The Blade of Demon Extinction
The blade sang with a clear ring.
From the fingertips forming the sword stance, true qi surged violently from my dantian. In that brief moment as I steadied my breathing, the sword memories deeply engraved into Seol-hye’s body fully became my instinct, boiling over inside me.
The countless trajectories she must have swung across her entire lifetime.
I projected the profound principles of the Great Compassion Thousand-Hand Sword, the Botamun technique that bewitches with illusion and steals life with speed, entirely onto the two hands gripping my blade.
—BOOM!
Infusing my feet with inner power, I kicked off the ground.
My body shot forward, overlapping perfectly with the trajectory of the blade held by the bastard who had kicked off at the same instant.
Twelfth Form—Demon-Subduing Crescent Moon.
The white sword in my hand tore through space, drawing a chilling blood-red crescent.
The arc of the crimson moon that swirled through the air completely sealed off his escape routes in every direction—up, down, left, and right—before slicing straight toward his waist.
“Kuh, aaah!”
With a horrifying sound of bones snapping out of place, the man twisted his upper body grotesquely and slammed flat against the floor like a crushed insect.
—Shiiik!
My slash grazed just above his back by a hair’s breadth. Shredded scraps of cloth fluttered through the air. But my assault was far from over.
“Haaat!”
Without giving him a chance to regain his stance, I twisted my wrist.
Twelfth Form—Sorrowful Phantom.
The shattered crimson crescent transformed into a downpour of red rain. Countless sword energies—real and illusory—cascaded like a violent storm, shredding his entire body.
—Squelch!
“Kuaaaaagh!”
The man screamed as he rolled across the floor. Dark blood gushed like fountains from his shoulder, thigh, and side where he had failed to dodge.
Even though his body had been turned into a bloody rag, he somehow managed to block the lethal strikes that would have ended his life.
This bastard isn’t reading my moves. He’s reacting purely by instinct.
—Clang! Kang!
Every time my sword aimed for his heart or throat, he instinctively thrust his vicious blade forward to twist the trajectory. The tenacity with which he clung to life despite his mangled body was downright terrifying.
—BANG! CRACK!
The narrow prison screamed. Each clash between two swordsmen who had reached the pinnacle sent sword qi and shockwaves exploding in every direction, pulverizing the solid walls like tofu.
Damn it.
As the exchange gradually dragged on, impatience began to bloom in my chest. With this much explosive noise, it was only a matter of time before the bandits left in the mountain stronghold came swarming in. I could handle a few bandits without issue, but for the injured Jeong So-yun and the kid to escape safely, I had to cut this bastard’s throat right here and now.
I’m at a disadvantage. I’ll end this in one strike…!
—Grip.
I clenched the hilt so hard it nearly shattered and gathered inner power for the next decisive blow.
“Kiyaaaah! You sword-wielding bitch!!!”
Suddenly, the man who had been panting on the defensive jerked his head up and burst into maniacal laughter. The blood vessels in his overturned eyes burst, swelling horrifically as if they would pop out at any moment.
“Kuhaha, hahahaha!!! Die!!!”
—KUUUUUNG—!
He shattered the stone floor and soared into the air.
Over his red blade, sticky black blade aura rose like heat haze before surging upward in the shape of a massive sawtooth.
Blood-Seizing Style—Blood Pattern Decapitation.
“……!”
The instant I read the technique’s principle, goosebumps erupted down my spine. The trajectory his blade drew twisted like a living viper aiming for its prey’s throat, rushing straight for my neck.
I can’t dodge it. In that case…
The blade flying toward me contained over a hundred variations within its path, perfectly sealing off all my escape routes.
But in the end, its tip was aimed at my neck.
Knowing just that was enough to dismantle it…!
—Srrk.
Without the slightest hesitation, I withdrew my offensive and pulled my sword back to my chest. The stance I took next was Botamun’s greatest defensive form, engraved into Seol-hye’s body.
One Hundred and Eight Temple Sword.
A brilliant golden barrier overlaid the white blade.
Sixth Form—Sacred Bell’s Long Peal.
Like the resounding toll of a massive temple bell, heavy and majestic true qi erupted through the sword, enveloping my entire body—
—KWAAAAAANG—!!!
The evil-slaying true qi that repels wicked energy and purifies all things collided with the sawtooth blade aura.
—Clang!
With a deafening rupture that threatened to tear eardrums, the crimson energy aiming for my neck shattered like glass upon striking the bell’s resonance.
“Kuh, hngh?!”
A massive rebound force surged back through the arm holding the blood-red blade. The twisted muscles and grip exploded, and the red blade spun wildly through the air before crashing noisily to the floor.
“Kiyaaaaaagh!!!”
Even after losing his weapon, the man’s killing intent did not wane. Instead, he opened his mouth like a beast and let out a fierce roar, ready to tear into my flesh with his bare hands.
—Shwaaak!
But the moment his nails shot toward my throat, my own attack was already complete.
“Dieeeeeee!!!”
All the inner power in my body spun violently through my veins before condensing into a single point on the blade’s edge. Botamun’s secret art. A killing technique that sliced the enemy at a speed too fast to react. Its name was—!!!
