Reclamation (3)
A palm-sized piece of black steel required a super peak expert to unleash sword force and shatter it. To destroy a block as tall as that expert would demand three such masters.
And to demolish the black steel wall before their eyes would take at least ten—no, fifteen—super peak experts' worth of qi force.
Kwajijijijik!
At the tip of the lightning-like burst, formless sword force spread in continuous flashes of light, not merely shattering the black steel but pulverizing it into dust.
This feat was possible only because of the Formless Mystery of the Formless Flash Quick Sword—and because Hyeon Yucheon's inner power was unrivaled under heaven.
“……”
When astonishment peaked, words failed. Even Cha Gyunak, who had been relentlessly taunting from the opposite side, fell silent in shock.
He was so stunned that he froze on the spot.
“……What the hell?”
Chogyeon and Gu Jinak were equally dumbfounded.
Ga Jinuk and the Flash Light Demon Sword Unit members clutched their heads in disbelief.
Ga Jinuk's shock was especially profound.
“Th-this... this Formless Mystery technique... even Master himself never mastered it!”
For his junior brother, whom he'd only recently met, to unleash it and demolish the black steel wall—it was enough to make him faint from sheer amazement.
“Just how far do Sect Leader Hyeon's limits extend?”
Even the taciturn Dohyeonbo, the Shadow Spirit Sword Guest, couldn't stay composed.
He was not one to act rashly or lose his calm, but this was an exception.
Having witnessed someone wield the Demon Sword Ghost Lord's arts better than the man himself—it was only natural.
“Huuuuh.”
Of course, Hyeon Yucheon, who had performed this miraculous feat, was far from unscathed.
The three ultimate Formless Mysteries at the technique's end all demanded inner power beyond human limits, making the consumption excruciating.
Only Hyeon Yucheon could endure it; a mere super peak expert—even ten of them—would have collapsed from the drain.
Step, step.
The Demon Sword Young Master, Hyeon Yucheon, strode forward calmly, bearing the inner power depletion.
He passed through the crumbled black steel wall and approached Cha Gyunak, who had stood on the other side.
“Eek, heek!”
Cha Gyunak's momentum had already crumbled before the fight even began.
The moment their eyes met, he couldn't even look straight at Hyeon Yucheon—like a mouse before a cat.
In the world... he destroyed that?
And rightly so. In the long history of the martial world, no one had ever single-handedly breached a black steel wall.
Well, there were a few known to have done something similar.
Dharma the monk, Jang Sam-bong, the Heavenly Demon who founded the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and the Extreme Demon Sword God who created the Demon Sword Sect's arts.
All had transcended the entering divinity realm to reach the divine Martial God domain above it. For Hyeon Yucheon to achieve this at the entering divinity level was astonishing.
“Wh-who are you?”
Cha Gyunak could no longer think straight and blurted the question instinctively.
It was profoundly basic.
Who was this young, handsome boy before him?
“I told you. The sect leader of the Demon Sword Sect—and the final disciple of Master Demon Sword Ghost Lord.”
Unlike Cha Gyunak, who looked on the verge of collapse, Hyeon Yucheon's tone was utterly serene.
Shiver, shiver!
Finally, facing Hyeon Yucheon, Cha Gyunak felt his hands trembling uncontrollably.
This was the moment he truly realized his own inadequacy.
I can't beat this guy. Not even in my dreams.
Cha Gyunak instinctively understood once more.
No method, no trick— not even if there were two of him—could defeat the Demon Sword Young Master, Hyeon Yucheon.
Reading his emotions, perhaps?
“Don't worry. I'm not the one handling you.”
At that moment, Hyeon Yucheon uttered something astonishing.
“Wh-what?”
Cha Gyunak reflexively shot back, as if questioning what nonsense this was.
“The one facing you isn't me...”
Hyeon Yucheon turned, pointing to his eldest senior brother behind him.
That was right.
From the start, Hyeon Yucheon had intended for Ga Jinuk—not himself—to face Cha Gyunak.
“It's the Brilliant Light Demon Sword, Ga Jinuk, my eldest senior brother.”
His words sent shockwaves through the room.
Even Ga Jinuk himself was stunned.
“Me...?”
“Yes. There's a saying: 'He who ties the knot must untie it.' In the end, it falls to you, Senior Brother, to resolve this.”
Hyeon Yucheon's insight was profoundly wise.
If he intervened personally, he could crush Cha Gyunak easily—but the Blood Dragon Room would merely submit by the logic of the unorthodox paths.
But if Ga Jinuk—the rightful faction leader—defeated him?
Then the Blood Dragon Room would truly fall under the Demon Sword Sect's banner, and Ga Jinuk could dispose of matters as he saw fit.
The difference between the two was simple yet vast.
Subdued by force, or joined under the legitimate leader.
No further explanation was needed; everyone understood.
“The sect leader is right.”
Dohyeonbo, usually silent, stepped forward at Hyeon Yucheon's sudden declaration.
He remembered the past.
“Who was it that cowardly led the Blood Dragon Twins and Blood Dragon Guard to murder this great hero and oppress our eldest brother?”
Dohyeonbo ground his teeth as he spoke.
He was correct.
All misfortune had begun with that Cha Gyunak, and the primary victim was Ga Jinuk.
It had to be resolved by Ga Jinuk's own hands.
“I agree as well. Senior Brother can surely... defeat that despicable swindler.”
Eum Ji-myeong spoke, having reached the super peak realm thanks to Hyeon Yucheon's aid.
And so?
Things invisible at the peak realm now came into view.
