Swordless Demonic Path

A figure who appeared to be in his mid-thirties was walking slowly in the back garden of Nokokjang.

The man, who was wearing a blue robe and holding a folding fan in his hand, moved with a leisurely gait, fanning himself.

When he saw a pond, he stopped in front of it for a moment. He showed a satisfied smile as he saw his own face reflected on the surface of the pond.

But the smile soon disappeared.

"I didn't even kill him, so how did this happen?"

Since he had killed Jo Han-yu and Namgung Yu, the Martial Alliance had made him a public enemy.

Although it was a glorious thing, it was not something to be happy about.

'What kind of guy is he?'

He had to find out who had killed Jo Han-yu and Namgung Yu in his place.

But no matter how much he thought about it, only one person came to mind.

'The guy who stabbed me.'

The man showed his killing intent and then started walking again.

Since he had been confined to his room, his mood was relieved only when he came out for a walk like this sometimes.

The man, who had walked a few more steps, stopped walking when he felt a presence.

"Come out."

As his low voice echoed, a young man wearing a black martial arts uniform walked out from the forest.

It was Jin Sa-wol.

"You bastard..."

The man frowned as if he knew Jin Sa-wol's face well. He raised his folding fan to cover his mouth and emitted a strong prayer.

"Your face has changed."

Jin Sa-wol could tell at once that the man in front of him was Yeon Jeok-sim. It was because of the energy he was subtly feeling.

"I heard that Yeon Jeok-sim of the Demonic Cult has mastered the bone-shrinking art and can freely change his face and body. But unfortunately, I heard that he can't become a woman."

"Where did you hear that?"

"The Demonic Cult."

"It seems you know a lot about the Demonic Cult. What's your name?"

"Jin Sa-wol."

Hearing the name Jin Sa-wol, Yeon Jeon-sim nodded as if he had remembered.

It was a name he had heard when he was staying at the inn. But he had never paid attention to it.

He was not so free as to remember the work of a single Slaughter Ghost.

He didn't even care whether Jin Sa-wol lived or died. To the Demonic Cult, Jin Sa-wol was just one of those Slaughter Ghosts.

"I remember hearing it. There's a Slaughter Ghost that the Cult couldn't handle, and his name was Jin Sa-wol. I heard that the Wall Demonic Hall was in charge of handling it, so it was you."

Jin Sa-wol silently grabbed the hilt of his sword. Seeing that, Yeon Jeok-sim laughed in disbelief.

"Hahaha! A mere Slaughter Ghost dares to kill me?"

Yeon Jeok-sim, who had stopped laughing, emitted a strong killing intent and pressed Jin Sa-wol. His pride was hurt by the fact that a mere Slaughter Ghost had come to kill him.

It was a shameful thing that his collarbone had been stabbed by such a worthless guy.

But he did not belittle Jin Sa-wol's martial arts either. Since he had been hit once, he was more cautious.

Jin Sa-wol had an indifferent expression even in the face of Yeon Jeok-sim's killing intent.

"If you had run far away, you would have lived, but the place you barely ran to is such a mountain village. I'm disappointed."

"I ran away? Who dares to kill me? You're a madman. I was going to look for you anyway, but you came on your own. Thanks to you, I've saved myself the trouble of going."

Yeon Jeok-sim had never thought of running away.

Although he was injured, it was enough to heal. He had no intention of leaving far away with the guy who had made his body bleed in front of him.

Yeon Jeok-sim whistled.

-Whistle! Whistle!

As a sharp sound spread in all directions, a short while later, the warriors of the Gwi-pung Pavilion and the Yaksha Hall came over to the back garden. The number seemed to be at least a hundred.

They were all survivors from the inn.

As they saw Jin Sa-wol, they hurriedly drew their swords and sabers.

Jin Sa-wol was about to grab the hilt of his sword, but he stopped. There was no need to draw his sword against Yeon Jeok-sim's subordinates.

"You're still a coward and only your mouth is alive."

It was a sneer at him for putting his subordinates in front. Yeon Jeok-sim could not have not known that.

Yeon Jeok-sim smiled and held his folding fan.

"Remember the comrades who died at that bastard's hands. And think of revenge. Kill him."

