Chapter 66 Mookrang

Chapter 66: Mookrang

The single strike swung by the giant demon was right in front of my head.

But even though it came right up to me, it never quite touched my head.

It seemed to have stopped right there.

That wasn’t all.

Not only the giant demon before me, but even the dirt that had been flung into the air remained suspended there, refusing to fall to the ground.

My hair, blown back by the wind pressure from the giant demon’s swinging hand, was no exception.

Though I couldn’t turn my eyes to look elsewhere, I understood fully.

That everything in this world, including me, had frozen in place.

I thought blankly.

‘What kind of magic is this?’

Amidst everything in the world coming to a standstill, only my consciousness continued to think clearly.

It felt like being bewitched by a goblin.

Then, the voice I had thought was just an illusion earlier sounded again.

– Nice to meet you, Master Seonwoo. This is the second time I’m speaking to you, though I doubt you remember the first.

It was the voice of a middle-aged man who sounded remarkably cheerful.

And I recalled having heard this voice somewhere before.

‘Could it be… the day I saved Lady Tang?’

– Oh, you remember. That’s right. I spoke to you briefly then.

That was real?

I thought it was just a dream back then?

No, come to think of it, this feels like a dream too.

In my confused state, I asked him.

‘Wh-who are you? And what exactly is this…?’

Then a cheerful, laughing voice answered.

– Ha ha ha ha! You must be confused. I suppose that’s only natural. I heard about my brother and tried to imitate him, but even my brother said he was terribly flustered at first.

‘Huh? Your brother?’

– Well, time is short, and since I broke the rules this time, I won’t be able to meet you for a while, so I’ll keep it brief.

‘…Yes?’

– My name is… well, you can call me Mookrang.

At his words, I instinctively looked at the black sword clutched in my hand.

Then, a faint white light could be seen emanating from the wolf’s eyes carved into the hilt of the Moolang sword.

– Yes, that is indeed the Moolang. Long ago, I made certain arrangements to leave my legacy to worthy successors. This Moolang Sword was one of them. Ah, do not ask for details now. Though it may seem as if time has stopped for you, in truth, this is merely time slowed to its absolute limit. This state will soon end.

Hearing those words, I understood for certain.

Everything around me seemed as if it had stopped, but it wasn’t completely still.

Everything was moving so slowly it was hard to perceive.

My hair fluttering in the wind, the giant demon’s arm swinging toward my head.

– So I’ll get straight to the point. I had intended to pass on the advancement I’d reserved for juniors who passed my trial. Unfortunately, you haven’t fully passed my trial yet. Still, I’ve come forward because you’re the first junior and candidate I’ve seen since creating Moolang who truly meets my standards. It means I wouldn’t want to see you die now. So, just this once, I’ll break my own rules and help you. But if I do this now, I won’t be able to speak to you like this again until you pass the test. Understand?

I couldn’t grasp the details.

But I understood one crucial thing.

That this being named Mukrang was trying to help me now.

Then Mukrang burst out laughing again.

– Ha ha ha ha! That’s the right answer! I should’ve just said that from the start. Well then, I’ll relax for a moment and watch. Ah, once the ‘area’ is released, there won’t be a chance to say goodbye, so I’ll do it now. See you next time, Master Seonwoo. I truly hope you pass the test. I did this because I wanted to, but I never imagined it would be this boring, ha ha ha ha!

With those words, time accelerated back to its original speed.

Then, the giant palm of the Demon of Great Strength smacked right across my head.

BOOM!

“Waaah!”

That was the moment I screamed in shock.

My body began to move on its own.

He released the Moolang Sword seized by the giant beast, then tilted his head back, smoothly parrying the creature’s attack.

“?!

Startled, I hadn’t grasped the situation when the voice spoke again.

– The true essence of the Heavenly Wind Technique is becoming the wind itself. So why must it necessarily be a footwork technique?

Tilting my head back to parry the Giant Demon’s attack, I used that momentum to spin smoothly in a full circle backward and grasp the sword once more.

It was truly a movement like a flower petal whirling in the wind.

And when he grasped the Moolang Sword again, a faint purple sword aura spilled thinly from the blade.

Whoosh!

“Huh?!”

It was a strange occurrence.

The sword that had been held fast by the Giant Demon, not budging an inch, had now been drawn with ease.

