Crack-!
Blood gushed onto the cracked floor.
It was far too much blood to have simply spilled from his mouth. His trembling body made it clear that he had reached his limit.
He turned his gaze to the side.
Beside the pool of blood, a sword lay fallen.
The swordsman trembled, his sword fallen from his grasp.
It was a scene that needed no further words.
‘Mhm.’
A world grown densely still.
Amid the gray backdrop, Paeng Ujin reacted as he looked at the kneeling young man.
‘How disappointing.’
It was quite different from what he had expected.
His name was Jin Imseok, was it?
Paeng Ujin had harbored a unique expectation for him.
He had believed the young man would hold out a little longer, and had determined that it would make things a bit more enjoyable, yet…
‘Were my expectations too great?’
In this situation that couldn't be more regrettable, Paeng Ujin's heart was growing cold.
At the same time, his eyes moved.
Leaving behind the opponent whose end had already come, he looked down from the dueling stage.
Paeng Ujin moved his head to find someone among the countless spectators. Before long, he found him.
It wasn't difficult to find him.
After all, in a world where everyone was gray, all he had to do was find the one person shining brilliantly.
‘Haha.’
Having found the young man, Paeng Ujin broke into a smile.
It was still a vast light.
In the thick, murky gray world, only the young man held a blue light.
‘Truly dazzling today as well.’
At first glance, it had been a rather shallow light.
Nothing but embers.
Or a spark.
He had felt such a light from a boy much younger than himself.
Was it not truly fascinating?
Paeng Ujin had taken an interest in that flame. As time passed, the spark burned ever more clearly.
It was color.
The world he had lost at the age of ten.
A sight imbued with color flickered before his eyes.
‘Beautiful.’
The flickering red light had, for some reason, changed into blue, but
even so, it was still beautiful.
Moreover, it was not the only one shining.
Other colors nestled around the blue light.
The young lady of the Tang Sect whose name had not been worth remembering.
Since he had last seen her, she had begun to emit a green light.
‘Bright.’
Though she had once been a woman without any color, how had she come to possess such a hue?
It was not the first time Paeng Ujin had seen people with color.
There had been several others he had seen in his life besides them.
Cheonan, the Abbot of Shaolin, had been one.
So too was the Sword Emperor known as the Guardian of the Alliance.
Could it be that the color represented a martial artist's strength?
He had thought so in his youth, but it had not taken Paeng Ujin long to realize that this was not the case.
His own father.
He had felt no color whatsoever from the head of the Paeng family.
Yet color had been visible in the Divine Physician, who had been hailed as the greatest of the Central Plains.
‘If so. What is color?’
If the difference in strength was not what determined color,
then by what reason were the colors he saw determined?
He had lived his whole life harboring such questions, but Paeng Ujin had never learned the answer.
It was simply something to be realized.
‘How brilliant.’
Those colors he saw in a world that had lost its colors—they were so covetable, so bewitching.
He had long forgotten to ask why he could see them.
What mattered to him now was that color existed. That was all.
Like a single ray of light in a world that had lost its way.
Perhaps because of that, Paeng Ujin's life had taken a strange turn.
Those without color began to look like dust to him.
They no longer felt like human beings.
Even if they possessed the same heart, without color, he could hardly perceive them.
They had no value worth remembering.
No more than pebbles scattered upon the ground.
He felt them to be neither more nor less than that.
Would even his own father be any different?
Though he had inherited his hair and eye color from him, Paeng Ujin had never thought deeply about his father.
Was it because he was an incompetent patriarch?
Or was it because he floundered grotesquely despite his incompetence?
Neither was the case.
It was simply because he lacked color.
He had no interest in those who could not possess color.
Not even if they were flesh and blood.
His incompetent father and incompetent brothers.
Only because his younger sister, Paeng Ahi, held a faint trace of color did he bother speaking to her.
Thus, how covetable it must be.
‘An existence that brought color to those around him.’
