No sound could be heard.
No matter how loudly they fought outside, Geom Mugeuk did not hear it.
Right now, Geom Mugeuk was immersed in a world of his own.
As he dissolved Bihyeolsa’s energy into his internal energy, only thoughts related to internal energy and martial arts filled his mind.
Ordinarily, a state of selflessness was a fortuitous encounter that came during martial training or when one gained some martial enlightenment.
And yet now, he had fallen into that state while dissolving Bihyeolsa’s energy into his internal energy.
Perhaps it was because the process of dissolving it had been so dramatic, and because that energy was so immense.
More internal energy than any spiritual medicine he had ever taken began to accumulate in his dantian. No matter how much he dissolved, there was no end to it.
As a martial artist, could there be any greater joy than this?
Geom Mugeuk strove not to let even a single handful of the gift fate had given him slip away. It was, moreover, a fortuitous encounter made possible because Geugak Soma had stabbed his own heart.
And internal energy was not the only thing he had gained from this.
First, in the process of subduing Bihyeolsa, he had learned many new blood pathways. He could move qi in ways he had never imagined before, and thanks to that, he could execute his techniques more efficiently.
Techniques that were a little faster and a little stronger.
At Geom Mugeuk’s level, that “little” was more than enough to decide victory and defeat several times over.
And one more thing.
The process of enduring until the very end while protecting his heart had been an enormous experience for Geom Mugeuk.
It had been so terrible that it helped him; after all, had even Geom Mugeuk, who was more accustomed to enduring pain than anyone else, not fallen into an inner demon?
By experiencing his own limits, Geom Mugeuk matured further and grew stronger.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it instinctively.
He had taken one great step closer to the mastery of the Guhwa Demonic Art, which had seemed so vague until now.
He even thought that perhaps seeing the Heavenly Demon Soul within his inner demon had not been a coincidence.
‘Ah, so this was the feeling. The reason Father entered closed-door seclusion.’
He had the premonition that if he reached out his hand, he could achieve mastery. He needed one final bout of training.
Wooooong.
And so Geom Mugeuk remained deeply immersed in his own world, absorbing every last trace of Bihyeolsa’s remaining energy into his internal energy.
* * *
Shaaak.
Geugak Soma shook the blood from his dagger.
The eyes of the Faceless Guests, who had watched him cut down the bamboo-hat martial artists, were filled with respect.
Hwa Domyeong’s expression, on the other hand, hardened coldly.
It had been a joint attack by two people who had mastered the Dark Divine Art. He had never imagined they would lose, and even if they did, he had thought they would die only after inflicting a fatal wound on Geugak Soma. At the very least, he had assumed they would make him exhaust all his internal energy.
But not a single drop of blood had splattered onto Geugak Soma’s pure white mask.
Now Geugak Soma’s smiling mask was the smile of a death god.
At the chill of death that had come striding close, Hwa Domyeong’s mind grew calm. To face death, he too would have to be just as terrifying.
He fluttered his fan lightly and said,
“I am not someone you should lay a hand on lightly.”
A flicker of derision passed through Geugak Soma’s eyes.
“Then is our Young Cult Leader someone you can lay a hand on lightly?”
Hwa Domyeong could not refute those words.
Geugak Soma slowly walked toward Hwa Domyeong.
“If you touch me, my family will surely kill you.”
No threat could make that white, smiling death retreat.
“Then I’ll have to make sure I kill you. Before the Young Cult Leader wakes.”
It was Geugak Soma’s resolve not to make Geom Mugeuk a target of revenge.
Hwa Domyeong could feel it. Geugak Soma truly intended to kill him. Now he had no choice.
Hwa Domyeong took a small medicine bottle from his robes.
After opening the stopper, he lifted it and poured it over his face.
Shaaah.
The liquid streaming down began to erase the pure white makeup.
That makeup had been the seal controlling him.
When he had been injured earlier, he had resolved to settle this matter even if it meant releasing the seal, but he had not thought he would truly have to undo it.
There was no helping it. Geugak Soma’s martial prowess was beyond imagination.
