Everyone’s gaze turned to the sword leaning against the skeleton.
This single sword struck them far more intensely than all the countless swords they had seen before.
“Do not act rashly!”
Even if the iron-masked man had not gone out of his way to warn them, none of them could have charged in recklessly. They had already experienced just how terrifying the mechanisms here were.
Moreover, even if one seized the sword first, there was a high chance they would be attacked by everyone else at once.
Everyone fixed all their attention on the sword while watching one another’s reactions. Amid the hair-trigger tension, the iron-masked man pointed to Geom Mugeuk again.
“Young Hero with the Baggage.”
“It seems my name has been fixed as Young Hero with the Baggage.”
“I refused to reveal my own identity, so how could I ask another man’s? That is why I call you so.”
“Why did you call me?”
After carefully looking around the room once, the iron-masked man asked again.
“What sort of mechanism do you think is hidden here?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Because you were the one who dismantled the previous mechanism. You called it luck, but luck only comes when one who is prepared meets an opportunity.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Geom Mugeuk. They all seemed to be harboring subtle expectations.
Even after learning that multiple treasure maps existed, even after it had been revealed that these mechanisms had been made after this place came to be called the Sword Tomb, they still did not know how to give up.
Their greed and ambition were not something he could do anything about.
What Geom Mugeuk was curious about was this. If this entire affair was a conspiracy by those behind the scenes?
Why had they gone out of their way to drag even these people into it?
Was it to lure him here naturally? Even without them, he would have entered this place. Then why had they scattered several treasure maps and drawn people in? To the point of throwing the entire Central Plains into an uproar.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze went to the sword resting against the skeleton.
“To tell the truth, obtaining that sword is easy.”
At the word easy, everyone looked startled.
“The problem will be what comes after obtaining it.”
After saying those cryptic words, Geom Mugeuk slowly walked toward the skeleton in the center of the room.
Hyeolcheon Doma and Ilhwa Sword Venerable watched the situation with taut nerves. They were ready to leap in at any moment if the situation turned dangerous.
The mechanism they had experienced in the previous room had been a supreme-grade device into which an enormous amount of money had clearly been poured. There was no knowing what danger might be lurking in this room as well.
But Geom Mugeuk was certain it was safe.
“There likely won’t be any mechanism attack.”
It seemed as if blades might come flying from the ceiling and floor at any moment, but just as Geom Mugeuk predicted, no attack came until he reached the skeleton.
Geom Mugeuk did not immediately pick up the sword. Instead, he clasped his fist before the skeleton and paid his respects.
“I do not know who you are, senior. Whether you were a virtuous man or a wicked one, whether you too entered this place to obtain treasure like us today and died, or whether you came here for some other reason, I know nothing. But whatever sort of person you were, I believe it is wrong to use you, now reduced to white bones, in a conspiracy. They will surely pay for their crimes. So I hope you cast aside your resentment and rest in peace.”
The moment those words ended—
Clatter.
The skeleton collapsed.
The people let out brief exclamations. It looked as though it had understood Geom Mugeuk’s words.
Just as Geom Mugeuk bent down to pick up the sword—
Whoosh.
He felt a single breath of poisonous smoke blooming from the skeleton enter his body. It had neither color nor smell; if he had not been immune to all poisons, he would not even have known he had been poisoned.
‘It’s Purple Cloud True Qi Poison!’
It was a poison he had learned of while studying various poisons as he helped the Poison King.
Purple Cloud True Qi Poison was not a poison that killed the victim instantly. One would not even know one had been poisoned until it activated only when one used fierce internal energy. Once the poison took effect, the entire body would turn purple, movements would grow sluggish, and the blood and qi would become tangled.
It was truly a supreme poison that required long years and vast sums of money to create, but against Geom Mugeuk, who was immune to all poisons, it had no effect whatsoever.
If they had meant to kill me, they would have used Formless Venom, wouldn’t they?
It was then. A strand of voice transmission flew to Geom Mugeuk.
—You have just been poisoned by an extremely potent poison.
Geom Mugeuk slowly picked up the sword lying by the skeleton and turned around.
Everyone was looking at him.
The voice in the transmission was not the iron-masked man’s, nor was it the voice of the martial artist with the sword scar.
Geom Mugeuk sent a voice transmission to one of the martial artists there.
—How did you know I was poisoned?
He was a middle-aged martial artist of ordinary appearance and build standing among the crowd.
Until now, he had never once revealed his presence. He had simply seemed like one of the people who had joined in because they were crazed over treasure.
His eyes trembled slightly.
—How did you know I was the one who sent the transmission?
