Seol-an watched Ji-ho exhale slowly.
The old master lowered his center of gravity.
Ready.
Prepared to fight seriously.
Kagemiya scoffed.
"Hmph. Very well… 'hero.'"
Step.
FWOSSH!
The red mist exploded outward again.
Ji-ho's pupils sharpened instantly.
"Do not search with your eyes!" he barked.
Seol-an immediately closed one eye halfway.
Listening.
Feeling.
Tracking the killing intent itself.
Where?
Where?!
Then—
Here.
CLANG!
Seol-an reacted on instinct.
Her chi blade barely intercepted Shinba before it reached Ji-ho's neck.
The impact rattled her arms violently.
Kagemiya stood directly before her.
Too close.
The instinct of death screamed through every nerve in her body.
Those abyssal black pupils stared into her own sapphire eyes.
Then he swung again.
SLASH!
Blood scattered through the air.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Ji-ho's blade carved across Kagemiya's shoulder deeply.
But—
The old grandmaster's eyes widened.
He did not dodge.
He purposely accepted the slash.
Blood poured down Kagemiya's body while he merely spat blood aside casually.
Ji-ho instantly realized the truth.
Shit.
He is forcing kill or be killed.
Forcing us deeper into the intent to kill him.
The moment hesitation disappears…
Kōin loses.
Seol-an's mind raced.
Then she saw it.
A split second.
The instant her blade connected against Shinba again—
Kōin returned.
Only briefly.
For less than a blink.
Yet she saw it clearly.
The grip reversed.
Instead of using Shinba's edge…
Kōin angled the spine of the blade against her chi weapon so it would not sever it apart.
He protected her.
Even now.
Even while drowning.
Seol-an's eyes widened slightly.
Kagemiya noticed.
"So you saw it."
His voice sounded amused.
The next instant Kagemiya attacked again violently.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Each strike carried enough force to split stone.
Seol-an skidded backward breathing heavily.
Words will not bring him back.
Only action will.
If Kōin truly accepted himself as a monster…
Then she too needed to accept what she was.
A demon vessel.
The future Celestial Demon Body.
Not human.
Not normal.
Ji-ho meanwhile remained utterly focused.
His breathing slowed.
His White Tiger Chi intensified further.
Yet beneath that focus…
A terrible thought crossed his mind.
Should he use it?
His Ashura.
The very thing he sealed long ago.
Because standing before them now…
Was no ordinary Ashura anymore.
Suddenly Seol-an's body erupted with light.
Blue radiance burst from her pathways.
Her dark blue hair ignited brighter like burning silk beneath moonlight.
The air around her distorted violently.
Ji-ho's eyes widened.
The Heavenly Demon Body.
Activated.
Seol-an slowly raised her head.
Her sapphire eyes now glowed with unnatural intensity.
"Kōin…"
The courtyard cracked beneath her feet.
"Wait for me."
FWMP!
She vanished.
Kagemiya remained unfazed.
He simply lowered Shinba into stance.
Like a seasoned killer awaiting prey.
CLANG!
Seol-an's blade descended instantly.
Fast.
Far faster than before.
Yet Shinba intercepted it effortlessly with the spine alone.
CLANG!
A thrust aimed for the throat.
Parried again.
CLANG!
Another slash toward the ribs.
Deflected.
Kagemiya moved minimally.
Every motion efficient.
Cold.
Perfect.
Seol-an pressed harder.
Her attacks became a storm.
Slashes.
Thrusts.
Kicks infused with demonic chi.
The courtyard split apart beneath the pressure waves.
Yet Kagemiya continued blocking solely with Shinba's spine.
Never the edge.
Never intending to kill her.
That alone terrified Ji-ho.
Even now…
He still held back.
Ji-ho nearly shouted at Seol-an for using that forbidden state.
The Heavenly Demon Body consumed its user slowly.
But this was no longer the time for hesitation.
The old grandmaster slowly inhaled.
