Episode 1041: Die or Kill (Part 1)

Nausea surged continuously as Tang Soso covered her mouth with all her might.

"This is too much…."

She couldn't bear to witness the scene before her. Even before suppressing the urge to vomit, holding back the tears was no easy task.

Someone tightly grasped her other hand, and when she raised her head, Yoo Iseol was staring down at Tang Soso with a stern expression.

"Tragedy…."

"…."

As usual, Yoo Iseol's face remained expressionless.

But Tang Soso understood. It meant that beneath the seemingly emotionless face, there was a chilling anger.

The other Five Swords were equally shocked.

"Sahyung."

"…."

Even Yoon Jong, who always responded to Jo Gol's words as a matter of course, couldn't utter a word at this moment.

They had undoubtedly witnessed the Demonic Sect in the North Sea.

They keenly felt how fanatical and brutal that group could be. However, seeing the aftermath of that brutality with their own eyes was a first.

Groan.

Yoon Jong clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white. Red blood oozed from his bitten lips.

Seeing Yoon Jong in that state, Jo Gol, who had been watching him, couldn't bring himself to speak and simply shook his head.

There were too many deaths here.

Living by the edge of the sword was a solitary life by nature. Despite being accustomed to death, they found the weight of the accumulated deaths here unbearably heavy.

Swoosh.

Baek Cheon sharpened his sword, his bloodshot eyes revealing his intense anger.

"How…."

Baek Cheon couldn't continue speaking and trembled like a dry tree. It wasn't fear; it was because he couldn't control the anger boiling inside him.

"How can this…."

Even if all the bodies they saw were not corpses but living people, it would have been a shocking crowd. With so many people lying dead in such miserable states, how could one not be enraged?

However, what drove Baek Cheon to an unbearable rage was not the sheer number of deaths accumulated here but the manner of those deaths.

"A person…."

Baek Cheon opened his mouth as if to spit out the words.

"…Even when it comes to the death of an enemy, there should be some minimum respect shown."

Even in wars waged by people who had reached the point of no return, they did not massacre and leave corpses behind in such a brutal manner. Unless it was a battlefield where survival was urgent, at the very least, there should be the minimum courtesy of burying the dead.

That's what it meant to be human.

No.

Even if they were considered ignorant of such principles, they shouldn't have blatantly flaunted their senseless actions under the heavens.

But in this place, nothing existed.

Sympathy, pity, hesitation, the bare minimum of courtesy towards fellow human beings, the last things that we must protect as humans did not exist here.

This fact made Baek Cheon unable to contain himself.

Jo Gol muttered, almost in a whisper.

"They're human, aren't they…."

His voice, unlike his usual cheerful tone, was barely audible.

"People doing this to other people… how can they do such a thing? How…."

Just as everyone seemed about to be moved by that voice, a sinister chuckle echoed.

Jo Gol turned to the source of the laughter. Jang Ilso was covering his mouth and laughing, as if it were hard to bear.

In an instant, Jo Gol's anger flared up.

"What's… What's so funny?"

"No, no."

Jang Ilso raised his head.

"I thought it might be because they are the brats of a righteous sect, but they tell funny stories in such a serious way."

"What?"

"It's not about how people do this."

Jang Ilso's face became serious.

"People do these things because they're human. Only humans can do such things."

"...?"

"That's what it means to be human. Remember it well, Dojang."

Jo Gol's face contorted horribly.

He felt a pressing sensation, but Jo Gol retorted.

"Well, for a person saying such words, you don't look great either, do you? Why? Doesn't the Evil Sect get angry when they sees things like this?"

After finishing his words, he swallowed his dry saliva. He might have lashed out in anger, but confronting Jang Ilso alone was still a daunting task.

However, Jang Ilso's response was unexpectedly calm and indifferent.

"You're saying the obvious. Of course, I'd be angry."

"...What?"

Jo Gol's eyes widened slightly at the response. He didn't expect Jang Ilso to answer like this.

Jang Ilso turned his head to look at the pile of corpses. His expression was so cold that it felt chilling.

"I'm not going to waste my time saying obvious things like people have died or whatever. After all, people die eventually, right?"

"...?"

"What makes me angry is... that they were mine."

Jang Ilso raised his hand and gripped his own face. The two eyes revealed between his fingers emitted a fierce light.

"Only I have the right to kill those within my territory. But... these wretched fools, who knows where they crawled out from, dared to...!"

He muttered in a low voice as he sharpened his blade.

Upon hearing this, Chung Myung glared at him with cold eyes.

"You didn't care about them anyway, so why does it twist your insides because they were taken away?"

"Of course."

Jang Ilso glared back at Chung Myung.

"Just because they're toys I left behind, it doesn't mean that others can destroy them as they please. Even if I'm not interested in them, they're still mine."

"...Is there something wrong with that?"

