Heavenly Demon (4)

The Heavenly Demon's gaze deepened as she looked at Yun-seok.

'What an absurd enemy to face.'

Now even the Heavenly Demon knew. How could she not? She had clearly seen that look in his eyes just now.

'To think that the opponent he refused to lose to was himself!'

It was by no means an easy path. Even for the Heavenly Demon, who had been praised for reaching the pinnacle of martial arts, it hadn't been simple.

'How could such a guy emerge from a place like that.'

With his eyes brimming with fighting spirit and his fierce temperament, he would have fit right in even if he'd joined the Demonic Cult... Now she thought a righteous sect like Shaolin wouldn't be bad either. The Demonic Cult chased supremacy over all, but those sects devoted their lives to mastering just their own selves.

'Half-assing it would be an insult.'

This was her final lesson, and the courtesy due a fellow warrior. He didn't seem like the type to break upon seeing an overwhelming wall. The Yun-seok she saw would not despair but press on tirelessly toward even greater heights.

So...

"Gama."

With that short murmur rippling through the air, the giant's first move began.

It started as an ordinary thrust. No— it was so utterly flawless that it paradoxically appeared mundane.

Whoosh!

The Heavenly Demon kicked off the ground, her sword flying forward. An opponent's breathing, gaze, foot positioning, the subtle twitch of muscles—these were crucial to discern in battle. In truth, Yun-seok had naturally gone through this process unconsciously during his last duel, under the name of instinct.

But this time was different. Yun-seok's eyes fixed solely on her sword. They had to. That thrust wasn't something he could parry while dividing his attention elsewhere.

Clang! Yun-seok's sword, cloaked in red energy, clashed against her blade and was promptly repelled. No, "repelled" wasn't quite right. Even borrowing the skill's power, all Yun-seok could manage was to deflect it slightly to the side. That was how mighty the Heavenly Demon's sword was. The epitome of raw, overwhelming strength.

Unable to even fully weather the aftermath of that single strike, his balance crumbled.

And in those dire straits...

"Excellent!"

The giant's second move commenced. This time, a slash. But not an ordinary one. A sword utterly faithful to the essence of a true cut. It wasn't forceful. It was endlessly soft. Not like a snake, but like a free, unbound wind.

Whoosh!

As Yun-seok moved his sword to block, realization dawned. 'No sound...?'

The whoosh came only from his own swing. None emanated from the Heavenly Demon's blade. Vaguely, Yun-seok grasped the true meaning of flow.

So he infused that vague understanding into his sword. And just like that, sound vanished from Yun-seok's blade too—as if perfectly merging with the wind, without discord.

The secret was yielding.

"...".

Thus, the two silent swords met at the midpoint.

The soft conquers the hard. Yielding subdued the rigid. But this wasn't water against rock. Yielding met yielding, so victory would hinge on which was softer.

"Not bad!"

The swords tangled, obstructing each other's paths. Block here, and it went there. Block there, and it circled back. Yet the Heavenly Demon's sword was so supple it hardly seemed forged from hammered iron. Yun-seok tried to defend, but it was futile—like netting ocean waves.

Slice!

Dozens of clashes in one exchange. An eternal instant of offense and defense ended in Yun-seok's loss. Not the worst outcome, but a poor second. His left arm had been severed clean from the shoulder.

Without a word, Yun-seok detonated the severed limb wholesale using Blood Pact. To buy even a sliver of time.

'Backstep.'

In that fleeting moment earned by the explosion, Backstep's effect pulled his body backward, swiftly restoring his disrupted stance.

'I knew it, but he's one tough bastard...' The Heavenly Demon marveled inwardly.

Pain, even the loss of his left arm, seemed irrelevant to Yun-seok. In truth, his focus was singular: how to block her third move.

'He knows this spar isn't some gentle drill.'

This was real combat. No one granted time to regroup before the final blow, no perfect conditions. And as if to prove it...

Yun-seok's feet hadn't even touched ground from the backstep, yet her final move flowed seamlessly, as if one continuous motion from the second.

"Behold!"

