Annihilation
It struck me that something was off.
That was Myeong Hyeon's thought.
Pung Bi-chang kicked off the ground, and his fist shot out toward Yi Do's face. Yi Do swung his sword.
*KWAAAAAANG—!*
Yi Do staggered back two steps; Pung Bi-chang gave ground by one.
Pung Bi-chang roared out.
"I'll carve this bastard up and bury him myself—the rest of you, kill those other two bastards!"
The branch warriors of the Jangan Branch shouted in answer.
"As you command—!"
And they charged.
Yes.
They actually charged.
Myeong Hyeon lifted his head.
Excluding Pung Bi-chang, the Jangan Branch numbered nineteen in total.
Of those nineteen, ten were charging straight at him.
The highest realm among them was Three Flowers Gathered. That man sprinting at him like he was avenging his murdered parents was Inhak, the vice branch master of the Jangan Branch.
Myeong Hyeon clicked his tongue.
*Tsk.*
On the strict assumption that he would not use demonic arts at all, the maximum qi Myeong Hyeon could draw up was Five Dragons Coiling Peak.
The Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows loaded in both his arms.
Honestly, using hidden weapons like this wasn't a method Myeong Hyeon particularly liked, but there was no helping it.
More than anything, those ten men running at him right now hadn't the faintest idea what was coming.
They were charging in so brainlessly that it actually left Myeong Hyeon flustered.
He glanced sideways. Un Dohyeon was in the same state—the only difference being that Un Dohyeon was smiling.
Not a single sane person here or there.
Or maybe not.
Maybe I'm not so sane myself.
He stretched out both arms and fired the Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows.
*Phut-tut-tut-tut.*
Hundreds of needles shot out in an instant, streaking toward the martial artists of the Jangan Branch. All but one of them failed to react.
Only Inhak, the master of Three Flowers Gathered, responded. His face contorted in shock, he froze mid-charge and threw his whole body violently backward—nearly toppling flat onto the ground.
And it was the right call.
Because every one of the other nine branch warriors took the Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows dead on.
"AAAAAGH—!!"
Their screams echoed across Sambong-hyeon.
It was horrifying. The robes they wore melted, then the flesh beneath, then the bone. Those struck in the head died on the spot; those struck in their limbs writhed in agony as the spreading bone-melting toxin finished them off.
"You…… demonic bastards……."
Myeong Hyeon snorted at Inhak's words.
"You came charging in as a group without even a proper life-or-death declaration—what did you expect? Should I have just died?"
Inhak had no answer to that, only gritting his teeth. More than anything else—
"……So that was the extent of your hidden weapons, I take it."
Myeong Hyeon shrugged.
Then he set down the crossbow from his left arm on the ground. This one was spent, certainly. He left the right one where it was.
Inhak charged. His fist stretched toward Myeong Hyeon's head. Startled, Myeong Hyeon snapped his head back—the fist grazed past by a hair's breadth. Backing away, he swung a leg, aiming for the ribs, but Inhak's elbow blocked it.
He grinned.
The Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow in his right arm was aimed dead at Inhak's face. The needles fired. Inhak, having kicked Myeong Hyeon's leg aside, threw his head back just in time. Lucky. The needles sailed past him—
—and his back was wide open.
*Shrrk—!*
A sword cleaved down. Un Dohyeon. The bridge of Inhak's face crumpled without mercy.
"……You bastards……."
Inhak's fist shot out in an instant and slammed into Un Dohyeon's solar plexus. Face twisted in pain, Un Dohyeon staggered back.
Myeong Hyeon, meanwhile—
—was surveying the surroundings even in the middle of it.
There were eyes watching this place, but they were far away.
Their realms…… at most, Five Dragons Coiling Peak.
No one, he swore, would notice.
He opened a portion of his sealed blood pathways. Every sense in his body awoke. His legs pushed off the ground, and he lunged, striking squarely into Inhak's exposed abdomen.
"Khh……."
The man skidded backward, his face brimming with shock. No—not shock. Utter disbelief.
"……Don't tell me……."
He couldn't finish the sentence. This time it was Un Dohyeon.
Un Dohyeon's sword thrust straight out. Around the blade floated small sphere-like forms—faint, but unmistakably the qi of the Five Elements. Inhak swung his fist.
*KWAAAAANG—!*
The arm holding Un Dohyeon's sword was wrenched backward by the sheer, monstrous force of the blow. He desperately steadied himself.
The Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow in Un Dohyeon's other hand was aimed at Inhak's face.
The needles fired at once.
Inhak twisted his body aside in a hurry and dodged them again. What he couldn't dodge was Myeong Hyeon's sword.
*Thwuck—!*
Myeong Hyeon's blade punched through Inhak's solar plexus. As the man crashed to the ground, Un Dohyeon leveled the crossbow at his face.
Only three needles remained now.
"S-stop…… stop this. Let us at least talk……."
