Chapter 139

Mantian exhaled the rough breath he had been holding and looked down at Jang Do’s corpse.

“Haa… Haa…”

An enemy with a powerful swordsmanship combining strange madness and supernatural abilities. Normally, fighting ten times, he would have died nine times due to the skill gap.

But he won.

It was partly because I fought well…

He gazes at the blade that had been flashing with blue electricity moments ago.

Cheonroe-gi (Heavenly Thunder Energy).

The martial art of the Namgung Family, which controls lightning.

It became Jang Do’s unexpected trump card, allowing him to win.

But… why…?

The mysterious memory that surfaced when he awakened the Cheonroe-gi is making his head spin.

It’s too strange to dismiss as just a talent explosion due to a crisis or a stroke of luck.

His head hurts. He won, but it feels unsettling.

‘Damn it…’

He forcibly stops his thoughts.

Closing his eyes tightly and then opening them, he recalls his priorities.

What’s most important right now.

“Young Master! Are you okay?”

He approaches the girl calling out to him with a trembling voice.

Poong Ran’s safety.

As the distance closes, Poong Ran’s golden wings, which don’t belong in this slaughter, tremble slightly.

Thanks to Mantian, she was safely rescued, but her hidden wings were exposed.

Wings that clearly mark her as non-human.

She worries about being treated as a monster, but Mantian’s reaction is needless concern.

After subduing Poong Ran and untying her, Mantian hugs her tightly.

“Young Master!?”

“I’m glad you’re safe. Really.”

The gentle tone and affection he shows, so different from the violent figure who slaughtered the Blood Church, ease Poong Ran’s worries.

Instead, her heart races.

Poong Ran’s face turns red as she buries herself in Mantian’s embrace. She wants to express her feelings but is too shy, her hands fumbling in the air.

“…Thank you.”

Her wings, unaware of her shyness, spread out and wrap around Mantian.

Tending to his wounded body.

Burying her face in his chest, feeling his heartbeat, she speaks.

“Really.”

For a moment, Mantian and Poong Ran feel each other’s warmth.

***

Although I contributed to the carnage.

With blood and corpses scattered everywhere, staying here wasn’t an option, so Mantian and Poong Ran decided to leave after some first aid.

Besides, Guhae, Yeonghwa, Sososo, and others were also worried.

We couldn’t stay still.

But there was something to take before leaving.

The eerie red-bladed sword Jang Do dropped.

During the fight, I was too distracted to notice, but Jang Do called this sword “Pure Hook.”

Then this is…

One of the Ten Thousand Swords, the final masterpiece of Goya-ja, Pure Hook?

The blade glows red.

What is it made of? It looks like copper, but it’s too hard and sharp for that.

Honestly, I don’t know much about swords. Pondering won’t give me answers.

Anyway, it’s too dangerous to leave here, so I reach out to take Pure Hook.

And at that moment.

[Jang Do is dead. He was a kindred spirit. What a pity.]

A sinister voice echoes in my head.

I try to let go of the sword, but it’s too late.

The red energy emanating from Pure Hook reaches Mantian through the hilt.

Everything goes dark.

***

Spring and Autumn Period.

A mountain called Jeokgeunsan collapsed, and the waters of Yakagang River dried up, a strange event.

From there emerged a red copper mass.

It greedily devoured the surrounding life, causing the river to dry up and a drought to occur.

Thus, Goya-ja spent ten years.

Forging the copper into a sword.

Named Pure Hook, it was sealed.

The waters of Yakagang rose again, but Goya-ja died from exhaustion.

His works are called the Ten Thousand Swords.

Thus, Pure Hook is different from the other Ten Thousand Swords.

Rather than a sword…

It’s more like a blood-sucking demon sealed into the form of a sword by Goya-ja.

If it likes its wielder, it cooperates.

If not, it invades the mind, turning them into a bloodthirsty sword demon.

And now, this terrifying demon sword.

“Ta, Tagujang… Gallery?”

Pure Hook is genuinely bewildered by the surreal world before its eyes.

“Minna! I brought fresh bait, refu!”

“Concept post~ Umu umu~ Tetchi! Happy tetchi!”

Clatter~ Ruckus~!

“You lowly bug! I’ll kill you, detchaaa!”

“Haa? Try it if you can, detchaaa!”

“Uwaaang~ Wanjangemong! Grandma’s eraser! Where are you!? Help!!”

Tiny, squishy creatures resembling Mantian cry, laugh, and chatter in a chaotic scene.

“What the… Huh!?”

“Detch? A new friend, detch! Are you a lurker, detch?”

As Pure Hook, in the form of a red-haired beauty, panics, Mantian, munching on a strange blue circle with a star, approaches and tilts his head.

“Try a concept post, detch! Fun fun~ Umu umu~ tasty, refu!”

