Thunk!
The sword pierced through his thick fist and arm, then through his shoulder, and struck Hwangbo Yeongcheon's neck.
"Kuh-uck…!"
Though it had become unstable, the Qi Flame was still thick enough to be absurd, and the External Arts had reached the level of his prime.
None of it could stop my sword, nor the will to thrust that was contained within it.
Hwangbo Yeongcheon's skin, which had been rippling with an ash-gray hue due to the internal energy wrapped around his body, returned to its original color. And his massive frame began to shrink as if deflating.
In an instant, Hwangbo Yeongcheon returned to the form of an old man. He tried to stem the blood gushing from his neck with his hands, but eventually gave up and lowered his arms.
Was it because his aged body could no longer muster enough strength? Or because he had realized that even if he stemmed the bleeding now, he would not survive?
Either way, it did not matter. What was certain was that Hwangbo Yeongcheon had accepted his own death.
A face covered in age spots and wrinkles opened its mouth.
"Just now… what was that…"
"What do you mean, what. I simply recreated the Hwangbo Clan's martial arts in my own way."
"That technique… had such power…"
"It was a strike you could have reached, had you not turned your back on it. Did you not train in the Hwangbo Clan's martial arts for far longer than I have?"
"…Yes. Perhaps so. If, as you say, I had not abandoned my family's martial arts… then maybe I too… cough!"
Hwangbo Yeongcheon spat out a mouthful of blood and let out a deep sigh.
"It's a meaningless assumption… In the end, I was the one who chose the wrong path…"
"Well. Make good use of the martial arts you've learned."
"Heh heh… As expected, geniuses are all equally insufferable…"
Hwangbo Yeongcheon forced a laugh through a voice bubbling with bloody froth. As his laughter faded, so too did his breathing.
"…What do you think will become of the Hwangbo Clan?"
"No matter the Official Immunity, you and your descendants have committed no small number of atrocities. Once this matter comes to light, the Imperial Court will surely step in directly, and Clan Extermination will be difficult to avoid."
"Clan Extermination… It's already something close to that, but hearing it spoken directly is different…"
"Something similar, huh. Ah."
For a moment, one possibility flashed through my mind.
Hwangbo Yeongcheon would stir up disturbances across the Namgung Clan to scatter their forces, and in that gap, devour the talented rising stars…
That is, me or Tang So-wol. Seol Ri-hyang goes without saying, and given the chance, he likely intended to consume even Namgung Jong.
But how exactly did he stir up those disturbances?
The Namgung Clan is strong. Of course, it would be strange if they were weak when their clan head is the Sword King, but even setting that aside, the clan's own strength alone is enough to rival any family in the world.
With the slowly crumbling power of the Hwangbo Clan, they would be a difficult opponent to overcome. There's no reason not to go all out.
"Surely not—did he bring the current clan head and all the elders with him?"
"…"
"Hoo."
A sigh escaped me unbidden at the sight of Hwangbo Yeongcheon silently closing his eyes.
After all, it was obvious that this incident would make enemies of him and the Sword King, so he probably intended to hide the other clan members away until he reached the Harmony Realm.
However, his plan had no chance of succeeding from the very start.
First of all, no matter how much power Hwangbo Yeongcheon accumulated, I was certain he would never surpass even me.
And even if he led the clan's full strength to cause chaos across the Namgung Clan's territories, Seomun Hwa-rin, a Harmony Realm martial artist, would quickly put an end to it.
This wasn't a simple metaphor—he truly intended to sacrifice his entire clan for his own twisted purpose.
"He was truly insane."
I shook my head, but only for a moment. Through my fading breath, I heard Hwangbo Yeongcheon's voice, even fainter than my own breathing.
"Mount Tai Fist."
"Hm?"
"That's the name of the technique you stole."
"You intend to claim that now, at this point?"
"My foolishness will stain and erase the Hwangbo Clan's name… but the martial art itself bears no sin…"
"…Mount Tai Sword. From now on, this sword shall be called that."
"…"
There was no answer. Hwangbo Yeongcheon had quietly drawn his last breath without me noticing.
I looked down at the old man's pitiful corpse for a moment, then raised my head.
There stood Tang So-wol, running toward me, having realized the situation was over.
