Spirit Fire's Trial (3)
“Heavenly Demon! The Heavenly Demon has returned! Kill her before she regains her power! No—seal the gate so she can’t escape!”
This time, without hesitation, I hurled Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso toward the back.
“Hweh?”
“Kyaa!”
It was completely unexpected. And since I couldn’t use any internal energy at all, they couldn’t even put up a proper resistance as they flew one after another toward the dimensional gate.
Maybe it was because I saved time figuring out the situation. Unlike the previous loop, I managed to send back not just one, but both of them.
Of course, there wasn’t enough time for me to slip through as well.
The gate shrank to a third of its original size after they passed. Even if I’d mastered the Expulsion Art, physically squeezing through that would’ve been impossible.
Did they spot the remnants of the Murim Alliance charging at my back? From beyond the gate, Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso came rushing over in a panic.
…But it was already too late.
What could they do with a gate the size of a fist?
I gave the teary-eyed pair one last grin before the gate snapped shut completely.
Yeah. That’s how it had to be.
Considering the speed at which the gate closed, how slow we were without internal energy, and the force of my throw, I could get two through somehow.
But all three of us escaping? Impossible.
If one had to stay behind, it had to be me. Not just because I was the one looping back for some reason… but a simpler truth.
If Hong Yeonhwa or Paeng Soso died because of my choice, I’d be living a life worse than death even if I survived.
So this was definitely the right call.
“Hoo…”
I let out my last lingering regrets with a sigh and drew my sword.
Well, just because I was left alone didn’t mean I had to roll over and die.
Nothing had changed in the end. First, I’d escape this place and survive somehow.
Then I could track down the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult somewhere and ask for help, wait for Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso to open the gate again someday, or find a way to cross back over from this side.
Either way, I had no intention of giving up.
That was the only thing that mattered.
Wooong—
The Muryeong Singong resonated strangely in response to my will. At the same time, a phantom pillar pierced through my spine like a stake. The pillar, emanating a faint heat, filled my empty danjeon, infusing my entire body with vitality and internal energy.
I locked eyes with each of the enemies closing in close enough to make out their faces and assumed my stance. Left foot forward one step, torso leaned ahead. I let my sword hand hang loosely, but kept it tense enough to swing at any moment… then kicked off the ground hard.
Left and right had failed, so this time straight ahead.
“Hup!”
Maybe because they were charging from both sides toward each other. The distance closed in an instant. The leader up front raised his staff, bracing himself tensely.
But his realm didn’t seem that high. First-rate at best? No need to slow down, then.
From below to above, I swung my sword at the staff flying straight for my jaw.
“What?! How…!”
By the time the guy spotted the faint sword qi blooming on my blade and gasped, it was too late.
Kwajik.
Mirage-like or not, sword qi was sword qi. The blade cleanly severed the staff and carried its momentum straight into the enemy’s throat.
“Kuhk…!”
The man flailed, spewing blood. Instead of pulling my sword free, I gripped it tighter with my arm and advanced, using him as a human shield.
Couldn’t they bring themselves to stab their ally? Or were they just thrown off by the sudden obstacle?
In the wide gap that opened as their formation buckled, I twisted my waist sharply.
“Haaaaap!!”
Whoosh!
A heavy whoosh of air and a sweeping arc of sword light. Half the staff user’s neck flew off, and at the same time, several foes on the right staggered and collapsed.
Before the blood spraying high into the sky could soak my clothes like rain, I slammed the flat of my fiercely swung sword against my side and stepped into the void I’d created, following up with a thrust.
Deep in the enemy ranks now, I swung my sword wide once more.
“Aak!”
“Kuhuk!”
“My arm! My arm!”
Some managed to block, but it didn’t matter. Weapons without sword qi couldn’t fully withstand my strikes and shattered.
Whether shredded by metal fragments or my blade, they were neutralized all the same.
And the reason my edge stayed sharp after slicing through several men and smashing their weapons?
Someone spotted the glow on my sword and shouted.
“Sword qi! The demon’s using sword qi!”
“What?! We were told he’d lost all his internal energy!”
“That’s the Jegal clan for you! Forget it! Team members, fall back! The team leaders will take him head-on—you lot look for openings!”
Same pattern as before. The moment I revealed my sword qi, the first-rate guys pulled back, and the peak experts stepped up.
Probably first-rates as team members, peaks as leaders. The silver lining: not too many peaks.
With Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso, holding off two or three peaks would’ve been no issue… but even then, more leaders would join, and once the super peak New Murim Alliance Leader arrived, it was game over.
And now those two weren’t even here.
