Righteous Chivalry Guild (4)

“Hmm?”

At the sudden shout, Sa Won-yang paused and looked that way.

A young man was flying in from the main hall, shouting as he came.

“Lord Demon! The orthodox sect dogs have broken in! They— they’ve hit the main hall!”

At those words, Sa Won-yang glanced toward the main hall and spotted flames rising in the distance.

If the fire was visible even from here, it must have been a major blaze.

“A diversion?”

As Sa Won-yang’s eyes grew complicated, the young man kept yelling.

“The Eccentric Immortal! The Eccentric Immortal is here!”

At that, Sa Won-yang actually looked surprised.

“What?!”

His slit eyes widened enough to show the pupils.

The Absolute of Qingcheng—the Eccentric Immortal—who rarely left Mount Qingcheng?

But a sidelong glance at Hwa Yeong-bin made it easy for Sa Won-yang to accept.

Well, if the disciple had come, the master could come too.

Just then—

The man flying toward Sa Won-yang suddenly accelerated hard.

Pa-ang!

A fearsome footwork.

The speed startled even Sa Won-yang.

Already at close range, the man sprang a surprise sword assault.

“Haaap!”

But Sa Won-yang snorted.

“Hmph.”

He had been suspicious from the start—the unfamiliar man had called him “Lord Demon.”

He had merely allowed the approach for a moment because the report of the blaze and of the Eccentric Immortal tugged at his attention.

“A crafty one. A good ambush—but far too weak to threaten this Venerable one.”

He was about to swat the man when a flicker of alarm crossed Sa Won-yang’s eyes.

The man’s blade suddenly split into dozens—hundreds—surrounding him.

Even for Sa Won-yang, who had seen illusory blades for ages, it was the first time seeing this kind.

“Oh?”

He was mildly impressed.

But illusions were illusions.

He spun like a top and swept his hand once; the phantom blades were all brushed aside.

Fwoosh!

He moved to strike the man at once—

—but in that instant, he noticed the fellow had already darted far away.

“Hm?”

At least that footwork was remarkable.

But if he meant to flee like that, why mount an ambush at all—just to probe?

Staring after him in faint disbelief, Sa Won-yang suddenly realized the man no longer held a sword.

He whipped his head toward Hwa Yeong-bin.

The black blade that had been in the man’s hand was now in Hwa Yeong-bin’s.

So the gambit had been to pass the sword to Hwa Yeong-bin.

The man shouted to Hwa Yeong-bin:

“Hero Hwa! Please hold him until the Eccentric Immortal arrives!”

At that, Sa Won-yang’s brow twitched.

Oh?

So the claim that the Eccentric Immortal was coming wasn’t a lie?

Sa Won-yang felt a tinge of confusion.

Given the fellow’s trickery so far it seemed a lie—yet it wasn’t impossible.

Right then—

While Sa Won-yang entertained that thought, Hwa Yeong-bin, now with a new sword, charged him.

“Haaap!”

Watching the dusk-like sword-light bloom again, Sa Won-yang murmured:

“No matter. I’ll kill you all and confirm it afterward.”

Crimson energy flared again from his hands.

At that moment, Hwa Yeong-bin’s blade cut at the speed of light.

Crimson Rain Sword Art—Form Nine:

Sunset-Cleaving Slash.

Shaaa!

The sword-qi that spread like a red sunset split in an instant into two planes.

A hew that seemed to cleave the setting sun itself—the simplest and most powerful form of the Crimson Rain.

“Hmph.”

Sa Won-yang’s answer was merely to set his palm against it.

His qi, dense as iron, swelled his hand like that of a giant and lightly mantled his upper body.

He meant to block the blade with one hand and smash with the other.

No matter what the man tried, that level of sword-qi could not possibly pierce his own.

But in the next second, a stabbing pain in his palm made Sa Won-yang start and spring back.

He glanced down—his palm was cut and bleeding.

Impossible.

“How?”

At that moment—

Fyu-fyu-fyut!

A sound whipped from behind.

Hidden weapons?!

Sa Won-yang spun at once and slapped the flying needles aside with his palm.

Tat-tat-tang!

It was that same fellow.

He had rushed from the rear, flung the weapons, and was already peeling away again.

“You insect—!”

