Emperor’s Sword [EN]: Chapter 41

He rose from his seat and shouted loudly. The arena quickly became chaotic. The Jade-Faced Divine Dragon, Moon Yoon, who had been appointed as a witness for this grand competition, had directly applied to participate. This initially caused shock, followed by curiosity, and finally, exclamations of joy. The arena erupted into a frenzy. The anticipation of witnessing the divine skills of the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon, Moon Yoon, firsthand excited everyone.

The dignitaries in the VIP seats on the platform were also surprised, as were his subordinates. Meanwhile, the face of the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon crumpled at the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon’s application. He had never directly experienced the martial arts of the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon, but how else would he be called one of the Five Greats of the Martial World [a title given to the five most powerful martial artists]?

‘This damn bastard, is one of the Five Greats of the Martial World, a so-called absolute power, really going to participate in this kind of competition?’

He was dumbfounded. Soon, he calmed down and became determined to give it a try.

‘He’s just a man… maybe the rumors are exaggerated… after all, we’re both made of flesh and blood, and if you stab him with a sword, he’ll die just the same.’

“Great Hero… are you going to participate directly?”

It was Chief Chu’s confirmation. Everyone waited for Pa Cheon’s next words.

“No.”

Murmurs arose.

‘What? Is that bastard playing games?’

The faces of the dignitaries on the platform also looked uneasy at Pa Cheon’s words.

“My subordinate will challenge him.”

Eh?

[Z. Zizon]

It was the telepathic communication of the Mad Demon and the Shadowless One. If it was Pa Cheon’s subordinate, there were three, but Dan Jang-hwa was a woman, so she was not eligible. In the end, it had to be one of the two.

Looking at them, Pa Cheon’s telepathic message continued.

[Mad Demon, you go out.]

[Me?]

[Something smells fishy. That guy seems to be in cahoots with Cheonhyang Okbong. It seems like they’re trying to swallow the Southern Alliance through official certification. If we get rid of him, their plans will be disrupted… do you understand what I mean?]

[Understood! But for me to fight with such a young kid… you could send the Shadowless One.]

[No. The Shadowless One is currently injured, and that guy is not someone to be taken lightly. And the more decisively we crush him this time, the more likely the higher-ups will move. And he is definitely not under Cheonhyang Okbong.]

The Shadowless One wouldn’t lose, but there’s a risk. So, instead of worrying, you go out and crush him.]

[Understood. That woman’s face will be a sight to see.]

‘If the mastermind doesn’t show up even after this, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t keep staying here.’

While everyone’s attention was focused on Pa Cheon, the Mad Demon rose from his seat and slowly descended. He was now disguised as a handsome young man in his twenties. He looked like a young master from a noble family, and there was no sign that he had practiced martial arts.

As he walked towards the dueling platform, people began to murmur. The prestige of the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon was shaking the world, but nothing was known about his subordinates. As he walked awkwardly under the gaze of everyone, people were soon disappointed.

He didn’t show any fancy footwork, nor did his solar plexus bulge, nor did a sharp aura emanate from his body. He was just ordinary, and in some ways, he looked like a scholar who could recite poetry.

The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon was annoyed by his slow approach.

‘This damn bastard… how long does it take to get here? Something’s suspicious… the fact that there’s no sign of him practicing martial arts… could he be a master of returning to simplicity [a martial arts concept where a master hides their power]? No way… it can’t be. No, if he wasn’t strong, the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon wouldn’t have put him forward, would he? I need to be careful.’

Compared to the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon, who was inwardly calculating, the Mad Demon was a little embarrassed.

‘I have to act like a fool in front of these kids at my age… it’s the Zizon’s order, but… I feel uneasy. Looking at him, he’s probably thinking hard… you fool, fighting isn’t about thinking hard. Poor guy, to be suspected by the Zizon! It’s all your fate.’

The Mad Demon, who had stepped onto the dueling platform, stood awkwardly and looked down at the arena.

‘Whew, there are so many. It’s like looking at a bean sprout field.’

As the Mad Demon was distracted and doing strange things, Chief Chu urged him.

“What is your name?”

“Name?”

Ugh!

[Zizon, what should I say?]

[Make something up.]

[Make what up?]

[Anything.]

[Anything what?]

[Just…]

The Mad Demon, who had been hesitating, finally seemed to make up his mind and opened his mouth. He stretched his back and said in a confident voice,

“One Below All, Above All Others.”

