Swish
The flow had changed.
Unlike the past when time was frozen and stopped, extremely small things still happened.
And on the other side—
Ghost Incarnate, who should be looking at him, had vanished.
Such a unique martial art.
Although he was lost in thought for a moment, his steps were so light that Seol-Hwi missed them.
There was this sound which his ears caught, a rough step, which did not want to hide its presence.
Shhh. Shhhh.
…What is this?
Ghost Incarnate could be figured out. However, the direction he seemed to be coming from was from three sides, produced by an illusion footwork technique.
If he did not force the time to slow down, then he would have been too taken aback to think through things properly.
Step
There, Seol-Hwi realized one more thing.
Visible illusions weren’t the only thing.
Three footsteps, there was the illusion of the movement of his sword multiplied by three.
However, he saw three more sword shadows. All of this were illusions created by Ghost Incarnate with a high level footwork.
Paaaah
There was an illusion which looked like it was going to pierce Seol-Hwi, but he did not avoid it.
He did not even react at the sight of a sword flying at him directly in front of him, from behind him, or even from the side.
Swish!
The moment when the sword which flew in like that, one by one, eventually cut the throat of Seol-Hwi.
“I won…”
Ghost Incarnate had a bright look, but a moment later, he went stiff.
Puak!
Blood did not come out from the neck of the opponent which had been clearly cut down.
“…An illusion?”
As a result, the voice which had conveyed happiness a moment ago now lost its power.
Swish
“You aren’t the only one who can use illusions.”
Seol-Hwi appeared right behind him.
“…!”
His entire body went stiff at the presence of his opponent behind him. He did not yet see the real face of the opponent, thinking he would get a chance in future.
Yet, he finally said,
“That technique, that is it?”
Even when he was about to die, he wanted to know about it.
He missed the footsteps of the opponent which felt so clear to reality. At that moment, his greed as a martial arts warrior shone.
Seol-Hwi made a slightly odd expression and answered meekly,
“Heavenly Demon King’s Step.”
“…What?! That…”
His face looked shocked. But the next question could not be asked.
Swish!
His head was cut down, and his body was completely cut in half.
Goooo
And right then the roof collapsed down, and the huge flames remaining on the side covered the floor.
And with that—
Saaaa…
The things which existed in the eyes of Seol-Hwi began to slow down. Not just what was close to him but everything else too, close to invisible.
Wherever his sight went, time slowed down.
Wheik!
Within that time, Seol-Hwi slowly walked to the first floor and walked out. This was proof that he had gone past the first stage of the Supreme Demon level.
Ju Seorin along with her members were watching the temple go up in flames.
Wheik. Wheik.
Although the smoke was thick in all directions, and scorching heat enveloped the place—
She thought that someone would come out with the sword.
Ghost Incarnate? If not…
When she first heard the news about the death of Yo So-gwang, she intuitively thought it was the Fourth Disciple’s subordinate.
And even now, from the circumstances, it was believed that there must be ghosts, but something was strange about it.
She had the nasty feeling that she was missing some important detail or that she was going to see something absurd.
Tung! Crack!
The temple collapsed from the fire entirely, and in her field of vision which was looking at this wide place, she caught someone walking out.
There.
The guy, Seol-Hwi.
A person who was put into this place as the subordinate of the Fourth Disciple.
How can he remain calm in a burning building…
Ju Seorin’s frowning eyes widened.
Even though she was clearly hiding, his gaze was directed right at her.
“What are you seeing?”
“…”
Ju Seorin did not say anything.
She noticed the sword in his hand, and even though she knew that this was the target of the mission, she could not say a word.
“…”
Like a frog frozen in front of a snake, she was motionless.
“There must be nothing.”
Shhh
And so he passed.
Ju Seorin sat down after a long time had passed.
Thud!
N-never…
Although it was for a short time, she felt that this person was one level higher than herself and her lord as well. That was the reason she did not move a muscle and just stared there blankly.
“Hmm.”
The Bloody Death Warlord who was reading the report did not seem in a good mood.
