Chapter 280: The Last Vote (1)
1.
Inevitably, the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art is a demonic art.
Clang!
The leader of the martial world, Namgung Un, mocked us as if we were merely florists. My master did not refute this. Now, Venomous Snake, claiming to be the descendant of the orthodox path, uttered the same mockery, but I too did not argue back. I simply smiled in response.
Clang!
We all know it.
Those who recklessly use the sword without understanding are mere beginners who have just stepped into the world. Those who wield the sword to understand are intermediates. And those who hold the sword despite and because of their understanding are masters.
We all know it.
Clang!
We know that there are people who, despite the hards.h.i.+ps of life, find small joys, enduring the pain of yesterday and the fatigue of today, surviving in their everyday lives.
Clang!
They sometimes say they want to die, but their murderous intent has not yet led to actual killing. They sometimes scream about their hards.h.i.+ps, but these cries have not yet turned into screams of agony.
Even if their happiness does not fully extend to their entire lives, ending merely in an hour, half a day, a full day"s joy.
We know that there are countless people who endure their daily lives like this.
Clang!
The Infernal Heavens cannot soothe those small joys.
For those small and beautiful flowers, the people of the mundane world whom I want to love, comfort, and kiss, the heavens of Infernal Heavens are too busy to embrace them.
Still in this world.
Clang!
There are too many who scream in agony,
Clang!
too many eyes that look up to the heavens with hatred while bleeding.
Clang!
Those who starve to death, those who die of dehydration, those who drown in the deep sea and cannot escape, those who have no place to flee and freeze to death in the snowstorm, those who die convulsing on the ground without a chance to utter their last words due to poison, those whose limbs are eaten away by illness with no way to save themselves, those who are beaten to death, those who burn to death, those who take their own lives.
Clang!
There are so many.
Clang!
"Yes, too many! Still, still, there are far too many!"
Clang!
"Look, Chen Mu-mun leader! If you still have one eye left, look!"
Clang!
"Do you really think these countless screams can be appeased by the happiness you bring?"
Infernal Heavens Demonic Art.
Fourth Form.
Sword of Freezing.
Venomous Snake barely managed to block the sword I swung. But blocking it wasn"t the end. I had not only [Sword of Idolatry] but also [Sword of Compa.s.sion], [Sword of Prayer], [Sword of Sacrifice], [Sword of Salvation] casting shadows and flying from every direction. Whoos.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+ Every time Venomous Snake showed an opening, the demonic swords rushed in, turning their blade points towards him.
"d.a.m.n, s-, c.r.a.p!"
Clang!
Venomous Snake, with almost miraculous movements, fended off the [Sword of Compa.s.sion] targeting his neck. However, it wasn"t perfect. The blade grazed his neck, and whoos.h.!.+ A stream of blood spurted out.
"Heh, huff. Huff, haaaaaah… huff, huff, huuu, huuuu…"
Venomous Snake staggered.
But even while staggering, he firmly grasped the swords in both hands.
"...."
He is already in tatters.
Despite constantly chattering away as if nothing is wrong, Venomous Snake was covered in wounds, seemingly without a single unharmed part on his body.
Without his superhuman will, he would have already collapsed twice over.
"Ha."
That"s why I laughed.
"Chen Mu-mun leader. With that, you cannot defeat me. Do you understand? Even if you continue for a hundred, a thousand years, you will never be able to defeat Infernal Heavens."
"Yes, probably so."
"You dare recite the phrases of the righteous and demonic great war, calling me a heavenly demon with such outrage. It"s impudent to request a duel, claiming the fight that already ended in Infernal Heaven"s victory isn"t over yet. You committed such outrage and rudeness, and yet is this all you can do? I secretly hoped to see a martial art that could captivate me, if not a technique that could tear the heavens."
"I"m doing it…"
Venomous Snake gasped for breath.
His wounds and bleeding had consumed half of his breaths, making the words he uttered sound very faint.
"What?"
"I"m already, doing, it…"
"What are you talking about?"
"One."
Squeeze.
Gripping the sword hilt tightly with both hands, Venomous Snake raised his torso.
As he lifted his head, which had been bowed in a hunched posture, the sight of his one eye became visible.
"I"m, right now. Working on it. The second heavenly demon, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
"...."
Venomous Snake"s eyes were fiercely ablaze.
"Work…"
"A job is also karma. It"s fate. A burden that weighs down life, wondering how I ended up here, but anyhow, it"s the karma that clings to me. There are so many professions in this world, and each job has its own d.a.m.nable karma. Kim Gong-ja."
"Yes."
"What do you think my job is?"
I frowned slightly.
