Geom Mugeuk and Geom Ujin looked at each other in silence.
In the gaze between them, as if each understood the other's heart without a word, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon envied the Cult Leader.
He had never once envied the Cult Leader before. But now, he found himself thinking that he envied him for being a “father.”
If, as a martial artist, a son said he wanted to see his father fight, would one not want to gladly show him?
Geom Ujin’s gaze turned back toward the enemies. He said nothing, but the cold look in his eyes as he regarded them had already answered in his stead.
Geom Mugeuk also looked at the enemies with him.
Two had died, but there were still ten enemies remaining. And Gyo Cheon besides.
They were not opponents to be taken lightly. More of them were masters of the previous generation than of the current one. On top of that, they were men who had committed all manner of slaughter and evil deeds, and possessed more battle experience than anyone. And there was Gyo Cheon, who had spent his entire life piling up resentment. Even so, Geom Mugeuk did not worry about this.
Could Father perhaps be in danger?
His father was said to possess the greatest martial talent among all the Heavenly Demons in history.
And that father had recently risen to an even higher realm of martial arts. Which meant the power of his Nine Flames Demonic Art would also be different from before the regression. One could tell just from the Dark Flash he had shown earlier.
‘You bastards, this won’t be easy.’
Geom Mugeuk conveyed one piece of news to his father.
“Oh, and the matter with the Orthodox Faction has been settled well. Since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, no matter what happens in Chongqing, they’ll consider it not to be our doing.”
He deliberately spoke loudly for Gyo Cheon to hear. In case the fight turned unfavorable and he tried some useless scheme again.
Gyo Cheon’s expression stiffened, while his father, on the contrary, gave a slight nod with a satisfied look.
The one happier than his father was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Well done.”
The beginning of this matter had been caused by his own master. Before an extreme situation like a Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic paths could erupt, Geom Mugeuk had resolved it well.
At the news Geom Mugeuk delivered, not only Gyo Cheon but the other masters as well sank into an even heavier mood.
Now, no one dared to run their mouth carelessly like the Lust-Soul Vajra or Seongna Yeomgun had.
Gyo Cheon encouraged them to restore their spirits.
“Those two were struck down because of a surprise attack. Do not be shaken!”
But everyone here knew. Even Gyo Cheon, who had shouted, knew.
That move had had nothing to do with a surprise attack.
Even if the Demonic Cult Leader had told them in advance, I will attack now, would they truly have been able to block it?
Having seen Seongna Yeomgun’s and the Lust-Soul Vajra’s bodies sliced apart without either even being able to lift a hand, no one could confidently say they could stop it.
However, as Gyo Cheon had said when they died, each time he used such a tremendous move, the consumption of internal energy would be enormous.
‘We have to make him expend his internal energy.’
And one variable had appeared in this battle.
The appearance of the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader.
Would it be a gain, or a loss?
Viewed negatively, it meant there was one more master they had to kill; viewed positively, it meant there was someone they could take hostage. And not just anyone, but the Demonic Cult Leader’s own blood kin, a hostage of unquestionable value.
They had heard the rumors that the Young Cult Leader’s skill was far from ordinary, but even so, he could not possibly compare to facing that Geom Ujin.
Everyone’s gazes turned toward Giryeon Yosa and the Black Emperor, who had originally been the first to step forward. Those who had been first and second were now third and fourth.
“Let us all attack together!”
At Giryeon Yosa’s words, no one moved.
In truth, she had suggested it, but she had not expected anything. She herself would not have stepped forward either.
The Black Emperor and Giryeon Yosa looked at each other and exchanged glances. Even without exchanging voice transmissions, the two knew how they had to lead this fight.
Pour everything out from the very beginning.
If Geom Ujin used the Nine Flames Demonic Art again, they would die like dogs without even getting to make a move. Before that happened, they had to attack together.
Giryeon Yosa used claw arts, and the Black Emperor used swordsmanship.
The first to move was the Black Emperor. He kicked off the air and rose, immediately releasing sword energy toward Geom Ujin.
What he displayed was Heukcheon Strike, one of the forms he was most confident in among his unique martial art, the Heukcheon Sword Art.
Swaaaek!
It was sword energy like a bolt of lightning descending.
Geom Ujin twisted his body and avoided the sword energy that came crashing down as if to cleave him from above.
Boom!
The descending sword energy left a deep scar in the floor. It was right beside his foot.
Swaaaek! Boom! Swaaaek! Kwaaang!
Heukcheon Strike fell in succession, and Geom Ujin did not block with his sword, instead using footwork to evade. His movements minimized the consumption of internal energy.
Giryeon Yosa attacked at the same time.
Her fingernails had somehow protruded long, as if they had not been trimmed in years, and those sharp, hideous nails were emitting a red glow.
Chwaaaaaak!
What extended from both sets of nails looked like red threads. But they were astral threads called Blood Threads, capable of slicing clean through iron.
She had unleashed Spider Blood Threads, the strongest form of her unique martial art, the Blood Thread Divine Art.
Her Blood Threads were special. They would stretch straight out like spears, then waver like cloth. That was why they were powerful, and at the same time, impossible to predict.
