SERIES: Return Of The Divine Thief
CHAPTER: 28
The deaths of the Yu family brothers plunged the battlefield into utter chaos.
But even amidst the pandemonium, the elite warriors of the Yu clan moved with desperate purpose.
Their goal: to protect the last of the family's bloodline, the third son, Yu Cho.
“Block them! Protect the Young Master!”
“Clear a path! Protect the youngest Young Master, no matter what it takes!”
A dozen elite warriors formed a circle around Yu Cho, swinging their swords with desperation.
A tragic resolve, unafraid even of death, was etched in their eyes.
Whether it was loyalty—a willingness to throw down their own lives to protect their master—or fear of the punishment that awaited them after the battle, it was impossible to say.
But their desperation was undeniable.
“Where do you think you're running!”
The allied forces, led by Jo Yangtae and Heuk Cheolsan, fiercely intercepted them.
Heuk Cheolsan’s axe carved a great arc, shattering the warriors’ weapons, while Jo Yangtae’s sword darted into the openings.
But the resistance of the Yu clan warriors was tenacious.
When one fell, another took his place. Even as they were run through with swords, they would grab onto their opponents’ legs, refusing to let go.
“Damn it! We can't break through!”
Jo Yangtae gritted his teeth.
Their goal was the complete annihilation of the Yu clan.
Honestly, the Demonic Cult Muryang had mentioned still felt distant and unreal.
It was a specter from a long-forgotten past.
But the truth of the horrific ‘medicine’ the Yu clan had created and distributed was an undeniable reality.
A poison that drained a person’s lifeblood and destroyed their very soul.
Though he walked the rough path of the underworld, even Jo Yangtae had a line he wouldn't cross.
More importantly, what if this vile truth were ever to be exposed to the world?
The righteous factions and the authorities wouldn't stop with just the Yu clan.
They would declare, ‘The underworld of Guangxi Province are all in it together,’ and launch a massive campaign to root them all out.
For their own survival, the Yu clan had to be annihilated here and now.
Without leaving a single ember behind.
The Yu clan’s elite warriors were just as desperate as Jo Yangtae and Heuk Cheolsan.
The protective formation surrounding Yu Cho was like a living iron fortress.
At this rate, they wouldn't be able to stop them from escaping through the back gate.
It was then.
Swoosh—
With a sound like the wind slicing across the battlefield, a white shadow swept over their heads.
It was Baekun, the man in the white jade mask.
‘……!’
Before the warriors guarding Yu Cho could even look up.
Baekun’s form slipped into the heart of the tightly packed formation as seamlessly as a drop of water soaking into cloth.
It was a narrow space between blades, a gap that common sense dictated was impossible to breach.
But to Baekun, that tiny gap was like a wide-open thoroughfare.
The Divine Thief’s ultimate skill, the Flowing Cloud Step.
A footwork technique that flowed like clouds and scattered like the wind.
His body bent with boneless flexibility, and his feet were as light as if he were treading on air.
The warriors’ swinging blades failed to even graze the hem of his robes, and their outstretched hands grasped at nothing but empty air.
It was over in an instant.
Having slipped through the dozen guards, Baekun now stood directly in the path of the fleeing Yu Cho.
“……”
The Yu clan warriors were left speechless by Baekun’s movements.
“And where might you be going?”
The voice that came from behind the white jade mask was low and chilling.
Baekun, who had seemed so insignificant before Muryang, was no longer that person.
“Y-You lawless intruder!”
The guard captain shouted in shock, but Baekun had no intention of conversing any further.
“Kill him! Stop him from laying a hand on the Young Master!”
At the guard captain’s desperate cry, time, which had seemed to stand still, began to move again.
* * *
A faint smile touched Muryang’s lips as he caught a glimpse of Yu Cho’s guards collapsing at Baekun’s hands.
‘Not bad.’
His brother’s movements were even better than he had expected.
Especially the Yuunbo he had just displayed.
The way he executed the footwork, flowing like clouds and scattering like the wind, went beyond simply mimicking their master's teachings; it was infused with his own interpretation and experience.
‘I can leave that side to him now.’
Muryang turned his head and fixed his gaze on the old snake standing before him, Yu Geon.
Yu Geon must have also seen his youngest son in peril.
But he didn't even flinch.
Instead, his gaze grew colder and calmer, focused solely on the enemy before him, Muryang.
‘Do you have to be this cold-blooded to become an Elder of the Demonic Cult?’
That terrible heartlessness, prioritizing the battle before him and his own survival over the death of his child.
It seemed to be the driving force that had made him an Elder of the Demonic Cult in his past life.
“You seem to have the luxury of looking away.”
Yu Geon's voice was low.
The dark, combative aura emanating from his entire body pressed down heavily on the surrounding air.
Muryang shrugged and gave a light laugh at his murderous words.
“I'll pluck out those arrogant eyeballs right now.”
KWAANG!
The moment Yu Geon kicked off the ground, the stones on the floor cracked like a spiderweb and shot upward.
In the blink of an eye, Yu Geon's sword reached Muryang's face and struck down like a lightning bolt.
Kagagang!
Muryang didn't dodge, instead raising his sword to block.
The moment Muryang’s and Yu Geon's swords clashed, a tremendous shockwave spread out in all directions.
Muryang's body was pushed back slightly.
‘Ugh… As expected, since this is twenty years ago, he's in his prime. I think I understand why old men seek youth so desperately.’
His grip throbbed as if it would tear apart.
Even though he had enhanced his internal energy with the Dokhwaryeon, it couldn't match the depth of Yu Geon's, who had practiced demonic arts for decades.
It was a fight he was bound to lose if he met force with force.
But Muryang did not back down.
Instead of taking the opponent's strength head-on, he angled his sword to deflect the force to the side.
