Chapter 906

I didn’t know what to call this.

A melee?

A bloodbath?

Maybe both. Everywhere I stepped, I was trampling the corpse of someone I didn’t know, while enemy spears, swords, and arrowheads came hurtling in without pause, from the ground and the sky alike.

Even now.

“Look out!”

One of the Embroidered Uniform Guards heard my shout and jolted, twisting at the waist.

Fffft!

His armor split with a sharp whistle.

The traitor who’d tried to ambush him amid the chaos missed by a hair. Without hesitation, I kicked a crescent blade lying on the ground.

Whoooosh! Thud!

There wasn’t even the usual dying cry.

The blade shot out like a flash of light, piercing its target and then skewering a couple of nearby enemies like meat on a spit. The Embroidered Uniform Guard, who’d barely escaped with his life, gave me a slight nod.

“Thank y—”

He never raised his head again.

Thwack!

An arrow pierced his throat, straight through his Adam’s apple.

He collapsed with blood gurgling in his throat. Enemies trampled his body as they rushed in, swinging their weapons at anyone in reach.

All accompanied by a calm voice that had no place in a situation like this—which made it all the more chilling.

“Heaven above, earth below.”

“All demons bow in reverence.”

Why did they remind me of the deranged fanatics I’d fought right before coming to Murim?

“Fucking lunatics…”

Short cries of dismay rang out here and there. The Embroidered Uniform Guards had continued fighting calmly despite the sudden betrayal of their allies, as if to prove the weight of the golden armor they wore. But even they looked afraid as they watched the traitors, who had become entirely different people.

Or maybe they feared the martial prowess of someone they couldn’t hope to face.

Splash.

A leather shoe sank into a pool of blood as its owner stepped forward.

One of the Embroidered Uniform Guards had backed away without realizing it. A groan slipped through his lips.

“Ma Sanbao…”

That’s right. It was him.

Ma Sanbao, the East Depot’s Brush-Holding Eunuch.

Its second-in-command and de facto leader.

Or rather, that was the identity he’d used to deceive the world. Now he moved toward me.

So fast that “approaching” hardly did it justice—he moved like a flash of light.

Whoosh! BOOM!

His blows rained down like lightning from above. Every time I blocked one, my hands went numb.

My breathing had grown rougher than before, throwing off movements that should have flowed like water.

Huff. Huff.

As I panted, I wondered whether I was struggling this badly because of my condition—or because my opponent was simply that formidable.

I didn’t have long to wonder.

Shhk!

The flexible sword curved like a living snake and grazed the bridge of my nose.

Hot blood ran from the cut. I retreated through the burning pain, and a low laugh reached my ear.

“What happened to all that momentum you had at the start, hmm?”

Instead of answering, I turned my head. A dagger sprang from Ma Sanbao’s voluminous sleeve and pierced the empty space beside me like a streak of light.

Thwack!

Another life ended with a sickening sound.

Ma Sanbao went on as if nothing had happened.

“That’s a shame. If you hadn’t dodged, that young Embroidered Uniform Guard would still be breathing.”

I looked at Ma Sanbao, who was taunting me, and wondered:

If I hadn’t dodged, would the guard have survived?

Could he have made it through this battle and returned to his family someday?

I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything.

The pointless guilt made me feel like shit, even though someone else was the one who owed the dead guard an apology.

Why…?

I wanted to turn around. I wanted to look the Emperor and So Gyo in the eye—the two who had thrown me, Jeok Cheongang, and even their own subordinates into this battlefield, only to stand by and watch. I wanted to ask them why they’d held this damn banquet. Why they weren’t stepping in when they had the power to turn the tide.

“Why the hell?!”

I couldn’t hold back the shout any longer. But it wasn’t the Emperor or So Gyo who answered.

It was Ma Sanbao.

“Do you still not understand why they’re standing by and doing nothing?”

He let out a derisive laugh and continued.

“Blazing Flame Divine Dragon Jin Taekyung. The Emperor used you too, in the end. Just as we tried to use you and the Fire King to get rid of So Gyo.”

“…!”

“Borrow another’s blade to kill. There’s no better way to keep blood off your hands. Especially when the blades are as fine as the Fire King and the Blazing Flame Divine Dragon.”

I wanted to tell him to shut his damn mouth.

But no matter how badly I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t speak.

It was all too plausible.

If the Emperor was anything like the man I’d experienced firsthand…

And with that woman, So Gyo, still a complete mystery…

“You and your master have only one role left. Fight for your lives until, in the end, you die.”

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

The flexible sword became dozens of blades, whistling toward me from every direction.

A sword technique of extreme speed, pushed to its very limit.

But however densely the afterimages surrounded me, only one blade was real.

Clang!

A clash far too loud to have come from two weapons meeting sent me sliding back.

Ma Sanbao kept swinging the flexible sword, giving me no pause. His voice came from beyond it.

“The Great Nation, the Emperor—it’s always been like this. To the rulers who hold this vast land, people like you and me, people of Murim, aren’t subjects to govern.”

Whoosh-whoosh! Slice!

The pressure behind his sword cut through my skin. Thin sprays of blood scattered into the air.

