Chapter 205

Shink-.

He jerked his blade toward the dirt a single time.

A trail of still-warm crimson spattered across the carpet of dead leaves.

Progress: 25/31

The severed head of the deceased rolled a bit further, almost as if it possessed a final inquiry, but he felt no obligation to provide a reply.

The dead require no answers.

Even so, his attention involuntarily shifted to the weapon still gripped tightly by the corpse.

The [Faith Sight] activated instantly.

『Evil-Slaying Sword』

◆ Grade: Rare

◆ Category: Sword

◆ Description: An ancestral blade preserved by the Jin Family for generations.

◆ Special Effect: When engaging adversaries categorized as Demonic Beings, all personal attributes are elevated by 3%.

※For overlapping traits, only the highest modifier is active (non-stackable).

‘Decent.’

He stowed the weapon into his Inventory without delay.

Then he directed his gaze upward.

Ding-.

[Linked] Innocent Village:

The realm is perpetually filled with those who suffer injustice.

In practical terms, it is impossible to rescue every soul.

However, having committed to aid them, should you not see the task through to its absolute end? Do not falter in your timing.

․ Rescue the remaining inhabitants.

├─ Progress: 0/3

└─ Reward: Hero History +1, Fame +5

The familiar, mechanical cadence of Lumina resonated in his ears.

Dong Bongsu shifted his gaze deliberately.

Northward.

Toward the settlement.

Though the blazes had yet to completely subside, his Super True Qi Field faintly perceived four distinct life forces amid the slaughter and ruin.

They breathed.

Their vital signs were diminished, but they undeniably endured.

Southward.

Click.

A silent electronic chime echoed solely in his perception, activating the minimap to project a detailed layout of the dense wilderness.

A solitary crimson icon represented his own position.

Meanwhile, several amber icons flashed weakly, scattering further toward the southern horizon.

They were attempting to gain distance before regrouping.

“……”

Dong Bongsu weighed the northern and southern directions once more.

Three inhabitants required for the connected objective.

Six remaining targets required for the sudden objective.

‘The order of operations.’

His indecision lasted only a heartbeat.

His subsequent movement was instantaneous.

He vanished so rapidly that not even the foliage of the woods could register the trajectory of his departure.

● ● ●

By the time the treeline fell away.

Sang Gwanhwi remained among the living.

Yet only five individuals, counting himself, had managed to survive the ordeal.

Nearly all of them dragged their limbs, marred by lacerations from head to toe, utterly spent after recklessly depleting their True Origin Qi.

Haa…… Haa…….

He sucked in ragged breaths and cast a glance backward.

The obsidian depths of the woods.

Nothing was discernible within that shroud.

The suffocating, web-like pressure that had previously saturated the entire forest had vanished.

‘Have we truly lost him?’

He harbored doubts.

Yet there was no luxury for contemplation.

If they wished to preserve their lives, they needed to press onward toward the distant fortifications.

The River Capital.

That wretched River Capital.

If they could just breach the city gates, they could find a foothold.

“……Keep moving.”

Though his hands shuddered, he balled them into fists to halt the trembling.

“Toward the River Capital.”

Reorganization was possible within the urban sanctuary.

Regardless of their rural origins, did they not bear the reputation of the Hero’s Sect?

Aligning with those forces would provide a solution.

‘Once we are within the walls.’

Even a terror of that caliber would hesitate to cause a public disturbance.

He remained ignorant of the assailant’s background or identity… but the entity lingering in the shadows was an undisputed grandmaster.

It was imperative not to blindly force an encounter that would lead to mutual destruction.

Undoubtedly, that was precisely what the stalker desired.

Sang Gwanhwi forced his exhausted frame forward,

And shortly resumed a dead run, guiding the remaining four survivors.

● ● ●

The agricultural settlement continued to incinerate.

The skeletal remnants of the torched cabins cast orange glares into the night, while the dense plumes of soot obscured the moonlight, ascending like a dark monument.

Streams of blood meandered through the scattered remains of the fallen.

Common folk from an obscure hamlet had perished devoid of legacy.

Directly in the epicenter.

The remains of an elder lay warped like a flexed bow.

Rather, what was once a single form had been cleaved into two distinct portions.

