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A man with long dark-red hair fell between the standoff of Namgung Geom and Bukgung Yeong-no.
It was a face well known to Bukgung Yeong-no, Namgung Geom, and Jong Haeng.
For that man was Dong-ack, one of the Three Evils of Heavenly Martial Manor.
“Hmmm…”
Dong-ack cast a meaningful smile as he looked at the crowd gathered around.
“There are a lot of unpleasant brats gathered here.”
Dong-ack’s voice was androgynous, making it hard to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
His sharp yet delicate features and slender, graceful fingers could, taken alone, captivate men’s hearts.
But one must not be deceived by that appearance.
Dong-ack was known among the Three Evils as the most cruel and hot-tempered.
“Heavenly Martial Manor Lord, what is the matter?”
“What are you doing here?”
“You said you were going to find the young deputy leader, but there was no word, so I came myself.”
Bukgung Yeong-no’s gaze swept around Dong-ack.
If Dong-ack had come forward, the remaining one would have as well. But the sly figure wearing a mask was not to be seen.
“Are you looking for Hyeon-ack? That bastard moved separately from me. You know—we’re not on good terms.”
“Damn, it has come to this after all.”
They had hoped not all Three Evils would appear.
“So then, Manor Lord. Where is our troublesome young deputy leader? I’d like to find him before Hyeon-ack does. The cult leader has placed quite a bounty on whoever brings him in.”
Namgung Geom, listening, could not hold back and interjected.
“What are you talking about? A young deputy leader?”
Dong-ack shot Namgung Geom a look that said the interruption annoyed him.
Zzeo-jeo-jeong!
From his right hand a freezing palm strike shot out.
Namgung Geom, unfazed, raised his sword and split the ice palm.
When Namgung Geom’s blade met Dong-ack’s ice palm, a great blast rang out.
Dong-ack glared at Namgung Geom with a cold expression.
“You don’t need to know.”
But Namgung Geom was no fool.
There was only one place in the Central Martial World where one could command fighters of that caliber and openly talk about a young deputy leader or sect leader.
“So the identity of Raging Evil… is he the young deputy leader of the Demonic Cult?”
“Hmph!”
Dong-ack’s cold reaction confirmed Namgung Geom’s deduction was correct.
Namgung Geom’s mind raced.
Raging Evil’s true identity was the young deputy leader of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The other Two Evils, Dong-ack and Hyeon-ack, were searching for Raging Evil under the cult leader’s orders.
That meant all Three Evils of Heavenly Martial Manor were warriors of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Moreover, they were high-ranking enough in the sect to be tasked with hunting down the young deputy leader.
“You two are the Left and Right Masters of the Demonic Cult!”
They were the sect’s highest powers who aided the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult leader.
Even their martial arts were similar—black palm and ice palm, respectively.
“Khrumm…”
Jong Haeng, having heard Namgung Geom, let out a low chuckle beside him.
Bukgung Yeong-no, Dong-ack, Sword Lord, and Victorious Fighting Monk.
Among the four, the only one surprised was Sword Lord Namgung Geom.
He asked Jong Haeng.
“Master, did you know about this?”
“…A little.”
Suddenly Jong Haeng recalled the question he had posed to the eldest Young lord of the Bukgung Family.
—“Grand Young Lord, were you preparing for war?”
The war he had asked about was not between the Imperial Order Manor and Heavenly Martial Manor.
It referred to a war between the righteous martial world and the demonic martial world.
—“Will everyone give up out of fear of fighting? The so-called Three Lords of the world…”
Only now did Namgung Geom realize why the grand young lord had gathered them and provoked them.
The Imperial Order Manor Lord intended to use Namgung Geom to stir up a war.
By exploiting the fact that Namgung Geom was hunting Raging Evil.
“He… dares to use me?”
Namgung Geom’s face flushed with shame and anger.
“Do you now understand whom you were trying to provoke? Old man of the Bukgung Family. If you do not wish to bear the sect’s wrath, step down peacefully.”
Dong-ack sneered coldly at Namgung Geom.
Namgung Geom slowly raised his sword and pointed its tip at Dong-ak.
“Filthy lackeys of the Demonic Cult dare to look down on the Bukgung Family. Today two of Heavenly Martial Manor’s Three Evils will die.”
