They were once the elite legion, the commanders and their subordinates guarding the frontier fortress of Ban-Yogok, protecting the kingdom from external enemies.
As time passed, monsters appeared, and despite becoming Ban-Yo, driven by the grudge of being betrayed by their homeland, they continued to live.
Even if their past prowess and memories became hazy, even if they no longer knew what they fought for,
The fighting spirit inside them never extinguished.
No matter how small and feeble that fighting spirit was, they never lost the heart of a warrior, even as they became monstrous beings.
“We are the Red Legion. Even if we no longer possess the heart that once raced, even if there is no blood flowing through our veins, our existence has not been in vain.”
A heart that has stopped, time that has come to a halt.
The grudge continued as if eternal, and the opportunity had arrived.
The Great Demon and the White Spirit General.
“It is the opportunity for revenge against all those who isolated and abandoned us. Our master, the Silent Swordsman, has granted us this chance.”
Just as a still heart begins to beat,
As bloodless veins begin to flow,
The Knight’s will was elevated.
“Shall we let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away?!”
The Knight’s fierce charge.
The King of the Abyss laughed at him.
[No matter how grand your words, you are still a loser.]
[Do you really think your strength will work against me, the king of all losers, the King of the Abyss?]
‘Are you turning your eyes away? Your opponent was supposed to be me.’
<The Hwasan School’s Supreme Martial Art>
<Restoration - Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Swords>
I cannot let the budding potential of the Knight, just about to display his true strength, be trampled underfoot by the King of the Abyss.
With the heart of a parent raising a child,
With the heart of a lord nurturing a general,
Ha Eung Eung.
Her immense will revived the flow of the Twelve Swords, the middle section of the Plum Blossom Thirty-Six Swords, which was never passed down to her.
‘Plum Blossom Twelve Swords. The first 12 techniques, passed down to me by Lee So-Chun of the Hwasan School, were a process of a flower growing.’
If the flower grows, what comes next?
It must bloom fully.
[Remarkably bothersome techniques you possess.]
Instead of crushing the budding knight’s potential, the King of the Abyss trampled on the opening moves of the Silent Swordsman, which had already blossomed into a flower.
The Twelve Swords.
With each step the King of the Abyss took, the possibilities that the flower could have achieved were crushed.
But one thing remained.
A sword that the King of the Abyss did not expect to be there.
[Creating something from nothing. Have you once again used that arrogant power...!]
A breath that didn’t die,
A flower that resurrected like a tenacious weed.
‘You should blame your foolishness for your obsession with crushing all techniques.’
The Three Friends of the Cold Winter.
The noble will and integrity of the plum blossom, which endures even the harshest of winters, never falls as long as its breath remains unbroken.
One technique.
One breath.
One bloom.
A resurrected technique, the essence of the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Swords, bloomed into a brilliant sword that cut through the air.
When Ha Eung Eung, who had taken multiple blows from the King of the Abyss, finally launched her counterattack, the King of the Abyss could not avoid being restrained.
Even the King of the Abyss, who had trampled everything underfoot, had no choice but to abandon targeting the Knight and face the attack directly.
[But what difference does it make?]
[Even a fully bloomed flower was stopped, what could a sprout that hasn’t even become a flower do?]
[The answer is already clear, no?]
[Your potential cannot surpass mine.]
[Even the sprout that might have blossomed into another flower, even the flower that has bloomed.]
[Its flaws, its persistence.]
[They are insufficient to face the King of the Abyss!]
The King of the Abyss, having blocked every attack from the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Swords, prepared to strike down the Silent Swordsman with overwhelming force.
As the King of the Abyss advanced with such intensity, he was suddenly sent flying by a collision with a massive force.
Boom━!
Even without dark mana, the King of the Abyss, having carefully trained only the finest body, was not of a small stature.
Even the Knight’s horse, a skeleton horse, lacked flesh and had little destructive power.
The difference in power between the Knight and the King of the Abyss was stark.
Of course, the Knight was strong.
But compared to the King of the Abyss, he was considerably weaker.
And yet, the Knight’s spear technique, utilizing the Horse of the Demon, lifted the King of the Abyss off the ground.
The collision between the Silent Swordsman and the King of the Abyss.
In the heat of battle, a single strike that found the precise opening in the King’s muscles, breath, and vision, struck the King of the Abyss in the chest.
‘You did it. Surely, my combat style must have positively influenced him.’
A smile formed on Ha Eung Eung’s face.
It was a proud smile, like a parent watching over a grown child.
That smile, to the Knight, was more beautiful than the blossoming sword techniques of the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Swords.
He wanted to stay by that smile.
He didn’t want to be the one left behind.