A mocking smile danced in Jang Ilso's eyes.

"It's because I'm nothing more than a child who couldn't speak up due to his concern for his image as an adult. I'm just a little more honest with my desires."

Jang Ilso looked straight at Chung Myung and chuckled.

"Unlike others."

Chung Myung lowered his head. He had no desire to engage in this argument with Jang Ilso. The spectacle before them had twisted his guts too.

Familiar.

This might be strange and shocking to them, but for Chung Myung, it was a scene that was all too familiar. That's why it made him feel even more repulsed, as if his wretched past had come back to life in vivid detail.

Baek Cheon turned his gaze away as if he couldn't bear to look at someone's delicate hand sticking out from the pile of corpses.

"Don't look away."

But at that moment, Chung Myung's cold voice pierced through Baek Cheon's ears.

"This is the world where the Demonic Sect has gained the upper hand."

"...?"

"Now it's just a local battle. But once the Demonic Sect swallows up the entire Central Plain, the whole region will witness this scene."

They had to know.

Why they had to fight so desperately.

Why the ancestors of the past had to give no thought to their lives and throw themselves in front of the enemy, even sacrificing themselves.

"So we have to stop them here."

Just as Chung Myung ground his lips tightly, a group of people in the distance rapidly approached from a distance.

"Sahyung!"

"I know."

The disciples of Mount Hua nervously watched them with slightly tense eyes. It was clear that there were not a few... no, an enormous number of them.

"Are they the enemy?"

Everyone instinctively put their hands on their swords.

But at that moment, the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold, who had been silent until now, stepped forward and greeted the approaching group.

"We greet the Venerable Ones!"

As the distance shortened frighteningly, the leaders of the unfamiliar group knelt down and paid their respects to the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold.

"What's the situation?"

"They are still deep within Hangzhou."

"I see."

"However..."

"Yes?"

The scout reporting raised his head. His eyes were shaking slightly.

"In recent days, unidentified individuals have been appearing and joining one by one. Their number has reached nearly three hundred."

The face of the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold stiffened.

"Three hundred?"

"Yes!"

His head began to spin rapidly.

The destruction of Black Ghost Castle was the work of the bishop, but the energy emanating from the demonic sect members around the bishop was unusual without exception.

"Are there really three hundred of them?"

The current situation inside Hangzhou was virtually unknown. So, based on the assumption that there were a considerable number of demonic sect members available, all available forces of Black Ghost Castle were brought here...

"This is unexpected."

He hadn't thought that additional personnel would join.

No, if you think about it rationally, it's a natural course of action if they intended to use this place as a foothold. The fact that they overlooked this meant that the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold couldn't maintain control as well as he thought.

The Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold was quick at calculations, and he was just as quick to admit his own mistakes. After scanning the five hundred troops gathered in front of him, he turned to Jang Ilso.

"...Looks like we have a problem, Ryeonjul."

"A problem?"

"The number of enemies is greater than we initially estimated."

"Hmm. So?"

"...I think it might be best to withdraw for now. They're not the type of enemy to recklessly confront."

At his words, Jang Ilso's eyes displayed a strange edge.

"This... is disappointing. Losing one arm has turned the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold into such a coward."

"I'm being relentlessly pragmatic right now."

The Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold gnashed his teeth and said with a growl.

"Ryeonjul hasn't faced that monster yet, so he can make such bold statements. To be honest, I don't have the confidence that even if all the people here rush at the monster, we can capture it. If Ryeonjul 'sword' doesn't work well, we might end up being the ones defeated."

Jang Ilso's forehead slightly wrinkled.

It wasn't clear whether it was because of his disappointment in the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold or because he was taking the Great Master's words seriously.

The Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold looked Jang Ilso straight in the eyes and said.

"You only have one life. Even if you're in perfect condition, it's never enough."

Jang Ilso was about to respond to that statement.

"You're making naive remarks."

A cold voice cut him off. Jang Ilso, who was about to respond, looked back at Chung Myung in astonishment.

"What else do you want to say?"

"I still don't know, not yet."

"...?"

"Where is this place? Who are we facing?"

At that moment, Jang Ilso's gaze, which had been fixed on Chung Myung, slowly found its place. It was none other than the ground littered with corpses, somewhere beyond that.

Chung Myung's voice was sharp.

"Know it clearly, you foolish Evil Sect bastards."

A fierce laugh broke out on his perpetually cold face.

"That's the Demonic Sect. There's only one choice from the moment we face them. Either die. Or..."

The voice, brimming with life, felt incredibly sinister. Chung Myung's appearance resembled a beast covered in scars.

"Kill."

And then, a common crowd appeared where Jang Ilso had been gazing. Cultists emanating a fiery spirit, strong enough to make his fingertips tingle, were gathering.

A deep darkness covered the eastern sky.