In this class, the killing he was concerned about had happened, and it was more shocking that an instructor who he cherished had been sacrificed.
“This is… it seems to be a problem,”
The academy head, So Cheon-gwi, said with a worried face.
In this case, it was not just the death of an instructor. The dead among the trainees were of course also the subordinates of the First and Second Disciple.
“Look at that.”
So Cheon-gwi narrowed his eyes at the warlord and calmly nodded his head.
“What would you want us to do? As you know, this is to be notified to the outside world, the academy will not work smoothly after that.”
“Hmm.”
The Bloody Death Warlord was silent.
He knew it too. It was not others but the disciples of the disciples of the Heavenly Demon who lost their lives during the training process.
Of course, they will ask for an investigation. Well, that is fine, they can just follow the request, but the problem will be after that. It was his idea to propose they join the training session, and in such a case, if a problem occurs, then it would be bad.
“When will the training session end?”
The Bloody Death Warlord, who was struggling quite a bit to answer, said,
“Fortnight later.”
“Then hold it back till then.”
“Uh?”
So Cheon-gwi looked puzzled. It was better to quickly report such an incident to the highest ups as soon as possible. If they dragged this out, misunderstandings would arise or it would turn into an emotional fight, making it difficult to find out the truth.
Above all, are the disciples of Heavenly Demon not involved in the incident?
“If it is informed at this point, the collective education itself will be halted. Our troops will stop being trained.”
“That is right… the case might intensify later.”
At the end of those words, So Cheon-gwi expressed his concerns.
He was clearly displeased with the fact that other powers were reaching out to the Blood Strong Troops. However, if one intentionally missed the report process, the opponent will surely find fault with you.
The traces of martial arts left on the body tended to fade over time.
Of course, the First and Second Disciple would not like it, and if it were to happen, they would forcefully interrogate the situation and the people involved, and would threaten to kill them as if the troops conspired with the Third and Fourth Disciple.
No, it should be a nice interrogation.
They might think of them as a future enemy and attack the entire troops too.
“I know what you are worried about. But do not care about it.”
However, contrary to So Cheon-gwi’s concerns, the Bloody Death Warlord was calm. Obviously the displeasure of the disciples of the Heavenly Demon, who lost their subordinates, could be their worst.
But so what?
Was this not all told in advance? With the collective academy training happening, one already knew that they would be in danger.
No matter how political it turned out to be, no, rather even if it was a political thing, he had to hold his position.
“Those who survived this one. Those who pass the collective training will be the elite of the troops.”
“Right. But…”
“That is enough. If the person picked by them died then it is because the person who they picked was lacking. It will never be tolerated if the previously agreed topics and agreements are questioned.”
Trying to bend because of the power of the opponent is strong, that was not the way of the Warlord.
“Winners are winners, losers are losers. I think only for the training, the rest is handled by others.”
“…”
For some reason, the Warlord had a confident smile on his face, and seeing that, So Cheon-gwi was confused.
I don’t know… is there something I’m missing?
After a thought, he shook his head. For now, all he had to do was follow the orders
The day is done. And returning to a place surrounded by the temporary barracks, Seol-Hwi quietly cultivated.
“Phew, huk…”
Suddenly everything looked unfamiliar. When he realized the time had slowed down, Seol-Hwi felt like he was glimpsing at something he had never experienced before.
It cannot be an illusion of his.
Heavenly Demon King’s Step which was used against Ghost Incarnate—come to think of it, even then, the flow of time was slow.
Heavenly Demon King’s Step was an extremely powerful light footwork in which an illusion appears as clear as reality.
Looking at the movements as such, he wondered what Ghost Incarnate felt when confronted with it.
First, it is all to convince the warlord… there will be more difficult tasks after that.
Seol-Hwi suddenly became curious. He himself reached the end of Supreme and was in a situation where he could touch Profound Demon.
No matter how many elders there were in the Demonic Sect, there was most likely not one person who could deal with him now. Of course, he heard that the difficulty of life increases with an increase in skills.
I need to reach Profound Demon somehow.
The AI was already at that level.
