I Was a Madman Too (6)
I had never even thought about it. I had never once imagined it.
To the Demonic Sect—called the Mage Sect in the Central Plains—the people living there were nothing more than filthy unbelievers, insignificant wretches whose lives should have ended long ago but somehow still dragged on by sheer luck.
Lowly filth who had been granted the grudging right to live only because their time had not yet come, because the day promised by the Heavenly Demon had not yet arrived.
That was why he had never considered it, not even once: that one day he would feel fear toward such a lowly, contemptible being.
Fwoosh!
Cheong Myeong, his eyes dyed with madness and murderous intent, shot straight toward Jeokil.
There was only one emotion permitted to the one who had to face that terrifying speed and momentum head-on.
Thud!
Jeokil drove his foot into the ground with excessive force. He did not even have time to think. Throwing himself backward, he flailed both hands like a lunatic, spewing vicious demonic energy in torrents.
This time, it was different from before. It was no longer meant to annihilate an enemy of the cult, but was closer to a desperate struggle to push back the one coming at him.
It was nothing more than the frantic thrashing of a man trying to cling to the life he had always believed existed solely to be offered up to the cult.
The demonic energy was as dark as soot rising above a raging flame. But unlike smoke, which scattered the moment you waved a hand through it, this was a crystallized evil that tore flesh and shattered bone simply by touching a human body. That wretched energy began to wrap itself around Cheong Myeong.
Yet even as he saw the demonic energy trying to engulf him, Cheong Myeong did not slow. He simply extended the sword in his right hand straight toward the lower left, then slashed fiercely toward the upper right.
A roar erupted so loud it seemed ready to split the eardrums.
Faaaaaang!
A single strike so powerful it seemed to rip apart space itself.
The crimson line blooming in midair cut diagonally through the center of the demonic energy with a clarity that seemed to brand it into the sky. The demonic energy Jeokil had poured out with all his strength was cleaved in half by one sword stroke. Cheong Myeong hurled himself through the opening and kept charging. A cruel smile was drawn bright across his face.
Before Jeokil could even fully grasp what was happening, a chilling sensation flashed around his ankle. The Amhyang Plum Blossom Sword had swept horizontally across it.
Swish!
The sword that neatly severed his front ankle now came flying back like a bolt of lightning, aiming for his entire body.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Jeokil’s thigh and abdomen were cut in rapid succession, and then, just as a sword came lunging for his throat, his eyes flew wide open.
“Stop!”
At that very moment, another Law Enforcement Messenger plunged down toward Cheong Myeong’s head at terrifying speed, both hands wrapped in demonic energy that clawed like a beast’s talons, as if intending to split his skull in one blow.
Everyone assumed Cheong Myeong would have to block the attack falling toward his head first. But instead, he surged forward even faster than before.
What?
Shhhhkkk!
As the Amhyang Plum Blossom Sword did not stop and instead sliced through the air toward his throat, Jeokil panicked and raised his hand to block it.
Clack! Clack-clack-clack!
The sword blade, colder than the wind sweeping through a frozen hell, dug into a palm hardened by demonic energy until it was far tougher than ten-thousand-year black iron.
Ugh…
Jeokil’s senses had become unnaturally sharp at the edge of death. That was the problem. His heightened senses delivered the pain to him in its entirety. Every stage of it was vivid: the sword tearing through skin, cutting into flesh, and then driving itself into the wristbone.
The sword infused with Daoist Immortal Energy relentlessly peeled apart the demonic energy struggling in resistance. A horrifying agony, like flesh being slowly sawn through with a blade, tore through him, and the sword steadily advanced toward Jeokil’s throat.
“Aaaaargh!”
Jeokil screamed in pain and shoved against the sword lodged in his hand. The more he pushed, the deeper it cut in.
Then the Amhyang Plum Blossom Sword sliced past his wrist and into his forearm.
“Khah!”
