The Ruler of Darkness

“Two.”

Geumju was so startled that she jumped away from her position.

“..?!”

She couldn’t understand it.

How could the person who was flung far away be standing right next to her?

And whose finger is he holding?

His lips widened into a grin.

*Crunch, crunch.*

The bone-crunching sound rang in her ears.

Her right pinky finger was gone.

“What… What?”

Right next to Geumju, who was staring at her hand in disbelief, the Sovereign of Dark Heavens chuckled once more.

“Ah!”

She screamed, delivering a powerful blow to his white mask.

With a resounding blast, his head was jerked back.

While leaning his head back, he whispered.

“Three.”

This time, it was her left index finger.

*Crunch, crunch.*

Having lost three fingers, Geumju let out a scream of rage.

“Do you scream over just three fingers, when you used to slice off the necks of begging girls and enjoyed bathing in their blood?”

Had she been a normal person, she would’ve been out of her mind by now, but her superior skills protected her consciousness.

The spell she had cast was protecting her soul.

Barely.

Geumju yelled impulsively.

“You! I’ll grind you into dust!”

***

Geumju unleashed her all-out attack on the Sovereign of Dark Heavens.

She gave it her all, over and over.

She employed every ultimate skill she knew.

But her fingers kept disappearing.

The white mask before Geumju seemed invincible, unfazed by her strikes, impenetrable.

“Immortal…?”

Hearing the words that came from Sae-ah who was watching from afar, Gyu shook his head.

“No, that is…”

***

“…What an astonishing level. What in the world is the true identity of that being called the Sovereign of Dark Heavens?” 

Deongchi sighed.

The injuries he had received while fighting Geumju were far from minor.

Blood was seeping out from the bandages wrapped all over his body.

Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off the majesty of the entity known as Sovereign of Dark Heavens unfolding before him.

“This is just absurd.”

Along with him, a young lady who had been stealthily watching the not-so-battle flicked her tongue.

“It looks like he’s being hit, but actually, he hasn’t suffered any damage.”

Even to their martial-artist-trained eyes, Geumju’s attacks were incredibly fast and powerful.

The attacks were so unpredictable that all they could do was barely defend themselves.

And yet, this entity referred to as the Sovereign of Dark Heavens was treating Geumju’s attacks as if they were merely child’s play.

At first glance, it seemed like he was taking all the hits and withstanding them.

However, after continued observation, they came to a chilling conclusion.

“What in the world is that?”

The girl rubbed her goosebumped neck, unable to look away from the bizarre spectacle.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

***

“Is he dodging Geumju’s attacks with quicker movements?” 

To Se-ah’s question, Gyu shook her head again.

“No, I didn’t realize at first, but I understand now.”

She was focusing all her internal energy on her vision.

“He’s deflecting all of the attacks to the ground.”

Every time Geumju’s blow landed, the ground under his feet cracked with a ripping sound.

The cracked ground was forming whirlpools.

Following his light footsteps, just like a lotus blossoming.

***

“What’s the principle behind that…?”

The girl asked with a frown, but Deongchi could only shrug his shoulders.

“Well, I can only speculate… but—”

“Go ahead. As you know, I’ve pretty much self-taught myself martial arts.”

Deongchi scratched his head.

“Firstly, it might be that he’s utilizing the reverse principle of ‘penetrative force’. And using his toes, he leverages the subtlety of ’coiling force’ to channel the opponent’s force into the ground.”

He shook his head after finishing his explanation.

“No, if that’s the case, then the flow of the hostile energy passing through the body…”

The girl sighed after hearing his rambling explanation.

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about, do you?”

“Frankly, yes.”

The girl snickered.

***

“Gyu, I honestly have no clue what you’re saying.”

Se-ah, as the head of an intelligence organization, knew much more about martial arts theory than most martial artists.

However, even she couldn’t understand the superior martial arts that Gyu was talking about.

“It’s fine.”

Gyu replied without taking her eyes off the mysterious figure, known as ‘Sovereign of Dark Heavens.’

“Forget everything I’ve said. It doesn’t matter.”

“And then?”

“In simple terms, the essence of the energy that several different sects possess has been consolidated in that movement.

“So, what you’re saying is that theories from totally different martial arts origins have been mixed together to form something new?”

“Yes.”

It was not that Gyu couldn’t take her eyes off; she couldn’t afford to.

