Book 26 Chapter 18

Law and Power

—The Past of Rakbio

The father of Rakbio, the King of the Western Sea, was a local magistrate. In other words, he was a person who judged crimes according to the law. He was very upright and honest. Despite possessing power that could easily corrupt, his father did not succumb to it. For him, law was justice. As a child, he admired his father who judged criminals under strict laws.

Then one day, a criminal was apprehended. The problem was that the criminal was the son of a local influential figure. This figure held the wealth and dark forces of the city in his hands.

Naturally, a request came to release his son quietly. Along with a large chest of money. His father did not accept the chest. Then came threats. If he wanted to live a long life with his family, he should obey them obediently. In this district, they were the law. However, for his father, the law was only the law written in the law books. He refused to follow any other law. Following his principles, his father sentenced the influential figure's son to death. He couldn't let that man, who was constantly committing fraud, raping women as easily as eating, and murdering whenever he pleased, go unpunished. His father's justice would not forgive it.

However, at that moment, there was someone who thought his father should not be forgiven. It was the local influential figure.

He had no need for a judge who wouldn't become a dog of money and power. Those who clutched money in one hand firmly believed that the world's principle was for the law to be interpreted according to the will of the powerful.

For them, fairness was an absurd concept. In any case, in their eyes, fairness did not exist. What was unfair was fair to them.

He unleashed his subordinates and attacked the magistrate's office. Since most of the soldiers guarding the office had been bribed by him, the resistance was negligible.

His father, who had no shame in his actions, died on his seat without fleeing. His mother also could not escape and was captured and subjected to humiliation before being killed.

Only Rakbio, hiding in a secret space just large enough for a child, escaped the disaster. He watched with his own eyes as the law book, where the laws his father had tried to protect were written, burned to ashes along with his father and mother's corpses. The law was so powerless against strength.

Seeing the magistrate's office in flames, a burly martial artist rushed over and took him in. Ironically, this martial artist had once benefited from his father's just judgment. He took Rakbio as his disciple, stating that martial artists must clearly distinguish between favors and grudges. His master was one of the hidden top martial artists of the Jianghu, known as ‘Black Vajra’. Rakbio then went into the mountains with his master and trained in martial arts. The martial art he learned at that time was the Vajra Rebounding Body Technique.

“From that incident, I realized how foolish my father was, who revered laws and rules. That in this world, only strength is justice. Everything else is powerless against strength. From then on, I decided to pursue only strength. And when I finally obtained strength, I descended the mountain and was able to take revenge on them. A brutal revenge by force, in their own way. The law could not help my revenge at all. Only strength made my revenge possible.”

After finishing his revenge, he entered the Celestial Pavilion to gain even greater strength.

“I obtained this strength through agonizing pain. I obtained justice. Therefore, I will no longer lose. I will no longer be unhappy!”

Rakbio, with his emotions churning violently within him, shouted irritably. Despite hearing his unfortunate past, Biryu-yeon did not even flinch an eyebrow. He wasn't so soft as to sympathize and cry his eyes out over such things. Instead, a smirk played on Biryu-yeon's lips.

“Pfft, stop lying. It's ridiculous.”

“What are you talking about?”

Rakbio's eyes flashed with flames of anger at the unexpected mockery.

“Why don’t you look at yourself? Don’t you think something is strange?”

“What is strange?”

“This is severe. Hey, you. Why are you fighting me alone? Why insist on one-on-one when you have dozens of subordinates lined up on both sides? Didn't you say you wanted power? From what you said, it sounds like the law of one person was broken by the force of many? If you didn't want to suffer such a terrible fate again, shouldn't you have attacked as a group from the beginning? You could have finished it more easily by rushing in all at once, whether there were forty or fifty of you?”

“Th-that’s…”

For some reason, Rakbio couldn't give a clear answer to any of the barrage of questions.

“Don’t you really think it’s strange? And why are you so fixated on rules when we were betting earlier? You could have hit me once or twice as you pleased, right? Why go through the trouble of setting rules and binding yourself to them? Wasn't the strength you speak of something that easily breaks such rules?”

“That was just for fun…”

Upon Rakbio's unconvincing answer, Biryu-yeon immediately shook his head.

“No, that’s just an excuse. When will you realize it? Rules and laws are the same thing, just different names. You wanted to win by abiding by rules alone. You just want to prove that you are not inferior to the many, even with your own strength.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

A strange moan escaped Rakbio's lips. He was extremely flustered and confused. His heart was shaking more violently than ever before. Biryu-yeon did not loosen his offensive grip and delivered the final blow.

