C1708. That's enough. (3)
Everyone stopped at the deafening shout.
The Swordsmen of Mount Hua, who were desperately fighting to break through the elite of the Southern Sea Sun Palace, and even the even more desperate members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance, halted.
Was it due to his wounded pride or his trampled honor? The cry of the Leader of the Sun Palace seemed more desperate than the critical situation in which Mount Hua found itself.
"Wretches! How dare you! It doesn't matter if there are dozens or hundreds, you cannot make me retreat. You will all die here. For daring to face me and brandishing your swords, you will be thrown into this precipice, and your bodies will not even be found."
With the cliff collapsing and the heart-wrenching screams resonating, the Leader of the Sun Palace made his declaration.
"Repent and repent again! Repent for the insolence of confronting me and for the foolishness of setting foot on this mountain."
There was a majesty in his voice, a serenity that had not been perceived until now, derived from his position of superiority, which caused anxiety among the Mount Hua Disciples.
But at that moment, a low, soft laugh was heard. The sound, which did not fit the desperate situation at all, attracted everyone's attention.
It was a swordsman with curly hair, lying on the ground, who laughed with a sound as resonant as the cry of the Leader of the Sun Palace.
"This bastard..."
The face of the Leader of the Sun Palace turned red with fury. At that moment, Jo Gul got up.
"You're having fun, huh? Shouting like a scared dog, using explosives."
"What?"
"Did I say something wrong?"
Jo Gul nonchalantly wiped the blood from his lips and showed his teeth in a smile directed at the Leader of the Sun Palace.
"Everyone here clearly saw how you cried out for using explosives like a scared dog. Do you think anyone is going to take you seriously with your fake dignity now? Isn't that right, Sahyung?"
"Certainly... it's a bit pathetic, considering his status."
"Right?"
Yoon Jong laughed as he joined Jo Gul. Hye Yeon and Yoo Iseol also approached, causing the Leader of the Sun Palace to glare at them.
"These bastards... are they so stupid that they don't understand their situation?"
"We know very well what we are doing, you fool."
"What?"
Jo Gul raised his sword and held it upside down. Inwardly, he mocked.
"Everything is upside down."
His body was completely shattered by the powerful internal energy of the Leader of the Sun Palace. He felt his head dizzy and his legs weak.
But instead of falling, Jo Gul looked back. The cliff continued to collapse, devouring the members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance who were struggling to survive.
The desperate looks of those falling into the abyss seemed to imprint on his mind.
"It's very close."
The collapse would soon reach his position.
But no one dared to take a step forward. Even the members of the Evil Tyrant Alliance who had come this far, enraged, did not dare to attack the Leader of the Sun Palace. The pressure of his energy was overwhelming, creating an atmosphere of despair.
"Despair."
The looks full of unknown emotions were directed towards Jo Gul. Those who knew him and those who did not shared the same feeling at that moment.
Perhaps, at some point, Jo Gul had also looked at someone with that same look.
BOOOM!
The inevitable fate approached noisily from behind.
Jo Gul took a deep breath and focused on the Leader of the Sun Palace.
"Would one time be enough?"
"Probably."
"And if it's two?"
"We would all die."
"Damn it... you could be more optimistic."
There was no way to wear down his defense little by little. They needed a single decisive blow. One misstep would mean failure, and that failure would not only mean Jo Gul's death but also that of all of Mount Hua and Wudang.
"What's the probability?"
"...It's low."
"So, is this our last conversation?"
"Most likely."
"Hum... there's something I've always wanted to say."
"If you're going to say nonsense, better not say it."
"......"
Jo Gul decided not to say anything. Instead, he clicked his tongue.
If they couldn't break through, they would die...
"This is not new."
The path they had walked had always been like this. Now, Chung Myung and Baek Cheon's back were simply not in front of them. Now it was their turn to pave the way, along with the others.
Jo Gul crouched, taking a firm position. All his muscles and nerves prepared for battle.
His eyes closed slightly.
"To be honest... it's still too early for me."
The Plum Blossom Sword in his hand seemed to resonate in understanding, emanating an intense red energy. His half-closed eyes sank deeper, like a monk in meditation.
BZZZZ!
Jo Gul's sword vibrated more intensely. Everything he had learned and practiced was imbued in his sword. Everything he had perfected throughout his life.
"I..."
His hand trembled slightly.
Despite having given it his all, there was still a shadow of doubt and burden. The difficult emotions to shake seemed to stick to him like glue.
