Chapter 143

I quickly assessed the situation.
There were around a dozen enemies, while there were only three of us.
Jin Hwa-un was a Transcendent master but incapable of fighting, while my own combat ability had dropped to less than half of normal.
The good news was that Yuk Ja-heung had come over to our side.

‘Then we can fight them head-on.’

Originally, I had planned to use a somewhat underhanded method.
I had intended to use Jin Hwa-un’s identity to sow discord among them.
But it wasn’t as if I enjoyed doing things that way.
I preferred a straightforward fight myself.

“Hey, looks like I’m going to have to change the plan.”

I said while looking at Jin Hwa-un.
He answered.

“What plan?”
“Oh, right. I never told you. Just know that it changed.”
“Very well.”

He pretended to be unfazed, but his voice was weaker than before.
He was steadily weakening.

“You said earlier that you could send a few of them to hell, right?”
“One should be possible.”
“No, you said a few.”
“……I changed my mind.”
“At least you’re honest.”

As we exchanged that pointless joke with faint smiles,
the distance between us and the enemy steadily closed to around fifteen meters.
Jin Si-myeong was approaching slowly at the head of the group.

But for some reason,
his killing-intent-laced gaze was aimed not at me, but at Yuk Ja-heung.

‘What? Ah.’

The answer came to me almost as soon as the question did.
Being defied by someone he had assumed would never disobey him had stirred his urge to kill.

‘But isn’t he getting his priorities backward?’

Why were they doing all this inside the No-Return Cave in the first place?
Wasn’t it to kill me?

‘Either way, this works out. I can have those two fight.’

The reason I had planned to use an underhanded method instead of fighting head-on was Jin Si-myeong.
His claim that he was practically part of the direct line hadn’t been empty boasting.
Even the aura he gave off was different from the other collateral members.
His spear shaft was much finer as well.

But now Jin Si-myeong had an opponent.
And Yuk Ja-heung had just made a major decision.
Shouldn’t I reward him for it?

“Go.”

Without warning, I shoved Yuk Ja-heung in the back.

“Wah! W-what the hell?”

Yuk Ja-heung flailed in surprise.
Apparently caught off guard as well, Jin Si-myeong briefly stopped walking.

“What are you doing?”
“This is for your own good.”

As I mentioned before, Yuk Ja-heung had reached the late-Peak Realm at seventeen.
His family’s support had played a large part, but he had genuine martial talent of his own.
Then why had someone like him remained stuck at the same level until I left the Demon Cult in my previous life?

In my view, the problem was his innate temperament.
He was timid and easily frightened.
A moment ago, he had shown the courage to choose loyalty between fellow disciples over his own life.
Even so, he was probably still underestimating his own ability.
Someone like that would never attain enlightenment.

“You take Jin Si-myeong. I’ll handle the rest.”
“What? B-Brother Jin is pretty strong.”
“He’s still only in the late-Peak Realm, same as you.”
“Yeah, but this is way too sudden!”

I looked the flustered bastard straight in the eyes and continued.

“You’re strong. Have some confidence.”
“……I’m strong?”
“Yeah.”

And I was much stronger.
Yuk Ja-heung’s gaze gradually changed.
He was preparing himself to fight Jin Si-myeong.

It did feel like he had been convinced a little too easily.
The Yuk Ja-heung from before would never have agreed to fight.
But he had just displayed remarkable courage.
He had already steeled himself for death, so what was one fight with Jin Si-myeong?

‘This is exactly when I need to push him to grow.’

Then he would gain a foothold to leap over the wall blocking his path.

Leaving Yuk Ja-heung behind, I walked toward the others.
Jin Si-myeong spoke.

“Wash your neck and wait. I’ll teach Yuk Ja-heung his place, then come for you.”
“Go ahead.”

I walked past Jin Si-myeong.
I took another look at the terrain where I would fight the rest.

The space between the two walls was about three meters wide.
But with metal cables, pulleys, gears, and other machinery jutting out everywhere, it felt much narrower.
It was the perfect terrain for a few people to fight many.
No more than two could attack at once.
That was why I had secretly rejoiced when I first entered this place.

They seemed to know the terrain put them at a disadvantage too.
When they saw me looking around, one of them sneered.

“Don’t get comfortable, Seventh Young Lord. Our family doesn’t possess only long-spear arts. We also train in a peerless short-spear art for situations precisely like this.”
“I know.”

I had already fought the collateral members in the lava cavern.
The passage had been narrow, so they had used short spears there too.
But this place wasn’t merely narrow. It was cluttered with complicated machinery as well.
That made it even worse terrain for them.
But setting that aside.

“For people who train in it, your short-spear skills weren’t very impressive.”

Of course they weren’t.
When members of a family famous for its long-spear arts trained, which did they practice more, the long spear or the short spear?

“You’ll regret those insolent words soon enough!”

One of the collateral members gritted his teeth and charged.
I swallowed another Pain-Cutting Pill and quickened my pace as well.
He thrust his short spear, but I twisted my upper body and let it slide past.
The spearpoint missed its target and became wedged in a gap between the gears.

