The Black Mist Gorge (1)
“Is it a formation?”
Je Ha-yeong asked, her face rigid.
The cliffs on either side of Black Mist Gorge towered high, and its floor stretched some thirty jang wide — broader than most canyons. The ground itself was a mix of mud and loose gravel with barely a blade of grass, as flat as a plain.
In truth, of all the terrain they had crossed so far, this was the easiest going by far. And with ground like this, it was hardly a suitable place for an ambush.
That was exactly what they had thought, too.
And then the mist came.
Fog billowed upward with astonishing speed, swallowing Black Mist Gorge whole. Before long, the entire gorge was submerged in a sea of swirling clouds.
“Form the rhombus formation!”
At her cry, the members hastily fell into line. The rhombus formation — a diamond shape — allowed free advance and retreat, shifted easily, and was optimized for both attack and defense.
Je Ha-yeong, Na Hujeok, and Nang Baek took the point; Yu Bongji and Umun Heo held the left corner; Si Muyeong and Mu Daebo the right; and Bukgung Hansang and Gung Yo brought up the rear.
The mist thickened steadily, and their line of sight shrank with it.
The furthest they could see was a mere three jang — nine meters.
Khehehehehe!
Kyakyakyakya!
Kikikikikiki!
From somewhere deep in the fog, bone-chilling laughter echoed out.
“Hm?”
“What’s this?”
Na Hujeok and Nang Baek’s faces stiffened at once.
“What is it?”
Je Ha-yeong asked.
“This is the Dark Blood Demon Asura Demonic Formation — a supreme formation of the Demonic Cult.”
When they had first learned the pillars were illusions, they’d had their suspicions, but hearing that laughter made it certain.
“So they were lying in ambush here.”
“It would seem so.”
“What kind of formation is it?”
“One that destroys its enemies using concealment, illusions, and phantom sounds.”
“Meaning the enemy is hidden inside the mist.”
“Correct. Keep your eyes on the darkness. For darker than the dark itself are those bastards.”
“Kkeok!”
In that instant, one of the Jicheon Physician Clan’s members screamed and collapsed.
“Tighten our spacing and move to the edge!”
“Tighten the intervals and move to the edge!”
Je Ha-yeong shouted again.
The clan members closed their ranks as much as possible and shifted leftward.
“Soon you’ll see illusions and hear phantom voices. Block your ears for now!”
Na Hujeok roared, thrusting out a fist.
Thwack!
With a dull thud, a figure in black clothes came into view. It was one of the Demon Shadows of the Thousand-Year Demonic Cult. The man’s entire body was crushed flat, as if some enormous weight had pressed down on him.
“Kraaagh!”
Another scream tore through the clan’s ranks.
“Aaaaagh!”
Thwack! Slish! Thwack!
Thud! Thud!
The Demon Shadows toppled one by one, revealing themselves as they fell.
The moment their breath ran out, their concealment arts dissolved and their bodies appeared. By then, the Jicheon clan members had reached the edge of the gorge. So far, no one had yet been tormented by the phantom sounds or visions.
If only that fellow were here.
Yu Bongji muttered to herself as she shed her clothes and tucked them into a hollow in the cliff face. Moments later, her silhouette melted away into empty air.
But still….
She glanced back at the spot where she had stashed her garments, worrying whether she would be able to find the place again after the mist lifted.
Well, for now…
She slipped away into the dark.
Thwack! Crunch! Thwack! Crunch!
Tup! Tup! Tup-tup-tup!
Human heads dropped one after another like ripe persimmons hanging from a late-autumn persimmon tree. Following her, Nang Baek and Umun Heo broke away from the formation as well.
“You wretches — daring to face the Evil Venerable himself!”
Thud!
Umun Heo’s silhouette collapsed and spread like spilled water, flattening into something like a great sheet of cloth as he glided forward.
“The Evil Shadowless Blood Evil Skill,” Mu Daebo murmured, eyes wide.
It was the secret art of Umun Heo, the Evil Venerable of the Absolute Five. The skill was said to be an illusion art of such extremity that his body appeared as nothing more than an outstretched cloth.
Hssssk!
Snap!