Then deeper.
And deeper.
White Tiger Chi gathered around him in enormous quantities.
The very air trembled.
Ghostly tiger roars echoed faintly throughout the courtyard.
Ji-ho's eyes sharpened.
Then—
They burned crimson.
Seol-an froze briefly sensing it.
No…
Grandmaster…
Ji-ho exhaled slowly.
He had not used this in years.
The ghost of the battlefield returned.
The old hero who once drowned himself in war.
Mad Tiger of Deqing, Lei Heng.
Ashura surged from Ji-ho's body violently.
Unlike Kagemiya's silent sea…
Ji-ho's Ashura felt explosive.
Wrathful.
A beast that tore through armies head on.
The old grandmaster's muscles tensed.
Veins bulged across his arms.
For a brief moment…
He almost lost himself to the indulgence again.
The thrill.
The violence.
The war.
Then—
He clenched his teeth.
And regained control.
"I am not that man anymore."
BOOOOM!
Ji-ho launched forward.
The ground exploded beneath his feet.
Joining Seol-an against Kagemiya.
As the battle shook the sect grounds, lights slowly began appearing one by one.
Doors slid open.
Sleepy disciples stepped outside rubbing their eyes.
At first they thought it was early training.
Then they saw the destruction.
Cracked stone.
Red mist.
Exploding chi.
And three figures clashing across the courtyard faster than their eyes could fully follow.
CLANG!
A burst of sparks erupted across the night.
"What the…"
"Grandmaster?!"
The disciples froze.
Then their eyes landed on the third figure.
Black hair.
Pale skin.
Abyssal crimson eyes.
Their breaths caught.
Wait.
Those features…
"Kōin?!"
"No way…"
The battle looked less like combat and more like a macabre dance.
White Tiger Chi collided against demonic blue radiance while crimson mist cut through both like flowing blades.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Shockwaves split apart nearby pillars.
Tiles exploded upward every time Ji-ho's fists connected against Shinba.
Yet Kagemiya continued defending flawlessly.
Every movement precise.
Minimal.
Absolute.
He shifted Shinba with terrifying mastery.
Parry.
Redirect.
Deflect.
The defense was impregnable.
Even Seol-an empowered by the Heavenly Demon Body could barely break through.
But something felt wrong.
Ji-ho narrowed his eyes mid clash.
Why is he parrying?
Kagemiya previously wanted them to kill him.
Wanted them forced into killing intent.
So why defend now?
Seol-an realized it too.
Every time they aimed somewhere fatal…
Kagemiya redirected instead of countering lethally.
Almost as if…
He was stalling.
Or testing them.
Then Seol-an's pupils widened.
Then—
THUD!
Seol-an's strike landed directly against Kagemiya's chest.
For a split second…
His black hair faded.
Ash gray returned.
The abyssal crimson eyes trembled.
"S… Senior Brother Seol-an?"
Kōin.
Seol-an's eyes widened instantly.
"Kōin!"
Her grip loosened.
Almost enough to drop her sword entirely.
A fatal mistake.
FWOOSH!
Ji-ho grabbed Seol-an's shoulder violently and dragged her backward.
SHRRK!
Shinba swept through the air where her neck had been a fraction earlier.
Even then—
Blood sprayed lightly.
Seol-an touched her neck.
A shallow cut.
Too shallow to sever the artery.
Kagemiya stood there silently.
And his hair returned black once more.
Damn it.
He used that hesitation perfectly.
Ji-ho immediately stepped before Seol-an protectively while glaring at Kagemiya.
"He is using him as leverage!"
The old grandmaster's voice thundered across the courtyard.
"Do not hesitate, Seol-an!"
Kagemiya smiled faintly.
Cruel.
Knowing.
Because he knew exactly how effective Kōin's face was against them.
Seol-an clenched her teeth hard enough to hurt.
Her hands trembled slightly around the sword.
She almost died.
Because Kōin called her name.
No.
