Chapter 1220. Transforming (5)

Chapter 1220. Transforming (5)

Creepy winds blew across the ship’s deck.

Even though almost a thousand Japanese warriors stood on this deck, and many more below, not a single person dared to say anything.

Nearly a thousand pairs of eyes were focusing on only one man. And the man in the center of all this attention could barely control his shaking hands.

‘It’s so cold!

’

Of course, Gohei meant the blade touching his abdomen. However, he was surprised to learn that the countless eyes piercing him from behind were so much colder.

“

Huff, huff! Wheeze!

”

Rough, heavy panting escaped from his mouth. Every time he hyperventilated, the blade cut deeper and deeper into his flesh.

Drip...

Vivid pain stung his brain as the blade cut into his gut. The blood from the slight wound trickled down Gohei’s skin.

“

Fuu-huuuph

!”

As the cold sweat threatened to blind him, Gohei stared at the blade pressing against his gut.

He should thrust that blade deeper and disembowel himself. Cutting himself horizontally once wouldn’t be enough to demonstrate the depth of his beliefs, so he must repeat the action vertically to create a perfect cross on his gut.

This... was the method of proving himself. Yes,

seppuku

was an act of one’s bravery! The proof of one’s nobleness, honor, and unshakable belief!

That was why there was nothing to be afraid of. All he had to do was push the blade in even deeper. And then... And then...!

“

Huff, huff! Wheeze! Huff!

”

The cold sweat finally invaded Gohei’s eyes. They began stinging unpleasantly.

The world in Gohei’s view grew blurry and dizzying. He suddenly couldn’t understand why he was kneeling here. All he could see was the blade pointing at himself, and...!

Click.

...And the figure of Kang Jin-Ho lighting a cigarette dangling between his lips!

“

Fuu-woo

...”

After lazily exhaling a cloud of gray smoke, Kang Jin-Ho’s gaze locked on Gohei. He looked rather unimpressed. Disinterested.

Gohei’s eyes powerfully rocked when he looked into Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes.

Disinterest? But how could that be?

Gohei was half a step across the boundary separating life and death. So, how could a person witnessing that be so disinterested?

Only then did Gohei realize something important.

His determination and beliefs couldn’t touch Kang Jin-Ho’s heart. It didn’t matter how Gohei offed himself, his death would be meaningless to the boss of the Korean Martial Assembly.

In that case, what was Gohei dying for? His determination, his beliefs, were they for...

Before Gohei’s mind could process those questions, Kang Jin-Ho sauntered over to the kneeling man, then squatted in front of him.

As a faint smirk floated up on Kang Jin-Ho’s lips, he casually spoke.

“What are you doing?”

“...”

“Hurry and gut yourself.”

Gohei’s hands trembled even harder. The shaking had gotten so bad that the blade gripped in his hands cut into his flesh from all the vibration.

Kang Jin-Ho exhaled some more cigarette smoke, then smiled brightly.

“It’s not that difficult, okay? Just close your eyes and stab deeper. That will be all. Don’t you think so, too?”

“...”

Gohei dazedly nodded without even realizing it.

Kang Jin-Ho casually muttered, “Now, then. Prove it. Prove your determination so that everyone can see it.”

“

Huff, huff

!”

Gohei’s eyes darted around like a patient suffering a seizure.

However, his grip on the blade strengthened. He clenched his teeth, then pushed the blade deeper into his abdomen.

Stab!

But that was as far as he could go.

The blade went in about half a palm into his gut, only to stop and tremble powerfully in Gohei’s grip.

“

Ah

...?!”

Gohei’s jaw fell in sheer shock.

It hurt.

He couldn’t think of a better way to describe this sensation, other than it hurt far more than he had imagined.

Gohei’s expression crumpled hideously.

He, too, had lived the life of a warrior. As such, he got stabbed and cut plenty of times. However, this pain was so much different from the pain he experienced in those moments.

Then again, it was unreasonable to expect the pain felt during a battle, where a copious amount of adrenaline was coursing through his veins, to be the same as the pain felt when all of his attention was focused in one area.

First of all, there was the pain from the stabbed flesh. And then, he felt the foreign coldness from the metallic object digging into his body. Finally, he was beset with this terrifying sensation of something that didn’t belong inside his gut writhing in there.

