Episode 56. “The End, and Ten Years Later”
“Huff, huff!”
A bloody, metallic taste spread from his mouth.
Yoon Chan had reached such extremes of mental and physical exhaustion that calling himself “tired” would have been a luxury.
*Thud.*
In the end, he collapsed right then and there.
“….”
Up ahead, the old man who had been walking in front turned around.
“Get up.”
But there was no answer.
Having stared blankly at Yoon Chan, who did not react even when addressed, the old man moved.
“…Has he lost consciousness?”
He checked on the other in a single glance.
Hardly a strange thing, to lose consciousness.
They had been under enemy attack without respite between day and night for three days already, unable to satisfy even the minimum requirements for food and drink. No matter how seasoned a survivor of ten years through the apocalypse, one could not help but lose consciousness under such harsh conditions.
“….”
In that moment, the old man was conflicted.
But.
“It can’t be helped.”
His deliberation did not last long.
Laying Yoon Chan down properly, the old man stood his ground right there.
Some time passed.
*Whoosh, whoosh!*
A group numbering in the dozens approached.
“We’ve finally caught them….”
They were the martial artists of Gangho, dressed in martial arts uniforms and long robes, brimming with confidence. They belonged to the Ogang, the strongest faction among humanity’s forces surviving the apocalypse.
“…Amjon!”
That single word directed at the old man in the gray dao robe carried immense weight.
Among humanity’s ten strongest, the old man was the one who best wielded hidden weapons—tools notoriously difficult to master.
“….”
Their gazes, momentarily fixed on Amjon, shifted to Yoon Chan lying neatly on the ground.
“…I suppose resistance is meaningless now?”
A man stepped forward through the ranks.
He wore golden silk robes that stood out distinctly from the rest—an Awakener who had bloomed the unique trait of the Namgung Clan. He had achieved evolution of the third stage, a powerhouse counted among the clan’s finest.
And he was not the only one.
Most of those present around him, and those arriving in quick succession after receiving contact, had evolved their traits to the third stage or higher. Their numbers reached at least 120. It was an overwhelming military force achievable only by a martial faction competing for first or second place among the Ogang.
“A net of heaven and earth spanning three days. Gangjon has fallen, and you are exhausted. Don’t you think you have done enough?”
All of this was a scheme orchestrated by Gangho. As expected of the faction boasting the largest numbers, they had constructed a net of heaven and earth encircling Mount Kunlun, and their targets were Amjon and Gangjon. To avoid missing an opportunity that had rolled in unexpectedly, they had driven their prey into the net at great sacrifice, and finally the moment to reap the fruit drew near.
“….”
But still, silence.
“To the bitter end….”
But he could not finish his sentence.
*Swoosh, thunk!*
A black throwing knife embedded itself between his brows before he even perceived it.
*Thud—*
His body met a futile death and collapsed.
“Ack!”
“Kill him!”
They had seen blood.
Those who realized negotiations had failed rushed at Amjon.
It was a moment of true crisis.
No matter that he was Amjon, counted among humanity’s ten strongest, facing hundreds with third-stage evolved traits alone was no easy task. No, under normal circumstances, he might have found some way to fight through. But now, he had reached his limits both mentally and physically.
“….”
Faced with this crisis, his eyes turned to the unconscious Yoon Chan.
‘…Tao.’
His beloved son.
Tao was an Awakener who had bloomed Mount Hua’s trait, opposing Gangho to the very end. He was the sole existence who had opposed the absolute being known as Cheonma.
‘Father. Promise me. That you will never surrender.’
In the end, Tao was defeated by Cheonma, delivering his final words to Amjon at the moment of death before departing. Amjon’s life had been an unending chain of hardships to carry on his son’s dying wish. To eliminate Gangho, to eliminate Cheonma, he had honed his power with bitter resolve.
Perhaps thanks to his blood-and-flesh-cutting efforts, he earned the moniker Amjon and became a powerhouse counted among humanity’s ten strongest.
Then, a fated connection came to him out of nowhere, when he had lived in solitude.
‘…He resembles him.’
Gangjon.
This young man who introduced himself as Shin Yoon Chan resembled Tao. Their looks were completely different. But that unique uprightness, that atmosphere, made it feel as though he were looking at Tao in life. That was why, though he pretended otherwise, he was drawn in. From the beginning, their meeting was a stacking of coincidence upon coincidence—a situation that could only be called fate.
‘I cannot lose another son.’
The pain of losing a son, once was enough.
*Clench.*
Having steeled his resolve, he bit his lip.
And in that moment.
*Swoosh—*
Time began to flow slowly.
The charging enemies moved as if in slow motion. The flow of the air touched his skin, and every sound of the surroundings that he had never heard before pierced his ears.
*Flash!*
Something flashed through his mind like lightning.
It was the moment of enlightenment.
A path forward finally opened for him, who had been stagnant for several years. An opportunity that came after several years being his last opportunity.
Was fate not truly cruel?
He smirked.
Amjon’s hand, wearing a bitter smile, moved dazzlingly.
*Papapapapak!*
Hidden weapons concealed in his sleeves scattered in all directions. There had clearly been but a few hundred. Yet the moment they spread, they multiplied like an illusion into thousands, tens of thousands.
The change was not merely that.
*Pop, pop, pop!*
From the black throwing knives like tree branches, red plum blossoms began to bloom.
The martial way of Mount Hua, the legacy of Tao who had awakened the trait of the Flowering Mountain, was now being passed on to Amjon.
『Mancheonhwau (滿天花雨: Rain of Flowers Filling the Heavens)』
Fluttering plum blossom petals swept through the surroundings.