"Ugh!"

"Hmph!"

Papapat! Whoosh!

A smile appeared on Jin Sa-wol's face as he saw the Demonic Cult members rushing in with a fierce momentum.

It was a smile full of killing intent.

Immediately after, a translucent red circle was formed around his body like a glass wall.

Clang! Thwack-thwack!

The swords and sabers that had touched the red circle were broken and bounced off.

Yeon Jeok-sim's eyes widened at the visible protective qi.

As Jin Sa-wol's figure moved from side to side, the Demonic Cult members who had touched the circle flew in all directions, vomiting blood from the strong shock.

"Kraak!"

"Uwaaaak!"

Jin Sa-wol, who was inside the circle, moved his two hands from side to side.

Dozens of strangely bent palm shadows moved like a rain of arrows and struck the heads and chests of the Demonic Cult members.

Thwack! Thwack!

As heavy sounds of hitting flesh and screams were rampant, Yeon Jeok-sim could not stand still.

What surprised him more than anything was Jin Sa-wol's palm art.

"Extreme Demonic Palm!"

Yeon Jeok-sim shouted in surprise, jumped forward, and extended one palm into Jin Sa-wol's red qi.

A silver flash flickered, and with a thump! sound, a cloud of dust rose.

Shwaaaak!

A strong wind blew and blew away the dust.

The two were standing, facing each other with their right palms, in the dust.

As Jin Sa-wol's red qi and the silver qi that was wrapped around Yeon Jeok-sim's body met, a strange heat flowed out.

"How did you unfold the Extreme Demonic Palm, which is only allowed in our family? Did you steal it?"

"Is the Demonic Palm the Yeon family's? It's the Demonic Cult's."

"Cut the nonsense and who did you learn it from?"

It was Yeon Jeok-sim, who put more strength into his right palm and took half a step forward.

Jin Sa-wol took half a step back.

Crack!

The ground cracked, and a cloud of dust soared.

Yeon Jeok-sim's huge energy was pushed through the swirling wind and pressed down on Jin Sa-wol.

"I didn't learn it properly, but just imitated it. I was forced to learn dozens of demonic arts when I was young, but I had forgotten them, and thanks to an accident a little while ago, I was able to remember them all."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying."

Jin Sa-wol smiled, used the explosive burst of the True Blood Demonic Art, and put strength into it.

Thump!

In that instant, with a strong flash and a sound of impact, Yeon Jeok-sim's figure was pushed back one zhang.

Yeon Jeok-sim's eyes widened.

He was pushed back in a contest of internal energy!

Cold sweat flowed down his back.

"You have a talent for surprising people."

Yeon Jeok-sim revealed a strong killing intent.

But his head moved differently. He was hesitating whether to retreat now or not.

Although he had outstanding skills to be called the Illusion Demon, his specialty was to transform with the bone-shrinking art and make a surprise attack.

A personality that extremely disliked fighting difficultly, leaving an easy way to kill.

Before, he had enjoyed schemes and killing with a borrowed knife, but the current situation was far from everything he liked.

He turned his gaze and looked around.

His subordinates were far away. He saw dozens of corpses.

The corpses seemed to be telling him to retreat. More than anything, he knew nothing about Jin Sa-wol.

Papapat!

Yeon Jeon-sim quickly turned to Jin Sa-wol's left. It was to see a gap.

In that instant, he saw Jin Sa-wol's hand grabbing the hilt of his sword. As the sword that had pierced his collarbone in the past came to mind, Yeon Jeok-sim swung his folding fan.

Whoosh!

With a strong wind, the sharp wind pressure of the Divine Wind Fan Art descended upon Jin Sa-wol, and a sharp flash flew in.

Papapat!

Since Yeon Jeok-sim had experienced Jin Sa-wol's quick sword, he created dozens of illusions and dodged. But the quick sword flew in the direction he was going, as if it had predicted his movements.

He had to show a movement that surpassed Jin Sa-wol's eyes and ears, but he could not.

If he went to the left, there was sword energy on the left, and if he went to the right, sword energy blocked his front.

Whoosh!

Yeon Jeok-sim, who had flown back a dozen or so zhang and landed on the ground, immediately rushed at Jin Sa-wol, stabbing his folding fan.

