Chapter 557

Black-Iron Demon Sword Gye Mun. The First Elder of the Holy Cult, and one of its absolute masters.

......When I looked at the letter.

His level had not been written out properly, but it said he had fought to a draw with one of the Eight Demons who existed back then, the Sword Demon.

For someone like that, the Sword Demon is already dead, though.

The one who had died to Yoo Cheongil when he borrowed my body had been the Sword Demon. Of course, they said that at the time, the bastard had been under something like a restrictive seal from Sky-Crushing Palace and had barely been able to show his full strength.

Still.

If they said he had fought the Sword Demon to a draw, did that mean he was not especially strong? That thought had crossed my mind.

Bullshit.

Now that I was seeing him in person, I could not say that.

I can’t see it.

Not only could I feel no opening, I had not even heard him appear.

When had he appeared? I had not sensed his approach at all.

“Good to see you.”

“......Yes. Good to—”

His sword moved.

BANG—!!!

“Kh!”

Something struck my sword. My vision changed. My body was flying.

Craaaaack—! I scraped across the ground and slowed myself down.

Only after I barely stopped did my breath burst out late.

“Ha...... whoa.......”

What followed was admiration. My hand was trembling. I lowered my gaze. My sword was trembling.

I had blocked it, but had I been thrown back?

“You are quick.”

A voice sounded right in front of me again. When I lifted my lowered head, Gye Mun was standing before me.

His hands were clasped behind his back. His sword must have been behind those hands.

“I did not think you would block that.”

“......It felt like I’d die if I didn’t.”

“Yes. I am saying it is impressive that you realized that too.”

Was this old man insane? What he was saying was absurd. I had not even reacted properly.

It was truly instinct. Survival instinct that did not want to die had blocked it; I had not thought and moved.

Wow, impressive. I normally got cursed to hell for thinking before moving.

But now I had done it by instinct.

“What business do you have?”

I asked calmly. He probably had not just attacked out of nowhere. No matter how insane a group the Holy Cult was, they would not act this recklessly.

There was some purpose. Though I did not know what.

“What business? I came to do my work.”

“Work?”

“Yes. You heard the contents of the training, did you not?”

“......I did hear them.”

It was that training where we had to fight instructors. That was why I had been about to look for an instructor.

“But you are not an instructor, Elder...... Did you perhaps come in that role?”

“Something similar.”

“What part of it?”

Since when were elder and instructor similar positions? It was nonsense.

No.

“You really came in that role?”

“Heh heh heh.......”

He laughed. It would have been nice if he had only laughed.

Sliiide.

The sword he was holding emerged into the world again. Ah, damn it. That must have been his answer.

Why?

Why would the First Elder himself step forward to do something? I frowned.

I really had to fight him?

“Do not worry.”

Gye Mun spoke while moving his sword.

“I only intend to see your level.”

“.......”

You should at least take the bloodlust out of your eyes before saying that.

No, it was not quite bloodlust. Was it fighting spirit at that level? It was not fighting spirit either. I did not know what it was, but it was frightening. At least I knew I did not get along with people who had eyes like that.

But that person just had to be an elder?

What is this?

What was his purpose? The way he kept glaring at me too. He definitely had some goal involving me.

“Child of the orthodox faction. Sword Saint’s inheritor.”

Gye Mun spoke to me with a vicious look in his eyes.

“Show me your value—”

“Damn it.”

It was the start of an unlucky day.

*****

BOOM—!

Around the time an explosive sound rang out from far away—

“Huh?”

A fierce-looking young man who had been roaming through the forest, Tang Cheonil, suddenly turned his head.

“What was that?”

He had heard something. What was going on? There was some distance, but he had definitely heard the sound.

Had a bomb gone off somewhere? That was possible.

This isn’t exactly a normal place.

The damn Demonic Cult. Tang Cheonil kept forgetting from time to time that this was where he was.

How did it come to this......

How had he ended up all the way here? A sigh came out on its own. He held back the breath that was about to burst out. There was no meaning in this anymore.

If counting only the sighs he had let out, there would already be hundreds in a day.

It was already too late to count them. It had reached the point where there was no need to count.

Ah.

Where had it all gone wrong? He already knew. It must have been a mistake to meet that man.

Ah, damn it......

That was right. That had been the mistake. Tang Cheonil knew his own mistake. Or maybe not? Was it not even his fault?

It was not as if he had no faults, but it was wrong for things to have come this far.

“......Life.”

What was life? Ahh. Life. He did not know either.

What was Ten Thousand Flowers Rain anyway? Did he really have to do that?

They were words the Tang Family Head would have coughed blood upon hearing, but now Tang Cheonil thought all of it was pointless.

That evil ghost of a man.

He only had a handsome face. His temper was filthy, and the way he taught was ignorant.

He was clearly the type who thought that because he himself was a genius, everyone else must be a genius too.

He’s so annoying.

That was right. He was annoying.

The fact that he kept getting stronger was absurd too. How did someone grow stronger every single day? What a madman.

“I need to teach him a lesson someday.”

Of course, he was not going to be the one to do it. Tang Cheonil had already given up. That man should not be placed on the same line as him.

He was sure that when they first met, he had not been that bad...... but not even a year had passed, and something had gone wrong.

“Tsk.......”

He needed to escape quickly.

He had to learn Ten Thousand Flowers Rain as soon as possible and run away from that evil ghost bastard.

“How am I supposed to do it?”

There was no answer.

He had grasped the direction, but he still had not fully learned it. Since he could not use it properly in real combat, it was ambiguous to say he had learned it at all.

“What are you doing? We need to go quickly.”

