Chapter 39 – A Fateful Encounter (3)

Eun Seol-rin, also well aware of the gravity of the situation, watched the warriors of the Blood Sword Brigade with a calm gaze.

But that alone wasn’t enough, so Yu-jin clenched his teeth. A group of just five to ten members of the Blood Sword Brigade could easily contend with a master who had reached the Transformation Realm. Even if they couldn’t kill them, they could certainly buy time.

This meant that even if the Blood Sword Brigade was occupied with Na Ye-jin and Eun Seol-rin, their other members could still handle the warriors of the Cheonsan Lee Clan.

*‘I have no choice.’*

He had avoided revealing his true strength until now, but the situation was completely different. If he didn’t act decisively, the precious women in his life could lose their lives.

While Na Ye-jin and Eun Seol-rin might be able to hold their own, the others were destined to be killed or captured if they fought. And Yu-jin did not want that outcome.

“You bastards started this. Don’t you dare regret it!”

*Kwoooooo!*

Despite the watching eyes, Yu-jin finally unleashed his power and charged forward.

“It’s dangerous!”

The Iron-Blooded Swordsman, Naeng Jin-cheon, shouted in alarm. In his mind, the Eight Dragons and Five Phoenixes were not yet a match for the Blood Sword Brigade.

Rushing at such a powerful force with insufficient skill was nothing short of reckless bravado, so Naeng Jin-cheon hastily moved to stop Yu-jin.

But Yu-jin’s movements were far faster than his, and Naeng Jin-cheon inevitably failed to catch him.

* * *

The demonic warriors of the Blood Sword Brigade couldn’t hide their sneers as they watched Yu-jin charge toward them.

“Is this brat trying to bite off more than he can chew?”

“He’s asking for death. We should oblige him.”

One of the demonic warriors smirked coldly and swung his sword at Yu-jin.

In that instant, Yu-jin’s hand moved, and a flash of inky light flickered. The demonic warrior’s head shot into the air.

The charging demonic warriors, as well as the warriors from the Cheonsan Lee Clan and the Martial Alliance, all stared at Yu-jin with shocked faces.

“W-What!”

No matter how potent their regeneration was, decapitation meant certain death.

That was why the Blood Sword Brigade warriors trained in powerful protective energy and external arts to fortify their necks, yet Yu-jin had killed one with a single strike. This was something even Na Ye-jin couldn’t do.

“I-It was a fluke!”

Two demonic warriors, shouting loudly to quell their fear, rushed at Yu-jin. In that moment, the inky flash flickered again, and their heads soared high into the sky.

The demonic warriors, who hadn’t lost a single man despite fighting the strong warriors of the Cheonsan Lee Clan, had lost three of their own in the blink of an eye.

“He’s dangerous. Target him first!”

Hwa Sa-gang, the leader of the Blood Sword Brigade, glared at Yu-jin with murderous eyes and shouted. As ordered, the demonic warriors charged at Yu-jin.

But Yu-jin neither retreated nor dodged, simply glaring back at them.

“Arrogant brat!”

“Let’s see how long you can keep this up!”

Two demonic warriors unleashed a blood-red sword energy and swung fiercely at Yu-jin. Even seeing the energy that could seemingly destroy and sever anything, Yu-jin remained calm.

*Flash!*

The inky light flashed, and along with their blood-red energy, the demonic warriors lost their lives.

Only then did Hwa Sa-gang realize the young man before him was no ordinary master. A man who could kill two or three Blood Sword Brigade warriors with a single strike could not be ordinary.

*‘Strange. No matter how incredible he is, he should only be at the Transformation Realm. A Transformation Realm master can’t display such a level of skill.’*

Hwa Sa-gang’s reasoning was correct, but he couldn’t dare to imagine that Yu-jin had reached a realm beyond that.

“What is this disgraceful display! He is watching! Attack him all at once and kill him without fail!”

At Hwa Sa-gang’s words, over thirty demonic warriors charged at Yu-jin simultaneously. And as they charged, they could see it: the vivid, inky light coalescing on Yu-jin’s sword.

“Die.”

With Yu-jin’s death sentence, the Profound Heaven Ink Phosphorus Sword was unleashed.

The black wave created by the technique swallowed the thirty demonic warriors whole.

Because it wasn’t wielded with the Ink Dragon Sword, the power of the Profound Heaven Ink Phosphorus Sword was halved, and so the demonic warriors were not killed instantly upon being swallowed.

Thus, their regenerating bodies forced them to scream even more desperately. But as a power stronger than their regenerative abilities continued to erupt, they were eventually annihilated completely.

*CRASH! BOOM!*

Even after swallowing the demonic warriors, the black wave tore through the ground. Only then did Yu-jin swing his sword high, and the black wave vanished into the sky.

Faced with Yu-jin’s overwhelming power, which seemed to toy with the demonic warriors, everyone was speechless. Even Na Ye-jin and Eun Seol-rin wore expressions of shock, as they hadn’t known the extent of his strength.

“Come on, try me.”

“Kill him from a distance!”

Hwa Sa-gang, feeling a sense of dread, shouted involuntarily. The surviving demonic warriors gathered all their demonic energy and unleashed a barrage of energy blasts at Yu-jin.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

A massive explosion caused by the energy engulfed Yu-jin. The blood-red energy was hotter than any ordinary flame, and Hwa Sa-gang finally felt a sense of relief.

No matter how strong one’s protective energy, it would be useless against such a fierce onslaught. But his relief was short-lived. As the massive cloud of dust cleared, Yu-jin emerged, completely unscathed!

“W-What are you!”

