Chapter 442
by Heavenly CatChapter 442 – The Land and Rivers Are Stained with Blood (2)
Snap!
Something snapped in Bang Jin-bo's mind, emptying it completely white.
Everything seemed wrapped in gray fog. He couldn't see even an inch ahead, and even sounds were distorted, unclear.
Within that, Bang Jin-bo moved alone. Occasionally feeling dizzying floating sensations with substances spattering on his face.
Everything was hazy.
As if dreaming. A dream that seemed it would never end.
Bang Jin-bo's dream ended when his body caught on something with a thud. His body wouldn't budge as if caught in shackles.
"Snap out of it."
A familiar voice pulled Bang Jin-bo's consciousness from the dream.
Bang Jin-bo's eyelids trembled. Then Dam Ho's blunt face appeared.
"Brother?"
Confusion appeared on Bang Jin-bo's face.
His mind was so hazy he couldn't understand what had happened. His whole body ached as if beaten with a huge iron club.
Bang Jin-bo looked around. Then he saw over ten corpses scattered around him. Corpses that weren't there just before. Hot steam still rose from blood flowing through gaping wounds. And he saw bandits' faces filled with terror.
The one their gazes fixed on was clearly Bang Jin-bo himself.
Bang Jin-bo blinked.
His foggy consciousness gradually returned. And he remembered.
"Urgh!"
Instantly Bang Jin-bo retched. He vomited up everything eaten before arriving here.
"I, I……"
He was the protagonist of this massacre. He'd lost reason and charged at the bandits, slaughtering them.
Mere bandits couldn't withstand Bang Jin-bo's Plum Blossom Saber. Bandits charging boldly at the front were mercilessly cut down by Bang Jin-bo's saber.
If Dam Ho hadn't intervened in time, Bang Jin-bo would have killed all the bandits alone.
"Brother?"
Bang Jin-bo looked up at Dam Ho with teary eyes.
Martial arts learned to cook better.
At Mount Hua, he'd considered himself a cook, never once a martial artist.
Leaving the world again to find Dam Ho, he became aware of being a martial artist and never felt ashamed of being one.
Though he'd harmed people with knives used for cooking, it was the result of fair duels, so while awkward, he didn't think it shameful. So he prepared another saber for cooking and thought himself proud to walk the martial artist's path.
But what he'd done now wasn't a fair duel between martial artists. It was a strong person mercilessly slaughtering the weak. He'd done with his own hands what a human butcher would do.
Bang Jin-bo's shoulders and hands trembled like aspen leaves.
Then Dam Ho's heavy voice came.
"You did nothing wrong."
"Brother?"
Instantly the trembling stopped.
Dam Ho's voice strangely contained power to calm people. Watching Dam Ho's unwavering eyes, Bang Jin-bo felt the rising nausea naturally subside.
"Your anger was not wrong."
"But……"
"No one can tell you it was wrong. At least if they're human……"
Dam Ho turned around.
Bang Jin-bo blankly watched Dam Ho's back.
Dam Ho was walking toward the still-living bandits.
An aura even absolute masters struggled to withstand. Mere bandits couldn't handle that aura like a huge beast approaching baring fangs.
"Ugh!"
"How can this be!"
The bandits' faces turned deathly pale.
The youth who suddenly jumped in slaughtering was frightening, but the pitch-black man now approaching them was more terrifying.
An emotion they'd never felt before in life, as if their souls would fly away just from watching, dominated their entire bodies.
"Wh-who are you?"
The bandit leader mustered courage to speak.
Saliva dripped from his lips, but he didn't even notice.
His name was Gu Sa-yeok.
Originally a small mountain stronghold chief under the Green Forest Eighteen Strongholds. Brutal-tempered and greedy, he'd wanted his stronghold to join the Eighteen. But lacking ability and with the existing Eighteen so solid, he couldn't penetrate.
