Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province.
Not far from Mount Song, the city maintained a relative stability even as the world was plunging headlong into chaos.
Befitting its reputation as the Mount Tai and Northern Dipper of the martial world, Shaolin Temple had continued to concern itself with the livelihood of the common people even in these difficult times, and its efforts had greatly influenced the nearby sects that had no choice but to be mindful of Shaolin’s gaze.
Of course, the farther one went from Shaolin Temple, the more sharply that effect weakened; by the time one reached other provinces beyond Henan, there were countless people committing atrocities while bearing the name of a secular branch of Shaolin…
But Zhengzhou, being both adjacent to Mount Song and the provincial capital, was under Shaolin Temple’s special attention, so there was no need to worry on that front.
And near the border leading into Zhengzhou, at a place where the shape of the city could be seen faintly in the distance—
“Khrmph! I’ve made it this far, at least.”
A man with filthy, disheveled hair scratched roughly at his wildly overgrown bandit’s beard and furrowed his brow.
“Somehow, I feel like I’ve been dancing to someone else’s tune. Thinking about it now, maybe I was too hasty.”
He stood there for a while with his arms crossed, pondering something, then soon shook his head and hurried on again.
After coming all this way, it wasn’t as if he could turn back now.
Besides, he knew himself well.
Now that he had personally confirmed the facts on his way here, even if he could turn back time, he would make the exact same choice again.
‘Yes, from what I’ve heard, he seems to have some skill.’
The two eyes gleaming through the hair that covered his face burned fiercely.
What dwelled within them was unmistakable rage.
With no intention of hiding his emotions, he growled low like a beast whose territory had been invaded.
“You dared impersonate me? …No, judging by his tracks, simple impersonation doesn’t seem to have been the goal.”
Crack—
A stone beneath his foot as he slowly moved forward crumbled into powder.
The energy naturally exuding from his body crushed the surrounding undergrowth, pressing it flat against the ground.
“As expected, this must be a challenge. You provoked me into coming personally, which means you’re that confident, does it?”
A savage smile formed on the face that had been muttering softly.
He, too, was so bellicose that he would spring awake from a dead sleep if there was a fight to be had.
“Pfft, then let’s see that face of yours.”
His name was Mok In-gwang.
To the world, he was known by the epithet “Mad Demon.”
***
Mad Demon.
It was an epithet that plainly revealed the rebellious streak Mok In-gwang possessed.
If there was something he disliked, he would not hesitate to charge in like a mad dog and tear into it, heedless of what came before or after.
In the process, he of course used every means and method available, and more than once, he had thrown away his own life like an old shoe simply to spite his opponent.
Because of his foul temper, which made him slam headlong into anything regardless of righteous or evil, or the size of the force behind it, danger and death naturally always lurked at his side.
Had his skill been even a little lacking, he would likely have been forgotten as just one of the countless fools scattered throughout the world…
‘Yet here I am, still perfectly alive.’
As if to prove it, he overcame every crisis, made them the foundation of his growth, and finally rose to become one of the strongest figures in the entire martial world.
The point at which he, who had first begun with the paltry epithet of Mad Dog, finally came to be called the Mad Demon was right around then.
In this chaotic world, how remarkable was it to live exactly as one pleased, refusing to yield to one’s surroundings?
And the very fact that he had acted that way and still survived intact until now—did that not speak to his worth?
‘But…’
That was why the weight of his epithet was by no means light to Mok In-gwang.
It was the trajectory of the life he had walked, a medal proving that fierce existence, and proof of the self he had ultimately reached.
“You dared lay a hand on that?”
Two days.
That was how long it took him, after arriving in Zhengzhou of Henan Province, to pinpoint the culprit’s location.
Swoooosh—
His body swiftly cut through the wind and tore across space.
Naturally, the information he had now obtained was not something he had gathered by running around on his own.
Where many people gathered, those who worked in secrecy were bound to slip in, and among them, there were always those who dealt in information professionally.
All he had done was find them and very kindly, very considerately ask for their cooperation.
‘I didn’t expect them to be that capable.’
It had not even been long since he entrusted the task to that information organization, yet they had reported in detail the target’s recent movements and his current location as inferred from them.
No matter how much the other party had recently become a person of interest, he had not expected them to accomplish that much in such a short time.
‘How fortunate.’
Mok In-gwang raised the corners of his mouth in a grin.
Now, more than twenty years had already passed since the day of the Imperial Palace Blood Incident.
After the fall of the Beggars’ Sect, a sect of beggars, information organizations had sprung up all over the land, and finding useful ones among them required a considerable amount of luck.
