novelraw Chapter 255 : A Person’s Heart Does Not Die (6)
Chapter 255 : A Person’s Heart Does Not Die (6)
Chapter 255: A Person’s Heart Does Not Die (6)
One of Yoo Jinhak’s arms bent and fell away limply, like a rotting tree branch snapping off.
It had been a strike that carried no discernible energy whatsoever.
Pshuuush!
Blood spurted like a fountain, dyeing his white robes crimson.
“Alliance Leader!!”
“Hoo… I’m… fine……”
Myeong Iljin-in rushed to Yoo Jinhak’s side in shock. He was visibly exhausted from his battle with Namgung Myeong, yet in the face of such an emergency, he could not simply stand by and watch.
Swoosh.
The Blood Demon swept his gaze across Yoo Jinhak, who had lost an arm, Myeong Iljin-in standing guard beside him, and the visibly shaken Namgung Myeong.
“To cling to a futile illusion (虛像)… how utterly laughable.”
The Blood Demon’s voice shook the ruins.
Though his tone was low, it was steeped in a dreadful malice.
At that, Yoo Jinhak—having barely regained his battle stance with Myeong Iljin-in’s support—raised his voice.
“Shut your mouth! How can all those who died here without sin be nothing but illusions?!”
“In the end, everything will vanish anyway. If not an illusion, then what would you call it?”
“…What?”
As confusion spread across Yoo Jinhak’s face—
“The extermination (絶滅) of the Jianghu. No, of the entire Central Plains (中原).”
“…!”
The Blood Demon proclaimed a goal so horrific it defied imagination.
“I shall wash every existence in the Central Plains clean with blood and purify it.”
“!!”
In the Blood Demon’s eyes was an utterly emotionless gaze, as though all human life were no more than specks of dust.
Yoo Jinhak had never seen such eyes in any enemy he had faced before.
The annihilation of the entire Central Plains.
If anyone else had said it, it would have been dismissed as lunacy.
But—
‘That one… can do it.’
He realized it instantly.
The Blood Demon standing before him was a being capable of turning those words into reality.
“Alliance Leader, though my strength is meager, I will assist you.”
At that moment, Myeong Iljin-in drew his sword and stood beside Yoo Jinhak.
His face was deathly pale, and his body was already battered beyond measure from fighting Namgung Myeong.
Yet his eyes alone burned like raging flames.
As the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect, and as one who had upheld the duty of the Orthodox Path, he could never kneel before this evil fiend.
Yoo Jinhak looked at him and nodded solemnly.
“My thanks. Let us block the enemy together.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader!”
Though they had exchanged only a single move, Yoo Jinhak keenly felt the gap between them.
Even compared to himself—who had reached the threshold of the Life and Death Realm—the opponent stood at a far higher, unfathomable stage.
Even so, he could not give up.
Shing!
‘I will stop him, no matter what.’
Behind them stood everyone still breathing within the Jianghu.
‘Even if only one step more… I must advance.’
Crunch!
Yoo Jinhak adjusted his grip on the sword with his remaining arm.
Fortunately, the severed arm had been his left, not his dominant right.
His gaze turned resolute. Myeong Iljin-in stood beside him with the same look in his eyes.
After confirming their final resolve—
Pabat!
Tadat!
They kicked off the ground simultaneously and charged forward like a flash of lightning.
The earth they stepped upon rippled as if folding paper in half, and their bodies shot forward like arrows.
“So the flow is the same this time as well.”
The Blood Demon muttered in a flat, emotionless voice, speaking words whose meaning was unclear.
Swaaa—
Chwaaa—
In that instant, Yoo Jinhak’s sword once again condensed the power of the Yin-Yang Pattern.
Intent and will merged into a single blade, transforming into a formless Mind Sword.
‘The Yin-Yang Pattern is infinite (無限)!’
His Mind Sword flowed gracefully, yet within it lay a principle that seemed to embrace and purify all things.
“O evil fiend who defies the will of Heaven! Receive your rightful judgment!”
