What, You Think Anything in This World Is Free? (4)
Whoosh!
Chung Myung shot forward at full speed.
The blizzard had begun to rage again, blurring his vision, but one dark speck in the distance was still clearly visible.
This is interesting.
The distance refused to close easily.
Even though he was pouring inner power into his movement technique, his speed wasn’t gaining much on the figure ahead. Which meant the one running from him was no pushover.
You rat bastard…
A killing intent even colder than the North Sea winter flashed through Chung Myung’s eyes.
Bang!
The moment his foot slammed into the ground, the piled snow exploded upward. Riding that violent rebound all the way through his body, Chung Myung shot out like a streak of light. The falling snow came at him like a wall, but he didn’t hesitate for a second as he tore straight through it.
In an instant, the distance between the black-clad man and Chung Myung shrank to almost nothing.
The black-clad man running ahead suddenly whipped around at the killing aura closing in from behind.
There, crystal clear, was Chung Myung charging at him with his sword drawn.
“……”
A flicker of something appeared in the man’s otherwise emotionless eyes.
Just as he was about to put more strength into his legs—
Faaaat!
A horrifying slicing sound pierced his ears. Through the blizzard, a crescent-shaped sword energy flew at him.
One look was enough to tell it was no ordinary strike. It came at him with the savage intent to cleave his body clean in two.
“Tch!”
Unable to control the speed of his sprint, the man rolled across the snow and barely evaded the sword energy.
When he lifted his head after tumbling through the snow several times, the first thing he saw was the foot of the person who had stopped directly in front of him.
“……”
“Get up.”
At that cold voice, the man slowly raised his head. Then he looked at Chung Myung’s face, so impassive it might as well have been covered in a layer of ice.
“……”
“Now explain why you were eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation. No, before that…”
A chill entered Chung Myung’s eyes.
“Are you one of those Demonic Sect bastards?”
“Heh.”
At the mention of the Demonic Sect, the man gave a low laugh. Then he slowly rose to his feet and faced Chung Myung.
Through the slit of his face-covering mask, his eyes oozed a vicious edge.
“So you’re from Central Plains.”
“……”
“If you hadn’t chased me, you might still have lived.”
Crack, crack.
Under his sleeves, the man’s hands began to blacken. Soon they gave off a strange, unsettling noise.
Seeing that hand, Chung Myung’s eyes darkened even further. A low murmur slipped from his lips.
“Black Death Demon Palm.”
The black-clad man twitched. For someone who had been calm until now, it was an obvious change in reaction.
“How…?”
At his question, the corner of Chung Myung’s mouth curled upward.
“So you really are a Demonic Sect scumbag.”
The moment doubt turned into certainty, the black-clad man narrowed his brow and ground out, “That is not something your filthy mouth deserves to say.”
Then he lunged forward and swung his blackened hand at Chung Myung’s face.
Clang!
But the hand was cleanly stopped by Chung Myung’s Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword, only half drawn.
“You brat!”
Ratatatat!
His hand, now harder than metal, scraped along the blade. Chung Myung twisted the corner of his mouth and poured inner power into his sword. Red sword energy burst upward, slicing through the black-clad man’s hand.
Apparently never imagining his own hand would be cut by a sword, the black-clad man hurriedly stepped back. Blood dripped from his fingers, speckling the snow beneath him.
Malice gathered in the man’s eyes.
But Chung Myung merely asked in a still colder voice, “What are the Demonic Sect bastards scheming by coming all the way out here to the North Sea?”
“……”
“Fine. I never expected a proper answer from your mouths anyway. That’s just how you lot are.”
Those with firm convictions never bend their path no matter the pain. If that conviction is an unshakable faith, there’s no need to say more.
The black-clad man’s eyes twisted slightly.
“You speak as if you know the Demonic Sect very well.”
“……I do.”
Chung Myung lifted one corner of his mouth.
Even when he tried not to smile, that grotesque grin kept slipping out. He was almost surprised by how twisted the emotions swirling in his chest had become. Countless feelings churned inside him, surging up in ugly waves.
Showing all his teeth, Chung Myung said through them, “So well that I’m sick to death of it. Stick out your neck. I’ll cut you down nice and clean as a greeting.”
The black-clad man.
No, the Demonic Sect member whose eyes showed through the mask burned with a bright blue killing intent.
