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It’s all crimson red.
The darkness enveloped the skies above in a sinister black. The ground beneath was soft with blood, littered with bodies, a few breathing, some dying and most rotting.
Cheong Myeong"s knees buckled from the over-strain of days fighting a losing war and sank deeply into the uneven wet mud of the battlefield. He could feel the countless aches coursing through his failing body, hear the high-pitched screams of pain that won"t recede and pleas of help that won"t come, see the wretched sight of the mountains of corpses heaped upon one another like a sick piece of art created by a maniac.
It was the perfect scenario to ruin a healthy man’s sanity. In fact, Cheong Myeong has already lost his mind. He, who had been free of worries. He, who relished in life"s luxuries indefinitely. He, who had been titled the "strongest”. Was now reduced to a dying man drowning in anguish while bleeding tears.
He neglected his duties and skipped necessary training.
He underestimated the enemy and miscalculated the threat.
He caused the death of thousands and suffered the loss of loved ones.
Cheong Myeong was alone.
And will always be.
With gritted teeth, Cheong Myeong relentlessly blamed himself as the blood from his stumped shoulder continued to seep out steadily from where his arm was supposed to be. The agonizing pain was torturing him out of his wits at worst and grounding him to reality at least. He didn"t have much time left and the destructive demon above was yet to be killed.
Everyone was dead by then, only he could do it. Only he was left to carry the last blow. One strong enough to decapitate the enemy and once again bring peace to the martial world but was he capable of dealing that blow? Was he in a state to do so when his vision was constantly blinking in and out of consciousness? When death was determinedly trying to hold his hand?
Cheong Myeong didn"t know.
He didn"t know anything anymore.
But he would never admit defeat without trying. Not when everybody sacrificed their lives in hope that he would finish off Cheon Ma. They trusted him so he had only one choice.
So, he acted upon it and beheaded the heavenly demon Cheon Ma.
Alas, he died a lonely death.
Cheong Myeon still lost in the end.
It was a devastating victory to the demons and a brutal defeat to the humans, everyone knew deep down but the hard truth remained unspoken.
Why? Because happy endings only happen in fairy tales and reality is not a bedtime story.
However, a hundred years after they returned, just like how Cheong Myeong did, Cheon Ma returned stronger than ever except that Cheong Myeong was nowhere near his previous strength and helpless in front of the enemy. His efforts were not enough.
Cheong Myeong failed for the second time.
He cried and begged for forgiveness to the lost people but his disciples, brothers and sisters from both generations turned their back on him. Their shoulders slumped with unparalleled disappointment and resentment. Their clothes still freshly soaked with the bright red blood he couldn’t stop them from shedding out of their bodies.
Cheong Myeong failed to save anyone and brought more deaths in his name. “What a day to be alive” The lone swordsman sadly thought.
Cheon Ma towered over him as he pitifully kneeled on the jagged ground with utter defeat.
With a hard tug of his mucky black hair, Cheon Ma raised Cheong Myeong’s head and laughed sardonically at his despair.
“Plum Blossom Sword Saint or should I say Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon? Hmm, what does it even matter? Tell me Cheong Myeong, How did you end up like this? How can you lead the death of hundreds of thousands yet fail to kill a single man? Twice at that.” The demon basked in joy when the latter’s face twisted in hate and sorrow.
“Oh Cheong Myeong, there isn’t a third time. The Heavenly demonic cult will rule over the martial world and you won"t be able to save a single soul. How depressing.”
His face was one of pity and scorn. Cheong Myeong wished he could punch that face in and then kill him in the worst way possible. But he can’t. It was a simpleton"s dream.
“You failed and the price you paid was the lives of everyone on this mountain. Strangers, enemies, friends and the people of Mount Hua.” Cheon Ma continued grilling the last of Cheong Myeong’s nerves and he was about to go crazy from the immense guilt pummeling his insides. Maybe he already was,but ignorance was a bliss in the face of truth, maybe it is best for him to think that he wasn"t quite there yet. After all, insanity was a bit of a hard swallow when panic was all that he could feel.
“NO!” He yelled desperately, letting go of his sword and covering his ears as the voices began shouting back in his head. The voices of his Sinoirs, juniors and disciples as well as his one and only friend Tang Bo.
He was tormented to the point he could barely register Cheon Ma falling in a taunting fit of laughter. The tattering strings of his sanity splitted when he saw the faces he couldn"t save stand lifelessly with hatful eyes. “NO!! No-no!! I’m sorry, don’t leave! I-I?!!” A pause, Cheong Myeong stilled and looked up at his biggest enemy with blazing eyes. “I will kill you.” He knew the threat was nothing but malarkey but that didn’t stop him from trying. So he picked up his treasured sword with a steel grip and prepared for the final attack. Rationality was out of his senses, he was about to die, he should shoot his luck till the very last second.
Just then a heavy leg collided with his heaving chest and sent him tipping over the edge and ultimately falling off the cliff. He positioned the blade amidst the shock, determined, he threw the sword in Cheon Ma’s neck with all the accuracy and remaining Qi that he could muster. He couldn’t see if it hit and so the rest was up to faith.
“Die-” Along with Cheon Ma’s apathetic voice, the relentless voices screamed and Cheong Myeong’s heart broke even more from the torment, failing to take notice the voice that got cut off with a sickening squelch amidst all the chaos.
That very heart shattered into millions of fragments whilst his breath stuttered before it ended with a final hitch when his back was inches from hitting the welcoming ground beneath.
Cheong Meong was never afraid in his two lifetimes as he was in that moment. Time slowed agonizingly and only terror and guilt could be felt within the numbness that took over him.
He wondered if it was really true that Cheon Ma was dead when he saw another body falling several meters above him, it was struck with his blade in the neck, the head barely holding on the stretch of bloody skin. Maybe he could smile in that second and die peacefully knowing that the bastard was dead and maybe he could die in the most agonizing way and have his limbs ripped and squashed with the sheer weight of the fall for all the losses that were sacrificed because of his foolish mistakes.
“You can’t die like this, you killed us all.”
“Cheong Myeong, this isn’t over. I will be back.”
“You will suffer for every man you hurt.”
Cheong Myeong panicked in that fraction of a second and a fleeting thought passed by.
“Will I ever catch a damn break?” Probably not.
Red splattered and the bloody world went black.