Unrivaled Spear Demon
Chapter 8 - Act of Retribution (3)
Guyangpo, the Master of the Black Way Guild.
He watched the bloody battle unfolding in the corridor, grinding his teeth.
The appearance of a demonic being who had learned demonic arts.
What did this mean?
Drip—
A cold sweat trickled down the nape of his neck.
Guyangpo was a martial artist born and raised in the Unorthodox Faction.
The “Jeong” of the Orthodox Faction does not mean Righteousness (正), but Order (定). Likewise, the “Sa” of the Unorthodox Faction does not mean Evil (邪), but “Resemblance” (似).
Just as the Orthodox Faction was not a 'righteous group,' the Unorthodox Faction was not an 'evil group.'
The only difference was their tendency to place less importance on justifications and norms. In their reverence for martial arts and their cultivation of body and mind, the two were conceptually aligned.
…But the Demonic (魔) was not.
As the character itself implied, it meant something beyond human, an evil that far surpassed even the Black Way, who were considered the roughest and most inhuman of the Unorthodox Faction.
Regardless of Orthodox or Unorthodox affiliation, the Demonic was a public enemy of the martial world that had to be annihilated without question.
‘Just what in the hell is that bastard! Why did he have to show up at the Black Way Guild!’
When he first saw the attacker's face, Guyangpo had thought he was a master from the Orthodox Faction.
‘Who else would do something like this but some Orthodox Faction bastard drunk on his own sense of justice.’
Seeing him cut off the heads of the Four Black Way Fiends and roll them in, he’d thought the man must be utterly insane… but that thought changed when the Jo family’s bodyguard died.
‘No matter how crazy he is, this crosses a line. He can't be from the Orthodox Faction!’
But he was wrong about everything.
This was Demonic (魔). A terrifying existence on a completely different plane from the Order (定) and the Resemblance (似).
Guyangpo thought.
‘Demonic beings are just beasts that know nothing but to run wild and rampage. This is no different from a wild beast descending from the mountains. I have to escape through the back gate and send a request for aid, whether to the Sado Alliance or the Murim Alliance.’
That was the nature of demonic arts.
In the beginning, the speed of acquisition was insanely fast, but past the midpoint, eight or nine out of ten practitioners became madmen.
This could only be overcome by reaching the supreme realm in the later stages, but almost no demonic beings survived to reach that state.
Even if they did, they would have already been branded a public enemy of the martial world, captured and killed in an inescapable net, or imprisoned in a dungeon.
…Thwack! …Thwack! …Thwack!
The enemy was beating the Jo family’s bodyguard to death with a bone.
Averting his gaze from the bodyguard’s face, which had been turned into a meat paste, Guyangpo crept toward a secret passage inside the inner chamber.
Just then…
“…You’re Guyangpo, aren’t you?”
The unbelievable happened.
Human words came from the demonic being’s mouth.
“?!”
Guyangpo, who had been trying to flee, froze in his tracks as if he had seen a ghost.
‘He has… his sanity?’
It was astonishing.
To think there was a demonic being in the world who had maintained his sanity.
‘Which means…’
His legs began to tremble.
The opponent was a demonic being. A demonic being with reason.
If so, there was a high probability that he was an existence who had reached the supreme realm.
‘A supreme master!’
For Guyangpo, who was just on the cusp of transitioning from second-rate to first-rate, it was a realm higher than the heavens.
Shhhhhhh…
At last, the demonic being began to gather his aura.
Amazingly, the thick demonic energy that had been palpable until now completely vanished.
Guyangpo fell deeper into despair.
If this was a master strong enough to control his own demonic energy, there was no way he could win, not even if he died and came back to life.
He dropped to his knees before his enemy.
And he began to beg, his hands pleading as if they were feet.
“Please spare me! If you just let me live, I’ll do anything!”
* * *
Chui was suppressing his demonic energy with the Miao tribe’s breathing technique.
As he absorbed the clear energy from the atmosphere and stored it in his dantian, the acrid energy that had been raging like a tempest gradually subsided.
Shhhhhh…
The Jo family bodyguard he had just killed became a Changwi and clung to Chui.
[Young… Mas… terrr…]
The karma of slaughter clung to the soul, and because of it, the power of the Unrestrained Demon grew even more profound.
Having absorbed another strong Changwi after the Four Black Way Fiends, Chui’s own realm had also risen.
