Chapter 21
Mo Hu-gun came charging at me like a madman, drunk on demonic power. No, I couldn’t even call him a Taoist now. He was nothing more than a demon intoxicated by black arts. Even as he rushed forward, his face was lit with savage delight.
“Unnamed nobody. I like the idea that whoever kills that bastard gets everything!”
“I never said everything.”
I’d only promised him the right to the Treasury, but Won Woo-hyeop had slyly folded in control of Zhejiang as well. Without even listening to my answer, he lunged straight at Mo Hu-gun.
The instant Won Woo-hyeop’s saber met Mo Hu-gun’s fingers, a thunderous crash rang out. Red demonic qi gathered in Mo Hu-gun’s hand.
“So you really were using filthy demonic arts?!”
Won Woo-hyeop’s saber gathered sword qi, and he began pressing in with a relentless flurry. Mo Hu-gun, pushed back by his momentum, started giving ground little by little.
“Baek Mugeuk. I kept my promise to let you have one favor in Zhejiang when I came down for the Treasury. But now you’re adding that whoever kills that bastard gets everything? Don’t be ridiculous. Zhejiang, including the Treasury, will be taken by Namgung.”
Nangung Gyeom watched the fight and spoke to me in a cold voice. I looked at him and let a faint sneer touch my lips.
“Why? Namgung Gyeom, don’t tell me you don’t have the confidence to kill Mo Hu-gun yourself?”
“You insolent provocation.”
“Insolent, is it? From where I’m standing, you look like some young master who’s been hiding behind his clan’s prestige and is now scared out of his wits.”
At my words, Nangung Gyeom turned his gaze on me. Killing intent began leaking from him almost at once.
“Do you want to die first?”
“No need to kill me. Just kill that bastard instead.”
“...You’ll be next.”
“Try it if you can.”
Nangung Gyeom turned back to Mo Hu-gun. Then he drew his sword and leapt in.
“I won’t be fooled again by your pathetic provocation.”
Won Woo-hyeop and Nangung Gyeom began slashing away as if they were competing. If they had only been competing with each other, that would have been enough, but now and then they even crossed blades with one another.
“Are they overestimating their own skill? Or are they just stupid? I can’t tell.”
The shape of the battle was strange. Won Woo-hyeop and Nangung Gyeom kept checking one another while attacking Mo Hu-gun, and Mo Hu-gun, taking their assaults, was being driven back.
“They won’t have time to keep watching each other.”
Ordinarily, it looked as if Mo Hu-gun was simply being forced back. But that wasn’t what I saw.
“He’s adapting faster and faster.”
Mo Hu-gun began blocking their attacks one by one as he adjusted to them. Then he started slipping his own attacks in between theirs. As the number of those attacks increased, Won Woo-hyeop and Nangung Gyeom, who had been checking each other, also began focusing entirely on Mo Hu-gun.
That was right. Mo Hu-gun was measuring the strength he’d only just tasted for the first time. And he would come to a certainty: that he could kill both of them.
“Those two can’t win.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Mo Hu-gun’s claw technique drove both of them back in a rush.
“Kwahahahahaha! Is that all? Aren’t you supposed to be peak experts? Entertain me a little more!”
This time, Mo Hu-gun charged straight at them and began flinging his hands out like a madman. Claw techniques wrapped in blade qi poured out at frightening speed, and the two of them put everything they had into blocking his attacks.
“This power is incredible! If I’d known demonic arts were like this, I would have used them much earlier...!”
The demonic qi pouring from Mo Hu-gun’s body grew stronger and stronger. Along with it, his mad laughter swelled higher and higher.
“This is insane...”
“...”
By now, the two of them were so hard-pressed just to defend against Mo Hu-gun that they started helping one another and attacking together. They must have felt it themselves: alone, neither of them could defeat him.
“You two aren’t very interesting. Is that all you have?”
“...”
“...”
Mo Hu-gun’s claw technique was getting faster and wider in reach. But his expression, strangely enough, was losing interest by the second, going flat and unreadable. Won Woo-hyeop and Nangung Gyeom were in no position to speak, struggling just to keep the attacks at bay.
