Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 456

Hwasan’s sect leader, Baek Jin.

He was the branch leader of the Martial Arts Alliance, one of the three leaders, and the very person who brought Hwasan’s name to this point.

However, that was just the public story.

The reality was.

-Madness.

Cheong In-woo had said it.

-He’s the one who best exemplifies the word ‘madness’.

Baek Jin was said to be the embodiment of madness itself.

A man who would do anything for the sake of Hwasan.

The righteousness and chivalry that a righteous sect should have….

-Righteousness and chivalry?

Righteousness and chivalry.

The banner of a righteous sect.

-For him, it’s Hwasan.

For Baek Jin, it had a completely different meaning.

-Also, he himself is ‘righteousness’ and ‘chivalry’.

A man who would do anything for Hwasan, for himself.

He kidnapped children, manipulated Hwasan’s disciples as he pleased, and didn’t even think twice about their lives.

Also.

-The reason we can say Baek Jin has truly gone mad is because he saw the power of the Divine Demon.

The power of the Divine Demon.

That completely drove him insane.

His pride in Hwasan, his ambition to one day make Hwasan rule over the entire Eun, was shattered by the power of the Divine Demon he had accidentally encountered.

A power he could never reach.

The moment he faced absolute power, he truly fell into madness.

-What’s known to the world is not even half of it.

In the name of Hwasan, he poured out his desires.

It would take more than a day or two to list his sins.

“…….”

But the one occupying his body now was not Baek Jin.

“It’s been a while.”

The voice that was heard was clearly Baek Jin’s.

However.

“It’s been a while, Master.”

The one who had entered, the power felt from Baek Jin, was not the Baek Jin he had seen before.

“Master.”

It was Muwang, Shin Yeo-wool’s.

“…….”

Silence fell.

No one could open their mouths.

Whoooosh.

The energy emanating from Shin Yeo-wool, who had taken over Baek Jin’s body, and Lee Ro-woon, disturbed the air and made it disappear.

A vacuum.

In that space, voices could never reach the other party.

“…….”

Lee Ro-woon looked at Baek Jin.

This had happened before.

There had been a moment when he faced the will of his master, who had been taught by his master.

At that time, it was just a brief conversation.

“Have you been well?”

But now it was different.

Baek Jin seemed to have disappeared.

It was as if Muwang’s will and spirit had swallowed Baek Jin himself and were present in this place.

“I….”

It was when Lee Ro-woon was about to answer.

Smirk.

Muwang, wearing Baek Jin’s mask, smiled.

A kind and gentle smile.

“…….”

It was the smile he had longed for and wanted to see so much.

“You’ve been well.”

Muwang said.

“I’ve been hearing all the news. What’s a guy who gave up everything doing, living so hard?”

At that voice.

Smirk.

A smile unknowingly formed on Lee Ro-woon’s lips as well.

Their appearances had changed a lot.

Both himself and his master.

But inside, the time they had spent together.

All of it remained the same.

“I haven’t heard much about you, Master.”

Lee Ro-woon said.

“Aren’t you being too restrained for someone like you, Master?”

“Eing. Can’t you even remember?”

Muwang said.

“I clearly told you.”

The gentle smile slowly faded.

And what remained was regret and remorse.

Something even deeper than those emotions.

“When we meet again, we might have to kill each other.”

The atmosphere changed.

“So, are you ready?”

But the voice remained the same.

“…….”

Lee Ro-woon didn’t answer for a long time.

After a little time had passed.

“Yes.”

The moment Lee Ro-woon’s answer finally came.

A faint smile reappeared on Shin Yeo-wool’s lips, who was wearing Baek Jin’s mask.

“Good, that’s a relief.”

Swoosh.

A hand moved slowly.

And the moment that followed.

Pshoooooosh-!

A fountain of blood erupted from Lee Ro-woon’s chest.

“Let’s begin.”

* * *

Swish.

The air, the wind, was torn apart.

The moment the ki [internal energy] was ripped and the magic power was extinguished.

Pshoooooosh!

Invariably, a fountain of blood gushed from Lee Ro-woon’s body.

Tap.

Even if he tried to move by stomping his feet, even if he tried to block it by creating a blood barrier.

Swish-!

The master’s blade invariably reached Lee Ro-woon.

All Shin Yeo-wool was doing was waving his hand like a conductor.

Even that, slowly, very slowly.

But it was impossible to stop it.

“You said you were ready, what did you prepare?”

Muwang’s voice was heard.

“Your movements are sluggish, and your steps are full of hesitation.”

It was a warm voice, as if they were asking about each other’s well-being.

But when that voice ended.

Swish-!

Invariably, the wounds on Lee Ro-woon’s body increased.

It was something of a different level.

He had mastered all martial arts and achieved the extreme in all of them.

But the most important thing was not that.

-The founder of martial arts.

He was the one who stood at the pinnacle of martial arts and the very person who created them.

The Extreme.

People tended to take the Extreme too lightly.

They would reach a certain level and judge that they had reached the end.

But the Extreme was different.

It was relative and infinite.

Infinite.

“It’s been a while. Playing like this with you.”

There was no end to infinity.

“You’re not the same as before either, Master.”

Lee Ro-woon stanched his wounds and created the form of Asura [a powerful, multi-armed deity].

The eight swirling arms created a vortex of blood, pressing down on Shin Yeo-wool.

“If it were the old Master, it would have been over by now.”

“Are you mocking me? This damn body has its limits.”

Swish-!

The space split, and Lee Ro-woon deliberately thrust his body into it.

Pshoooooosh!

A fountain of blood erupted.

