Yoon Jong clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw muscles tightened. The blood drained from the hand gripping the sword.
It felt like he was going to be eaten by madness.
Jang Ilso’s madness seemed tangible, crushing, and overwhelming anyone it touched. The raw madness was so vivid.
He never imagined that such a human being would exist in the world. Just standing face to face seemed to nibble at one’s heart.
‘How can I possibly stand against him?’
He saw Chung Myung confronting Jang Ilso.
Yoon Jong can tell.
Chung Myung was already at his limit. Perhaps he had even surpassed it. His trembling legs were proof of that fact.
Yet Chung Myung doesn’t back down an inch.
‘How....’
At that time, Jang Ilso slowly brushed back his dripping hair.
After neatly flipping back his sweat-soaked hair and wiping the blood on his face, he stared at Chung Myung with strange eyes.
“Greenhorn, you say...”
Jang Ilso’s face, baring his teeth, resembled a wolf starved for blood.
The brutality is evident and it is nothing short of eerie. As if his teeth could rip out your throat and end your life at any moment.
“Is there anyone else in the world who dares call me that?”
Certainly, the term ‘Greenhorn’ seemed far-fetched from ‘Jang Ilso’.
Especially with Jang Ilso the Paegun.
“This is interesting. And yet it doesn’t upset me.”
“.......”
A bright smile bloomed on the corner of Jang Ilso’s mouth.
The moment they saw the smile, the Five Swords felt a different ominousness than ever before.
What should they call this feeling? How could they describe the heartache that came with this anxiety?
Jang Ilso opened his mouth with a voice tinged with mockery.
“But... I can’t simply ignore such words. Don’t you think so?”
Jang Ilso emitted formidable energy from his whole body.
Chung Myung, who received the momentum head-on, faltered as if he were about to collapse.
“Cough!”
Waterfall-like blood flowed out of Chung Myung’s mouth.
He had overused his internal strength to confront Jang Ilso. Though he had momentarily transcended his limits by forcefully drawing out his internal strength, its aftereffects were now wreaking havoc on him.
“Ugh...”
It was the moment when Chung Myung forcibly squeezed out all his strength and grabbed his sword.
Tak!
Yoo Iseol took a step forward.
Her face was pallid, drained of all color as she had to withstand Jang Ilso’s energy, but she took one step at a time and finally stood in front of Chung Myung.
Then she lifted the trembling sword and pointed it at Jang Ilso’s neck.
Jang Ilso’s eyes sank dark.
It’s different from the first time they rushed in with high spirit. Now, they are fully aware that it’s impossible to stand against Jang Ilso even if they all block his way.
But even knowing this, there are those who still stand in his way.
Kung!
At that moment, Baek Chun also stepped forward with unyielding steps.
Standing next to Yoo Iseol with a stiff face, he pointed his sword at Jang Ilso.
“Haa....”
The same goes for Yoon Jong and Jo-Gol. Everyone stepped forward to protect Chung Myung and blocked Jang Ilso.
Jo-Gol playfully spoke, forcing the corners of his mouth to rise.
“...It seems this is as far as we go.”
“We must save Chung Myung.”
“...Sasuk. Take the damned kid and run. This...... I will somehow hold them off here.”
“Stop talking bullshit. I play the role of being the first to die.”
“Realy, this stubborn Sasuk.......”
Everyone is bluffing with a trembling voice.
The jokes they made with trembling legs and drained lips were nothing more than desperate acts to hide their weakness.
But......
Even Jang Ilso, who mocks and ridicules everything in the world, did not laugh at them this once.
Stepping forward is not difficult.
A day-old puppy doesn’t know to fear a tiger. And this world is overflowing with such day-old puppies.
But this isn’t their reckless arrogance.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Ignorance of fear is nothing more than stupidity.
It’s stepping forward despite knowing the fear.
Knowing the fear of the enemy and the terror of death and trembling like an aspen tree, yet still taking another step forward.
Being able to lift a sword with trembling hands.
That’s what courage is.
In that moment, Jang Ilso keenly felt it.
The moment they blocked the front, Chung Myung’s breathing changed. With the world-known Jang Ilso in front of him, he dared to calmly gather his breath and started to muster his strength again.
‘Do these guys think they can stop me even for a moment?’
