Single-Instant Blade

Chapter 94 : Death Blade (4)

“Hook! Hook! Hook!”

Ah Geol let out a rough breath.

Was there a sect master among the Single-Instant Sect masters who was called a demonic blade? There was a mad blade, but there was no one who was called a demonic blade.

When this fight was over, a demonic blade would be born in the Single-Instant Sect.

People would attach all sorts of terrible words to him, such as demon, devil, and blood demon.

Also, when this fight was over, the world would know that there was a person who challenged the Sacred Sword Sect.

The Sacred Sword Sect exercised absolute authority in the martial world.

In the Central Plains martial world, the words of the Sacred Sword Sect were law. No one tried to oppose the Sacred Sword Sect.

About twenty years ago, quite a few people had challenged the Sacred Sword Sect.

Although the result of the challenge was death, they had willingly climbed the Blood Dance Stage, the duel stage of the Sacred Sword Sect.

Now, there was no one who challenged.

The martial world was dead.

The moment the Sacred Sword Sect Master had become Duke Heo Dogi, a peaceful period had come to the martial world for the first time.

It had become an era where any unorthodox group could survive if they just flattered the Sacred Sword Sect well. Of course, there were no such cases, but it was not practically impossible.

Ah Geol was fighting the Great Mountain Gang. He was fighting a bloody battle with the martial artists who had their base in the nearby area.

But this fight was clearly a challenge to the Sacred Sword Sect.

“Hook!”

Although a rough breath was let out, his forearms were tightly clenched.

“Is this all you’ve got!”

At the roar he let out, the martial artists surrounding him flinched.

In their eyes, Ah Geol did not look like a human.

How could a human fight for two days without sleeping, eating, or resting?

“Taat!”

Ah Geol kicked the ground hard and shot up.

He spun his body and executed the Revolving Blade.

The thirty-six blades had melted into him so much that they would be executed automatically just by thinking.

And yet, something was lacking.

It was somewhat bland to just execute the blade art that was attached to his body. So he added one more compensatory motion.

Pararareung!

The blade trembled. It vibrated.

“Aaaak!”

“Keok!”

Two martial artists fell, covered in blood.

When you executed a martial art, if a compensatory motion occurred, you could think that something was wrong.

Because the blade could not extend properly, another motion was needed to find its path. It was a motion that would never have occurred if the blade had been used properly.

If a subsidiary movement occurred, you had to immediately look back at the blade art.

Ah Geol had executed the Revolving Blade skillfully. There was no hesitation at all. The blade had flowed smoothly, and there were no blocked parts. But why was one more movement needed?

‘My blade has begun to rise!’

“Haat!”

Ah Geol straightened his blade.

“That, that, that…!”

The Great Mountain Gang Master was at a loss for words.

About four hundred of his disciples had fallen. A sect was being slaughtered by one person.

The Great Mountain Gang was the most powerful within a thousand li south of Jinling.

If there was the Sacred Sword Sect in the Central Plains, there was the Great Mountain Gang south of Jinling.

While other sects had only twenty or thirty disciples, the Great Mountain Gang had long surpassed five hundred.

And such a sect was collapsing at the hands of one person.

‘Ah! I messed with the wrong person…!’

A belated regret came.

Finding the wanted person from the Sacred Sword Sect had seemed like a very good opportunity. Wasn’t it the best opportunity for a sect in a rural corner to advance into the Central Plains?

So he had brought all his forces, but what was this?

Ah Geol was using his blade like a madman. He was executing the blade art in a daze, as if he were drunk on drugs.

Ah Geol did not see the ones who were dying. He was not the one who was killing. He was just the one who was swinging the blade. There was no one who was killing and no one who was dying, there was only the one who was acting.

If he had thought about life and death, he could not have used his blade like that.

“I think we should withdraw the disciples.”

The deputy gang master said cautiously.

Even if the opponent was a strong master who could not be faced, if you drew them into a dog fight, you could win. Even if you couldn’t cut off their breath, you could at least inflict a very severe injury.

Poison, hidden weapons… they used all sorts of dirty tricks without distinction.

Ah Geol had dodged all those many poison needles. But he had not dodged them completely. There were a few poison needles that had grazed his body. He should have collapsed already.

He had been cut by a sword, grazed by a blade, and stabbed by a spear.

And yet, he was standing fine. No, as time passed, he was running wild even more fiercely.

The dog fight was not working.

The disciples could not aim for his back. Although they had to persistently aim for his back, they would collapse as soon as they aimed.

Somehow, Ah Geol’s reaction was much faster than two days ago.

“Withdraw. Withdraw!”

The Great Mountain Gang Master let out a roar.

He had to get them out of the fight before the gang was annihilated. This was a complete dog’s death.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ah Geol walked with his half-iron blade hanging limp.

He was a blood man. His whole body was covered in blood. He had become a demon with his own blood and the blood that others had shed.

Every time he walked, blood dripped from the half-iron blade.

Hwicheong!

Ah Geol staggered greatly, as if something were uncomfortable.

In that instant, a conflict arose. Looking at Ah Geol’s appearance, it seemed that he could be brought down with just one more attack.

But there was no one who attacked Ah Geol.

Not only the Great Mountain Gang, but also the martial artists who had rushed in from the nearby sects just blinked their eyes.

Thud! Thud!

Ah Geol walked with difficulty.

If the blade he was holding had been a long blade instead of a half-cut blade, it would have been dragging on the ground.

“Don’t block him.”

The Great Mountain Gang Master said.

