Emotionless.
Namgung Zhao, who had been showing various emotions like anger, lamentation, and inferiority, was instantly bleached. Like a person made of wax, he was indifferent and also quiet.
Though it was like a water surface without ripples, to Namgung Cheonghwi, that calmness seemed more threatening than a rough storm.
He had experienced it. That calm lake had no end to its depth, was heavier than the same volume of iron, and was an abyss that instantly pulled down swimmers.
“……”
Blood Qi overflowed.
The Blood Cult’s secret technique bombarded Namgung Zhao’s body, forcing its purpose onto the Heavenly Demon. Use that powerful strength to kill people, steal blood, and make the Blood Cult prosper.
The Blood Cult alone is your ally, and all others are mere prey. Dye the world red and open a blood history that will last for ten thousand years──
“How crude.”
The Heavenly Demon looked down blankly at the Demonic Descent Divine Art (魔降神術) in his hand, then lightly applied force. As if to say he wouldn’t allow it to invade him. Rip.
The evil Blood Cult’s secret technique was cut into thousands of pieces and scattered.
The Heavenly Demon, having undone the chains that bound him, seemed to be pondering what to do next. He found that answer from the body he was possessing.
“Is it your wish to become the Clan Lord of the Namgung Clan? I shall grant it.”
“……”
The Heavenly Demon chose the fastest and most accurate method he could perform.
“If you kill all the Namgungs and remain alone, you will become the Clan Lord.”
“──I will not allow that!”
Clang!
Namgung Cheonghwi rang out his sword cry and drew the Heavenly Demon’s attention. He turned to look at Cheonghwi. Just that alone felt like being stripped naked.
Under the shining moonlight, a heavy silence fell, and Namgung Cheonghwi swallowed dryly. In the tension that made it hard to breathe, Cheonghwi used all his consciousness to grasp the Heavenly Demon’s movements.
The Blood Qi wrapped around his body flickered like a candle flame and was gradually diminishing.
Accordingly, Namgung Zhao’s body was also dying. His muscles were falling away, his complexion was fading, and his whole body was becoming emaciated so quickly it was visible to the naked eye.
When that candle flame burns out completely, the Heavenly Demon will leave the body.
How long would it take? Half a kè1 ? Or one shíchén2 ? He didn’t know. But even with just a little time, the Heavenly Demon could turn the Namgung Clan into a bloody mess and more.
So this was a battle of attrition.
Namgung Cheonghwi’s mission was to keep the Heavenly Demon in this forest.
“Hyaaaah──!!”
Cheonghwi leaped in with a single sword.
===============================================================
The boy strikes from above to below. He considers it deeply.
He foresees hundreds of derivatives, cutting off the crude and useless branches. Then he blocks the ends of the branches one by one.
If it comes with butterfly-like changes, he blocks it by pulling and inserting like a mantis; if it rushes like a storm, he folds the sail and calmly lets it pass; if it presses down like rigid iron, he returns it using weight like a seesaw.
After going through the repetitive process of blocking all possibilities, there is no path left but victory.
The Heavenly Demon shook his hand.
Crack──
“Urgh……”
Namgung Cheonghwi’s arm bone broke from the short punch. Though Cheonghwi’s face contorted from the intense pain, he endured it and continued his attack.
That too was within the Heavenly Demon’s range of expectations. The Heavenly Demon smoothly changed his body posture. This way, Cheonghwi’s blade would pass by, barely grazing his shoulder. The attack misses.
Namgung Cheonghwi felt a chill down his spine from the eerie sense of crisis.
A follow-up attack will come. Should I focus on defense? No, defense would be useless. Then should I continue attacking? No, he will dodge it.
In the vagueness of feeling that nothing would work, Cheonghwi brought out the maximum change. He must follow the Heavenly Demon’s changes. He must make moves that he cannot anticipate. If he doesn’t change, he’ll die!
Cheonghwi shot an Ignition with his remaining arm. That single move contained the subtlety of Fa Jin, the movement like a swinging salamander tail, and the swiftness of Battōjutsu.
But it was read.
Thud, thud.
With the Heavenly Demon’s two short strikes, the Ignition passed by the Heavenly Demon’s neck, and Cheonghwi’s body was left wide open defensively. The Heavenly Demon’s hand slowly flew towards his heart.
Thousand Catty Weight.
Namgung Cheonghwi put weight on his upper body while flexibly bending his knees. Then he laid his body almost parallel to the ground to avoid the Heavenly Demon’s attack. It was the Iron Plate Bridge Movement Technique.
As Cheonghwi was about to follow up with a kick, a foot flew into his view. As if anticipating he would lower his posture to dodge, it was a Kicking Technique shot from the distant past.
Cheonghwi squeezed his eyes shut.
Thwack──!!
“Kuk…!”
Namgung Cheonghwi’s body floated and flew away. Only after rolling three times could he barely stand up, with blood continuously flowing from his nose and his head spinning.
The Heavenly Demon stood calmly without a single wound.
