ESGW 12🔐

Chapter 12 …

Seeing that they looked ready to retreat without resistance, Jin Gwang-hon clasped his fists and spoke.

“Gwanggeom Sect will be closing its gates for the time being. So please take your leave now.”

At his words, Jeok Wui-gang smirked.

“No, I don’t wanna. If you don’t want to fight, then I’ll just make you fight.”

“What?”

“Let’s keep going until your will to resist rises again.”

As Jeok Wui-gang mumbled something, dozens of identical Jeok Wui-gangs appeared at once.

The Gwanggeom Sect members were horrified.

“Since today’s a beating day, I won’t knock you out in one go.”

Snap—

The moment he snapped his fingers, all the clones lunged toward the sect members at once.

Thud! Thwack!

“Aaargh!”

“Guh!”

“S-Stop!”

“Ghhhk!”

Screams erupted from all directions.
As Jin Gwang-hon stumbled back at the hellish scene, Jeok Wui-gang suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Where do you think you’re going? Since you’re the Sect Leader, I’ll personally deal with you.”

“W-Why are you doing this to us?”

“Why?”

“What have we done wrong to deserve this?!”

“You picked on the weaker sects.”

“We never did! If anything, those weak sects became stronger thanks to us! The only ‘crime’ we committed was helping them grow!”

“Same here. I’m doing this to help you grow stronger.”

“T-That’s…”

“Alright, hurry up and get beaten so you can get stronger.”

Now that the situation was reversed, Jin Gwang-hon could finally understand how wrongfully the Jiangxi Alliance had been treated.

That day, until the sun fell, Jin Gwang-hon experienced pain he had never once felt in his entire life.

A week passed since Jeok Wui-gang’s appearance at Gwanggeom Sect.

Everyone twitched at the smallest sound, looking around like people with shattered nerves.
Then one warrior suddenly snapped.

“Aaargh! I can’t live like this! Either he dies or I die—today I’ll settle this once and for all!”

His scream ignited the rest of the sect.

“Yeah! Better to die than live like this!”

“If we don’t catch him today, I’ll just kill myself!”

“Fight to the death!”

The entire sect overflowed with murderous resolve.

Jin Gwang-hon felt the same.
If he had to live in fear and pain like this, he would rather die fighting like a man.

He distributed all the spirit pills he had been saving.

“Eat! Then we’ll fight that monster! Even if we can’t win, let’s show our spirit!”

“Yes!”

After consuming the pills and circulating their qi, their morale surged once more.

Now that they’d accepted death, the mysterious demon-masked man no longer terrified them.

If anything—they eagerly awaited his arrival.

“Oh? The atmosphere’s different today.”

The long-awaited voice appeared, and the warriors immediately charged toward the demon mask.

“Uaaaah! Die!”

“Let’s die together today!”

“You f***ing monster! Drop dead!”

Seeing them rush in, Jeok Wui-gang chuckled.

“Now this is fun. Should’ve been like this from the start.”

Thud! Thud!

His punches hit the warriors—but unlike before, they didn’t faint.
They gritted their teeth and endured.

“Oh?”

A wider grin spread across Jeok Wui-gang’s face.

“Today is really fun.”

Despite everything, the demon-masked man still treated them like mere entertainment, which enraged the Gwanggeom warriors to the point of insanity.

They charged in thinking, If we can just land ONE hit, I’ll have no regrets.

Their wish was surprisingly fulfilled.

Their desperate attacks finally began hitting Jeok Wui-gang.

Whack! Thud!

“We hit him!”

“It worked!”

“With death on the line, nothing is impossible!”

“Hahaha! How’s that, you monster?!”

“Huh? Why isn’t he falling?”

“Did we miss?”

“No! We definitely hit him!”

Their attacks had undeniably landed.
His clothes were torn—that was proof.

Yet he stood unharmed.
There wasn’t even blood.

“A-Attack again!”

“He must have some protective qi! Hit him again!”

They gripped their swords and attacked once more—Jin Gwang-hon included.

Now that their attacks worked, he joined in, thinking his might could actually injure the demon mask.

Then the unbelievable happened.

Despite every warrior attacking with everything they had, the demon mask merely walked forward slowly, completely unbothered.

He didn’t even have a scratch.

His clothes were shredded so badly they barely covered anything—yet his body was pristine.

Even his mask was unscathed.

“Uaaah! You monster!”

“Please die!”

Though they had resolved to die, the Gwanggeom warriors were falling into despair—this existence made their resolve meaningless.

“That should be enough, right?”

The moment the demon mask spoke, their attacks stopped.

Was he saying… he let them hit him on purpose?

“If that’s enough, then I guess it’s my turn.”

The warriors staggered back.

Clatter—

A sword dropped.

“Aaargh! I-I can’t anymore!”

One man threw down his sword and ran.

