Chronicles of the Demonic Cult Conversion-Chapter 10 : Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Advent of the Demonic God
Clang!
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master's sword blocked Jin Yeong-in's sword.
“……!”
Jin Yeong-in was surprised.
“Look at this.”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master grinned, as if amused.
His white teeth stood out even more against his bronze skin tanned by the South Sea sun.
“Was it luck, or did you know and strike?”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master asked Jin Yeong-in.
How could he not know?
This martial art had also been researched in the Demonic Prison.
The Hainan Sect's ultimate technique, the Angry Waves Heavenly Wind Style.
Due to the regional characteristics of the South Sea, where close-quarters combat on ships often occurred, it was a martial art designed to fight efficiently in a confined space.
The Scaled Dragon Sword that the Scaled Dragon Sword Masters carried was also more like a saber in form than a sword.
The blade was short, the width was wide, and the weight was heavy.
The intention was to lighten a broadsword while accepting a decrease in destructive power, in order to simultaneously utilize the principles of both a fast sword and a heavy sword.
“No answer. Will you open your mouth only after an arm is severed?”
“…….”
“We'll find out if we test it.”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master once again swung his Scaled Dragon Sword, pushing Jin Yeong-in back.
Chwararara!
A fierce and rough offensive, as if resembling the raging waves of the South Sea, swept in.
‘Focus!’
From Jin Yeong-in's hands, the sword art that his master, the Azure Heaven Divine Warrior, had created and honed throughout his life, unfolded.
A martial art with no set forms, as there were no fixed moves.
A martial art with no fixed path.
A martial art that contained the will to be unbound by anything, as if flying through the vast sky.
Thus, it was named Flying Heaven, and it was the most free sword in the world.
Clang, clang!
Jjeo-eong!
Jin Yeong-in's sword and the Scaled Dragon Sword Master's Scaled Dragon Sword clashed relentlessly, exchanging fierce blows.
In the blink of an eye, over twenty exchanges passed, and when they reached about thirty.
Chwararak!
Jin Yeong-in's sword cut diagonally across the Scaled Dragon Sword Master's left shoulder.
Jureureuk!
Crimson blood flowed freely, but the Scaled Dragon Sword Master did not fall.
Chwaaaaaa!
Pabak!
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master momentarily created a sword wind to push Jin Yeong-in back and quickly sealed his left shoulder to stop the bleeding.
“You… you know. The vital point of the Angry Waves Heavenly Wind Style. Keuk.”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master growled, glaring at Jin Yeong-in.
‘Is this all?’
Jin Yeong-in unknowingly bit his lower lip.
He had succeeded in landing a valid hit, but it was not the result he had expected.
Simply attacking the vital point of the martial art, or more precisely, the opening in the move, was not enough to inflict a fatal wound on the Scaled Dragon Sword Master.
Even when the vital point of his move was attacked, the Scaled Dragon Sword Master did not collapse easily.
He overcame the crisis with his quick thinking and use of variations, and even managed to avoid a fatal wound at the critical moment.
If it had been a prodigy-level opponent, he would have lost his life, but it was a response befitting a warrior rich in practical experience.
“The Alliance wants you captured alive, but I can't do that. I must kill you.”
Jin Yeong-in understood the Scaled Dragon Sword Master's reaction.
The unity of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance might seem solid at first glance, but internally, there was constant subtle checking and fighting over interests.
If Jin Yeong-in were to be dragged to the Righteous Heavenly Alliance alive, the method to counter the Angry Waves Heavenly Wind Style might leak to the Righteous Heavenly Alliance.
Therefore, from the Scaled Dragon Sword Master's perspective, he had no choice but to try to kill Jin Yeong-in to silence him and prevent his sect's ultimate technique from being leaked.
“You cannot calm a raging storm with shallow tricks.”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master rushed towards Jin Yeong-in, exuding a deadly killing intent.
***
Shweeeeeek!
Chwararara!
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master's attacks pushing Jin Yeong-in back were truly ferocious.
It was fierce, as if he had met a sworn enemy, and it was an all-out offensive, as if he had never considered defense.
It was to the point where it felt like he was trying to achieve mutual destruction.
