"Cough—"
I instinctively covered my mouth as a cough burst out.
Blood dripped from my hand.
I’d succeeded in landing a fatal blow on the bastard collapsed before , but the internal injuries I’d sustained were just as severe.
"Dammit."
I try to live my life without cursing, but this world just won't cooperate.
I've spent my entire life being looked down on for coming from a no-na martial family, and in the end, this is how I et my end.
The man I had just fatally wounded with my sword t my gaze and spoke.
"Impressive. Unhwi , the Self-Taught Sword Master."
"You talk a lot for a man with no arms. I should have cut out your tongue first."
"Though I may die here, this is the end for you too. In the end, you couldn't even touch the hem of the Cult Leader's robes."
"I know that, you filthy Demonic Cult bastard."
This man, who continued to get on my nerves even without his arms, was Mok Hwashin, the head of the Heavenly Demon Mok Clan, one of the three great families of the Demonic Cult.
To put it simply, he was the Demonic Cult Leader's right-hand man.
"If the hypocrites of the Orthodox Faction had recognized your talent sooner, you would have been a great threat to our cult... To think you reached such a level with only a third-rate martial art. I'll give you that."
"...Shut up. I'll put you out of your misery soon enough."
Gritting my teeth, I picked up my fallen sword.
I looked around. Corpses, corpses. Nothing but corpses.
Just how many people had been sacrificed to kill this one man?
"Isn't it a pity? The result might have been different if only you'd had a superior internal energy technique and sword art, no?"
"Regretting what you can't have is the most useless thing in the world. I've lived my whole life that way."
"And this is the result of that life? A mutual destruction with , of all people, not even the Cult Leader?"
Hearing his words, I ground my teeth without realizing it.
Even at death's door, that bastard's tongue was as sharp as ever.
Then again, so was mine.
I slowly approached him and said, "The other masters of the Orthodox Faction will take care of the rest. You can... die believing that."
"Heh heh heh... Self-Taught Sword Master. You're just like yourself to the very end. So foolish, so very foolish."
Mok Hwashin kept laughing as if sothing was hilarious, then suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
It seed his ti was finally up.
"Self-Taught Sword Master. The highest praise for one who reached your position with nothing but the sword art of a third-rate family... But did you not know it was also a nickna given to mock you for your humble origins?"
"You think I didn't know that? I've heard it more tis than I can count."
Even without him spelling it out, I had felt it to my very bones.
When others took credit for my achievents.
When I couldn't attend the Alliance Leader's etings, even after reaching a fairly high position in the Martial Alliance.
When I survived a near-death crisis one day, only to be pushed back into the jaws of death the next.
To them, I was a well-behaved hunting dog, a high-performance tool.
A hunting dog that could be discarded at any mont after its purpose was served.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"And yet you're still willing to sacrifice your life like this for the Orthodox Martial World?"
But this bastard kept trying to paint as so champion of justice.
"I'm not doing this for the Orthodox Martial World."
"Then?"
"It's just that I hated seeing the people I cared for, and the innocent common folk who know nothing, die at your hands."
At my words, the corners of Mok Hwashin's mouth nearly reached his ears, as if he found it imnsely amusing.
"I see. So that was your justice."
"If you're going to spout such cringey nonsense about justice, I'll just kill you quickly."
"Let tell you one last thing."
With no strength left to even lift my sword, I dragged it as I reached Mok Hwashin.
He didn't seem to have the strength to turn his neck, only shifting his eyes to look at as he spoke.
"The Demonic Cult's reign has already begun."
"...What?"
"Last night. The Cult Leader himself entered the Martial Alliance headquarters, took the Alliance Leader's head, and declared victory in the war."
"What kind of bullshit is that...!"
"Believe it or not, that's up to you. I've only told you the truth."
Confusion swirled within .
No matter how far our unit was from the Martial Alliance, it was impossible that we wouldn't have heard any news until now.
And this man before didn't make sense either.
If he had received news of their victory, he would have surrounded and worn us down. I couldn't understand why he would have charged in himself.
"You don't understand my actions, do you?"
"......?!"
Startled, I stared at him.
It was as if he had read my thoughts exactly.
"I wanted to fight you. I simply wanted to clash with pure, unadulterated talent."
