The Terminally-Ill Side-Character Inside of a Martial Arts Novel

If it had been a martial arts match until just now, it wasn’t anymore.

He began to hack at Moyong Chae as if toying with him, thinly slicing with his sword without regard for body parts – shoulders, arms, thighs, calves, waist…

Blood was splattered on the martial arts arena floor, and Moyong Chae’s neat clothes were becoming rags. It was horrific and cruel.

Lee Jehak pressed mercilessly as if he would slit Moyong Chae’s throat the moment he stopped resisting.

While Moyong Chae’s condition was changing miserably, the spectators showed no reaction. No, they couldn’t.

No one could have imagined such a scene would be shown in a martial arts match.

People were frozen until the Moyong clan instructed the referee to stop immediately.

The referee, startled by the shout, hurriedly tried to stop it, but Lee Jehak nonchalantly ignored the referee’s instructions.

At that sight, I hurriedly turned to look at Namgoong Baek. Namgoong Baek waved his hand as if he had been waiting for me to look at him, instructing that there was no problem and to continue.

“Alliance Leader…!”

“The intention to forfeit hasn’t come out yet.”

“How can you say that?! Does that person look like someone who can fight?!”

Namgoong Baek’s gaze turned slowly. His eyes had a dry light.

“Some martial artists try to fight to the end even with their arms cut off, and some grit their teeth and fight even with their internal organs bursting out of their abdomen. But to say we should stop the match just because of a few cuts from a sword… I can’t understand.”

“He’s no match, that’s…!”

“I know. But a martial artist should know how to charge at an opponent stronger than themselves without losing their fighting spirit. The young hero over there can be seen as an excellent martial artist.”

I gritted my teeth at Namgoong Baek’s words. This man had no intention of helping us from the beginning.

In the novel, Namgoong Baek showed quite a benevolent appearance to Moyong Do, but that was content seen from Moyong Do’s perspective.

Moyong Do was a pillar of the Righteous Sect. It would be natural for the Murim Alliance to feel favorably towards him.

But what is this now?

How could one explain that attitude of just watching the Moyong clan crumble miserably?

“It seems there’s movement from the Moyong clan.”

When I turned my head, one elder and one disciple came out and approached the referee.

The two said something to the referee, and he immediately turned his body and opened his mouth to Lee Jehak.

It wasn’t audible from afar, but Lee Jehak nodded his head with a sneering smile and stopped his sword.

At his attitude, the surroundings stirred, but only for a moment.

The elder took the fallen Moyong Chae inside, and another disciple climbed up.

It was Moyong Chae’s martial uncle. The man with decent skills had anger in his eyes. He looked as if he couldn’t forgive the one who had made the situation like this.

“The Moyong clan is trying to maintain its pride, it seems.”

I frowned at Namgoong Baek’s voice chuckling.

As he said, the Moyong clan had to maintain its pride. They had to show Moyong Chae crumbling miserably in front of thousands of spectators.

It was Moyong Chae who had crumbled, but it was the Moyong clan whose pride had been shattered.

It was impossible for the Moyong clan, one of the Five Great Clans, to be toyed with by such a small evil sect.

It was a situation where their reputation could plummet to the ground in the martial arts competition they had participated in to raise their momentum as their prestige was already diminishing.

That’s why Moyong Chae’s martial uncle stepped up directly. If they would be cursed whether they won or lost, it was better to be cursed for winning.

That was the Moyong clan’s intention.

There had never been a change of martial arts match opponent in the middle of the finals in the history of the martial arts competition, but Namgoong Baek looked unconcerned.

As if watching an enjoyable entertainment or a dogfight, Namgoong Baek just wore a faint smile.

Since the Murim Alliance Leader didn’t stop it, the match naturally took place.

Moyong Chae’s martial uncle who climbed up in his place rushed at Lee Jehak and exchanged swords a few times.

Certainly, at the sight of him using martial arts of a higher level than Moyong Chae, the momentum of the Righteous Sect rose.

People hoped the Moyong clan would defeat Lee Jehak. But the martial uncle who had been exchanging sword moves seemed to be slowly pushed back, and cuts started to appear on his body. Once one cut appeared, it poured out like a broken dam.

“Kuuuugh!!”

He was trying to strike back somehow while enduring the pain with screams, but it was not enough.

Lee Jehak didn’t let go of the momentum he had seized and continued to press, and in the end, it didn’t take long for him to make the martial uncle look no different from Moyong Chae.

The commotion around subsided, and all that could be heard were screams and groans.

Some people turned their eyes away from the horrific scene. A sigh flowed from Hyuk Dojin who was sitting beside me watching that sight.

“…It’s vicious. He’s deliberately cutting only places that can be touched while avoiding all vital points. It’s impossible without a considerable difference in skill.”

I slowly turned my head at Hyuk Dojin’s words.

Namgoong Baek’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to be enjoying all of this, no, savoring the fall of the Moyong clan’s pride.

Meanwhile, the Moyong clan approached the referee again to request mediation, but the referee looked at Namgoong Baek and shook his head.

The Moyong clan elder burst out in anger. Someone else from the Moyong clan climbed up and replaced the martial uncle like before.

An unprecedented second substitution.

An uproar burst out saying what nonsense this was. Most of it was mockery spat out by evil sect spectators.

“That’s how the Righteous Sect are! They talk about righteousness and justice, but what they do is send substitutes and keep changing in the finals while losing!”

“Just go and die! Don’t act so unsightly and admit defeat!”

“The authority of the Five Great Clans is falling to the ground! The world of evil paths will unfold before our eyes! Hahaha!”

At the evil sects’ mockery, the righteous sects people shouted angrily.