Because Kagemiya wanted her to hesitate.
Wanted her emotions unstable.
Wanted her unable to distinguish which one stood before her.
Seol-an slowly steadied her breathing.
Then nodded.
"…Understood."
Blue demonic chi surged around her once more.
Yet her eyes now carried something else too.
Resolve.
Even if Kōin hated her afterward…
She would drag him back from that sea herself.
The battle continued.
A macabre dance beneath the moonlight.
The disciples watching from afar no longer even spoke.
They stood entranced.
Locked onto the clash before them as though witnessing living art instead of a deadly struggle.
Blue.
White.
Red.
Three colors collided repeatedly across the courtyard like violent brushstrokes upon a painting.
Blue demonic chi spiraled beautifully through the night.
White Tiger Chi burst like starlight.
Crimson mist swallowed both in waves.
CLANG!
BOOM!
FWOOSH!
Every impact shook the sect grounds.
Yet despite the destruction…
There was undeniable beauty in it.
Terrifying beauty.
Even the disciples unconsciously forgot fear for brief moments watching the impossible movements unfold.
Seol-an skidded backward breathing heavily.
Ji-ho exhaled roughly beside her.
Both had landed strikes.
Both had defended countless others.
Yet Kagemiya remained standing calmly.
Barely wounded.
And worst of all…
Still adapting.
Kagemiya tilted his head slowly.
"That's it?"
The words landed like cold water.
Seol-an's expression hardened.
Ji-ho narrowed his eyes.
Then—
Kagemiya lowered his center of gravity.
A real stance this time.
Not passive.
Not testing.
Not stalling.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Every disciple felt it.
The killing intent.
Pure.
Focused.
Silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop moving.
Ji-ho's eyes widened slightly.
No…
Up until now…
He had not truly attacked.
Kagemiya slowly reversed Shinba.
Crimson eyes gleamed beneath black hair.
Then he vanished.
FWMP!
This time—
He was coming for them.
CLANG!
Ji-ho barely intercepted Shinba in time.
The impact alone sent cracks through the ground beneath his feet.
No.
That was not a block.
I died.
The realization struck Ji-ho instantly.
Kagemiya simply chose not to finish the slash.
Again.
And again.
And again.
He could kill them.
He could slaughter this entire sect before sunrise.
The disciples.
The elders.
Everyone.
So why not?
Why?
Is he truly an Ashuramaru?
Or…
Ji-ho grit his teeth while forcing Shinba away.
"ANSWER ME, KŌIN!"
GRAAAHHHH!
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
FWEP!
CLANG!
The courtyard became a storm of distortions.
Kagemiya's movements blurred unnaturally through mirage-like afterimages.
Because Kōin had not awakened his dantian…
They could not track him through chi.
Only through instinct.
Through killing intent.
Through Ashura itself.
But then—
Seol-an noticed something horrifying.
The indulgence…
Was dimming.
Not weakening physically.
Emotionally.
Like the memories Kagemiya showed them had affected him too.
The battlefield slowed for one brief instant.
Kagemiya's crimson eyes flickered.
The bloodlust within them never looked endless.
It looked tired.
Burdened.
CLANG!
Ji-ho locked Shinba against the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade again.
This time their faces were inches apart.
Ji-ho stared directly into those abyssal eyes.
And finally saw it.
Not hatred.
Not insanity.
Exhaustion.
The exhaustion of a man who had killed so much he no longer remembered how to stop.
Kagemiya suddenly whispered quietly enough only Ji-ho heard it.
"…Tell me, hero."
The crimson eyes trembled faintly.
"How many people can one child kill before he is no longer allowed to be human?"
Kagemiya continued striking relentlessly.
CLANG!
Ji-ho blocked.
CLANG!
Seol-an intercepted from the side.
Yet every defense felt heavier than the last.
"Ten?"
CLANG!
"A hundred?"
BASH!
"A thousand?!"
His movements became faster.
