Chapter 39- The Dagger in The Bag (10)
Fortunately, as expected, the conversation went well.
No matter how rigid the Righteous sect was, at least they weren’t the type to draw their swords at first sight. Of course, the gatekeepers showed caution when I first appeared.
After explaining the situation from beginning to end, they understood and one of them went inside saying they would call someone. While waiting, I continuously fanned myself with my hand to cool off from the heat.
“You’re having a hard time in this hot weather.”
“Thank you for your consideration, great warrior.”
“How has the academy been recently?”
“Not much different than usual.”
I tried to pass the time by making small talk with the gatekeeper. Although I came here due to accumulated discord, there was no need to turn the entire academy into enemies.
“But it seems to be taking longer than expected.”
“Indeed. It’s about time they returned…”
“Oh, I apologize. I’m late.”
“…?”
Speak of the devil, as they say. As soon as the words ended, a young man with a robust physique appeared from inside the main gate. His age was probably around twenty-five or so.
The substantial impression conveyed by his robust physique revealed that he was no ordinary person. He must be at least a first-class master. Perhaps he was an instructor teaching the disciples.
That’s what I thought for a very brief moment. Until I directly saw the blood on his hands. And for a fleeting moment, intense killing intent rose and disappeared from the young man’s eyes.
Though the killing intent disappeared instantly, I could clearly tell that it was directed not at me but at the gatekeeper. What’s going on? Why is he targeting a member of his own academy?
Questions dominated my mind, but my body was already drawing the sword that I had neatly tucked at my waist. KWANG!! Soon, a thunderous explosion resonated from the main gate.
Unaware that death was approaching right before him, the gatekeeper was just blankly blinking at the sight before him. Even at that moment, my mind was spinning furiously.
“He’s not attacking me, but the gatekeeper. Plus, the blood on his hands… It seems the gatekeeper who went in first has already lost his life.”
“Indeed, your judgment is quick. I suppose that’s how you’ve managed to survive.”
“I’ve figured it out roughly.”
The sudden attack was certainly bewildering, but I immediately understood what that man was aiming for. The reason he persistently targeted the gatekeeper instead of me.
“Were you trying to frame me?”
“It’s not a frame-up. It’s the truth.”
“You’re completely insane. But your plan has already failed.”
“Do you really think so?”
It was certainly a bold strategy, and it would have been quite troublesome if it had succeeded. But I thought it didn’t matter since I had stopped it in the end. Until I felt killing intent from all directions.
“Placing assassins in the academy, you’ve truly lost your mind.”
“Prevention is better than cure. When preparations are thorough, there are no future troubles.”
“…”
It felt like being hit hard on the back of the head with a hammer. The madness of placing assassins who kill people despite the presence of young disciples. And the fiercely rampaging internal energy on top of that.
“You people, you’re from the Evil sect.”
“To see through our identity at a glance. Indeed, the reputation of the Sword Demon is not an exaggeration.”
What are you saying, who’s the Sword Demon?
It seems he’s thoroughly mistaking me for someone else, but I didn’t have the leisure to correct the misunderstanding right now. The killing intent was extending beyond the gatekeeper and reaching me too.
“Are you going to attack all at once… Is that it?”
“I don’t think we can kill you with just this much.”
“Then?”
“At least we can definitely kill that gatekeeper and me. If that happens, you’ll become a madman who came to the academy in broad daylight and killed a gatekeeper and an instructor.”
“Are you willing to sacrifice your own life? You’re completely insane.”
I knew his brain was soaked in madness, but I couldn’t even imagine that he would be crazy enough to put his own life on the line. However, the opponent didn’t respond further.
But judging by the intensifying killing intent, it seems he has completed all preparations. At this critical moment, for some reason, I was recalling the old man’s teachings once again.
[Seeing once is believing than hearing a hundred times. You must be able to completely absorb the techniques and principles of an opponent you’ve encountered once. That is…]
“The qualification of the Sword Demon, the immovable path that I have chosen.”
“What nonsense…?!”
For the first time in my life, I remember the formidable opponent I fought a life-and-death battle with. A monster whose power was real despite being consumed by magic. I remember that sword energy and recreate it here and now.
Rain becomes a stream, a stream becomes a river, and a river finally advances to the vast sea.
The dragon that has grown through experiencing the entire cycle leaves the sea, ascends to the sky, and brings rain.
Righteous Dragon Flying Stream Sword Technique.
The sword energy of unity in offense and defense was reproduced once again in this place.
