Breaking the Sky

“You crazy group of psychopaths!”

Seol Ah-heon gnashed his teeth as he dealt with the assassin.

One only had to read a history book to know why countless dynasties, East or West, designated a successor early on. It was the only way to ensure a smooth transfer of power and keep the nation from shaking.

But look at the Demonic Cult. A smooth transition? No one cared about that. Whether people died or blood splattered, they only cared about infinite competition. If this wasn’t madness, what was?

‘If it was going to be like this, why seal the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword at all? You should have just blown yourselves up and been done with it!’

He didn’t care if they fought each other to the death, but at this rate, he was going to die too. The old saying about a shrimp’s back breaking in a fight between whales was perfectly apt.

“Hey! You’ve got the wrong person! I’m a nobody!”

Seol Ah-heon shouted out of pure injustice, but it was useless. A bloodthirsty blade lunged toward his chin. If he hadn’t pulled back in time, he would have surely died. Even so, he couldn’t dodge completely; his neck stung.

‘Wow, I’m really going to die.’

The assassins of the Demonic Cult were on a different level from the Qingcheng Sect. Their fundamental skills were far superior, and they were lunging with the genuine intent to kill.

It was impossible to keep blocking forever. But since he couldn’t see a single opening for a counterattack, he didn’t know what to do. Just as he bit his lower lip in frustration—

“……Huh……?”

The assassin’s body collapsed.

A moment later, blood sprayed out. The spray, still warm, splashed onto his face. Smelling the metallic scent, he realized:

Baek Geon-ha had approached unnoticed and slit the assassin’s throat.

“This is perfect timing, I was getting bored.”

Pure joy bled through his voice. Like a dancer performing a sword dance, Baek Geon-ha flicked his sleeves and turned.

What kind of expression was he wearing right now?

A useless curiosity flickered in Seol Ah-heon’s mind. He stared at the back of the man standing in the middle of the carnage. But he couldn’t see his face. He simply suspected the man was wearing that characteristic, eerie smile.

“……!”

In an instant, Baek Geon-ha’s figure vanished.

Seol Ah-heon hadn’t even looked away, yet he lost sight of him.

“Gahk!”

His hearing was faster than his sight. At the sound of someone’s death rattle, his head turned instinctively. There, he witnessed it: an assassin whose head and body had been cleanly separated.

“Aagh!”

The other assassins were just as slow to grasp the situation. They met their ends without being able to mount even a decent counterattack.

Silver trajectories flashed incessantly. Each time, a head fell, and a lifeless torso collapsed, geysering blood. It was a slaughterhouse.

“……Hic.”

Watching the carnage, Seol Ah-heon felt like he might faint. He hadn’t exactly been raised in luxury, but he had grown up in a sensible world. When would he have ever seen people dying in droves?

‘Is this the common sense of this world……?’

Survival of the fittest. The law of the jungle.

From a different perspective, this was a sensible world too. Only the standard of “sense” was different. It wasn’t that he was just realizing this now. He had heard the constant, echoing screams back in the dungeon.

But he hadn’t personally witnessed the scene then. Today, the slaughter was happening right before his eyes, and the shock was overwhelming.

Seol Ah-heon struggled to keep his wits about him. Right now, even fainting was a luxury. Besides, wasn’t Baek Geon-ha on his side?

Ironically, while the situation was caused by Baek Geon-ha, it was because of Baek Geon-ha that he felt relieved.

‘If I turn him into an enemy, there’s only despair…….’

But as an ally, there was no one more reliable. Seol Ah-heon believed Baek Geon-ha would handle all the assassins, and that belief became reality.

Before long, the valley was filled with a thick scent of blood. It was the smell of death wafting from the bodies scattered like fallen leaves.

‘Is it over now……?’

[BAEK GEON-HAAAA!]

Before he could even relax, a thunderous roar erupted.

The shout was so infused with internal energy that his body swayed just from hearing it. Seol Ah-heon covered his ears with his free hand.

[You framed my Senior Brother! And yet you’re the one who unsealed the Demonic Sword!]

Ah…….

Seol Ah-heon let out a sigh. He finally knew who the opponent was. Someone from the Second Young Lord’s faction.

‘Well, I suppose they would be resentful…….’

Baek Geon-ha had hunted them down under the charge of unsealing the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword, only to take the real one for himself. Even Seol Ah-heon thought Baek Geon-ha was a complete bastard for this; how must Tak Bo-myeong feel? Yet Baek Geon-ha didn’t feel a single prick of conscience.

“Haha, I set fire to the mouse hole and a dog with its tail on fire jumps out. To think the second son of the Tak family would come personally. However, Tak Se-ryeong, I haven’t fully unsealed it yet.”

[Shut up! This is as far as your tongue will take you. I will report your crimes to the Cult Leader and ensure you receive the ultimate punishment!]