Since things had gone so smoothly from the very start, there was no reason for him to be in a bad mood.
‘It would have been more convenient if the Beggars’ Sect were still intact.’
But that was unavoidable.
Begging, too, was only possible when there were people with enough to spare.
In this grim world where everyone struggled to live, there was no way an organization whose members were mostly ordinary beggars with no special abilities could function properly.
In the end, the lower-ranking members left to seek their own livelihoods, while others became independent around middle-ranking officers who had learned a bit of martial arts, and the name Beggars’ Sect had long since become an empty shell.
‘Well, the fine details don’t matter. If this isn’t the place, I can just go back and beat them a little more… no, talk some sense into them.’
Having raced swiftly, he arrived at a wild mountain by the road leading to Zhengzhou, his eyes shining.
He had finally arrived.
At the place where that bastard who had impersonated him and deserved to be torn apart was supposed to be.
And when he climbed the mountain and reached a certain point…
Fortunately beyond measure for the members of the information organization, they no longer needed to fear a return visit from the Mad Demon.
“Huh? What are you?”
At the entrance of the mountain stronghold he had just reached…
There stood a being utterly at odds with the surroundings, which had already been smashed apart as though thoroughly ransacked, yet remained perfectly at ease on his own.
‘…That’s him.’
He could tell at a glance.
That man was the very person who had made him come all the way here personally.
“Hmm? Judging by that sorry look of yours, are you a bandit too? Wow, as expected of the Green Forest! Bandits these days are on a whole different level, huh? The river bandits can’t even compare! Kahahaha!”
Even though an uninvited guest had suddenly appeared, there was not the slightest sign of surprise in his demeanor as he moved lazily like a well-fed predator. There was not even a trace of tension.
No, it was not only his attitude that felt out of place.
‘Is he from beyond the border?’
To Mok In-gwang, who had been born and raised entirely in the Central Plains, the man’s clothing was not merely unfamiliar but almost bizarre, like that of some primitive tribe from the fringes. Without realizing it, he frowned.
But only for a moment. Recalling the reason he had come all this way, he slowly stepped forward.
“Right, that isn’t what matters now.”
“Yeah, yeah, you came to avenge your dead subordinates, right?”
“I don’t care what happens to the trash here. I came all this way because I have separate business with you.”
“Eh?”
Seeing him tilt his head blankly as if he knew nothing at all, Mok In-gwang’s mood soured. He gradually raised his presence and murmured low.
“Mad Demon.”
“Uh, why are you call—”
“That is my epithet.”
“…Oh?”
“You used someone else’s thing as you pleased. Now you’ll have to pay the price.”
“……”
Silence.
After that brief exchange, a momentary hush settled over the scene.
“So—”
But only briefly. Mok In-gwang, who had paused for a moment, continued in a growl.
“Let’s see whether you have the right to do so.”
“Pffft!”
At his final words, the mouth of Harley, who had remained at ease from beginning to end while here, split wide toward both ears.
And through that gap, which could not possibly be called human, teeth as sharp as saw blades slowly revealed themselves.
“Ah— aaah—! I understand. Pffhehehe— I was rude, wasn’t I? Right, you’re a guest who came all this way to see me. Heh-heh.”
A laugh he could not suppress kept leaking out.
Along with it, the atmosphere that surrounded him began to change rapidly.
“I was thinking of going to find you sometime anyway, but to think you’d come here in person. You’ve saved me the trouble.”
A faint haze rose from his body.
Rumble, rumble—
As the air trembled, the atmosphere around him slowly began to boil.
His outward appearance was clearly the same person as before, yet the unknown energy that began to spread faintly around him made him seem like an entirely different being.
From a sated beast lounging about, fully enjoying its fullness after a hunt…
To an unfathomable monster showing interest at the sight of a new toy right before its eyes.
A chill—
The one who felt that change most vividly was, of course, Mok In-gwang, who was facing him directly.
As the violence hidden within Harley’s inner self began to run rampant in earnest, a sense of crisis naturally shot up to the top of his head, and with it, his senses stood on end, sharpened to an extreme.
‘Hah.’
By that point, it began to feel so clear that he could no longer pretend not to know.
The thick, heavy, bottomless true madness the opponent held within his body.
‘How absurd. A person is carrying something like that? No, before that, he can maintain his mind enough to hold a normal conversation?’
Was such a thing truly possible?
It was so absurd that a hollow laugh nearly escaped him.
Even amid that, his instincts shouted endlessly.
This time was truly dangerous.
If he charged in now, what awaited him in the end would only be death.