As the makeup was erased, his original face was revealed.
Countless faint lines were drawn across his face. Not only the lines and circles that had appeared on the bamboo-hat martial artists’ faces when they used the Dark Divine Art earlier, but many other lines as well.
It looked as though his face had been stitched together piece by piece.
Lines drawn vertically, lines drawn diagonally, lines forming all manner of patterns. Some patterns could be recognized, like whirlwinds, while others could not be identified at all.
If anything, the fact that the lines were faint made them even stranger. They looked like wrinkles, and also like scars.
They were brands created by greed.
In the process of learning the Dark Divine Art, Hwa Domyeong had been too greedy in his desire to grow stronger, and had suffered this side effect.
He had gone about wearing heavy makeup to hide these traces.
Saaaak.
Now those faint lines began to darken.
The line crossing his cheek darkened, the circle overlapping it darkened, and even the diagonal line beside it darkened.
The bamboo-hat man who was watching sent a voice transmission.
—You must not overlap them like that.
Hwa Domyeong replied in a low voice transmission.
—And if I don’t? Shall we die to that Geugak Soma?
In the meantime, every line on his face had darkened.
Shaaak.
When he spread his fan, it too had changed before anyone knew it.
Black Fan (黑扇).
The color of the fan had turned pitch-black. In the place where a beauty had once been drawn, a fearsome evil spirit was depicted.
The change was not merely external. Hwa Domyeong’s aura had changed completely. In his intensely shining eyes, the power of darkness was surging.
“Now then, hand over my Young Cult Leader!”
Shaaak!
The moment he spread the fan—
Papapapapak!
Ganggi swept through the place where Geugak Soma had been standing.
Geugak Soma threw himself aside to evade, and Hwa Domyeong appeared in front of him. He appeared so suddenly it was as if a ghost had manifested.
If the Dark Ghost-Walk Technique the bamboo-hat woman had used earlier had been at the second stage, his was now at the third.
Swaeek.
Thud!
Struck by the fan, Geugak Soma slid backward.
Hwa Domyeong clung to him like a shadow.
Swaek! Swaeek!
With the folded Black Fan, Hwa Domyeong swiftly stabbed toward Geugak Soma’s vital points. The incoming Black Fan was as sharp and powerful as a treasured sword.
The faster Hwa Domyeong thrust his fan, the redder the three lines used to perform the Dark Ghost-Walk Technique became.
A line turning red was a danger signal that appeared when one used power beyond what one was capable of unleashing.
But Hwa Domyeong increased the speed of his attacks even more. The third-stage Dark Ghost-Walk Technique was surpassing Geugak Soma’s speed.
Thud!
Geugak Soma allowed another attack to land.
It was powerful enough that, if not for his protective ganggi, his shoulder bone would have broken.
Geugak Soma staggered and retreated, and just as Hwa Domyeong rushed in, thinking it was an opportunity—
Shuk!
A finger wind shot out in a surprise attack, flying toward Hwa Domyeong’s face.
Thud!
Hwa Domyeong twisted the fan he had been thrusting out and barely managed to block it. Had he been even slightly late, his forehead would have been pierced.
Hwa Domyeong’s furious counterattack flew out.
Whoooooong!
Wind raged.
It was no ordinary wind. It was Dark Turbulence (暗黑亂流), wind mixed with invisible ganggi.
Geugak Soma raised his protective ganggi and threw himself aside.
Srrrk.
The trees behind him were not smashed apart, but silently sliced through and toppled. The wind was a soundless assassin.
Srrrk, srrrk!
Wind continued to blow toward wherever Geugak Soma fled, and trees and rocks were sliced away with a soft srrrk.
This time, the pattern that signified Dark Turbulence turned red.
The more he overexerted himself, the greater the shock to his body, but Hwa Domyeong did not stop attacking. Truly, if his opponent had not been Geugak Soma, he would never have pushed himself this far.
Whiririririri!
Hwa Domyeong spun rapidly in place. As the lines of the Dark Ghost-Walk Technique grew even redder, the whirlwind pattern drawn on his face began to darken further.