"You bastard!"

Shwaaaak!

A strong wind swirled and descended upon Jin Sa-wol. Behind it, countless silver flashes descended upon Jin Sa-wol.

Although the Divine Wind Fan Art and the Silver Demonic Palm flew in together, Jin Sa-wol just smiled as if it were interesting and disappeared with a blurry afterimage.

Papapat! Thump-thump-thump!

As the ground was dug up and a cloud of dust swirled and soared, Jin Sa-wol's figure appeared in the air.

Yeon Jeok-sim, who had raised his head, extended his twin palms as if he had been waiting.

"Take this!"

Flash!

With a huge silver flash, the silver light of the Silver Demonic Palm, which had been raised to its extreme, covered Jin Sa-wol.

Thwack!

Immediately after, Jin Sa-wol's figure multiplied into hundreds and filled the sky.

The one who was surprised was Yeon Jeok-sim.

"Illusionary Demonic Ghost Step?"

It was the Illusionary Demonic Ghost Step that he had only seen once in his life. Even that was only once when he was young, but he remembered it because it was so amazing.

Shwaak!

The Silver Demonic Palm pierced through Jin Sa-wol's afterimage and disappeared in the air.

Yeon Jeok-sim, who was looking at the air with a dumbfounded expression, gritted his teeth as he saw the hundreds of strange palm shadows. It was the Extreme Demonic Palm.

"You insolent bastard!"

It was inevitable that he would get angry when he saw the martial arts of his family. Yeon Jeok-sim extended his twin palms again.

Flash! Thump-thump-thump! Thump!

The area around where Yeon Jeok-sim was standing, a dozen or so zhang, was devastated, the ground exploded, and a cloud of dust soared.

Whoosh!

Yeon Jeok-sim, who had jumped through the dust, had his upper garment all torn and was in a disheveled state.

"Hoo-wook! Hoo-wook! Ugh!"

He, who had vomited a bowl of blood, shook his head as if he were dizzy and staggered.

A ringing sound hit his brain, but after a short while, he returned to normal.

He opened his eyes wide and looked in front. He saw Jin Sa-wol standing three zhang in front.

He put strength into his legs, thinking that he had to retreat, but his qi and blood were blocked, and he could not move.

"Keuk!"

An extreme pain hit his entire body.

Jin Sa-wol stood with his hands behind his back and took a step towards Yeon Jeok-sim.

"I was worried that you might go back to the main headquarters, but you didn't, as expected."

Yeon Jeok-sim did not open his mouth. Right now, it was important to gather even a little bit of internal energy.

On the contrary, he had to be grateful to Jin Sa-wol for giving him time.

"I was busy with the inn, so I didn't have time to train my martial arts. I also had to find out what the martial arts I remember are like, but I couldn't think of a better opponent than you."

Yeon Jeok-sim raised his internal energy, waiting for Jin Sa-wol's story to continue. As a little bit of energy circulated, he let out a long, deep breath.

But as if his pride were hurt by Jin Sa-wol's continued story, he frowned.

Jin Sa-wol's words were that he had seen him as a scarecrow for his martial arts training.

"Barely... did I look like that to you?"

Yeon Jeok-sim revealed his killing intent and extended his right hand to grab Jin Sa-wol.

Jin Sa-wol obediently grabbed his right hand with his left hand.

"For a scarecrow, you're sturdy."

At Jin Sa-wol's answer, a smile hung on Yeon Jeok-sim's lips.

"The Demonic Cult has many demonic arts that you don't know. Among them, there is also the Reverse Skin Demonic Art."

Whoosh!

In that instant, Yeon Jeok-sim's eyes became bloodshot, and his skin also turned red.

The Reverse Skin Demonic Art was a demonic art of mutual destruction that poured out all of one's own to kill the opponent.

A sharp energy like a dagger dug into Jin Sa-wol's left hand through Yeon Jeok-sim's right hand.

It was a type of explosive force, a penetrating force.

By the time the blood vessels in Yeon Jeok-sim's face began to burst, Jin Sa-wol put strength into his right hand.

"I also know."

Thump

(End of Chapter)