Chapter 43: Wraith (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43: Wraith (1)
“How cumbersome.”
So Woon-hwi untied his hair.
His long, crimson locks fluttered down, tracing the line of his neck.
His aura was entirely different from his usual self. If the typical So Woon-hwi was someone who always maintained decorum and humbled himself, he was now closer to an arrogant and overbearing figure brimming with ambition.
“I like it.”
His eyes, glowing with a scarlet light, narrowed as he broke into a faint, mocking smile.
Cough.
At the sudden sound of Sama Yeong coughing, Jo Seong-won asked worriedly, “Are your internal injuries that severe?”
The situation had taken a turn for the absolute worst, though the reasons remained unclear. If Sama Yeong became unable to move due to her injuries now, it would be impossible to handle the fallout.
“Yeong?”
When she didn't answer, he looked over. Sama Yeong was staring at So Woon-hwi with a slightly flushed face and a strange expression.
“Yeong! What are you doing?”
“He’s somehow... very alluring...”
“What?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
Sama Yeong hurriedly brushed it off.
It was then that Bukyeong Doseong Gwak Hyeong-jik spoke to So Woon-hwi in a grave voice.
“Young Brother So. If you are still in your right mind, put down that sword.”
Though he spoke calmly, Gwak Hyeong-jik’s hand tightened around his saber. The ominous energy and vicious killing intent radiating from So Woon-hwi were far removed from the young man he knew. Rather, it was similar to something he had experienced a long time ago.
“Senior Brother!”
Sama Yeong called out to him as well. She gestured cautiously as she spoke.
“You mustn't let yourself be consumed by the sword’s malevolence. Please, put the sword down.”
“You must not succumb to the blade!” Jo Seong-won added, his voice tense.
However, So Woon-hwi paid them no mind. He took a deep breath, looking as if he were savoring something.
“To think such a vessel existed. It is better than even the direct line.”
He was muttering incomprehensible words to himself.
Gwak Hyeong-jik leveled his saber and shouted, “Young Brother So! Put down the sword!”
At this, So Woon-hwi turned his head to look at him. He opened his mouth to speak.
“Try and make me.”
At the voice full of arrogance, Gwak Hyeong-jik frowned and took a martial stance.
Sama Yeong asked him, “You aren't planning to harm my Senior Brother, are you?”
“You should draw your sword as well. Can’t you see your brother? He has been possessed by the sword’s evil star.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“I must force the sword from his hand.”
Sama Yeong looked at him skeptically. “Are you sure?”
“I owe a debt regarding my disciple. Do you think I would harm your brother? Besides, the current situation is—”
Whoosh!
Before he could finish his sentence, a dark figure blurred before his eyes.
‘!?’
Gwak Hyeong-jik hurriedly raised his saber. In that instant, a sword laden with heavy force struck down upon his blade.
Clang!
‘What in the world!’
It had looked like a light strike, but Gwak Hyeong-jik’s knees buckled under the sheer weight of the blow. If he still had his right arm, he would have countered with a palm or a punch, but as he was now, it was all he could do to withstand the downward pressure.
The one who had struck him was none other than So Woon-hwi.
“Yo—Young Brother So! Snap out of it!”
“Not bad for a one-armed man.”
“Young Brother So!”
“What are you prattling about?”
So Woon-hwi kicked him squarely in the chest. Like the master who had once dominated an era, Gwak Hyeong-jik let go of his saber in that split second and boldly threw his body backward. Using his hand to brace against the ground, he performed a backflip and snatched the hilt of his saber with his foot.
As he caught it, Gwak Hyeong-jik’s foot moved in a swift arc.
Swish!
The saber spun through the air, flying toward So Woon-hwi’s side. He expected Woon-hwi to dodge, but—
Crunch!
‘!?’
Gwak Hyeong-jik’s eyes widened as he looked up from his handstand. So Woon-hwi had caught the spinning saber. Not only that, his fingers had pierced straight through the blade.
“How clever. Is this how you overcame having only one arm?” So Woon-hwi said, sounding intrigued.
But the praise was far from welcome. As Gwak Hyeong-jik tried to right himself, the Blood Demon Sword—stained as red as blood—thrust toward his heart.
At the last possible second, however, So Woon-hwi changed the sword’s trajectory. He parried an incoming strike from someone else.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
Sama Yeong, who had leaped into the air to strike down, was instead repelled upward. Like a feather caught in a gust, she spun in mid-air and launched another sword technique at So Woon-hwi. Specifically, she was aiming for the wrist holding the sword.
“The girl handles a blade well enough.”
‘!?’
Sama Yeong flinched for a moment. In that opening, So Woon-hwi caught her blade between his index and middle fingers.
“Let’s have a look at that face.”
The Blood Demon Sword flew toward her face. Startled, Sama Yeong let go of her hilt and tried to evade, but the sword was too fast.
“Have you forgotten about me!”
In that instant, Gwak Hyeong-jik wrapped his left leg around So Woon-hwi’s wrist and delivered a lightning-fast kick with his right foot.
Thwack!
‘Oh no...’
He had kicked with the intent to push him back, but the blow landed squarely. If luck were against them, Woon-hwi’s neck could have snapped.
Yet, So Woon-hwi was perfectly fine.