Three female figures wept bitterly, hovering over the bisected remains of the village elder.

A mature woman, whose exposed chest beneath her shredded garments bore numerous contusions and lacerations.

A young woman, whose slender midsection still retained a vivid, crimson handprint.

A mere child, whose fragile ankles showed distinct bruising from being bound with coarse twine.

Each of the three had pulled their clothes back over themselves, though the mere necessity of doing so spoke volumes of their ordeal.

The older woman’s laments had turned utterly rasping, stripped of volume.

Only a fractured, guttural wheeze emerged.

The eldest daughter merely shielded her younger sibling within her arms, quaking violently, while the youngest clutched the severed hand of her sire, her gaze locked in a glassy stare.

They remained in this paralysis for an immeasurable duration.

Shhh-.

The rustle of shifting greenery.

A faint, yet unmistakable stride.

The mature woman lifted her gaze.

The eldest daughter recoiled instinctively in reaction.

Where their attention shifted, a figure materialized.

Garbed in white.

Though heavily splattered with gore, the attire mirrored that of the marauders from before.

“……Ah.”

A collective tremor passed through the eyes of the women.

A terror deeply etched into their consciousness from their recent trial.

Was the nightmare resuming?

Had they not suffered sufficiently?

The man, a member of the Patrol Sword Corps, stumbled forward while gasping for air, yet his advance remained deliberate.

He belonged to the contingent that had dispersed under Sang Gwanhwi’s prior directive, but rather than fleeing south, he had executed a wide loop to the east to return to the northern settlement.

He had not intentionally retraced his steps for the women, yet his focus locked squarely upon them.

“Haa…… Haa…….”

Labored respiration.

His gaze scanned the periphery blindly, reflecting nothing.

No pursuers, no allies, no adversaries.

His degraded vision snapped back to the trio.

The women recoiled, scrambling backward along the dirt.

The warrior licked his dry lips before slowly speaking.

“Whew-.”

Like a predator encountering defenseless prey.

“I require some sustenance to alleviate this exhaustion……”

Before his thought could finish, the atmosphere ruptured.

A singular beam of illumination bored through the space separating the man’s forehead from the rear of his skull.

A dull, colorless flash of energy.

An accurate and immaculate penetration, devoid of any pause.

The warrior froze, his mouth suspended mid-syllable.

His lower limbs gave way beneath him, and he tipped forward at a gradual slant.

Thud.

His face slammed into the earth.

The women stifled their shrieks.

Three pairs of eyes shifted past the fallen aggressor.

Amid the dancing blazes and drifting soot.

A figure cloaked in midnight-black attire stood motionless.

The lunar light caught only the twin eyes visible above his face cloth.

Those neutral eyes observed them calmly.

The figure advanced with measured steps, and a soft cadence drifted from behind the fabric.

“Are you unharmed?”

Nothing more was uttered.

The older woman looked upon the stranger’s countenance for the first time.

A visage concealed by cloth.

Yet those twin eyes.

They harbored neither malice nor debauchery.

Merely a profound stillness.

Thump-.

The woman’s strength abandoned her entirely as she collapsed to the earth, her eldest daughter collapsing immediately beside her.

The youngest, refusing to relinquish her sire’s severed hand, managed to produce a fractured whisper through her quivering lips.

“Th…ank… y.”

To those incomplete syllables, Lumina offered a polite acknowledgement.

Ding-.

Progress: 26/31

His, Dong Bongsu’s, gaze descended slightly to review the supplementary interface text that materialized.

Progress: 3/3

[You refused to abandon the helpless and successfully ensured their survival.]

[Nonetheless, the source of this malice remains unsevered.]

Despite fulfilling the objective, the compensation prompt failed to manifest.

‘So this is the nature of connected objectives.’

Owing to its derivation from the primary objective, the [Linked] mission would remain unfulfilled until the overarching quest, [Innocent Village], reached its conclusion.

This was a mechanic he had wished to verify, and the trial had yielded confirmation.

Dong Bongsu immediately redirected his gaze.

Southward once more.

The five amber markers on his interface were retreating rapidly toward the southern horizon.

● ● ●

How far had they traveled since leaving the canopy?