“W-what the hell!”

While he struggled to pull it free, a second collateral member attacked.
Using the principles of Whirlwind Floating Leaf Step, I spun past him.
At the same time, I extended my cold-iron dagger and severed a pulley rope.
A heavy iron weight dropped and smashed into the second man’s head.
Ppagak!
It sounded like a gourd cracking open.
He died instantly.

“Tsk, tsk. You should’ve checked above you.”
“Iyaaat!”

A Demon Bell Geuk Family warrior who had been waiting for an opening swung his saber.
At the same time, the collateral member behind me finally freed his spear and thrust it toward my back.
I dropped low as though collapsing into a squat.
Kaang!
A sharp metallic clang.
The Demon Bell Geuk Family warrior and the collateral member had struck each other.
Both staggered backward from the recoil.
Before the collateral member could retreat far, I pushed hard off the floor. Springing upward, I slashed his throat with my cold-iron dagger.

“Kuk, keogeok.”

The collateral member collapsed, clutching his throat.
The Demon Bell Geuk Family warrior gritted his teeth and swung his saber again.
It was a Reverse-Wind Revolving technique that used rotational force to deliver a powerful blow.
I knew it well, having faced it several times in my previous life.

Instead of blocking the saber, I slammed my palm into a metal cable hanging beside me.
The cable snapped taut like a whip and struck him across the face.

“Huk!”

He instinctively jerked his head back.
In doing so, he made two mistakes at once.
He still failed to completely evade the cable and took the hit to his face, while also breaking the flow of his own technique.

‘That’s more than enough of an opening to die.’

I closed the distance in a flash with Soul-Extinguishing Flash Step and stabbed him through the heart.
He collapsed without resistance.
Even with their lives on the line, people made mistakes because of the most ridiculous things.
The only way to reduce those mistakes was through rigorous training and real combat experience.

“What’s wrong? Why are you all standing there?”

Perhaps it was because several of them had died in an instant.
The rest had completely frozen.

“S-Seventh Young Lord was this strong?”
“Even so, how can he fight like that in his condition?”
“Stay calm. We still have the numerical advantage. We simply need to attack him together.”
“Numbers don’t matter! Seventh Young Lord is a monster!”

Panic spread among them.
Fear was contagious.

“You’re not coming? Then I’ll come to you.”

I took one step forward, and they retreated by exactly the same amount.
They were scared stiff.
One Demon Bell Geuk Family warrior even looked behind him.
Apparently, he was checking his escape route in advance.

“What are you thinking? If you run, First Young Lord will kill you anyway.”
“If I fight that monster, I’ll die before that!”

I could understand the reaction.
To them, I probably looked like the Grim Reaper.
The fear branded into them had become stronger than whatever anger they felt over the deaths of their kin and comrades.

That made the fight much easier.
I deliberately approached slowly.
I wanted to pile on as much psychological pressure as possible.
Sure enough, the hands gripping their weapons trembled like leaves.

“Let’s finish this.”

I burst into their midst with Lightning Step.
Then I began a wild dance of blades.
By the time the dance ended, only one man remained alive.

“U-uuuuugh!”

The Demon Bell Geuk Family warrior who had been thinking about escaping turned and ran.
I kicked a spear lying near my feet.
Puk. With a dull thud, the man pitched forward.
The short spear had buried itself in the back of his head.

“If you’re going to try to kill someone, you should be prepared to die yourselves.”

Tsk. I clicked my tongue.
Only then did I turn my attention to Yuk Ja-heung.
My brow immediately furrowed.
Peong, peong.
He was locked in a desperate struggle against Jin Si-myeong.

The palm force Yuk Ja-heung unleashed was repeatedly blocked by Jin Si-myeong’s spear shaft.
Every thrust of Jin Si-myeong’s spear left a bloody line somewhere on Yuk Ja-heung’s body.
It was fortunate that none had pierced through him, thanks to the Violet Lightning Yuk Family’s supreme art, Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi.

‘He shouldn’t be getting pushed this badly.’

They were both late-Peak Realm.
Jin Si-myeong probably didn’t have that much real combat experience either, yet Yuk Ja-heung was being beaten one-sidedly.
He was struggling desperately, but he was gradually being driven into a corner.

“You idiot! You really think you can beat me?”

Jin Si-myeong shouted as he swung his spear.
His voice was full of excitement.
He had no idea his subordinates had already been slaughtered behind him.

“You were merely lucky enough to be born into the direct line of one of the Seven Demonic Houses! Without that, you’re nothing!”

Yuk Ja-heung’s movements visibly stiffened at Jin Si-myeong’s taunt.
He hesitated when trying to unleash palm force and faltered when stepping into his footwork.

‘That’s the problem.’

The difference between them was obvious.
Jin Si-myeong knew his own strength.
He confidently unleashed the martial arts he had cultivated without holding back.

