Chapter 757: Light Also Enters Through the Broken Cracks

TL: FoodieMonster007

Geom Mugeuk lowered his sword while fighting the Sword King.

SHIIIIK!

The Sword King's blade stopped just inches from Geom Mugeuk's neck. The strike could have been fatal, but Geom Mugeuk had dropped his guard completely. He wouldn't have done so if he didn't trust the Sword King with his life.

Geom Mugeuk's gaze fixed on the Sound King. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme had vanished without a trace during their assault.

He said without looking at the Sword King, "Hyung, I'm getting more and more pissed off."

A quiet reply came back. "I know."

"Then that's enough." Geom Mugeuk walked slowly toward the Sound King.

The Sword King followed behind him, footsteps silent as shadows. Though he moved like an ally, his true purpose was clear. He was there to protect the Sound King.

Geom Mugeuk no longer bothered with the Sword King. He treated him like part of the scenery now, like a rock blocking his path, or a random nonsensical joke, or a crying little girl with a story.

Still, he was good scenery.

Geom Mugeuk approached the Sound King directly. The sound barrier that the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and Flower Sword Supreme had torn apart was already rebuilt.

TUNG, TUNG!

Geom Mugeuk struck the sound barrier with his hand. An invisible shield pushed back against his touch.

"Where are those two?"

The Sound King stared directly into Geom Mugeuk's eyes. "In hell."

Geom Mugeuk could have exploded with rage. Instead, he stayed calm. "They used to visit hell like it was their own home, so they'll be fine."

"This hell will be different." The Sound King began playing the same song he'd used to banish them. The two had disappeared when this melody reached its peak, and the Sound King's fingers paused mid-pluck on invisible strings. "This piece is called the Song of Despair. It's a song I'm very fond of."

Geom Mugeuk nodded. "It probably won't be easy for them to escape."

The sound arts the Sound King wielded weren't ordinary techniques. This was a method that used sound to trap victims in illusions, in other words, Illusory Sound Arts. Since this technique made the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and Flower Sword Supreme vanish completely, it was likely an attack that couldn't be broken easily, just as the Sound King claimed.

"Nevertheless, there is no evil art that cannot be overcome," he added confidently.

The Sound King smiled relaxed from within his sound barrier. "Does my performance look like some mere evil art to you?"

"I know it's not." Still, Geom Mugeuk believed in the two Demon Supremes just as strongly as the Sound King believed in his sound arts. What he really wanted to know was something else. "But the people trapped aren't just some mere masters either, are they? By any chance, are the two of them trapped in the same place?"

The Sound King nodded. "That is correct."

Relief washed over Geom Mugeuk's face immediately. "Then they'll come out safely."

"Why are you so certain?"

Why? You probably don't know what extremes the Elder who has fallen into hell with the Sword Supreme will resort to.

"Have you ever tried to protect someone by putting your own life on the line?"

"……" The Sound King couldn't answer right away.

"You haven't, have you? That's why your music sucks."

The Sound King's expression hardened instantly. No matter how hard he tried to control his emotions, the Young Cult Leader kept getting under his skin. "If you don't want to see the Demon Supremes come out torn to shreds, find out the tomb's location from the Dan Patriarch."

The Sound King looked back at Dan Sojin, who watched them with obvious tension. He believed that threatening Geom Mugeuk with the Demon Supremes' lives would force obedience from him.

Geom Mugeuk chuckled. "If you say it so openly like this, is that man going to tell me the location?"

"That depends on you, Young Cult Leader. If you want to save the Demon Supremes, then do so."

"You're overestimating me." Geom Mugeuk glanced over.

Dan Sojin clearly stated his position. "I know the situation is urgent, but I cannot tell you."

Geom Mugeuk looked at the Sound King again. "See? He says he can't."

The Sound King's expression stiffened at Geom Mugeuk's playful response. "You said they were like parents to you, but I see you truly are a heartless person, Young Cult Leader."

Geom Mugeuk stared at him directly. "Fine, let's say I'm a heartless bastard. Why are you being so unreasonable?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know it too, don't you? In this situation, not even the Evil Alliance Chairman himself could find out. Why are you being so stubborn when you know it's impossible?"

