Flash!
Bu Eunseol streaked across the night sky like a single line of starlight, escaping the entire Jenam region in the blink of an eye.
Rushing at full speed, he spotted a vast reed field with nothing around it and immediately descended there.
[Uuuugh…]
By then, Seong Suryeo’s face had completely changed, as though she had become an entirely different person.
Bu Eunseol hurriedly pressed the Ban-Geuk Method into her vital acupoint.
Boom!
But with an explosive sound, his body was blasted three zhang away.
In that instant, Seong Suryeo had struck his chest with a palm.
Sssss.
The force of her palm was tremendous.
The clothing around Bu Eunseol’s chest melted away, and pale smoke rose from the wound.
“Haa… haa…”
After delivering the palm strike, Seong Suryeo gasped for breath.
With every inhalation and exhalation, her complexion and expression alternated—returning to normal for a moment, then twisting grotesquely again.
“Lady Suryeo.”
As Bu Eunseol approached, instead of answering, Seong Suryeo unleashed another palm strike.
He could have countered, but he couldn’t bear to attack her, so he evaded.
Papapak!
Now seemingly poisoned with fury, she raked the air with sharp claw-like fingers in rapid succession, unleashing claw technique.
It was not some crude, reckless method—rather, it closely resembled Shaolin’s Dragon Claw Hand. Her movements were steady and vicious, exactly like those of a master who had trained in claw arts for a lifetime.
‘How can this be happening?’
Bu Eunseol was in turmoil.
He couldn’t simply keep dodging forever, yet he also couldn’t subdue her. Sealing her acupoints was completely impossible here, and there were no tools available to restrain her.
Shhk.
Left with no choice, Bu Eunseol used a joint-locking technique to seize both her arms and pulled her into an embrace.
“Snap out of it.”
Pat!
Instead of replying, she tore at his throat.
Ting.
But thanks to his thick inner energy, her teeth were repelled as though striking tough rubber.
[Keuk!]
When the attack failed, Seong Suryeo’s face contorted fiercely. She wrenched her captured hand free, formed a hand-blade, and stabbed toward his throat. Her fingers carried enough penetrating power to pierce metal or stone.
Puk.
Bu Eunseol deliberately took the strike on his shoulder.
Then, gripping her hand tightly, he spoke in a low voice.
“Please… come back to yourself, my Lady.”
Had his desperate plea reached her?
“Muu… muu…”
For a brief moment Seong Suryeo regained clarity and tears spilled down her cheeks.
“It’s strange. I… I have no idea why I’m doing this.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“My body is… again…”
Seong Suryeo shook her head violently, yet contrary to her will, the fingers embedded in Bu Eunseol’s shoulder pressed even harder.
Still, he gazed at her with a calm expression.
“I’m fine. Try focusing your mind once more.”
He disregarded his own pain entirely, afraid that any sign of suffering on his part would hurt her feelings.
“Muu…”
Feeling his gentle consideration, Seong Suryeo shed more tears.
Then she gave a bright smile.
“I’m sorry.”
Without hesitation, she drove her remaining right hand toward her own temple.
She had chosen to end her own life rather than harm him.
Pak.
But her fingers only slightly tore the skin at her temple before stopping.
Bu Eunseol had moved with lightning speed and caught her wrist.
“Don’t give up.”
Drip, drip, drip.
Having forced strength through such a deep wound, fresh blood poured freely from Bu Eunseol’s shoulder. Yet he held her hand firmly and spoke calmly, as though it were nothing.
“I will resolve this.”
“My body won’t listen. If this continues, I’ll end up hurting you.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t die.”
“Why… why is this happening?”
Seeing the anguished, tear-streaked face of Seong Suryeo, Bu Eunseol finally remembered.
―You will shed tears of blood and regret it deeply.
The confident words once spoken by the old man in blue.
―This is your final warning. From now on—even if you remain alive… it will not be living. You will shed tears of blood and regret everything.
The curse the demonic subordinate had declared just before detonating himself.
‘So that’s what it was.’
This very situation was the price for refusing the covenant—the consequence the old man in blue had promised.
But even if he could turn back time, he could never have accepted the covenant.
If he had, he might never have avenged his grandfather.
They had said he would be bound by the covenant’s rules regardless of his own will.
‘Perhaps the Three Divine Energies could do it.’
Having partially comprehended the mystery of the Sword Venerable’s Natural Sword Intent, Bu Eunseol had created his own technique:
The Supreme Heavenly Flow tenth style—Martial Mist and Waves—which returns all things to their original state.