“That’s why I followed my master and pledged my loyalty to that person. It’s why you’ll die here today. The Emperor only wants to protect Prince Shangshan. He won’t play the cards he’s kept hidden just to save a pack of martial-world ruffians.”

“What?”

A realization flashed through my mind, and my eyes widened.

Even though there was considerable distance between us, I suddenly thought of someone fighting a thunderous battle alongside Jeok Cheongang far away.

Could it be?

No. There was no could about it.

Ma Sanbao had said it himself. This wasn’t a guess. It was a certainty.

Krrrrang!

Their different Forces collided, spitting sparks.

My spear had once been a single weapon. Ma Sanbao’s fierce assault had broken it into two short spears. I crossed them to block his flexible sword and felt a chill coming off the blade, stopped inches from my face.

“Cang Gong. Were you his disciple?”

“Cang Gong? How dare you call him a servant of that sinister, weak Emperor?”

Ma Sanbao’s lips twisted.

“Eastern Heaven Demon Lord. That is the new name the great and all-powerful Lord of Heaven bestowed on his loyal servant.”

“…!”

“And that Eastern Heaven Demon Lord’s disciple will bring you to your knees.”

At that moment—

Whirr.

The springy blade of the flexible sword bent.

It slipped over the spear shaft blocking its way like a living snake and flashed toward me. I swung my crossed short spears upward with all my strength.

Clang!

The flexible sword veered away from my chest.

But I’d only survived a dangerous moment. The attack wasn’t over.

Wham!

Hk!

My breath caught, and my vision flashed.

A fist struck my exposed chest. I staggered back more than ten steps, giving Ma Sanbao an opening he couldn’t afford to miss.

Tap.

One step.

At the same time, Ma Sanbao’s figure vanished like an illusion.

But even with my battered body and dulled senses, I reacted in time.

Left!

The instant I was sure, I flung out one hand.

Broken in two, the spear had lost the advantage of its long reach. But the shortened shaft was the perfect length and speed for a throw. I sent it flying with all my strength.

Whoooosh!

A single fierce whistle ripped through the air.

Then came a tremendous impact.

BOOM!

Dust billowed from the ground.

And then—

Shhhhk!

Space split open.

The flexible sword had knocked my short spear aside. Now it came through the dust, blazing with Force and cutting the cloud apart.

Ma Sanbao’s taunting Sound Transmission reached me with it.

—Don’t worry. I’ll only cut you enough to leave you barely alive.

That was his mistake.

The world slowed. I could see every one of the dozens of sword-images raining down through the air.

Cut me? And only enough to leave me alive?

What a joke.

He was talking like that while his opponent was still standing on two perfectly good legs.

Win a life-and-death duel, and you could spit on your opponent. Boast about your strength. Laugh in his face.

But…

You do that after it’s over.

My body was heavy as waterlogged cotton, and the internal energy that usually surged through me like a wave was coming in broken strands.

It didn’t matter.

My eyes hadn’t wavered. Neither had the hand gripping my one remaining short spear.

I see it.

Shwoosh!

The spear tip pierced a single precise point. Dozens of sword-images vanished as it struck the real blade.

BOOM!

The impact sent the figure flying, unable to withstand the force of the collision.

Not me.

Ma Sanbao.

Crunch.

He planted a foot hard enough to tear up the ground and barely managed to steady himself. His eyes widened as he stared at me.

Tap.

I was already right in front of him.

“You bastard!”

Ma Sanbao cried out, his flexible sword cutting through the air at a speed worthy of being called extreme. It scattered Force like a glacier—colder and more merciless still.

Shwoooosh!

Facing that force, which seemed capable of freezing everything it touched, I drew up every last bit of internal energy in my body.

Fwoosh.

Wet firewood caught flame.

I poured the Scorching Yang Qi that surged like fire through my acupoints, as unstable as twisted railway tracks, into my hand and grabbed the blade just as it began to pierce my side.

Krrk, KRAAAASH!

Power collided with power.

Agony shot through both hands.

This wasn’t Empty-Hand Seizes the Blade, catching a weapon between bare fingers with precise timing and speed.

This was just a brute-force grab.

“You crazy—!”

No martial artist could blame Ma Sanbao for saying that.

This really was insane.

You might get away with it against someone at least a level below you. Against a master of similar skill—especially one with greater internal energy—you’d lose both arms in an instant.

But…

It’s different when the lunatic grabbing the blade has been busting his ass to raise his Muscles and Bones through the System.

If my other stats were blue-chip stocks, Muscles and Bones were a savings account I’d kept adding to with every level and every training session.

So what about now, more than a year after I’d gotten the System?

What level am I again?

I smiled.

I endured the horrible pain as my palm turned into a shredded mess, and looked into Ma Sanbao’s eyes, bulging as if they were about to burst.

Then I gave his words back to him, changing just a few.

“Don’t worry. I’ll stab you just enough to kill you.”

“…!”

Ma Sanbao tried to shout, but no sound came out.

Krrk!

The short spear in my hand pierced his throat just as his lips began to part.

“Ghk. Kgh.”

Blood gurgled in his throat. The light faded from his eyes as he stared at me.