Even so, he could not escape from this life which was close to hell. This meant that strong enemies would continue to appear.
I’d like to see the Absolute Supreme Demon Arts.
Is it because he got the Small Fire Sword?
Suddenly, he wanted to try out the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, and the sum of the four martial arts being learned would result in the Absolute Supreme Demon Arts. It was a martial arts which was unbelievable to hold, but it seemed like his knowledge would broaden if he got it.
Then, we need to find the last piece…
The final piece of the map.
If he could find it, he would know where this martial arts was placed. He remembered hearing from the AI in the past that if he continued on the current difficulty, then a clue would possibly come out.
Uh?
Seol-Hwi, who was about to take a nap as it was bedtime, turned his head.
It was because the one who openly revealed themself was getting closer.
Tsssss. Step.
Seol-Hwi moved out of the bed.
And he noticed someone walking from the other side of the forest. Before long, the one who made his senses go alert came.
“So it was you?”
Ju Seorin. The person he did not speak to, was speaking to him first.
Without a reason.
“What are you talking about?”
“Yo So-Gwang and Ghost Incarnate.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi’s expression went strange.
Was she guessing or asking to confirm?
He had no intention to hide this. Since he had already overcome the Supreme state, he did not have to hide his existence any longer.
“So what?”
He asked.
“I will give you an opportunity.”
“What opportunity?”
“If you cooperate with me, I will reward you greatly.”
Smirk
The corner of Seol-Hwi’s mouth went up, and Ju Seorin’s proposal was not even worth thinking about.
“But it will be different from the others. I have no intention of fighting the way you want.”
“…What an interesting person.”
Seol-Hwi smiled.
No matter what the opponent said, it was because he was not free enough to deal with the people on a lower level.
He was already looking further ahead, so he tried to ignore it.
Until it was heard—
“What if Seo Ryeong, one of the Hidden Truth Corps’ squad leader died?”
“…”
He stopped walking.
And watching Seol-Hwi turn.
“As I thought, I was right.”
Ju Seorin had a bright smile.
Swish
The flow had changed.
Unlike the past when time was frozen and stopped, extremely small things still happened.
And on the other side—
Ghost Incarnate, who should be looking at him, had vanished.
Such a unique martial art.
Although he was lost in thought for a moment, his steps were so light that Seol-Hwi missed them.
There was this sound which his ears caught, a rough step, which did not want to hide its presence.
Shhh. Shhhh.
…What is this?
Ghost Incarnate could be figured out. However, the direction he seemed to be coming from was from three sides, produced by an illusion footwork technique.
If he did not force the time to slow down, then he would have been too taken aback to think through things properly.
Step
There, Seol-Hwi realized one more thing.
Visible illusions weren’t the only thing.
Three footsteps, there was the illusion of the movement of his sword multiplied by three.
However, he saw three more sword shadows. All of this were illusions created by Ghost Incarnate with a high level footwork.
Paaaah
There was an illusion which looked like it was going to pierce Seol-Hwi, but he did not avoid it.
He did not even react at the sight of a sword flying at him directly in front of him, from behind him, or even from the side.
Swish!
The moment when the sword which flew in like that, one by one, eventually cut the throat of Seol-Hwi.
“I won…”
Ghost Incarnate had a bright look, but a moment later, he went stiff.
Puak!
Blood did not come out from the neck of the opponent which had been clearly cut down.
“…An illusion?”
As a result, the voice which had conveyed happiness a moment ago now lost its power.
Swish
“You aren’t the only one who can use illusions.”
Seol-Hwi appeared right behind him.
“…!”
His entire body went stiff at the presence of his opponent behind him. He did not yet see the real face of the opponent, thinking he would get a chance in future.
Yet, he finally said,
“That technique, that is it?”
Even when he was about to die, he wanted to know about it.
He missed the footsteps of the opponent which felt so clear to reality. At that moment, his greed as a martial arts warrior shone.
Seol-Hwi made a slightly odd expression and answered meekly,
“Heavenly Demon King’s Step.”