Could he do it? Really?
He felt short of breath.
The handle of the sword, which had always felt like an extension of his hand, now felt strangely unfamiliar, making his fingers tremble.
Could he do it? Really...?
Jo Gul tried to look back unknowingly. Or, at least, he tried to.
Maybe, he thought, 'he' might be right behind him.
He always appeared like the wind in these moments, tearing down the barriers in his path. He would open the way for them and the possibility of survival.
But before he could turn his head, a calm voice brushed his ear.
"Don't look back. Forward."
"……."
It wasn't the person Jo Gul expected. But the owner of that voice had always been by his side.
"Don't look back. Just keep going."
The voice wasn't loud, but it reached Jo Gul clearly.
"I'll take responsibility. I'll open the way, even if I have to give my life."
Jo Gul looked at Yoon Jong.
He seemed calm, as if nothing was happening. He didn't show a solemn air nor firm conviction.
Even if he might be facing the last moment of his life, there didn't seem to be a hint of doubt.
The trembling in Jo Gul's hand began to calm down. After a moment of silence, Jo Gul smiled slightly.
"Always so weak."
"If you keep this up, you'll get a beating."
The tension on Jo Gul's face also began to disappear. He shook his head and fixed his gaze on the Leader of the Sun Palace.
He pressed the ground with his foot.
In reality, he didn't know.
The future Chung Myung spoke of, Baek Cheon's conviction, Yoon Jong's honor... it all seemed distant to him. Yoo Iseol's devotion, Hye Yeon's firmness, he could only admire them but couldn't feel them in his heart.
But he knew one thing. The world they saw was probably much clearer than his. Compared to their world, his was covered in a thick, blurry fog.
While everyone found and paved their own way, his had always been blurry.
Maybe because he lacked something. Courage, conviction, sense of justice, and warmth.
That's why he couldn't decide anything for himself. He had only strived to keep his place. Maybe he was the only inept one in Mount Hua.
But there was one thing...
"This is a promise."
However, there was something. A light that silently illuminated his dark path.
Jo Gul simply believed. He believed in the man behind him. Even if he couldn't find the right path in his blurry world, he believed that this man would find the "right path" he believed in.
"Is that it?"
Jo Gul murmured. Something he had heard once, maybe without realizing it.
"I am... a sword."
He couldn't be sure he was right. He couldn't be sure of the path he walked. But he could believe in those who were by his side and were just.
That's why he was a sword. A sword that didn't cut by itself, but when wielded, was the sharpest of all.
Letting go of doubt was only possible under unwavering faith.
"That's right."
In the center of his blurry world, a small dot appeared.
It was weak and insignificant. But the moment this small focal point appeared, Jo Gul's world began to be tinged with the same color. Not just his world, but also his body, mind, and the sword in his hand.
"Damn!"
Did he instinctively sense something? Or was it just a coincidence?
A large amount of energy erupted from the hands of the Leader of the Sun Palace. A storm of energy rushed towards Jo Gul.
He felt unbearable pressure and heat. He knew a simple sword wouldn't be enough.
At that moment, Jo Gul's eyes lit up with clarity.
BOOM!
He didn't realize he had jumped.
The moment his body, mind, and energy united as one, Jo Gul became a sword and launched himself towards the energy, towards the Leader of the Sun Palace who was beyond.
"I am..."
Moving forward is confronting, and confronting is facing.
Although his world became clearer, Jo Gul's consciousness didn't stop there.
He only focused on two things.
One was the enemy behind the flames.
The other was the steady breath behind him, from someone who believed in him and had jumped into the flames without hesitation.
"The job of a sword is..."
Jo Gul's eyes sank deeply somewhere, on the border between the blurry and the clear.
"Simply to cut."
SLASH!
His sword swung. His hand moved. No, he himself moved.
The stroke he drew was not clean. It was rough and crude, far from what an experienced swordsman would have done.
But the stroke cut without hesitation.
It cut what had blocked and threatened him like an insurmountable wall.
The intensely boiling red flames split as if they were water flowing in two directions. It was so smooth that it seemed the natural course of things.
It was something impossible.
Between the divided flames, Jo Gul's half-closed eyes met the astonished eyes of the Leader of the Sun Palace.
And at that moment, Jo Gul's sword...
No, Jo Gul himself pierced the wall called despair.
A dull, chilling sound was heard.
CRACK!
The steel sword, so-called, lodged in the chest of the Leader of the Sun Palace.