The human named Ah Geol… he would run wild if you blocked him. The appearance of being on the verge of collapse was a trick. If you were fooled by that appearance and rushed in, a demonic blade would fly in.

Hwijeok! Hwijeok!

Ah Geol walked towards the Jinling Mountains.

* * *

Blood Blade Ruffian!

It was a name that referred to Ah Geol.

It was the nickname of the great murderer who had killed four hundred and seventeen Great Mountain Gang martial artists and twenty-one other martial artists in Jinpyeong.

Four hundred and thirty-eight people!

It was a very severe slaughter that would be recorded in the history of the martial world for a single fight.

Ah Geol had been given the nickname ‘a ruffian with a bloody blade’.

Although the word ‘ruffian’ was a particularly severe slang among the many words that referred to a ruffian, it seemed far from enough considering the slaughter that Ah Geol had committed.

People finally understood why the Sacred Sword Sect had put a bounty on him.

He was a great demon that an ordinary person, an ordinary sect, could not even think of messing with.

“You let him go!”

Cho Gapyeong said in a calm voice with no emotional fluctuation.

“I had no choice… I sent him.”

“Where did he go?”

“Towards the Jinling Mountains.”

The Great Mountain Gang Master was over sixty, so he had more white hair than black hair. And yet, he kept bowing his head to Cho Gapyeong, who looked twenty years younger than him.

“Is that mountain Jinling?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you have a map?”

“Yes. I have one. Hey! Bring the map!”

Although the Great Mountain Gang Master had lost most of his disciples, he could not raise his head, as if he were a sinner.

At that time, Lee Dochang, who had been looking around, returned.

“The traces lead to that mountain. The blood hasn’t dried yet, so I’ll catch up right away.”

“Map.”

Cho Gapyeong said, looking at the Great Mountain Gang Master.

“Hey! Bring the map quickly! Did you boil a snail! Why are you so slow!”

The Great Mountain Gang Master urged his gang members.

* * *

The blood trail continued to the mountain.

Ah Geol had not bothered to hide the blood. It seemed that he was so severely injured that he could not hide his traces.

“Since he’s been poisoned by the Black Spider’s poison, he’ll be on the verge of fainting. He won’t have any sense.”

Jin Gae said.

“Shh!”

Cho Gapyeong immediately cut him off.

When pursuing, conversation was forbidden. The enemy could hear a person’s voice while escaping and could hide. Also, if you talked, your concentration would drop. You would also miss important clues.

“Senior brother, aren’t you being too careful? We’re four, it’s a fight we can’t lose even if we want to. The bloodstains are also clear, so we can’t lose him even if we want to. Moreover, that guy is poisoned and exhausted, isn’t he?”

Lee Roe laughed, looking at Cho Gapyeong.

“I have a bad feeling.”

“A bad feeling again? Senior brother, you have to have been right about your feeling for it to be a feeling. In the old days, when you were going to attack Heo Dogang, didn’t you say you had a bad feeling?”

“It’s really bad. Quiet.”

“…Alright.”

They followed the bloodstains and entered the Jinling Mountains.

The Wind Path Valley was in Jinling. But Ah Geol had not gone to the Wind Path Valley, but had headed in a strange direction. Since he did not know where the Wind Path Valley was, he would naturally wander.

“Ah!”

Cho Gapyeong slapped his forehead.

Only after entering Jinling did he know the reason for his bad feeling.

He had suppressed the blade demons of the Wind Path Valley in the name of the Sect Master. He had ordered them never to leave the Wind Path Valley.

The blade demons were faithfully carrying out the order.

Although a big fight where over four hundred people had died had occurred near Jinling, the blade demons had not moved.

But it was a different matter for Ah Geol to walk into the Wind Path Valley on his own.

The Wind Path Valley was the world of the Single-Instant Sect.

So, in complete contrast to before, the Ten Lesser Swords could not draw their swords, and the blade demons could freely swing their blades.

This was something that the Sect Master had promised, so it could not be broken.

If Ah Geol entered the Wind Path Valley, he could not be caught. He had to be caught before that.

“We have to hurry!”

They quickly followed the blood drops.

Ah Geol had left many traces besides the blood. His footprints were clearly imprinted, he had also touched a tree with his bloody hand, and in some places, there were even traces of him having collapsed.

Ah Geol could not walk fast. Although he had entered Jinling about one or two two-hour periods ahead, since he was moving very slowly, they could catch up. Moreover, Jinling was a rugged mountain. It was not enough with just two feet, and there were many places where you had to use your two hands to climb the mountain.

Shwiiit! Shwit! Shwit!

They ran up the mountain range like tigers.

“There!”

Ho Geumryeon raised her hand and pointed ahead.

They had found him!

Ah Geol was sitting with his back against a large tree.

The infamous half-iron blade was on his knee, and it looked dark red because the blood had dried.

“Huhu! Senior brother, don’t talk about that feeling from now on. There’s nothing wrong.”

Jin Gae grinned.

Cho Gapyeong also laughed. Although he was not pleased with Jin Gae’s teasing, hadn’t he caught Ah Geol?

He had been very anxious, wondering what he would do if Ah Geol crossed over to the Wind Path Valley.

“It seems we came with four for no reason. That guy doesn’t even look like he has the strength to hold a blade, don’t you think so?”

Ho Geumryeon said.

As if he had heard a person’s voice, Ah Geol, who had been bowing his head, raised it.

His face was also covered in blood. He had been given the nickname Blood Blade Ruffian, and he looked just like a ruffian covered in blood.

Thud! Thud!

They approached Ah Geol.

(End of Chapter)