“…What?! That…”
His face looked shocked. But the next question could not be asked.
Swish!
His head was cut down, and his body was completely cut in half.
Goooo
And right then the roof collapsed down, and the huge flames remaining on the side covered the floor.
And with that—
Saaaa…
The things which existed in the eyes of Seol-Hwi began to slow down. Not just what was close to him but everything else too, close to invisible.
Wherever his sight went, time slowed down.
Wheik!
Within that time, Seol-Hwi slowly walked to the first floor and walked out. This was proof that he had gone past the first stage of the Supreme Demon level.
Ju Seorin along with her members were watching the temple go up in flames.
Wheik. Wheik.
Although the smoke was thick in all directions, and scorching heat enveloped the place—
She thought that someone would come out with the sword.
Ghost Incarnate? If not…
When she first heard the news about the death of Yo So-gwang, she intuitively thought it was the Fourth Disciple’s subordinate.
And even now, from the circumstances, it was believed that there must be ghosts, but something was strange about it.
She had the nasty feeling that she was missing some important detail or that she was going to see something absurd.
Tung! Crack!
The temple collapsed from the fire entirely, and in her field of vision which was looking at this wide place, she caught someone walking out.
There.
The guy, Seol-Hwi.
A person who was put into this place as the subordinate of the Fourth Disciple.
How can he remain calm in a burning building…
Ju Seorin’s frowning eyes widened.
Even though she was clearly hiding, his gaze was directed right at her.
“What are you seeing?”
“…”
Ju Seorin did not say anything.
She noticed the sword in his hand, and even though she knew that this was the target of the mission, she could not say a word.
“…”
Like a frog frozen in front of a snake, she was motionless.
“There must be nothing.”
Shhh
And so he passed.
Ju Seorin sat down after a long time had passed.
Thud!
N-never…
Although it was for a short time, she felt that this person was one level higher than herself and her lord as well. That was the reason she did not move a muscle and just stared there blankly.
“Hmm.”
The Bloody Death Warlord who was reading the report did not seem in a good mood.
In this class, the killing he was concerned about had happened, and it was more shocking that an instructor who he cherished had been sacrificed.
“This is… it seems to be a problem,”
The academy head, So Cheon-gwi, said with a worried face.
In this case, it was not just the death of an instructor. The dead among the trainees were of course also the subordinates of the First and Second Disciple.
“Look at that.”
So Cheon-gwi narrowed his eyes at the warlord and calmly nodded his head.
“What would you want us to do? As you know, this is to be notified to the outside world, the academy will not work smoothly after that.”
“Hmm.”
The Bloody Death Warlord was silent.
He knew it too. It was not others but the disciples of the disciples of the Heavenly Demon who lost their lives during the training process.
Of course, they will ask for an investigation. Well, that is fine, they can just follow the request, but the problem will be after that. It was his idea to propose they join the training session, and in such a case, if a problem occurs, then it would be bad.
“When will the training session end?”
The Bloody Death Warlord, who was struggling quite a bit to answer, said,
“Fortnight later.”
“Then hold it back till then.”
“Uh?”
So Cheon-gwi looked puzzled. It was better to quickly report such an incident to the highest ups as soon as possible. If they dragged this out, misunderstandings would arise or it would turn into an emotional fight, making it difficult to find out the truth.
Above all, are the disciples of Heavenly Demon not involved in the incident?
“If it is informed at this point, the collective education itself will be halted. Our troops will stop being trained.”
“That is right… the case might intensify later.”
At the end of those words, So Cheon-gwi expressed his concerns.
He was clearly displeased with the fact that other powers were reaching out to the Blood Strong Troops. However, if one intentionally missed the report process, the opponent will surely find fault with you.
The traces of martial arts left on the body tended to fade over time.
Of course, the First and Second Disciple would not like it, and if it were to happen, they would forcefully interrogate the situation and the people involved, and would threaten to kill them as if the troops conspired with the Third and Fourth Disciple.
No, it should be a nice interrogation.
They might think of them as a future enemy and attack the entire troops too.
“I know what you are worried about. But do not care about it.”