“Should I step in now?”
Just as I was considering whether I should move in and join them, twisting my body lightly, Won Woo-hyeop and Nangung Gyeom both jumped back at the same time to widen the distance from Mo Hu-gun. Then they steadied their breathing.
“Trying something, are you? How long do I have to wait before you show me something worth seeing?”
“Shut that mouth of yours.”
“I’ll make you scream through it soon enough.”
The two of them began drawing up all the inner strength in their bodies. Won Woo-hyeop was the first to move. Great sword qi gathered along his saber and crashed down toward Mo Hu-gun. But Mo Hu-gun blocked it with ease.
“If that’s all, I’m disappointed.”
“...I’m just getting started. Don’t be disappointed so soon.”
Won Woo-hyeop’s mouth curved up slightly. At the same time, inner strength surged from his whole body and rushed into the saber.
“What is this? Somehow it’s getting...”
“Heavy, right?”
Mo Hu-gun’s hand, which had been holding back Won Woo-hyeop’s saber, slowly began to drop toward his shoulder. Then Won Woo-hyeop forced another wave of inner strength into it, and the saber came down onto Mo Hu-gun’s shoulder.
“God-Slaying Saber.”
The unique martial art of the Iron Blood Castle’s lord. Fundamentally, saber techniques rely on weight. So the God-Slaying Saber also takes heavy blade principles as its core. It was only the first form among the three forms Won Woo-hyeop was unfolding now, but its power was considerable.
“It’s over!”
Won Woo-hyeop’s saber started to carve down from Mo Hu-gun’s shoulder through his body. But then, all at once, it stopped dead. Mo Hu-gun snorted and shoved the saber away with demonic qi. In the same motion, he twisted Won Woo-hyeop’s wrist with his other hand and hurled him away.
“...!”
Won Woo-hyeop clutched his wrist and forced himself back up. His wrist had turned a dark red-black from the demonic qi, and he grimaced in pain.
“That was a little interesting. So what will you show me?”
“Shut up, old demon.”
Having lost interest in Won Woo-hyeop, Mo Hu-gun turned toward Nangung Gyeom. Nangung Gyeom stood with his sword held across his center, glaring at him. He was gathering every bit of his inner strength to cut Mo Hu-gun down. A massive sword aura swirled around his blade.
“Is that the Emperor’s Sword?”
“It’s the sword that will kill you.”
“Then show me.”
“Let’s see if you can still stand after this!”
Nangung Gyeom raised his sword high, then brought it down in a straight line. Following the path of his blade, a huge sword aura shot forward. In my judgment, even Mo Hu-gun would be in trouble if he took that strike head-on. But...
“Unless he’s an idiot, why would he stand there and take it?”
The moment the sword aura flew, I found myself shaking my head. As I’d expected, Mo Hu-gun avoided it far too easily.
“I’d always heard Namgung’s sword was the Emperor’s Sword, so I had expectations. Who knew it could be so stupid? Kwahahahahaha! What good is strength if you don’t get hit?”
At the same time as he launched the sword aura, Nangung Gyeom drove one knee into the ground. He probably had little experience in fights to the death. As a direct descendant of Namgung and a candidate for the clan head, he must have lived a sheltered life. At most, he’d probably only ever used his strength in duels or to force opponents down through internal power.
“Which one should I kill first?”
Mo Hu-gun seemed to lick his lips briefly, then looked from one of them to the other before starting toward Nangung Gyeom. In that instant, fear flickered across Nangung Gyeom’s face. But he had already spent too much inner energy to resist, much less run.
“Haa... I really can’t do anything but sigh.”
“Sigh? You think you’re any different, Baek Mugeuk? A peak expert isn’t my match. And you’re only first-rate?”
At my words, Mo Hu-gun smiled faintly and turned to look at me.
“You know, it’s true. What’s the point of peak experts if they’re so unskilled that a first-rate nobody has to step in?”