Charge. A thrust that was no thrust. An endless, vast sea. No—a tsunami engulfing even towering mountains. In that simple extension of her sword, something utterly beyond human resistance surged forth.

How could one counter this? Despair washed over Yun-seok moment by moment.

Then—

'Time... stopped?'

The thought flashed through Yun-seok's mind. His nerves hypersensitive, every visual motion slowed to a crawl, as if frozen... But locking eyes with the Heavenly Demon, he realized it wasn't so.

In that split second, she had spotted him and smiled faintly—as if welcoming him here, proud of his arrival.

'This is her realm of breathing...'

But he'd only just reached her level. Still woefully inadequate. Knowing this, Yun-seok kept analyzing. The first move was mountain-shattering might. The second, a flowing river's yield. The third, a tsunami—embracing all yet destructive, hard and soft entwined.

'"Behold," she said...'

Even retreating via backstep, Yun-seok stared wide-eyed at the onrushing tsunami. This was her final lesson, after all. What he gained was his alone.

Not "die," but "behold"... Because that's what she'd said.

So he beheld. Again and again, relentlessly.

And then, he saw it—a long line slicing across the godlike wrath of the tsunami.

'A trap?'

Intentionally shown? The doubt flickered but faded.

The backstep's lengthy-yet-brief airtime ended as his feet hit ground. His sword hand moved on its own—as if compelled to cleave along that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠line.

As if it were the law of the world.

'One Flash.'

All Yun-seok did was pour in a handful more power. Cutting power quadrupled? Watching his swinging blade, another insight struck. Cutting power wasn't merely slicing harder things.

A transparent sheath over his red-glowing sword rent the air. Yun-seok's blade traversed a vacuum of zero resistance.

And...

It began cleaving the tsunami along its seam.

Watching this, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Heavenly Demon sighed. 'Perhaps it was this Lady who was arrogant...'

The absolute's perch was lonely, boring. This place had been enjoyable in its novelty. But while using the system, she'd inwardly scorned it. Understandably—she'd reached martial pinnacle before becoming a challenger, and one sword had sufficed ever since. Stats and skills were mere aids.

She'd assumed Yun-seok, blooming with talent, thought similarly. Wrong. Utterly mistaken.

'Unfillable, so no reason to stop.'

The Heavenly Demon intuited it: this clumsy, talent-rich youth, seemingly so lacking, would one day stand proudly beside her. In Murim, decades away... but this was the Tower of Heaven, twisting laws to force challenger growth. No long wait needed.

"But not today!"

Her final third move. Not full power. She'd deliberately shown a tiny gap. Not expecting him to find it—that strike held martial essence far beyond his level.

Yet astonishingly, Yun-seok exploited it, nullifying the attack. But that was it. He'd poured everything into this exchange, heedless of aftermath. A slight sidestep to evade, followed by a casual thrust anywhere vital, and Yun-seok was done. Even Blood Pact couldn't heal depleted vitality.

As she instinctively prepared the finisher—

Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon froze. 'Already... our promised three exchanges are done.'

Three moves complete. No excuses now. Realization late, but a promise was a promise.

'So be it. This Lady has lost...'

The promise was a battle with herself. Defeat stemmed from arrogance—underestimating Yun-seok's talent, matching his level without full effort. Making such a promise proved excessive self-confidence.

Understandable. All hailed her martial pinnacle. They spoke of endless martial paths yet denied none. She'd believed no further to go. The summit all sought was lonely, dull. She thought this place ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no different.

All delusion. This wasn't Murim; she wasn't absolute. Even this 3rd-floor Yun-seok proved it—higher floors teemed with even greater foes.

'A new path opens.'

Long, arduous. Yet the Heavenly Demon felt no despair—only joy. A path meant her soul would shine youthfully while treading it.

"Until we meet again!"

Seeing the sword cleaving the tsunami toward her, the Heavenly Demon spread her arms without regret. Promises were precious, but life dearer—here, death cost one coin.

A fitting price for the vitality and new goal he'd awakened.

Slice—!

A streak of light slashed the air, and the Heavenly Demon's body parted in two.

Thus ended the long duel of these two weeks.