Clench!

Bae Seokjin gripped the chain connecting the weight to the bladed head.

It was a chain that looked like it wouldn’t break under any ordinary force — but in Bae Seokjin’s massive fist, it looked ready to crumble at any moment.

That was how tense he was.

Bae Seokjin couldn’t remember the last time he had been this on edge.

BOOM!

Another innocent tree toppled over.

Every single one of the Crazed Fiend’s movements felt like a catastrophe.

Years had passed — and yet that crushing pressure was still vivid to him.

Meanwhile, Seo Woojin, fighting against it, looked consumed with nothing but dodging.

Not that dodging the Crazed Fiend’s attacks was any small feat. And it was surprising — Seo Woojin’s martial ability looked greater than he had anticipated.

But it looked far too precarious.

Any moment now, Seo Woojin would be caught in the old man’s grip and made to pay.

Twitch.

Bae Seokjin barely suppressed his body’s reflex to move again.

If Seo Woojin had been even a fraction more imperiled, he would have thrown himself in without hesitation.

The Military Advisor’s order was one thing — but he couldn’t just let the man die.

They needed him alive for there to be a next step at all.

‘What…… is……?’

But Seo Woojin didn’t cross the line Bae Seokjin had set.

No — if anything, he was steadily moving away from it.

‘He’s getting faster. His reactions.’

The Crazed Fiend’s movements had grown more intense — and yet Seo Woojin had somehow found room to breathe.

As though he could see the Crazed Fiend’s movements. Or predict them.

He was reacting a step ahead.

‘……He’s getting stronger?’

There was a type like that. People who grew dramatically through live combat.

But Bae Seokjin had never seen anyone grow this visibly.

While Bae Seokjin sat with his confusion——

The Crazed Fiend seemed to feel the frustration too, and his movements began to shift.

What had been formless, styleless motion now took on variation, took on the rhythm of tension and release.

And then——

BOOOOOM!

The Crazed Fiend’s fist struck Seo Woojin’s chest.

“No——!!”

Bae Seokjin startled and was about to launch himself forward when——

Shhhhhhhk!

Whoosh!

Seo Woojin’s sword split the air.

If the Crazed Fiend had been even slightly slower to react, it would have cut him.

“He endured it……?”

Bae Seokjin lowered himself back down and let out a quiet sound.

Now that things had reached this point, his judgment was useless.

‘I have no choice but to believe.’

He had to trust the conviction in Seo Woojin’s eyes. He had to trust the man who was growing, moment by moment, as if to prove something.

Bae Seokjin held his breath and kept watching the fight — gripping the chain tighter.

Whoosh! Tap tap tap!

Slashing with his sword and retreating in the same motion, Seo Woojin let out a low breath and dropped his stance.

‘That was close……! He wasn’t unable to use techniques — he was choosing not to.’

The old man had been attacking only in straight lines — and then suddenly wove in variation, and Seo Woojin hadn’t reacted in time.

Fortunately, he’d been able to move his true qi. He had concentrated the Lingering Heart Sword Art’s qi toward his chest, which had blunted the impact.

The compressed qi, built up through repeated rotation, had deflected the enemy’s internal force.

He’d still had to feel the full pain in his chest, of course. Which was why he hadn’t managed to cut the Crazed Fiend — the pain had made his sword arm a fraction too slow.

Seo Woojin rubbed at his chest and drew a deep breath.

The Crazed Fiend seemed to have reconsidered something, seeing him endure this much. The mouth that had been spilling hatred toward demon folk the entire time had gone silent.

‘Haah. This isn’t easy. It really is like fighting Grandfather. There’s not a single opening.’

And yet the smile wouldn’t leave his face.

Even faced with what felt like an insurmountable wall. Even with a ferocious great tiger glaring at him, blood-red light in its eyes.

For reasons he couldn’t explain, the excitement refused to settle.

Every moment of this was joyous and new.

The fist-wind stinging the tip of his nose. Even the chest pain, so severe it choked his breath and brought blood to his throat.

None of it could dampen his excitement.

If anything, every sense in his body was being honed to a sharper edge.

A battle that divided life and death.

He’d fought one before, against the assassins. But then he’d been swallowed by rage and confusion, moving on instinct alone.

He hadn’t been able to savor it the way he could now.

Yes.

In a sense, this was Seo Woojin’s first real battle.

And the instinct that had been sleeping inside him all this time was waking.

“Ssss——! Haaah.”

Whirl!

Seo Woojin swept his sword once and murmured.

“If the wall is too hard to break through…… then I’ll make it open on its own.”

Whoosh!

Seo Woojin kicked off the ground and surged in first.

A light horizontal slash.

The Crazed Fiend evaded it easily by taking a single step back.

He had already anticipated the old man’s movement. Every attack like this had been evaded the same way until now.

Seo Woojin didn’t slow the speed of his slash — he spun his whole body along with it.

The Lingering Heart Sword Art’s qi was already wreathed around the blade. The rotation of the qi lent extra speed.

