Chapter 174: Descent of the Heavenly Demon (Part 2)-3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 174: Descent of the Heavenly Demon (Part 2)-3
Six months later.
A punitive force was organized to subjugate So-yu.
Consisting of thirty members, the force was comprised of martial artists whose names alone commanded instant recognition.
"We simply call it the Rocky Mountain."
They gathered before the peak that the local villagers referred to as the Rocky Mountain.
Though they were men of undeniable martial prowess, for some reason, they made no move to ascend. They simply stood there, rooted to the spot.
Zing— Zing—
It was a warning: set foot on this mountain without permission, and there would be no mercy.
The killing intent radiating from the mountain’s owner was directed at every single member of the punitive force.
"Just where is she... for her aura to be this intense?"
As Cheong-yeon, standing at the front alongside Ice Sword, muttered those words, Ice Sword replied to his disciple.
"She may have already become a monster."
Ice Sword’s gaze was fixed on a single point.
"Master? What are you looking at...?"
Cheong-yeon couldn't finish her sentence. She, too, began to see what her master saw.
"Guh... ugh..."
Someone was descending the mountain, held by the scruff of the neck.
Like a piece of merchandise bought at a market, Yeom-jin dangled just off the ground, swaying back and forth.
"Wh-What... What is the meaning of this!"
Even at a glance, Yeom-jin’s condition was far from normal.
She was missing an arm and a leg. Fluid oozed from her half-burnt scalp. Her sunken eyes and the drool leaking from her mouth made it clear she had lost her mind.
The one holding her was So-yu, dressed in black martial robes with a white overcoat.
"So-yu..."
Cheong-yeon barely managed to steady her trembling legs.
Her long-time nemesis descended the path carved by herb gatherers and scanned the punitive force with an indifferent gaze.
"Ugh!"
Under that stare, several martial artists collapsed right where they stood.
"Only thirty?"
So-yu asked, her expression practically screaming, Is this for real?
"At least they didn't send husks."
Speaking in a tone that looked down on them from above, So-yu pointed her finger at them one by one.
"Illusion Sword, Dok-cheol, Geo-bak..."
Her finger, which had been identifying the core pillars of the Orthodox Sect, stopped at one person.
"Ice Sword... and the Ice Wheel Art."
So-yu’s slender index finger came to a halt, pointing directly at Cheong-yeon’s face.
"Flame Wheel Master... no, Namgung So-yu. The whole world knows of your crimes!"
Ice Sword shouted as he drew his blade. So-yu looked at him without a word.
"My crimes? And what might my crimes be?"
At her nonchalant question, someone barked out in a fit of rage.
"How dare you be so brazen!! It was you, you wench, who slaughtered innocent martial artists!"
At the words of the man wielding a large axe, So-yu frowned and waved her hand dismissively, as if she couldn't bear to listen.
"Ah... to think I have to trade words with the ignorant and the blind."
So-yu tossed the mangled Yeom-jin forward.
Yeom-jin’s broken body tumbled across the dirt.
"Uuu... ah..."
Yeom-jin crawled along the ground, making animalistic noises.
With her remaining limbs, she scrambled through the dirt toward the punitive force. She let out sounds drenched in terror, seemingly desperate to get as far away from So-yu as possible.
"I suppose even a thing like that wants to live."
Finding the sight pathetic, So-yu let out a short, mocking laugh.
So-yu moved, approaching the crawling Yeom-jin. Then, she placed her right foot on Yeom-jin’s head.
"Ueh...?"
Feeling the pressure on her head, Yeom-jin turned her gaze. Her eyes met the emotionless eyes of the girl who had once been her disciple.
"Die like the bug you are."
With those words, So-yu applied pressure to her right leg.
Crack!
With a sickening rupture, Yeom-jin’s head burst instantly.
Blegh! Urgh!
At the sight of blood and brain matter splattering across the ground, someone in the punitive force began to retch.
"You monster!!"
Unable to contain his fury at So-yu’s cruel act, one man broke formation.
The man lunged forward in a single bound, thrusting his sword at So-yu, but his blade would never reach her.
A massive pillar of Black Flame erupted in front of So-yu, melting the man and his sword alike.
Sssssss—
The man, now reduced to a viscous, foul-smelling black sludge, slumped onto the ground.
"Is it twenty-nine now?"
"So-yu!"
Cheong-yeon screamed. At that, So-yu’s eyes turned toward her.
"That day, before I left for the Murim Alliance, didn't I tell you?"
So-yu spoke while looking directly at Cheong-yeon.
"That the next time we met, one of us would die."
So-yu’s clear eyes stared intently at Cheong-yeon.
"I didn't tell you the truth so that you would do things like this!"
"Things like this?"
Tilting her head, So-yu flicked her fingers. Suddenly, presences began to be felt in the previously silent surroundings.
"An—an ambush? I didn't sense a single thing!"
As the presences multiplied like a river swelling in a flood, every member of the punitive force drew their weapons and took a combat stance.
"Cheong-yeon. I ask you again. What do you mean by 'things like this'?"
"I mean acts that stray from the Righteous Path!"
Cheong-yeon spoke clearly, pushing back against So-yu’s overwhelming pressure.
"Pwahahahaha!!"
At Cheong-yeon’s answer, So-yu threw her head back and roared with laughter.
At that laughter, which was laced with internal energy, some clutched their ears and collapsed.
"Ah... right, right. The Righteous Path. Justice. That was what you lot pursued, wasn't it?"
So-yu spoke, wiping away a tear brought on by her laughter. She continued, still giggling.
"But what can be done? The justice you speak of is nothing more than a collection of hypocritical deeds..."
"Is it justice to suck the lifeblood of the weak while claiming you have no choice?"
So-yu’s gaze shifted to someone in the punitive force.
"Or is it justice to protect others only when you receive a regular fee?"
"Is it justice to perform unspeakable experiments on the powerless for the sake of a clan’s goals?"
"Or... is it justice to take the sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many for granted?"
Black Flame began to billow from So-yu’s body.
"If that is the Righteous Path, then I will not walk it. Even if I am called evil, I will not seek it."
"I suspect that perhaps it takes 'Evil' to shatter this rotten justice of yours."
A thick killing intent and an unbearable pressure washed over the punitive force.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Sensing his approaching death, Ice Sword shouted.
"Yes, you 'righteous' ones, crumble into the dirt."
Recalling the face of her departed disciple, So-yu wore a sorrowful smile.
"For I am the Evil that shall burn away all the justice in this world."
"The one who stands at the pinnacle of all Evil and all Demons..."
"I am the Heavenly Demon."