Evil Energy was consuming the earth.
A dark, heavy, rancid-smelling energy was encroaching across the entire field, withering the grass, killing the insects, and erasing even the moonlight.
At the center of it all, Sang Gwan-hwi stood.
His pure white robe was already stained with all manner of blood, and within dozens of meters around him, a black Evil Energy mist covered and billowed like fog.
The mask of an elegant hypocrite had been stripped away.
Only the essence hidden for decades remained.
"How typical."
A voice devoid of emotion.
Not admiration, not surprise—the tone of one who had confirmed something.
Sang Gwan-hwi narrowed his eyes as he watched the masked figure emerge from the darkness.
"What is?"
"Humans who pretend to be more human."
Dong Bong-soo took a step forward.
Onto the field consumed by Evil Energy, without hesitation.
"The more human they pretend to be, the less human they turn out to be."
Of course, that expression 'human' applied to ordinary humans.
For things like that, this appearance was far more human.
That was the duality and essence of humanity.
Sssss—
The Evil Energy of Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword swirled and recoiled at each point his foot touched. The Super True Energy Field was naturally pushing the Evil Energy back from around each step.
As if walking through water without getting one's clothes wet.
"Pushing back Evil Energy?"
For the first time, Sang Gwan-hwi furrowed his brow.
The Evil Energy had already dominated the entire field. No matter how strong one's internal energy, the moment one stepped inside, breathing should be cut off, meridians should twist, and internal power circulation should be disrupted—that was the normal outcome.
Yet that fellow was strolling through it at leisure.
The only reason he could think of was one.
"As I suspected... You were from the Evil Path."
And withstanding his powerful energy so casually like that?
At this level, it wasn't a matter of expectation—he could be certain.
"A grunt of the Dark Net Rakshasa Path."
But that was a shallow guess, befitting one who had walked only the path of hypocrisy his entire life.
And it was of no concern to Dong Bong-soo regardless. Whether it was expectation, prediction, or certainty meant nothing to him.
Without a reply, he simply lifted the object he had obtained earlier.
『Evil-Warding Sword』
◆ Special Effect :When facing enemies of the Evil Demon type, increases all of the user's stats by 3%
※Only the highest increase among overlapping abilities is applied (cannot stack).
◆ Condition Met: The current target's mana has been judged as Evil attribute and the effect is activating.
He ran his gaze swiftly along the blade.
It was far lighter than the Demon-Expelling Annihilation Wheel Sword, but the 3% difference was clear to his senses. The Evil-Warding Sword was trembling faintly in response to the Evil Energy's vibrations. As if telling him that what it needed to cut was right there.
"Aah, was it thanks to the Jin Family's heirloom?"
Sang Gwan-hwi's gaze rested on the sword as well.
"Unexpected. I had no idea the Evil-Warding Sword's efficacy was that great. I hadn't realized."
If I'd known, I would've killed that Jin... what was his name?
Well, whatever that Jin whatsisname was, I'd have killed him sooner and used him to raise the achievement of Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword.
"Doesn't matter. This one's Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword is not a martial art that can be overcome by some trivial treasure like that."
The corner of Sang Gwan-hwi's mouth twisted.
"Fine, fine. In that case—"
Kabooom—!
The Evil Energy expanded explosively.
The wicked energy of Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword surged beyond the field, threatening to reach the forest and Gangdo he had escaped from earlier.
"For the first time, this body shall reveal its martial arts fully to the world."
Sang Gwan-hwi raised his sword.
From the jet-black blade, nine strands of Evil Energy writhed up like snakes.
Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword, First Form.
Nether Rise Erosion.
"Consider it an honor. The fact that you are the first existence to be erased by this Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword."
Clash—!
The clash happened in an instant.
The moment Sang Gwan-hwi kicked off the air, Walking on Grass imbued with Evil Energy cleaved the earth apart in the blink of an eye.
In an instant.
A distance of a dozen-plus meters vanished in a moment as the jet-black sword aimed for Dong Bong-soo's throat.
It was fast.
Dimensionally different from when he had fought using only Vast Heaven Energy before.
The moment his inner power was unleashed, Sang Gwan-hwi's movements changed in quality. With the wicked energy layered over an Orthodox sect's supreme technique, the trajectory became difficult to read in its entirety.
