Annihilation
Time seemed to have stopped. Yi Do's blade had cleaved through one man's neck, then seized the head of the man standing beyond him and slammed it into the ground. The dull crunch of impact rang out, but everyone's mind was elsewhere.
The moment Yi Do's leg had lashed out, they had all glimpsed it — and it unleashed a phenomenon beyond all words. Following the arc of that kick, every current of qi in the vicinity had shuddered and erupted at once. No wind was blowing, yet a crimson aura raged around Yi Do's body. Both his eyes had turned entirely blood-red, and his skin from head to toe carried a faint red sheen.
That form. That appearance. There was not a soul present who could fail to recognize it.
"Th... that's the martial art of the Thousand-Year Demon!"
The Strongest Under Heaven. The Martial Legend, Jeok So-ryeon. Her uniquely transmitted art was the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Secrets. When Jeok So-ryeon wielded that art, whoever her blow struck had their body burst apart; whoever blocked it with a blade watched the blade shatter; and those who believed they had dodged found their entire body tearing itself open the very next instant. One way or another, without fail, everything exploded. Such was the nature of that art — the color red. And a crimson aura rising thick and heavy, like storm clouds boiling up from the horizon.
Good heavens.
"S... so he was a disciple of Jeok So-ryeon..."
Only then did understanding dawn. Why the man carried such excessive, maddening overkill in every movement. Having learned a demonic art like that, of course he had gone mad. It was the natural conclusion.
"R... run! Run for your lives—!"
They began to flee. They had clearly come to repay a grudge, and every soul present belonged to the Killing Curtain. But the story had changed now. It was Jeok So-ryeon. Her disciple. The disciple of the Strongest Under Heaven was Yi Do. This went beyond touching the wrong man — it was suicide. They had joined the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect in order to survive, and now the sect itself looked bound for annihilation. Jeok So-ryeon was more than capable of it.
Somehow, this truth had to reach the outside world. The instant that thought formed—
Yi Do's body vanished. Crimson mist scattered and drifted.
They lost him.
KRAKOOM-!!
The sound came from behind. Yi Do had seized a fleeing assassin by the back of the head and slammed him straight into a tree across the clearing — the tree toppled where it stood. His foot stamped down again, and the heads of two more fleeing assassins shot into the sky.
Yi Do's leg touched earth. His head turned. A few still meant to fight. Neung Seung-ji, Chu Ho-gwang, Dong Mun-yeon, Seo Wi — the Four Great Protectors of the Killing Curtain. A dagger shot straight for Yi Do's face, thrown by Neung Seung-ji at the realm of Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown, unleashing everything he had. Yi Do's balance was broken. Neung Seung-ji had found the opening, and he had not let it slip. He could land a blow — one way or another, he was certain of it. He thought so, and in that very instant, Neung Seung-ji's world flipped upside down. Earth above, sky below. He tried to move his body, but it would not obey. His dagger carved through empty air, and Yi Do's Cloud Dragon Sword carved through his neck.
That was all.
Even with his balance shattered, Yi Do could execute a flawless strike. That was how much experience he had piled up over the years.
Yi Do swept his gaze across the surroundings, crimson-glowing eyes taking stock: three to the north, five to the east, five to the south, two to the southwest. Fleeing assassins, fifteen in all.
He let his sword hang low and long at his side. Power gathered in his grip, and the Cloud Dragon Sword stained crimson. Then he swung — wide, and with everything behind it.
One sweeping arc — and a colossal dragon drenched in blood-red light is born.
What took shape was a giant dragon dyed crimson. It shot forth, swallowed the three assassins fleeing north, wheeled at once to devour the five to the east, and then the five to the south. The dragon's form scattered, and every soul caught in its path collapsed where they stood.
The two fleeing southwest were no different. As if they could not believe what they had just witnessed, the two assassins had slumped to the ground — and then shadows fell across their upturned faces.
Shk-!