More violent.
"MILLIONS?!"
BOOOOM!
A roundhouse kick slammed directly into Ji-ho's guard.
"GUHH!"
The old grandmaster was launched backward skidding violently across shattered stone.
Dust exploded around him.
Kagemiya's voice thundered through the courtyard.
"TELL ME, HERO!"
He reversed Shinba in his grip again.
The blood sea around his feet surged upward unnaturally.
Then—
FWOOSH!
A massive crescent slash made entirely of compressed blood erupted outward.
Ji-ho's eyes widened.
Too fast.
No time to fully defend—
"AAAHHH!"
Seol-an rushed before him instead.
Her chi blade crossed defensively.
CRAAAAACK!
Blue chi crackled violently as the blood arc smashed against her guard.
The impact forced her backward across the courtyard.
Her feet dug trenches into the ground trying desperately to resist.
The Heavenly Demon Body screamed under the pressure.
Ji-ho instantly moved.
FWMP!
He appeared beside Seol-an and shoved her away.
"MOVE!"
The blood slash barely missed them.
SHRRRKKKK!
A massive tree behind them split cleanly in half.
Silence followed.
Then the upper half slowly slid apart before crashing down thunderously.
BOOOOM!
The disciples watching turned pale.
That attack…
Had it hit directly…
Neither Seol-an nor Ji-ho would still have bodies left.
Kagemiya stood amidst the drifting red mist breathing heavily now.
The indulgence around him flickered strangely.
Unstable.
His crimson eyes trembled again.
Then he stared at Ji-ho with something close to anguish buried beneath rage.
"You still did not answer me."
Shinba lowered slightly.
"How many lives before someone stops calling you human?"
Kagemiya tilted Shinba slowly.
Moonlight shimmered across the cursed blade.
The blood coating its edge gleamed dark crimson.
Then his voice exploded across the courtyard.
"HOW MANY LIVES BEFORE THEY ARE CALLED A DEMON, OLD MAN?!"
The red mist surged violently around him.
"HOW MANY DEMONS HAVE YOU KILLED?!"
His abyssal crimson eyes shook with fury.
Pain.
Accusation.
Like he already knew the answer and hated it.
Then—
SLING!
SWISH!
SWISH!
SWISH!
Three crescent blood slashes erupted consecutively from Shinba.
Each one larger than the last.
The first carved through the courtyard floor leaving a canyon in its wake.
The second tore apart nearby pillars like paper.
The third distorted the air itself from sheer pressure.
"MOVE!" Ji-ho roared.
FWMP!
Seol-an vanished sideways using demonic footwork.
The first slash barely grazed her sleeve before annihilating the building behind her.
BOOOOOM!
Ji-ho swung the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade downward.
"WHITE TIGER BREAKER!"
A massive wave of white chi collided against the second crescent.
KRAAAAAASH!
The impact exploded outward violently.
The remaining force still tore through Ji-ho's shoulder sending blood spraying.
But the third—
Too fast.
Too dense.
Too compressed.
Seol-an's pupils shrank.
Ji-ho realized immediately.
He cannot fully stop that one.
Seol-an closed her eyes.
The battlefield noise faded.
The screams.
The destruction.
The blood mist.
Everything became distant.
Only the flow of chi remained.
One strike.
She only had enough strength left for one.
Every pathway inside her body burned painfully as she forced every remaining fragment of chi to circulate at once.
Too much.
Far too much.
But she endured.
Kōin.
Wait for me.
FWMP!
She dashed toward Ji-ho.
Milliseconds.
That was all she had.
The blood crescent descended.
Ji-ho widened his eyes sensing what Seol-an intended.
"Seol-an, don't—"
"Split Heavenly Tiger Demon."
Blue demonic chi erupted upward.
White Tiger Chi surged alongside it.
Then—
A cross shaped slash was born.
One horizontal.
One vertical.
Blue and white collided directly against crimson.
KRAAAAAAAAAAASH!
