Chapter 487
Chapter 487
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 125
>Chapter Title: The Six Demons (5)
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-Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
-Pffft pffft pffft!
[Gah!]
[Urk!]
An elderly man with the bearing of a scholar unleashed Finger Bullet Divine Art with iron pellets, piercing the hearts of five masters in an instant.
A burly-looking man clicked his tongue at the sight of them dying in agony.
He couldn't help but be astonished by the feat that had claimed the lives of peak experts at the early transcendent level—ones he and his thirty escorts had desperately tried to block—in a single breath.
Behind him stood a girl with a refined appearance.
The girl's name was Jin A-yeong, from the Peerless Star Jin Clan.
As soon as Jin A-yeong recognized the old man, her face lit up, and she ran over to throw herself into his arms.
-Pat!
"Grandfather Chak!"
"You little rascal."
The old man—no, Sima Chak—shook his head with a chuckle at her coquettish display.
He had turned his back on the secular world, unmoved even by calls from his son-in-law or daughter, but he often visited Peerless Star because this child's face so closely resembled his late wife's.
"Did you come to see the temple again?"
This brightly smiling face.
It resembled his one and only daughter, Sima Yeong, even more.
He had thought he could only see her again in the next life, but this child warmed a corner of his heart.
Meanwhile, Sima Chak patted her back so she wouldn't see, his eyes turning icy as he warned the escort captain.
"Ha Yun, was it?"
"Y-Yes, Elder."
"You think you can protect this child with that level of skill?"
At Sima Chak's rebuke, Ha Yun hurriedly dropped to one knee, clasping his hands in a fist salute as he apologized.
"I'm sorry, Elder!"
"Empty apologies won't do."
-Pat!
With that, Sima Chak pulled something from his bosom and flicked it away with his finger.
What embedded itself a third of the way into the ground was none other than a sheet of paper.
The paper was densely covered in writing.
It was a martial arts manual.
"Th-This is..."
Sima Chak snorted at the wide-eyed Ha Yun.
"Master it properly, or I'll shatter both your legs and leave you unable to walk for life!"
Ha Yun's eyes reddened at the warning—not from mere scolding, but from gratitude toward the elder who filled his every shortcoming whenever they met.
Eight years later,
"Waa waa!"
One of Sima Chak's eyebrows shot up as he gazed at the baby cradled in Jin A-yeong's arms—she who had sought him out even in the deep mountains where he resided.
"Don't tell me that's your child?"
"Yes. Isn't she pretty?"
"Heh heh heh. The child has borne a child."
"You're saying that again. I'm not a kid anymore."
"Waa waa!"
"Oh! Yes, Mommy's right here."
Jin A-yeong cooed at the crying baby with peekaboo and flashed a radiant smile.
The sight tugged at Sima Chak's heartstrings once more.
It reminded him of his late wife happily holding their one and only daughter, Sima Yeong.
Even after the long years, the memory lingered vividly in his mind.
Snapping out of his reminiscence, Sima Chak glanced coolly at Ha Yun, who stood awkwardly behind Jin A-yeong as if pretending nonchalance.
He scoffed at the man sweating bullets in extreme tension.
"Finally, you're somewhat usable."
"E-Elder!"
Ha Yun was overcome with emotion at those words.
How tirelessly he had trained to earn his recognition.
It felt like a reward.
Sima Chak looked at the baby in Jin A-yeong's arms and asked.
"What's the child's name?"
"Yeong-in. Jin Yeong-in. Pretty, right?"
"It's a good thing she takes after her mother more than her father."
"Right? Hehe."
Sima Chak stroked Jin A-yeong's head and said to Ha Yun.
"Now you have one more to protect."
"I'll prove myself, Elder!"
-Thud!
Ha Yun pounded his chest firmly in resolve.
Over thirty years passed since then.
An event that should never have occurred in the martial world unfolded.
The day of the great cataclysm.
Despite his son-in-law and daughter's pleas—that he might not remain in the world due to the natural order—he had not gone into hiding.
He harbored no great attachments or lingering desires in life.
His only joy was seeing that child who resembled his late wife until his dying breath.
Yet now, that child lay lifeless before his eyes.
"Grraaah."
Indescribable rage seized him.
He had sensed unease from the Yi Mae Mang Ryang invading his abode and come seeking her.
But he was too late.
Corpses of countless Yi Mae Mang Ryang littered the surroundings, and before them lay Ha Yun—his limbs torn off by them, leaving only head and torso.
From the traces around, Sima Chak could tell.
Ha Yun had desperately sacrificed himself to protect her.
That was why Jin A-yeong's body remained relatively intact.
-Sss...
Having secluded himself in training for so long, Sima Chak had unwittingly grasped some truths of the world. Kneeling before her, he spotted a vengeful spirit shedding bloody tears.
It was Ha Yun, turned into a ghost.
"I couldn't protect her. In the end, I couldn't protect her."
So overwhelming was his grief that he was lacerating his own ethereal form.
At this sight, Sima Chak's rage momentarily subsided. He gazed at the cloudless dark sky and shed mournful tears.
* * *
Sima Chak, the legend of the Demonic Martial World known as Moonpeak Sword.
He recognized her at a glance.
Jin Ye-rin, child of Jin Yeong-in.
Though he had never found that child in the end, her striking resemblance to Jin A-yeong drew words from deep within him.
"I've finally found you."
Jin Ye-rin tightly embraced Sima Chak and cried out.
"Chak Elder!"
Sima Chak gently patted her back.
It was pity for this child who had endured alone after losing everything.
