Chapter 85 : Chapter 85

Chapter 85: The Completion of Revenge (3)

“Kiyaaak!”

Swiiik-

With an incomprehensible scream, the Yin Blood Divine Demon's fists and feet, imbued with Blood Jade Flux, rushed towards my vital points.

Jjeong!

And my Dancheon Sword struck it away.

“Kyaak!”

Swiiik-

Jjeong-!

It repeated…

“Kyaaaak!”

Swiiik-!

Jjeo-jeong-!

And repeated again.

A long time passed.

Exchanging several blows in a single breath was the timeline of high-level masters.

I didn't know the time outside, but on the stretched timeline, the time for me and the Yin Blood Divine Demon, engaged in a desperate battle, must have exceeded a full day.

It was accompanied by a tension like a taut string that could snap at the slightest mistake, meaning it was enough time to tire even a master of the State of Harmony.

Of course, that was to say that the Yin Blood Divine Demon would be tired.

It was because, unlike me, he did not have the efficacy of the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

“Heok, heok.”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon was fierce.

To add a personal assessment, he was pathetic.

“This can’t be happening!”

It might be because his mind had half gone, with the bloody mist of a Will he prided himself on shattered in a single blow and all his attacks turning to naught.

Jjeong- Jjeong- Jjeo-eong!

His Blood Jade Flux, swung wildly as if he had lost concentration, could not overcome the Dancheon Sword I gripped.

Just as the word 'wildly' implied, my training was not shallow enough to be hit by an attack swung without form or technique.

They were attacks that even Chwipung-gae or Brother Chun-baek would have blocked had they been standing in my place.

In contrast…

Slice-

The Dancheon Sword I thrust out had cut across the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s skin several times.

The Yin Blood Divine Demon’s behavior of disregarding defense, even though it wasn't a mutual destruction ultimate move, looked like that of a mad dog.

“Kuaak!”

At least seven times.

That was the number of opportunities I estimated I had to definitively take the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s life.

The only reason the Yin Blood Divine Demon was still alive was that I had no intention of killing him right now.

I would not kill him. That was not my role.

It was because of the promise I made with Chwipung-gae before engaging in battle with the Yin Blood Divine Demon.

I shifted my gaze slightly and saw Chwipung-gae with a stiff expression.

‘Just wait a little longer.’

Chwipung-gae.

He would have the right to take the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s life.

Nevertheless, I had no intention of letting the Yin Blood Divine Demon off easy either.

Slice-

The Dancheon Sword once again grazed the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s skin.

Considering the tough texture, which was hard to believe was human, he might have learned some kind of special external art. But since no external art could withstand Sword Flux.

“Heok, heok.”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon, his skin cut in various places, looked like a man of blood.

To be scattering the blood he loved so much on the ground instead of drinking it was also proof of how out of his mind he was.

“What are you all…!”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon’s plan to use his subordinates as sacrifices to escape also could not succeed.

It was because his subordinates had already all met their end at the hands of Brother Chun-baek and Chwipung-gae.

As a man who had never once looked at his surroundings, I guessed he hadn't even noticed until all his subordinates had died.

“Where are you looking?”

Slice-

Finally, an attack that could be called a significant hit without being life-threatening succeeded.

The Dancheon Sword had cut through the tendon of the Yin Blood Divine Demon's heel.

When this part, called the Achilles tendon, was severed, a person could not walk.

Even a master of the State of Harmony was ultimately a human made of flesh and bone, so it would be no different.

“Keok!”

Thud.

Unable to bear the pain, the Yin Blood Divine Demon collapsed.

Due to the deep cut, his ankle was dangling, and it was his fate to live the rest of his life as a cripple.

Of course, this was assuming he survived this place, so it was a meaningless statement.

“Do you have any last words?”

I asked the Yin Blood Divine Demon.

It wasn't that I had suddenly become a good person and was giving a piece of trash the chance to leave his last words.

I only did it because I knew that asking this would make the Yin Blood Divine Demon, who had only ever enjoyed the pain of others, more miserable.

“Keuk…!”

As if my question brought back his reason, the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s eyes rolled around.

He had now clearly realized it.

