Chapter 211
Chapter 211
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Double Agent
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"Attack!"
The Black Forest Hall's boss bellowed.
I slowly drew my sword in response.
Gu Ok-kyung stepped forward first. A sword she'd casually picked up off the ground gleamed like a brand-new blade in her hand, slicing the enemy cleanly in two.
---Crunch!
Blood sprayed mercilessly in a fountain. Guts scattered everywhere.
There was an unmistakable thrill in her swing, like it had been ages since she'd properly wielded a blade. Maybe everything else was just an excuse.
She was born a warrior.
A being made for swinging swords, practically.
"Come on, you bastards. Come on."
Her loose, carefree movements held no gaps. If there was a hallmark, it was the lack of formality or flashy techniques.
But there was something beyond that in her swordplay. Animal instinct. The sharp claws of a predator striking only vital points at just the right moments.
Her blade slipped through an instant opening and danced in the narrowest crevices. A sword without a drop of inner energy carved up the air, splattering blood everywhere.
A festival of cascading blood. As seven men split open and burst, she grinned wide.
"Nothing beats being active in the field. Right, Daewoon? I haven't gone rusty, have I?"
"You've gotten sharper."
"Heh heh heh. Told ya. What're you waiting for?"
She turned to me. Her eyes flicked to my scabbard, then she spun her sword around.
She gripped the blade casually and thrust it toward me.
"Swords don't suit dog-killing. Use this instead."
"......"
The moment I reached for it, Gu Mang let out a low hum.
A warning. Undeniably.
I pulled my hand back slightly.
"It says don't fool around."
".......? What? Who does?"
"The sword."
"It talks? Hahaha! That's hilarious!"
Gu Ok-kyung cackled as she spun the sword back into a proper grip. I cracked my knuckles.
I could see the Black Forest Hall thugs frozen in awe of Gu Ok-kyung's prowess, backing away. Their boss yelled urgently.
"I-Is that... really the Young Lord?!"
"Shut your trap, punk. The second you drew on me, you were done for. Treason, insult... whatever else. I'll pile on a few more charges."
"F-Fuck... I-I didn't know! I swear!"
"Didn't know my ass. If ignorance was an excuse, should I just say, 'Oh, everyone come at me? Got it. Fuck me. Fakes are the problem, huh?' and let it slide?"
"...Kuh!"
"The guy who said he'd drag me off, where's that fire now? Scared? Think you can't handle one girl?"
The Black Forest Hall boss ground his teeth, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"That foul mouth... Guess you really are the real deal, bitch."
"Starts talking shit the second things look bad. Fucking asshole."
"You think I'd respect you? Fine, I'll just take your head. Don't know how you escaped the heavenly net, but your policies never meshed with us anyway."
He rolled his shoulders.
"If we're unorthodox, we live like unorthodox! Don't bully the weaklings, leave the unarmed alone, take just enough extortion... bullshit! If we followed that to the letter, what makes us different from those righteous pricks?!"
"Take it easy, you fuck. Gotta leave 'em breathing if you want repeat customers, right? Did I ever bitch about shaking down warriors? I said don't extort the unarmed, fuck. Warriors fight warriors, don't they? Huh?"
"Someone who nitpicks like that would've joined the righteous sects ages ago, fuck! Damn bitch! Why the hell mess with us free spirits?! We gave our lives to the Demonic Path Young Lord's cause!"
"Wanna recite your manifesto?"
Gu Ok-kyung, the Demonic Path Young Lord, lowered her voice.
It was ice-cold, enough to freeze your blood.
"Hands up if you've been caught balls-deep in a thirteen-year-old maid."
"......."
"Eyes darting away, you fucking trash. I spared your neck because it was attempted. And what? Freedom? Does a pig that eats human flesh need 'freedom'? Nice words. You got demoted instead of executed because you served the Demonic Path. You ungrateful fucks."
Gu Ok-kyung cracked her knuckles.
"Fucking creep who gets itchy if he doesn't beat a woman every day. Lunatic prowling streets at night saying young boys taste best. Pervert forcing people and animals together, checking periodically if they're 'getting along.'"
"......."
"Sick fuck who can't get off without pissing on war prisoners. Wannabe psycho who has to blood his sword on someone the second he draws it. Retards who slaughter civilians first, then claim they pulled knives in the dead of night."
Vulgar curses poured from Gu Ok-kyung's mouth.
"You guard your 'freedom' like that, but why not others'?"
"...Th-That's... unorthodox logic!"
"Fuck unorthodox logic. We have lines we don't cross. That's beast logic. No, just howling. You should've been barking strays from the start."
Gu Ok-kyung smoothly drew her sword.
