126 - Sichuan, China (17) - The Heaven-Slaying Sword

An overwhelmingly rich scent fills the lungs to the brim. It was fishy, salty, sweet. A dizzying muddling of one’s senses, akin to being intoxicated by a drug. Mok Riwon’s eyelashes fluttered delicately. "Ah…." "Why, do you find joy in the smell of blood?" Dang Sageuk chuckled hoarsely. It went unheard. Mok Riwon was simply overwhelmed by the scent of blood that besieged his mind. ‘I mustn’t….’ Beware the urge to kill. Stay away from blood. Stand righteous through alliance. The teachings heard from his master were always etched within him. They were deep and solid teachings, engraved like in stone, hence they never faded away…. ‘I mustn’t….’ Yet, it was fading little by little. A buzzing sound echoed in his head. His vision blurred. Even so, his senses sharpened to their utmost. Mok Riwon intensified his grip. "Look, you are nothing but a beast, easily swayed by mere blood." He tried to dull his senses to shake off the rising pleasure. "Do you think you can keep struggling like that forever? No. You’re a rookie who hasn’t even been in the martial world for a year. That means, greater dangers than this lie ahead of you." Dang Sageuk’s words were interfering. Click— He grabbed Mok Riwon by the collar. Pushed his face forward. "To think, you, not even a year in, go mad over the scent of blood, how long can you hide your true nature in this forest that feeds on it?" Focusing… "Look. No matter how much you talk about alliance or justice, in the end, you are merely a killer…" …it was an interference. Screech— "Gack?!" So, let’s clear this first, then earnestly return to focusing. * There was no pain. His body, already consumed by demonic energy, converted pain into vitality. Yet, it didn’t mean there was no cost. Dang Sageuk saw his arm shoot up into the sky. The hand that was attached to his wrist until just moments ago. ‘…I didn’t see it.’ A body that couldn’t sense chi. It was a much larger weakness than Dang Sageuk had imagined. Luckily, he didn’t receive any more hits. Though worn out, his body, having lived in the martial world for a long time, instinctively moved faster than he could think. Dang Sageuk looked at Mok Riwon with sunken eyes. He simply stood there. Doing nothing, just blankly, lazily gazing up at the sky. Empty. Amidst such thoughts, Mok Riwon’s blood-red pupils rolled towards Dang Sageuk. Right after, Mok Riwon’s figure blurred. Without the aid of chi flow, Dang Sageuk raised his arm purely based on his visual sense to follow the movement. Clang! Demonic energy collided with the sword, inflicting greater damage to it. Creak— The already half-broken sword suffered even more cracks from the prior exchange. But, Dang Sageuk had no room to take joy in it. Crunch! Mok Riwon gripped the newly severed wrist of his tightly, causing blood to spray out like a fountain. "Yourrrrrr name!!!" Cheon Dok Sa made his move. Silently creeping from Mok Riwon’s blind spot, it sprung up from beneath his feet. Yet, Mok Riwon instinctively knew, using Dang Sageuk’s body as a support, and leaped backward. "Cough…!" Cheon Dok Sa bit the air. As Dang Sageuk gripped his wrist to stop the blood, he looked at Mok Riwon. "Haah…." Mok Riwon, rubbing the blood on his face with his hands, exhaled a hot breath. His lips twisted mischievously. His eyes curved into crescent moons. He was utterly consumed by his murderous nature. An oddly profound emotion surged. Despite the clear difference in their levels and the vast gap in their strength, facing those eyes, Dang Sageuk found himself contemplating his own death. There was no other reason. It was merely the survival instinct of prey screaming. Facing a predator. Yet, Dang Sageuk was not afraid. "Kehehe…!" He just laughed. ‘Alliance, what a joke!’ So evident was the stark thirst for killing, even a body that couldn’t sense chi could feel it. Tap, tap. Mok Riwon tapped the cracked sword tip on the ground. The sand leapt up. After cackling at Dang Sageuk, Mok Riwon licked the blood off his fingertips, then disappeared from the spot. "Behind you!" Cheon Dok Sa was circled behind. A venomous snake with rising scales of energy completely blocked Mok Riwon’s attack. Shrieeeek! As his head turned, Dang Sageuk relished seeing the blade split in two. It was a short-lived delight. Thud, Mok Riwon snatched the blade hanging in mid-air and threw it at Dang Sageuk. Dang Sageuk hastily raised his arm without a hand, and the blade dug into his forearm. It wasn’t painful. Nor was it an unpleasant feeling. "Behold!" Dang Sageuk burst into laughter, controlling Cheon Dok Sa. He charged at Mok Riwon. "In the end, you're a killing fiend!" Mok Riwon dodged the swung fist. And reached out with his hand. Crack— With his fingers thrust into his own empty eye sockets, he pulled forward and smashed his face with his knee. Cheon Dok Sa pushed Dang Sageuk towards the open mouth. Even while being pushed, Dang Sageuk exclaimed. "The attack is vicious!" As Dang Sageuk turned Cheon Dok Sa's head with a back kick, Mok Riwon cut his Achilles tendon with the remaining half of his sword. Then crushed his knee with the hilt of the sword. "In the end! It’s power that is right!" At the moment when Dang Sageuk tried to wield Cheon Dok Sa again, Mok Riwon swung his sword as if swatting a fly. It was a strike born purely for the efficiency of killing, devoid of form or style. Screech— Dang Sageuk’s ankle was completely severed. The onslaught continued to be one-sided. Martial arts, mental state, experience, power difference. All of it paled in insignificance. Just being torn, smashed, and slashed. Even using the principle of counterattacking with a delayed move to predict the next