39 – 03# The Awl in the Sack (10)

Thankfully, reason prevailed as I had hoped.

However dogmatic the Righteous Sect might be, they were not so quick as to draw swords upon first sight. Of course, the gatekeepers had been wary when I initially appeared.

But after I explained the situation, they seemed to understand, and one had gone inside to fetch someone. As I waited, I fanned myself ceaselessly, trying to ward off the sweltering heat.

“Much hardship you endure on such a hot day.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Daehyeop.”

“How fares the Academy of late?”

“Nothing much has changed, it seems.”

I’d intended to wile away the time with some idle chatter with the gatekeeper. Though a brewing discord brought me here, there was no need to make an enemy of the entire Academy.

“He’s taking longer than I thought, though.”

“Indeed. He should be returning any moment now…”

“Apologies, I’m terribly late.”

“……?”

Speak of the devil, and he appears. No sooner had the words left my lips than a young man of sturdy build emerged from within the gate. Twenty and a half years of age, give or take?

A palpable weight emanated from his robust physique, hinting at a man of unusual calibre. At the very least, a master of the first order. Perhaps an instructor teaching the disciples?

For a fleeting moment, I entertained such thoughts. Until I saw the blood staining his hands. And in that ephemeral instant, a dark, murderous intent flickered in the young man’s eyes before vanishing.

Though the killing intent was fleeting, it was undeniably directed not at me, but at the gatekeeper. What in heavens? Why target a fellow member of the Academy?

Questions swirled in my mind, but my body already moved, drawing the sword that rested quietly at my hip. *Kwaaang!* A thunderous roar echoed from the gate.

Oblivious to the death that hovered inches away, the gatekeeper could only blink, stunned by the sight before him. Even in that instant, my mind raced furiously.

“Not attacking me, but the gatekeeper… and the blood on his hands… the gatekeeper who went in first must be dead.”

“Your judgement is swift, as expected. Is that why you managed to survive?”

“I more or less get the picture.”

While the sudden attack was certainly disconcerting, I immediately grasped what the man sought to achieve. The reason for his relentless focus on the gatekeeper, rather than myself.

“You meant to frame me.”

“Not a frame. The truth.”

“You’re utterly mad. But your scheme has already failed.”

“Do you truly believe that?”

It was certainly a bold and, if successful, troublesome scheme. But since I had intervened, I figured it was inconsequential. Until I sensed the killing intent gathering from all directions.

“Deploying assassins within the Academy? You’re truly deranged.”

“Eternal vigilance. Thorough preparation averts future trouble.”

“…….”

It felt as if I’d been struck in the back of the head with a hammer. The madness of deploying killers, despite the presence of young disciples. And the savage, rampaging inner energy…

“You lot… you’re from the Demonic Sect.”

“To pierce through our facade in a single glance. The Sword Demon’s reputation is no mere boast, after all.”

What are you babbling about? Who’s a Sword Demon?

They seem to be mistaking me for someone else entirely. But I had no time to correct their misconception. The killing intent was now washing over me, as well as the gatekeeper.

“A simultaneous strike… is it?”

“I wouldn’t think this paltry effort would be enough to kill you.”

“Then what is?”

“At least enough to ensure the deaths of that gatekeeper and myself. Turning you into a madman who slaughtered a gatekeeper and instructor in broad daylight at the academy.”

“You’d sacrifice your own life? Utterly deranged.”

I knew his mind was steeped in madness, but I never imagined he’d gamble his very life. But the opponent offered no further retort.

Though, judging by the intensifying killing intent, he seemed to have completed all preparations. In this moment of utter desperation, I somehow found myself recalling the old man’s teachings.

[A hundred hearings are not worth one seeing. You must be able to fully absorb an opponent’s techniques and principles upon experiencing them. That is…]

“The qualification of a Sword Demon, and the immovability I choose.”

“What nonsense…!”

For the first time ever, I recall my formidable rival in a life-or-death struggle. A monster consumed by demonic arts, yet possessed of genuine power. I remember that sword energy, and will recreate it in this place.

Rain becomes a stream, the stream a river, and the river eventually flows into the vast sea.

Having experienced the entire cycle of growth, the dragon leaves the sea, ascends to the heavens, and brings forth rain.

The Righteous Dragon Soaring Cascade Sword Style.

Offensive and defensive sword energy is once more reproduced in this place.

◇

Sword Demon.

Martial artists remember him merely as a monster who indiscriminately slaughtered those of the orthodox sects. But upon closer inspection, he didn’t commit indiscriminate slaughter.