—Because you alone were looking at me, not the sword.
—!
The man was truly shocked. He had not expected him to find him among all these people for such a reason.
In truth, that was not why Geom Mugeuk had noticed him. Though his back had been turned, he had precisely sensed where the voice transmission had come from. Geom Mugeuk’s martial skill lay beyond ordinary common sense.
—Who are you?
Judging from the fact that he had informed him of the poisoning, he did not seem to be an enemy.
The man did not reveal his identity.
—I have the antidote. If the opportunity comes, I will give it to you.
Geom Mugeuk could tell. Not only did the man know that he was the young cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, he was also deeply connected to those who had made the mechanisms here. At the very least, he was someone who had known about the poison arranged in that skeleton.
Just then, one of the anxious martial artists shouted.
“Hurry and draw that sword!”
“Draw it!”
Geom Mugeuk slowly drew the sword. The blade that revealed itself emitted a cold chill. At a glance, it was unmistakably a treasured sword.
There were characters engraved on the blade in vigorous strokes.
Danhon (斷魂).
It was the personal sword of Danhon Wanderer, the peerless master who was said to have entered the Sword Tomb in the past. Seeing the characters engraved on the sword, the man who had exchanged voice transmissions with Geom Mugeuk shouted.
“It’s the Danhon Sword!”
He was also someone who knew that shouting and showing greed would make him less conspicuous instead.
Once it was revealed that the sword was the Danhon Sword, many people were shaken. A burning desire filled the eyes of the martial artists.
Yes, so what if this place was a trap? If only they could obtain such a treasured sword and leave!
Geom Mugeuk poured cold water on that desire.
“In this room, there is a mechanism even more terrifying than the previous one.”
At the sudden words, everyone was startled and looked around. They examined the walls and the floor, but no matter how much they searched, it did not seem as though any mechanism was hidden there.
“Where is this mechanism?”
To the iron-masked man’s question, Geom Mugeuk gave an answer no one had expected.
“This time, the mechanism is all of you.”
As they stared at him with expressions asking what on earth he meant, Geom Mugeuk revealed his meaning.
“The greed within all of you who want this sword is the mechanism of this room.”
He meant that the bloody struggle to seize the sword was itself the mechanism device in this room.
Since these were people who had waged that slaughter to seize the treasure maps, his words were not an incorrect conjecture.
“Who will have this sword?”
They all must have wanted to answer, Me, but no one replied.
Geom Mugeuk asked the iron-masked man.
“Since you guided us to the entrance of this Sword Tomb, should you have it? Or should I have it, since I broke through the previous trial? Or should we hold duels among ourselves and let the strongest person take it?”
Everyone fell silent. If the first person to hold the sword had not been Geom Mugeuk, a battle for it might already have broken out.
The iron-masked man asked Geom Mugeuk.
“So? What does Young Hero with the Baggage think?”
Geom Mugeuk stared straight into the two eyes within the holes of the iron mask and said,
“Let us leave it here and go. As if to show those who devised this vile scheme, let us leave this sword as it is and pass by. Let us show them once that we do not move as they intended. That is the way to break through this room.”
Perhaps this place was far more difficult than the room they had passed through before. Because they had to break through the greed of those filled with avarice.
“If you have a better method, speak.”
As everyone fell briefly into thought, Jihan’s voice transmission flew in.
—I have discovered who the smell is coming from. It was coming from that man wearing the iron mask.
They had suspected two people, the iron-masked man and the martial artist with the sword scar, and this was the moment it was confirmed that the iron-masked man was the one behind the scenes. Yes, it had also been the iron-masked man who led him to be poisoned.
—Well done.
At Geom Mugeuk’s praise, Jihan felt pleased. It was the first moment since becoming his subordinate that he had properly played a role.
Geom Mugeuk again sent a voice transmission to the man who had spoken to him earlier.
—If you do not wish to tell me who you are, let us at least know each other’s names.
After hesitating for a moment, the man revealed his name.
—I am Dan Sojin.
—I am Geom Mugeuk.
—I know.
As expected, he knew who he was.
—Then tell me just one thing. Who is that man with the sword scar on his face?
He thought that if it was this Dan Sojin, he would know not only the iron-masked man’s identity but also who the scarred martial artist was. And indeed, he knew the identity of the man with the sword scar.
—He is someone from the Sado Alliance.
Geom Mugeuk was not surprised. Considering where this place was in the first place, it was not at all strange that an expert from the Sado Alliance had come.
This place was the tomb of Ju Gasin, the Sado One Sword, who had been the alliance leader of the Sado Alliance three hundred years ago and was famed as the greatest master of the Unorthodox Faction.