There had been talking enough. Even a fight won by luck was still a fight won. Un Dohyeon smiled.
"Safe travels."
He adjusted the crossbow's aim.
Not the face—the throat.
*Phut-tut.*
All three needles struck Inhak's neck.
"Kh…… khhagh……."
His throat melted away.
Un Dohyeon turned his head.
"……Thank you."
"Our junior here is a more courteous young man than I expected."
Myeong Hyeon patted Un Dohyeon's shoulder as he went on.
"That's all that matters."
"Seal your blood pathways first."
Myeong Hyeon gave a dry chuckle and turned his head. Un Dohyeon turned his as well.
Yi Do and Pung Bi-chang were still fighting, tearing apart the earth and the buildings around them.
* * *
Pung Bi-chang's fist came thrusting straight in. I twisted my body sideways.
*FAAAANG—!*
The considerable fist-force bursting from his hand as it shattered empty air scattered in every direction.
I moved backward on the Heavenly Steed Divine Steps. His fist, thrust out before I knew it, swept past my front. I dodged it, but the building across the way collapsed on the spot.
I knew exactly what that technique was.
Heaven-Cleaving Single Fist.
A martial art taught only to the elder ranks of the Pacheon Fist Sect.
Shin Gong-baek, the Shi Baekhu I had faced before, had used the Yellow Dragon Fist Art, and it was strikingly similar. The one difference was that the Yellow Dragon Fist Art only showed its true power when its footwork aligned with the fist, whereas this—
—at any time, in any moment, his fist carried a fixed level of destructive force.
And once one reached the Realm of Harmony or Entering Divinity, that force grew powerful enough to nearly level an entire mountain. Just like the building that had just come down.
I extended the Cloud Dragon Sword. He parried. I spun my body and swung a leg—it connected with the side of his head, but he didn't so much as flinch. A murderous smile crept across his lips.
As I withdrew my leg and readied my next exchange, his fist came at me.
I brought the Cloud Dragon Sword crashing down.
*Wolcheon Lightning Sword Sequence.*
Fist met blade.
*KWAAAAAANG—!*
I was driven backward in a long skid.
A considerable distance had opened between us. Even so, Pung Bi-chang did not relax his stance. From there he thrust out his fist—not once, but three times in rapid succession.
I read the trajectory of each punch and twisted away. The fist-shaped masses of force streaking from his blows grazed past my side, and past it again. The ones flying straight at me, I cleaved apart with the Cloud Dragon Sword.
*Wolcheon Lighning Sword Sequence.*
*KRUMMMBLE—!*
*Shrrk—!*
I glanced back over my shoulder. Two watchtowers were collapsing.
Heaven-Cleaving Triple Dagger Fist.
Another art taught only to the elders of the Pacheon Fist Sect.
I had seen it in passing before—it was said to be the direct legacy of Han Beom-seong, an elder of the sect.
His martial arts were unmistakable.
"You're not bad, but that is all you are. Soon my branch warriors will have finished off your two lackeys, and then……"
Mid-sentence, Pung Bi-chang faltered. Only then did he register what was happening around him.
Right now.
He had just realized that everyone but himself was dead.
*Grrrrk.*
His fist clenched tight.
"……I'll kill. Every last one of you."
He kicked off the ground.
I stared at him in silence.
My martial realm is Heavenly Flower Scattered Chaos.
If I unleashed the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Secrets, I could end his life in a single exchange—but there were too many eyes watching this place.
I would have to face him on the strength of Heavenly Flower Scattered Chaos alone.
It is a realm insufficient for contending with a true master of Five Qi Origin. And yet, for a limited time, I could draw out the power of Five Qi Origin. He knew nothing of that.
The board had been laid out completely. Now it was time to finish the game.
I kicked off the ground, driving the Heavenly Steed Divine Steps hard. His fist thrust out, and I brought the Cloud Dragon Sword down.
It was the same exchange as before. Contempt curled at the corner of Pung Bi-chang's mouth. All this time, I had never once deflected his fist cleanly. I had always been pushed back. His common sense expected the same to follow.
I had to shatter that expectation now.
Only then did the 'three qi rings' begin to turn. The light wreathing my sword grew denser still. This was no ordinary sword qi.
It was sword Gang. His fist and my blade met.
*KWAAAAAANG—!*
I wasn't pushed back. Pung Bi-chang was.
"Wh…… what……?"
I surged forward. Panicked, he lashed out a kick.
Heaven-Cleaving Kick.
I evaded on the Heavenly Steed Divine Steps and, in a heartbeat, circled around to his side. I brought the Cloud Dragon Sword down—not at his head, but at his leg.
*KRACK—!*
I couldn't sever it. The blade buried itself halfway into his thigh.
In that instant, Pung Bi-chang's eyes flashed.
His palm shot toward me—a speed unlike anything he had shown until now.