"What are you talking about, you crazy bastard..."
"The result is my death. But the demonic reign has already been achieved, so I have no regrets. I've crossed swords with you, so I have no regrets there either. If I have but one regret... Cough!"
Mok Hwashin coughed up blood once more before continuing.
"It's that I wanted to fight you when your talent had fully blossod. But that is an impossibility... That is my only regret."
"...Enough with the useless chatter. Now, die."
I raised my sword.
There seed to be no need to listen to the ramblings of a madman any longer.
"With you, whose talent has fully blossod..."
SQUELCH!
I gathered every last ounce of my strength and struck off Mok Hwashin's head.
Finally, so quiet.
If he could still run his mouth after I'd severed his head like that, I'd be willing to lend an ear.
"Ugh! Dammit..."
A sudden wave of nausea washed over , and I collapsed onto my back.
I was beginning to truly feel that my own life wouldn't last much longer.
The sky was blue, far too blue.
I always knew I would die soday, but I never thought it would be like this.
The light was dazzling, so I slowly closed my eyes.
"Unhwi..."
"?!"
My eyes shot open in surprise at the sound of my na.
Has Mok Hwashin beco a jiangshi?
I really did not want to listen to that unlucky bastard's story.
"Hwi... Are you alive?"
"Un Gwang!"
Recognizing the voice, I shot up.
"Ugh!"
A terrible pain followed from my stomach, but it wasn't greater than my shock.
I thought everyone was dead, but there was a survivor.
And it was Un Gwang, the Taoist from Wudang, the only one who understood my situation and treated like a brother.
"Un Gwang?! You were alive?"
"Ugh... I'm cold..."
I staggered toward the source of the voice, and there, astonishingly, Un Gwang was truly alive.
But I couldn't rejoice.
A deep gash ran from his right shoulder to his left side.
The reason he said he was cold must have been from losing too much blood.
"Mok... Hwashin?"
"He's dead. I made sure of it."
"Good... job... With this, the Demonic Cult Leader... has lost his right arm..."
Un Gwang managed a faint smile even as he was dying.
I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him.
Not that the Martial Alliance had fallen, nor that we had lost the war.
"Hwi... In our next life, we must..."
The light in Un Gwang's eyes began to fade.
Wudang, one of the most important pillars of the Orthodox Martial World.
And among them, this guy, the senior brother of the 'Un' generation, had a simple reason for being so good to .
Was it because my na was the sa as his youngest junior brother, who had drowned decades ago?
He had made a big fuss, saying his dead junior brother's Taoist na was Unhwi, while I had felt uneasy having the sa na as a dead person.
The tis were different, but in the end, we ended up in the sa predicant.
"In the next life, what! Finish your sentence, you bastard! Ugh!"
A sudden surge of emotion made shout, and I ended up vomiting another mouthful of blood. Dammit.
"My... junior brother..."
"Un Gwang! Un Gwang, you bastard!"
The light faded from Un Gwang's eyes.
Born into a naless family, I hadn't cried once since I'd learned the bitter taste of the martial world.
But now, sothing hot kept pouring from my eyes.
My vision was blurring.
As I tried to crawl toward Un Gwang, a pain like my stomach was being torn apart made collapse onto my back again.
"Heok— Heok—"
To make matters worse, I beca short of breath, and it started to beco difficult to breathe.
My limbs felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton; I couldn't move.
And through it all, the sky was so damn blue.
The blue sky began to close in on .
"Damn... this world!"
And just like that, I fell into the sky.
***
Ah, so this is what death is.
If soone were to ask now, I could tell them.
Dying feels like drowning.
Just like right now, falling into deep water, unable to breathe, limbs too heavy to move, just sinking deeper...
That kind of feeling...?
"Mmph, mmph, mmph!!!"
But sothing's strange. It feels too real.
I cautiously opened my closed eyes. They stung as if I'd opened them underwater, and my vision was blurry.
'This is death?'
I desperately moved my arms and legs.
Fortunately, I know how to swim.
As long as I can overco the blackness that keeps creeping into my vision from holding my breath for who knows how long, getting to the surface of this water should be a piece of cake.
"Ugh! Mmph!!"
But this is too much.
