#48: Tang Clan’s Sword Phoenix (4) — Reborn on the Demonic Cult Battlefield

KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!

Ma Yugyeom’s crimson sword-qi and my violet sword-qi crashed and sparked in midair.

Locking blades, Ma Yugyeom cried out in shock.

“Pinnacle?! When did you reach the Pinnacle Realm?!”

After receiving instruction from the Sword Saint and spending a period in meditation, I came to understand this: sword-qi wasn’t compressed sword-energy—it must be emitted finer and harder, like a high-pressure jet of water slicing stone.

The Sword Saint had used water as an example to enlighten me.

Bounced apart to either side, we hurled ourselves back in and traded lightning-like thrusts.

Ma Yugyeom’s sword stabbed at me with a speed that seemed to pierce space itself.

Shiiiik!

It was a speed that looked like it could punch through the sun.

As the ultrafast thrust created three afterimages and lunged in, I swung in a rush and barely managed to bat it aside.

Ti-ti-ting!

“Urgh!”

Sure, now that I’d reached the same Pinnacle Realm I could block sword-qi—but in pure swordsmanship, it seemed I still couldn’t match him.

“Wahaha! Still a greenhorn! Even your sword-qi is sloppy!”

Jeering, Ma Yugyeom stabbed down like a rain squall.

Shish-shish-shish-shiiik!

He was right. I wasn’t yet used to forming sword-qi; it guzzled too much internal energy and lacked stability.

It was a small mercy I’d immediately replenished my energy with an elixir right after attaining the Pinnacle.

“Wahahaha! Die!”

“Kh—!”

He now seemed utterly certain of victory.

I was so busy fending off those lightning-fast thrusts that I couldn’t mount a proper attack.

I also realized just now that my Phantom-Sword “Flash-Thunder Thirteen Swords” was poorly matched against the ultrafast thrusting art, the Four-One Sword Method.

The phantom-sword Flash-Thunder Thirteen Swords was useful against multiple foes of equal or lower level—but against a single opponent of higher skill, its illusions instead opened holes in my defense.

Saaak!

“Ghk!”

His sword-qi grazed hard across my left arm and blood sprayed.

My clothes were already shredded, and shallow cuts marked everywhere the sword-qi had brushed.

“Wahahaha! Is that your limit? Pathetic!”

With madness in his eyes, he pressed the assault faster and harder.

Grit.

I ground my teeth.

But things looked bad.

The gap in skill was clear, and with my energy draining so fast I didn’t know how long I could hold.

Only my edge in footwork was barely keeping me afloat.

Just then, one method flashed across my mind.

Something I had never once unleashed.

‘The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Forms of the Seonu Thirteen Swords.’

I had discovered the hidden Fourteenth and Fifteenth Forms in the book’s concealed section, but I had never used them.

They required the ability to wield sword-qi as a basic condition.

Which meant I could use them now.

But…

I hesitated.

Would it mean anything to unleash a form I only knew in theory?

Would I just drain my remaining energy and lose my chance?

A different thought flickered up:

‘Should I just run?’

Coolly speaking, if I fled now while I still had energy, Ma Yugyeom’s footwork shouldn’t let him catch me.

If I burned more energy here, even that would become impossible.

Of course, that would mean abandoning Lady Tang—but she wasn’t someone of great personal meaning to me.

She was a comrade of the Thirteenth Unit whose face I knew, not one of the comrades I had longed so desperately to save.

I didn’t have to stake my life for her.

Once raised, the option of running only grew more tempting in my mind.

If I’d come all the way back only to die here—fighting Ma Yugyeom, not even a Blood Cult fiend—wouldn’t that be far too hollow?

While I was thinking that—

“Haaaap!”

Shu-haaaak!

I saw a slight gap open in Ma Yugyeom’s fierce onslaught.

Not a chance to counter, but the perfect gap to slip away.

My eyes flew wide.

‘Now!’

Instinctively, I moved to spring away.

If I missed even this, I might not get to run at all.

“Tch!”

But just as I was about to move, I froze.

Myeong Sahyeon’s face flashed in my head—the man who, even to another man’s eyes, had been admirable, who had come to me and cheerfully apologized for having belittled me in his heart.

‘You’d abandon the woman he loved so much he overcame Soul-Seizing itself?’

Impossible.

My feet would not move.