Though he had seen those who lost the colors they possessed, he had never seen one who created color. Yet beside that young man, others would come to possess it.
Therefore.
‘Surely you too must show me something, must you not?’
Paeng Ujin smiled as he looked at his opponent, who had risen once more.
Arms and legs trembling violently.
The sight of him leaning on his sword like a cane was utterly wretched.
[If you would but hear one request.]
Before stepping onto the dueling stage, Gu Yangcheon had offered a request, which had piqued his interest.
Had it not been for that, he would not have involved himself in such matters.
‘Or perhaps not.’
Perhaps, even if that were not the case, he might have done so anyway.
And there was good reason for that.
Because the young man before him also possessed color.
However.
‘Only too faint and insignificant.’
A spark on the verge of dying out.
The color he had sensed in the young man was gradually fading.
And simultaneously, Paeng Ujin's interest was waning.
‘Truly, what do you see in that one?’
A single glance was sufficient.
For Paeng Ujin, that was enough to judge the other's worth.
He could view him favorably because he possessed color, but it was doubtful whether he was worth holding any great expectations.
See.
Even now, his color is fading.
Despite rising somehow and gripping his sword, it was plain to see.
No will to fight could be felt.
What remains for a martial artist who holds a sword but lacks the will to fight?
Absence of Thought.
It was the same as emptiness.
‘What a shame.’
This time, it seemed he had been wrong.
Thinking thus, he raised his blade.
He would fulfill his promise.
For only then could he obtain what he desired.
Swoosh.
He swung with the flat of the blade rather than the edge.
He would end it in a single strike.
The moment he moved with that thought—
Thud.
"…!"
Reclaiming his blade mid-swing, Paeng Ujin leaped backward.
"…Hmm?"
About five or six paces. After creating that much distance,
he looked at his opponent, his smile wiped away.
A broken stance.
A body still trembling.
Nothing had changed at all, and yet—
Paeng Ujin found himself narrowing his eyes at him.
‘The color.’
The color that had wafted up like a heat haze had vanished.
However.
‘What?’
What was making him so distinct?
Though the color had vanished, the young man inexplicably looked clearer than ever.
How could this be?
In the moment he harbored this doubt, he quickly realized.
‘I see.’
The color hadn't vanished.
It had changed.
The yellow hue that had risen like a heat haze vanished,
and black deepened around the edges.
The instant Paeng Ujin noticed this—
Saaaaaah--!!
"Oh ho."
The young man named Jin Imseok was dyed black.
Paeng Ujin turned his gaze to the referee.
The referee below the dueling stage showed no reaction.
He was merely watching for a situation requiring intervention.
Which meant that the change was invisible to others.
"Hahaha. I see. So it's like that this time too."
It seems my thoughts had been mistaken.
He had been wrong, and Jin Imseok had been right.
That fact was so exhilarating he could hardly keep his composure.
Creak.
The young man moved.
Jin Imseok—that young man who should have already reached his limit—began to move.
He was so black that his expression was unreadable.
As Paeng Ujin watched him with fascination—
"Ah."
Jin Imseok, moving, uttered a brief word.
And then, his pupils formed.
Eyeballs of gleaming yellow.
The instant he saw them,
a shiver ran down his spine.
Paeng Ujin's hair stood on end,
Saaaaaaah---!!!
An enormous aura erupted from Jin Imseok's body.
‘What is this?’
Paeng Ujin tilted his head as he gauged the aura.
‘Killing intent.’
That ferocious aura was pure killing intent.
How could he emit such an immense amount of killing intent?
It was a sight so astonishing he was on the verge of gasping in admiration,
but he couldn't simply stand there surprised.
Smiling, Paeng Ujin raised his blade.
Kwaaaah--!!
Jin Imseok, radiating that aura, rushed at Paeng Ujin in an instant.
Screech---!!
Blade met blade.
At that moment—
Crunch-!
"Huh."
Paeng Ujin's planted foot dug into the dueling stage floor as he was pushed back.
‘What?’
Completely different strength from before.