Finally settling for being a small stronghold chief, the Demon Cult's chaos erupted. After the death of Chief Hwang Gyeong-mun who'd ruled all Green Forest with iron fist, the Eighteen lost their center and wavered.
Gu Sa-yeok, who'd had to watch the big strongholds' reactions, saw this chaos as perfect opportunity. Moreover, all nearby sects had locked their doors because of the Demon Cult.
Nothing to fear, no one to watch.
Gu Sa-yeok led his subordinates in unrestrained plundering. He stole everything he liked, killed obstructive people, and raped pretty women at will.
While hellish times for others, they were paradise days for him. The chaos the Demon Cult brought created his world. At least in this area, no sect or martial artist existed to stop him.
Today too, he'd plundered a village he'd marked days ago and obtained women. Just enjoyment remained, but unexpectedly some youth jumped in and disaster began.
Tremble tremble!
His body was shaking.
He tried to calm himself but it was useless. His body reacted to fear before his reason.
'What is that monster……'
Suddenly his eyes caught Dam Ho's slightly limping left leg. Only then did he recall the crippled martial artist.
The Fist Demon legend dominating the current martial world.
Unbelievable stories circulated that even the terrifying Demon Cult that brought today's chaos stepped back before that Fist Demon.
That frightening a man. The martial artist called Fist Demon approaching him.
While Gu Sa-yeok was satisfied plundering this small region at will, the Fist Demon was active on the world stage. So he absolutely couldn't handle him. Though he didn't know why he'd jumped into his front yard.
He had to talk.
"I-I'm a Green Forest brother. I-I heard Great Hero Dam has deep connections with the Chief. So w-we're practically brothers. So calm down and hear me out. Brothers shouldn't fight."
Gu Sa-yeok urgently continued. But his words couldn't stop Dam Ho's steps.
Their eyes met.
"……"
Gu Sa-yeok's mouth opened and closed. Though clearly speaking, no voice came out. Dam Ho's aura had even paralyzed his vocal cords.
As if his whole body was paralyzed, he had to stand stock still watching Dam Ho's huge hand approach.
Squeeze!
A steel vice-like hand grabbed his neck. Even then Gu Sa-yeok couldn't move.
Large beads of sweat rolled down between his brows.
'M-move. Please!'
He desperately wished his body would move. But his stone-like rigid body still wouldn't move.
The moment Dam Ho's indifferent eyes embedded in his pupils.
Crack!
A chilling bone-breaking sound echoed from Gu Sa-yeok's neck. Dam Ho had twisted his neck.
Gu Sa-yeok stuck out his tongue long and died.
That was the beginning.
Dam Ho delivered death to the bandits gathered trembling in one place like sheep.
Not an equal fight between martial artists, not killing others to survive.
Literally slaughter.
Merciless massacre by the strong against the weak.
Usually Dam Ho showed no mercy, but the killing he was doing now was too excessive. Dam Ho knew that fact. But he didn't stop.
The slaughter he was performing now was a lesson for Bang Jin-bo.
Never regret your actions.
What you did was never wrong.
"Kyaaak!"
"S-save me!"
The bandits' screams echoed pitifully through the ruined village.
Today, no one left this place alive.
***
A space invaded by darkness, where only faint luminous pearl light illuminated the interior.
Two men gathered there. Though the light was too dim to clearly see their faces, terrible evil energy flowed from their bodies, invading the interior.
On the platform before the men lay one corpse.
The horribly mangled corpse was someone they knew well.
"The Silent Sword Hero like this……"
One called Namgung In-hu in life. An absolute martial artist who'd rebuked the world with the epithet Silent Sword Hero.
Though he'd disappeared from the world long ago, nearly becoming forgotten, his absolute prowess remained. Rather, through decades of training he'd reached an even higher realm. So Namgung In-hu was someone they thought had almost no match.
Such Namgung In-hu had returned before them as a miserable corpse. His face was mangled beyond recognizing its original appearance, and his whole body was full of terrible wounds as if tortured.
