SSS-Class Suicide Hunter - Chapter 66
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-Heavenly Demon-nim.
-It canât go on like this.
-âŠâŠHeavenly Demon-nim. Half of the Blood Guard has been destroyed! The elders have scattered all over after saying they will enter the world of martial arts, but weâve already lost track of their locations. Itâs not the time to fight the idiots in the factions. It may be the biggest crisis our cult, no, maybe our world, has faced. With this vacancy, the bums are spreading rumorsâŠ
-âŠâŠHeavenly Demon-nim. As you ordered, we have made a pharmacy that does not distinguish between the sects. The leaders of the Tang Mun came, as did the masters of the Mosan Sect. I will catch some Jiangshi and get results as soon as possibleâŠ.
-âŠâŠHeavenly Demon-nim. The Wolyeong Cavalry and even the Blood Demon have been attacked. Even if we defeat a hundred Jiangshi today, a thousand new Jiangshi will be created tomorrow. I canât handle this mysterious disease! The pharmacy says that we can block the upper body with needles in order to block the Jiangshi, but this method isâŠâŠ.
-âŠâŠHeavenly Demon-nim. Please flee to Nakdo. If you block yourself off on the island, no matter how many Jiangshi are there, 1 million or 10 million, they will not be able to cross the sea. How could this place be the only group that practices martial arts? If we set up the banner of our cult, it will still be a part of the martial worldâŠ
-âŠâŠHeavenly Demon-nim. Why should you keep to the worthless promise? It was an oath made before the world became corrupt. The law of the heavens has changed, and a humanâs duties always change. Forget the oath you made with the Murim Lord, and please retreat to make a comeback laterâŠ
-Heavenly Demon-nim.
-Heavenly Demon-nim.
2.
ââHow did you endure it?â
After being silent for a while, the first question I asked was this.
âJust how did they endure this?â
The hellish world where people became corpses. Even they had become half a corpse. How did they endure three years with the danger of their heart stopping if the flow of his chi was blocked for even a moment?
ââŠâŠ.â
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord couldnât answer right away. The two looked at each other. And after sharing a look that I couldnât understand, they nodded as one.
âFollow us.â
The two left the cave.
I followed them.
When we left the cave, we were silent. We walked carefully so as not to wake up the other party by accident. So we were silent for a long time.
As soon as we reached the end of the cave, the stillness broke.
âHumans all die someday.â
Outside, dawn was coming.
âThere is an interesting story told among Murim. There was once a high master who achieved both Thousand Poisons Immunity and Stone Durability. With the techniques, no poison could eat away at his insides, and no sword could injure his skin.â
The Heavenly Demon let out a sigh.
âHe can be said to be almost invincible. Inside, he was invincible. Outside, he was invincible. How can one kill a person who canât be harmed with even the most brutal poison nor the sharpest sword?â
The dawn sky became blue.
At dawn, the world was just a pale shade of itself.
âBut there is one thing that the old stories could never tolerate. It is invincibility.â
The world that became a shadow. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord walked in that place. Step by step. Slowly. Footprints could only touch the ground, never the sky. It was only with oneâs own steps that one could distinguish between heaven and earth.
âChildren of the outside world.â
The Heavenly Demon glanced back.
We left the cave and arrived at yesterdayâs fields of snow⊠We were walking to a place surrounded by zombies who knew martial arts.
âCan you guess how that high master died?â
âHow did he die?â
âHe died because of a succubus.â
The corner of the Heavenly Demonâs mouth rose.
âThe pleasure of uniting yin and yang is not poison. Itâs not a sword, either.â
âUh. But isnât excessive pleasure also a poison?â
âCorrect. Thus, the succubus did not offer a storm of pleasure from the beginning. She was clever. She calmly took her time. At first, she started with the most subtle pleasure⊠In the end, he indulged in even the most lethal of pleasures. Thus she, tamed and domesticated the master.â
The dawn broke.
The snowfield became a little white.
The white puffs resembled the breath of the Heavenly Demon.
