I Was a Madman Too (3)
Namgung Do-wi gripped his sword with all his might.
He was confident he could be of use. He admitted there was a gap between him and the others, but he didn’t think it was that wide. He might not be able to play a major role, but he was certain he could at least do his fair share.
And yet here he was, not only unable to help, but struggling even to keep up with those running ahead of him.
What the hell?
There were too many things he couldn’t understand.
“Damn it!”
Clang!
The sword he swung lodged itself in a Demonic Sect member’s neck. Even though it was a pure strike packed with the clean inner power of the Azure Sky Infinite Mind Method, driving straight into a fragile human neck, his blade failed to pierce the bone; it only managed to sink in an inch at most.
“Khaaaack!”
The cultist with the sword stuck in his throat screamed and thrust his blade toward Namgung Do-wi’s stomach.
At that moment.
Whoosh!
A sword flashing in at an unimaginable speed severed the cultist’s neck in a single blow.
“Are you all right!”
Instead of answering, Namgung Do-wi bit down hard on his lip.
Yoon Jong.
He knew it. Yoon Jong was strong.
There had been a time when he thought the people called the Mount Hua Five Swords had gained a reputation far beyond what their actual skill deserved.
Sure, the Mount Hua Sword Hero Chung Myung was a powerhouse impossible to underrate, but he had assumed the others had made their names riding on Chung Myung’s fame rather than their own ability.
So he probably thought that, apart from Chung Myung, Namgung Do-wi was a step ahead of the rest of the Five Swords.
But if he had watched what they were doing here, he would have no choice but to admit that his assumptions were completely wrong.
Were the differences really this huge?
He had known Chung Myung was strong. He knew Baek Cheon was strong too.
But Yoon Jong and Jo Gul cutting down Demonic Sect members so easily, in a way he couldn’t even compare to, was baffling no matter how he looked at it. It would have been one thing if their levels were similar, but he hadn’t expected the gap to be this absurd.
Damn it.
He began to wonder if he had just been stubborn for no reason. He had come here to help. Not to preserve his pride.
But here, all he was doing was getting in their way. If it weren’t for him, they’d probably be moving at least half a step faster.
Every time Yoon Jong and Jo Gul glanced back now and then to check on him, it felt as though the pride inside his chest was being shattered to pieces and stabbed straight into his heart. Even though he knew all that concern and attention came from kindness.
Whoosh!
Up ahead, blazing red sword energy erupted in brilliant splendor. A vivid sunset-colored sword aura split into countless petals and instantly swept away the Demonic Sect members blocking the way.
They didn’t even need brief exchanges.
Why they had to break through here, where they were going, none of them asked, and none of them doubted.
Because there was a landmark waiting up ahead.
The red sword energy erupting from the front line was guiding everyone far more strongly than a thousand words ever could.
Namgung Do-wi lowered his head slightly. He wanted to step forward, but right now he was only a hindrance to them. If only he could just…
“Namgung Do-wi!”
Just then, Chung Myung’s sharp voice pierced his ears.
“Yes?”
“Get your ass up here, idiot!”
His body moved before his brain even had time to think. Namgung Do-wi sprang off the ground and charged forward through the people ahead of him.
The moment he reached right behind Chung Myung, Chung Myung seized his shoulder and yanked him hard.
“Why the hell are you lagging behind, you moron? You’re from Namgung, aren’t you!”
“Huh?”
“The front!”
Chung Myung shoved Namgung Do-wi forward.
“Break through from the front! That’s what Namgung is! Empty your damn head and swing at whatever’s in front of you!”
“D-Disciple.”
“What are you waiting for?”
Namgung Do-wi blankly looked at the Demonic Sect members rushing at him. But it was only for an instant. A fierce light immediately burst from his eyes.
Grit.
Biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood, Namgung Do-wi lifted his sword without hesitation.
“HRAAAAAAH!”
Massive inner power surged from his dantian. At the same time, an immense sword aura erupted from the tip of his blade.
White radiance gathered at the sword point. Namgung Do-wi swung with all his strength. A blinding white sword aura, the symbol of Namgung, shot forward like a cannonball.
BOOOOOOM!
The Demonic Sect members surging ahead were caught in the explosion created by the sword aura and flung in all directions.
Namgung Do-wi tightened his grip on the sword.
Yes!
He couldn’t wield a sword with the same precision as the swordsmen of Mount Hua. He couldn’t target an enemy’s weakness as accurately as they could. He could admit that. He was still lacking.
But wasn’t crushing an opponent with overwhelming inner power his specialty—no, Namgung’s specialty?
This is my place!
The emperor waited for his enemies from the rear. But a king annihilated them from the very front. A man carrying the Namgung name had only one place to stand: here, at the head of the charge!
“See that?”
Chung Myung, gripping the back of Namgung Do-wi’s head, forcibly turned him to look somewhere else.
Namgung Do-wi’s eyes caught sight of a jutting pavilion.
“There!”
Namgung Do-wi nodded before he even knew what he was doing.
“Just open a path up to there. We’ll handle everything after that. Don’t think about anything else—just throw everything you’ve got at them!”
“Yes!”
Namgung Do-wi answered with a booming voice and readjusted his grip on the sword.
There was no elaborate explanation. It was practically an order. But that was enough.
The moment Chung Myung let go, Yu I-seol and Baek Cheon moved in on his left and right. Then Hye Yeon leaped over Namgung Do-wi’s head and stretched both arms forward.