"If it's you, Young Cult Leader…"

"Yeah, because you kept flattering me like this, I was confused at first. These guys are really overestimating me. Right, I'm great enough to be overestimated. You guys must be pretty desperate. Right, you have every reason to be," Geom Mugeuk cut him off, his eyes sharpening like blades. "But that can't be right. Showing such a flaw at such a crucial moment? Sure, you might. What kind of thorough plan would a man who strums a pipa all day come up with? But the person who sent you isn't that careless, is he?"

Geom Mugeuk stared intently into the Sound King's lifeless eyes. "What did that person plot? What orders did he give you?"

Strictly speaking, this was another remark that completely ignored the Sound King. Geom Mugeuk provoked him endlessly while the Sound King struggled to maintain his composure.

"Stop wasting time. Even as we speak, your Demon Supremes are dying."

PUAAAAK!

Empty space tore open before the Sound King, and a bloodied sword shot out like a bullet, nearly stabbing him in the face.

JIIIIIIIIK!

The sword began slicing through the air. A crack formed in the empty space, as if an invisible curtain was being torn to reveal what lay behind it.

Soon, though, the sword disappeared again. From within the tear came waves of scorching heat, the thick smell of blood, and the thunderous sound of explosions.

PUUUUK!

The sword shot out from the tear again.

JIIIIIIIIK!

This time, the sword sliced straight down, tearing the space even wider.

The Sound King silently wiped blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, then began to play again. "The power of music is incredible."

A single melody flowed from his fingers.

Tae Su burst out laughing like a madman, "Uhahahahaha!"

Ji Han, who stood next to him, also burst into uncontrollable laughter. Their expressions and eyes showed they couldn't control their emotions, but they were powerless to stop laughing.

Geom Mugeuk didn't get angry at the trick. Instead, he played along. "Let's see you two laugh for the first time in a while. Hey, musician! Unleash more of your inner qi and play!"

The Sound King didn't comply. It was unknown how long he could make the two men laugh, but doing so would require enormous amounts of inner qi. Still, he insisted, "I can make them laugh until they die."

"Okay. That's better than crying to death."

The Sound King's performance changed. Tae Su and Ji Han, who had been laughing hysterically, instantly stopped and instead burst into tears. They weren't just making crying sounds. They were truly bawling their eyes out.

This was the first time Ji Han had cried since he'd grown up. He was amazed that his eyes held so many tears.

The Sound King's performance changed again. This time, Tae Su and Ji Han started throwing punches at each other with furious expressions. No invisible force was controlling them. This rage was clearly their own.

He controlled people's emotions with his pipa performance.

Geom Mugeuk had seen many masters of sound arts, but this was the first time he'd witnessed someone manipulate emotions like this.

"You don't know how weak human emotions are, do you? All humans are broken beings in some way. Young Cult Leader, you are no exception."

Geom Mugeuk answered calmly. "And that's what's good about it, isn't it? Light also enters through those broken cracks. That light shines on the dark holes in one's heart. Ah, so I had a hole here, and it wasn't just one hole! I learned something new again."

Here, only the Sword King, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, and the Flower Sword Supreme could understand what Geom Mugeuk's words meant. They were able to look into those holes because they had met Geom Mugeuk.

However, the Sound King didn't know the exact meaning of those words. He still thought Geom Mugeuk was mocking him. "Young Cult Leader, look at your own holes!"

He began to play in earnest. The sound was distinctly different from his previous performance.

TWARARARANG!

The melody trembled faintly as it embroidered the space around them. It instilled a single powerful illusion in everyone's mind. The scene changed with startling suddenness.

Tae Su saw his father. It was the exact moment he had uttered words that wounded his father deeply.

"Is that principle of yours for the sake of good deeds? Or is it to justify thievery?"

His father turned away without a word. At the time, he had vaguely thought he said something he shouldn't have. Now he saw a very deep wound carved across his father's face.

Father, I'm sorry.

Ji Han saw the figure of the Evil King Sect's Flame Dragon Commander, Cheon Daewoong.

"You traitor! You bastard who betrayed the organization to save your own skin!"

