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**

Look.

What is in front of me?

A beast.

A beast I’ve never seen in my life.

The Soul Stealing Sword, Noha Cheon, tilted its lips upwards. With a firm grip, he swung the sword mercilessly.

I came here on a mission, but now I’m so caught up in the excitement that I can’t refuse it.

Such a vicious sword is rare to find.

I need to taste it well enough to relieve my cravings!

**Soul Stealing Sword (奪魂劍)**

**Four Mixing Two Demons (四混二魔)**

As the sword’s trajectory moves, bluish flames erupt. What’s entwined within is everything taken from the enemy.

Senses. Strength.

Stamina. Internal energy too.

It takes everything and uses it as fuel to swing the sword. Two powers reside in one sword, causing explosive damage.

If hit, it shatters and breaks.

That sword, overflowing with confidence, only becomes brighter as the fight drags on.

But…

—Kaaaaaang!!!

**What should break does not break.**

**What should fall does not fall.**

“Uhaha!”

The beast in front of me is blocking my sword, taking a step forward while drenched in its own blood.

On the brink of life and death. It pushes forward.

It is precisely because it does not fear death that it prolongs its life. Look, how sharp is the sword grazing its chin?

Sharp.

—Sharper than any sword I have ever seen!

This guy is the real deal.

Truly…

**You think you can beat this Soul Stealing Sword, Noha Cheon?!**

“Dull!”

Excitement rises. I reverse grip the sword.

I change my stance on the spot. The enemy’s eyes widen.

I don’t give them a moment to prepare and strike.

—Swoosh!

The sound of flesh and blood bursting. The opponent’s body bounces against the wall.

I don’t give them a chance. I rush in immediately.

Even if I half sever their neck, they would regrow it. Then this time, I will tear apart their limbs.

They die. If they are human, they die. Even if they don’t die, they can be incapacitated.

From the looks of it, seeing them grab their severed arm suggests they can’t reconnect it without unnatural force.

If I tear off all their limbs, they can’t walk anymore.

Since they are seriously trying to beat me…

I should show my sincerity as well!

I charge through the dust storm. I stab the staggering warrior with my sword.

I forcibly rip off their right arm. The same goes for the remaining left arm.

Bluish flames engulf the air. The enemy drops their sword. Another arm soars into the air.

—Gotcha.

At that moment, something crashes into my head.

“Crrgh?!”

My forehead. A blood-soaked forehead.

The opponent charges fiercely. Their forehead collides with mine, filled with internal energy.

In that instant, in the shattered body of mine, they twist their body. They leap and reattach their severed arm simultaneously.

With blood splattering, their steps are slightly faster than before.

They are growing. A mere beginner in the peak…

**Is slowly catching up to me?**

“…This…”

Noha Cheon wiped the blood flowing from their broken forehead with their hand.

“This insane guy…!”

…

The Cheongeop screams.

I can feel it. With my whole body. Their regeneration is so weak that even the endless black roots are struggling.

Pain fills my entire body. With every step, my dizzy head feels like it will crash down.

But I grabbed the sword.

I… grabbed the sword.

“What is the Peimo (沛墓)? It’s a countering sword.”

The enemy extends their sword. I have to vomit everything I have in order to counter it.

I misjudged the gap, and my nose got cut. Deeply cut, blood momentarily obscured my vision.

But I trusted my hand. I believed in the efforts I piled up.

The sword energy erupted from my fingertips. I pulled all the nearly invisible internal energy.

I drew a line with the sword.

With its edge, I tore apart the hem of the Soul Stealing Sword.

“Uahahaha!!”

The enemy laughed. The energy in their sword became stronger.

My countering sword trembled. It looked like it would shatter at any moment.

So I made sure it wouldn’t break.

“The second form is the form of power struggle. Friction.”

I predicted the sword path. I couldn’t do it with my head, so I trusted my senses.

The experiences accumulated through cutting my entire body. I packed it into the tip of the sword.

A single path made of pain. I raced over it and amplified part of the sword.

—Kaaaaaaang!!

The trembling sword stopped trembling.

“Where on earth…!”

I wanted to answer.

But the breath filled to my throat didn’t allow me to speak.

The Soul Stealing Sword scattered the sword energy. Bluish flames clung to the trace of my swing.

That sword energy from earlier.

In an instant, my body shattered into pieces due to the overwhelming swordsmanship.

I immediately stood my ground. Even after blocking again, the new form flew through the building.

I flipped my body. I grabbed my trembling legs.

Ignoring the wooden thorns embedded in my body, I howled.

I wanted to win.

I genuinely wanted to win.

I grabbed the sword sheath. I sheathed my sword.

I bared my teeth at the approaching enemy.

Thrust it in. Use anything.

If I do nothing, I will only admit my mistake in the end.

—Drag it up from the bottom of my soul!

“The next is Long Grip (久握). This is just sword drawing technique. A fatal strike to end it in the first move.”

The sword in the sheath accelerates. It feels like I’m wringing out power.

It collides. The bluish flame rushes to swallow my sword through the dust.

My body gets pushed back. It’s pushed back endlessly.

Footprints are engraved on the ground. Long tracks remain like blackened remains digging into my ankles.

