Book 16 Chapter 24

Epilogue

A sliver of black ruin.

Two people stood side by side in contrasting red and blue colors.

But they were both scorched and covered in ash, so they were almost equally ragged.

They stared out over the desolate land. For once, they were alive. But it was the first time they had ever felt so ashamed and tormented to be alive.

"That's pathetic. That's really pathetic. I never thought I'd be this pathetic……."

Yeomdo grumbled. Oh, how he hated himself.

"Yeah, right. You're pathetic."

Binggum said, his eyes calm. It was still a talent to be able to pick out just the right scratching sound in Yeomdo's guts.

"What the fuck, ……!"

A surge of Yeomdo flared in his gut, but he had to hold it back: this was no longer the jerk he'd known. He was shivering violently. Drops of blood were dripping from his crushingly clenched fists. Red blood was also leaking from the corners of his bitter lips.

"Hey… icebreaker……?"

He's always been an asshole and an emotionless bastard. Never before had he seen a man of such unflinching coldness, such unwavering steadfastness, such a polar opposite of himself, such an ice-blade that he was forced to clash with at every turn, cut through the pain with such agony.

"It's my fault. I made a pointless sacrifice. I can't face the dead children. It's all my fault. As the Chief Minister of the Celestial Academy, as their guiding laborer, and as the head of the Volcanic Society delegation, I failed to fulfill all my responsibilities. It is my fault that those children died. You may laugh at me, Yeomdo, and for once I will allow you to do so. A man who has failed to fulfill his duty, a man who has made an irreparable mistake, has no excuse to offer. You may laugh to your heart's content."

Again, there were no victims. Some were seriously injured. Several students who were unable to escape the flames were killed or severely injured when they were caught in the dreaded flame circle, aptly named the Fire Dragon Destruction Circle.

Three dead, thirteen seriously injured, twenty-five minor……. The weight of the numbers and their implications weighed on his mind. Sure, they could have been wiped out, and he could have considered the losses to be insignificant. But three did not diminish the weight of those lives.

He was suddenly so angry that he felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't stand to see such an ugliness. Besides, he had traveled all the way here with a share of the responsibility. He was a samurai of the Heavenly Martial Academy, as he sometimes forgot. And he was the leader of these children.

"You… idiot! How can it be all your fault? You think you're so great? Don't be fooled. You weren't the only one leading the workshop! I was leading the workshop! But what's this? Why did things turn out the way they did, huh? Don't try to take it all on yourself! You're not that great! I have a right to share the blame! No, this body is better than yours, so it should be more responsible. Don't you think so? What's with the whole dead frog look? It doesn't suit you at all! Ewww, it pisses me off!"

It rained down on the ice sword like a shower. He stared at her face for a moment, then straightened up a bit and said something she'd never heard before, and it left her stunned. Still dazed with shock, he asked, "What is it?

"…what? What did you just say? Did I hear you wrong, Goma… what, huh?"

Bing'er's expression quickly changed to that of a polite, cold man. It was a miracle, but I didn't realize that he was actually embarrassed.

"I'm not telling you again! Forget it. It was a hallucination!"

His voice was cold enough to chill me to the bone. Yeomdo somehow found this more convincing.

"Well, you wouldn't say anything embarrassing about me being a goma, would you?"

Of course not… He wouldn't say such a thing. Inwardly, Yeomdo felt relieved that nothing so verbally abusive had happened. It had been a tiring day, and she could understand why… but this joke was too much. I was clearly sleep deprived. But those creepy visions… I'm sure I wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night if I had to listen to them. I should probably just lie down somewhere and get some sleep. However, it might be a good idea to go through the verification process one more time. Today is a very tiring day.

Whether or not he was aware of Yindo's troubles, Binggum saw an opportunity when the flaming dog-chaser was making a fool of himself. He quickly decided to change the subject.

"That's a good thing! I think the time has come, Master, the time you foresaw… the time when the Nightmare Resurrection……. I have a hunch that it's time."

Yeomdo's expression turned serious again. This was as serious a matter as the verification.

"Is that it?"

Binggum nodded.

"Okay, I guess it's time for the mirror to be split in two and put back together again!"