Regardless of how much Cheon Daewoong had tormented him and treated him poorly, Ji Han was not someone who betrayed others. Unknowingly, it had remained as a great wound in his heart.

The Evil Alliance martial artist Pungdo and the Hundred Graves Clan's head Dan Sojin also saw their own illusions, and even the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme stopped moving for an instant.

Geom Mugeuk saw it too. Someone he had never imagined would appear before him at this moment.

It was the Hwa Mugi of that day.

Hwa Mugi looked down with a pathetic gaze at Geom Mugeuk, who lay collapsed and pierced through along with Lee Ahn.

"The woman died and you lived."

Of course, such a moment never actually happened. It was a scene created by his own illusion.

It was a moment when anger should have erupted. Instead, a smile formed on his lips.

I've come a very long way to see you.

[Nice to see you, Hwa Mugi!]

The next moment, Geom Mugeuk's eyes flew open as he shattered the illusion completely. To him, Hwa Mugi was no longer a wound. He wasn't an object of hatred or fear either.

It wasn't 'I will definitely kill you'. Hwa Mugi was simply a part of his life now. Just as he shouldn't get sick or into an accident, he shouldn't lose to Hwa Mugi.

Was that why? The illusion passed by in a mere instant. He felt no particular emotion toward Hwa Mugi.

When Geom Mugeuk opened his eyes, the Sound King was strumming his pipa and shouting, "Death Resonance!"

CHWAAAAAAAK!

Powerful energy created by the sound waves flew toward everyone present.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon came to his senses after Geom Mugeuk.

KWAANG! KWANG!

He consecutively struck down the sound arts flying toward himself and the Flower Sword Supreme.

The Flower Sword Supreme opened her eyes a step too late. Seeing her dark complexion, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was inwardly curious.

What did you see?

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon didn't ask, and he wouldn't ask in the future. Sometimes, you have to take a step back to see both the difficult and the good things more clearly. Just enough distance for it to be respect, not coldness.

PEOPEOPEOPEONG!

Geom Mugeuk blocked the attacks targeting the others behind him.

The surprise on the Sound King's face deepened even more. "To wake up from the Soul-Rending Song so quickly!"

He looked at Geom Mugeuk with complete disbelief, but soon, the surprise transformed into excitement. He abandoned the courtesy he had shown Geom Mugeuk until now.

Light seemed to shine from his previously faint, lifeless eyes as he laughed, "Young Cult Leader, you are truly a remarkable man, I admit it. You're worthy of hearing my masterpiece! This is a song I composed recently! You'll be the first to hear it."

As his hand brushed the pipa, a clear and deep sound flowed out.

As the Sound King's intent deepened, the sound of the pipa also deepened dramatically.

Following his melody, notes flowing from the pipa swirled around him in brilliant spirals. Gold and silver light shone brilliantly, making it seem as if a musical score was being drawn in the air around him. The sight was like looking at stars scattered across the night sky.

The sound of the performance came from all directions, as if dozens of musicians were playing in perfect ensemble. The melody made the hearts of those who heard it pound with overwhelming force.

Geom Mugeuk had a gut feeling. The Sound King was about to make his real move. He gathered as much of his inner qi in preparation to strike.

A cold sneer formed on the Sound King's face. "Didn't you say you'd protect them all? Let's see you try. Who do you think you are, a god?!"

The moment his words ended, brilliant light poured out from everything floating in the air.

SHIIIIIIIIIIK!

A single streak of light cut across that brilliant radiance. A light that split light itself.

SEOGEOK!

When the light disappeared, everyone could see clearly.

The Sword King stood before the Sound King, his back turned to the others. A single drop of blood fell from his sword, which he held extended straight out to the side.

THUD! ROLL…

The Sound King's head fell to the floor and rolled to the side.

In that moment, the Sword King had unleashed the Seventh Sword of his Divine Formless Sword Technique, Formless Life. That single strike severed the light, severed the sound barrier, and severed the Sound King's music and his neck in one perfect motion.

CHWAAAAAAAK!

Blood spurted from the Sound King's severed neck into the air like a crimson fountain.

A rain of blood poured down on the Sword King's body like a shower.