Even now, fleeing would give him the highest chance of survival.
But—
“Huu…”
He paid not the slightest attention to the alarm bells of those instincts.
He merely faced his opponent and, in the same way, raised the corners of his mouth as high as they would go.
He had not the slightest intention of retreating now.
‘Since when have I ever weighed things like that?’
For some reason, a constant snickering laugh kept leaking out.
It had always been this way until now.
No matter what threat approached, he never backed down, and with the resolve to overcome it somehow, he crashed into it without hesitation.
‘And I’ve survived until now.’
This time, too, was merely one of those many threats.
As he always had, he would prove himself and overcome the obstacle.
And if he truly failed even after that…
Well, would that not simply mean that was as far as he went?
Rustle—
At one moment, as the tension slowly climbed to its peak…
Immediately after the two men vanished from where they stood at the same time—
Kwaaaang—!
A massive shockwave swept out in an instant, and part of the mountain stronghold, already reduced to wreckage, along with several trees, was caught in the aftermath and scattered in all directions.
At the very center of the blast, Harley with his fist extended and Mok In-gwang with his entire hand sheathed in qi aura met each other’s eyes.
At that, Harley smiled broadly and tossed out a casual remark.
“Hey, I like your epithet. I’m going to use it for a while.”
“Kekeke, you put so much effort into spouting bullshit. You’re nothing but a thief. Were those bandits lying around here your subordinates, by any chance?”
“Kahaha! Unfortunately, these guys were below my standards! But I’d be willing to take in someone around your level. What do you say? Want to come under me?”
“Let’s talk after you finish paying what you owe!”
Kuuung—!
Once again, the energies of both sides collided, an explosion boomed out, and the air seethed.
And once they entered a full-fledged battle, the atmosphere around Mok In-gwang, who until now had seemed somewhat underwhelming for someone with the epithet Mad Demon, slowly began to change.
‘Oho? What’s that?’
Harley’s eyes gleamed at the flow of energy occurring inside his body and the strange transformation that resulted.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward, and his sanpaku eyes opened wide.
The veins throughout his body rose hideously, and the manifested qi aura formed around his hands, bent like talons, aided his claw art and maximized its power.
Like Harley’s hand when he used Body Mutation, it had taken on a brutal form, and it tore through the air without hesitation, shaking the space all around.
Kwaaaang—!
In a word, the martial arts used by the Mad Demon could be defined as bizarre.
Speed and power were a given; it was exceedingly irregular and instinctive.
Harley was stronger, faster, tougher, and possessed sharper senses.
Yet his opponent’s attacks disturbed those senses to a strange degree, creating openings where none existed and continuously slipping through them.
‘So that’s it. This is variation and illusion. I think this is the first time I’ve faced someone who uses them properly...’
By that point, he was beginning to grasp the cause.
Feints and truths.
On the surface, it seemed to emphasize force and speed, and the attacks themselves were indeed based on them, but all of it was a trap meant to deceive Harley, who held the advantage in those areas.
The true gains were seized through sinister attacks hidden between them.
Contrary to his reckless appearance, it was an exceedingly cunning method.
‘Of course, none of it matters if he can’t land an effective blow.’
There was no need to go so far as manifesting dragon scales; even in his current state, his body was already no different from the Indestructible Vajra Body.
No matter how much he was struck by such methods, they would not be able to inflict any real damage on him.
Then there was no need to rush. He could draw out everything the man had, then subdue him for certain and...
Swaaaak—
At that moment, suddenly.
Mok In-gwang’s spear-hand shot out as if to pierce the air, only to be blocked by Harley’s palm, and in that instant his other hand raked across Harley’s arm.
Unlike before, a strangely colored red aura was gathered upon it.
Skreeeech—!
A metallic sound rang out, like metal being scraped away.
And unlike before, Harley’s eyes twitched faintly after allowing the blow to land on his arm.
Several long nail marks remained on one of his arms, which was hard beyond measure.
The wounds were soon restored by his recovery ability, but because of the regeneration-weakening power contained in the aura, there was no helping the fact that the speed was far slower than usual.
That was proof that the power of his opponent’s attack far exceeded what he had initially assumed, and also that its efficiency compared to the energy expended was absurdly high.
‘This guy is quite useful. As expected, it’d be a waste...’
Harley’s eyes gleamed with a more serious light than before as he watched his opponent unleash a continuous barrage of attacks.
Taking advantage of the brief moment Harley’s thoughts had wandered, blade-like, claw-shaped aura came flying in.
And so, the two Mad Demons, each harboring different thoughts, collided head-on over a single title.