The Heaven-Slaying Sword

A demonic practitioner.

Monstrous people who learned martial arts that went against the laws of nature and were lost their sense of reason.

While that was the dictionary definition, to Mok Riwon, a demonic practitioner carried a different meaning.

A possible glimpse of who he might have become.

Mok Riwon, who was born with the constitution of the Heaven-Slaying Star and the Supreme Demonic Body, naturally felt such sentiments.

There was never any doubt about whether that person was a demonic practitioner or not.

Aside from the sensory aspect, he had personally confessed himself.

“I am the Fist Demon!”

The man who exchanged blows with him straightened his shoulders and shouted that, the convoy stiffening in response.

The man’s index finger stretched out and pointed at Mok Riwon.

“Like you!”

Mok Riwon’s expression hardened.

He didn’t understand what the Fist Demon was saying.

So he asked.

“…Why is a demonic practitioner here?”

“I came to find you.”

Mok Riwon’s eyebrows furrowed.

Fist Demon Pae Woongchu said no more, grinning, and then unleashed his demonic qi.

It was different from ordinary qi.

While the qi released during the cultivation of orthodox martial arts resembled dispersing fog, the demonic qi resembled burning flames.

Pae Woongchu clenched his fist and stepped forward.

Thud–

In a flash, he darted in front of Mok Riwon, thrusting his fist forward and aiming for his forehead.

Mok Riwon subtly turned his head and swung his sword in a light slash intended to keep him at bay, which was blocked as anticipated.

With a loud boom, their qi collided, slightly increasing the distance between them.

Mok Riwon’s condition was deteriorating.

This was due to the fact that even without physical contact, his sense of reason was becoming clouded by the demonic qi he sensed in their ever-closing distance.

The Supreme Demonic Body naturally craved for demonic qi, while the Heaven-Slaying Star absorbed this very qi to grow stronger.

Apart from these challenges, there was also a glaring lack of experience.

Mok Riwon was unfamiliar with real life-and-death-combat.

Even his encounter with Pyosan, which had come closest to a battle to the death, failed to truly challenge him, as he could easily quell it with his superior skill.

But the situation now was different.

The pinnacle of the Peak Realm.

The Fist Demon’s inner qi seemed to surpass even that.

Furthermore, he was emitting a dense killing intent unlike any Mok Riwon had ever experienced, forcing him to confront not only the aggression, but also the impulses stirred by this killing intent.

“Heup!”

Mok Riwon glared at his opponent, taking a deep breath as cold sweat trickled down his chin, unnoticed due to the relentless pressure from Pae Woongchu.

“Why are you so lifeless!”

A blood-red qi burst out into the air. In response, Mok Riwon countered with the same technique, a skill he had learned at the middle-stage of the Peak Realm.

The blood-red and ink-black qis collided in midair.

Following that, the two men launched towards each other, the sound of their collision reverberating through the air.

As this conflict unfolded, complications arose elsewhere.

Fist Demon Pae Woongchu was not alone.

“Aaargh!”

A sword slashed through the stomach of an escort and ripped downward, taking his life.

Tang Hwa-seo clicked her tongue and scattered her poison.

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Love.

That was the name of the poison she had developed upon reaching the Peak Realm.

It wasn’t carelessly dispersed like during the Dragon Phoenix Tournament.

From within her arms, she threw out a dagger, spilling poison along with it.The poison scattered from where the dagger struck the ground, extending out to a radius of about 3m.

It was an extremely meticulous display of qi manipulation, but as always, it was a skill that Tang Hwa-seo naturally had to master.

“Sister!”

Zhuge San shouted urgently.

When Tang Hwa-seo turned in his direction, she saw him surrounded by five demonic practitioners, narrowly avoiding their attacks.

Tang Hwa-seo threw a dagger there to give him some breathing room, then continued her thoughts.

This situation isn’t good.

Their skill was quite high.

Even the one called the Fist Demon that Mok Riwon was facing currently was at a much higher stage than herself, and the twenty or so demonic practitioners that followed him were individually at first-rate.

In comparison, what about the convoy?

The five first-rate martial artists who were the strongest among them were struggling to defend themselves.

The rest of the second-rate or third-rate martial artists were being swept away like falling leaves.

Tang Hwa-seo made a quick judgment.

We need to conserve our strength.

In other words, she had to attract all the attention to alleviate their burden.

Taking a deep breath, Tang Hwa-seo intensified her qi, which began to swirl around her in dark green waves, creating an eerie current.

Thump–!

She stepped forward.

Her destination was where the third-rate martial artists guarding the supplies were being slaughtered.

Plunging into the heart of the fray, Tang Hwa-seo confronted the demonic practitioners head-on.

* * *

Gwak Chil felt a fear that shook him to the core.

W-What is this…?

It was an unprecedented disaster.

The screams echoing from all directions belonged to his colleagues, with whom he had shared drinks just the day before.

The scent of blood permeating the air also emanated from their bodies.

Although a third-rate martial artist, Gwak Chil possessed keen instincts. Overwhelmed with disgust at his own cowardice, he sought refuge in a safe spot.

After all, every creature harbored a desire to survive, didn’t they?

“Aaargh-!”

An escort who was bisected at the waist collapsed to the ground.

Hiding under a wagon, Gwak Chil locked eyes with the dead man.

Those vacant eyes, so desolate they seemed distant, deepened Gwak Chil’s terror.

He forced himself to look away.

His gaze landed on Mok Riwon.

There wasn’t even a hint of the innocent appearance he had seen in the past on his face as he traded blows with the disheveled monstrous man who introduced himself as the Fist Demon.

