Hwa Mugi picked up the cup of wine Geom Mugeuk had poured for him.
“Right now, I can hear an outcry within my heart, begging to be let out. I feel terrible rage and heartrending sorrow. They have never once revealed their emotions to this extent before.”
After speaking, Hwa Mugi drank. In the end, the one who emptied the cup today was not the souls, but Hwa Mugi, who had sworn he would never drink.
“I drank this wine not because of you, but for them.”
As Geom Mugeuk had said earlier, it was a moment that showed they held great meaning for Hwa Mugi in some way.
Setting down the cup, Hwa Mugi asked,
“You could have attacked me when I drank.”
Geom Mugeuk had expected an answer like, You were on guard, weren’t you? Or perhaps, That wouldn’t have been stylish, would it?
“Everyone is watching, aren’t they?”
Geom Mugeuk looked around at the people nearby. His father and the Alliance Leaders, the Demon Venerables and Cult Leader Pungcheon, and even the Sword King. Naturally, not one of them had taken their eyes off Geom Mugeuk and Hwa Mugi for even an instant.
“I may look like I do whatever I want, but I’m extremely conscious of how people see me. You have no idea how hard I try to look impressive to others.”
Hwa Mugi let out a hollow laugh. He had truly not expected that to be the reason. Even if that were the reason, to say it so honestly like this.
For the first time, Hwa Mugi revealed his thoughts.
“To be honest, before I met you, I didn’t think much of this murim. But all of a sudden, it became interesting.”
He meant it sincerely.
“If this is a murim where people like you exist.”
Geom Mugeuk said with a smile,
“Sorry for raising your expectations too high from the start. Still, after you kill me, look around carefully. There are plenty of interesting things here and there, and plenty of interesting people too.
Don’t take pleasure in killing people. Tormenting those weaker than you and feeling superior for it—that’s the lowest of the low.”
“You’re trying to lecture me again. You said we should fight, yet here you are rambling about useless things again.”
Of course, he had been the one to start this conversation.
But Geom Mugeuk readily admitted fault.
“Sorry. Thinking I won’t get another chance to say things like this made me talk too much. People who talk a lot tend to make mistakes easily too. Since you don’t say much, I suppose you don’t have to worry about that.”
For the briefest moment, Hwa Mugi thought that having someone like this as a subordinate would at least keep things from becoming boring. As the Young Cult Leader had said, he could already imagine how infuriating it would be to look at people terrified of him, offering false loyalty.
“Now, let’s really fight.”
Geom Mugeuk drew the Black Demon Sword first.
Was it because the sword knew his opponent was its master’s destined archenemy?
Jiiing.
The Black Demon Sword rang softly.
“You must truly be strong, seeing how the Black Demon Sword cries like this.”
Hwa Mugi also drew his black sword.
The two swords aimed at each other gleamed sharply.
Then Geom Mugeuk made a suggestion.
“It’s cramped in here. Let’s go out and fight.”
Hwa Mugi readily accepted.
“Let’s.”
The two of them went back outside the tavern.
They faced each other in the middle of the road in Maga Village, while the others stood before the Pungryu Tavern and watched their fight.
Geom Mugeuk began to fully reveal his presence.
The next moment, Hwa Mugi was standing in the sky. Originally, Geom Mugeuk’s presence had been a sea as deep as an abyss. The illusion of standing in the sky had come from the heavens reflected in clear water.
But now it was different.
It was a true sky.
As he underwent a complete rebirth and absorbed even the wondrous energy of the Six Paths Primordial Qi, Geom Mugeuk’s presence had changed from sea to sky.
Unlike before, it did not draw his opponent into the depths of an abyssal sea. Nor did it make him feel the fear of suffocation.
It simply showed him the sky.
Hwa Mugi looked around. It was a presence he had truly never imagined.
The feeling of standing in a real sky.
When a martial artist reveals his presence, it is to pressure and intimidate his opponent.
Yet this sky inflicted no harm on him at all.
And that was why he was overwhelmed. He felt as if he stood utterly alone before vast nature.
A transcendent presence of an absolute master who did not need to threaten his opponent at all.
That was Hwa Mugi’s impression of Geom Mugeuk’s presence.
After looking around, Hwa Mugi gazed at Geom Mugeuk standing tall in the midst of that sky. The sky and Geom Mugeuk were not separate.
The sky was Geom Mugeuk, and Geom Mugeuk was the sky.
‘So young, yet he shows the presence of such an absolute being?’
That was why he grew angry. This rage was anger that rose from the depths of his heart.
“A man who possesses such an extraordinary presence was merely going to travel, gather poisonous herbs, and drink all night?”
Geom Mugeuk answered that anger calmly.
“I guarantee you, finding people to enjoy doing that with will be far harder than ruling the murim.”
Hwa Mugi revealed his own presence.
Cold killing intent flowing from the black sword stretched in all directions like a spiderweb. The killing intent became a fierce northern wind, freezing the surrounding air.
Crack. Crack.
Powerful killing intent that froze the lungs.
The sky began to freeze. Ice flowers bloomed all around them.