Moreover, he was conscious of the vital point and barely used the Angry Waves Heavenly Wind Style, instead pushing with force and weight, making it difficult for the physically disadvantaged Jin Yeong-in to handle.
“Young Master Jin!”
“Protect Young Master Jin… Aack!”
A few allies threw themselves to help Jin Yeong-in, but it was not a situation where anyone could help anyone.
To be frank, from the moment they failed to prevent the Scaled Dragon Sword Masters from boarding, it was only a matter of time before the deck was taken over.
“Capture them alive if possible!”
“Yes!”
Before long, Demon Extermination Squad members were climbing onto the deck one by one and pressing the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult escort team in turn.
“Do you really have to resist?”
“Keuk!”
“It would be better to die at my hands. If you are dragged to the Righteous Heavenly Alliance, you will be begging for death.”
He agreed a hundred, a thousand times.
But he had no intention of giving up, not in the slightest.
If he were to be helplessly dragged to the Righteous Heavenly Alliance, he would rather choose suicide, but until then, he intended to do everything he could.
‘Distance, distance is life.’
Jin Yeong-in did his utmost to maintain a distance from the Scaled Dragon Sword Master.
A vital point did not simply mean a weakness in a martial art.
Strictly speaking, a vital point was a comprehensive concept closer to military strategy.
Was it difficult to just attack the weakness of a move?
Then, he had to be able to see the fight from a broader perspective.
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master's martial art was created to achieve maximum efficiency in a narrow space like a ship, and the Scaled Dragon Sword in his hand was also a weapon made for that purpose.
In that case, the range of the Scaled Dragon Sword Master's martial art was bound to be narrow.
That was the only thing Jin Yeong-in could rely on.
Thus, a chase began in a narrow space of only a few steps.
A Scaled Dragon Sword Master trying to close the distance and kill Jin Yeong-in.
Jin Yeong-in, despite his limping and uncomfortable body, gritting his teeth and refusing to give up the distance.
The scene was like a battle between a spear and a shield.
“You rat!”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master shouted and pushed Jin Yeong-in even more fiercely.
Puk!
Jin Yeong-in's sword, like a single beam of light, pierced the Scaled Dragon Sword Master's throat.
“Keok!”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Master, letting out a single scream, coughed up blood and slowly collapsed.
“Heok, heok…….”
Jin Yeong-in's eyes watched the falling Scaled Dragon Sword Master.
“It's not enough to just focus… you die because you have other thoughts.”
The dead Scaled Dragon Sword Master was by no means inferior to Jin Yeong-in.
The reason he died?
He simply became impatient after seeing the Demon Extermination Squad members climb onto the deck and pushed himself too hard to finish Jin Yeong-in quickly.
In the end, he lost his life, paying a very high price.
Grit!
Jin Yeong-in gritted his teeth and corrected his posture.
This was not a situation where he could rest just because he had cut down one Scaled Dragon Sword Master.
“Se-senioooor!!!”
“You son of a bitch!!! I will not let you get away with this!!!”
The Scaled Dragon Sword Masters, who had witnessed the death of their fellow disciple, rushed in, spewing a blood-soaked grudge.
“Young Master Jin! Keueuk! I will help you!”
Danmok Cheong, who had managed to free himself, rushed to protect Jin Yeong-in.
“I'll join in too!”
“Get out of the way!”
A few other escort team members also stuck by Jin Yeong-in even in that difficult situation.
Jin Yeong-in fought back against the enemies with his back against the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Even before returning to the past.
And now.
Then and now, the only ones who protected Jin Yeong-in were the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
***
As time passed, the tide of battle turned against Jin Yeong-in's party.
Starting with the Scaled Dragon Sword Masters, the Demon Extermination Squad members, and warriors from various sects joined in, turning the deck into a scene of utter chaos.
Nearly one hundred and fifty warriors were entangled in a fight on the narrow deck, and the ship's hull was rocking.
The reason they were able to hold on was that the Righteous Heavenly Alliance had no intention of killing Jin Yeong-in's party.
The Righteous Heavenly Alliance wanted to capture not only Jin Yeong-in but also the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult belonging to the escort team alive.
Their intention was to extract information, publicly execute the members of the Demonic Cult to show off the power of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance, and to let it be known that the threat of the Demonic Cult was still present, thus achieving three goals with one stone.
