Chapter 32. The Alliance-Demon War
No matter how much time passes, there is one relationship that would never changed in the martial world.
Light and Dark. Black and White.
A relationship between two opposites. This was the current relationship between the Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Church.
“I really can’t do anything this time.”
Gongson Chun Gi sighed. He wanted to avoid fighting. He tried really hard to not resort to violence. He wanted to avoid spilling blood whenever possible.
“Damn it.”
Even then, Gongson Chun Gi hesitated. If you come out of the Gansu Branch and walk for about half a day at a slow pace, you would reach the Wisdom Plains. Many of the church members will be fighting there.
Even if the two sides didn’t mutually agree to fight there, they both had to choose that place as the battleground. And once they both get there, they would have to battle for their lives.
Gongson Chun Gi clenched his fist unconsciously. He had to use his full strength now. After all, it was all too clear that many of the church members would die if he hesitated any further.
Gongson Chun Gi stepped up the platform, and took a look at the 5000 martial artists laid out in front of him. Once he saw them, he smiled without realizing it. That was because he could clearly feel the message the martial artists were trying to deliver through their gazes.
‘You guys wanted to fight this much?’
Their boiling blood. Their loud, beating heartbeats were clearly transferred to the Pope’s ears. A sort of desire for fighting that a Martial Artist possessed. That desire, which they have been suppressing for years, now burst forth like a volcano.
‘Damn it.’
He made a mistake. He took on the energy of the martial artists full force. Thanks to that, Gongson Chun Gi’s desire of stopping the fight completely vaporised. After all, he too, was a martial artist.
“…….Well, we did endure for quite a long time.”
Once Gongson Chun Gi opened his mouth, the whole area suddenly became deathly quiet. Gongson Chun Gi slowly kneeled down. He was trying to match his height with the martial artists, from the platform.
“It seems I’ve neglected your desires too much. I never realized what you guys really wanted.”
In this world, you can’t get something without fighting for it.
This was the martial world.
The world considered to be the most primitive of them all.
Gongson Chun Gi grinned when he thought that. In this dog-eat-dog world, a strong man’s words were the law. And it seemed now was the time to establish who the stronger man was. They were waiting too long for this.
“We can’t just let them go when they came all the way out to our yard, can we?
Are you ready to fight?”
The 5000 shouted in harmony when Gongson Chun Gi asked a question.
“Yes!”
Gongson Chun Gi faintly smiled when he heard the loud sound ring throughout the area. When he felt the aura these guys were exuding, the last bit of hesitation left in his mind completely disappeared.
Gongson Chun Gi now exuded an extremely tyrannical aura, now that he had gotten rid of his hesitation. This aura slowly covered up the entire area, and began to twist upwards like a tornado.
“Good. Then let’s go show these fools of justice what real fear is.”
Once Gongson Chun Gi waved his hand, the martial artists all split in two to make a path in the middle. Gongson Chun Gi walked down that path, with Guardian Wu following him like a shadow. The moment Gongson Chun Gi walked out of the auditorium, the five thousand martial artists became a giant tempest that followed him.
The Gongson Chun Gi who lost hesitation. He would destroy anything that would get in his way. And that was something truly unfortunate for the Alliance.
* * *
“Amitabha…….”
The blotched hand that was rolling the rosary beads. That hand stopped for a moment, and began to tremble slightly.
“Teacher, is something wrong?”
The Shaolin Sect. They too were here for the war. They even brought one member of the 15 guests. The Buddhist King (佛帝), Godly Monk (神僧) Kongye (空夜). That man was looking forward with a dark face.
“………So war is inevitable.”
The tyrannical killing aura that inhabited the air. There was an immense amount of it covering the whole area. After all, a battle of the century was about to take place.
“Everyone here is ready to fight.”
Kongye nodded, and began to pray once more. But after a short while, he opened his mouth.
“Mu Ho.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“If something happens, will you take our sect’s disciples and run?”
Mu Ho paused for a bit, and opened his mouth cautiously.
“What situation might the teacher be talking about……?”
Kongye opened his eyes, and looked at his youngest disciple. The boy was very religious, and was full of intelligence. The boy held immense talent that outstripped all of the Shaolin sect. Because of that, Kongye couldn’t allow this boy to die an early death.
“You’ll see when the time comes.”
Mu Ho didn’t understand, but stepped back anyways. That was because there was a matter that required more attention.
‘It’s coming.’
From far away, he could see a massive black wave inching towards them.
‘The Demon Church…….’
Mu Ho tightened his fists once he thought of them.
The Demon Church. Even thinking of that word would make a martial artist tremble in fear.
‘Don’t be scared.’
The Alliance had more people than the Demon Church. Plus, weren’t all these people elites of the elites that were sent by countless clans within the Alliance? It didn’t matter what the motives of each of the clans were. They were all here for one purpose: To destroy the church.
The Alliance even had the Dao Emperor, the one known to be the strongest in the continent, and the hope of the Shaolin Sect, teacher Kongye. They held the advantage. There was no need to be scared.
But why was he still afraid?
‘I must be overreacting.’