“Huh?”

Chief Chu asked back in confusion.

“Guest.”

“Guest?”

…

“One Below All, Above All Others Guest, Damdae Chugwang.”

“What? … Okay… I understand. You know the rules, so let’s begin.”

Below the dueling platform, the Mad Demon’s words caused a burst of laughter. It seemed like he meant that he was the best after his lord, but no one in the world had such a strange name.

‘He seemed quite serious and smart when I first saw him at the Heavenly Demon Secret Place, but how did he become so broken as time went on?’

This was Pa Cheon’s thought.

*Ding*

Even though the gong signaling the start of the duel had sounded, the Mad Demon remained in his initial posture, and the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon was also cautiously watching for an opening.

‘Everything is full of flaws, so I don’t know what to do.’

As he thought, the Mad Demon’s posture was too sloppy, and he looked like someone out for a stroll.

[Zizon, should I kill him or keep him alive?]

[Make him show his cards as much as possible. If possible, it would be good to find out what his relationship with Cheonhyang Okbong is… but it doesn’t matter. Play with him for a bit, then kill him.]

‘Hehe, that means I can do as I please.’

A sly smile flashed across the Mad Demon’s face, causing the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon to tense up. The Mad Demon slightly lifted his foot and stepped on the dueling platform with a thud.

*Thud*

The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon flinched in surprise.

[Hahahaha, you fool, were you surprised?]

[You damn bastard! You’re so young and have no manners!]

‘What? Young? Hmm… should I be happy about that?’

[Hey, you, what’s your relationship with Cheonhyang Okbong?]

His face changed rapidly.

[Zizon, that guy is definitely related to Cheonhyang Okbong.]

‘Hehe, as expected.’

[Mad Demon, subtly ask him about the Grand Commander.]

‘Grand Commander?’

The Mad Demon sent a telepathic message to the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon.

[If you lose here, you’ll get a huge scolding from the Grand Commander.]

‘What? How does that guy know about the Grand Commander? What is his identity? Then, was it the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon who killed my subordinates last night? This is not a small problem. I need to inform the Grand Commander quickly. How much does that guy know?’

As if there was nothing more to see, the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon lunged at the Mad Demon. A three-zhang [approximately 10 meters] long sword aura shot out from his sword, directly aiming to bisect the Mad Demon. The Mad Demon just stared blankly at it!

‘What is this? I was nervous for nothing. Die!’

The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon smiled triumphantly, imagining the One Below All, Above All Others… whatever his name was, being split in two. His sword aura reached all the way to the floor of the dueling platform.

*Bang*

With an explosion, one side of the dueling platform collapsed, and the center was neatly cut in half. It was the power of the sword aura. However, there was no scream, nor any trace of the Mad Demon. The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon was trembling. The opponent, who should have been lying on the ground in two pieces from his sword, was standing on the other side of the dueling platform with his hands behind his back.

‘How can this be… I lost sight of him?’

It was impossible. Just before his sword aura was about to split the guy’s head, he was standing right in front of him, and he should have been split in half. But in that instant, he had moved all the way over there and was smiling, and he hadn’t even seen him move. How could he explain this? Could he imagine that the impudent young man in front of him was the second-highest master of the Heavenly Demon Sect? That he was playing around in front of someone who had already surpassed the Extreme Demon and reached the Transcendent Demon realm?

‘I can’t believe it. Let me try again…’

He turned his body and thrust his sword again. His skill in combining feints and considering the opponent’s possible escape routes was extraordinary.

*Swish*

He had stabbed the air again. This time, the Mad Demon had dodged by only two inches. He couldn’t understand the opponent’s movements at all. If he was human, at least according to his understanding of human movements, he would be bound by a certain framework.

No matter how many different moves were combined in a series or how many different sword techniques were mixed, there was always a kind of rhythm to the movements. The more skilled a master was, the better they were at breaking that rhythm. But he hadn’t felt the opponent move at all. He didn’t know when he had moved, so he couldn’t know how he had moved.

The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon swung his sword sideways. Even he thought that if he were to cut sideways with his sword aura at this close range, no human could avoid it.

