Chapter 119
CHAPTER 119
Brilliant Sword Monster
Passing through the stone gate, Seonu Jin felt a sudden dizziness, as though the world itself had flipped upside down.
It was as if they had stepped into another realm entirely.
Glancing around, he quickly realized it wasn’t just an illusion.
“This… what is this…?” he muttered blankly.
Beside him, Tang Yeo-eun, who had entered holding his hand, was just as stunned. Her vacant eyes roamed their surroundings as she whispered:
“How… how is this possible?”
All around them stretched a vast forest—immense and seemingly endless.
That alone could perhaps be explained: maybe a massive cavern concealed such an expanse.
But what hung above them could not be explained at all.
Though they had passed through a stone gate buried in the heart of the mountain, here, above their heads, stretched a sky—gray and open.
“This is impossible,” Seonu Jin breathed.
Had the gate faced outward, he might have believed they’d emerged on the mountain’s far side.
But the stone door had opened inward, deeper into the mountain’s core. To step through and find themselves beneath an open sky was utterly impossible.
Just then, footsteps thundered behind them—two figures bursting through the gate.
“You curs!”
The first was Mok Woojeon.
Hearing his voice, Seonu Jin pulled Tang Yeo-eun back at once.
Spotting them, Mok Woojeon’s face twisted with feral rage as he bellowed:
“Twin Swords of Azure and Crimson! I’ve finally caught you!”
And right behind him came Ga Yuak, charging into the strange space.
“Guildmaster!” he called.
“Oh, Vice Guildmaster! Perfect timing! Help me kill them!” Mok Woojeon shouted, relief flashing across his face.
But Seonu Jin’s eyes narrowed with confusion.
What is going on?
Just moments ago, both Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak had been consumed by madness, nothing more than beasts in human form.
And yet now, they seemed restored to reason.
Does entering here dispel the madness?
It was the only explanation that came to mind—but still, something didn’t add up.
Even now, Seonu Jin could feel that strange invasive force pressing against the barrier of the Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol within him—stronger than ever, in fact.
There was no reason for their frenzy to have subsided.
And indeed, though calmer, the eyes of Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak still glimmered faintly red. They had not fully escaped the madness.
But there was no time to dwell on the mystery.
Both men were brimming with killing intent, preparing to strike.
“Tch!”
Testing his body with a swift circulation of energy, Seonu Jin sent a voice transmission to Tang Yeo-eun:
—Miss Tang, we’ll have to fight. We need to hold them off and seize a chance to escape.
—Understood!
His internal injuries, he realized, had healed somewhat.
And if their madness had truly abated, then their martial strength should be back to normal—daunting, but not insurmountable.
Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak lunged at once.
“Try running again, if you can! Haaaah!”
“Die!”
Flames of killing aura rushed toward them.
Eyes narrowing, Seonu Jin instantly calculated his response.
Confuse them with Wind Scattering Leaves, then shift into Phantom Sword Mirror, finishing with Form Is Emptiness—
But before he could act—
Kwooooom!
A thunderous impact hurled both attackers backward.
“Guh!”
“What—what was that?!”
Staggering, they looked as bewildered as Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun, who now stood frozen, their gazes fixed on the figure that had appeared.
Even Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak, steadying themselves after their crash, froze as their eyes fell upon the newcomer.
The man spoke, his voice low and resonant:
“Who dares wreak havoc in my domain?”
The words pierced their ears like a tolling bell—resonating in their very souls.
Unbidden, Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak trembled.
It was a middle-aged man, sharp-eyed, wearing simple gray robes, his frame unremarkable.
And yet, not one of them could see him as ordinary.
Gulp.
Seonu Jin swallowed hard.
Before his eyes loomed a mountain towering above the clouds—so tall its peak vanished into the heavens.
Its oppressive weight rivaled, even surpassed, the dread he had felt before masters like Soul-Shadow Devil Hand Son Eunsang or Blood-Drenched Demon Marrow Gwan Jeon Mugwang.
No, sharper—more perilous, like the blade of a demon-king’s sword.
