If That Were A Human. (2)

Rumble!

The gorge shook as if it would collapse.

But that was all.

A gorge that had stood for thousands of years would not easily fall from that degree of shock.

If it were the kind of gorge that would collapse from such a blow, it wouldn’t have lasted this long.

Unless someone had drilled holes in the cliff in advance and triggered explosions inside, that is.

But from the Ten Thousand People Clan’s perspective, the fact that the gorge didn’t collapse was by no means a cause for relief.

As the thick dust and smoke were blown away by the wind, the swords turned into pieces were fully revealed.

It was a horrifying sight that even those who had charged in a frenzy paused for a moment.

“Ugh…”

But they had no other choice.

“Aaaaaaah!”

To shake off the rising anxiety and discomfort, they let out ever more bestial howls and charged.

Always forward, and forward again.

Smack!

They stepped onto ground so soaked in blood it had formed puddles.

Something sticky clung to their feet like a lingering grudge, but this was a battlefield.

There was no room here for such reflections.

It was the Ten Thousand People Clan who had no retreat.

If they wanted to survive, they could only charge and knock their enemies down.

But standing in their way was none other than Chung Myung.

Swoooosh!

Leaping back, Chung Myung cut down the necks of those who rushed at him one after another.

If a blade was swung at him, he knocked it aside; if someone tried to seize an ankle, their wrist was severed.

If they drew internal qi to withstand his sword, that qi was shattered; if they twisted their bodies to evade, he had already occupied the escape angle and pierced vital points.

It was an iron wall named despair.

He could clearly hear the sounds of his comrades dying beside him.

Suppressed groans and the tearing of flesh by blades.

Those sounds conveyed the situation more vividly than his eyes.

Still, there was no rear. There had never been anywhere to go back to.

“Dieeeee!”

The blade is simple.

If you’re going to calculate this and that, you’d be better off taking up a spear or a sword.

A blade’s power is realized when it’s swung with all one’s strength to bisect the opponent.

The blade in a Ten Thousand People Clan’s warrior’s hand unleashed a strike perfectly suited to that purpose.

Kraaaaash!

The sensation of internal qi drawn from the dantian pushing the arm as if to burst it, smashing into the tip of the blade.

That mix of pain and pleasure, as if something inside the body were being forcibly pulled out, caused a huge explosion in his mind.

A conviction that there could be no greater strike dominated his entire body.

The one strike drawn out at the limit shone as if it contained the entirety of his life.

But even that limit-surpassing one strike did not work against the cold-blooded swordsman who stood before him.

The blade strike began to slice through the air with tremendous force.

The sword thrusting out to stop it looked utterly insignificant compared to that blade.

Compared to the blade emitting more than a span of blade qi, the red sword qi around the blade was faint and barely visible.

If someone saw it, they’d naturally say that the sword couldn’t possibly handle the blade.

They’d say the moment they touched, they’d be helplessly repelled.

But the subtlety contained in that sword shattered all reasonable predictions and logic.

Cling-clang!

The moment the sword and blade clashed, the sword twisted minutely.

The blade, brought down with overwhelming weight and force, rode along the flat of the sword rather than the edge and dropped downward.

Kkk-ka-krash!

In that brief moment as the full-force blade slid along the sword’s body.

As if dividing that moment into dozens, the sword twisted repeatedly and abruptly altered the blade’s trajectory.

From vertical to horizontal.

The strike that had exceeded limits instantly broke out of the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman’s control.

At that instant, Chung Myung’s left hand struck the Ten Thousand People Clan warrior’s wing joint like a ray of light.

The body that had been carried sideways by the blade was forcibly turned back.

The blade strike that should have slammed into the ground did not stop and kept extending.

It continued toward the comrades who were running up behind him.

Kraaaaaaaash!

The strike, insufficiently described as violent, swept away those following in an instant.

They couldn’t possibly have reacted quickly enough to an attack they hadn’t even imagined.

Those whose waists were bisected were flung away with faces that couldn’t believe it.

“Uh…”

A breath escaped from the mouth of the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman who had suddenly caused this carnage.

But there was no need to feel guilty.

Guilt is not permitted for the dead.

Thud!

He silently looked down at the sword tip jutting out of his own chest.

For some reason, a sudden thought of absurdity came over him.

When he lifted his head, he saw his comrades rushing in, sending flying the corpses he had bisected.

Their momentum was astounding, but he could see in their eyes an unruly fear.

Screech!

At that moment the sword slid out of his chest and his body collapsed forward.

Before his body even hit the ground, those who had vaulted him swung their blades fiercely toward Chung Myung.

“Dieeeee!”

“Please!”

Someone, unable to withstand the pressure from Chung Myung’s cold gaze, blurted out their true feelings.

At the same time, those who had climbed the cliff descended strongly above Chung Myung’s head.

If a frontal attack alone wouldn’t do, the strategy was to at least increase the number of attackers.

But what those who lifted their bodies into the air faced was the brutal price of fooling themselves into jumping into an unavoidable place.

Slaaaash!

Tang Pae’s dagger flew and struck the bodies of the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen one after another.

Some barely managed to parry that dagger, but waiting for them like a quiet apparition was Yu Yiseol’s sword.

Screeech! Screeech! Screeech!

Their bodies were cut in many places, blood spraying in all directions.

Yu Yiseol’s eyes were calm.

It’s not difficult.

Those swept by madness and charging violently may seem threatening at a glance, but that ultimately means they are not precise as usual.