But the sword does not stop. It doesn’t shake or let go.

I instantaneously changed my insufficient power.

“In the book, it was written as ‘Pyeolrim (慓霖)’. I thought it was a form of throwing out multiple sword energies as a surging application.”

I trick the enemy’s eyes. The scattered sword energy brushes against the Soul Stealing Sword’s clothing.

In that moment, their eyes close. I seize the gap.

Go on. Jeok-un.

I win.

I win.

I win.

As a warrior. As someone chasing the back of the Heavenly Demon.

I won…!

—Thud!

My feet stopped. The sword I held also stopped in front of me.

I looked down at my chest. A blade pierced my heart.

The Soul Stealing Sword murmured bitterly.

“I can’t believe I have to cut down a fine disciple like you myself…”

The sword is extracted.

Blood bursts forth.

Even the howling Cheongeop falls silent.

“Now you can go.”

“…Ah…”

My voice still won’t come out. I’ve dropped the sword.

How far have I dropped it? Where is it?

I turn my gaze. I can’t see it. My vision is blurry, and I can’t see anything.

Blood intermittently seeps from my pierced heart. I tried to stop it, but it wouldn’t stop.

The Soul Stealing Sword raises its sword. The bluish flame swirls at the tip, as if to completely strike down my neck.

Despite the effort, it has come to this.

I couldn’t bridge the gap. I momentarily endured a distance that felt so far away, but it wasn’t enough.

But…

But not yet…!

“…Huh?!”

My body, thrown out desperately, dodges the sword energy once more. The expression on the Soul Stealing Sword’s face stiffened.

“Little brother. You barely have enough strength left to crawl on the ground, huh? You might as well beg for your life. In that case… I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”

“…….”

My voice still won’t come out.

Beg for my life?

Now?

“Admit you were wrong. If you cooperate in capturing the head of the Sma family, I might grant you mercy. As a reward for giving me some fun…”

**“Ah… No…”**

“What?”

The reason I crawl on the ground is simple.

I am still fighting. This fight isn’t over.

Think, Jeok-un. Consider every possible option.

I have dropped my sword. There’s nothing left.

The Cheongeop has twisted and no longer responds. Blood is gushing endlessly from my pierced heart.

What about my internal energy? Is it depleted? Can my hands move?

What do I have left?

What do I have left…?

“……”

I recall.

What I had.

What Ilma called me.

“Still, your tenacity is commendable.”

I endured.

Endured some more.

I kept enduring.

My life has been a continuous series of endurance. Even now, facing death, that hasn’t changed.

I reach out. I’m not reaching for the invisible sword.

I’m reaching into the blood-soaked front pouch to find something.

“…Little brother?”

I was not wrong.

I grabbed the sword for that reason.

Could I exchange the reason I gripped the sword for mere life?

My body has already died long ago.

Someone breathed life into the empty shell that died on that day.

The Heavenly Demon.

“Below the one who roams the skies, you shall be.”

The reason I hold the sword is still clear.

The reason I endured time and again is clear.

“Those unworthy of being called geniuses will no longer look down on you.”

So everything.

**…Pour it all out.**

—Creak…!

I twist open the wooden box pulled from my chest. I shove the ice shard that froze my fingertips into my mouth.

My tongue froze. I was rendered speechless by the missing chunk of flesh. But I forced it down my throat with all my might.

“What?!”

I fumbled at my waist. The sword was still there. The sword I had never drawn in the first place. Just hanging there.

The sword that breaks just by touching it. **Bing Baeksul’s divine weapon left for the North Sea Ice Palace.**

I grabbed it with my hand. Silent wailing escaped as I pressed my hand against the ground.

It feels like my heart has stopped. But even so, I am still here.

My vision is blurry. But even so, I am still here.

The pain that cannot be compared to a Cheongeop squeezes my throat. But still…

**I am here.**

**I still look at you, Heavenly Demon.**

“…I…!”

Do not kneel.

Get up, even if it’s with stubbornness.

Use everything given to rise again.

“I…!”

What is at the tip of the sword?

What remains at the tip of the sword, where I wanted to win?

“I am…!”

My body wails. I scream louder to forget the pain.

I stumble as I try to stand. The expression of the Soul Stealing Sword has solidified.

Faint, but everything starts coming back into focus again. Even my breath freezes, but once more, the Cheongeop begins to wail.

What disappeared returns once more.

The extinguished candle is rekindled.

**“I did not raise my sword to beg for my life… Soul Stealing Sword…!”**

I stand up.

Feeling the cracks engraved all over my body, I burn my entire being.

To move forward, even if just for a moment, I whisper to my distorted vision.

“Draw… the sword…”

I adopt my stance.

Tilting it slightly to glance at the enemy…

I grab the sword I practiced countless times with my hand.

“If you don’t want to die…!”

Dan Hoon Choo.

I seize the broken spirit with ice and ready myself to rush forward once more.

What is at the tip of the sword?

The answer to that question is simple.

Desires and yearnings.

To grasp what seems infinitely far away, I hold the sword.

Even if the edges of death threaten me.

Even if everything whispers that I cannot move forward.

**The dream of a warrior (武人) never ends as long as it does not stop moving.**

 

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