Chapter 100
“…”
-…
After cutting down the Heavenly Demon Zombie and the other zombies, I climbed onto the Imugi’s back and hurried toward the Mountain Stronghold.
The Imugi also seemed to sense the urgency of the situation, flying through the sky at the fastest possible speed but…
-…You.
Unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked me halfway through.
-…Are you sure you’re okay?
“About what?”
-You just used your life force…
“Stop.”
-…
I cut her off and gave her a light smack.
“Don’t say useless things and just hurry up and go.”
-…
Arguing over something that had already been done was truly a useless endeavor.
Even now, my Subordinates are fighting the Blood Demon Corpse King’s zombies.
I urged the Imugi to fly faster, then closed my eyes for a moment as an old memory came to mind.
* * *
“From now on, I will teach you what comes after the Unknown Destroying Sword. This Stance I am about to teach you is the only one in the …Divine Art that can cut down multiple enemies. However…, receive the teaching, but do not use it.”
“…What kind of bullshit is that? What do you mean teaching it to me but telling me not to use it?”
After spitting out those words, I flinched.
But…
“…?”
…Instead of the expected pain, only a low voice reached my ears.
“From this Stance onward…, you will have to use your Innate True Qi to properly execute it.”
“Eh?”
Hearing those words, I gasped in shock.
What was Innate True Qi?
The source of life that a human possesses from birth is, in other words, life force.
Although it contained a stronger and purer energy, Innate True Qi was nearly impossible to recover once used.
So he’s saying I’ll have to shave off my lifespan every time I execute the Stance.
“No, fuck. I knew it would be like this. What? I have to use Innate True Qi to execute the Stance? Isn’t this just pure nonsense! This is a complete swindle…! Kuaaak-!”
SMACK-!
Only after I said that much did I feel the now-familiar pain.
It was familiar, but it truly was a unique pain every time I got hit.
As I grabbed my head and collapsed to the floor, the old voice continued.
“That is why I told you not to use it, did I not? Why do you keep adding useless remarks and earning yourself a beating!!”
“…Uuuugh.”
“Ahem.”
Still, seeing me in so much pain, the Master must have felt a little sorry, as he let out a dry cough before continuing.
“Anyway, I will pass on the teaching, so, as my Disciple, do not use this until dirt covers your Master’s eyes.”
“Then I’ll be able to use it soon. How much longer is a decrepit old geezer going to live anyway.”
“No, seriously, this little punk-!”
Swish-.
He raised his hand high, then suddenly stopped.
Then, with a serious voice, he spoke to me again as if coaxing me.
“…Truly, I am not joking, try your best never to use it.”
“…”
His voice was laced with worry for me.
At the same time…
“But a day will come when you must make a choice…”
…It was accompanied by an indelible bitterness.
* * *
-Muyeon, we’ve arrived!
“…”
At the Imugi’s urgent voice, I opened my eyes.
Following her gaze downward, I saw hundreds of zombies flooding into our Mountain Stronghold like a tidal wave, pressuring my Subordinates.
It was indeed an urgent situation.
There was no time to hesitate any longer.
“I’m jumping down now.”
-W-wait a second…!
As I stood up on the Imugi’s back, looking ready to dive down at any moment, she called out to me urgently.
-T-that thing from earlier…! Are you going to use it again?
“…”
Her voice, too, was laced with worry, just like my Master’s had been in the past.
Instead of saying anything in particular to her…
Smirk.
…I simply smiled at her and jumped down.
Whoooosh-.
Feeling the cold wind brush against my cheeks, I gripped my Saber.
And slowly… I executed this Stance of the Divine Art.
There was a reason I executed the Stance slowly in the midst of this urgency.
It was because it wasn’t something that could be executed quickly in the first place.
Vwoom-, vwoom-.
I layered and infused energy into my Saber over and over again. But it wasn’t long before all my internal energy was sucked dry, forcing me to draw upon my Innate True Qi.
Sssshk-.
‘Yeah, fuck. Let’s just consider it dying a few years early.’
It was said that the original creator of the Divine Art invented the Unknown Destroying Sword to cut down a single Demonic Cult member.
But the number of Demonic Cult members multiplied like bamboo shoots after the rain.
The creator took pity on them and wished to bestow a peaceful death upon those countless Demonic Cult members.
And thus, the second Stance was born.
To shave off one’s own life force to bestow a peaceful death upon others.
In my opinion, the creator wasn’t in their right mind either.
Anyway…, so what exactly was this peaceful death?
Killing them by blowing their heads off before they had time to feel any pain.
The creator considered dying like that to be the utmost tranquility for a Demonic Cult member.
Yes, this Stance was created to blow off hundreds of heads at once.
Paaat-!!
When I finally layered all the energy and swung my Saber slightly, a sun-like light emanated from my blade, and a warm breeze began to blow around me.
The warm breeze was due to the sun-like pressure created by the energy loaded into my Saber.
Perhaps under this heavily crushing atmosphere, those guys even were under the illusion that time had stopped.
