Demon
The moment the fiend's hand was about to pierce through Hae Cheongyeon's chest—
Something flew in from the side and struck the fiend's body.
Kwaaaang!
Only after the fiend bounced sideways did Hae Cheongyeon realize that it had been a tavern chair.
Seoun Jin had swung a sturdy, long tavern bench and smashed the fiend with it.
"Lady! Are you alright?!"
Snapping back to her senses, Hae Cheongyeon replied frantically.
"Ah, I-I'm fine. But that person—"
The other wanderers who had followed Seoun Jin out discovered one of their comrades already dead, his chest pierced through by the fiend, and cried out in anguish.
"Brother Yang!"
"Yang Ga-ya!"
Just as they drew their blades with rage twisting their faces, Seoun Jin stopped them with a shout.
"Get inside the tavern first! Hurry!"
At that, the wanderers protested.
"What are you saying, young master! That bastard killed Yang Ga!"
"He'll chase us anyway! We can't fight him out here!"
Just then, the fiend that had been knocked away by the chair charged at Seoun Jin again.
"Kyaaaah!"
Hae Cheongyeon, regaining some composure, swung her sword and blocked the fiend in front of Seoun Jin.
Kang! Kang! Kang!
Meanwhile, Seoun Jin shouted again.
"Quickly, inside the tavern! That thing is…!"
Even as he tried to warn them, Hae Cheongyeon fell into danger once more.
The fiend barreled forward, heedless of the sword striking it, and she simply could not hold it back.
"Eeeek!"
Forced into retreat, Hae Cheongyeon suddenly stepped on a stone, lost her balance, and stumbled.
It was hopeless.
"Aaah!"
Just as the fiend lunged and swung its hand, a rough grip suddenly clamped around her mouth and waist from behind, yanking her sharply aside.
"Mmhp!"
It was Seoun Jin.
By covering her mouth and pulling her waist, he had saved her from the strike.
But after pulling her to safety, Seoun Jin froze in place, unmoving—
As if petrified, he simply stood there, rigid.
Panic rose in Hae Cheongyeon's chest.
The fiend could leap at them any moment.
She was about to cry out through her covered mouth—what was he doing?!—when she suddenly realized something.
The moment they stopped moving, the fiend also stopped.
From within Seoun Jin's arms, she saw it: the fiend, unable to rush them despite their nearness, merely turned its head back and forth as if searching.
Then it struck her—she had noticed earlier.
The fiend's eyes had been closed the whole time.
And now she understood.
Perhaps its sight was…
At that instant—
"Young master Seonu! Are you alright?!"
When the wanderers shouted from inside the tavern, the fiend snapped its head toward the sound and hurled itself that way.
I couldn't believe it.
How could that thing have crossed the frontlines and come this far?
The instant I saw it charge through sword-qi, taking blows head-on with its body, I knew.
It was a Demon of the Blood Cult.
Among the various types of demons forged by the Blood Cult, this one was known as a Hyo-gwi (梟鬼).
The "Owl Ghost"—a demon specialized in night attacks on humans.
I recalled hearing a story from my early days at the front: one Hyo-gwi had crossed the line and attacked civilian homes.
This must have been that very one.
The darker the place, the more dangerous it became—a sword-proof monster. My heart raced as the Hyo-gwi hurled itself into the tavern.
I hadn't yet warned the others that they must not make a sound.
Releasing Lady Cheongyeon, I dashed toward the tavern.
Even if our time together had been brief, I couldn't let those people die.
I'd even prepared parting gifts for them tomorrow….
"It's a monster!"
"Uwaaaagh!"
"Aaagh!"
Already, horrifying screams erupted from inside the tavern.
Bursting in, I found chaos.
The tavern boy and Yi Musa were already dead.
Yi Musa, who had always grumbled yet quietly looked after us in unseen ways….
Now, only Jang Musa—one of the more skilled men—was swinging his blade at the Hyo-gwi, but it seemed he would be slain at any moment.
"Uwaaaaap!"
With a roar, I rushed and slammed the fiend with another long tavern bench.
Puuk!
As the creature bounced off, I shouted at once.
"Everyone, quiet!"
But of course, it wasn't so easy.
"Aaagh! Save me!"
The tavern owner was screaming,
"You bastard! You killed Yi Ga too!"
The wanderers howled in fury.
Panic gripped me.
If I couldn't silence them—
The fiend, rising again, turned toward the noise and launched itself.
Toward Jang Musa.
"Uwaaaaagh!"
At once I roared and flipped over the table laden with our food.
Crashhh!
Clatter!
Dishes and food scattered, shattering with noise. The Hyo-gwi faltered, unable to fix its direction, ears twitching—just as I bellowed over the din:
"Everyone, shut up!"
In an instant, silence fell.
Even the Hyo-gwi stilled, pricking its ears.
Thank the heavens.
I had to seize this chance.
I grabbed a small chair beside the table and hurled it far across the room.
Thud-crash!
As the chair clattered to the ground, I shouted:
"The fiend—!"
I threw another chair.
Thud-crash!
"Is—blind!"
I hurled one more.
Thud-crash!
"It cannot see!"
Now there was nothing else nearby to throw.
I prayed desperately they would understand with just this much.
Please, they must at least understand this much.
