Chapter 510 - Let Me Grab You Just Once.
Crunch.
A sound of something being violently torn off was heard. What could it be?
In the brief instant the First Elder harbored a fleeting doubt—
Creak!
The First Elder’s vision twisted.
Even then, the First Elder had not grasped what situation was unfolding.
But it did not take him long to realize that the sight before him was what he saw as his body collapsed.
Thud!
His body fell weakly.
“What the...!”
Immediately afterward, immense pain surged from his lower body.
“Krrrrugh!?”
The First Elder screamed at the agony piercing through his entire body.
He immediately tried to grab his leg, the center of the pain, but—
His hand passed through empty air, absurdly so.
Because there was nothing there.
“What... what...?”
Drooling uncontrollably from the pain, the First Elder looked down.
It was gone.
The left leg that should have been there did not exist.
Where did it go? Where did my leg go?
The moment the First Elder flailed and tried to turn his eyes—
Thud.
Something fell beside him.
It was a leg.
That left leg, torn from the First Elder’s body—not in a clean cut as if by a sword,
But in a crudely mangled form, as if truly ripped off by force.
“Hurk....”
As the First Elder’s eyes widened at the sight—
Swish.
He felt the sensation of something grabbing his thigh.
The spot where his leg had been torn off, left hanging limp.
And then.
Fwoosh-!
“Kuaaaaaah!”
Scorching heat spread and seared the First Elder’s wound.
The smell of burning flesh and blood wafted up.
The horrific, nauseating stench—but what was even more terrifying within it—
“Hurk... gaaaack!”
Was the fact that despite writhing and screaming in agony, his mind remained perfectly clear at this level of pain.
It had been only a matter of a few seconds.
Yet the First Elder felt that time as though it were an eternity.
Time passed.
When the smell of burning flesh filled the air thickly, and he no longer even had the strength to scream—
Only then did he feel the hand gripping his thigh pull away.
“Hgeuk... kguh....”
His eyeballs rolled.
He saw a dark ceiling.
Looking below it, a red gleam could be seen within a shadow cloaked in darkness.
It was looking at him.
“I ask.”
A voice came from the red gleam.
“Why did you do it?”
A heavy, low voice drove into his ears.
The First Elder had to pull his trembling body back and rack his brain.
Who is it?
Just who is doing this?
Why did I do what?
“What... what... what...”
As the First Elder answered with difficulty—
Crunch-!
“...Kkeuguk...!!”
His one remaining ankle was crushed under pressure.
“I ask again.”
“Heok... heoeok....”
It was the same intonation, yet for some reason, the First Elder felt as though that voice contained resonance.
It showed beyond his blurring vision.
Is that death?
In that moment, such a thought flashed through the First Elder’s mind.
“Why did you do it.”
Even within his mind, exhausted and crushed by fear, that voice alone was clear.
I see.
Is that man a god?
Gods do not exist.
Or so he had believed—they had long since died and vanished—yet even to the First Elder, it felt that way.
Overwhelming terror.
Crushed by it, the First Elder could not answer at all.
The only sound that reached him was his teeth chattering and clacking incessantly.
“...”
Gu Cheolun checked the First Elder in that state and reached out his hand.
Slowly, as his hand was about to touch and grasp the First Elder’s face—
“That is far enough.”
Abruptly.
Gu Cheolun paused his movements for a moment at the sound that came from before the First Elder.
Gu Cheolun raised his head and looked straight ahead. There, Cheonjon was frowning as he looked at Gu Cheolun.
“Patriarch Gu....”
At Cheonjon’s call, Gu Cheolun straightened his clothes and showed courtesy.
“I pay my respects, Elder.”
“...I never thought I would see you here.”
Heat that pressed down on the space itself.
Feeling the pressure radiating from Gu Cheolun right then, Cheonjon frowned.
“...What are you doing right now?”
What kind of situation was this right now?