One head split in half. And then—
Shk-!
The head beside it soared into the sky. Yi Do turned. A single assassin was charging in. He kicked up a fistful of dirt that pattered across the man's face, drew his sword back, and thrust it home.
Thnk.
Yi Do turned his head. The remaining three of the Four Great Protectors had stumbled backward. How many assassins were still alive? Fewer than ten. Setting aside the three masters at Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown, only two. Five survivors in total. It was impossible. How could such a thing be possible?
Once more, Yi Do's body vanished. What in the world was that movement art, that it could carry him with such terrifying speed? How could they share the very same realm — Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown — and yet be so far apart?
Thnk-!
The Cloud Dragon Sword buried itself in Chu Ho-gwang's skull.
Dong Mun-yeon, still retreating, hurled his dagger with all his strength, but Yi Do wrenched his blade free of Chu Ho-gwang's head in a blink and swatted the dagger aside — and absurdly, the deflected blade buried itself in the skull of an assassin cowering in a corner.
Yi Do walked slowly forward. The last two Protectors, Dong Mun-yeon and Seo Wi, thought the exact same thought at the exact same moment. They dropped to their knees on the spot.
"P... please spare me!"
"......Forgive me. I will never breathe a word of what happened here."
Yi Do regarded the two coolly, then bent and picked up a pair of daggers lying on the ground. He fitted them onto his fingers and flung them. Both blades grazed past Dong Mun-yeon and Seo Wi — and pierced through the heads of two assassins behind them who had been preparing to bolt.
Thud.
The sound of them prostrating themselves hit like thunder. Dong Mun-yeon and Seo Wi slammed their foreheads into the dirt.
"Forgive—!"
Dong Mun-yeon never finished. Thnk — the Cloud Dragon Sword buried itself in his head. Seo Wi recoiled in terror, scrambling backward on his hands. Yi Do wrenched the blade free of Dong Mun-yeon's skull and started toward him. The man begged. Begged for his life. Swore he would never again raise a blade — that if only Yi Do spared him, he would wash his hands of the martial world forever and return to live as an ordinary man among ordinary people.
And yet.
Trust him, and let him go? Above all, Yi Do had never once in his life promised to spare anyone. These had been enemies. They had leveled weapons at each other. They had even dug traps. However far a man lowered his pride, however desperately he groveled until his hands wore out — neither the process nor the resolve changed. Once the mind was set, the end had to be seen through.
Yi Do smiled, soft and gentle—
and brought the Cloud Dragon Sword down without mercy.
CRACK-!
Seo Wi's body split in two.
He looked around. No survivors remained.
And yet, Yi Do went on reciting the mantras of the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Secrets.
Though it was classified as a fist art, strictly speaking it was closer to a divine art — a technique that maximized pure righteous qi to its absolute limit, and at the same time became that qi itself. The stances of the Five Secrets were merely a handful of attack forms built atop that foundation. The true root of it — the bedrock beneath the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Secrets — was the Asura Heaven-Destroying Art itself.
If he released the divine art, then all of this — this crimson shroud that, faint as it was, maintained something resembling the avatar of an Asura — would unravel along with it. There was a reason he had not released it yet. Yi Do walked on in silence.
Ten carts. He combed between them one by one, and when he reached the last cart, his eyes flashed. He thrust out the Cloud Dragon Sword — and in the same instant, a blade sprang from inside the cart.
Thnk-!
The blade from the cart buried itself in Yi Do's shoulder, and Yi Do's sword pierced the throat of the assassin within.
He withdrew his blade and threw back the cloth covering the cart. A long-haired man.
He had sensed it for some time now. A realm somewhere between Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown and Five Qi Gathering at the Origin. He didn't know the man's name, but he was unquestionably an assassin of very high standing within the Killing Curtain. Yi Do had already killed the Vice Curtain Lord, Jang Min — perhaps this was the assassin newly elevated to that vacant seat.
