The Martial Master - 62 A shadow's ghastly thoughts.

In a small area, where a village lay, a glint of something inexplicable flashed in the sky. A light boom thus thundered in the horizon, alarming a few with heightened senses.

“What is that?”

Some squinted their eyes as they stared at that tiny flash of gold in the sky. Nevertheless, within seconds, that speck matured into a looming shadow that erupted with a constant, thunderous roar.

*WOOOOSH*

Some stuttered backwards as their eyes went wide with shock, yet within this crowd, a boy stood. A girl and fat man were behind him, both with the same fearful shock of incredulous. Though, the boy’s eyes shone with a solemn light as if he knew what that golden speck was.

“So he came…”

A piercing shadow erupted into view, and with a muffled cry of truly incomparable stature, it collided with the ground in front.

*BAAAANGGGG*

The earth shook and steaming heat wafted out, where a strange golden dome implanted itself in the rough dirt. It was just in front of the village, where if it were aimed a little off, the whole place would’ve been taken with such an object.

“What is that?”

“Gold..?”

A scampering crowd began to form around this foreign object. The air seemed to distort around this golden object due to the heat, so they could only stand around its perimeter.

The kid remained still as he saw this. It was as if he expected this.

The pale girl looked at the boy with confusion, then in a quiet voice, she whispered with a flushed face.

“Do you know what it is?”

*CRACKLE*

The object, as she spoke, quivered for a few abrupt seconds. Muffled booms could be heard within it, yet the dome remained unchanged through all of it.

The boy’s eyes remained fixated on the object for a while. A peculiar glint shone in his pupils, and in a strange sudden movement, he seized the girl’s hand.

“You should go.”

The girl’s face brightened into an embarrassed red. However, as that distant voice echoed past her, she seemed to sense something wrong.

“Why?”

“Because…”

The boy’s eyes saddened and he paused for a fleeting second. His expression distorted and his pupils brightened. Nevertheless, with clenched teeth and firm eyes, he stepped backwards and glared at the girl.

The girl saw this, and with evident shock, she tried to speak. But the boy didn’t seem to even see this as he clasped his palm and shifted to the side.

“Martial.”

A lucid black sprang out of his body, and in a strange motion, it swirled around his palm like a miniaturised dragon. The girl’s eyes widened and the fat man beside her shifted into pure hysteria.

“What are you doing!”

The fat man attempted to move, but to his realisation, he found that doing so was impossible!

“Push.”

A mystical force erupted out of this palm, and in a slow but surreal drive, he pushed out!

The crowd seemed to take notice to this, but to their amazement, they found that they couldn’t move like the fat man! Everyone was locked down, even speech was impossible!

The girl’s pupils narrowed as that palm invaded her view. No crisis spewed into her heart, it was sorrow instead. She felt that this palm wouldn’t kill her, it wouldn’t even scratch her.

Instead, she realised that it will send her away from this village. Why? She has no idea, but this sadness wouldn’t leave her!

*WOOOSH*

The entire village, by an inconceivable notion, got engulfed in a blackened murkiness. Every villager felt it woosh over them, and without even being able to fight back, their feet began to leave the ground.

A soft wind sprung on each of them, and as they hovered gently, the boy finished the move.

*SHEWWW*

Without an ounce of warning nor a lightening of a sound, an abrupt all-encompassing black engulfed their view. The entire world became black, and as they all began to panic, this black flashed and disappeared like it hadn’t even appeared.

“Huh?”

“What?!”

The entire group stood dazed for a while. However, as they eventually freed themselves from that stupor, they noticed that they were somewhere else. The village couldn’t even be seen, only grasslands and a faraway mountain.

Everyone erupted into panic and confusion, where the only person who remained dazed was that single girl. She was more confused than everyone else combined, and it was truly disconcerting…

…

…

A boy, sighing, stood in an empty area. A sprawling silence began to overtake the once sprawling air, and through this, the boy spoke to something somewhere…

“You sure about this?”