And astonishingly, that hesitation saved my life.

“Haaaap!”

Shuaaaak!

Dazzling light burst exactly along the line I’d been about to take.

A blue lance of sword-qi bored through space.

“One Breath, One Kill,” unleashed at the Pinnacle Realm.

Watching the spear of light pass before my eyes, I realized, in a flash, what had happened.

He must have already predicted I’d flee. He had deliberately opened a path and was poised to unleash One Breath, One Kill—but my instant of hesitation threw his timing off.

“W-what?!”

Panic flooded Ma Yugyeom’s eyes.

Having poured everything into that blow, he’d opened himself up.

I clenched my teeth.

I couldn’t miss this chance.

“Haaap!”

Seonu Thirteen Swords, Fourteenth Form—

Vermilion Bird Manifest.

Shuaaaak!

My violet sword-qi transformed into a bird of flame.

It was my first time unleashing the Fourteenth Form, Vermilion Bird Manifest.

Sword-qi became a blazing bird and swooped at Ma Yugyeom.

My entire reservoir of energy drained away all at once.

“Kh…!”

The violet bird spread its wings wide, opened its beak, and cried as it wrapped around Ma Yugyeom.

—Piiiiiiiii!

“U-haaaap!”

Ma Yugyeom, too, spun his sword with everything he had.

It was Whirlwind-Flow Forty-Eight Swords, a Diancang form suited for defense.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!

A massive explosion bloomed as violet and crimson qi mixed.

Watching it, my whole body hollowed out, I could only gulp ragged breaths.

“Hah… hah… hah.”

When the blast settled and I had not a speck of internal energy left, I ground my teeth— because there he still stood in front of me.

He looked as if he’d weathered a storm, a wreck—yet not gravely wounded.

If only my energy had held to the end, I could’ve finished it…

It stung bitterly.

I had failed to complete the final arc of the form for lack of energy.

No—more a matter of mastery than of energy.

Not that it mattered now.

Grinding his teeth, Ma Yugyeom spoke.

“That was impressive. I nearly died.”

Then he curved a rancid smile.

“But now you die.”

Damn it.

He was right.

With my energy emptied, I could neither fight nor flee.

It seemed my second life would end here.

“Farewell, Seonu Jin.”

He raised his sword—

When a voice rang out:

“I don’t think so. If you ask me, the one who should say farewell is you, Ma Yugyeom.”

Startled, I turned my head.

There stood Lady Tang, somehow upright, leveling her sword at Ma Yugyeom.

She glared at him with icy eyes.

“You dared try to defile me.”

From her blade, a Tang-Clan-like pale green sword-qi surged and burned.

In her cold gaze, a boiling hatred no less fierce than that sword-qi.

Fear now flickered in Ma Yugyeom’s eyes—a most satisfying look.

Just as it was clear between him and me, so it was clear between the two of them.

He was Fourth Platoon Captain; she was Third Platoon Captain—because her skill surpassed his.

And now, exhausted from fighting me, there was even less chance he could face her.

“Urgh…”

Shuffling backward in panic, Ma Yugyeom suddenly sprang away.

“Uwaaaaa!”

Leaving only a miserable scream behind, he vanished like a streak of light.

It felt like he was running even faster than when he’d chased me.

“Haaah.”

I sighed and collapsed where I stood.

I truly thought I’d die.

No energy, no strength, pain all over.

With a faint, helpless smile, I said to Tang Yeo-eun,

“You saved me. Good thing you came to—”

But I couldn’t finish.

She slumped and fainted on the spot.

“Lady Tang?!”

I barely managed to rush over and hold her; her whole body was burning with fever, yet she sweated cold.

She must have pushed herself in an extreme state of mental strain.

I was at a loss.

With my internal energy and stamina bottomed out, I wasn’t sure I could carry her back.

And if Ma Yugyeom returned like this…

“Ugh!”

Holding her, I staggered off to find a secluded spot nearby.

In case he came back, we had to hide.

It was a relief I had a sachet of monster-repelling incense.

I found a hollow between trees and slipped in. A snake had been there, but as I approached, it scurried off at the scent of the incense.

Unpleasant—but no choice.

I roughly covered the area with brush and held her close; her body began to turn cold.

Her forehead burned, but only her body chilled.

And, perhaps from the pain, she began muttering deliriously again.