Senior Brother's skills have advanced by leaps and bounds compared to before.
Though it felt odd coming from Eum Ji-myeong himself—the true beneficiary—Ga Jinuk had never let go of his martial pursuits, even imprisoned in the Blood Dragon Room's underground dungeon.
With Master gone, as the eldest brother, I must carry on even a fraction of his legacy.
Driven by that sense of duty, how diligently had he honed his arts?
True, he hadn't inherited the Formless Flash Quick Sword from Demon Sword Ghost Lord Cheon Baeksang, but he'd earned the elders' favor and mastered the Demon Sword Sect's secret arts reserved for elders and above.
Sneer.
Seeing a path to survival, Cha Gyunak smirked, sensing the subtle shift in the air.
“A wise judgment. Well said.”
He who'd just pointed at Hyeon Yucheon like a thief now praised him belatedly.
“A real man settles his own affairs. Indeed, quite right.”
Cha Gyunak kept flapping his lips, piling up karma.
In contrast, Ga Jinuk remained silent.
“Great Hero Ga. You, who were like a master to me, must crush this vile flea bastard.”
Instead, Gu Jinak—the Blood Dragon Ghost Sword, who had received sword advice from Ga Jinuk—spoke up.
“Wh-what? You bastard!”
A Blood Dragon Room warrior calling their faction leader a “vile flea bastard” made Cha Gyunak clutch his neck, while Hyeon Yucheon and his group inwardly cheered at the satisfaction.
Chogyeon voiced agreement from a neutral stance.
“I concur. By the unorthodox world's logic... the victor becomes faction leader, and the loser follows cleanly.”
His tidy summary drew nods from many.
Some would back Ga Jinuk, others Cha Gyunak; without a duel between them, the wound would never heal.
“Very well.”
At that moment, Ga Jinuk—who had stayed silent—stepped forward.
One thing had changed.
Swish!
His entire being evoked a famed sword, honed to razor sharpness.
Seeing this, Hyeon Yucheon recalled Master's past words.
If I exclude myself, the Demon Sword Sect's top expert is... no matter what, it'll be Jinuk in the end.
Demon Sword Ghost Lord Cheon Baeksang had said it offhand during drinks.
Of course, that changed after meeting Hyeon Yucheon.
“Puhahat! Hahaha! Ridiculous. Ga Jinuk, you think you can beat me?”
Cha Gyunak, meanwhile, brimmed with confidence.
And with good reason—the martial world's assessment favored the Venomous Blood Ghost, Cha Gyunak.
In fact, by past standards, Cha Gyunak held a slight edge.
Unlike you, pathetic in that underground dungeon... as faction leader, I've mastered secret arts.
From every angle, Cha Gyunak predicted his victory.
Thus?
“I agree with Chogyeon. We're unorthodox martial artists. It comes down to the winner takes all.”
He shot a terrifying glare at Chogyeon and Gu Jinak, who had challenged him.
They should have cowered, but they stood firm.
Because they had seen Hyeon Yucheon and believed in the Demon Sword Sect's might.
“Senior Brother.”
Before Ga Jinuk and Cha Gyunak could clash, Hyeon Yucheon approached his eldest senior.
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Ga Jinuk no longer saw Hyeon Yucheon as a stranger.
He treated him with utmost reverence, as if the Demon Sword Ghost Lord had returned.
“Win.”
Hyeon Yucheon smiled as he said it.
Words that might burden another, but to Ga Jinuk, they evoked the day Master first praised him.
“I will.”
Leaving those words, Ga Jinuk gripped the hilt of his cherished weapon—the Brilliant Light Sword, inherited from his master.
“Heh heh heh, you can't beat me.”
As Ga Jinuk placed his hand on his sword, Cha Gyunak scoffed dismissively.
Their personalities clashed starkly.
Ga Jinuk was a quick sword master; Cha Gyunak excelled in fist and staff arts, and brutal close combat.
The outcome hinged on who was more seasoned and powerful.
“Master bestowed this Brilliant Light Sword upon me.”
Ga Jinuk remained unshaken by Cha Gyunak's provocations.
“Huh?”
Cha Gyunak nearly faltered at the seemingly random remark.
“I should have been thrilled, but I was saddened. Giving me a real sword meant he wouldn't teach me the extreme quick sword that wields no blade—the Formless Flash Quick Sword. But locked underground in the Blood Dragon Room, I pondered deeply and realized something.”
Ga Jinuk unleashed his full inner power and continued.
“Master gave me this Brilliant Light Sword not to deny me the Formless Flash Quick Sword... but to acknowledge me as the Demon Sword Sect's eldest brother!”
With that, he unleashed the Demon Sword Sect's supreme art—next only to the Formless Flash Quick Sword in might—the Radiant Extreme Soul-Exterminating Sword Art, honed to near-perfection in the dark, damp depths.
Radiant Extreme Life-Seizer!
Hyeon Yucheon, the Demon Sword Ghost Lord's final disciple and sect leader, had mastered the Formless Flash Quick Sword.
Eum Ji-myeong, the second disciple and interim sect leader—the Flash Light Flying Gentleman—had mastered the Flash Light Phantom Sword Method.
And Ga Jinuk, the first disciple and eldest brother of the Demon Sword Sect, wielded the Radiant Extreme Soul-Exterminating Sword Art—deemed the sect's most destructive blade art excluding the Formless one.
More perfectly than anyone in the sect's history!
Paaaaat!
Ga Jinuk's suppressed Brilliant Light Sword danced with vibrant life.