Part 38 - Netherworld Mado (5)
"You bitches…!"
Geumju staggered this way and that, but the killing intent packed into her voice was enough to make one's bones go cold.
"Tell me right now how to get out of this back alley! If you don't…!"
"Back alley?"
Se-a asked without thinking.
"Yeah! This damned back alley! It never ends! We have to get out before that bastard comes—"
Jeong-a spoke to Se-a, whose face was clouded with confusion.
"She's not in her right mind. Her entire body has already been corroded by the Master's qi."
"Corroded by qi?"
"Yes. It looks like she's perceiving this place as some kind of back alley."
Seeing the sisters talking back and forth, Geumju shrieked in a fit.
"What the hell are you two babbling about?!"
Even as she staggered, she started striding straight toward them.
As Geumju drew closer, Se-a's expression twisted when she could finally see her properly.
Geumju's hair was a wild mess—ripped out in places as if whole chunks of scalp had been torn away. One ear was split, blood running down it. The whites of her eyes were gone; every vessel had burst, leaving them a furious, bloodshot red.
Every patch of exposed skin had darkened to a blackish hue like a corpse's flesh, and bulging veins rose and writhed beneath it.
"I'll kill you all!"
A savage aura poured out of her in thick streams.
The moment Se-a felt it, she realized they were facing a martial artist.
It wasn't the inhumanly overwhelming aura she'd felt before.
And Geumju was clearly not in a normal state.
But compared to ordinary people, a martial artist was still practically superhuman.
"Step back, Sister."
The one who moved in front of Se-a was Jeong-a.
She pulled something from her clothes and began fastening it onto her hands.
"Jeong-a, that's…?"
Jeong-a lifted what she'd put on.
A gauntlet, reinforced with leather, metal ribs, and small iron plates.
"I borrowed it from the young lady I rescued from the barrier before I met you."
Jeong-a explained calmly.
"No, this isn't the time—We need to get out of here right—!"
Se-a's words cut off.
Because Geumju, her face twisted like a demon, lunged at them.
There wasn't even time to react.
In the instant Se-a thought she'd lost sight of Geumju—
Geumju was already behind Jeong-a, striking.
"…!"
What Se-a saw next was Jeong-a grabbing Geumju's arm—now jutting over Jeong-a's shoulder—with both hands.
"Hah!"
Before the short, sharp battle cry could finish echoing through the cavern, Geumju's body was slammed into the ground.
A picture-perfect shoulder throw.
"Kh—!"
Dark, black-red blood sprayed from Geumju's mouth.
"J-Jeong-a… you used internal energy…?"
Jeong-a released Geumju's arm and stepped back.
"No."
She stared down at Geumju—who was choking and gasping, unable to catch her breath—with cold eyes.
"I'm only borrowing the power in my eyes for a moment."
Then she said to Geumju.
"How long are you planning to lie there?"
"Y-you damn bitch…!"
Geumju drew up her internal energy and launched herself at Jeong-a like a shot.
But her hands stopped in midair before they could even reach Jeong-a.
Jeong-a's elbow had already slipped in under them, driving precisely into Geumju's solar plexus.
"Ku—cough!"
Geumju vomited blood from the shock that felt like it pierced her organs.
Even as Geumju's blood splashed onto her, Jeong-a didn't so much as blink—she only glared.
Golden light flashed in her pupils.
"Hup!"
Jeong-a's other elbow shot up vertically, smashing into Geumju's jaw.
Broken tooth fragments flew from Geumju's mouth as she bounced backward and slammed into the corner of the passage.
Geumju didn't rise.
Jeong-a only snorted at the sight.
"Because I can still see perfectly well… how fine you really are."
Jeong-a raised both gauntleted hands and took her stance.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't waste time. I still have a lot left to pay you back."
At those words, Geumju—who had been crouched low, preparing a sneak attack—wobbled as she stood.
"You…!"
Teeth grinding audibly, she spat.
"I'll kill you!"
Geumju's left hand shot out at Jeong-a like a living snake.
It was that same martial art—its trajectory impossible to predict.
But Jeong-a saw that unpredictable path.
Sparks flashed off the gauntlet as Geumju's strike was knocked aside.
At the same time, Jeong-a's other gauntlet was already buried into Geumju's abdomen.
"Kraaaagh!"
Shielding her abdomen with internal energy, Geumju unleashed combo attacks at Jeong-a.
Sparks erupted in every direction, and a sharp roar of impacts echoed again and again through the cavern.
"Kgh…!"
After exchanging dozens of blows in a heartbeat, the one who let out a pain-filled groan was Geumju.
Extreme pain—and confusion—twisted across her face.
How…?!
In that rapid exchange, the girl in front of her had slipped past every attack.
And at the same time, she had landed over a dozen precise fist strikes.
They weren't lethal—there was no internal energy behind them.
But still…
From a mere maidservant…!
She couldn't believe it.
Just days ago, the opponent had been nothing more than an ordinary woman.
And yet…
"UAAAAAAH!"
Geumju screamed and surged again—but it was useless.
Even attacks fueled by her full strength, even strikes launched from behind at blind angles—Jeong-a brushed them all aside as if it were nothing.
Those eyes…!