“Do you think the Cult Leader will take your side? Wake up, Tak Se-ryeong. The glory of the Tak family ends here. The Six Demonic Families will soon become Five!”

[You bastard!]

Tak Se-ryeong revealed himself. Because he lunged at Baek Geon-ha immediately, Seol Ah-heon couldn’t see his face clearly. All he saw was a saber glowing with dark-red energy.

CLANG!

Saber and sword collided. A massive wind pressure surged, sending stinging dust into his eyes. Seol Ah-heon watched the clash between the two demons through narrowed eyes.

‘They’re strong.’

There wasn’t a single opening in their exchange. Furthermore, judging by that ominous red demonic energy, he could guess that the demonic art Tak Se-ryeong practiced was of an exceptionally wicked variety.

‘Tak Se-ryeong…….’

Seol Ah-heon chewed on the name, but no specific information came to mind. It probably wasn’t because Tak Se-ryeong was a minor character, but likely because he was someone eliminated before Baek Geon-ha truly began his reign of terror.

In any case, while he didn’t know the individual, the Tak family was described in The Legend of Mount Hua. They were born with outstanding physiques and swung their sabers with the strength of a bull.

“I’ll separate that pretty head of yours from your body!”

“Aha, so you usually think my face is pretty? If you want to cut necks that badly, you should have become an executioner. Your saber looks like it could only handle prisoners tied in ropes.”

Baek Geon-ha taunted him effortlessly. But to Seol Ah-heon, the situation didn’t look easy. This was the Tak family, known for the strongest saber techniques in the Cult. While he firmly believed Baek Geon-ha wouldn’t lose, it was “how” he won that mattered. It would be a problem if he suffered fatal wounds in the process.

‘And it’s a problem if Baek Geon-ha is fine but I’m the only one hurt…….’

Seol Ah-heon folded his hands and prayed for Baek Geon-ha’s victory. Did his wish reach the heavens?

As if everything until now had been a mere game, a fierce Sword Qi erupted from Baek Geon-ha’s sword.

The flashing golden energy was almost blinding—brighter even than the Night-Glow Pearl. Baek Geon-ha raised the sword, which looked like a bolt of lightning itself, high into the air.

Then, he swung. Not just at Tak Se-ryeong, but at the sky!

KRA-KOOM!

A thunderous roar echoed as a lightning bolt struck down. Seol Ah-heon’s very toes tingled and shook. It was because the current was flowing through the ground.

This time, he didn’t even need to recall the descriptions from the novel. That was the Thunderbolt Demonic Art. The Extreme Yang martial art mastered by Baek Geon-ha.

“Aaaargh!”

Tak Se-ryeong let out a roar of fury. To think he was still alive after being hit directly by lightning—he certainly wasn’t an ordinary figure.

“I won’t leave you be!”

He swung his single-edged saber wildly. At a glance, it looked like a madman’s frenzy, but the power behind it was truly tyrannical. The surging Saber Qi sliced through nearby tree branches like they were radishes.

‘This isn’t just a hail of bullets anymore.’

Seol Ah-heon scrambled back. It seemed there were no assassins left, but he couldn’t relax. He only caught his breath after hiding behind a massive rock.

Peeking over the rock, he watched the battle. Tak Se-ryeong was agile despite his massive frame, but dodging the consecutive strikes of lightning seemed difficult. As if mocking his struggle, Baek Geon-ha swung his sword lightly.

Sword Qi rose from the straight blade. Now, the edge glowed so golden it almost looked white. Staring at it as if possessed, Seol Ah-heon suddenly realized something strange.

“That’s not the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword……?”

The sword Baek Geon-ha was holding was his original one. He had no idea where the Mad-Blood Demonic Sword had been tossed aside.

He felt a bit dumbfounded, wondering why they had wandered all over Mount Emei if this was the case. But since he was fighting well regardless of the weapon, it didn’t seem to matter.

“Tak Se-ryeong, I hear you’re engaged to the daughter of the Chae family?”

“I am! You bastard, surely……!”

“Ah, don’t worry about me having designs on her. I’m only thinking of sending a gift to celebrate the breaking of the engagement.”

“What?”

“Even for a political marriage, it would be a pity for the Chae daughter to share a nuptial cup with someone like you. I’ve given it some thought, and the best gift would be…… yes, your head.”

“Ha! Your arrogance pierces the heavens! It is I who will cut your head and gift it to Lady Chae!”

“Well, as far as gifts go, mine would certainly be more valuable. But shouldn’t you say such things after you manage to graze my sleeve?”

In an instant, the Sword Qi exploded.

Just before his vision was washed out in pure white, he saw the lightning surging from Baek Geon-ha’s sword.

While normal lightning falls from the sky, Baek Geon-ha’s strike seemed ready to tear the heavens apart. Seol Ah-heon recalled the man’s title once more.

The Sky-Breaking Sword Demon.

Baek Geon-ha was truly a villain capable of shattering the sky itself.