Wi Mucheon, lord of Heavenly Will Palace, was deeply shaken.
‘Heaven’s Will will be fulfilled three hundred years from now?’
Right beside him, the Guardian Palace Lord saw with his own eyes the corners of Wi Mucheon’s eyes trembling. It was the first time he had ever seen the palace lord so astonished and flustered.
Geom Mugeuk, within the Space-Time Transposition Art, was just as shocked.
‘They had already prophesied that three hundred years ago?’
Truly, it was hard to believe even after seeing it with his own eyes.
Silence settled over the hall.
Wi Mucheon, who had been staring at the Divine Maiden, slowly walked back and sat down. Then he poured wine into his cup.
Having the Divine Maiden stand before him while he sat and poured himself wine was discourteous, but at that moment, no one paid it any mind.
Trickle, trickle.
In that place where not even the sound of breathing could be heard, only the sound of wine being poured rang out.
The Guardian Palace Lord could feel it—just how furious Wi Mucheon was right now. That clear sound of falling wine was the sound of him suppressing his rage.
Without a word, Wi Mucheon looked down at the cup, filled to the brim and nearly overflowing.
So much blood had already been shed. They had already come to a point from which there was no turning back. And now Heaven had delivered such a prophecy? Then why had Bigwe awakened? Why had it wept like that in his hands?
After fiddling with the wine cup for a moment, Wi Mucheon asked the Divine Maiden in a calm tone.
“Would you care for a cup?”
The expressions of the women in white lined up on either side stiffened.
As if sitting alone and pouring wine were not enough, now he was offering her a drink. No matter if he was the lord of Heavenly Will Palace, it was something he must not do.
Because the Divine Maiden’s eyes were covered, it was impossible to tell what emotions she felt.
“I am fine.”
At the Divine Maiden’s calm reply, Wi Mucheon drank alone.
The very moment he set down his cup, astonishing words flowed from the Divine Maiden’s mouth.
“Though I cannot drink, I will pour you a cup.”
At the Divine Maiden’s words, the women in white all looked at her at once, then lowered their heads again.
They were startled and tense. The fact that the Divine Maiden was doing something she would never ordinarily do could not be simply because they were standing in the middle of a war.
It must mean this prophecy was that important.
The Divine Maiden slowly moved her feet. Though her eyes were covered, she walked precisely to Wi Mucheon.
As if she could see, she lifted the wine bottle and accurately poured wine into Wi Mucheon’s cup.
Trickle, trickle.
The clear sound of wine filling the cup made the hearts of the women in white even more fearful. They felt a taut tension, as if something terrible might happen at any moment. Everyone knew full well what the prophecy the Divine Maiden had delivered would mean to the lord of Heavenly Will Palace.
Without drinking the wine she had poured, Wi Mucheon asked,
“What will happen if I do not withdraw from this war?”
Then the Divine Maiden calmly delivered the prophecy.
“In this battle, Heavenly Will Palace will suffer a crushing defeat. And you, Palace Lord, will die at their hands.”
It was something no one would dare say. If she had not been the Divine Maiden, it would not have been the least bit strange for her head to be smashed apart by a single palm strike from the lord of Heavenly Will Palace.
But Wi Mucheon did not do so. His cold fury instead made him calm.
He drained the wine the Divine Maiden had poured.
“Regrettably, this prophecy is wrong.”
It was not “I think it is wrong,” but a declaration that it was wrong. It was an even greater discourtesy than offering her wine earlier.
The women lined up there all raised their heads and looked at the lord of Heavenly Will Palace. Their gazes were those of people staking their lives. To deny the Divine Maiden’s prophecy was to deny their very existence.
Wi Mucheon paid them no attention. His gaze was fixed solely on the Divine Maiden.
Amid the cold tension, the Divine Maiden opened her mouth. As if she had naturally expected the palace lord to deny it, she was utterly composed.
“There may be a Divine Maiden whose entire life passes without a single prophecy descending, but a prophecy that has descended is never wrong.”
From deep within Wi Mucheon’s heart, a desire surged upward.
It was killing intent—the desire to kill the woman before him and make her a sacrifice for this battle. But he could not do that. If he did, the morale of Heavenly Will Palace would fall to the ground, and the hearts of the people would leave him. The martial artists of Heavenly Will Palace believed in the Divine Maiden’s prophecies.
“Even so, I will not stop this war.”
“May I ask the reason?”
“This time, Heaven personally conveyed its will to me.”
“How did it do so?”
“Should you not know everything?”
Wi Mucheon’s emotion was closer to anger than mockery.
If Bigwe had not awakened, he would have believed the Divine Maiden’s prophecy. Even if he had not believed it, he would have ended the war. Because of this absurd prophecy.
Wi Mucheon rose from his seat and slowly approached the Divine Maiden. Standing close to her, he whispered low enough that only she could hear.
“After I unite all under heaven, I will kill you and destroy the Divine Maiden Palace.”
Even at those shocking words, the Divine Maiden showed no agitation. Wi Mucheon’s whisper continued.
