Then who the hell are they? (7)

Crunch!

A pain as if his chest was being ripped apart overwhelmed him. However, Beop Jong couldn’t even look down at his chest. The moment he turned his gaze, that fist would fly at his neck instead of his chest.

The metallic taste of blood rose up his throat.

The pain was so unfamiliar and foreign that Beop Jong’s face twisted. But there was no time to wallow in agony.

He struck down and pushed away Jang Ilso’s arm. As if ready to follow up with another strike, he threw a feint and then immediately jumped back. He needed to create enough distance to stab at Jang Ilso’s gap and handle the situation.

It wasn’t a bad improvisation.

But the problem was that Jang Ilso wasn’t someone to be fooled by such a move.

Swish.

Jang Ilso rushed at Beop Jong with a force that seemed like it would tear the air apart.

Blue Flame Battleground Slaughter [창염투살(蒼炎鬪殺) – chang-yeomtusal].

His secret martial art that had earned him the nickname “Supreme Ruler/Dominating Sovereign” [패군(覇君) – Paegun] was displayed in full force.

The blue aura enveloping his entire body seethed like the flames of hell. It seemed like it would engulf and burn Beop Jong at any moment.

“Eek…!”

The usually composed monk rarely shouted as he thrust his fist forward.

His face twisted like a demon’s, but the Buddhist light emitted from his fist was still auspicious.

Arhat Divine Fist!

It was the fist of an arhat that annihilates demons.

However, the demon standing before him was too powerful and persistent to be handled by that alone.

“Hahahaha!”

Jang Ilso burst into a crazed laugh, spewing out dozens of punches. The speed was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.

The blue aura penetrated the space before the golden fist power could even extend fully.

A mighty martial art requires time to unleash its full power. But Jang Ilso’s punches did not allow Beop Jong the time to transform his inner strength into the power of his fists.

Beop Jong could not hide his dismay as his fist power crumbled before it could even unfold. He hastily withdrew his extended hand and directly countered the incoming punches with his own fists.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jang Ilso’s and Beop Jong’s fists collided repeatedly.

At that moment, Beop Jong felt it. Jang Ilso’s fists were subtly lifting him from below, not excessively, but unmistakably.

‘Do I look foolish enough to fall for the same trick again?’

Beop Jong instantly drew up his inner power.

If the intent was to keep his feet from touching the ground, he would simply shatter that intent entirely!

“Taaaaaap!”

With a thunderous shout, Beop Jong’s Arhat Fist shot towards Jang Ilso’s head. With the force to split a mountain, it carried such overwhelming inner power that Jang Ilso dared not counter it!

Swish!

But in that moment, Jang Ilso’s fist, which had been rushing straight towards Beop Jong’s fist, twisted like a snake, grazing Beop Jong’s fist and coiling around his forearm.

In that moment, Beop Jong, startled, widened his eyes.

‘What is this…!’

It wasn’t the unorthodox move that surprised him.

Crunch! Crack!

Jang Ilso’s arm, which had coiled around Beop Jong’s wrist, twisted.

It was only natural. The internal force imbued in Beop Jong’s punch didn’t disappear just because it wasn’t met with an equal force. Jang Ilso, with his arm twisted, had taken the full brunt of that immense internal power.

While there was no change in Jang Ilso’s expression, his arm screamed in agony.

Crunch!

With a terrible sound, the bone fractured, and the flesh, unable to withstand the sudden pressure, swelled like a balloon and burst, spraying blood.

Yet, even amidst this, Jang Ilso’s arm held tightly onto Beop Jong’s arm. It was like a very secure lock.

“Paegun!”

Beop Jong shouted loudly, channeling the power of the Avalokitesvara Hand into his free left hand instead of his entangled right. Dozens of palm shadows formed in an instant and poured down onto Jang Ilso’s body.

It was the palm force unleashed by none other than Beop Jong. Though hurriedly executed, it contained a tremendous force capable of crushing even ten thousand geun.

At that moment, Jang Ilso pulled his entwined arm with great strength. Beop Jong’s posture faltered momentarily, and the direction of his palm force twisted.

However, only half of the palm force veered off course. The remaining half surged directly towards Jang Ilso’s entire body.

“Hahahaha!”

Madness swirled in Jang Ilso’s eyes.

Whoosh!

