086
086
Rumble...
From deep in the cave, in the direction of the altar, came the sound of something collapsing. I hurriedly sprayed flames forward and focused on the situation inside.
One qi was nearly extinguished, and the other was in bad shape as well.
'There's no doubt about who won.'
Flame Demon had lost, and Lee Si-a had won. Since I'd poured my internal energy into both sides, I could immediately tell which one was fading.
'And I'm nearing my limit, too.'
Since the day I fought as the Flying Heaven Three Demons and clashed with the Taiji Sword Empress, I'd never expended this much power. And never before had an enemy clung on this tenaciously.
"Huff, huff... I'm not giving up, you Sex Demon!"
'She's in heat.'
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess hid her face behind disheveled hair and aimed her sword at me. She was deep in some delusion, perhaps thinking that if she pestered me I'd ravish her.
I'd already tasted the Lust-Exorcising Abbess, so there was no need to take her again.
"Same here, ugh. As long as these ten fingers remain, cough, the Crow Chaos Finger Disease will not fall...!"
'This guy is way too serious.'
The only person in the Tang Clan who could fight without projectiles, Dang O-dok, kept threatening me by piercing my flames with finger wind. He was under the illusion that the harder he fought, the more the connection between the Tang Clan and Geomdam would fade.
Geomdam isn't Bandit Demon.
"W-We in Qingcheng feel the same! You damned Geomdam!"
"I, Byeokamja, will never forgive you!"
"I, Byeokheukja, will never forgive you!"
"I, Byeoksamja, will never forgive you!"
"I, Byeokyeonja, will never forgive you!"
"I, Byeokseongja, will never forgive you!"
'Just one of you speak.'
Byeokamja, Byeokheukja, Byeoksamja, Byeokyeonja, Byeokseongja... It was hard enough to match names to faces and remember them all, but now the Qingcheng elders raised their swords in unison. Byeok Chija and the other sect masters had already had their weapons shattered or lost their internal energy and collapsed far away.
Most of those below the peak level who'd come as part of the Geomdam Subjugation Force had fallen, and the condition of those who remained was hardly good.
"Continuing to fight like this is meaningless."
The outcome inside was already decided, and I needed to go greet Lee Si-a, who had seized victory.
"No, I will fight."
But to keep attacking even knowing defeat is coming—that's what a martial artist is. Even as a general of the nation and an Imperial Guard, Divine Spear still hadn't given up despite his iron staff being cut in half.
"I will win—no matter what!!"
Divine Spear hurled the staff at me. I raised the Reclining Dragon Sword vertically toward the staff so it wouldn't accidentally fly into the altar inside.
"You mean you'll definitely lose?"
Clang! The iron staff struck the Reclining Dragon Sword and fell limply aside. Without even Qi Aura infused, it was nothing but scrap metal before the blazing Sword Aura.
"War God! Grant me strength!!"
Divine Spear dropped to his knees and assumed a stance gripping the spear shaft. His face flushed red and blue, Qi Aura blending deep green and yellow formed a spear over eight feet long in his hands.
"There's nothing that drains internal energy faster than forming a weapon with qi."
"Does it drain more internal energy than igniting flames with internal energy?"
"Have the Yangtze River's waters ever run dry?"
"Unfortunate. I wanted to say the same."
Divine Spear didn't back down in the slightest. Though he'd been called one of the Three Incompetent Generals, this man had a good nature underneath, and he genuinely wanted to engage me in a one-on-one duel.
"Divine Spear! We're joining you!"
But the people positioned around him wouldn't leave Divine Spear alone. Even though they knew they were of no help in a battle among Profound Realm experts, their pride would not let them break their swords.
"...I am truly grateful, warriors of the Murim!"
Divine Spear clenched his teeth and accepted their help. As a military officer, not a man of the Murim, he had to do his utmost to arrest the Geomdam who had attacked multiple sects.
"Tch. They should have backed off on their own."
Personally, I would have liked to clash with Divine Spear purely using the martial arts of Geom-je, or to fight wielding the Zhongli Divine Fire Well as 'my swordsmanship.'
"Then I'll force them to back off."
But I'd already made up my mind to end this standoff.
"Martial warriors of the Murim, remember this day. Do not seek ancient secrets any longer. The heavens will punish you."
"Wha-What...!!"
"You bastard...what are you saying!!"
While everyone was thrown into confusion, I closed my eyes and whispered very softly. So quietly and softly that no one could hear.
"Heavenly Dragon Emperor Sword."
My head was dyed gold. The eyes I'd hidden beneath the flame sword turned a deep crimson. My face still resembled the Tang Clan's Bandit Demon, but I'd become a handsome youth with golden hair and red eyes.