Only then did Yi Do let his tension ease.
Whew.
He pulled the blade from his shoulder. Blood welled up, but it was fine. Not a fatal wound. Not even a serious one. No broken bones — nothing more than torn flesh and muscle.
Yi Do searched through the clothes of the wretched corpse sprawled in the empty cart and found a single secret manual and a pouch of silver ingots. He took both. He searched the Four Great Protectors as well, turning up one more manual and four pouches. Two manuals and four pouches in all.
His righteous qi was considerably spent, and a dull ache ran through his entire body, but it was nothing. He fished three Asura Pills from his coat, tipped them into his mouth, and immediately burned the area clean with the True Fire of Samadhi. The traces had to be erased. His work finished, he set off.
It was a miracle.
No other word could explain it. Moments ago, a crimson dragon had slaughtered every assassin around him. He had watched, from mere feet away, bodies torn apart and blood erupting into the air. If he hadn't tripped over the rock at his feet, he would almost certainly have died the same way. Thankfully, a thicket had been there, and he had smothered his breath to the absolute limit.
He had called upon everything he had accumulated over all his long years as an assassin. That was how he had survived. While Yi Do battled the Four Great Protectors, the man had moved with painstaking care until he slipped free of the scene entirely.
This had to be told. The Cruel Demon, Yi Do. His master was none other than the Martial Legend, Jeok So-ryeon.
If this came to light, the entire situation could be turned on its head.
Even having failed to kill the man, it didn't matter. This truth carried that much weight. It was not merely a weapon against Yi Do — it was the perfect opportunity to push for the annihilation of the Asura Sword Sect itself. Or perhaps the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect and the Asura Sword Sect might be driven into a dramatic reconciliation, with the Asura Sword Sect casting out this Yi Do to save itself.
The value of this information was beyond imagination. The possibilities were endless. He could not let it slip away.
Cowardly flight? He couldn't have cared less. He was alive — that was enough. The key that could overturn everything was now in his hands. All he had to do was open his mouth, and everything would change.
Jangan Commandery came into view beyond the ridge. He laughed. I survived. Not only the Killing Curtain — the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect would shower him with an enormous reward as well. The laughter would not stop. He was just pushing himself up to leave—
He froze mid-step. He had no choice. His neck went cold. A killing intent, chill as the grave, crawled over his skin.
"I was wondering how far you'd get. So this was all you had in you."
Goosebumps erupted across his whole body. He turned his head slowly — and nearly toppled over backward. It was Yi Do.
"It seems you truly don't know where Mun Hu-do is."
"......P... please, spare me."
"What do I stand to gain from sparing you?"
"......I will give you every piece of information the Killing Curtain possesses. What dealings were struck between the sect and the Killing Curtain. What the current Curtain Lord is doing at this very moment."
"The latter interests me a little."
"......I'll tell you. The Curtain Lord — no, Mun Hu-do is in closed-door cultivation at the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect's headquarters as we speak."
Yi Do's brow twitched.
"Closed-door cultivation?"
"......Yes. He suddenly attained a breakthrough, and..."
"Then this attack wasn't on Mun Hu-do's orders?"
"......No."
"Whose orders, then?"
"......The orders of Mando-wi, the Black Hand — the Killing Curtain's new Vice Curtain Lord."
"He acted on his own?"
"......Yes. He has now joined the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect, and your known realm is Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown. Mun Hu-do is a martial artist of the Realm of Harmony — why would he come to kill you himself? There is such a thing as face to consider."
It made sense. Perfectly.
"So Vice Curtain Lord Mando-wi judged that if Mun Hu-do personally finished this business, the Killing Curtain's very worth would diminish."
"That is correct."
"My questions are answered."
The assassin's face brightened.
"Then... then you will spare me...?"
A smile curved the edge of Yi Do's lips.
"As if."
Shk-!
He drew it straight across the assassin's throat.