Chapter 046 - Too Late.
Fifteen years ago, in Poison Dragon Valley of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
The Poison King, then the head of the Tang Clan, gasped for breath atop the corpses of over a hundred of his clan's elite warriors.
"Hah... hah... you monster..."
His ragged breaths tore from his throat like a saw through wood.
He couldn't believe it.
He had known the opponent was a rising master from the Demonic Cult, but he never imagined the man would be this strong.
"To think... I'd fall to a mere demon sword..."
A lone figure stood there, gripping a single sword, his entire body dyed pitch black.
If a demon obsessed with the sword existed, it was the man before him.
"Damn... you..."
"Grrr..."
Beast-like growls leaked from the man's mouth. Black, dead blood trickled down steadily.
Just a bit more poison, and he could take down this Demonic Cult prodigy.
But...
The Poison King's gaze dropped in hollow despair.
His right hand, needed to unleash the clan's secret Dragon Poison Technique and hidden weapons, was gone—vanished somewhere. In its place, bright red blood dripped plip-plop from the severed wrist.
"F-Father... that bastard... he's stopped. We must... retreat now..."
From behind came the voice of his worthless son.
Tang Jupyeong, young master of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Terror had rooted deeply into his blood-smeared face.
"......"
The Poison King's pupils trembled.
The heir meant to succeed him and lead the Tang Clan—his spirit broken by a mere demon.
He would never stand against that demon again.
"......"
With a wretched heart, the Poison King squeezed his eyes shut.
The dead elite warriors could be trained anew.
Even with his right hand severed, as long as his heir survived to inherit his poison arts and spirit, it would be fine.
But a crushed spirit in his heir could never be rebuilt.
That was when it happened.
Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom—
A colossal presence crushed the battlefield amid deafening roars, as if twisted space itself reverberated.
The Poison King snapped to his senses and widened his eyes.
There, ahead.
A man strode through the black winds.
Boom— Boom— Boom—
A figure who seemed to dye the entire world black.
With each step, his overwhelming pressure intensified.
The Poison King recognized him at a glance.
"Cheonma... Gunrimbo..."
The absolute ruler who had ended the Demonic Cult's decade-long civil war and ascended as the new cult leader just a few years prior.
He had appeared in Sichuan lands, accompanied by a handful of escorts.
The Heavenly Demon clapped a hand on the young demon's shoulder and stepped forward.
"Poison King. That's enough."
"......!"
Astonishingly, the god of destruction proposed they end it here.
If he willed it, he could not only take the Poison King's life but erase the Tang Clan from history.
For the first time in his life, the Poison King trembled in frailty and spat words his heart didn't believe.
"Can't you see this blood? These corpses!"
At the Poison King's scream, the Heavenly Demon swept his gaze around.
Indeed, over a hundred warriors lay dead, rolling on the ground.
"Yeah. Why'd you touch my subordinate?"
"He invaded our home territory first!"
"Sure, but did that mean you had to gouge out his eyes, slice off his nose and ears, and chop both arms?"
"That was..."
The Poison King was at a loss for words.
Come to think of it, every dead Tang Clan corpse was missing eyes, ears, or arms.
The Heavenly Demon chuckled.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Even for his own brother, what a rigid guy.
"Poison King. I could wipe you out right here, no problem. Parading up to the Central Plains like this might be fun too. But you know why I'm suggesting we stop?"
That was a question even for the Poison King.
Why would the Heavenly Demon propose halting the fight?
"...What?"
"My little brother here's on the brink. If he doesn't snap out of it soon, the demon sword'll swallow him whole—and even I won't be able to stop him then."
"......"
"What do you say? Should we just keep going? You wanna handle the cleanup?"
The Poison King ground his molars with a crack.
"The Tang Clan... will never forget this humiliation. We will have revenge—no matter what!"
The Heavenly Demon's lips curved upward.
"Be my guest. More than that, you should watch your back."
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Once you learn who you fought, you won't spout 'revenge' so easily."
"......?"
The Heavenly Demon placed a hand atop the man's shoulder.
"This is the Sword Demon of our era. My brother."
The Sword Demon's form crumbled away.
***
The Poison King looked down at Jin Muhon from the cave.
His face had aged since then, but that arrogant glint in his eyes brought back memories of fifteen years ago unbidden.
The humiliation of that day, which he could never forget no matter how he tried.
To erase that shame alone, the Poison King had come this far.
—Sword Demon.
His voice, infused with inner energy, boomed through Poison Dragon Valley.
—Long time no see.
For someone who had just devoured his clansman, the voice was far too serene.
Jin Muhon, hanging from the opposite valley wall, looked up at the Poison King.
"So it is. How's the severed hand?"
—......
The Poison King's lips quivered.
—Thanks to you.
The Poison King raised his right hand.
A prosthetic clad in a black glove.
—Come up. I'm waiting.
"Why don't you come down, old man?"
—I've got your subordinate behind me. Come to think of it, that day it all started because of your lackey too. All because I gouged out the eyes of some worthless nobody!
Rumble—!
