The Tempest's Embrace
I concentrated my mind and channeled the sword into the void within me.
Deep inside the mountains of Dosan Mountain.
There, alone, one sword gleamed.
The blade was adorned with countless teeth.
Its surface reflected the immature white sword energy of Baekui.
Beyond the transparent blade, a crude Triple Taiji shimmered.
It was still incomplete. When unfolded, it exploded midway—a fatal flaw.
Yet now, I had decided it was time to unleash this unnamed sword art.
The pursuit of treasures and hostages between us had lost all meaning.
Beginning with the first form of Wolak, which opened Danak Sword Art, came the thirty-ninth form.
Like the thirty-eighth form, Samsim Yeonhu, it placed three movements in front: a horizontal slash that started as Wolak, sliding the sword from low stance to high stance.
Then, with a downward slash, it integrated Samsim Yeonhu.
Immediately after, a thrust launched the one-strike of Zuo Ta Li Wang from the Hwan's stance, shattering the three movements.
In this way, after merging every stance touched by my sword through three actions, the real thirty-ninth form began.
The heavenly race ascends in the form of the spirit's stance.
The earth race elevates itself from the qi stance.
The heart race freely wanders in the soul's stance.
I recorded every path I had experienced in cultivation onto this sword path.
Through one, two, and three movements, I connected and connected every form of Danak Sword Art.
The first movement imitated the heavenly race, rising from low to high stance, reproducing the realms of smokiness, gathering qi, decisive will, original spirit, heaven-human, and four axes.
The second movement imitated the earth race, striking downward from high to low stance, exploding to reproduce the earth race's realms.
The third movement was simply the martial skill I had practiced thus far.
After one, two, and three movements—the horizontal slash, vertical slash, and thrust—I applied the wonders of the one-two-three movements to unfold the twenty-second form of Danak, three times in succession, pushing forty-four forms.
And then I activated the linkage between the forty-four forms.
After activating the linkage, within the wonders of the one-two-three movements, I melted in every martial skill: my method arts, illusion arts, and puppet circuits.
This was the thirty-ninth form of the still-incomplete Danak Sword Art.
Zwaaahaaaaa!
The sword and blade linked endlessly, vomiting forth thick mist.
I embedded my history into the sword path, manifesting the effect of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram.
Every droplet in the mist reached the brink of the extreme.
Huge amounts of qi were consumed, flickering as if my clones were about to vanish.
Yet the mist began to rotate in the shape of the Triple Taiji.
Heaven and earth qi were drawn in.
Jin Ma-yeol's eyes shook.
The Triple Taiji spun.
The thick mist whipped into a violent whirlpool.
Kugugugug!
The shock wave alone split apart Yuk Rin’s treasure mountain, reducing his body to dust and vanishing.
The thirty-ninth movement was to merge the Triple Taiji into one, realizing the one-strike of Buncheon that divided heaven and earth.
And the Triple Taiji merged.
The thick mist turned pure white.
The next instant.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Like my form was alive, I twisted my body and exploded right then.
I could not control the explosive force and was blasted backward along with it.
But at the last moment, I concentrated the explosive force into Jin Ma-yeol’s right hand.
And.
Kwang!
Finally, the Goryeok Sword in his hand was sent flying.
Chiiiiii!
My body grew faint as if to disappear.
Was Yuk Rin’s body perhaps acting as an anchor for the illusion?
When his body turned to dust, the illusion trembled and collapsed.
The boundaries of another world that had overlapped with this space until then vanished, and the thin qi returned to normal.
But the collision had clearly been my loss.
If I had focused the explosion more on Jin Ma-yeol’s body, I could have torn his upper body apart entirely.
But at the last moment, seeing his eyes, I deliberately took some of the explosive force into my own body.
Chiiiiii!
Drawing heaven and earth qi, the wounds on his body healed.
In contrast, my body could not overcome the blast’s aftermath and remained faint.
With the heaven and earth qi returning, I should have recovered slowly.
But if this continued, I would lose to Jin Ma-yeol.
Yet Jin Ma-yeol, with this great opportunity, did not immediately attack.
