Let Them Remember From Now On (1)
“Yu I-seol!”
At Chung Myung’s shout, Yu I-seol grabbed the sword hanging at her waist and hurled it toward him.
The Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword spun through the air before settling neatly into Chung Myung’s hand.
Click.
Only then did Chung Myung rein in the murderous intent he had been raging with and turn to Yoon Jong.
“Sahyung.”
“...Huh?”
“That must’ve scared the crap out of you.”
Yoon Jong stared at him with a blank expression.
Was this... concern?
“Yeah. I really thought I was dead there... Thanks, really...”
“Damn it, I forgot for a second that I didn’t have a sword. I got thrown off too. Good thing I blasted out that palm strike late. If I’d been any slower, your head would’ve been gone clean off, Sahyung.”
“......”
What the hell, you bastard?
Sweat began pouring down Yoon Jong’s entire body. It hit him all over again that they had just opened the gate to hell and slammed it shut.
“...Amitabha.”
“You’re alive because Chung Myung saved you, so why are you calling for the Celestial Lord?”
“You, shut up for once...”
Ignoring Jo Gul’s useless jab, Yoon Jong wiped the sweat from his face.
It was strange.
The situation hadn’t changed at all; Chung Myung had merely finished circulating his energy. And yet his strength had gone out of him as if the battle were already over. Even though he knew full well they were nowhere near safe yet.
But that wasn’t just Yoon Jong’s feeling.
The atmosphere had changed completely.
Though only one person had risen from his spot, the furious tide of Demonic Sect members’ assault had come to a standstill.
All their eyes were naturally fixed on Chung Myung.
“Hmm.”
Under those staring eyes, Chung Myung first took a quick look at the Mount Hua disciples’ condition. Seeing the wounds scattered across their bodies, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“Tch.”
Unless you experienced it yourself, you could never truly grasp how terrifying the Demonic Sect was. There was no crude language that could properly describe their madness.
That was why he had chosen this method in the first place.
However...
All emotion suddenly vanished from Chung Myung’s face.
Srrrk.
The sword slid slowly from its scabbard. The white blade flashed.
Objectively speaking, it would have been a rather magnificent sight. But to those watching him now, it felt far more chilling than impressive.
One of the Demonic Sect members frowned.
What the hell?
At most, it was just one brat finishing his breathing exercises. The reason they had focused on that brat was not because he was especially dangerous. It was only because they had judged the odds high that he was carrying the Ice Crystal.
So why had everyone stopped moving? Even themselves?
Only after a moment did he realize he had unconsciously lowered his hand and was simply staring at that young man. He didn’t even know why.
He moved his lips and began chanting the invocation as he always did—the signal to begin the attack.
“Heavenly Demon descend—”
Fwaaaang!
But at that very instant, a ripping sonic boom tore through the air beside his ear.
What?
That was when he finally realized something was wrong.
His mouth had gone stiff. No words came out.
He had definitely meant to shout it aloud, not merely think it in his head. And yet, strangely enough, his mouth wouldn’t open and no sound would come out.
It was only circling around inside his mind.
Why...
Then his vision began to blur all at once.
Panicking at the absurd phenomenon, he tried to move his hand, but his senses were already slipping away in an instant.
The whole world tilted sideways.
And when the world finally turned upside down, when a body both familiar and unfamiliar entered his sight, he still didn’t realize that he was dying. Then consciousness severed.
Thud.
The severed head dropped limply to the floor.
At the unbelievable sight, the Demonic Sect members widened their eyes.
“Wha—”
One sword strike.
Just one.
With a single casual swing from that young Taoist brat, the man in the front had his head cut off without even a chance to resist.
For the first time, the Demonic Sect members began to stir in shock. But Chung Myung, his expression unchanged, said quietly,
“Go on. Keep spouting your nonsense.”
Of course, the one whose head had been cut off could no longer chant anything.
With a chilling gaze, Chung Myung stared at the Demonic Sect member’s head lying on the ground. To dare recite the Heavenly Demon’s invocation in front of him—he should be grateful that all he lost was his head.