Namgung Geom’s sense of justice was to cut down and kill anything that stood in his way.
Whether Raging Evil was the young deputy leader of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult or the man before him a demonic Right-Hand.
His task would not change.
If anyone interfered with the Bukgung Family’s affairs, he would cut them down. Nothing else.
From Namgung Geom’s blade unfurled the Bukgung Family’s secret technique, handed down for centuries.
The Gentleman’s Great Path March.
The path of the Sword Lord’s blade is neither the Demonic way nor the Evil Sect’s trickery.
His sword advances only along a single straight, broad road.
“Ha!”
Dong-ack spread both palms to counter Namgung Geom’s assault.
“Those with weak internal power, fall back!”
Seeing Namgung Geom rampage, Jong Haeng shouted to the Bukgung Family’s warriors.
The Bukgung swordsmen had already stepped back to give their Family Lord room to fight. They knew better than anyone the repercussions an enraged Namgung Geom could bring.
Each clash of sword and qi sent up shards of ice and sparks of fire.
The Sword Lord’s blade was strong, but Dong-ack’s specialty was sustained attrition.
With each exchange, a chill gradually accumulated in Namgung Geom’s arms.
His movements slowed, and his sword dulled.
Judging that Namgung Geom might be pushed back, Jong Haeng stepped into the fight.
He planted both legs firmly in the ground in a stable stomping stance.
He drew his right hand back to the furthest position from which it could reach.
“Thief, you cannot do that!”
Sensing something unusual, Bukgung Yeong-no also joined the fray.
Before Jong Haeng could unleash his Hundred Step Divine Fist, Heavenly Martial Manor’s Lord aimed his blade at him first.
Jjeo-eong!
Among thousands or tens of thousands of secret techniques, the Heavenly Martial Manor Lord chose the Yellow Emperor Blade technique.
And the greatest master of Shaolin Fist, the root of all martial arts, collided with it.
In the past decade, was there any confrontation more intense than this?
Bukgung Family’s Second Young Master, Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s Right-Hand, Bukgung Family’s Family Lord, and Shaolin’s Victorious Fighting Monk at their peak.
They each had their own positions and goals, but there was a commonality among the four.
They all relished fighting and had rarely experienced defeat.
Who would be defeated, and who would triumph?
Chaechachaeng!
A volley of sword energy launched by Yeon Mujin was intercepted by Hyeon-ack’s arms.
There wasn’t even a scratch on his arms.
His Black Hands, hardened stronger than steel, could not be cut by ordinary blades.
Hyeon-ack extended both arms and unleashed twin palm strikes.
Yeon Mujin nimbly used footwork to escape the force of those strikes.
Tung! Tung! Tung!
As he evaded one, another burst of force had already reached right before Yeon Mujin’s nose.
Having no choice, he raised his sword to deflect the force.
However,
Shiiiik!
Even without exerting much force, the black palm was cut more easily than expected.
Yeon Mujin stared at the sword in his hand, puzzled.
…So he’s said to wield the Wolf King of the previous generation—he’s earned his fame by the weapon.
Hyeon-ack, and even Raging Evil, looked somewhat surprised at Yeon Mujin’s graceful response.
Yeon Mujin tossed a stylish line toward the two members of the Demonic Cult watching him.
“I seem to have lost a lot of skill since before. In my prime, your head would already be gone.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Raging Evil looked as if to say “what’s with that,” Hyeon-ack had an impassive face, and Shapeshifter Demon wore an expression of annoyance as they stared at Yeon Mujin.
“Well? Are you afraid?”
Kwaang!
Without replying, Hyeon-ack launched his qi again.
Yeon Mujin relied on the Wolf King technique and blocked the twin palms.
It was much easier to defend than he’d thought. A cheap two coins sword couldn’t imitate that.
“How dare you resist me—are you not afraid for your life?”
“What’s your title that you speak so arrogantly?”
Raging Evil, listening, couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked.
“I abandoned titles long ago. Just think of me as a forgotten warrior of the previous generation.”
“Then die forgotten like that.”
Hyeon-ack, who had been sending black palms, answered for Raging Evil.
When his black palm struck the ground, with a boom a billowing cloud of dust rose.