“Are you finished?”
The muscles in So Woon-hwi’s neck had hardened like thick logs. While Gwak Hyeong-jik stared in disbelief, someone rushed up behind So Woon-hwi and unleashed a powerful double-palm strike with immense momentum.
So Woon-hwi smirked. And then—
“What?!”
Flash!
He lifted Gwak Hyeong-jik, who was still clinging to his leg, and hurled him backward.
“Gah!”
Jo Seong-won hurriedly retracted his palms, but he couldn't avoid colliding with Gwak Hyeong-jik. The two of them became a tangled mess, rolling across the ground several times.
“Did you use that opening to escape?” So Woon-hwi asked Sama Yeong, who was now more than ten paces away.
Sama Yeong’s pupils trembled.
‘He’s different from Jang Myeong.’
When Jang Myeong went berserk, he was driven purely by bloodlust. But the So Woon-hwi before her had become a completely different person. It felt like facing a monster that merely wore the same face.
‘...We can’t suppress him.’
Even with the three of them working together, they couldn't hold him down. They were more exhausted than when they had first subdued Jang Myeong, and even if they were at full strength, it seemed impossible.
“Have you lost your will to fight already?” So Woon-hwi asked, sounding disappointed.
Sama Yeong asked in a trembling voice, “...Who on earth are you?”
To say he had simply gone mad from the sword’s influence didn't fit; the very essence of the man had changed.
So Woon-hwi curled the corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“I am a wraith.”
“A wraith?”
“A wraith that will stain the world in blood.”
Blur!
So Woon-hwi’s figure turned hazy, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Sama Yeong. She desperately unleashed a sword technique and tried to leap backward, but So Woon-hwi’s blade entangled hers like a snake, and her sword was knocked from her hand.
“This is how you make someone drop a sword, girl.”
Grab!
“Ah!”
So Woon-hwi’s left hand clamped around her throat. As she struggled in pain, So Woon-hwi gave a sickening smile.
“Even if I am killed, I do not die. Do you realize who I am now, girl?”
Gasp... wheeze...
Her face turned a deep shade of red.
“Is it painful? That is the moment of death...”
“Bull...”
“Bull?”
“Stop... talking... bullshit!”
Swish!
She wrapped both legs around So Woon-hwi’s left wrist, which was crushing her throat. She attempted to snap his wrist using her full Ten Stars of Internal Power.
“Aaaagh!”
Sama Yeong strained with all her might, but he didn't budge. Instead, she was merely left dangling from his arm.
“How foolish. Even if you used a killing move, you would barely be able to stop me.”
“Ugh... hnnn.”
“Do you think that separating me from the sword will return this body’s master to normal?”
So Woon-hwi chuckled and suddenly let go of the Blood Demon Sword.
‘!?’
The Blood Demon Sword fell to the ground, but So Woon-hwi didn't change at all. He continued to radiate an intense, murderous aura. Sama Yeong couldn't understand the situation at all.
“H-How?”
“This body is already mine. Nothing will change by removing the sword. And...”
Kick!
So Woon-hwi’s foot flicked Sama Yeong’s fallen sword into the air. He then struck the hilt with the back of his hand.
Zip!
The sword flew away at an incredible speed. She wondered why he did that, only to see Gwak Hyeong-jik had been aiming for his back.
“Dammit!”
Gwak Hyeong-jik hurriedly parried Sama Yeong’s sword, but his own saber—already half-cracked by So Woon-hwi’s fingers—shattered completely.
Clatter!
Pushed back by the impact, Gwak Hyeong-jik staggered. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He had sustained internal injuries.
‘This is a disaster.’
Gwak Hyeong-jik couldn't help but feel despair. If So Woon-hwi remained like this even after letting go of the Blood Demon Sword, it meant there was no way to bring him back. After the continuous fighting, he only had about thirty percent of his internal energy left.
Gwak Hyeong-jik bit his lip hard.
‘Is a mutual destruction my only choice?’
If his guess was correct, So Woon-hwi wasn't just possessed by the Blood Demon Sword. He had become nearly identical to that entity. It might be better to kill him here, even at the cost of his own life.
Just then, he sensed a presence nearby.
‘Ah!’
Gwak Hyeong-jik shouted, like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
“I don’t know who you are, but help—”
But he couldn't finish the sentence.
‘!?’
He couldn't hide his bewilderment at the three figures that emerged from the thicket. They were three large, muscular men. One in particular was a massive giant who looked like a hairy savage. The moment Gwak Hyeong-jik saw him, he recognized him instantly.
‘Bizarre Hae Ak-cheon!’
Was he not one of the Venerable Ones of the Blood Cult? Gwak Hyeong-jik had clashed with him several times during the Great Orthodox-Evil War twenty years ago.
‘This is the worst.’
Of all people to show up, it had to be him. He had no idea how the situation would unfold now.
Then, Bizarre Hae Ak-cheon spotted So Woon-hwi’s transformed state. He couldn't hide his shock.
“How can this be...”
So Woon-hwi also looked at him and spoke with an intrigued expression.
“Ho. I recognize that face.”
!!!
As soon as those words were spoken, Hae Ak-cheon dropped to one knee in a gesture of respect. He bowed his head and cried out urgently.
“O Blood Demon!”