"Your job is the leader of Chen Mu-mun."
"Right. But that"s more like a side job. You"re nominally the deputy guild leader of the fifth guild, but your real job is a heavenly demon, right? Or maybe the head of that Death King Family or something. Huh? I also… I"ve found a new job recently. Do you know what it is?"
"..."
"Stopping you."
For a moment, I couldn"t understand his words.
"…What?"
"Enduring you. Withstanding the existence known as a heavenly demon. That"s the profession I"ve chosen."
Venomous Snake took a stance with his sword hilt raised.
His ankles, thighs, waist, back, and neck – there was no place without a wound.
However, the way Venomous Snake stood firm on his two legs and the way he held the sword in his hands were orderly.
"How about it. Interesting, right?"
"What..."
"Just as you say, Kim Gong-ja. There are too many resentments in the world. Too many silent screams buried. As long as those sounds resonate, the sky will be a faded Infernal Heavens, and you swinging your sword under Infernal Heavens will continue to be a heavenly demon. But, you see… However,"
Thud. Grains of dirt crumbled.
Stepping on the ground, Venomous Snake charged towards me.
"There are also many who endure hards.h.i.+p and keep living!!"
Clang!
I controlled [Sword of Sacrifice] to block Venomous Snake"s breakthrough. Even though Sacrifice Sword wasn"t made of metal but of a shadowy demonic sword, when the two blades crossed, the sound of metal was sharply ringing.
Venomous Snake lunged.
"People starve to death! Yes! I know! There are so many who die unjustly! It"s sad. There are times when tears come. But you see, Kim Gong-ja! Regardless of whatever d.a.m.ned deaths happened last night, we have to shoulder our duties and go out today! Do you know that!"
I summoned another demonic sword.
Infernal Heavens Demonic Art.
Fifth Form.
Sword of Vengeance.
[The Sword of Player] quickly found an opening in Venomous Snake. Swis.h.!.+ Blood spurted from the back of his right hand. Venomous Snake groaned, cursing. But his hand holding the sword hilt did not even flinch.
"I can"t just keep crying!"
Clang!
With his unflinching hand, Venomous Snake swung his sword.
"The weight of a day is overwhelming! So overwhelming that sometimes it"s suffocating! Before starting work, my heart races wondering if I can endure the day, and even after finis.h.i.+ng work, my heart is crushed thinking about tomorrow"s coming tasks! Do you know that! My heart is choked, beaten, and crushed every day, so tight that even setting aside a place in my heart to cry for you guys is hard!"
Clang!
"I"m sorry!"
Clang!
"I"m sorry for being born in this world, for not being able to live without shouldering my duty and earning my daily bread! d.a.m.n you, Infernal Heavens b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I"m sorry! I"m sorry!"
Clang!
"So, stop making us apologize!"
Clang!
"How long do we have to keep apologizing?"
"...."
"Until the day comes when no one starves to death, until the cries of agony are no more? Should we keep apologizing until then? Should I throw away the karma that currently burdens me, plunge into your Infernal Heavens, follow its doctrines, and fight until the day not a single commoner dies of hunger?"
"...."
"It"s hard."
"...."
"I don"t have the capacity. I don"t have the courage. Right now, the only thing responsible for my daily bread is this hammer in my hand. I"ve just gotten used to hammering to make ends meet. The only theft I"ve learned is this much, and I"m barely surviving on it… I can"t throw that away and rush to where your screams of Infernal Heavens are heard."
"Every day is filthy. Heavenly demon. It"s terribly hard."
Venomous Snake swung his sword.
Clang!
"I once helped with farm work at a farmer"s house. Autumn came and each grain of wheat was like gold, making the wheat fields look like waves of gold from afar. But then I heard rumors of a typhoon coming."
Clang!
"No matter how much we prepared and dealt with it, it was inevitable. We gave up on the wheat swept away by the typhoon and just threw a few salvaged wheat straws into the barn. Those few straws rolling in the barn were all the family had to survive the year. But isn"t it fortunate? At least we saved that. The farmer awkwardly smiled, saying it was fortunate to have saved that… Then we heard news from the neighboring village. An elderly couple who couldn"t evacuate in time were swept away by the typhoon, their own roof collapsed on them, and they died."
Clang!
"It"s sad."
Clang!
"How can it not be sad when people die unjustly? If I can help, I will. There are times when tears come. But…"
Clang!
"We have to work again."
Clang!
"Going to the forge, to the fields, to the bank, to the mines, connecting yesterday to today just like the day before, fearing when this tomorrow will end, we dedicate ourselves to this karma."
Finally.
A gap opened up.
