Chapter 433. The Men Who Broke Through the Carnage.
The Lust Demon, who had been spending dull days adapting to life in the Murim Alliance without incident, entered the Yongmugwan under Jang San’s guidance, where a private martial duel was to be held.
“Young Master Mong, this is the place.”
The Lust Demon looked around the interior of the Yongmugwan, which was wider than he had expected.
“May I go in and take a look?”
“Of course. Please take your time.”
Jang San closed the doors of the Yongmugwan, then slowly followed after the Lust Demon. As the Lust Demon looked here and there, he said,
“It’s larger than I expected. What is this building normally used for? There are quite a few weapons here, too.”
Various weapons were standing on the left side, most of them wooden training weapons.
Jang San said,
“The Sword Corps members use it for training, and it is sometimes used for rank examinations or private martial duels like this one.”
“The Alliance has rank examinations?”
Jang San nodded.
“There are times when promotions are decided through evaluation of martial arts. When several people compete for important positions such as corps leader or division leader, we tend to decide through martial duels as well.”
“So it is largely decided by skill, then.”
“If there are no other issues, yes.”
The phrase “other issues” bothered the Lust Demon strangely, and he scratched his forehead with a finger for a moment.
“By the way, during a duel, do the witnesses watch from over there?”
“That is correct. But does the position of the witnesses concern you as well?”
The Lust Demon looked at Jang San.
“It could harm those watching. My martial arts are rather eccentric.”
“Ah, I see.”
After taking a rough look around, the Lust Demon turned back, and both he and Jang San looked toward the entrance at the same time. The door opened, and a Murim Alliance member appeared with a man in his thirties wearing a blue long robe. They looked at the Lust Demon’s group.
The Alliance member named Ju Jiryang said to Jang San,
“Martial Artist Jang?”
Jang San answered politely.
“Senior Ju, I was introducing the Yongmugwan to Young Master Mong Yeon.”
The man in his thirties, with his hands clasped behind his back, looked around the Yongmugwan, then asked the Lust Demon,
“Young Master Mong Yeon?”
The Lust Demon had no difficulty realizing that this man in his thirties, whom he was seeing for the first time, was someone invited to the Alliance Leader’s martial contest. Since he had no particular desire to speak at length, he said curtly,
“That is right.”
The man in his thirties merely smiled faintly and did not introduce himself. Then Ju Jiryang, beside him, introduced the man in an indifferent tone.
“This is Senior Gang Mokcheon, the successor of the Divine Halberd.”
The Lust Demon lightly nodded and thought,
‘……So what.’
He looked at Jang San, then said,
“I’ve seen enough. Let’s go, Martial Artist Jang.”
As the Lust Demon headed toward the entrance, Gang Mokcheon asked,
“Does Young Master Mong also happen to be participating in the Alliance Leader’s martial contest?”
“That is right. Let us meet on the day of the duel.”
Gang Mokcheon looked the passing Lust Demon up and down, then smiled faintly. The Lust Demon stopped walking and asked with a smile,
“Why are you smiling like that? Do you know me? This is our first meeting.”
Gang Mokcheon grinned.
“Are you that Mong Rang who built up some fame in Baengeungji? I heard the Mong family once produced a great general.”
The Lust Demon nodded.
“I am indeed that Mong Rang of Baengeungji. You say I built up fame, but because I was good at chasing after women, I have a fair share of scandals. I also got into fights often, so I built up some notoriety as well. The Mong family you mention is indeed one that produced a general, but in my case, because I caused so much trouble, I was treated like a castoff child, so I cut ties early and ran away from home. Is there anything else you are curious about?”
Even as the Lust Demon rattled off his own history, for some reason, he felt refreshed.
Gang Mokcheon answered with a snickering smile.
“I see.”
“Then I shall be going.”
As the Lust Demon walked away as if he had no interest, Gang Mokcheon, feeling that he was being ignored, called him to a stop.
