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Chapter 7
“If you’re curious, why don’t you try to find out by force?”
At Cheon Mujin’s provocation, the man spat out the blood pooled in his mouth.
“…Ptuh!”
“Oh, looks like your mouth’s all torn up. Don’t worry. It won’t keep you from eating tomorrow.”
“Even without a mouth, I can write with my hands. Just leave me one arm and drag me along.”
“Gruesome talk, that.”
Click click, Cheon Mujin clicked his tongue and casually loosened up.
“You really think you can pull it off? After getting beat like that? Or did you forget where you are?”
The man’s eyes filled with irritation at Cheon Mujin’s continued taunt.
“They’ve probably already left.”
“…The horn whistle, huh.”
“A useful tool.”
In a frontline filled with monsters, you couldn’t use signal flares that emitted smoke and light to call for help.
So the Heavenly Demon Cult used a horn whistle imbued with magical effects.
Specially trained warriors were stationed nearby, and the moment the horn was blown, reinforcements would immediately deploy.
“Considering who I am, even the Vice Lord himself will come.”
“…Who you are?”
“Ah, right. I haven’t introduced myself. Name’s Cheon Mujin.”
“You’re a blood relative of the Heavenly Demon.”
“When someone gives you their name, it’s polite to give yours back.”
“No need for you to know.”
“No manners at all, I see.”
Cheon Mujin clicked his tongue again and watched as the man slowly rose to his feet.
He was retreating.
Killing Cheon Mujin might have been possible, but if the Vice Lord arrived with troops, capture was inevitable.
It was time to escape.
Just as the man turned to flee—
“You’re mistaken about one thing.”
“What?!”
When had he—
Cheon Mujin was already in front of him, smiling.
Startled, the man instinctively swung his sword.
It was a reflexive, habitual strike—obvious and predictable.
So obvious that it didn’t even graze Cheon Mujin.
“Who said I was going to let you go?”
Crack!
A blow smashed into his jaw, rattling his whole body.
A familiar beginning.
Even before his mind caught up, Baekwoo’s body flinched, instinctively anticipating what came next.
“Watch closely and learn.”
Whether speaking to Baekwoo or someone else, Cheon Mujin launched his assault.
His fists moved precisely from blind spots, always one step ahead of his opponent’s actions.
If needed, he used elbows or legs to block any escape or counterattack.
His balance was perfect—his posture never wavered—and while his strikes weren’t overwhelming in power, they relentlessly targeted pressure points.
Pressure points.
Yes.
That was the only difference between how Cheon Mujin fought Baekwoo and how he was fighting now.
A small difference—yet…
Gulp.
Baekwoo swallowed dryly, chilled by the fear running down his spine.
“Gaaagh!”
Even as his opponent coughed up blood and struggled, Cheon Mujin didn’t let up.
He punched, and punched again.
Even if he couldn’t kill in one blow, he would destroy the opponent’s body through sheer accumulation.
A battle of patience.
When Cheon Mujin’s breathing finally began to grow ragged—
“Graaaaah!”
With a scream, the man exploded with sword energy and leapt back.
Click.
Cheon Mujin clicked his tongue, realizing his legs wouldn’t move to pursue.
As expected.
‘Still too much for now.’
Killing a top-class warrior in this body was too ambitious.
His body hadn’t physically matured much since he was still focused on building foundations.
“Huff… huff… you damn brat. What the hell did you do to me…?!”
“What did I do? I just beat you up. Didn’t even hit you in the head that much—has your brain already gone soft?”
Bruised, bloodied, torn up—looking like a beggar soaked in gore, the man clenched his teeth.
A monster. This guy’s a monster.
He wasn’t particularly fast. He wasn’t overwhelmingly strong.
He just couldn’t be avoided.
And that alone had broken the man’s will.
Defend and counter?
It didn’t matter—he couldn’t do it.
The moment he tried, Cheon Mujin somehow always exploited an opening elsewhere.
Which meant…
He was completely controlling the man’s movements.