Red lines spread out like a spiderweb and flew toward Geom Ujin.
The Black Emperor’s sword energy and Giryeon Yosa’s Blood Threads.
It was a moment when he had to raise protective astral energy to block, or release sword energy to neutralize their attacks.
But Geom Ujin still used footwork to evade. Like a beast aiming for a single moment, he conserved his internal energy and waited for an opportunity.
Geom Mugeuk did not take his eyes off his father’s fight for even an instant. His father did not fight while being conscious of others. Since his son was watching, he might have thought, Shall I dispose of them impressively? It would have been only natural.
How could he kill all the enemies with the internal energy he had?
His father fought with thorough calculation. If anything, he was a man who could have indulged in every sort of splendor and bravado.
What if such a father were his enemy? Just imagining it already made his chest feel tight.
Papapapapapapak!
Deep traces left by Blood Threads and sword energy remained on the floor and walls.
At first, the two had rejoiced, thinking they had seized the advantage. If the two of them poured out attacks like mad, eventually one would land properly.
But the longer their attacks continued, the more anxious they became.
Geom Ujin found gaps between attacks that should have been impossible to avoid. The attacks were dazzling, and his steps in evasion were calm.
Neither the Black Emperor nor Giryeon Yosa, nor those watching, knew how many times they had shouted this aloud or in their hearts.
That’s it! It hit! We did it!
But it was an illusion, attacks narrowly missing by a hair’s breadth.
Not a single attack touched Geom Ujin’s body.
As he watched the fight, Geom Mugeuk imagined it.
How would he dodge, and how should he respond?
That was why, in his eyes, he saw two figures.
His own image overlapped atop his father’s.
At times he moved exactly like his father, and at times he moved in subtly different ways. And at certain moments, he moved in the opposite direction, only to merge back into one again.
‘I can’t dodge this!’
The version of himself in his imagination, overlapped with his father, drew his sword and struck away the incoming astral energy.
But his father’s movement was different. He avoided the attack by unfolding footwork Geom Mugeuk had not even considered.
‘Ah!’
Each time his father found a path he had not, a tremor ran through Geom Mugeuk’s body. The learning gained from their difference did not simply end with learning something he had not known. Seeing a method he had not known made him think of yet another method.
If only this had not been the situation, he truly wanted to ask his father. What about this method? He would have shared a deep discussion of martial studies with him.
They had intended to make Geom Ujin expend his internal energy, but instead, the two of them were the ones whose internal energy was being consumed severely.
At the end of that anxiety, the Black Emperor unleashed the move he had been saving.
Heukcheon Mugan.
Blue sword energy erupted from the tip of the Black Emperor’s sword, split into eight streams, and flew toward Geom Ujin.
Swaaaaaaaek.
The sword energy poured down, cutting even through Giryeon Yosa’s Blood Threads.
And that was the very moment Geom Ujin had been waiting for.
The instant the Blood Threads were cut away by the Black Emperor’s great attack.
Geom Ujin launched himself forward as if exploding.
Through the severed Blood Threads, Geom Ujin charged. His target was Giryeon Yosa. Heukcheon Mugan should have struck Geom Ujin, but instead, it missed more widely than any attack before it.
Shiiik!
Geom Ujin, who had closed the distance in an instant, slashed Giryeon Yosa.
‘Fast!’
Giryeon Yosa drew her power to its limit and desperately swung both sets of nails.
Paaaak!
But her fingernails were cut away.
Then, without giving her even the time to dodge, Geom Ujin deeply slashed her shoulder, enough for blood to spray in abundance.
At the moment of crisis, the Black Emperor did not help her.
‘Why isn’t he helping?’
He should know very well that if she died, he would be next. Could it be? Had he been frightened and fled?
‘Coward!’
She could not block the third attack.
Puaaak!
With half her waist cut open, she could no longer endure and collapsed on the spot.
Only then could she see. The Black Emperor had not run away; he had been unable to come help her.
Saaaaak.
The Black Emperor was being butchered, surrounded on all sides by someone. What surrounded him were evil spirits.
First Form of the Nine Flames Demonic Art: Annihilation Form.
Geom Ujin’s Annihilation Form had just been unleashed.
When the evil spirits first revealed themselves, the Black Emperor truly felt as if his breath would stop.
They were not merely lumps of astral energy with frightening appearances. A tremendous demonic energy was constricting him from every direction, making his true qi flow poorly.
He unfolded protective astral energy and used every ultimate technique he possessed, but it was no use.
Geom Mugeuk saw it.
They certainly felt larger and more solid than his own evil spirits. The four evil spirits with terrifying faces were hacking the Black Emperor to pieces.
Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice!
It did not end with a single downward strike. They kept striking down as if they were alive. It meant that if the opponent endured the first attack, they could slash him apart a second and third time. It was clearly different from the Annihilation Form he used.
But that was not what had truly changed.
Originally, Geom Ujin’s evil spirits had no expression. Different appearances and emotions were traits unique to Geom Mugeuk’s evil spirits.
But today’s evil spirits were different. Geom Mugeuk sensed some kind of emotion in the eyes of the evil spirits as they looked at his father.