Whiriri! Whiriririri!
From the main whirlwind, more than ten whirlwinds branched out like limbs.
They were not ordinary whirlwinds. They were powerful whirlwinds of ganggi that would shatter flesh and bone with the slightest graze.
One of the Dark Divine Art’s techniques, Dark Revolving Wheel (暗黑回輪), had been unleashed.
The whirlwinds pursued Geugak Soma as though they were living creatures.
Geugak Soma fled swiftly to avoid them and fired the Hyeorang Finger at the main whirlwind.
Shuk!
Unable to pierce the force of the rotation, the Hyeorang Finger was deflected and flew away.
The Mageuk Rampaging Palm he launched next was also deflected. Since it could be bounced off in any direction, he could not attack recklessly.
Whiriririririri!
The whirlwind was gradually growing larger.
At this rate, it would even damage the place where Geom Mugeuk sat. That was precisely what Hwa Domyeong was aiming for. A flustered Geugak Soma would inevitably reveal an opening.
At the very moment the smaller whirlwinds pressed Geugak Soma from every direction—
Geugak Soma’s form soared into the air.
The small whirlwinds stretched toward Geom Mugeuk all at once.
Geugak Soma’s target was the central whirlwind.
And among it, the very top!
Sure enough, there was no whirlwind there.
Toward Hwa Domyeong, who was looking up at him with a startled face from the center of the whirlwind far below—
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
He unleashed the Mageuk Rampaging Palm into it.
Kwaaaang!
With an enormous explosion, the whirlwind burst apart.
When the dust settled, Hwa Domyeong’s figure came into view.
Blegh.
As he spewed blood, his face was covered entirely in red lines. He had overexerted himself again while using the Dark Revolving Wheel. His face contorted in pain.
He was pushing himself too far.
But he could not help but do so. Even after pushing himself to the point of death like this, Geugak Soma had not died and was charging at him like that.
Hwa Domyeong mustered the last of his strength.
Shik-shik-shik-shik-shik!
Fan and dagger flew swiftly to pierce his opponent.
Red lines increased across Hwa Domyeong’s face once more.
The fan opened and closed, stabbed and struck aside. It moved like a flash of lightning.
Though he was clearly faster, he could not catch Geugak Soma. Nor was he inferior in power.
Yet he could not catch Geugak Soma.
He did not know that there was something he could not keep up with.
It was Geugak Soma’s combat experience.
While he had been ruining his body as he immersed himself in the Dark Divine Art, Geugak Soma had been fighting battles on the edge of life and death alongside Geom Mugeuk.
Geugak Soma had already read Hwa Domyeong’s attack patterns and habits.
Puaak!
Hwa Domyeong’s arm was cut by Geugak Soma’s dagger, and blood sprayed out.
At that moment, Hwa Domyeong saw it.
The white mask cutting through the blood scattering in the air, coming in to drive a dagger into his heart. The eyes within that mask were smiling.
Just when he thought it was over—
Hwaaaak!
A curtain of darkness suddenly appeared and swallowed Geugak Soma.
The one who had unfolded the curtain was none other than the last bamboo-hat man. A black line had been thickly painted across his forehead, and a red circle was drawn over it.
Dark Barrier (暗黑結界).
His hidden trump card had been unleashed.
“I cannot hold it for long.”
He too vanished as if melting into the darkness.
Hwa Domyeong was the same; he could not endure for long either.
Now Hwa Domyeong’s face was completely covered in red lines.
He walked toward where Geom Mugeuk was. He intended to kill all the Faceless Guests, suppress Geom Mugeuk’s internal energy, and flee just like this. It was his final chance to turn the tables.
The Faceless Guests looked at one another and exchanged glances. They knew well what kind of power Hwa Domyeong had displayed earlier.
Five of the Faceless Guests split left and right and charged toward him.
The remaining five Faceless Guests lined up in a row before Geom Mugeuk. From the back to the front, they injected their internal energy forward. They concentrated their internal energy into the person at the very front.
