The Pungcheon Cult Leader who usually joked and blustered was a completely different person from the cult leader standing here now. An unapproachable dignity flowed from him.
The reactions of the ghost souls in the tavern were different from when Geom Mugeuk had appeared. Toward Geom Mugeuk, they had shown curiosity along with blatant hostility.
But they did not dare do so toward the Pungcheon Cult Leader. They, too, had seen the hellscape beyond the open door. The corpses of ghost souls strewn across it.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader slowly passed among the ghost souls and walked over near Geom Mugeuk and Hwanyeo.
At his appearance, Gwisuk, who had been peering out from the kitchen, had a rigid expression. Everyone else could appear, but the one person who must not appear had shown up.
Seeing that reaction, Geom Mugeuk had a thought. Perhaps these two people knew the Pungcheon Cult Leader even better than he did.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader, who had walked up to where the two of them stood, looked at Hwanyeo and said coldly,
“Was it you? The bitch who touched my disciple?”
For an instant, Hwanyeo’s expression twitched. Had she ever heard such abuse before? And if she had, would she have endured it?
But she did not dare ask back, “That pathetic bitch was your disciple?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Pungcheon Cult Leader and smiled.
To think the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s presence within an illusion could feel this reassuring.
“Inside an illusion, Cult Leader, you are the Heavenly Demon.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader’s shoulders shot up toward the heavens.
“What would you have done if it hadn’t been me, after being dragged all the way here?”
“I had faith in you, Cult Leader.”
As they exchanged banter, the Pungcheon Cult Leader asked with his eyes whether he had found out what needed to be found out. Geom Mugeuk gave a slight shake of his head.
Then, as if to say he would try to find it out himself, the Pungcheon Cult Leader asked Hwanyeo,
“The Yin-Yang Soul-Reversal Art is a soul-capturing art of the Blood Cult that was lost long ago. How did you learn it?”
Hwanyeo said nothing. The Pungcheon Cult Leader did not know her, but she knew the Pungcheon Cult Leader well. After all, the name she had heard most often while learning illusion arts was neither the Heavenly Demon nor the Martial Alliance Leader, but the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
“So the famous you has become the Demonic Cult’s dog.”
Geom Mugeuk watched to see how the Pungcheon Cult Leader would react to her provocation.
He was the Pungcheon Cult Leader who always flared up at Gowol’s provocations.
He clearly showed how different the heart that faced a friend was from the heart that faced an enemy.
“Isn’t a dog a hundred times better than people who hide in the shadows and weave conspiracies?”
Just then, a ghost soul from behind rushed in and launched a surprise attack.
At the very moment it tried to bite the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s neck.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader swiftly turned and seized the ghost soul by the collar.
“Where did you learn such bad habits? Biting from behind—just like your master!”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader slapped the ghost soul across the cheek.
It looked like a playful smack, but within the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s hand movement was the subtlety of illusion arts that had reached the pinnacle.
For a moment, light seemed to flash in the soulless ghost soul’s eyes, then it vanished.
Thud.
The ghost soul that collapsed to the floor had become a corpse.
The ghost souls that had been in the same place as the ones killed earlier rushed in again.
This time as well, the Pungcheon Cult Leader dealt with them naturally. After lightly subduing them as they charged fiercely, he slammed their faces together.
Thwack!
This time, too, the two ghost souls’ eyes lit up, then went completely dark. They did not die from the impact of the collision. It was because of the profound energy contained in the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s hands.
The ghost souls all rose from their seats at once and let out shrieks.
Kihihihihihihihi.
It was a ghostly wail that shook the human heart.
Geom Mugeuk’s protective astral qi activated, controlling the sound that shook the soul.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader shouted,
“Silence, you bastards!”
As if he had unleashed a Lion’s Roar, his booming shout rang out, and the ghostly wailing disappeared.
At the very moment the ghost souls all became frightened.
Gwisuk quietly recited an incantation. Then, ghostly energy began surging from the bodies of all the ghost souls at once.
Hwanyeo, too, leaped back and began reciting an incantation.
Then madness flowed from the ghost souls’ eyes, as though martial artists had taken a drug to amplify their internal energy. It felt as if those who had grown twice as strong because of Gwisuk were growing twice as strong again.
Even so, Geom Mugeuk did not stop them. The simplest way to end this fight would be to eliminate those two, but Hwanyeo absolutely must not be killed. He had to have her remove the Yin-Yang Soul-Reversal Art placed on Cheongseon through the great rite. It was also his final chance to learn about the Phantom King.
Emitting ghostly energy and killing intent, the ghost souls from every direction rushed in at once. They aimed for vital points and swung both palms. They swung, clawed, bit, and tore while releasing suffocating ghostly energy. Truly, their entire bodies were weapons.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader stepped forward and faced them.
He personally showed how he had broken through that multitude of ghost souls outside the door.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader’s movements were faster than expected. The assumption that his martial arts would be weak because he had learned illusion arts was nothing more than prejudice.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader roamed among the ghost souls. Using light footwork as if dancing, he tapped their foreheads and chests with his palm.