Grk.
The tip of Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword lightly scraped the ground.
The grating sound rang out like a warning.
“Don’t worry.”
His lips twisted upward.
“You bastards won’t die that easily.”
Fwaaaat!
Chung Myung kicked off the ground and shot toward the one in front of him, literally like a bolt of lightning.
His eyes, filled with rage and killing intent, glinted a vivid blue.
Startled, the Demonic Sect member whipped both hands toward him. The long claw-like qi that burst forth in an instant looked ready to shred Chung Myung’s body to pieces.
Idiotic!
This wasn’t courage or anything of the sort. It was merely a reckless charge without anticipating a counterattack.
At least, that was what the Demonic Sect member facing Chung Myung thought. And that thought did not seem far off. His claws had already reached right before Chung Myung’s body, nearly tearing him apart.
Suddenly.
But at that very moment, Chung Myung’s black sword shot forward.
With a simple, almost indifferent motion, the blade thrust itself into the gap between the wildly raking claw qi.
Excitement flared in the Demonic Sect member’s eyes.
If the opponents he had faced until now had been there, they would have instinctively pulled back at this moment and exposed an opening. But for the Demonic Sect, being stabbed by a sword was not reason enough to avoid a strike.
If the price of having a sword buried in his body was being able to shred his opponent to pieces, there was no reason to hesitate over a wound.
“Die...”
But then, at that very instant.
Br-r-r-r.
The tip of Chung Myung’s sword trembled slightly, then suddenly whipped violently left and right.
Thump! Thoom!
The blade that had slipped between the Demonic Sect member’s hands now aimed for his wrists. Caught off guard, both of his arms were knocked wide apart.
What?
No matter how fiercely qi surged from his fingertips, if his arms weren’t in the right place, it was useless.
Fwoosh!
Chung Myung’s sword drove straight into the Demonic Sect member’s chest, which had been left wide open.
“Keuk...”
With that razor-sharp blade boring into the center of his chest, the Demonic Sect member bared his killing intent and opened his mouth.
“I’ll kill you—”
But even that sentence could no longer continue.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Without allowing even the slightest opening, the successive thrusts punched through the Demonic Sect member’s chest more than a dozen times in an instant.
The immense agony of having his entire body pierced over and over made his mouth gape open.
Crack!
And into that open mouth, Chung Myung drove his sword.
“Grrk...”
The sword entered through the mouth and came out through the back of his neck. The lifeless body, skewered on the blade’s tip, hung slack.
Chung Myung stared at the dead man with eyes devoid of emotion.
Then—
Fwaaat!
He withdrew the sword with a sweep and kicked the corpse away.
Kwaaaang!
With a thunderous impact, the Demonic Sect member’s body was hurled violently backward.
The body had already died and could no longer protect itself with qi, making it far too fragile to withstand Chung Myung’s attack.
It burst apart in places, blood spraying in all directions. Seeing their comrade’s corpse hurtling toward them at speed, the Demonic Sect members instinctively recoiled to the side.
And that was the one mistake they should never have made.
Right behind the body that had just grazed past them, Chung Myung sprang up like a predator pouncing on prey.
For a split second, one startled Demonic Sect member met Chung Myung’s eyes.
There was something in them as if all emotion had been carved out. Yet behind that cold emptiness blazed such ferocious hostility and rage that it wrapped around his entire body like ice.
His heart seemed to freeze, and his entire body locked up.
Fwaaat!
Chung Myung’s sword shot toward his throat with perfect precision.
But if he had been so easily taken down, the Demonic Sect would never have ruled as a symbol of terror. He managed to throw his body back at the last moment and evade death.
However.
Schk.
He could not avoid having the flesh just below his Adam’s apple split open by more than an inch.
A searing pain washed over him, but the very fact that he could feel pain was proof that he was still alive. Feeling the reaper’s scythe brush past him, the Demonic Sect member’s blood turned cold.
