Have Only The Good Memories. (3)

The Blade Emperor, barely holding off the strike, wore an expression of astonishment.

‘Where did such brutish strength come from…’

The Yin Monster’s assault was, quite literally, beyond imagination. With a single blow, the ground around his feet was gouged up to his ankles.

There was no time to be stunned—the Yin Monster’s next attack was already coming. The Blade Emperor leaned back at the waist, but a spear blade angled sharply past the bridge of his nose.

Swooooosh!

A fierce gust from the Dragon Flower Spear whipped his white hair. He flipped his body and used footwork to evade the onslaught.

Having barely put distance between them, he wiped his chest and muttered, “They said the Yin Monster was the best among the Evil factions. The rumors were right—impressive indeed.”

Yu Seol seemed disinclined to converse. As if eager to finish the match quickly, she gripped the Dragon Flower Spear diagonally and strode forward. She had no intention of offering any elderly courtesy.

“Brace yourself. I’m really angry right now.”

A seasoned warrior does not waver with emotion, and seeing the excited Yin Monster as an opening, the Blade Emperor chose to provoke. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a few trashy Evil bratlings who died.”

Yu Seol’s eyes flared with rage. Her hand trembled on the spear as if she couldn’t contain it.

“…What did you just say?”

Sensing his provocation had worked, the Blade Emperor intensified his tone. “I’ll say it again: garbage is garbage even in death. And you, mourning such things, are no diffe—”

He cut himself off and deployed a technique urgently—the Yin Monster lunged without warning. Blade qi and spear qi tangled, sparks bursting like fireworks.

Kakang-! Kakakakang-!!

The Blade Emperor swung wildly, bewildered. Normally, a provoked opponent makes mistakes and leaves openings. But the Yin Monster’s assault had no gap; if anything, it grew heavier and faster.

Someone shouted from behind him. “That kind of provocation only makes the Yin Monster stronger, great warrior!”

It was Cheon Woo-hwan, the eldest of the Extreme Five, stepping forward fearless to intervene. It was a dangerous act under normal circumstances, but his brothers had been brutally beaten and fury had taken him.

‘Wait a little longer, boys. Your brother will avenge you.’

He steeled himself for death, but despite that resolve there was no opening—the Yin Monster and the Blade Emperor moved far too quickly.

Kakang-! Kakakakang-!!

The pair swapped positions ten times in a single breath. Qi surged in all directions; a single misstep would mean massacre. Cheon Woo-hwan gripped his sword, poised to rush in but holding back, waiting for an opportunity.

Suddenly the Blade Emperor’s back lay bare before him—pinned by the Yin Monster, unable to move. It was a perfect chance he could not miss.

“Die!!”

Sword in hand, he charged, prepared to die. His target was the Blade Emperor’s back. Just as sharp sword qi was about to pierce, the Blade Emperor vanished from sight.

“…?”

It was the Transposition Technique, flipping his body away and leaving empty space. Into that space the Yin Monster now appeared. Ironically, Cheon Woo-hwan’s attack was aimed at the Yin Monster.

He faltered, flustered, but it wasn’t Yu Seol who couldn’t dodge. When she twisted her torso, a sliver of sword qi skimmed past her chest.

Pa-aang-!

Seizing the moment, the Blade Emperor attempted a counterstrike toward the Yin Monster. Amid the flurry of blade qi, Cheon Woo-hwan froze, overwhelmed with remorse.

A familiar voice echoed in his mind via transmitted sound: “Don’t worry, just wait. I’ll catch it soon.”

The Yin Monster’s voice. Sending a transmitted voice while fighting—he could hardly believe the creature had such composure. Even more shocking was the content of that transmission.

‘Could it be adjusting its strength to capture him alive? The Blade Emperor?’

Absurd as it sounded, Cheon Woo-hwan did not doubt Yu Seol’s ability. He stepped back and waited for the outcome.

On the surface, neither combatant yielded an inch. But one thing was clear: the Yin Monster’s assault kept accelerating. The Blade Emperor defended impressively, but he was visibly tiring.

A little later, a tremendous roar unlike anything before ripped through the area.

Zjeoong-!!!

“Ugh!”

The Blade Emperor’s feet dragged as he was relentlessly pushed back. He only stopped after slamming his back against a huge tree. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth; he barely noticed.

“Wh-what on earth is this…?”

He looked exhausted and pale, unable to comprehend the situation. In contrast, the Yin Monster showed no breath disturbance, glaring at him.

“What did you say earlier!? Huh?”

Yu Seol drove the Dragon Flower Spear into the ground.

Thud-!