His killing intent rejected the sky. It refused to acknowledge nature, and it also denied Geom Mugeuk’s way of life.
“Don’t make me laugh. If the heavens granted you strength, they must have granted it so you could use it in a place befitting that strength. You are deceiving the fate of a martial artist.”
Hwa Mugi struck the frozen part of the air with his fist.
Clang.
Astonishingly, the sky shattered, revealing what lay behind it.
Pitch-black darkness was there beyond.
Hwa Mugi looked into the darkness through the broken opening.
“So this is your true self.”
When Hwa Mugi tore at the edges of the crack with his hand, the sky fell away as if an ice wall were collapsing. Then the darkness beyond was revealed even more widely.
Geom Mugeuk simply watched as Hwa Mugi shattered his presence.
“This abyssal darkness is your true self, isn’t it? Why do you live hiding yourself?”
Geom Mugeuk answered as if it were nothing.
“What lies beyond is also me, and this side is also me. Just as there is a you who wants to kill me, and a you who wants to talk with me.”
Geom Mugeuk slowly walked toward Hwa Mugi.
He came close enough that if Geom Mugeuk reached out, he could touch him, but Hwa Mugi stood where he was. A suffocating tension flowed between them. It seemed that in the next flashing instant, one would thrust his sword at the other.
Geom Mugeuk ran his hand over the broken part as though repairing it. Then that place became blue sky once more.
“I simply like this side better than that one.”
Then, staring at Hwa Mugi standing before him, he asked,
“When I was filling that hole, why didn’t you attack?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Hwa Mugi flinched.
Because he did not want to fight this battle with something like a surprise attack.
He truly felt that way. He wanted to fight this Young Cult Leader properly. Suddenly, he recalled what Geom Mugeuk had said.
“It must be because I was thinking of what comes after killing all of you.”
He was saying that his own souls were watching him too.
At those words, a smile formed on Geom Mugeuk’s lips.
“You’re doing well.”
“I’ll be doing well once I kill you.”
Wooooong!
Internal energy began to pour fully into the black sword in Hwa Mugi’s hand.
Wooooong!
Internal energy also dwelled in Geom Mugeuk’s Black Demon Sword.
The two, having filled their swords with internal energy, swung them at each other as if by agreement.
Shiiiiik.
Kwaaaang!
With a tremendous explosion, sword and sword collided.
Neither of them was pushed back.
Beyond the crossed blades, Hwa Mugi’s eyes widened.
“You!”
It had been a strike in which he had drawn up as much internal energy as possible, yet Geom Mugeuk was not pushed back at all. It was power formed from the combined internal energy and innate true qi of Hyeok Docheon, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword, Ju Gashin, and the Palace Lord of Cheonui.
“My internal energy does not surpass yours?”
Aside from Geom Mugeuk’s skill, this was shocking.
“I’m the incarnation of greed, so I ate all sorts of things.”
Those watching were just as shocked.
Jin Paecheon and Baek Jagang looked at each other and exchanged glances. They had unconsciously looked to one another, as if asking whether what they had seen was real.
It was the moment they confirmed that Geom Mugeuk had more internal energy than anyone here.
The Fist Demon had expected Geom Mugeuk to be pushed back at least one or two steps, so he was inwardly surprised to see him not retreat even a single step.
‘As expected, the Cult Leader saw more accurately than I did.’
Standing beside him, Geom Ujin watched in silence, as if he had already anticipated this.
Cult Leader Pungcheon did not miss the chance to take credit. Since he could not say it to Geom Mugeuk, who was fighting, he whispered to the Sword King standing beside him.
“My divine object is melted into that internal energy!”
In truth, the Sword King also had every right to boast in this regard. In the past, during the process of excavating the secret vault with Geom Mugeuk, the two of them had eaten their fill of elixirs together.
‘I fed him well that day.’
Of course, the Sword King did not say it aloud. After giving Cult Leader Pungcheon a faint smile, he watched Geom Mugeuk fight.
Cult Leader Pungcheon could make such a remark only because Geom Mugeuk was fighting that well.
Sword and sword clashed, flashing with light.
Geom Mugeuk did not merely possess abundant internal energy. The speed with which he moved his body and thrust his sword was also beyond imagination.
Once they entered the fight, the two men shared the same impression.
‘He’s strong!’
Hwa Mugi found Geom Mugeuk more difficult to deal with than when he had faced the Alliance Leaders. This was true even though he was now displaying all the skill he had kept hidden earlier.
Geom Mugeuk also realized that Hwa Mugi was far stronger than he had thought.
Each time sword light flashed, their lives hung in the balance. Deadly moves that allowed not even a single moment’s mistake passed between them.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
In a single breath, dozens of exchanges passed in an instant.
Their battle was not one of limbs against limbs, nor sword against sword, nor technique against technique.
It was will against will, each determined to kill the other.
Right now, Geom Mugeuk was displaying the greatest skill he was capable of. He did not hide his strength.
He would be the one to end it. He had no intention of handing this fight over to the people behind him.
He knew his father wanted to protect him by personally killing Hwa Mugi. He knew the Alliance Leaders, the Demon Venerables, Cult Leader Pungcheon, and the Sword King all felt the same.