Even worse, a thin trickle of blood seeped from the giant demon’s hand, which had been gripping the sword tightly while emitting its aura.

A voice echoed in his mind once more.

– Strike the large gap, guide the large hollow. Follow what is naturally there. It is cutting into the gap where there is a gap; it is merely following what is naturally there.

I’d seen that phrase before.

That’s… from the Zhuangzi, isn’t it?

Glancing at the palm bleeding from the cut, the giant now charged at me again, his face twisted with rage.

“You bastard!”

Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

His single strike came at me with the force of a tidal wave.

It was an attack I couldn’t dodge at such close range.

‘Damn!’

Just as my eyes went blank, my body moved on its own again.

Four-Sword Technique, One Strike.

One strike, one kill.

‘What, now?!’

My sword, now a beam of light, pierced the very heart of the onrushing tidal wave.

Pluuush!

“Kraaah!”

My sword had pierced the creature’s wrist.

It had driven deep into the hand just below where it had been unleashing its force.

– What matters isn’t how fast you can strike. It’s what you can see, and when and where you strike.

The next instant, merely a faint burst of sword energy was enough to make his thick wrist fall away lightly.

POW!

As his wrist fell off and blood spurted from the wound, the giant demon screamed in agony.

“Aaargh! You son of a bitch!”

It was then that the giant demon, his face contorted in agony, stared at his own severed wrist.

This time, my sword struck first.

Sunwoo Thirteen Swords, First Strike.

Divine Response, Soaring.

Wings of light formed from the sword’s aura.

It was the first technique of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords I had used most often.

But I screamed inwardly in panic.

‘T-this move won’t stand a chance against him…!’

Sure enough, the giant demon who saw my attack sneered.

He swung his perfectly good arm lightly, savagely tearing apart the wings of the sword, and shouted.

“This pathetic thing…?!

But his hand failed to tear through my Divine Response.

The wing of the sword shadow, which had been closing in on him, undulated like a wave, barely avoiding his hand before closing in once more.

It was a movement like the flapping of a real bird’s wings.

“Huh?!”

Puhwaak!

“Guhhh!”

As the wings of light descended upon him, the creature spun around with all its might, retreating backward.

But even so, its entire body was covered in blood from the sword shadows it couldn’t avoid.

A voice with a playful tone echoed.

– Black must be free. If you set limits in your heart, even black grass will have limits.

I was flustered.

What moved my body now was not my will, yet it was my body that was overwhelming the giant demon.

This was my body, having just surpassed the peak realm.

Yet, simply by executing the necessary movements at the precise moment, my body was overwhelming the colossal demon that gazed upon the ultimate peak.

It was unbelievable.

– I suppose I should give you one last gift. Until we meet again, please take good care of yourself.

My body charged toward the giant demon, whose eyes were wide with disbelief.

And the sword’s aura split into dozens, hundreds of fragments.

Pababababababababababababababababababababababababababababab

It was the Thirteenth Strike of the Sunwoo Thirteen Swords, the Sword Light Blade, which I had used earlier.

As countless sword shadows surrounded him, the giant demon gritted his teeth and sneered.

“Another cheap trick?!”

Then, crossing his hands again, he concentrated his power.

It seemed he intended to unleash his power and blow it away, just as before.

But then it happened.

The hundreds of ring swords that had surrounded him solidified in an instant and descended upon him.

Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

“Gwaaahhhhh!”

Dozens, hundreds of swords pierced the bastard’s body, and he screamed as if choking on his own breath, transformed into a hedgehog.

It was an unbelievable sight, not just for him, but even for me who had done it.

The giant demon, its body hacked to pieces, stared at me for a moment with a vacant gaze.

Then, finally, it collapsed lifelessly right there.

Thud!

Instant death.

A moment later, I could feel my body returning under my control.

But even so, I couldn’t move.

Staring blankly at the creature’s corpse, I muttered.

“This is… emptiness is form, isn’t it?”

What he, Mungrang, had just unleashed through my body was the fifteenth move of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords—the very technique I couldn’t even begin to grasp no matter how much I practiced: ‘Emptiness is Form’.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“Heh, heh heh, heh heh heh.”

It felt like I was dreaming.

Only the sight of the mighty demon, bleeding and dying, proved this was no dream.

Then, someone flew over the wall.