‘It’s different from that time!’
His father’s gaze as he looked at them had also deepened.
An Annihilation Form in actual combat.
It might have been a change and communion that his father, too, was experiencing for the first time.
Soon after, the four evil spirits vanished completely.
In the silence that descended, only the scent of blood grew even thicker.
The surroundings were a mess. Countless traces remained on the floor and walls.
Traces left by Blood Threads, traces left by the Black Emperor’s sword energy.
They were like a spiderweb—no, even denser than a go board.
‘How on earth did he dodge all that?’
To them, those were traces of failure; to Geom Ujin, they were traces of success.
Not even a single hem of Geom Ujin’s clothing had been torn.
And the moment his enemies revealed an opening, for even one instant, he absolutely did not miss that opportunity.
Geom Ujin glanced briefly at Geom Mugeuk.
His father’s eyes seemed to ask, “The fight you said you wanted to see—are you watching it well?”
Geom Mugeuk answered with his eyes. “Yes. I have seen it clearly.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the enemies.
Now that two more had died, eight remained.
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk realized something. The enemies who should have numbered eight were seven.
Where did one go?
In that very instant, someone suddenly appeared right before his nose and thrust a sword at him.
Swaaaaaek!
It was none other than the Red-Eyed Young Master, whose entire face had been red.
The technique that had allowed him to move through space in an instant was his trump card, Corridor Extreme Step.
As a user of swift swordsmanship, he possessed an astonishing lightness art. He was certain. Since he had attacked first, his opponent would never be able to block it.
‘If we are to kill the Demonic Cult Leader, we must take his child hostage!’
Because killing was not his objective, his sword flew toward Geom Mugeuk’s shoulder.
He had heard rumors that the Young Cult Leader was extraordinary, but to him, he was still only the Young Cult Leader.
Chaeaaeng!
But his sword was blocked.
Astonishingly, the one who struck away the incoming sword was Geom Ujin.
Faster than Corridor Extreme Step, the lightness art that had arrived in a flashing instant was none other than the Heavenly Demon Flight Art.
“As expected! I knew Father would save me.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s relaxed reaction, a question flashed through the Red-Eyed Young Master’s mind.
‘Surely not? Did he deliberately not dodge because he knew he’d be saved?’
That was an even more astonishing level than dodging, wasn’t it?
But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts.
The Red-Eyed Young Master swiftly sent his sword flying, launching a surprise attack at Geom Ujin.
Swaaaaaak!
Once again, he struck first.
Chaeng!
But it was blocked again. Geom Ujin’s sword was as fast as his swift sword.
“Thanks to you, I get to watch Father fight from right beside him.”
The moment Geom Mugeuk finished speaking, Geom Ujin’s sword clashed with the Red-Eyed Young Master’s.
Geom Mugeuk did not step back, but watched their battle from where he stood, like a pillar rooted in place.
He did not worry about a stray blade flying at him. With swords moving that fast, if either of them let their attention wander elsewhere, their throat would be pierced by the other’s blade.
Their swords were so fast that it created the illusion of dozens of blades being swung at once. But each of them held only one sword.
Over the Heavenly Demon Sword, the Black Demon Sword seemed to overlap. The two swords moved identically, then diverged, then moved together again.
Even in that moment when swift swords flew back and forth too fast to be seen, both his father’s sword and his own sword were visible in Geom Mugeuk’s mind.
He sensed and learned the difference between the two swords by instinct. It was a speed his mind could not follow.
‘Father, one of these days, I think we’ll have to sit down and talk all night about today’s fight.’
That was how much he felt from watching his father’s battle. And if they did talk through the night, he thought his father would surely gain an achievement from it as well. Because today’s enlightenment was that kind of enlightenment.
As fast as their swords were, the result of the fight came quickly too.
Slice!
With the sound of bone splitting, the battle came to an end.
A result without any upset.
The Red-Eyed Young Master clutched his chest and staggered backward. Blood was flowing out between his fingers.
The Red-Eyed Young Master staggered toward Geom Mugeuk, who was standing beside him.
Because he had tried to take him hostage for nothing and ended up dying, his eyes were filled with resentment.
He seized the hem of Geom Mugeuk’s clothes. Geom Mugeuk let him do as he pleased.
“……You bastard! I should have killed you.”
He sank to his knees, but did not let go of the hem he clutched.
Geom Mugeuk looked down into his eyes, where life was fading away.
Then he wiped the blood from the man’s face with his hand and smeared it in red streaks across his own face.
“From now on, I’m the Red-Eyed Young Master. You’re old as dirt—what kind of young master are you?”
Glaring at him with a face full of rage, the Red-Eyed Young Master died then and there.
Geom Mugeuk looked at Gyo Cheon and grinned broadly with his blood-smeared face.
“I’m your Red-Eyed Young Master now, so don’t even think of taking me hostage.”
Anger and absurdity flashed across Gyo Cheon’s face at the same time.
“Madman.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze toward him sank coldly.
“If you meant to lay a hand on the Demonic Cult Leader, you should have come even madder than me.”