The flame aura surrounding Jang IIso surged like a fire that devours and incinerates everything in its path. Enveloped in the blazing flames, Jang Ilso charged headlong into the incoming palm force.

Bang!

Dozens of palm shadows simultaneously struck Jang Ilso’s entire body.

The resounding booms, like a massive hammer striking a bronze bell, overlapped and echoed.

No matter how much one surrounds their body with aura, it is impossible to fully withstand such force. The impact, powerful enough to kill with pain alone, struck Jang Ilso’s entire body.

Yet, even as black blood poured from his mouth and nose, Jang Ilso dug deeper into Beop Jong’s embrace, still entwining one arm with Beop Jong’s.

Bang!

Jang Ilso’s elbow struck Beop Jong’s solar plexus.

The recoil felt like hitting a massive steel wall. The elbow, infused with inner strength, felt like it would break from the counterforce.

Nonetheless, Jang Ilso didn’t care and continued to swing his elbow, repeatedly striking Beop Jong’s chest.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood gushed from Beop Jong’s mouth, pouring over Jang Ilso’s face. Jang IIso, his face entirely reddened with his own blood and the blood he had made Beop Jong spill, glared with fierce murderous intent in his eyes.

He struck Beop Jong’s solar plexus once more.

Thud!

At that moment, Beop Jong struck Jang IIso’s chin with his palm. Jang Ilso’s head snapped back as if it would break, and blood sprayed from his lips into the air.

“Gah!”

In that instant, Jang Ilso’s fingers dug into Beop Jong’s side. Seizing the brief moment when Beop Jong had converted his inner strength to an offensive, Jang Ilso’s fingers pierced between Beop Jong’s ribs and gripped tightly.

“Aaaargh!”

Bang!

Beop Jong repeatedly struck Jang IIso’s chest with his fist, as if trying to crush him and escape the pain.

And then.

Bang!

Beop Jong’s vision went white for a moment.

Then the sky filled his sight, a dark sky adorned with stars.

‘What?’

Beop Jong’s face went blank, unable to immediately grasp the situation. What brought him back to reality was the excruciating pain in his jaw.

Jang Ilso had headbutted him right on the chin.

“You…”

Crunch.

Beop Jong ground his teeth ferociously. He felt rage he had never experienced before in his life. The hatred for the enemy who had driven him to this state boiled over, burning away any notion of ‘compassion!’.

“You bastard!”

Thud!

Beop Jong kicked Jang IIso straight in the abdomen.

It was a raw kick, devoid of any technique or finesse. But whether by chance or fate, that desperate blow landed perfectly on Jang IIso. His body was flung back.

Beop Jong, now freed from Jang Ilso’s grip, unleashed all his pent-up fury without holding back.

“Hyaaaahhh!”

A barrage of strikes like a literal storm.

The Great Strength Vájra Fist [대력금강권(大力金剛拳)], which is supposed to focus its power into each strike to overpower the opponent, was unleashed in a manner completely contrary to its nature, seeming to tear Jang Ilso apart.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Still unsatisfied, Beop Jong let out a beastly roar, bringing his hands together in front of his chest to form a peculiar hand seal [수인(手印)] before thrusting them forward. The form created by his hands emitted an aura that was closer to crimson than gold, and it shot towards Jang Ilso.

Lion’s Roar Mudra [사자모니인(獅子牟尼引)]*!

An ultimate technique said to have been created by Buddha under the Bodhi tree to resist the temptations brought by demons.

True to its origin, it possessed the power to utterly destroy its target and was so imbued with lethal energy that even those who had mastered it hesitated to use it. It was one of the top-ranking techniques among the Seventy two ultimate techniques of Shaolin.

The bright red river of energy was reflected and swayed in Beop Jong’s eyes.

Boom!

The ground exploded, and the shattered debris shot out in all directions like shrapnel.

A cloud of dust rose high enough to obscure the sky. It was an unbelievable sight to have been created by human power.

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

Beop Jong panted heavily. Sweat poured down his entire body like rain. His monk’s robe, soaked with blood and sweat, had long lost its original brightness.

His fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

‘Why..’

Why was he experiencing such a calamity?

There was at least a one-level difference between Jang Ilso’s martial arts and his own. As long as he wasn’t careless, he should have been able to subdue him without much difficulty.

But what on earth is happening here?

The advantage was clearly his. It still was.

Yet this couldn’t be called an advantage.