Groan-!
Pressure formed on the blade trajectory that had previously been weightless.
Paeng Ujin changed his grip and shifted the blade's path.
Screech-! Jin Imseok's blade slid past along the flat.
Having deflected the onslaught, Paeng Ujin tightened his grip and launched a counterattack.
But.
Shwiiiiik--!!
"!"
Jin Imseok's killing intent suddenly surged toward Paeng Ujin.
As sharp as a blade's edge.
Seeing this, Paeng Ujin changed course and urgently swung his blade.
Black Smoke Chaotic Fang Blade.
The blade infused with blade qi unleashed indiscriminate chaotic strikes.
Clang-! Clang-clang-! Clang-!
With each swing, he cut down the killing intent and deflected every attack.
It wasn't particularly difficult.
However, once the defense was over, Paeng Ujin's expression was anything but cheerful.
‘How curious.’
The intensity of the killing intent far exceeded his expectations.
It was like smashing scrap metal.
‘It was clearly killing intent, yet did this mean it was on par with blade qi?’
What kind of martial art was that?
Paeng Ujin turned his head, intrigued.
Slash-!
Jin Imseok's attack grazed Paeng Ujin's cheek before he knew it.
Blood splashed lightly in the air.
‘He's faster than before.’
Incomparably faster than at the start.
Strength and speed had both increased, then?
‘One could well say this was a different person entirely.’
His blade trajectory was the same.
Crack-! Thud-!
Though his blade had initially been weak but fundamentally sound, the current Jin Imseok was like a wild beast.
He swung purely by instinct.
The killing intent drenched in his blade was unmistakable.
Too crude to be called swordsmanship, but the intent and power within were so fierce they had transformed into something savage.
"Haha-!"
Paeng Ujin laughed heartily.
Rather than retreating to avoid the killing intent, he pressed forward even faster.
Slash-! Swish-!
Savage killing intent tore past his skin.
Though the wound instantly burned, Paeng Ujin paid it no heed.
If anything, his own body only grew hotter.
‘Interesting.’
Why that young man had suddenly changed like that—
that no longer mattered.
‘This is fun.’
Now it was enjoyable.
Paeng Ujin's eyes were fixed solely on Jin Imseok's eyes.
Yellow eyes shining with ecstasy.
Even if the killing intent brimming in those pupils was repulsive, to Paeng Ujin it was nothing but beautiful.
"I'll kill you. I'm going to kill you. I'll slaughter you."
So much so that Jin Imseok's mutterings seemed to go unheard.
Clang-! Crack-! Crack-!
Paeng Ujin's precise onslaught cut through the killing intent as he advanced.
Mixing feints into repeated applications and withdrawals of force, yet Jin Imseok ferociously bit into only the feints.
He thrust his blade.
Swish-! Jin Imseok's shoulder was cut by the shallow strike.
He had exposed an opening to attack because feints didn't work, but Jin Imseok, as if he had been waiting, took the wound and pressed inward.
"I'll kill you."
Jin Imseok thrust his sword as well.
Thud-!
This time, his blade pierced Paeng Ujin's shoulder.
It dug in precisely, piercing through the skin and out the other side, but—
"Splendid."
Paeng Ujin seized Jin Imseok's hand as if oblivious to the pain.
Grab-!
"Hrrgh… hrrgh!"
"Hahahahaha--!!"
At such close quarters, the angle made it impossible for Paeng Ujin's blade to cut Jin Imseok,
and Jin Imseok's blade was lodged in Paeng Ujin's shoulder, restricting his movement.
In a state where battle was impossible unless one yielded,
moreover, it was the critical moment where yielding meant taking the blow.
"Now, what will you do, Lord Jin—!"
Surely you have no more tricks? So thinking, Paeng Ujin's eyes widened.
Chomp-!
Because Jin Imseok had bitten Paeng Ujin's nape without hesitation.
At this, Paeng Ujin released his blade.
Then swung his empty hand to slam Jin Imseok's abdomen.