With a blurred and hazed muffle, a faint blackened shadow formed in front of the boy. Its appearance was blurry to a degree that most wouldn’t even call it humanoid, it was more like a blob of devilish matter.

“You can trust me… He’s coming…”

However, even though this was the case, the boy seemed to see a clear smile etched on this shadow. It was a smile that would leave people up at night and bring a quivering shiver down their spine…

“Remember, when he comes, rid your mind of any thoughts of resistance. Allow me to control you and you will survive! That man who saved you isn’t a man, he’s a beast whose sole purpose is to devour people like you! I only was able to awaken due to him, and you are truly lucky that he didn’t devour you there!”

This smile was alluring and the boy couldn’t help but get lost in the endless temptations within it. However, he promptly shook himself out of it.

“Why don’t we just escape then? Why do I have to send my family to a foreign place? Can’t I just talk to him?”

The boy seemed to go into a maddened frenzy as question after question got spewed out of his mouth. Nevertheless, the shadow remained still.

With this, a sudden fantasmal boom ruptured the sky once more, and in a dumbfounding display, a golden figure began to surface from the horizon.

The shadow floated there for what seemed like forever as it took a small glimpse at the figure far away. It twitched, then like a fuse had blown, that eery smile of its widened to a startling degree.

“Ah, he’s already found us… Guess I can’t keep this going any longer, well. It was fun anyway… Heh. ”

Something seemed to snap as the shadow erupted into a senseless giggle. The boy’s eyes widened, yet he didn’t have time to speak.

“…”

“Hah… Hahah~HAHAHHH!! *COUGH* *COUGH*, AH SHIT!! You’re naive thoughts really entertain me..!! HAH… Uh, let me just get this straight. That move you just used to transport your dirt of a family is, in fact, a poison! HAHAHA!! They’re all going to die in an hour and you can’t do shit!!”

“…?!”

The boy’s face twisted ashen and his heart seemed to even stagger, and with a struggling voice, he mumbled out with hoarseness of chaos.

“What..? Why..? You’re joking right?!”

The shadow’s ever-present grin didn’t even flicker as he replied back.

“Heh, stop dreaming kid! That girl, those you’ve known for all those years, they will ALL DIE IN AGONY! HAH!! Oh and why? Hm… I wonder… Well! Its because I have no fucking chance against that beast so I might as well enjoy what little life I have! And what’s better than to see the agony of a pitiful Heaven’s Slave!!”

Ridicule and gloating shone clearly on that smile, and to the boy, it was a smile that reeked. The shadow quivered with enjoyment, but this was soon replaced with utter fury as a thought entered its dark mind.

“You see, it was easy shit back in the old days when we tortured that beast every now and then, but now that these stupid notions have come into his head it has all changed! Even then it was still fine as he was weak, but that stupid, obnoxious, repulsing… Thing! It changed the tides once again against us!!

He scattered us across the whole FUCKING Heavens realm. All of it!! We are akin to twigs like this and can be easily collected by that fucking Martial now! You don’t understand the anger that seethes in my heart everytime I think of this bullshit!!”

The shadow began to seethe with a terrifying aura as repulsion and rage consumed the air. The boy felt suffocated beneath this aura and couldn’t even utter a single word. He could only glare at the shadow with an equal hatred, for he has been backstabbed by this entity he has only known since Su Min saved him!

“So even if I am going to get collected by that bastard I will make it goddamn difficult to do so! With your body and my natural talent, I will waste his strength so that he can die by the hands of a Heaven’s race!! Let’s see what the backstabbing prick would do then, as he must’ve lost all his strength by going against the Heavenly Law… HAHAHAHA!! *COUGH* *COUGH*”

*RUMBLE* *mmmmMMMMM*

The sky darkened and the earth shook beneath this shadows maddened rage. The figure closed in, a figure known as Su Min… The Martial who’s here to collect his bloodline.