It looked light, but it was by no means a light technique. At those gestures, the ghost souls that had been rampaging madly dropped like bundles of straw.
Black energy rose from the bodies of Hwanyeo and Gwisuk. Their incantations were recited even faster, and the ghost souls grew even stronger.
The ghostly energy filling the entire hall made it hard to breathe. The Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art activated even more powerfully and protected my body. If not for the Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art, it would not have been easy to withstand this energy.
In contrast, the Pungcheon Cult Leader dealt with them without the slightest agitation, just as he had at the start.
He used ghost souls as shields to block attacks, and he lifted them like dolls and swung them around. Whenever they were struck on the cheek, the back of the head, or the stomach, they became corpses.
As they disappeared one by one, the expressions of Hwanyeo and Gwisuk grew increasingly stiff. In the end, they gave up reciting their incantations. They had judged that these things could not possibly do the job.
Then the remaining ghost souls became corpses even faster.
Thwack!
The Pungcheon Cult Leader delivered a proper blow to the last ghost soul. Its entire body shattered, and it flew between the two of them before crashing into the wall.
In the blink of an eye, all the ghost souls inside had become corpses and collapsed. Though since they had no souls to begin with, calling them corpses felt awkward.
Gwisuk and Hwanyeo looked at each other. They had not expected to be able to kill the Pungcheon Cult Leader with ghost souls, but they had not thought he would deal with all of them without a single injury.
Geom Mugeuk was sincerely impressed.
“I had no idea you were this nimble, Cult Leader.”
“I lost weight because of Gowol’s nagging.”
Like seeing someone you never knew was a painter paint a picture, or someone you never knew was a musician play an instrument, the Pungcheon Cult Leader, now revealing his skill, was impressive.
Just looking at those eyes now was enough. Even in a situation where he would normally have joked and blustered endlessly, he was looking at the two of them with deepened eyes. On the battlefield, he did not let down his guard.
As if the real fight began now, Gwisuk stepped forward.
Calmly watching him, the Pungcheon Cult Leader said to Geom Mugeuk,
“The ghostly energy is thick. Be careful.”
He did not look down on Gwisuk.
Gwisuk strode forward, and the Pungcheon Cult Leader also walked out as if to meet him.
“You are a disgrace to the martial world beyond the borders.”
Gwisuk, too, stabbed at the fact that the Pungcheon Cult Leader had joined hands with Geom Mugeuk. He thought it was the greatest weakness, but that was because he did not know what kind of relationship the Pungcheon Cult Leader had formed with Geom Mugeuk.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader nodded.
“Let’s say I’m a disgrace. Then what are you? The pride of the martial world beyond the borders?”
Because he had gained Gowol and Geom Mugeuk, he did not feel angry at all, even hearing himself called a disgrace. In the past, those words would have made him jump up and down.
“If you’re going to insult someone, you should first reveal who you are, shouldn’t you? Who might you be?”
What could they, who operated while hiding their identities, possibly say?
Instead of answering, Gwisuk called out his subordinates in the kitchen.
Men dressed as cooks came pouring out. There were so many of them that it made one wonder if there had really been that many people in that kitchen.
There were nine in all. What they held in their hands were all square kitchen knives. Red ghostly energy flowed from their eyes and blades.
They, too, were not living people, but far more powerful ghostly energy overflowed from them than from the ghost souls that had rushed in earlier. If the ghost souls had been disorderly, these fellows were well-trained martial artists.
This time, Geom Mugeuk stepped forward.
“I’ll handle them.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader looked at Geom Mugeuk. Worry flickered in his eyes. No matter how capable Geom Mugeuk was, this place was a world within an illusion.
“I think what comes next will be stronger, so I’ll take care of the weaker ones first.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s ease, the Pungcheon Cult Leader cast off his worry. Yes, if he did not trust Geom Mugeuk, who could he trust?
On the other hand, the cooks’ momentum grew even sharper. They were beings who existed only within the illusion, but they understood human speech and even possessed emotions.
They rushed toward Geom Mugeuk.
Whoosh! Swish! Whoooosh!
The knives that flew in with sharp sounds of cutting air began to change.
Their attacks were fast and ever-changing. On top of that, they employed perfect combined assault techniques. In an instant, dozens of lines of blades embroidered the air.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
This time as well, Hwanyeo and Gwisuk tried to pressure Geom Mugeuk with ghostly energy while reciting incantations.
Then the Pungcheon Cult Leader released his aura and blocked their energy.
At the boundary where Geom Mugeuk and the cooks were fighting, two forces collided. It was a two-against-one battle of energy, but the Pungcheon Cult Leader was not pushed back.
Slash!
Geom Mugeuk’s Black Demon Sword cut across the chest of the cook attacking at the very front. The attack went in deep enough to bisect the body, but the opponent did not fall.
The second one was the same. Even after his heart was pierced, he did not collapse. No fatal wound could stop them.
Unlike the ghost souls, they were beings that could not be killed unless one found the precise method to break them and struck it.
Even as they were pushed back by the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s internal energy, smiles appeared on the faces of Hwanyeo and Gwisuk. They were certain that no matter how extraordinary the Young Cult Leader was, he would not be able to face them here.