Chui had reached the fourth stage in a single breath.
It was a realm that had taken him over a year to reach in his past life.
Just then.
“P-Please spare me!”
The Black Way Guild Master, Guyangpo, bowed his head to the floor.
“If you just let me live, I’ll do anything!”
He continued to speak steadfastly, even as he trembled.
“T-Today is the day I am to offer tribute to the Sado Alliance. If a problem arises, my life will end like a fly’s… but I worry that it might cause some trouble for a person of your esteemed status!”
In short, he was implying that he was under the protection of the Sado Alliance, and that killing him rashly would have consequences.
Chui paused for a moment.
It seemed his opponent was misunderstanding something about his level of martial arts, and he felt that if he used this opportunity well, things might resolve much more easily than he’d thought.
Chui spoke curtly.
“Cripple your own martial arts.”
“W-What? My martial arts?”
“If you don’t want to, then die.”
“…”
Guyangpo clenched his jaw.
If he destroyed his own dantian and crippled his martial arts, he would become a useless wreck.
In that case, he would be as good as dead anyway, so he might as well struggle.
At that very moment.
Flinch—
A chilling sensation touched the back of Guyangpo’s head as he was prostrated.
The moment he tried to hastily retreat.
Cra-ack!
Chui’s bone grazed Guyangpo’s head, missing a direct hit.
“Keuk?!”
He had allowed the attack because he had been cowering in fear.
Guyangpo staggered back, blood streaming down his face.
Chui walked slowly toward him.
Guyangpo shouted as if spitting out the words.
“You bastard! You’re no supreme master! How dare a mere second-rate warrior!”
He had instantly gauged his opponent’s strength.
“What kind of sorcery did you use to deceive me!”
“…”
Chui just smirked.
Whoosh
The bone swung.
A dark red energy began to seep from the bone, scattering into the air.
“Keoheuk! Kack! W-What is this!?”
Guyangpo coughed incessantly after inhaling the red energy spreading through the air.
His eyes stung, and his mouth burned.
He felt as if the internal energy flowing within his body had been tainted and corrupted.
[Kikikikikikikik…]
[Die… You die too…]
[Come with us… Guild Master…]
Moreover, familiar laughter echoed in his ears.
They were the voices of the dead Black Way Guild members.
“Ugh, uwaaah… Uwaaaaaaaah!”
Guyangpo drew the blade from his waist and swung it wildly.
But the ghosts of the dead guild members continued to circle around his body.
In that instant.
Spin—
Guyangpo’s body swayed.
Blood was pouring from the back of his head where the bone had struck him while he was prostrated.
He must have been hit in a bad spot.
“D-Damn it…”
The strength was gradually draining from his fingertips.
The blade in his hand began to feel heavier and heavier.
A dark shadow fell over the staggering Guyangpo.
“Normally, it might have been a little difficult to kill you.”
Chui nodded at the swaying Guyangpo.
Originally, Guyangpo was a warrior on the verge of the first-rate realm.
If the man had been determined to focus solely on defense, it would have been quite troublesome for Chui.
But because the man had misunderstood things, the situation had become much easier.
Gurgle!
The Four Black Way Fiends and the Jo family bodyguard became Changwi and aided Chui.
The spirit of a strong person was like an elixir that made one’s internal energy more profound.
Chui gripped the bone tightly.
And he swung it in a straight line toward Guyangpo.
Guyangpo hastily tried to dodge it, but…
…Snap!
He ended up giving up his elbow by a hair's breadth.
“Keuk!”
The elbow grazed by the bone was instantly shattered.
Ignoring his dangling arm, Guyangpo thrusted his blade in a straight line.
However, with a bizarre movement that seemed inhuman, Chui bent his waist and dodged Guyangpo’s attack.
“What!?”
Guyangpo cried out in surprise, but it was too late.
Chui was not accustomed to duels where forms clashed with forms, but to massive, chaotic brawls.
The art of survival amidst a storm of variables—not just swinging blades, but flying arrows, fallen enemies on the ground, scattered body parts, exploding gunpowder, fire, blood, dust, mud, and death screams.
Chui knew how to move in a way that could take an enemy’s life at any time, from any position, regardless of the predictable trajectories of human expectation.
‘This bastard isn’t just a second-rate warrior. A highly trained assassin, no, what is he…?!’
