Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Madness
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Yeon So-hyeon drew in a deep breath.
The back alley's signature stench—reeking of urine and feces, decay, mold, sewage, and the metallic tang of liquefied guts and boiling blood—was invigorating.
With each buoyant thump of his heart, the Jeam Jincheon Scripture's demonic qi surged through his veins and meridians.
The warping, corrosive madness whipped through his lower dantian and surged into his mind.
Everything around him filled his vision, everything within reach.
Nothing felt impossible.
It was a sense of omnipotence—and utter insanity.
Unbidden, a guttural beastly growl rumbled from deep in his throat.
Yeon So-hyeon, the scripture's demonic figure, gazed at the long line of prey stretching down the corridor.
“……The banquet begins.”
His voice, rough as grinding metal, echoed through the hall.
“K-Kill him!”
With someone's shout, the Black Bone Gang thugs spasmed into action, weapons raised as they charged.
“Come on!”
Yeon So-hyeon bared his teeth in a grin.
The face of the first to lunge was pale with terror, utterly desperate.
The blade he swung was a pathetic hunk of junk, barely worthy of the name dao.
Even the filthy tassels dangling from its hilt—tied on for show—flapped into sharp focus.
But there was no need, no reason, to dodge.
Yeon So-hyeon stood still and took the strike on his forehead.
A piercing clash of steel on steel sparked flames.
The poorly tempered, impurity-riddled dao snapped and flew apart.
The broken blade embedded in the ceiling.
It didn't even itch.
Before the thug could drop the hilt from the shock, Yeon So-hyeon smashed his palm down on the man's skull.
A deafening blast ruptured the head in the direction of the blow.
Like a whip cracked down hard, brains, blood, and bone shards splattered across the floor.
Only then did the hilt-less grip clatter to the ground.
The headless body staggered sideways in a half-turn before slumping against the corridor wall.
At the sight, Yeon So-hyeon raised a hand and clapped.
No banquet was complete without a dance, after all.
“Arrrgh!”
The next came swinging an axe.
Yeon So-hyeon reached out with both hands and tore off the man's arms.
As the thug screamed at the top of his lungs, Yeon So-hyeon tossed the severed limbs to the floor.
“M-My arms…!”
Yeon So-hyeon savored the grotesque dance for a moment, then slowly tore the man's jaw apart.
Two more rushed in during the gap, but their waists split open and they flew apart.
The one shoved forward from behind was caught by Yeon So-hyeon's gaping maw and had his skull crunched and devoured.
No banquet skipped the food course.
Even as Yeon So-hyeon idly mused, blades flew and clubs swung down.
But none landed a scratch, and with every shift of his body, the corridor filled with more limbless corpses.
The filthy, stinking hall transformed into the grandest banquet venue, alive with song, dance, and feasts.
* * *
Yeon So-hyeon pierced another torso with a hand blade, a joyful smile on his face.
Another life snuffed out.
But the Black Bone Gang wasn't just taking it lying down.
The instant Yeon So-hyeon impaled the body, a gleaming blade flashed from the opposite side.
It hurtled toward him at terrifying speed.
“Hmph……!”
Yeon So-hyeon let out a low scoff and leaned back, dodging the slash.
The long dao—unstained by a single drop of blood despite gutting the corpse—glinted coldly off its polished surface.
And its edge thrummed with violent energy on the verge of eruption.
That was why Yeon So-hyeon had evaded the strike.
Speed, skill, and a premium weapon besides—a true martial artist had finally appeared.
The assault didn't end with the fierce thrust.
“Puppet.”
With a murmur, defying physics itself, the thrust morphed into a slash.
Cleaving the corpse like tofu, the azure blade plunged toward Yeon So-hyeon like lightning.
'Got him!'
The dao's wielder was certain of victory.
The monster had dodged his blind-spot first flash with beastly instincts.
But leaning back was a fatal mistake.
With his balance utterly shattered, there was no escaping the follow-up barrage of his signature technique, Puppet.
“……?!”
Yet his corpse-slicing strike merely carved empty air, leaving a deep gash in the pointless floor.
“Amusing technique.”
A chill breath grazed his ear.
Had he been some greenhorn with less blood on his blade, he'd have frozen.
No time for thought or judgment.
His battle-hardened body reflexively unleashed another technique.
Whirlwheel.
A seamless fusion of recovery and assault—another signature move.
The blade snapped upward toward the direction of the breath like a launched projectile, unleashing dozens of strikes in a single breath.