The Poison King bellowed.
The entire Poison Dragon Valley shook, sending rocks tumbling from above the chasm.
Jin Muhon silently shifted his gaze from the Poison King.
A greenish poison mist writhed in the air like a living dragon. No doubt, the moment he climbed, hidden weapons and mist would engulf him.
"......"
Jin Muhon yanked the Four Emperors Sword from the cliff face with a shunk.
The Poison King twisted his wrist slightly.
Waeshinsangdam.
For this moment alone, he had resorted to forbidden demonic arts.
—Do you know? When I heard you were alive, no one was happier than I.
"Is that so?"
—Today, I'll kill you. Kill your subordinate too. And hunt down everyone connected to you, make them suffer before death. That's my promise to you.
Jin Muhon's expression hardened as he kicked off the valley wall lightly.
The Poison King's eyes flashed.
He thrust out his prosthetic.
Kaboom!!
The poison dragon hovering in the sky swallowed the trajectory of Jin Muhon's ascent.
"......?"
But the dragon cleaved empty air in vain.
Jin Muhon had dropped downward, not up to the cliff top.
Thud—!
He landed on a pre-scouted spot on the ground.
The poison was still potent, but bearable now that the Poison King had drawn it into the dragon.
Jin Muhon scanned his surroundings.
"There you are."
His gaze stopped on a Tang Clan warrior's corpse.
A gruesome sight, flesh and blood melted into mush.
—You think you can abandon your subordinate and flee?!
The Poison King's voice echoed through the valley.
Trembling with rage and anxiety.
He feared Jin Muhon might run without a proper fight.
Yet he didn't pursue—meaning the cave was rigged with traps.
"Tch."
Charging into a known trap wasn't recklessness; it was stupidity.
Yeon Jeokhwa was a subordinate like family, but protecting Jin Hayeon took priority.
"Damn it all."
Jin Muhon retrieved the Thousand Thread Silk from the melted corpse's filth.
True to the Tang Clan's mastery of poison, hidden weapons, and mechanisms, it was a wrist-mounted launcher.
Whish— Whish—
He shook off the grime and strapped it on.
Infusing it with inner energy from his upper dantian, the extended silk reeled back into the device with a whirr.
Prepared, Jin Muhon looked up.
The greenish poison dragon coiled around the entire valley, targeting him.
Crack. Crackle.
He stretched his arms overhead, loosening up.
This wasn't stupidity. Nor just to save Yeon Jeokhwa.
The Poison King had sworn to slaughter everyone around Jin Muhon.
That old poison freak was a madman obsessed with revenge.
He had to end it here.
"Hold on. Coming soon."
Jin Muhon reached upward.
Shwick!!
The Thousand Thread Silk shot toward the cliff top.
Simultaneously, he kicked off the ground, unfolding his lightness skill.
BOOM!!
Jin Muhon's form rocketed into the air.
—Die!!
The poison dragon, as if waiting, gaped wide and dove at him.
Midair, evasion was near impossible.
Then, the silk fired in another direction stabbed into the cliff with a crunch.
Jin Muhon yanked hard.
Shooo!
His body whipped toward the cliff.
The dragon once more cleaved empty air.
—You rat bastard!
In flight, Jin Muhon retracted the silk.
Then veered and fired it anew in another direction.
Thuk! Shoo! Puk! Shoo!
Thus, Jin Muhon zigzagged bizarrely through the air, scaling the cliff.
"You filthy cur!!!"
The Poison King's roar grew clear.
"Come on then! Hurry up!"
Shwaaaaa!!
The Poison King swung both arms. In an instant, the sky blackened with hidden weapons.
"......!"
Jin Muhon glared upward.
Tens of thousands of projectiles rained like a storm.
Its power dwarfed what dozens of warriors could unleash.
'Mancheonoawoo'!
The Tang Clan's ultimate secret revived in the Poison King's hands.
Jin Muhon gazed at the plummeting barrage and detonated his upper dantian energy.
Wooooong—
Time slowed.
The airborne poison mist sharpened in his vision.
No dodging it.
Mancheonoawoo lived up to its fame, sealing every direction perfectly.
Shwaa—
Jin Muhon urgently unleashed Blood Mist.
Limited in scope, but red fog unfurled around him.
'Void Change'.
Cloud Peak Demon Sea heresy art, Void Change.
For an instant, Jin Muhon's body merged with the Blood Mist.
But that was enough.
Shwaaaaa!!
"No! How?!"
Mancheonoawoo passed through the Blood Mist and plummeted into the valley below.
Regaining control, Jin Muhon thrust his arm upward.
Clink!
The silk gleamed silver as it embedded in the dark cave ceiling.
He yanked.
"......!"
Jin Muhon streaked past the Poison King's head.
Neither the poison mist born of his clansman's sacrifice nor the Mancheonoawoo gained through demonic arts could halt the Sword Demon.
"Damn it!"
The Poison King whirled around hastily.
In the dim cave, Jin Muhon slowly rose.
"A bit late."
"......"
The Poison King's face twisted in fury.