Cheon Su-rin's gaze briefly turned toward Bong Du-chil.
“Du-chil, hang on just a little longer. I'll get you out of here soon.”
“So you walked into hell on your own two feet after all.”
“You people crossed the line.”
So-ho's gaze lingered on Cheon Su-rin's waist.
“A real sword today instead of a wooden one? Did you steal your father's or something?”
The gang members' mockery filled the cave.
As if to tear that ridicule to shreds, Cheon Su-rin drew his sword.
Shing—.
The mere force of the draw changed the flow of the air.
An extremely refined motion, without a single unnecessary movement.
So-ho's eyes gleamed sharply.
Just as he had sensed back then, this was not the level of an ordinary backwater academy.
“Kill him!”
At So-ho's command, the gang members swung their weapons and charged.
In that instant, Cheon Su-rin's sword moved.
Ssss—.
He clearly seemed to be swinging slowly, yet countless afterimages scattered chaotically along the sword's path.
The gang member charging at the front raised his sword in shock.
‘I'm going to be cut!’
To the opponent, a single swing looked like a sword striking from many directions at once.
The gang member screamed and swung his sword wildly, but it was not enough to block them all.
“......Huh?”
He was sure his shoulder and waist had been cut, but there was no pain.
Not only was there no wound, but no blood flowed either.
In the instant the enemy faltered in confusion,
SLASH—!
Cheon Su-rin's real blade dug deep into the careless enemy's right arm.
“Aaargh!”
A scream burst out along with the sound of bone being shaved away.
“A single swing looks like a thousand blades to the opponent. This is the Thousand Spirits Sword Art.”
Cheon Su-rin held his sword at a slant once more.
As he moved, the sword's afterimages traced a bizarre yet beautiful trajectory, as if dancing.
‘They teach martial arts of that level at a backwater academy......?’
So-ho felt goosebumps rise along his spine.
His instincts had been right. As he had thought, the kid was no ordinary academy nobody.
“Don't let your guard down!”
At So-ho's warning, tension was plain on the gang members' faces as well.
Fwip—.
Cheon Su-rin swung his sword at the enemy first.
Once again, it looked as though sword strikes were coming in from several directions at once.
From the opponent's standpoint, it was no different from an elaborate shell game.
Even knowing that only one of those countless strikes was real, telling it apart was nearly impossible.
At the very least, it was not a level the lowest ranks of the Black Tiger Gang could handle, so in the end, they had no choice but to leave it to luck.
SLASH—.
The enemy blocked one spot, but that strike was an illusion.
In the end, the real sword Cheon Su-rin swung cut into the enemy's leg.
“Th-this brat.......”
Faced with unexpected martial prowess, the enemies could not hide their bewilderment.
Before long, they were cut down by Cheon Su-rin's sword one by one.
Cheon Su-rin, on the other hand, did not allow a single attack to land.
Though they had the advantage in numbers, the battle was turning against them, and now the gang members only exchanged glances, unable to close in easily.
“Phew—.”
In truth, Cheon Su-rin was quite tired as well.
He had seized the momentum with the Thousand Spirits Sword Art, but its continuous use was rapidly draining his qi.
A large part of it was that the fight was dragging on because he was attacking while avoiding vital points.
He had had several chances to kill his enemies until now.
Had he set his mind to it, he would have already killed them all and ended the fight.
-Kill.
For a while now, someone had been whispering to Cheon Su-rin.
Telling him to kill every one of the bastards before him, tempting him endlessly.
It was a voice he had heard ever since he first cut an enemy.
He did not know who the voice belonged to, but an instinctive aversion rose in him, a feeling that if he obeyed it, something irreversible would happen.
‘The Heavenly Slaughter Calamity.’
Was that guy tempting him right now?
Telling him to kill people and become a murderer who craved blood and slaughter, just like him.
Of course, he had no intention of obeying.
He only wanted to save Bong Du-chil. He did not want to kill.
Above all, he never wanted to become a monster like the Heavenly Slaughter Calamity, who felt no guilt whatsoever over death.