Hwa Domyeong fanned his fan fiercely.
“Annoying bastards! All of you, get lost!”
The ganggi released from the fan flew toward the Faceless Guests with tremendous force.
Swaeeeeek!
The Faceless Guest standing at the very front thrust out a palm and blocked the ganggi.
Kwaaang!
It was an attack that shook the earth, but because the internal energy of five people had gathered, he managed to block it.
Gulp.
When the first Faceless Guest suffered internal injuries and coughed up blood, the Faceless Guest behind him took his place, sending the injured one to the very back.
In the meantime, the five Faceless Guests who had charged forward—Crescent Moon and Spider, Cloud and Wolf, and Flame—attacked him from all sides.
Had he not overexerted himself in the fight with Geugak Soma earlier, Hwa Domyeong, using the Dark Divine Art, would have won without difficulty.
But his physical condition was not normal, and on top of that, his mind was urgent.
Thud!
Flame, struck by the attack, rolled across the ground. At the next attack, Crescent Moon flew over, wrapped him in his arms, and rolled with him.
Hwa Domyeong tried to make certain of killing at least one of them, but the other Faceless Guests did not stand by and watch.
Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!
The Faceless Guests unleashed finger winds all at once.
Unable to block all the finger winds pouring down on him, they embedded themselves in his protective ganggi.
As the fight failed to go his way, Hwa Domyeong grew even more agitated. His face flushed red as if it would burst. He had nearly reached his limit.
Hwa Domyeong executed his final move.
He simply pushed forward while taking the Faceless Guests’ attacks.
He was driving forward while circulating the very Dark Iron Body Art that the bamboo-hat man had displayed, pushing it to its extreme. The three red circles had turned as crimson as blood.
Kang! Kaaang! Kaaaang! Kang!
Neither finger winds nor daggers could pierce him.
Hwa Domyeong rammed aside the Faceless Guests blocking his path with his body and kept pushing forward.
‘Got it!’
At the very moment Hwa Domyeong launched himself to snatch Geom Mugeuk—
Puuuuk!
With the sound of flesh tearing, silence descended upon that place.
Spewing a gush of blood from his mouth, Hwa Domyeong looked down at his own chest.
A dagger was embedded in it.
There was a black circle in midair, and only an arm had emerged from it to stab him.
Sssssss.
The black circle from which the arm protruded gradually grew larger, and a person revealed himself.
It was the Extreme Evil Little Demon. In his other hand, the one not holding the dagger, he held the bamboo-hat man’s head.
The Extreme Evil Little Demon had broken through the Dark Barrier and come outside. As he emerged, the surrounding darkness vanished.
With his face covered in red lines, Hwa Domyeong spoke with difficulty. He still wanted to live. If he survived, he believed that one day he would be able to take this revenge.
“If you spare me……”
Before he could state his condition, the Extreme Evil Little Demon cut him off.
“It was dark, so I didn’t get a good look.”
After saying those incomprehensible words,
the Extreme Evil Little Demon swiftly pulled the dagger from his chest and stabbed it properly into his heart.
Puuk!
Hwa Domyeong died instantly and collapsed where he stood.
The Extreme Evil Little Demon threw the head he had been holding beside Hwa Domyeong’s fallen corpse. It was the moment every enemy in that place met their end.
The Extreme Evil Little Demon looked back at his subordinates. Though he said nothing, his gaze spoke for him.
You all did well.
Then he sat down in front of Geom Mugeuk. Since he had been there when Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes, he intended to be before him when he opened them as well. Because he knew better than anyone how hard Geom Mugeuk had worked to come this far.
“Do not worry about anything. Sleep well.”
The Faceless Guests scattered around the area.
Some treated their own wounds, while others tended to their comrades’ injuries. One Faceless Guest leaned against a tree and fell asleep, while another stood on a branch of that tree and gazed at the distant forest. Yet another crouched on the ground and looked up at the moon.
In that place filled with corpses, where blood flowed like a river, they all rested quietly as they waited for Geom Mugeuk to awaken.