Yuk Ja-heung was different.
He had never had much confidence to begin with.
Rejected by his father and pushed around by his siblings.
He believed he only retained his current position because of his grandfather’s decision.
That tendency had probably grown even worse after I appeared.
He wasn’t entirely wrong, but if he couldn’t believe in himself, he would never accomplish anything.

“Keuuuuk.”

Yuk Ja-heung was forced backward again.
Even the Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi surrounding his body was beginning to destabilize.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before a spear ran him through.

‘This won’t do.’

I shouted.

“What the hell are you doing! You’re a Little Demon, and that’s all you’ve got?”
“Hmph! He only became a Little Demon because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth!”
“So what?”

Ignoring Jin Si-myeong, I shouted at Yuk Ja-heung.

“Direct line or not, none of that matters. No matter what anyone says, you were taught by the greatest martial artist of all time.”
“……!”
“Don’t forget. You’re a Little Demon. That alone is enough.”

Yuk Ja-heung’s eyes widened.
His mouth fell open blankly, then pressed firmly shut.

“……That’s right. I’m a Little Demon. Master taught me martial arts.”
“That too is nothing more than another benefit your family handed you! If you had been born into a collateral branch, you wouldn’t even amount to a quarter of what you are now!”

Jin Si-myeong shouted viciously.
I replied indifferently.

“He’d still be a Little Demon.”
“You keep your mouth shut! I’ll kill you when your turn comes!”

Yuk Ja-heung murmured.

“I’m a Little Demon.”

At that moment, the density of his Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi began to increase.
Peoeong!
Palm force collided with the spear shaft.
This time, Yuk Ja-heung wasn’t pushed back.

“No matter what anyone says, I’m a Little Demon.”

Paang! Paang!
Yuk Ja-heung unleashed palm force again and again.
Under the ferocity of the relentless barrage, Jin Si-myeong was driven back several steps before he realized it.

“You bastard!”

Jin Si-myeong gritted his teeth and thrust his spear.
But Yuk Ja-heung didn’t evade.
Instead, he extended his palm toward the spearpoint.
Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi wrapped around the spearhead and twisted its trajectory aside.

‘His Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi has grown denser.’

I was inwardly surprised.
Until now, Yuk Ja-heung’s Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi had done little more than protect his body.
But now it was different.
It was fierce and powerful.
It was hard to believe this was the same man who had been trembling earlier.

Training the body alone did not make someone a great martial artist.
Mindset.
Changing that alone could completely transform a martial artist’s life.
Yuk Ja-heung was experiencing that for the first time.

Dozens of exchanges passed in the blink of an eye.
Then the tide of the battle shifted dramatically.
With the momentum turning against him, Jin Si-myeong unleashed an ultimate move, but the Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi knocked it aside and slammed into his exposed chest.

Uduruk!
With a sickening crack, Jin Si-myeong spat blood and went flying.

“H-how……?”

His eyes were filled with disbelief.
He seemed unable to accept that he had lost to someone he had always looked down on.
Even with his chest caved in, Jin Si-myeong apparently hadn’t given up, because he barely managed to turn his head.

“Looking for your men? Sorry, but they’re all dead.”

Jin Si-myeong spoke in a stunned voice.

“All of them… you killed them, Baek Su-gyeong……?”
“Obviously.”
“…….”

Only then did the light of hope finally fade from Jin Si-myeong’s eyes.
His final words were:

“If only I had been born into the direct line too…….”

He had a point.
The support Yuk Ja-heung had received as a direct descendant of the Violet Lightning Yuk Family couldn’t be compared to what Jin Si-myeong had received as a collateral member.
But what could you do? Life was unfair.
Just like how I had lived as a wanderer and ended up dying together with the Heavenly Demon before I even reached thirty.

“I won? Against Jin Si-myeong?”

Yuk Ja-heung seemed unable to believe the result he himself had created.
He stared blankly at his own palm.

“Yeah. You won.”
“I made progress in Violet Lightning Enhanced Qi too! This makes no sense!”
“Congratulations. Don’t forget what that felt like.”

Medicine wasn’t the only thing that could serve as an elixir.
The experience of building confidence.
That was an elixir in its own right.

“I’m—I’m—”

As though he couldn’t hear me, Yuk Ja-heung couldn’t tear his eyes away from his palm.
He only muttered something under his breath.

“What are you saying?”

Only when I leaned closer did I finally make it out.

“I’m a Little Demon. I’m a Little Demon.”

A dumbfounded laugh escaped me.

“Yeah, you’re a Little Demon.”
“I’m a Little Demon! I’M A LITTLE DEMOOOON!!!”
“Everyone here knows already, so knock it off.”

Yuk Ja-heung suddenly turned his eyes toward me.

“You do it too.”
“Do what?”
“‘I’m a Little Demon.’ Come on, say it.”
“……Me too?”
“Yeah. Hurry.”

Yuk Ja-heung’s eyes were full of anticipation.
I was about to tell him to stop talking nonsense, but gave a small shake of my head instead.
He had played a big role today. Maybe I could indulge him once.

“I’m a Little De… Ah, screw it. I can’t do this.”

I shut my mouth and walked over to Jin Hwa-un.