Judging by the expressions on the wanderers' faces, they seemed to grasp it somewhat.
But the tavern owner did not.
He looked about to open his mouth with a bewildered expression.
My heart sank.
No!
At that very moment—
"Haaap!"
With a sharp shout, Lady Cheongyeon charged at the Hyo-gwi.
Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!
Her blade flashed, battering the Hyo-gwi's body, as she shouted to me:
"Tell them now!"
I was overwhelmed with gratitude.
It was enough that she hadn't simply fled but had followed us into the tavern—and now she was even buying me time with her cleverness.
I couldn't waste it.
I shouted quickly:
"The fiend discerns people only by sound! So do not make a noise! Not even your breathing!"
I saw the tavern owner clap his hands over his mouth.
Meanwhile, Lady Cheongyeon was being steadily forced back.
As I rushed to aid her, I suddenly froze.
To keep from being discovered, we couldn't make a sound—but if everyone simply remained silent, it was useless.
For while its hearing was sharpest, the creature could also smell.
If it heard nothing, it would surely try to find us by scent.
We had to deal with it before then.
Just then, my eyes caught sight of some items on the counter beside the trembling tavern owner.
Puong!
Kwadang-tang-tang!
I blasted the fiend away with a long bench, then signaled Lady Cheongyeon with my finger to stay quiet.
She nodded and closed her mouth.
The Hyo-gwi, slammed into the wall, rose and swiveled its head, ears twitching, then began to walk forward slowly.
It was a Miao tribesman, with dark brown skin.
A burly, naked Miao male, grotesquely exposed.
In the early days, the Blood Cult had mainly turned native Miao tribesmen of Yunnan into demons.
Back then, I had not yet realized—
That they were only test subjects.
That there also existed demons made from true martial artists.
And when those martial-artist demons appeared….
As the creature crept toward us, Lady Cheongyeon cast me a tense look, as if asking, What now?
I carefully picked up two items from the table beside me and tossed one off to its flank.
Whoosh!
Jjang! Jjararang! Jjang! Chang! Chang! Chang!
It was a basket full of iron coins, clattering loudly as they scattered.
Seizing the moment, I advanced half a zhang closer to the fiend.
Lady Cheongyeon looked startled, but she kept silent.
Then I hurled the second item behind the creature—a ceramic bowl filled with beans.
Crash! Tatang! Tang! Tatang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!
The shattering bowl and bouncing beans drew the fiend's attention backward, and I managed to slip up right behind its head.
Good. Perfect.
I could not afford the slightest mistake.
If even a brush of its hand touched me, my fragile body would be torn apart.
Swallowing hard, I slowly raised my hand, bringing it toward the fiend's head as it twisted about.
And then—
The tavern owner sneezed.
"Eh-choo!"
The Hyo-gwi whipped its head around at the sound, and its face turned toward mine.
Its closed eyes loomed so close they might touch my own.
My heart pounded to bursting.
I saw it readying to lunge straight toward me.
Damn it!
Gritting my teeth, I thrust my hand out toward its face.
Hae Cheongyeon's heart nearly burst as she watched Seoun Jin edge closer to the fiend while throwing objects.
He clearly seemed to know much about it, yet what reckless folly was this?
What if he made even the faintest sound….
When the tavern owner sneezed, she nearly screamed herself.
Fury boiled up—had he been within reach, she might have cut him down with her sword.
Then she saw the fiend turn, its face right up against Seoun Jin's.
Her vision went white from shock.
The creature was about to charge in Seoun Jin's direction.
Just then—
Recklessly, Seoun Jin reached for its face—
And pried open its eyelids.
What?!
She gaped, about to cry out in disbelief, when suddenly the fiend shrieked in agony.
"Kkiaaaaaaaaagh!"
It made no sense.
He had merely opened its eyelids—yet the fiend clutched its eyes and thrashed in pain.
The same creature that had never flinched at sword-qi or felt pain before….
A thought flickered across her mind.
Could it be—because it saw light?
At that moment, Seoun Jin had already moved behind it, seizing its waist and hoisting it up as he shouted to her:
"Lady Cheongyeon! Its mouth—inside the mouth!"
Her gaze darted to the fiend's wide-open maw, stretched in its scream.
She instantly understood.
Yes—its body might be immune to sword-qi, but inside the mouth….
Her body moved on instinct, lunging forward with her sword.
"Haaap!"
Puuuk!
At last, the blade pierced!
Hae Cheongyeon clenched her fist with triumph.
Because Seoun Jin had lifted the creature upward, her sword drove deep through the roof of its mouth—straight into the brain.
Yet even with its brain destroyed, the fiend did not stop moving.
It only thrashed harder, screaming louder.
"Kkiaaaaaaaaagh!"
The monster, still writhing before her despite being stabbed in the brain—this grotesque, naked man with his obscenity flailing—now filled her with a different kind of fear.
A woman's instinctive revulsion.
"Ughhh!"
Her face twisted, her grip on the sword weakening.
At that moment, a hand clasped firmly over hers on the hilt.
It was Seoun Jin.
Nodding at her with approval, he twisted the blade savagely together with her.
Still gripping her hand, he forced the sword deeper.
The fiend continued to thrash for some time before finally dying.
Inside the wrecked tavern, everyone could only stare in stunned silence at the dead monster for a long while.