“After all that showing off, all you amount to is hiding behind your father?”
Hwa Mugi openly mocked Geom Mugeuk.
But unless he stabbed him with the black sword in his hand, mere words could not wound Geom Mugeuk.
“Then of course I’ll hide behind my father. Who else would I hide behind? It’s the place where I feel most at ease.”
Geom Mugeuk was not the least bit ashamed of hiding behind his father.
“And Father should get a chance to show off his skills on an occasion like this, too.”
Geom Ujin slowly walked out from beside the table.
It was the first time he had stepped forward since Hwa Mugi arrived today.
Hwa Mugi also moved aside, and everyone who had been seated at the table rose and lined up behind Geom Ujin.
Was it because he was in front of his son?
Even with the Heavenly Slaughter Star before him, Geom Ujin showed no sign of tension. He was so calm and composed as to seem lofty.
The one who was tense, rather, was Cult Leader Pungcheon.
Although the Heavenly Slaughter Star had been swayed by Geom Mugeuk’s words, he himself had fought him directly.
Even without that special protective astral energy, the man’s skill was far from ordinary. He might be beaten in words, but he was not an opponent one could easily defeat in a fight.
If the Demon Cult Leader stepped forward on this side, that Heavenly Slaughter Star might use some method different from anything he had shown so far.
A son who asked his father to beat such a Heavenly Slaughter Star half to death and sit him back down, and a father who strode out so fearlessly just because of that.
Leaving those two aside, why was the Fist Demon so calm? Considering his relationship with the Cult Leader, he should have been the most worried, yet he was watching in silence without the slightest change in expression.
No, are you not anxious? Am I the only one who’s anxious!
Cult Leader Pungcheon’s gaze turned this time toward the Poison King.
Ever since Geom Mugeuk appeared, the Poison King had half drifted off into his own world. He, who had not taken his eyes off him for even a moment, was now constantly looking out the window.
It felt as though he were standing on the boundary between his own world and reality. In a way, Cult Leader Pungcheon thought the person who trusted Geom Mugeuk most might be the Poison King.
The Sword King was silently tending to his internal injuries, and he, too, showed no sign of worry at all. His faith in Geom Ujin was one thing, but Cult Leader Pungcheon could sense that his faith in Geom Mugeuk was even greater. After Geom Mugeuk appeared, his expression had become completely at ease.
Meanwhile, Jin Paecheon and Baek Jagang were worried about something slightly different from Cult Leader Pungcheon. They had already shown their skills, and now the only one remaining was Geom Ujin.
Just how strong was the Demon Cult Leader?
It would be a problem if Geom Ujin lost to him, and it would be a problem if he overwhelmed him.
Hwa Mugi and Geom Ujin faced each other from about ten paces apart.
Though Hwa Mugi had aimed the black sword at him, Geom Ujin did not draw his own sword.
Hwa Mugi asked, half in disbelief.
“You intend to fight barehanded?”
He could tell why Geom Ujin was doing this. Geom Mugeuk had not asked him to kill the man, but to beat him half to death and sit him back down. Still, no matter how his child had asked it of him.
“You’re going to look down on me like this?”
Hwa Mugi’s eyes sank coldly.
If he had said, Let us fight fairly without swords, he would not have been this angry.
But coming at him as if to say, Fight however you like, I will beat you with my fists, made him feel thoroughly disdained.
Clack.
Hwa Mugi withdrew his sword.
“It will be humiliating to get beaten up in front of your son.”
Geom Mugeuk answered in his stead.
“They would be wounds of glory earned for his son. He’ll show off those scars for the rest of his life, saying they’re wounds he took in his son’s place. Thanks to this filial son, he gets to become an impressive father.”
Hwa Mugi confirmed once again that no words could contend with Geom Mugeuk.
Hwa Mugi resolved to smash that arrogant face to pieces. He would make him beg for his life in front of his son.
‘Let’s see what you say then.’
Geom Mugeuk called out loudly.
“Now then, the first one to draw his sword loses!”
As the two men were about to fight with their fists, Cult Leader Pungcheon said worriedly,
“His protective astral energy is absorbing external impacts as internal energy. A fistfight is absolutely disadvantageous.”
He could not tell exactly how the Heavenly Slaughter Star’s Heaven-Defying Absorbing Demon Art worked.
Whether that demonic art was continuously operating together with his protective astral energy, or whether external attacks were absorbed only when he activated the Heaven-Defying Absorbing Demon Art, he did not know.
Whichever it was, Hwa Mugi activated the Heaven-Defying Absorbing Demon Art in that brief instant when he was attacked.
The conclusion Cult Leader Pungcheon reached was this: to kill him, one had to tear through his protective astral energy and drive a sword into his body.
There was no way Geom Ujin, who had watched the fight with them, did not know that.
‘He is overexerting himself because of the Young Cult Leader.’
Geom Ujin crooked a finger, telling him to come first.
At that lofty sight, Hwa Mugi sneered.