An internal power mixture of Righteous and Evil.
A combination of an honest heavy sword and a speed sword that prioritized change and feints.
That disharmony was, on the contrary, creating an unpredictable sword path.
Sword paths that had split into thousands upon thousands of branches converged into one before splitting again into thousands upon thousands, repeatedly surging forward.
However.
Clang—!
Dong Bong-soo's sword found Sang Gwan-hwi's blade precisely at the very moment the sword paths converged. The moment the Evil Energy made contact, the Evil-Warding Sword's blade emitted a faint glow of its own, cleaving the Evil Energy apart.
Using that repulsive force to step back a dozen-plus paces, Dong Bong-soo read the essence of his opponent's sword technique.
A form in which black Evil Energy hid within silver Sword Rigidity.
A sword technique with a suitable mixture of heavy, variable, feint, and speed.
One exchange.
That was enough to interpret the method of the enemy's martial arts.
Clang—! Clatter-clatter-clang—!
Metallic sounds burst in succession.
Sang Gwan-hwi poured it out in waves.
The nine strands of Evil Energy of Nether Rise Erosion coiled like snakes along the sword path, attempting to bite into every part of Dong Bong-soo's body.
The poison of Evil Energy.
Even without direct contact with the sword, the structure was such that the Evil Energy itself, merely touching skin, would paralyze meridians and gnaw away at internal power.
Any ordinary master at the peak would have collapsed within a few exchanges.
But Dong Bong-soo was not an ordinary master at the peak.
Strictly speaking, he was a being that couldn't be applied to the classification of 'peak' in the first place.
Clang—! Clang! Clang!
Even if the substantial Sword Rigidity could be resolved by clashing against another Sword Rigidity, the nine serpent-tongued strands of Evil Energy should have lacerated Dong Bong-soo countless times.
At minimum, they should have made contact.
But the Super True Energy Field was constantly deflecting the Evil Energy just a fraction before it reached him.
As if water repelled by oil, each time the Evil Energy touched the boundary of the Super True Energy Field, it slipped or was reflected.
"What! What is this!"
Veins stood out on Sang Gwan-hwi's forehead.
"Why won't it go in! Son of a—!"
The Evil Energy's infiltration was blocked. Even if the blade's tip made contact, the energy could not penetrate at all.
But what Sang Gwan-hwi didn't know was that this wasn't the end of it.
Even if his Evil Energy were to reach and touch Dong Bong-soo, it would be unable to cause any damage whatsoever.
Holeless Body.
In Dong Bong-soo's body, there were no such things as energy acupoints.
There was no pathway through which Evil Energy could infiltrate.
A body with no meridians to invade, no Dantian to gnaw away at, no acupoints to disrupt.
To Dong Bong-soo, the Evil Energy of Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword was simply a single drop of sweat, a single drop of blood splattered on a sword.
Shing—!
Having shaken his sword and pushed Sang Gwan-hwi back dozens of paces, Dong Bong-soo returned the Evil-Warding Sword to his Inventory.
With the Evil-Warding Sword deactivated, the 3% stat correction disappeared. And he precisely measured and memorized the extent of that 3%.
It was worth memorizing since it was exactly the amount typically spoken of in the Martial World as the three-tenths to keep in reserve.
But to Sang Gwan-hwi's eyes, it could only appear as though his opponent had laid down his weapon.
"Dropping your weapon—!"
Whoosh—!
He charged immediately, unleashing Evil Energy ferociously.
But.
Click.
An instant later, a new weapon appeared in Dong Bong-soo's left hand.
No, should it be called a 'weapon.'
A cluster of light.
[Faith Arrow] condensed into a sword of light at the fingertips of his left hand.
He hadn't fired it yet.
He held it in his hand.
The moment the Evil Energy made contact, the light reacted.
Sssssss—
The Evil Energy burned.
The light of the Holy Attribute, in the area where it contacted the Evil Energy, triggered a violent clashing reaction, vaporizing the black energy.
"...!"
For the first time, Sang Gwan-hwi was genuinely astonished.
An energy that 'burned' Evil Energy.
This was no simple righteous energy of the Orthodox Path like Vast Heaven Energy.
An energy that fundamentally rejected Evil was gathered in that man's hand.
Immortal.
He had heard of it.