“It should not matter anyway, should it? If your prophecy is correct, then I will die regardless. Conversely, if the prophecy is wrong, then you will have deceived me with a false prophecy, and you will have committed an act worthy of death.”
Wi Mucheon smiled and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“In that sense, I suppose this prophecy may be considered a special one.”
The Divine Maiden turned her head and looked at Wi Mucheon.
It was a gaze that seemed to see Wi Mucheon’s face through the cloth covering her eyes, look into his heart, and even gaze beyond into the future.
Was that why?
Wi Mucheon felt the desire to tear away the cloth covering the Divine Maiden’s eyes. What kind of eyes was she using to look at him from beneath that cloth?
‘I have treated you all so preciously until now, and yet before this crucial battle, this is all you can do for me?’
The Divine Maiden spoke to Wi Mucheon as calmly as she had at the beginning.
“I merely deliver the prophecy. The judgment and the decision are yours to make, Palace Lord.”
After bowing respectfully to Wi Mucheon, she turned away. Before leaving, she stopped in her tracks.
Her gaze, still covered, turned for a moment toward one wall.
Everyone thought she was looking at the map of the Central Plains hanging there, but in front of that map stood Geom Mugeuk within the Space-Time Transposition Art.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it.
‘She is looking at me.’
The Divine Maiden turned back to Wi Mucheon and said,
“I will not return either. I will remain here.”
Not only the women in white, but Wi Mucheon as well was greatly startled. None of them had expected her to say she would remain on the battlefield.
Without waiting for Wi Mucheon’s answer, she went outside.
Geom Mugeuk knew why she had said that.
‘She wants to meet me.’
* * *
The aura of the Fist King, Gang Hu, had changed completely.
His killing intent shone pure white and took form, while the characters glowing like will-o’-the-wisps from both his hands dazzled his opponent’s vision.
Behind Gang Hu, the gates of hell opened. Those who had committed evil deeds and fallen into the fires of hell screamed in agony. Amid the sea of flames, evil spirits rampaged in every direction.
Gang Hu’s aura was hell itself.
It was the kind of aura that filled one with terror merely by feeling it, that robbed one of the will to fight.
The Fist Demon was not frightened in the slightest. Having stripped off his upper garment and entered the fight in earnest, the Fist Demon’s presence was terrifying.
He strode forward without hesitation, straight toward hell. Evil spirits clung to him from all directions, and everything around him boiled like lava.
The Fist Demon flung open the gates of that hell and stepped inside.
Whoooooosh!
The Fist Demon’s aura was wind.
No longer a wind that tore something to shreds, but a wind that blew within a person’s heart—the changed wind of the Fist Demon.
That wind began to blow in hell.
In the Fist Demon’s wind, the evil spirits were blown away. The masses of fire that had been boiling like lava were swept up by the wind and hurled in every direction. The evil spirits burned in the flames and screamed. Hell became a true hell.
At the center of that wind-swept hell, the two men clashed.
Kwaaaang!
Enormous inner force was loaded into the fists flying toward each other. As if they had met an irreconcilable enemy, the two men hurled their fists at one another.
Crunch.
Each time they thrust out their fists, the ground split and cracked beneath their stamping feet.
Neither of them took even a single step back. From the fists that collided came the wailing of ghosts, and the roar of thunder burst forth.
Bang! Kwaang! Bang!
Killing intent and demonic energy that could never coexist pressed down upon each other.
Ian’s heart, as she watched, pounded like mad.
Even from where she stood far away, she could feel it—the dreadful energy bursting from Gang Hu’s fists.
If the Ilhwa Sword Venerable had not blocked that energy for her, she, with her inner force depleted, would not have been able to stand there and watch like this.
Even Yeon Baeginjo, whose inner force was perfectly intact, had retreated far away and was vomiting up everything inside him, unable to endure it.
‘These things are all monsters.’
Even if he obtained the peerless secret manual, would he be able to face those men? He had no confidence. If so, what meaning was there in obtaining that manual?
Secret manual, secret manual, secret manual.
With only that filling his head, he had forgotten. He had forgotten that all of this had begun out of something unavoidable in the first place.
The one who had made him forget that was the man who had gone underground.
Because of that man’s refined manner, he had believed that perhaps he really would give him a peerless divine art. In the end, that man too must be a monster like them. No, perhaps an even more terrifying monster than these men.
Even as that happened, the exchange between the Fist Demon and Gang Hu continued.
As the ghostly flames emitted by the characters engraved on his fists mingled with Gang Hu’s killing intent, the surrounding air became so oppressive that it was difficult even to breathe.
And yet within it, the Fist Demon did not retreat a single step.
As if to say, this was the Fist Demon’s fist.
But that was not it.
The Fist Demon did not have only his fists.
Shwaaaaaak!
Crack!
The move that shattered the tense deadlock in an instant was the Fist Demon’s kick, thrust straight out as it split the space between fist and fist.
Thunderbolt Asura Fist, Fourth Fist: Iron Fist Asura.
With that single blow, Gang Hu’s jaw snapped aside and he was sent flying backward.
Because he had never imagined the Fist Demon would use a kick, he had properly taken that swift and powerful strike.