If Geom Mugeuk had not put the Blood-Eye Essence in his eyes, and if he had not received the Divine Eye Art, this fight would surely have become a blood-draining struggle just as they expected.
But when he activated the Blood-Eye Essence and Divine Eye Art and stared intently at them, one part of each body was glowing bluish. For some, it was an arm; for others, it was the left knee.
When he knew exactly where he had to stab, how could they possibly be a match for Geom Mugeuk?
The Dark Shadow Step, Flicker Step, and Dark King Step he had been saving were unleashed in succession. The Four Wind God Steps became faster and more precise than before. Geom Mugeuk could feel it himself, so those watching could not help but be astonished.
In a flash, Geom Mugeuk moved as if he had transcended time and space.
When he thrust his sword precisely toward the bluish-glowing weak points, those who had seemed as if they would keep attacking even with their heads cut off died on the spot and collapsed.
Each time Hwanyeo and Gwisuk’s shock continued, another one fell.
Gwisuk tried to intervene midway, but he could not find the right moment. Geom Mugeuk revealed no opening whatsoever, so if he carelessly stepped in, it was certain he would die by that sword along with them.
And so the nine cooks became corpses and lay strewn about in an instant.
Gwisuk asked with a startled face,
“How did you find their weakness?”
He was shocked that Geom Mugeuk had been able to see it.
Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude to the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
“It was thanks to you, Cult Leader.”
If he had not blocked those two people’s ghostly energy, his body would have been much heavier. No matter how clearly he could see their weakness, it would not have been an easy fight. In this battle as well, the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s contribution had been great.
Gwisuk misunderstood that expression of gratitude.
“As expected, you are a cowardly man.”
He thought the Pungcheon Cult Leader had told him their weakness. In a sense, it was true. The Blood-Eye Essence, too, was a sacred relic of the Pungcheon Cult.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader did not bother making excuses.
“You bring out things that don’t die even when their hearts are stabbed, and you dare call someone else cowardly?”
After saying that, the Pungcheon Cult Leader looked at Geom Mugeuk. Their gazes tangled in the air. They were both deeply worried about each other, but on the other hand, their trust in each other was growing. After all, this was the first time they had ever truly fought together like this.
This time, Hwanyeo stepped forward.
“This time won’t be easy.”
Blood began dripping from the ceiling.
Each and every drop gradually swelled upon the floor, and before long rose up as a hideous monster. One after another, beings so revolting and terrifying that the mere sight of them was enough to turn the stomach lifted themselves upright. They were larger even than the demon soldiers. Dozens of enormous monsters filled the entire restaurant.
“I don’t know how you figured out the method to break it, but these blood spirits will be different. Blood spirits can never be killed unless this space itself is broken.”
Indeed, there was no bluish light to be seen on the beings called blood spirits.
Geom Mugeuk slowly edged backward and said to Cult Leader Pungcheon,
“I told you the next ones would be stronger.”
“The ones after these will be even more dreadful, though?”
Cult Leader Pungcheon had read Geom Mugeuk’s thoughts exactly.
“Are you worried about me?”
He was saying that they surely still had another move left, and that Geom Mugeuk intended to take on the stronger enemy himself. His perception was frighteningly sharp.
Geom Mugeuk trusted Cult Leader Pungcheon more than anyone, but even so, his heart was set on facing any enemy that was even the slightest bit more dangerous himself.
You may be the one who came to get me, but I’ll be the one who takes you out.
He would take him out without leaving so much as a scratch on his finger.
“Of course not. Please take care of the next ones too, Cult Leader!”
Geom Mugeuk knew better than anyone that only by answering this way would the next words come.
“Not a chance. You’ll take the next ones.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon stepped in front of Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk looked at his back.
The back of Cult Leader Pungcheon as he bantered while cursing him was his back, and this back, showing not the slightest fear even before those terrifying blood spirits, was his back as well. The feeling his back gave off was different from anyone else’s.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The blood spirits approached with a fearsome momentum, shaking the floor.
Even for Cult Leader Pungcheon, dealing with them did not seem easy, so Geom Mugeuk tensed inwardly, ready to leap into the fight at any moment.
When Cult Leader Pungcheon extended his hand, a single drop of ink fell into the air.
That tiny dot expanded in an instant, and a large black hole appeared in midair.
“Danger!”
The very moment Gwisuk shouted out from instinctive alarm—
Whirrrrrrrr!
The black hole whirled like a vortex and began sucking in the blood spirits.
In an instant, the blood spirits were drawn inside. It was not a hole they could withstand. It was a hole that would unfailingly suck in whatever its target was.
The sight of those huge, terrifying blood spirits being swept in helplessly felt utterly unreal.
Once it had swallowed all the blood spirits, the black circle instantly shrank back into a dot of its original size, then vanished from the air with a pop.
It was as if nothing had ever happened here to begin with.
At that overwhelming illusion art, not only Hwannyeo and Gwisuk but even Geom Mugeuk stood there blankly in astonishment.
Then, from Cult Leader Pungcheon’s mouth, words that only the absolute sovereign of illusion arts could speak flowed out calmly.
“You opened it, but this is my world.”