The impact distorted the entire courtyard.
The world itself lost color momentarily.
Black.
White.
Nothing else.
The disciples instinctively shielded their eyes screaming.
Some genuinely thought dawn had arrived early.
The shockwave flattened nearby buildings.
Trees uprooted violently.
The sect walls cracked.
Then—
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Dust slowly drifted downward.
Color returned.
Seol-an still stood there barely.
Her sword arm trembled violently.
Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.
Then her knees gave out.
Ji-ho caught her before she hit the ground.
"Seol-an!"
Her body was completely spent.
The Heavenly Demon Body faded slowly.
Ji-ho looked forward again.
And his heart sank slightly.
Kagemiya remained standing motionless beneath the moonlight.
Not a single drop of sweat.
Not a single ragged breath.
Only those glowing crimson eyes staring back at them.
Cold.
Silent.
Predatory.
Ji-ho finally understood what unsettled him so much.
Not a hound.
No.
A hound serves someone.
That thing standing before them…
Was a wolf.
A lone wolf.
Standing calmly inside a tiger's den.
Kagemiya slowly raised Shinba once more.
The moonlight reflected off the crimson blade.
Ji-ho's fingers twitched around the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade.
This was bad.
No.
Far beyond bad.
Even with his reclaimed Ashura…
He knew it.
He was still outmatched.
Kagemiya Kōin was not fighting like a berserker.
That would have been easier.
No.
He fought like an apex predator.
Calm.
Precise.
Patient.
Every movement carried killing intent refined across countless lives.
Ji-ho gently lowered Seol-an to the ground.
White chi gathered beneath her forming a soft bedding before slowly pushing her toward nearby disciples.
"Protect her," Ji-ho ordered without looking back.
The disciples immediately rushed toward Seol-an nervously.
Ji-ho exhaled slowly.
He replayed the battle inside his head rapidly.
Every clash.
Every exchange.
Then—
He noticed it again.
The openings.
Tiny.
Less than milliseconds.
But they existed.
Kōin was still resisting from inside.
Every time Shinba should have cut with its edge…
The blade reversed slightly.
Spine meeting attacks instead.
Protecting them subconsciously.
Kōin was fighting back.
Good.
That was enough.
Ji-ho lowered his stance.
He did not need to save Kōin right now.
Not fully.
First—
Subdue him.
Knock him unconscious.
Then bring him back later.
Safety first.
But do not kill him.
White chi surged violently around Ji-ho.
Far denser than before.
Pure supreme chi flooded the courtyard until nearby disciples struggled breathing beneath the pressure.
Even Kagemiya's eyes narrowed slightly.
Ji-ho pointed the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade toward him.
"Kōin."
His voice carried firmly across the night.
"You are going to open your dantian."
The White Tiger Chi roared around him like a storm.
"You will come back."
Ji-ho's grip tightened.
"I promise you."
Kagemiya scoffed faintly.
Yet beneath the scoff…
Something in his gaze flickered.
"Then let us see, old man."
He lowered Shinba into stance.
The red mist spiraled around him violently.
"A tiger against a wolf."
Kōin vanished upward without warning.
Ji-ho's instincts screamed immediately.
Above.
He slashed upward instantly.
SHING!
Nothing.
A mirage.
Kōin never moved from his original position.
Ji-ho's eyes widened slightly.
Then—
FWMP!
Kōin appeared directly within his sight.
A slash descended toward Ji-ho's shoulder.
Ji-ho countered immediately—
Another mirage.
Damn it.
The delayed perception.
He is manipulating reaction timing.
That single hesitation cost him.
Ji-ho suddenly felt tension behind him.
Too late.
Kagemiya had already reversed Shinba into a stabbing grip aiming directly for Ji-ho's spine.
Ji-ho abandoned swordsmanship entirely.
A blade alone would not keep up.
His entire body became the weapon.
BOOM!
Ji-ho kicked backward like a horse lashing out.
