A prolonged silence descended.
No one dared to speak recklessly, except for Hong Ryun, who had been smiling all along.
“Uncle? W-what does all this mean…?”
Due to the utterly chaotic situation unfolding, Jin Gayoung, who hadn’t fully grasped the situation yet, finally managed to open her mouth.
Byul Rak didn’t seem surprised. Instead, he smiled lightly. Was there something he had already known? Jade Flower suddenly wondered as she observed him.
“And, this court hereby sentences—”
The stern voice of Po Chaebi broke the silence in the courtroom. He spoke, facing Guan Zun and Bin Namgung, who were bound with their hands tied behind their backs.
“Bin Namgung, who slandered the innocent, attempted to kill government officials, and forged evidence to mock the sacred legal proceedings—”
“…”
“And Guan Zun Eon Bang, who succumbed to Namgung’s bribes, ignored known criminal acts, and also slandered the innocent—”
“…”
“To be sentenced to the wooden rack punishment.”
Guan Zun’s eyes twitched. His achievements, his great works, his fortune, power, and influence, all crumbled in an instant.
Bin Namgung let out a hollow laugh, the futility and despair of his failed vendetta filling him completely.
“Dare to defy national law while enjoying the pay of the country, Eon Bang! Execute him!”
“Fk! Fk! Who do you think I am!”
Unlike Namgung, Guan Zun simply could not accept the death penalty. The injustice of it all—a death sentence for one fleeting mistake—made his teeth grind fiercely.
“You still haven’t given up? Give it a rest. With the Sword Sage, the Killer Instinct, and the Precursor—all of it, nothing can save you from this death sentence.”
“Hold your tongue, you country bumpkin swordsman! Do you know who I am? I am someone who is granted an audience with the Emperor himself!”
“Even the Emperor himself received a cane punishment before the Iron-Faced Magistrate. Why would this man, who knows no mercy, spare you simply because of your power?”
“Kuh! Po Chaebi, Po Chaebi, Po Chaebi! I’ll curse that name even in the afterlife!”
“Hmph, I’m sure he’s terrified indeed… haa.”
Wrong. Since the defeat at the hands of the Sword Sage, he hadn’t moved a single finger. Guan Zun felt immense anger at this very fact.
In anything else, he might have been lacking, but when it came to martial skill, Guan Zun’s pride was unmatched. He was one of the top five experts under heaven, and the very leader of the Million Yellow Army.
And yet, the Black Demon and the Sword Sage he had faced today—what exactly were they?
The seemingly inconspicuous Sword Sage, upon closer inspection, was an unfathomably deep master who could subdue him with a single move.
The Black Demon, emanating a sinister and ominous aura, made his blood run cold simply by sharing the same space with him.
The arrogant Guan Zun could barely tolerate being outmatched. Bitter blood trickled between his lips.
“Listen up!”
Just then, Po Chaebi’s shout echoed through the hall.
“Bring the tiger-headed rack to carry out the execution of Eon Bang!”
The shout struck at Guan Zun’s pride, boiling him over like a volcano ready to erupt.
“A tiger-headed rack? What nonsense is this!”
“Hmm?”
“Are you really daring to execute someone like me with something as lowly as a tiger-headed rack? Po Chaebi, your arrogance knows no bounds!”
There are three types of execution racks used for beheadings.
The dragon-headed rack for royalty.
The tiger-headed rack for officials.
The dog-headed rack for commoners.
Considering Guan Zun’s position as an official, Po Chaebi had thought to punish him with the tiger-headed rack.
“Who do you think I am, someone worthy of an audience with the Emperor himself! Someone who met privately with the Prime Minister! Commander of the Million Yellow Army! The one who has pacified the evil sects! How dare you suggest executing a contemporary hero with some lowly tiger-headed rack!”
The remainder of Guan Zun’s pride couldn’t tolerate this verdict.
“Bring the dragon-headed rack! If you are to cut my head, bring a rack befitting my ‘class’!”
But that wasn’t to be.
“Ah, I see. This magistrate made a mistake.”
It should not have been Po Chaebi making the error.
“You’re no longer an official, so why would you be given the honor of the tiger-headed rack?”
“What? What are you talking about!”
“Listen up!”
Iron-Faced Magistrate Po Chaebi spoke.
“Bring the dog-headed rack!”
—
“AAAAAAAGH!”
Held by several bailiffs, Guan Zun was dragged to the rack placed in the center of the hall, screaming as he went.
That was it. Beyond shouting his voice hoarse, Guan Zun could offer no resistance.
‘Pressure points! That must be why Sword Sage struck the points earlier!’
“This is unacceptable! Who do you think I am to deserve being executed with something as lowly as the dog-headed rack!”
While Guan Zun screamed in rage and desperation, the bailiffs placed his neck onto the edge of the rack. The icy chill of the blade ran down his spine.