Clouds flowed to cover the moonlight, and pitch-black night came to the forest. Cheonghwi tore his clothes and tightly bound his broken arm. A stinging pain rose sharply.
“…Cough, cough. Huu……”
The Heavenly Demon didn’t deliver the finishing blow.
If he had kicked with all his Inner Qi, Namgung Cheonghwi’s head would have burst like a watermelon just now. But he didn’t do that.
Cheonghwi vaguely understood that this was the result of pursuing efficiency.
To win perfectly without variables with 100% probability. Steadily, like tearing off an insect’s limbs one by one. That’s how he was fighting mechanically.
“…So until all my limbs are broken. The fight will not end. Is that right?”
No answer came.
Cheonghwi stepped into the darkness. Only one arm had been taken so far. If a limb flies off every time he’s cornered, he can clash three more times.
Even if he dies here…
“You shall end in this forest.”
He will not let him go beyond this point.
===============================================================
Clang──!!
After the seventh clash, the sword broke in half.
“Kueok…, huu, heuk, uweeek……”
Namgung Cheonghwi gripped the broken sword and lay prone, spitting out a handful of blood. His left arm had broken three times, turning into a ridiculous shape and angle, and there wasn’t a single unscathed part on his entire body.
The Blood Qi enveloping Namgung Zhao’s body had visibly diminished greatly, but it was still not enough. He was still the Heavenly Demon.
Cheonghwi’s vision was blurry. Images doubled and merged repeatedly. Even standing up was a struggle.
Overexerting his trembling muscles, he barely managed to stand on the ground by pulling together all his knowledge of how to move his body. However, if he relaxed his concentration even a little, it felt like he would collapse right there.
Could he even swing a sword in this state?
The Heavenly Demon was still looking at Namgung Cheonghwi indifferently. He was a living infinity, and no matter how much Cheonghwi changed and followed, he couldn’t keep up with that speed.
Martial arts (形) didn’t work, and his body (形) was also in tatters.
All that remained was his heart (意).
“……”
Swish. The wind blew.
Clouds passing through the sky flowed leisurely, revealing the moon that had been hidden. Warm moonlight settled on Cheonghwi’s head.
Only the heart remains.
There was a realization that seemed to brush his hand, tantalizing him. It was merely circling around because there was no vessel to contain it. Namgung Cheonghwi needed something to hold this realization.
What flashed through his mind was the story of the Emperor Sword Form (帝王劍形).
There were no Sword Marks (形) in the Namgung Clan’s secret chamber. Without a single trace of cutting, only a beautiful flower garden was there.
Namgung Chaegong had been greatly disappointed seeing this and thought it meaningless, but wasn’t that absence… containing a great meaning (意)?
The Heavenly Demon raised his hand to finish it.
The opponent was the Heavenly Demon (天魔), one who calculated all possibilities and produced the optimal solution. He was infinite and uncatchable. If that was the case…
To face infinity, one must be infinite.
“To cut the sky……”
Either the blade must be as large as the sky, or…
“I must use the sky as a blade……”
Namgung Cheonghwi gripped the broken sword with both hands and raised it. As if about to strike down greatly at any moment, he held it high above his head.
Whether the blade was there or not didn’t matter. It was better without it. He simply filled the void with everything.
Past wounds, the pain of struggle, the joy of conquest, family affection, the weight of promises, all the meanings that had brushed past him until now, he extended infinitely.
Unlike the Heavenly Demon who reached infinity from martial arts (形), he reached infinity from the heart (意).
────.
The Heavenly Demon’s steps halted.
It was a fight that would end if he took ten steps forward and stabbed the neck, but his feet wouldn’t move. Only the level of danger was rising steeply.
That was just a dying boy. His skill was shallow, and he dared not be a match for himself. The changes he extended were only a tiny part, which could be broken without consuming much computational power.
But what was that? Clearly, he was just taking an upper stance with a broken body.
However, it seemed like it could become anything. If shaken off from below to above, it seemed like it would strike down like lightning. If thrust from side to side, it seemed like it would crush down.
It seemed like no attack would work. The Heavenly Demon pondered all sorts of changes to find a way out, but it continued in a parallel manner like parallel lines.
The Heavenly Demon, faced with infinity, stopped moving to counter the infinite possibilities.
Weaving infinity with the heart; it was the aura of an emperor pressing down so that no one in the world would dare act rashly. There was no need to swing, just the Sword Form (劍形) alone was enough.
Metamorphosis (羽化).
“『Emperor Sword Form (帝王劍形)』.”
Namgung Cheonghwi decided to make that the vessel of his heart.
Kuuuuung──!!
An invisible force pressed down in all directions. The Heavenly Demon staggered under the pressure coming from all directions, like the weight of the sky becoming a large hand and gripping him. He muttered.
“…Emperor Sword Form, you say?”
Cheonghwi also couldn’t escape the weight of the sky. He became a pillar connecting heaven and earth, gritting his teeth and enduring. Screams could be heard from all the joints in his body, but his heart was free and overflowing.
I can do it. I can achieve it!
Thud.
