Chapter 510: Give it to me just once.

Grrrk.

A sound of something being violently torn echoed. What could that be?

The moment Elder Il harbored a fleeting doubt.

Wobble!

Elder Il’s vision twisted.

Even then, Elder Il hadn’t grasped the situation unfolding.

However, it didn’t take long for Elder Il to realize that the current scene was the view from his own body falling.

It didn’t take long.

Thump!

His body collapsed weakly.

“What…!”

Immediately after, immense pain surged from his lower body.

“Kkeureuuugh!?”

Elder Il screamed from the pain piercing his entire body.

He immediately tried to grab his leg, the source of the pain, but.

His hands thinly passed through empty air.

Because there was nothing there.

“Wh-what…?”

Drooling from the pain, Elder Il looked down.

It was gone.

His left leg, which should have been there, simply didn’t exist.

Where did it go? Where did my leg go?

The moment Elder Il struggled and tried to turn his eyes.

Thud.

Something fell beside him.

It was his leg.

That left leg, severed from Elder Il’s body, wasn’t cleanly cut like with a sword.

It was raggedly mangled, as if it had been ripped off.

“Huuuh…”

As Elder Il’s eyes widened seeing it.

Swoosh.

He felt the sensation of something gripping his thigh.

It was the spot where his leg had been ripped off, dangling.

And then.

Fwoosh-!

“Kuaaaaaaaah!”

A searing heat spread, cauterizing Elder Il’s wound.

The smell of burning skin and blood filled the air.

A foul and disgusting scent, but even more terrifying amidst it was.

“Huuuga…geuuiaak!”

He was writhing and screaming in agony, yet his mind remained lucid despite this level of pain.

If you were to measure it, it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.

Yet, for Elder Il, those seconds felt like an eternity.

Time passed.

As the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air and he lost even the strength to scream.

Only then did he feel the hand releasing his thigh.

“Hgeug…kkeu…”

His eyeballs rolled back.

He saw the dim ceiling.

Looking down from below, he saw red glints within the darkness obscured by shadow.

It was staring at him.

“I shall ask.”

A voice came from the red glints.

“Why did you do that?”

A heavy, deep voice pierced his ears.

Elder Il, his body trembling uncontrollably, had to rack his brain.

Who is it?

Who on earth could be doing this?

Why did I do that?

“What…what…what…?”

As Elder Il struggled to answer.

Crack-!

“…Kkeugeup…!”

Elder Il’s remaining ankle was crushed and shattered.

“I shall ask again.”

“Heok…heueok…”

The tone was the same, but for some reason, Elder Il felt resonance within that voice.

It reflected beyond his blurring vision.

Is that death?

In that moment, such a thought crossed Elder Il’s mind.

“Why did you do that?”

Even as his mind grew weary under the weight of fear, that voice remained clear.

I see.

Is that person a god?

Gods don’t exist.

Even to Elder Il, who believed gods either didn’t exist or had long since died and vanished, it felt that way.

An overwhelming sense of dread.

Crushed by it, Elder Il couldn’t utter a single word.

Only the incessant clattering of his chattering teeth was audible to him.

“…”

Gu Cheol-un, confirming Elder Il’s state, reached out his hand.

Slowly, as his hand reached out to grasp Elder Il’s face.

“That’s far enough.”

Halt.

At the voice that echoed before Elder Il, Gu Cheol-un paused his movement.

Gu Cheol-un looked up and faced forward. There stood Cheon-jon, frowning as he gazed at Gu Cheol-un.

“Clan Head Gu…”

At Cheon-jon’s call, Gu Cheol-un adjusted his clothes and paid his respects.

“Greetings, Elder.”

“…I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.”

An oppressive heat seemed to weigh down the very space. Feeling the pressure radiating directly from Gu Cheol-un, Cheon-jon narrowed his eyes.

“…What are you doing right now?”

What is this situation?

Cheon-jon found it difficult to comprehend the sudden turn of events.

Putting aside Gu Cheol-un’s sudden appearance from the ceiling.

He had attacked Elder Il and brought him to this state.

‘Should I have stopped him.’

Cheon-jon could have intervened if he had tried, but he deliberately didn’t.

Because the aura erupting from Gu Cheol-un was anything but ordinary.

Such clear anger.

He thought there must be a reason. And furthermore.

‘…My reaction was too slow.’

It was also a problem that Cheon-jon’s response was delayed until Gu Cheol-un ripped off the leg.

Recalling that, Cheon-jon inwardly gnashed his teeth.

“Clan Head Gu. Why are you here when you should be in Shanxi?”

He asked, suppressing his rising emotions. Assessing the situation was the priority.

To Cheon-jon’s question, Gu Cheol-un replied with a blank expression.

“I came to confirm because I heard my child was nearly poisoned.”

“…Poisoned?”

Hearing that, Cheon-jon recalled what Elder Il had said just before.

‘He said there was a problem with the job.’

And he mentioned something about the Gu family being involved.

Cheon-jon’s gaze turned towards Elder Il.

‘No way?’

Could that be what he was talking about?

If that’s the case, it becomes quite troublesome.

“Tsk…”

Cheon-jon shifted his gaze back to Gu Cheol-un.

His massive build, his expressionless eyes. He maintained his manners without fail.

He appeared flawless from any angle, but.

‘Even in this situation.’

Even amidst this chaos, Gu Cheol-un maintained that composure and demeanor.

Despite unleashing such immense rage just moments before.

It’s a truly unsettling feeling.

Feeling that inexplicable emotion, Cheon-jon forced himself to speak.

“…The head of the Gu family does not leave Shanxi.”

“…”

“I distinctly recall hearing such a pact.”

Perhaps it was the word ‘pact’ coming from Cheon-jon’s lips.

