King Shura

When he faced off against Neng Mu Gi. The Gongson Chun Gi from forty years ago. Even then, he was strong.

“Hoh?”

Gongson Chun Gi, who was sitting at the desk with a bored face, became curious. That was because a little while ago, something, something very strange and unique, entered his ‘area’.

It seemed so small and insignificant, that even Gongson Chun Gi nearly missed it.

“This is interesting.”

“What?”

Gongson Chun Gi stroked his chin, and smiled mischievously. He then stood up. At the same time, he faced the Demon Doctor (魔醫) Sunwu Jo Duk, who had been making a report on pills, and spoke.

“Hey.”

“Yes, Your Holiness. What do you wish?”

“Is that report important?”

What kind of a prank did the Pope have in mind this time? Thinking that, Sunwu Jo Duk responded with a calm voice.

“Yes. It’s very important. The medicinal supplies are getting low.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We are mass-producing the Heavenly Demon Spirit Pill, like you ordered a while back.”

“Oh, yeah, right.”

Gongson Chun Gi responded lazily, and spoke while looking at the door.

“Is that report as important as your life?”

“What?”

“Would you risk your life for that report?”

Sunwu Jo Duk thought for a moment. The new Pope of the church, Gongson Chun Gi, had a bad habit of hiding something, then asking others questions about it.

The problem was that whenever the Pope did this, the things he hid from others were often very ‘important’. But then, while Gongson Chun Gi liked playing around, he never risked a person’s life doing it.

The word ‘life’ came out of that man’s mouth. This deserved to make him think a bit more.

Sunwu Jo Duk proudly replied, whilst stroking his gray beard several times.

“Of course my neck is more important. I can make hundreds of these reports, anyway.”

Gongson Chun Gi grinned.

“Then get out. I have no intention to protect someone as old as you by killing myself in the process.”

Sunwu Jo Duk suddenly became a lot more cautious.

“Is it an assassin?”

“Maybe, I think it’s a little different from that.”

Could a man who strolls in here in broad daylight truly be an assassin? Gongson Chun Gi smiled when he thought about that. At the same time, Sunwu Jo Duk spoke with a serious tone.

“I’ll bring the boys from the Bladed Killer Corps.”

“No. They’ll just be a bother.”

Gongson Chun Gi waved his hands in annoyance, and leaned against the table.

“This isn’t something that can be solved with numbers alone.”

“He’s that good?”

“Yeah, he’s that good.”

Right. The person that was approaching him right now wasn’t someone that could be overwhelmed by just numbers.

“Just get out as if you don’t know anything, and sort out everyone in the area. I want to stay alone with this guy.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Do you not know me? I’m super strong.”

“I know. That’s why it’s dangerous.”

“What’s dangerous?”

Sunwu Jo Duk smiled.

“That assassin’s in danger. Wouldn’t we have to catch him alive, to interrogate?”

“Well, I don’t know if I could actually capture him alive…….”

When Gongson Chun Gi spoke with a hesitant tone, Sunwu Jo Duk finally realized how serious all this was. That was why he spoke again with an even more serious tone.

“Should I bring those old men here?”

“It would certainly be a little better if those old gluttons were here……..”

Gongson Chun Gi paused, and smirked.

“But that would hurt my pride, don’t you think?”

“…….”

Sunwu Jo Duk didn’t smile. He looked around a bit, then spoke.

“It wouldn’t be enough with just a few guards, right?”

“I already told them. They’ll leave once you leave.”

“Why don’t you just bring in the old good-for-nothings instead? They should do their job for once. Don’t you think they would be getting tired of playing around every day, by now?”

“Aren’t those old guys your friends? Aren’t you being a little bit too offensive, just because they aren’t here?”

Sunwu Jo Duk became enraged in a second.

“What do you mean, friends? I never befriended a bunch of good-for-nothings.”

Gongson Chun Gi nodded.

“I knew it. No wonder they said that they never befriended a stupid medicine man.”

“Those cheeky bastards…..”

Right before Sunwu Jo Duk spewed out more insults, Gongson Chun Gi spoke.

“He’s coming closer. You should get out by now.”

“Will you really be alright? I could help, if the situation is really urgent.”

Gongson Chun Gi shook his head.

“You’ll be a bother.”

“…….Alright.”