The impact struck Kōin squarely in the torso forcing him sliding across shattered stone.
Yet even while sliding—
Kōin barely glanced backward.
His eyes flickered.
Ji-ho was already there.
A knee strike rocketed toward Kōin's face.
Kōin immediately raised his left elbow.
THUD!
The impact blasted cracks through the ground beneath him.
Yet he absorbed it.
Used the momentum.
Sliding farther backward before instantly slashing the air.
A massive blood arc erupted forward.
Ji-ho inhaled sharply.
Chi flooded back into his dantian before exploding outward again.
He answered with a white chi slash of his own.
Two enormous attacks collided.
Blood against white.
The collision had not even fully exploded yet—
FWMP!
FWMP!
Both monsters charged directly through the impact itself.
CLANG!
Shinba collided against the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade.
CLANG CLANG!
Ji-ho's fists joined his sword strikes seamlessly now.
Kagemiya countered with elbows, knees, blade reversals, and impossible footwork.
CLANG!
Sparks exploded across the courtyard endlessly.
The disciples could no longer even track them properly.
Only flashes.
Afterimages.
Shockwaves.
The sound of steel screaming against steel.
Ji-ho grit his teeth during the exchange.
He saw it again.
That tiny hesitation.
Every lethal strike Kagemiya launched toward vital points shifted just slightly at the final moment.
Kōin was still inside there fighting him.
Good.
Then Ji-ho only needed one opening.
One true opening.
And he would drag that child back from the sea.
Slowly…
Within that deadly exchange.
Within the sparks.
Within the thunderous clash of steel.
Ji-ho smiled.
Truly smiled.
Not the calm smile of a grandmaster.
Not the weary smile of an old hero.
No.
This was the smile of a warrior who had finally found someone capable of pushing him again.
Thrill surged through his veins.
The battlefield.
The instinct.
The sharpened senses.
He had not felt this alive since the days of war.
Since the day he slew the Khan.
Since the night he killed the Blood Demon Leader.
Back when monsters walked openly across battlefields.
Back when Ji-ho himself was called a monster too.
CLANG!
Shinba screeched against the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade.
Kagemiya's crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
He noticed it immediately.
The old tiger was waking up.
Ji-ho's movements changed.
Sharper.
Cleaner.
Faster.
Not enough to match Kagemiya fully.
Not yet.
But he was evolving mid battle.
Every exchange refined him further.
Every near death experience sharpened his instincts.
This naughty disciple…
Truly strange.
Kagemiya's attacks carried refinement accumulated through endless bloodshed.
Yet Ji-ho adapted anyway.
CLANG!
Ji-ho redirected Shinba sideways with his blade while simultaneously throwing a palm strike toward Kagemiya's ribs.
FWMP!
Kagemiya twisted around it unnaturally.
But Ji-ho's knee was already coming upward.
THUD!
A direct hit to Kagemiya's abdomen.
The disciples gasped.
He landed it.
Kagemiya slid backward slightly.
Then smiled faintly.
Not mockingly.
Almost approvingly.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"Good."
FWMP!
He vanished again.
Ji-ho laughed.
Actually laughed.
"Ha!"
The White Tiger Chi around him exploded harder.
"Come then, wolf!"
BOOOOM!
The old grandmaster launched forward without fear.
No hesitation remained inside him now.
If he must stand against a monster to save one child…
Then he would gladly bare his fangs once more.
Kagemiya suddenly closed his eyes.
The battlefield fell silent.
Not physically.
Instinctively.
Like the world itself sensed danger.
He lowered into stance slowly.
Then—
The Ashura scent exploded from his body.
The disciples nearly collapsed from the pressure alone.
Murder.
Blood.
Indulgence.
It flooded the courtyard violently enough to distort breathing itself.
Yet instead of spreading—
Kagemiya focused it.
Compressed it.
The entire Ashura presence condensed toward one place.
His eyes.
