Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 21

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 21. Rising from the Fall—3
Dam Ho’s robes billowed in the wind.
The ferocious impact that tore through his entire body drove his feet deep into the ground, leaving long furrows as he skidded backward.
Screech!
Dam Ho activated the Jungcheonsimsul, anchoring himself. Only when his body had rooted itself into the earth like a mountain did he finally come to a halt.
His face, which had been twisted by the force of the wind, returned to its normal shape, and pain bloomed across his palms.
“M-master?”
Won Ho’s startled cry reached his ears, but Dam Ho did not answer.
His attention was entirely fixed on the masked attacker.
Between the slits in the mask, her eyes flickered with surprise—as if she had not expected her strike to be stopped.
“How dare you!”
The voice that spilled from behind the mask was clear as jade.
‘A woman?’
In the next instant, the attacker lunged forward again.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Her hands multiplied into dozens in a single breath.
“Watch yourself, Won Ho. This is the Darkened Heavenly Inferno Hand—a Demon Cult technique.”
The strained voice of Hyeonso came from behind him.
Though two decades had passed, Hyeonso remembered it clearly. Many Hwasan Sect martial artists had fallen to the Darkened Heavenly Inferno Hand.
‘So it truly is the Demon Cult.’
Hyeonso’s body trembled slightly.
Bang!
As his palm swept out, a thunderous boom erupted—the characteristic sound of the Darkened Heavenly Inferno Hand being deployed.
Hyeonso flinched. It looked as though Dam Ho’s body was being torn apart by the technique.
But Dam Ho did not waver.
With his left foot driven into the earth up to his ankle, he stood unmoved—like an ancient, immovable tree.
Won Ho and the other disciples stared in shock.
“How is this possible?”
The astonishment faded, replaced at once by confusion.
The Dam Ho they knew was a cripple. Because of that, they believed he had never properly learned martial arts and was cast aside even within the Hwasan Sect.
Had he not been the disciple of Hyeonso, he would scarcely have been treated as human at all. His presence in the sect had been almost nonexistent.
Yet the Dam Ho they saw now shattered every convention and prejudice they had held.
Thump-thump-thump!
Dam Ho parried, deflected, and countered the Darkened Heavenly Inferno Hand with both hands.
“Could it be… the Jukyeopsul?”
Won Ho’s eyes widened.
The Jukyeopsul was taught to anyone of lay disciple rank or higher in the Hwasan Sect. Won Ho had grasped its fundamentals as well, though only superficially. But the Jukyeopsul he knew was nowhere near powerful enough to contend with an Absolute Technique of the Demon Cult.
Won Ho and the disciples fell silent, their mouths agape.
“Has master been hiding his true strength all this time?”
Rap-rap-rap!
Dam Ho’s hands and the attacker’s hands clashed violently.
Blood trickled from the corner of Dam Ho’s mouth. Won Ho’s guess was correct—the martial art he was employing was the Jukyeopsul.
Yet to oppose the Darkened Heavenly Inferno Hand, one of the Demon Cult’s premier Absolute Techniques, with the Jukyeopsul alone was fundamentally impossible.
With each impact, Dam Ho’s organs were shaken. The violent blows were inflicting Internal Injury on him.
The reason Dam Ho did not retreat was simple: his master, Hyeonso, stood behind him. If he gave ground, his master’s life would be in danger.
‘Master!’
A grunt escaped him.
The attacker tilted her head, then suddenly pulled back. Only then could Dam Ho catch his breath.
“Master!”
Dam Ho raised his hand to stop Won Ho and the disciples from approaching.
They did not yet understand the true strength of their opponent. But Dam Ho, having exchanged blows directly, knew.
The attacker’s real power was far greater than this. Without knowing the full extent of her abilities, drawing others into this fight was far too dangerous.
“Take my master and retreat from this place.”
“But—”
As Won Ho hesitated, Dam Ho’s eyes turned cold.
“As the First Disciple of the Hwasan Sect, I now give this command—my first and last. Get out of here.”
Won Ho and the disciples froze.
Dam Ho, who had been mocked by the sect’s disciples under the nickname “the Lame Dog,” now radiated an overwhelming presence and authority that took their breath away.
The pressure and force he displayed in this moment were simply staggering.
“Master!”
“No. I won’t leave you behind, Won Ho. Not ever.”
Hyeonso’s voice cracked as it echoed through the Valley.
“I know, Master. I know you’d never abandon me.”
“Just hold on a little longer. The others will come to help you.”