"Young hero Cheon!"
I sheathed my sword and waited, but something felt off.
Even though she was already quite close, Tang So-wol showed no sign of slowing down—in fact, she was speeding up.
"Wh-what…?"
Tang So-wol, who had closed the distance in the blink of an eye, slammed into me with her full momentum—no, she hugged me.
For the record, I was already physically and mentally exhausted from using my half-baked enlightenment in real combat.
Thump!
"The impact rattled my defenseless body. The air was knocked out of my lungs, and I couldn't breathe for a moment."
"We won!"
"Ugh!"
"Are you hurt anywhere? Did the poison affect you too, young hero Cheon?"
"…I never missed a single strike. The poison was fine too. It's just that the spot where you just hit me hurts a bit…"
"Thank goodness! When the old man's body suddenly started growing younger, I was worried about what might happen…"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"But I believed that young hero Cheon would win!"
"You're not listening at all…"
Was it because this was the first time I'd faced an opponent who had mastered the Forbidden Arts? Or was it the pressure radiating from that massive frame wrapped entirely in Qi Flame?
Tang So-wol, whose tightly wound tension had completely unraveled, clung to me like a runaway colt and bounced up and down.
Naturally, with my strength completely drained, I could only be shaken along with her movements.
I might have gotten a slight bruise from the collisions, and the constantly jostling view was making me dizzy…but perhaps it was thanks to the clearly felt touch and warmth.
A bit of vitality returned to my body, which had been exhausted from forcibly squeezing out my willpower.
I wrapped my arm around her slender waist. Tang So-wol flinched at the sudden touch.
Slowly lowering her to the ground, I spoke.
"It's too early to celebrate. From what we just heard, attacks are probably breaking out all over the place."
"What?! Surely not—are there more of those man-eating demons everywhere too?! Then Hyang-i is…!"
"Man-eating demons, huh. Not a wrong way to put it, but there won't be more of them. After all, this one was apparently the culprit behind this whole incident."
"Ah."
Tang So-wol looked back and forth between me and Hwangbo Yeongcheon's corpse with a fresh gaze. I let out a small chuckle at her and continued.
"Don't worry too much. With Senior Seomun Hwa-rin there, Seol Ri-hyang will be fine, and the Namgung Clan's martial artists should have the other places well sealed off. I'm just saying we should reduce the number of people who get hurt, even by a little. …And on the Hwangbo Clan's side, there are probably quite a few who were dragged out by force."
"Come to think of it, Hwangbo Gwang, when he regained his senses, was afraid of someone. If that grandfather he mentioned is this old man…"
"The single fact that Hwangbo Yeongcheon is dead should be enough to end this fight quickly."
The Hwangbo Clan may have weakened considerably, but it was still a family known as a prestigious house.
With the full force of such a Hwangbo Clan brought to bear, the Namgung Clan was bound to suffer no small number of casualties.
If unnecessary deaths could be reduced, wasn't it better to reduce them?
I exchanged a glance with Tang So-wol and nodded.
While I severed Hwangbo Yeongcheon's head and gripped it firmly in one hand.
Tang So-wol hesitated for a moment, then ordered the low-ranking martial artists of the Namgung Clan who were approaching to bind the fallen Hwangbo Gwang and his guards and gather them in one place.
Quite a few of them were already dead, but given how sturdy a clan they were, there were more survivors than not.
Of course, crippling their Dantians was the bare minimum. I couldn't tell what they had eaten to go this berserk, but it was clear that internal energy was the cause.
"Well, shall we go?"
"Yes. I suppose it would be best to head for the place farthest from where Hwa-rin unni was."
***
To put it plainly, we were able to finish this matter without any problems at all.
As expected, the truly dangerous places—for instance, where Transcendent Peak martial artists like the Hwangbo clan head and its elders had gone—had been neatly taken care of by Seomun Hwa-rin, who had shattered their limbs.
Aside from those who had been subdued by the Namgung Clan's hands, the rest surrendered the moment they saw Hwangbo Yeongcheon's severed head.
The one slight exception was Seol Ri-hyang, who had performed beyond all expectations.
The Hwangbo Clan had, quite literally, thrown their full strength at the Namgung Clan.