âAs he had intercourse with the succubus, he stopped thinking of her palms slapping him as pain. Her whip came to be recognized as a pleasure. The succubusâ gestures, footsteps, and even small glances became a sort of happiness for the master.â
Sweek.
The Heavenly Demon raised her hand.
âAt the last moment.â
She stroked her neck.
âLightly. The succubus just lightly choked the master and strangled him.â
ââŠâŠ.â
âThere was no need for strong martial arts. It didnât take much effort. Two hands. She choked his neck with her two hands. As he suffocated, unable to breathe, he was soaked with pleasure and smiled brightly. Even after death, his face was smiling happily.â
The Heavenly Demon snickered.
âThe high master, who reached the climax, was literally killed during the climax. He was invincible inside and outside, but he was not invincible to happiness.â
In the middle of the snowy field.
We could see the corpses. Though they were dead, the corpses could move as if they were alive. Soaked in the light of dawn, they stiffened. The corpses didnât even move, so it looked like a forest of shadows.
âThe lesson of this story is simple.â
âDonât play around with succubi, obviously!â
The Murim Lord grumbled.
âItâs not just an old story. Itâs something that really happened. Hmph! He was a master raised among jade and gold in the Tang Mun, but that bitch was secretly a succubus sent to assassinate him.â
âHoho.â
Zombies were scattered everywhere in the snowy field. Was it because they had chased our party yesterday? The Heavenly Demon approached the zombies.
âMost of the novices who set out to learn martial arts donât understand. They think the goal of martial artists is to become invincible, and that the reason for learning martial arts is to obtain immortality and eternal life.â
With a quick breath, the Demon hoisted up a zombie.
âTheyâre wrong.â
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord. The two lifted and carried the zombies.
âAnyone who has achieved the Thousand Poisons Immunity will die from something other than poison. Those who achieve the Stone Durability will die by something other than a sword. Do you understand? Martial artists donât simply choose which martial arts to learn.â
The Heavenly Demon arduously moved the zombies.
âItâs about choosing what kind of warrior you will live as, and also how you will die.â
The Heavenly Demonâs movement as he moved the zombies was sluggish and slow.
Like a delivery man after dropping off a heavy load, the Demon put the zombies down mid-route, breathed deeply, and moved again.
âHumans all die someday.â
He repeated those words.
âAs if we didnât know that already. How can we be bitter about the fact that weâll die?â
Last night the zombies seemed to have wandered about here and there. The scattered zombies were gathered again by the Demon and the Murim Lord.
ââBut I didnât want a death like this.â
It took a long time.
The two of them had poor physical strength, and there were too many bodies.
âAssassination is good. Poisoning is also good. It is also good to be attacked by an army, or be killed by one of the Shaolin monks. It is good to die, betrayed by a trusted subordinate, and it is perfectly good to die while doing something for the younger generation.â
Middle of the sky.
By the time the Demon and the Murim Lord put the zombies back in their place, the sun rose to the middle of the sky. Before we knew it, the footprints of the two people were captured in the snowy field.
âBut, a death like this is unacceptable.â
The Heavenly Demon took a quick breath and looked at me.
âYou asked me how I endured it.â
ââŠâŠ.â
âWe just want to die the way we want.â
Hundreds of corpses, the sectâs elders, were lined up.
Hundreds of corpses, the members of the Demonic Cult, were lined up as well.
Thus, the zombies seemed like an army divided into two troops, as if they were about to run into battle.
I suddenly thought this.
ăEven though their cause of death is the same, they all died on different dates.ă
When we fell into the world of Apocalypse and saw zombies for the first time.
The conversation that our party had while observing the forest of corpses.
ăIt looks like someone intentionally moved the bodiesâŠă
ăIs it some kind of tomb?ă
ăItâs a grave. From a distance, they look like terracotta warriors.ă
At night, the zombies move freely.
Nevertheless, as many as a thousand zombies were gathered in one place in the snow.
If you thought about it, wasnât this in itself strange?
âHoo âŠâ
âAhem.â
That was right.