But then.
The sword that had only lightly cut his throat came to a sudden stop in midair.
Br-r-r-r.
The tip trembled faintly, then began spitting out streak after streak of blood-red Maehwageomgi.
The plum blossoms that bloomed in the air poured down on the Demonic Sect member like a sudden storm.
Blood-red petals that could neither be blocked nor avoided plunged brutally into his body.
Schk! Schk! Schk! Schk!
The sound of flesh being pierced rang clearly in the Demonic Sect member’s ears. Just as a storm could not be stopped, neither could the petals sweeping in from all directions.
Before he could even take in all the sword qi with his body, the Demonic Sect member expired and collapsed to the ground.
“......”
Each time his heart, not yet fully stilled, gave one last slow beat, blood surged from the hole in his throat in violent gouts.
Steam rose from the hot blood. And the air around them grew unbearably cold.
Fwaat!
Blood flicked from the end of the sword as Chung Myung casually swung once, staining the white stone floor red.
Three.
In the blink of an eye, three Demonic Sect members had lost their lives.
Like fiends slaughtering the Ice Palace warriors and driving the Mount Hua disciples to the brink of death in an instant, those Demonic Sect members had been beheaded and torn apart in the span of a few breaths.
A coldness colder than the blizzard rushing through a broken wall swept across the chamber.
Through that heavy, frigid silence no one could break, Chung Myung’s indifferent voice slipped out.
“You’ve all been having a pretty good time so far.”
Chung Myung bared his teeth, the corners of his mouth curling.
“You get it now, right? Who the prey is.”
Throb.
The Demonic Sect members clenched their teeth.
The killing intent pouring out of that young monster seemed ready to rip their skin apart.
“Why are you getting scared?”
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed for a moment.
“You’re all going to die anyway.”
Splish.
Chung Myung strode forward, stepping through the blood pooled on the floor.
Hye Yeon and Yu I-seol unconsciously made way for him. Even then, Chung Myung’s gaze remained fixed only on the Demonic Sect members beyond Baek Cheon.
Passing Baek Cheon, Chung Myung stood before the Demonic Sect members. From the ones gripping their blades, a tense aura leaked out.
“......”
Baek Cheon bit down hard on his lip.
I mustn’t interfere.
With his current meager skill, he couldn’t help Chung Myung...
“Sasuk!”
“Huh?”
At the call, Baek Cheon flinched and looked at him. But Chung Myung didn’t even turn his head as he continued speaking. His voice was as natural as always, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Yu I-seol! Sahyung! Soso!”
“Yes!”
“Understood, Sahyung!”
“Cover the back. Don’t let a single one slip through!”
“Got it!”
“Yes!”
“What are you waiting for, you bald donkey!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
All the Mount Hua disciples moved with perfect coordination to Chung Myung’s left, right, and rear.
Waiting quietly for them, Chung Myung said in a voice tinged with a faint laugh,
“Looks like those idiots are too stupid to remember, so let’s make sure they never forget.”
After a short, snickering laugh, he shouted with force,
“Where it was that sent those dog-shit Demonic Sect bastards straight to hell!”
The Mount Hua disciples’ shoulders tightened.
Mount Hua.
The eyes of those disciples who carried those two characters on their backs were nothing like before.
There were countless sects under heaven, but there was only one place the Demonic Sect had to fear.
Mount Hua’s sacrifices, which until now had only ever been their own pride.
At times they had resented them, and at times they had taken pride in them. But the sacrifices no one had ever recognized were, in this moment, supporting their backs with unshakable strength.
“Ready?”
“Perfect!”
“Then...”
Chung Myung’s lips curled into a savage grin.
“Let’s go! Kill the whole damn lot of them!”
“Woooooo!”
Leading from the front, Chung Myung charged without looking back. And his martial brothers surged after him in one breath, answering his call.
On the cold land of the North Sea, amid the dark demonic energy of the Demonic Sect, Mount Hua’s plum blossoms bloomed in the brightest red.