'Bandit Demon's face was decent, thank goodness.'
Even the strange hair color and eyes suited him quite well. I closed my eyes again and raised the Reclining Dragon Sword high toward the sky.
"Trinity!"
Internal energy—Flame Demon Dang Seo-hee's Zhongli Divine Fire Well.
Martial form—Geom-je Jegal Geondam's Heavenly Dragon Emperor Twin High Sword.
And the link that connected these two incompatible martial arts.
Heavenly Demon Lee Si-a's Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
"Bi-cheon...! Demon Collapse Blast!!"
The three powers melded within my flesh and dwelled in the Reclining Dragon Sword. I swung the sword forward.
Sliccck.
The canyon split in half.
* * *
Above the canyon.
A crow with black feathers and red eyes watched the battle below, the sun at its back.
It needed to deliver the letter from Flame Demon tied to its leg, but the fighting unfolding below had utterly entranced it.
"Is this fight for real?"
A lovely, melodious voice flowed from the crow's beak. The battle glimpsed through the canyon's gap was as vivid and unreal as a tale from a novel.
"This fight...is a legend."
A duel between Divine Spear and Geomdam alone would have kept all of Sichuan—no, the entire Central Plains—buzzing for a month.
But on top of Divine Spear, a subjugation force had been assembled, comprising sect-leader-level figures from the three representative White Path sects of Sichuan, and they couldn't defeat a single man—they were one step from defeat?
The crow's chest swelled with excitement.
The tale ending with the subjugation force's defeat would be good. If Geomdam unexpectedly ran out of internal energy and collapsed, that too would be good in its own way.
Then, as the fight dragged on and the wielder of the Dragon Emperor Sword spat flames and revealed his true colors, the crow simply couldn't hold back any longer.
"Chukyung!"
Back when he'd only been using Emperor Shaolie's martial arts, it had seemed like an ancient warrior come back to life, but now it was as if a deity from myth had descended to earth.
Fire users were common, yet it was rare for anyone to emit flames as pure as Geomdam's. Moreover, when he sheathed the Reclining Dragon Sword in burning Qi Aura and swung it as though it were a pair of swords, the crow was completely captivated.
"I definitely have to report this."
The fact that Flame Demon had entered through another hidden passage and still hadn't come out long past the agreed time was a trivial matter.
"Is he an enemy, or an ally?"
Whose side would the wielder of ancient martial arts and mythical power take? Watching the subjugation force grow more and more exhausted, the crow clicked its tongue and turned its body.
"Now there's nothing left to see... Kyahhhk!!"
The crow shrieked and spun around. Geomdam's eyes, as he raised his sword toward the sky, had turned crimson.
And his hair was gleaming gold as well. The heavenly energy that surged from his Lower Dantian to his Upper Dantian rose through the canyon's gap, and heaven and earth began to connect.
"Th-That man...could it be...!"
The crow couldn't tear its eyes away from Geomdam. Even knowing that if it didn't fly off right now it wouldn't reach its destination on time, the crow perched on a ledge and stayed.
"To think I'd see with my own eyes something that only existed in legends!"
Drip. Thick tears rolled from the crow's eyes. Reflected in the tears, Geomdam's entire body turned gold, not just his hair.
"Transcending Demon Cultist...!!"
The Transcending Demon—a demon who had truly overcome hair loss.
At the appearance of a figure known only from legends, the crow was utterly captivated.
Even as the canyon crumbled and gravel cascaded down, putting the crow in danger, it watched Divine Spear and the martial artists milling about in confusion before fluttering its wings.
"This, this is no time for this. I must go tell the Eldest Prince!"
The crow, having escaped through the collapsing canyon, glanced back and forth between the report from Flame Demon tied to its leg and the direction it needed to go—east—and fell into an inner conflict.
"......I-I really can't! It's not the Eldest Prince I should tell...."
The crow turned its body and flew toward the northwest—toward Heavenly Mountain.
"Heavenly Demon! He's appeared! A Transcending Demon Cultist whose hair changes!!"
* * *
I shattered the canyon and blocked the path. After calming my internal qi, I immediately stepped into the altar and assessed the situation inside.
"Ugh."
The air was so hot and murky it was hard to breathe, and a thick scent of blood stabbed at my nose.
"...You came?"
The one who greeted me, half-sitting on the collapsed altar, was, of course, Lee Si-a.
"You...!!"
"'You'? Is that how you address the Little Princess?"
"No time for jokes. Sit in full lotus!"
A red aura was unmistakable across her entire skin. Seeing her condition, I rushed to her, sat behind her, and placed my hands near her Dantian.