“I… I’m sorry I was born, Mother. I should’ve died instead… I’m sorry.”

And it seemed the Suggestion Arts Ma Yugyeom had tried hadn’t completely broken.

“I am Tang Yeo-eun. Tang Yeo-eun belongs to Ma Yu—”

I could not leave her like this.

I recalled that in such cases, stripping and sharing body heat was said to be best.

But I couldn’t bring myself to go that far.

Instead, holding her tightly to my chest, I rubbed warmth back into her limbs with my hands.

And I whispered into her ear, over and over:

“Lady Tang—Tang Yeo-eun is precious and worthy. I’m truly glad you were born safely. Vice-Captain Myeong would think so too, of course. Tang Yeo-eun belongs to herself. No one else can ever be master over Tang Yeo-eun.”

It came from a pure desire to bring her back.

But across both my lives, I had never been this close to a woman’s body.

Despite a warrior’s trained physique, her body felt endlessly soft, and her scent—hard to believe it came from a human—was so fragrant.

It was hard to keep my heart pure.

And from so near, her unconscious face was simply too beautiful.

Like a goddess incarnate.

If I kept looking, I felt my soul would fly away; I shut my eyes—only for them to open again, drawn back to her face.

Impulses rose and rose, but I barely suppressed them, thinking of Lady Na and of Myeong Sahyeon.

I lost all sense of time.

All night I held her tight, warming her, whispering in her ear—unable even to circulate my breath.

At last, dawn bled in.

Thankfully, her temperature seemed to have returned to normal.

Confirming that her expression had gone peaceful and her breathing soft and steady, I laid her gently at my side and then sprawled out beside her.

Too exhausted to think anymore.

I fell asleep at once.

In my dream, I think I heard Lady Tang’s voice thanking me.

And a man’s voice I didn’t recognize…

—Hm. At last, I seem to have found a passable heir. That was quite good.

It was a man’s voice I’d never heard, but it must have been a hallucination.

I was too tired; such things happen.

Easy enough to understand.

When I woke, she was already awake and sitting up. As I rose, she turned her head aside and spoke awkwardly.

“Th-thank… you.”

“N-no thanks needed. It was only right to—ha, haha…”

We returned to the Thirteenth Unit without another word, both of us awkward.

By then, Ma Yugyeom still had not come back.

I suspected he had simply run.

I went straight to his quarters, broke the locked door, and entered.

There I found a letter left by his mother, secret manuals, and elixirs.

Only then did the full shape of the matter come clear to me.

The tangled skein of ties among the Jeon Clan Blood Incident, the Diancang Sect, the Blood Demon—and Ma Yugyeom’s mother.

I could almost understand how Ma Yugyeom had collapsed.

To learn that the Diancang Sect, your spiritual pillar, and your father were the perpetrators who ruined your mother; that their price birthed the monster called the Sa Hye Blood Demon; and that he was your maternal grandfather—

I couldn’t imagine how the man who had hated the Blood Cult more than anyone must have felt.

But understanding did not mean I could permit his deeds.

I brought it straight to Captain Seol Pung, and an emergency officers’ council was convened.

It was the first council I had ever attended.

Captains and vice-captains filled the room, too shocked to speak.

Ma Yugyeom, who had hated the Blood Cult more than anyone, was the grandson of the Blood Demon; he had drained Mae Yeogyeong to death and even tried to ensnare Lady Tang with Suggestion Arts—

They could hardly believe it.

I glanced at Tang Yeo-eun.

Even while hearing what Ma Yugyeom had tried to do to her, she sat there as always with a cold face, as if nothing were wrong.

It seemed she truly was much better. I was relieved.

Having checked on her first, I spoke up before any other captain.

“Judging from the circumstances, I suspect Captain Ma learned the methods recorded here and was corroded by demonic qi. His eyes did not look normal. Reeling from the shock and collapse of his heart, he was overtaken by that qi and suddenly changed.”

I had once heard Elder Seok Gyeongdal say that Blood Cult arts destroyed the practitioner’s mind—hence my conclusion.

At my words, Captain Sa Gunil of the Second Platoon squeezed his eyes shut.

As a fellow Diancang disciple, he felt it all the more keenly.

Looking at him with pity, Vice-Captain Gam Jiin of the Second Platoon said,

“Then perhaps we should keep this within these walls for now? It would be too great a shock for the Fourth Platoon—and for the entire Thirteenth Unit.”