Otherwise, how could he adjust his trajectory so precisely in such a short time?
But that raised a terrifying question—how could a mere second-rate martial artist do that?
Was this what the bloodline of the Heavenly Demon was capable of?
As that terrifying thought shook him, the man noticed something—Cheon Mujin’s body was trembling slightly.
“…Heh. Hehehehe! So this is the price of your decadent life catching up to you!”
“I never lived decadently. Just lazily.”
A misleading statement if ever there was one.
Cheon Mujin answered casually, glancing at the ones who had come to his side.
“I’m the leader of this patrol unit now.”
Thinking Cheon Mujin was trying to stop them, Sochun raised his sword stiffly.
The opponent was a peak expert.
He might be badly injured, but their odds of victory weren’t even 20%.
Still, they couldn’t abandon Cheon Mujin, who had risked his life for them.
Baekwoo stepped up from the other side.
Despite the killing intent radiating from the two, the man sneered.
Just from watching him get beaten, these insects now dared to bare their fangs.
The rage was overwhelming.
“I’ll kill you all and drag that bastard back alive.”
Sigh. “No need to go that far. Really, I’ve said this over and over…”
Cheon Mujin clicked his tongue at the growling threat.
“I’m Cheon Mujin.”
“What’s that supposed to—?”
“Before being a member of Mupungdae, I’m a VIP guest.”
At that moment, a voice came from behind. The man spun around in alarm.
Crunch!!
A different kind of sound echoed—one that was nothing like before.
His shoulder, all the way to his neck, shattered completely.
No scream even escaped from the excruciating pain—his eyes bulged in shock.
“Well then…”
Wiping the blood from his hand, the Mupungdae Vice Lord glanced at Cheon Mujin and gave a hollow laugh.
‘…He’s really second-rate?’
From his aura and physique, everything screamed second-rate.
And yet—
‘How can he fight like that?’
Having arrived early and witnessed the entire battle, the Vice Lord wiped the cold sweat from his back and forced a smile.
“Is everyone okay?”
—
⋆⋆⋆
“You need absolute rest. You wrung your body dry like an old rag.”
Clicking his tongue, the middle-aged physician let out a sigh after examining Cheon Mujin.
“For an ordinary person, I’d say at least a month of rest. But in your case, a week—maybe five days.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re going to thank someone, thank your parents for the body they gave you.”
“I already do, every day.”
“Then all’s well. I’ll prepare the medicine—just focus on resting.”
Breathing a quiet sigh of relief at Cheon Mujin’s smile, the physician left the barracks.
Moments later—
“Are you alright?”
“Vice Lord. Not… perfectly, but I’ll be fine after a bit of rest.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Nodding, Oh Jiyeon sat down beside him after watching him a moment.
“We’ve started interrogating the man we captured. He’ll talk soon.”
“I see.”
“There are a few things we need to clarify. You mentioned Cheonyang Magaksa, right? What is it? And how did you discover its location?”
Her gaze deepened as she asked.
“We need answers, sir.”
“That’s a tough one.”
Cheon Mujin smiled.
“I’ll answer what I can. You’ve probably heard the bloodline of our house has special talents. Fast recovery is one of them, and I’m on the stronger end.”
“…I see.”
Her heart raced—finally hearing the truth behind the rumors of the Heavenly Demon’s bloodline.
While she swallowed nervously, Cheon Mujin slowly raised his hand.
“I lack talent in martial arts. But I have it in something else. Took me years to find it.”
“I see… so what kind of talent?”
“Nothing special. I’m extremely—no, absurdly sensitive to demonic energy.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I noticed something strange about the energy inside that Cheonyang Magaksa. That’s how I found it.”
“From a distance even top-class experts can’t detect?”
“That’s what I mean by ‘sensitive.’”
“…Understood. I’ll note it that way in the report.”
Realizing she wouldn’t get more, she changed the subject.
“Actually, this next question is the main one.”
It was what she truly wanted to know.
“How did you overwhelm a peak-class expert?”