There is no way that an intelligent person would think such a stupid idea. But now Chung Myung obviously believed those who blocked his way.
Stopping for a moment, he licked his lips while looking at Chung Myung. Then he spoke very slowly.
“...You won.”
“.......”
At Jang Ilso’s completely unexpected remark, Chung Myung stiffened his face and glared at Jang Ilso.
He then spoke as if squeezing out his words in a voice that seemed to be suppressing his anger.
“...What kind of trick is this?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Jang Ilso shrugs his shoulders. His face exuded the same composure he had initially.
“It wasn’t in my calculations that you caught my ankles like this. Surely, you’ve completely distorted the picture I had drawn. So there’s no reason not to acknowledge it.”
“.......”
“This is my defeat. This battle is your victory. Clearly, the strong do not always win in battle. This hurts quite a bit. Gamyeong will laugh at me.”
Chung Myung glared at Jang Ilso without a hint of fluctuation. It was unlikely that was all Jang Ilso intended to say.
“But.......”
Sure enough, Jang Ilso’s lips parted slightly, revealing his pearly white teeth.
“That’s just in battle.”
“.......”
“I won this war, Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
If it had been the usual Chung Myung, he wouldn’t have listened to that sentence.
But now it was different. The moment he heard Jang Ilso’s words, filled with certainty, he couldn’t help but intuit that something had gone wrong.
“You don’t know.”
The corners of Jang Ilso’s mouth twisted.
“You should be the one who knows best here, but you know nothing at all. That’s quite strange. You really are special.”
“What nonsense....”
“Let me tell you.”
Jang Ilso cut off Chung Myung’s words and gazed softly. Then, like a master teaching a cherished pupil, he spoke in a soft tone.
“Let me tell you, Mount Hua Divine Dragon. Just like in battles, the strong don’t necessarily win wars either. In wars... those who have something to protect are the ones who lose.”
Jang Ilso tapped his own head with his finger.
“That’s why you can’t defeat me. Do you understand?”
Chung Myung gripped his sword.
“This son of a beast....”
Udeududuk.
His body tensed up and his feet dug into the ground as if he was going to rush at any moment.
It was not immediately clear what Jang Ilso meant or what he was up to. However, as soon as Chung Myung heard the word “something to protect,” the faces of numerous people from Five Swords to Mount Hua to Hye Yeon flashed across Chung Myung’s mind.
And now, one thing was certain.
He needed to shut Jang Ilso up before he could pull any more tricks!
When Chung Myung lowered his posture like a hungry wolf, Jang Ilso shook his head with a chuckle.
“You don’t understand me at all, Mount Hua Divine Dragon. This war....”
Jang Ilso said with his arms spread wide as he declared.
“It’s already over.”
“Shut your mouth, you bastard!”
Finally, Chung Myung forcefully kicked the ground and flew straight toward Jang Ilso. The energy gathered in his sword burst into red flames.
However, Jang Ilso looked at Chung Myung and just gave a strange laugh.
As if confident that the sword would never reach him.
‘What?’
It was the very moment when a terrible sense of incompatibility swept through Chung Myung.
Paaaat!
Chung Myung’s eyes widened as he rushed at Jang Ilso. His head turned violently to the side.
Kwaaaang!
He didn’t even have time to react. A force that flew struck Chung Myung’s side.
“Chung Myung-aaaahhh!”
As Yoo Iseol tries to rush after Chung Myung at the unimaginable situation, a tearing scream bursts out of her mouth.
“Chu- Chung Myung! Chung Myung-aaaaaaah!”
Chung Myung flew like a kite with its string cut and crashed into the ground.
Five Swords ran towards Chung Myung with a scathing cry.
But only one person.
Baek Cheon turned his head with a face like a demon to look elsewhere.
At the person who shooted fist energy at Chung Myung.
At the face of the person who struck a surprise blow so unexpected it was impossible to be prevented.
“This....”
Eudeududuk.
Baek Cheon’s teeth split, and veins popped out of his eyes. A soft voice, like a sob, came out.
“Heo... Dojin.”
Eventually, a desperate voice burst out from his mouth, like the howling of a beast.
“Heo Doojiiiiiiiiiin!”
It was Wudang’s Sect Leader, Heo Dojin.
He was glaring at them with a demon-like face.