A man with a particularly hunched back looked down at Namgung In-hu and spoke.
"The culprit?"
"The one who tortured and delivered the final blow was Queen Mother of the West."
"You speak as if the true culprit is separate. Who?"
"The Fist… Demon. All fatal wounds were received from him."
"Fist Demon! Mmm!"
The hunched man involuntarily let out a groan. The one reporting silently watched such a man.
The hunched man raised his head. Then his features, also faint under the dim luminous pearl light, revealed themselves.
Under faint light, covered in thick evil energy so his original face couldn't be recognized. But those present here were the few who knew his true face.
Ghost Demon.
The Cult Leader's confidant and proxy.
In the Leader's absence, he held all authority to execute plans.
Only the Leader knew his age or true face. The Leader left most matters to Ghost Demon, rarely showing himself.
Thick evil energy rippled in Ghost Demon's eyes watching Namgung In-hu's corpse.
"Namgung In-hu was a companion and excellent collaborator who spent long years with us. He was devoted to our Cult and worked with more heat and sincerity than anyone. His death can only be a great blow to us. Not just Namgung In-hu. Many have been killed by the Fist Demon or those connected to him. If we leave him alone like this, our great will will surely dilute and even our great plan will waver."
"Then what should we do? The Fist Demon is too dangerous to touch carelessly. Namgung In-hu is one of the Five Demons. He's one of our Cult's supreme masters, yet he was so helplessly defeated. If we try to eliminate him, our Cult will also suffer tremendous damage."
"Indeed."
Ghost Demon agreed with the other man's words.
His name was O-geuk.
Heavenly Soldier King O-geuk.
One of the Five Great Martial Guests who resoundingly shook the martial world decades ago, currently occupying the highest seat among Heavenly Evil Cult's Five Demons, an absolute martial artist.
Were it not for the Four Divine Emperors, he might have looked toward that era's number one position, such an absolute martial artist wore a dark expression. All because of Dam Ho.
Dam Ho was one who exceeded their expectations.
Everything related to him went awry or wrong. The representative example was Namgung In-hu.
Though Yong Hwa-seol directly killed him, Dam Ho provided the cause.
Though they didn't know how much Yong Hwa-seol learned from Namgung In-hu, the probability of the great plan wavering because of it grew. All because of Dam Ho.
Dam Ho wasn't just a disaster for the Demon Cult. He was also a disaster for Heavenly Evil Cult. His very existence harmed the world. At least Ghost Demon thought so.
O-geuk said to Ghost Demon.
"Rather, I'll face the Fist Demon."
"That won't do."
"If others step forward, only damage will increase. Rather, my stepping forward will reduce damage."
"If you're absent, the burden the Cult Leader must bear will only grow."
"Mmm!"
O-geuk let out a low groan. Then Ghost Demon said.
"Rather, it seems better I step forward."
"That won't do. How could Ghost Demon……"
"No, I'm the most suitable person. You know the reason well too, don't you?"
"Mmm!"
"Don't worry so much. I won't directly use martial arts."
The thick evil energy covering Ghost Demon's face greatly rippled. O-geuk knew this phenomenon occurred because Ghost Demon smiled.
Ghost Demon's voice became even colder.
"Fortunately, there's also the sacrifice the Leader sent to use, so it's even better. Using him, I can achieve the objective much more easily."
"Are you planning to use that method?"
"Indeed."
"But that's too dangerous."
"I know. But it's a method worth using at least once."
"The Cult Leader won't permit it."
"I'll obtain permission myself."
"Mmm!"
"You needn't worry too much. Surely you don't distrust me?"
"No. I trust you."
O-geuk hurriedly shook his head.
Complex emotions were contained in his eyes watching Ghost Demon. If competing purely with martial arts, O-geuk was confident he could suppress Ghost Demon easily. But Ghost Demon had something beyond martial arts. That made O-geuk fearful.
In the darkness, Ghost Demon's eyes glowed eerily.
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