Sssk—
Yu Geon's sword grazed Muryang's shoulder and cut through the empty air.
Seizing that momentary opening, Muryang's sword struck toward Yu Geon's abdomen like a snake.
“Hmph!”
Yu Geon snorted and twisted his wrist.
His sword, which had been cutting through the air, returned in a bizarre trajectory, parrying Muryang's sword and once again aiming for his neck.
Cha-chang! Chang! Chang!
The two men's swords crossed relentlessly.
One exchange, two exchanges, three exchanges….
In an instant, dozens of blows were exchanged.
Yu Geon's swordsmanship was fast, heavy, and cunning.
It was based on the Yu family's heirloom martial art, the Yusugeom, but hidden within it was the aura of demonic arts optimized for killing, making his sword path erratic and sharp.
But Muryang tenaciously withstood the storm-like attacks, waiting for an opening.
When Yu Geon thrusted, he would take half a step back to dodge; when he slashed, he would use the back of his sword to parry and alter the trajectory.
His movements were as if he knew in advance where his opponent would strike.
‘This bastard…!’
Yu Geon's brow furrowed.
The advantage in internal energy was clearly his.
He could feel his opponent staggering every time their swords met.
It felt like he could crush him with sheer force, yet at every critical moment, the brat slipped away like an eel.
It was different from simply having fast reflexes.
Shuk!
Yu Geon unleashed a decisive strike.
A swift sword strike aimed at the heart, hidden behind a feint designed to obscure the opponent's vision.
An ordinary master would have been deceived by the feint, lost their balance, or been struck without even being able to react.
But Muryang didn't even glance at the feint.
As if he had been waiting for it, he ducked to avoid the swift strike and instead swung his sword at Yu Geon's lower body.
“Tch!”
Yu Geon had to quickly pull back his foot and retreat.
The hem of his robe, sliced by Muryang's sword, fluttered to the ground.
‘Is it instinct?’
Yu Geon created distance and sized Muryang up again.
His breathing was slightly ragged, but his eyes were still fiercely alive.
The instant his sword was about to connect, the brat's body was already reacting.
It wasn't that he was thinking with his head and then dodging; it was as if his body sensed the danger and moved first.
‘He's a natural.’
Yu Geon had no choice but to admit it.
That brat was a genius of combat.
An animalistic instinct for reading ‘killing intent’ that even old warriors who had crossed the line between life and death countless times struggled to possess.
And it was ingrained in that young punk's body.
That ability to uncannily sense dangerous attacks and only choose to parry the ones he could block.
‘To think he's fighting me on equal terms with nothing but his senses, despite his lack of internal energy.’
Jealousy and killing intent surged within him simultaneously.
If that brat had just ten more years of training, he might not have even been a match for him.
All the more reason he had to be killed here and now.
“Quite impressive. To dodge my sword so well.”
Yu Geon feigned composure, lowering the tip of his sword to the floor.
Of course, the tingling in his hand told him the situation was far from easy.
“But how long can you keep dodging?”
He had yet to play his true trump card.
Sagwigolgong (Snake Demon Bone Art).
A secret, ultimate technique of the Demonic Cult that involved freely dislocating and twisting the joints of the entire body to attack from angles that surpassed the limits of the human form.
No matter how gifted he was at reading killing intent, he wouldn't be able to block an attack that came from a completely unexpected place.
‘A little more… I need to push him a little more.’
Yu Geon drew up even more of his internal energy.
If he had been using about seventy percent of his power until now, he would now pour in ninety, no, one hundred percent.
He would corner the brat with an overwhelming wave of power, and when he was desperate to defend himself.
That's when he would thrust his sword from an unforeseen angle and burst his heart open.
“Die!”
Yu Geon roared once more and charged.
This attack was incomparably heavier and faster than before. Muryang's eyes glinted coldly.
‘Here it comes.’
He knew it too.
That the old snake was hiding its fangs, waiting for an opportunity.
And he planned to create that opportunity for him.
Muryang pretended to be pushed back by Yu Geon's offensive, focusing solely on defense as he slowly retreated.
Seeing this, Yu Geon smiled triumphantly.
‘He took the bait!’
This was the moment.
Yu Geon bent his right arm, the one holding the sword, behind his back.
Udeudeuk!
With a grotesque sound, his shoulder bone dislocated, and his arm snaked around from behind his back.
An angle that should have been utterly impossible.
From behind his back, the sword shot out through the space under his armpit, aimed at Muryang's heart.
It was the secret technique of the Sagwigolgong, the Baemyeonja (Back Stab).
At this distance, from this angle, even a brat with exceptional senses couldn't possibly dodge. Yu Geon was certain of his victory.
But.
Seogeok!
“……!”
Yu Geon's eyes widened as if they would tear.
His sword, which should have pierced Muryang's heart, had stopped in mid-air.
No, to be precise, the forearm holding the sword had been severed along with the wrist and was falling to the floor.
Muryang looked down at Yu Geon with a calm expression, showing no surprise at all.
“How dull.”
His voice was laced with deep disappointment.
It was only natural, as the degree of contortion was far less than in his past life.
Yu Geon stared back and forth between his severed arm and Muryang's face, his mouth agape.
He simply couldn't believe it. To think he had waited for his secret technique as if he'd known about it from the start, only to cut him down.
“You… Who in the world are you….”
His question was never finished.
Muryang's sword was already flying toward his neck.
Puk!
A flash of light glinted, and the head of Yu Geon, the head of the Yu family and an Elder of the Demonic Cult, shot into the air.
In his eyes, even at the moment of death, was a look of horror and incomprehension.
Muryang looked down coldly at Yu Geon's head, which had fallen and was rolling across the floor, and flicked the blood from his sword.
“The debt is paid.”
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