“The weaker side should attack fir—”
Before he could finish speaking.
Boom!
Hwa Mugi was slammed into the ground.
Geom Ujin had rushed in like a flash, seized Hwa Mugi by the collar, and driven him straight down into the floor.
It was so fast that Hwa Mugi could not evade the attack. Hwa Mugi’s face, lying on the floor, was filled with astonishment.
“He’s this fast?”
Bang!
Geom Ujin’s fist struck the spot where Hwa Mugi’s face had been.
Craaaack!
The ground caved in around his fist, and cracks spread from that point in all directions like a spiderweb.
Hwa Mugi, who had been there a moment ago, was getting up some distance away. The instant the fist came flying in, he had moved his body as if rolling in a flash and slipped away.
Hwa Mugi was just as fast as Geom Ujin.
The faces of those watching were filled with astonishment.
Hwa Mugi was faster than when he had fought them earlier. They had wondered if, as the nature of his killing intent changed, he was displaying skill at the next level, and indeed he was.
Yet Geom Ujin had properly slammed that Hwa Mugi down.
Geom Ujin’s form flew toward Hwa Mugi again.
Hwa Mugi threw a punch toward Geom Ujin. If internal energy clashed against internal energy, he was confident he could defeat even the Demon Cult Leader.
Whoooong!
Shaaaang!
Just as the fists from both sides were about to collide.
Sssst.
Geom Ujin’s body seemed to shift sideways.
Whoooosh.
Geom Ujin’s kick struck Hwa Mugi squarely in the abdomen.
Thud!
Hwa Mugi slid back several steps. Hwa Mugi was shocked, and so were those watching.
From fist to kick, Geom Ujin’s instantaneous movement was truly like a flash of lightning with the intermediate process omitted.
Whoooong.
Geom Ujin’s fist flew in as if pursuing him and grazed Hwa Mugi’s face. Hwa Mugi dodged by bending his waist backward, but before anyone knew it, Geom Ujin had soared into the air and was stamping down with his foot from above.
Boom!
The ground split where Geom Ujin struck down with his stomp. Hwa Mugi narrowly avoided it and stood ahead.
Before anyone realized it, he was outside the gaping hole in one wall, standing on the road in front of Pungryu Tavern.
He could not hide the astonishment from his face. Geom Ujin was far faster and stronger than he had thought.
As Geom Ujin slowly walked toward him, everyone followed him out.
“This is the first time I’ve seen Father use his fists and feet.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, the Fist Demon, walking beside him, replied,
“In his younger days, he preferred using his fists.”
“Father did?”
“Many were smashed apart by those fists.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at his father’s back. Whenever he heard stories like this about his father’s younger days, he could not quite picture it. His father from a time when he expressed emotions and threw punches.
Bi Gwe, if you were going to take me back to the past, you should have taken me to Father’s youth.
The Fist Demon was inwardly relieved.
‘He has become much stronger.’
He knew that Geom Ujin had recently immersed himself in martial arts training, and that there had been results, but he had not known he had grown this strong.
If the Fist Demon could recognize it, how could the two Alliance Leaders fail to?
Jin Paecheon, watching the fight, was inwardly astonished by Geom Ujin’s skill. He had been cheering for him, but now that he saw that skill in action, other worries followed.
Jin Paecheon looked at Baek Jagang. From the look in his eyes, he could tell that Baek Jagang was feeling the same thing he was. It was not relief.
Astonishment and concern.
‘Cult Leader Geom’s skill is above ours.’
He had not even drawn his sword yet, but that much was unmistakable. It meant that if he drew his sword and fought in earnest, they might feel the gap even more starkly.
Was that why? Though it was not a worry to have at this moment, one concern flashed through his mind.
And was it only the Demon Cult Leader? With the Demon Venerables stronger than ever, outstanding experts like Cult Leader Pungcheon and the Sword King were together with him.
And above all.
His gaze turned toward Geom Mugeuk.
If even that Geom Mugeuk were to follow the Demon Cult Leader’s will?
Perhaps the unprecedented situation might arise in which the Murim Alliance would have to join hands with the Unorthodox Alliance. He had never once thought in his life that there would come a day when they would ally with the Unorthodox Alliance.
Geom Ujin and Hwa Mugi stood facing each other across the road. Though he had already allowed two attacks, Hwa Mugi was brimming with composure.
“Perhaps because it is the Demon Cult Leader’s internal energy, it tastes even better.”
It was precisely the situation Cult Leader Pungcheon had been worried about.
Even so, Geom Ujin’s expression showed that he did not care in the slightest.
Flash.
Geom Ujin’s fist flew in an instant, raining blows continuously toward Hwa Mugi. He was too fast—far too fast.
Hwa Mugi dodged the first punch, but he could not avoid the second.
Thud!
Geom Ujin’s fist struck Hwa Mugi’s shoulder.
He had felt it earlier when he kicked him as well, but it was like striking water. It was truly a protective astral energy with a texture he had never experienced before.
