Chapter 30 : Punishnt Squad
At the sa ti as my declaration, the energies covering the coastal cliff of Liaoning ca to a halt all at once.
A silence where not even the sound of the waves could be heard.
The space itself created an illusion of being compressed toward , the massive center of gravity.
“...Extre Demon?”
Hyeokryeon Mu’s pupils trembled slightly.
A realm that surpasses the demon. It was a word from myth that the warriors of the Demonic Cult spent their entire lives trying to reach.
Hyeokryeon Mu unconsciously gripped his Jade Sword so hard that blood stopped flowing to his hand.
“Fine. Show , where is the end that you have reached!”
Hyeokryeon Mu pulled up every last bit of his remaining true qi.
Behind Hyeokryeon Mu, a phantom of a massive black dragon flickered, and demonic qi erupted as if to shave away the cliff.
Black Dragon Celestial Ascension.
Hyeokryeon Mu’s form beca pitch-black darkness and pounced on .
The surroundings turned into darkness, and an absolute killing field was ford where only Hyeokryeon Mu’s sword qi emitted light.
However, in the middle of that darkness, I slowly rged the Blue and Red Twin Swords into one.
“When the vessel changes, the water it contains also changes.”
My violet eyes flashed.
The cycle of the five elents, completed through the Heaven Sea Bead, rotated while drawing a perfect circle inside my qi center.
The violet brilliance, created by the mixture of purple flas and bluish-white water energy, was thinly compressed along my sword blade.
One Sword Fire Defect.
There was no flamboyant technique, nor was there a grand explosion.
The mont I swung the sword down, the massive domain of darkness that Hyeokryeon Mu had deployed shattered as if glass were breaking.
Clang—!
A single collision.
The mont Hyeokryeon Mu’s Jade Sword touched my sword blade, it was repelled backward.
Hyeokryeon Mu’s form flew through the air like a fallen leaf and was deeply embedded into the floor of the cliff.
“...Heuk, cough!”
Hyeokryeon Mu clutched his chest and vomited blood.
His internal injuries were deep, but Hyeokryeon Mu’s eyes were instead clear.
However, looking at the sword tip that had stopped right in front of his chest, he burst into a hollow laugh.
“Haha... really, you’ve beco impossibly strong.”
I withdrew my sword and reached out my hand.
“Are you hurt anywhere, brother?”
“My heart is a bit hurt. Since I was broken so miserably by my younger brother.”
Hyeokryeon Mu grabbed my hand and stood up.
Hyeokryeon Mu put his Jade Sword into its scabbard.
The competitive spirit from before the duel had disappeared, and in its place, a strange trust and complex emotions toward his brother took hold.
“I acknowledge it. That you’ve beco strong. But.”
Hyeokryeon Mu furrowed his brow.
“You are still not a match for Hyeokryeon Geuk.”
At those words, my expression stiffened.
***
After withdrawing the Jade Sword and standing up with the help of my hand, Hyeokryeon Mu exhaled a long breath as if to drive out the stagnant qi gathered in his chest.
However, his gaze still lingered on my violet eyes.
My swordsmanship, which had reached the realm of an Extre Demon, was marvelous.
Yet, in Hyeokryeon Mu’s mind, a darker darkness, a massive wall he had never once overco, flickered past.
“Hyeokryeon Yeom, the realm you have reached is certainly close to a miracle. But... Hyeokryeon Geuk, our eldest brother, seems to have already surpassed his limits.”
“I know.”
Through the mories of my past life, I sufficiently understood how strong Hyeokryeon Geuk was.
Is that not why I am building up my strength in the North Sea?
Hyeokryeon Mu closed his eyes for a mont and recalled mories of the past.
The back of Hyeokryeon Geuk, who would make thousands of warriors kneel with just a single wave of his aura at the training grounds of the Demonic Cult.
Hyeokryeon Mu was not soone who practiced martial arts, but rather an existence that forced 'Demon' itself into the vessel of his body.
“He has already given his physical body over to demonic qi. While we operate inner qi, he commands the demonic energy in the atmosphere. If the One Sword Fire Defect you just showed is a pure sun, then Hyeokryeon Geuk’s strike is an eternal night that swallows all suns. If you were to clash with him... your violet flas would be dyed black and extinguished in an instant.”
Hyeokryeon Mu gripped my shoulder tightly.
“It is sothing to celebrate that you ate the Heaven Sea Bead and opened the beginning of an Extre Demon. But now is not the ti. Hyeokryeon Geuk already knows the fact that you are collecting sacred objects. Perhaps he might even be hoping for you to beco stronger. He is keeping an eye on you, who beca the live-in son-in-law of the North Sea Ice Palace, and .”
It was just as Hyeokryeon Mu warned.
Surely, if it were Hyeokryeon Geuk, he would try to kill both Hyeokryeon Mu and to eliminate future troubles.
Instead of answering, I tightly gripped the hilt of the Blue and Red Twin Swords at my waist.
“What is the reason you are telling that?”
At my question, Hyeokryeon Mu turned his gaze to the west, staring into the darkness where the Sa Ma Clan was located.
“Go to the Black Lotus Cave.”
“Black Lotus Cave?”
“The legacy of the Dark Venerable will make you stronger than you are now.”
The brothers' gazes intertwined.
Hyeokryeon Mu once again wore an idle smile.
Within that smile, I saw the Hyeokryeon Mu of my past life.
And that smile,
looked similar to the smile Hyeokryeon Mu wore just before he died.