“Still don’t you understand? The fact that you've been chasing your father's shadow all this time. You denied it vehemently, proclaiming strength as justice, but your actions didn't reflect that. Your subconscious still believes your father was right. Did you just call your father foolish? No, it was you who were foolish! And now you are just being childish.”

Rakbio's body trembled violently like a struck aspen.

“I, I…”

Cornered mentally, Rakbio felt he had to retort. But no words came to mind. Naturally. He truly believed it. He had always believed it in a corner of his consciousness. He himself had been running away from that fact. He himself was the biggest coward. At this moment, Rakbio's mind was completely incapacitated.

‘Now!’

Biryu-yeon's eyes began to blaze golden. Entering the ‘Holhwang state,’ where one sees the unseen, hears the unheard, and touches the untouchable, Biryu-yeon's eyes accurately sensed the crack that had formed in Rakbio's mind.

“It seems you've honed your physical armor quite well, but how strong is your mental armor?”

Before he even finished speaking, Biryu-yeon’s body transformed into a streak of lightning.

Flying Thunder Sword (飛雷刀)

Sword Qi (劍氣) Ultimate Technique (奧義)

Chapter of Heart Severing Without Form (斷心無形)

Mind Thunder (心雷) Rift Break (裂破)

From Biryu-yeon's hand, a Flying Thunder Sword fell vertically like a streak of lightning. The lightning accurately cleaved through the center of Rakbio's forehead. At that moment, a formless bolt of lightning pierced through Rakbio's confused mind and spirit. He trembled as if electrocuted by lightning. His mind felt as if it had turned into a blank white sheet for a moment.

Biryu-yeon had used a similar technique before to break the seal on Galhyo-bong, who was under psychic control, on Mount Wudang. This technique cut not the body, but the mind. Just as Galhyo-bong was under psychic control, Rakbio was also bound by the mental scars of his past. This technique cuts through such things. However, this was unlike gentle psychological counseling. It was a rather forceful intervention. And there were cases where it caused far more damage than healing mental wounds. Naturally. The original purpose of this technique was to pry into such cracks and completely shatter them. It was a truly fearsome technique meant to destroy people's minds.

Biryu-yeon was using it slightly modified. However, even Biryu-yeon himself didn't know what the outcome would be. He had no excuse for being irresponsible. Unlike the physical body, the impact on the mind was likely to manifest in various forms.

With this strike, Biryu-yeon had shattered Rakbio's surprisingly unstable mental armor, unlike his well-honed, strong physical armor. Rakbio entered a brief state of mental void, and Biryu-yeon did not miss the opportunity.

Flying Thunder Sword (飛雷刀) Ultimate Technique (奧義)

Phantom Clone (幻影分身) Chapter (章)

Eight Flashes (八閃)

Thunderous Roar Strike (雷光轟打)

Instantly, Biryu-yeon's form multiplied into eight, and they began striking Rakbio's body from all directions. However, this time, they didn't bounce off as before. Instead, wherever Biryu-yeon's fists landed, a resonant drumming sound echoed, and ripples spread. Even in his dazed state of mind, his martial arts etched onto his body were doing their job.

“I've already figured it out.”

A clone of Biryu-yeon, positioned opposite where the ripples were spreading, threw a punch again. It was the exact opposite spot of where Biryu-yeon had hit earlier. The ripples collided and canceled each other out. This was simultaneously resolved by the eight clones attacking in unison. As a result, the ripples frequently canceled each other out, making counterattacks impossible.

His technique, ‘Rebound Force,’ was to guide the power of the spreading ripples back and turn it into an attack.

However, attacking from multiple directions simultaneously made it almost impossible to control the flow of power smoothly. Rakbio usually dispersed the shockwaves he received by utilizing the water within his body, which made up over ninety percent of his body. In this state, that water was as good as frozen.

Unable to dampen the shockwaves, Rakbio was as good as stripped of his boasted physical armor. This meant he had to endure the received impact entirely.

Boom!

Rakbio's body collapsed like a giant tower falling. He fell to his knees. He had no strength left to counterattack.

The Vajra Rebounding Body Technique had completely scattered. It would take a considerable amount of time to recover.

All the strength drained from his body like an ebbing tide, and he couldn't even move a finger.

He, who worshipped strength, was defeated by strength. It was a complete defeat.

“I… lost…”

Rakbio admitted defeat in a slightly dazed voice. More than the fact of losing this fight, Biryu-yeon's verbal mental assault left a greater impact.

Biryu-yeon spoke to the bewildered Rakbio.

“Well then, as promised, will you guide me to where the wooden coffin is?”