The captains hesitated—but I shook my head firmly.

“We cannot.”

“Pardon?”

“If the rank and file—or members of other units—don’t know this and Ma approaches them again, what do you suppose will happen?”

A low murmur rippled.

A Pinnacle Expert who could use Absorption and Suggestion—if he approached other soldiers unaware of the danger, the carnage could be catastrophic.

“I pity his situation as well, but this must be spread across the whole front at once.”

At that, the officers nodded grimly.

The council ended with a single conclusion: inform the front as swiftly as possible.

With that, Ma Yugyeom could never return to the lines.

I worried what course he would take now that he had turned to the Blood Cult much earlier than in my past life.

I also worried how Zhuge Jigang, the Alliance’s Heaven-Thunder, would react.

Once this was known, the old affair of the Blood Demon and the Diancang Sect would inevitably come to light—and I doubted he wanted that.

‘He might take extreme measures—like what he tried with Lady Cheong-yeon.’

The problem was, I had no real way to stop him.

All I could do was pin my hopes on the Sword Saint, who had returned to the Alliance.

After that, the Thirteenth Unit’s mood remained poor.

Not only the overall atmosphere but especially that of the Fourth Platoon—who had lost both captain and vice-captain overnight—was like a mourning hall.

At least Lady Tang seemed to be holding up bravely.

Rumor had it she was even carrying the duties that had belonged to Vice-Captain Myeong, who had always looked after people.

I was glad.

A few days later, I decided to visit Lady Tang.

Because the Iron Ghost would soon appear, I hoped to ask her for Bone-Dissolving Powder.

Used to melt corpses and erase traces, it also weakened the Iron Ghost’s hide.

It was something discovered only after many sacrifices in my past life.

‘Before, I had no connection to her and couldn’t ask—but now it should be all right. After all, I’m technically the one who saved her life.’

With that thought, I went to Third Platoon and asked her subordinates; they said she was alone at the training grounds.

Apparently she preferred to be by herself when she trained.

I hesitated, wondering if it was right to go when she was practicing alone.

But I went anyway.

It would be easier to ask when she was alone.

“Haaap! Hah… hah… hah…”

On the grounds, she swung her sword, breathing hard.

Her face was still cold as ice, but her sword-moves carried a nameless desperation and sorrow.

A thought struck me.

‘She… isn’t truly all right yet.’

Of course. No one could go through that and be fine right away.

It was only natural.

When she seemed to tire a little and finally stopped her sword to catch her breath—

I called to her carefully,

“Um, Lady Tang.”

She turned her head and looked at me.

“Ah!”

And in that instant, her cold face crumbled apart.

Tang Yeo-eun was pouring everything she had into seeming normal these days.

With Myeong Sahyeon gone, she could not allow herself to collapse too.

Somehow, she had to gather up her body and heart and show her people someone they could rely on.

But it was anything but easy.

Not only for herself—the hole Myeong Sahyeon left in the work of tending to the platoon was immense.

Approaching people gently, caring for each one—these things were unbearably hard for her.

At moments, she wanted to sink down where she stood.

She wanted to cry that she couldn’t do it, that she was exhausted too.

But she could not.

Just as he had said: she was the one Myeong Sahyeon had loved with his life.

To show herself broken would be to insult even Myeong Sahyeon, who had loved her so.

So whenever she struggled, she repeated it like a spell, countless times:

The words he had whispered into her ear.

‘I am someone of worth. I am someone precious. Therefore… I can do this.’

What Seonu Jin had whispered all night was the only strength holding her up.

Words that, in her life, she was hearing for the first time—words that made her want to weep.

Even now, his voice drifted vividly through her mind.

Leaning on that voice, she barely endured the days.

And yet, some moments could not be helped.

At dawn, when she went to begin her personal training, whenever she stepped into the empty practice ground and saw it barren, she was forced to realize it again:

That Myeong Sahyeon was no longer in this world.

That he had left her behind…

At such times, she gritted her teeth and swung her sword.

For Myeong Sahyeon’s sake, she would not break.

But…

It was so hard.

So sad and so painful.

Today was the same.

Holding back the eruption of tears, she swung.

Whether her training was proper did not matter.

Only not breaking now mattered.

She was the woman Myeong Sahyeon had loved.