At this rate, I’d die even faster than before.
So I had to keep moving nonstop, without getting caught. Even more aggressively.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
I snatched the sword of one guy who was edging back while aiming at me—bare-handed.
“Wh-what…!”
Normally, my fingers would’ve been lopped off. But there was no reason I couldn’t wrap qi around my hand like I did my sword.
I yanked the glowing white hand, dragging out the fool who didn’t release his weapon in time.
I rammed my sword into his side as he stumbled, spun into his spot, then whirled around again using the momentum.
Of course, they weren’t idiots—they wouldn’t fall for Horizontal Small Heaven Army three times in a row.
But the distance was too close. As they all recoiled in unison, they crowded each other, and I was right in the middle.
“Dodge!”
“No! Too late!”
“Then stab him!”
So they opted to kill me before I could swing properly. Conveniently, they’d thrust out their weapons to check me while retreating, making it easy to impale me.
I’d seen this coming too. Dying twice makes you learn their playbook.
“Huh…?”
The one swinging his saber down at my shoulder let out a dumb noise.
Yeah. Felt off, right? Their blades definitely pierced me. Just a bit past the skin.
Thanks to Tiger King Art, my progress in Iron King Heart Protection Art had skyrocketed. I was on the verge of peak mastery.
Of course, near-peak wasn’t true peak, so a full-power strike from a proper stance could still pierce me.
Flip side: without sword qi, these half-assed lunges couldn’t easily carve me up.
They didn’t know, but I’d already died twice in this melee. I knew what was lethal and what I could tank.
Their waists snapped in two as they panicked over blades stuck in my muscles.
Facing peak experts alone would drag things out, leading to encirclement and turning me into a pincushion.
But this opened a path.
By throwing myself at first-rates like this, I could break the siege somehow.
Sure, breaking out didn’t mean I’d escape—without special lightness skill, they’d catch up.
Even dodging peaks, I couldn’t evade the super peak New Murim Alliance Leader forever.
But at least no encirclement meant I could last longer than now.
Plus, my lightness skill, Cloud-Chasing Heavenly Dance, let me run endlessly without tiring. Paired with Muryeong Singong, I could go days nonstop.
No super peak could match that insanity.
So first, bust out of this net. Then endure and outlast with my superior stamina—the only edge I had.
Uncertain, low odds, but it was the only way out.
With that plan, I charged over the fallen bodies toward the cluster who’d freaked at my skills earlier. No peak auras nearby, just guys cowed by mine—easy pickings.
This time, Mount Tai Crushing Strike to cleave one fully and break through. More brutal, better for shattering morale like with the others.
“Tsuhaaaap!”
I raised my sword with a intimidating roar—
“Everyone, duck!”
—when a shout rang out from somewhere, and hidden weapons rained from the sky.
“Tch…!”
Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
I twisted my sword path desperately amid the clicks of my teeth, but only deflected three darts. The needle-like ones hidden among them and the last dart slipped through.
“Kuk.”
Thrown by a peak expert, they embedded effortlessly. Painful, but not crippling. I could endure.
But.
“Kuhuk!”
Blood gushed from my mouth. My body shook uncontrollably, beyond my control.
Poison. This I hadn’t seen coming.
No poison or hidden weapons users in prior loops. Meeting both here? Brutal.
I desperately circulated energy to expel the toxin and moved, but my body slowed anyway.
I barely swung a few times before they surrounded and subdued me.
“Krrk… krrk…”
I swallowed bloody foam and resisted, but it was futile. With sealed meridians, all I could do was crawl in the dirt.
“First time seeing someone shrug off Seven-Kill Poison like this.”
“Looks fine to you? He’s dying in my eyes.”
“Normally, he’d be puking blood from all seven orifices by now. Top-five deadly poison even in the Tang clan’s heyday.”
“…Fair point.”
They chattered overhead, but I had no bandwidth for it. Boiling blood, melting guts—first time feeling this agony. Just holding onto sanity was all I could manage.
Yet amid it, one voice cut clear.
“Why not kill him?”
Their leader, the self-proclaimed New Murim Alliance Leader.
“Thought we might extract info while waiting for you, Lord Leader.”
“Unnecessary. Only one path, so kill anyone who comes through. No exceptions.”
“By your command!”
And down came that familiar sword—the one that pierced Hong Yeonhwa’s heart from behind and my brow before. This time, it severed my neck.
“Heavenly Demon! The Heavenly Demon has returned!”
That confirmed it. No compromise from those bastards.
But I still had a shot.
I swallowed the surging phantom pain and hurled Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso backward.