Gu Cheol-un’s expression shifted subtly.

“Is this matter currently reported to the Alliance?”

“…”

“If not, then please return for now. This person’s matter is for me to handle appropriately…”

“Haa…”

A low sigh.

That small sound silenced Cheon-jon.

Despite its smallness, the emotion contained within was clearly palpable.

Contempt.

Annoyance.

And anger.

Though these distinct yet similar emotions mingled, their presence was incredibly distinct.

“…You.”

“Elder.”

As Gu Cheol-un spoke, his gaze wasn’t on Cheon-jon but scanned the surroundings.

The piled-up corpses of demonic beasts.

The blood of those filling the floor.

The platform holding something, and the miasma filling the air alone were enough to reveal this was no ordinary space.

Gu Cheol-un’s eyes, glancing around, were chillingly cold.

There was no reaction. Time had made him this way.

No, it probably wasn’t just time.

“About ten years ago.”

For that to be the case, the experiences endured during that process were far too numerous.

“Around the time something happened to us. Despite covering up and burying all those events, the Alliance remained unshakably firm.”

A sticky something could be felt in his quietly flowing voice.

Clang.

At that sensation, Cheon-jon unconsciously gripped his sword.

“Even longer ago, when the head of the Peng family crossed the line, the Pengs didn’t crumble. And when your grandson caused trouble, the Namgung family didn’t collapse either.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Do you know the reason why?”

No matter what incident occurred, the martial world’s Alliance, the central pillar of the orthodox sects, would not collapse.

The Alliance Leader would change, and positions at the top would shift.

The word ‘collapse’ isn’t accurate.

Furthermore, the Peng family mentioned by Gu Cheol-un and Cheon-jon’s Namgung were prestigious families known as the Four Great Houses.

At best, even if a descendant of a Great House caused trouble, a prestigious family wouldn’t collapse like that.

Gu Cheol-un must know that too, so why is he saying such cryptic things?

The moment Cheon-jon thought that.

Thump.

“…!”

Gu Cheol-un was suddenly standing before Cheon-jon.

With a rough and clumsy touch, he pushed Cheon-jon’s sword back, preventing him from drawing it.

As Cheon-jon, unable to properly perceive the movement, began to panic.

Gu Cheol-un spoke to Cheon-jon.

“It is because I showed mercy.”

“What….”

As Gu Cheol-un spoke, his eyes seemed to gather light.

It was a statement both chilling and burning.

The emotion in his voice, sharply changing form, pierced Cheon-jon’s heart.

His tone, turned into a dagger, penetrated deeply.

“It is far too late to speak of righteousness and chivalry in this rotten, collapsing land. As proof, the Alliance has lost the conviction it once held.”

“Clan Head Gu, you are now…”

“Can a pact made with such an Alliance in the past…”

Kgeugeug.

The ground cracked. It couldn’t withstand the pressure emanating from Gu Cheol-un’s feet.

“Still be firmly bound? Do you think so?”

“…!”

“Elder, do you feel nothing seeing this place?”

The Four Great Houses of the orthodox sects.

The Tang family, now said to have shed its past disgrace and established itself as an orthodox sect.

That’s what the world says, but.

In reality, it was festering like this. Do you feel nothing seeing it firsthand?

At Gu Cheol-un’s barbed words, Cheon-jon remained silent.

It was because uttering a response would be too dangerous.

However, Cheon-jon knew that his silence was itself an answer.

A brief silence passed.

Gu Cheol-un’s gaze also turned to Cheon-jon.

Cheon-jon not answering this matter. The rotten Tang family and this space.

Though the orthodox sects have many harsh and ugly aspects.

Even if that were the case.

Gu Cheol-un didn’t care.

“I don’t care what the Alliance intended or what they desired. So, step aside.”

“You.”

“Elder, I am doing my utmost right now.”

Woowoong.

The heat changed.

The energy twisted, gradually transforming into flames.

“To prevent the Tang family from being erased from this land. I am enduring with all my might.”

“…!”

Cheon-jon’s eyes widened.

The transformed flames gathered behind Gu Cheol-un’s back.

They were coalescing into a single form.

‘That….’

Should I call that energy?

Can one create something like that with human energy?

Tremble tremble.

Cheon-jon felt his sword trembling.

The altered air was causing the sword to vibrate.

“So, step aside.”

Should I step aside like this?

I couldn’t. This was a matter of status.

Gu Cheol-un, mentioning the Peng family, the Tang family, and even the martial world Alliance, revealing his arrogance.

It was impossible to back down while ignoring this.

To back down here would mean.

It would be no different than judging Gu Cheol-un’s words to be correct.

He could annihilate the Alliance and the Four Great Houses alone.

That’s what it would mean.

Could I truly accept that?

I cannot. Absolutely not.

Yet, even knowing that…

‘Why aren’t you drawing your sword?’

Why am I not drawing my sword?

Is it because Gu Cheol-un is blocking me? No.

Gu Cheol-un was forcefully pushing the sword back, but he had left a minuscule gap.

So that Cheon-jon could draw it anytime, and thus aim his sword at him.

He had prepared such a gap.

‘Ha….’

Seeing that, Cheon-jon let out a hollow laugh.

This is humiliating.

How long has it been since I felt this?

It was similar to the feeling I had the last time I crossed swords with the Sword Saint.

Clang.

At this, Cheon-jon immediately reached for the hilt to draw his sword…

“If you draw your sword now.”

The voice that reached Cheon-jon’s ear wrapped around his neck.

“The Namgung family will be annihilated.”

“…”

A cold voice, a moment of hesitation.

But.

Shing-

Cheon-jon then drew his sword.

Kwaaaaaaaaah-!

Immediately after, a storm composed of energy swept through the space.