Urban Vagabond: Reload

I was holding Phantom Dream in my right hand when I snatched the Namcheon Sword that the Azure Sky Sword Elder had thrown with my left.

“Namcheon Sword?”

The instant I muttered that in surprise, the two sacred weapons in my hands reacted violently at the same time.

FWOOOOSH—!

SHRRRRRRRK!

The Namcheon Sword’s demon-subduing power and Phantom Dream’s essence-devouring power crashed hard against each other.

“Urk......!”

I almost dropped both swords.

It felt like bombs were going off inside my body one after another.

The energies of the two sacred weapons had started fighting inside me.

What are you?!

An insolent little brat.

Phantom Dream’s spirit, in the form of a boy, and the Namcheon Sword’s spirit, in the form of an adult, appeared to either side of me.

Get away! I’m the one who’s going to eat that!

I am the one who cuts down twisted abominations. You step back.

The proud spirits of the two sacred weapons each poured out their power without giving an inch.

The more they did, the brighter the white radiance pouring from the two swords became, and the deeper the pitch-black darkness grew.

WHUMMMMMM—!

As if they were each demanding that I let go of the other and swing them instead, both swords rang out with sword cries and released their power.

But I didn’t want to choose only one of them.

“Both of you...... stay still.”

KWAANG—!

I smashed the blades of the two sacred weapons together and drew up the Five Elements Divine Art. Blood was dripping from the corner of my mouth. Those were internal injuries caused by the collision of the two energies.

......

.......

At my force of will, the two sacred weapons fell silent.

The Namcheon Sword looked at me with concern, while Phantom Dream shrank its neck with a frightened expression.

......You do know this is dangerous, don’t you?

It was a warning from the Namcheon Sword.

Even mastering a single sacred weapon properly usually took years.

Trying to wield two at once—especially two with powers so close to being mutually opposed—was the kind of thing that demanded you stake your life on it.

That was why it had wanted me to let go of that cursed sword and take hold of it instead......

“It’s fine. I have a way.”

I let out a crooked smile, then focused on the flow of the Five Elements Divine Art.

Fortunately, handling different kinds of energy wasn’t unfamiliar to me.

The Five Elements Divine Art I had learned was a martial art built to harmonize five different energies.

And from that, I found a way to handle both sacred weapons at once.

If you want to mix water and oil, you need an emulsifier. I’ll use the Five Elements Divine Art as that emulsifier and split the energies of Phantom Dream and Namcheon so they don’t interfere with each other. They don’t need to mix completely right now. For the moment, it’s better to handle them separately anyway.

At the will of their master, the qi of the Five Elements flowed out from my lower abdomen, ran through the pressure points across my entire body, met the energies of the sacred weapons, and blended into them naturally.

So this is how it works.

In that moment, I felt my understanding of the Five Elements Divine Art advance dramatically.

WHUMMMMMM......

The demon-subduing power and essence-devouring power that had been crashing violently inside me stabilized at once. They no longer collided, and each hand regained its own distinct color.

“Fuuuu......”

After letting out a long breath, I lifted my head and looked at Choi Geon, who was locked in a desperate fight with the Black Heaven Society’s society leader.

“Master.”

CLAAANG! KWAANG—! THUNK!

Choi Geon, who was handling the Black Heaven Society’s society leader alone, looked like he didn’t even have the room to answer. His flight jacket had long since been soaked in blood.

Still, I was sure my master could hear me, so I went on.

“......Make me an opening.”

There was still no answer from Choi Geon. Had he fallen completely into a state beyond conscious thought?

But I saw the corners of my master’s mouth slowly curl upward.

Even in a life-and-death struggle, he had clearly been watching his disciple’s change.

“I’ll cut him down.”

[Hahahahaha—!]

At his disciple’s confident declaration, Choi Geon finally burst out laughing. Beyond the wolf mask that now covered only half his face, his eyes flickered with both killing intent toward his enemy and joy at his disciple’s growth.

[Then come at once! Let us tear that monster apart together!]

CLAAAAANG!