‘I must never kill.’
He could still hold out.
But he could not promise himself that he would be all right after killing someone.
“Cheon Su-rin!”
Just then, So-ho called out to Cheon Su-rin.
When he shifted his gaze slightly, So-ho was pointing his straight blade at Bong Du-chil.
“The more you resist, the more this kid gets hurt.”
“Let Du-chil go. He's got nothing to do with this.”
“No, he's got everything to do with it.”
So-ho viciously kicked Bong Du-chil in the stomach.
A heavy sound echoed through the cave.
Bong Du-chil's body lifted into the air and slammed hard into the wall.
Seeing that, Cheon Su-rin tried to charge, but So-ho quickly put the straight blade to Bong Du-chil's throat, leaving him no choice but to stop.
“So this kid really is precious to you.”
“......Stop it.”
“Then why'd you overstep your place and interfere with the Black Tiger Gang's business?”
So-ho stomped on Bong Du-chil, who lay collapsed on the floor.
“With that little bit of strength!”
THWACK—!
“Without even the strength to protect a single person!”
THWACK—!
“You stepped in without knowing your place?!”
“I said stop it!”
A roar filled with fury.
Under the relentless beating, Bong Du-chil seemed to have lost consciousness.
-Kill. Cut off that man's head.
Someone was saying it to Cheon Su-rin again.
A voice clearer and louder than before.
Was it because he had watched Bong Du-chil being beaten? Cheon Su-rin could not control the emotions boiling up inside him.
“What's with that look?”
“......Stop right there.”
“Stop? You still think you've got the upper hand?”
“It's not too late yet. If you go any further than that, even I don't know what I'll do.”
So-ho swallowed his words for a moment, as if dumbfounded.
Soon he burst into mocking laughter, and the other gang members began to laugh along.
“I'd love to see it! Just what you're going to do!”
“.......”
“How about it, everyone? Don't you agree?”
At that question, they all jeered mockingly.
All the while, Cheon Su-rin simply stood still.
Only after laughing for a long while did So-ho gesture for them to be quiet.
“Do I look like I'm joking right now?”
So-ho raised his straight blade.
“Throw down your sword. Then I'll let this kid live.”
“.......”
“Didn't you hear me?! Throw down your sword, now!”
So-ho's roar echoed loudly through the cave.
But a voice even louder was tormenting Cheon Su-rin.
-Kill. Butcher their hearts.
The voice now sounded so clear, as if it were speaking right beside him.
No, he could no longer hear anything but that voice.
The murderous urge boiled up, and he could not contain his fury.
At the same time, a question arose.
Those bastards were trying to kill someone precious to him, so why was it that he must not kill them?
Because he was afraid of becoming a murderer?
Then was it fine to just let Bong Du-chil die like this?
The more he thought, the more his head felt like it would split apart.
-Kill.
Strangely, when he focused on that voice, his head no longer hurt.
As if it had been the answer from the very start, he felt free of every thought.
Then Cheon Su-rin let the sword he had been holding fall to the floor.
Seeing that, So-ho smiled meaningfully and gave his underling a signal with his eyes.
From behind, a gang member crept toward Cheon Su-rin.
Whoosh—.
From the rear, the gang member swung his sword at Cheon Su-rin in a surprise attack.
His opponent was defenseless.
Everyone thought that had finished off Cheon Su-rin.
“......?”
He had swung with all his might, but strangely, he felt no sensation of cutting.
The sword had only cut through empty air.
When he came to his senses, Cheon Su-rin, who had been right before his eyes, had vanished.
Then someone grabbed the gang member's head with both hands from behind.
Soon, with a grotesque sound, the gang member's neck bent unnaturally.
Thud—.
The gang member collapsed with his neck snapped.
He had died on the spot.
The one who had killed him stood right behind him.
Everyone was stunned.
The one who had just snapped their comrade's neck was Cheon Su-rin.
As if he had suddenly become a different person, the air flowing from him was eerily cold.
Swish—.