All these things messily got into a tangle and paralyzed Gohei. His hands holding the blade trembled. However, every little tremor only resulted in the blade moving some more and making a bloody mess of his innards instead!

“

Kkeuh-euh

...?!”

His internal organs must’ve been damaged, since he could feel some kind of liquid trying to well up through his throat.

‘I’m... going to die?’

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Like this? But, this type of death was different from what he thought of! His death should be something more heroic. More grandiose. It must be superb enough to demonstrate how honorable and loyal he was!

He was not supposed to shiver pitifully like some kind of terrified lowly creature!

‘I... I want to live...!’

“That’s no good,” said Kang Jin-Ho as he suddenly grabbed Gohei’s hands. “You can’t stop now.”

“...!”

Kang Jin-Ho grinned.

Without a doubt, this man before Gohei’s eyes was Kang Jin-Ho. But he couldn’t be

him.

This creature couldn’t be Kang Jin-Ho!

No, he must be a devil with hidden wings laughing at Gohei. The devil that was mocking the human caught in its trap and foolishly stumbling toward his destruction!

“Stopping now will disappoint everyone. So, prove yourself. Prove your determination. And show us that your way of doing things is right.”

Kang Jin-Ho bared his pearly fangs.

“How about I help you?”

Kang Jin-Ho’s grip on Gohei’s hands and the blade strengthened, and he began pushing his victim’s arm slowly in.

His strength was not something Gohei could fight against.

“

Kkeu

...

Kkeuruk

...”

Plunge...

The ultra-sharp blade began slicing through Gohei’s stomach. And it did so very slowly. Agonizingly slowly.

“Someone once told me this,” said Kang Jin-Ho with the purest smile imaginable. “The slower you gut yourself, and the more you cut yourself open, the better it is as the proof. Is that true?”

“...!”

Gohei couldn’t respond. After all, blood was gushing out of his mouth right now. And he was creating a once-in-a-lifetime bizarre spectacle where the blood from his guts flooded out of his mouth, only to seep back inside through the stab wound in his abdomen.

Who would be able to speak while stuck in a situation like that?!

“Since that’s true, what’s the rush?”

Slice!

After cutting through Gohei’s gut from left to right, Kang Jin-Ho gripped the blade tightly and pulled it out.

“And then, you do this...”

Stab!

Gohei’s blade stabbed into its owner’s chest next. And then, under Kang Jin-Ho’s careful guidance, it traveled lower.

Gohei’s eyes shot open wide as he watched his abdomen splitting open. The wound now resembled a distinct cross, a proof of his determination.

However, who would look at this scene and think he had proven himself?

“

K-keuh-euh

...!”

The pain far surpassing his worst nightmares paralyzed Gohei’s senses. He wanted to scream and thrash about, but rather than losing his dignity like that, Gohei raised his head and stared at Akinori.

The stiff-faced Akinori nodded, then walked over to Kang Jin-Ho. “Sir, please allow me to behead Gohei.”

Kang Jin-Ho looked up at Akinori.

“Sir. Our custom dictates that we must behead the warrior committing seppuku to ease his suffering. Although our paths have diverged, he was still one of my subordinates. Beheading him is my duty.”

“Is that so?” Kang Jin-Ho smiled again. “But, why?”

“...I’m sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand it. “You gut yourself. That’s how you supposedly prove yourself. Isn’t that the whole reasoning behind this ritual suicide?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then, why are you beheading the person to end their suffering? Isn’t it like... You can prove your determination even more by shouldering all the pain by yourself?”

“...!”

Akinori couldn’t say anything to that and clamped his mouth shut.

“Isn’t that laughable?” Kang Jin-Ho stopped smiling abruptly and slowly got up. “You talk a big game about taking responsibilities through your death, yet you wish to avoid all the associated pain from dying? It’s all superficial, then. Zero substances. Didn’t your ancestors start this dumb tradition as a way to prove your honor? And that your beliefs cannot be shaken up, even from the pain of your guts spilling out?”

“Yes. But...”

“So, I’m trying to help you prove all that.”

Kang Jin-Ho pushed Gohei down with his foot. And when the Japanese collapsed like a stack of rotting hay, Kang Jin-Ho picked up the bloody sword and ruthlessly severed Gohei’s tendons in all four limbs.

“

Kkeu-ru-ruk

?!”

Clatter!