The stalking had ceased.

The heavy aura that had previously weighed upon the region did not manifest again.

Furthermore, not a single flash of energy had targeted them since their exit from the woods.

‘Has it concluded?’

He maintained his skepticism.

Yet it remained undeniable that the offensives had entirely halted following their departure.

Had they breached his perimeter?

Were they beyond his effective distance?

Or had the predator simply abandoned the chase?

The explanation eluded him.

Gradually.

In minute increments.

The rigidity began to leave his tense frame.

The ramparts of the River Capital emerged as a pale silver silhouette beneath the moon.

A significant distance remained, yet the sheer physical visibility of their destination reanimated their flagging limbs.

Vice Corps Leader Yeon Sang-gi maintained pace directly beside him.

Behind their position, the remaining three struggled to keep up.

Five.

Reduced from thirty-one down to five.

Sang Gwanhwi ground his teeth.

Though his fingers quivered, he tightened his grip to mask the frailty.

Not just yet.

Not just yet.

‘Upon my return, I shall unmask that lunatic’s identity-.’

In that precise instant.

Thwack-.

Their sense of relief proved entirely false.

A cavity appeared in the forehead of the companion bringing up the absolute rear.

A colorless, silent flash of force.

‘He never desisted!’

The assailant had merely paused.

Biding his time until his targets, having exited the timberland, advanced sufficiently into the exposed fields.

Biding his time until they stepped squarely into an ideal killing zone devoid of any cover.

Thwack-.

The second casualty.

The individual pierced through the sternum dropped without uttering a sound.

The third warrior turned to Sang Gwanhwi, his expression paralyzed by sheer dread.

Sir, Sir Corps Leader, his lips endeavored to speak, yet.

Thwack-.

His windpipe was perforated.

Immaculately.

As though the void had existed there eternally.

Subsequently.

The fourth beam of energy was unleashed.

This time, directed at Sang Gwanhwi.

Sang Gwanhwi’s pupils contracted.

He perceived it.

A microscopic displacement of the air.

He detected an entity moving far too rapidly to be a concealed missile and far too anomalous to be a standard Qi Wave converging on the back of his cranium.

Swoosh-.

He shifted merely his chest and shoulders.

A minimalist adjustment.

The streak of energy scraped the skin of his nape as it tore past.

The flesh separating his throat and shoulder split in a neat line, allowing a slender trickle of crimson to track down his back.

A microscopic margin.

‘Precisely as deduced… his velocity is exceptional.’

No, it transcended mere velocity.

It shared the identical properties that had claimed the lives of his subordinates back in the thickets.

A Projectile Qi, distinct from traditional rotating Sword Qi, engineered for execution from afar.

That he managed to evade that specific strike was entirely owing to a hidden asset of his own.

A razor-thin evasion facilitated by the Sword Sense he had cultivated across multiple decades.

However.

Yeon Sang-gi’s eyes distended.

“Corps Leader?”

Yeon Sang-gi could not comprehend the spectacle he had just witnessed.

Sang Gwanhwi was indisputably an elite master who had attained the pinnacle as one of the Three Swords of Vast Heaven.

Consequently, it was within his capability to evade an unseen strike without turning around, utilizing negligible motion while maintaining his sprint.

Nonetheless, the internal reserve that had inadvertently spilled out during that maneuver…

“……It is of no consequence.”

Sang Gwanhwi muttered sharply.

This solitary evasion had undone him.

Not because of the relief of survival, but due to the realization that it had been ‘triggered’.

It was a volatile instant that threatened to dismantle the reputation of the Heavenly Flower Sword he had painstakingly cultivated over many seasons.

Thus, he accelerated his pace.

Yet the fifth strike never materialized.

Instead, he sensed a manifestation.

A dense, oppressive scrutiny washing over his spine.

It was narrowing the gap.

Deliberately, without haste.

As if his capture were an absolute certainty regardless.

Yeon Sang-gi wheezed, his lungs reaching their absolute limit, and barked out.

“Corps Leader! The adversary has returned!”

“I am aware.”

Sang Gwanhwi’s tone remained unnaturally poised.

“I, I shall anchor the position here! Provided you, Corps Leader, can escape……!”