Cheonjon had difficulty understanding the incident that had suddenly erupted.
Leaving aside how Gu Cheolun had appeared from the ceiling out of nowhere.
And even assaulting the First Elder to create this situation.
‘Should I have stopped him?’
He could have stopped him if he had tried, but Cheonjon deliberately did not.
Because the atmosphere bursting from Gu Cheolun right then was no ordinary matter.
Such vivid fury.
He thought there must be some reason. And besides that—
‘...My reaction was slow.’
The fact that Cheonjon’s response had been delayed until Gu Cheolun tore off the leg was also a problem.
Recalling that, Cheonjon inwardly gritted his teeth.
“Patriarch Gu. Why are you here when you should be in Shanxi?”
He asked, suppressing his rising emotions. Grasping the situation was the priority.
To that question, Gu Cheolun answered with an expressionless face.
“My child was nearly poisoned to death, so I came to verify the matter.”
“...Poisoning?”
Hearing that, he recalled what the First Elder had said moments ago.
‘Didn’t he say there was a problem with the matter?’
And he had said something about the Gu Clan being slightly involved.
Cheonjon’s gaze turned toward the First Elder.
‘Surely not?’
Was that matter this matter?
If so, things became quite difficult.
“Tch....”
Cheonjon shifted his gaze back to Gu Cheolun.
A massive physique, eyes carrying an expressionless gleam. Yet he did not forget to show courtesy.
There was nothing out of place no matter where one looked, but—
‘Even in this situation.’
Even in this situation, Gu Cheolun maintained that appearance and composure.
Despite having poured out such tremendous fury just moments ago.
A truly nauseating sensation.
Feeling that inexplicable emotion, Cheonjon forcibly spat out words.
“...The Patriarch of the Gu Clan does not leave Shanxi.”
“... .”
“I certainly heard there was such a sworn oath.”
Perhaps because the word ‘pact’ came from Cheonjon’s mouth.
Gu Cheolun’s expression subtly changed.
“Has this matter been reported to the Alliance?”
“... .”
“If not, then please return first. This man’s affair, I shall handle it properly—.”
“Sigh....”
A low sigh.
That small noise blocked Cheonjon’s mouth.
Because the emotion contained within that tiny sound was clearly felt.
Contempt.
Annoyance.
And fury.
Though different yet similar emotions were mixed, their presence was all too clear.
“...You.”
“Elder.”
Even as he spoke, Gu Cheolun’s gaze was not on Cheonjon but looking around the surroundings.
The piled-up corpses of demonic beasts and.
The blood of those creatures filling the floor.
A pedestal upon which something had been placed, and the toxic energy filling the air alone made it clear that this place was not a normal space.
The light in Gu Cheolun’s eyes as he looked around here and there was ice-cold.
There was no emotion whatsoever. Time had made him this way.
No, it was not time alone.
“More than ten years ago.”
For that to be the case, there had been far too many things he experienced during the process.
“When an incident befell us. Though many matters were buried and covered up, the Alliance remained unshaken and firm.”
Something turbid was felt in the quietly flowing voice.
Clank.
At that sensation, Cheonjon unconsciously gripped his sword.
“Long before that, even when the Patriarch of the Paeng Clan crossed the line, the Paeng Clan did not fall. And even when your grandson caused an incident, the Namgung Clan did not fall.”
“What are you talking about right now?”
“Do you know the reason for that?”
No matter what incident occurred, the Martial Alliance—the backbone of the Orthodox faction—did not collapse.
Only the Alliance Leader changed, and the positions of the upper ranks shifted.
It could not be called collapsing.
Moreover, the Paeng Clan and Cheonjon’s Namgung Clan that Gu Cheolun mentioned were prestigious families called the Four Great Clans.
At most, even if the bloodline of a family committed a crime, a prestigious family would not so easily collapse.
Gu Cheolun should know that as well, so why was he saying such incomprehensible things?
The moment Cheonjon thought that.
