‘Could there be any hell worse than this?’
Deok-sam’s eyes kept scanning behind him.
His legs were numb. He could feel they were still attached, but no matter how much strength he tried to muster, they wouldn’t move with power. Only the heavy sensation of his feet hitting the ground proved that he was still running.
‘Wicked bastards.’
Hundred Sword Castle.
There was once a time when he thought the swordsmen of Hundred Sword Castle were admirable. They were different from all the other orthodox sects up until now.
Unlike the typical sword schools that pursued chivalry and righteousness, and sought the Way, Hundred Sword Castle thoroughly pursued power.
There were times when that looked admirable.
Living as a beggar, you come to understand. How meaningless it is for those without power to discuss justice. Justice too is something that can only be discussed by those who have power.
Even though he knew this fact better than anyone, compared to the existing great sects that spouted the obvious nonsense of ‘we prioritize justice over power,’ how refreshing was Hundred Sword Castle, a place that spoke the truth as it was.
Although fate didn’t connect him to become a disciple of Hundred Sword Castle in this life, if he had to choose a place to belong to again, he had once thought he would enter Hundred Sword Castle without hesitation and become a white-robed swordsman.
Probably not just Deok-sam, but many others had the same thought.
‘Like an idiot.’
Deok-sam’s head urgently turned back.
Those white-robed swordsmen were now chasing after him.
With cold and indifferent eyes. Their swords were incomparably precise and concise. Even the sword that pierced through a comrade’s back had a terrible beauty.
That’s why it was even more hellish.
Only now did Deok-sam realize it. The fact that the sects that had protected the world spouting the obvious words of justice over power… was never hypocrisy.
The words about prioritizing justice over power meant that no matter what temptation there was, they would carry through what was most important. When forced to choose between power and justice, it was a declaration of will to choose justice without hesitation.
Wasn’t Hundred Sword Castle now showing just how far power without justice could go?
What mattered in power wasn’t its strength, but its direction. To be impressed by the sharpness of a sword that might be wielded against oneself—what kind of idiotic nonsense was that?
“Keuruk…”
Deok-sam reached out and grabbed the arm of Jong-gu, who was falling forward.
“You idiot! If you fall, you die!”
“I-It’s wrong. Leave me behind.”
“Leave you behind? You’re talking nonsense!”
Jong-gu had reached his limit. Blood that had seeped from his shoulder had dried black on his clothes. Having run at full strength without even proper first aid, it was natural that he would reach his limit.
“Damn it!”
Curses kept flowing out.
Deok-sam pulled Jong-gu close. With one arm around his shoulder, Deok-sam began running while supporting his weight. As strength gradually left his arm and Jong-gu felt heavier bit by bit, Deok-sam only gritted his teeth.
‘I can’t let go.’
He knew.
If you drag along someone who’s exhausted, your speed inevitably slows down. Naturally, they would be caught by those bastards. So if he wanted to live, the right thing was to leave the injured behind.
If it was for survival.
But hadn’t he already seen it?
How far those who pursued only results and power without direction had gone. That the frustrating and even absurd principles had been guiding them all this time.
So he couldn’t let go.
Don’t abandon your comrades.
Even if the result of keeping that obvious principle was death, Deok-sam could never let go of this hand.
“Kuk kuk kuk kuk.”
A hollow laugh came out.
Deok-sam was someone who had never once thought of himself as righteous. Yet now he was doing something that even those who had always thought themselves righteous wouldn’t do.
That’s why people, and life, are unknowable things.
“L-Let go and leave!”
“I have no intention of performing a melodrama with you.”
Deok-sam spoke firmly. Strength entered his hand gripping Jong-gu.
“Damn it, if we die, we die.”
It would be a lie to say he had no desire for life. But he also didn’t want to live just any kind of prolonged existence. If he abandoned this guy and survived, he would have to live the rest of his life trying not to remember this moment.
‘That’s not possible.’
A beggar’s comfort comes first.
Even in a winter hut, a comfortable beggar sleeps with his legs stretched out, but an uncomfortable beggar shivers and freezes to death.
He had no intention of surviving by becoming the same kind of bastard as them.
‘Damn bastards.’
How many comrades had been sacrificed?
They chased them like driving beasts. Yes, just like hunting dogs.
Even knowing this clearly, there was nothing they could do. Running away at full strength to avoid being caught was all they could do.
‘How did it come to this?’
Defeat.
Disastrous defeat.
They had lost too much.
They had lost their fighting strength and lost their Alliance Leader. At this rate, even if they were lucky enough to escape their pursuit, they might not be able to gather the strength to counterattack.
But would fleeing have any meaning?
Wouldn’t it just be postponing death by a little?
“Just kill us already! You bastards!”
“Don’t worry. That’s what we intend to do.”
“Ah!”
His back felt sharp.
At the same time, strength drained from his entire body.
‘Damn it.’
Deok-sam could immediately understand what had happened to him. He tried somehow to support his body, but there was no helping it. The ground rose up.
He collided fiercely with the ground that stood like a giant wall blocking his path.
Peoeok!
The sound of hitting the earth echoed out.
“Keu eu eu.”
Deok-sam’s hand, stretched through the rising dust, grasped fallen leaves.
“You ran well, you rat-like bastards.”
Deok-sam felt something pass over his head.
They wouldn’t give up the chase. Since they had already caught him, they would continue pursuing the others.