Whirrrl!

Seo Woojin’s body spun faster, and the sword struck at the Crazed Fiend again.

The old man frowned and retreated once more.

And that was his mistake.

Seo Woojin’s rotation didn’t stop, and with centrifugal force adding to it, his speed climbed higher still.

It looked like the charge of a tiger riding the wind.

Wind Flow Eighteen Swords.

Wind Tiger Ravaging the Plains.

Pa-ba-ba-ba-bat!

The ground tore apart, creating a destructive roar.

The Crazed Fiend, who had kept backing away, realized he could no longer evade and belatedly planted his feet.

Then came his fists, surging in one after another.

RUMBLE!

CRASH! BOOOOOM!

Seo Woojin’s sword and the old man’s fists collided.

The earth trembled and thunderous crashes rang out in succession.

The dust concealing the two of them scattered.

And the result it revealed was astonishing.

The Crazed Fiend, who had seemed impossible to break through, had been driven back some thirty feet.

His sleeve had been shredded to rags, and scratch-like wounds and blood covered his forearm.

‘Not yet——!’

When sword and fist had collided, the Lingering Heart Sword Art’s qi had taken effect. It had severed the Crazed Fiend’s internal force — just for an instant — and that was what had pushed him back that far.

But it wasn’t enough.

The qi would already have been overwhelmed by the Crazed Fiend’s own. To sever the path of corrupted qi flowing toward the upper dantian, he absolutely had to strike the Danzhong point near the chest.

‘Again——!’

Seo Woojin kicked off the ground once more.

The way he surged in looked like a single wolf chasing the moon.

Wind Flow Eighteen Swords. White Wolf Chasing the Moon.

The tip of the blade, thrust straight and true, aimed at a single point.

Shhhhhhk!

The sword tip cut the wind, and just before it reached the Crazed Fiend’s chest——

Grab!

“……!!”

The Crazed Fiend stepped diagonally forward — and in the same motion, caught the wrist of Seo Woojin’s sword hand.

“Go to paradise in peace.”

The right fist he raised high carried undisguised killing intent.

It looked ready to shatter Seo Woojin’s skull in a single blow.

Had Seo Woojin’s struggle been nothing but a struggle after all?

Did the bite of a cornered rat only tickle the cat?

At that desperate, life-or-death moment——

Seo Woojin was still smiling.

“Of course this is how it goes. If you’re a hero who saved the Central Plains.”

If the wall is too hard to break through——

Make it open on its own.

The fist raised to kill Seo Woojin.

Because of it, the Crazed Fiend’s chest was wide open.

And now Seo Woojin was well within his reach.

The sword had been the bait.

Shhk! BOOOOOM!

Seo Woojin’s left hand slammed into the Crazed Fiend’s chest.

The old man’s movement stopped, and the grip on his wrist loosened.

“Gkh——!!”

Seo Woojin broke free of the Crazed Fiend’s range.

But a groan of pain escaped him.

He looked at his left hand.

It was drenched in blood, the bones broken, the hand a ruin.

“Damn it…… hurts more than I expected.”

The Lingering Heart Sword Art’s qi always required a medium.

Bearing the rotation-charged qi with his bare body was too much. Releasing it as a palm strike, as he had just done, meant the enormous destructive recoil struck him as well.

Which was why the sword — the most stable and efficient medium — was used to channel it. Injecting qi through a blade and releasing it externally were two entirely different things.

Seo Woojin tore a strip of cloth and wrapped his left hand roughly. Then lifted his sword and stood again.

‘Did it work?’

He had felt it in his hand. He’d struck the Danzhong point precisely, and the qi had entered the Crazed Fiend’s body.

Even now, the old man hadn’t moved — perhaps from the shock of it. The dark red veins on his neck also looked more subdued than before.

‘The moment the corrupted qi’s reverse flow is cut off, the upper dantian should rapidly try to return to normal.’

That was what his grandfather had told him about the realm of transformation.

The realm of transformation was a state of harmony. Never too much, never too little — always seeking balance. The lower dantian, the middle dantian, and the upper dantian — even without conscious awareness, always striving to harmonize.

The corrupted qi that had been obstructing that harmony had now lost its path. Which meant the upper dantian would gradually purify itself.

‘If the upper dantian is purified and he recovers his reason — then the damaged middle dantian can heal itself as well.’

This was only possible because the Crazed Fiend was a master of the realm of transformation. Had his martial level been even slightly lower, he would have died long ago.

But they say the affairs of the world never go as one intends.

The Crazed Fiend’s inner demon was deeper and darker than expected.

The old man slowly raised his head.

And just for an instant — blood-red light spread across his eyes.

“What——?!”

Whoosh!

Shhhhhhhk!

Before Seo Woojin could grasp the situation, the Crazed Fiend moved first.

Unlike before — a ferocious charge. Truly like a beast lunging at its prey.

BOOOOOM!

“Gkh——!”