◇
Sword Demon 劍魔.
The martial artists simply remember him as a monster who repeatedly carried out indiscriminate slaughter against the righteous sect. But in fact, he did not commit indiscriminate slaughter.
Rather, he was the only martial artist who first noticed the evil hands of the Evil sect and took action. If he had truly been a massacre maniac obsessed with slaughter, he would have massacred innocent civilians as well.
However, the Sword Demon thoroughly executed only individuals related to the Evil sect. Not just based on conjecture, but like a lie, he killed only those who belonged to or converted to the Evil sect.
At that time, more than 70 percent of the Evil sect’s comrades lost their lives at the hands of the Sword Demon, and the damage had not been fully recovered even now, decades later.
Originally, the Evil sect’s plan was to openly reveal themselves and proudly spread the ideology of the Evil sect throughout the world. However, due to the existence of the Sword Demon, they had to modify that plan.
‘Indeed, I cannot deny his martial prowess and achievements. A monster who pushed our master’s plan back by several decades…’
Lee Kang-hui himself was a genuinely talented martial artist who reached the first-class realm at the age of twenty-five, but even he could not help but be overwhelmed by the Sword Demon’s majesty.
Having been born and raised in the Evil sect, he knows that there are formidable individuals in the Evil sect whom someone like him cannot even approach. The Evil sect is a place that strictly follows the logic of power.
According to the law of survival of the fittest, the strong rise to the top, while the weak are eliminated. In other words, it means that the current martial arts world, steeped in peace and merely engaging in games, is not even worth being an opponent.
[Can’t the current Evil sect conquer the martial arts world and establish a new heaven?]
[That’s uncertain.]
[Why is that?]
[Because we haven’t confirmed the Sword Demon’s corpse yet.]
As mentioned earlier, the Evil sect strictly adhered to the logic of power. In other words, it meant acknowledging the power and martial prowess of the Sword Demon who unilaterally drove back the Evil sect.
Therefore, the Evil sect held its breath and postponed its plans for the future. So that one day, they could defeat the Sword Demon or an opponent of his caliber with power. They hid in the shadows and continuously built up their strength.
[Power is not just about fighting mindlessly. Using people in the right places and utilizing enemies can also be considered power.]
[You speak weak words. Do you think the Evil sect would acknowledge such trickery?]
[It seems you’ve forgotten that it was thanks to that mere trickery that we were able to drive away the Sword Demon. Those who do not learn from history have no future.]
Naturally, this would have been a meaningless statement before the Sword Demon, but ultimately, the reason the Evil sect was able to inflict a fatal wound on the Sword Demon was because of the joint attack using the Righteous sect at that time.
Unable to deny that fact, the Evil sect chose to blend into both the Righteous and Unorthodox sects to use them. In preparation for the possible reappearance of the Sword Demon.
Lee Kang-hui, too, was essentially someone influenced by the Evil sect’s logic of worshipping power. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t feel the necessity of the latter. Rather, he became more convinced recently.
‘For the sake of the Evil sect as well… I will bury the Sword Demon here and now.’
For that, Lee Kang-hui was willing to gladly sacrifice even his life. To repay those who took in and trusted him, a mere abandoned illegitimate child in his youth.
‘The assassins I kept in reserve just in case are proving helpful. Due to that old man’s keen intuition, I could only prepare the three most skilled, but… This should be sufficient.’
Three assassins who could conceal their presence against a supreme master, ranking among the highest in the Evil sect. In addition, Lee Kang-hui himself, who reached the first-class realm at the age of twenty-five.
Of course, he didn’t think he could kill the Sword Demon with just this much force. However, if he sacrificed his own life, he could at least create enough of an opening to frame him.
That’s what he thought.
Until he witnessed his blue sword energy, burning like a flame, sending back all the assassins’ concealed weapons. It was just one strike. He just swung his sword once.
The assassins nurtured with all the effort of the Evil sect, not just one but three at once, lost their lives. And by their own concealed weapons that they had thrown.
[The Sword Demon was the strongest enemy the Evil sect first encountered.]
[We must exercise extreme caution. There’s a slight chance that the Sword Demon might still be alive.]
[There’s only one thing we can do after being pushed back from the logic of power.]
‘So that’s why the Evil sect was so wary of the Sword Demon.’
A power that completely negates the existing strength, literally a power close to omnipotence. With the sword energy that eventually approached right before him, Lee Kang-hui’s consciousness was cut off.
