A rough, domineering aura flowed from Jin Paecheon’s body.
From far across the dark sea came a quiet cry.
Jin Paecheon, the Murim Alliance Leader, found an old longing within that darkness. The image of himself from those days when he had fought like a madman without caring what anyone thought.
The self from those days when he had not yielded the first move for the sake of appearances, nor shown mercy to enemies he wished to kill.
Yes, he too had once had such a time. A time when he lived freely, heedless of others, if only for a very brief while.
Watching him, Geom Mugeuk felt that today, he would be able to see the man’s true face.
‘Show them clearly. Show them what kind of man you are, Alliance Leader.’
In truth, even Geom Mugeuk was seeing this side of him for the first time. In his life before regression, he had never had the chance to witness Jin Paecheon’s martial arts.
As Hwa Yulcheong drew his sword, dark energy swirled around his body. That energy coiled around him like snakes.
As if displaying the essence of the Dark Palace, the energy was sinister, giving the sensation of a frozen hand gripping one’s heart tight.
Hwa Yulcheong corrected the words Jin Paecheon had spoken earlier.
“You are not the one who will bring this era to an end.”
The dark energy flowing from him encroached upon the surroundings and spread even more thickly.
From this ominous aura alone, one could sense how strong he was.
Even in the face of that terrifying momentum, Jin Paecheon was not intimidated in the least. On the contrary, a faint smile formed at the corners of his lips.
It was not the joy of an Alliance Leader, but of a single martial artist standing before a battle against a powerful foe.
Watching, Geom Mugeuk wondered.
Just what role did Hwa Yulcheong play within the Dark Palace?
A master of that caliber would surely know of Hwa Mugi’s existence.
The person he had just said would bring this era to an end might very well refer to Hwa Mugi.
But as he had done until now, Geom Mugeuk thought of Hwa Mugi as though he did not exist. Although so much had changed after his regression, he hoped that at least the timing of Hwa Mugi’s appearance would not change.
Because he wanted him to appear only when all his preparations were complete.
And so, he sincerely hoped that while playing baduk with his father, or reading a book with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, he would be able to say, I’ll be back in a moment, and go kill Hwa Mugi.
So that if someone asked where he had gone, he could say, I went to take care of something for a moment. It’s my turn, isn’t it?
Just then, a drop of water fell with a plop onto Geom Mugeuk’s head.
A drizzle began to fall in the misty bamboo forest.
With that rain, the curtain rose on the stage.
The very instant the rain struck the ground—
Jin Paecheon vanished from where he stood.
There was no sound, nor any sign of him leaping.
The moment Hwa Yulcheong looked up—
Jin Paecheon was already above his head, bringing his sword down. It was as if the man who had been standing over there had been torn away and pasted above his head. That was how fast Jin Paecheon’s lightness art was.
A sword descended as swiftly as light.
Swaeeeeek!
Kaaang!
Light crossed with light. If Jin Paecheon was light, then Hwa Yulcheong was also light. Hwa Yulcheong struck away Jin Paecheon’s sword with his own.
“The Alliance Leader resorting to a surprise att—”
He had tried to mock him for launching a sneak attack and shake his mind, but Hwa Yulcheong was given no such chance.
Kaaang! Kaaang!
Jin Paecheon’s fierce attacks continued.
He was the Murim Alliance Leader who had not yielded the first move. Now, there was no more empty formality. He was a man prepared to throw dirt into his opponent’s eyes if it meant surviving.
In other words, his shackles had been undone.
Shwik! Shwik!
Jin Paecheon’s attacks, thrusting toward vital points, were strong and fast. As a rule, strength meant slowness, and to gain speed, one had to give up power, yet Jin Paecheon possessed both. He was fast and strong.
And Hwa Yulcheong received every one of those powerful attacks.
Had it been the sword of an ordinary master, it would have snapped long ago. But Hwa Yulcheong’s sword did not break. A powerful dark energy was protecting the blade.
Watching that sight, Geom Mugeuk realized one important fact.
‘That isn’t the sword art Hwa Mugi used.’
He had died before he could properly cross hands with Hwa Mugi, but he remembered one thing clearly.
Hwa Mugi had definitely not used a sword art that emitted this kind of dark energy.
‘Hwa Mugi used a different martial art.’
Yes. No matter how powerful this martial art appeared, it could not have defeated Father’s Guhwa Demon Art.
By watching this fight, Geom Mugeuk had discovered something extremely important.
The two men’s swords flew savagely toward each other, and in both of their blades was contained the resentment they had accumulated over decades.
Chaeeng! Chaeng! Chaeeng! Chaeng chaeng!
The striking sounds produced as the two swords clashed so swiftly they could not be seen sounded like an ensemble of musicians. They did not speed up and slow down. The instruments continued to accelerate, racing toward the climax.