‘But don’t worry.’
There won’t be any pain.
BOOOOM-!!
I swung the Saber, which had grown heavy from containing too much energy, as if hurling a heavy stone, executing the Stance in midair.
Soon after…
RUMBLE-!!
Hundreds of streams of Saber Qi, each like a wild Beast…
Slash-! Slash-! Slash-!
…surged straight toward the zombies on the ground.
* * *
Thanks to the Saber Wind I created with my final swing, I landed safely on the ground.
“Cough-!”
As soon as I landed, I coughed up blood as a side effect of using my Innate True Qi.
“Ah, fuck…!”
Spitting blood, I let out a curse.
And rightfully so, since I had just used my precious lifespan to execute the Stance.
Naturally, there was nothing more important to me than my own life.
Of course…
“Elder brother-!!”
“Leader-!!”
Even so, I had chosen these guys.
Even if I hadn’t used this Stance just now, we would have won in the end anyway.
However, the damage would have been severe, and countless Subordinates would have lost their lives.
My few years of lifespan were more precious than anything. But…
They couldn’t outweigh the remaining decades of my Subordinates' lives… That was my judgment.
“I fucking… care for you guys this much…”
I muttered dejectedly as I watched them approaching me, then flinched and shouted at them.
“Don’t let your guard down and check your surroundings! Make sure there aren’t any left alive!”
“Ah…, yes, sir!!”
Hearing my words, the Subordinates paused for a moment before nodding and spreading out.
I also turned around and surveyed the scene.
Every single zombie had its head blown off and shattered to pieces. Some had their entire upper bodies blown away.
“Ugh, gross…”
In my eyes, the creator was definitely a lunatic too. How could they create such a gruesome and Unorthodox Sword Art and think to give it an emotional name like Peaceful Death Flowing Sword?
I clicked my tongue at the horrific sight, then hurriedly felt for energy to sense the surroundings.
It was because I didn’t know what that persistent bastard, the Blood Demon Corpse King, might do if he was still alive.
However, my worries seemed unfounded, as I couldn’t feel any presence nearby.
But right then…!
Sss-.
“…!”
In that moment, a breathing sound as faint as a newborn deer’s reached my senses.
“He survived getting hit by the Peaceful Death Flowing Sword…?”
Feeling pissed off about my lost 5 years of lifespan (estimated), I ran toward where I felt the presence.
I hadn’t gone more than a few steps before I found him.
“Huu…, huuuu…”
He must not have been able to completely defend against the Peaceful Death Flowing Sword, as more than half of his face was blown off, yet he was panting through his mangled mouth, somehow still wanting to live.
‘He’s dead.’
The Blood Demon Corpse King hadn’t just lost his face; a portion of his upper body was also torn away, and according to my common sense, it was a state in which he absolutely could not survive.
But just as I was feeling relieved looking at his state…
Swish-!
“…!”
…The Blood Demon Corpse King raised his one remaining arm and began to gather faint demonic energy.
Seeing that, I leaped in shock. I had already prepared the Unknown Destroying Sword in my Saber.
The demonic energy the Blood Demon Corpse King was gathering was certainly faint in amount, but when a Demonic Cult member risked death to initiate mutual destruction, the damage was hard to predict.
‘I’ll cut it down in one strike.’
That was why I was about to destroy the demonic energy he had gathered with the Unknown Destroying Sword entirely.
However…
“Ah…”
“…?”
Slump-.
The Blood Demon Corpse King suddenly let out a groan and dispersed the demonic energy he had painstakingly gathered.
Then, dropping his arm to the ground, he formed a peaceful smile on his face.
“I believe… O Heavens…”
“…”
At his words, I looked around.
There was no one.
Even so, the Blood Demon Corpse King sobbed and muttered as if conversing with someone.
“Please…, achieve the great cause…”
“…”
“The Demonic Cult is invincible…, Heavenly Demon… is invincible…, Heavenly Demon…”
Crunch-.
I simply cut off his neck before he could chant that ominous mantra.
“This bastard, being ominous right to the end, fuck…”
Crunch-, crunch-!
Just in case he might come back to life again, I completely turned him into dust.
Crunch-!!
“Phew…”
After striking his corpse one last time, I confirmed that his energy had completely vanished, then raised my head to survey the surroundings.
Our once-peaceful Mountain Path had truly become a sea of blood.
Even so…, we had won in the end.
“Leader…! Ah…!”
Dongryong, who had been approaching me, finally saw the shredded corpse of the Blood Demon Corpse King and shouted to those behind him.
“The Leader killed the Arch-Demon!! We won!!!”
“Waaaaaaah-!!”
At Dongryong’s loud shout, a thunderous roar of cheers erupted.
The faces of the Subordinates were filled with the joy of surviving this battle.
“Yeah…, we won, fuck!”
Seeing their smiles, I also smirked, but…
“…Just now.”
…I couldn’t completely wash away an inexplicable feeling of unease.