novelraw Chapter 254 : A Person’s Heart Does Not Die (5)
Chapter 254 : A Person’s Heart Does Not Die (5)
Chapter 254: A Person’s Heart Does Not Die (5)
“Gaaah!! Why—why only you!!”
Reduced to a miserable state, Namgung Myeong roared as he vomited blood.
His desperate scream, born of a body torn to shreds, sorrowfully echoed through the night sky of Mount Hua.
That even after abandoning his pride as a member of the Orthodox Path, and despite a lifetime of devoted effort, he still could not defeat Yoo Jinhak.
That compared to Yoo Jinhak—who had entered the Life and Death Realm—his own attainment was nothing more than a speck of dust.
In his eyes, despair was mixed with a deep, gnawing inferiority complex.
“Uaaaargh!!!”
Blood tears streamed from Namgung Myeong’s eyes.
In utter misery, he questioned the heavens.
Why was he alone forced to taste such a wretched defeat?
Why was only Yoo Jinhak able to reach such a perfect realm?
But his questions scattered into the empty void, and no answer returned.
Watching that pitiful sight in silence, Yoo Jinhak spoke to the warriors of the White Path Union, who stood frozen like statues.
“All of you—throw down your swords and surrender. If you do not, none of you will escape death.”
“……!!”
At Yoo Jinhak’s declaration, they hesitated briefly.
Thud. Thud.
Clang.
Lowering their heads deeply, every last one of them dropped their swords to the ground.
From the moment Namgung Myeong had been subdued so easily, surrender had been the only answer left to the White Path Union’s warriors.
Soon after, the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect sealed their qi through acupoint locking, bound them one by one with ropes, and took them alive.
When the situation had been more or less settled, Yoo Jinhak approached Myeong Iljin-in, who was struggling to catch his breath.
“Are you all right, Sect Leader?”
“Cough… thank you, Alliance Leader….”
His complexion was deathly pale, drained of all color by the aftermath of battle.
“Think nothing of it. I only regret that I could not arrive sooner.”
“No. But… what about Yecheon…?”
“Do not worry. He merely lost consciousness from using too much power. He will awaken soon.”
“Hoo… th, that is a relief.”
Even so, worry still lingered on Myeong Iljin-in’s face.
As if sensing the reason at once, Yoo Jinhak spoke in a low voice.
“And what happened here will be handled internally by the Buddhist Sect, so there is no need to worry, Sect Leader.”
“……My thanks, Alliance Leader.”
It was his way of saying that he would personally ensure the fact that Do Yecheon had wielded the power of the Heaven-Slaying Star would not spread.
Myeong Iljin-in could not hide his gratitude for that consideration.
“But Moonlit Night… what in the world was Namgung Myeong plotting?”
“In truth, before coming here, even the Wudang Sect was attacked by them.”
“W-what did you say?!”
Myeong Iljin-in stared in shock, his mouth hanging open.
Attacking the sect of the Murim Alliance Leader was an act that would send massive shockwaves through the entire martial world.
“But you need not worry. Moonlit Night and the rest of the Demonic Alliance were all imprisoned at the Murim Alliance safe house in Huayin County before we came up h—!!”
Yoo Jinhak could not finish his sentence.
His eyes widened as if they were about to burst, his gaze fixed on the distant sky.
Shock and horror were unmistakably etched across his face.
Thump, thump!
His heart pounded like it had gone mad.
‘What is this?!’
A chill ran down his entire body.
His breath caught, his head throbbed, and an overwhelming sense of dread seized him.
He could instinctively tell that something enormous and ominous—something he had never felt even once before—was about to occur.
This was no mere premonition.
It felt as though the very foundation of heaven and earth was being twisted, an impure aura churning violently inside him.
Just as the flustered Myeong Iljin-in was about to speak—
“Alliance Leader, why all of a sud—!?”
“U, uaaah!!”
“T-that thing—what is it?!”