Cheon Su-rin picked up the sword that had fallen on the floor.
As if snapping out of it at the sight, the other gang members charged at Cheon Su-rin all at once.
Grin—.
A smile blossomed on Cheon Su-rin's lips.
By the time everyone noticed it, Cheon Su-rin was already gone from that spot.
SQUELCH—!
Before anyone knew it, Cheon Su-rin was driving his sword into a gang member's chest.
A strike that pierced the heart precisely.
It was clearly different from the way he had avoided vital points before.
SQUELCH, SQUELCH, SQUELCH—!
But it did not end there.
Though the man must have died the moment his heart was pierced, Cheon Su-rin kept stabbing again and again.
So many times they could not be counted.
When the gang member fell as a corpse, Cheon Su-rin climbed on top of him and kept driving his sword in.
“......!”
The others watched the scene with pale faces.
“......Is he smiling?”
They had not seen wrong.
A clear smile hung on the lips of Cheon Su-rin as he hacked at the corpse.
As if this act were immensely enjoyable.
At that eerie sight, everyone froze in place.
Soon, Cheon Su-rin turned his head.
The smile he wore, drenched in blood, felt like looking at something other than a human.
The gang member who met his eyes could not contain his fear and screamed.
“Ghk—!”
But the scream stopped at once.
Before he knew it, Cheon Su-rin was right in front of him and had thrust his sword into his mouth.
The gang members came to their senses and charged all at once, but they were no match for him whatsoever.
As if a beast of prey had dropped among herbivores, the gang members were being thoroughly ravaged.
“......He's enjoying it.”
Could it be that he had been hiding his true nature all along?
So-ho could only understand the change that way.
Even to So-ho, who belonged to the dark path, his methods were so cruel that he frowned in spite of himself.
Using lethal techniques without hesitation was one thing, but mutilating corpses as if it were fun did not feel human at all.
He was a murderer craving blood and slaughter, through and through.
Thud—.
The last gang member fell, bleeding.
Only then did So-ho realize that all his underlings were dead and he alone remained.
“......!”
When his eyes met Cheon Su-rin's, So-ho flinched back without realizing it.
He had no confidence that he could survive one-on-one against that murderer.
In the end, it was not Cheon Su-rin but Bong Du-chil at whom So-ho pointed his straight blade.
“Don't move!”
“.......”
“Come any closer and I'll kill this kid!”
His only way to survive was to threaten the hostage.
He had long since forgotten his goal of killing Cheon Su-rin.
All he could think of was somehow escaping that murderer and getting out of the cave alive.
Step— step—.
Just then, Cheon Su-rin began to walk.
As if he had not heard the warning.
“I said stop! You don't care what happens to this kid?!”
Bong Du-chil was still unconscious.
So-ho pressed the straight blade closer and shouted, but Cheon Su-rin's steps did not slow in the slightest.
Only then did So-ho realize his threat was meaningless.
He did not know why, but Bong Du-chil's life no longer seemed to matter to Cheon Su-rin.
The monster before him now seemed interested in nothing but killing him.
“Don't come any closer.......”
“.......”
“Don't come at me smiling like that!”
Unable to bear his fear, So-ho lunged in desperation.
SQUELCH—!
Then a sword flew in like a flash of light and pierced So-ho's chest.
Halted in his tracks, So-ho looked down blankly at the sword lodged in his chest.
“Cough—!”
So-ho staggered and spewed blood.
Clinging to his fading consciousness, he tried to pull the sword from his chest, but it was beyond him.
Barely standing while gripping the sword was all he could manage.
At the eerie laughter coming from ahead, So-ho raised his head with difficulty.
“......The Heavenly Slaughter Calamity.”
The unmatched murderer who had once made the murim tremble.
If that being he had only heard of in legends truly stood before his eyes, this was how it would feel.
Smiling, Cheon Su-rin gripped the handle of the sword lodged in So-ho's chest.
That was the last sight So-ho ever saw.
Along with the eerie laughter, an even thicker scent of blood rose within the cave.