This was no man, but a demon sovereign incarnate.
Forcing himself to endure the crushing pressure, Seonu Jin rasped out:
“Senior… who are you?”
The man turned his gaze upon him.
“I am Jeong Myeonggang, the one who forged this place.”
“!”
Jeong Myeonggang?!
The name struck them like a hammer.
He was the Mad Sword Maniac—the legendary Radiant Sword. A man said to have died three or four decades ago.
Yet here he stood, alive before their eyes.
Impossible.
Unless he lied.
But the overwhelming aura radiating from him left no room for doubt. This was real.
Voice quavering, Mok Woojeon stammered:
“S-senior…! To think you still lived, and we ignorant juniors—”
But Jeong Myeonggang shook his head.
“No. I am already dead.”
“…What?”
The reply made no sense.
The man, standing plainly before them, calmly claimed he was dead.
No one knew how to take it.
Cautiously, Seonu Jin pressed:
“Senior… what do you mean?”
“As I said, I am dead. This place is a realm I forged before death—a space between dream and reality. That is why I still exist here.”
“Ah…!”
At last, Seonu Jin understood.
The sky within the mountain, the impossible forest, the appearance of Jeong Myeonggang himself—everything now made sense.
Mok Woojeon, too, seemed to breathe easier, asking carefully:
“Then… you are but a dream’s echo, not reality itself?”
Clearly, the thought comforted him. The realization that this demonlike presence was not of the living eased the terror in his heart.
And for Seonu Jin as well, it was a relief.
Standing before Jeong Myeonggang felt like teetering on the brink of a thousand-zhang abyss, a finger’s push from death.
That this was not flesh and blood reality gave him hope.
But the relief would not last.
At Mok Woojeon’s question—whether this was merely a dream—Jeong Myeonggang shook his head again.
“No, not a dream. More precisely, it lies halfway between dream and reality. That is why, if I kill you here, you will die in reality as well.”
“…What?”
At those words, all four froze.
If death here meant true death, then his words were nothing less than a declaration of slaughter.
And in the very next instant, the already overwhelming killing aura of the Radiant Sword erupted into a storm.
Fwoooosh!
The gale of force smashed into them, tearing groans of agony from their throats.
“Ghhk!”
“Argh!”
“Guaagh!”
“Ughhh!”
Only now did they realize: what they had felt before was nothing but the leakage of his presence. This was his killing intent unleashed in earnest.
The formless aura took on tangible shape, lifting all four of them into the air, choking their throats as if invisible hands had clamped around their necks.
“Gggk—!”
He did not move a step, merely watched—yet the four dangled like trapped insects, writhing helplessly in the air.
There was nothing to seize, nothing to break, yet not a single finger could move against the suffocating pressure.
It was utter helplessness, unlike anything they had ever felt.
Moments later, just as their vision yellowed from lack of air, the killing intent receded once more into formlessness.
Thud!
They crashed to the ground.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Khahh! Khuuugh!”
“Haah… haah…”
It was as if they had brushed shoulders with the gates of the underworld itself.
For long breaths they could only hack and wheeze, struggling to regain composure.
Jeong Myeonggang’s cold voice cut through their gasps:
“Does this still seem like a dream to you?”
Mok Woojeon flinched violently, shaking his head in terror.
“N-no, Senior! Absolutely not!”
The Radiant Sword gave a slow nod.
“Good. Then let us begin in earnest. You have passed the first trial, the Hall of Soul-Light. Now you stand in the second: the Gate of Two. Tell me—are any among you who entered by mistake, with no interest in inheriting my Moonlit Illusion Sword Dance?”
The four exchanged uneasy glances. Then, one by one, they shook their heads.
Of course Mok Woojeon sought the inheritance.
And Seonu Jin could never allow him to take it.
Neither side could possibly step back.
Mok Woojeon wanted to denounce Seonu Jin as an interloper; Seonu Jin wanted to argue that Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak had never properly cleared the first trial, entering only as maddened beasts.
But none dared to speak rashly. Who knew how the Radiant Sword would react? Who knew if, in the next heartbeat, he might kill them outright?
