The Martial Master - 23 To be Condemned.

A world of thoughts passed through Su Min’s head as he stared at the metal box; expelling an aura that felt as familiar as the daylight in the sky.

A faint crack was on the scrunched door; where bite marks pierced the thin metal. His hearing perked as a whimper fluttered into his ears, piercing his mind and body.

“Who is that…”

His hands trembled as his grip on the half-dead man’s arm tightened, where a simple snap struck the air.

A dense killing intent fluttered around him as his black jacket hymned with a soul-chilling aura that seemed to freeze the air. The people closest to him shivered on instinct as a faint stench of blood permeated for tens of meters.

“Why do I feel her, yet she’s not there…”

His eyes seemed to crackle as that unfamiliar whimper continued in an unending fashion. He daren’t believe it, but there was only one person alive in there.

*Step*

Dragging the corpse without a care, Su Min leapt through the air and, in a literal blur, flashed to the metal box. A spring of wind swept around him as the dust atop the dirt meters around him got driven outwards.

His hand, smothered in his own blood, clutched the door’s handle and hurled it open with a strength that neared a boundary beyond mortality.

*Snap*

The metal seemed to become brittle as it snapped in half with a tragic burst, where a dust spewed out from inside. Su Min’s eyes quivered as he felt a sudden urge to cough, but due to his bodies immense vitality it didn’t affect him too much.

“Dust?”

He muttered as the darkened room got revitalised with refreshing daylight, yet it was anything but that as Su Min’s eyes seemed to crack.

“He~lp”

A muffled cry resounded; like it beneath something. Su Min’s gaze shifted to the corner of the room, where a blackness that was unnatural in the light stood.

A beast, sprawled with teeth so sharp that it could perforate metal, enveloped something as the occasional crackling snaps and pops rang in the room; like bones were being grounded.

Droplets of blood fluttered around the black beast a the faint sight of a leg could be still seen, flailing under it. It was pale. Pale as death. It was such a paleness that struck Su Min to the core.

Without any warning, Su Min’s body frothed as an intent he hasn’t used for a long time spewed out without remorse. It seemed to clatter with a soul-piercing shriek as it, like a pike, jammed itself right into the beasts incomplete soul.

*GAAAAAAAAAAH*

A scream that didn’t seem to be from this earth roared forth as that beast shuddered before throwing itself towards Su Min; dashing forth in despair.

It slammed its body on the metal crevices with a maddened glare that seemed to want nothing more than death, but that pike in its soul didn’t care as it forced its consciousness to feel a torture that surpassed the limits of any maddened thought.

It was like you were forced to sink into a pool of lava, and no matter what death won’t let you escape; unendingly drowning you there. With no escape, what could you do?

A shrill screech continued to blast out from the beast as Su Min’s fist threw itself over it, pummelling it to the floor and splattering whatever remained of it into mush.

Though, Su Min didn’t even care as droplets of crystalline tears scraped down his face with screeches; Pitter-pattering on the cold, metal floor…

“Hah… Fuck…”

An image that engraved itself right into his nightmares shone in his eyes as half a body strewn itself onto the floor. Its guts spewed with a gunked blood; covering the floor in its chunks.

A visible hand seemed to scrape at the floor as indented scratched marks floundered on the metal like anguished calls for help. Echoing, echoing for it to stop…

Behind the corpse sat a huddled girl, rocking back and forth, eyes as insensate as a carcass. She stared into space, where a burst of blood showered her already drenched clothes. She didn’t seem old, about 9 to 10, and Su Min saw that. He didn’t want to guess, but he couldn’t help but mutter.

“Yu Yan protected… Her..?”

A sadness that billowed to the depths of listlessness spewed out from him without care. It was like the world had collapsed in his view whilst crazed thoughts shuddered through his mind without pause.

‘Why?’

‘Why??’

His fists crackled and his body seethed with an unwillingness; staring right into the sky. Eyes that could cause anyone to shudder thrashed right through the wall and into the ethereal, bright sky.

“Why does the world condemn me?!”

A shuddering cry raged out of his mouth, roaring outwards and enveloping the entire forest under a single sentence. Everyone heard this, and every single one of them quaked; quaked with an anguish.

His soulless eyes continued to stare at the sky, where the world in Su Min’s eyes seemed to lose colour, where meaning dissolved with but a breath. He seemed to wait, wait for a response.

Yet none came…

“Hah… HAH!”

His eyes trembled with madness as a dispelled and dying laughter echoed into the sky; fluttering like an anguished cry. His everything blazed, blazed with even more unwillingness!

“So what?!”

A low muffled howl erupted out of his voice, flying high into the sky. It was quiet, yet it seemed to be clear to the point of being unreal. It carried an intense, unwavering growl. A growl that defied the world.

The world seemed to churn as a faint growl replied back, shrouding the sky in an aura that made one’s hearts shake with a deep, primal dread.

However, it seemed to leave just as it appeared; snorting at the ant that dared defy it. In return, Su Min’s body was drenched in sweat as he body slumped over, but he stood straight. Straight and continued to look right up!

…

…

“Hm..?!”

A table, simple and coarse, glimmered under a flickering flame. Three people sat opposite each other in pondering gazes, as if they watching something far away.

Each of them was in dazzling robes that illuminated the dark room. One had the colour red, another blue and the last white. The primordial robes each carried a unique majesty, like fluttering starlight.

A gasp could be heard from the white-robed elder as his face shone with clear shock, and just as this happened a low growl shrouded the entire world; directed toward an ant.

The white-robed man quivered even more intensely as he, with a hurried gait, stared right at the sky; speaking.

“Heaven’s Will? How can he arouse the Heaven’s Will?!”

His hands grabbed the table as he stood up with a nervous gaze towards the sky. The other elders, albeit with a delayed reaction, did so as well.

However, it seemed that no action was needed as the growl in the sky dissipated like an illusion. The elders all wore serious expressions as, without warning, they disappeared in thin air.

A mumble echoed in the air, shining with uncertainty.

“This era may be a strange one…”

…

…

“What’s your name?”

A tired looking youth said with a kindness that didn’t seem to match his appearance; drenched in perspiration. A cute girl laid in front of him as she continued to stare into space, like a lifeless doll.

They stood outside a metal box, where it was firmly shut.

“…Mine’s Su Min anyway…”

Su Min’s smile was sad, but he kept it on as he tried to communicate with a girl who went through something that would break anybody. However, she seemed to quiver as she heard his name; like she had heard it from somewhere.

Su Min’s face trembled, but the girl didn’t seem to reply as she once again stared into space. Su Min’s eyes grew even sadder, but he didn’t give up and swished his hand out to her; giving a motion to hold hands.

A visible scab scraped past both his arms in a diagonal strike; wriggling ever so slightly. He seemed to hold an indiscernible maturity, one who’s seen through many lifetimes.

*Clasp*

The girl, who wouldn’t respond to the world, trembled as she looked at the hand. With a sudden movement, her eyes moistened a bit as she grabbed him so tight that it made her arm shake.

Su Min’s mind blanked as that disturbing scene flushed again, but he thrashed it back down without mercy. His expression reflected this, but it was too subtle to notice.

He looked at the girl with the same smile; taking a slow walk forwards. She was still covered in blood, so he needed to find somewhere to get rid of it.

“Now… Let’s find a safe place for a while. Shall we?