Leaving Tang Cheonil’s thoughts behind, someone called him from ahead.

It was a member of the Holy Cult who had ended up in the same team as him.

What was his name again?

......It was Bong something, wasn’t it?

It was not a name worth remembering.

When it came to having a terrible temper, Tang Cheonil was similarly rude enough that he could hardly criticize anyone else for it.

“I am coming. Young Master Bong...... Bong.”

“......It is Man Yeonseon.”

Ah, so he was not even a Bong.

“Young Master Man.”

“.......”

At Tang Cheonil’s words, Man whatever-his-name-was frowned. It seemed the other side disliked Tang Cheonil just as much.

But what was he supposed to do about that?

That side is just as hopeless anyway.

There was nothing he could do just because the other side disliked him.

After all, there was no answer either way.

“Do you know roughly where the instructor is?”

Still, he had grown.

Tang Cheonil was aware of his own growth.

At least I’m using polite speech.

Originally, he had not even done that.

It was growth born from being beaten by Bang Seongyeon.

“......Is that not what we are searching for right now?”

“Didn’t you know the location before moving? Do we have to move that inefficiently?”

“Then you search for him.”

“How am I supposed to search when I don’t know anything? What do you expect from an orthodox martial artist?”

It was a belly-up attitude. At Tang Cheonil’s words, Man Yeonseon’s expression crumpled hard.

He looked like he had a lot to say but could not quite bring himself to say it.

What should he do? Should he tell him to say it if he had something to say?

No. That would lead to a fight.

Tang Cheonil was a man who knew how to keep his mouth shut.

“What? You mad?”

Ah, he failed.

“What?”

Man Yeonseon reacted.

“It was a mistake. A mistake. It slipped out without me realizing.......”

“......Without you realizing?”

“Isn’t sincerity something everyone keeps in their heart?”

“Are you insane?”

“A little?”

“.......”

At Tang Cheonil’s words, Man Yeonseon lost his words. He seemed to have a lot he wanted to say, but now he seemed to be gradually giving up.

At least they had not fought.

Tang Cheonil was simply pleased with his own growth.

Right. As long as it isn’t those bastards, I’m fine, aren’t I?

Whether it was Bang Seongyeon, Peng Dojun, or even Yu Yeon of Mount Hua.

As long as it was not those monster bastards, he could live with his shoulders straight. Woo Young Jin? He had realized it while beating that guy.

Right. I was living way too hunched over.

There was no need for that.

Mm, mm.

He should at least vent his anger and live here. As Tang Cheonil nodded to himself and thought that—

“......Found him.”

Man Yeonjin spoke. At those words, Tang Cheonil’s gaze shifted. Beyond there. Past the bushes, someone was standing. It was an instructor.

After being so hard to find, there he was.

“Now, let us ambush......”

Man Yeonjin stopped in the middle of speaking. It was because Tang Cheonil, who had been right beside him, had disappeared.

“What? Where did he......”

“Quiet.”

“......!”

He flinched. Tang Cheonil was right beside him.

He simply could not be seen.

“You said we were going to ambush him. Let us prepare.”

“.......”

Concealment arts. Could it be that precise? It was the moment Man Yeonjin reevaluated the level of Tang Cheonil, whom he had been secretly looking down on.

Clink. Tang Cheonil pulled throwing knives from his chest. He gripped a handful in one hand and a dagger in the other.

They were shabby. Low-quality hidden weapons entirely unlike the high-quality hidden weapons used by the Tang Family.

Could these pierce a person? They were so crude that such a question came to mind.

It can’t be helped.

If this was a place where he had to use things like this, then he had to accept it.

Sss—!

He raised his energy and wrapped them in hard aura.

It would be nice if he went and served as a windbreak.

Man Yeonseon had one job. Drawing attention. They had never exchanged any plan regarding this, but—

Crack—!

This side, too, was someone with a realm of his own. Even without speaking, they understood each other’s roles.

Man Yeonseon burst through the bushes and charged out. At the sight, the instructor’s gaze turned this way.

His sword moved with his gaze.

Clang—!

“Kh!”

When they collided, a groan burst from Man Yeonseon’s mouth. He had been pushed back by the instructor’s energy. By contrast, the opponent did not have even the slightest flaw.

Seeing that, the instructor clicked his tongue. It seemed he disliked the response.

Then his sword cut through the air.

Shiiiik—!

It was hard aura. Hard aura began flowing straight out.

The instructor’s sword raised its energy and advanced ahead. Just before it reached Man Yeonseon—

Flick—!

Papapak.

Hidden weapons shot toward him.

“......!”

The instructor flinched at the sight of the hidden weapons and waved his hand.

Papapak—!!!

His sword struck down several throwing knives, and the instructor turned his gaze. It was toward the place where Tang Cheonil was. However.

I drew his eyes.

Tang Cheonil was no longer there. Having shifted positions, Tang Cheonil was behind the instructor.

Just as he was about to slash down with the dagger—

“Peekaboo.”

“Huh?”

An unfamiliar voice cut in. What......!

“Good to see you.”

His gaze turned. He looked at the owner of the voice that had suddenly appeared.

What was this? It was a face he had seen somewhere before.

His confusion at the greeting lasted only a moment.

BANG—!!

“Kgh!?”

A fist drove into his body. He was pushed back just like that.

Kagagak—!

His body flew through the air and rolled across the ground.

“Cough.......”

After rolling several times, he dry-heaved. He had been struck squarely in the abdomen.

Tang Cheonil staggered and lifted his head.

There stood—

“I looked for you for quite a while, Young Master Poison Dragon.”

“.......”

A tall, thin young man.

Heavenly Sword was looking down at him.