Rather, he was the only martial artist to first notice and act against the Devilish Sect’s machinations. If he truly was a madman consumed by slaughter, he would have massacred innocent civilians as well.

But the Sword Demon thoroughly eliminated only those connected to the Devilish Sect. Not based on mere conjecture, but by unerringly killing only those who belonged to or defected to the sect.

At least seventy percent of the Devilish Sect’s comrades lost their lives at the Sword Demon’s hand, and the damage has yet to be fully recovered, even decades later.

Originally, the Devilish Sect’s plan was to openly reveal themselves and proudly spread their ideology across the land. But the Sword Demon’s existence forced them to amend that plan.

‘Surely, his martial prowess and achievements cannot be denied. A monster who pushed back that lord’s plan by decades…’

Lee Kang-hwi himself was a prodigy, having reached the realm of the elite at the age of twenty-five. Yet even he was overwhelmed by the Sword Demon’s might.

Born and raised within the Devilish Sect, he knew that there were mighty warriors within the sect that he couldn’t even dare to approach. The Devilish Sect strictly followed the logic of strength.

According to the law of the jungle, the strong rise to the top, while the weak are eliminated. Meaning, the current martial world, mired in peace and indulging in games, couldn’t even be considered opponents.

[With the current Devilish Sect, we can certainly conquer the martial world and rebuild a new heaven, can’t we?]

[That’s uncertain.]

[Why is that?]

[Because the Sword Demon’s corpse hasn’t been confirmed yet.]

As mentioned before, the Devilish Sect strictly followed the logic of strength. Meaning, they acknowledged the strength and martial prowess of the Sword Demon who had unilaterally cornered them.

Thus, the Demonic Sect held its breath, biding its time. So that one day, when a Sword Demon, or an enemy of equal caliber, appeared, they could overcome them with sheer might. Hidden in the shadows, they nurtured their strength, and nurtured it again.

[Might isn’t simply about mindless brawling and fighting. Using people wisely, in the right place at the right time, and even manipulating enemies, that too can be called might.]

[Such weakling drivel. You think the Demonic Sect would acknowledge such trickery?]

[It seems you’ve forgotten that this very trickery is how we managed to drive out the Sword Demon. Those ignorant of history are doomed to have no future, are they not?]

Naturally, before the Sword Demon’s rise, such words would have fallen on deaf ears. Yet, the reason the Demonic Sect was able to inflict a fatal wound upon the Sword Demon was precisely because of the combined assault, manipulating the Orthodox Sects at the time.

Unable to deny this truth, the Demonic Sect chose to infiltrate both the Orthodox and Unorthodox sects, using them to their advantage. All to prepare for the Sword Demon’s potential return.

Lee Kang-hwi, when you considered it, was a man influenced by the Demonic Sect’s doctrine of worshipping strength. But that didn’t mean he failed to recognize the latter’s necessity. In fact, recently, he’d become even more convinced.

‘For the sake of the Demonic Sect… the Sword Demon must be buried here and now.’

For that purpose, Lee Kang-hwi was willing to sacrifice even his own life. To repay those who had taken him in, a mere abandoned b*stard child, and believed in him.

‘The assassins I set aside, just in case, are proving useful. That old man’s intuition is sharp, so I could only prepare three of the most skilled… but this should be enough.’

Three assassins, capable of concealing their presence even from peak-level experts, ranking among the best in the Demonic Sect. Added to that, Lee Kang-hwi himself, who had reached the realm of a first-rate expert at the age of twenty-five.

Of course, he didn’t believe he could kill the Sword Demon with this mere force. But if he sacrificed his own life, he could at least create an opening to frame him.

That’s what he thought.

Until he witnessed the Sword Demon’s azure sword energy, blazing like a flame, deflecting all the assassins’ concealed weapons. A single strike. He had merely swung his sword once.

The assassins, nurtured with utmost care by the Demonic Sect, not just one, but a full three of them, had simultaneously lost their lives. By the very weapons they had thrown themselves.

[The Sword Demon was the strongest foe the Demonic Sect had ever faced.]

[We must be cautious beyond caution. Just in case the Sword Demon is still alive.]

[For us, who were defeated by the logic of strength, there is only one thing we can do.]

‘So, that’s why the Demonic Sect was so wary of the Sword Demon.’

A power that completely negated everything they knew about strength, a martial force that was, quite literally, close to omnipotent. And with the sword energy approaching right before his eyes, Lee Kang-hwi’s consciousness was severed.