I briefly asked for forgiveness from the Demonic Cult and the Butcher.
“… wait. Even if it is my time to go, shouldn’t I at least say my will?”
“…”
After confirming, I speak in a serious tone.
“Mong Rang.”
Pervert Demon responds in a serious tone.
“What?”
“If I fall, you take care of the Demonic Cult. Even if you see, Sword Demon will fall for it. Even those guys cannot kill you carelessly because of Sword Demon.”
“What is this?”
“Do not forget that martial arts are there to help the weak and unfair. One has to open their heart even more to be stronger.”
Pervert Demon sighs.
“Do the damned thing.”
“Right. The only one to trust.”
I get up and speak to the Butcher.
“Baekga instead, let us go to the kitchen and get weapons. Judging by it, it seems like there is a blade disguised as a knife.. Let us see who gets their arms cut off first.”
“Your words and actions are cool! Fine!”
The butcher smiles and heads for the kitchen.
I take a deep breath and then the moment he enters the kitchen….
I spread light footwork and hurriedly left the inn. Tang! Tang! Came the sounds with several voices.
“Uh?”
“Is he running?”
Then I hear the sound of the door being smashed, and the Butcher begins to follow me like a ghost. I wasn’t one to be afraid of ghosts, but his light footwork is so fast that it made my own legs tingle. So, he was fast compared to the skills of the Illusion Ghost Emperor.
I know that the young lord is afraid of Sword Demon, so I leave Pervert Demon and flee. It has been a long time since I have been placed in the middle of such a situation.
I really did run at full speed because I was curious about the level of his attacks while running. A state where the senses of the body become sensitive, knowing that the moment of life and death has arrived.
I hear the sound of wind being cut behind me and I tilt my head….
The tree branch that was above my field of vision is cut and falls to the ground without a sound. I increase my speed as the branch stretches out before it hits the ground. The eyes of the Butcher come from behind.
“Could the young Sect Leader be running?”
It was a voice which sounded like he was impressed, so I answered kindly.
“You sick bastard, you smell so stop chasing.”
I float a little in the air and then turn around while holding a stance. While trees on both sides of the path touched by his sword get cut down, the Butcher soars into the air swinging his blade.
In an instant, three Blade Winds rush forward.
Three gusts of winds resembling a whirl wind rather than a straight line come flying out making it seem difficult to dodge.
I push myself off the ground and step back watching his attacks hit the land. Three bolts of his attack strike the ground causing dozens of stones to fly outward with a loud sound.
Babababak!
With one foot on the ground, the Butcher leaps up and catches up with me.
I swing my wooden sword without even taking a breath. The Butcher seems to be one who is quick to adapt because I dodge the attack but something close by gets caught.
The sound made by the knife was faint due to how thin his knife was. It was a situation where the sound could be heard accurately. Even during all of this, I make eye contact with the Bucher.
So, we both stared.
Without fear.
And this makes him spit out words between swinging his swords.
“Well, you fight this well, why run… away.”
I also answer by taking breaths between swinging my wooden sword.
“The smell of blood coming from you is so disgusting that my nose feels sensitive.”
At that moment, the wooden sword and the Butcher’s blade collide which causes sparks to fly. It feels like my hands are about to tear. Up until this point, I was fighting him without using any of my techniques and so after stepping on the ground again, I ran.
Until this time, I competed without a technique and after stepping on the ground again, I ran.
The Butcher laughs coldly.
“Huhuhuh.”
The Butcher, who steps to the side to avoid me, catches back up in five steps and thrusts his blade towards my back.
Swish!
As soon as I turn around, I raise my wooden sword and use the thin side of the wooden sword to deflect his attack.
Tung!
The wooden sword infused with qi bends like a bow. In an instant, I parry away the stab coming for my body and push it towards the ground and jump.
The gap between us widens, but the speed of the Butcher is so fast that it is impossible to do anything. After observing the Butcher’s eyes and face, I swung the sword again.
The Butcher evades my attack and goes for my lower body. I dodge the attack with a quick movement and at the same time, he aims for my arm. Oddly enough, it seemed faster because it wasn’t a defensive move. Each of his actions carry a purpose with no wasted movement.
Moreover, among the warriors I met after returning, this guy is the fastest at moving his body and sword.
The Butcher must be impressed by my skills because he continues to talk.
“Low-Down Sect Leader, come down here and I will spare you. I covet your skills.”
I deflect the blade of his and answer.
“… I confirm.”
At those words, he stops attacking and tilts his head.
“Oh, you are contemplating?”
When he says that, I begin to run away again, and he follows me while laughing.
“Such an interesting one.”
This time though, his voice fills with killing intent.
“It will not end with just your arms.”
A man with the intent to kill while smiling. And even when running, I answer with sincerity.
“I confirm.”
“Confirm what?”
Ignoring his question, I ran while thinking. His swordsmanship and internal qi are well developed and so there is no possibility of him running out of stamina any time soon. As I run, I reflect on whether there were any openings in the Butcher’s movement.
Oddly enough, there was nothing.
Since the Butcher didn’t want to go on the defense, he was moving only with the intent to injure me. This was the reason I am running.
Moreover, as if he thinks that I am hiding something, he’s not showing all of his cards and focusing just on his swordsmanship alone.
