Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 372 – Sword, and Sword (3)

An old man with a grizzled face and gray beard gazed at something with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

The old man’s name was Ou Moon-hyeok.

He was renowned as a master swordsmith.

‘What in the world has happened here?’

The main hall, which he had expected to be bustling and grand for the enthronement ceremony, was completely covered in blood, with dismembered corpses piled up everywhere.

There were nearly hundreds of them.

What on earth could have happened?

‘What has transpired here, Lady Ryu?’

As Ou Moon-hyeok looked around the hall in shock at the tremendous tragedy, his eyes widened.

He hurriedly ran towards a certain spot.

In the center lay a beautiful woman in a bright red ornate dress, her face pale and eyes closed.

She was none other than,

[Lady Ryu!]

The female swordsman he had been looking for,

Ryu So-wol of the Moon Vein, who was supposed to have her Society Leader enthronement ceremony today.

Ou Moon-hyeok bent down and quickly checked the pulse of the fallen woman.

His face soon hardened as he felt for her pulse.

‘This… this can’t be.’

There was no pulse, and her body had already grown cold.

Judging by the stiffness of her body, rigor mortis had already set in.

Ou Moon-hyeok stared at the lifeless Ryu So-wol in shock, his gaze eventually moving towards her chest.

‘Her heart?’

He hadn’t noticed at first due to all the blood, but when he slightly lifted her clothes, there was a hole in the center of her chest.

It seemed her heart had been ripped out entirely.

Clench

Ou Moon-hyeok’s fists tightened.

How could this have happened?

Aside from being a woman, Ryu So-wol was one of the most skilled swordsmen he knew among the countless martial artists.

Hadn’t she even surpassed the Profound Realm?

How could such a person have lost her life so tragically?

‘Lady Ryu…’

Woong woong woong

The wooden box he was carrying on his back along with his bundle began to tremble.

At this, Ou Moon-hyeok muttered:

[…Have you sensed it too?]

Thud

Ou Moon-hyeok set the wooden box down on the floor.

When he opened the lid, a pure white sword, newly forged and brimming with vitality, revealed itself.

This was her sword, Sunyeon.

Ryu So-wol had named it herself and asked him to bring it when it was completed, in time for her enthronement ceremony.

‘I completed the finest sword…’

It was a masterpiece, one of the best among the numerous swords he had crafted.

For Ou Moon-hyeok, who had come expecting to see her joyful face upon completing the sword, this was utterly disheartening and bitter.

The owner had departed this world without even touching the sword.

Woong woong woong

As if sensing this, a faint sword cry could be heard.

Ou Moon-hyeok bit his lower lip hard with trembling eyes.

Though in the martial world, where dozens or hundreds die every day, no one could guarantee tomorrow, this was simply incomprehensible.

‘Who could it be?’

Who on earth could have done this?

Ryu So-wol was one of the top masters of her time, and considering the scale of Heaven-Earth Moon Society, to commit such a tragedy would require a force of comparable size.

Ou Moon-hyeok stood up and examined the corpses in the hall.

His clan had been demanding to know the sword techniques of the sword owners for generations when crafting swords, so he prided himself on his unparalleled knowledge in this area.

‘Most of the wounds on these corpses were inflicted by swords, so if I examine them closely, there might be some clues.’

It was likely to be an organization that could stand against Heaven-Earth Moon Society.

Most probably one of the Nine Major Sects…

‘!?’

At that moment, Ou Moon-hyeok frowned.

This was because as he examined the sword wounds on the corpses, he found that many of them didn’t show signs of any special sword techniques.

‘…This can’t be.’

Ou Moon-hyeok, who had been examining the corpses with disbelief, was shocked beyond words.

He had naturally assumed it was a battle between organizations, but most of the corpses seemed to be the work of a single person.

What was even more surprising was that no special sword techniques were used.

They were simply slashed with a sword.

‘Overwhelming power. Overwhelming sharpness…’

That’s what these sword wounds showed.

The sword had simply been swung, yet nothing could stop it.

If any weapon had tried to block it, both the weapon and the wielder were cut down.

Most of the sword wounds were decisive blows, cleaving both weapon and body in two with a single swing.

‘…A monster.’

The phrase “unstoppable force” seemed fitting here.

Even if Ryu So-wol was a prodigy with the sword, she couldn’t have withstood such a monster.

It was someone so strong that even he wouldn’t want to face them.

But then,

‘Hm?’

His eyes narrowed as he examined the traces.

Some of the corpses…

Boom! Rumble rumble rumble!

Just then, Ou Moon-hyeok turned his gaze at the sound of a huge roar.

As if an earthquake had struck, the main hall shook, and sounds echoed from outside.

Could the perpetrator of this tragedy still be here?

After hesitating for a moment, Ou Moon-hyeok raised his energy to his Yongcheon point.

Pat!

His body shot up from the ground.

Though he had felt a moment of fear towards the one who had created these sword wounds, he soon calmed his mind.

Even if he couldn’t face this monster-like being, he felt he should at least identify who the culprit was, if only for the sake of his friendship with Lady Ryu.

As Ou Moon-hyeok emerged from the main hall, his expression immediately darkened.

Shiver

‘…What in the world.’

His reaction was due to a chilling energy that went beyond stimulating his senses to completely overwhelming them.

The more skilled a martial artist is, the easier it is to sense such energy when it’s released.

But this ferocious and evil energy wasn’t confined to a single space; it was overturning everything around, and its scale was hard to fathom.

It seemed to fill tens or hundreds of miles.

How could a human possess such tremendous energy?

He was on the verge of trembling all over, overcome by the pressure.

[Haa… haa…]

Ou Moon-hyeok’s breathing became ragged.