Kang Jin-Ho threw the weapon away, then casually shook his hands to get rid of the blood staining him.

“And now, this guy will shoulder all that pain. While taking responsibilities for his choice of death.”

“...”

Akinori grew pale as he stared at Gohei.

With his tendons severed, Gohei could no longer control his limbs. In other words, all he could do was lie on the floor and writhe like some worm while his intestines spilled out from his abdomen.

Worse still, he couldn’t even die quickly, either!

A martial artist’s abnormal recovery rate meant Gohei wasn’t allowed to die like a normal person. Until all the blood trickling out from his wound had dried out completely, leaving no fresh blood left in his body, Gohei would suffer from endless torment while gradually withering away.

‘How can a person be so...’

Before Akinori could finish his chain of thoughts, Kang Jin-Ho suddenly spoke up.

“You think this is too cruel?”

“I, I...”

“Remember this,” Kang Jin-Ho grimly chewed out his words. “Death is just that, death. Stop trying to imbue a special meaning to death. There is no such thing. Those who tell you to think of death as noble and significant are the same people who will profit from your death. Sure, you can choose how you die. A heroic death might be better than an ignoble life. However...”

Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs.

“That’s only when I voluntarily choose death. To end my story on my own terms. Death is not the way to incite a crowd. No, it’s just death. Nothing more. And you people need to learn that.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly walked toward the Japanese warriors.

Clomp, clomp!

He casually walked over the writhing Gohei on the floor and stood before the crowd, then spread his arms wide open. The space near his hands distorted, and his trusty Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne suddenly appeared literally out of thin air.

“Beliefs, you say?”

Yet another eerie smile floated up on Kang Jin-Ho’s face. As if to contrast his smile, however, an incredible amount of killing intent gushed out from his body.

“That all sounds nice. Come over here. I’ll help you cling to your beliefs through your death.”

Unsurprisingly, no one stepped forward. The Japanese warriors hesitantly stumbled back, their complexions pale like people who saw a terrifying specter.

Their fear was understandable, however. To them,

seppuku

was perhaps the clearest, strongest form of expressing their will. So what were they supposed to do when their opponent was a bloodthirsty and cruel demonic cultivator who crushed a man choosing to commit

seppuku

like some insect?

They couldn’t talk to him. Their beliefs meant nothing to him, either. Which left them with only one thing: to make their choice between submission or death!

“The strong have no need to choose,” said Kang Jin-Ho with a deep smile. “You are all weaklings to me. And weaklings have to choose. So, choose. Now. Will you kiss the floor and beg to be spared? Or will you stand tall and proud so that I can start beheading you all?”

The Japanese didn’t have to think for long.

Vator, Wiggins, Chang Min and Lee Hyeon-Su imposingly walked forward to stand slightly behind Kang Jin-Ho side-by-side.

The Japanese warriors had never encountered a fighting spirit as fierce as the one gushing out of the Martial Assembly’s executives.

It felt violent. Tyrannical. Primal.

“I’ll count to three,” said Kang Jin-Ho. He stabbed the Azuremourne to the ground, then pointed the Crimson Destiny at the Japanese. “Anyone who’s still standing with their head held high after the count? I’ll consider that as your intention to cling to your beliefs. Okay?”

Kang Jin-Ho didn’t even give them enough time to think.

“One.”

The count began, and a tidal wave of fighting spirit flooded out of the Assembly’s executives. It was as if they were getting ready to pounce on the Japanese at any second now.

“Two.”

When Kang Jin-Ho counted to two, killing intent sharp enough to almost slice through human flesh and rip human minds apart exploded out of his figure.

“Three.”

And when he counted to three...!

Kang Jin-Ho was treated to the sight of the vast ocean beyond the ship’s deck.

Terror. Fear. Desire to survive. All these elements conspired to push these once-proud Japanese warriors to kneel before him.

After kneeling, the Japanese all bowed deeply.

The sight of so many martial artists filling up a large ship’s deck bowing down in unison was a spectacle one might never see again in their lifetime. Kang Jin-Ho silently observed this scene before addressing everyone.

“Remember this.”

They should all remember tonight.

“If you ever forget what you felt tonight, you won’t get another chance to choose next time. Because I’ll teach you what death really is like. And it will be more raw and visceral than you can imagine.”

Kang Jin-Ho turned around to leave.

This was the moment the conclusion to the too-long war was declared.