Even if I'm dead, does it have to be this agonizing?
At this rate, I feel like I'm going to die a second ti (?).
SPLASH— SPLASH—
Even so, I flailed my limbs like a madman, and the light grew closer.
Just a little more, just a little bit further.
"Puha! Heok, heok...!"
Finally breaking the surface, I greedily gulped down the fresh air.
As I kept breathing, I finally felt like I was alive (?).
'Where am I? The Celestial Realm I've only heard stories about?'
Looking around, all I could see was green, green, and more green.
I had no mory of ever being on a mountain so completely covered in grass and trees, which made wonder if it might be the Celestial Realm.
'No. I've never cultivated the Dao.'
But no matter how I thought about it, it didn't seem like the Celestial Realm.
Besides, the water, the wind, and the sll of grass felt far too real.
As if they were genuine.
"Hwi! Hwi-ya! There you are! I'll save you!"
Just then, I heard soone's voice.
I turned my head in that direction, about to say I could get out on my own.
SPLASH—!
The person dove headfirst into the water without a second thought.
"Agh! Hwi-ya. Take my hand, glub glub."
The one who jumped in was a boy who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen.
But this kid.
He was just flailing in the water, not getting any closer to at all.
It seed he had jumped in without even knowing how to swim.
'What in the world is this situation...'
I couldn't make sense of it at all.
Still, I couldn't just watch a child drown in front of .
So I swam over and pulled him into my arms.
'Huh? How is a kid this strong...?!'
I was about to pull the boy to shore without much thought when I was shocked.
The strength of the flailing boy was no joke.
In fact, I couldn't overco his strength and was being dragged along by him.
"Calm down! Just calm down! I can only get you out if you stay still!"
"Hwi-ya! Glub glub! Glub glub glub!"
"Hah!"
THWACK!
Since he showed no signs of calming down, I struck the back of his neck and knocked him out.
By the way, my hand was throbbing from how solid his body was.
'This kid... could he be one of those legendary Heavenly Martial Physiques?'
I may have only learned a third-rate martial art, but I was a master of a level that might just barely make the list if you counted all the fingers... no, all the toes in the Orthodox Martial World.
For to be unable to overco this kid's strength was truly strange.
"Aigoo, I'm exhausted."
All my energy was drained after pulling the boy to shore.
He was incredibly heavy, too.
"Whose kid is this anyway?"
I examined the boy's attire... it was a uniform I'd seen sowhere before.
"Huh? This is the uniform the little Taoists of Wudang usually wear. Wait. I'm wearing the sa clothes?"
Looking down at myself for the first ti, I saw that I was wearing the exact sa clothes as this kid.
And only then did I realize.
My arms, my legs, my height... they were short.
I used to be a tall man of six feet.
But now, I didn't even seem to be half that.
"Umm..."
Just then, the boy I had knocked out woke up.
I approached him, intending to ask where we were.
"Uh...?!"
Seeing the boy's face, I was so shocked I forgot what I was going to say next.
I hadn't realized it before, but this face... it was definitely a face I knew.
"Un... gwang?"
Though he was incredibly young, it was definitely Un Gwang.
My only friend, the very sa Un Gwang who had died right before my eyes.
"Hwi-ya! You fell in the water, I thought you were going to die! You're alive!"
Un Gwang, seeming to have co to his senses, suddenly grabbed my shoulders and shook , shouting.
"How... how are you alive?"
"What? Say that again."
"How are you..."
"You? Did you just call your Senior Brother 'you'?"
"Se-Senior Brother?"
Un Gwang let out a deep sigh and spoke with a look of resignation.
"You must be out of it from falling in the water, huh? Don't worry, I won't tell the other junior brothers."
"Junior brother? Senior Brother? Who am I?"
At my question, Un Gwang looked at with true pity in his eyes and said,
"Unhwi! The youngest junior brother of the great Wudang Sect's 'Un' generation!"
"?"
"Yes, you!"
Thud—
I sank to the ground without realizing it.
'Unhwi. My youngest junior brother's Taoist na was the sa as yours. He went to the heavens after falling into the water when he was young.'
Why?
It wasn't the voice of the young Un Gwang before , but the voice of the adult Un Gwang that echoed in my mind.
(End of Chapter)
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