"And among you, the biggest piece of trash is you. Fucking Black Forest Hall Lord. You were about to rape that girl just now, weren't you? Didn't I tell you to fix that habit?"
"...The winner's natural right! Losers serve the victor! That's... life!"
"You rape corpses too, fuck. That's a 'natural right'?"
The Black Forest Hall Lord.
His face twisted. His words dripped with unchecked lust.
"A defeated body's gonna rot anyway-what's a little use hurt?!"
Gu Ok-kyung smirked.
"Thanks. Still trash as ever. Thought isolation might fix you, but nope."
"What makes you so high and mighty?!"
"Yeah, I'm better. Starts with not living like you. I'm fucking amazing, and you're fucking garbage..."
Inner energy sparkled from Gu Ok-kyung's sword like stars in an instant.
"Finishing what I couldn't back then, properly this time. Next time I see dogs like you, no second chances-crush 'em early. Thanks for the lesson. Muah."
"...Some of you, escape! Now! Request reinforcements from the Demonic Path-!"
"You think I'll let you?"
The Hall Lord whipped his head around. Seeing Song Namcheon and Heuk Daewoon who had quietly taken the rear, his face contorted.
His face twisted into a demon's without pretense now, spewing inner energy at the Young Lord.
"...Fine. Better this way, you bitch. I don't fuck old hags, but you? I'll make you scream under me. Old hag."
"First time anyone's called me old hag. Whatever. I'm the opposite. I'll cut off your dick and shove it down your throat. Make you scream for life."
The verbal sparring dragged on.
But amid it, I realized they weren't just lecherous scum.
They had committed grave sins. Heinous ones that made my stomach churn.
And among them, one I couldn't overlook.
"...You tried to rape Suryeon?"
I wasn't fool enough to stay silent knowing my acquaintance had nearly been violated.
I sheathed Gu Mang again. No desire to stain it with their blood.
I channeled inner energy into my hand alone.
Baekya and Heukju stirred within Gu Mang. The two energies sucked into my inner energy flow, forming a sword shape.
I moved my hand as if drawing from empty air. Over the one-chi-long mind sword taking eerie form, the two energies orbited like stars.
Mind Sword
White Night Black Day
The area froze and burned at once. The paradoxical power flowed through the ground, devouring all surrounding energy.
A half-formed mind sword, pure shape without refined energy or principles.
I spun it into grip. No intent to use the eighth form, Rakshasa Gate, swung with a mind sword.
That would...
Kill everyone here without them even knowing how they died.
For tearing, smashing, and inflicting pain, this sufficed. I advanced slowly, gripping the sword of pure qi.
Gu Ok-kyung whistled. She stepped aside, sweating coldly.
"Fuck... what's that? You monster. Everything you pull out is dangerous! Hey, hey. Calm down. Don't slice allies too. You know? I'm on your side."
"Hand over the others. That one's mine."
"...Damn. What now, Hall Lord? Blame your tongue."
Gu Ok-kyung clicked her tongue.
"Not my fault, right?"
...
Suryeon opened her eyes late. She looked down at her bandaged, medicated body, then hurriedly turned away.
She'd had a dream.
But something felt off.
Like it hadn't been a dream.
The one nursing her was Il-ho. The same scene from the dream.
Then...
"...Il-ho."
"Yes."
"Where's... Red Cloud?"
Il-ho opened his mouth to answer.
But first came voices chattering outside.
"Masterpiece. Couldn't shove the severed dick in his mouth, but an ice skewer from ass to mouth."
"...Wasn't intentional."
"I know. He tried fleeing with lightness skill and impaled himself. But the shape's not bad, huh?"
"Ok-kyung, please."
"Heh heh heh. Still, well done without hesitation. More decisive than I thought. See him pull that hidden dagger while begging for his life?"
"Saw it, but never trusted him anyway."
"Why?"
"The sword itself was ugly."
"What about mine?"
"Efficient."
"Pretty?"
"Depending on perspective."
"Yours?"
"Kinda cool."
"...Hmm. I see."
Sword.
The topic he brought up most.
Suryeon flung the door open. Before a pile of corpses, four people chatted.
Three were strangers. She knew their faces, but only one way-she'd never spoken to them.
Song Namcheon, Chief Officer of the Demonic Path Group.
Heuk Daewoon, Unorthodox World's Greatest Swordsman.
Gu Ok-kyung, Demonic Path Young Lord.
...And.
One more.
"......"
He sensed her presence and turned. In the tidied scene, his face briefly softened with longing before smiling late.
"Suryeon."
"......."
She'd longed to hear it.
That voice.
All along.
Suryeon felt her blank expression cracking bit by bit. Her usual emotionless face melting away.
Into a real smile, not fake.
As Suryeon-not the killer-she whispered softly.
"...You're late."
Late.
Truly.