No matter how much he tried to calm himself, it was difficult to regain his senses amidst this ferocious energy filling everything around him.

He could tell where this energy was emanating from, but his feet wouldn’t move.

The moment he entered this monster’s sight, he might die before he even realized it.

But then, something caught Ou Moon-hyeok’s eye.

‘Ah?’

The ferocious energy that had been dominating the surroundings suddenly subsided.

What could have happened?

At this, he wiped his sweat-soaked forehead with his sleeve and darted towards the source of the energy.

It wasn’t too far from here.

About two li northwest of Heaven-Earth Moon Society’s main complex,

‘!!!!!’

Ou Moon-hyeok’s eyes widened as he arrived at the spot.

The sky was covered in dark clouds, with a large hole torn through them, and a crimson light, reminiscent of sunset, poured down to illuminate the ground.

Even more bizarre were the several severed mountain peaks and giant shattered rocks floating here and there in the sky, making the entire area feel like a place not of this world.

What on earth had happened here?

Ou Moon-hyeok, who had been staring at this tremendous sight in a daze, soon discovered something.

‘Ah?’

It was someone standing on top of one of the giant rocks floating in the air.

A man with long hair, wearing a fluttering black robe, held a sword in his hand.

It was an ink-black sword, and the moment Ou Moon-hyeok saw it, his mouth fell open.

Being a craftsman, he couldn’t help but be captivated when he saw an excellent weapon, even unintentionally.

‘…It’s perfect.’

The moment he saw the ink-black sword, Ou Moon-hyeok was instantly captivated by its form.

The shape of that sword was ideal beyond comparison to any sword he had ever conceived as a craftsman.

Who on earth could have made such a sword?

As he was lost in all sorts of imaginings while looking at the sword, Ou Moon-hyeok suddenly slapped his own cheek.

Slap!

What was he doing?

This was no time to be captivated by a sword.

He needed to memorize that man’s face in detail so he could at least seek revenge for the unjustly killed Lady Ryu So-wol.

But then,

Whirr!

An astonishing sight unfolded.

The sword the man was holding disassembled itself, transforming into a ring-like shape and settling on his arm.

Ou Moon-hyeok’s face was filled with shock.

What was happening?

How could a perfectly normal sword disassemble and turn into a ring-like shape?

How was such a thing possible?

Despite his family having been craftsmen for generations, this was a technique he couldn’t comprehend no matter how much he pondered.

As he was wondering about this,

Swish

Flinch

Ou Moon-hyeok unconsciously took a step back in surprise.

This was because the man turned his head and looked directly at him.

He had been hiding while suppressing his energy as much as possible, so this was utterly baffling.

Was he going to die at this man’s hands?

As he hesitated on what to do, it happened.

Boom!

An unbelievable, tremendous sight unfolded before his eyes.

A dazzling beam of light poured through the hole in the dark clouds, striking down towards the ground.

The light was so bright that he had to close his eyes for a moment.

Kwaaaaang!

With a thunderous roar, his body, eyes still closed, was thrown backwards.

Ou Moon-hyeok, who had raised his protective energy thinking he needed to shield his body, crashed into various places chaotically.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

[Kugh!]

After colliding several times, he was finally able to stop, seemingly as the aftermath subsided.

Opening his eyes, Ou Moon-hyeok had a dazed expression.

He seemed to have been thrown back nearly a hundred meters, and looking towards where the beam of light had struck in the distance,

***

“There was nothing there, he said.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Yes, my great-grandfather rushed to that spot, but the floating rocks and severed mountainsides had disappeared, and the surrounding area had become like a plain. It was truly a bizarre occurrence.”

It was enough to make ghosts wail.

Master Ou Cheonmu’s great-grandfather, Ou Moon-hyeok, said he felt as if he had been dreaming when he saw this.

Neither the crimson hole torn through the dark clouds nor any of the floating objects were visible anymore.

To this, Mok Gyeong-un asked:

“What about that man?”

The man Mok Gyeong-un inquired about was the long-haired man who had been holding the ink-black sword.

According to the records left by Master Ou Cheonmu’s great-grandfather, he was likely the culprit who had ripped out Cheong-ryeong’s heart and caused that tragedy.

“He vanished.”

“Vanished?”

“Yes, my great-grandfather mobilized even the surviving members of Heaven-Earth Moon Society to search for traces of that man. They searched the surrounding area for three days and nights but found nothing.”

“…Did they only search the immediate area?”

“No. My great-grandfather drew a sketch of the man’s appearance from memory and passed it around. For a while, Heaven-Earth Moon Society also tried to find the identity of this unknown person suspected to be the true culprit…”

-That’s not true!

Crash crash crash crash crash!

Before he could finish his sentence.

Along with a piercing cry that could burst eardrums, numerous objects in the workshop shattered as if exploding.

At this sight, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head to look at Cheong-ryeong.

Mok Gyeong-un’s brow furrowed as he gazed at her.

This was because the area around where Cheong-ryeong had been was becoming stained with blood, and her spiritual energy was rising to a chilling degree.

“What on earth?”

Master Ou Cheonmu looked towards where she was with a perplexed expression.

Though he didn’t have the eyes to see spirits, perhaps due to the rapidly surging spiritual energy, Ou Cheonmu, who had noticed something flickering, had already drawn his sword.

Shing

At this, Mok Gyeong-un held out his palm towards him as if to stop him and spoke to Cheong-ryeong using sound transmission:

-Cheong-ryeong. Let’s calm down for now.

-Without knowing anything… Who… who are you calling the true culprit?

Crack! Crack!

The wooden floorboards were torn up, rising like thorns.

It was as if they were reacting to her vengeful spiritual energy.

A strange light flashed in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

This was because in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes, which had opened his spirit vision, he could see her surging spiritual energy gradually turning purple.