My sword technique is actually in a poor state with no baseline…
The blade of Butcher was also so basic that I didn’t know just where he learned it from. However, the reason why he was so strong was because the unorthodox warriors are generally fast with their swordsmanship.
Because he is quick-witted….
And his blade is fast.
Fighting, running away, thinking about how to deal with it, and then needing more time to think.
Meanwhile, he follows me closely, never straying farther than 20 paces from me. The Butcher’s voice can be heard.
“Even if you run for two full days and nights, you won’t be able to escape me. Let’s see who burns out quicker.”
I answer briefly.
“Confirmed.”
The only thing I could think of is attacking him when he strikes me. When he cuts my arm off, I could aim for his neck.
But that isn’t the right thing to do.
While running, I remember the sword of Yukhap which he was teaching me.
‘A move following the defense of an iron wall.’
The moment has come for me to unfold the tricks of Ghost Demon. There was no problem when it came to shielding it, but the sword shield would be useless if the Butcher decided to use his internal qi. Even if I block it with a shield, the shield and my arm will be cut off at the same time.
However, the shield can temporarily obstruct my vision, so I have to put together a couple more ideas.
The Sword Shield, Ice Shield, and many more, White Flower Sword Qi, Flash Blade, Dagger form, Qi Sword form. Considering everything from the attack to the state of the opponent and his speed. I think about how to respond when I run out of time to think.
I continue running for a moment until the Butcher opens his mouth and I hear his voice.
“… just till when.”
As I turn around while floating in the air, I use sword shield with the wooden sword. The sword shield created by the qi spreads out ahead. And when ice qi gets infused, I step back. Even if the two shots hit, it would blow out.
Pak!
As expected, the tension of the situation is high. While flying I use the Waning Moon Ice technique by flicking my fingers. And the moment I see sword qi dissipate and flames scatter in the wind. I take out a dagger from my bosom and throw it at the Butcher.
Swish!
I use a technique where ice qi gets infused with more qi and scatters and I also throw the wooden sword without regret. All of them were thrown in order to see how the Butcher would respond.
Tang- sounds came with a clashing sound….
The cold air scatters as if a longsword dissipated it as the Butcher swings his blade twice. While he swings his blade, the wooden sword barely manages to graze his neck. Furious, the guy steps back and raises his blade.
It was a situation in which there seemed to be no escape. Originally, I was going to win even with just my bare hands, but I give up.
The situation was favoring the Butcher.
Enhanced sword qi wraps around his blade and shatters around his body like a whip falling from the sky which makes me unfold the Light Sky of the Sun and Moon.
“….”
In the midst of that, I got worried and so I decided to use the technique Yukhap taught me.
‘…. Ah, so fucked.’
Light Sky of the Sun and Moon was created by crumpling energy that can’t be combined with a Taiji sword to create the power of reverse heaven. But if it explodes in such a place then there is a high chance he would die and so would I with our limbs blowing off our bodies.
‘I must be sick.’
In an instant, an enhanced sword rises from behind.
Of course, light shines in my hand. As soon as I block it, I press the sword force with the technique I created with both hands.
In my ears, I hear a swish sound. The enhanced sword bounces back. This makes one arm of the guy fly off and as the guy lands backwards from the force- with just one hand left, he lunges at me.
I transfer the qi of Light Sky of the Sun and Moon from both hands to one hand and then unfold it to attack it in succession with flame arts.
Despite an arm being blown off, the Butcher’s qi is ferocious.
Puak! Puak!
The movement of Butcher slows down a lot, and his body gets hit each time. He comes close to my face with his intact hand.
As a result, I grabbed his wrist with my left hand.
In his hand were chopsticks though, which I look at and say,
“… chopstick, I can confirm.”
I infuse ice qi into my left hand and then into the right shoulder of Butcher. It was only then that his bleeding stopped.
The eyes of the Butcher were red.
Even though I grabbed his arm, he had a murderous look in his eyes. And with wide eyes he asks,
“… what are you? You were always weaker when fighting.”
I hit his torso with ice arts and then turn my left hand and slowly drive the sharp chopsticks into his shoulder.
Puak
It is strange that he isn’t even screaming.
I scan the guy’s body. He was covered in burn marks. This wasn’t usual torture, so I ask while holding him,
“Who tortured you like this?”
The Butcher says,
“Master Baek Wei.”
I nod.
“I confirm.”
The Butcher asks with an odd look,
“Do you know master?”
“I know Five Evils. A person who is known as the Evil Emperor.”
Butcher asks,
“What is the Five Evils and Evil Emperor? It is the first time I’m hearing of it.”
I reply feeling goosebumps rising.
“There is such a thing.”
There was a certain time when the Five Evils weren’t so greatly known by the Murim Alliance. And I have this thought.
Just as young lord asked Butcher to kill.
I thought the Demonic Cult would also have requested this or asked those skilled at killing to take up some tasks. Young lord couldn’t be the only client.
I politely ask him.
“Senior Baek, can we find out the hiding place of Baek Wei?”
“Can you kill?”
I nod.
“I can try.”
“Practice more. Not enough. I cannot tell you either.”
He looks at me and smiles, I can see blood around his teeth.
I slash the forehead of the butcher and kill him in an instant.
Puak!
I have no choice but to kill him as he hadn’t let out a single scream during the entire fight.
“Butcher, are you dead?”
“….”
There is no answer, so I take a deep breath.
“Confirmed.”
