Heavenly Inquisition Sword Novel - Chapter 221
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221. I Will Always Love You, So Don’t Leave
When a brilliant light emanated from the corpse of Paedo Il Wi-cheon, some stopped and bowed in reverence. Even Old Shim, with all his experience, was stunned by the sight.
‘What the hell is that?’
Until now, other monsters had emerged by tearing through the bodies of the Demon Warriors as if shedding their skin. But Il Wi-cheon was different. He seemed like a Milarist deity from a sacred painting appearing in the real world.
‘Is it not a monster? Or is it a hallucination?’
Confused, Old Shim quickly unleashed his internal energy. However, the light grew more intense, blinding him to the point where he could barely look directly at it. Old Shim urgently looked around.
The warriors of the Wall Tiger Clan, the Great Axe Clan, and even those from the Taepyeong Chamber of Commerce stood, mesmerized.
‘This isn’t good.’
If it had anything to do with the Demon Warriors, it was surely a hellish abomination. Nothing good could come of this.
Suddenly, a powerful chant echoed from all around.
“Maha Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, saw that the five skandhas are empty, and thus overcame all suffering…”
Simultaneously, something enormous rose from Il Wi-cheon’s body. It stood over three meters tall, with countless arms holding swords.
Someone shouted:
“It’s the Milarist!”
The benevolent face resembled that of a Milarist deity from a sacred painting. About ten warriors from the Wall Tiger Clan and the Great Axe Clan dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves in reverence.
Only Old Shim, who had lived far from temples and monasteries, felt uneasy.
The eyes of the Milarist deity slowly scanned the area and settled on Old Shim. The chanting grew louder as the deity began to move.
The swords in its many arms flashed in the sunlight.
“Aaaargh!”
“Ugh!”
Two people who were prostrated were crushed under the feet of the deity, turning into minced flesh. Only then did everyone begin to retreat.
They hesitated, unsure whether to flee or stay and observe. But the decision came quickly. The Milarist deity advanced towards Old Shim, mowing down people in its path like cutting wheat.
“Aaaah!”
“Run!”
Finally, everyone leaped over the wall. Banya Manor descended into chaos.
Seeing that Lee Cheolsan’s group had escaped, Old Shim quickly jumped to the roof of the building. He moved with lightning speed, but the Milarist deity was not far behind. Its enormous figure appeared in front of Old Shim like a specter.
“Damn it, none of these monsters are slow!”
Old Shim cursed. Regardless of their size, the monsters were always incredibly fast. It didn’t seem like he could escape this deity.
On the rooftop, Old Shim and the Milarist deity began to battle. Although the deity didn’t use swordsmanship techniques, its many arms wielded swords so chaotically that Old Shim could barely defend himself.
Despite everything, Old Shim occasionally landed a fatal blow to the deity’s torso, only for his sword to bounce off with a hollow sound. Even with all his energy, he couldn’t leave a mark.
After what felt like an eternity, roughly two hours, Old Shim’s stamina finally began to wane. As his movements became sluggish, the Milarist deity remained as strong as ever.
Eventually, Old Shim fell into a trap. It takes extreme concentration to block sword against sword. Without it, the blades quickly get damaged.
When Old Shim’s concentration faltered, his curved sword emitted a pitiful sound and snapped.
With his weapon broken, Old Shim was even more cornered. On the nearly destroyed roof, he moved frantically, sustaining injuries with each step.
A sword descended on his head like lightning. Old Shim quickly dodged, only to be met by two more swords flying toward him. He stepped back, dodging one, but the other changed direction mid-air.
Desperate, he raised his broken sword.
Clang.
The sword snapped further, now almost the size of a knife.
With no other option, Old Shim threw the broken sword at the Milarist deity’s head.
Dong.
A resonant sound filled the air, like the strike of a giant bell. Old Shim wondered if the deity’s insides were hollow.
‘How can a monster like this be alive and moving? And where is the real monster? Damn it!’
Questions filled his mind as he leaped to the courtyard in search of a weapon.
But most of the weapons were crushed under the deity’s feet. Desperate, Old Shim’s face reflected his hopelessness.
At that moment, several swords rained down on him.