“A filthy infidel like you sure knows how to run his mouth. I’ll see if you can keep babbling after your head comes off!”
The Demonic Sect member charged straight at Chung Myung.
His speed and momentum were like lightning.
It was a stealthy, rapid attack, like a predator hiding beneath black waters suddenly leaping to the surface.
Swish!
Chung Myung drew his sword fully and gave it a light downward slash. The blade, catching the sun, flashed white.
Meanwhile, the Demonic Sect member’s swinging hand spawned a black shadow. In an instant, those hand-shadows multiplied into dozens, flooding over Chung Myung as if a pack of black wolves were driving a sheep into a corner.
Chung Myung’s response to the countless palm images was simple: cut down every single one of them.
His sword flashed so fast it could not be seen, shattering each palm image infused with demonic qi as though knocking birds from the sky.
“What the—”
The Demonic Sect member’s eyes widened and trembled.
Impossible.
Just how fast did a sword have to be swung for something like that?
But there was no time to be shocked, no room even for admiration.
Having pulverized the palm images, Chung Myung was already flying straight toward him.
“Hngh!”
The Demonic Sect member clenched his teeth and lashed out with both hands. His hands, black as ink, carried a terrifying energy as they surged toward Chung Myung.
Clang!
The instant sword and hand collided, a metallic ring rang out like steel striking steel.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sword and hand smashed into each other again and again in midair. Yet while Chung Myung’s sword remained unscathed, the Demonic Sect member’s blackened hand suffered long, ragged cuts every time it struck.
“Damn it!”
Realizing the blade was a divine weapon, the Demonic Sect member gritted his teeth and tried to pull his hand back—but it was already too late.
“Aaaaargh!”
Screaming, the Demonic Sect member lashed at Chung Myung’s face. The full force of the Black Death Demon Palm radiated such dreadful power that even looking at it made the skin crawl.
Just a brush would rot flesh.
And yet.
That hand was stopped cold by Chung Myung’s casually swung sword.
Rattle-rattle-rattle!
Like a snake climbing a tree, the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword slid up the Demonic Sect member’s arm.
Slash. Slash.
The forearm, no longer protected by the power of the Black Death Demon Palm, was cut open, and the upper arm split in a long line.
“Tch!”
Blood burst out of the deep gash like a fountain.
But the Demonic Sect member didn’t retreat. Instead, he lunged forward and tried to hammer Chung Myung with his other hand.
The instant that hand brushed toward Chung Myung’s face—
Chung Myung’s body spun rapidly, and he instead shoved himself into the man’s arms.
And then—
Thud!
The pommel of the sword slammed directly into the Demonic Sect member’s jaw. His head snapped back like a kicked ball, and blood sprayed from his mouth.
Thump.
“Gghh…”
Crashing onto the ground, the Demonic Sect member trembled as he struggled to get back up. Seeing his pained state, Chung Myung spoke in an emotionless voice.
“Weak.”
“……”
“Not even close to how it used to be.”
“……Used to be?”
Chung Myung didn’t bother answering that.
“Pity. You people are nothing but followers of the Heavenly Demon. Without the Heavenly Demon, you’re merely believers who’ve lost their god, ministers who’ve lost their king.”
The Demonic Sect member glared at him with bloodshot eyes. Chung Myung snorted.
“Why are you lot still lingering in this world like ghosts after losing the god you served?”
“Khrr…”
The Demonic Sect member let out a sound that was half groan, half laugh.
“I don’t know where you dug up your nonsense from… but you know nothing.”
“……”
“He will return. No…”
The man’s eyes gleamed with a lunatic certainty.
“We will bring him back into this world!”
“Crazy bastard.”
“The Heavenly Demon will descend again, and ten thousand demons will bow their heads!”
Shrieking like a fit of madness, he hurled himself at Chung Myung again.
“Dieeeee!”
He swung his hand, black all the way to the elbow, with savage force. It was an attack so obvious it was almost embarrassing.
“Idiot.”
Chung Myung’s Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword slapped away the incoming hand. But the instant sword and flesh met, demonic qi surged from the man’s hand and suddenly clamped onto the blade.
Rattle-rattle-rattle!
The vicious edge sliced and tore at his hand. But the Demonic Sect member didn’t even flinch, as if he felt no pain at all. Instead, he pressed down on the sword and closed the distance between them.
