“Who is that man?”
Gu Yang-ryun, the first of the Seven Messengers, approached the Earth Demon to ask him.
In fact, it was because of his suggestion that Seol-Hwi fought Seo Mugwi.
He was too talented to be just a captain of a command unit. In particular, the technique Seol-Hwi used at the end of the fight made Gu Yang-ryun doubt his own eyes.
“The disciple of Cheon Miryo.”
“Ch-Cheon Miryo! The warrior who uses ice energy, and someone at the Supreme Demon level…!”
Gu Yang-ryun’s face was shocked.
“That’s right.”
Cheon Miryo - a woman known to have virtually no opponents, ranked in the top 10 of the Sect. At one point in time, she was said to have brought death to many skilled warriors in the surrounding regions.
“Has that person come back into the world…?”
Gu Yang-ryun was mystified.
Cheon Miryo is surely strong, but there had been no news of her coming out, after she went into hiding 20 years ago.
“It isn’t that… but anyway, I know that the reason he grew strong is because of her.”
The Earth Demon, who was watching the stage, looked proud.
Although he started as just a captain of a low level command unit, the Earth Demon never thought that Seol-Hwi could beat the odds and grow stronger.
With this level of skill, he had to think if it was right to keep such a person in the Hidden Truth Corps.
And so, the Earth Demon tried to decide on what to do after this battle.
Meanwhile, the Elders were also talking with one another.
While they were discussing, an Elder who overheard the Earth Demon speaking with Gu Yang-ryun, hurriedly interrupted,
“I heard… that child is the disciple of Cheon Miryo!”
“Is that so?”
“Really?!”
The other Elders reacted to this news right away.
“Ah, if it’s Cheon Miryo…”
After that revelation, things started to make sense.
“And what about the martial arts that appear to be Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts…?”
When an Elder asked that, Elder Baekhon replied,
“Don’t forget, the Heavenly Demon was her sajae.” 1
“Are you saying that the Earth Demon taught others the martial arts bestowed by the Heavenly Demon?”
“We need to know that such things happen.”
“True. If that man is Cheon Miryo’s disciple in the first place, then even the Earth Demon can bravely go ahead.”
Far away from the Elders, due to Seol-Hwi’s actions, there was an uproar among his subordinates.
“Hey, did that really just happen?!”
“The Captain was hiding such an amazing skill! What if the position of captain is fake, and in reality, he is a secret weapon for the Sect who works behind the scenes?!”
Yong Jin and Yorim spoke excitedly.
A new technique which seemed to make every other technique look weak! And that looked so mysterious and unknown.
Now they seemed to understand why they were given Divine Weapons without much fuss.
It was because Seol-Hwi himself was too strong.
“What do you think, brothers? How do you feel after watching my master’s act?”
Imugi was even more excited than them.
With his arms wide open and nodding his head, he was proudly proclaiming to the world that Seol-Hwi was his ‘master’.
Unlike the others, Jeok Song was calm.
“Those martial arts are what the Captain handed over to us through Imugi. Fire and ice. The Demonic Arts which our Sect considers to be the best.”
And Seo Ryeong, who heard this, nodded.
“Based on that, the master of the Captain has to be someone who is an expert in ice energy, or fire energy.”
“Could it be both? Perhaps there’s two masters.”
“That could be, but…”
Jeok Song pointed to the stage.
“Isn’t this an exciting situation? Because it’s not even over yet. No matter how low ranked in the Seven Messengers that man is, he isn’t a member of the Seven Messengers for nothing. The real fight starts now.”
Seo Mugwi’s body was covered in wounds.
After all, he was hit by numerous balls of ice, got caught in explosions, and swallowed up by windstorms, one after the other.
“Are you confident? Or are you hesitating?”
But still, Seo Mugwi’s eyes were cold.
He, who must have been suffering from the pain, was asking this question with a dry expression.
“Either way, the opportunity you had a while ago is now gone. There are no more variables now.”
Seo Mugwi pointed out that Seol-Hwi had lost his chance to surprise him. Seol-Hwi’s opponent would no longer be careless.
And yet, Seol-Hwi felt a bit excited, because the aura which emanated from Seo Mugwi’s body was completely different from before.
“We’ll see.”
He didn’t think that Seo Mugwi, who had already suffered so much damage, would be able to turn the tide of the battle.
And above all else, Seol-Hwi hadn’t even used all of his abilities.
Kkkkssshh!
Suddenly, Seo Mugwi’s sword flashed, and a beam of energy soared past Seol-Hwi.
He slowly turned his head around to look behind him.
A hole smaller than a fist was drilled into the solid stone wall.
H-he broke through the stone?!
Seol-Hwi was nervous now.
His opponent managed to condense energy on the tip of his sword, and shoot it without any preparation.
Usually, doing this would require someone to prepare for a long time.
Seol-Hwi could do this too, but it would still take a while for him to prepare. Meanwhile, Seo Mugwi was able to do it so easily.
Kkkkssshh! Kkkkssshh!
Seo Mugwi’s sword continued to fire off energy beams.
In response to the sudden onslaught, Seol-Hwi dodged to the left.
Kwang!