The Heavenly Demon takes a step with difficulty. His body squirms. The monster handling infinity was still constantly changing his movements and creating breakthroughs even in this situation. However, it was slow.
The Heavenly Demon’s brain was working at an unprecedented speed, but despite that, it was slow. In a space that seemed like time had slowed down, the Heavenly Demon reached out his hand, but──
Thud.
The Heavenly Demon’s knee wobbled and buckled.
Time was up.
Void of even the sound of crickets chirping, the moonlit night’s match ended quietly.
Cheonghwi gripped the sky and endured its weight, while the Heavenly Demon had used up all the time given to him to face the sky.
“…How interesting.”
The Heavenly Demon left those final words and disappeared. The overflowing Blood Qi finally extinguished. Namgung Zhao’s emaciated body collapsed as it was.
At the same time. Namgung Cheonghwi also closed his eyes and fainted.
A small smile hung on the fallen Cheonghwi’s lips. He had protected his family.
===============================================================
On a warm, sunny day, Namgung Cheonghwi was about to leave through the main gate of the Namgung Clan with his packed belongings. As he stood on the threshold, looking back for a moment, a young boy’s voice held him back.
“Hyungnim Cheonghwi, are you leaving?”
“Yes. I mean… yes.”
“You’re going on a long journey. It hasn’t even been that long since you became family… This is too much.”
“What can I do when I have a prior engagement? I agreed to a match, so I cannot just back out on my own… And perhaps I might even find a potential bride.”
A potential bride!
Namgung Myeong, with sparkling eyes, was about to jump up and ask all sorts of questions about this bride candidate, but he cleared his throat and maturely suppressed his curiosity.
Right, a man might need to leave home to pursue love. Namgung Myeong cast away his inner disappointment and filled that empty space with support.
“Please make sure to introduce her to me!”
“I shall. If things go well, in addition to the potential bride… I shall introduce you to my elder brother too.”
“Hyungnim’s Hyungnim?”
“He has a nasty temper, but he’s a good person.”
How did one act to be a good person with a nasty temper? Namgung Myeong’s face was tinged with confusion. Seeing this, Cheonghwi laughed heartily.
It was time to leave now. He probably wouldn’t be able to see them for a long time. Because after finishing his match with Luna, he planned to head to the Redburn family.
He would properly face his bloodline and end everything. Having achieved Metamorphosis, there was nothing to fear.
“Take care… I shall be back soon.”
“Yes. By then, I might have grown so much… I might even be taller than you, Hyungnim! I’ll be an excellent Clan Lord, so please don’t come back too late!”
“Alright. I’ll look forward to it.”
Namgung Cheonghwi stepped out of the gate completely, carrying a single bundle.
He took one last look at Namgung Myeong waving his hand, then turned his back and left. It would be a quite long, arduous journey home, but he wasn’t afraid. How could a man of principle hesitate once he’s made up his mind?
The receding figure of Namgung Cheonghwi gradually shrank to the size of a millet seed, then suddenly vanished like a phantom.
===============================================================
On a beautiful moonlit night, Luna and Envers faced each other with drawn swords.
“You seem, changed.”
“Is that so? I am glad you noticed.”
Envers was wrapped in confidence from head to toe. Luna tilted her head slightly at his quite different appearance and asked.
“Confident, are you?”
“Let me tell you in advance, I have completed my Metamorphosis. If you think of the old me, you will be in for a big surprise. Or you can admit defeat now if you like. I do not wish to hurt you…”
Luna straightened her middle finger and extended it to the boastful Envers. It meant “Fuck off”.
Envers laughed loudly at this, and Luna also hung a piece of smile at the corner of her mouth. As the atmosphere ripened like this, the match naturally began.
“I shall show you the Absolute Move of Namgung Cheonghwi.”
“…Your, name. Envers.”
“Take this! As it is a martial art that even drove out the Heavenly Demon!”
“Such boasting.”
Long words were unnecessary. From the start, they both showed everything they had and clashed. As their bodies crossed──
Zzzzzzt. Static noise interrupted.
===============================================================
Suddenly the video went black, and the Magic Tower Master, who couldn’t see the important kiss scene, went berserk.
“Ah! AHHHHHHH!! Video! Why isn’t the video coming out!”
“Ack! Don’t hit me, Tower Master, no, this… His Metamorphosis is like a DDoS attack, so the observation equipment has gone dead, I can’t do anything, ack!”
Consecutive Yuna Punches rain down on the Crazy Wizard’s back. Thump thump thump thump thump.
“Fix it! Fix it!”
“No wait, hitting me won’t fix it, okay?! Pink-Haired Lesbian, stop her… Where are you going?”
“I am going to watch directly. If the equipment is dead, can’t we just observe with our own eyes?”
“…!! I want to go watch directly too!”
Crash Bang. Those hungry for others’ romance rushed out of the laboratory. The Crazy Wizard heaved a deep sigh at this commotion, then ran out after the Magic Tower Master and Pink-Haired Lesbian who had left first.
You can’t miss a kiss scene, after all!
1. 15 minutes2. 2 hours