Myeong Iljin-in’s voice boomed like thunder.
His sword surged toward the Blood Demon as well.
Like plum blossoms blooming in full glory, his swordplay spread beautifully, naturally supporting Yoo Jinhak’s strike.
As the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art was overlaid with the Yin-Yang Pattern, their combined momentum unfolded several times stronger than when either had fought alone.
Yet the Blood Demon did not move an inch.
There was not the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.
‘It hit…!!’
Even Yoo Jinhak believed their strike had succeeded against such an arrogant foe.
Just as their fierce combined attack was about to reach the Blood Demon—
Swoosh.
The Blood Demon extended his hand.
With that single, casual gesture—
Paseuseu!
Sssss—
“…!!”
‘What?!’
All of Yoo Jinhak’s and Myeong Iljin-in’s attacks scattered and vanished, like drawings sketched upon empty air.
Not a single trace of energy reached the Blood Demon’s body; everything dissipated into nothingness.
This was not mere defense.
It was an absolute power that returned everything to nothing (無), as if their attacks had never existed in the first place.
‘Impossible…!’
Yoo Jinhak was horrified.
He had never imagined that his Mind Sword—encompassing all his accumulated martial principles, sword mastery, and enlightenment—would vanish so helplessly.
At that moment, the Blood Demon moved his lips.
“As expected, utterly worthless. The way of principles (道理) and justice (正義) that wail so feebly—no matter how many times I see it, it only turns my stomach.”
“…!!”
The Blood Demon’s voice pressed directly down upon their very souls.
He felt nothing at all about nullifying their assault.
Just as an elephant would not concern itself with the deaths of ants when it stretches out its foot.
At that moment, it happened.
“Alliance Leader! I will open the path first!!”
“……!!”
Suddenly, True Man Myeong Iljin screamed as if in a desperate cry and poured all of his inner arts into his body, charging straight at the Blood Demon.
Before Yoo Jinhak could stop him, he rushed forward, burning fiercely like a final flame.
At the same time, a telepathic transmission flew into Yoo Jinhak’s ears.
[Alliance Leader, I will buy you time, so please escape! It seems this is not the right moment! We must let the martial world know of this evil ghost’s existence!]
That was right.
True Man Myeong Iljin was abandoning his own life, trying to create even a fleeting chance for Yoo Jinhak to escape.
Screeeech!
Kwaaaang!
The instant True Man Myeong Iljin’s sword touched the Blood Demon’s body amid the tearing sound of air, a massive explosion erupted.
But it was nothing more than his final, futile struggle.
Pssss!
Phusss!
The Blood Demon shattered True Man Myeong Iljin’s sword strike with nothing but his gaze.
The plum blossom sword qi that had enveloped True Man Myeong Iljin’s entire body instantly turned crimson red and scattered into fragments.
“Now, disappear, plum blossom.”
“……!!”
At that moment, the Blood Demon’s low voice echoed.
Pssss!
This time, True Man Myeong Iljin’s physical body began to crumble apart like a sandcastle.
Facing his own body and soul as they faded away—
‘Yes… Cheon-ah….’
Until the very end, True Man Myeong Iljin thought of his one and only disciple.
His body scattered into the void without leaving even blood or flesh behind, like plum blossom petals fluttering apart.
“True Man Myeong Iljin—!!”
Yoo Jinhak’s final scream echoed miserably through Huayin County.
Even Namgung Myeong, who had been restrained and forced to watch, was seized by terror.
‘……Just who in the world is that monster…….’
The laughter that had once filled his face when he rejoiced in Yoo Jinhak’s suffering had completely vanished.
The process that led to True Man Myeong Iljin’s death struck him with overwhelming shock.
Could that truly be called martial arts?
The Blood Demon was erasing living beings as if he were truly a god who had descended upon the mortal world.
Fear tightened around Namgung Myeong’s heart.
His body trembled like an aspen tree at a terror he had never felt in his life.
In contrast, Yoo Jinhak was burning with rage at True Man Myeong Iljin’s death.