It felt as though the impact had not been transmitted at all, and therefore as though no pain would have been felt either.
Once again, fists passed between the two men.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it. To others, each of his father’s movements, imbued with profound martial intent, might appear as nothing more than fists being exchanged, but he could see why he attacked from that angle, and why he dodged in that way.
The martial insights gained in the process of reaching the grand completion of the Twelfth Star of the Guhwa Demonic Art were being displayed.
There was no wasted space between the two men. A truly perfect exchange of attack and defense passed back and forth. It was also a conversation carried out with their bodies. Attacks were questions, and defenses were answers.
And in that process, the one asking and answering more properly was Geom Ujin.
Thud!
Hwa Mugi was sent flying and smashed into the grain displayed in front of a grain merchant.
Shaaaaaak.
Rice poured like a waterfall from the torn sacks.
Though rice poured down over his head, Hwa Mugi laughed. He gestured for him to come, as if telling him to hit him as much as he wanted.
Cult Leader Pungcheon sent a voice transmission to Geom Mugeuk.
—Stop them before the fight drags on. Only the Cult Leader’s internal energy is being consumed.
Cult Leader Pungcheon believed Geom Ujin was overexerting himself because this fight was being fought to grant his son’s request.
—Because of you, the Cult Leader is pushing himself too hard.
Then Geom Mugeuk sent back an unexpected reply.
—You say that because you do not know my father well.
—What?
—My father is absolutely not the sort of man who would fight a losing battle for my sake. When it comes to fighting, he is a cold man.
He meant that there was no way he would be swayed by affection into fighting a disadvantageous battle. Especially not in such an important fight.
—Father watched the earlier fights as well, didn’t he?
—He did.
—And yet he says he will fight with his fists. That means he believes there is a sufficient chance of winning. Not because of me.
Even in this moment, Geom Mugeuk believed in his father.
—Even if everyone in the world worries, there is no need to worry about my father.
At that moment, Cult Leader Pungcheon envied Geom Ujin. He thought how wonderful it would be to have even one child who believed in him like this.
Hwa Mugi spread both arms wide and provoked Geom Ujin.
“You don’t want to admit it because you’re in front of your son, do you? That you were arrogant.”
Geom Ujin’s fist shot in like an arrow and once again struck the protective astral energy flowing like water.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Hwa Mugi took every one of Geom Ujin’s consecutive punches head-on.
The two of them seemed almost to be engaged in a contest of will.
One side said, Go on, hit me. The other said, Let us see how long you can endure.
“At this rate, his internal energy will be exhausted.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon voiced his worry aloud. It was a concern meant for Geom Ujin to hear. He wondered whether, overcome by anger, Geom Ujin might not realize that his internal energy was currently being drained away.
Hwa Mugi was driven backward as blows struck his entire body. But his expression was bright.
“Your attacks are useless! They don’t hurt at all.”
Thud! Thud! Thuuud!
Amid the continuous attacks, Hwa Mugi shouted,
“Draw your sword! Admit defeat.”
But Geom Ujin’s fists flew in even faster.
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthud!
After driving Hwa Mugi against a wall, he unleashed punches without pause.
The two of them were like waves and a rock. No matter how the waves struck, the rock did not budge; Hwa Mugi endured every fist with his protective astral energy.
He was also like a lump of iron under a blacksmith’s hammer. The more it was struck, the stronger and more complete it seemed to become.
But Geom Ujin did not stop. The fists striking him grew faster and more powerful.
Everyone watched the sight in silence. Cult Leader Pungcheon looked at Geom Mugeuk again.
‘You’re the only one who can stop him!’
At the very next moment!
“Stop!”
A single shout burst out.
Cult Leader Pungcheon thought those words had been shouted by Geom Mugeuk.
But they were not.
A single sword cut across the air.
Hwa Mugi’s black sword had thrust through the air, and Geom Ujin had withdrawn to evade it.
Everyone watched this sudden situation with startled faces. He had endured so well until now.
Just when it seemed he was gleefully making him expend his internal energy, Hwa Mugi had suddenly drawn his sword. The one who had shouted for it to stop was none other than Hwa Mugi.
“...Enough.”
Hwa Mugi’s face was twisted in pain. The rock had shattered beneath the waves, and the sword had broken beneath the blacksmith’s hammer.
Geom Mugeuk knew that his father had attacked because he was certain this would happen.
“How did you know he was forcing himself to endure the pain?”
There were two reasons Geom Ujin had been so certain.
“If his martial art had been perfect, he would not have tried to drain our internal energy in the first place.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon nodded. He was right. If it had truly been such a perfect demonic art, given that man’s nature, he would have fought even more arrogantly.
Yet he had not revealed that fact from the beginning, instead making them exhaust their internal energy and suffer injuries.
And there was one more decisive reason.
“Why would such a meticulous man keep saying he was not in pain while fighting me? Instead of pretending to be hurt and making me deplete as much internal energy as possible.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded, guessing the reason. What other reason could there have been?
“Because it hurt too much.”