Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 111



Chapter 111 – Black Moon

From the moment I started walking, a thick moisture that took my breath away began to surround my body.

It is not an unpleasant moisture, but rather a pleasant mist, as if caressing my wounded body from the decisive battle just moments ago.

But I didn’t let my guard down and went inside with the intention of unleashing my sword and cutting down the enemy at any time.

Snap.

As I entered the cool water that soaked my feet up to the middle, I looked around, but there was no sign of Gosu, who looked like the head of the Black Moon Party.

All that remains is a neatly prepared altar and a piece of meat that looks like an eyeball, dried, twisted, and split in half.

“……”

Wow!

Swing the heart sword and slash.

However, the piece of meat was split in half as if it was empty inside, and the part that looked like a shell was wide open, and only a small amount of the contents was a sticky, thick liquid flowing out.

‘Is it… A monster raised by Black Moon?’

I thought it was to resurrect the head’s pet or some great evil, so I closed my eyes and stretched out my energy around me.

I felt the surroundings becoming darker as the moonlight that illuminated the fog gradually became buried in darkness.

Even without light, I can perceive things around me using my inner energy alone, but as the moonlight begins to fade, I can also see that this subtle energy I feel around me is gradually becoming darker.

‘Coming’

Small footsteps were heard from inside.

I didn’t feel much of a presence, but as I stepped on the lapping water with my bare feet, I figured out the location by listening to the sound of footsteps running normally, rather than using water rain or light techniques.

‘Cut it down in one fell swoop and end this whole story’

Myeongwol, the heart sword that was made to defeat just one person, is no longer there, but the unstable heart sword is enough to deal with quite a few enemies.

So, the moment I opened my eyes and was about to cut down with the moonlight with my burning, unstable heart sword towards the place where I had just detected its presence.

“……!”

I had no choice but to stop the sword.

This was because a girl who looked very similar to Wolhyang was running here.

But it wasn’t Wolhyang, my instincts were crying out for something.

“Father-“

It’s like a mixture of my eyes and the bridge of my nose based on Wolhyang’s face, something that makes my blood run strong.

It cannot happen. It couldn’t have happened.

However, despite this, the Heart Sword, which is influenced by the mind, did not burn, but gradually became blurred, and I had no choice but to stand defenseless and without a sword.

Warm.

When I saw him running towards me, hugging my stiff thighs with an embarrassed expression, I bit my tongue to avoid falling into this situation as much as possible.

‘Heukdo is the same deception that Hewol suffered.’

I knew very well what method the Black Moon leader had used. Therefore, even if you do not want to follow your heart now, you must cut once again with your fighting spirit burning.

This is the root of all tragedies. It is the worst enemy that threatens this world.

So, make up your mind once again…

“Before, I would have looked like a young Seolhwa shivering from the cold. Now, I can see how to think about the future. I’m a little happy.”

As if she had no intention of hiding her identity, the girl let go of my leg with a smile on her face and stepped behind her.

“Head of the Black Moon. Is that right?”

“If you ask me that, I guess I have to say yes, right?”

“Then die.”

“Yes, if you want. But is it possible?”

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She tried to pull out her sword, but her heart wouldn’t move.

Although his head thought that he should be cut down immediately and that he should not listen to anything further, his hands did not follow and his heart did not follow.

“Even if I don’t have a heart sword, I can kill someone like you again and again…!”

“You can do that if you want. You can use the Cheongshim Glass Fist to beat it to death, or simply strangle it. Or, you can grab its head and drown it in the stream here.”

A girl who half resembles me and her Wolhyang looks with her arms spread out, as if she wants her own death.

It was so easy to kill such a fragile body.

Now that the first head of the clan, Heo Wol, was defeated, there was no one anymore to protect the head of the Black Moon clan, and even if the surviving clan head invaded, I was confident that I would kill him with my skills.

But there is something.

He was whispering to me to listen to the story.

“What is your identity?”

In response to her question, she smiled brightly, pushed away her piece of meat that was placed on her altar, and sat down next to it.

“Before, it was a piece of meat managed by the Black Moon Party.”

She did not show any discomfort despite the sticky fluids and pieces of her meat on her body, showing that she was born here.

“Head of the Black Moon Party. A being that Heo Wol tried to protect even as he was dying. A being that the head of the Black Moon Party, Black Gwangmu, mistakes for his own child.”

It was a being that deserved to die.

Because he was the culprit behind all these tragedies, creating an evil organization called the Black Moon Party and polluting the world.

“And someone who wants you to be happy.”

“He must be trying to trick me by tricking me like Heo Wol did.”

“That’s because he wanted it. His wife, Chae Myeong-wol, died, and his daughter, Gyu Wol-hyang, thought that it was better for her to live as a medicine woman than for her incapable self.”

“……”

“Gyu-san-hyeok was a contradictory person who thought it would be better for her mother and daughter if she disappeared, and called herself Heo-wol, the vain moon, but longed for the two moons because she had a strong longing for them.”

The head of the Black Moon clan spoke calmly as if he knew everything.

“That’s why he always had the two moons in his heart, but he hid them under the name of the black sword and sharpened them to create the black sword Heo Moon.”

“So… You tricked him?”

“I didn’t deceive you. I just whispered that a lot of preparation is needed for the dead to come back to life.”

“You also controlled Idangju Heukgwangmu.”

“He just needs someone to focus his affection on, so you just told me he can think of me like a child?”

“What is your purpose?”

“Being born. And after birth…”

He extends his hand to me.

