The Regressed Young Master’s Guide to Living on Easy Mode

Chapter 35 : The Whole World is Against Me (2)

Do you know what the most interesting sight in the world is? It's watching a fight and watching a fire.

These two have something in common: the outcome of the event has nothing to do with me.

Whoever wins or loses.

Whether someone's house burns down completely or not.

What does it have to do with me~.

Wow! What a blissful statement.

Pleasure without responsibility!

It's fun! It's interesting! Anyone can win!

If someone has to win, it would be even better if the Mad Demon wins!

This is life!

* * *

While someone was enjoying pleasure without responsibility, someone on the tournament stage was feeling a burden so heavy that it felt like he was being crushed by the weight of responsibility.

At the same time, he was also enjoying pleasure.

In the past, he could only watch from below the tournament stage. To be honest, he hadn't fought directly, but he could tell just by watching.

That he and that child lived in different worlds.

Until he met that child, he thought he was quite strong.

He had some talent for martial arts, and he couldn't help but feel his skills improving as he put in more effort.

He had even heard people around him secretly calling him a genius.

If he hadn't met the Captain, he would have taken the nonsense people were saying to heart.

The fight that day was in a realm he couldn't reach. So he tried and tried for the past days to reach that place.

And now, he was standing not below the same tournament stage as that day, but on it.

And he had also reached it. The sensation remained on his body, on the top of his foot, to be exact.

Now, he no longer had to just watch from behind.

"I will surpass you today, Soma."

"That was a little fun."

Soma wiped the blood flowing from his lips. If it was carelessness, it was carelessness. He hadn't expected his opponent to show a movement that was beyond his expectations.

So his reaction was slow.

As he had said before, it was starting to get a little fun. Though it was much less than Yoo Jae-ha.

That eerie sensation from back then.

The first fear in his life, feeling that he, not someone else, could die.

Soma had participated in the Divine Demon Tournament to taste that once again.

That's why he wanted to end this duel quickly and meet Yoo Jae-ha. Soma raised his Blood Demon True Qi.

* * *

As far as I know, there were largely two ways to operate the Blood Demon True Qi.

One was to just let the Blood Demon True Qi run wild on its own, as Soma had shown before.

The Blood Demon True Qi itself is a considerable weapon. If the Blood Demon Divine Art reached a certain level, it would become a weapon greater than a strong qi.

I had heard that before my regression, the Blood Cult's Young Lord could draw out up to 12 Blood Demon True Qis. Compared to that, the number of Blood Demon True Qis fluttering like a fox's tail in front of me now was only three.

Half of half of what the Blood Cult's Young Lord had shown.

As expected, Soma was not the Young Lord. Because he was the Blood Cult's Young Lord, who was known to be similar to my junior sister.

Soma kicks off the ground. At the same time, the three Blood Demon True Qis move on their own as if they have life and advance towards the Mad Demon.

The Mad Demon's pupils move quickly up, down, left, and right. At the same time, the Mad Demon also kicks off the ground forward. The Mad Demon extends a fist towards one of the Blood Demon True Qis that approached first.

Pow!

With the sound, the Blood Demon True Qi is sent flying. Soon, two Blood Demon True Qis attack. The Mad Demon also counters this by extending his fist. And the second fist was faster than the first, and the third was faster than the second.

It's the Annihilation Chain Fist.

The unique martial art of the Fist Demon, which symbolizes the Fourth Elder!

Its characteristic was in the speed that increased as the chain continued.

The speed of the Mad Demon's continuous chain did not reach the level of a body-flickering technique, but the Mad Demon was absorbing and using the technique of scattering his presence, which the Falling Shadow, Mu-hyu, had shown. This was more than enough to deceive the opponent.

The Mad Demon, who had dodged the three Blood Demon True Qis that were shot at him again this time by changing his direction.

But his opponent was Soma. It was impossible to deceive him with a crudely imitated technique.

Moreover, Soma was one step ahead of the Mad Demon.

Unlike the Mad Demon, who had to consider the variable of the Blood Demon True Qi, Soma only had to focus on the Mad Demon's movements.

Therefore, Soma takes his position in advance. The Mad Demon naturally reveals himself there. The current scene could be said to be Soma luring the Mad Demon into a net he had spread.

Soma slashes his sword downwards.

The sword scatters, drawing a curved trajectory. The location was where the Mad Demon was about to step.

The Mad Demon, who was running, suddenly shoves his foot into the ground. Ignoring the inertia, the Mad Demon comes to a sudden stop. The sword passes an inch in front of the Mad Demon's face. The Mad Demon bends his knees in that state. Using the rebound, he kicks up towards Soma's face.

It was a situation where he was one step too late to dodge the attack.

But Soma does not panic. He doesn't even try to dodge the attack. Therefore, even though he was one step late, his next attack reaches faster than the Mad Demon's.

Soma raises his sword as it is. Crash! The Blood Demon True Qi blocks the Mad Demon's attack. The Mad Demon uses that rebound to jump back and dodge Soma's sword.

The two reach a brief lull.

And the spectators watching this maintain their silence rather than cheering.