“UOOOOOOOOOOH!”
Auspicious Buddhist light spread outward from Hye Yeon like rolling waves.
The almost perfectly unleashed Buddhist Radiance Covers the World pushed the Demonic Sect members back little by little. The instant space opened up, Baek Cheon and Yu I-seol seized it without missing a beat and swung their swords as if they had planned it in advance.
Plum blossoms, then plum blossoms. And more plum blossoms!
Plum blossoms bloomed in scattered bursts, fluttering like a miracle. It was a sight that made the world seem as though it were filled entirely with drifting petals.
“Young Lord!”
“Young Hero!”
At the urgent cry that rang out, Namgung Do-wi reflexively drew up his inner power.
“OOOOOOOOH!”
His sword came down vertically from above.
In a world overflowing with golden Buddhist light and red plum petals, a pure white streak struck down like lightning.
BOOOOOOM!
It burst, swept through, and drove them back again.
Namgung, Mount Hua, Shaolin. The three sects that protected righteousness. It might still be a little early, but the ones who would one day represent each of those sects had stepped into the front line and begun to lead everyone forward.
Namgung’s dominance, Mount Hua’s illusion, and Shaolin’s weight.
The nature of their martial arts differed, but what they pursued did not. So there was no reason they couldn’t harmonize. No—wasn’t harmony possible precisely because they were different?
“I’m moving!”
“Yes!”
Grinding his teeth, Namgung Do-wi picked up speed as he charged ahead. Baek Cheon, Yu I-seol, and Hye Yeon quickly followed behind and to either side.
Chung Myung, seeing the confidence growing in Namgung Do-wi’s shoulders, steadied his breathing. Then he lowered his sword slightly and looked back.
Im So-byeong, who had sensibly fallen to the rear, was fending off the Demonic Sect members trying to come up behind them. When his eyes met Chung Myung’s, his face twisted in a furious grimace.
“No, why am I the only one stuck doing this—”
But before he could even finish complaining, Chung Myung tore his gaze away and looked forward again.
And through it all, Jang Il-so watched with cool eyes.
Feels like he’s raising a cub tiger.
From that bastard’s point of view, it would honestly be easier to handle everything himself. Normally, borrowing other people’s hands was more convenient, but when the difference in skill was this large, assigning work and watching over them was actually more troublesome.
But that Mount Hua Sword Hero still didn’t forget to make those brats grow, even in this hellish situation.
“Hey, you Sapa bastard.”
“Hmm?”
At Chung Myung’s sudden voice, Jang Il-so frowned.
“Roll your eyes on your own time and get to work. You didn’t come here to sightsee, did you? I know freeloading is Sapa nature and all, but this is your turf, isn’t it?”
Jang Il-so let out a dry laugh. Was there anyone else in all the world who could stand in front of him and brazenly say such things?
“I was just about ready to make my move anyway.”
Blue flames erupted from Jang Il-so’s whole body.
Azure Flame Battle Slaughter.Severing Soul Flame Steel.
The blue fire surged forward as if it were alive, baring a tongue of azure flame, and swept over the Demonic Sect members.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
Wretched screams poured out.
Fire that was harder than steel yet carried a horrifying heat. The wounds left by those flames were instantly seared shut. White smoke rose everywhere.
“Tsk, tsk. If they hadn’t resisted, they could’ve died cleanly.”
Jang Il-so stomped on the head of a fallen cultist writhing on the ground until it burst, then ran forward at speed.
Even then, he didn’t forget to speak to Chung Myung with a smile.
“Looks like you found the Bishop.”
“Long ago.”
“Useful. More than I expected.”
Chuckling, Jang Il-so looked up at the half-collapsed pavilion. A trace of madness glimmered in his eyes.
“Over there?”
“Yeah.”
“The Bishop, huh. Bishop…”
The faint smile on his face was dangerously seductive.
“There’ll be guards around him, of course.”
“Law Enforcement Messengers.”
“Huh?”
“That’s what those bastards call themselves. The arms and legs that serve the Bishop. In the Central Plains, they used to be called Demonic Generals too.”
“You know a lot of interesting things.”
Jang Il-so’s gaze turned cold and dark.
“Right. There’s no reason to drag this out. Once we shake off these annoying pests, we’ll kill those Law Enforcement Messengers and cut off the Bishop’s head too. That’s why we came, after all, isn’t it?”
If they dragged this out, who knew how the situation would change. The fact that the number of Demonic Sect members had increased since they set out for this place meant more forces could still be brought in. The longer this took, the more disadvantageous it would become for them.
We have to aim straight for the head.
That was precisely why they had risked their lives to come into this treacherous terrain. They had no time to leisurely carve a path in from the outskirts.
We just need to reach the Bishop.
After that, he would swing that well-honed blade and take the Bishop’s head.
But Chung Myung’s next words threw his calculations completely off balance.
“Wrong.”
“Hmm?”
Confusion flickered in Jang Il-so’s pale eyes. Chung Myung said coldly,
“It’s not a Law Enforcement Messenger.”
Chung Myung’s gaze remained fixed ahead.
“It’s Law Enforcement Messengers.”
In an instant, Jang Il-so’s expression stiffened. He felt it too—the presence of those who were hurtling toward them like flashes of lightning, radiating a terrifying killing intent.
Chung Myung bared his white teeth in a savage grin.
“Yeah. Those are the real ones.”
And at that moment, atop the shattered buildings beyond the Demonic Sect members, more than a dozen black figures shot upward.