Hwa Sa-gang couldn’t help but scream. Aside from the Heavenly Demon, this young man was the first person to ever instill such fear in him. But he soon grew flustered, realizing what he had just imagined.

*‘Did I just put that brat on the same level as the great Heavenly Demon?’*

It was unthinkable.

“Is that all? Then it’s my turn.”

The sixth technique of the Nine Heavens Divine Demonic Arts, Flying Heavenly Dance, was unleashed, and Yu-jin’s body vanished. Disappearing without even a shadow, Yu-jin flawlessly cut down five more demonic warriors in an instant. Then, he reappeared before Hwa Sa-gang.

“Dealing with you one by one is a pain. I’ll end this in one go.”

Yu-jin once again unleashed the Profound Heaven Ink Phosphorus Sword, and a black wave surged toward the remaining members of the Blood Sword Brigade. Seeing the black wave, the warriors felt death’s approach. It was not something they could possibly face.

*‘Forgive me, my Lord.’*

Overcome with guilt for failing his mission, Hwa Sa-gang apologized to the unseen Heavenly Demon and closed his eyes. It was then.

*KRAKOOOOM!!*

A darkness, fundamentally different from the one Yu-jin created, unfurled and blocked his attack. Yet, their powers seemed equal, as it dissipated completely without causing any collateral damage.

“So it was you.”

A being that could only be described as ‘darkness’ itself spoke as it looked at Yu-jin.

“H-Heavenly Demon!”

A warrior who had witnessed the clan head’s battle screamed, and looks of horror spread across everyone’s faces. The heaven-defying demon who sought to overturn the skies had once again descended upon the Cheonsan Lee Clan.

As the Heavenly Demon appeared in the sky, a darkness blacker than the deepest night enveloped the heavens and the surrounding space.

Witnessing this spectacle, people realized that mere energy could distort space itself.

And as they looked at the Heavenly Demon, they felt as if their very existence was being negated.

That was the truth of it. The Heavenly Demon’s presence alone made people aware of fear and ruin.

“Snap out of it!”

Yu-jin released his aura and shouted loudly, and those who had begun to question their own lives were able to regain their senses. If not for his shout, they might have given up on life itself.

But no one realized this. In fact, returning to their senses might have been the foolish thing to do.

For even with their wits about them, their fear of the Heavenly Demon did not vanish. Yu-jin knew this as well, but he couldn’t afford to pay them any more attention.

*‘Why is this man here now…’*

“I have come to this place to meet you. I am the Heavenly Demon. The one who governs all life and death in this world, a heaven-defying existence. Who are you?”

The Heavenly Demon spoke again as he looked at Yu-jin, and the people glanced back and forth between them with eyes full of disbelief.

In all the time he had spent killing countless warriors, the Heavenly Demon had never once engaged in conversation. He was the one who reaped the lives of the countless humans who showed him hostility.

Yet here he was, attempting to converse with Yu-jin, who was openly hostile toward him, with a look of interest?

Asking for his name, in particular, meant the Heavenly Demon acknowledged Yu-jin as his equal. A young man who had only just begun to make a name for himself.

“My name is Kang Yu-jin. So you were the one I sensed.”

Before the demonic being whose very existence seemed to be darkness or shadow, Yu-jin stood proudly and stated his name.

Was it his confident demeanor that pleased him?

“Indeed. Just as you sensed me, I too could sense you.”

The Heavenly Demon replied with a light nod.

“Your existence is intriguing. The technique you just displayed was rooted in darkness. But though it is the same darkness, it is different from mine.”

“Not all darkness is the same.”

At Yu-jin’s words, the Heavenly Demon nodded. Yu-jin’s darkness was a concentration of his pure power, fundamentally different from the darkness composed of demonic energy.

But it was an undeniable fact that it contained darkness.

“Have you no thought of joining the world of the Western Heaven? The current world cannot accept one such as you. A lazy world that merely lives in complacency is meaningless.”

“Hah!”

At the shocking proposal, both the demonic warriors of the Blood Sword Brigade and the warriors of the righteous factions gasped as if screaming. They had wondered, but it was true—the Heavenly Demon truly acknowledged Yu-jin’s existence.

However, upon hearing the Heavenly Demon’s extraordinary offer, Yu-jin himself simply smiled and shook his head.

“You know it as well, don’t you? That we can never coexist.”

Though they both wielded the power of darkness, their natures were such that they could never become one. Both the Heavenly Demon and Yu-jin knew this well.

“O ‘kindred spirit,’ who has made me feel welcome for the first time! What a pity! That the first of my kind I have ever met is my enemy! That I have no choice but to kill you!”

The darkness vibrated, shaking the entire Cheonsan Lee Clan estate. People felt as if they were suffocating and hastily retreated.

But Yu-jin, even within the darkness, remained standing proudly, looking at the Heavenly Demon.

Though unknown to the world, he too was an absolute being. In terms of realm, he and the Heavenly Demon were equals; there was no reason to feel fear.

“Who are you to discuss my death? The one who governs my life and death is not you, but myself.”

Yu-jin spoke words that others would call insane. An inky energy emanated from his entire body. While both were black, if the Heavenly Demon’s darkness was murky, Yu-jin’s was so vivid it seemed to shine.

“Then prove those words to me!”

The Heavenly Demon shouted loudly and shot a jet-black palm strike made of demonic energy directly at Yu-jin. A palm strike imbued with the will to kill every living creature in the world.

“Netherworld Divine Palm!”

The Heavenly Demon’s famed palm of death. The demonic art, said to kill a person with a mere touch, was unleashed upon Yu-jin.

*‘Come to think of it, I heard he later killed thousands with that palm strike alone.’*