김 Hyul’s first sensation was weightlessness.
Whoosh
With dizziness, he felt himself floating up, unable to maintain his balance as the sky began turning a crimson hue.
It was the shock accumulated from continuous impacts, twisting his insides.
“What are you doing to my body…?”
Despite the wave of pain crashing over him, crunch, Kim Hyul struggled to adjust his posture. No matter how he thought about it, there shouldn’t be any chance for the Geumgangbulgoe to break.
The Six Harmonies Fist was certainly well protected on all sides. With failed attacks and defensive blocks, his organs should have been safeguarded.
Why had it broken through, then?
“You had too much faith in your Geumgangbulgoe.”
With a smile, Bi Wol provided an answer to Kim Hyul, whose face was filled with questions. Had he doubted his external energy, he would’ve fought more prudently.
If Bing Yeon had been Kim Hyul’s master, she would have taught him other martial arts, different from the Heavenly Demon Art.
The essence of the Six Harmonies Fist was unity with heaven and earth. If there were cracks in the ground preventing his feet from touching fully, he would fail to exert his force.
“There’s no body in this world that’s as indestructible as diamond.”
Recalling that point, Bi Wol struck first. According to the original story, he should have unleashed the Heavenly Demon Art to penetrate the Geumgangbulgoe, but…
“…I understand now. You kept vibrating my body to transmit the shock inward?”
“Exactly. My master had mentioned it before. A large iron can twist with even a gentle breeze.”
What Bing Yeon had told Bi Wol changed everything.
Now, she utterly believed whatever he said, even if it were rumors.
“You follow your master’s words so well. You’re not… what I’ve heard.”
Stagger, steadying his wobbling body, Kim Hyul smiled at the opponent before him. He had heard that she’d become the leader of the demonic sect that would paint the world red with blood.
The girl before him now seemed nothing more than an overly zealous disciple trying to follow her master’s words.
To Kim Hyul, Bing Seolhwa’s talk of the future was pointless. He believed only what he could see and hear himself.
“If my master hadn’t been there, I might have truly become a villain.”
Bi Wol vaguely sensed what that meant. Days trapped and experimented on by the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
“Where I lived before was hell.”
She had cursed the sky that abandoned her there, wishing to die as friends turned against each other in that insane place.
“The hell I know is a world where children must take up knives to kill people. Was your world like that too?”
Kim Hyul grimaced and clenched his fist.
He remembered the cries of children holding their deceased parents during a raid by the Green Forest.
A hell filled with knives and blood; he didn’t wish to see such madness again, which was why he raised his fist.
“…Yeah.”
“That’s terrible.”
Kim Hyul gave a sorrowful look at Bi Wol, who nodded slowly. She was quite different from what he’d heard from Bing Seolhwa.
Crazy
‘The girl in front of me is destined to be a key player of the Heavenly Demon Star, painting the world in blood? That’s insane.’
Kim Hyul chuckled in disbelief. If he had blindly followed Bing Seolhwa as Kang Si Woo had, he’d be in big trouble.
The curse of slaughter from the heavens, the energy of the Heavenly Demon Star, was something he couldn’t feel. Even now, amidst his own blood, he didn’t lose his reason or go wild.
“If we had met in another place, we might have shared tales.”
He instinctively recognized their similar pasts. The grief for their losses, the determination to protect what they cherished, and the reason for fighting to achieve victory.
Without saying much, martial artists could grasp what was unsaid simply through the clash of fists and swords.
“Why not align with our master?”
“…Are you talking about me?”
That part was clear to Bi Wol as well.
With warnings about Bing Seolhwa and her hidden motives, she thought he wasn’t a bad person.
He must have his reasons for opposing her, or for following Bing Seolhwa.
In martial arts, betrayal of the master was a grave sin, akin to defying the skies themselves.
“Yes, if someone has mastered Geumgangbulgoe, wouldn’t it be worth a shot even against a seer?”
“……”
Taken aback, Kim Hyul fell silent. This was the opposite of their original fight in King of Diamond Fist, where they sought each other’s deaths.
– You were born to kill that girl Bi Wol.
Kim Hyul recalled Bing Seolhwa’s words trying to sway him. It was hard to accept such claims in one go, no matter how much future-seeing was involved.
– The Green Forest that attacked you, the very enemy that killed your dear friends, is merely the consequence of someone opposing the Heavenly Demon Star.
Kim Hyul believed that one shapes their own destiny. Instead of blaming others for his family’s misfortune, he thought he was trampled by the strong because of his weakness.
Above all, the raid by the Green Forest felt orchestrated, occurring in the dawn when everyone was asleep.