“By the way, I clearly heard that Alliance Leader Im carefully selected the participants.”
The Lust Demon stopped and stared silently at the entrance of the Yongmugwan before turning his head.
“And?”
“I was wondering whether a man called Mong Rang of Baengeungji has the qualifications to participate in the Alliance Leader’s martial contest.”
Jang San looked at the Lust Demon, whose expression had gone completely rigid.
“Mm.”
He wanted to interject something, but as he was not used to this sort of situation, he thought it best to simply keep his mouth shut.
While Jang San watched him, the Lust Demon slowly turned around. Before long, he was grinning.
“Qualifications are for Alliance Leader Im to decide.”
Gang Mokcheon shook his head.
“No. What I mean is you, Young Master Mong Yeon. I am asking whether you yourself think you are qualified. How could the busy Alliance Leader Im know every detail of your private life?”
The Lust Demon laughed in a low, subdued voice, then looked at Gang Mokcheon.
“In truth, whether I am qualified or not, what business is it of yours? You speak as though you have already ascended to the position of Alliance Leader. It would not be too late to show such meddlesomeness after you become the new Alliance Leader. Lord Gang Mokcheon, successor of the Divine Halberd, do you understand? I shall confirm on the day of the duel just how extraordinary you are, for even the word ‘divine’ to be attached to your epithet.”
Gang Mokcheon said,
“If you are curious, why not confirm it now? Competing on the day of the duel or competing now seems all the same anyway. Is that not so? It would be more convenient for both of us to eliminate a competitor in advance.”
The Lust Demon answered in a cold tone.
“I do not wish to cause trouble when I am here as an invited guest. Let us meet on the day of the duel.”
Gang Mokcheon stretched out a hand and pointed at the interior of the Yongmugwan and the Alliance members.
“Young Master Mong, let the two Alliance members here serve as official witnesses to the duel. How about the loser leaves the Murim Alliance early and does not appear even on the day of the contest?”
“…….”
“As if he was never invited in the first place because he had no qualifications.”
The Lust Demon laughed.
“You truly have an amusing way with words. Is it because you wield a spear? You do have a way of poking at people. You must have trained quite diligently under Elder Divine Halberd.”
It was nothing much, but Jang San, who was listening with them, drew his lips inward. Anyone could tell he was trying to hold back laughter, and unfortunately, Gang Mokcheon was staring directly at Jang San’s expression as well.
Gang Mokcheon said,
“Young Master Mong, there is no great issue with us provoking each other, but I cannot let it pass that you insulted my master. Do not run away. Let us fight here and now.”
The Lust Demon asked Jang San,
“Martial Artist Jang, can you stand as witness?”
Jang San looked at Ju Jiryang, his senior.
“Senior Ju, what should we do? If you decide, I will follow.”
Ju Jiryang answered,
“Well, it is nothing difficult. However, since it is not a duel permitted by the Alliance Leader……”
Ju Jiryang looked around the interior and said,
“Let us say the two of you happened to meet in Yongmu Hall and engaged in a bout. Instead, please use the wooden swords and wooden staffs kept here in Yongmu Hall.”
Gang Mokcheon tilted his head.
“Must we?”
“That way, it will feel like a friendly spar. If you do so, Martial Artist Jang and I will stand as witnesses. If someone is badly injured by a real blade here for no reason, Martial Artist Jang and I will be severely reprimanded as well. If wooden swords or wooden staffs are too dull for you, then we will not stand witness either. You can cross hands properly on the day of the duel.”
The Lust Demon answered,
“Anything is fine.”
Gang Mokcheon also nodded.
“What harm could there be? Let’s do that.”
Gang Mokcheon went alone to where the training weapons were kept and chose a wooden staff. He picked out the cudgel that looked the sturdiest by eye, drew it out, then looked at the Lust Demon standing still in the center. Since he had a long white sword at his waist, Gang Mokcheon asked,
“Not choosing a wooden sword?”