Thud.
“...!”
Gu Cheolun was already standing before Cheonjon.
His coarse, rugged hand had pushed Cheonjon’s sword back into its scabbard, preventing him from drawing it.
Before Cheonjon could properly process the movement and contain his confusion—
Gu Cheolun spoke to Cheonjon.
“It is because I showed mercy.”
“Wha—....”
The gleam in Gu Cheolun’s eyes took on light as he spoke.
Words that were cold yet hot.
The emotion contained in his voice changed into something sharp and pierced Cheonjon’s chest.
A tone that had become a dagger penetrated deep.
“It is far too late to speak of righteousness and chivalry in this rotten, crumbling land. As proof, the Alliance has lost the conviction it originally possessed.”
“Patriarch Gu, you right now...”
“The sworn oath made with such an Alliance in the past—can it truly.”
Ggrrrr—crack.
Cracks formed in the ground. It could not withstand the pressure bursting from Gu Cheolun’s toes.
“—still bind us tightly? Is that what you think?”
“...!”
“Elder, as you look upon this place, does no thought come to mind?”
The Four Great Clans of the Orthodox faction.
The Tang Sect, which is said to have shed the infamy of the past and established its place in the Orthodox faction.
That is what the world says.
The truth was that it had festered this much. Do you truly feel nothing seeing it with your own eyes?
At Gu Cheolun’s barbed words, Cheonjon answered with silence.
It was far too dangerous a dialogue to spit out any answer.
However, Cheonjon was not unaware that that silence soon became the answer.
A brief silence passed.
Gu Cheolun’s gaze also turned to Cheonjon.
Cheonjon, who did not answer regarding this matter. The rotted Tang Sect and this space.
They were places filled with the cruel and sordid sides of the so-called Orthodox faction.
Even if that were the case.
Gu Cheolun did not care.
“What the Alliance intended to do, what it seeks. I have no interest. So, step aside.”
“You.”
“Elder, right now I am doing my utmost.”
Hummmm.
The heat changed.
Energy twisted and gradually transformed into flames.
“To prevent the Tang Sect from being erased from this land. I am restraining myself with all my might.”
“...!”
Cheonjon’s eyes widened.
The transformed flames gathered behind Gu Cheolun’s back.
They were clumping into a single form.
‘That is....’
Should that be called internal energy?
Are you saying a human’s energy can create something like that?
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Cheonjon felt his sword trembling.
The sword was vibrating in the changed air.
“So, step aside.”
Must he step aside like this?
He could not. This was a matter of prestige.
Gu Cheolun had mentioned the Paeng Clan and the Tang Sect, and even the Martial Alliance, displaying his arrogance.
He could not step back ignoring this.
To step back from this meant—
It was no different from judging Gu Cheolun’s words to be correct.
That he could annihilate the Alliance and the Four Great Clans alone.
That he judged it to be so.
Could he truly acknowledge that?
He could not. Absolutely not.
Yet, even knowing that—
‘Why am I not drawing my sword?’
Why was he not drawing his sword?
Because Gu Cheolun was blocking it? No.
Gu Cheolun was pushing the sword in with force, but had created a minute gap.
So that Cheonjon could draw it at any time, and thereby point it at himself.
He had left such an opening.
‘Ha....’
Seeing that, Cheonjon contained a hollow laugh.
Humiliating.
How long had it been since he felt this emotion?
It was similar to the emotion he felt on the day he last crossed hands with the Sword Lord.
Clank.
Thus Cheonjon immediately grabbed the hilt to draw his sword, when—
“If you draw your sword right now, you bastard.”
The voice that entered Cheonjon’s ears coiled around his throat.
“The Namgung Clan will be annihilated.”
“...!”
A cold voice. A moment’s hesitation.
But.
Shing—
Cheonjon soon drew his sword.
Kwaaaaah-!
Immediately after, a storm composed of internal energy swept through the space.