The stench of blood spread sharply, and a heavy silence settled over them.
None of those standing behind Geom Mugeuk could bring themselves to speak.
Taesu trembled all over. He had seen plenty of people die, but never so horribly as this.
‘So he was that terrifying.’
He had known that a Demon Venerable of the Demonic Cult was frightening, but when had he ever truly experienced that fear for himself? Only now could he feel that the man was not merely a master, but a Demon Venerable.
Jihan, too, realized just where he had entered. If he made a mistake, he would end up like that as well. The demonic qi the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had unleashed when killing his opponent just now had stirred an utterly overwhelming terror.
Pung of the Sado Alliance also felt fear, while Baekchong Family Head Dan Sojin merely watched the situation in silence.
‘Was my choice truly right?’
Because the people he had asked for help were precisely these people. Had he, in trying to avoid a wolf, brought in a tiger instead? Only now did that worry arise.
The iron-masked man took a step back with a sickened look in his eyes, and the Sword King silently watched the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who stood with his back turned.
The one who broke the silence was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Mugeuk, give me some water.”
When Geom Mugeuk extended his hand, the leather pouch opened on its own, and a bamboo canteen came out from within. He had not let his guard down, lest the Sound King move the moment his attention shifted to the pouch.
Even in the face of the Blade King’s death, the Sound King showed no particular emotional disturbance and continued swaying gently. Little by little, he was falling into his own world, moving with the rhythm.
Geom Mugeuk approached the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, still without turning around, merely reached his hand back. Realizing that he did not want to show him his face, Geom Mugeuk placed the bamboo canteen in his hand.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had not asked for water because he meant to drink.
Splash.
Still turned away, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon poured the water over his face and washed away the blood.
Only then did the Blood Heaven Blade Demon turn around. He had returned to his usual appearance. He had become the Blood Heaven Blade Demon who used to sit by the window and read. The terrifying demonic qi from moments ago was gone.
As if the fight between him and the Blade King had never happened, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon conveyed to the Ilhwa Sword Venerable the impressions of her battle that he had not been able to share earlier.
“It was a splendid fight. Is your forehead all right?”
Geom Mugeuk understood. He had not wanted to look at him and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable with his face covered in blood.
How could the Ilhwa Sword Venerable not know that feeling?
“I’m fine. It’s only a light scratch.”
“Apply medicine properly in advance so it doesn’t leave a scar.”
“Yes, I will.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon glared at the Sword King. Geom Mugeuk spoke in his place, expressing his feelings.
“How could you leave a wound on such a precious face?”
The Sword King looked at Geom Mugeuk with an aggrieved expression. His eyes seemed to say that if he could, he wanted to lift his bangs and show his own forehead. Was this face not precious?
If it had just been the two of them, he surely would have done so. But because the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was there with them, he did not pointlessly provoke him.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon said politely to the Sword King.
“Step aside now.”
“I cannot do that.”
At the Sword King’s answer, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s eyes twitched. He disliked him enough already, and now the man was refusing to listen to him until the very end. Then again, if he would not even listen to the Young Cult Master, there was no way he would listen to him.
“Fine. You must have your own circumstances. Then you will understand ours as well, won’t you?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon walked forward. His momentum made it clear that he intended to kill the Sword King too.
The Sword King did not retreat. He was making his will clear: no one was to touch the Sound King today.
This fight, at least, had to be stopped. The earlier fight with the Ilhwa Sword Venerable had also been a life-and-death struggle, but even so, it had been a fight with a line drawn.
It was a line drawn by the Sword King, and the Sword King and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable had not crossed that line to the end.
But a fight with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was different. Given the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s personality, if he truly charged in to kill him, it would become a fight where lives were genuinely at stake.
“Senior!”
“Do not stop me.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon answered without looking back.
“I won’t stop you.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon glanced back at Geom Mugeuk with an expression that seemed to ask, Really?
“If you’re going to fight anyway, make sure you win! Snap that light little sword of his in two, the one that looks like it would break if you tapped it.”
“You say things you don’t mean.”
How could the Blood Heaven Blade Demon not know Geom Mugeuk’s heart? He also knew better than anyone that the person most troubled right now was Geom Mugeuk.
If Geom Mugeuk had taken that horsetail-headed fellow’s side and tried to stop him from fighting, he might have simply fought in a burst of anger.
But since he was taking his side and telling him to make sure he won, the desire to do so actually disappeared. That cunning brat—how well he knew his heart.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been stepping forward, turned back again. The Ilhwa Sword Venerable nodded to him with an expression that said he had done well.
“I told you, apply medicine first.”
As the Blood Heaven Blade Demon returned like that, Geom Mugeuk looked at the Sound King.