Of course, it was a killing technique meant to cut down enemies, so it couldn’t be used on Seong Suryeo. But what if he used the natural force that resembled the Great Natural Qi… or the Four Divine Energies?
Might that restore Seong Suryeo to her original self?
‘I’ll try.’
Ziiing.
Raising the Three Divine Energies, Bu Eunseol poured them into her.
Throb, throb, throb.
Instantly thick veins bulged across her body and she began to let out pained groans.
Originally, the Four Divine Energies could only be accepted by those born with special physiques granted by heaven.
The reason Bu Eunseol—with an ordinary body—could accept the Three Divine Energies was because his body already contained a chaotic mixture of righteous and demonic arts, and the power of the divine energies had harmonized them instead. Otherwise, even with ten jia of profound inner force, he could never have contained all Three Divine Energies in one body.
Drip.
Unable to endure the power, blood began to leak from Seong Suryeo’s eyes.
In the end, even injecting the Three Divine Energies could not return her to normal.
“Kill me.”
Suppressing her agony, Suryeo looked at Bu Eunseol and smiled.
“I can’t hold on any longer.”
She deliberately smiled widely, so that Bu Eunseol would feel no guilt and would be forced to end her life.
“Please help me die as myself.”
When Bu Eunseol shook his head, she pleaded desperately.
“Because of me… not only you, but countless others will die.”
She was right.
Even if he somehow subdued her, there was no telling when she might explode using the Dragon-Subduing Heaven-Shaking Explosion technique. Or she could be controlled by someone else again and commit more slaughter.
The only remaining choice was death.
Ziiing.
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol raised his energy and erected a massive wall of true qi around them.
“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll call my subordinates here.”
“Muu…”
“And until a solution is found, I will stay right here with you.”
If he couldn’t restore Seong Suryeo immediately, then even if it meant perishing together in an explosion… he would remain by her side.
“No, no!”
Seong Suryeo shook her head frantically, but Bu Eunseol’s expression did not waver.
“The reason you became like this is entirely because of me.” He spoke calmly. “How could I possibly abandon you and live on alone?”
On the surface, Bu Eunseol appeared endlessly cold and emotionless. In reality, however, he possessed affections as vast as the sea and as deep as the roots of a thousand-year-old tree.
Because of that profound affection, he had formed bonds with countless people, refused to abandon his quest for vengeance, and continued wandering the martial world like this.
“Wait just a moment.”
The instant he pursed his lips to whistle and summon the Death Spirit Corps—
‘This is…’
A hot sensation and a peculiar feeling surged in his mind.
The unique sensation he could always detect even from dozens of li away.
Wasn’t that the aura of Manwol?
Ziiing.
Moments later, transparent light shimmered opposite him, and a beautiful woman dressed in splendid crimson robes appeared.
It was Manwol herself.
“Lady Manwol.”
“Withdraw your energy and step away from her.”
Manwol was levitating a gaunt man wearing a mask that covered his face.
“Hurry—there’s no time!”
At her urgent cry, Bu Eunseol instinctively recalled the Wishful True Binding and moved away from Seong Suryeo.
Thud.
She then threw the chained, face-covered gaunt man down in front of Seong Suryeo.
At the same time, she formed hand seals and began murmuring a low incantation.
Mumble… mumble…
As she chanted without pause,
Ziiing, ziiing.
Mysterious lights flickered around Manwol’s body like stars in the night sky.
Simultaneously, the bizarre energy enveloping Seong Suryeo slowly withdrew, then gradually drifted toward the cloth-covered man.
“Now! Kill him quickly!”
Manwol pointed at the man.
“The Executioner’s power that was on her has transferred to him. Kill him and it ends.”
‘Executioner?’
Muttering the word under his breath, Bu Eunseol grasped the situation and shook his head.
“I cannot kill an innocent person just to save her.”
His grandfather had shown respect even to the corpses of complete strangers and extended compassion to them. If saving one life required taking another, then there would be no need to pursue vengeance for his grandfather at all.
“He is not innocent!”
Manwol spoke urgently.
“This man is the Flower-Poison Music Thief who raped and murdered countless women. I brought someone who was already condemned to death.”
“Krrgh…”
At that moment, a grotesque guttural sound erupted from the cloth-covered man’s mouth.
Simultaneously, a metallic sheen began to spread across his skin.