Nevertheless, Jin Yeong-in's party was gradually collapsing.
“Krrrrrr!”
“Let go! I said let go! You sons of bitcheeees! Kraaaaaak!”
“Keueueuk!”
The warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult began to be subdued one by one.
In the meantime, Jin Yeong-in, Danmok Cheong, and three other warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were trapped inside the ship's bridge.
Beyond having the deck completely taken over, they were pushed back into the cramped bridge, becoming like rats in a trap.
“Young Master Jin… krrrr! Stay… inside. You must not… come near us. Absolutely… krrrrr!”
Danmok Cheong, his eyes bloodshot, said to Jin Yeong-in.
His face had become distorted like a demon's.
It wasn't just Danmok Cheong.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
“Uwoooooooo!”
“Kihiit!”
The other three were also slowly going mad, their faces contorted like demons.
‘Ah.’
Jin Yeong-in knew all too well what their appearance meant.
Demonification.
A fate and a curse that those who learned demonic arts were bound to experience.
A symptom that appeared when one could not control their rampaging demonic nature, with the most common cause being physical and mental limits.
A demonified demonic practitioner would lose their reason and go on a rampage, and it was known that their strength would become more than twice as strong as their original power.
However, because they lost their reason, they could not distinguish between friend and foe, and in rare cases, the demonification would not wear off, and they would remain a demon forever.
In other words, it could be a trump card to turn the tide of a disadvantageous battle, but it could also be a curse that would ruin one's life.
But now, there was no choice but to draw even such a double-edged sword.
‘I'll block the rear!’
While the demonified warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult blocked the entrance, Jin Yeong-in focused on stopping the enemies climbing up from the rear of the bridge.
It was possible because the narrow space of the bridge made it easy for a few to hold off many.
But even that did not last long.
As the effects of the Three Lives Stimulation Powder wore off, the expanded meridians narrowed again, and his inner arts were completely depleted, with only a tiny amount remaining.
Tremble, tremble…….
His two legs were trembling like an aspen tree, and the strength in his hands was gone, making it difficult to even hold a sword.
Even so, he gritted his teeth and swung his sword frantically, but his body only grew heavier, like a water-logged sponge.
The movements of Danmok Cheong and the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who had blocked the entrance to the bridge were also noticeably slowing down.
At this rate, it was a foregone conclusion that both Jin Yeong-in and the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would soon collapse.
‘I'll take at least one more with me.’
With that mindset, he tenaciously swung his sword, but he suddenly felt a sense of incongruity.
‘Something… is coming.’
Jin Yeong-in felt the presence of something and flinched.
Thump, thump!!!
He felt his heart drop, and then his heart began to pound like crazy.
Shudder!
A shiver ran down his spine, and even the fine hairs on his body stood on end.
‘Th-this is.’
Jin Yeong-in was the first to sense the approaching presence and was horrified.
He had never met a being with such powerful demonic qi.
No, he even doubted if such a thing could exist in the world.
If it did…….
If it were possible…….
‘Don't tell me.’
As if in response to that vague speculation, the surrounding environment began to change rapidly.
Goooooooooooooooo―!!!
The atmosphere trembled, and dark clouds gathered, swirling in a spiral.
The sun that had been illuminating the earth was hidden by the dark clouds, and the world was plunged into darkness.
Whooooooooosh―!!!
A strong wind blew, and the calm waves of the Yangtze River instantly turned into raging waves.
“What is this…?”
“Why is the weather…….”
Just as everyone was looking around at the sudden strange phenomenon.
“L-look over there!”
“My goodness…….”
The space in the sky seemed to distort, and a circular gate of darkness, wrapped in a white border like a solar eclipse, was created.
Soon, ‘he’ emerged from that gate and descended upon the present world.
The ancestor of all demons.
The incarnation of demons.
It was the manifestation of the current Heavenly Demon, the Iron-Blooded Demonic God.
“Ah……!”
Jin Yeong-in realized that he had met the Iron-Blooded Demonic God before.
A few days ago.
The woman he had encountered in front of his master, the Azure Heaven Divine Warrior's, grave.
She was the heaven of the demonic path that led all demonic practitioners and the supreme being of the current Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.