Someone intentionally put the zombies in one place.
âNot a lot of them went far today.â
Five hundred people from the Demonic Cult.
âLast night, the moonlight was clear. Though not as much as sunlight, the moonlight can also stop the JiangshiâŠâ
Five hundred people of the sect.
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord each moved their own men. It was hard work that took a full day. However, the two moved silently.
As if it was a normal routine.
ăWe are carrying out the great war like this.ă
ăThree years have already passed since then.ă
It snowed.
âThis Righteous Sect will never fall to the Jiangshi.â
People died.
âThe people of our cult will not be destroyed, eaten by mere corpses.â
Even if the Nine Great Schools and Five Noble Clans disappeared.
âSurely, if our sect is to be destroyed, it must be because of the wicked fingertips of Demonic Cult.â
Even if the martial arts texts became so dusty that it became impossible to read the words.
âIf this cult disappears from the world, it is only by the blade of that sect.â
This world had not yet perished.
Because these two people have to die in order for the world to end.
Letâs say that there are a billion people in the world, and 999,999,999 people die of infectious diseases. Thereâs only one person left. And if the last person in the world takes his own life, then the destruction of the world wonât be caused by an illnessâitâll be suicide.
At least, thatâs what the Righteous Sectâs leader and the Demonic Cultâs god believed.
âMurim Lord. Namgung Family, Taesang Family Head. Namgung Un.â
The old man took his stance.
âI am Bu Wol-sun, the Ax Saint.â
âDemon lord. So Baek-hyang.â
The woman took her stance.
âI am the Heavenly Demon.â
The sun crossed the middle of the sky.
Years had passed since there were only two people left in the world.
During those years, their only job was to determine the cause of this worldâs apocalypse.
âI request our 990th battle.â
Would the Murim Lord destroy the Demonic Cult?
âTo surrender, or to the death?â
Or would the Heavenly Demon destroy the Righteous Sect?
âTo the death.â
âI accept.â
The two fighters began their battle.
In the middle of the snowy field where five hundred Righteous Sect members and five hundred Demonic Cultâs members stood, the Murim Lord and the Heavenly Demon rushed at each other.
I still couldnât recognize the martial arts of the two. When I looked at them, they were barely stepping forward. It was hard. They could barely reach their arms out.
Their foot movements were so slow that they wouldnât even be able to catch a child.
Their hand movements were weak, and they would not be able to crush even a single tangerine.
ââŠâŠ.â
A decaying genre.
A decaying world.
They were slowly dying in this apocalypse, well into its 990th day.
âThisâŠâ
I opened my mouth.
I watched their dances from afar and muttered unknowingly.
âIt canât go on like this.â
My heart was beating.
âItâs absurd.â
-âŠâŠ.
âIt wasnât supposed to be like this.â
A fierce fight broke out in the snow. The Murim Lord and the Demon, who once demonstrated splendid martial arts while discussing the first people in the world, could now only fight on the level of a child. They rolled about in the snow. They tripped from taking a wrong step. They grabbed a beard and pulled their hair.
âIn the eyes of the Sword Emperor, that might look like a really great fight. Yes. Iâm just a beginner who just started swordsmanship. However, no matter how great the principle is, no matter how great the hidden reason isâŠâ
The day had passed, and it became evening.
The Murim Lord and the Heavenly Demon never stopped fighting.
âThis is an insult.â
The sun went down.
Even today, the match was not decided.
âItâs an insult to the two.â
A world in decline.
In a world where there was no way to cure an epidemic, the two martial artists were strong enough to survive. However, they were too weak to take each otherâs lives.
âThis canât go on.â
The world was cruel because you canât be born the way you want. So what was a world where you canât die the way you want?
You couldnât even end it properly.
Their lives had just been cut off in the middle.
-What will you do?
Bae Hu-ryeong said quietly.
-Will you kill the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord in their stead? Thatâs right. That can be a merciful gift, too. Thatâs what I would do. But donât forget that you and I are nothing more than âstrangers.â
âI know.â
The two martial artists did not want to commit suicide.