Thanks to Manwol’s incantation, the energy tormenting Seong Suryeo had transferred to him.
Crack, crack.
Like the demonic subordinate before him, the man began transforming into a bizarre monstrosity.
“There’s no time!”
At her shout, Bu Eunseol drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
The previous demonic subordinate had possessed an extremely tough body; ordinary palm force couldn’t kill him—so swordsmanship was necessary.
Srrrng.
With a resonant sword hum that shook the chest, a sharp crimson light exploded across the man’s neck.
The Meteor Chasing the Moon form was unleashed.
Pssshht!
A fountain of bright blood shot up a full zhang.
The head of the cloth-covered man rolled to the ground in one clean stroke.
Thud.
As the headless corpse collapsed, Seong Suryeo—who had been convulsing—fainted as though her strings had been cut.
“Lady Suryeo!”
Bu Eunseol hurriedly supported her and checked her condition.
Fortunately, nothing serious remained; her pulse was returning to normal. She had simply lost all strength and fainted.
“My Lady, what happened?”
In response to Bu Eunseol’s question, Manwol took a deep breath and answered.
“The Executioner always selects people extremely close to the target and infects them, turning them into proxies.” Her expression was utterly grave. “Therefore, even if you possess the strength to survive the Executioner’s own hand… you will be forced to live a lonely, solitary life forever. There is simply no way to block that method.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. What exactly is an Executioner?”
“Didn’t the Covenant-bearer tell you?”
“The Covenant-bearer—you mean the old man in blue who strongly pressured me to join the covenant?”
Manwol shook her head.
“The Covenant-bearer is not just one person. But if he spoke to you about the covenant… then yes, he was one.”
“Tell me clearly.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with utmost gravity.
“What is this Executioner? Why did Lady Suryeo turn into a monster?”
Manwol took another deep breath.
Then she spoke calmly.
“It is for the sake of balance.”
“Balance?”
“Think of this world as one giant basket, and people as the small balls inside it.”
She continued quietly.
“If too many unusually large balls keep appearing, the balance will inevitably collapse.”
“So you’re saying…”
Bu Eunseol immediately grasped her meaning and opened his mouth.
“The total number of experts who transcend ordinary human limits is fixed in this world?”
“Something like that. Actually, it’s more a matter of selection.”
“What selection?”
Manwol shook her head.
“You will understand that part soon enough without my explanation.”
“My Lady.”
“If I explain it now, I might ruin everything instead.”
She spoke earnestly.
“Trust me. It won’t take a long time. You will know very soon.”
Bu Eunseol bit his lip but seeing the sincere, worried look in her eyes, he reluctantly nodded.
“I understand.”
Then he asked, “Can you at least explain what the Executioner is?”
“The Executioner is the one who handles those who try to escape the covenant. And escape is absolutely impossible.”
Bu Eunseol frowned.
What kind of bizarre talk was this?
“And the Executioner infects people who are extremely close to the target, making them carry out the task on its behalf.”
“People who are close?”
Only now did Bu Eunseol understand.
“So it’s literally about physical proximity.”
The demonic subordinate.
Seong Suryeo.
All of them had been people extremely close to him.
In other words, the Executioner turned anyone within a certain distance of the target into its puppet.
“Exactly.”
“If one refuses to join the covenant, an Executioner will definitely appear?”
“Not necessarily. But I don’t know the exact criteria either.”
Bu Eunseol asked again. “Then are all the supreme experts—including the Demon Emperor—bound by the covenant?”
Most supreme experts, including the Demon Emperor, spent their days in repeated seclusion or living alone. But that didn’t mean they completely severed contact with people. Even the Demon Emperor had once stayed together for a long time with his beloved and now with his daughter-like Jin Seol.
“That… I cannot know.”
“How does the Executioner turn people into puppets? Does it infect only one person at a time?”
“The Executioner’s method is also a law.”
“A law?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
He had heard the word “law” from a few people before.
“What is a law?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. It is like a natural law that has been passed down since ancient times.”
Manwol’s eyes became extremely sharp.
“We know that such things happen… but we cannot know why they happen, or exactly how they operate.”
But something was strange.
As she continued speaking, Manwol’s complexion suddenly worsened dramatically. Before long, strands of white hair began to appear faintly beneath her ears.
“Lady Manwol.”
Sensing something, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
“Could it be… that the price you just paid for that sorcery was your lifespan?”
When she first appeared, there had been no white hair but after chanting that strange incantation to save Seong Suryeo, her hair had turned white like this.