If that was the case, he had to become someone worthy of that beautiful plum blossom.
Such resolve.
Such a pledge.
The perseverance of the bamboo, one of the Three Friends of the Cold Winter, enabled him to charge with unwavering loyalty.
[Did I, truly fall for such a shallow trick?]
In a fight between masters, even the smallest of openings can determine the winner.
Let alone the disadvantage of being unable to plant your weight firmly on the ground while floating in the air.
Ha Eung Eung was strong.
She would never make the mistake of letting such an excellent opportunity slip away.
The waterfall-like series of strikes.
The blossoming Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
The follow-up strike of unrestrained brutality.
<The Habaek Pengga Supreme Martial Art> <Transformation Five-Phoenix Blade>
The transformation of the Five-Phoenix Blade, derived from the Habaek Pengga’s Peng Cheol-San, was now at the peak of the highest martial art.
A blow swung five times, impossible for anyone to survive, was aimed directly at the King of the Abyss.
Swoosh.
The attack succeeded.
For the first time, the King of the Abyss bled.
But it was not a fatal wound.
[It’s still far from over.]
[This body, one that endured humiliation from the tyrant of the human kings for years.]
[If I lose an arm to escape this moment, I’ll gladly do so.]
“!!”
With the decision unique to demons, valuing their own physicality above all else, the King of the Abyss traded his arm to regain balance in the air.
The darkness tendrils, like spider legs, stretched across the underground tunnels, regaining his equilibrium.
Breathing restored.
Time to breathe again.
By losing an arm, the King of the Abyss created an opportunity.
‘He caught me off guard.’
I should have anticipated the difference between humans and demons.
It was a mistake I could not even speak about, no matter how many mouths I had.
‘I pressed for the kill with a strong attack, but failed to achieve anything. The crisis the King of the Abyss faced was turned into my crisis in one move.’
But that didn’t mean her defeat was certain.
If the King of the Abyss succeeded,
She could still succeed.
‘I’ll give up my arm.’
The King of the Abyss would never believe that humans could imitate demons.
Even without his right arm, he thought she couldn’t succeed.
Taking advantage of that belief, she gave up her arm, using the opportunity to strike at his life!
“Uoooooo!!”
[You, the leader of the fallen spirits!]
In contrast to the ruthless determination,
Someone had already jumped in before the Silent Swordsman.
The right-hand man of the fallen spirits, a force with monstrous strength.
He led more than ten thousand fallen spirits, and was a new addition to the Silent Swordsman’s army.
“You took my ability to walk, but now, without legs, my arms have grown stronger!”
The leader of the fallen spirits, the Right-Hand of Mighty Strength.
He had no profound martial arts like the Silent Swordsman,
Nor the unshakable loyalty like the Knight.
[Don’t interfere.]
[If you don’t move, I’ll cut you down!]
“This is what I’ve been waiting for! Losing my legs and training my arms, this body is the true symbol of tenacious vitality! If you can, try and cut me down!”
The King of the Abyss’s dark sword cleaved through the Right-Hand’s arm, and at the same time, the Silent Swordsman’s Five-Phoenix Blade broke through the King’s dark shield.
Clang!
Thud.
The Right-Hand of Mighty Strength, bleeding as he collapsed, his arm grievously wounded, but not severed.
His unyielding vitality, a symbol of the pine tree, the final token of the Three Friends of the Cold Winter.
“See this? The arm of the demon you could not kill! This is the Right-Hand of Mighty Strength, the leader of the fallen spirits!!”
The Knight’s steadfast loyalty, like bamboo,
The Right-Hand of Mighty Strength’s unyielding vitality, like a pine tree.
This created an opportunity.
And the Silent Swordsman’s noble strength, like the plum blossom, fully bloomed.
The King of the Abyss, enraged, shouted.
[It’s only for a moment.]
[Once I restore my shield, I’ll be fine!]
“I understand your slowness... At this point, your pitiful life has already come to an end...”
With that, the dark hands reached to tear apart the shield once again, but they were halted by the perfect timing of Boogeyman’s intervention.
[No!!]
With explosive force, the King of the Abyss tried to extend his dark tendrils, but Boogeyman’s dozens of arms emerged from the wardrobe to stop him.
<One Extreme>
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The King of the Abyss’s heart was shattered in a precise strike aimed at his exposed body.
He coughed up blood, unable to hide his humiliation.
[This is unbelievable.]
[To be caught by such weaklings and humiliated like this...]
One for all and all for one.
‘That’s the difference it made.’
Ha Eung Eung lowered her sword,
The control over her body growing faint.
The phenomenon signaling the beginning of the King of the Abyss’s demise and the story mode had begun.