If they had to die, then they wanted their deaths to be at the hands of the other person.
The Demonic cult would not perish due to a mysterious illness but be defeated by the Righteous Sect.
The Righteous Sect would not succumb to an infectious disease, but be broken by the Demonic Cult.
It was that kind of ending.
The right ending.
An acceptable death.
If I intrude and kill the two, it will neither be the [end] nor the [conclusion]. It wouldnât be a merciful gift, either.
That sort of thing would only be [graffiti] that a child adds to the back of a storybook.
It shouldnât be that way.
âI am,â I said to Bae Hu-ryeong. âI am going to finish this world in my own way.â
-What is that way?
I did not answer Bae Hu-ryeongâs question.
The sun set.
âI, itâs already night time. Old man.â
âMaybe since itâs winter⊠Huh. The day is shortâŠâ
âIâll defeat you tomorrow for sure.â
âWho do you thinkâŠâ
The evening deepened.
The 990th day of the war naturally ended in a truce.
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord shook hands, and they went back to the cave in a more exhausted way than yesterday.
âWhere have you been?â
The party greeted us.
The Venomous Snake stood guard at the entrance to the cave, and the Alchemist and the Medicine King were busy researching the zombie. It was the zombie of the faction leader who surprised us yesterday.
âWe were looking at the patient. We were too busy yesterdayâŠâ
âDid you make any progress?â
The Medicine King and the Alchemist looked at each other. The Medicine King tsked first.
âNot yet.â
âYes⊠S, since this is the first virus of its kind.â
As expected.
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord walked to the other side of the cave, saying they would rest first. I noticed that the backs of the two fighters were moving away and turned to the Alchemist.
âBoss.â
âYes?â
âPlease be honest. How long do you think it would take to make a cure?â
âAh. Um, uh.â
The Alchemist hesitated.
âTo be honest with you⊠At least 120 days.â
âTwice that. It may take three times more. The schedule for this sort of thing should be more generous, usually. But even if you have a generous schedule, it isnât enough,â the Medicine King added bluntly. The Alchemist drooped down her head.
ââŠâŠYes, that is also right. Itâs really the worst case⊠.â
Mm.
â100 days on the shorter end. And on the longer end, about 300 days?â
âUh. thatâŠâ
The Alchemist dropped his head even lower.
âA, actually, we may not be able to make it at all. The facilities and the environment are also poor. At this point, I canât guarantee you anything. Death King-nim. Iâm sorry⊠You trusted me and brought me to such a stage⊠It is impossible to develop a cure within the time limit.â
The time limit.
The librarian said this when he sent us to this apocalypse:
ăIf you open your eyes, it will be the world 10 days before the unfortunate serial interruption of the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon.ă
ăPlease, I look forward to the wonderful ending that youâll show me.ă
In other words, no matter what happened,
The world would really end in the next 10 days.
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord, who have survived so far, will also die.
As the Alchemist said, ten days was the time limit.
âIâm really sorryâŠâ
âDonât be.â
I shook my head.
âThatâs enough.â
âW, what?â
âYou donât need to worry. Boss.â
A dagger at my waist.
I touched its handle slowly.
âI will somehow solve the problem of time. Donât give up, and keep researching.â
ââŠâŠ.â
âThe words you heard when we first fell into this world yesterday. Do you remember them?â
This was no ordinary book.
This was an entire world.
We were here to save the world.
ââŠâŠ..â
The Alchemist nodded carefully.
The two of us shared a look.
ââŠI, I remember. Of course I remember, Death King-nimâŠâ
I also nodded.
âMy words are the same as yesterday. The time limit is right in front of us. If we donât break this stage, we can never escape from the apocalypse. Please set aside any thoughts that will get in the way. I will do my best in my position, so please show me your best, too.â
âIâll clear all my doubtsâŠâ
âYes. I promise you. All other issues will be handled on their own,â I said to the person who will be called the Alchemy Lord in the future.
âPlease trust me and keep working.â
~~~