That ominous golden gaze felt like it was reading everything she did.
It felt like no attempt could ever escape it.
"Kuhk…!"
After taking another counterstrike to the face, Geumju sprang back, widening the distance at once.
Jeong-a's breathing had grown noticeably rougher, but she showed Geumju a cold sneer.
"Already giving up?"
Geumju ground her teeth.
The weakness was obvious: Jeong-a had no internal energy, and because of that her stamina had to be lacking.
If Geumju kept pressing and dragged it out, she was sure she could beat that hateful face until it died.
But if she did…
That bastard would—
"…Someday, you'll be on your knees, begging me to spare you."
For now, retreating was the right answer.
"Someday. Definitely…!"
She forced what little internal energy she had left into her legs and kicked off the ground—or rather, she meant to.
If not for the countless white hands that seized her legs.
"AAAAAGH!"
Hands crawled up her body, dragging her down to the floor.
"Let go of meee!"
Geumju struggled violently.
The more she thrashed, the more her body became a mass of wounds.
In moments she was drenched in blood.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Because she was still alive, the hands only pinned her down and smashed her into the ground—they couldn't pull her under.
But that was enough.
Step. Step.
Footsteps sounded by her ear, and Yeon Sang-hyeon appeared, dressed as The Scholar.
Jeong-a bowed in greeting.
"You have arrived."
Yeon Sang-hyeon smiled at her.
"Yes. Now that you've tested your strength—how was it?"
"It is still far too lacking."
It was a calm exchange between master and servant.
There was no ghostfire, no familiar veil of demonic energy—Yeon Sang-hyeon looked as he normally did.
Se-a let out a small sigh of relief and greeted him.
"First Young Master."
Yeon Sang-hyeon nodded to her.
"You worked hard as well. Your subordinates are standing by nearby, so you can rest easy."
"Ah… thank you."
To Se-a, the sheer normalcy of the conversation felt bizarre.
The gap between the Dark Heaven Venerable One she'd seen before and the Yeon Sang-hyeon standing here now was enormous.
And with Geumju screaming beside them, firmly detained on the ground, that sense of dissonance only grew.
"Untie me right now! I'll kill you! I'll chew you two to pieces!"
Yeon Sang-hyeon didn't even pretend to listen. He asked Se-a.
"If you came all the way here with Jeong-a, it must be because you have something to say to me."
Se-a forced herself to ignore Geumju's voice.
"Yes… I do."
She hadn't exactly shown her best side before him, but she was someone who'd been through everything this world could throw at a person.
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a rueful smile at her awkwardly stiff speech.
"You don't need to force yourself to use honorifics you're not used to."
Then he turned.
"But before we talk—"
Geumju was begging now.
"Please—please, just spare me once! I'll never set foot in Luoyang again! From now on I'll only do good things in the world!"
Maybe seeing Yeon Sang-hyeon speak calmly like a normal person—unlike the Dark Heaven Venerable One who seemed impossible to reason with—had changed her mind.
"I was wrong. Please spare me."
As Yeon Sang-hyeon approached, she begged even harder.
"Really? From now on you'll only do good things?"
"Yes! Yes, of course! Naturally! You'll see if you watch me—No, wait! You can even make me your slave! I'll do anything you order!"
Yeon Sang-hyeon chuckled.
He leaned close to Geumju's face and asked in a low voice.
"Do you really think… if you say that, I'll spare you?"
At his words, Geumju's face twisted grotesquely.
"You bastard!"
Her attitude flipped instantly.
"You haven't forgotten, have you?! I'm the owner of the Sword Clan Bronze Token!"
Yeon Sang-hyeon crouched in front of her, propping his chin on his hand.
"And?"
"If I die, the Sword Clan will definitely investigate! If the owner of the Sword Clan Bronze Token dies, they're required to investigate—no matter what!"
"That's true."
"With your influence, you won't be able to bury that investigation! Sword Clan investigators and trackers will chase you down!"
Yeon Sang-hyeon didn't answer—he only curled his lips into a crooked smile.
Geumju thought her words were finally getting through.
"You've drawn way too much attention in too short a time! If the Sword Clan gets added on top of that, how long do you think you can last without your identity being exposed?!"
She squeezed out every last ounce of strength and ranted desperately.
"The entire Sword Clan will hunt you! Even your brothers who see you as a nuisance thorn will come after you themselves!"
Veins swollen to their limit began bursting one by one.
"You'll have to face the entire Sword Clan alone!"
Yeon Sang-hyeon replied as calmly as ever.
"Let them."
"…What?"
Yeon Sang-hyeon smiled.
Beneath it, blood-red teeth showed.
"Whether someone hunts me or not—"
Geumju watched his face draw closer and closer.
"Everything rotten to the core…"
Closer still.
"…will end up being eaten by me."
His face came right up to hers.
"Just like you."
Red blood sprayed across the floor like a fountain.
Geumju's body convulsed, jerking wildly as if in a seizure.
The sound of flesh being devoured greedily followed.
Her dying scream became an echo, ringing endlessly through the cavern.
Jeong-a watched the scene with an utterly calm expression.
Se-a went pale—but she didn't look away.
And then, at some point, every sound stopped—as if it had all been a lie.