The kind of energy that could be drawn out by mastering martial arts of the Immortal Daoist school to their extreme.
"You... just what are you...."
This question was the third time.
The first time, when they met in the village.
The second, while being pursued through the forest.
The third, now.
All three times, the answer was the same.
"...."
Silence.
Clang—!
Instead of silence, the sword answered.
Dong Bong-soo's sword formed of [Faith Arrow] shattered Heavenly Bloom Sword's sword path in a frontal clash.
Windless Sword Method.
A single strike with no sound, no wind, no excess.
But that one move severed every one of Sang Gwan-hwi's successive attacks—all at once.
The nine strands of Evil Energy created hundreds and thousands of variable strikes, feint strikes, and speed strikes, but to no avail.
Whether variable, feint, or speed, in the end the sword path was aiming at one intersection.
This was not a sword technique but geometry.
Calculating the single point where all trajectories meet and silently placing only the sword there—it was a simple kind of mathematics or structural engineering.
And on top of that, the energy carried a Holy Attribute—what more needed to be said.
"Urgh."
Sang Gwan-hwi kept stumbling backward.
"I, I am! This one is! One of the Vast Heaven Three Swords!"
Having unleashed even his inner power now, there was no retreating. He couldn't retreat.
Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword, Third Form.
Sang Gwan-hwi's Middle Dantian pulsed.
Black energy enveloped the blade. Then in the blink of an eye, the blade itself melted away, and Rigid Energy formed from Evil Energy replaced the blade itself.
Not physical metal but a sword made of pure Evil Energy.
Sky-Eroding Ink Slash.
A jet-black single slash that erodes the heavens.
Whooooom—!
The atmosphere howled.
Jet-black Evil Energy condensed into a crescent moon shape and poured toward Dong Bong-soo.
This was not mere Rigid Energy.
A wave of Evil Energy that gnawed at space itself.
The nine poisons of the Underworld that corroded, eroded, and rotted everything they touched.
Just before that wave reached Dong Bong-soo.
Dong Bong-soo raised his left hand.
In that instant, the [Faith Arrow] that had been in the form of a sword immediately reverted to its original arrow form and was launched head-on.
Boom—!
Holy Light and Evil Energy collided directly.
Kabooooom—!
Violent explosion.
The sky tore as a shockwave of black and white intertwined spread in all directions.
The withered grass of the field evaporated roots and all.
Craaaaack—
The earth cracked like a spider's web had descended upon it.
Through those fissures, black energy and white light alternated flickering and clashed for a long while.
The result...
became apparent before long.
Sssssssssss—
The Holy Light burned into the Evil Energy and consumed it.
Slow, but certain.
Holy was gnawing away at Evil.
"This can't... this can't be."
Sang Gwan-hwi's face contorted.
Nine Netherworld Heaven-Corroding Sword's Sky-Eroding Ink Slash.
His full-power strike, capable of devouring even the heavens...was losing ground.
But Dong Bong-soo was not particularly satisfied with the result.
The outcome of the battle situation was already determined anyway.
Only the efficiency of the battle situation mattered now.
[Faith Arrow]Cooldown: 0.5 seconds
'I tried maintaining energy forcibly drawn out, but the power is rather poor relative to the internal power consumed.'
For now, he concluded there was no need to expend excessive effort to eliminate the cooldown.
Of course, confirming that there was the advantage of directly 'burning' and neutralizing the energy of Evil Demons was an important point.
—Holy burns and Evil Demons are extinguished.
A simple formula.
Combat is, in the end, a battle of data.
And also an experiment.
The process of forming a hypothesis, verifying it, and collecting data.
This test subject called Sang Gwan-hwi had provided quite good data.
The fact that he continued to cooperate with the experiment even after sensing the hopelessness made him an even better source.
Thud—
Before the remnants of the shockwave had even cleared, Sang Gwan-hwi leapt out.
Blood-red eyes so bloodshot they looked about to burst into bleeding at any moment.
On his face, not the slightest trace of refined elegance or any such flattering word could be found any longer.
"I'll kill you!"
The Evil Energy began to rampage.
From Sang Gwan-hwi's entire body, the black energy surged uncontrollably, as if it had lost control, pouring out madly.
A runaway tantamount to self-harm, forcing the Middle Dantian open beyond its limits.