‘But I’m still alive?’
“Tsk.”
Just as the question arose, he felt a presence.
‘One remained.’
Jong-gu, who had fallen beside him, was gasping for breath. Deok-sam, who had been quietly watching him, put strength into his arms.
Though his arms trembled, he somehow pushed his body up. He felt burning pain in his back, but he couldn’t die like this.
‘It’s just one.’
If he did well, he might be able to face one opponent. Even if that didn’t work, he didn’t want to die lying down and getting stabbed. If death was unavoidable anyway, shouldn’t he be dignified?
“Keu!”
Deok-sam, who had forced himself to stand, grasped the club at his waist. Then he turned around.
Startled.
His body trembled sharply.
As he expected, only one remained. But that didn’t make the situation any better.
You don’t know until you fight. You can’t predict the result before engaging. It was something he’d heard countless times, but there were many cases where that wasn’t true. Cases where the result could be predicted without fighting. Unfortunately, the situation he faced was exactly that.
The eyes of the remaining one were like those of a snake.
The sharp eyes of a swordsman, the eyes of a swordsman without a single point of carelessness, were staring at him.
“…Damn.”
Right.
He had once admired that appearance.
White-robed swordsman.
The group of swordsmen who had overturned the martial world’s hierarchy that had been fixed for hundreds of years.
Isn’t craving change and thirsting for something new the privilege of youth? But sometimes that privilege tends to breed haste. Just like Deok-sam.
“Ptui!“
Deok-sam spat on the ground and glared at the Hundred Sword Castle disciple with distorted eyes.
“Do you think you alone can handle me?”
Every time he spoke, his back convulsed with pain, but Deok-sam never tried to show weakness. It wasn’t just because he wanted to be dignified. The will remaining in him as a martial artist was speaking.
Don’t show weakness.
That’s how opportunities come.
“That’s enough showing off. You ran well. You escaped well. I’ll give you credit for that.”
“…Bullshit.”
“But that’s all. In the end, it’s just a matter of dying sooner or later.”
Seureung.
The sound of the sword scraping against its scabbard rang clearly.
‘Am I going to die like this?’
He had thought about buying some time, but this guy apparently had no intention of conversing with him. Well, what would change even if he delayed? It’s not like anyone was coming to help.
There was no one to come rescue them.
The great sects of Sichuan and Shaanxi couldn’t leave their positions to check the Demonic Cult, and those who should originally be guarding the center were fleeing together with them.
If they tried to gather troops, they could somehow gather them, but that would also take time. In the end, it meant there was no rescue.
He couldn’t overcome them with strength, and there was no one to help.
What remained was one of two things.
Either accept death calmly, or hope for heavenly luck or fortune.
“Ptui!“
Deok-sam spat out the fishy blood that had seeped into his mouth and bared his reddened teeth.
‘There’s no way there’d be any fortune.’
What fortune could a beggar have?
If someone had good luck, they wouldn’t have become a beggar in the first place. For a beggar to hope for luck was like hoping for rice to fall from the sky.
Then only one thing remained.
“Come on, you bastard. I may not be able to win, but I’ll cut off one of your arms.”
The swordsman who heard Deok-sam’s provocation curled up the corner of his mouth.
Then without another word, he slowly approached Deok-sam. The sword tip extended in the middle stance had no wavering. Even though nothing had started yet, it felt like his throat was being pierced by the sword.
Deok-sam glanced sideways to look at Jong-gu.
‘Did I do well?’
He didn’t know.
He had just followed his heart. Wouldn’t that be enough?
“I’ll show you how a beggar of the Beggar’s Sect dies…”
Deok-sam’s words were cut off.
Because he had lost strength?
No.
It was because the approaching swordsman had suddenly stopped.
“Uh…”
It was strange.
The swordsman’s atmosphere cracked. His fighting spirit also disappeared. The sharpness that had made Deok-sam cower until just before vanished completely, and he became a blank-faced person.
“Uh uh… huh?”
‘What?’
He was curious.
But he couldn’t turn around. Curiosity brings disaster. If he carelessly turned his head and that bastard charged at him, he would die without even being able to resist. Wouldn’t that be a dog’s death?
But he was originally someone who couldn’t overcome curiosity. Moreover, the swordsman’s reaction was too strange. Wasn’t his face becoming increasingly colored with shock?
Nature couldn’t be helped.
In the end, Deok-sam, unable to overcome his impulse, turned around.
Then his mouth gaped wide open.
“Huh? Huh? Huh huh?”
Deok-sam, looking just as dumbstruck as the swordsman, blinked and re-blinked, trying to confirm what his eyes saw.
What was he looking at right now?
‘Uh… that?’
Pure white meteors.
Several streaks of pure white meteors were flying toward where he was.
Meteors on bare ground—was he dreaming?
“Keu aaa aak!“
“Aaa aak!“
Only after the flying meteors crashed into the ground, rolled, rolled again, and flew to his feet did Deok-sam realize that these weren’t meteors but people.
The Hundred Sword Castle swordsmen who had just passed over him and gone ahead had been flung back for some unknown reason.
Swordsmen foaming at the mouth.
While Deok-sam couldn’t overcome his confusion, from behind him came a voice that was annoying just to hear.
“Where do these bastards come from, swinging swords without warning! I’ll beat them all up!”
It seemed like he had already beaten them…
Well, that wasn’t important.
Probably.