Lee Ro-woon’s shoulder dangled as if it would fall off at any moment.

But he closed the distance that seemed impossible to close and stood in front of Shin Yeo-wool.

The moving hand and the anger it held, the Asura behind him, moved simultaneously.

The Asura was Lee Ro-woon’s will, the martial arts Lee Ro-woon had learned, and.

“But still.”

It was the form of Lee Ro-woon’s anger.

“I don’t think I’ll lose to you yet.”

Clang-!

The eight arms, and the sword held in Lee Ro-woon’s hand.

The nine weapons.

Whoosh.

Shin Yeo-wool blocked all nine weapons at once with an invisible sword.

No, it wasn’t a sword at all.

“Eing.”

What he thought was an invisible sword was just Shin Yeo-wool’s palm.

Trickle.

A faint stream of blood appeared on Shin Yeo-wool’s hand that had blocked the weapons.

“Why is this useless body so weak?”

Shin Yeo-wool stepped back to create distance.

Everything seemed slow and relaxed, as if a master was teaching his disciple.

However.

Whoosh-!

It was impossible to even block it, let alone catch up.

Time.

Shin Yeo-wool’s martial arts were even manipulating time.

‘There is no end to infinity.’

In other words, there was no end to infinity.

However.

‘It can be infinitely close to the end.’

The one who was close to the end of that endless infinity.

That was.

“You’re still the same.”

The Three Kings.

They were the ones who became kings of the world with their own power alone, and they were the ones who stood against chaos.

The two who had created distance.

“Today.”

Shin Yeo-wool said, taking a stance.

A slanted stance.

One fist on his chest, the other on his waist.

“……!”

The air rushed in.

Lee Ro-woon widened his eyes and quickly drew out all his energy.

The Asura grew rapidly.

Whoosh!

The flames of the sacred fire soared fiercely.

At the same time, Lee Ro-woon also quickly swung his sword.

The Sword King’s Stance.

The maximum defense he could do.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

The moment that followed.

Thud.

The world was covered in a pure white light.

* * *

Behind Lee Ro-woon, where he had been standing, nothing remained.

It felt as if everything had been cleanly annihilated.

The Hwasan Tower that Lee Ro-woon had held onto.

Swoosh-!

Only the top of it barely remained, floating in the air.

“…….”

Lee Shin-woo barely regained his senses and looked at the scene.

A memory that had disappeared as if his consciousness had been cut off at some point.

-You’re a bit similar.

The last thing he remembered was that voice.

And.

Whoosh-!

A blue light swirled around Lee Shin-woo’s entire body.

The power of awakening, now connected to the Gaeshin Library, of which Lee Shin-woo was now the master.

Lee Shin-woo didn’t remember.

However.

“Huk!”

The Gaeshin Library had seen and recorded it.

-It’s been a while.

-It’s been a while, Master.

About the meeting between Lee Ro-woon and two indescribable beings.

Lee Shin-woo, who had seen the record, quickly got up.

He hadn’t done anything, but his whole body was in excruciating pain.

“I’m… glad….”

He forced out a dry voice.

The Unknowns.

They seemed to be alive thanks to Lee Ro-woon.

And Lee Ro-woon was.

“Ro-woon!”

He was just standing still.

“Ro-woon!”

He rushed to Lee Ro-woon.

“…….”

Lee Ro-woon’s entire body was torn to shreds, and his wounds were very deep.

“Ro-woon!”

He was about to reach out to him, who seemed unable to regain his senses.

“My head… is ringing.”

Lee Ro-woon’s voice.

“Please, just shut up.”

“…….”

Lee Shin-woo quickly distanced himself.

“Ha.”

It was a sigh of relief.

Lee Ro-woon’s appearance was such that he could die at any moment, but he seemed to be in better shape than he thought.

In his memory, in the records of the Gaeshin Library.

“…….”

The fist that something occupying Baek Jin’s body had thrown.

Lee Shin-woo trembled as he remembered it.

It was the power of a being that could be called a god.

The power to split a continent with a single blow.

Lee Ro-woon had blocked it alone.

“End….”

Lee Ro-woon’s voice.

“It’s not… over.”

“What?”

He had forgotten something because he was too focused on Lee Ro-woon.

“End.”

Lee Ro-woon’s voice was heard again.

“Finish it.”

Lee Shin-woo noticed something and immediately turned around.

There.

“Haa…. Haa….”

Someone with a dying, faint breath was kneeling.

White hair.

Skin that had lost its elasticity.

Gray eyes looked as precarious as a dying flame.

It was him.

“Baek Jin!”

Hwasan’s sect leader, Baek Jin.

“How… how….”

Baek Jin was muttering in vain.

Who would think of him as Hwasan’s sect leader?

Also, who would think of him as….

Crunch.

The villain they had to eliminate.

She was an old woman.

An old woman who was dying helplessly.

One who evoked pity rather than anger.

“Damn it….”

Lee Shin-woo cursed.

“This is….”

The hand that clenched into a fist trembled.

“This isn’t it.”

The end of Hwasan.

It was a scene he had only imagined.

But in those countless imaginations, he had never thought of the current situation.

Hwasan destroying itself and dying.

That the end of it was the end of Hwasan.

But.

“That is also an end.”

It was Lee Ro-woon’s voice, who had begun to recover.

“There’s nothing strange about a toad that was consumed by greed eventually bursting its own belly and dying.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s voice, Lee Shin-woo clenched his fist even harder.

“What’s important is….”

Lee Ro-woon’s voice.

“What the toad ate, and what it did to eat it.”

Only then did Lee Shin-woo realize what he had to do.