Ch 200

Chapter 200 – Variable (2)

Blood Demon?

What new nonsense was this?

This was a variable I didn’t expect.

I questioned the man, who was breathing roughly.

“I am So Wonhwi, the disciple of South Heavenly Swordsman. I was on my way here after the orders for the ambush were given to me by Elder Man Jong. Please let me know more.”

Hearing my words, the man’s eyes shone.

“Second… Second New Star…”

“You were attacked? The Blood Demon is in the official’s building, though.”

Of course, this was a lie.

The real Blood Demon was standing in front of him. However, the man looked shocked, as if he could not understand my words. His next breath made his body convulse.

“Ughhhhh”

“Look here!”

No matter how much I pushed my qi into him, nothing worked.

Ultimately, he breathed his last and left me unsure what to do.

-What will you do? Someone is pretending to be you.

I wonder if someone was pretending to be me or if these people misunderstood.

However, I cannot let myself be blamed for something I didn’t do. I retraced his steps and walked, following the drops of blood.

-…

-…

Soon after, countless voices of metal filled my ear.

Warriors of the Jeonjin Sect used swords as their weapons for generations. Short Sword then spoke to me seriously.

-Wonhwi. The swords are wailing

I heard them too.

The swords were wailing while calling their masters by their names. It seems that many lives have been lost not far from here. I hurriedly used light footwork to close the distance.

Chachang!

The sound of weapons colliding clearly filled the air as I approached the source through the bushes. There, I saw a bloody tragedy.

Bodies of members of the Jeonjin Sect were scattered all over the forest. It was a massacre as most were cut in half or dead.

The flesh and blood all around the clearing made me frown.

-Look, Wonhwi!

A short distance away, I saw seven warriors from the Jeonjin Sect locked in combat with a certain person while maintaining their formation.

Their outfits were different from the other warriors I saw on the way. Judging by the movement of their swords, they seemed to be first-class disciples.

‘Is that the Seven Star Sword formation?’

The formation the Jeonijn Sect warriors held reminded me of the Big Dipper constellation.

Befitting one of the four great sects of the Justice Faction, they showed power on par with a highly-experienced warrior.

But their opponent was no normal warrior.

Their opponent was strong enough to deal with them without falling into the trap. Every single swing of his sword fell right where it should.

-Wonhwi. The mask that one is wearing is… ugh.

It was similar to mine.

The person attacking them was wearing a bamboo hat and a demon mask. In addition, the sword that the person showed was similar to the Blood Demon Sword, as its blade was red.

-What is this?

‘…That is not because of the Blood Arts.’

He was using a sword literally dyed red. Yet, with just that much, it was clear what this person was trying to do.

He was pretending to be the Blood Demon by imitating what the world knew about me.

-What will you do?

I wasn’t sure of this man’s identity, but I knew he was plotting something. For now, I needed to join the fighting warriors and reveal him to be a fake.

Even if I went to war against the Murim Alliance in the future, I don’t want to be framed for something I didn’t do.

Pat!

Having made the decision, I moved towards the fight.

Chachachak!

“Kuak!”

“Ack!”

“Ugh!”

In an instant, three of the warriors in the formation had been bisected.

Swish!

Their opponent was someone that could easily deal with all of them.

His movement was so swift that it almost blurred.

This meant that he was simply playing with them.

Shhh!

I used the Wind Shadow Steps.

I had to prevent the man from taking down the rest of the disciples of the Jeonjin Sect, who were still screaming their defiance.

Chang!

His fake red sword collided with my Iron Sword. At that moment, a strong wind blew between us.

Papapapak!

I ended up being pushed back by 10 steps. Although I was able to block his sword with just my lower dantian, I didn’t expect him to have such strong internal qi.

I urgently shouted to the disciples behind me.

“I am So Wonhwi, the South Heavenly Swordsman’s disciple. Now, get out!”

“S-second New Star!”

Upon knowing my identity, their faces brightened but also became dark. It must be because they realized how much had been sacrificed.

One of the disciples then said.

“He is the Blood Demon! We will help!”

This was insane.

He was the fake Blood Demon, but the moment he said that name, it was no longer possible for me to claim otherwise.

Instead, it would be better to just stumble into the real facts.

“Instead of that, just run! Better call for help! Hurry!”

Hearing my cry, all four of them hesitated as if they were unsure. Still, it felt nice to see them act out according to the justice of their sect.

At that moment, the fake spoke up.

