C1679 - All You Have to Do is Believe. (3)
The tense air seemed about to tear the skin.
Paegun and Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword.
Two completely different people did not back down an inch, baring their teeth at each other. Even the Furious Dogs, who normally feared nothing in the world, did not dare to breathe in the face of the clash of their fearsome killing auras.
At any moment, Chung Myung's sword could be unsheathed and Jang Ilso's strength could pierce Chung Myung's heart.
Suddenly, they realized. No matter how much they shared cups of liquor, these two people could never coexist. One would have to stop breathing for this relationship to end.
In the midst of the fierce clash of their killing auras, which seemed to burst their hearts, Jang Ilso was the first to speak.
“That baseless faith.”
“...”
“Do you really think it can change anything?”
“...”
“Huh? Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword?”
Chung Myung averted his gaze, calmly facing Jang Ilso.
And that gaze turned to Wudang.
Mount Wudang was ablaze.
----------
“Aaaah!”
“Sahyung!”
The screams are always heartbreaking.
But if the scream belongs to someone close, the devastation has no end.
Crunch.
Mu Jin clenched his teeth so hard they seemed about to break.
Jin So's body, pierced by the enemy's sword, trembled. That was bearable. After all, everyone present was prepared to die.
But the next atrocity was too much to bear, even for those prepared for death.
Slash!
Thud!
The sword repeatedly cut Jin So's body. And his body, unable to withstand without managing his qi, was torn apart by the cruel cuts. His limbs fell off, and his body was scattered in all directions.
“Aaaah!”
Not only Mu Jin. All the Wudang Disciples who witnessed the scene screamed like beasts, swinging their swords in fury.
They were also human. Though they were enemies, they were humans with human faces. How could someone be so cruel to another human being?
Cutting the bodies of the dead, mocking, and killing the wounded with indescribable cruelty. It was an unknown world to the Wudang disciples who had spent their entire lives training.
“Damn you! Aaaah!”
“Sajae, don’t get emotional... Sajae!”
A spear pierced the body of the man who swung his sword in a fit of rage.
“Ugh…”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Numerous weapons pierced his body, already pierced in the abdomen. Even as his body fell apart, the weapons did not stop.
Where was the nobility?
Where was the sanctity?
‘No...’
Mu Jin bit his lips until they bled.
The decision to fight here was never a mistake. Even if he had to choose again, Mu Jin would take this path without hesitation.
But this was different. This battle was not what he had imagined.
Here there was no nobility in risking life for honor, nor heroism in dying for the Kangho.
What existed here was only cruelty. A cruelty and despair that could never be captured in a few words of praise.
Did those who died ever imagine their end would be like this? Could they have fought so valiantly knowing what their end would be?
“Hold the position! Don’t break the formation! Don’t get emotional!”
Someone shouted.
The same words as always. But everyone who heard that voice knew. That voice carried an anxiety and fear different from before.
It was not a tactic to maintain the formation; it was a matter of life and death. If the formation broke, they would all die. They would die miserably, without even leaving an intact body.
“Aaaah!”
Another life came to an end.
The number of members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance climbing the White Cliff increased, while the Wudang Disciples fell one by one. It was becoming harder to resist.
Everyone already knew. The outcome of this battle.
Maybe they would remain in legend. The Wudang disciples defended their honor at the White Cliff, not yielding to the Evil Faction. With just that line in history, it would be considered an honor.
But...
‘Was it really here?’
Mu Jin's chest filled with sadness.
Was the honor they tried to protect really here? The glory they tried to defend? The pride and dignity they wanted to preserve until the end? Was it worth sacrificing all these lives?
Was the pride... so great as to justify this massacre? Was there anything in the world worth protecting with such a horrible death?
“Aaaah!”
A sword pierced the chest of a loved one. Seeing their death, the inhuman laughed. Mu Jin's sword was too weak to stop that horrible scene.
Mu Jin's hand, holding the sword, trembled.
Perhaps the ones responsible for this scene were not them. Maybe it was their recklessness and obstinacy that created this hell.
That reality... filled Mu Jin's eyes with tears.
“Faith is a good word.”
Jang Ilso drank his liquor in one gulp and set the cup down with a dry sound. An unpleasant smile appeared on his face.
“But it’s also another word for irresponsibility.”
“...”
“Do you understand?”
The mockery in his eyes pierced Chung Myung.
“A truly capable person doesn’t talk about faith. He does what he can and makes it happen. He doesn’t mix vague desires into his plans.”
Jang Ilso’s gaze turned to Heo Dojin, who lay dying.
“The same goes for that fool.”
“...”
“Isn’t it ridiculous?”
Jang Ilso shook his head with a smile.
“That guy could also make decisions. If it weren’t for his choice at the Yangtze River, more people would have died. But... now he seems to have become an idiot. Isn’t it strange?”
Chung Myung looked at Jang Ilso without saying anything.
“Do you know what he said?”
“...”
“That he couldn’t stop his disciples. That he couldn’t break their will. Hahaha!”
Jang Ilso spread his arms dramatically.
“Look. This is the result. It’s the tragedy created by someone who lost his own judgment with meaningless words.”
“...”
Chung Myung looked at Heo Dojin.
Heo Dojin seemed about to die, but his body still trembled weakly. He was listening to Jang Ilso’s words.
“If he really wanted to do something, he should have taken responsibility. He should have grabbed cold reason instead of reckless courage. The pigs that can’t do that…”
Jang Ilso’s hand relaxed.
“End up like this.”
Jang Ilso shook his head slowly.
“And you’re saying the same things as that pig. It’s really disappointing.”
Chung Myung, looking at Heo Dojin, poured liquor into Jang Ilso’s cup. Then he looked directly at him.
“If you’ve finished talking, drink.”
“...”
