Mukrang
The mighty palm strike of the Giant Power Demon was already right in front of my head.
And yet, despite being so close, it did not touch me.
It was as though everything had frozen in place.
Not only the Giant Power Demon before me, but even the dirt that had burst into the air was suspended, unmoving.
Even the strands of my hair that had been blown back by the gust of his strike were frozen midair.
I could not turn my eyes to confirm, but I knew enough.
The world—including myself—had completely stopped.
I thought in a daze.
"What kind of sorcery is this?"
Everything was frozen, yet my consciousness alone was still moving, still thinking.
It felt like I had been bewitched by a spirit.
And then, the voice I thought I had imagined earlier came again.
— Greetings, Young Lord Seonu. This is my second time speaking to you, though I doubt you remember the first.
It was the cheerful voice of a middle-aged man.
And then I remembered where I had heard it.
"Wait… the day I rescued Lady Tang?"
— Oh, you remember. Yes, that time, I spoke to you briefly.
That was real?
Back then, I thought it had only been a dream.
But this, too, felt like a dream.
I asked in confusion,
"W-Who are you? And what is this…?"
The voice answered with a hearty laugh.
— Hahaha! Of course you're confused. My elder brother told me the same—when he first experienced this, even he was bewildered.
"Brother?"
— There isn't much time. And since I broke the rules to come here, I won't be able to see you again for a while. So I'll keep it simple.
"…What?"
— My name is… yes, just call me Mukrang.
At his words, I instinctively looked at the black blade in my hand.
There, the wolf's eyes engraved on Mukrang's guard emitted a faint white glow.
— Yes, that Mukrang. Long ago, I arranged several legacies for worthy successors. One of them was this Mukrang Sword. Don't ask for details now. To you, it feels like time has stopped, but in truth, I've only slowed it to the extreme. This state will end soon.
Now I understood.
The world was not completely frozen—it was simply moving so slowly that it was imperceptible.
The fluttering of my hair. The Giant Power Demon's descending arm.
All moving at a crawl.
— So let me tell you only the important part. Normally, I would only pass on my legacy to one who clears my trial. But though you have not fully done so, you are the first since I forged Mukrang to be a successor I find worthy. It would be wasteful to let you die here. So I will break my rule once, and lend you aid. But until you complete my trial, I won't be able to speak to you again. Do you understand?
I did not grasp the full meaning.
But I did understand the most important thing—
This being called Mukrang intended to help me.
Mukrang burst into laughter.
— Hahahaha! Correct! I should've said only that from the start. Now, relax and watch. Ah, once the 'domain' dissolves, I won't have time to bid farewell, so let me say it now. Until next time, Young Lord Seonu. I hope you pass my trial. I never thought boredom would weigh this much, hahahaha!
With that, time accelerated back to its original speed.
The Giant Power Demon's enormous palm smashed toward my head.
BOOOOOM!
"Uwaaaah!"
I screamed in shock—
And then, my body began moving on its own.
I released my grip on Mukrang, leaned back, and let the strike glide past me.
"?!"
Stunned, I could barely register what happened—when the voice spoke again.
— The essence of the Celestial Wind Steps is to become the wind itself. So must it be limited only to footwork?
Using the momentum of the lean, my body spun backward lightly, then gripped the sword again.
The movement resembled a petal twirling in the breeze.
As I caught Mukrang once more, the blade exhaled a faint purple sword aura.
Shhhhk!
"Kh—?!"
A miracle.
Moments ago, the Giant Power Demon had locked the sword immovably in his grasp. Now, it slid free effortlessly.
Blood welled from the demon's hand that had been gripping the blade.
The voice spoke again in my head.
— Insert the blade where there is a gap; follow the natural order of things.
I had seen that phrase before.
From… Zhuangzi?
The Giant Power Demon glanced at his bleeding palm, face contorting with rage, and lunged again.
"You wretch!"
BOOOOOM!
His palm strike came down like a tidal wave.
At such close range, there was no way to dodge.
"Damn—!"
Despair filled my eyes—yet again, my body moved by itself.
First form of the Four Illusions Sword.
One Moment as Eternity.
"Th-this form?!"
My sword became a streak of light, piercing into the heart of the tidal wave.
Puk!
"Graaaagh!"
The tip drove into his wrist—just beneath the palm that unleashed such force.
— What matters is not speed, but sight. What you see, and when and where you strike.
With a mere flicker of sword aura, his thick wrist was severed cleanly.
Splurt!
Blood gushed as the severed hand fell away, and the Giant Power Demon shrieked.
"Uaaagh! You bastard!"
As he writhed in pain, clutching his wound, my sword was already moving again.
First form of the Seonu Thirteen Swords.
Divine Wings Ascend.
Wings of light, woven from sword shadows, spread wide.
It was the form I had used most often.
But inside, I screamed in panic.
"This won't be enough against him—!"
Sure enough, the Giant Power Demon sneered.
With a casual sweep of his remaining arm, he tried to rip apart the wings.
"Such tricks won't—?!"
But his hand failed to shatter them.
The wings flowed like ripples, slipping past his strike, and closed in again.
Like the flapping of a real bird's wings.
"Wh-what?!"
Slaaash!
"Grrraaaaah!"
The wings of light slashed into him. He spun desperately, retreating, but still could not escape.
His body was shredded, blood soaking him from head to toe.
And again, the playful voice came.
— The sword must be free. If your heart sets limits, so will your sword.