Then, his eyes caught something, and he looked down at her in his arms.
"First, we need to deal with that."
-Roaaar!
One of the Six Demons, Lion Rending King, roared in fury with its nosebridge sliced by Moonless Empty Sword's first form, charging at them once more.
Sima Chak's eyes sharpened. He raised his sword manual, and three formless swords materialized around him.
-Hummmm!
Jin Ye-rin let out an admiring gasp at the massive formless swords, then gripped her sword hilt straight.
Sima Chak asked her.
"Can you handle it?"
"Of course."
The rampaging thunder qi had been drawn out by Sima Chak's back pat and stabilized.
With that, Jin Ye-rin raised her sword skyward.
In that instant,
-Crackle crackle crackle!
Thunderbolts crashed from the thundercloud sky, coiling around her blade.
It was the secret art of Heavenly Escape: Thunderclap Heavenly Escape.
Jin Ye-rin slammed her lead foot into the ground.
-Boom!
-Crackle crackle crackle!
Thunder qi surged along the earth, blue flames erupting in root-like bursts everywhere.
Holding that stance, she drew back her sword, then thrust it forward powerfully.
'Thunderclap Heavenly Escape: Sword-Chasing Return Blade!'
-Crackle crackle crackle! Kaboom kaboom kaboom!
From her lightning-wreathed sword tip, a blade force wrapped in thunder qi swirled into a massive storm of electric fury, surging ahead.
Sima Chak's eyes gleamed at her sword form.
'I suspected, but did she break the pact and pass it on?'
This was unmistakably the precursor art Heavenly Escape.
Regardless of whether it could be learned, it was something that could not be transmitted, and thus not passed down to later generations—or so it was known. He couldn't help but be inwardly shocked to see Jin Ye-rin wielding it.
But that wasn't important now.
Matching her Sword-Chasing Return Blade, Sima Chak unleashed his sword forms with the three formless swords.
'Moonless Empty Sword: Moon Dance Supreme Realm!'
-Swish swish swish swish swish!
The three formless swords flew through the sky, crossing paths before tracing dazzling trajectories as they assaulted Lion Rending King.
It was a spectacle that held the eyes captive.
-Crunch!
Mok Gan’s face twisted horribly at the utterly unforeseen development.
He was extremely cautious.
That was why he had observed the past crises that beset the Central Plains Martial World, including the great cataclysm's failure, and used them as cautionary lessons to craft this grand scheme.
'It should have been perfect...'
He had meant to lead everything to ruin with an overwhelming disaster that even the united Central Plains Martial World couldn't handle.
Yet what was this?
He had deployed not just Great Power King Bull Demon King—strongest of the Six Demons, whose might even ancient sages feared—but also Bloodsea Demon King who turned the North Sea into a sea of blood, and the beast of destruction Lion Rending King.
Each one a natural calamity capable of annihilating a nation, yet instead of overwhelming slaughter, a stalemate persisted.
-Grip!
In rage, Mok Gan's third eye turned toward the clash of two Six Demons shaking the earth.
That one's appearance was the biggest factor.
Hundred Face King, Golden Fur Nine-Tailed Fox.
The only one of the Six Demons not sealed, a being who wandered nations sowing destruction, the pinnacle of ill omen.
He hadn't expected it to interfere even without summoning, but who could have foreseen it siding with humans?
-Kaboom kaboom kaboom!
Moreover, unbound by seals, its current power rivaled even Great Power King.
It was the worst variable—matching Great Power King, whom none could face one-on-one except the monster ape vanished beyond natural order.
'No. At this rate.'
Even small variables breed hope in enemies, and that hope fuels morale.
Left alone, a reversal might truly occur.
Thus, Mok Gan raised his crimson jade staff.
-Hummmm!
As the red jade blazed intensely, the countless Yi Mae Mang Ryang—who had paused their advance—surged forward faster than before.
With things thus, he had no choice but to overwhelm with sheer numbers.
If even one of the Six Demons broke the balance and joined, the situation would change.
No matter the Golden Fur Nine-Tailed Fox, it couldn't handle two Six Demons alone.
-Roaaar!
-Grraaah!
-Kekeke kekeke kekeke!
'Make them realize there's not a shred of hope...!?'
-Rumble rumble rumble!
But through his three eyes scattered among the Six Demons, he saw the Righteous Alliance, Evil Alliance, and all Heavenly Land Society warriors assembling before the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
-Waaaaah!
The three major factions—who seemed they would never unite—forming ranks against a common foe, roaring with resolute cheers, ignited Mok Gan's fury.
'These bastards!'
This wasn't what he had anticipated.
He had envisioned humans gripped by fear and terror of death before a calamity like a natural disaster, lost in despair.
Yet not one showed such a sight.
Instead, morale soared sky-high at the sight of allies confronting the Six Demons.
And at the center forefront stood Mok Kyung-un.
'You... How are you...'
That was not where the bastard belonged.
Incarnation of the forsaken Demon King.
The enemy of all—why were you leading humans from that place?
You...
-Flinch!
In that moment, Mok Gan's spine chilled.
A crushing pressure that instantly cooled his rising rage.
Cold sweat drenched Mok Gan's forehead in an instant.
His face paling, lips trembling, he forced his mouth open.
"Wait, it's not over yet... not yet..."
-Your role ends here.
-Crackle crackle crackle!
A majestic voice resounded in his mind, and at that instant, thick thunderclouds split in two. The darkness-filled sky parted.
Intense light brilliantly illuminated the land.
It was as if the very creation of heaven and earth.
[Chapter 125: The Six Demons (5)] End