– Still better than the dismemberment punishment, wouldn’t you say?
A derisive voice message from Namgung pierced into Guan Zun’s mind.
– Had it been revealed that you drove your own mother to her death, you’d face the cruelest of punishments—dismemberment into three thousand pieces. Surely, the dog-headed rack is better than that, yes?
“You foul-mouthed bastard! You’re the reason this has happened to me, Namgung!”
– Pathetic, really.
Clang.
The bailiffs had firmly secured Guan Zun’s neck to the dog-headed rack. One of the bailiffs grabbed the handle. Just a flick of force could easily slice through flesh, as the blade of the rack menacingly hovered above.
“Are all preparations complete?”
“…Hmm.”
“Then, proceed with the execution.”
Po Chaebi spoke, lowering his voice.
The bailiff, expressionless, pulled down on the handle.
About half of the spectators closed their eyes tightly, dreading the savage scene about to unfold.
Clank!
Unlike the people’s expectations, there was no sound of flesh being cut, only the sound of metal clashing with metal.
Defying the rack’s blade, Guan Zun burst into maniacal laughter.
“Hahaha! Stop resisting me! Did you really think that mere steel could cut my neck?”
Po Chaebi, watching from above, frowned. It was unexpected that the blade wouldn’t cut.
“Bring the dragon-headed rack! I will not give up my neck unless it’s done with a dragon-headed rack!”
“Tsk. They say when martial arts reach their pinnacle, the skin hardens like steel. Is that why?”
“Diamond indestructibility. A realm achieved by the great monks of the Shaolin Temple.”
As Po Chaebi muttered irritably, the Precursor next to him added an explanation.
“Is there a way to cut through this?”
“Unless Guan Zun himself relents on his Diamond Indestructible Body technique… it seems impossible to cut through with any blade. After all, simple iron cannot achieve that feat.”
“Haa!”
Po Chaebi’s face turned red and pale by turns. The worst was about to happen—something he hated the most.
In truth, there was a simple way to resolve the situation. Granting Guan Zun’s wish to bring forth the Dragon-head execution sword. Po Chaebi wasn’t unaware of this.
But why was Po Chaebi Po Chaebi? He would never compromise with evil. No matter the amount of influence wielded, he treated all equally by national law. This was why Po Chaebi became famous.
He would never submit to evil. No room for compromise was left in his ideals and iron rules.
“Hahahah! Strike all you want! Do you really think my neck will be severed by that pile of rusted iron!”
But there was no way out. Without some celestial steel, there was no way to cut through the Diamond Indestructible Body that Guan Zun had achieved.
At this unexpected hurdle, Po Chaebi was deep in thought when:
Thud.
“Hahahah! Come on! Try all you want… Huh?”
A shadow fell over the yelling Guan Zun.
It was the wrongfully accused prisoner Guan Zun tried to frame, the Sword Sage himself.
Looking up, Guan Zun was startled at the sight of Bae Rak standing stoically in front of him.
“…”
Standing in a position to drop the executioner’s blade at any moment, Byul Rak glanced at Po Chaebi.
Understanding his intent, Po Chaebi nodded his approval.
The calloused hand of Byul Rak grasped the handle of the executioner’s blade.
“What, what do you think you’re—!”
Gulping, Guan Zun paused his words upon seeing the next scene.
The eyes of Guan Zun, who had always been the predator, now carried for the first time in his life, the emotion of ‘fear’.
Woooom.
The executioner’s blade gripped by Byul Rak was enveloped in an eerie sword energy.
It was a sight clearly ominous enough to make one swallow dry.
“I shall execute.”
With a single terse command, Byul Rak brought the executioner’s blade down.
Swish!
An unpleasant sound was followed by the blades of the executioner’s axe meeting. It was so light as though it hadn’t resisted a moment ago.
The round object between the two blades was severed far too easily without even a single shriek. It was a futile end considering how hard it resisted till the very last moment.
Thud.
The head, severed from its body, fell into the bowl beneath.
The head, still with its eyes open even after death, saw the blood pool slowly rising inside the bowl.
Nothing extraordinary happened.
Even though he was once the most powerful authority under heaven, one of the five top martial artists under heaven, and the supreme ruler of the judicial bureau—his death was no different from countless others.
Just like the others, there was red mist floating in the air and crimson blood decorating around the executioner’s axe.
At the center of this cruel, scarlet scene stood a man with white hair. He addressed Po Chaebi, whose heavy expression lingered on.
“I have a request.”
There was an innate coldness in him that made others shrink instinctively.
The red fluid that stained his white garment contributed to that.
“Guan Zun I Eon Bang differed, he belonged to the Martial World. His deeds also largely pertained to that realm. Hence…”
“…”
“I humbly implore you to allow him to be punished according to the Martial World’s law.”
Rarely was there a moment when Byul Rak’s eyes gleamed with a tinge of red.