The fact that his life was in peril, or more accurately, that it rested on my whim.

And…

“Spare me.”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon prostrated himself from his fallen position.

Considering the behavior the Yin Blood Divine Demon had shown so far, it was a change in attitude that was nothing short of bizarre.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

How many people had begged for their lives before this damn fiend?

How much did this damn fiend enjoy that sight?

Naturally, I had no intention of becoming a person like the Yin Blood Divine Demon.

The thought of mocking the Yin Blood Divine Demon disappeared.

The thought of engaging in a meaningless negotiation with his life as collateral also disappeared.

Slice-

“Keuk!”

The Dancheon Sword decisively cut the Achilles tendon of the remaining leg.

The Yin Blood Divine Demon, writhing in pain, was now a cripple.

He would never be able to perform his movement technique again. No, he would never even be able to stand properly on two feet again.

In fact, it was right to consider the matter settled long ago.

When the Yin Blood Divine Demon shamelessly prostrated himself.

Or when one of his Achilles tendons was severed.

If not then, when his bloody mist was shattered to pieces by my Will.

In any case, the outcome had been decided long ago.

A martial artist who has lost the will to fight poses no threat.

It was right to end it now.

I could feel Brother Chun-baek and Chwipung-gae cautiously approaching my side.

Without giving them a glance, I approached the Yin Blood Divine Demon.

“W-wait!”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon, who was writhing in pain, said urgently.

It was likely because he sensed that something else would happen the moment I reached him.

“Do you have any last words?”

I asked again.

Clutching his wavering pupils, the Yin Blood Divine Demon said resolutely.

“If you kill me, the Great War of Righteousness and Evil will occur. Please don't kill me.”

His previous madness could not be felt in his voice. Only a common man who valued his own life remained.

Looking at such a Yin Blood Divine Demon, I couldn't even laugh.

“It’s fine for you to turn a village into a wasteland, but it’s a problem for us to kill you?”

“Isn’t that the difference between a commoner and a Divine Demon?”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon, still not aware of his own situation, replied so.

I felt a thick sense of disgust from the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s words.

Slice-

“Keuk!”

The Dancheon Sword cut the Yin Blood Divine Demon's shoulder.

“If we kill you here, the Heavenly Demon will start the Great War of Righteousness and Evil?”

“…Of course.”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon replied, enduring the pain.

Simultaneously…

“That’s a lie.”

“That’s a lie.”

I and Chwipung-gae opened our mouths.

We had seen through the truth.

The Yin Blood Divine Demon’s lie was too crude to deceive seasoned information brokers. Just like his Will.

His voice, gaze, expression.

How could we not know when all of it pointed to the signs of a lie?

In fact, even if I hadn't found the signs of a lie from the Yin Blood Divine Demon, I wouldn't have been deceived.

It was because the person I had faced, the Heavenly Demon, was not the type of person to start the Great War of Righteousness and Evil just to honor a single Divine Demon.

No, all of that was unnecessary talk.

If I had been afraid of such a thing, I wouldn't have even planned to capture the Yin Blood Divine Demon in the first place.

The Yin Blood Divine Demon would die here at the hands of Chwipung-gae.

That was the determined fate.

A fate that had changed from my past life, a fate that I had changed.

Therefore, any further conversation was meaningless.

Slice-

“Kuaaaak!”

As the Dancheon Sword cut off the remaining shoulder, the Yin Blood Divine Demon finally lost all four of his limbs.

The Yin Blood Divine Demon, who had reigned through power, had now fallen to a state worse than a common man.

I turned my back on him and turned around.

“Now it’s your turn, Chwipung-gae.”

My role was now over.

“Thank you.”

It also meant that Chwipung-gae’s time had finally come.

Unlike me, he had a just cause, so even if a demon were to descend upon this place, no one would be able to blame him.

***

Twenty years.

That was the time it took for a man who had lost his wife and child to finally face his enemy.

Chwipung-gae’s expression as he faced the limbless Yin Blood Divine Demon was surprisingly calm.

It was to the point where I wondered if the long passage of time had perhaps caused his grudge to evaporate.

Of course, I knew that was not the case.