Dodging the sword I swung, Venomous Snake took a step back. I did not pursue. Naturally, a small clearing formed between Venomous Snake and me.
"...."
"...."
Many people were watching our duel.
Black Dragon Witch, Sword Saint, Heretic Questioner, Count, Crusader, vampires, Pure Race, Snail Race, ElfRace, Mermaid Race who had gathered following their parents, and others. The races that were enjoying the festival in the forest had quietly turned their attention to the duel of the two warriors.
Estelle and Uburka. The thousand followers of my religion, too.
Their silence was thicker than the quiet of the forest.
"Kim Gong-ja…"
Venomous Snake"s breathing was terribly disordered.
He had to mix several gasps of breath to p.r.o.nounce my name correctly.
But he finally articulated my name correctly.
"Heavenly demon."
"...."
"Your existence threatens us."
I.
Gripped the hilt of the holy sword tightly.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. We… We don"t even have enough tears to shed for ourselves. It"s tough. There are so many people who have never cried for themselves. They don"t die even if they want to, don"t cry even if they want to. Just… because they have to survive. Because they need to stay alive. But… because of you, we have to shed tears even for complete strangers we don"t know."
"...."
"It might be good at first. It"s a tragedy that could happen to any of us… because they are people just like us. But we can"t cry forever. It"s hard to keep crying. We,"
All those people.
"Have to work."
"...."
"We drink to catch a breath, set up a board for Baduk, dance at festivals. We go out for walks in the streets, watch the seasons turn red, and smile foolishly… That"s the happiness barely allowed to us, the happiness we sc.r.a.pe together just to avoid dying. How precious that happiness is."
Venomous Snake pointed his sword at me.
"Don"t ruin that happiness."
"When you come, the world becomes chaotic. Heavenly demon."
I remained silent.
"Yes."
And I understood.
"Falling into disharmony is what Infernal Heavens does."
When I see people ignoring the death of others in this place, the blood of Infernal Heavens boils.
When I see people just pa.s.sing by the death of others here, the fangs of Infernal Heavens sharpen.
When I see people neglect the dead, ignore the neglect, and later on make excuses that they truly didn"t know, and finally express sympathy as if they didn"t know such a thing had happened, when I see such people, the eyes of Infernal Heavens turn red.
Even knowing they"re all ordinary humans.
"I want to kill them all."
Killing intent.
There was a time when my master fell into disharmony. Then, master laughed brightly and slaughtered all the humans in sight.
– Oh? a.s.sa.s.sins come to kill me?
– Good. Come at me. Let"s see your swords.
Because Infernal Heavens Demonic Art is demonic to the core.
It turns those who ignore screams into bystanders, those who don"t help the dying into neglecters, and insists that no human is unrelated to the screams and deaths in this world, posing the danger of slaughtering and annihilating all humans.
That possibility is always there.
"…Yet."
I opened my lips.
"Still, I cannot stop. No, I will not stop. If there are screams forgotten by everyone, I will collect them. And I will tell those who did not hear those screams."
"To feel guilty?"
"To see the world."
I said.
"This is the world."
Four shadows encircled me as if guarding me.
[Salvation], [Sacrifice], [Prayer], [Compa.s.sion] surrounded me.
"So, please come with me to the tower."
Estelle, the family advisor, stood behind me.
Uburka, the head of the warriors, crossed his arms, and Kim Yul, the family"s young, leaned against a tree.
A thousand of my followers also hid in the forest shadows, forming a formation.
"...."
Slowly.
Venomous Snake lifted the corners of his mouth.
"I will be your watcher. Heavenly demon."
And he said.
"When your Infernal Heavens is too vast to comfort the small petals, I will block your path and raise my hand to point out that there"s a bloom here."
"...."
"When you draw your sword to scream in this world, I will judge and advise whether the people living there can still bear the screams, whether they have the capacity left to endure them. Whether in their lives bent and burdened by life, your screams will become an additional burden, whether you should draw the sword of Infernal Heavens now, and what reasons there are for not doing so. I will decide and advise."
Venomous Snake.
"I will always be by your side, working. As a representative of ordinary people. I may not be the protagonist or even a main character following the protagonist, but if the day comes when you fall into disharmony and dye the world red."
Leader of Chen Mu-mun.
"I will be right beside you to strike your neck."
Liao Fan.
"Only then will I have defeated you. Understand? There"s no need to rush. Until you lose… until you are devoured by Infernal Heavens. It"s enough to just keep watching by your side."
Liao Fan smiled.
"Kim Gong-ja. I will take you as my karma."
The last righteous blade left by the snowy plains pointed his sword.
"Test me all you want, see if I"m worthy of that."