Sword lines embroidered the air and vanished.
Those lines looked like a painting drawn by a master artist. Countless lines that ordinary people could not recognize appeared and disappeared, but there was someone who understood the value of this painting.
To Geom Mugeuk, they were beautiful lines. A beautiful painting containing the lifelong martial learning of two great masters.
To be able to watch such a duel between masters from this close was a stroke of fortune worthy of being called a true fortuitous encounter.
With awe, Geom Mugeuk watched Jin Paecheon’s martial arts.
The Alliance Leader could have told him to step aside so that his martial arts would not be revealed. Had he done so, Geom Mugeuk would have withdrawn far away.
But Jin Paecheon did not. He was showing all of his martial arts. To Geom Mugeuk, who might someday become his enemy.
This was the vessel of Jin Paecheon, the Murim Alliance Leader. It was an enormous vessel, large enough for even the Young Cult Leader of the Demon Cult to submerge his head in completely.
Thank you, Alliance Leader.
Repaying that sentiment did not mean deliberately refusing to watch. He engraved the battle between the two men into his heart more intently than any fight he had ever seen.
Before the fight began, Geom Mugeuk had considered intervening.
What if Jin Paecheon fell into danger?
He had intended to leap in without hesitation. Being resented by Jin Paecheon later was a matter for later. He had absolutely no intention of letting him die in this battle.
But once the fight began, that thought changed. It had no choice but to change.
Could he really interfere in that fight?
The battle between the two men showed no gap at all, enough for that thought to arise naturally. The moment a gap appeared, this fight would end before there was even room to step in. That was how extraordinary the skills of the two men were.
When the performance of clashing swords reached its peak—
Papapapak!
Blood spurted from Hwa Yulcheong’s arm and side.
At a moment like this, one might have enjoyed the advantage and thrown out a line of dialogue.
But like a wild beast absorbed in the hunt, Jin Paecheon pressed his opponent even more fiercely. Watching him, one could read his heart.
It did not have to be a magnificent technique. So long as it could kill the opponent.
Seeing Jin Paecheon like that, Geom Mugeuk wished he could show this fight to Ian, Seo Daeryong, and his other subordinates if only he could.
Look. Even the Murim Alliance Leader over there is fighting desperately without letting his guard down for a single instant—who do you think you are!
Of course, that “you” included himself as well.
Hwa Yulcheong desperately widened the distance.
But that was something Jin Paecheon had deliberately allowed.
Papapapapapapak!
Dozens of sword qi pierced through the ground and surged upward.
Even Geom Mugeuk had never seen it before. A martial art where sword qi came bursting up through the ground!
Jin Paecheon’s exclusive martial art, the Emperor Sword Form, had been unleashed.
Emperor Sword Form, Fourth Form: Heaven and Earth Creation.
Dozens of sword qi pierced through the earth and surged upward.
After becoming the Murim Alliance Leader, he had never used anything beyond the Third Form.
From the Fourth Form onward, the techniques were solely for killing, and so he had never had any reason to reveal this domineering martial art.
Hwa Yulcheong flew into the air to avoid the sword qi. The only place to evade was above.
At that very moment, the Fifth Form, linked to the Fourth, was unleashed.
Emperor Sword Form, Fifth Form: Flying Sword Wild Dance.
Dozens of sword qi poured toward him as he was exposed in midair. It was like dozens of arrows flying at once, but the speed was different.
As if they were pouring out from a mechanism, they were truly as fast as light.
Shwik shwik shwik shwik shwik shwik shwik shwik shwik shwik!
He could not avoid the attacks flying from below and from the front. Knowing he could not block them all, Hwa Yulcheong raised his protective astral qi to its limit and swung his sword as much as he could.
Peopeopeopeong!
The sword qi he failed to block with his sword struck his body.
Hwa Yulcheong was sent flying and crashed into the ground.
But Jin Paecheon did not stop attacking.
Shiiiiiiik.
A single strand of sword qi skimmed along the ground, shooting forward as though alive.
It was an attack meant to split the fallen man in half.
The instant the sword qi swept through the spot where Hwa Yulcheong had been, he vanished from sight.
Geom Mugeuk thought he had used the dark energy to evade somewhere, but in the blink of an eye, he crossed through space and reappeared.
Directly behind Jin Paecheon.
Paaat!
Blood spurted from Jin Paecheon’s shoulder. If he had not twisted his body on instinct to evade, the attack would have severed his arm.
Watching, Geom Mugeuk was startled.
It was not because Jin Paecheon had been cut by the sword, nor because Hwa Yulcheong’s movement had been lightning fast. Nor was it because the attack that cut Jin Paecheon’s shoulder had been a truly swift sword.
‘I didn’t hear a thing!’