The cloth swallowed the darkness whole.
Crunch-crunch!
A dull, heavy sound seeped out from beneath the black cloth, and an unidentifiable liquid came trickling down its underside.
Sliiiiide!
The black cloth glided smoothly to a new position.
Thud!
A corpse — squeezed utterly flat, as though crushed in a press — dropped from beneath it.
Crunch!
Again came the sound of bone striking bone.
“Kraaagh!”
“Aaaaah!”
The Jicheon warriors, too, were shrieking in agony.
“Hold out until the moon rises.”
Na Hujeok spoke as he flung himself forward. Crossing five jang in a single leap, he drove out his left fist, then his right.
Pow! Pow-pow! Pow!
Dull impacts erupted ahead of him, and figures — torn limb from limb — appeared out of nowhere.
The Demon Venerable Na Hujeok’s secret art was the Dark Heaven Demon King Fist. Its defining trait was that it struck without any aura or warning whatsoever, burying itself into an enemy’s body before they could react.
Pow! Pow-pow-pow! Pow-pow!
Every time Na Hujeok swung his fists, muffled detonations burst in rapid succession from beyond the veil of fog.
Whoosh!
Something trailing a blood-red radiance smashed through the empty air.
Screech!
The air split in two, and blood sprayed left and right. It was Nang Baek’s weapon — so famous that people called it simply the Half-Blood rather than its true name, the Half-Blood Demon Saber. The broken-looking blade was fearsome enough on its own, but corded to its chain, it unleashed power of an entirely different order.
Indeed, there was a saying about Nang Baek’s saber: when the Half-Blood appears, blood fills the sea. The crimson object spinning through the air was the Half-Blood itself.
Slash!
Nang Baek’s silhouette tore across the darkness.
Red light embroidered the space around him, and a blackish-red liquid soaked the ground beneath.
A tension heavy with the smell of fish and iron lashed out through the air.
Crunch!
“Ghhk!”
With a strangled cry, a man in black appeared, staring at Si Muyeong in horror.
“You picked the wrong opponents.”
Si Muyeong said it quietly.
“Y-you’re….”
The man’s body began to melt, sagging like wax.
“Everything melts.”
Murmuring those words, Si Muyeong shot forward.
“Those old men…”
The one most stunned by the Absolute Five’s display was Mu Daebo. He had known they were formidable, but in all their travels together he had never once judged any of them stronger than himself.
He’d figured they were roughly his equals with generous scoring — or that he was plainly above them. But the true power the Absolute Five had revealed was so immense it made him feel small.
“I am the Defeated Staff Demon Son, damn it — the Defeated Staff Demon Son!”
Mu Daebo charged into the darkness. His entire body turned jet-black as he ran — the Black Demon Body, a technique said to rival the Diamond Invulnerability Body itself.
Suddenly, a sword flashed out of the dark.
Mu Daebo glanced at it and thrust out his fist.
CLANG!
Crunch!
The instant the sword struck his head, his fist smashed into the face of the hidden attacker.
CLANG!
Crunch!
CLANG!
Crunch!
It was a staggering sight.
Mu Daebo’s method for locating enemies was simply to let them hit him. When an enemy’s weapon struck his body, he would drive his fist straight down the weapon toward its wielder — and without fail, an opponent with a crushed skull or shattered torso would emerge, concealment art broken.
“Come at me!”
He roared and hurled himself forward again.
“What do you mean, ‘those people’?”
Maya asked his subordinate. The one who had come to report was Seo Pae, commander of the Demon Shadows, the Black Hand Demon Lord.
“Well, you see…”
“Dokji has arrived.”
“Wait a moment.”
Maya raised a hand, cutting him off, and turned his gaze to the left.
Dokji was walking toward them.
“Hm?”
Maya’s eyes widened. The hidden blade that had accompanied Dokji was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is your hidden blade?”
“It’s dead,” Dokji said.
“What nonsense is that?”
“There were people waiting in the enemy camp.”
“Who were they?”
“The Five Venerables.”
“Those men… they’re not dead?”
Maya asked, startled.
“Alive and well. The Venerables killed your hidden blade.”
