Chapter 187: The Mask Comes Off
Shing. Shing.
The black-masked members of the Shadow Corps drew their swords in unison.
Then—
Clang!
A heavy metallic sound echoed through the underground facility.
The locked iron doors all opened at once.
“Look over there!”
Countless shadows began moving beyond the bars.
Ink-black eyes.
Black veins bulging across faces and necks.
Demonic qi wrapped around their entire bodies.
“Demonic humans!”
More and more of them emerged.
Dozens.
No.
Their numbers had already surpassed a hundred.
The black-masked Shadow Corps members stood directly ahead.
Countless demonic humans surrounded us from both sides.
And the entrance behind us had already been sealed.
“Draw your weapons!”
The Righteous Alliance warriors and masters from the various sects drew their weapons at once.
I raised my sword as well, preparing for the battle to come.
Then—
Step. Step.
Someone walked forward alone.
Moyong Cheonhwi.
Everyone's eyes turned toward him.
Shing.
He drew his treasured sword from its sheath.
“The Alliance Leader has drawn his sword!”
Relief appeared on the faces of several Righteous Alliance elders and warriors.
They were probably remembering how Moyong Cheonhwi had slaughtered dozens of demonic humans alone at Azure Pine Garden.
But I felt something different.
"..."
A sense of foreboding crawled across my entire body.
Then—
“...Alliance Leader?”
One of the Righteous Alliance warriors spoke in confusion.
And understandably so.
Everyone expected Moyong Cheonhwi to attack the black-masked figures and demonic humans immediately.
Instead...
he simply walked forward with his sword hanging loosely at his side.
The distance between him and the black-masked figures steadily narrowed.
An Alliance elder watching him shouted urgently,
“Alliance Leader! It's dangerous! You must not go any closer!”
Moyong Cheonhwi stopped.
Slowly...
he turned around.
“Dangerous?”
One corner of his mouth lifted.
The confused elder pointed toward the black-masked figures.
“Watch behind you! Those people are there!”
"..."
Moyong Cheonhwi stared at the elder.
Then said coldly,
“There are only my subordinates behind me.”
His lips curled further.
“What exactly are you telling me to be careful of?”
“What...? What do you mean by—”
At that instant—
Shhk!
Every black-masked figure behind Moyong Cheonhwi dropped to one knee.
“We greet our lord!”
Their thunderous voices shook the enormous underground chamber.
"...!"
“L-Lord...?”
“What is this...?”
“Alliance Leader...?”
Disbelieving voices erupted from every direction.
Moyong Cheonhwi slowly turned toward us.
“Now that you've seen this much...”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“there is no longer any need to wear this pointless mask.”
One of the Alliance elders stammered,
“A-Alliance Leader... what do you mean?”
Moyong Cheonhwi didn't answer.
Instead...
he raised the sword in his hand.
Wooooom!
Blue energy rose along the blade.
Don't tell me.
The First Form of the Sovereign Heaven Sword.
Heavenly Stars, Ten Thousand Rains.
WHOOSH!
Countless sword shadows appeared around Moyong Cheonhwi.
They transformed into blue sword qi and soared above his head.
The dark underground chamber was instantly dyed blue.
I realized what he was about to do.
“Watch out!”
At my shout...
the sword qi suspended in the air all changed direction.
Their tips pointed—
straight at us.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
A rain of death filled the air.
“Hup!”
I raised my sword and knocked aside the first sword qi that fell toward me.
CLAAAAANG!
The impact jolted my wrist violently.
There was no time to recover.
SWISH!
The second and third strikes immediately came after me.
CLANG! CLANG-CLANG!
I swung repeatedly, deflecting the blue sword qi.
Every time I blocked one...
another descended.
It truly felt like swords were raining from the sky.
This crazy bastard.
Watching the technique from Azure Pine Garden had been completely different.
Now that I was taking it head-on...
I could feel how much force was packed into every single strand of sword qi.
CLANG!
Another strike smashed into my blade.
I endured the impact and retreated half a step.
At that exact moment...
another sword qi plunged into the ground beside me.
BOOM!
The stone floor exploded, scattering shards in every direction.
Explosions erupted around me one after another.
BOOM! BOOOOM!
“Amitabha!”
Master Gonghyeon thrust both palms upward.
A powerful wave of palm force surged out, knocking away several strands of sword qi falling toward him and the martial artists nearby.
On the opposite side...
Sect Leader Cheon Gwangcheon's sword moved rapidly.
SWISH!
Blue sword light sliced through the air.
Several descending attacks split apart one after another.
Sect Leader Wonmyeong, my master, and Senior Brother Hyeoneom were also protecting not only themselves...
but the people around them.
But—
they couldn't protect everyone.
STAB!
“Kugh!”
A short scream reached my ears.
I turned.
A blue blade of sword qi had pierced straight through a Righteous Alliance warrior's chest.
Before his body even hit the floor...
another scream erupted elsewhere.
“Aaaagh!”
A martial artist raised his sword to block.
Too late.
The blue sword qi sliced diagonally from his shoulder down toward his side.
SPURT!
Blood sprayed high into the air.
“S-Save—”
STAB!
Before he could finish speaking...
another strand pierced through his back.
Thud.
The man collapsed face-first.
He wasn't the only one.
Those who hadn't managed to take proper stances...
those still unable to understand what was happening...
were pierced one after another and fell across the facility.
Screams.
The sound of weapons colliding.
Stone shattering.
Everything mixed together.
Only a few breaths passed.
Yet in that short time...
the underground facility had become a scene of absolute chaos.