"Circulate your internal qi and calm yourself."
"I...threw around a little too much bravado."
"Hurry!"
Lee Si-a obediently steered the internal energy I channeled through my hands and steadied her breathing. Her reddened skin gradually began to subside. Only after about one two-hour watch of quietly performing energy-circulation breathing did Lee Si-a manage a stable breath.
"...Sorry."
After calming the raging Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the burn scars across her body, barely returning to her original appearance, the first thing she said was an apology.
"It was wrong of me, a mere peak-level expert, to try to win against a Harmony Realm opponent. Thank you for indulging my stubbornness."
"Just what gave you the courage to think of facing a fireball head-on?"
"If I hadn't, I didn't think I could win."
Lee Si-a threw a punch into the air and grinned softly.
"Thanks to the person who trained me to get used to being naked, I wasn't embarrassed. I'm grateful."
Even her undergarments were in tatters, leaving her practically naked with only the vital spots barely covered, but Lee Si-a was rather proud of that.
"But still—you know I beat Flame Demon, right?"
Even though her skin had burned and turned red, even though all her clothes had burned away, she said:
"I dodged every attack at the risk of my life, and I cornered her so badly she had to use up all her internal energy and even resort to Bursting Blood. And...I shattered her Middle Dantian."
Lee Si-a pointed at Flame Demon Dang Seo-hee collapsed on the floor. Buried in the debris of the shattered altar and lying spread-eagled, she was drenched in blood and unconscious.
"Given all that...this counts as my victory, right?"
"It does. You won, Little Princess."
"Yeah...."
The tension drained from Lee Si-a, and she nearly collapsed onto the floor. She might have fallen at once if I hadn't supported her; I sat her down on a somewhat level stretch of ground.
"They say that after fighting a strong opponent, you gain insight and advance to a higher realm, but I don't know about any of that—I just feel so tired I could die."
"Lee Si-a."
"I fought pretty well, though, didn't I? Look. Not a single wound, right?"
"......Don't avert your eyes from reality."
I brushed aside her hair. Lee Si-a flinched, then calmly closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry. It seems Flame Demon was an even stronger opponent than I had anticipated."
"No. It's because I'm weak. If I'd only reached the Transcendent Peak, I'd have been strong without a single wound."
In other words, she had been wounded. I reached toward the ends of her hair that had once reached her waist, but my hand met empty air. The hair that had been like ebony was now gone by more than a handspan.
"......Flame Demon has truly, thoroughly lost her mind. To dare injure the Young Heavenly Demon's hair."
"I busted her Middle Dantian, so it's fine."
"......"
It didn't look like only her Middle Dantian had been busted, but I refrained from scratching at the scab. Instead, I grasped the Reclining Dragon Sword.
"I'll trim it for you. Wait."
"Wait. I gained a lot of insight from this fight, you know? So for a change of mood, trim it a little shorter. I could even pretend to be an Emei Buddhist nun while I'm at it."
"...Lee Si-a, that's—"
"It's fine. Hair grows back quickly. If I wait a few...years. It's all scorched anyway; if I leave it, it'll just fall out on its own."
She said it with a serene smile, but how much must she want to cry inside? I pulled Lee Si-a into my arms and patted her back.
"...Lee Si-a. If you can bear the side effects, I'll teach you one internal energy art."
"What is it?"
"Miyeom Divine Art (美髥神功)."
The internal energy art used by Divine Spear, who wields the Cloud Dragon Crescent Moon Spear. The effect is clear from the divine art's name.
"There shouldn't be any issue of a woman growing a beard just from circulating qi. However, if there is a side effect, your face may turn a little red when you reach climax or get excited—not a beet-red shade, but...just a bit more flushed than usual?"
"And the effect?"
"Hair-root strengthening."
"......Then I have no choice."
Lee Si-a laughed, sniffling quietly in my embrace.
"But if it's an internal energy art...can't you just put it into me without teaching me? If you can use it yourself."
"...The ground is a bit hard, so sit on top of me."
I sat Lee Si-a on my lap in a face-to-face position, then tended to her wounds.
"You're turning red even before I've given you any internal energy."
"......I-It's because of the burns."
"Then that works out well. I'm a specialist physician for women—Mubung. I treat burns magnificently."
"Hngh...!"
Lee Si-a bit her lip and stifled her laugh. I lightly licked the still-reddened burn marks on her skin with my tongue.
"Leave everything to me. Everything is treatable except the hair that's already gone."
Jilin Earth Qilin Thunder Demon, Dang Seo-hee—repelled.
We celebrated our victory beside Dang Seo-hee and treated our wounds.