The ultimate technique of Botamun. A single streak of white lightning that tears through the night sky and strikes down.
The blade flashed, and at the same time, thunder roared inside the prison.
A single streak of white lightning ripped through the night sky and plunged downward. The sword shot forward in a straight line toward the defenseless man’s exposed throat.
—Slice.
The unpleasant yet distinct sensation of flesh tearing and bone being severed traveled through my fingertips.
“Guh… glurk…!”
Instead of a scream, only the sound of gurgling blood bubbles burst from his mouth. He desperately clutched the slashed throat with both hands, but he could not stop the dark crimson blood surging between his fingers.
“Kuh… kuhk…”
Even in the final moment as his life faded, the man stared directly at me with a grotesque smile that split the corners of his mouth all the way to his ears.
—Thud.
His knees buckled and his upper body collapsed. Even as he rolled across the blood-soaked floor, an incomprehensible smile remained frozen on his face until the very end.
“Huu…”
In the silence that followed, I only lowered my sword and let out a hot breath after confirming that the man had stopped breathing completely.
—Sting.
But the moment the tension released, a burning pain like fire spread across the back of my neck. Reflexively, I reached up and touched it. Sticky, lukewarm liquid coated my fingers.
“……!”
A tiny scratch left by his blade during our final clash. It was as thin as a paper cut, but the blood flowing from it was not red.
It was pitch-black—dead and murky.
—Zzt.
Why was my ominous intuition never wrong? A cold numbness began at the wound and slithered up my neck veins toward my head like a viper.
Shit. Damn it.
I bit my lip in frustration. I had expected it, but it was worse than I thought. This was an extreme poison that could paralyze limbs and stop the heart with just a graze.
—Thump.
Before the poison could devour my heart and brain, I immediately sat down and assumed a lotus position.
I placed the sword across my thighs, brought both hands to my dantian, and took the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture before sinking my consciousness inward.
—Wooooong.
Thankfully, the pure true qi of Botamun flowing through Seol-hye’s body desperately resisted the invading poison as if protecting its master.
“Huuuup…!”
Steadying my ragged breathing, I drew up energy from my lower dantian and gathered the poison trying to spread throughout my body into a single point.
Collect it all… and spit it out.
I bound the poisonous energy trying to spread with my true qi like a net and compressed it into one place. The sticky black energy trying to flow backward through my veins clashed with the brilliant golden true qi pushing it out, causing my entire body to burn like a fireball.
“Kuuuh… ugh…!!”
A suppressed groan escaped at the pain boiling up from my dantian.
As I squeezed the poison like wringing out rotten water, the pain felt like it was scraping my bones. Cold sweat poured from my body like a waterfall.
How much time had passed?
At the end of that excruciating endurance, I finally succeeded in moving the energy in my dantian to push the poison all the way up to my throat.
“Ugh…!”
With a burning sensation as if my esophagus was on fire, I vomited the hot clump that had pooled in my mouth onto the floor.
—Splatter.
What poured out was sticky, pitch-black dead blood. A pungent, fishy stench stung my nose, and the floor where the toxic blood touched melted, releasing faint smoke.
“Huu…!”
Only after expelling all the poison did sensation return to my paralyzed limbs and clarity return to my clouded mind.
I roughly wiped the messy bloodstains from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and slowly opened my eyes.
That was dangerous.
Even after calmly reviewing the fight, it was clear that I held the advantage in pure martial prowess.
Yet the man had known the sword paths of Botamun with eerie precision. It was as if he already knew where my sword would begin and end, and which real strikes were hidden within the feints.
Just who the hell was he?
He was definitely not some ordinary bandit. Not only those bizarre movements, but the fact that he knew Botamun’s swordsmanship meant he couldn’t possibly be a common mountain thug.
More importantly, how did he even get here in the first place?
In my previous life, this man hadn’t even shown a shadow during our escape. Yet in this life, the moment I rescued Jeong So-yun, he appeared as if he had been waiting. Had my intervention twisted the chain of causality? Or had I simply been lucky enough to avoid his eyes in my previous life?
Questions piled upon questions.
But I didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on these distracting thoughts for long.
—Murmur, murmur.
From far beyond the prison entrance, the chaotic sound of footsteps mixed with flickering red torchlight reached my heightened senses.
Tsk. I took too long.
The bandits were swarming in like a pack of hyenas that had smelled blood. I clicked my tongue bitterly, but soon shook my head to shake off the lingering regret.
Still, I managed to eliminate the most troublesome variable. That’s fortunate.
If a chaotic melee had broken out inside this narrow prison between that mad dog and the bandits?
It would have been nearly impossible to protect the brutally tortured Jeong So-yun and the martial-arts-ignorant kid. In the end, risking myself to cut his throat here had been the best possible outcome.
“Then, shall we go?”
I gave the man’s rapidly cooling corpse one cold glance, then kicked off the floor and hurled my body with full strength toward the dark exit where Jeong So-yun and Yeon So-ha had disappeared.