Then Hwa Yeong-bin attacked from behind him.

This time a pelting storm of thrusts.

“Haaap!”

At the same time the other man, who’d been veering off, reversed and charged, loosing more hidden weapons.

Pressed front and back like interlocking gears, Sa Won-yang ground his teeth.

“Grr!”

---

It worked!

I hurled the needles at his back and bolted away again.

I wanted to test my recent growth—but not against a super pinnacle monster like that.

The shaft from the pillar we’d found ran under the ground and out to the guild’s perimeter.

I raced there, dropped the sentries, left the rescue of the captive women to Bi Sayoung, and sprinted back here at full tilt.

All the while I had prayed that Hero Hwa had already escaped.

But as my bad hunch foretold, he was alone, standing against Sa Won-yang.

“Damn.”

It was a sight to make the heart go cold.

To have to fight that thing….

But I decided to be grateful.

Whatever had happened in between, if he was toe-to-toe with Sa Won-yang, it was ultimately because of my plan.

If he died for that, how could I ever repay that debt?

So the fact he was still alive was a blessing beyond price.

From here on, my only job was to get him out alive.

…Even if that felt like the most impossible job of all.

“Impudent brats!”

Spinning like a top, Sa Won-yang knocked aside both Hwa Yeong-bin’s blade and my needles.

Ting-ting-ting-ting!

Then, with an irked look, he thrust a hand toward me.

Swhak!

A Qi Orb.

It hurtled in at brutal speed.

I swallowed reflexively.

But I was already moving fast around him; with a burst from Bursting Advance Steps, I slid just off its line.

Papak!

So far, so good!

Slipping past an attack I’d thought unstoppable gave me a sliver of calm.

At this rate, it wasn’t that threatening—

—until I caught the faint curl at his lip.

At the same time, Hwa Yeong-bin’s urgent sound-transmission hit my ear:

— Dodge now!

I remembered, in a flash, how Bi Sayoung had been caught by the Giant Demon.

The explosion hit.

KWA-A-ANG!

Pa-ang!

The Qi Orb I thought I’d dodged detonated at the same instant I kicked Bursting Advance again.

“Ugh!”

The blast shoved my surging body even faster.

I’d lived by a hair.

Then the world racing by seemed to slow strangely.

I’d never felt speed like this, and within it a weird déjà vu stirred.

This is…

I glanced toward Sa Won-yang—apparently sure he’d dealt with me, he turned his onslaught back to Hwa Yeong-bin.

A chance.

I curved in a half-arc and dove in at his back without a sound.

His open back swelled rapidly in my view.

Now!

From three jang away, I threw with everything I had.

Left back—where the heart lay.

Swiish!

I watched the knife streak for his left back in a slow glide.

From three jang, the instant to impact felt as long as a sixtieth of a minute.

He must have heard it; he flinched and twisted.

Thunk!

“Kh!”

Missed.

I’d meant to punch through left back and heart—his twist made it bury in his left shoulder instead.

“Damn!”

I swallowed my regret and sprang away.

At close range, if he fired a Qi Orb like before, I couldn’t guarantee a dodge.

As I retreated, Hwa Yeong-bin also widened the gap while Sa Won-yang hesitated.

Sa Won-yang stopped and glanced at the knife in his shoulder.

Then he slowly lifted his eyes to me—and I felt it clearly.

The blaze of fury filled his gaze.

He roared like a fiend.

“You mosquito!”

He swept both hands toward me.

Shoom! Shooong! Shoo-shoong!

More Qi Orbs.

Not just one.

“—!”

Four Qi Orbs screamed in, layered at insane speed—not from one line, but as a lattice predicting every evasion.

“You—!”

I hurled myself aside at top speed.

I even chained Bursting Advance Steps twice.

Pa-pang!

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-A-ANG!

A wall of pressure roared up my back with a colossal bang.

Fwoosh!

My hair stood on end.

Barely clear of the blast radius, I still felt the afterwind shoving me as I gritted my teeth.

I snapped my head back toward him.

I had nearly died, and terror gnawed my gut—but I had to go back.

No matter how frightening he was, I couldn’t run and leave Hwa Yeong-bin.

Then I spotted Elder Gyeolhan—limbs torn off, unconscious—and a sword lying nearby.

It looked decent.

“Hm.”