To an outsider, voluntarily laying down a weapon against the Blade Emperor might seem madness. But Cheon Woo-hwan already understood: she had been sapping the Blade Emperor’s strength, preparing to beat him without killing. Putting the spear down meant she judged him sufficiently fatigued—and intended to subdue him alive. That was how it appeared; it had already been witnessed in the Murim Alliance’s halls and by the Southern Edge Sect.

Meanwhile, the Blade Emperor reeled from wounded pride. “How dare you show such arrogance before anyone!”

He dropped his stance and thrust his blade forward, fierce blade qi manifesting. It seemed he considered this his last chance and readied a finishing move—unleashing a reserved final technique meant he had resolved himself to the end.

Yu Seol strode forward, fists clenched. When the distance narrowed to within three meters, a dazzling golden aura enveloped her, a soft halo glowing around her head.

“From now on, I’ll show you the touch of the Buddha.”

Facing the Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique for the first time, the Blade Emperor tensed but pressed on with a resolve not to retreat.

“Yin Monster, you bitch! I am the Blade Emperor Peng Mu-gi!”

Their forms shot toward each other.

Taat-!

The Blade Emperor attacked first. Five divided blades of qi swept as if to shred Yu Seol’s body—the final move of the Peng family’s Ascending Saber Art, the Five Tigers Gate-Cutting Blade.

Yu Seol didn’t even blink. Like reeds in the wind, she evaded at tremendous speed, moving so fast his eyes couldn’t track her.

Papapat-! Papapapat-!!

The Blade Emperor’s pupils trembled. She was dodging all his attacks while practically standing in place. He poured everything into one last strike.

Paang-!!

Blade qi whooshed past her face, whipping a gale across Yu Seol. And that was all—his final attack missed.

Just as the Blade Emperor sank into despair, the Yin Monster’s counterattack landed. A fist drove into his abdomen without mercy—a lightning-fast, heavy blow beyond the exhausted Blade Emperor’s ability to block.

Jjeok-!!

“…Guhk!”

His upper body folded in half. The hand that gripped the saber trembled, powerless to lift it. Even if he could, it no longer mattered—the real punishment had begun. The Yin Monster unleashed indiscriminate punches on his defenseless body.

Paf-paf-paf-! Jjeok-!! Kwang-!!!

It struck so fast the blows blurred into a hundred. The Blade Emperor shook his head like a madman; at that rate he would surely stop breathing.

“G-great warrior…”

At Cheon Woo-hwan’s call, the Yin Monster’s movements stopped as if by magic. It had remembered—they had entrusted the Blade Emperor’s fate to him.

Yu Seol said, realization in her voice, “I just spaced for a moment. Now, mister, punish him.”

But the Blade Emperor had long since lost consciousness.

Plop-!

The saber he had been clutching fell. His knees hit the earth and he slowly slumped forward.

Thud-!

There was no movement, though he still breathed faintly. Cheon Woo-hwan glared at him as if he would tear him apart, but vengeance could wait.

“Hyung!”

The youngest, Cheon Woo-jin, cried out—his second brother’s life hung in the balance. Rage hardened into sorrow. Cheon Woo-hwan ran and gathered the second brother in his arms. For some reason the man was laughing even as he coughed up blood.

“Kuk… kukkuk. Glurp!”

“S-second brother!”

“…I am not dead yet, so don’t make a fuss, hyung. But do you know something?”

“Don’t think about dying. You can live.”

Though he said it, he too knew his brother’s life hung by a thread. The second brother was in a brief rally before death.

“Just now… was the most satisfying moment of my life.”

His pupils moved with effort and fixed on the Yin Monster. With reddened eyes, Yu Seol choked, “Mister, don’t die…”

The face that looked at Yu Seol faintly smiled. “Thank you… because of you, in this life… I went out enjoying it heartily.”

Those were his last words. A moment later his head slowly drooped.

Flump-!

“Sob.”

Cheon Woo-hwan, tearful, turned to check on another brother. The third brother, Cheon Woo-geuk, had suffered even more horribly than the second and was already a cold corpse. For some inexplicable reason, the corners of his mouth were lifted, just like the second’s.

“You rascals, what’s so funny about going first that you grin so? Can’t you get up!”

They were brothers who had spent their lives together. How could the eldest not be heartbroken to send his younger brothers off? He clutched his dead brothers and wailed.

Silently, Yu Seol picked up the Dragon Flower Spear.

‘I want to see you, Grandpa…’

A sudden wave of longing for her grandfather washed over her. She thought of returning to Heavenly Sword Mountain Hall at once, but she couldn’t ask the two surviving brothers to come with her—they had duties to remain behind and handle. After hesitating for a moment, Yu Seol quietly left the scene.