The Sound King was still merely swaying, and had not once looked at the Blade King’s corpse. Even without looking at his eyeless sockets, one could tell he showed no sign of grief or worry.
A powerful man like the Blade King had died, and yet he was not worried? Just what was giving him that confidence? Did he trust that Sword King so much?
“Were you on bad terms with the dead man? Even so, isn’t the temperament of a musician far too barren?”
Geom Mugeuk provoked him again with music. He had realized that this was the most effective taunt. Since it was impossible to get anything out of the Sword King, he meant to provoke this Sound King and draw out whatever he could.
The Sound King, who had been swaying, turned his head toward Geom Mugeuk.
“Young Cult Master, you underestimate me far too much.”
“I’m not underestimating you. I’m afraid of you.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward the Sword King.
“When that man is trying so hard to protect you, how could I not be afraid? If you didn’t have something truly remarkable, would he protect you like that?”
The Sound King looked at the Sword King.
“He certainly is a reassuring person.”
His words and expression carried genuine trust, but Geom Mugeuk sensed it.
‘This man does not trust the Sword King.’
Yes, considering their relationship, of course he could not trust him.
But then why was he so relaxed?
If he was not trusting the Sword King, that meant he was trusting himself.
Even now, he was bobbing his head slightly, feeling the melody. Geom Mugeuk could sense from him a heat that made it seem as though he might leap out at any moment and shake his body wildly.
‘Something has changed.’
When the Blade King died, the Sound King actually became even more confident. As if he had moved on to the next stage and was enjoying it.
The Sound King said to Geom Mugeuk,
“The smell of blood is far too strong here. Let us move elsewhere.”
Without waiting for Geom Mugeuk’s answer, the Sound King began walking first. As he passed in front of him, Geom Mugeuk could have cut him down ten times over.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Sword King.
You know I can do that, don’t you? That I’m letting him pass before me because of my trust in you.
How could the Sword King not know? But still, he showed no reaction.
“I misjudged you! I was fooled by those bare feet and that horsetail hair, and forgot for a moment that you were originally this kind of villain.”
Then the Sword King, up ahead, said,
“In the martial world, you’re probably the greater villain.”
They moved to the previous room where the dolls had been. The iron-masked man quietly followed behind.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable.
Will you continue to go along with that bastard’s wishes? The Blood Heaven Blade Demon could easily have exploded in anger.
The two stood silently at Geom Mugeuk’s left and right. In their eyes, he sensed a single emotion.
Just as you trust that man, we trust you.
Geom Mugeuk bowed his head politely to the two of them in gratitude, then set off again.
Geom Mugeuk’s group also followed them back to the previous room.
Once they changed rooms, the smell of blood was certainly weaker and bearable.
Then Taesu shouted,
“Look over there!”
The place he pointed to with his finger was the dolls that had been set up earlier.
What had fascinated him most in this room before had been those very dolls. That was why he had studied them closely, and when he returned to this room, the first thing he looked at again was the dolls.
But they had changed.
At that change, not only Geom Mugeuk but also the two Demon Venerables were startled.
There was one more doll among the Twelve Earthly Branch Kings that had been attacking Geom Mugeuk in concert.
Before they knew it, the dead Blade King’s doll had also been placed there.
Between the Fighting King and the Blood King, the Blade King was wildly swinging his blade.
Geom Mugeuk slowly walked toward the doll. The Blade King doll, like the dolls from earlier, had truly been crafted with astonishing precision. Its expression was so vivid that it brought to mind the scene of him fighting the Blood Heaven Blade Demon just moments ago.
“You expected this man to die.”
The Sound King did not deny those words.
“Did you make a doll of yourself too? Where would you like to stand?”
Then the Sound King’s voice came from behind him.
“Young Cult Master, there is no doll of me.”
Geom Mugeuk turned back to him and asked,
“Did you make these dolls?”
For some reason, he thought that might have been the case, but the Sound King asked back with an incredulous expression.
“You cannot be asking that sincerely after seeing my eyes, can you?”
“I asked because you are more sinister than you look, and I wondered if you might actually be seeing everything with those eyes.”
“Conversely, there are many people who open their eyes and yet fail to see properly.”
As if to say that Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Venerables were such people, the Sound King slowly looked around at them all. The confidence of the one with closed eyes overwhelmed those with open ones.
“Young Cult Master, it is still not too late. There is no need to sacrifice all these people here, is there?”
It meant he was confident he could kill them all.
Geom Mugeuk stared at him quietly, then suddenly asked,
“You had an encounter with some fortuitous opportunity recently, didn’t you?”
Otherwise, there was no way he would have come here with the First King and the Second King at his sides.
‘Could it be?’
In his life before the regression, the man had completed a terrifying sound art before his death. It was said to be so powerful that no master could contend against it.