“T-the sky!!”
Sssshhh—!
Kuuurrrr!
Suddenly, the night sky was stained red.
The pitch-black darkness was swallowed whole, replaced by a deep crimson that covered the entire heavens like blood.
The stars and their radiant light vanished without a trace.
And like the moment of apocalypse itself, a Red Moon, radiating a horrific and ominous presence, was embedded in the sky.
Seeing that bizarre and perilous spectacle, Yoo Jinhak shouted at the captured Namgung Myeong.
“Namgung Myeong! What in the world have you done?!”
“Heh heh… this is not something I did.”
“……What?”
Namgung Myeong’s mocking voice held no falsehood.
…Then who did?
As that thought crossed Yoo Jinhak’s mind—
KwaaAAANG!!
Kwarrrr!
“!!”
A massive explosion, as if calamity itself had descended, erupted from below the mountain.
It was not merely a sound.
The earth trembled, and even distant peaks swayed from the tremendous shockwave.
The noise was like a colossal beast, vast as Mount Tai, rending the land apart with its claws.
The instant he heard that ominous sound—
Pa-bat!
Yoo Jinhak shot forward like a streak of light.
‘Faster— I need to go faster!’
Yoo Jinhak grit his teeth as he pushed his movement art to its absolute limit.
Close behind him followed Myeong Iljin-in, escorting the subdued Namgung Myeong.
Though Namgung Myeong had claimed it was unrelated to him, Myeong Iljin-in judged that there was no one else capable of such a thing.
Thus, the three of them rapidly descended toward Huayin County, which was protected by the Mount Hua Sect.
The blood-red moon, the crimson sky, and the successive thunderous explosions all made it clear that something utterly abnormal was unfolding.
Yoo Jinhak’s thoughts were in turmoil.
‘…If this is not related to Namgung Myeong, then could it be because of the Treasure Map?’
The Treasure Map flashed through his mind.
It was possible that martial artists had clashed in a bloody massacre over it.
“Kyaaagh!”
“Uaaagh!”
The closer they drew to Huayin County, the more spine-chilling, horrific screams echoed through the air.
Human shrieks and moans filled with agony.
And finally—
The sight that unfolded before the three of them upon arriving at Huayin County was—
“……!!”
“Ah…!”
It was nothing less than hell manifested into reality.
All of Huayin County was engulfed in raging flames.
As smoke rose skyward like colossal pillars, a sea of corpses stretched endlessly, and blood flowed like rivers.
Between collapsed buildings and burning trees, countless bodies lay scattered everywhere.
Every face was twisted in pain, and eyes that could not close were frozen in terror.
They bore the 모습 of beings who had been humiliated and toyed with until the very last moment of their lives.
“H-how… how could this… so many innocent lives….”
Myeong Iljin-in muttered in a voice steeped in despair.
His eyes trembled as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
Among the fallen were numerous commoners who had lived peaceful lives and built long-standing bonds.
Even children who had not yet reached adulthood had been slaughtered so brutally that it was unbearable to behold.
Pababak!
Within that hellish abyss where not a single life had survived—
[The time has come.]
A voice of unknown origin resounded.
No—could it even be called a voice?
It was the sound of a malicious spirit, one that surpassed Mind-Illuminating Heart Speech by far, collapsing the listener’s very mind merely by being heard.
“You are a little late.”
At that moment—
“……!!”
“!!”
At some point—no one knew when or how—
An unknown man was standing quietly before them.
At the center of the burning village, he radiated a presence as though he had transcended all things.
As his jet-black robe fluttered, the hair illuminated by the Red Moon sent chills down their spines.
A being possessing a beauty that did not seem human.
And yet—
No power could be felt from that mysterious existence.
Rather, his utter ordinariness inspired an even greater sense of dread.
As if the surrounding devastation had nothing to do with him at all, he simply stood there.
‘C-can this thing even be called human…?’