The iron-masked man belonged to the force behind the scenes, and the scarred martial artist was a martial artist of the Sado Alliance.
Now what remained was which side this Dan Sojin belonged to.
Then the iron-masked martial artist made a decision.
“I will follow Young Hero with the Baggage’s wishes. I do not think we can stand here fighting among ourselves over a single sword.”
At that, the other martial artists also eventually followed his decision. It was not an atmosphere where one could take it simply by being greedy alone.
“Now, let us go.”
As they walked toward the door at the back, in the end, someone threw himself toward the Danhon Sword.
In an instant, he snatched up the Danhon Sword and launched himself toward the first room they had entered from.
He could not endure it. If only he could carry this sword and leave through that door! If only he could!
The Danhon Sword, which severed the soul, had severed restraint from his soul.
“Not a chance!”
The other martial artists surged toward him. They were already furious that they could not have it themselves; they were not the sort to let someone else have it.
In an instant, three people attacked him together. Unable to escape the room in time, he drew the Danhon Sword and swung it.
Clang!
The Danhon Sword broke his opponent’s sword in a single stroke and cleaved straight through his body.
Slash! Slash!
The swords of the other two martial artists cut his thigh and side.
The man clenched his teeth and swung the Danhon Sword again, cutting down the martial artist who had slashed his thigh. Among ordinary swords, the Danhon Sword displayed truly formidable power.
But his skill could not match the sword. Cutting down three men with the power of the sword was his limit.
With a stab, a sword emerged from his back, and his movements stopped. There was no regret in his eyes as he looked at the Danhon Sword.
“…I got to swing it once before dying. That’s enough.”
After saying those words, he died and collapsed.
“Damn bastard!”
The martial artist who killed him picked up the Danhon Sword, seeming as though he would return it to its scabbard.
But he too launched himself toward the entrance they had come through. After seeing every sword that clashed with it break apart, he too had been unable to resist.
However, he did not even get a chance to swing the sword.
Shhhk.
A dagger that flew like light pierced through his back.
It was a dagger thrown by the martial artist with the sword scar on his face.
The fleeing martial artist staggered, then sank to the ground and died.
The way he died embracing the sword was, by coincidence, no different from how the skeleton had first appeared here.
If someone were to come here after time had passed and see this person, they would witness the exact same sight as before.
Now no one attempted to seize the sword any longer.
The iron-masked man opened the door leading to the next room.
Everyone was shocked by the sight that unfolded before their eyes.
Inside, martial artists were fighting one another. They were not real people, but dolls made in actual size.
They were crafted so intricately that they looked as though real people were fighting.
When they first saw it, they naturally thought it was a recreation of a battle that had taken place in the Sword Tomb.
But it was not.
Several people were attacking one person together, and the person being attacked at the center was, astonishingly, Geom Mugeuk.
The dolls surrounding and attacking him were the Twelve Zodiac Kings he had faced until now.
From the Wood King, who had died at the Murim Alliance, to the Illusion King and Hwanyeo, who had died at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult; the Fighting King, who had died at the Sado Alliance; the Blood King, who had died at the Northern Sea Ice Palace; the Killing King, who had died at the Golden Dragon Clan; the Fist King, who had died at the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall; and the Dark King, who had died at Cheonhwa Pavilion.
They were attacking Geom Mugeuk from every direction. Branches stretched out from the Wood King’s body, and evil spirits were leaping out of the door that the Illusion King and Hwanyeo had opened in midair.
The Fighting King was charging like a mad bull, and the Blood King’s blood was scattering everywhere. As the Fist King’s fist flew in terrifyingly, darkness had settled around the palanquin in which the Dark King rode, and the Killing King was leaping over that darkness to attack Geom Mugeuk.
Every small detail had been made with astonishing delicacy and vividness. It truly seemed as if a battle was unfolding before their eyes.
Because they were all dead, these dolls felt as though they had been made to commemorate the deceased Twelve Zodiac Kings.
The reason Geom Mugeuk was shocked was not because there was a doll of himself. Nor was it because the dolls surrounding him were the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
A living person was standing in front of those dolls.
Because he blended in naturally with the dolls, he too had looked like a doll at first.
He stood barefoot, wearing shabby martial robes, his hair tied tightly back, and an old iron sword at his waist.
The person in this murim who suited the Sword Tomb best.
Sword King Ak Gunhak, who had been looking at the dolls, turned toward Geom Mugeuk.
Greeting him with a bright smile, at his waist hung the shoes Geom Mugeuk had given him as a gift.
“It’s been a long time, my friend.”