Even though he still wasn’t a harmonious expert, he had reached a peak level in martial arts. But Sunwu Jo Duk was more skilled in the art of medicine than martial arts, and had built up quite a reputation for his poison. His poison was strong enough to kill a harmonious expert, after all.

‘But I would still be a bother?’

Sunwu Jo Duk faintly smiled. He realized that this wasn’t the place for him.

“You know it would be troublesome if you just died here, right?”

Gongson Chun Gi nodded.

“I know. It’ll be more embarrassing than troublesome, though.”

“Right. I’ll take my leave, then.”

Sunwu Jo Duk bowed, and walked up to the door behind him. He stopped in front of the door, and spoke without looking back.

“The old pope told me to take care of you well.”

“I know.”

“This old man hasn’t done anything significant for you yet, so I’ll be angry if you just died here, okay?”

“Yeah. Well, I have my own reasons for not dying. My life is just getting better after studying martial arts for that long. I can’t just die here.”

Gongson Chun Gi smiled, and spoke again.

“I have no intention to die, so just get out and wait. Let’s have dinner together or something later.”

“Okay. Ah, and if it’s possible, can you leave him alive? We’ll have to interrogate him.”

“I’ll try.”

Sunwu Jo Duk opened the door with a satisfied face.

And the moment before the door closed, someone else came into the temple. Gonson Chun Gi didn’t respond at all to this. Actually, he pretended to not notice the man, and observed the intruder in his own ways. He got quite surprised.

‘This is…….’

It was amazing. There was no other way to describe it.

Gongson Chun Gi kept trying to stop himself from smiling.

He was happy. To think there was another human that attained this much power, other than his mentor. He even began to be thankful for learning martial arts, for the first time in his life.

‘When will he attack?’

What weapons will he use?

Wait, does he use weapons?

How’ll he attack?

He kept thinking of new questions that came and went in mere seconds.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t even remember the last time he observed and inspected an enemy like this.

‘Come on.’

He wanted to see the intruder. He wanted to see how that guy got to such a level. Surely the man used different means compared to him, to get to this level.

‘I want to see him.’

He wanted to get a glimpse of the world that man saw. That was why Gongson Chun Gi pretended to be weak.

After a short while, the intruder began to move.

One step. Another one. The man stopped exactly five steps away from Gongson Chun Gi.

‘Why?’

What went wrong here? While Gongson Chun Gi was yawning with a relaxed face, something happened to the intruder.

A look of suspicion rose in the man’s face. The man knew something was wrong. Something. The man found something wrong about Gongson Chun Gi.

‘Then…….’

Gongson Chun Gi stretched his arms, then lay down on the bed. He then proceeded to go to sleep.

It was impossible to attempt to fake sleep in front of an expert like this. He’d have to sleep for real. This was definitely a big gamble for Gongson Chun Gi, too.

But Gongson Chun Gi smiled in his mind. Wouldn’t things get more exciting this way?

So he slept. He fell into a deep slumber and woke up, but the intruder hadn’t moved a bit from his previous spot. Exactly five steps. The man was looking at him from that distance.

‘He’s very careful.’

What should he do? What should he do to make that guy move?

Gongson Chun Gi headed for the back yard whilst thinking that. He hadn’t felt something like this in a while. The feeling that every one of his cells were coming alive. This feeling of life. His body was filled with a feeling that couldn’t really be explained by words.

He didn’t find anyone he could fight seriously after his teacher passed away.

‘Was I frustrated?’

Gongson Chun Gi leisurely walked around the back garden while thinking this about himself. The twilight in the distance dyed the back garden in a shade of red.

While Gongson Chun Gi was thinking on his own, watching the scenery, the man exactly five steps away from Gongson Chun Gi opened his mouth.

“Since when?”

Gongson Chun Gi felt the mysteries that surrounded the man all but disappear the moment that man spoke. There was only one man in the world that could show this much skill in stealth.

Gongson Chun Gi sat down in a spot he found nearby, and opened his mouth.

“You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you?”

The man’s face twisted by a minute degree when Gongson Chun Gi said that. It seemed the man wasn’t very well versed in hiding emotions. When Gongson Chun Gi thought that much, the man spoke.

“Do you know who I am?”

Of course I do. Thinking that, Gongson Chun Gi nodded.

“They say that there is a black moon watching over the evil sky……. You’re quite amazing, just like the rumors say.”