W-What the hell...

It was a fight his eyes couldn’t follow.

Their movements were a blur, exchanged with bizarre speed, their clashing qis so intense that distinguishing their forms became impossible.

If there was an explanation for how he could see their expressions, it was that the two people’s movements stopped for a moment as they distanced themselves.

Gwak Chil trembled.

The shame was unbearable–comparing himself to Mok Riwon, who bravely confronted a fearsome opponent, while he cowered in the face of fear.

They had discussed their ideals of chivalry together, yet their actions when the time came were starkly different, stirring deep reflections within him.

Tears flowed from his eyes, myriads of emotions entangled within them, and among them was anger towards himself, which could be called a false bravado, occupying the largest part.

I-I…!

He wanted to be a chivalrous person.

Even with such lowly martial arts, he wanted to uphold chivalry.

This aspiration had inspired him to write Tales of the Martial Heroes, and even after ceasing to write, he remained in the martial world.

He hesitated.

And in the end, anger prevailed.

Gwak Chil urged himself.

He constantly reminded himself why he admired martial artists.

Finally, he crawled from beneath the wagon, taking deep breaths.

He refused to run away any longer.

* * *

Pae Woongchu erupted in boisterous laughter.

“More! Show me more!”

How long had it been since he truly risked his life in battle?

A duel where he didn’t just kill people, but also put his own life on the line was something he was experiencing for the first time in several years.

The Divine Cult had been cautious to an extreme.

They had bided their time, suppressing even their deepest urges, in order to reclaim the stolen star.

Boom!

Pae Woongchu unleashed a stomp kick, opting for a leg technique over his usual fists, targeting Mok Riwon’s knee, which was blocked by a swift sword raise.

The blade met his shin, yet, unfortunately for Mok Riwon, it wasn’t severed.

Thud–!

With that sound, Mok Riwon’s body was sent flying away.

Pae Woongchu chased after him.

They had already moved far away from the convoy during the skirmish.

Mok Riwon felt urgency, but this was exactly the situation Pae Woongchu had been aiming for.

“Why are you hesitating!”

The Divine Cult desired the stolen star.

They wished to reclaim the Heaven-Slaying Star, which had come into the possession of the one called the Ink Dragon.

However, Pae Woongchu had no interest in such matters.

He just wanted to know how great the Star of Slaughter was.

So he provoked Mok Riwon.

“Are you not the Heaven-Slaying Star?!”

Thump.

Mok Riwon froze momentarily.

Halting his assault, Pae Woongchu grinned and taunted.

“Are you not the Star of Slaughter?! But then, why are you only grunting!”

“How...”

Do you know that?

As Mok Riwon trailed off in a dumbfounded tone, Pae Woongchu laughed and answered him.

“If you want to know, show me your strength!”

He then executed another stomp kick.

The clash was evenly matched once again.

* * *

Mok Riwon felt deeply bewildered.

It was only natural considering his secret had come out of the mouth of a demonic practitioner he had never met before.

The lingering question of how Pae Woongchu knew his secret persisted, but answers wouldn’t come.

Mok Riwon clenched his teeth and blocked the relentless blows.

However, the longer he endured, the more disadvantageous it was for him.

He found himself being forced on the defensive, Pae Woongchu’s killing intent thickening, and the demonic qi bursting out from him constantly stimulated Mok Riwon’s mind.

He couldn’t even use killing intent in the manner he had during the Dragon Phoenix Tournament.

His instincts warned him.

I shouldn’t use this sensation.

Saaaaa–

The ink-black qi wavered.

Seizing the moment, Pae Woongchu landed a punishing blow.

Bam!

His fist hammered into Mok Riwon’s waist, hurling him back in agony.

Amidst that, dissatisfaction marred Pae Woongchu’s expression.

“Is this all?”

The form of his demonic qi transformed from flames into lava, mirroring the volatility of his emotions, a characteristic of demonic qi.

“Ink Dragon! Is that really all you can show while bearing the Heaven-Slaying Star?!”

His voice seethed with rage.

The blood vessels in the white of his eyes couldn’t withstand the emotions and began to burst one by one.

“The denser the killing intent, the stronger you become! The thicker the demonic qi, the more formidable you are! Why then do you persist with cowardly maneuvers?!”

Mok Riwon’s breathing was rough.

Eventually, he bit his lips tightly and stood up again.

He had only landed a single strike, but the recoil was terrible.

“I didn’t come here to see just that–!”

Mok Riwon answered the shout which was stained with rage.

“…I did not pick up the sword to become a slaughterer.”

He gripped his sword again.

And steadied up his faltering body through sheer willpower.

He was unaware of the Fist Demon's identity.

Nor did he understand why his secret was known, or why he was being provoked in such a manner.

However, even so, he could clearly understand his intention.

He wanted him to become a slaughterer.

If so, Mok Riwon already had his answer ready.

“I picked up the sword to become a chivalrous person. I will not wield the sword just to be consumed by killing intent.”

“Bullshit! Do you really think that’s possible?!”

“Even if you say it’s impossible, my answer will not change.”

Mok Riwon’s qi gradually stabilized.

It was overlaid on his sword.

He had no intention of playing along with his plans.

“I will become a chivalrous person. My sword is meant for vanquishing evil demons.”

Mok Riwon assumed a stance, glaring at Pae Woongchu.

It was a basic stance.

“A chivalrous hero is someone who walks the hardest path.”

Mok Riwon charged forward.

Towards the heart of the erupting killing intent and demonic qi, disregarding the primal instincts that comprised his being.

He swung his sword to sincerely carry out all he had learned throughout his /genesisforsaken