The Lust Demon answered in a deliberately chilly tone,
“No need.”
He unfastened the White Dragon from his waist and handed it to Jang San.
Gang Mokcheon, who had been twirling the cudgel with only the skill of his fingers and wrist, sneered.
“Barehanded will be difficult. I’m only saying this because I feel a little bad.”
“Look, either speak casually to my face or use proper honorifics. What is that way of talking? You’re subtly talking down to me.”
As the two men faced off while occupying the center, the alliance members who had offered to stand as witnesses withdrew to where the observers were, widening the space.
Gang Mokcheon asked,
“The loser leaves the Murim Alliance immediately.”
After confirming the informal speech, the Lust Demon replied as though speaking to a friend.
“Shall we?”
“Do not speak casually to me.”
“Understood.”
At this childish exchange, even the two observers finally laughed.
Jang San said,
“I hope you will spar without suffering any serious injuries. It is a friendly match, after all.”
Gang Mokcheon, who had been lightly swinging the cudgel as if handling chopsticks, took his stance.
“Martial Artist Jang, how can one avoid injury in a fight? Are you ready?”
The Lust Demon looked at Gang Mokcheon without taking any stance at all.
“I was ready before I came to the Murim Alliance, so come in.”
Gang Mokcheon’s expression flared for an instant, but then he drew in a deep breath and let it out, calming himself. As soon as Gang Mokcheon settled his expression into composure, he narrowed the distance and thrust out the wooden staff.
The Lust Demon retreated, then hurriedly twisted his body.
With a whoosh of split air, the wooden staff passed by as if grazing the Lust Demon’s side. For the moment, even the Lust Demon could not tell just what level the disciple of Singeuk had reached. However, there was one thing that had changed before and after the Mount Hua Sword Debate.
The standard for experts that the Lust Demon now paid attention to was Grand Duke Ilmajo. He knew Gang Mokcheon was an expert, but he had doubts as to whether he was an opponent stronger than Ilmajo.
The Lust Demon dodged Gang Mokcheon’s wooden staff in succession, then said to the observers,
“……Step farther back. For some reason, it feels cramped.”
Since the Lust Demon rarely engaged in spars like this and was not accustomed to fighting in such a narrow space, Yongmu Hall felt even more cramped to him.
At the Lust Demon’s warning, the alliance members hurriedly retreated. Gang Mokcheon, who had been pouring on a fierce attack as if in a chase, scoffed.
“Young Master Mong, do you have some hidden trump card?”
The Lust Demon dodged the wooden staff diligently and answered curtly.
“No.”
What hidden trump card?
In the Mount Hua Sword Debate the Lust Demon had experienced, there had been no such thing as a hidden trump card. It was because the place had been swarming with experts against whom it was difficult to win with a single special technique, no matter how distinctive or powerful. Nor was it only the Mount Hua Sword Debate. The phantoms of the Demon Cult he had met before that, and the Number One of the Unorthodox Path he had fought at Dongho, had also been experts against whom special techniques generally did not work.
From experience, the Lust Demon knew that a hidden trump card was only possible if it was at the level of Third’s Sun and Moon Radiant Heaven.
Of course, he himself had a special technique called Moonlight Flash, but since the observers would freeze along with it, it was even less suitable in such a cramped place.
He also had the special technique called Desire, but he did not think this was an opponent worth driving himself that far psychologically to fight.
In the Lust Demon’s view, Gang Mokcheon was extremely fast and strong. Because he was using a wooden staff, it was impossible to judge in detail, but his internal energy could also be presumed to be quite deep.
Even so, it was difficult to immediately grasp the true nature of the sense of incongruity he felt from Gang Mokcheon.
‘What is it?’
The overall completeness of his fighting ability was outstanding, but compared to that, the Lust Demon did not get the feeling that he was a truly great expert.
Was it because he lacked real combat experience?
As the Lust Demon diligently dodged Gang Mokcheon’s wooden staff, he heard another taunt directed at him.
