Chapter 245: Chapter 245

Because I had deliberately maximized the destructive power, an explosion loud enough to tear the eardrums rang out, but I sensed no sign of people moving outside.

‘Is it a Mystic Gate Formation that completely cuts off the outside?’

I had no idea.

From the moment I entered, it had already been a fucking complicated Mystic Gate Formation.

Considering that Il-myeong, who had come in with me, still had not entered the interior, it was definitely some bizarre Demonic Cult Mystic Gate Formation I knew nothing about.

In any case, it seemed I had barely made it in time, but…….

As the papers that had been scattered everywhere settled onto the floor, Gun Yu-hyeon was revealed within them, staring straight ahead with cold eyes.

“……How did you know?”

Fuck, what is this?

Weren’t you a paper-pusher?

Why are you completely fine?

“Did I not tell you? I can use Mind-Reading Art.”

“……Are you making jokes even in this situation?”

“Why does no one believe me? I only speak the truth.”

I drew the Black Dragon Sword and scattered the Twin Heaven Sword Formula.

SHRING-RING-RING-RING.

Starting at his ankles, countless waves of blades began slicing through Gun Yu-hyeon’s body one after another, but—

CRACKLE, CRACKLE.

Strangely, wherever the wave of blades swept past, only hard chunks of ice scattered and fell away. Not even the smallest wound appeared.

Huh, what the hell is this bastard?

Gun Yu-hyeon, still standing in the same place, calmly asked,

“The hidden agents were an organization made in great haste, so one could say they had defects…… but how were you able to discern even my identity?”

As if he was quite certain of his own safety, he seemed more curious about how I had realized his identity than about the situation he was facing right now.

Did he trust his own ability that much?

Or did he not care whether he lost his own life, like the Twin-Shadow Vicious Demon Brigade?

His face, colored only by pure curiosity, felt extremely out of place in the current situation.

“The gambling den.”

“……There, you mean?”

“How many humans in this world have something more important than money?”

“……With only that?”

Of course, that was not all.

But I had to leave some curiosity behind if I wanted to satisfy my own, did I not?

“Now it’s my turn to ask.”

I pointed the Black Dragon Sword at him.

“Are you the Leader of the Twin-Shadow Vicious Demon Brigade?”

“The Twin-Shadow Vicious Demon Brigade……!”

His eyes opened wide.

But soon, Gun Yu-hyeon returned to a calm expression.

“I never imagined that word would come from your mouth.”

He slowly shook his head as if he had no choice.

“I had intended to simply leave, but now I cannot.”

“You intended to simply leave?”

I checked Dam-ak’s condition.

He was bleeding like a wounded beast, but thankfully, he was still breathing.

After doing something like that, he intended to simply leave.

Does “simply leave” mean something different when Demonic Cult bastards say it than it does in the Jianghu?

Well, what does it matter?

“From the very beginning, you bastards are insane from the roots up!”

Minor Heaven Sword Art.

Jegal’s Three Forms.

Demon-Subduing Form.

A Killing Move modified solely to face Demonic Practitioners.

WHOOSH—

The Black Dragon Sword shot out faster than ever before and aimed for Gun Yu-hyeon’s nape in one breath.

SHNK.

The Black Dragon Sword was just a little faster than the ice wall he created.

Pff.

Fsssh.

A small wound opened on his nape, and blood began to flow.

“Oh dear…….”

Gun Yu-hyeon, who had been looking at his own blood, seemed slightly flustered as he looked back and forth between my face and my hand.

“Hey, you con artist. Looks like you have time to stand around like an idiot?”

WHOOSH—

With the sound of air being cut, the Black Dragon Sword shot out like a streak of light and scattered, aiming wildly at his Vital Acupoints.

His eyes, throat, solar plexus, heart, lungs, and groin.

By merely raising his hand, he created an ice wall and blocked the Minor Heaven Sword Art.

But I could not back down easily.

“Why aren’t you answering the question?”

I withdrew the Minor Heaven Sword Art and scattered the Great Heaven Sword Art.

It had fewer Illusion Swords than the Great Heaven Sword Art of the Ascendant Form, but the Demon-Subduing Form was faster.

He placed that distinctive smile on his lips.

“Because the question is wrong.”

PING. PING. PING. PING. PING.

Absurdly, Gun Yu-hyeon filtered out and flicked away all the true swords hidden within the Illusion Swords with nothing more than flicks of his fingers.

For the mere leader of an assassination group, he was distinguishing between Illusion Swords and true swords far too accurately.

How the hell is this bastard telling them apart?

The level of his martial arts was not ordinary.