“Haaah……!”
As if the blade had multiplied into scores, it shredded the space.
This time, the monster didn't dodge but intercepted the flurry.
Each clash of his black-qi claws against the dao rang with ear-shattering booms, sparks flying everywhere.
“Hah! Hah!”
As the barrage ended, he gulped down ragged breaths.
The strikes had drained his qi substantially, but the reckless chaining had disrupted his energy flow even more.
'……Damn monster.'
But the real problem was elsewhere.
“That's it already?”
He was covered head to toe in gashes, bathed in his own blood.
The white-masked monster? Not a single tear in his robes.
“Just as I was getting into it. Pity.”
The monster's gravelly voice scraped his ear.
“……Fuck!”
He'd bet everything on that strike.
All his remaining qi, focus—poured in.
Of course, given the monster's prowess so far, his final blow would be effortlessly blocked.
'But……!'
At the same moment, the corridors on both sides shattered as the two waiting martial artists unleashed their attacks.
A perfect ambush at the foe's most unguarded instant.
'Yes……?!'
But what he saw next shattered all expectations.
His dao shattered in the monster's jaws.
And the pincer assault? Casually parried by the monster's hands.
The monster spat out the blade fragments.
“Is this the best you can do?”
That was when he realized.
No matter what they tried, hunting this monster had never been an option.
It was just toying with them before the meal.
“Arrrgh!”
In his vision, the two who'd abandoned their gripped weapons charged with auxiliary blades and bare-fisted strikes.
A flash, a thunderous roar.
Only then did he realize his energy was spent.
Blood mist sprayed, fountains erupted, noise raged on briefly.
He rallied his last strength for another go, but without qi, it was hopeless.
A casual flick from the monster blacked him out briefly.
He awoke to a horrific scream.
“Gaaahhh!”
The monster had its back turned, live-devouring one of the martial artists.
The corridor rang with tearing flesh, snapping bone, and shrieks.
Helpless and terrified, he could only await his turn.
He wept, begged.
But his fate was sealed.
* * *
“You mad fucking monster!”
Withdrawing his demonic qi, Yeon So-hyeon turned to the lair's last boss.
“You think you're a mad monster?”
The boss, knees utterly pulverized, shrieked at Yeon So-hyeon in fury.
“You cock-sucking bastard! Yeah, you're the mad fucking monster! What, you think you're some big-shot master?!”
Yeon So-hyeon slowly surveyed the surroundings.
He'd reached an underground slaughterhouse.
Piled entrails boiled in a massive cauldron, more awaiting their turn.
Opposite, bones and meat strewn from deboning work, a corner buried under a bone mountain.
Beyond, fresh meat hung from hooks in long lines.
And where he stood: the bloodletting station.
The floor pooled in crimson, draining into sewers along the grooves.
That blood dripped from 'human corpses' hung upside down.
Yeon So-hyeon eyed the nearest.
A woman, reduced to bones—nothing left to call flesh.
Oddly, her belly gaped open.
He closed the staring eyes of the corpse and asked the boss.
“……You say I'm mad?”
The underground human-meat plant's overseer clutched his mangled legs, groaning as he spat back.
“You dumb fuck! This is just business!”
“……”
Momentarily speechless, Yeon So-hyeon grabbed a bowl from the overseer's desk.
Interrupted mid-meal before shit hit the fan—the contents still steamed warm.
He fished out a chunk of meat.
Wrist-sized, fetal for sure, steam rising.
Explaining the slit belly.
“Just business?”
The overseer screamed hysterically.
“You psycho! What the fuck is business?! Why do business?! All to eat and survive, ain't it……!”
Yeon So-hyeon vanished and slammed the overseer's head into the wall.
“Gaaah……!”
He ground the skull slowly against the wall like polishing, chuckling hollowly.
Killing and eating people was madness for him—but for them, killing, butchering, selling, devouring was just 'business.'
They'd made a living of slaughtering, processing, vending, consuming humans—braving harsh reality!
Yeon So-hyeon impaled the half-skulled corpse upside down on an empty hook.
Blood gushed from the mangled head, splattering the floor.
Seemed too quick a death, but Yeon So-hyeon had reasons.
Somewhere in the depths, cages held live stock for fresh meat.
He had to find them.
Stepping onward, he questioned himself.
Am I the mad one?
Or is it this world?
Jeam Jincheon Scripture - Volume 2