Chapter 236: He’s Here?

“Yang Seonu...”

The hunchbacked old man murmured as he stared at the face before him, then exhaled a long stream of smoke from his pipe.

Fwoooosh—

Thick smoke filled the space between them, obscuring Kim Muhyuk’s vision. The old man’s voice receded slightly.

“Follow me.”

Kim followed the old man’s back through a maze of twisting alleys.

They seemed to be heading toward a deserted stretch on the outskirts of the district. The streets grew darker and filthier the farther they went.

The smoke itself is a kind of poison.

It dulled the five senses and left the mind hazy.

Kim raised his internal energy to resist it while sharpening his senses, his eyes fixed on the old man’s back.

He’s strong.

The hunchbacked old man appeared to be walking slowly, yet each step carried him several meters forward.

He seemed far too powerful to be merely the proprietor of a Black Shop.

The thought that the Heavenly Demon Cult’s true strength might exceed even his expectations sent a thrilling shiver down Kim’s spine alongside his tension.

Looks like I found the right place.

Kim heightened his vigilance.

Only after quite some time did they finally reach their destination.

“It is humble, but come in.”

Creeeak.

The old man pushed open a heavily rusted iron door and descended into a semi-basement building.

A moment later, a surprisingly large, barren space resembling a warehouse came into view.

Kim looked over the dried bloodstains covering portions of the ceiling and walls.

“I was told this was a Black Shop, but I don’t see much merchandise. Is today not a business day?”

The hunchbacked old man tapped out his pipe, packed it with fresh tobacco, and gave him a crooked smile.

“You’re an amusing fellow. Only those who come to buy things care about the merchandise. Guests seeking the Cult usually have no interest in it.”

“I’ve spent some time living as a fugitive. It made me suspicious.”

“We don’t sell the Cult’s guests, so there’s no need to worry.”

So it really was a Black Shop.

The old man sat on the lone sofa standing in the middle of the warehouse and looked at Kim.

“I am one of the Cult’s Shepherds. I guide lost lambs who wish to join us toward the Heavenly Demon.”

Now that Kim was facing him up close, he could see blind conviction and faith behind the cloudy film covering the old man’s eyes.

A fanatic.

Kim had encountered quite a few people connected to the Heavenly Demon Cult by now, but this was the first who displayed its religious nature so openly.

“As I said before, I’m Yang Seonu. I came from Korea and was an elder of the Skybreaker Gate. Black Swallow will vouch for my identity.”

“Black Swallow is dead.”

“...What?”

As Kim feigned surprise, the old man calmly exhaled another cloud of smoke.

“He took responsibility for failing to spread the faith through the Korean martial world and offered his own soul to the Heavenly Demon. Though I doubt such a paltry offering brought Him much joy...”

The old man smiled.

By the time his gaze settled on Kim again, his eyes had turned cold.

“Which means there is no longer anyone who can vouch for who you are.”

“...Then why bring me here?”

“How could a Shepherd turn away a lost lamb wandering without direction? If you prove useful after I examine you, then naturally I should bring you into the fold.”

The man was an utterly deranged Heavenly Demon Cult fanatic.

Rather than let himself be dragged along by the old man’s pace, Kim spoke first to seize control of the conversation.

“It’s unfortunate that Black Swallow is dead, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ll get straight to the point. I want to join the Heavenly Demon Cult.”

“Why?”

“Revenge.”

Kim twisted Yang Seonu’s face into a vicious scowl.

“I’m going to take revenge on the bastards who made me a fugitive. With the Heavenly Demon Cult’s power behind me, I think I’ll only be satisfied after I pay them back dozens of times over.”

The hunchbacked old man smiled in satisfaction at the killing intent pouring from him.

“Revenge. A fine motive. Those who seek revenge inevitably seek strength, and strength is the greatest virtue pursued by our Cult. However...”

Fwoooooosh—

A long plume of smoke poured from his pipe, filling the warehouse with a dense haze.

Kim realized that the pipe itself was a powerful spellcraft tool.

“You are aware that the doctrine of our Cult is that the strong are revered, yes?”

The old man’s clouded eyes turned pitch-black, pupils and all.

Crrrk.

His hunched back straightened with a series of cracks, and his emaciated body swelled with muscle.

Even while seated, the old man had grown so enormous that his eyes were nearly level with Kim’s.

“Only the strong are worthy of respect. Only the strong have the right to rule—and the right to take revenge. The Heavenly Demon shall use me, His Shepherd, to test whether you possess that right.”

As the old man’s sinister, eerie voice rang through the chamber, the warehouse floor began to heave.

CRACK. CRRRRACK.

Gaunt fingers punched through the floor.

Then long arms burst out after them.

Answering the old man’s call, the dead planted their hands against the floor and began hauling themselves out one by one.

Kim looked around at the horror-movie scene unfolding before him and murmured,

“...A Demonic Void Art combined with spellcraft?”

The dead roared soundlessly through the thick haze, gray energy flowing over their corpses.

The hunchbacked old man, now transformed into a monster himself, commanded them.

“My poor lambs. We require a new sacrifice for the Heavenly Demon Hall. And as fortune would have it, fresh life has come to us of its own accord...”

This man was incomparably stronger than the third-rate spellcaster Kim had once encountered at the House of Ghostly Yin.

Worse, he was using spellcraft to reanimate the specially drug-treated corpses of martial artists and command them.

A true demonic martial artist.

A fanatic of the Heavenly Demon Cult who pursued the demonic path—the road away from humanity—cried out in rapture.

“Rip open his chest and bring me his heart!”

The dead shrieked as one and charged Kim.

Every last one of them moved with speed worthy of a first-rate expert.

Shing.

Kim drew his sword, one corner of his mouth curling upward.