I was shaken.
It was not my will that moved my body.
And yet, my body alone was overwhelming the Giant Power Demon—who had already touched the threshold of the transcendent realm.
This body of mine, which had only just stepped beyond the peak.
All because it moved with perfect timing.
It was unbelievable.
— Now, I must give you my final gift. Until we meet again, take care of yourself.
My body lunged toward the Giant Power Demon, whose eyes were wide with disbelief.
The sword shadows I swung split into dozens—hundreds.
Pababababababam!
It was the Thirteenth Form of the Seonu Thirteen Swords: Illusory Sword Realm.
When countless sword shadows surrounded him on all sides, the Giant Power Demon bared his teeth and sneered.
"Another petty trick?!"
He crossed his arms again, gathering power to blast everything away, just as before.
But then—
The hundreds of illusory blades encircling him all became real at once and rained down.
Slaaaash!
"Grrraaaaahhhh!"
Dozens, hundreds of swords pierced into his body, turning him into a bloody hedgehog. His scream was choked with agony.
It was a sight neither he—nor even I, who had unleashed it—could believe.
The Giant Power Demon, his body shredded, stared at me with vacant eyes for a moment.
And then, at last, he collapsed limply to the ground.
Thud!
Instant death.
A moment later, I realized control of my body had returned to me.
But even then, I could not move.
In a daze, I muttered as I stared at the corpse.
"This is… Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form, isn't it?"
The technique Mukrang had displayed through my body was none other than the Fifteenth Form of the Seonu Thirteen Swords—Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form.
No matter how much I practiced, I had never even grasped how to execute it.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
"Heh… heheheh… hahahaha."
It all felt like a dream.
Only the sight of the Giant Power Demon lying dead in a pool of blood proved that it was not.
At that moment, someone leapt over the wall.
"You wretch! I'll—eh? Brother Seonu?"
The man who landed with a grim face—then froze in shock—was none other than Brother Sak Muhun, who had fled earlier with the woman.
It seemed he had hidden her somewhere safe and come back.
He must have known he could do nothing against the Giant Power Demon… and yet, he returned for my sake. My chest warmed.
Overjoyed, I shouted:
"Brother Sak!"
But he did not look at me. Instead, he stared blankly at the demon's corpse and asked,
"What… what happened here? Don't tell me…?"
"Eh? Ah, that, well… a predecessor appeared out of nowhere, slew the fiend, and then vanished."
It slipped out without thought—but was it not true?
A master from the previous generation had appeared, killed the demon, and left.
That wasn't a lie.
At least, it was more believable than saying I had suddenly awakened and slain the Giant Power Demon myself.
But Brother Sak simply stared at my bloodstained Mukrang Sword for a moment, then nodded mechanically.
"I see… Then you truly are the luckiest man alive."
Military Affairs Department of the Martial Alliance.
Crash!
With a furious expression, Jegal Jigang slammed his fist on the desk, glaring at the crumpled letter.
It was from Sword Saint Hae Unbaek, stationed on the frontlines.
"Hae! Un! Baaaeek!"
His clenched fists trembled with rage.
Not long ago, Jegal Jigang had heard reports of the Giant Power Demon advancing north. He intended to use that as a pretext to summon the Sword Saint back to headquarters.
If he spread news that the demon was massacring civilians, surely Hae Unbaek would return immediately.
But the reply he received was nothing like what he had hoped.
The first line of the reply stated he had failed to find his daughter, Hae Cheongyeon.
The anger in those words was palpable.
The letter also condemned the countless kidnappings of frontline workers by the Blood Cult's leaders—and questioned why the Martial Alliance had never addressed it, never made it public, never taken measures.
Jegal Jigang closed his eyes in frustration.
"So in the end…"
But it did not end there.
The Sword Saint went on to demand better treatment for the workers on the frontlines—why their pay was so meager, why their leave was so short, why their conditions so deplorable despite risking their lives against the Blood Cult.
Jegal Jigang groaned, furrowing his brow.
"Ugh…"
It was something he had never cared about.
To him, frontline workers had always been nothing more than expendable.
But one thing in the letter chilled him more than anything else.
It said that not a single discharged worker had been found after finishing their term of service.
Inquiries had been made, but no one could locate a single veteran.
Jegal Jigang's body trembled.
"Unbaek… so you've finally…"
The very truth he wished never to be uncovered—the Sword Saint was uncovering it.
In such a short time, he had launched a sweeping investigation across the entire front.
At this rate, the existence of the Shadow Corps would soon be exposed.
And at the end of the letter, the Sword Saint wrote that though he could not yet return, once he did, he would hold a deep discussion on these matters.
"A 'deep discussion'…?"
He did not need to hear more to know the meaning: accountability.
Jegal Jigang seethed.
But beneath his fury lay fear.
Fear that the Sword Saint would uncover everything about the front—and reveal it to the world.
Until now, all he had thought about was forcing him to return quickly. That had been a grave mistake.
The Sword Saint must never return to the Martial Alliance.
Some countermeasure was needed.
After much brooding, Jegal Jigang finally picked up his brush and began writing.
The letter was addressed to the Blood Demon.
It began as a protest over the Giant Power Demon's northward advance—warning that if such incidents continued, the Alliance could no longer trust their pact, and demanding the Blood Cult take responsibility.
But after some hesitation, he added another line.
This one was about the Sword Saint.
Jegal Jigang had finally resolved—
To eliminate his old friend, the Sword Saint.