Gulp. The sound of swallowing saliva can be heard from somewhere.

The spectators are overwhelmed by the two's fight.

Their fists clench on their own.

A fallen leaf flies and falls in the center of the two. The moment the fallen leaf touches the tournament stage, the Mad Demon kicks off the ground first again this time.

He extends a fist towards the approaching Blood Demon True Qi. The Blood Demon True Qi is sent flying by the Mad Demon's fist, which is engulfed in fist qi. Immediately, the remaining two Blood Demon True Qis attack the Mad Demon.

The Mad Demon swings his fist without resting. The Annihilation Chain Fist has the advantage of its speed increasing as the chain continues.

Therefore, the physical ability to keep up with the speed was the most important.

The speed of the Mad Demon extending his fist gradually increases. Pang! The Mad Demon, who had sent all the Blood Demon True Qis flying, kicks off the ground. The Blood Demon True Qi was chasing after the Mad Demon a beat later.

The Mad Demon, who had reached Soma, extends his fist.

The fist that extended in an instant advances towards Soma's face. In contrast, Soma, as before, was just attacking without any defense.

However, Soma's appearance was different from before.

The second way to operate the Blood Demon True Qi was to trap the rampaging Blood Demon True Qi in the body and move it under one's own will.

A red energy was undulating around Soma's body. It was trying to escape from Soma's body, but it couldn't and was stuck to his body.

It looked as if he was wearing an armor of blood.

The Blood Demon True Qi wrapped around the body is itself a defense and an attack. Above all, it reduces the burden on the body.

If he had used 10 of his strength to produce a speed of 10 before, it meant that now, with the Blood Demon True Qi wrapped around his body, he could produce a force of 10 using only 3 of his strength.

This was the true terror of the Blood Demon True Qi.

Because the opponent suddenly becomes more than three times stronger during a fight.

Soma just extends the hand holding the sword. The speed far exceeded the speed the Mad Demon had shown so far.

Fortunately, he barely blocked the attack, but the Mad Demon, who couldn't handle the force, flies back. Soma kicks off the ground and chases after him. The Mad Demon also didn't stay still. He balanced himself in the air and directed his center of gravity downwards to land on the tournament stage.

A near-perfect shift of the center of gravity.

"I'll show you too."

The Mad Demon, who had left a short word, kicks off the ground. He performs the Annihilation Chain Fist. It was not much different from what he had shown before. Is this it? With just that, he couldn't reach Soma, who had brought out the second form of the Blood Demon True Qi.

But the Mad Demon also seemed to be hiding something more.

The Annihilation Chain Fist is a martial art with clear advantages and disadvantages.

It had the extreme advantage of speed, but it had the clear disadvantage of low destructive power.

However, with a martial art with clear disadvantages, one could never become an elder in the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Some might spout nonsense like, "Can't you just overcome the disadvantages with the clear advantages?" but as the realm of martial arts gets higher, they all become more or less similar.

That's why the saying 'all paths lead to one' was created.

Even a slow martial art becomes a high-speed martial art when performed by a master of the Hwagyung realm.

If the difference in their realms was clear, the Mad Demon's advantage of speed might have worked, but unfortunately, even in terms of martial arts realm, Soma was ahead.

And now, even the speed, which was his only advantage, was surpassed by Soma.

Now that he had no advantage, the path was no longer visible to the Mad Demon.

Usually, that is.

All of the Mad Demon's energy gathers in one arm.

For a fist fighter, the fist is the best weapon.

In the end, if it doesn't reach the opponent, no matter how fast it is, it's meaningless as an attack.

"Annihilation Fist!"

The Mad Demon, who had shouted with all his might, extends his fist. The one and only skill that had placed the Fourth Elder in the position of the Fist Demon, a skill that imbued all the speed and power he could muster into one arm!

A form that focused everything on destructive power from the Annihilation Chain Fist, which had only pursued speed!

I didn't know that the Fourth Elder had even passed that on.

The Annihilation Chain Fist could be said to be a prerequisite for landing this Annihilation Fist on the opponent.

However, the gap with the opponent was bigger than I thought.

Soma extended his fist just like the Mad Demon. The two's fists collided in the middle.

Crack.

With the sound of someone's bone breaking, the Mad Demon was standing with his arm hanging limp.

"This time, it was a little fun."

"Next time, I'll win."

The match seemed to be over.

But what's with this heartwarming picture? This isn't what I was watching the duel so excitedly for.

"I lost, Soma!"

The Mad Demon declared his defeat. Soma, as if he had no lingering feelings, turns his body and comes down from the tournament stage. The Mad Demon, as if his broken hand was hurting, has tears welling up in his eyes.

Below the tournament stage, the Fourth Elder was waiting. The Fourth Elder messes up the Mad Demon's hair.

"That Blood Demon bastard has raised a monster. Still, you fought well."

"I won't lose next time."

"Yes, that's my kid!"

Is the place I'm in now the demonic path? Why does it feel like I'm in the Orthodox Faction? What's with this heartwarming feeling!

Anyway, the first match of the quarterfinals ended like that.