He managed to block Seo Mugwi’s sword.
Seol-Hwi’s face hardened with tension.
It wasn’t as if Seol-Hwi saw his opponent’s attack coming, and then stopped it. It was only because of his reflexes that he defended himself.
And then, Seo Mugwi disappeared again.
Is he coming from the left, or right?!
Seol-Hwi searched frantically for his missing opponent. Then, suddenly, the man appeared in front of him.
Kwang!
“Kuak!”
Seol-Hwi staggered due to the strength of his opponent.
He had blocked the attack through sheer luck.
Seol-Hwi wasn’t sure from which direction Seo Mugwi would come from, so it was extremely fortunate that he had chosen his neck to defend.
If that guy had aimed for his legs instead, then Seol-Hwi couldn’t have done anything about it.
Damn it! I can’t hear his breathing!
Seol-Hwi broke out into a cold sweat.
It was something that had changed when he reached a higher level. Seol-Hwi could feel every breath his enemies took, and take advantage of that.
But now, Seol-Hwi felt nothing.
Later, he would find out that this technique was called Ghostly Divine Steps.
It was a basic technique of the Seven Messengers, and it was evaluated as one of the best by those in the Demonic Sect.
At that moment though, it was impossible for Seol-Hwi to do anything.
The way Seo Mugwi operated his breathing was different, and his movements themselves were extremely quick.
Seo Mugwi was doing his best to take Seol-Hwi down.
His attacks were relentless, and as a result, a gap formed in Seol-Hwi.
Seeing this, the opponent became even more vicious.
And when he realized that Seol-Hwi couldn’t respond properly, he pushed harder.
This ends now!
Seo Mugwi ran towards Seol-Hwi, believing that he had already won.
<Supreme Low Temperature Ice is being used.>
Seol-Hwi’s ability was activated at that crucial moment.
Time slowed down, and Seol-Hwi saw the sword heading for his neck. If he had been just a bit late, he would have really died.
This bastard!
Seol-Hwi narrowly avoided the attack.
Huh?
However, the tip of the sword curved, and then turned to follow Seol-Hwi.
Did this guy know I’d dodge?
Seol-Hwi moved again. This time, he leaned down, and attempted to stab Seo Mugwi in the stomach.
Wait. If I stab him here…
Seol-Hwi hesitated, and then decided to stab his opponent’s thigh instead.
Kwang!
At the slight hesitation, which created a gap, Seo Mugwi blocked the attack.
Then he backed away. It seemed like Seol-Hwi’s opponent didn’t expect the situation to turn out like this.
“Phew…”
Seol-Hwi also caught his breath.
He was thinking back on what happened just now.
Supreme Low Temperature Ice should have slowed down his enemy’s movements.
But compared to when he dealt with Cheon Gyun, Seol-Hwi felt like Seo Mugwi didn’t slow down enough. It could be that this technique was less effective the more times he used it continuously.
Breathing… I need to listen to his breathing…
Though no matter how much Seol-Hwi tried to listen, he couldn’t feel the breaths of his opponent.
Then… I’ll have to read his movements in advance.
Just once. If Seol-Hwi could predict this man’s movements at least once, he was confident in winning the fight.
It was at that moment, Seo Mugwi began to move again.
“Kuak!”
Seol-Hwi’s left arm was hit by an energy beam, and that’s when his opponent rushed in with his sword.
While defending against his enemy’s blade, Seol-Hwi grit his teeth.
Just one! One is all I need!
Seol-Hwi repeated this in his head, while his opponent tried to cut and stab him. Then, Seol-Hwi’s eyes widened as he saw his chance.
“I’ve got it!”
He raised his sword to block the incoming attack.
Kwang!
As soon as Seol-Hwi blocked it, a shock ran through his body and he was thrown into the air.
I did it!
Despite being pushed back, Seol-Hwi was happy. After righting himself, he performed the last activation requirement for his next attack.
<Supreme Wind God is being used.>
“Ugh-!”
Seo Mugwi was shocked.
How is that man doing this? When he had made sure his opponent would be unable to use his left arm!
“…!”
He wondered if that man was human. Because how else could he use such devastating techniques twice in the same duration?
<Sura Exploding Flame Arts is being used.>
Seol-Hwi moved his sword up, down, left and right. Four directions connected by an oblique line.
Kwakwakwang!
Eight explosions erupted in a row, until they came together in one giant blast.
“Argh…!”
The audience didn’t know when, but Seo Mugwi had been blown away by the explosions. This time, he did not get up.
“O-one of the Seven Messengers…!”
“What kind of martial arts is that?!”
“T-that explosion was huge!”
Seol-Hwi shrugged his shoulders to release the tension in his body, and then took a deep breath.
It was fortunate that the third explosion was enough to blow Seo Mugwi away. If his opponent had gotten hit by more than five explosions, he would have died without leaving behind a recognizable body.
As the smoke slowly cleared, Seol-Hwi saw his opponent lying on the ground, coughing up blood.
Before Seol-Hwi could do anything else,
“Don’t.”
Someone appeared on stage to stop him.
“Let’s end this here.”
It was the Earth Demon.