“You bastard! I’ll deal with you…! Huh? Young Master Seonwoo?”

With a solemn expression, he flew in, landed with a start, and it was Brother Sakmuhun who had fled with the woman.

He must have hidden her somewhere and returned.

He must have known returning was futile against Georyeokma, yet he came back anyway to save me. I couldn’t help but feel warmed by his heart.

Overjoyed, I shouted.

“Sak!”

But he stared blankly at the corpse of the giant demon, not at me, and asked.

“What… happened to him? Surely not….”

“Huh? Oh, that’s because, um, well, suddenly the senior from the previous generation showed up, took care of that guy, and then left.”

It was an offhand remark, but wasn’t it true?

A master from the previous generation suddenly appeared, took care of the guy, and vanished, right?

Yeah, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

At least it seemed more convincing than saying I’d awakened and easily defeated the Demon of Great Power.

But Brother Sak stared at my blood-soaked Moolang Sword for a moment, then mechanically nodded and replied.

“Ah, I see. You really are the luckiest man alive, aren’t you?”

***

Martial Alliance Military Division.

CRASH!

Zhuge Zhijiang slammed his fist onto the desk, glaring at the crumpled letter with a furious expression.

This letter came from Hae Un-baek, the Heavenly Sword Saint, who had gone to the front lines.

“Hai! Yun! Bae-ak!”

Zhuge Zhijiang’s tightly clenched fist trembled violently.

Not long ago, having received reports from the front lines about the Giant Demon’s advance north, Zhuge Zhijiang had planned to use this to recall the Sword Saint.

He believed that if he spread false news about the Demon Lord massacring civilians, the Sword Saint would rush back immediately.

But the response from the Sword Saint was entirely different from what Zhuge Zhijiang had expected.

The first thing written in the reply was that they had not been able to locate his daughter, Hae Cheong-yeon.

His anger seemed palpable even in his handwriting.

He also learned that the Blood Sect’s demons had kidnapped frontline workers countless times before. The letter contained an angry indictment questioning why this fact had never been brought to light within the Martial Alliance, and why no countermeasures had been prepared until now.

After reading it, Zhijian closed his eyes tightly with a pained expression.

“So it ends like this…”

But the content didn’t end there.

Next, there were demands to improve the poor working conditions of the personnel.

They denounced why the compensation for workers risking their lives fighting the Blood Cult was so meager, why vacations were so short, and why working conditions were so poor.

Reading this, Jegal Jigang frowned and let out a groan.

“Ugh.”

It was an aspect he had never paid any attention to.

It was likely because he viewed frontline workers as nothing more than expendable.

But among all that content, one thing above all else sent a chill through Zhuge Zhijiang’s heart.

It stated that the whereabouts of personnel who had completed their full service period and been discharged were unknown.

The letter stated that despite inquiries made to locate the discharged personnel and hear their accounts, they could not be found anywhere.

Upon reading it, Jegal Jigang trembled violently.

“Wunbaek, you ended up…”

He had hoped he wouldn’t know, but the sword master had ultimately approached the truth.

In such a short time, he had been conducting an all-out investigation, as if he intended to dig up the entire front line.

At this rate, it seemed only a matter of time before the truth about the Shadow Corps was exposed.

And finally, Gyeomseong concluded by saying that while he could never return now, if he were to go back to Myeong, they should discuss all these matters in depth.

“In-depth… discussion?”

Though he called it a discussion, it was clear even without hearing it directly that he meant to properly hold him accountable.

Zhuge Zhiqiang was furious.

No, truthfully, he was terrified.

The thought of him learning everything about the front lines, and then exposing it to the world.

Up until now, he had only thought about how to get him back quickly, but that was Zhuge Zhiqiang’s great mistake.

Gyeomseong absolutely should never have returned to the Martial Alliance.

Something had to be done.

After pondering for a while, Jegal Jigang picked up his brush and began writing a letter.

It was a letter addressed to the Blood Demon.

The initial content was a protest regarding the Great Demon’s advance northward.

It stated that if such incidents continued, mutual agreements could no longer be trusted, and requested the Blood Cult demonstrate their sincerity by resolving the matter themselves.

But after a moment’s hesitation, what he wrote next concerned the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Zhuge Zhijiang had finally resolved to eliminate his friend, the Sword Saint.