But he would protect them. That was why he had walked such a long road. That was why he had endured that difficult life—to save those who must not die.
‘I will save them all.’
Just then, as their tense offense and defense continued—
Kaaang!
With one powerful strike, the two were pushed sliding in opposite directions.
And at that moment, as if by prior agreement, both unleashed their decisive moves at the same time.
Swish, swish, swish, swish!
Four beings blocked Geom Mugeuk in from every direction.
They were evil spirits. Not the familiar evil spirits he had always seen, but evil spirits with unfamiliar faces.
It was the First Form of the Ninefire Demonic Art that Hwa Mugi had unleashed, the Annihilation Form.
The moment Geom Mugeuk was trapped by the evil spirits, Hwa Mugi smiled.
‘You’re finished now!’
It was a decisive move aimed at Geom Mugeuk’s carelessness.
At the same time, the move Geom Mugeuk had unleashed also manifested.
Whoosh.
The moment darkness settled on all sides—
Shiiiiing.
A single streak of light cut across the darkness.
It was the Fourth Form of the Ninefire Demonic Art unleashed by Geom Mugeuk, the Dark One Flash.
Ninefire Demonic Art against Ninefire Demonic Art.
Those watching were startled. After they had only been competing sword against sword, no one had imagined they would suddenly use the Ninefire Demonic Art in such a surprise attack.
The Sword King was about to leap in at once.
If Geom Ujin had not remained standing there and watching, he would already have rushed forward.
But the situation was already too late.
The evil spirits on all sides were bringing their swords down toward Geom Mugeuk.
The walls on every side were walls of death.
It was at that moment.
Kuaaaang!
Something pure white seemed to overlap with the evil spirit attacking Geom Mugeuk from the front.
Swaeek! Swaeek! Swaeek!
Only three evil spirit swords came slashing down.
What made an evil spirit of the Annihilation Form—something that absolutely could not be pierced by ordinary means—disappear was the Great Demon Wall.
The instant Geom Mugeuk raised a Great Demon Wall, just large enough to block one person, overlapping it with the place where the evil spirit in front stood, that evil spirit vanished.
At the same time, Geom Mugeuk withdrew the Great Demon Wall and shot forward in an instant. It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
Geom Mugeuk had not let his guard down.
In particular, he had thought in advance about how to respond if the Ninefire Demonic Art were used.
Because he had already decided that if the Annihilation Form were used on him, he would escape this way, he had responded with the Great Demon Wall in the fleeting instant the Annihilation Form was unleashed.
Hwa Mugi, too, blocked the Dark One Flash by a method Geom Mugeuk had not expected.
Swish, swish, swish, swish.
Four evil spirits appeared around Hwa Mugi.
Kaaang!
The Dark One Flash cut off the neck of an evil spirit, but it did not cut Hwa Mugi. He had used the Annihilation Form on himself and made the evil spirit into a shield.
Both men looked at each other with startled expressions.
Hwa Mugi was truly astonished. He had not expected Geom Mugeuk to break through the Annihilation Form with the Great Demon Wall.
‘And that Great Demon Wall is as small as mine.’
Geom Mugeuk, too, could tell that Hwa Mugi had achieved great success in the Ninefire Demonic Art, and that his realm was comparable to that of Hyeok Docheon, the Demonic Cult Leader from three hundred years ago.
Geom Mugeuk’s surprise was even greater.
“How did you use two Annihilation Forms at the same time?”
He had attacked him with the Annihilation Form and, at the same time, defended himself with the Annihilation Form.
Geom Mugeuk absolutely could not do that.
‘Don’t tell me he achieved the twelfth-star grand completion of the Ninefire Demonic Art?’
Geom Mugeuk looked at his father. His father, too, shook his head slightly with a surprised expression. It meant that even achieving twelfth-star grand completion would not allow one to use two Annihilation Forms at the same time.
“How on earth did you do that?”
Instead of answering, Hwa Mugi charged toward Geom Mugeuk.
His movements became dramatically faster.
Swaaaaaeek.
In a flashing instant, Hwa Mugi’s black sword was cleaving the space before him.
Geom Mugeuk twisted his body and dodged, but—
Paat!
Blood sprayed from Geom Mugeuk’s shoulder. Fortunately, the cut was shallow, but it had been an attack that could easily have severed his arm.
Swaeek!
He retreated to avoid the second attack. If not for the Four Steps of the Wind God, he would have been cut again by that speed.
Those watching were shocked. It was such a threatening and swift attack that they could not help thinking Hwa Mugi must have been hiding even more of his strength.
Hwaaaaaaa.
Powerful demonic energy wavered around Hwa Mugi like a heat haze.
That was not all. Before anyone knew it, both his eyes had turned black. The whites had vanished, and they had become entirely black.
The moment Geom Mugeuk saw those eyes, the fine hairs across his entire body stood on end, and the Heavenly Demon Protection Art activated to its limit.
Hwa Mugi’s voice held a deep resonance, as if it were rising from a bottomless pit.
“Why did you not try to speak with me?”