“I will let you go. Go now.”

His voice was thick as if he was forcibly making it sound strange.

This fake bastard’s attitude was as if he was willing to show mercy to the surviving disciples, making them look even more pitiful.

“You evil tainted bastard!”

In the end, those disciples could not withstand the shame and rushed forward, making the fake Blood Demon shake his head.

He was about to block the disciple’s sword, but I blocked it midway.

Clang!

Papapaal!

As soon as I clashed with him, both of us were pushed back again.

“Do not be foolish and move!”

“But our sahyung and sajaes are dead….”

These people really don’t listen.

I briefly thought of letting one or two more die. Still, fortunately, another disciple stopped him and began shouting at them to run.

“Just hold on for a little while! We will return with our master!”

No, you don’t have to come back.

The fake Blood Demon showed mercy to them and was now waiting with his sword in hand. His gaze was directed at the sword in my hand.

“South Iron Sword.”

Since I had given out my identity at the start, this much was expected. What he said next, however, was unexpected.

“You learned from the dead?”

He spoke as if he knew about it. I raised my sword and pointed at him.

“What nonsense is this?”

“You should know well what I am speaking about, though?”

Unlike his cruel hands, his words felt so cultured.

Who was he?

I didn’t even open my mid dantian, but I could feel his strength. His right arm then moved slightly.

At that moment, I rushed forward and raised my sword horizontally.

Clangggg!

The sound of our blades clashing rang in my ears. The man stood in front of me as our swords clashed.

The force was enough to hurt my hands.

“Amazing. You crossed the wall. How did that happen?”

He noticed everything about my body with just one clash. He was clearly telling me that he had also crossed the wall.

Until now, no one could deduce that exactly about me except for the Eight Great Warriors.

Drrrrr!

The clash made our swords tremble as he stared at me.

“Is it because of the martial arts, you know?”

He was thoroughly analyzing me.

I knew that I could not let this continue.

I closed my left eye, opened my mid dantian, and raised my internal qi to the seventh level.

The sword in my hand trembled as if desiring the fight.

Chang!

I pushed his sword away and launched a kick toward his stomach. The fake evaded it and jumped back. Seeing an opening, I stepped forward first.

Bang!

‘The True Chasing Until The End Sword.’

I released the sixth form of my sword technique. At the moment when the sword began to spin, and the whirlwind was about to strike…

Shhh!

The man moved forward and tried to cut the wrist, holding the sword, making me stop my technique. I turned around and swung my sword to his neck.

Chang!

‘This…’

He managed to block his sword with his bare hands and tried to stab me between the eyes.

I leaned back, tumbled through the air, and tried to kick him in the chin. However, he managed to dodge it by jumping back.

He then tried to catch my ankle.

‘That won’t happen.’

I plunged my sword into the ground and used it to change the direction of my tumble, and my kick moved to his wrist.

Pak!

He raised his wrist slightly higher to block it. I thought that he might push a little bit, but nothing happened. At that moment, he raised his sword to cut off my ankle.

I dodged it by pushing his wrist away with my foot.

Chak!

My ankle would surely have been cut if I had been just a little late. Under his mask, I could see how his eyes were smiling.

“This is quite a worthwhile pastime..”

…he wasn’t even trying his best.

If he put in his best effort, he could pressure me, but he was deliberately extending this, which meant I needed to figure out what he wanted.

So I asked him.

“Why are you imitating the Blood Demon?”

This made his smiling eyes turn into a frown.

“What are you saying?”

The man asked this back. It seemed like he was trying to hold his ground.

“The Blood Demon is currently being put on trial, and that red sword is fake.”

Hearing my words, he burst into laughter.

“HAHAHAHAH!”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I never called myself the Blood Demon.”

Shhh!

As soon as he said this, his body blurred.

-Down!

Short Sword shouted in my head. Without a thought, I moved my body down.

Chak!

The red trail of his sword passed over my head. I stabbed my sword in front, which he managed to grab.

He then kicked me in the stomach.

Puak!

“Kuek!”

My body was thrown back by the pain of everything being crushed, and I rolled on the ground.

He was too strong. Blood was gushing up my throat.

Even if I wanted to use the golden eye to catch his movements, figuring out where his attack came from was hard. His qi was so intense that his whole body was shining. He then said,

“Looks like they all came.”

“What?”

“Stay still. You will then be able to become the hero who defeated the Blood Demon.”

What was he even saying?