Yoo Jinhak felt fear spreading through his heart despite himself, but he clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped out, forcing it down.
Even so, he felt a terror beyond approach.
Perhaps because he had entered the Life and Death Realm—
He could instinctively tell.
The unidentified being before him was far stronger than himself.
Though he had stepped into the Life and Death Realm, comparison itself felt laughable.
An overwhelmingly powerful and savage existence.
It was not merely a difference in the depth of qi.
It felt as though the very rank of existence was different—an absolute superiority.
Thump!
Thud—thump!
Yoo Jinhak’s heart pounded violently once more.
But only for a moment.
Shing!
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately drew his sword and aimed it at the opponent.
“…How could you commit such a monstrous atrocity.”
Deep fury was embedded in Yoo Jinhak’s low voice.
It was rage at the trampling of countless innocent lives.
Yet the mysterious figure gazed at him with eyes filled only with emptiness and slowly moved his lips.
“Those who deserved to die simply died. To call it monstrous—how laughable.”
“……!!”
The man spoke while staring straight at Yoo Jinhak.
A demeanor so calm that no emotion could be felt.
Yoo Jinhak felt chills instead. He had never encountered such a being in his life.
It was as though slaughter was nothing more than mundane routine to him.
“…Who are you, exactly.”
Yoo Jinhak spoke as if exhaling a heavy breath.
The opponent slowly revealed his identity.
“I am the one who will dye even the heavens in blood—the Blood Demon.”
“……!!”
The instant the man named himself the Blood Demon—
Every hair on Yoo Jinhak’s body stood on end at the ominous premonition carried by that name.
It was not a mere title.
It felt as though the name itself contained calamity within it.
Whoosh!
Chwaaaa!
Qi began to boil violently throughout Yoo Jinhak’s entire body.
There was no room for probing exchanges.
From the very start, he had to pour out all of his strength.
Pa-at!
Yoo Jinhak kicked off the ground and charged forward.
His sword surged toward the Blood Demon, soft yet overwhelming, imbued with the principles of Taiji.
Having surpassed the pinnacle of the Manifestation Realm and reached the threshold of the Life and Death Realm, his blade carried the laws of all nature.
Swaeek!
Kwa-ga-ga!
To an outside observer, it looked as though Yoo Jinhak thrust his sword only once.
Yet dozens—hundreds—of Heart Swords revolved around the Blood Demon, unleashing a torrential assault like a downpour.
However—
“Futile.”
Like a ghost, the Blood Demon let every single attack slip past him.
His voice was low, yet it carried the depth of an abyss.
Every attack Yoo Jinhak unleashed—including the Heart Swords—failed to reach him, instantly losing all force and vanishing.
Without even moving, he scattered the entire offensive with nothing but his voice.
‘Ghk!’
Yoo Jinhak’s blade seemed to graze the Blood Demon’s brow—
Yet it passed through as emptily as slicing open thin air.
Pivoting on his left foot, Yoo Jinhak spun his body and swung his sword again.
Hwaaaa!
The Taiji that had subdued Namgung Myeong was unfolding in perfect form once more.
The air convulsed violently, and debris from the burning village was swept skyward by the aftermath of sword qi.
Yet the Blood Demon remained tranquil.
“So this… is your ‘end.’”
Swoosh.
With a single, simple motion of extending his hand—
Pa-seu-seu-seu!
“…?!”
Yoo Jinhak’s sword strike dispersed into nothingness.
Like a small pebble tossed into a vast storm, it vanished without a trace.
And for the first time, the Blood Demon took a step forward.
Yoo Jinhak instinctively sensed danger and attempted to evade—
But the Blood Demon had long since disappeared from his field of vision.
Swaeek!
Slash!
“!!”
One of Yoo Jinhak’s arms snapped off and fell away limply, like a rotted tree branch.
It was a blow devoid of any perceivable energy.
Blood erupted like a fountain, staining his white robes crimson.