The crimson glow intensified until it almost looked alive.
Then the scent vanished entirely.
Gone.
Yet the feeling remained.
No—
It became worse.
Far worse.
Because now all of it was concentrated.
Refined.
His movements left burning crimson trails behind like flames rising upward into horn-like shapes.
Ji-ho's expression immediately changed.
He recognized it.
"Shuraka…"
修羅化
The final line before complete demonization.
The state where one ceased being merely human indulged by Ashura.
The threshold before becoming the demon itself.
Ji-ho's heartbeat thundered.
Damn it.
This brat…
He reached this stage?
Kagemiya slowly opened his glowing eyes.
No humanity remained visible within them.
Only stillness.
Ancient.
Violent.
Inhuman.
Ji-ho exhaled sharply.
Then nodded to himself.
No more hesitation.
No more restraint.
Because hesitation…
Is defeat.
"There's no helping it then, brat!"
BOOOOOM!
White chi erupted from Ji-ho's body violently.
The ground shattered beneath him.
His own Ashura surged outward.
A massive tiger shaped cloak of chi manifested around his body.
Stripes of luminous energy crawled over his skin.
His pupils sharpened vertically.
The pressure around him became beastlike.
Predatory.
The disciples gasped.
Grandmaster Ji-ho…
Released his Ashura.
Yet—
Compared to Kagemiya…
Ji-ho still looked human.
Kagemiya no longer resembled a wolf.
No.
The thing standing beneath the moonlight now resembled an Oni.
An Akuma.
A Yokai born from slaughter and bloodshed.
The crimson trails behind his eyes danced like demonic horns.
Even the disciples instinctively stepped backward.
Fear gripped their souls.
Meanwhile—
Seol-an's eyes slowly opened from unconsciousness.
The bright lights from the courtyard illuminated her face.
Pain immediately shot through her pathways.
Damn it…
She exhausted all her chi.
Then she felt it.
That pressure.
That horrifying pressure.
Her sapphire eyes widened instantly like cold water had been dumped over her.
One presence.
Then another.
"A… Ashura…?"
No.
Two Ashura.
The entire courtyard tensed.
Every disciple.
Every elder who had awakened from the commotion.
Every living thing nearby instinctively held its breath.
Because the moment the two Ashura planted their feet—
The ground itself trembled.
CRKKKK!
Stone cracked beneath them.
Dust rose around their bodies.
Then—
CLING!
BOOOOOOM!
A crimson line and a white flash exploded upward simultaneously.
The shockwave alone blasted apart nearby walls.
Kōin slashed once horizontally.
A single red line spread outward unnaturally fast.
Ji-ho immediately leapt above it.
But the moment the slash traveled—
It split.
One became dozens.
Chaotic crimson lines erupted everywhere across the courtyard shredding buildings and earth alike.
The disciples screamed while retreating farther back.
Yet Ji-ho jumped even higher.
Far above the slashes.
Moonlight illuminated him briefly in the night sky.
Then—
FWOOSH!
He swung the Heavenly Tiger Star Blade repeatedly midair.
Massive waves of white chi rained downward like falling stars.
Kagemiya looked upward calmly.
Then—
He jumped.
No.
He stepped.
Directly onto the crimson arcs themselves.
The blood slashes became footholds beneath his feet.
FWMP!
FWMP!
FWMP!
He moved across the air itself using the attacks as platforms.
The disciples stared in disbelief.
What kind of monster fights like this?
Ji-ho roared thunderously.
A tiger's roar.
The sound shook the sect grounds.
Then he descended.
The Heavenly Tiger Star Blade plunged downward carrying overwhelming white chi pressure with it.
Kagemiya raised Shinba.
Moonlight reflected off both blades.
Then—
KRAAAAAAAAAANG!
Steel collided in midair.
A shockwave erupted outward violently enough to split clouds above them.
Their blades locked against each other.
Steel screamed.
Neither yielded.