I glanced up—Hwa Yeong-bin had just attacked and been blocked; now he was taking the counter.

He must have rushed in to stop the Qi Orbs aimed at me.

Long scarlet blades of weapon-qi lashed from Sa Won-yang’s claws like swords, battering Hwa Yeong-bin.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!

“Kh-urk!”

I had to help—now.

I burst in behind him with Bursting Advance.

From about four jang, I flung needles, then flashed past his flank.

Fyu-fyu-fyut!

But he was used to this now.

Just hearing the sound, he spun once, flicked them aside, and drove at Hwa Yeong-bin again.

Ting-ting!

“Damn.”

If only it were darker, the needles would be more effective.

It was night, but the burning buildings lit everything bright.

Fyu-fyu-fyut!

Third pass—retreat, re-approach, throw.

Now he barely paid me mind—he batted the needles away and kept pounding Hwa Yeong-bin.

He’d decided to finish Hwa first.

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

“Gggh!”

Crisis.

Hwa Yeong-bin was on the verge of collapse.

He was holding on by will alone—we needed something else.

Damn it—no choice!

I closed in and threw three needles.

Fyu-fyu-fyut!

He turned naturally and swatted them away.

Ting-ting!

So far, same pattern.

But the instant he completed the spin to press Hwa again, I veered soundlessly—

—and stormed straight in.

Into a distance I had never breached before.

Seonu Thirteen Swords—Third Form:

Divine Responding Hawk-Dive.

The sword I’d scooped from Gyeolhan Satae plunged for his back like a stooping hawk.

Swiish!

At that moment—

Having just flung Hwa Yeong-bin away, he whirled and barked:

“Got you!”

His face beamed.

At the same time, his crimson-swollen hand—like a giant’s—smashed at me.

Puu-eong!

“?!”

As his huge palm crushed my silhouette, a brief confusion crossed his smiling face.

The figure he struck burst apart like petals.

Wind-Blown Petals—the body-split of the Thousand Wind Steps.

Then Hwa Yeong-bin crashed in at his back.

He had also feinted a retreat on my whispered cue.

“Haaap!”

His full-force cut exploded.

The blade that cleaves the sunset—Crimson Rain’s Sunset-Cleaving Slash.

Shaaah!

A fine thread split the dusk-red sheet of sword-qi in an instant.

“How dare—!”

As Sa Won-yang hurried to block, I appeared at his flank and drove my sword with everything I had.

Four-One Sword Method—First Form:

One Breath, One Kill.

Shiiik!

Sa Won-yang bellowed, suddenly desperate.

“Uwaaaap!”

Fwoooosh!

Crimson qi blasted from every inch of him, sheathing him in a transparent film.

It was the same thing Blood-Seeker Demon General Ji Gwang-ok had used.

I cried out in shock:

“Protective Body Qi?!”

My thrust, a lance of light, sank into that red sheath like into dense flesh—then ricocheted with monstrous rebound.

Across from me, Hwa Yeong-bin’s strike also bounced off.

“Damn it!”

Heartbroken, I skidded back.

This should have been the moment—but a surprise like that wouldn’t work twice.

Still, as I fell away, I forced my mind steady.

Quit now and we’re dead. Make another chance!

There would be another opening.

Sa Won-yang looked strained after dropping the sheath.

Just like the Blood-Seeker, it seemed Protective Body Qi was a realm he could only force.

And—

Blood streamed down his forearm as he roared at Hwa Yeong-bin:

“You— I’ll tear you to pieces!”

Hwa Yeong-bin must have cut him.

That was odd.

My One Breath, One Kill should have been faster—yet my blade hadn’t reached, while his had.

My eyes dropped to the sword in Hwa Yeong-bin’s hand—Black Wolf.

Could it be because of Black Wolf?

It was possible.

Black Wolf was a divine blade with deep secrets, its edge keen enough to slice Gangwi that yielded only to weapon-qi.

So perhaps it could shear qi armor as well.

I flashed him a whisper:

— Hero Hwa! My sword may be cutting through his qi!

Hwa Yeong-bin flicked a glance my way as he parried, then immediately began matching Sa Won-yang’s surging claws stroke for stroke.

“Haaap!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I, too, sped up again and threw more needles.