When all four had nodded, Jeong Myeonggang continued, his expression unchanged:
“Very well. Then I will grant both sides an equal chance. But mark this well: only two may pass this Gate. Two of you will live. The rest will die.”
At that, Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun, Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak all turned tense eyes upon one another.
Out of the four, only two could survive.
Which meant whatever awaited them, it was a contest against each other.
The Radiant Sword spoke again:
“Now, I shall send each of you to your trial.”
He snapped his fingers.
In that instant, the world shifted again.
Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun found themselves standing not in a forest, but on a hill overlooking a quiet mountain village.
A crimson sunset blanketed the rooftops, the peaceful valley bathed in warm light.
It was serene, idyllic.
Only the three of them were there: Seonu Jin, Tang Yeo-eun, and Jeong Myeonggang.
Tang Yeo-eun whispered:
“Mok Woojeon and Ga Yuak… they’ve vanished.”
Seonu Jin gave a small nod.
“Seems we’ve been separated, each to face the Gate on our own terms.”
Jeong Myeonggang gazed down at the village. His voice was heavy.
“This is the village where I lived. And it is also where my greatest regret lies buried.”
As he spoke, his killing aura swelled, so fierce it was hard even to remain upright.
“Kh—!”
“Ughhh…”
Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun clenched their teeth, barely withstanding the suffocating pressure.
But Jeong Myeonggang continued as if unaware of their struggle:
“In those days, I had two companions—friends who had trained with me in martial arts since our youth. They were as brothers to me, and I shared everything with them.”
For an instant, Seonu Jin felt something strange.
This man, who radiated the aura of a demon king—he had once lived a simple life, with bonds and camaraderie.
And yet, even as he spoke of it, the murderous aura thickened like tar.
“When I first chanced upon the Moonlit Illusion Sword Dance, I meant to share it with them as well.”
A manual, a priceless secret art—yet he had wished to share it.
Seonu Jin suddenly sensed where this tale was headed. He understood why Jeong Myeonggang’s aura seethed with such venom.
And the Radiant Sword confirmed his suspicion:
“But one of them coveted it for himself. He tried to kill me in ambush.”
Exactly as expected.
A pang of sorrow stabbed through Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun alike.
“He failed. He underestimated me, already versed in the first movements of the Moonlit Illusion Sword Dance. I should have killed him then. But like a fool, I hesitated. And in that hesitation, he struck down our other friend and fled. I could not give chase—I stayed to save the wounded.”
The aura tightened further, twisting into tangible force that crushed their bodies.
“Ghhk!”
“Aaaahh!”
They gasped, writhing, yet he pressed on relentlessly:
“And when I returned to the village with my injured friend, this is what awaited me.”
In an instant, the peaceful village below burst into flames.
Whoooosh!
The roofs collapsed in fire; screams rang out as villagers cried for help, trapped in the inferno.
Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun could only stare, aghast.
“It was to cover his escape. Out of sheer fear of pursuit, he burned his own home, his people. And… he succeeded. I, in my weakness, saved who I could, and he was gone.”
Until now, his tone and face had been ice, detached as stone despite the killing aura.
But now his face twisted, his voice thundered.
“Do you know what happened next?! His lies spread, drawing martial artists from all corners! And in the end, even those I had saved—the villagers, my parents, my wife, my child—were slaughtered! I endured, I seethed, for ten long years before repaying their blood with blood!”
His killing aura flared like a volcano, crushing down until Seonu Jin and Tang Yeo-eun screamed in pain.
“Ghhkkk!”
“Uaaaghhh!”
Then, as if the storm had blown past, the aura receded once more.
Breathing hard, they straightened with trembling limbs.
“Haaahh…”
“Kh-hhh…”
At last, Jeong Myeonggang turned back, his face once more a mask of stone.
“This is the second Gate. What will you do? Save the village… or slay the traitor? Relive my regret—and resolve it.”
With those words, he vanished.
Leaving only Seonu Jin, Tang Yeo-eun, and the burning village below.