But again, he didn’t feel the sensation of flesh tearing or bones being cut. He was just slashing at the empty air. The Mad Demon was still standing there, wasn’t he? Then, was that human not made of flesh and blood, but a ghost? While he was thinking all sorts of things, the spectators were looking at the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon with expressions that said they didn’t know what he was doing.

To them, it looked like he was just slashing at the air like a madman dancing under the moonlight, unable to even touch the person standing still. In fact, only Pa Cheon understood the Mad Demon’s movements. When the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon swung his sword sideways, he had moved with the sword, retreated, and then returned to his original position. But because this movement was so fast, it looked like he had been standing still.

‘Hehe, the Mad Demon is having fun. Anyway, his martial arts are useful.’

[Hey, with that, can you get recognition from the Grand Commander? Don’t you have anything better?]

‘That guy is an unimaginable master. Or maybe a ghost! Does that mean I have to use that martial art? If anyone recognizes it… well, they probably won’t. It hasn’t appeared in the martial world for the past thousand years…’

He adjusted his stance. He held the sword with one hand and supported the hilt with the other on the ground. Naturally, the sword’s tip was pointing towards the sky. It was a truly bizarre stance. If he let go of the hand holding the hilt and placed a plate on the sword’s tip, it would look like a circus act.

The Mad Demon, who had been observing his actions, frowned. Was that guy finally crazy? He was puzzled. As far as he knew, there was no sect or sword technique in the world that used a sword like that. Logically, it was a stance that made it difficult to exert the proper power of the sword. It would be perfect for bowing.

-That is?

[Why, what is it? Heavenly Demon]

-Surely not.

[Why? Do you recognize something?]

-There was a sect that used that kind of stance in the era when I was active. It was when I was first establishing the Heavenly Demon Sect, and those guys dared to call themselves the Blood Demon Sect? So, I wiped them out in one night. A few of them escaped through the back door, but they had a sword technique like that. It was called the Blood Demon something sword technique?

[Really?… Mad Demon, ask him if he has any connection to the Blood Demon.]

[Blood Demon? Who is that?]

[Just do as I say.]

[Hey, you, what’s your relationship with the Blood Demon?]

It was just a question that he asked because the Zizon told him to, without any thought, but the opponent’s reaction was very unexpected.

He trembled and turned pale.

‘Why is that guy like that?’

[Zizon, it seems like he’s related.]

[Really?…]

-The descendants of the Blood Demon have reappeared? How absurd.

[Why? According to you, they’re not a big deal.]

-They are not insignificant. I’ll tell you later. Tell the Mad Demon to be careful.

[Mad Demon, the Heavenly Demon is telling you to be careful.]

[Me? The Founder? … Understood.]

‘If the Heavenly Demon Founder is warning me, then he must be more than ordinary?’

Changes were gradually occurring in the opponent’s sword tip. Black mist began to rise. It continued to rise and gradually enveloped the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon. His feet were covered, then his knees, then his waist, then his chest, and finally his eyes. Only a part of the sword tip was floating above the black mist. The Mad Demon watched the scene without missing a single moment.

The sword tip floating above the black mist slowly moved. Like a boat swaying on the waves, it constantly moved up and down, and each time the sword tip moved slightly, it began to create dozens of afterimages.

‘It’s similar to our sect’s Dark Secret Sword, but completely different. I don’t know when or from what angle it will strike. That’s the pinnacle of illusion swordsmanship. It’s just that he hasn’t fully understood its essence yet… if he were to unleash it properly, it would be amazing.’

Honestly, the Mad Demon was impressed. It was only because his sword skills had surpassed techniques that he could handle it easily. Otherwise, it would have been a strange technique that he wouldn’t have been able to deal with easily. The sword tip continued to approach.

After figuring out the situation, the Mad Demon actually entered the sword’s range. It was a reckless method that seemed to say, ‘Come and kill me,’ but it was because he was confident, and it was to draw out the opponent’s attack while he was not fully prepared. As he expected, the Life-Snatching Demon Sword’s sword tip swept over the Mad Demon like a sudden downpour.

‘There is only one sword, and only one body using that sword. Just because you hide it doesn’t mean it disappears completely.’

From the Mad Demon’s hand, a clear, glass-like aura was fired towards the opponent’s sword tip, the sword’s body, and the connecting point.

*Bang*

“Guh.”

The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon’s sword shattered into pieces, and some of them grazed his body. Immediately after, the Mad Demon’s body scattered. It was the Heavenly Demon Concealment Technique. At that moment, the Life-Snatching Demon Sword barely managed to support his body and spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared ahead, but the ghostly figure was gone.