-…

I heard the voices of swords.

It was a familiar one. Eventually, that sword’s master came into view.

It was Elder Man Jong, the Sixth Elder of the Murim Alliance.

The fact that he reappeared not long after his disciples left must mean that the trial was over. He then looked at me and asked.

“Are you alright?”

“… I am fine.”

Hearing this, he looked toward my opponent.

“How dare you!”

His face contorted into something akin to a demon as he saw his dead disciples. He then unsheathed his sword.

That treasured sword that glowed in silver must be a famous sword.

He shouted as he aimed his sword at the fake Blood Demon.

“We will both die together in this spot! Blood Demon!”

His face was filled with determination to both kill and be killed. I then shouted.

“He is not the real Blood Demon, Elder!”

This made him frown.

“What do you mean?”

“The real Blood Demon…”

Before I could speak further, the fake rushed to the elder so quickly that Elder Man Jong was caught flat-footed.

Chang!

Elder Man Jong quickly raised his sword to block the attack.

Even within the Murim Alliance, he was famously considered to be strong, yet even he wasn’t a match for the fake. That man was cornering the elder using a sword faster than even the most experienced warriors.

He wouldn’t survive for more than a few seconds at this rate.

“Kuak!”

Elder Man Jong continued to get pushed back.

As if the fake was trying to put an end to the elder, he was steadily moving closer.

Pak!

“Euk!”

Elder Man Jong lost consciousness at that moment due to a blow to his neck. The fake, who was moving forward, looked at me in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

I was the one who had knocked him down.

Without answering, I sealed the elder’s blood points to ensure he didn’t wake up. I then grabbed him by the collar and threw him away. With a sly smile, I then said.

“Didn’t you say I would be the hero who defeats the Blood Demon?”

His eyes narrowed at my words before he smiled.

“It has been a while since I’ve met someone like you.”

“I don’t want you to treat me as someone normal.”

Hearing this, he smiled.

“I apologize if I offended you. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a young man who knew how to judge the situation. I am actually glad..”

His attitude had changed.

“How would you make me a hero?”

He glanced at the dead and said.

“Isn’t it enough to say that fame would come from defeating the Blood Demon who had slaughtered them all, Second New Star?”

“And the price?”

“You speak quite well. Well, even if you didn’t ask, I planned to have another hand I could use within the Murim Alliance.”

‘Another?’

I was puzzled as he continued to talk.

“A talented person who has reached this level at your age should be happy. I just have a question.”

“What is that?”

“Is the South Heavenly Swordsman still alive?”

I shook my head at his words.

“No. I simply found a keepsake that he left behind.”

“I see.”

… he seemed to know something.

The fake mumbled something and then pointed at me.

“I meant to ask you, why are you closing that one eye?”

Hearing this, I opened that eye while closing my mid dantian. That way, the golden eye wouldn’t be visible.

“My left eye isn’t good. The more I use my internal qi, the blurrier the vision there gets. I closed it for the sake of concentration.”

He looked at me like he understood and then threw something at me.

A round pill.

“What is this?”

“A small rite of passage to become an ally.”

“A rite of passage?”

“Take it and wait. Everything will go well.”

“Just what organization do you belong to?”

“You’ll learn it naturally when you prove your usefulness.”

He wouldn’t give me any more information as I continued to listen.

“What if I don’t want to listen to this?”

“Then you give up the chance to become the hero.”

The way he spoke felt oddly intimidating. Clearly, he meant that if I didn’t do it, I’d be dead.

“I see that there is no choice.”

“Eat it and kill that one. If you join the Murim Alliance, we will meet sooner or later.”

I looked at him intently while wondering if I should do it. If this situation was right, this man must be thinking that I was a member of the alliance.

And such a person was doing this…

He then spoke again.

“Hurry up. We don’t have much time.”

… then I needed to do it.

I placed the pill he gave me into a pocket as he glared at me.

“… you are giving up the title of a hero?”

Puak!

As I listened to him, I stabbed Iron Sword into the ground and arrogantly put my hands behind my back.

“You don’t recognize me because my face has changed.”

“…. What are you talking…”

Before he could continue further, I released my mid dantian without closing my left eye.

‘…!!’

I could see his shock through the crack in his mask.

He was clearly surprised by my golden eye.

“How…”

With an intimidating voice, I asked him.

“Why are you staring like that?”

The moment I said this, the fake got down on his knees and bowed his head.

“I greet the lord!”