The Fist Demon did not let this opportunity slip.
Thud!
The Fist Demon’s fist, following like a shadow, slammed mercilessly into Gang Hu’s stomach. His protective qi activated, but the pain was as if his intestines were about to burst.
“Ugh!”
It was the first time a groan burst from Gang Hu’s mouth.
Having seized the advantage, the Fist Demon’s fists became even faster and stronger.
Thud! Thud! Thuuud!
The Fist Demon’s fists slammed into Gang Hu’s body in succession.
“You fucking—enough!”
After taking repeated punches, Gang Hu spat out a curse and sprang away to the spectator seats in the distance. The moment he sat side by side with Death in the stands—
Shwaaaaaak!
The Fist Demon’s fist, rushing in after him, flew in to completely crush his face.
At that instant, the light in Gang Hu’s eyes changed. It was a look that said he, too, had been waiting precisely for this moment.
Instead of blocking with his fist, Gang Hu spread his palm wide.
Hissssss.
A pitch-black wall blocked the space before his palm. The Fist Demon’s fist flew in with enough force to smash anything and everything apart.
The moment the fist struck the wall, a different sound was heard instead of the impact.
Sluuurp.
The wall undulated. The wall, which felt like liquid, absorbed the Fist Demon’s fist. He tried to pull his fist out, but that bizarre liquid gripped it tightly.
Shwaaaaaak.
At the same time, Gang Hu’s other fist cut through the air.
This time, too, the sound was different.
It was not a booming impact.
Slice! Slice!
The sound of flesh being torn rang out in succession.
Paaak.
After barely pulling his fist out of the mass of liquid, the Fist Demon was flung backward.
Drip, drip.
Blood was flowing down from the Fist Demon’s arm, the one that had not been caught.
That thick, massive forearm and fist had been slashed lengthwise, and the wound was deep. Even this was fortunate. The places Gang Hu had aimed for were his neck and heart.
At the tips of Gang Hu’s fists, blades shimmering like light could be seen. They were no ordinary blades. They were blades of murderous qi formed by Gang Hu’s killing intent.
His hidden trump card had been unleashed.
Watching that sight, Ian’s heart sank. It was the first time she had ever seen blood flowing from her father’s fist.
It was then.
As if asking for a brief rest, the Fist Demon raised his hand.
As the Fist Demon pressed the acupoints on his arm and hand to stop the bleeding, Gang Hu also tended to the internal injuries he had received from the earlier beating.
Blegh.
While tending to his internal injuries, Gang Hu vomited blood. After spitting blood, his face instead became more at ease.
In the meantime, the Fist Demon strode over and picked up the upper garment he had thrown onto the floor.
Was he perhaps going to apply Golden Wound Medicine? Impossible. Gang Hu was watching him with that thought in mind.
The Fist Demon searched through his clothes and took something out.
It was a pair of gloves.
They stretched elastically, then fit snugly onto the Fist Demon’s enormous hands.
“Don’t tell me?”
Gang Hu realized what they were. It was something no one who had trained in fist arts could possibly fail to know.
“Fighting God!”
It was Fighting God, the gauntlets Geom Mugeuk had once given him. If the greatest of swords was the Heavenly Demon Sword, then the greatest of gauntlets was Fighting God.
Gang Hu’s expression hardened. He had never imagined the Fist Demon would possess Fighting God. No, the problem was that it was now fitted onto the Fist Demon’s hands.
“The Fist Demon under heaven is wearing gauntlets? The world would laugh at you.”
It was a provocation meant to make him take off Fighting God by any means.
But the Fist Demon did not take Gang Hu’s bait. The Fist Demon did not put his pride forward. In the past, even if it killed him, he would have tried to face him bare-fisted.
But the Fist Demon now had changed. Instead of showing shame, he boasted to Gang Hu.
“My disciple gave them to me as a gift.”
“What?”
To the startled and flustered Gang Hu, the Fist Demon added,
“Our Young Cult Leader gave them to me.”
The Ilhwa Sword Venerable, who was watching, could tell that the Fist Demon’s change was not limited merely to the level of his martial arts.
‘The Fist Demon has become flexible.’
The Fist Demon had changed. He, who had been so hard it seemed he would never break; he, who had stronger pride than anyone.
‘He became stronger because he changed.’
The Ilhwa Sword Venerable knew because of whom this change had come about. It must be the same as how she no longer wore makeup and lived with her white hair as it was.
“You fucking bastard!”
Gang Hu once again spewed vulgar curses that did not suit him. He drew up all the killing intent he possessed. It was not intentional; curses truly burst from his mouth. He truly hated the Fist Demon enough to kill him.
Saaaaak.
From the tips of Gang Hu’s fists, the blades of killing intent stretched out even longer and sharper. They had an edge so keen it seemed they could cut even ten-thousand-year cold iron.
“You damned, sickening Demon Venerable! Come on already. It’ll take time to slice up that huge body of yours.”
At that, the Fist Demon struck his Fighting God-clad fist against his palm, making a sound as he walked forward.
Paang! Paang!
“Consider it an honor. You’ll be their first use!”