novelraw Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Chapter 77
The combined attack of the two began. Danmok Yeon, in a voice even more resolute than before, commanded the disciples of the Azure Sea Sect to kill themselves.
The number of people taking their own lives increased, and the Sword Aura flew in once more.
Now, Cheon Ha-seong and Danmok Yeon each carried out their roles with precision.
This time, Danmok Yeon boldly retreated and watched Cheon Ha-seong's sword techniques intently.
He had had his suspicions a few times before while watching Cheon Ha-seong's sword techniques. But now he could be certain.
Without a doubt, Cheon Ha-seong had achieved complete mastery of the Heaven-Shattering Will Art.
And yet, for some reason, he didn't feel angry. When the person who threatened his own safety was not directly in sight, he had wanted to reign supreme. He had wanted to rise above everyone, place them beneath him, and rule.
It seemed he could feel joy just from crushing others. But that was no longer the case.
Now that he knew that enjoying his own peace was not a given, he was relieved that the person helping him was strong.
It seemed to be determined by how one defined their own domain. Depending on whether one defined their domain as the Danmok Demonic Clan, the Divine Cult, the entire Murim, or the world, the scale and skill of the enemies one had to face also changed.
Danmok Yeon thought that he was having all sorts of strange experiences after meeting a strange bastard.
It felt like it was decidedly the first time in his long life that he had felt so vividly alive.
“Who the hell are you bastards! Who the hell are you to be doing this! Our Azure Sea Sect has never once harmed an innocent person, so why!”
However, the man who had spouted those words could not even finish them.
Cheon Ha-seong's dagger accurately pierced his neck and returned.
Danmok Yeon shook his head.
To throw a dagger at a man trapped in the fog and pierce his neck. It felt like he absolutely had to hear how he did it. Even just to hear that, it seemed he had to quickly clean up the Azure Sea Sect.
“Now I must go down there.”
“Are you saying you will enter the fog yourself?”
“That's right.”
“Why?”
Cheon Ha-seong had no desire to get soaked in the blood-tinged fog.
“Go on ahead. I will be waiting here, Senior.”
“Don't spout such nonsense.”
“Then dispel the fog. I do not wish to go in there.”
Danmok Yeon looked at Cheon Ha-seong with a triumphant face and spoke.
“Are you afraid you will end up like those bastards?”
“It's because I don't want my clothes to get soaked in the fog.”
“You act as if you're not scared at all.”
However, a bit of a competitive spirit did arise.
“Will I become like those bastards if I go down there?”
“How about testing it out?”
But Cheon Ha-seong soon gave up.
“I don't want to. Why would I go out of my way to put myself in danger? I have a place to return to. And I have a baby who will be born soon.”
“Right, I've sent Chef Paeng. That bastard Danmok Muyeol will take him.”
The two of them were now saying all sorts of things, even while in the heart of the Azure Sea Sect, killing their people.
“They might conserve their strength and then unleash their Sword Aura, so it would be best to concentrate from now on, Senior.”
“Right. Are you going to kill all the bastards here?”
“Is there any bastard worth sparing? If we're going to commit a massacre, it's best to be thorough. I think the more cruelly and wretchedly we kill them, the better. Even if the followers of the Divine Cult are suspected because of this, I think it would be better that way. If we show them overwhelmingly strong power, I don't think they will dare to try and take revenge on the followers. Rather than just poking them and letting it end.”
Danmok Yeon thought he was a truly amusing bastard and nodded his head.
“Then I will show you something fun from now on. Have you ever heard of the Rain of Ten Thousand Blossoms?”
“I have heard that it is a martial art that only the direct line of the Sichuan Tang Clan's Family Head can learn. I have also heard that there has been no Family Head who has mastered it for several generations.”
“Yes. That is right. I will perform it.”
“Are you saying you can perform the Rain of Ten Thousand Blossoms, Senior?”
“I cannot do that. But I can make the bastards over there think that they have died after being hit by it.”
Cheon Ha-seong did not understand those words. Danmok Yeon found it fascinating that he could say such a thing to someone.
It was because, from what he had known until now, a person outside the fog should not have been able to know what he was doing inside it.
Just then, Danmok Yeon raised his hand, and the agitation of the Azure Sea Sect's martial artists in the fog grew uncontrollably.
“It's a rain of arrows!”
Hearing someone shout, Cheon Ha-seong was genuinely surprised. Danmok Yeon had merely raised his hand. But it seemed the people were seeing an illusion.
They fled in fear, as if they had seen countless arrows pouring down over their heads. However, there was nowhere for them to flee, and they collapsed, screaming.
On the bodies of those who had fallen, wounds appeared as if they had really been hit by arrows, and blood splattered.
Cheon Ha-seong looked at Danmok Yeon, wondering where on earth the limits of his arts were.
Danmok Yeon could not hide his satisfaction. It seemed Cheon Ha-seong thought he could do such things whenever he put his mind to it, but in truth, that was not the case. Today, he had been able to attempt it because his power of the arts had been heightened thanks to Cheon Ha-seong.
“Is it alright if I finish them all off like this?”
