The Trial of the Spirit Fire (5)
I hesitated. The moment I tried to hurl Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso backward, my body refused to budge.
If things stayed like this, the dimensional gate would close for good. I had to get Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso out fast and find some way to survive... But how? Hadn't I already tried everything I could?
I'd broken through the encirclement once, only to learn there was no escape at the end of it. All I could do in this endless hell of purgatory was keep dying, over and over.
Unless... I sacrificed one of them to make my getaway. So, who would it be?
That was the moment I caught myself weighing Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso on the scales in my mind.
"Darling? What's wrong?"
"Jin-gaga? Why are you suddenly like this?"
It had been so long. Really long since I'd heard their voices.
I was gripping their hands tight without a word, so they must've been worried. Blissfully oblivious to the thoughts running through my head, the fools.
"It's nothing. I..."
I'm fine. It's no big deal.
That's what I tried to say, but the words wouldn't come.
I'm... just so tired. I didn't want to die anymore. I wanted to go back to how things were before.
Back to goofing around over nothing, stuffing our faces with delicious food, staring at each other blankly for no reason...
I wanted to live those peaceful, happy days again, bickering and flirting like always. Back to those moments with the three of us...
"...Ah."
What had I just been thinking?
Even if I survived by sacrificing one of them, I wouldn't get back what I truly wanted. To return to the past—to those happiest moments of mine—I couldn't give up anything.
Nothing at all.
A deep impulse surged from the bottom of my heart: the urge to just pull Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso into a tight embrace and hold on.
But I couldn't. It'd be too late if I did.
Whoosh!
I flung Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso toward the closing dimensional gate.
I'd hesitated a bit, but thankfully, not too long.
They slipped through just in the nick of time. As always, they grasped the situation late and called out to me desperately from the other side, faces full of anguish.
"What is the meaning of this outrage! Their target is this lady—why are you the one staying behind!"
"Jin-gaga! No... don't do this, please..."
What should I say?
At first, I'd always flash a grin and reassure them it was fine. But at some point, even that became impossible.
Could I manage a smile now?
"I..."
Nothing changed. I tried to twitch my lips, but it only jerked for a split second before stopping.
The dimensional gate was shrinking smaller and smaller. Now it was barely big enough to show their faces.
Before it sealed shut completely, I decided to say what I wanted most.
"I love you."
Words I'd been too embarrassed to say outright until now.
"I'd die for you a thousand times over."
Suddenly, I felt something hot trailing down my cheek. Tears I'd never shed before, spilling out at this of all times.
At the same moment, my stiff lips began to quiver upward.
"......"
"......"
Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso gaped at me in a daze. No mirror here, but their eyes clearly reflected me back: my face twisted in ugly sobs.
Only when the gate had nearly closed—barely showing half their faces—did I add one last thing.
"So come get me. I'll be waiting."
They seemed to snap out of it, opening their mouths to say something, but—
Pop—the gate sealed completely, cutting off their words.
But it's okay. I can hear them later.
Despaired that there was no way out? No.
There is a way. The hardest one, but the simplest to understand, just like always.
If running won't work, kill them all.
Then not only would I avoid dying, but whatever scheme was blocking the dimensional gate would be nullified, letting me reunite with Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso.
The question is whether I can pull it off...
I wiped my face with my sleeve and steeled myself.
"Sniff... Hoo..."
Then I drew a deep breath and unsheathed my sword.
My fogged mind, dulled by repeated deaths, sharpened instantly.
These enemies—I'd faced them countless times. I could do it. No, I had to.
Slash. I sorted my plan in my head and kicked off the ground.
First, straight ahead.
Poison Guy. Didn't know his name, but he seemed from the Sacheon Dangga, fighting mainly by hurling poison-coated hidden weapons.
Meaning he'd be the biggest pain in a melee brawl, so he had to go down first.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy. He'd threaten his underlings with using them as test subjects for poisons to force blind charges.
But he's weak up close. The few times I'd managed to kill him, it'd always been by slipping inside his guard somehow.
So, blast open a path in one go and cut off Poison Guy's breath.
I gripped my sword tight as the lead warriors closed in.
Wooong—
A strange resonance hummed, and white sword qi like heat haze rose over the blade.
Enough to handle first-rate warriors, but... not sufficient.
What was myHorizontal Small Heaven Army?
If Mount Tai Crushing Strike was an overwhelming blow that could crush even mountains, defying all resistance,
then Horizontal Small Heaven Army was a heaven-rending calamity, sweeping away a thousand foes with a single slash.
This wouldn't cut it. I needed more—far more, beyond what I could handle—pouring every ounce of power in.
The pillar of intent scorched my body hot. I shoved all the inner energy surging from it into the sword.
Wooong—!
Now the blade trembled beyond resonance. The haze-like sword qi swirled like a vortex around it.
Through over a hundred deaths, this sword and Martial Spirit Divine Art never betrayed me once.
So it'd be fine. What I had to do. What I could do. What I'd done before.
The true application of Martial Spirit Divine Art that I'd first achieved at the Yongbong Tournament and honed since.
I gripped the sword in my mind's eye.
"Kuh..."
All my sword memories flashed like a lantern show: swings I'd aimed, lucky perfect arcs, Master's blade, those of masters I'd seen at the Murim Alliance.
The swords that killed me. Sword. Sword. Sword.
From my grotesquely swollen experiences of repeated deaths, I extracted only the ideal postures and recreated them in my body.
Right leg steps forward huge. Left leg bends slightly in place for tension. Waist twists left to the limit, eyes fixed front.
Blade horizontal to the ground. Wrists soft but firm, lifting lightly to wrap the hilt.
Then unleash it all at once.
Crack.
Running momentum pivoted at the ankle, building force. Calf spring, knee snap, thigh explosion grew it further.
Like a stream winding into a mighty river.
Groan.
Immense strain on every joint, but no matter. My body, hardened by Iron King Heart Protection Art, could endure.
Crunch.
Power surged through waist, shoulder, elbow, wrist into the blade. The vortex became a storm.
Kwaaaa—!
A deafening roar swept everything ahead. So-called peak human-limit first-rates shredded without screams, blood mist rising thick.
Beyond it, Poison Guy stared dumbfounded. One arm mangled—barely grazed, I guess.
Yeah. He wouldn't have seen it coming. They always freak at my sword qi alone.
Had to capitalize now. I ignored the numbing recoil and forced my body forward.
Thud, thud thud.
Blood splattered stickily on my face after a few steps. Eyes no exception—vision painted red.
Inside, flustered Poison Guy hurled hidden weapons with his good hand, but...
Trajectories etched from dying dozens of times. Not even a blind spot exploit—a hasty one-handed frontal toss? Please.
Clang.
Palm-sized darts to invisible needles—all deflected as I closed the gap fast.
"Impossible..."
"Haa, aaaaaaah!!"
Slash.
Poison Guy's shocked face rolled across the ground.
"......"
"......"
"......"
Silence descended. Those who'd luckily dodged froze mid-charge.
Too gruesome for just two swings? Or scared stiff? Didn't matter.
We'd only just begun.
"That's one."
Next: to the right.