The hand resembles Wolhyang’s hand in miniature.

“Yeoncheongha. Something that makes you happy.”

“I came to kill you.”

“You can do that if you want. It’s simple, right?”

He was pretending to strangle himself with a stiff smile like when I was laughing at someone.

“But hearing this story… Does it mean that you also want something from me?”

“……”

“My appearance right now is probably what you want most.”

“Ugh…!”

“A few months ago, you probably thought about various things and made a wish that Seolhwa’s sins would disappear. That’s why you seemed like a young Seolhwa crying and clinging to you for help.”

“But it’s different now. Isn’t there a more pressing wish than clinging to the past?”

“A wish…?”

“Gyu Wol-hyang’s survival. And her simple but happy life with her. It would be even better if she had a cute child like me now, and even if not, you two would still want to find happiness together, right?”

“That’s impossible.”

“It is possible. As long as you choose me.”

“It’s impossible!”

The head of the Black Moon clan completely pushed aside the piece of meat that was lying next to her and stood on the altar herself.

“If it’s now. If the world is consumed by the black moon, I can do anything.”

“Anything…?”

“If there is no way, you can fix reality. You can create another way. It’s a method that no one knew about, so just use it as it is advantageous.”

It was a nonsensical story, but it seemed persuasive to my ears.

“Close your eyes for a moment. I defeated the Black Moon Party and became a hero, and used the elixir that the Black Moon Party secretly made on Gyu Wolhyang… Her martial arts skills were lost, and there may be some side effects, but I lost her. Just saying I saved him would be enough.”

Those eyes had turned completely black like a ghost.

“No one will care. I’m not the only one rooting for you, right? So I don’t care about a little mistake. As long as you’re happy, everyone will turn a blind eye.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. Just be happy.”

He was making me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

“……”

“Are you waiting for time to pass and the black moon to end? Are you saying that even if you didn’t make the painful choice to give up, time will pass and you ‘inevitably’ made the choice?”

When I looked up at the sky at those words that hit the nail on the head, the clouds blocking the moonlight became even darker.

“I don’t use such despicable methods. Yeoncheongha.”

“Are you asking me to choose?”

“Yes. You don’t have to make something like Black Moon Hall again. If you want to make it, if you want to hear my voice and make a wish again, all you have to do is protect it as it is convenient for you.”

It was such a sweet offer that I couldn’t refuse it.

“Or you can grant only the wish you need the most this time and then throw it away. If that happens, someone else might use me to cause trouble… But that would be hundreds of years from now, right?”

“What do you get by doing that?”

“Nothing. I just want to make those who listen to me happy.”

I could feel the sincerity.

“If you don’t want to, you can strangle me here and kill me. Then I’ll wait again. If you are reborn, you can come back and kill me at any time…”

In no time, its appearance resembled that of Wolhyang, enduring pain, and was caressing my face.

“You don’t have to be so guarded. I’m just a black moon who wants to make your wish come true.”

“Black Moon…”

“If you want, I will be your silver moon.”

When I heard that voice whispering to me, I felt like crying.

It feels like Wolhyang is really comforting me here.

“You… Were truly a black moon, a ‘black moon’.”

“Huh?”

“Did the Black Moon Party’s reference to the false moon imply your existence?”

“Have you noticed? Just like people make wishes on the moon, I have come to make wishes come true. So please don’t reject me.”

“What happens when you make a wish?”

“The world changes the way you want.”

“That means…”

I pulled away the hand that was covering my cheek, which was very similar to Wolhyang’s.

“It means that the false world will be destroyed and a new world will come.”

“As you wish.”

I made a decision in my heart.

“She said.”

“Us?”

“It is not sad to disappear at the end of one’s life.”

Because I love her, I had no choice but to respect her wishes.

“So there is no need.”

“It’s a breakdown. So are you going to kill me?”

As I looked at the black moon with a sad face in the form of Wolhyang, I closed my eyes and used my magic to summon an object from outside.

Seeing-!

A black sword with two moons engraved on it, flying through the air.

“Killing her daughter with her father’s sword is such a cruel result.”

I didn’t answer. I just breathe my heart into the black island where the two moons rise.

“You clearly said so.”

Now I think of the words of a man who does not exist in the world.

The two moons engraved on the black sword shine.

“I will even split the moon.”

The black sword with two moons engraved on it represents the moon in the sky.

The false sword split the moon.

The combined strike of the two men’s hearts and swords splits the black moon.

To be precise, he cut down the clouds covering the moon, but the strongest thief in the central plains had enough power to split the moon with just the traces of his heart sword that remained.

‘Are you saying I blocked this ridiculous power?’

Of course, since the heart sword that was stored until the end was used, the day of the black sword itself was fading along with the two moons, but due to the blow made with the black sword, the black moon was split and a silver moon was rising.

“Ah… I didn’t know you would make this choice.”

Even though his body was being torn apart, the head of the Black Moon… No, the Black Moon was smiling.

“But it was fun. There were many cases where he refused and ran away, but this was the first time he openly cut me down.”

I couldn’t hold back and opened my mouth towards the disappearing black moon.

“Why me? Is that why I was here when the lunar eclipse occurred?”

Did I get chosen by the Black Moon just by chance because I was here?

Black Moon answered that question with a bright smile.

“That’s because you had your deepest wish here…”

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As the silver moon raised its head, the disappearing black moon once again caressed my cheek with its Wolhyang hand.

“So don’t cry. Your choice was definitely right.”