The moment Choi Geon’s hard-driven sword strike shoved the Black Heaven Society’s society leader back, I leaped with all my strength.

TATAT!

I ran along the underground wall.

While I did, Choi Geon drew the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s attention.

But that didn’t mean he was wasting time with empty feints or pointless variations.

“If you’re late, there won’t be a turn left for you!”

The Sword Demon’s sword hated all evil.

Even covered in blood, he never stopped. If it was to destroy evil, he would throw himself into a pit of fire without hesitation.

Choi Geon fought like a madman, as though he had forgotten I was even there.

PFOOOWAAAH! SHHK! WHOOOSH!

Blood burst from his shoulder, and fluid seeped from his burned skin, but Choi Geon didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow.

Like a wolf clinging to the back of a bleeding bull, he worried at the Black Heaven Society’s society leader with relentless persistence.

Until my voice came from directly overhead.

“My turn.”

After running far up the wall, I dropped straight down from midair and brought my swords down.

I crossed Phantom Dream and the Namcheon Sword in an X and carved deep into the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s chest.

SHHHAAAAAAK—!

Muscle wrapped in Dark Flame split apart, and bone broke. Staggering, the Black Heaven Society’s society leader let out a monstrous scream and swung his one remaining arm.

“KRAAAAAAAH! Won’t you get the hell away from me?!”

The whip of Dark Flame grazed my cheek. I snapped my head back, retreated, widened the distance—

and at the same time hurled both swords with all my strength.

KWAANG—! KWAANG—!

The Black Heaven Society’s society leader couldn’t afford to underestimate the force contained in the two sacred weapons, so he lashed out with Dark Flame to knock them aside.

And in that instant, the demon appeared before his eyes again.

[Disciple. You’ve gained some very sharp fangs!]

Laughing in satisfaction, Choi Geon went for the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s neck.

CRAAACK—!

The blade punched through the tough skin and finally cut about a third of the way through his neck.

“Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. Do you really think this much is enough to kill me?”

But even with his neck hanging half-severed, the Black Heaven Society’s society leader was still fine.

WHOOOSH!

The Dark Flame moved on its own, sealed the wound, and raised his body upright again like some undead monster.

It was the same sight that had thrown the Martial Alliance Leader and the sect leaders into confusion again and again.

But Choi Geon and I didn’t look the least bit bothered.

[Heh-heh! An evil bastard like you shouldn’t die easily. I won’t be satisfied unless I tear at you for quite a while longer.]

“Good thing you don’t die easy. There’s still a lot I want to try out in a real fight.”

Was it because we were wearing wolf masks?

Did we actually look like wolves to him now?

The way Choi Geon and I lowered our stances and closed in made the Black Heaven Society’s society leader think of two wolves stalking wounded prey.

“Hahahaha! I thought you two were vicious enough already, but you’re mad bastards just like me!”

With the Black Heaven Society’s society leader throwing his head back in a wild roar of laughter, the three of us crashed together again.

KWAANG—! JJEO-JEO-JEO-JEONG! WHOOOSH!

Explosions, thunderous impacts, and bursts of flame erupted one after another. Every time we collided, the ground overturned, and the aftershocks of our sword blows gouged claw-mark trenches into the walls.

If this fight had been happening aboveground, it would have reduced the entire area to wasteland.

But as time passed, the tide tilted more and more to one side.

“Y-you vicious bastards......!”

The two wolves, baring sharp fangs, took turns biting into their already wounded prey. And the savage beast, having lost too much blood, finally began to stagger.

“Especially you, you little brat......!”

The Black Heaven Society’s society leader glared at me. The two sacred weapons I swung seemed to glare back at him like mortal enemies.

The Namcheon Sword’s demon-subduing power tore through the Dark Flame, while Phantom Dream’s essence-devouring power absorbed the weakened flames without leaving even a scrap behind.

Every time that happened, the Dark Flame was consumed in huge amounts.

And those two weren’t the only problem.

One person was seizing more and more control of the Dark Flame itself.