Dam Ho shook his head slightly at the desperation in Hyeonso’s words.
The battle raged on, a stalemate. No one had the strength to spare attention here—not Cheongheo, not Mugyeong, not anyone.
Protecting Hyeonso fell to him alone.
“I’ll catch up soon. Please, just go ahead.”
“Won Ho.”
“I promise.”
“You’re certain? You swear it?”
“Yes!”
“Then I’ll go. You’ve never broken a promise in your life.”
Hyeonso turned away reluctantly, and the First Disciples ushered him out of the Valley.
Even as he walked, Hyeonso could not tear his gaze from Dam Ho’s retreating figure.
‘Won Ho!’
Tears welled unbidden in his eyes.
The masked figure hurled herself at them. In that instant, Dam Ho shifted sideways by a single step.
A flinch.
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
Dam Ho was riddled with openings, true—yet beneath them lay something solid, something that filled every gap. An indomitable will, the kind only those who had hardened their resolve possessed, radiated from him.
She felt it emanating from Dam Ho in waves.
“Hah.”
She exhaled slowly.
Blood pooled in scattered places throughout the Valley. Death had settled over everything.
Abruptly, she removed her mask. What had been hidden was now revealed.
Dam Ho’s eyes flickered in shock.
Beneath the mask lay the face of a girl—strikingly beautiful, unexpectedly so.
Hair black as silk, luminous against skin pale as porcelain; delicate, perfectly formed features; and eyes colder than ice itself.
She opened her mouth.
“Are you a disciple of Hwasan?”
Dam Ho nodded silently. Her gaze turned glacial.
“Then we share a bitter karma.”
“You’re from the Demon Cult?”
“The world calls us that, yes. But we call ourselves Singyeo.”
“Singyeo?”
“A far more pleasant name, don’t you think?”
“What brings Singyeo to this place?”
“This valley is called Cheongeum Ma-ok. At its far end lies a vast prison where Singyeo houses its criminals—our refuge. We’ve made our dwelling here.”
“Cheongeum Ma-ok?”
“There is nowhere left on the surface world to hide. This was our last sanctuary. But today, you’ve discovered us.”
Dam Ho’s brow creased slightly. The girl’s eyes grew colder still.
After their defeat in the war against Zhongyuan, the Demon Cult had withdrawn here, gathering strength. When supplies ran short, they would ambush merchant caravans passing nearby and plunder them. They had survived like this for two decades.
“Do you dream of vengeance against Zhongyuan?”
“Some of us do.”
“Which suggests others don’t.”
“Believe whatever you wish.”
The girl took a martial stance, her entire form radiating lethal intent.
“What is your name?”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be the first person I ever kill. I should at least remember your name.”
“How gracious. I am Dam Ho.”
“I won’t forget, Dam Ho. My name is Eum Yugyeong.”
Whoosh!
The girl who had just given her name threw herself forward, unfurling the final technique of the Amcheonryeolhwasul—the Baekryeonpyoseol.
The air filled entirely with the shadows of her hands.
At the same moment, Dam Ho’s body erupted into motion.
Like a battering ram hurling toward a gate—the Chungbo technique.
Boom!
Deep footprints carved into the ground as Dam Ho’s body shot forward in a straight line. The wound in his left leg no longer held him back.
The inner energy gathered by the Jungcheonsimsul concentrated into his right fist.
Screech!
The Pasung Chui followed on the heels of the Chungbo.
Everything he had was poured into this single blow.
Crash!
The Pasung Chui and Baekryeonpyoseol collided head-on.
“Gasp!”
In that instant, a figure spewing blood shot backward and tumbled across the ground—Dam Ho, now drenched in crimson.
His entire body was torn open with countless wounds, as though raked by a hidden blade. Some cuts ran so deep that bone gleamed white beneath.
Dam Ho thrashed about, struggling to haul himself upright. It was almost miraculous that he lived at all in such a state.
Yet Eum Yugyeong’s expression offered no comfort.
Her gaze fixed on her left shoulder, which hung swollen and dislocated from Dam Ho’s strike.
A chill crept up the back of Eum Yugyeong’s neck.
‘If his blow had been even slightly stronger, my arm would have been torn from its socket.’
Her organs had been violently shaken. The prelude to Internal Injury—or rather, she had already sustained Internal Injury. Her trembling legs bore witness to that fact.
‘This man….’
Eum Yugyeong’s eyes deepened.
Dam Ho was the first man in her life to make her shudder. The thought that she would have to kill him with her own hands filled her with sorrow.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
“Don’t treat me like I’m already dead. I’m still alive, right here.”