However, contrary to So Cheon-gwi’s concerns, the Bloody Death Warlord was calm. Obviously the displeasure of the disciples of the Heavenly Demon, who lost their subordinates, could be their worst.
But so what?
Was this not all told in advance? With the collective academy training happening, one already knew that they would be in danger.
No matter how political it turned out to be, no, rather even if it was a political thing, he had to hold his position.
“Those who survived this one. Those who pass the collective training will be the elite of the troops.”
“Right. But…”
“That is enough. If the person picked by them died then it is because the person who they picked was lacking. It will never be tolerated if the previously agreed topics and agreements are questioned.”
Trying to bend because of the power of the opponent is strong, that was not the way of the Warlord.
“Winners are winners, losers are losers. I think only for the training, the rest is handled by others.”
“…”
For some reason, the Warlord had a confident smile on his face, and seeing that, So Cheon-gwi was confused.
I don’t know… is there something I’m missing?
After a thought, he shook his head. For now, all he had to do was follow the orders
The day is done. And returning to a place surrounded by the temporary barracks, Seol-Hwi quietly cultivated.
“Phew, huk…”
Suddenly everything looked unfamiliar. When he realized the time had slowed down, Seol-Hwi felt like he was glimpsing at something he had never experienced before.
It cannot be an illusion of his.
Heavenly Demon King’s Step which was used against Ghost Incarnate—come to think of it, even then, the flow of time was slow.
Heavenly Demon King’s Step was an extremely powerful light footwork in which an illusion appears as clear as reality.
Looking at the movements as such, he wondered what Ghost Incarnate felt when confronted with it.
First, it is all to convince the warlord… there will be more difficult tasks after that.
Seol-Hwi suddenly became curious. He himself reached the end of Supreme and was in a situation where he could touch Profound Demon.
No matter how many elders there were in the Demonic Sect, there was most likely not one person who could deal with him now. Of course, he heard that the difficulty of life increases with an increase in skills.
I need to reach Profound Demon somehow.
The AI was already at that level.
Even so, he could not escape from this life which was close to hell. This meant that strong enemies would continue to appear.
I’d like to see the Absolute Supreme Demon Arts.
Is it because he got the Small Fire Sword?
Suddenly, he wanted to try out the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, and the sum of the four martial arts being learned would result in the Absolute Supreme Demon Arts. It was a martial arts which was unbelievable to hold, but it seemed like his knowledge would broaden if he got it.
Then, we need to find the last piece…
The final piece of the map.
If he could find it, he would know where this martial arts was placed. He remembered hearing from the AI in the past that if he continued on the current difficulty, then a clue would possibly come out.
Uh?
Seol-Hwi, who was about to take a nap as it was bedtime, turned his head.
It was because the one who openly revealed themself was getting closer.
Tsssss. Step.
Seol-Hwi moved out of the bed.
And he noticed someone walking from the other side of the forest. Before long, the one who made his senses go alert came.
“So it was you?”
Ju Seorin. The person he did not speak to, was speaking to him first.
Without a reason.
“What are you talking about?”
“Yo So-Gwang and Ghost Incarnate.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi’s expression went strange.
Was she guessing or asking to confirm?
He had no intention to hide this. Since he had already overcome the Supreme state, he did not have to hide his existence any longer.
“So what?”
He asked.
“I will give you an opportunity.”
“What opportunity?”
“If you cooperate with me, I will reward you greatly.”
Smirk
The corner of Seol-Hwi’s mouth went up, and Ju Seorin’s proposal was not even worth thinking about.
“But it will be different from the others. I have no intention of fighting the way you want.”
“…What an interesting person.”
Seol-Hwi smiled.
No matter what the opponent said, it was because he was not free enough to deal with the people on a lower level.
He was already looking further ahead, so he tried to ignore it.
Until it was heard—
“What if Seo Ryeong, one of the Hidden Truth Corps’ squad leader died?”
“…”
He stopped walking.
And watching Seol-Hwi turn.
“As I thought, I was right.”
Ju Seorin had a bright smile.