He proved a devoted subordinate.

And a long-standing companion who had shared his tenure within the Patrol Sword Corps for over a decade.

An individual who held a conviction deeper than any other in the Righteousness of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect.

“Correct.”

Sang Gwanhwi brought his advance to a halt.

“Your assessment is correct.”

Yeon Sang-gi likewise halted and bared his steel.

Though his grip faltered, his expression remained unyielding.

“I, Vice Corps Leader Yeon Sang-gi, for the honor of the Heavenly Flower Sword, willingly-.”

Shhhk-.

It lacked the properties of a sound.

It was the absolute erasure of sound.

A vacuum that claimed the breeze, the nocturnal wildlife, and his very own respiration.

Amid that void, Yeon Sang-gi registered the sensation of something draining from his windpipe.

It felt hot.

It felt saturated.

He lowered his chin.

The point of a blade protruded from his sternum.

A weapon delivered from his rear.

“Corps… Leader…?”

He attempted to rotate his skull, but his physical form refused to comply.

Just before his lower limbs buckled, a phrase drifted into his consciousness.

“Excellent service, Sang-gi.”

A cadence as flawless as fabric, consistent as always.

“However, your continued survival would prove highly inconvenient.”

Thump-.

Yeon Sang-gi dropped to his knees.

He pitched face-first onto the dirt.

An expression of utter bewilderment remained frozen beneath the lunar glow.

Shuk.

Sang Gwanhwi extracted the steel and cleansed the blade with a sharp motion.

“Hahaha.”

A chuckle manifested.

Muted initially.

Yet shortly his upper body began to convulse, and an uncontained mirry-making burst forth.

“Hahahahaha-!”

It was an expression of amusement entirely alien to the barren plains.

“You wretched fool, in the grand scheme.”

Sang Gwanhwi turned his face skyward.

Toward the scrutiny that must be tracking his movements from somewhere within the dark.

“You compel this master to adopt a villainous role.”

In that identical moment.

The middle Dantian.

In the precise center of his chest, the reservoir he had suppressed and concealed throughout his entire existence began to gradually unseal.

Writhe.

Writhe, writhe.

Mirroring a long-dormant serpent restoring its coils.

Woooooong―.

The surrounding air shuddered.

An energy entirely divorced from the pristine white Vast Heaven Qi.

A murky, dense, and putrid force, resembling advanced decay, began to emanate from Sang Gwanhwi’s entire physical frame.

Absolute Evil Qi.

The entire terrain bordering the River Capital began to be saturated by that malevolent force.

The greenery withered and turned obsidian.

The small creatures perished.

As though the very moonlight refused to illuminate it, the shadow surrounding Sang Gwanhwi intensified.

The authentic nature of the Heavenly Flower Sword, Sang Gwanhwi, was finally laid bare.

A secret that the Three Swords of the Vast Heaven of the Orthodox Murim’s premier organization, the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, must never discover.

The Nine Hells Heaven-Devouring Sword.

The discipline that tarnishes the firmament with the corrupt force of the nine hells.

The instant this reality was exposed to the realm, Sang Gwanhwi’s lineage within the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect would reach its absolute end.

Not merely the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect, but the entirety of the Orthodox Faction would hunt for his demise.

He would inevitably become the Public Enemy of the Murim.

For that reason, he had restrained himself.

Even as his followers perished in sequence.

Even as thirty-one dwindled to twenty, then ten, then five, he had ground his teeth and desperately reined it in.

Yet.

Presently, no observers remained.

Among his own ranks.

“The blame rests entirely with you.”

Sang Gwanhwi elevated his weapon.

The steel, saturated with corrupt energy, absorbed the lunar light and transformed into an absolute void.

“On this night, the River Capital shall be expunged from the Jianghu.”

He would preserve no observers.

Not a single blade of flora upon this expanse.

Past the obsidian veil.

The twin eyes behind the cloth mask observed the transformation with absolute serenity.

“……”

There was no discernible counter-action.

Neither astonishment nor defensiveness.

The adversary merely elevated his own blade with a deliberate motion.

As though he had possessed full awareness from the inception.

No.

As though he had been orchestrating the circumstances to extract this exact revelation from the very beginning.