Dam Ho spat blood-tinged phlegm and glared at Eum Yugyeong. Though his body was a wreck of wounds, his gaze remained unbroken.
Despite injuries that made it agony to move, Dam Ho’s will was far too strong to be shattered by mere suffering.
Then it happened.
Rumble!
Suddenly the entire valley trembled as if gripped by an earthquake.
Eum Yugyeong exhaled slowly.
“It’s begun already.”
“Begun?”
Whoosh!
As Dam Ho’s face twisted in confusion, a long cord suddenly flew through the air and snared Eum Yugyeong at the waist.
Like a fish caught on a hook, she was yanked skyward and vanished in an instant. It happened so fast that Dam Ho could only stare after her in bewilderment.
Boom!
Moments later, an explosion erupted from one side of the valley.
Cheongheo’s face went deathly pale.
“Byeokryeok Tan?”
“Hehehehe! We all die here today. So be it!”
Eum So, Cheongheo’s opponent, let out a hollow laugh.
Death was already written in his eyes.
“You’re attempting Mutual Destruction?”
“There is no place left for us in this world. So we die together. Eternal Sacred Fire, look down upon us. We offer this body as fuel to find our way to you.”
“Eternal Sacred Fire, look down upon us.”
The Demon Cult warriors who had been locked in combat with the orthodox sects began to chant in unison with their leader.
Moved by their disregard for death, Cheongheo unleashed the Saja Hu.
“They’re attempting Mutual Destruction. Flee the valley at once!”
The orthodox martial artists gasped in horror and unleashed their Gyeonggong simultaneously.
The Mudang Sect warriors deployed the Jeyun Jong, while the Jongnam Sect warriors unfolded the Buyun Bo.
Mugyeong, realizing the gravity of the situation, shouted to his disciples.
“Everyone deploy your Gyeonggong and escape this place!”
“Aaaagh!”
The Hwasan disciples unleashed their Gyeonggong at full power and fled, with Mugyeong and Ungyeong close behind.
“Ah!”
Suddenly Mugyeong halted his Gyeonggong mid-leap.
“What’s wrong?”
Following Mugyeong’s gaze, Ungyeong’s expression hardened like stone.
From both sides of the valley, a massive torrent of earth and rock came crashing down—and standing at the center of it all was Dam Ho.
Dam Ho gasped heavily, unable to move with any speed. The wounds from his fight with Eum Yugyeong were taking their toll.
Ungyeong cried out.
“We must save Cheongyeong!”
“It’s too late.”
Mugyeong shook his head with firm finality.
“Senior Martial Brother?”
“If we try to save Cheongyeong, we’ll die too. We have to let him go.”
“Cheongyeong is our junior brother. And you are our Senior Martial Brother. We cannot abandon him under any circumstances.”
Ungyeong glared at Mugyeong. But Mugyeong remained resolute.
“There is nothing in this world more valuable to me than Hwasan. Cheongyeong matters, but his life is no more precious than that of any other disciple.”
“Senior Martial Brother!”
Ungyeong cried out as if spitting blood, but Mugyeong didn’t so much as blink.
“By the authority of the Senior Martial Brother, I command you: Junior Brother Ungyeong, deploy your full Gyeonggong at once.”
“Y—yes, understood.”
In the end, Ungyeong obeyed Mugyeong’s command.
He deployed Gyeonggong behind Mugyeong, his gaze fixed on Dam Ho. His eyes were filled with nothing but self-reproach.
‘Forgive me, Cheongyeong. That’s why I didn’t want to bring you. Don’t forgive me for failing to save you.’
He and Mugyeong vanished between the crumbling rocks.
Dam Ho watched their receding figures in silence.
The roar was deafening, yet their voices came through with startling clarity—perhaps the imminence of death had sharpened his senses to an edge he’d never known.
Cheongheo passed by him. The tightness of his clenched jaw was distinctly visible.
Yeon Soha looked at Dam Ho with a gaze full of regret. But she too lacked the courage to approach him. After a moment of hesitation, she threw herself out of the Valley.
‘I’m sorry.’
The warriors of Mudang Sect vanished, then those of Jongnam Sect receded into the distance. Finally, the warriors of Hwasan Sect were escaping the Valley.
Some made it out unscathed, but others were crushed beneath the cascading rocks and cried out in agony. Their screams were quickly swallowed by the debris and stone.
Dam Ho was alone.
“Master.”
Darkness closed in on him.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————