At the moment Hwa Yulcheong attacked Jin Paecheon, Geom Mugeuk had heard nothing.
Not the sound of Hwa Yulcheong moving, nor the sound of the sword slicing through the air.
No matter how swift a sword was, there should have been sound for an instant.
It was as if in his world, no sound could be heard at all.
That was also why Jin Paecheon had allowed the attack to land.
A soundless sword.
Hwa Yulcheong’s exclusive martial art, the Dark Heaven Soundless Sword Art, had been unleashed.
Geom Mugeuk knew better than anyone just how difficult this attack was to block.
Because no sound could be heard, one could not rely on hearing.
The opponent was using a swift sword, yet it had to be observed only with the eyes.
Masters on the level of Jin Paecheon and Hwa Yulcheong fought not only with sight, but with every sense. Naturally, hearing was the most important sense after sight.
Especially when the opponent used a swift sword, hearing was particularly important.
But no sound could be heard?
And the most decisive reason this attack was troublesome was this.
Because there was no sound, one could not gauge how powerful the incoming attack was.
Then in the end, one had to assume that every attack flying in was the strongest possible and block accordingly. Naturally, the consumption of internal energy would be severe.
Geom Mugeuk could tell.
‘So this is the martial art he prepared for the day he would fight the Alliance Leader!’
Hwa Yulcheong laughed coldly and said,
“I will lower the curtain on your era.”
The instant his words ended—
Kaaang!
The second attack was blocked. Yes, someone on the level of the Alliance Leader could instinctively block it once.
Chaeeng!
But the third attack was blocked as well.
For an instant, shock flashed across Hwa Yulcheong’s face.
Then Jin Paecheon spoke words that were astonishing.
“I can hear it all.”
Not only Hwa Yulcheong, but Geom Mugeuk as well was shocked.
Because Geom Mugeuk’s ears could not hear it.
Hwa Yulcheong did not believe him.
“You block a few times by luck and now you bluff.”
The moment Hwa Yulcheong flashed away, he thrust from another place toward another point. It was impossible to block. It was a martial art that moved without revealing not only sound, but any energy at all. It was a martial art he had honed solely for this day.
Kaaang!
But Jin Paecheon blocked even the next attack.
At that very moment—
A gigantic sword qi silently plunged down from above Jin Paecheon’s head.
Kwaaaang!
Not only the attacks swung with the sword, but this sword qi attack as well made no sound whatsoever.
When the rising smoke settled, Jin Paecheon was standing in that place.
Beside him, having narrowly avoided the attack, a deep hole had been gouged into the ground.
Had he been struck directly, it would have been powerful enough to inflict a grave wound.
But Jin Paecheon had evaded even that attack.
“You can really hear it?”
Startled, he hid within the darkness.
In an instant, the surroundings grew dark. It was as if, in a place without light, the only lamp had been blown out.
Within the pitch-black darkness.
Geom Mugeuk could tell. Hwa Yulcheong had unleashed a martial art using the energy of darkness.
Both Jin Paecheon and Geom Mugeuk stood within the darkness.
From within the dark, Hwa Yulcheong’s voice came.
“…You truly are remarkable.”
His voice, filled with shock and emptiness, was calm. At the very least, he seemed to believe this darkness would protect him.
“Jin Paecheon.”
For the first time, he called Jin Paecheon by name.
Jin Paecheon found this moment, in which his name was spoken, truly unfamiliar. Since becoming the Alliance Leader, who would have dared call him by his name?
Come to think of it, he realized that even during all those long years they had spent as friends, Hwa Yulcheong had never once called him by name.
“I hated you.”
For the first time, he revealed his honest feelings. The emotion he showed for the first time in decades was hatred.
“I truly hated the way you acted so hypocritically, claiming it was for the righteous faction martial artists. Most of what you did were things you would never have done if you weren’t the Murim Alliance Leader, weren’t they?”
Geom Mugeuk could tell. He was trying, by any means possible, to shake Jin Paecheon’s heart. He could tell that this darkness had the effect of drawing out heart demons. The Heavenly Demon Protective Art had already begun to activate, guarding him.
Could the Alliance Leader withstand this dark energy?
Jin Paecheon did not get drawn into his provocation.
Something began to shine within the darkness.
It was Jin Paecheon’s sword.
Swaaaaaa.
The sword shone, holding a radiant light, and that light illuminated Jin Paecheon’s face. His resolute expression remained unchanged.
The moment Jin Paecheon’s sword cut through the air—
Chwaaaaaak!
The curtain of darkness was sliced away by his blade. As though a black cloth had been torn apart, the darkness split, and light entered. Walking out through the torn darkness and into the light, Jin Paecheon said,
“Now you’ll come to hate me even more.”
Absolute Regression Chapter 665