"The Dry Harmonizing Nerve (乾坤造化神鏡)……. Master's last, final vision… his last legacy……."

"We need to find someone to take it over."

At Bing'er's words, Yeomdo nodded with a grim face. It was the first sign of agreement he had ever seen. It was also the moment when the wills of two men separated by water and fire became one. Finally, the mirrors separated by twenty years were about to merge into one, the vision of two halves.

"Has anyone seen it?"

Both of these men, for all their bickering, never forgot their master's wishes.

"I can think of two people, one asshole, one rich."

"What a coincidence, me too."

"But for one, the damn master might not need it. I doubt he'll even learn it. I'm sure he'll shrug it off as a hassle, he's a legendary martial artist……."

It was a legend known only to two people, but the man who wrote it was already a legend. The Martial God of the Taiyuan God Army, Xue Yue Lin… There is no one in this powerhouse who doesn't know his name.

"Why don't we go after the rest of them, we've got the old man's guarantee……."

"That would be great. Better to have something than nothing. Besides, that mysterious technology that 'he' showed earlier, it wasn't human technology. Maybe he already doesn't need it."

He still couldn't believe what he'd seen with his own eyes just a few moments before, and it was definitely not human. Just thinking about it again gave him goosebumps. It was the same with the Yeomdo.

"Hey, icepick… I saw something like that earlier… and I have a sudden bad feeling about it……."

"What?"

"Will either of us ever escape the shackles of being his student? I have a very bad feeling that if we get it wrong, we may never be able to escape it……."

Yeomdo face looked really serious.

"Well, don't give me that ominous thought. I'm afraid it's going to be real."

Binggum replied in a shaky voice.

The old man's eyes were filled with bitterness and unbridled anger as he gazed at the blackened redwoods. It was his own fault, he thought. He was the one who controlled and presided over everything, but he had left a gap. As he had feared, his enemies had not missed it.

If he had fallen into this trap and died, what would have happened to Kang Ho afterward? The last binding force holding them back would be gone in an instant.

I never thought they'd recover to this extent……. I knew that their core forces were still strong, but I hadn't imagined that they had managed to infiltrate the Heavenly Peak, their strongest point. We should have stopped them before this happened, but we failed. It was his own fault for not thinking ahead to the enemy. A sin. The thorny whip of rebuke pierced his heart. He had broken his promise to his friend. He was ashamed and embarrassed. What were these myths and legends of the mighty? What's the point of having the strength to face a hundred thousand people? Now they will rise again. A torch has been lit to awaken the descendants of a thousand fears. A great evil has awakened. A new power was needed to counter it.

The fight ahead will not be easy. The good news is that there is still hope. Hope in the form of youth.

"Finally."

Hyuk-jung said without looking back. He didn't need to look back to know who had come. He had been looking forward to this moment.

"Are you now resolved?"

Hyuk-jung turned around and said. It was Mo Yonghui. His face was filled with determination, his eyes burning with fighting spirit. There was not even a trace of his former troubles.

"Good face. I see you are no longer wandering about, are your wanderings over?"

"Yes, sir, I've found the way I'm supposed to go, and I'll never get lost again."

The handsome young man replied politely. The path was now clear. The sacrifices I've made have been great. I must further discipline my immature self.

"They say that when you think it's too late, it's never too early. I don't think the time and sacrifices you've made to find your way have been wasted. That's not something to be condemned. The condemnation is for the person who has spent so much time and made so many sacrifices and still hasn't found their way."

First, I ate the preemptive strike. It was an unexpected death blow. But I couldn't let that stop me, because that would mean the end.

Yonghui Mo also had a goal that needed to be tied up.

"It's made me realize, once again, how inexperienced I am, and… there are two people I want to beat no matter what."

"Two people?"

"Yes, one is a friend that I want to win at all costs, and the other is an enemy that I have to win, that I must win. I can't forgive him."

Hyuk-jung nodded.

"Okay, you're going to have to be prepared. He's a legendary martial artist, so it won't be easy."

"Yes, sir."

Mo Yonghui's voice was filled with determination.

"Why did you save me?"

The poisonous old man glared at the man, his venomous eyes flashing.

"It's just a whim."