He looked furious, but he wasn’t swarming Hwa as quickly as before.

Whether wary of my ambushes or simply tiring, I couldn’t tell.

But in his eyes, I saw it—he was hunting an opening.

I flung another volley, faded back, and sent Hwa Yeong-bin another whisper.

Before he sprang whatever he was plotting, we had to move first.

Those were the last of my needles.

All right—go!

Pa-ang!

I burst forward with Bursting Advance.

His gaze snapped to me, as if waiting—and I instantly scattered his sight with Wind-Blown Petals.

“Haaap!”

Fss-ss-ss!

My body split like petals on the wind—but even among the countless afterimages, he tracked my true self.

As expected….

Feeling that wasn’t enough, I unfolded the Mirage Swordfield.

Chwaaa!

On top of the body-doubles, scores—hundreds—of phantom blades rose and ringed him.

At last, he seemed to lose me.

“Pointless!”

Annoyed, he swept his hand.

A gesture to clear the phantoms.

In that heartbeat, I flicked a throwing knife with a silver thread.

Swiish!

“Hmph!”

He lazily swept an arm to bat it aside.

But with my senses honed to a needle’s point, I twitched the filament and curved the blade.

Shuuuk!

Like a fish cutting a current, it slipped just over his forearm, pulling a sliver of his focus.

“Parlor tricks!”

Ting!

That was the moment I’d waited to make—

I unleashed the strongest strike I could use now.

“Haaap!”

Seonu Thirteen Swords—Fourteenth Form:

Vermilion Bird Manifest.

From my blade, a vermilion bird of pale-violet light erupted, wings beating.

The same Vermilion Bird I had failed to use against Ma Yugyeom.

Piiiii!

With beak gaping, it cried as if alive; Sa Won-yang’s eyes widened.

“What—?!”

But he was only startled—he didn’t break.

He swung the giant’s hand of qi and swatted the bird.

KWA-A-ANG!

With a thunderclap, the energies collided.

“Kh!”

Even against a superlative palm, the Vermilion Bird did not vanish at once.

Amazingly, it tangled with that huge hand, wrestling for a breath.

In that instant, Hwa Yeong-bin, who had fallen back, slammed into Sa Won-yang’s rear.

“Sunset-Cleaving Slash!”

Shiiik!

His strongest form—the only one that had actually cut through Sa Won-yang’s qi.

Sa Won-yang’s face tightened—and he flared the Protective Body Qi again.

“Uwaaaap!”

Fwoooosh!

The red sheath rolled out from him once more; my Vermilion Bird and Hwa Yeong-bin’s strike both guttered out against it.

I couldn’t withstand the rebound and was hurled away.

“Gggh!”

But even as I flew, my eyes stayed locked—

—on Hwa Yeong-bin, who had only feinted the Sunset-Cleaving a moment ago, now launching the real one the instant the qi-armor began to fade.

“Haaaap!”

The hazy blade like a crimson sunset split up-and-down in a blink.

With the last of his strength, that cut felt grand enough to hew the real sun.

Puhak!

After the stroke, Hwa Yeong-bin’s legs buckled; he staggered, emptied out.

Spent from manifesting the Vermilion Bird, I pushed myself up with effort and muttered:

“Damn it….”

My gaze found Sa Won-yang, who had recoiled a few jang away, blood bubbling from his chest.

His face had gone pale, yet he still stood—he had yanked his body back at the last instant, making Hwa Yeong-bin’s cut only shallow.

Failure.

After all this….

A wall that would not fall, no matter how we spent ourselves—it hollowed me out.

Then Hwa Yeong-bin’s whisper touched my ear.

— Brother Seonu. Run now. I have no strength or inner energy left—I can do nothing.

I looked at him with pained eyes.

He spoke again.

— Thank you for sharing my last fight. Live— and please take my vengeance.

For some reason he smiled, clear and relieved.

Like a man happy to at last be allowed to die.

Of all his expressions, it was the most at peace.

Just then Sa Won-yang shrieked, face twisted like a fiend.

“You— I’ll rip you to shreds!”

He pounced for Hwa Yeong-bin like a beast.

But Hwa Yeong-bin was looking at me, not at him.

He tossed Black Wolf to me and smiled brilliantly.

— Please… in my stead, bring down the Blood Cult…