Dokji had not actually witnessed the blade’s death.
Yet he was certain it was the Absolute Five — because no other martial artists alive could have eliminated it.
“Why would they be mixed up in this?”
Shin Gon, standing at Maya’s side, asked.
“I don’t know. Most likely they joined when the Jicheon Physician Clan was recruiting wanderers.”
When word spread that Dokji had returned, the remaining Nine Demons gathered around the three. Maya told them of the hidden blade’s death and of the Absolute Five’s presence in the enemy camp.
“Those miserable wretches, causing trouble right to the end.”
The eldest of them spat the words out, killing intent dripping from his voice.
“That would be me.”
A quiet voice answered, and Danmok Cheonri appeared. He and his forces had been lying in concealment near the gorge’s exit in case things went wrong here; he had come to see the situation with his own eyes.
“Welcome.”
Maya said.
“What is the situation?”
“Look there.”
Maya pointed toward Black Mist Gorge. The mist had swallowed it completely — neither friend nor foe could be seen.
“I can’t make anything out from here, can I.”
“No. And we’ve confirmed the Absolute Five are among the enemy.”
“They survived?”
Danmok Cheonri was shaken.
When the Nine Demons had unified the Demonic Cult, the Absolute Five had opposed them to the last, and they had been forced to put them down.
Hundreds had surrounded them, and they had plunged from a thousand-jang cliff, presumed dead. Yet they had lived. All five of them.
“And they killed your hidden blade.”
“Hmm!”
Danmok Cheonri exhaled a long groan.
“If the Demon Shadows learn the Absolute Five are in the enemy camp, this could become a very difficult battle for us.”
“Then the Nine Demons will step in.”
Danmok Cheonri said.
“Even we would struggle to destroy those men.”
“There’s no need to kill them. Simply hold them in place.”
“What do you mean?”
Shin Gon asked.
“While the Nine Demons keep the Venerables occupied, the Demon Shadows will wipe out everyone else. And then the Five will have no reason left to fight, will they not?”
“I see.”
Shin Gon nodded.
“Then begin at once.”
“Understood.”
The Nine Demons bowed their heads.
“Do not forget: you must capture the sisters Je Chuyeong and Je Ha-yeong, and Jin Yigang, alive.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll take my leave.”
Danmok Cheonri departed immediately.
“Commander.”
Maya called to Seo Pae.
“Yes.”
“While we hold the Venerables in place, finish the rest as quickly as you can.”
“Understood.”
“Go.”
Maya and the Nine Demons hurled themselves down into the gorge.
At that moment, Jin Yigang and Je Chuyeong arrived at the mouth of Black Mist Gorge. From atop its cliffs came the unending ring of clashing weapons and the cries of the dying.
“They’ve already started.”
Jin Yigang said, sliding his hands into his pockets. Some fifty stones he had gathered on the run here were divvied up between them.
“What is this mist, exactly?”
Je Chuyeong asked, watching the fog settle thick around them.
“Black Mist Gorge fogs up often — it’s how the place got its name. But this…”
Jin Yigang reached out and grabbed a fistful of the mist.
He squeezed it several times, then examined his palm.
“There’s not a trace of moisture.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means this fog was manufactured by a formation.”
Jin Yigang looked up at the sky. The moon had risen, casting a bright glow over everything around them.
He stepped into the mist.
“Can you see me?”
“No.”
Je Ha-yeong shook her head. He had barely gone a few steps in, yet she could neither see him nor sense his presence at all.
“Anything at all?”
“Let’s see… huh?”
Je Chuyeong’s eyes went wide. She couldn’t see the man — but she could see his shadow.
“What is it?”
“I can see your shadow.”
“Well, there’s our weak point.”
“How so?”
“No matter how dense the fog, anything made by human hands has to have a flaw. Hm?”
Jin Yigang swept his gaze around quickly. A large boulder caught his eye.
“What’s wrong?”
Je Ha-yeong asked.
“Someone’s coming.”
He quickly pulled Je Chuyeong up onto the boulder and flattened himself against it. Before long, a company of figures appeared.
It was the Blood Evil Army, led by Nam Se-ok.