Jang Ilso and Chung Myung’s gazes briefly met in the air.
Jang Ilso, who was staring at Chung Myung, emptied his cup once more. Then, Chung Myung slowly spoke to him.
“You said another word for faith is irresponsibility.”
“...Yes.”
“For me, it’s a bit different.”
“...”
“Faith for me...”
Chung Myung continued in a firm, unwavering tone.
“...is devotion.”
-----------------
“Draw your swords!”
The shout, which echoed like the roar of a beast, filled Baek An Cliff.
Heo Gong shouted with all his might.
“There is no time for despair! If I don’t draw my sword, it won’t be me but my Sahyung who dies!”
His sword pierced the neck and chest of a member of the Evil Tyrant Alliance rushing towards him.
“Regret and despair are for the survivors! Don’t forget why you drew your swords! Don’t fight for your own lives! The lives of your Sahyungs depend on your swords!”
Mu Jin’s eyes trembled.
And at that moment, something suddenly rose before him.
A sharp, bluish sword, wrapped in a vivid glow, froze Mu Jin’s body the moment he saw it.
‘Too late…’
Clang!
Through Mu Jin’s gaze, which had no time to close his eyes, he saw a sword extend from the side and block the blade aimed at him.
“Sasuk! Are you okay?”
“...”
What Mu Jin saw was not Jin Hyun’s sword, which had saved him, but Jin Hyun’s shoulder, which was cut by the enemy’s blade while trying to save him.
The blood painfully splashed in Mu Jin’s eyes.
“It’s not over yet! Not yet!”
Mu Jin’s face twisted in a furious grimace.
‘I…’
What was I doing?
Heo Gong’s words were true. If he hesitated, not only would he die. The lives of his comrades depended on his sword.
“Aaaah!”
Mu Jin’s sword shone with tremendous energy as it swung.
“Sasuk!”
Where Mu Jin’s sword, with its blue glow, extended, the white and black auras of the swords swirled.
Mu Jin’s sword energy swept through the members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance attacking from the front.
The screams of agony resounded.
The tremendous sword energy momentarily halted the one-sided atmosphere of the battlefield.
“Come! Evil Faction hordes! You will not desecrate Wudang while my body is here!”
There might not have been any nobility in risking life to defend something in this place. Perhaps being here was the result of their own recklessness.
But...
‘Even so!’
There was still a reason to fight. There were still things to protect before their life came to an end.
“You will not lay a finger on my Sahyungs!”
Mu Jin’s sword, stripped of pride and justice, was stained with pure devotion.
---------------
“...Devotion?”
“Yes.”
Chung Myung looked at Jang Ilso with indifferent eyes.
“What do you mean by that? Do you believe in something because it’s devotion? Do you expect someone to do something for you?”
“...”
“How is that different from irresponsibility?”
“It’s different.”
“Chh. You’re being stubborn. There’s no difference.”
“It’s different.”
“...”
Chung Myung’s eyes sank deeply.
“You might be right. But if it’s truly devotion, you need to develop your skills. You have to achieve it yourself. Not rely on someone else.”
Jang Ilso’s head moved slowly, as if about to nod.
“There’s no way Heo Dojin didn’t know that.”
“...”
Chung Myung did not look at Heo Dojin, but his words clearly reached his ears.
“But even so, he chose to trust. Instead of breaking his disciples’ will with force and following what he believed was right, he chose a harder path, perhaps even self-destruction.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“No. We call it devotion.”
Chung Myung smiled crookedly, showing his white teeth like beast fangs.
“Listen well, idiot.”
“...”
“You’re right. You’re not wrong. But that’s why you’re an idiot.”
Jang Ilso’s eyes narrowed.
“Idiot?”
“Yes. If your way is to achieve everything alone with your skills…”
Chung Myung’s voice became sharp as a sword.
“What will you do when you face something you can’t achieve alone?”
“...”
Jang Ilso’s face momentarily hardened.
“Will you abandon it? Will you give up? Or will you cling only to what you can do?”
“...”
“There will always be something you can’t do alone. Something you can’t achieve alone. But you can’t give up or retreat.”
“Ha…”
Jang Ilso’s head turned.
Heo Dojin, who had never reacted before, now squeezed out his voice, an ambiguous sound between laughter and crying.
“The devotion of those who must achieve the impossible. The despair of those who must reach the unattainable. That’s what I, no, what we…”
Chung Myung bared his teeth.
“...call faith.”
------------
“Sasuk!”
“Yes! I see them too!”
Mu Jin shouted with all his might.
His voice was filled with emotions that seemed out of place on such an urgent battlefield.
But no one in the world could blame Mu Jin for that.
He saw it. Beneath the high Mount Wudang. Still far away.
A group of people ran towards them at incredible speed.
He knew who they were. Even if he could only see their forms in the distance.
“Chun…”
Mu Jin’s hand trembled.
Or perhaps it wasn’t his hand, but his heart that trembled.
As his face contorted, the figures in the darkness gradually became clearer.
“Heavenly Comrade Alliance!”
Mu Jin shouted with all his might.
And at the moment those three words, filled with meaning, resonated, the atmosphere of despair and obstinacy at the White Cliff changed like magic.
“The Heavenly Comrade Alliance has arrived!”
Those fighting with their swords. Those preparing for their end. Those pouring out everything they had left. Even those celebrating while tearing apart Wudang looked surprised.
Beyond the summit, it was clearly visible.
As if breaking the darkness, running towards them. And at the front, leading everyone with his sword, was someone dressed in dazzling white.
“Baek Cheon! It’s the Mount Hua Sect! The Mount Hua Sect has brought the Heavenly Comrade Alliance as reinforcements!”
They will come, they will definitely come. If it’s them.
That desperate wish, called faith, had finally come true.