When the assassin heard his words. The hesitation in the Night Emperor’s face all but disappeared.

‘He’s coming.’

Gongson Chun Gi smiled. He couldn’t wait. Right now, this battle between the two ultimate experts didn’t require much time. That was because petty tricks were meaningless in front of an ultimate expert. They had to bring out their full strength right off the bat.

Because of that, everything would be settled in mere moments. One strike would determine life and death. His life depended on this one strike.

Was it because of that? Gongson Chun Gi’s mouth went dry.

‘This is it.’

The feeling of his entire body, from head to toe, coming alive. He could feel his blood pumping out of his heart like a raging horse.

Gongson Chun Gi was happy. No, he was so happy that he wanted to laugh loudly on the spot. At this moment, where he was standing together with his opponent, he thanked his teacher for teaching him martial arts.

‘Don’t kill someone like this?’

That was crazy. He had accepted a hard request without even realizing it. Gongson Chun Gi laughed a bit when he thought about his exchange with Sunwu Jo Duk.

It was easy to kill. Trying to capture someone who was trying to kill him, was not.

‘But that is what is making all this so worthwhile.’

He didn’t think it was impossible. That was because Gongson Chun Gi believed himself to be the strongest under the heavens.

Gongson Chun Gi’s eyes widened when he thought that much. The cold feeling running down his back. The moment his entire body was awakened by a frightful feeling, Neng Mu Gi came at him like an arrow.

At the same time, Gongson Chun Gi saw the heavens and the earth split in two.

‘I can see it!’

As every fiber of his body tensed, Gongson Chun Gi’s response was as fast as light. He stopped breathing, and lifted both his hands upwards. He held a position where the two palms of his hands were facing each other. All he had to do now was to add internal energy into his arms.

Crack–

His two arms, which were injected with an unbearable amount of internal energy, expanded with a strange sound. Gongson Chun Gi felt immense pain from this, but he still smiled from the adrenaline.

‘Block it! Block it! Block it!’

When one begins studying swords, he/she is taught how to slice. After that, he/she will be taught how to pierce, which would eventually evolve into a single beam of light that will snuff out an enemy’s life.

But the thing that was approaching Gongson Chun Gi wasn’t a line.

Dot.

The man who became one with the sword, became a single dot that came for Gongson Chun Gi’s heart. A sword that found the shortest distance to the enemy, and pierces.

‘It’s fast!’

The strongest technique.

This technique demands the user to focus all his energy into the tip of the sword, and release it explosively. Neng Mu Gi thought that even a god would be incapable of blocking this attack. But…….

Chiiii—–

With a sound of something burning, Neng Mu Gi’s sword came to a halt right in front of Gongson Chun Gi’s heart. He had failed to pierce his target.

Neng Mu Gi’s eyes started to get dull. But he had to ask. Neng Mu Gi opened his mouth with a tired voice.

“…….What is the name of this technique?”

Gongson Chun Gi made an awkward face. He didn’t know what to say. After trying to think up of something cool, he simply shook his head, and spoke.

“I don’t know. I just blocked as I saw fit.”

Tududuk–

Gongson Chun Gi’s two sleeves burst right that moment. At the same time, the sleeves burnt away into little bits.

Neng Mu Gi observed all this with a bored face, then put his sword back in its hilt. It was meaningless now.

“I lost. Kill me.”

Gongson Chun Gi blocked his technique with just two arms. Neng Mu Gi had felt some sort of an immense pressure from those arms.

He felt miserable. His life’s work all but crumbled with this encounter. He couldn’t even stand because of how tired he was. His previous attack really was his all.

‘That was dangerous.’

Gongson Chun Gi, too, was tired, even though he looked fine on the outside. Like Neng Mu Gi, he spent all his energy in that block.

If the other side was faster even minutely, or if he made a slight error while blocking…… he didn’t even want to think about it. Gongson Chun Gi stretched his neck.

Crack–

Hearing the cracks from his neck, he smiled.

“That was quite something. I don’t think I had this much fun since my teacher passed away.”

“…….”

“Did you come here because of the Black Moon Guild?”

“No. This was my independent action.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Gongson Chun Gi took a seat on a rock next to him, and spoke.

“You want to have some food before you leave?”

“……..”

Neng Mu Gi was speechless.

This was the first meeting between Neng Mu Gi and Gongson Chun Gi, that wasn’t known to the world.