‘Ugh… this is impossible. Didn’t my master say that there was no one in the martial world who could break this sword? Damn it… I was wrong. This guy is someone I can’t…’

“Cough.”

His back was bent like a shrimp, and his eyes were bulging out.

*Thud*

“Ugh.”

*Thud*

“Cough.”

*Thud thud thud*

“Ugh, cough, ugh, hack.”

He was performing a strange dance called the ‘spasmodic dance.’ It was a dance where he kept retreating from one end of the dueling platform to the other, twisting his body. How difficult was the dance that he kept spitting out blood, and even pieces of his internal organs were mixed in? His knees were slowly touching the dueling platform… or so it seemed, but he jumped up.

The Mad Demon, who had concealed his body with the Heavenly Demon Concealment Technique, punched and kicked his abdomen, sides, and thighs. Each time, the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon twisted his body as if dancing. And when his knees were about to buckle, the Mad Demon’s foot kicked his buttocks.

The martial artists, who had no idea what was going on, shook their heads in confusion, and when he spat out blood, they mistakenly thought that he had caused his qi to reverse by using excessive internal energy. The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon mustered his last strength and raised his hand, his gaze desperately looking at Chief Chu. And from his mouth,

“Lo…loss…cough, why?”

The Mad Demon appeared on the dueling platform, blocking the space between the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon and Chief Chu, and then he was sticking his hand into the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon’s open mouth. And the Mad Demon’s mouth whispered into the Life-Snatching Fire Dragon’s ear.

“I don’t acknowledge that kind of thing. It’s foolish to let someone live when you know they’re your enemy, when you can kill them in one blow. You… chose the wrong side. Farewell.”

As the Mad Demon’s hand was pulled out, blood finally splattered, and the Mad Demon had already retreated far away. The Life-Snatching Fire Dragon’s eyes rolled back, and he crashed onto the dueling platform with his stiff body.

*Thud*

There was not a single drop of blood on the Mad Demon’s hand. Chief Chu didn’t know the details of what had happened, but he knew that the One Below All… Guest had won.

“The One Below All, Above All Others Guest has won. Is there another challenger?”

As soon as those words were spoken, the martial artists cheered.

“There’s nothing more to see.”

“Give it up. Who would challenge him?”

“Wow, One Below All… Hooray!”

“Jade-Faced Divine Dragon, hooray!”

“Five Greats of the Martial World, hooray!”

In the end, the tumultuous dueling competition ended with the ringing of the gong five times, and the birth of a new absolute master in the martial world was announced. It was something that was said jokingly, but the One Below All, Above All Others Guest, Damdae Chugwang, had already been officially recognized! And the title of the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon’s subordinate would always follow him.

It was an expected outcome, so Pa Cheon and the Shadowless One were indifferent, but the surprise of the other people on the platform was truly great. If Pa Cheon’s subordinate was this strong, then how powerful was the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon’s true martial arts? Today, another sun had risen in the sky besides the sun. A sun named the Jade-Faced Divine Dragon!

Elder Gu of the Nine Spirits Sect descended from the platform and came to the dueling platform, and the results of the dueling competition were announced from his mouth.

“This Southern Alliance officially declares the winner of the dueling competition, the One Below All, Above All Others Guest, Damdae Chugwang, as the vice-leader of this alliance and the next leader, and all of you martial artists here will be witnesses. Therefore, tomorrow at this time, we will hold the wedding ceremony between the daughter of the current alliance leader, Cheonhyang Okbong, and Great Hero Damdae Chugwang.”

“What, what did you say?”

The color drained from the Mad Demon’s face. His simple mind had only thought about fulfilling the Zizon’s orders and killing the enemy, and he had never thought about the consequences. That’s why he was so surprised.

[Z…Zizon]

[Why, what is it?]

[Hehe, you’re not really going to make me get married, are you?]

[Can’t be helped, can it?]

[What? No way. Especially… with that vixen… Zizon, please, not that order…]

[I can’t help it either. If we kill someone and then say we can’t do it, it’s the same as mocking them… if it’s the will of heaven, we must follow it.]

[Ugh… I’m doomed.]

[Do I sense that you’re resisting?]

[No… way… Zizon… Understood.]