Pure Hook’s face turns pale. It roughly pushes away Mantian’s hand offering the blue circle with a star.

Thud-!

“Get that away!”

“Ugyat-!?”

Squishy Mantian falls on his butt and rolls back, thud-thud.

“…U… fun.”

Seeing the crumpled concept post, he bursts into tears and screams.

“A lurker troll has appeared, detchaaaa-!!”

A moment of silence. Then.

Pure Hook looks around with trembling eyes.

“What, what is this? What is this!?”

The squishy Mantians, each doing their own thing, suddenly swarm around Pure Hook.

An overwhelming noise spreads.

Then, the sound of footsteps, pitter-patter~.

“Hey~ you~ stop me if you can.”

Pushing through the squishy cheeks, the main Mantian of the Tagujang Gallery, who had been distributing bait earlier, appears.

“…What?”

Before Pure Hook can react.

A purple energy gathers between his curled middle finger and thumb, like a flick.

A purple strike that declares you a challenger.

“Lurker (流動) Troll (焚蕩). The gap between the main and the blue slave, the gallery.”

The strongest main of modern times.

Some Mantians who recognize Sima Mantian’s words exclaim, “Hieeek!” in surprise.

His finger flicks, and a merciless meme is posted.

“Tactical nuke, bang-bang.”

“Guh…!?”

Pure Hook, hit by a high-resolution micro bikini Ma Yang meme, is sent flying and rolls violently on the ground.

His head spins.

A massive chunk of flesh… flesh! Shakes!

“Ahh… Ugahhh!!”

He can’t understand. He can’t understand. He can’t understand.

Grabbing his head, he rolls on the ground.

Ahh- The abyss is born from the human heart.

A monster trying to devour humans.

Always be careful. If you let your guard down, humans will eat you.

For the first time in his life, he feels a bizarre-

“Huu… Huu…!!”

Pure Hook’s existence trembles in the incomprehensible mental world of Mantian.

“This, this can’t be… A human’s mind should be more… more normal! Noble! Worth devouring… It’s a lie…”

The ancient demon sword’s spirit trembles with incomprehensible fear.

Pitter-patter~ pitter-patter~!

And the squishy Mantians approach Pure Hook.

“Hey- Deme! You lost, so become a blue slave, detch!”

“Pukipuki~ Onibugi! 24-hour unpaid slave, huh!”

“A nightmare without equal, detch!”

Surrounded by mocking laughter, Pure Hook’s body trembles.

“…Don’t mock me.”

Fear turns to anger. Grabbing the main Mantian, who had let his guard down.

“De-det?”

“Stop messing around!”

With a red face, he lifts Mantian and slams him to the ground.

“Kieeek-!?”

As the main Mantian falls from the sudden attack.

“Hieeek-! The, the main has fallen, detchaaa!”

“After all, he was just a commoner, detch!”

“Everyone run, refu~!!”

The remaining Mantians flee, dragging the fallen main with them.

“Haa… Haa…”

The quiet clearing. As Pure Hook catches his breath and steadies himself.

“I came because of the noise. A strange one has entered.”

A man in tattered black clothes, wearing sunglasses and limping on his right leg, approaches with a cane.

“…Well, it’s not my place to say.”

Pure Hook’s eyes narrow.

“Who are you?”

“The spirit of the Dog Chasing Stick Technique, Tagujang.”

At the bizarre name, Pure Hook’s brow furrows.

I was caught off guard earlier, but this time, I’ll end it quickly.

As he thinks this.

Tagujang’s cane lightly touches Pure Hook’s chest.

Thud-!

Pure Hook’s body collapses as his heart stops.

He died once.

And in the mental world, the body can be restored with mental strength.

“Guh! Huu…!? What did you do?”

Immediately recovering, Pure Hook kneels and looks up at the ‘man.’

“It’s not that complicated. Since childhood, Mantian has lived with a cane, so through the cane’s end, I executed the Fudo Myo-o Step.”

Arrogant yet humble, emotionless eyes look down at Pure Hook.

“I only stopped your heart.”

Then, with a slight smile, he speaks.

“Mantian could do it too. But for him, martial arts are just fun toys, so he doesn’t think much of such efficient killing techniques.”

Cold sweat drips down Pure Hook’s face. He’s seen countless martial artists over the years.

It’s not a simple technique.

“Who… are you?”

Fear fills Pure Hook’s eyes.

If you’ve already noticed, illusions are bound to shatter.

Like sand scattering in the desert.

Tagujang’s form disappears, revealing cracks all over his body, especially his right leg, which looks like it could shatter any moment.

A black mirage-like figure of a ‘man’ appears.

He utters a name that carries immense weight with ease.

“Heavenly Demon (天魔).”

The true face hidden behind Mantian’s friendly imaginary friend is revealed.

“-a fragment of memory, I suppose.”