“Ah!”
Just when all seemed lost, he remembered the dorje or vajra hanging from his waist. Without thinking, he grabbed it and swung it.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Despite being made of bronze, the dorje easily deflected the swords.
Surprised, Old Shim looked at the dorje. It was a simple bronze decoration, tarnished with age, yet it had deflected the swords that had shattered his own weapon.
He recalled that the man had called it a sacred treasure.
‘Could it really be?’
It didn’t matter whether it was a treasure or not. What mattered was that he could fight the deity with it.
Old Shim shouted with renewed energy.
“Damn you! Why won’t you just die?! I’ll send you to the afterlife!”
With the dorje in hand, he charged at the Milarist deity.
Countless swords flew towards him, but Old Shim deflected them with the dorje.
The swords bounced off as Old Shim advanced until he reached the deity’s torso and struck with the dorje.
Crack.
With a dull sound, the dorje pierced the deity’s skin.
Old Shim’s eyes widened in surprise. The skin that his sword couldn’t cut, the dorje had pierced through.
With renewed fury, Old Shim struck the deity’s torso repeatedly.
“Die! Die! Die!”
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The deity’s arms flailed frantically, as if it were in pain.
Though it appeared divine, its reaction was that of a monster.
The deity’s arms closed in an attempt to trap Old Shim, but he quickly escaped.
He backed away, then charged again before the deity could retaliate.
This time, he channeled his energy into the dorje and hurled it with force.
The dorje emitted a white glow as it embedded itself in the deity’s forehead.
“Aaaaargh!”
The sacred chant turned into a scream of agony as the deity’s body disintegrated into ashes.
Old Shim stood still for a moment before rushing forward to retrieve the dorje.
He held the tarnished dorje as if it were a treasure.
“Wow, little one! Where have you been all this time? You should have found me sooner. I will always love you, so don’t leave me.”
At that moment, Lee Cheolsan, who had returned, saw Old Shim bleeding profusely and asked:
“What happened to the monster?”
“I handled it.”
Old Shim’s voice carried newfound confidence. He had defeated a monster that would have previously made him flee.
“I knew you could do it! But, do you need treatment?”
“These little wounds don’t need treatment.”
Old Shim tried to downplay it, though emotion overwhelmed him.
“Eh, your back is so badly injured that I can see the bones. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Injured? Down to the bone?”
Only then did Old Shim feel the pain he had been ignoring. It felt as if someone were scraping his bones with a needle.
“Ugh…”
A groan of pain escaped his lips as he writhed in discomfort. Lee Cheolsan, worried, didn’t know what to do.
Inside the main house of Banya Manor, Old Shim was wrapped in white bandages like a silkworm cocoon. He was slowly sitting up when Lee Cheolsan, who had been tending to him, hurried over.
“Why are you getting up?”
“I can’t lie down all day. Eventually, I’ll die and have to lie down forever anyway.”
“Haha. Death? Weren’t you talking about rejuvenating?”
Lee Cheolsan curiously eyed Old Shim’s gray hair, which seemed to have darkened a bit since he had first met him.
“It’s not as simple as that. If I were at that level, I wouldn’t be going through these difficulties. By the way, the others should have already reached the Chamber of Commerce. It’s time for you to return to Muhan.”
Manager Yak Daemong and the warriors from the Chamber of Commerce had rescued Manager Mak Unhan from the warehouse behind Banya Manor and left first, but Lee Cheolsan, Han Chaeyeon, and Ha Sobaek had stayed to take care of Old Shim.
“Don’t worry about us. Even if we arrive a little late, the Justice Alliance Leader and the head of the Chamber of Commerce won’t say anything. After all, all these wounds were for saving Manager Mak.”
Lee Cheolsan once again observed Old Shim’s wounds. The thought of the battle with the Milarist deity still terrified him.
“However, the monster here was different from the others we’ve heard about. Why is that?”
“I have no idea. Maybe the Three Immortals of Kunlun or Namgung Yeon might know.”
“Where did you get that dorje, anyway?”
“I told you. An old man in the sanctuary of Jowon Village gave it to me before he died.”
“Wow, you really found it there.”
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