Then while falling from the sky—
They fought.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Again.
Again.
Again.
The speed became monstrous.
Their bodies blurred beneath the moonlight.
Blood splattered through the air.
One landed a cut.
The other answered immediately.
Both grit their teeth as sparks and blood mixed together.
Momentum dragged them downward rapidly.
Yet even during freefall—
Neither stopped attacking.
The disciples below could barely comprehend what they were seeing.
Two monsters tearing at each other midair like beasts fighting over survival itself.
Then—
Something changed.
Kagemiya's movements faltered.
Only slightly.
A split second.
But Ji-ho saw it.
The crimson eyes flickered.
Then for the briefest instant—
Yako Kōin returned.
His body stiffened.
His hand moved toward his own chest.
Guiding it.
Opening himself.
And—
He smiled.
Tiny.
Weak.
But real.
Ji-ho's eyes widened.
Kōin.
That single opening lasted less than a heartbeat.
But it was enough.
JLAB!
The Heavenly Tiger Star Blade pierced through Kōin's torso from behind.
The impact blasted blood outward into the night air.
Ji-ho controlled the angle perfectly.
He deliberately missed the vital organs.
Sliding the blade through the narrow space between heart and lungs.
Painful.
Crippling.
But survivable.
Kagemiya smiled faintly seeing the strike land.
Then—
Ji-ho moved instantly.
THUD!
A brutal elbow smashed directly into Kagemiya's adam apple.
The impact disrupted his breathing and consciousness simultaneously.
Kōin's crimson eyes flickered violently.
The Ashura presence shattered apart.
Then—
His body went limp.
The glow disappeared.
Shinba slipped from his fingers.
The cursed blade spun downward into the ruined courtyard below.
FWMP!
Ji-ho caught Kōin before he hit the ground.
The old grandmaster breathed heavily.
His Ashura slowly fading.
Then he looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms.
"…You troublesome child."
Slowly…
Ji-ho released his Ashura state.
The tiger cloak of white chi dissolved into drifting particles.
The pressure suffocating the courtyard finally disappeared.
Then his legs gave out.
THUD.
The old grandmaster dropped onto one knee breathing heavily.
The disciples immediately rushed toward him in panic.
"GRANDMASTER!"
Yet Ji-ho only laughed.
Actually laughed.
His chest rose and fell violently as he pressed a hand against it trying to stabilize his breathing.
"Hah… Hahah…"
It was fun.
He would admit it.
So much thrill.
So much danger.
The sensation of crossing blades against someone stronger than himself after so many years…
It awakened something old inside him.
Yet—
This was not some tyrannical Khan.
Not the Blood Demon Sect Leader.
Not an enemy of war.
This was his idiotic disciple.
Ji-ho wiped blood from his mouth before glaring at the frozen disciples.
"What are you all standing there for?!"
His roar snapped everyone awake.
"GET HIM TO A PHYSICIAN!"
The disciples flinched.
Yet…
None moved immediately.
Kōin's unconscious body still emitted that lingering pressure.
That scent.
The remnants of Ashura.
Fear rooted them in place.
Then Seol-an weakly stepped forward.
"I'll…"
Her legs trembled violently.
She reached toward Kōin.
But another hand grabbed her shoulder gently.
Saikan.
He shook his head silently.
"You can barely stand."
Then he stepped forward himself.
Another disciple followed.
Then another.
Eventually several disciples carefully lifted Kōin together.
Even unconscious…
They handled him cautiously.
As though afraid he might awaken again at any second.
Seol-an wanted to protest.
Wanted to go with him.
But the moment she tried taking another step—
Her knees buckled.
Exhaustion consumed her entirely.
Ji-ho watched quietly while catching his breath.
Then his eyes wandered across the ruined courtyard.
Broken stone.
Collapsed trees.
Destroyed buildings.
And missing.
That blade.
Again.
Ji-ho clicked his tongue.
As usual.
The cursed weapon had vanished without trace.