And another had taken command of most of the spell formation.

“So it’s wolves everywhere. This Black Heaven Society’s society leader got hunted down by nothing more than a pack of wolves. Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh......!”

Looking around at those wearing Blue Wolf masks, the Black Heaven Society’s society leader made a sound that didn’t seem quite like laughter or crying.

WHOOO......SH.

The more the Dark Flame wrapped around his body thinned, the more the Black Heaven Society’s society leader shriveled, until he looked more and more like a mummy.

As if he sensed his own end approaching, he asked me:

“You, young wolf. Martial artist who sank two fangs into my throat....... What is your name?”

I answered him by swinging my sword.

Whenever the Namcheon Sword’s white radiance flashed, the Dark Flame shuddered as if it were about to go out.

And whenever Phantom Dream brushed past, the black energy it scattered devoured the Dark Flame.

And then, at last—

SHHK-SHHK-SHHK-SHHK!

The Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s body, hacked apart all over, froze upright—

then slowly toppled to the floor.

THUD......!

With that sound shaking the ground, the brutal blood-soaked battle finally came to an end.

“I am, I am...... the Black Heaven Society’s society leader, the one who will unify the unorthodox......!”

Choi Geon, who had been looking down at the Black Heaven Society’s society leader as he dragged in his final breaths, turned to me.

“Finish it. It is only right that this be your share.”

The Sword Demon stepped aside by one pace, and I stood in front of the Black Heaven Society’s society leader.

My entire body was wrecked from a life-and-death struggle that had crossed the line between life and death again and again, but my eyes still looked like those of a starving wolf.

“Heh, heh, heh. Looking closer, you’re even younger than I thought. I lost...... to a mere pup like this.......”

Even with the Dark Flame completely dispersed, the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s stubborn life still clung to him.

It was the last flare before death.

“......Your name. I asked what your name is. As a matter of proper conduct in a fight to the death, you should answer......!”

The Black Heaven Society’s society leader wanted to know the name of the martial artist who would kill him.

A dazzling talent that was certain to become an unparalleled master in the future.

The one who had stopped his Unorthodox Unification could not be just some brat. No, it had to be a martial artist who would one day become The Strongest in Korea.

If he didn’t hear that name, it felt like even in hell he would never be able to close his eyes in peace.

“You will certainly become The Strongest in Korea. And then...... a martial artist known across the world. Since you stopped me...... that is only fitting.”

I said nothing.

I let the Black Heaven Society’s society leader indulge in his delusions for a while.

“If you become an unparalleled master in the future, then say this. Say that you killed the Black Heaven Society’s society leader and gained a great enlightenment from it....... Say that the greatest foe of your life was Ju Cheolgwan, the Black Heaven Society’s society leader......!”

The light in the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s eyes gradually began to fade.

As though he were already imagining that scene, a satisfied smile sat at the corner of his mouth.

“Maybe that’ll happen.”

I pressed down hard on the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s chest with my foot.

Then I raised Phantom Dream the way a butcher would lift a blade over an animal.

For this kind of thing, Phantom Dream suited the job better.

“If anyone asks about you, this is what I’ll say.”

“......?”

Looking at the Black Heaven Society’s society leader, who was staring at me with a face full of desperate hope, I gave him my honest impression.

“I’ll say that among all the unorthodox martial artists who died by my hand, you were the most forgettable one of them all. That even when I cut off your head, I didn’t feel a thing.”

Beside me, Choi Geon nodded, as if he found that answer deeply satisfying.

“Rubbish! I am the Black Heaven Society’s society leader! I am not someone you can talk about like this......!”

“To me, you’re just slightly oversized trash.”

The moment the Black Heaven Society’s society leader’s eyes filled with fury and despair at my flat reply, I swung Phantom Dream.

Slice! rolling head beat / Thud.......

“Oh, and my name is Kim Muhyuk.”

The Black Heaven Society’s society leader, who had reigned as one of the giant demons of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects, died with his eyes still wide open.

Without ever truly hearing the name of the martial artist who had cut off his head.