“Quite the initiation. Worthy of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s reputation.”

Grinning savagely, Kim slashed at the first monster to reach him.

KRRRCH!

Its neck, tough as iron sinew, was cut halfway through and left dangling.

The monster still refused to stop.

Kim followed with a spinning kick.

Its head flew away like a kite whose string had been cut.

“You’re not going to make me pay for these later, are you?”

Kim flicked his sword in provocation.

The old man answered by taking another draw from his pipe and producing an even denser fog.

Fwoooooosh—

Kim frantically cut, stabbed, and smashed aside the monsters attacking him from every direction.

The fog thickened until he could barely see a step ahead. It weighed down his body and obscured his vision, while the unnaturally resilient creatures resisted even blade aura and refused to die when their hearts were pierced.

Before Kim had crossed the threshold into the realm of a supreme master, this would have been a difficult fight.

“Master. Let’s devour every last one of them!”

Phantom Dream sent him its energy, urging him to use its essence-devouring power.

With the sacred weapon’s ability added to his own, dealing with corpses steeped in sinister energy would undoubtedly become much easier.

Kim suppressed Phantom Dream’s power and answered inwardly.

I can handle this myself.

Even without its essence-devouring power, Phantom Dream was one of the hardest and sharpest swords in the world.

For an accomplished supreme-master swordsman, that alone was enough.

So save your strength. I’ll prove myself without your help against something this trivial.

A smile spread across Kim’s lips.

His eyes lit up with the delight of a child who had just arrived at an amusement park as he plunged into the charging dead.

A sword dance unfolded as though he were possessed.

He evaded, deflected, thrust, and cut through attacks coming from every direction, every motion uninhibited yet exquisitely precise.

SLASH! SHRAAAK! SHNK!

As he swung his sword without pause, Kim shouted, his voice rising with exhilaration.

“Good!”

For a time, a storm of blades swept through the underground warehouse.

The dead writhed and made grotesque noises after losing arms and legs, soon forming a small hill of mangled bodies.

SHRAAAK!

At last, Kim severed the head of the final monster and sent it tumbling to the floor.

THOOM!

He kicked off the ground and shot toward the wide-eyed hunchbacked old man.

In an instant, his blade was pressed beneath the man’s chin.

Kim growled,

“Does this qualify me? Or does it only end after I cut off your head and offer it on the Heavenly Demon’s altar?”

Seeing the murderous intent boiling in Kim’s eyes, the hunchbacked old man smiled with satisfaction.

“Excellent. The Heavenly Demon has acknowledged that you possess the qualifications.”

Ssssss...

The black energy slowly receded from his eyes.

At some point, the dense smoke filling the warehouse also began to disperse.

Even the remains of the dead Kim had cut down moments earlier vanished without a trace.

Kim merely muttered, sounding completely unsurprised.

“So it really was spellcraft.”

“...Oh? When did you notice?”

“The feedback through the sword was slightly off. Still, it was an entertaining experience.”

Kim slid Phantom Dream, spotless and without a single trace of blood, back into its scabbard.

“If the opportunity comes, I’d like to cut down the real thing next time.”

The hunchbacked old man watched him with admiration and nodded.

“Outstanding martial arts, a fearless disposition, and keen perception on top of it all... You are a talent better suited to our Cult than anyone I have seen in years!”

It was the highest praise the man could give him, but Kim merely asked with an unimpressed expression,

“So did I pass the initiation test?”

“I do not believe that is for me to decide. There is one final matter to confirm.”

“What now...?”

Creeeak.

At that moment, the door to the underground warehouse opened and a masked man dressed in black stepped inside.

“...”

Kim had never met him in person before.

Yet he instinctively knew exactly who the man was.

Before Yang Seonu died, he had described this person in as much detail as possible while desperately trying to buy time.

Thanks to that, the appropriate words came naturally.

“Ha! You really had me convinced you were dead, Black Swallow!”

Black Swallow’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“It has been a while, Elder Yang. I’m glad to see you looking well.”

“I nearly died several times. To be honest, I’m still being hunted, so I wouldn’t exactly call my situation safe.”

Kim answered casually, then tilted his head as though genuinely puzzled.

“But why lie and tell me you were dead?”

Black Swallow strode over and stopped directly in front of him.

He scrutinized Kim’s face with an intensity that bordered on rude before speaking.

“...We needed confirmation. Someone might have killed you and assumed your identity.”

“If you’re suspicious, feel free to touch my face yourself.”

Kim leaned his face toward him.

Black Swallow shook his head.

“I’ve confirmed enough. For a martial artist, what fingerprint could be more reliable than the martial arts he has trained in all his life?”

In other words, the trial had been designed to verify Yang Seonu’s martial arts.

After all, as far as they knew, Yang Seonu was the only supreme master who had learned Sword Demon Choi Geon’s martial arts.

“A pinnacle expert could never have passed that test unscathed. If it had been your one and only Junior Brother, for instance.”

There was a teasing note in Black Swallow’s voice.

Kim gave a short laugh as well.

“Kim Muhyuk. I’ll kill that bastard with my own hands. No matter how long it takes...”

“Surely you knew? I assumed that was why you came.”

“Knew what?”

Black Swallow lowered his voice as though revealing some tremendous secret.

“Kim Muhyuk is in New York right now. Only a few hours away.”

“...What?”

Yang Seonu’s face went completely rigid.

Then, little by little, it twisted as murderous intent of terrifying intensity poured from him.

“That bastard I’m going to tear apart... is here?”

The hatred in that killing intent was so deep it sent chills across the entire body.

Black Swallow’s eyes gleamed as he stepped closer.

“Let’s go inside first. I believe we have a conversation ahead of us that will be extremely beneficial to both of us.”