Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Dead Blood Eyes
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Though he had rushed in hastily, Seo Il was considerably flustered. The rat that should have moved in secret had brazenly revealed itself and was facing off against Wi Seongcheon.
Blocking the path between Wi Seongcheon and the masked figure, Seo Il widened his eyes and glared at the masked man.
Dull red eyes, like congealed blood.
Techniques that produced crimson eyes weren't rare, but the masked man's eyes were different in hue from the usual ones.
Dead Blood Eyes.
The hallmark of Demonic Cult spies. As expected, these rats were Demonic Cult operatives.
"Stand back!"
Seo Il shouted without turning around. The masked figure eyed Wi Seongcheon regretfully at Seo Il's intervention. Rolling up his sleeves, Seo Il spat out,
"This isn't someone you should be dealing with!"
"No need for your help?"
"Not needed! You..."
Should he tell him to fetch the other professors? No, that wouldn't be necessary.
The fact that Demonic Cult spies had infiltrated Cheoncheon Mountain. It couldn't be kept secret from the professors, but they didn't need to know right this instant.
"...Block Paeng Yeonhwa."
"Pardon?"
"Paeng Yeonhwa... No, Professors Hwangbo Gwang and Seok Ijin. Those two..."
Seo Il's mutterings sounded like gibberish to Wi Seongcheon.
Even Seo Il himself had no idea what he was saying. Should he block Paeng Yeonhwa, or the other professors?
"For now, go."
Seo Il gave up on saying more. There was no time to leisurely explain the situation.
"Understood."
Wi Seongcheon asked no further details. Without hesitation, he turned and left. Only then did Seo Il catch his breath as he sensed Wi Seongcheon's footsteps fading.
"Hoo..."
As Seo Il exhaled, the masked figure closed the distance.
* * *
He couldn't immediately grasp the situation.
Hwangbo Seongu sat slumped, covered in blood, while Seok Ijin staunched his wounds. Hwangbo Gwang kept his guard up, glaring at Paeng Yeonhwa, who...
Was circling around Hwangbo Gwang in a strange form.
Killing intent clashed between them. Paeng Yeonhwa's was especially fierce. Hwangbo Gwang sensed it too. If she lunged, he planned to strike without mercy.
'Stay back.'
That was what Hwangbo Gwang thought, but
Paeng Yeonhwa charged.
Swallowing a curse, Hwangbo Gwang raised his fist. Even though she was a student, he couldn't hold back. She wasn't the type to warrant mercy.
Paeng Yeonhwa had torn into Hwangbo Seongu's body in an instant. How many among the professors could subdue Hwangbo Gwang that easily? At least Hwangbo Gwang couldn't.
"You bastard!"
With a roar, a single punch shot toward Paeng Yeonhwa.
Paat!
Blood sprayed from Hwangbo Gwang's shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his waist. Paeng Yeonhwa leaped upward, her eyes gleaming as she looked down at him.
In that brief moment their bodies brushed past, Hwangbo Gwang's fist failed to reach her, but her claws thinly sliced his shoulder.
"Eek!"
Hwangbo Gwang's face twisted. He sprang upward off his knee. As if waiting, Paeng Yeonhwa twisted in midair and swung her claws.
'Why are you just watching!'
The sound of claws slicing the air was chilling. Instinctively, Hwangbo Gwang knew his strike was slower than hers.
He couldn't pull back the punch he'd already thrown. The bleeding had already stopped. All he could do was resent Seok Ijin for not lending a hand.
There was a reason Seok Ijin hadn't intervened.
"Urk?!"
Hwangbo Gwang's vision shook.
The impact to his side rattled his organs. Before he could even identify the source of the pain, his body tumbled across the ground. Seok Ijin clicked his tongue at the sight.
No need to watch any longer. For whatever reason, Paeng Yeonhwa was abnormal now, and neither she nor Hwangbo Gwang showed the slightest mercy. If left alone, disaster was certain.
So he leaped in and kicked Hwangbo Gwang in the side.
It was unfortunate for Hwangbo Gwang, but if he hadn't, Paeng Yeonhwa's claws would have ripped him apart.
Thanks to that, Wi Seongcheon entered the path of the slashing strike in Hwangbo Gwang's stead.
Using the momentum from kicking Hwangbo Gwang, Wi Seongcheon dove into Paeng Yeonhwa's embrace. His body barely slipped under her slashing claws.
In midair, Wi Seongcheon and Paeng Yeonhwa's bodies tangled. They plummeted together, but in that brief instant, they separated again.
Paeng Yeonhwa bounced back upon hitting the ground, and Wi Seongcheon righted his stance. Clutched in his hand were strands of Paeng Yeonhwa's fur, snapped off.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Wi Seongcheon shouted in shock. But Paeng Yeonhwa didn't hear him.
Growling like a wild beast, she kicked off the ground.
He heard Hwangbo Gwang rising behind him.
Wi Seongcheon gritted his teeth. He still didn't know the reason, but Paeng Yeonhwa was dangerous. Was it connected to that ominous-eyed masked figure from moments ago?
One thing was certain. Paeng Yeonhwa had tried to 'kill' Professor Hwangbo Gwang.
[Can you subdue her?]
Seok Ijin's transmission sounded in his mind.
[If not, fall back.]
Wi Seongcheon didn't reply. He charged at Paeng Yeonhwa.
It might already be too late, but he couldn't let a professor step in. There was still room for leniency. Watching Wi Seongcheon leap in, Seok Ijin shrugged as if he'd expected it.
"Hwangbo Seongu."