Her sword was not so sloppy as to miss those who threw themselves in recklessly, carried by passion.

No matter how many charge, she can stop them all.

Yu Yiseol knew exactly why this process was absurdly easy.

Shing!

She pierced the throats of those charging from the front in an instant.

Her strongly extended sword was quickly withdrawn and immediately blocked anything else flying in with not a hint of waste.

It’s chilling.

Yu Yiseol, who rarely showed emotional tremors, felt a chill from that sword.

Humans are, after all, emotional animals.

A swordsman strives to realize a near-ideal sword, but as long as they’re human, shards of emotion inevitably cling to that sword.

Thus the swords of the excited are violent, and those of the frightened tremble.

But none of those emotions were felt in Chung Myung’s sword.

It simply existed where it should and swung where it needed to swing.

It was so consistent it was almost disconcerting.

The battlefield is where everything hidden in the deepest parts of people erupts.

The aftermath of that madness even shook the great Yu Yiseol.

Yet how could Chung Myung remain so calm?

How could he take all of this for granted?

Suddenly Yu Yiseol thought that the sword was sad.

Sadness and Chung Myung did not seem to fit, and though it made little sense, that was how it felt.

Shing!

Chung Myung ruthlessly split a charging man’s heart and withdrew his sword.

Red blood splattered onto Chung Myung’s cheek.

Yu Yiseol thought as she swung her sword.

‘You can do it.’

She could hold them off. At this rate she could hold them until the gorge was finished.

Even if not a thousand but ten thousand charged, Chung Myung would not be pierced.

But… one thought would not leave her mind.

Her gaze passed over Chung Myung’s shoulder, where he cut down enemies, and reached the end of the gorge.

The one at that end was directing everyone here.

Beyond the Ten Thousand People Clan, the Mind-Probing Inquisitor Ho Ga-Myung, called one of the Four Sects Alliance’s forces.

Could that man really have come here without knowing this fact?

Yu Yiseol’s eyes trembled faintly.

Ho Ga-Myung’s snake-like cold gaze was staring through them.

“Impregnable.”

Gwi Yang finally laughed in disbelief.

“Attack and defense may seem the same at a glance, but they’re entirely different things.”

Ho Ga-Myung agreed with that statement.

What he saw in Chung Myung was a relentless spear.

No matter what, it pierced through defenses and skewered the heart; an unstoppable spear.

It forced through by smashing an impenetrable shield.

It was a spear that destroyed contradictions.

Yet that spear perfectly stopped the opponent’s offensives as well.

This should not happen in reality.

A sword is exceedingly delicate.

So when attacking and retreating, everything from power distribution to internal qi management inevitably differs.

But Chung Myung handled all of that as if it were nothing.

Gwi Yang scratched his jaw irritably.

They were the ones in pursuit.

Even if they escaped this gorge, there would be more than enough time to track them.

Troops? They had so many troops it was excessive.

Even if this gorge suddenly collapsed and they lost everyone here, there were still more forces remaining.

Even considering just one Ten Thousand People Clan alone.

Moreover, among the remaining personnel were many powerful fighters incomparable to those mobilized here.

Even the Red Sword symbolizing the Ten Thousand People Clan had not been deployed, and the single-rank murim warriors, except for the Blood Sword Troops accompanying here, remained intact.

So no matter how they looked at it, there was no reason to panic.

They were the pursuers. Yet Gwi Yang felt anxious now.

He was unbearably anxious in a way that couldn’t be denied.

Despite being in the hunter’s position, the pressure felt like a noose tightening his throat.

Gwi Yang said in a slightly irritated voice.

“At this point, I can’t help but understand that excessive vigilance.”

Ho Ga-Myung glanced at Gwi Yang with indifferent eyes.

Gwi Yang bit at the inside of his cheek and said.

“Because you can’t see it, right?”

“…Yes.”

It was a conversation like grasping at floating clouds.

But the two conversing precisely understood each other’s words.

It is unseen.

Where its end lies.

This isn’t about strength or the limits of martial arts skill.

What is needed for hunting is understanding.

One who hunts deer must know the deer’s habits; one who hunts a tiger must fully understand the tiger.

Otherwise, not only will the hunt fail, but one’s life could be endangered.

But that fellow is beyond the scope of understanding.

Just when you think you’ve grasped him, another facet pops out.

Parts that should not coexist within one person continuously reveal themselves, and just as you think you’ve caught a clue, he slips back into misty obscurity.

Therefore he is unpredictable.

What he will do, what he will commit.

And so, ultimately, they feared that uncertainty might even engulf the Four Sects Alliance.

“…Even so, it’s pointless. This terrain is unfavorable.”

Ho Ga-Myung gave no direct answer.

“It might be different if we could at least wear down the enemy’s stamina, but this will only increase meaningless sacrifices. He won’t tire this easily, you know?”

Gwi Yang did not particularly value human life.

But there was no need to waste available forces unnecessarily.

Gwi Yang was about to say another word to the silent Ho Ga-Myung.

“Perfect…”

“Hm?”

“Yes, he may be perfect. But… just because he’s perfect doesn’t mean he can’t be killed, does it?”

“….”

“If that is a person.”

For a moment, Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes flashed a chilling madness.

His cold gaze fixed on Chung Myung’s right leg.

From the moment Chung Myung stepped forward until now, Ho Ga-Myung had been watching only that one thing; and at last he saw it.

The sight of Chung Myung’s right foot twitching ever so slightly for a moment.

“You’re still human after all, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”

A triumphant smile spread across his face.