Boom-!!
A shockwave erupted, sending Jin Imseok's body flying and rolling across the floor.
"Ptoo."
Having rolled a few times, he assumed a stance and spat something out.
Flesh and blood.
Seeing that, Paeng Ujin touched his own nape.
"..."
He was wounded.
Not a vital point, so it wasn't fatal, but it was clearly a nasty wound.
Had he not released his blade and thrown Jin Imseok off then, it would have been quite dangerous.
"…I didn't see this coming."
To think he'd bite my nape in that situation.
This isn't some beast…. What a chaotic duel….
"Truly… truly… magnificent."
Wiping away his blood, Paeng Ujin's face twisted into one of ecstasy.
It was brimming with color.
The killing intent erupting from Jin Imseok enveloped the surroundings,
and within it, the yellow eyes shone brilliantly.
Only two colors, yet they filled Paeng Ujin's world.
"More."
He couldn't contain himself.
"Show me more."
Desire surged forth.
"Please, show me more of your colors, my lord."
Wuuuuuung.
The blade began to howl fearsomely.
Wuuung-wuuuuung-wuuuuuuuuuuu---!!!!
Sound erupted wildly, and energy coalesced at Paeng Ujin's hand.
Drip.
Blood flowed from his neck and shoulder.
It hurt.
The pain intensified as if he were being consumed by poison.
The more it did, the more Paeng Ujin smiled.
Because even pain was ecstasy to him now.
"Hrrgh… hrrrgh."
Meanwhile, Jin Imseok's condition deteriorated further.
Though the amount of killing intent he emitted had decreased, its density had grown thicker.
It seemed he was gradually adapting to the killing intent and learning to control it.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
The blade in Paeng Ujin's hand slowly rotated.
‘Truly.’
How much more can he show?
Gu Yangcheon's request had long since been forgotten in Paeng Ujin's mind.
How much more can he show,
and how much longer can he endure,
‘How brightly will he shine?’
The more they fought, the clearer the color became. How far could it truly go?
He wanted to see.
He felt he would go mad with the desire to see that alone.
"So show me."
The limits of how brightly you can shine.
Wuuuung-!!
Jin Imseok, who had been growling.
An anomaly manifested in the sword he held.
The killing intent he had been emitting began to converge into his blade.
Was that a martial art as well?
Paeng Ujin's breathing grew ragged as he watched.
Because Jin Imseok's eyes blazed as if lit by fire.
Seeing that, Paeng Ujin drew up the energy of his entire body.
It was a power he had intended to keep sealed until he met the one he desired, but this could not be helped.
Having witnessed such a color, he had to respond in kind.
Black Iron Myriad Bursts.
Paeng Ujin prepared the ultimate technique at his disposal.
To answer Jin Imseok's worth.
Energy coalesced, tension mounting.
The atmosphere between them reached its peak, on the verge of exploding,
Hup-!
Jin Imseok's body swayed,
"Gack."
"Huh?"
Thud.
Leaving a short cry, he collapsed on the spot.
Immediately after Jin Imseok collapsed onto the stone floor,
"Huh…?"
Paeng Ujin was taken aback by the unforeseen situation.
"What in the—!"
Jin Imseok lay motionless, seemingly unconscious. The killing intent that had been erupting from him vanished in an instant.
The deep color faded.
His blackened body returned to normal, leaving behind only the yellow that had been visible before.
"…It can't be."
Paeng Ujin tried to approach, his heart trembling,
but the referee had already ascended to check Jin Imseok's condition.
After checking him over, he raised his hand and spoke.
"Paeng Ujin of the Hebei Paeng Clan. Victory."
He didn't know what came after.
Whether cheers had followed the referee's words, or if there had been silence,
Paeng Ujin could not tell.
What he did know,
was that Paeng Ujin had instinctively looked toward Gu Yangcheon,
and that Gu Yangcheon, whom he looked at,
was smiling down at the collapsed Jin Imseok as if he had found a fine treasure.