He bit his lip and stared at me.
“…What was that just now?”
“I haven’t named it yet.”
“It’s not about the name…! How, how did you combine the spirit path and the combat realm?!”
His eyes shook like trembling aspen trees.
“How did you do it?! Tell me!”
Kugugugugu!
At his roar, the entire deep sea shook beyond Yuk Rin’s treasure warehouse.
I looked at Jin Ma-yeol and smiled.
“You can do it too.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…”
“What do you have in your hand?”
“What?”
“What have you been swinging this whole time?”
At my roar, Jin Ma-yeol was stunned, then trembled.
I rose with my depleted qi and asked,
“What is the name of the thing you are unfolding?”
“…The combat realm of the second layer of Tu-bo…”
“I asked what the thing you are unfolding is called!!!!!”
Clearly, Jin Ma-yeol had superior qi and stamina.
If we collided now, he would instantly erase my clones and claim all the treasures here.
Yet Jin Ma-yeol, instead of wanting to hide in a mouse hole, averted his eyes and lowered his gaze.
“…I don’t know.”
“Draw your sword.”
He briefly stared at the Goryeok Sword that had been flung from his hand, clenched his lips, and unfolded his grotesque hand.
“I ask again. What is in your hand?”
“….”
He lowered his head.
The concept of shame appeared in his heart.
* * *
The Tu clan grows fierce in battle.
Therefore, they climb realms through combat faster than anyone else and grow into the finest warriors of any race.
They clash with other races, imitate their physiques, and fight endlessly until they die in joy and madness.
That is the way of the Tu ghosts.
Jin Ma-yeol was born into the Tu clan and lived that way.
Through the traditional Tu-mu of the Tu clan, he entered the first layer of Tu-bo.
Inspired by a “Nae-gwang Sin-ma” from the conquering king faction that appeared in Goryeok Realm a few hundred years ago, he entered the second layer of Tu-bo.
Since the second layer of Tu-bo was the limit for talented Tu clan royals, Jin Ma-yeol’s confidence reached its peak.
Now he was superior to any Tu clan warrior!
If he lived long enough, he could even reach the fourth layer of Tu-bo, where the creator of Tu-mu supposedly stood.
This world seemed to lie in his grasp.
The ultimate of Tu-mu already sparkled before his eyes.
A life without a single stop was his lifetime.
Small obstacles blocked him, but as always, he would overcome them.
But.
“…I don’t know.”
Jin Ma-yeol lowered his eyes before the human swordsman he had always looked down on.
His whole body trembled.
The beautiful sword dance he had seen moments ago still danced before his eyes.
Those who say you cannot understand higher stances if your own stance is too low are wrong.
Yet Jin Ma-yeol’s stance was the second layer of Tu-bo.
Whatever the case, he had that much insight, and since it was not a low stance, Jin Ma-yeol could at least perceive some of the realization contained in the sword dance.
It was immature.
There were many things to improve.
He saw that the man before him did not control his own sword path. The sword path was not controlled, so the sword forms exploded.
That would have been funny to a passing passerby.
But Jin Ma-yeol could not laugh.
Because the moment he saw that sword, he realized his perfected Tu-mu was even more garbage.
His sword forms, which began with three movements, were pitiful.
It was the restlessness of countless crowds,
And the tragedy of clumsily integrating heaven, earth, and heart.
At the same time, it was the immaturity of a beginner swordsman and the garbage of a broken weapon.
But the restlessness in the sword constantly discussed the direction the sword should advance.
The tragedy kept developing the sword.
The immaturity refined the garbage sword path through true intent.
The sword that contained infinite possibilities.
That was the sword the man before him unfolded.
And when the man who displayed that beautiful possibility asked a question Jin Ma-yeol had never considered,
Jin Ma-yeol felt an indescribable shame.
It was shameful.
Why was this?
The Tu clan only practiced Tu-mu and did not give it a name.
To them, Tu-mu was simply one way to enjoy mating in a different manner.
Since everyone felt that way, Jin Ma-yeol never gave Tu-mu a name either.
It was only natural.
But now, the sword in front of him was one that could not be reached by mere natural reasoning.