Jeokil flung away the sword he had been holding and grabbed Cheong Myeong’s sword embedded in his left arm with his bare hand.
Crackkk!
His left arm was already ruined. But the Amhyang Plum Blossom Sword was still not satisfied; it writhed as if it would cut off Jeokil’s right hand as well. His right hand was now in danger too, yet Jeokil clung to the blade with desperate determination.
Because he had clearly seen the demonic hand of the Law Enforcement Messenger plunging toward Cheong Myeong’s head.
You stupid bastard! He’s making a mistake…
But then Jeokil flinched.
There was no way Cheong Myeong couldn’t know that an overwhelming demonic attack was falling from above, and yet there was not a trace of panic or fear on his face.
He simply stared at Jeokil with a gaze so cold it seemed to freeze blood.
“Die, you bastard!”
Just as the Law Enforcement Messenger’s hand was about to fall upon Cheong Myeong’s crown.
Claaang!
A massive metallic ring rang out, and the falling hand of the Law Enforcement Messenger stopped directly above Cheong Myeong’s head.
Between that surging hand full of demonic energy and the unguarded head beneath it, a single white sword had suddenly thrust itself upward.
Wh-when did he…?
All the color drained from Jeokil’s face.
The young man in the Hero’s Cap, who had been fighting while staying behind to guard Cheong Myeong, had somehow shot forward like an arrow and blocked the attack pouring toward Cheong Myeong—as if he had known from the start this would happen.
The twisted expression and flushed face made it painfully clear how much internal force he had burned just to close that distance in one burst.
“Kah!”
Of course, the Law Enforcement Messenger would not give up just because one attack had been blocked. But the instant he tried to swing his hand again in midair, another shadow vaulted up over Baek Cheon.
The Law Enforcement Messenger jerked his head up in alarm.
What he saw was a female swordswoman descending with the night sky at her back. Her expression was frighteningly cold.
“Sa-sister disciple!”
“Yes.”
Shwaaaaaak!
Yu I-seol’s sword sliced through the dark void, splitting into dozens of sword shadows that pierced the Law Enforcement Messenger’s entire body.
“Kuaaaaaaagh!”
Under normal circumstances, he would never have allowed such an easy opening. But the Law Enforcement Messenger had been too focused on Cheong Myeong and Baek Cheon. He had no way to resist Yu I-seol’s attack, which had appeared from a blind angle at the perfect moment.
He was thrown backward, blood spraying from all over his body. Red blood burst from the long sword wound carved across his face.
That bastard!
Baek Cheon ground his teeth, cursing inwardly.
No instructions, no coordination—none of that was needed. The instant that lunatic kicked off the ground and launched himself forward, it was obvious what he was after. So, just as always, Baek Cheon simply had to do what he was supposed to do.
But… wasn’t there a limit to this? If he had been even a little slower just now, Cheong Myeong’s head would have exploded like a ripe watermelon.
He didn’t know whether to call that trust or recklessness, but there was no time to argue about it now. What he had to do was crystal clear.
“Haaah!”
Baek Cheon swiftly drew back his sword, spun in place, and sent it flying. His blade struck the hilt of the Amhyang Plum Blossom Sword in Cheong Myeong’s grip.
Ka-gaaaang!
The instant his sword hit the Amhyang Plum Blossom Sword, Jeokil was sent flying backward, blood spraying everywhere. And then Cheong Myeong, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, charged forward again.
Before Baek Cheon could even kick off the ground, Yoon Jong and Jo Geol swept past him and fell in right behind Cheong Myeong.
Anyone from Mount Hua knew it.
They all knew what Cheong Myeong did when the enemy outnumbered them and the situation turned unfavorable. No one needed to say a word.
“Jo Geol!”
“Yes, senior brother!”
Jo Geol’s lightning-fast swordplay poured forward. The demonic cultists who had been charging Cheong Myeong with expressions twisted by confusion and hatred were instantly swept aside and shoved back.