strike was impossible. It was impossible to restrict movement by taking attacks with one's body. Because there was no technical form to his movements. The killing moves instinctively learned by a slaughterer were not something human martial arts could contend with. Screech— An ear is sliced off. Screech— A nose is cut. Screech— The skin under the armpits, above the thighs, and on the cheeks starts to get peeled off like thin sheets. Crunch— The windpipe is crushed and burst. Dang Sageuk, feeling no pain, merely cataloged these facts. He looked at Mok Riwon with a burst of laughter. As if this act was merely a game he was enjoying. The pleasure he purely imagined. A smile so wide it could tear his mouth. "Kuh, hahaha…." Screech— The vocal cords were gouged out. Breathing was obstructed. Yet, it wasn't death. Somehow avoiding the arteries, the sword managed only to gouge out the vocal cords. Thus, Dang Sageuk laughed. "Look Mok Seon-o. Where is your principle in that figure?" He laughed, proving his own right. Laughed because this slaughterer’s further frenzy proved Mok Seon-o wrong. "Principles are mere mirages, illusory." Even as he was toyed with, his limbs, meridians, and Danjeon all being shattered. He couldn't help but laugh. "In the end, only power is provable." Now, a silent laughter continued, and the slaughterer seemed finally bored with the game. Thud— Dang Sageuk sprawled on the ground. Mok Riwon yawned loudly. His face, once filled with interest, now bore only boredom, and his kicking at Dang Sageuk was filled with annoyance. "Cut." He mouthed the word. To die. To lose. Such concepts did not exist. He was anyway destined to die the moment he overexerted his demonic energy. The moment he awakened as a slaughterer, he was bound to flee. So, there was no regret. He had achieved what he wanted to prove. "Cut." The slaughterer murmured, looking at his lips, then lifted the remaining half of his sword. "Cut." As it was about to fall, thinking it's the end, at that moment. Pause— Mok Riwon’s body hesitated. Dang Sageuk’s expression became vacant. "Ssss…" He tried to shout, but with no vocal cords, only a hissing of air came out. He tried to crawl towards the sword, but his meridians were all severed. Dang Sageuk's face twisted gruesomely. 'What are you doing!' Why hesitate? Why not enjoy it as before? 'Why!' Why frown? Only the sound of hissing air remained. Nothing reached him. Even then, Mok Riwon’s hesitation grew deeper. Now, even stepping back hesitantly. And, eventually. "...Ah." His eyes welled up. Running down his cheeks were tears. Dang Sageuk was enraged. 'Yourrrrrr name!!!' Don’t make me laugh. This isn’t the end I threw my life away for. [You're supposed to kill!] Dang Sageuk exhausted what little power he had left trying to send a message. It seemed to reach, as Mok Riwon’s body shuddered. But the response was not as he wished. "...I refuse." Thud— Mok Riwon threw the sword to the ground. His hands were trembling horrendously. Whether trying to wipe the blood from his face or something else, he rubbed his face raw with his sleeve. And he stepped back again. "...I shall not do it." Regret was felt. A choked sob was felt. That drove Dang Sageuk even madder. [A slaughterer! Now of all times! Unable to finish it!] Dang Sageuk squeezed out more power. He forcibly lifted his body through chi flow. Blood poured out even more with the movement. Ignoring that, he reached out. To grasp his sword, to complete the slaughterer, to prove. But, it was impossible. Thump— His body collapsed before that could happen. Dang Sageuk looked at his melting arm with a sense of futility. "Ah, this is…." The transcendent poison ravaged his body. Due to the demonic energy, the pain vanished, leaving no bodily warnings heeded. It was an expected conclusion. Drip, drop— As his body melted away like mucilage soaked in acid, Dang Sageuk raised his head to look at Mok Riwon. In the figure sitting collapsed and weeping, there was no trace of the previous malice to be found. ‘I…!’ Should have been right. This isn’t right. Even as he mentally repeats this and extends his foot. Thunk— His body just falls onto the melted flesh. Arms and legs vanished. His waist melted, and shoulders turned mushy. He could no longer take even a single step forward. "I will not... become a slaughterer…!" Mok Riwon mumbles something. Dang Sageuk felt the end. Only then did the rapid flashes of his life come. Ironically, the scene it illuminated was just one. "Father! Not Hwa-seo, please!" "Chief! Please!" He sees his son and daughter-in-law. What had he done that day? Dang Sageuk contemplates with effort. ‘…I.’ Declared I was right. Said I would eradicate the wrong. Deemed them swallowed by the sin of false principles, relentlessly refusing to bend their will, and overlooked their death. So. Having gone that far. ‘I should be right….’ Drip, drop— His body melts away. Below the neck melts, then the jaw dissolves. Dang Sageuk felt his vision going dark. Only at life’s end. ‘Was I….’ He. ‘…right?’ He harbored a belated doubt. * There wasn't a dramatic trigger. Merely in the moment intending to swing down the sword, a stop was put. And amidst the confusion of the all-consuming urge to kill shaking his entire being, Dang Sageuk melted away. Thump—thump— His heart races. The sensation at his fingertips, still not shaken off, vibrates through his body. His eyes were so hot, the whole world appeared red. It was the moment when his mind went blank at the thought of crossing a point of no return. "...Mok Xiao-he?" From behind, far in the distance, Dang Hwa-seo's voice was heard. Mok Riwon was startled, unconsciously lifting his head. "...!" His eyes met Dang Hwa-seo's.