“If you beat me, I’ll think about it.”
Kim Hyul reasserted his stance, refusing to side with someone he couldn’t even defeat.
He despised the idea of having Bing Seolhwa as a master more than death itself, as he was on a mission to rescue his family who had already been taken captive.
“I’ll win soon.”
“I look forward to it.”
Clang!
Once again blocking Bi Wol’s attack with his arm, Kim Hyul was now stepping aside from the marks left by her blade on the ground.
‘Is it impossible to give shock the same way as before?’
Kim Hyul, with flexibility, employed the Chicken Leg technique, mimicking the movements of a chicken walking.
Then, using the Dragon Waist technique, he launched a punch upward, akin to a dragon ascending. A fast and powerful strike skimmed past Bi Wol’s chin.
Had she taken that hit, she would have fallen out cold, likely with her insides wrecked, unable to stand. Where was this power coming from?
‘Unquenchable drive… just like our master.’
Bi Wol thought of Bing Yeon’s eyes, which were much like what she witnessed when the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect was obliterated. It seemed impossible that they were related by blood.
“You’ve got a good sense.”
“…….”
The words and movements of their techniques were similar to Bing Yeon’s. If only she had seen him at a younger age, the feeling would be more intense.
Bi Wol pondered about the child born from her and Bing Yeon, as though seeing a father and son together.
‘That must be how it feels.’
In a way, Kim Hyul was akin to the child the original author created. But Bi Wol, with a shiver down her spine and a woman’s sharp instinct, recognized this fact.
To bring forth that future, she had to defeat the opponent before her. If she healed her master’s Nine Pulse Meridians and defeated the enemy against her, no one would be able to stop her.
She had also heard whispers about Azazel, who claimed to see the future. If she played her cards right, bringing her master back might not be far off.
– The essence of the Three Talented Sword Method is the harmony of heaven, earth, and man (天地人). The sensation of becoming one with them is essential.
Imagining that happy future, Bi Wol closed her eyes for a moment. Recalling her master Bing Yeon’s warm yet calm voice.
Ultimately, using resonance to accumulate shocks was just a temporary solution; she needed new realizations to penetrate Kim Hyul’s Geumgangbulgoe.
Thud, she stomped the ground vigorously.
– A person is like a small universe. To make it become one with heaven and earth, one must cut off other senses and focus solely on the sword.
The sky is above one’s head.
The earth is the ground one stands on.
Then what must a person achieve from unity with heaven and earth?
‘The answer is to become one with both.’
First, she closed her eyes, blocking her sight.
Next, she calmed her mind to create a state as if she weren’t hearing the crowd’s cheers.
Gradually, she dulled her sense of taste and smell, focusing her entire nerve system solely on the fingers gripping the sword.
She almost felt like nothing existed here except for herself and the sword.
– Bi Wol, you can become a bigger person than you think.
The realm of unity with all.
At that moment, Kim Hyul’s distance or his practiced moves were of no importance to Bi Wol. She only needed to cut through the frustrating world of common sense that blocked her and her master.
Suddenly, Bi Wol felt like the sword’s hilt was sticking to her fingers.
Swish!
A crisp sound accompanied by something being sliced through echoed as a small stream of blood flowed from Kim Hyul’s chest. It was the sudden dissolution of Geumgangbulgoe.
“Wh-How…?!”
Not letting the opening escape, Bi Wol struck Kim Hyul’s neck with the sheath of her sword and then swiftly lifted her foot to slam it into his chest.
Boom!
In that moment, Kim Hyul had carelessly exposed an opening, causing him to topple backward onto the arena floor.
“What is happening?! The once invulnerable warrior Kim Hyul has fallen!”
The commentary from Cheoncheonmu was filled with astonishment at witnessing the unbelievable sight: the legendary indestructible Geumgangbulgoe pierced by a mere girl.
Kim Hyul struggled to rise, but as he squirmed to regain balance, Bi Wol was stomping on him.
“The winner is… Bing Yeon Blossom Heart… Bi Wol!”
With that, Cheoncheonmu announced the victor of the first match in the Yong Bong Gihwa finals to the entire world.
*
“The next match features the swordsman Zikhart from the Western Region, rumored to wield all things as swords, and…!”
“…the sword duel of Verdandi, who crossed over from the same Western Region!”
With Bi Wol’s victory in the first match, Verdandi and Zikhart were now stepping into the Bimu Jang.
“I hope it’s a good match.”
“I’ll defeat you and win my master’s praise!”
As she looked at Zikhart, who was tapping his cane on the ground as if he were blind, Verdandi didn’t let her tension fall.