This was the moment where everything hung by a thread.
Yet not a single tremor crossed Chung Myung’s eyes. If anything, they grew colder and more composed than before.
Slash!
Red sword energy burst from the blade and cleanly severed the hand gripping it. The severed hand flew upward as black blood scattered over the snow.
But the Demonic Sect member acted as if he didn’t even notice that his hand was gone. He charged like a maddened bull, intent only on Chung Myung.
Whoosh!
Dark demonic qi gathered in the remaining left hand. The force behind the swing was so great it seemed like a streak of black light splitting the air.
Thud!
Chung Myung stomped hard on the ground and swung his sword into the air.
Shhk!
With a sound like silk being torn apart, the Demonic Sect member’s left arm was cut off from the shoulder.
“Dieeeee!”
Even after losing his hand and arm, the man’s momentum did not slow. If anything, the madness and killing intent in his eyes grew even more horrifying. There was no sanity left in him as he charged at Chung Myung.
The half-hand that remained flailed wildly through the air.
It was a scene that made all too clear how far a human being could go when he no longer feared death.
And yet.
Faaaat!
A streak of light pierced the gap between the palm images.
“Kgh.”
The black blade embedded in the center of his chest was pulled back faster than it had flown in, then stabbed into his chest again and again.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Even as a storm of palm images rained down, the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword slipped through them like a venomous serpent, biting into its prey.
Though more than a dozen holes had been punched through his chest, the Demonic Sect member still did not slow.
Instead—
Thwunk!
The instant Chung Myung’s sword pierced his solar plexus, the Demonic Sect member’s eyes flashed and he threw himself forward. He meant to drive the sword deep into his own body and trap it there so Chung Myung could no longer move it.
Any sane person wouldn’t even think of such a thing.
But the one he faced was no ordinary man either. He had seen this sort of madness more than once.
With an utterly indifferent gaze, Chung Myung stomped on the Demonic Sect member’s shin.
Crack!
The part above the ankle snapped cleanly, and the man lurched.
“Kgh…”
Slash.
The sword pulled free from his solar plexus and sliced through his thigh as well, leaving his body unable to hold itself up by sheer will any longer.
Thud!
The Demonic Sect member collapsed and dropped to one knee.
His face, swollen enough to be visible even through the mask, trembled violently. One hand had been cut in half. The other arm had been severed from the shoulder.
Ten or more holes had been bored into his chest, and each ragged breath poured blood from him.
Wounded so badly he should have died ten times over already, the Demonic Sect member still breathed. His whole body had gone limp with exhaustion, yet he kept his head bowed and muttered something over and over.
“……Descend. Ten thousand demons bow….”
Chung Myung’s face twisted.
“Heav…enly Demon… de-scend… ten… thou… sand…”
Clenching his sword so tightly his knuckles whitened, Chung Myung looked down at the Demonic Sect member with a frigid gaze. In the past, he would have severed the man’s neck in one breath, but now his sword trembled as if hesitating.
“Heavenly Demon… descend…”
At last, the Demonic Sect member’s head sagged forward.
He died still kneeling. Snowstorm and wind slowly began to cover his cooling body.
Chung Myung stared at him for a moment, then flicked his sword irritably to shake off the blood and slid it back into its scabbard.
Damn it.
Then a large voice came from behind him.
“Chung Myung!”
Chung Myung looked back.
Baek Cheon and the others were hurrying toward him.
“Are you all right? You…”
Just as Baek Cheon drew near and was about to say more, he suddenly fell silent.
The dreadful corpse lying before Chung Myung had robbed him of words.
“……Who is this?”
“Demonic Sect.”
“……”
Baek Cheon understood the situation at once.
This wasn’t a case of the opponent’s technique being cruel. It was the side that had fought him to that state that was insane.
“So they really were here…”
Tension hardened everyone’s faces.
Chung Myung turned his gaze and stared at the corpse for a long moment.
Nothing’s changed.
They still worshiped the Heavenly Demon like madmen, even after a hundred years had passed since his death.
Descend, huh…
Keeping his eyes on the mangled corpse, Chung Myung spat the words out.
“Remember this well.”
“……”
“You’re going to be seeing this kind of thing until you’re sick of it.”
A chill colder than the North Sea wind drove itself into the chests of the Mount Hua disciples.