With his vision obscured, Yeon Mujin concentrated internal qi in the dragon heaven point of his soles and leapt in a single bound.
Pyuwung!
Seeing Yeon Mujin leap high into the air, Hyeon-ack extended his force again.
‘This sword will do.’
Deciding, Yeon Mujin struck down with the Three Calamities Sword technique, Heavenly Thunder.
Kkwa-reu-reung!
With a sound like thunder, his blade cleaved in two an qi shaped like a ghost.
“Good!”
Raging Evil cried out in joy, and a darker, thicker evil qi gathered in Hyeon-ack’s furrowed hands than before.
Tatatat!
He sent multiple black palms toward the direction Yeon Mujin was falling.
The dark magics didn’t shoot out as before but spread in the air like paint, forming a solid barrier.
“Black Demon Wall!”
With Raging Evil’s shout, the Heavenly Thunder struck the Black Demon Wall.
Kwaaang!
With an earth-shaking rumble, Yeon Mujin flipped in the air and descended.
As the Black Demon Wall slowly cleared, Hyeon-ack’s face—his mask having fallen off from the impact—became visible beneath.
“That guy—his face…”
Half of Hyeon-ack’s face revealed beneath the mask was hideous.
It had shriveled and cracked like melted wax, more like a piece of rotten wood than a human face.
Raging Evil was inwardly shocked at the sight.
Not because of Hyeon-ack’s bare face, but because Yeon Mujin had managed to damage him despite the Black Demon Wall.
‘Where did someone like this come from…’
The Cult’s Left-Hand is one of the sect’s most formidable fighters.
Even the Cult’s renowned masters could not touch a hair on his head; he was a supreme master of demonic martial arts.
And yet some unknown brat had torn off his mask?
Good grief…
“Well done! Press him!”
Raging Evil cheered on Yeon Mujin.
Yeon Mujin looked back at Raging Evil with an incredulous expression.
“Don’t just talk—help me!”
At that, Raging Evil flicked a Blue Ghost Flame and sent it toward Hyeon-ack.
Flare! Shurururu—.
The flying Blue Ghost Flame was swallowed by the talisman on Hyeon-ack and had no effect.
“So long as that bastard carries the talisman, my martial arts won’t affect him.”
“How useless.”
“…”
“Young Leader.”
Hyeon-ack, mask removed, spoke.
“Do you truly wish to endure my wrath?”
His expression was the same, but half his face was grotesquely distorted, making him look extremely enraged.
Well, that wasn’t entirely untrue—the face under the mask was his shame, after all.
Rather than calming him, Raging Evil only provoked Hyeon-ack’s fury.
“Left Master, are you threatening the young leader now?”
“…”
Hyeon-ack raised both arms forward.
Kagagagak!
Spines rose simultaneously along both his arms with a menacing sound.
“Young Leader. If one of your arms disappears, do not blame me.”
…That looks really dangerous.
Yeon Mujin quietly walked and hid behind Raging Evil’s back.
“What are you doing?”
“I have to risk my life, but you only need to risk one arm, don’t you?”
“Are you saying you’ll use the young deputy leader of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as a shield?”
“What other immediate use is there?”
“…”
“You say you don’t want to be dragged away. Can’t you try to persuade or calm him? I don’t have the confidence to handle that.”
Yeon Mujin had come to fetch Raging Evil, not to fight to the death with the Cult’s Left-Hand.
Perhaps sensing danger, Raging Evil looked at the Left Master and shouted.
“Left Master! If you let me go, I swear on the honor of the young deputy leader to give you due reward!”
“…”
“What do you need? Money? Women? Ah, martial arts! How about martial arts? I can hand over a few hidden manuals I stole from the sect library without my father’s knowledge. That should be a pretty profitable deal, right?”
“…”
“At least give some response!”
“Young Leader, is there something you could give that the cult leader could not?”
It was a reasonable question.
So Raging Evil made an offer only a young deputy leader could make.
“If I become the cult leader, I’ll cut off your head first. If your life is precious, let me go.”
He said to persuade him and ended up threatening instead.
“Do as you say. Like the face this young deputy leader bears.”
Hearing that, Yeon Mujin quietly spoke from behind Raging Evil.
“You certainly earn the Left Master’s hatred.”
“Shut up.”
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