That was the start.
Soon everyone threw down their swords and fled.

In their eyes, Jeok Wui-gang truly looked like a demon.

Yet none escaped his grasp.
People collapsed one after another, though he barely seemed to move.

Jin Gwang-hon watched, trembling violently.
Every single warrior lay collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Once again—he was the only one left standing.

Jeok Wui-gang appeared before him.
He murmured something, snapped his fingers, and his shredded clothes instantly restored themselves.

Jin Gwang-hon stared, stunned.

Jeok Wui-gang smiled.

“Amazing, right? It’s originally a magic from the Kingdom of Pasa, but I modified it for this world and named it the Five-Element Mantra Art.
‘Magic’ sounds too much like a devil’s art, you know.”

No—he definitely was a devil.

“Thanks to this, life’s been so convenient.”

He sounded proud.

“That technique is why you’re unharmed as well?”

“No, I just tanked it with my bare body. You guys were so earnest, risking your lives—it was touching.”

Jin Gwang-hon swallowed dryly.

“Why… why are you doing this to us?”

Jeok Wui-gang asked back:

“Then why did you treat other sects like that? They asked you the exact same question.”

Jin Gwang-hon opened his mouth, but Jeok Wui-gang cut him off.

“And don’t say it was ‘for their own good.’ I’ll actually get mad.”

A chilling aura emanated from him.

“T-The truth is… we wanted to climb higher and gain recognition from many.”

“Then you should’ve targeted sects stronger than you. Why bully the weak ones?”

Jin Gwang-hon had no answer.

“Now that you’ve felt it yourself, how was it? That feeling of wanting to run, but being unable to?”

“…Frustrating and unjust.”

“Right? That’s exactly how those sects felt.”

Still, Jin Gwang-hon looked resentful.

Jeok Wui-gang smirked.

“You’re still far from reflecting. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“W-Wait! I swear we’ll never attack another sect again! No—our sect will close permanently!”

“Closing isn’t enough. I need to fix you people properly so you’ll never behave like that again.”

“We-We’ll change!”

“Words aren’t enough.”

Jeok Wui-gang stared at him.

“Honestly, this is a bit annoying. It’d be easier to just wipe you all out.”

A chill skittered down Jin Gwang-hon’s spine.

“But I promised my father I’d turn you people into decent humans, so I’m trying really hard. If you don’t appreciate my effort, I’ll feel hurt.”

Seeing the eyes behind the demon mask, Jin Gwang-hon finally realized—
He thought he was the predator, but he was merely prey.

The real predator was right in front of him.

Thud—

Jin Gwang-hon crumpled.

“…We were wrong. Never again…”

“Huh? That sounded sincere.”

Jeok Wui-gang grinned.

“A few more days and you’ll be good.”

Jin Gwang-hon lifted his head—then collapsed unconscious from a heavy blow.

“Since these guys are obsessed with strength, it took a while… but for the first time, I think I did well.”

But there was still more to fix.

Knocking them out in one hit wasn’t good for rehabilitation.
They had to be awake to feel the pain so it burned into their memory.

Jeok Wui-gang muttered as he looked over the fallen warriors.

“I’ll try that tomorrow.”

Every unconscious body shuddered violently.

Even in unconsciousness, they felt a chill.

Meanwhile, sects belonging to the Jiangxi Alliance spent every day in dread.

“They should be attacking soon.”

“Indeed. If they’re coming, they should come already.”

“When will this trembling life end? This is agony.”

“Let’s be fully prepared this time and show them properly.”

All nodded firmly when—

“They’re coming! The Gwanggeom bastards!”

The Alliance sect leaders rose with grim determination.

“So today’s the day.”

“Let’s show them we’re not easy prey!”

“Yes!”

But when they went outside—they froze.

“A… white flag?”

“What is this?”

“There’s no killing intent from them.”

“Are they mocking us?”

“Doesn’t look like it. They seem… intimidated.”

“Could be a trick. Stay alert.”

“Of course.”

They watched cautiously as the Gwanggeom people approached.

At last, Gwanggeom’s warriors and Jin Gwang-hon arrived before the Alliance gates.

“What’s the meaning of this? Act like you usually do!”

The Alliance leader shouted.
Jin Gwang-hon lifted his head and bowed with clasped fists.

“We beg forgiveness for the wrongs we’ve committed against you!”

All the warriors behind him bowed as well.

It was unbelievable.

Gwanggeom Sect—famous for never bowing to anyone even if it meant death—was now apologizing with bent backs?

No one expected this.

“What trick is this?”

“No trick. This is sincere. We will never attack you again.”

“Is that true?”

“It is. If you wish, we will even sign a blood oath.”

The Alliance leaders hurried into a meeting.

“What do you think?”

“Probably a ploy to make us open the gates.”

“That is…” (continued)