Even as she looked, Se-ah couldn’t believe her eyes. She approached Gyu and whispered, “Is this the technique of the swordsmen from Luoyang Sword House?”

Known either officially or unofficially for collecting all kinds of martial arts, Luoyang Sword House could’ve possibly created a new martial art by incorporating several from other sects.

“…It might be. But the point is not who created it or where it came from.”

Gyu clenched her teeth.

In the martial world, there were many eccentrics who sometimes created martial arts that were hard to understand but somehow valid in theory.

“Lady.”

The Ten Swords, Chaos, Techniques that no one in this era could master, like the mysteries of legend.

“The real question is how to use it effectively,” especially in combat, let alone continuously, without a single mistake.

Only then did Se-ah grimace, finally understanding the situation.

If even she, who only dabbled in martial arts, found it absurd, how much more perplexed must Gyu be, who was at a dead-end?

“…Then the Sovereign of Dark Heavens is doing something impossible, in reality?”

“Yes.”

For Gyu, it was an untouchable realm.

Had the Sovereign of Dark Heavens, the eldest heir of the Luoyang Sword House, actually overcome that wall?

Se-ah then felt something rise within her—not towards the entity known as the Sovereign of Dark Heavens, but towards Yeon So-Hyeon himself. In her, was a mix of awe and a strong competitive spirit.

***

“And one more thing.”

“What is it?”

Deongchi lifted a finger.

“It’s the finger, the finger.”

“Huh?”

The young girl stared at Deongchi’s finger with curious eyes and then felt a chill run down her spine.

“…!”

Sovereign of Dark Heavens was not merely parrying attacks.

In the midst of it all,

He was tearing apart Geumju’s fingers.

And that too, at the tip of her extremely fast, strong, and irregularly patterned attacks.

Piece by piece.

***

From the beginning, it was too easy to kill Geumju.

It could have all ended when she was first trapped in that building, simply by twisting her neck.

A martial arts expert?

A temporary elevated state was of no use.

Even if his ‘gatekeeper’ had been in his place, the process may have been different, but it would have ended cleanly with Geumju’s defeat.

The strange martial arts she possessed were hard to estimate, but it was not particularly challenging to confront.

He simply had no intention of letting her go easily.

So, he experimented one by one.

Since becoming the practitioner of the Dark Heavens Scripture, he had never properly unleashed his techniques.

From the start, his physical body was too perfect, and on top of that, it was imbued with the demonic energy of the Dark Heavens Scripture.

The demonic energy, a power that erodes, corrodes, and distorts reality, was far beyond the ordinary.

Those without internal energy would lose their sanity and have their consciousness shattered just by being affected by the demonic energy.

The martial artists who possessed internal energy were too weak.

They were too slow, and there was no one who truly understood the martial arts they had learned.

They were like puppets that simply imitated what they learned.

Although there were some who showed a glimmer of potential, they were not enough to pose any threat to him.

Killing them was easier than even making an expression on his face.

Of course, he couldn’t deny that killing them was rewarding.

On one hand, it was even enjoyable.

Capturing and consuming evil beings after inheriting the Dark Heavens Scripture was his duty as a Sovereign of Dark Heavens, and it was also a cornerstone for realizing grand plans as the swordless martial artist, Yeon So-Hyeon.

However, there was still an insatiable thirst—a void he felt as a martial artist.

So, he decided to experiment.

Geumju had sufficient qualities to be an experimental subject.

She had perseverance and excellent stamina.

And there were plenty of reasons to torment her for an extended period, which was just the icing on the cake.

So, he performed things he had only thought of in his mind.

He materialized complex martial theories with his body, and put into practice theories that came to him on the spot.

He enjoyed the sensation of his body moving as if it had already memorized the movements.

He recalled the old days.

The moment he first held a sword.

The moment he was intoxicated with the omnipotent feeling that he could do anything with that sword.

Why had he forgotten such a joyful memory until now?

* * *

“Ten.”

Drip, drip.

Geumju screamed, looking at her hand from which all fingers had disappeared.

It felt like a nightmare.

However, no matter how much she screamed and struggled, reality did not change.

The Sovereign of Dark Heavens looked at her and wore a broad smile.

“And…”

He disappeared from sight.

“Keugh…”

Geumju collapsed in her spot, vomiting blood.

From behind her, his hand appeared, holding her heart that was vigorously beating just a moment ago.

“With this, eleven.”

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