‘He completed it!’
Just as the fates of all the people inside those dolls had changed, his fate must have changed as well.
Geom Mugeuk was convinced there was a high possibility of that.
“You completed your sound art, didn’t you?”
As expected, the Sound King did not deny it. Now it was clear where his confidence came from.
“Would you care to hear me play?”
“Sounds good. We’re the sort who dance when there is music. I’ll give you a refreshing sword dance to match it.”
When Geom Mugeuk stepped forward, the Sword King moved to block his path.
“Let’s dance together.”
How could that sword dance possibly mean a real dance? Knowing that Geom Mugeuk meant to kill the Sound King, the Sword King had stepped in.
At this point, he could have flared up, but Geom Mugeuk dealt with him gently.
“No, someone who was so afraid he’d be made to dance that he wouldn’t even come to the gathering—what dance are you talking about?”
At that moment, the sound of a pipa flowed from behind.
Trill.
“Breaking Sound!”
At the Sound King’s cry, Taesu and Jihan, who stood behind, along with the warrior of the Sado Alliance and Dan Sojin, covered their ears. A sound wave they could not withstand had come flying in.
“Ugh!”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable released their internal energy and blocked the surging sound wave.
Only then did the expressions of the four behind them ease from pain.
Geom Mugeuk charged forward and shouted to the two Demon Venerables,
“While I hold onto this frustrating horsetail head, cut off that man’s arms and his pipa.”
Yes, if the Sword King insisted on saving him, there was no need to aim for his life.
Geom Mugeuk rushed at the Sword King like a thunderbolt and swung his sword.
“This time, Brother Ak, let’s see you block it!”
Geom Mugeuk’s sword and the Sword King’s sword clashed in midair. Sword light flashed with dazzling brilliance. It was the pinnacle of swordsmanship created by those who had truly reached the final realm of the sword.
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
Even as they exchanged blows at a speed invisible to the eye, Geom Mugeuk stared into the Sword King’s eyes.
‘Why are you going this far to stop me?’
He could tell by instinct. Even if his arm were truly cut off, the Sword King would try to stop him and him alone.
Sword and sword moved back and forth so quickly they could not be seen. To the four people behind them, it did not look all that different from the Ilhwa Sword Venerable’s fight earlier.
But the substance of this fight was completely different.
Having achieved great completion of the Nine Flames Demonic Art, Geom Mugeuk’s sword was now overwhelming the Sword King’s. If he wanted to win, he could.
‘You must be feeling it too, no? You must know you cannot stop me in the end, so why are you going this far?’
Meanwhile, the Ilhwa Sword Venerable and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon rushed at the Sound King, swinging sword and great blade.
Whoosh! Shwaaaak!
Bang! Boom!
The sword and great blade of the two stopped in midair. It was not because the Sword King had flown over to block them.
Something invisible before the Sound King was blocking them like a membrane. It was a membrane of unseen sound.
“It’s a Soundproof Formation!”
As the Blood Heaven Blade Demon shouted, it was indeed the Soundproof Formation said to be possible only upon reaching the highest realm of sound arts.
Within it, the Sound King’s eyes shone intensely as he looked out.
The Sound King began playing the pipa in earnest.
Trill.
“Blood Thunder Sound!”
At the same time, sound arts crashed down from all directions in succession like bolts of lightning.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
Attacks as powerful as lightning swept not only toward the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable, but also toward the four people standing behind them.
“I’ll take care of the rear.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon hurled himself backward and swung his great blade.
Boom! Boom! Bang!
The Ilhwa Sword Venerable dodged the sound art flying toward her, then charged toward the Soundproof Formation. If both of them defended, they would be played by him; trusting the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, she carried out the attack herself.
Boom!
The Soundproof Formation was powerful and did not tear easily. She immediately unleashed the Ilhwa Sword Technique.
Ilhwa Sword Technique, First Form: Blooming!
Shuk shuk shuk shuk shuk shuk shuk!
Her technique began tearing through the Soundproof Formation.
Within the Soundproof Formation, the Sound King remained absorbed in his playing.
Shwaaaak.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been guarding the rear, also charged in an instant. His Myeolcheon Great Blade pierced through the damaged Soundproof Formation that Blooming had slightly torn open.
Kwaaang!
Riiiiip.
At the very moment the two Demon Venerables violently tore through the Soundproof Formation and entered the Sound King’s domain—
The Sound King’s performance reached its peak.
Whoosh.
The Ilhwa Sword Venerable’s sword flew toward his arm. Just as it was about to truly cut his arm off—
The performance that had reached its peak abruptly stopped.
Fwoosh!
With the sound of a gust of wind, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable vanished from that place.