At the same time, Yoon Jong’s sword, swung with exquisite gentleness, blocked every attack raining down from all directions around Cheong Myeong.
The sword that opens a path through attack.
The sword that defends by blocking.
Those two opposing swords opened Cheong Myeong’s path and protected him all at once.
Baek Cheon, closing in quickly, shouted loudly, “Open the way! We’re going for the Bishop!”
In the past, when facing the Demonic Sect, Cheong Myeong had leapt past the enemy and cut down the Law Enforcement Messenger. By taking his head, he had saved everyone’s lives.
But this time was different. The enemy was stronger, and the Bishop too would surely be incomparably stronger than before.
Then it was not Cheong Myeong who had to protect them—they had to protect Cheong Myeong.
They had to send the blade of Cheong Myeong’s sword safely, without letting it suffer any damage, all the way to that Bishop’s neck. Even if they had to bet everything on it!
“Hye Yeon, wait—”
“Excuse me.”
At that very moment, a man leapt over Baek Cheon’s head. Seeing the blood-red robe fluttering above him like a stain of fresh blood, Baek Cheon shouted reflexively, “Jang Il-so!”
“I’ve understood roughly.”
With those soft words, blue-green cheongyeon flame burst from both of Jang Il-so’s hands. Shot out like blazing fireballs, they swallowed the demonic cultists standing in front of Cheong Myeong.
The moment the cultists let out horrific screams, Jang Il-so kicked off the air and landed lightly right beside Cheong Myeong.
“Now then…”
He bared his teeth in a smile, his face wickedly delighted.
“Shall we go?”
Fwoosh!
Cheong Myeong and Jang Il-so sprang forward together.
At the same time, Baek Cheon, Yu I-seol, Yoon Jong, and Jo Geol followed close behind like their escorts.
The sight was like an arrow loosed from a bow pulled taut to the limit.
An arrow loses all meaning the moment it stops. Since they had decided to break through the enemy’s center, there was only one fate awaiting them if they failed.
But neither Cheong Myeong nor Jang Il-so, nor anyone following behind them, feared that fate. They simply kept charging forward and forward, smashing and cutting down everyone blocking their way.
“Oooooooooh!”
Hye Yeon and Namgung Dowi, vaulting over Cheong Myeong and Jang Il-so’s heads to land ahead of them, each unleashed their power and sword aura to clear the way. The tremendous force that surged out like cannon fire violently swept aside the demonic cultists who had failed to guard against it.
As the front was blocked, the cultists trying to slip in from the side were stopped by Dang So-so’s sword energy and the Daoist Immortal Energy hurled out by Im So-byeong.
“Kuh!”
“You filthy unbelievers!”
The Mount Hua group, united as one, plunged deep into the dense mass of demonic cultists.
The fangs of those trying to strike from behind were cut off by the calm sword blows of Un Geom, while the cultists stubbornly trying to keep up were forced to face the Red Dogs, who clung to them like hounds on the hunt.
They were unstoppable. Once Mount Hua’s group had seized momentum, they split the sea of demonic cultists and raced forward at breakneck speed.
“Stop themmmm!”
Jeokil, flung away in a pitiful state and barely alive, screamed with a voice so torn it sounded more desperate than any shout a Law Enforcement Messenger of the cult should have made.
But by now, he no longer had even the slightest room to breathe.
We can’t let him—absolutely cannot let that bastard reach the Bishop!
He knew full well how blasphemous that thought was. No matter how extraordinary that Central Plains Daoist might be, before the Bishop whose power reached the heavens he was nothing but an insect. To fear that man’s sword touching the Bishop was a terrible insult to the Bishop.
And yet, even knowing all of that, Jeokil had no way to suppress the fear clawing at his chest.
No. They could not let that man reach the Bishop!
“Block him! Even if you have to throw your lives away, block him no matter what!”
The dark night sky and the dark earth. A single red arrow split the world, blackened all around.
An arrow sharp enough to cleave open the heart of the descending demon.