Mu Ho shook his head. He looked forward after taking a deep breath. He could see, then. The five thousand martial artists in black. Mu Ho felt as if his heart was being squeezed when he saw this giant crowd of martial artists inch towards the Alliance. Then, he saw something.
The black wave. And the one standing in front of that wave. The giant presence that could be felt all the way here.
‘Could it be……’
Mu Ho began to tremble. He was not the only one. Everyone near him began trembling, because of the person at the front of the black wave. The enormous power that exuded from that man. That power brought a single name in everyone’s minds.
‘Gongson Chun Gi!’
Mu Ho unconsciously stepped back, whilst screaming in his mind. There was indeed information that the Demon Emperor was going to be here. The mysterious expert hidden in the dark, shrouded by countless rumors.
He thought that the rumors about the man were all a lie. After all, the words used to describe the Demon Emperor simply seemed exaggerated.
But in reality, it seemed that even those words weren’t enough to describe Gongson Chun Gi. Mu Ho’s face began to turn pale.
‘No way!’
This was a strength that no one could stand up against. How could a human actually become this strong?
“Can you see the Pope?”
“…….Yes, teacher.”
When Mu Ho said this with a trembling voice, Kongye stepped in front of him to block his sight.
“That man is not your enemy yet. Do not be afraid.”
Mu Ho could finally calm down once his teacher stepped in front. The Pope’s presence from afar had felt like a giant mountain only moments ago. He felt like he was going to faint.
At that moment, someone from the Alliance began to walk forward. When that man did so, the immense presence that was present before began to subside.
“The Dao Emperor!”
When someone shouted that, everyone turned their heads.
That’s right. If there was a Demon Emperor there. They had the Dao Emperor here. The Dao Emperor was walking forward with a gleeful smile. At that moment, the Alliance member’s heads were filled with expectations.
‘Could it be? Could it be?’
Something that was only possible in dreams and stories. Two Sovereigns, the Dao Emperor and the Demon Emperor. There was finally a chance to see two of the sovereigns battle each other.
‘There can only be one sun in the sky.’
At the time where just about everyone in the Alliance thought of this. The black wave came very close to them. At this distance, with the martial artists’ power, both sides were clearly able to make out each other’s faces. The man assumed to be the Demon Emperor, raised his hand.
Bam–!
Every martial artist from the church slammed their foot down, and stopped. The ground shook for a brief second. What followed was a deathly silence that covered the battlefield.
The elites of the Alliance began to fondle their weapons in anxiousness as they faced those of the Demon Church.
The Dao Emperor began to walk forward. In a fight, a martial artist’s spirit was extremely important. At a time like this, if he were to defeat the enemy leader, his force’s spirit will rise to an astronomical level. And that spirit would serve to bring him victory.
The Dao Emperor began to send out a powerful aura from his body. That aura spread out like a layer of fog, that covered the whole field.
‘I have never lost in my lifetime.’
He had not lost once since he began learning swordsmanship. The strongest man under the heavens. That title was surely made for him. Why? Because no one in the world could take his strongest blow and survive. But in this world, there existed two people that could rival him. One of those two people was in front of him now.
‘Finally…….’
He was able to meet one of the sovereigns. His excitement couldn’t be described by words. Just how long did he wait for this?
‘This is unfortunate.’
One thing. There was one thing the Dao Emperor regretted. It was the fact that his body was already well past his prime.
Everyone ages with time. And as one ages, the body gets weaker. Even if one trained the body to the point where even a sword wouldn’t be able to penetrate the skin, after a certain period of time, even that body would get weaker.
The Dao Emperor, who was facing the Demon Emperor, was sad because of this. He wasn’t afraid of being killed by a strong man. He was afraid of being unable to show his full strength to a strong opponent.
“An expert can measure a skill of his opponent just by seeing the man’s shadow.”
The Dao Emperor’s whisper. To Gongson Chun Gi, this whisper sounded like thunder in his ears.
“What do you think? Do you think you can win against me?”
(TL: No idea who is speaking. I’m assuming it’s Gongson Chun Gi though.)
The Demon Emperor, Gongson Chun Gi. He, too, began to walk towards the Dao Emperor. He had an annoyed expression on his face as he spoke.
“I can’t lose to an old man like you. If I lose, there’s someone who’d come climbing out of his grave to get me.”
Gongson Chun Gi thought of the message that his dead master was trying to say to him a long time ago, and smiled.
– The Alliance’s sword has a Ghost stuck onto it, so be very careful. Really, be very careful.
His teacher, who was famous for living life as he pleased, told Gongson Chun Gi to be careful twice. There really seemed to be something about the Alliance that was worth noting. But…….
Crack–
Gongson Chun Gi cracked his knuckles like a gangster. Indeed, the Dao Emperor Baek Mu Ryang lived up to his name. After all, Baek Mu Ryang’s aura was so powerful, a normal man would immediately lose the power in his legs and kneel when coming in contact with it. But unfortunately, Gongson Chun Gi was not a normal man.
“Meeting me would be your misfortune. Why? Because I’m going to fight seriously here. I’m not going to hold back, so be prepared.”
Gongson Chun Gi grinned after saying so.
This officially marked the first Alliance-Demon War.