Moreover, judging by the fact that the Red Phoenix Bracelet was not moving at all, it seemed he had not learned Demonic Qi at all.

There was not even a scrap of information about someone like this in the library inside my head.

At that moment.

“What do you mean……. Twin-Shadow Vicious Demon……?”

Huh? Had he not fainted?

Dam-ak’s cracked voice reached my ears.

“Just what…… is that man’s identity…….?”

Just like Gun Yu-hyeon, it seemed that even on the border between life and death, Dam-ak cared more about satisfying his curiosity than about his own life.

What a strange bunch.

“The Demonic Cult.”

“The Demonic Cult?”

To Dam-ak of this life, it was likely a rather unfamiliar story.

Dam-ak had not originally been a person of the Jianghu, and even among the people of the Jianghu, there were practically none who properly knew the Demonic Cult’s identity yet.

I added an explanation for Dam-ak.

“Those hateful bastards said to have disappeared five hundred years ago.”

“Disappeared, you say…….”

The one who responded to my words was not Dam-ak, but Gun Yu-hyeon.

His head tilted slightly to the side.

“So that is how the story has been passed down from your side.”

“Is that any different from the truth?”

“They say history is written from the victor’s perspective…… but you have been carelessly using a word that is unacceptable from our perspective.”

Gun Yu-hyeon smiled the same likable smile as usual.

But the Qi Waves blooming around him were not likable at all.

“We did not disappear.”

It was filled with such ominousness that it felt as though hell itself was about to descend again.

WHOOSH.

Around Gun Yu-hyeon, who had been using ice walls until now, flames hot enough to burn skin surged up in an instant.

He can use Yin-Style Qi Arts and Yang-Style Qi Arts at the same time…….

Fuck, what is going on! Are you Jang Sambong’s descendant?!

Gun Yu-hyeon raised his hand and enunciated clearly.

“The Jianghu was stolen from us.”

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Fireballs stretching out from both hands flew in like cannonballs.

SWISH—

I cut through the fireballs with the Black Dragon Sword infused with Qi, but the severed fireballs struck the walls as they were and exploded.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Because the space was filled with books and furniture, flames rose in an instant, and breathing became increasingly difficult.

Save me, you son of a bitch…….!

“……Was the Jianghu something that could be stolen or possessed in the first place?”

Perhaps I could not sympathize because I had never once held the Jianghu in my own hands, but Gun Yu-hyeon seemed extremely angry that the Jianghu had been stolen from them.

“……You people will not understand. The injustice of us, who had legitimate qualifications, having to leave our home and wander aimlessly for five hundred years.”

“Then you shouldn’t have made such a damn fuss with Demonic Arts!”

When I swung Sword Force, the burning furniture was sliced apart like paper.

However, Gun Yu-hyeon alone was still moving his hands at leisure.

Huh…… look at that bastard wrapping his whole body in ice because he is hot.

He twisted his lips as he looked at me.

“To define your own limits and call them orthodoxy. As expected, Black Flame Dragon, you are a hypocrite befitting the Orthodox Path.”

Wow, I finally got acknowledged as a disciple of an Orthodox Path sect.

This time, by a Demonic Cult underling.

……In any case, the problem right now was that the longer this dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for me.

I did not know how he had done it, but that man Gun Yu-hyeon had installed a Mystic Gate Formation inside this space and separated the outside from the inside.

Because of that, I was slowly being smoked by the heat, while he was cooling his body with ice.

‘Azure Dragon Bracelet, Red Phoenix Bracelet.’

When they faced a heaven-defying existence, Fixed Will and Principle seemed to feel their bodies itching as they wriggled, wanting to reveal their forms.

But Dam-ak was still staring straight at this situation with a clear mind.

No matter how much the Fixed Will and Principle inside me harbored goodwill, when manifested, they appeared as forms of terror, so I could not use them carelessly in this situation.

……If I did, I might really end up being called a being worse than the Black Path or the Demonic Cult bastards.

‘I need to get Dam-ak out first, at least.’

Il-myeong, who had entered with me, must still be wandering through the Mystic Gate Formation, because I could not sense even a hint of him.

That useless bald man.

While I was thinking.

“Jin So-un……. leave me behind.”

Dam-ak must have been having a very hard time, because he began spouting nonsense.

Uh, hm…….

You cannot die.

If you die, I will have to face those bastards alone later.

I looked at Dam-ak and shook my head.

“Do not worry. I am not doing this because of you.”

For an instant, a strange light appeared in Dam-ak’s eyes.

“Just what are you……?”

I grinned at him.

“I need to find out that bastard’s identity.”

Especially if Gun Yu-hyeon was the real power behind the Twin-Shadow Vicious Demon Brigade, I had to catch him here no matter what.