"...What?"
Hwangbo Seongu responded curtly to the sudden voice approaching him.
Fast.
He tried to grab her, but Paeng Yeonhwa's body slipped away. Her reaction speed was faster than any opponent Wi Seongcheon had ever faced.
Especially her ability to shift and recover her stance—it was absurd.
It was the tail. That long tail wasn't for show. Even in unstable positions, Paeng Yeonhwa used it skillfully to adjust her posture while moving.
She swung it opposite to her body's rotation for braking, or in tandem to accelerate. Movements impossible for a human.
That blinding speed kept him from closing the gap.
Her swinging claws were an obstacle he couldn't ignore either. He'd nearly been slashed several times already.
'Rationality?'
He looked into Paeng Yeonhwa's eyes. They were the eyes of a pure beast.
'None. Why?'
A slashing style wild and indiscriminate. Yet sharp and precise enough that one wouldn't think she'd lost her reason.
But it wasn't calculated.
She swung purely out of ingrained habit. No depth to reading the opponent's techniques. She fought on instinct alone, not reason.
That didn't make her any less threatening. A beast's innate instincts surpassed human intuition, cornering foes and foreseeing danger without calculation.
'At this rate.'
No good.
He hoped Paeng Yeonhwa would stop. If her lost reason returned now, the situation could be salvaged.
But if she didn't... If her rampage was halted by a professor like Hwangbo Gwang or Seok Ijin instead...
'If it were me stopping her versus a professor...'
If the opponent weren't Paeng Yeonhwa, he wouldn't hesitate.
There were still things he wanted to hide. Thinking of the 'future,' it would be wisest to back off appropriately and leave it to the professors.
But the opponent was Paeng Yeonhwa.
[Yeonhwa.]
On a whim, Wi Seongcheon sent a transmission to her. Paeng Yeonhwa's tiger ears perked up. That was her only reaction.
Ferocious Tiger Advance.
The Paeng family's Ferocious Tiger Heaven-Cleaving Blade, honed relentlessly since childhood, unfolded from Paeng Yeonhwa's transformed claws. She charged without pause, her slashing claws emitting clear blade energy in a ferocious momentum.
"This is bad...!"
Hwangbo Gwang, clutching his throbbing side, widened his eyes.
The trajectory of her swung claws lingered as blade energy, bearing down on Wi Seongcheon. No matter how bizarre his movements, surviving that storm of slashes unscathed was impossible.
[Sorry.]
No reply would come, but Wi Seongcheon transmitted once more.
Heavenly Flower Chain Technique, Reversal Flow.
Opening the Body.
Against the charging Ferocious Tiger Advance, Wi Seongcheon advanced without hesitation.
Pababak! Blade energy scattered in all directions. What remained was Paeng Yeonhwa's actual single slash.
Instinctively halting her swinging arm, Paeng Yeonhwa whipped her tail.
Foot, knee, waist, tail. Handling her gaze. Rotate right. Advance again to close the gap. The blade, accelerated by the spin, targeted Wi Seongcheon's throat.
Heavy Palms, Light Body—Unyielding Mind and Body.
Ppak!
Wi Seongcheon's hand precisely seized Paeng Yeonhwa's wrist.
The wondrous effect of Heavy Palms, Light Body's fluid hands was complete release of body and qi. Deflect the opponent's attack or, at the moment of contact, swing the entire body to counter.
Unyielding Mind and Body does not bend.
The arm blocking Paeng Yeonhwa's wrist stood firm, as if frozen solid.
Even if the flesh couldn't endure, it didn't matter. With Opening the Body, inner energy from the dantian surged through every meridian. Unyielding Mind and Body does not bend. It only shatters.
Paeng Yeonhwa's attack failed to shatter Wi Seongcheon's arm. The instant it was halted, Unyielding became fluid hands. Completely opposing body techniques linked like flowing water.
Erasing the limits of human movement.
That was Opening the Body.
Paeng Yeonhwa's left hand shot out. Sharp claws aimed to rip Wi Seongcheon's body. No need to block or grab.
Wi Seongcheon's hand was faster.
Tuuung!
The back of Wi Seongcheon's hand struck Paeng Yeonhwa's chest center. With a drum-like thud, her mouth gaped wide.
* * *
"Find anything?"
Seo Il's shoulder twitched.
Before him lay the masked figure, arms broken, dead. Not unconscious—his head had been fully twisted around. Interrogation was impossible for a Demonic Cult spy with Dead Blood Eyes.
So he killed him.
"...Who are you?"
Seo Il swallowed hard and asked. He had killed the masked man and was searching his belongings.
No way a Demonic Cult spy would leave clues, but just in case. And he had actually found something. Nothing directly linking to the Demonic Cult, but perhaps unrelated to Paeng Yeonhwa's rampage.
"Not Demonic Cult, so relax."
A chuckling laugh followed. Seo Il quietly circulated his inner energy. He'd been grabbed from behind without notice until the voice. Even if not Demonic Cult, being caught off-guard warranted tension.
"How's Baek Cheongha, that witch doing?"
At the jeer, Seo Il whipped his head around.
"Urk!"
Seo Il could only let out a dumb cry.
A white-haired man stood with hands behind his back, grinning at Seo Il.
"Ta... Taiji Sword Lord...!"
"Hmm? Is my title written on my forehead or something?"
The man asked, eyes wide.
Naturally, no title was written on the man's forehead.
Instead,
His long robe bore the five characters "World's Greatest Sword" in bold letters.
Seo Il had once seen him from afar, long ago.