Then, he looked back and forth between Kim Ilshin and the corpse of the Ascetic and said,
"...I'm speechless."