Rustle—
“You fellows are...”
“We have co from the Punishnt Squad, directly under the Young Cult Leader, Hyeokryeon Mu, Hyeokryeon Yeom. Submit to your arrest quietly.”
The ones who appeared silently in the darkness were clad in black armor darker than shadows.
On the hems of the robes they wore, not the red pattern representing the Demonic Cult, but a one-eyed pattern aning only punishnt was engraved.
Directly under the Demonic Cult's Young Cult Leader.
Punishnt Squad.
The idle smile on Hyeokryeon Mu’s face evaporated in an instant.
“...The elder brother has already moved? Liaoning shouldn't even be within the Demonic Cult’s sphere of influence yet.”
In Hyeokryeon Mu’s voice, suppressed anger dwelled along with bewildernt.
Hyeokryeon Geuk’s reach was faster and more persistent than expected.
“To speak of arrest, you have no manners.”
I stepped forward while letting the Blue and Red Twin Swords hang diagonally.
The violet true qi I obtained while absorbing the Heaven Sea Bead just now rose like a haze from beneath my feet.
The man who appeared to be the captain of the Punishnt Squad drew a greatsword while making a cold tallic sound.
“Manners are a luxury for traitors. Hyeokryeon Yeom, you colluded with the barbarians of the North Sea and privately coveted the cult’s sacred objects, and you, Hyeokryeon Mu, used your travels as an excuse to collude with the powers of the Central Plains. The Young Cult Leader's order is to transport you to the Hundred Thousand Mountains even if we have to sever your limbs.”
“...Since when did Hyeokryeon Geuk beco the Young Cult Leader?”
“You don't need to know that.”
I stared at the man at his words.
The timing is too fast.
It seed I would have to figure out what was happening in the Demonic Cult.
Soon, my violet eyes flashed.
Even in my past life, the Punishnt Squad were Hyeokryeon Geuk’s most faithful hunting dogs.
Experts like machines who carry out only their orders without rcy or emotion.
“Go first.”
Words the sa as in the past popped out from Hyeokryeon Mu’s mouth.
I could not let Hyeokryeon Mu and the Punishnt Squad clash like this.
“That will not happen.”
“I will help!”
Seol Ye-rin, Cheon Deung-jin, and Seong Sang-ah, who were watching from behind, tried to run over with their weapons, but I raised my hand and stopped them.
“Stay back. They are the elites of the Demonic Cult. I do not want to involve you in a family fight.”
“Wasn't the Third Young Master an Ice Palace person now?”
Seol Ye-rin spoke with a smile after seeing that.
At those words, I also burst into a chuckle.
“Now that I think about it, you are right.”
Unlike in the past, Seol Ye-rin, Cheon Deung-jin, and Seong Sang-ah were with by my side.
***
Seol Ye-rin tightly gripped the hilt of her ice sword.
The chilling sensation transmitted through her palm instead cald her fluctuating heart.
The crowd in black armor standing in front.
The killing intent emitted by those called the Punishnt Squad of the Demonic Cult was fundantally different from the Twin Venerables she had faced in Hebei or the musicians of the Sound Gathering Pavilion.
It was a chanical battle spirit forged only for destruction, with emotions characteristic of living beings removed.
Are they the Young Cult Leader's hunting dogs?
Seol Ye-rin’s gaze lingered on my back.
The imposing back that was overwhelming the divine beast and his brother while emitting a violet brilliance until just a mont ago.
However, she did not miss the tension felt beyond that back.
I was now facing a massive shackle called the Demonic Cult.
“Wasn't the Third Young Master an Ice Palace person now?”
It was a remark thrown like a joke, but it was sincere.
Seol Ye-rin had no intention of letting be dragged back into the dark and damp shadows of the Demonic Cult again.
The mont I chuckled and nodded, white frost stretched out from beneath Seol Ye-rin’s feet as if exploding.
Ice Flower Full Bloom.
“Young Master, you take that man. I will freeze the underlings so they cannot hold you back.”
Seol Ye-rin swung her ice sword while flying her form.
Every ti the sword tip touched the air, crystals ford and a massive ice flower blood.
Several Punishnt Squad mbers tried to block it by swinging their greatswords, but the ice fragnts harboring Extre Yin Qi were prepared to dig into the gaps in their armor and freeze even their blood vessels.
“My, I can't let Miss Seol be the only one to score points!”
From the side, Cheon Deung-jin joined in while brandishing her fire spirit energy like a whip.
The water vapor generated as the cold frost and hot heat intersected filled the coastal cliff.
Seong Sang-ah was also breaking the combined formation of the Punishnt Squad by flying silver needles at an invisible speed.
Seol Ye-rin saw the sight of clashing with the captain of the Punishnt Squad through the mist.
Every ti the violet lightning collided with the pitch-black demonic qi, an explosion was heard.
Hyeokryeon Mu was joining in there.
Are brothers really brothers after all?
Their brotherly love seed quite deep.
The problem was that the Punishnt Squad did not fear death.
Even if a comrade’s neck was blown away, they did not blink an eye and rushed in, aiming for my and Hyeokryeon Mu’s hearts.
Seol Ye-rin bit her lip and raised the energy of her ice sword even further.
He is the man she chose.
From the day she first t him in the blizzard of the North Sea, she swore to be with him no matter what lay at the end of the path this man took.
Even if the Ice Palace were to beco enemies with the Demonic Cult.
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