Transcendent Peak martial artists had been stopped by Seomun Hwa-rin and the Namgung Clan's elders, true—but there had been plenty of other martial artists as well.
Seol Ri-hyang's martial art was a combination of the Yin Art and Yin-Cold Energy Cultivation. By its very nature, it was difficult to block, and once struck, the body froze in an instant, unable to move properly.
And with the influence of her Pure Yin Constitution, she possessed absurdly pure and powerful Yin Energy—so what do you think happened?
Any martial artist below the Peak Realm, no matter how many stood before Seol Ri-hyang, could only fall helplessly.
And so, after the situation had settled, we interrogated the survivors of the Hwangbo Clan, including Hwangbo Gwang, about this and that. And then.
"This was a more horrifying situation than I thought."
"What exactly happened?"
Namgung Jong, who had gathered our group to share the information he had uncovered, let out a deep sigh.
"First of all, the entire Hwangbo Clan was under the control of a ghost from the past—Hwangbo Yeongcheon."
"We already knew that much."
"Anyone who had learned martial arts was forced to meet Hwangbo Yeongcheon at least once. It was to engrave fear of him deep into their subconscious using various medicines and sorcery."
"That's… well, I suppose that makes sense."
At their core, martial artists are creatures of strong pride. Even if they were suppressed by force and fear, someone would inevitably overcome it and hold their head high.
But the story changes if their minds are suppressed so completely that the thought of overcoming it never even occurs to them.
No one can guarantee that absolutely no one would ever break free, but… still, most people would spend their entire lives trembling in fear.
"In particular, they regularly injected fear into their own bloodline—that is, the Hwangbo clan head and the young head. The rumors about the Hwangbo Clan's brutality probably stem from that, I'd say."
"But just because fear was planted in them doesn't mean their humiliation and shame disappeared."
The most fundamental way to resolve the humiliation and shame one has suffered is to eliminate the one who caused it… but the easiest way is to bully someone else who is weaker.
"On top of that, any martial artist who got injured, showed promise, or made a small mistake was devoured on the spot, I hear. Especially those who came seeking to become External Warriors upon seeing the Hwangbo Clan's name—they didn't even survive their first day before becoming a single meal."
"Just how many people is he going to devour?"
"I don't know the exact number. But according to the Hwangbo clan head—who would have watched Hwangbo Yeongcheon from the closest distance for the longest time—the ones he knows of alone number over a hundred."
"…I regret killing him too easily."
"Didn't you say his neck was pierced and he died slowly? That's more than enough. Just because our opponent was cruel doesn't mean we have to be cruel as well."
Namgung Jong shook his head, cleared his throat once, and continued.
"In any case, given the situation, most of them were dragged out by the threat of being devoured if they didn't fight. I have no intention of forgiving them since they harmed the Namgung Clan's people, but… since they're eagerly revealing the Hwangbo Clan's secrets, I've only locked them in the Prison for now."
"What will you do now?"
"First, I must wait for my father to return. The urgent situation has passed, so the decision must be made by the clan head. Ah, of course, the merits of young hero Cheon, who helped with this matter, will also be commended then."
Having said that, Namgung Jong let out a small laugh and looked alternately at me and Tang So-wol.
"If you don't properly settle the Karmic Debt with the Tang Clan, won't there be big trouble?"
"Hmph. It's not that serious…"
"Ahaha…"
Me and Tang So-wol laughed awkwardly for a moment. From behind, Seomun Hwa-rin, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, began pressing on my back insistently.
"Young hero, young hero."
"What is it, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin? Just in case you're asking, there are no more refreshments. Didn't you eat all of mine as well?"
Seomun Hwa-rin, with crumbs of refreshments stuck to her mouth, shook her head with a sulky expression.
"That's not why I called you. It seems the master of the house has returned, so I wanted to let you know in advance."
"Huh?"
The moment I wondered what she meant and turned around.
Thud!
A sound of something falling, and not long after, the door to the room we were sitting in burst open.
A middle-aged man whose expression exuded cold indifference.
Though his face was unfamiliar, the sharp aura about him, as if a sword were right before my eyes, let me know at once who he was.
The Sword King. The master of the Namgung Clan had finally returned.