Even his skin was being torn apart as a dark crimson energy oozed out in clumps.
It was likely the phenomenon occurring as his very body became a medium for the Evil Energy.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! This one, this one—in this kind of frontier outpost!"
The sword was unleashed madly.
Without form.
Without technique.
Simply raw violence laden with Evil Energy.
But a sword that had lost reason held no beauty, no threat.
There was nothing left worth calculating, nothing worth committing to memory.
Dong Bong-soo stepped aside by one pace.
Half a step. Minimum evasion.
The Absolute Evil Rigidity, unleashed in frenzy, grazed a single strand of Dong Bong-soo's hair.
In that instant.
The Demon-Expelling Annihilation Wheel Sword, manifested from Inventory before anyone noticed, moved.
Three Talents Sword Technique, Second Form.
Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon.
A single, straight thrust.
The most primitive and efficient attack, stripped of all embellishment.
Slice—
The sword tip penetrated through the curtain of Evil Energy.
Like a curtain riddled with holes, the Nine Netherworld Heaven's Body Protection Rigid Energy, undone in an instant, receded, and Sang Gwan-hwi's forehead was exposed.
In that moment, Sang Gwan-hwi must have felt it too.
That his Evil Energy, his pride, the hidden trump card martial art he had kept concealed.
Before a single line of a thrust, was splitting like paper.
"...This."
His lips moved trying to say something, but
it could not be shaped into words.
Thud.
With a dull sound, the tip of the Demon-Expelling Annihilation Wheel Sword drove into the space between his eyes.
Sang Gwan-hwi's body stiffened and the Evil Energy that had been raised high began to collapse rapidly.
The jet-black energy that had consumed the field.
It vanished swiftly and naturally along with its owner's life force.
Ssssssssss...
The black mist cleared and the moonlight returned.
Pale moonlight illuminated the blood flowing from Sang Gwan-hwi's mouth with reasonable clarity.
Still wide-open pupils.
An expression that said he couldn't believe it.
No—was it an expression that said he couldn't accept it.
"This one..."
Dong Bong-soo twisted the sword.
Crack.
The sound of a skull splitting.
"Yes. You."
Shhk.
As the sword was drawn out, Sang Gwan-hwi's body fell forward.
Thud.
One of the Vast Heaven Three Swords lay stretched out across the withered grass of the field.
There was no particular feeling.
Simply waiting.
For Lumina's kind voice.
Ding—
[You did not turn away from helping the innocent. A reward is given.]
[+3]
Simultaneously.
[Your additional heroic actions advance Hero History further. A reward is given.]
[+1]
[Your name has become slightly more widely known throughout the world (Fame +5).]
[The world has become quite a bit more beautiful.]
[A bond with the Vast Heaven Limitless Sword Sect has been formed. This bond may be an ill fate or a good fate. The direction of the bond depends entirely on your choices.]
Lumina's voice sounded in succession.
And then.
A strange and mysterious white light emanating from Dong Bong-soo's body.
It was Holy Light so intense it could purify even the filthy blood of the Sword Patrol Corps members.
The corners of Dong Bong-soo's eyes, visible outside the mask, curved softly.
Because the return of an old friend is always welcome.
While I wasn't looking, Murim Online had been steadily finding its own path too.
Though compared to the new friend, this old friend's score sheet had many chronic problems and needed to be checked personally.
It's not a difficult task—I'll check it later.
"...."
Dong Bong-soo standing alone on the field.
Only corpses and withered grass, the returned moonlight, and a night wind heavy with the smell of blood surrounded him.
Soon, as he always did, he began placing the bodies one by one into his Inventory.
Roughly thirty corpses of the Vast Heaven Limitless Sword Sect's Sword Patrol Corps members. Among them, one was even that of a Corps Leader. Of course, there were more fragments scattered here and there, so some further effort was still needed.
Whether these things would be useful or not was still unknown, but there was plenty of potential for them to be.
Shortly after completing his routine, he extended the Super True Energy Field toward the vicinity of Slash-and-burn Village.
Three faint energies were moving.
—If you have begun helping, shouldn't the conclusion always be clean?
Before returning to Gangdo, this part also needed to be wrapped up in a manner befitting a 'hero.' Tending to the body recovery together as well.
Hush—
As if nothing had happened, the field became completely silent again.