Alongside the sorrow of losing a lifelong friend, boiling fury toward the Blood Demon surged within him.
With his remaining arm, he gripped his sword tightly.
True Man Myeong Iljin had told him to flee, but he did not.
Yoo Jinhak knew—
There was no escape from that being’s grasp.
Hwaaaaah!
Chwaaaa!
Thus, Yoo Jinhak drew up all of his remaining qi with everything he had.
“I will definitely cut you down……!!”
“You are being consumed by petty emotions.”
Tadat!
Once again, Yoo Jinhak charged ferociously toward the Blood Demon.
From beneath his empty left sleeve, the Mind Sword gleamed like dawnlight, sharpening its edge.
Closing the distance in a single step, Yoo Jinhak unleashed both his sword and Mind Sword at the Blood Demon simultaneously.
It was a final strike containing all of his insights.
“Eyes that could see, yet chose not to, have no need to exist.”
The Blood Demon’s cold gaze turned toward Yoo Jinhak.
Raising his index finger, the Blood Demon pointed toward Yoo Jinhak’s eyes.
Kwagagagaga!
Kwaddeuk!
Peo-eong!
“-!!!”
A horrific shattering sound rang out. Both Yoo Jinhak’s sword and Mind Sword were smashed into pieces.
All of it happened with a single, casual motion of the Blood Demon’s hand.
At the same time—
“Keugh…!”
Yoo Jinhak groaned and staggered.
With unbearable pain, streams of blood burst from his eyes.
He lost his sight in an instant. That was not all.
Clang.
His sword fell weakly to the ground and rolled away.
‘My qi…… it won’t…… move…….’
Unknown demonic qi that had pierced his eyes invaded his body, leaving it utterly wrecked.
Swoosh.
Slowly, the Blood Demon’s hand reached toward Yoo Jinhak’s neck.
With no strength left to resist, Yoo Jinhak’s body was dragged along.
Psychokinesis taken to the extreme.
Yoo Jinhak’s consciousness gradually faded.
Strangely, within that fading consciousness, a man’s voice brushed past his mind.
—Alliance Leader, before long, calamity will descend.
Tang Sewoon.
Those were the words the boy had told him long ago.
Only now did Yoo Jinhak understand why that boy had burned himself so desperately and risked his life on this journey.
The Blood Demon.
An incarnation of destruction that transcended all human understanding.
“Cough.”
Yoo Jinhak trembled with fury at his own helplessness.
The martial world he had sworn to protect—the Central Plains themselves—were now on the brink of annihilation at the fingertips of a single being.
‘I was far too weak and insignificant…….’
He had reached the Life and Death Realm, yet before the Blood Demon, it was nothing more than a child’s pitiful trick.
Not a single part of his body would move.
At the edge of that despair, Yoo Jinhak once again thought of Tang Sewoon.
That boy was not merely a genius.
Even in pitch-black darkness, he was someone who searched for a single ray of light and ceaselessly tried to shatter every wall before him.
Perhaps—yes, perhaps that boy alone might be the only hope capable of overturning this hopeless situation.
A faint hope flickered within Yoo Jinhak’s fading consciousness.
‘Not yet… it’s not over yet.’
He had to meet that boy and pass on the insights and realizations he had gained.
He clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped out.
Even the slightest possibility had to be grasped.
But no matter how desperately he tried to draw up his qi, not even a single finger would move.
“Now, disappear.”
At last, just as the Blood Demon’s jade-white hand was about to snap Yoo Jinhak’s neck—
Kwaaaang—!!!
Suddenly, with a massive explosion, a single beam of light tore through the night sky of Huayin County and slammed downward.
As if to stop the Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak’s final moments, the light pierced fiercely between him and the Blood Demon.
Space itself warped, and the blood-dyed sky seemed to retreat for a brief moment.
“Blood Demon!!!”
A voice filled with furious rage split the night sky.
So, he had finally arrived.
A strange glint appeared in the Blood Demon’s eyes as he confirmed the newcomer’s identity.
It was the moment Tang Sewoon finally revealed himself.