The Grand Duke, a man of iron will, replied in a heartless voice. But even he could not reduce only one person to ashes, and so he saved her. He had thought he had completely abandoned the human heart, but apparently a piece of it remained. It was ridiculous.

"I hate you!"

The poisonous voice called out.

"Of course you do, you have every right to hate me."

Rain replied. Dokgo Ling looked shocked.

"So… you're… you're the one."

For a moment, my left eye ached as if it had been lost in an earthquake with a flaming metal skewer. The nightmarish voice that had echoed through the torrential downpour seemed to echo in my ears again.

The Archduke remained silent.

"But why? Why did you save me? You killed me once, why did you save me this time?"

Dokgo Ling called out in a desperate voice. It sounded like she was about to cry.

"I don't know, but one thing I do know is that it's not because of the guilt I felt at the time."

Now he was fully admitting to himself. That he was the one who had taken her eye.

"What a cruel person you are……."

Dokgo Ling said in a stern voice.

"What are you going to do with me now, are you going to take away my one remaining right eye? If so, fine, take it, take it, take it!"

She was howling now.

"I won't, because I've had enough of that dirty feeling once. I only saved you because I felt like it, but I can't let you go right now. I still have work to do."

"I must kill you!"

His single eye flashed with hatred.

"You're welcome to try anytime you can!"

The Grand Duke Bi, the man once called Eunmyeong, replied.

When I first set foot here, the valley was filled with high, red plum blossoms that bloomed out of season and green jade leaves that stretched high and wide. Clear blue jade water dripped from the cliffs on three sides like a folding screen, and the white mist of the water broke the boundary between this world and the next.

Flowers, trees, butterflies, bees, birds, there wasn't a single thing that didn't enjoy nature's grace, and it melted my cold heart with its rich fragrance and lively cries.

I wondered if this was the real world, wondered if I'd stepped into the wrong downdraft, wondered if the time-lost hilt would rot, wondered if the sword would rust.

But what is the state of the heavens and earth that once held the jewels of autumn? The red flowers have turned black, and the green trees, instead of singing of life, have become firewood to burn people. The red flowers have turned black, and the green trees have become firewood for burning people instead of singing of life.

Who had the authority to do such a terrible thing, and how could humans, who are also part of nature and cannot live apart from it, destroy a part of themselves?

It is only humans who destroy nature, and only humans who do it with impunity.

"There's nothing left, just black ash, like the dark butoh left after a fire scare… Can the Volcano Covenant Branch be held here again, Ryuyeon?"

Charred rafters, unrecognizable doors, shattered roofs, smoke still rising, the bitter smell of ash covering the sky, carried on the wind, the acrid odor of phosphorus and sulfur……. The suddenness of death in a place where life had flourished was ferocious.

The beautiful red plum blossoms that had bloomed out of season were now gray. It was the color of ashes. The ashen color of despair, as if all hope had been lost. The screams of trees, flowers, insects, animals, and nature's final battle were still ringing in my ears. I felt like tears were coming to my eyes.

Bi Ryuyeon quietly wrapped her arms around her shoulders and gently stroked the hair below her ears.

"Don't worry, that biran guy was right about one thing."

Whether it was from a good night's sleep or a beautiful woman's lap pillow, there was a renewed vigor in his voice.

"……?"

Is there anything left in this abject despair?

"The phoenix rises from the ashes!"

Bi Ryuyeon smiled broadly. There was no shadow of despair on his face, which shone as brightly as the sun, and whether it was because he was moved by it or because he was touched by its radiance, Na Yerin's heart seemed to ease a little.

"It's not over yet, it's just beginning. We're still standing on our own two feet, and those who did this to us will pay for it. Hope is not dead, it's just taking a short break to be reborn. And the precursor to that resurrection is the human heart, and as long as the heart is not broken, no human being is broken, and no hope is broken."

Bi Ryuyeon pumped her fist and said.

"You still owe me a lot, and I can't sleep at night because I owe you."

"I see, you can't just go into debt and not pay it back a hundredfold!"

Na Yerin forced a small smile.

"No, it's ten thousand times that, and the interest is compounded on top of compounded on top of compounded on top of compounded!"

Bi Ryuyeon smiled broadly in response.