He was too free-form to belong to any school.
Too disciplined in his movements to be a rogue warrior.
Too direct and forthright to be an assassin.
And on top of all that, demonic energy?
But Guyangpo’s thoughts were cut short.
Whoosh—
Chui threw his body into the air and thrust the bone in his hand forward.
Like a harpoon, the bone shot out, shattering both of Guyangpo’s collarbones and striking his Adam’s apple.
“Ke-hek!”
Guyangpo flailed, clutching his collarbones with one hand.
As he did, his torso was left wide open, and Chui’s bone fell once more.
Crunch!
This time, it was his side.
Guyangpo vomited everything he had eaten and collapsed.
Chui’s bone hung loosely before him.
In that moment.
“Euh! Uwaaah!”
Guyangpo began to wave his hands frantically.
“P-Please spare me, Great Hero! Please, just my life…”
He began to beg, tears and snot streaming down his face.
His attitude was far more servile than before.
If the people of Naesong County knew that the great Master of the Black Way Guild was showing such a side, they would surely all faint from shock.
At least within Naesong County, he was no different from King Yama, who held the power of life and death over countless commoners.
However.
“Bring me the map of the Jo family’s estate.”
Before Chui, he was now nothing more than an insect that could be crushed at any moment.
“Th-the Jo family, you say? I understand! I'll bring it at once!”
Guyangpo, still prostrate, crawled like a dog toward the inner room and soon returned with a large map, which he offered to Chui.
Chui tucked the map into his robes and then spoke.
“Have you lent any money to the Hojeong Gate?”
“Ye-yes? The Hojeong Gate?”
“Yes or no?”
“Y-yes, I have! There are bond documents!”
“Where.”
Trembling uncontrollably, Guyangpo finally looked toward a drawer in the inner room.
…Crash!
Chui smashed the drawer with the bone.
He then pulled out all the debt ledgers, slave documents, account books, and so on that were inside.
Guyangpo remained on his knees, blood and cold sweat dripping from him.
“G-Great hero. If you just spare my life, I will reward you handsomely...”
“How many were there?”
“Pardon?”
Guyangpo lifted his head with a bewildered expression.
Chui asked him.
“The people who begged for their lives before you, just like this. How many were there?”
“G-Great hero… please…”
Guyangpo bowed his head, looking as if he would burst into tears at any moment.
But Chui merely stared at the ledgers in his hand with an indifferent expression.
“So you kidnapped and raped women from other provinces, sold them to brothels, exploited their earnings, and used that money to build up the Black Way Guild. You also secretly saddled the Hojil Escort Agency with a great deal of debt. Using bonds under false names.”
“Th-the Black Way... everyone does it. I'm just a small fry...”
Guyangpo could not finish his sentence.
Because Chui brought the bone down again and again.
Crack- Craaack! Cra-ack! Snap!
Both of Guyangpo's knees were shattered, and his hands were crushed.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaargh!”
He was left to writhe on the floor, a wretched sight.
Chui kicked over a nearby brazier, then burned all the account books and various documents.
The fire consumed the ledgers entirely, then grew, beginning to engulf the entire inner room.
“This should appease some of the grudges of the Hojil Escort Agency's men.”
At the mention of the Hojil Escort Agency, Guyangpo's eyes widened.
Chui leaned in close to his face.
“Now, it's time for my brother's revenge.”
Chui raised the bone high and brought it straight down on Guyangpo's head.
Crrrack!
The long corridor was split in two.
Guyangpo's head was the same.
“…”
Chui leaned out the corridor window and looked at the members of the Black Way Guild coming up toward him.
At a glance, their numbers approached nearly a hundred.
For Chui, exhausted from fighting his way here, it was a difficult number to face.
However.
Tsssssssssssss...
From the blood-soaked floor, a new wraith raised its body.
Guyangpo. The former master of the Black Way Guild, who had just died and become a Changwi, became Chui's new power.
…Snap!
The sound of something tearing came from within his dantian, and the amount of his internal energy surged.
This was the true power of the demonic arts, ‘Art of Unrestrained Demon’—to absorb the strong and command them as Changwi.
Thud- Thud- Thud-
Chui, holding the bone, slowly descended the stairs.
He could hear the remnants of the Black Way Guild coming up from below.
“It's going to be a long night.”
It seemed he would be able to stretch his limbs to his heart's content.
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