“Yes, Senior. No one will be able to imagine what happened. Please put an end to it.”
Danmok Yeon, gaining strength from Cheon Ha-seong's encouragement, created and poured down a shower of illusory arrows.
The martial artists of the Azure Sea Sect who were trapped in the fog all met the same fate.
Each of the fallen had died, collapsed with their eyes not even fully closed and their mouths wide open, as if they had been pierced by something thin and sharp.
Cheon Ha-seong and Danmok Yeon watched the scene from the roof, guessing how many people this sight would plunge into deep anguish in the future.
“This seems to have been a success. What are your thoughts?”
“It was brilliant, Senior. Truly tremendous.”
“Then does the desire to learn my martial arts now arise?”
“If you will teach me, I would like to learn with a grateful heart.”
“Right. You should have come out like that sooner.”
Somehow, it felt as if he were the one requesting to be taught, not the one being asked, but even so, Danmok Yeon did not feel particularly wronged.
It was because there were many things he could newly attempt and develop thanks to Cheon Ha-seong being in this place.
“What should we do now?”
“I would like to search for the whereabouts of more Divine Cult followers, and then I too would like to return to the Divine Cult. From now on, I believe I must report the recent events to the Cult Leader and listen to his words. I acted on my own judgment without any plan after coming here, so for now, it seems best to stop.”
“That would be good too.”
Danmok Yeon was surprised, realizing again that Cheon Ha-seong had accomplished all of this impulsively, without a plan.
He was certainly a bastard who was difficult to understand with his own way of thinking.
A moment later, the figures of the two men vanished abruptly from the roof of the hall. Now, no one who knew the truth of what had happened at the Azure Sea Sect remained in that place.
……
On the way to the inn, Danmok Yeon told Cheon Ha-seong many things. Or perhaps, it would be better to say many things were taken from him.
Danmok Yeon had a way he had planned to explain things, but Cheon Ha-seong kept asking questions he was curious about. As he answered them one by one, he found he couldn't say what he had originally planned.
But it was also strange why Cheon Ha-seong was curious about such things.
“Why do you ask that?”
“Because it seems I can also do it if I just know that much.”
“……”
Danmok Yeon was genuinely dumbfounded and glared at Cheon Ha-seong.
“I've lived a long time, and now I'm even seeing a bastard who jokes with me.”
“I am not joking, Senior. In truth, I trained in the Heaven-Shattering Will Art for a long time as a Head Instructor at the Martial Arts Academy.”
“Right. I had guessed that. You must have already mastered it.”
Hearing him go that far, Cheon Ha-seong thought it would be meaningless to pretend otherwise.
“The Heaven-Shattering Will Art truly contains a great many things, and its depth is truly profound. Until now, I have almost never learned or trained in anything other than it. The arts you use, Senior, must also be of our cult in the end. I believe they must be martial arts you created based on what you mastered in our cult.”
“So what you're saying is… that it is all ultimately connected? And you, having mastered the most difficult and profound Heaven-Shattering Will Art among them, can understand everything I have created?”
“I do not think I can understand everything you have created, Senior. But it does not feel so very difficult either.”
Danmok Yeon's expression became serious.
“I understand. Ask what you want to ask. Since I've already decided to tell you, I will answer.”
“Thank you, Senior.”
As if he had been waiting for just those words, Cheon Ha-seong began to pour out his questions again from then on.
It was like a strong wind blowing, changing direction here and there. It was completely unpredictable.
However, Cheon Ha-seong himself seemed to have a clear sense of purpose in it, as he asked endlessly.
Danmok Yeon, while answering, thinking how strange it was, also hesitated several times, unable to answer right away.
He had thought he already knew everything, but upon receiving Cheon Ha-seong's questions, he also had the thought that there were things he still did not know.
“How do you make the talismans? In the future, will I also be able to make them?”
“Don't say such things. You just continue to train diligently in the Heaven-Shattering Will Art.”
“But wouldn't it be good to learn this as well? There may be martial artists in the Divine Cult who have a talent for these arts; what do you think about teaching them? Aren't you the Senior who annihilated the Azure Sea Sect by yourself? If it is such an art, wouldn't ensuring its lineage continues be a help to the Divine Cult?”
Annihilated the Azure Sea Sect by himself. That was a preposterous thing to say. But it was true that it felt good to hear it.
Even if he had heard such words from the other leaders of the Divine Cult, he would not have felt much. But listening to Cheon Ha-seong's words, a feeling of smugness arose for no reason.
Wasn't he acknowledging the arts he had created, which he had been forced to take as a detour because he had thought there was no way for him to master the Heaven-Shattering Will Art?
And it was Cheon Ha-seong who was acknowledging them, he who had mastered the Heaven-Shattering Will Art at an absurdly young age.
“I will… think about it.”
“Thank you, Senior. If there is anything I can do to help, I too will do my best to help. And my wife has an outstanding ability to organize martial arts. My wife will be able to help as well.”
Danmok Yeon also knew of the relationship between Cheon Ha-seong and the Young Supreme One. It felt as if unexpected things had suddenly appeared before his eyes.