“….”
The only one standing there was Amjon.
The martial artists of Gangho, their bodies riddled with holes like beehives, had already met their deaths. A force capable of wiping out at least one faction not of the Ogang had been annihilated in an instant.
But.
“Kuhak!”
Unleashing an art he had only just comprehended was too much even for Amjon.
He vomited dark blood.
*Splurt!*
It splattered across the face of the lying Yoon Chan.
“Uhh….”
He regained consciousness thanks to the moisture he had tasted after so long.
The sight that entered his hazy eyes was—
“S-sir!”
Amjon, black blood flowing from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
“Sir!”
“….”
But no answer came despite the repeated calls.
He yelled, shook the body violently—there was no reaction at all.
No.
*Tuk.*
His head tilted, showing a small reaction.
Death.
Three days of forced march. A pinnacle martial art unleashed while body and mind were exhausted had stolen Amjon’s life.
“…Sir.”
*Drip, drop.*
Trailing tears dampened the ground.
A fated meeting that had occurred alongside the changes at Trump Castle. At first they had been wary and suspicious, but through enduring the net of heaven and earth laid by Gangho, they had rapidly formed a relationship of trust. The moment he was finally about to open his heart, Amjon had chosen to sacrifice himself for him.
“They’re here!”
“Hurry, hurry!”
But this was not the end.
Though a hole had been made, the net of heaven and earth remained, and enemies who had heard the disturbance began to arrive.
There was no time to grieve Amjon’s death.
“Damn it, you bastards!”
Sorrow turned to rage.
And that rage became the driving force that moved Yoon Chan’s body, which did not have the strength to lift a finger.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud—*
Gangho rushed in a horde.
*‘I’ll take at least one more with me.’*
There was no possibility of escaping this net of heaven and earth. But resolving to drag at least one more down with him even if he died, he gripped one of Amjon’s throwing knives.
The moment he resolved to die.
“Glory!”
With a familiar voice, a brilliant golden light burst forth.
“Waaaah!”
His long-awaited friends, Baekui, were running to save Yoon Chan.
*
The fundamental principle of the Net of Heaven and Earth is the wheel battle—gradually grinding the target to death.
Think about it.
No matter where you go, enemies surround you on all sides. You must be extremely careful to avoid detection, and of course the psychological pressure is immense; since you cannot properly eat, sleep, or resolve a single necessity, physical fatigue inevitably reaches its peak.
That is why the Net of Heaven and Earth is called an absolute encirclement from which escape is impossible.
*Tch.*
Thinking of this brings back filthy memories of the past.
A feeling of revulsion wrapping around my entire body.
*‘This time is different.’*
But I erased that revulsion.
An absolute encirclement from which escape is impossible?
That is not permitted to me.
“….”
I held my breath.
*Rustle—*
Because I had detected the enemy’s presence brushing through the bushes.
*‘Ghosts might deceive, but they can’t deceive me.’*
That is why I ran into the forest after confirming the enemy and the Net of Heaven and Earth.
Having undergone two full-body strengthenings, and with the assistance of a hearing aid, nothing can escape my ears—not the sound of bushes brushing, nor the sound of stepping on fallen leaves.
But what about them?
There is no way they can discover us wearing enhanced ghillie suits.
*Stomp.*
The sound draws near.
Holding my breath, I waited, and finally a group revealed themselves.
*‘Kunlun and Jeomchang.’*
Fifteen in gray and brown martial arts uniforms.
They advanced while being wary of their surroundings, but unable to discover us merged with the surroundings in our ghillie suits, they turned their backs.
That was the signal to attack.
I rose, lifting my stomach from the ground, and struck!
*Slash!*
“Kuack!”
“Kurk!”
I cut down the defenseless bastards.
“E-enemy!”
“They’re here!”
We were at most five.
We could not take down fifteen at once, so naturally a disturbance occurred.
Rather than counterattacking, they shouted to draw attention.
*‘They’ve definitely been well trained.’*
That is the most important element of the Net of Heaven and Earth.
Even if attacked, they cause a commotion to call allies who are searching at set intervals. That is how they gradually narrow the encirclement and apply pressure.
That was the most necessary element in composing the Net of Heaven and Earth.
But it was useless.
*Swoosh!*
Using accelerated speed, I ended the battle in an instant.
Of course, Hero and William also helped bring down the enemies, each playing their role.
One minute.
Before even a minute passed, I had finished them all off.
*Swoooosh—*
The rest was Jeong Do-hwan’s part.
After absorbing their spirits, he raised them as zombies to mass-produce an army of the dead.
“Grrr—”
Fifteen zombies.
Leaving them there, I moved in the opposite direction from where the sounds were coming.
“Enemies!”
The shouts of the bastards who discovered the zombies could be heard from afar.
*‘Net of Heaven and Earth? As much as you want. We’re not just five.’*
They probably think we are a small group, but not a chance.
Through Jeong Do-hwan, we can scatter their attention as much as we want with the army of the dead.
Of course, mental and physical fatigue were still accumulating.
*Crunch!*
I continuously recovered my primal energy so that my stamina would not deplete, using the hundreds of Resonance Pills I had prepared.
Not only primal energy, but I had also filled my backpack with enough food for several days.
Hell?
They probably think they have trapped me, trapped us, in hell, but that is nonsense.
This time it is the opposite.
Because I am not a fool who falls for the same thing twice.
*‘I’ll show you what true hell is.’*
Soon enough, they will realize.
Who it is that is trapped in hell.
It is starting now.
It is time to show true hell to the bastards who made me recall these damned memories.