That meant, without doubt, she had offered her vitality—or her youth—as the cost of performing that great art or spell.
“Of course not.”
“My Lady.”
“I have to go now.”
Manwol spoke with sad eyes.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help more.”
Bu Eunseol let out a long sigh.
‘Lady Manwol. Just who are you, appearing to help me every time a crisis arrives? Why do you always come to tell me the things I absolutely need to know?’
He wanted to shout the questions, but he couldn’t.
He had no right to force answers from her—and above all, the one truly suffering was her.
She felt guilty for not being able to speak.
Just like right now.
“There is nothing for my Lady to apologize for.”
Bu Eunseol sighed deeply.
“If even the identity of the Executioner and the way their great art infects others remain unknown…”
Then, with resolute eyes, he nodded.
“I will ask the Pavilion Lord. If it’s the Pavilion Lord, he should know about the covenant and the Executioners.”
“You cannot.”
“Why not?”
“If someone unrelated to the covenant learns about it, the chance of being killed is very high. And if the person has already joined the covenant, they are forbidden from speaking of it.”
Manwol spoke as though giving him strength.
“But since you escaped the Executioner’s attack this time, you should have roughly sixty days until the next one appears.”
“Every sixty days they appear?”
“That is my guess. It’s not certain.”
If anyone else had said this, Bu Eunseol would have found it absurd.
But Manwol was a shamaness.
There must be some solid basis behind such an estimate.
“And during that time, you will definitely be able to resolve this.”
“Is that a shaman’s prediction?”
“No.”
Manwol gave a slightly dry smile.
“It is faith. Faith that you will definitely be able to solve it.”
Then she continued calmly.
“But if you don’t even have accurate information about the Executioner, you will be helpless… That is why I came to you like this.”
It turned out Manwol had assessed his situation and bought him roughly two months so that he could somehow resolve this matter.
“Even if you find a method, do not act on it immediately. First calm and organize your heart.”
She gave one more piece of advice.
“Two months is quite a long time. During that period, take time for yourself alone… or if there is something weighing on your mind, take care of that first.”
They were cryptic words.
Of course two months was not short but the Executioner’s mission allowed not even a moment’s delay.
So why tell him to proceed slowly and calmly?
‘Could it be… because I will fail?’
Yet Manwol’s expression held firm conviction.
She would not have bought two months just for him to tidy up personal affairs.
‘I don’t understand.’
Just what faction does Manwol belong to?
How does she know all these secrets?
Swallowing his questions once more, Bu Eunseol could only ask, “Why are you helping me?”
“You will know soon. Without fail.”
Manwol spoke as though giving him strength.
“So become stronger. Strong enough that no one can defeat you.”
―Become stronger.
Her final request was always the same words.
And within those words lay a deep, earnest longing.
“I understand.”
Bu Eunseol gave the same dry smile she had shown.
If no more information could be obtained, he should not torment her further.
“And… thank you for helping.”
Manwol nodded with a smile.
“Then I’ll be going.”
She turned immediately.
A swirl of light gathered around her body, and in an instant she vanished.
Bu Eunseol stared blankly at the spot where she had been, then clenched his fist tightly.
“Executioner.”
If it kept turning everyone close to him into puppets… he would be unable to do anything from now on. His life would be ruined.
“Then how did Grandfather avoid the Executioner’s reach? Or was he acknowledged somehow?”
There was no one he could ask. It was frustrating.
If someone unrelated to the covenant asked such questions, they would likely be killed, she said and those who had joined the covenant were forbidden from speaking of it…
In the end, there was no one he could ask about this.
“Even if I hide my movements, that doesn’t mean the Executioner won’t find me.”
According to Manwol, the Executioner’s method was itself a law of the martial world. Hiding one’s identity or using disguise would not shake it off.
‘In that case.’
The secret book he had found in the Myriad Demon Scripture Vault.
In it, the place where the sages dwelt had been written in secret language.
‘Please…’
Gazing at the soundly sleeping Seong Suryeo, Bu Eunseol clenched his fist tighter.
‘I can only hope my guess is correct.’
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
No matter how many thousands of times he thought about it, this was the only way.
But according to Manwol’s advice?
He should not go there immediately.
Yet in this situation, how could he possibly do that?
‘I trust her.’
Was it simply because her face resembled the woman he had thought was his mother?
He didn’t know the reason.
But Bu Eunseol decided to follow her words and began to first calm and organize his heart.