Whoosh! Thud!

He raised his sword to block the old man’s fist, but was hopelessly deflected.

“Nothing but——!!”

Unlike before, the Crazed Fiend let out a furious roar.

Fallen to the ground, Seo Woojin used the opening to scramble upright.

‘Wh-what……?’

This was different from before.

The Crazed Fiend’s face, twisted into that of a vicious demon-god, looked exactly like the demon folk he so hated.

“With skill as pathetic as that, you think you can survive?! With martial ability that pathetic, you think you can handle even a single demon?!”

“What……?”

The Crazed Fiend lunged again.

BOOM!

The moment his planted foot gouged deep into the earth — he surged forward like a fired cannonball.

Shhhk——!

“Gkh——!”

Seo Woojin threw his head aside.

BOOOOOM!

The missed fist toppled the trees behind him.

Ringing——!

For an instant, his ears went deaf.

Fist-wind alone had produced destruction on this scale.

Staggering, Seo Woojin still swept his sword upward.

Azure Hawk’s Returning Talon.

A technique that used the opponent’s force. Unable to load his own power fully, he tried to borrow the Crazed Fiend’s — absorb the enemy’s force and turn it straight back.

CLANG——!

The sword was deflected uselessly.

And toward Seo Woojin’s wide-open chest, the Crazed Fiend’s left palm descended.

BOOOOOM!

He was hurled far away with a thunderous crash.

Skreee——! Scraaaape!

He barely gathered himself mid-air and landed — but the force drove him another thirty feet back.

“Hack——!!“

He finally coughed up blood.

He had protected his body with the Lingering Heart Sword Art, but the Crazed Fiend’s palm force had surpassed it.

‘Internal injury……’

An internal injury was especially deadly for Seo Woojin.

The Lingering Heart Sword Art already strained the body. Circulating it with an internally injured body was a considerable burden. The injury could worsen — and at worst, it could trigger qi deviation.

“No! No!! How many times must this father explain it?! That kind of honest, straightforward reaction is nothing but good bait for the demon folk——!!”

Even in the middle of all this, the Crazed Fiend was spilling words that made no sense.

His eyes were bloodshot enough to weep blood at any moment, and his focus had grown hazier.

“How is this father to trust you?! Showing me nothing but disappointment like this — how am I to make you my successor——!!”

Seo Woojin hauled himself up, letting out a low sound.

‘The madness has worsened. Why? Did my qi fail to cut off the flow of corrupted qi? Is the corrupted qi’s movement surging as a backlash?’

He shook his head slightly.

The dark red veins on the neck were definitely fading. The Lingering Heart Sword Art had clearly worked. He was simply bearing its aftermath.

‘Right now the Crazed Fiend is looking at the past. He’s facing his inner demon directly.’

So did he just need to stall for time?

He couldn’t be optimistic.

If, by some chance, the Crazed Fiend was swallowed by his inner demon again, there was a high chance he would transform into an even greater catastrophe.

There might be no way to ever bring him back.

“Haah……. This wretched world. Not one thing goes my way.”

Always cornered like this.

“Haah……”

The moment Seo Woojin exhaled——

Rumble.

The ground began to tremble.

‘If once isn’t enough, then twice, three times. If the power was insufficient, then I pour in stronger power.’

The qi flowing from his dantian began to rotate again.

He was internally injured, but he paid it no mind. He focused solely on loading in greater destructive force.

‘A little more…… more than before……’

The rotations built and built.

Blood surged up and pain wracked his whole body, but he endured it.

“I’m coming again. If you show me disappointment this time too — then I give up on you as well.”

To make matters worse, the Crazed Fiend was preparing another attack in the midst of all this.

Was it the old man’s assault? Or the qi churning through his insides?

The terror of death suddenly bore down on him.

[What do you suppose the most perfect single strike is?]

And in that moment, his grandfather’s question surfaced.

As though soothing the terror of a young grandson. As though worried for his inadequate boy.

What had he answered back then?

A faster, stronger sword, hadn’t he said? He couldn’t recall exactly — but the memory of his grandfather scolding him was vivid.

[Foolish boy. Power is inexhaustible by nature — so how could it ever make for the most perfect single strike?]

Then just explain it from the start. Why always pose a question only to reprimand the answer?

Had he foreseen the state Seo Woojin was in now?

[The most perfect single strike is a sword forged ten thousand times over.]

The sword he had drawn every day.

The sword he had moved without missing a single day.

When that sword accumulated, over and over——

It would become the most perfect single strike.

The rotation of qi, pushed past its limit, loosened slightly. Down to exactly what he could bear.

The path of the sword he had swung since his earliest memory. The breath. The stride of his feet. And the state of his heart back then.

Tap. Shhk!

Seo Woojin’s foot lightly touched the earth.

And his sword was drawn, with a small whistle of parted air.

And then——

BOOOOOOOOOM!

A thunderous crash erupted, and dust engulfed the two of them.

(End of Chapter 19)