“So hold on tightly to your breath.”

I need to make full use of you later.

I stared forward again and strengthened my grip.

When I unfolded the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven-Earth Sword Formula, six swords of Ten Thousand Swords rose up.

I had never drawn out this many to face a single person before, but the opponent was a Demonic Practitioner who controlled Yin-Yang Qi.

No matter how excessive it was, it was not enough.

With half their number, I unfolded the Minor Heaven Sword Art, and with the remaining half, the Twin Heaven Sword Formula.

Within the storm of sword forms, sword blades shot out like lightning.

At first, Gun Yu-hyeon wildly flicked away Finger Wind, but soon he repeatedly waved his long robe and created ice walls.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

When he made one, I broke it, and when he made another, I broke it again.

This happened several times.

In the surrounding blazing heat, the shattered ice grains quickly soaked the floor, and soon water began pooling enough that every step made a wet squelching sound.

I shouted at Gun Yu-hyeon.

“Looks like you’re pretty confident in your inner arts?”

“……Was it said that people of the Jianghu childishly determine one’s level by the amount of inner arts?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Gun Yu-hyeon sneered as if he found it laughable.

“Unfortunately, that does not apply in our Heavenly Cult.”

“Really?”

I also grinned back at him.

“Then have a taste anyway. I happen to have quite a bit of inner arts.”

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE.

Both my hands sank heavily.

Energy that seemed ready to burst out at any moment piled up layer upon layer, releasing a growling rumble.

“Take this! This is the taste of justice!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!

Radiant Heaven Divine Palm rapidly spread out as if filling the narrow room.

The small inner chamber shook violently as if an earthquake had struck, and at last, it was completely overturned.

When the burning books and furniture scattered into powder, and even the blazing heat disappeared completely.

“……It doesn’t taste very good.”

Gun Yu-hyeon’s figure, which had taken the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm head-on, was revealed.

His appearance was a mess.

His fingers were twisted grotesquely, and large and small wounds had appeared all over his body.

But what mattered to me was that he was still fine enough to speak.

“Well, what can I do if it doesn’t suit your palate? This is a specialty of Anhui Province.”

Then I swung Ten Thousand Swords and unfolded the Minor Heaven Sword Art.

The moment an ice wall rose against the Sword Qi pouring in from all directions—

I fired the move I had hidden until the very last moment.

Three Forms of the White Moon Governing Heaven.

First Form.

‘Extreme Swiftness’

SWIIIIISH—

Formless Sword Qi shot out, splitting even space itself.

The ice wall raised to disperse the Sword Qi of the Minor Heaven Sword Art could not react to the Three Forms of the White Moon Governing Heaven in time.

The Sword Qi of ‘Extreme Swiftness’ dug into that gap and tried to pierce Gun Yu-hyeon’s heart in a single stroke.

SCREEEEEECH.

The unpleasant sound of metal grinding rang out as if it would tear the eardrums.

No matter what kind of treasure robe he wore, the destructive power of ‘Extreme Swiftness’ should have made it impossible to avoid at least a severe injury.

Just as I thought I would soon see Gun Yu-hyeon’s blood.

CLANG.

The sight revealed as the ice wall shattered was nothing short of shocking.

“……What?”

Gun Yu-hyeon was perfectly fine, without any damage at all.

‘There was definitely an impact sound.’

Looking closely, I saw that Gun Yu-hyeon was wearing a dark-colored wrist guard on his right hand.

The moment I saw the pig pattern drawn on the wrist guard, I could not help but be aghast.

“Ha…… Devouring Gauntlet?”

Forgetting that Dam-ak was awake, the hateful memory of my past life slipped out of my mouth.

At my groan-like words, Gun Yu-hyeon’s eyes widened slightly instead.

“Hmm……. You even know this object’s name……. Just what is your identity?”

Gun Yu-hyeon now even stroked his chin and looked at me with eyes full of interest.

By contrast, I could not find any composure at all.

The Devouring Gauntlet was an object known as one of the Thirteen Demonic Artifacts of the Demonic Cult.

It was a heaven-defying object that absorbed not only Sword Qi, but even physical impact.

It was unknown what it had originally been made from.

But just one thing was certain.

If the Demonic Cult could have armed all its members with Devouring Gauntlets, the Murim Alliance’s destruction would have been accelerated by several years.

And the owner of that hateful demonic object was…….

“You bastard. You are one of Demon Brain’s hands and feet.”

“……!”

Yin-Yang Twin Demon Je Geum-hak, one of the seven disciples of Demon Brain, who would later become a Guardian Dharma King.

That damned name was Gun Yu-hyeon’s real name.