Discord arose between the two groups, and moreover, intense criticism poured out on the Moyong clan.

“Shame of the Righteous Sect! The Moyong clan should give up their position as one of the Five Great Clans!”

“How can they be one of the Five Great Clans when they’re being treated like this by an evil sect! The Moyong clan should stop squirming so unsightly and admit defeat immediately to save what little dignity they have left!”

The man who had climbed onto the martial arts arena bit his lip hard and looked around.

It was a desperate situation. It was a stage with no allies and only enemies. Only then could one see that the Moyong clan had fallen into Lee Jehak’s trap.

Added to that was Namgoong Baek’s carefree attitude.

I should have guessed. Why Lee Jehak had made such a proposal. Why Namgoong Baek had shown a lukewarm reaction. I should have been suspicious.

I clenched my fist tightly. Why was I getting angry?

The Moyong clan had abandoned and sold me. They even had a record of sending assassins, though I couldn’t be certain it was the Moyong clan.

Not only that, but Elder Moyong Hyeon who cursed me as lowly as soon as he saw me.

I thought I didn’t need to continue the family ties anymore. But apart from that, seeing the Moyong clan crumble before my eyes wasn’t very pleasant.

Unless I punished them with my own hands, it was just painful to see them suffer such public humiliation.

The fact that this might not only be the Moyong clan’s issue but could eventually turn into Moyong Do’s, my brother’s fault, weighed heavily on my heart.

Meanwhile, the match had started. I thought it would be different this time, but the result was the same.

Lee Jehak was still strong and fast, hard to believe he was already facing his third opponent.

I frowned at the sight of him already starting to damage the Moyong clan’s disciple, pressing quickly.

The third defeat.

A dark cloud hung over. The sight of the Moyong clan’s authority and prestige falling to the ground was clear to see.

I exhaled a long breath at the sight of him shedding blood miserably. My head was telling me to calm down, but my heart was beating fiercely.

I gritted my teeth and stood up from my seat.

“Sowol.”

At Hyuk Dojin’s voice, I exhaled and spoke quietly.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

Hyuk Dojin caught my wrist as I was turning my body. When I turned my head, Hyuk Dojin’s calm eyes met mine.

“Are you trying to stop me?”

“No. I’m not stopping you. Just…”

“Just?”

“…If it becomes dangerous, I’ll intervene immediately. So, don’t get hurt.”

I stared at him blankly, then nodded my head. I smiled slightly back at Hyuk Dojin’s smile, then turned my body. And I immediately went down the corridor.

People’s gazes gathered. Ignoring their eyes, I entered the room used by the Moyong clan.

As soon as I opened the door, groans filled with pain were heard. After lightly scanning the Moyong clan’s gazes pouring on me, I moved forward.

The elder watching the situation closely at the end of the corridor connected to the martial arts arena opened his eyes wide as soon as he saw me.

“…How did you come here?”

After lightly greeting him, I spoke quietly.

“Elder Hyeon isn’t here.”

“He didn’t come, saying he had to watch over Moyong Do just in case. But how did you come here? Shouldn’t you be watching from above?”

I shook my head at the elder and looked at the martial arts arena.

The elder’s eyes shook finely. It seemed he was almost at his limit.

“Why don’t you surrender? There was no need to send up to the third person.”

“…How can we give up? Now that our pride has been crushed, if we can’t defeat that fellow, the Moyong clan will be criticized by all the Righteous Sect. If we return with such a result, both the ClanLeader and the Moyong clan’s safety will be in danger.”

“Then, will you continue to show such an unsightly appearance?”

At my words, voices of protest burst out from around, but the elder stopped them.

The elder calmed the people, then looked at me and spoke quietly.

“I’ll go out next. Then we’ll maintain our pride.”

“…Can you win if you go out, Elder?”

“…”

“If by any chance you’re defeated, Elder, that would truly be the end of the Moyong clan. Isn’t that why you kept sending out disciples?”

Silence.

The elder’s mouth was tightly closed and his eyes were shut.

Screams continued to be heard, filling the silent space. I stared intently at the elder and spoke with difficulty.

“The moment you sent up the martial uncle as the second person, this martial arts match became a slaughter that would only end when one side dies. So Elder, you must not climb up there.”

“Then who should we send up?”

I kept silent at his words. Instead, when I faced him with a completely relaxed face, the elder flinched and opened his eyes wide.

“How…!”

“I too was born with Moyong blood. Although I’m now the Young Madam of the Demon Cult, anyone who has inherited Moyong blood can climb up there.”

“No! That can’t be. How…!”

Everyone in the Moyong clan knew about Moyong Sowol.

A child destined to die young.

But somehow she survived and even used martial arts, which would be an extraordinary sight to them.

I shook my head while looking at the elder. My swaying hair whipped my cheeks.

The elder’s eyes were tinged with perplexity.

After smiling faintly at his eyes, I turned my body. The elder’s hand that could no longer stop me fell powerlessly.

When I moved my body into the light after crossing the rest of the corridor, I felt the sun was very hot.

-You shouldn’t overdo it. You’re not fully healed. Remember that you can always return to your previous state.

Monk Jeongun’s voice came to mind.

If I turn away and avoid this now, I too would have no problems. There would be no danger and I wouldn’t overexert myself.

But if I turn back holding onto this feeling, I felt like I would surely regret it later because of this incident.

I gripped my sword tightly and exhaled a long breath. And the moment I slowly stepped on the stairs and raised my body onto the martial arts arena, the noisy sound subsided.

Lee Jehak’s eyes turned to me. A smile hung on his lips. He smiled like a beast discovering its prey.

As if saying ‘You’ve finally come out’, he was aiming for me.