Discussing naturalness with that sword in front of him was an act that made Jin Ma-yeol himself a piece of garbage.
‘Am I garbage….’
Jin Ma-yeol, the leader of the confident Tu clan, felt despair for the first time in his life and trembled all over.
Before that sword, he felt incredibly small.
He wanted to cry.
He had always enjoyed holding a sword, but not as much as now.
He wanted to hide anywhere.
But he could not hide.
“I ask again. What is in your hand?”
He was asking!
He had to answer this question.
Because if he did not, he would know he would remain garbage forever.
An eternity passed in an instant.
Jin Ma-yeol chose words for a long time, then chose again.
And finally, feeling like he would vomit from shame, he said the ‘name’ of the thing in his hand.
“…Desire.”
That was it.
What he had swung was not.
In truth, ninety-nine percent of all Tu-mu wielded by Tu clan members was that.
“No… instinct. Yeah, this is instinct.”
At Jin Ma-yeol’s answer, the man before him nodded.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“….”
Although I had expected it, hearing the direct confirmation made Jin Ma-yeol feel nauseous for some reason.
The Tu-mu he had trained, or rather the entire history of the Tu clan, seemed completely denied.
They had always believed their Tu-mu was superior.
But it was not.
Their Tu-mu was simply the instinct of the Tu clan.
He stared at his own sword with a dazed expression and asked,
“…Then, is Tu-mu wrong?”
And he answered.
“It may be.”
“Then…!”
“It may not be.”
At his words, Jin Ma-yeol’s pupils shrank.
“If you knew what you were swinging, then from now on think about how you will swing it.”
“…!”
Because he was in a higher realm, he read Jin Ma-yeol’s mind clearly.
Or because his sword was so poor, it was obvious how to advise.
Jin Ma-yeol gritted his teeth at his advice.
And he lifted his grotesque hand.
“…I will swing once.”
He nodded.
The next instant, the two warriors clashed.
Jin Ma-yeol, with qi at the Integration realm, and the heart race at the fourth layer of Tu-bo collided.
But there was no explosion.
No shockwave.
Only, his Gae-ryeok sword was cleanly cut.
No, not just his sword.
His upper body, his domain, was completely sliced away.
Until moments ago, when they had fought with the Goryeok Sword, they had somehow matched.
Their stances seemed similar.
At least Jin Ma-yeol had thought so.
Flop!
Jin Ma-yeol, sitting on the stone mountain, fell in one blow.
A bitter defeat.
Yet on his face was now a gentle smile he had never shown in ‘mating’ before.
“…Thank you.”
He had lost.
The salt crystal palace he originally aimed for, the treasures in Yuk Rin’s warehouse, and the rare Goryeok Sword—all fell into Seo Eun-hyun’s hands.
But it didn’t matter.
The next realm was before his eyes.
The third layer of Tu-bo, which not a single Tu clan member had reached in ten thousand years, seemed to be within reach.
He was satisfied with that.
‘The next… realm… is before me…’
His vision blurred.
His consciousness scattered.
His body grew cold.
Though the ending Jin Ma-yeol had envisioned was slightly different, he smiled.
He had used up all his revival counts and the self-spirit filling the heavens was not fully obtained, so he had crossed the water without fire and immortality.
But it was fine.
The soul of Tu-mu.
Because Seo Eun-hyun knew the joy of what is called martial arts.
And so, the leader of the Tu clan and captain of the Tuma Pirates, Jin Ma-yeol, died.
* * *
From the moment I first met him, he was an unpleasant man.
Originally, I had planned to completely slice him apart with the explosion at the thirty-ninth form.
But at the last moment, his eyes changed from that of a beast to that of a warrior.
Therefore, as the same warrior, I took the strength and gave him the chance.
And Jin Ma-yeol, although he fought like a beast, died as a warrior.
I briefly stared at Jin Ma-yeol’s corpse, then swung the All-Heaven Sword.
Kugugugugu!
The stone mountain and treasures above him crashed down.
Buried in golden treasures, the warrior Jin Ma-yeol completely vanished from this world.