The second match was between Yang So-pyeong and an unknown disciple of the Heavenly Demon Cult. He fought quite well, but as expected, Yang So-pyeong won.

The third match was between the Little Divine Monk of the Orthodox Faction and another unknown disciple of the Heavenly Demon Cult. The two seemed to be on par, but when the Little Divine Monk showed his true skills, he easily won.

And so, my match came in an instant.

The third match just ended, so it starts in half a moment. Let's warm up slowly. Because I have to withdraw right away and go play.

Just then.

An unexpected guest came to find me.

"Are you Yoo Jae-ha?"

"Yes?"

The guest's expression was as serious as it could be. A miserable expression as if he had lost his country. But why did the Third Elder come to find me? The Third Elder was one of the people who had created the Seven Harmonies Association and bullied me.

Could it be that he's trying to threaten me? Or maybe he's trying to poison me? Or is he trying to injure me and make me lose by default?

Whatever it is, it's a honey deal.

"If you lose, we're finished."

Huh? At the unexpected words, I couldn't understand the situation for a moment.

The Third Elder is cheering for me?

After giving some more words of encouragement, the Third Elder left.

Immediately, the Seventh Elder came.

"So it's you. Our community of fate! I bet on you!"

The Seventh Elder, who also said similar words of unknown meaning, left.

"I knew it from the time of that duel!"

"I was on your side from the beginning!"

And the Ninth Elder and the Eighth Elder also came, said similar things, and then left.

Did the elders eat something wrong as a group?

The good thing was that the Second Elder, the Fighting Demon, and the First Elder did not come.

If all of the Seven Harmonies Association had come, I might have really lost by default due to indigestion by now.

The match time was almost here.

Just then, another unexpected person came to find me.

"Phew..."

The person who let out a sigh as soon as he saw me was the strategist.

Even the strategist is coming?

Anyone would think I was going to a duel that would decide the fate of the Orthodox Faction and the Heavenly Demon Cult.

"What do you think of this situation?"

The strategist asked me a question out of the blue. I was about to say, 'What do you want me to do?' but I held it in. Fortunately, the strategist immediately continued on his own.

"Yes. You must be speechless too. We are also quite flustered. To think that something like this would happen... should I say that the heavens are helping you? Haha."

Perhaps because he's a strategist, he's a bit more talkative than the others.

I should just think about what to do for fun at the night market after withdrawing quickly.

"Four of our Heavenly Demon Cult have advanced to the quarterfinals. Well, it's less than usual, but it's still not a bad result. The Young Lord's elimination was a variable, though."

The match was about to really begin. The opponent had already come up and was warming up.

"And just now, the 3 participants from the Heavenly Demon Cult have lost. And now, you are the only one left."

My name was being called out from the tournament stage. It had come to a situation where if I didn't go up soon, I would naturally lose by default.

'Rather, it's a honey deal,' I was thinking.

The strategist suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

The strategist's eyes were burning seriously, as if he had just met his first love by chance.

I felt burdened and looked away.

"The place where the Divine Demon Tournament is held is the Heavenly Demon Cult. But a final without a participant from the Heavenly Demon Cult is unimaginable! This is the pride of the Heavenly Demon Cult! But do you know what happens if such a thing really happens?"

How would I know!

"Do you cheer with all your might? Because you have to get some cheering points?"

"No! Everyone related to this Divine Demon Tournament will be beheaded by the Heavenly Demon. Most of the executives will probably be newly replaced. That will be the same for the elders who directly prepared this Divine Demon Tournament and me."

Huh? Come to think of it, there was a time when the executives were all replaced. And I just found out the whole story of that incident.

'Wait a minute? Then, was this the real reason my hyung-nim left the Heavenly Demon Cult?'

My hyung-nim is a person with a strong sense of responsibility, unlike others. He especially shows a strong attachment to things he has picked up on the street.

What's more, the people he considered his own, dozens or even hundreds of them, getting their heads cut off at once?

The hyung-nim I know would feel a tremendous sense of responsibility, and he would surely blame himself for everything.

And he would return the position of Young Lord and leave the Heavenly Demon Cult.

To be honest, the death of other people is not a problem for me, but if my hyung-nim is involved, this becomes a different problem.

I quickly brought back my mind, which had gone out to the night market.

Now! Let's look at the situation again. If I withdraw now, the people who will advance to the semifinals are...

Sura Cult's Yang So-pyeong.

Orthodox Faction's Little Divine Monk.

Blood Cult's Soma.

Thunder Sound Palace's Mak-ya.

These four.

Of course, there was no one from the Heavenly Demon Cult among those four.

"I'm telling you that our lives are in your hands right now."

The hyung-nim I know will definitely leave.

"You must win. And prove it, that the talent to save the Heavenly Demon Cult now is only you."

The strategist handed me a document.

The document was filled with a list of many people, including the elders, grand commanders, and unit commanders of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

It seemed to be about a few hundred people.

"We have already reached an agreement. If you just prove it, we are ready. This is the loyalty we offer you."

I went up to the tournament stage.

If I win, I'm forced to become the Young Lord.

If I lose, my hyung-nim is forced to run away.

I'm really going crazy.