The blood he spilled, his labored breathing that felt like his lungs would burst, and his trembling fingertips all told a different story.

What would those who witnessed this think?

What would they say about the blood he shed?

“You…”

Hatred, hostility, and an uncontrollable rage flared up again.

“Paeguuuuuun!”

A roar erupted from Beop Jong’s mouth, shaking the ground.

It was a roar so formidable that it could momentarily freeze the heat of the battlefield. The dust cloud that had risen was quickly pushed away by its force.

He couldn’t have died from just this.

That dreadful man couldn’t possibly be dead from just this. So he must finish him off with his own hands…

“Ugh, ugh!”

At that moment, Beop Jong clutched his mouth, overcome with severe nausea. A dizzying feeling swept over him.

‘Poison?’

This was undoubtedly the symptom of poisoning.

But when did it happen?

“Ugh…”

Beop Jong’s gaze scanned his body. One side of his monk’s robe, drenched in sweat and blood, was stained black.

“This, this…”

It was the side where Jang Ilso’s fingers had pierced earlier. The fabric there was soaked in a dark purplish hue. In that brief moment, Jang Ilso had injected poison into Beop Jong’s body.

“A petty trick…!”

Beop Jong ground his teeth.

For a master with his level of inner strength, poison was merely a nuisance that consumed some stamina for a moment.

He immediately circulated his inner energy to burn away the poison coursing through his body.

But…

‘It won’t disappear?’

No matter how much he burned it, the poison continued to eat away at his body. It was incomprehensible.

Beop Jong’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck them.

“What… what is…!”

Instinctively, Beop Jong grabbed his side. As he did, he felt a strong foreign sensation he hadn’t noticed before due to the pain.

If the foreign sensation was coming from the side where Jang Ilso’s hand had pierced…

“A ring…”

“That’s correct.”

A soft voice replied.

It was a voice that didn’t quite match its owner’s ghastly appearance.

Jang Ilso, who looked like a ghost with his disheveled hair, had somehow managed to stand up and was staring at Beop Jong.

His upper garment was torn off, revealing his scarred upper body, which was covered in dark red patches.

One arm was broken, twisted at a bizarre angle, and still bleeding profusely.

Yet Jang Ilso seemed unconcerned with his injuries. He lifted his limp arm and used his other hand to align the broken bones.

“It’s something I treasure very much…”

Crack.

“…a prized possession.”

Crack.

With each chilling sound, Jang IIso’s twisted arm straightened bit by bit.

“How about it? Isn’t it a good method?”

“…Ugh.”

Beop Jong gritted his teeth so hard they almost cracked from the pressure.

Grit!

His trembling hand dug into the hole in his side, but the ring, although touched by his fingertips, wouldn’t come out. It only added to his excruciating pain.

“Hmm. You’re thinking too simply. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.”

Jang Ilso smiled softly. The smile on his mangled face was eerie.

“It has barbs like a harpoon. It will stay embedded there for a while, continuously releasing poison. It may not do much, but it will…”

“Amitabha!”

Jang Ilso’s words halted as his eyebrow twitched.

Beop Jong placed his palm on his side and used his inner strength to grasp the ring inside with a powerful suction force. Without a moment’s hesitation, he forcefully pulled the ring out.

Crack!

In the process, his rib broke, and a chunk of flesh, caught on the hooks, was ripped out.

It was a truly horrific sight, enough to make even Jang Ilso momentarily frown.

“My, my… How extreme.”

“Huuu… Huk. Jang… IIso…!”

Beop Jong’s eyes, bloodshot with rage, glared at Jang Ilso. They were the eyes of someone consumed by vengeance, abandoning everything to the original poison.

“Your gaze has improved a lot.”

Jang Ilso laughed gleefully as he walked towards Beop Jong.

Despite Beop Jong’s injury, Jang Ilso had undoubtedly suffered far more up to this point. That was an undeniable fact.

But that didn’t matter at all.

“You’ve finally arrived. This is the battlefield, and this is a fight. You now stand where the lofty cannot.”

“Jang Ilsooooooo!”

Beop Jong charged at Jang Ilso without further words. Mercy and Buddhist teachings were forgotten. He was driven solely by anger.

Because of this, Beop Jong didn’t see it.

He didn’t see that at the moment he charged, Jang Ilso glanced elsewhere.

The battle, no, this war, was reaching its climax.

Toward an outcome no one could have predicted.