“Young Master Mong, have you been chased a lot?”
“You know it well.”
The Lust Demon lightly caught the wooden staff that came pressing toward his waist with his left hand. Then Gang Mokcheon, who had closed the distance in an instant, thrust out his right foot as a feint as if he intended to break the Lust Demon’s knee, then twisted the wooden staff and pulled it free.
After roughly avoiding the feint unfolded from below, the Lust Demon met Gang Mokcheon’s heavy left palm, which came driving in, with his right palm.
Thud!
The two men each stepped back, then faced off again.
Only then was the Lust Demon able to gauge his opponent’s internal energy to some extent through Gang Mokcheon’s palm force.
‘He’s not weak.’
But the phrase “a completed martial artist” still felt somewhat far removed from him.
At that moment, the Lust Demon, Gang Mokcheon, Ju Jiryang, and Jang San all looked toward the entrance of Yongmu Hall at the same time.
With a creak, the door opened, and Murim Alliance Leader Im Sobaek and Chief Strategist Gongson Wol, who had suddenly appeared, looked around at the people in Yongmu Hall.
“…….”
The four men started in alarm as if they had been caught committing a crime, then all paid their respects at once.
“We greet the Alliance Leader.”
Im Sobaek looked at Gang Mokcheon and Mong Rang, who were facing off, then said,
“Are you in the middle of a spar?”
Gang Mokcheon and the Lust Demon answered at the same time.
“Yes.”
Im Sobaek nodded.
“Continue. I’ll watch. Ju Jiryang and Jang San, come behind me. You might get hit while watching.”
As soon as Ju Jiryang and Jang San received the order, they moved swiftly and answered.
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
When the alliance members arrived beside the Alliance Leader,
Gang Mokcheon and the Lust Demon looked at each other again.
In the meantime, the Lust Demon had come to understand the true nature of the incongruity he sensed from Gang Mokcheon. The Lust Demon himself did not particularly know the reason, but perhaps because he was slightly flustered, he voiced what he was thinking.
“Martial Artist Gang.”
“What is it?”
“There is too much empty flourish in your movements. It will take some time to fix.”
Gang Mokcheon’s eyes flew wide open, and in the next instant his complexion turned bright red.
The Lecherous Demon said,
“Something like this, you might say.”
The Lecherous Demon crossed both palms before his chest, then stretched his left hand far forward while folding his right arm and placing it near his shoulder. No matter who looked at it, it seemed like an exaggerated opening stance meant to mock his opponent.
No one laughed, but the moment Im Sobaek saw the Lecherous Demon’s posture, he laughed openly.
“Mongrang, what in the world is that stance?”
“The stance of a master from some backwater neighborhood.”
“Your opponent is the successor of the Divine Halberd. Do not be too arrogant.”
“Yes.”
The Lecherous Demon stared intently at Gang Mokcheon, who looked utterly enraged. It seemed obvious why so much empty flourish had seeped into Gang Mokcheon’s movements. This man was indeed the successor of the Divine Halberd, but he did not look as though he had ever fought a perilous battle with his life on the line at every moment, where it would not have been strange to die on the spot.
What about himself, on the other hand?
The Four Great Villains had survived by breaking through hellish battlefields.
The Lecherous Demon thought as follows.
Perhaps the only one here who would truly recognize the empty flashiness he had pointed out as Gang Mokcheon’s flaw was Alliance Leader Im Sobaek.
Because Alliance Leader Im, too, was a man who had broken through hellish battlefields before the Four Great Villains had.
Only after seeing Gang Mokcheon’s movements did the Lecherous Demon find himself reviewing what kinds of fights the Four Great Villains had gone through until now.
They were each apart now, but laughter suddenly rose in him.
‘We somehow managed to survive well enough.’
As the Lecherous Demon dodged Gang Mokcheon’s wooden staff this way and that, a thought occurred to him.
An attack like this—he could dodge it perfectly for seven days and nights.