“We’ll see how long you can keep smiling. Should I wait, too?”
“Come in whenever it’s convenient for you.”
When I flicked my fingers, Mo Hu-gun stared at me as if I were absurd. Only for a moment, though, before his killing intent began to surge.
“Fine. I’ll kill you first. Baek Mugeuk, I’m going to kill you with my own hands. I’ll tear you limb from limb and make it unbearable!”
“And here I thought the ones who can’t do anything are always the ones who talk the dirtiest.”
“What?”
“Old horse-face. If you’re done talking, get over here already. You’re wasting my time.”
I drew my sword. Then I tilted my head slightly toward Nangung Gyeom.
“Kid. A heavy sword isn’t a heavy sword just because you swing it hard.”
“...What?”
“Keep your eyes open and watch closely. You’re about to see something rare.”
“Watch the front!”
The moment I turned back to Mo Hu-gun, he suddenly sprang forward into my space and unleashed his claw technique.
Mo Hu-gun’s blade qi burst from his fingertips, fierce as if it would shred a sword apart, and his technique carried nothing but killing intent. But to me, it all looked slow.
There was no need to rush. I slowly brought my sword up and began to block.
“How long do you think you can keep blocking?”
“Probably until you die?”
“What?”
“I figure I can hold out until your Reverse Blood True Qi takes your life.”
“How would you know that?”
At my words, Mo Hu-gun’s expression twisted. That was right. Nothing in this world came free. Reverse Blood True Qi granted power far beyond one’s original inner strength, but in exchange it completely warped the blood and energy flow and made it impossible for the body to recover its internal injuries.
“About a quarter hour, maybe. That’s how much time is left before that candle of yours burns out completely.”
“And what of it! That’s enough time to kill all three of you!”
“Your confidence is excessive.”
“Confidence? Even after seeing this power, you still say that?”
Mo Hu-gun’s demonic qi blazed larger and larger like an intensely burning candle. With it, the speed of his claw technique also increased. As his technique grew faster, my sword could no longer respond to every strike. My clothes were beginning to tear in places.
“You’re far too weak compared to Seolseom!”
“I’m about ready to swing for real now. A quarter hour is too long.”
“How arrogant. Infuriatingly arrogant!”
At the same time as I blocked, I slowly extended my sword forward. I was preparing to counter for the first time. But Mo Hu-gun, already burning like a candle, showed no response at all and kept only swinging his claw technique.
“That’s your attack? You think something like that can cut me down?”
“One move is enough.”
“What?”
“The thing that kills you is this one move.”
I slowly thrust my sword out. It was an ordinary strike, no different from the one I’d already used. But the instant the blade touched his body, I exploded the inner strength stored throughout my frame. In that moment, lightning qi snapped around my body, and the sword accelerated.
Mo Hu-gun hurried to shove my blade away with demonic qi, but...
Baekga Seven Swords, Second Form: Strong.
The sword cleaved clean through his upper body, demonic qi and all.
For a moment, I caught the look in Mo Hu-gun’s eyes, as if he couldn’t believe it.
But it was already done.
Whether he believed it or not made no difference.
Mo Hu-gun crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
I cut off both arms as he crawled along the floor.
Mo Hu-gun trembled violently, then lifted his head and looked at me with the expression of someone trapped in a nightmare.
“Y-you bastard! Finish me already! The winner’s already decided, so what are you doing!”
“Why would I? You still have more to say.”
“You think you can torture me? I’m going to die anyway once time passes! There’s nothing I can tell you!”
“You don’t have to say it. I’ve still got something to say.”
“...?”
I brought my mouth close to Mo Hu-gun’s ear.
“I burned the Divine Thief’s zombie corpse.”
“You bastard... the Divine Thief’s...”
Mo Hu-gun screamed it like a shriek.
He was so enraged that he spat blood as he shouted.
But his voice didn’t last long.
“And I enjoyed the jade oil too.”
With that, I cut off Mo Hu-gun’s head. His eyes were full of fury.
But what could he do? The dead can’t rage.
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