I swung the Cloud Dragon Sword up hard.
*KWAAANG—!*
The blade was caught in his palm, but his hand kept coming. I released the Cloud Dragon Sword entirely and twisted my body aside.
His palm grazed past my cheek.
I drove my Pure Essence Qi to its absolute limit—muscles, arms, nerves, down to every joint.
A rushing vitality flooded my whole body.
And I threw my fist.
*Crrrack.* Pung Bi-chang's body lurched sideways. I swung my other fist.
*KWAAANG.* The blow slammed into his solar plexus and he reeled back. I spun my body and swung a leg.
*CRACK—!*
Pung Bi-chang's left shoulder shattered. Startled, he hammered down his elbow—but the force, the direction, the destructive power.
I had read all of it.
I extended my hand, fingers open, soft and supple. The instant it touched the side of his elbow, my eyes flashed.
*Yihwa Jeommok*—Borrowing the Bloom, Grafting the Branch.
The direction of his attack reversed—and more than that, Pung Bi-chang's balance collapsed entirely. His face was incomprehension itself.
As if to say: how could you know the secrets of that ascending art?
As if to say: how is this even possible?
His expression was thick with questions, but I owed him no answers.
His opening lay utterly exposed.
I reached out and seized him by the throat.
Despair welled up in Pung Bi-chang's eyes.
*KRACK.*
I crushed it, then hurled him backward.
I turned my head.
Myeong Hyeon and Un Dohyeon were watching me with looks of admiration. I spoke briefly.
"You both did well."
"It was nothing."
Un Dohyeon answered; Myeong Hyeon merely shrugged.
That yearning burning in Un Dohyeon's eyes.
Not bad at all.
"Un Dohyeon."
"Yes, my lord."
"Now, I can keep the promise I made you."
"……My lord……."
"A man does not die the instant his neck breaks, you see."
I looked down at Pung Bi-chang, writhing on the ground.
"He will remain conscious for some time yet, and right now he is listening to every word we say. Which means—"
Which means.
"Take his head. With your own hands."
Un Dohyeon's grip tightened hard around his sword.
"Thank you!"
*Shrrk—!*
Pung Bi-chang's head parted from his body.
That day, the Jangan Branch was annihilated.
Myeong Hyeon, who had been silent, finally asked.
"So what happens now?"
"There's only one thing it could be, isn't there?"
"……Surely you don't mean—?"
A smile crept across my lips. I drew a single letter from my breast and held it up.
"Un Dohyeon. Take this letter and deliver it to No Dae-won."
"As you command."
Un Dohyeon departed.
Myeong Hyeon sighed and came toward me.
"I'm afraid that 'surely you don't mean' of mine was exactly right, wasn't it—and isn't our force a little thin?"
I didn't deny it.
"Wait and see."
Myeong Hyeon tilted his head in puzzlement. Then, slowly, he turned.
Roughly thirty martial artists were approaching from our direction.
"……And when exactly did you call for those?"
"Before they arrived."
"……Then perhaps you might have called for them a little earlier."
I shook my head.
The ones who annihilated the Jangan Branch had to be the Sambong Branch. If we had borrowed other hands to do the destroying, the meaning would have been hollowed out.
Absolutely—
—no matter what, I, Un Dohyeon, and Myeong Hyeon had to kill all twenty of them ourselves. And now we had. That was all that mattered.
"I sent letters to the clans who had already signed their names. If they wish to join us, let them come. If not, let them keep their silence."
"……"
"And yet not everyone stayed silent, it seems."
About thirty martial artists.
Judging by the clothes they wore, every one of them was a warrior of the Hong Clan.
Hong Ja-myeong, the clan's second son, came to stand before me and offered a formal cupped-fist salute.
"I wish to help."
"You won't regret it?"
"I will not. We believe this is the right thing to do."
"It could end in the extermination of your clan."
"Others might fear that. We have accepted it."
This was the beginning.
The warriors of the Cheonggang Sword Gate, the Yun Caravan, and the Myeong Clan of Sambong-hyeon joined our side—some sixty in all.
With the Hong Clan's warriors added, we numbered ninety in total.
Before long, Un Dohyeon returned as well.
Without a moment's hesitation, he came to stand before me and knelt.
Myeong Hyeon knelt too, and at the sight of the two of them, all ninety warriors behind them knelt as well.
Looking down on them, I spoke slowly.
"I am a man who settles his debts of gratitude and vengeance without fail."
It felt strange to say with my own mouth, but it was the truth.
"I won't waste words. If this ends badly, every one of you will be hunted to extinction. But if it succeeds, what you gain will exceed anything you can imagine."
That much was certain.
The reason was all too clear.
"Today we will annihilate the thirteen sects of Jangan Commandery, and we will take the whole of Jangan for ourselves. Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
The answer thundered. It pleased me.
"We depart."
Every one of them, still kneeling, raised a cupped fist.
"As you command!"