It was because the expression Chwipung-gae had shown when he first faced the Yin Blood Divine Demon was still vivid in my memory.

Thud.

The waddling gait that made him look like a beggar was gone, and a man with the stride of a martial artist took a step forward.

Thud.

With each step he took, the expression on Chwipung-gae's face vanished, and fear appeared on the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s.

Thump-

Chwipung-gae lightly pushed the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s body with his foot.

“Ugh.”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon’s body tumbled and he lay on his back, looking up at the sky. He couldn't resist because his limbs had been cut off.

Chwipung-gae looked at the Yin Blood Divine Demon, who was squirming like an insect, for a moment, and then…

“Do you remember Jangchun Valley?”

He asked.

“…?”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon showed a puzzled expression.

I could tell.

The Yin Blood Divine Demon did not know.

He did not know the intention of Chwipung-gae’s question, and he did not know of a place called Jangchun Valley.

Surely Chwipung-gae must have noticed this fact as well.

It was because my insight originated from Chwipung-gae.

“I asked if you remember Jangchun Valley.”

But Chwipung-gae asked again.

He likely wanted to confirm it directly from the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s own mouth.

“…What is that?”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon asked back.

“I see.”

Chwipung-gae laughed hollowly with a vacant expression.

It was the first time I knew.

The fact that a hollow laugh and a surging killing intent could coexist.

Chwipung-gae sat astride the stomach of the sprawled Yin Blood Divine Demon.

It was the posture taken by the winning side in a fight between street ruffians.

Woooong-

A powerful force gathered in Chwipung-gae’s hand.

It was his signature ultimate technique, the Jade-Shattering Divine Palm.

“…No.”

But he muttered so and dispersed the gathered power.

Simultaneously…

Thwack!

Chwipung-gae’s trained fist struck the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s face.

Thwack!

If it had been the Jade-Shattering Divine Palm, it would have ended his life in a single blow, but a bare fist could not easily sever the life thread of a trained martial artist.

Thwack!

He hit him.

Thwack!

He hit him.

Thwack!

And hit him again.

Chwipung-gae's fists moved ceaselessly, as if pouring out the resentment that had accumulated over long years.

Thwack!

Since the Yin Blood Divine Demon's flesh was tough enough to feel resistance even when cut with Sword Flux, blood naturally began to seep from Chwipung-gae's fists as well.

Thwack!

But Chwipung-gae did not stop, and his fists repeatedly struck the Yin Blood Divine Demon's face.

“Sp… spare me…”

Thwack!

“Plea…”

Thwack!

No matter what the Yin Blood Divine Demon, with his teeth broken and face swollen, pleaded, Chwipung-gae’s fists did not stop.

Thwack!

And finally…

Crack!

A sound different from before was heard.

Chwipung-gae’s fist, which didn't even carry internal energy, had finally pierced through the Yin Blood Divine Demon's tough flesh and caved in his skull.

It was a gruesome and cruel sight, but Brother Chun-baek and I did not look away and took in the scene completely. It was because it felt like we had to.

“Gurgle…”

The Yin Blood Divine Demon, who had been foaming at the mouth, had his head drop limply.

The one who enjoyed the pain of others had finally met his end in great pain.

By the hands of a man who had dreamed only of revenge.

“You were such a vile human.”

Chwipung-gae, who had muttered so, covered his face with his palm.

I didn't know what Chwipung-gae was feeling right now.

The sorrow of having lost his family to a vile human?

The joy of finally achieving revenge?

The emptiness that many who have succeeded in revenge have felt?

I did not know.

Even if I gathered and understood all the information, my experience was insufficient to deduce the emotions he must be feeling.

A trickle of blood from the back of his hand flowed down Chwipung-gae’s face.

He looked like a father shedding tears of blood.

The comrades of the Jianghu say.

That revenge is empty.

That revenge is futile.

That at the end of revenge, there is only ruin.

I wanted to ask them.

Could you say that to a man who has finally achieved his revenge?

Regressing does not make one a sage.

Even if I combined the life of Myeong-gae and the life of Dancheon Myeong, I would only be a child who hadn't lived even half as long as Chwipung-gae.

But this time, my choice would be the right one.

I thought so.