The Fighting Demon's Spar 3
Honestly, he had seen this coming. Three years ago, the gap in skill had been too wide for a spar to even happen. Now that Shin Gi-woon had reached Peak, the only person who could force him to go all out was Se-hwa.
"Mind if I go all out?"
"I don't care."
"Good. Then let's do this."
There was nothing more to say. Se-hwa settled into her stance at once, and Shin Gi-woon fixed his eyes on every last one of her movements.
Se-hwa made the first move.
KWA-KWA-KWAH!
It was a simple light-body technique, but the speed was monstrous. In the space of a single blink, the distance between them had vanished.
Shin Gi-woon raised his spear and caught the descending wooden sword. But Se-hwa's assault did not end there. As if she had expected the block, she released the hilt and lunged straight into his chest.
What had started as a proper spar was sliding into the kind of ugly brawl nobody liked to talk about. He wasn't about to just take it. If she was dropping her weapon, he would match her blow for blow.
Thud.
"...!"
"What, you thought I wouldn't fight without a weapon either?"
"Tch!"
Her ambush foiled, Se-hwa snatched up her sword and retreated several steps. They had only exchanged a handful of blows, yet she already understood that Shin Gi-woon was no ordinary opponent.
Of everyone from three years ago, he had grown the most. He was someone whose victory she could no longer guarantee.
Number 295. Shin Gi-woon.
If I stand here spacing out, I'll get wrecked. In that case...
Better to show her hand first. Having made that decision, Se-hwa's eyes flooded with red.
Shin Gi-woon watched and thought, Of course. She had almost certainly been able to use demonic energy three years ago as well. She simply never had. She had never needed it to push through whatever stood in her way.
And now that same Se-hwa was revealing her demonic energy — in a spar, against him.
If she was going to give her all, answering in kind was only natural. Shin Gi-woon called up his own demonic energy, and his eyes turned red to match.
Their gazes locked across empty air. Though neither of their mouths moved, a conversation passed between them for a brief moment — and then, at the exact same instant, both figures vanished completely.
CHAE-AE-AENG!
The two of them reappeared at the center of the training ground. Their weapons were wood, yet the sound of the clash was unmistakably the ring of steel on steel.
"Still... not enough."
Bi So-hyang watched their spar with that quiet assessment. She had always prided herself on footwork that yielded to no one — and yet she could barely track their movements. That was how fast the exchange of blows was flying back and forth.
They had all talked him up as the strongest, sure. But she had never imagined Shin Gi-woon would possess martial prowess on par with Se-hwa.
People said the greatest talent was bloodline, didn't they? By that measure, Se-hwa's gift was enough to contend for the finest under heaven. And Shin Gi-woon was standing on equal ground with her.
I'd better work harder.
There was no time to dither if she meant to keep up with them. Matching people who grew steeper and steeper by the day demanded endless, grinding effort.
It wasn't only Bi So-hyang. Every other candidate watching the spar was thinking the same thing. The top and second seats of Jamma Cave had already been decided. Everyone else would have to compete over how hard they could push those two.
Back to Shin Gi-woon and Se-hwa.
CHAE-CHAE-CHAE-CHAENG!
In the middle of that savage exchange, neither of them even met the other's eyes — for fear of being read. If the person in front of them caught the light in their gaze, the next attack would be telegraphed.
Calling it a state of pure selflessness would not have been an exaggeration. Shin Gi-woon was pouring out everything for the first time since Ryu-jin, and Se-hwa was pouring out everything for the first time in her life. For both of them, this spar meant more than any other. For Shin Gi-woon especially, it was the first time since reincarnating that he had gone all out against another human being.
"Hahp!"
At this rate it would devolve into a pointless war of attrition. Judging as much, Shin Gi-woon swept his spear in a brutal arc. Se-hwa recoiled from the sudden shift, and he immediately wrenched the internal energy of the Battle Demon Divine Art up to its absolute limit — the six-star power he had earned through training.
Shin Gi-woon had reached a fully mature Peak realm, but the experience of clawing his way out of a killing field made him look every bit like a seasoned Transcendent master.
Se-hwa forced strength into her trembling arms. She refused to admit she was losing. She had even brought out her trump card — demonic energy — and still Shin Gi-woon was steadily driving her into a corner. If he hadn't broken the exchange first, she would have been the one overreaching.
He's too big...
Shin Gi-woon was like a demon gone mad for battle. His strikes stopped short of killing techniques, but every single one of them targeted a vital point. Even the way he distributed his force looked like watching a seasoned old master — as if he understood the art of connecting and concluding better than anyone alive.
Yes. He was a fighting demon. A demon born for nothing but combat. Look at him even now — the murderous aura rolling off him took the shape of a ghost so drunk on battle it looked ready to die for it.
In a pure contest of strength, I lose. But in martial arts — I will not.
Se-hwa assumed her opening stance, and her sword darkened to the same color as her eyes.
The superior sword art of the Demonic Cult — said to dye the blade crimson upon reaching a certain realm.
"Let's not leave each other with internal injuries that take more than a month to recover from. Deal?"
"So we're doing this properly. I like that about you — you're clean."
The light in Se-hwa's eyes went cold. The moment they drew their true arts, the word restraint ceased to exist. All that remained were two predators intent on devouring each other.
Step. Step.
Shin Gi-woon drifted slowly to the right. Se-hwa paced left, the opposite way. The instant either of them spotted an opening, they would spring and tear into it. The candidates watching the spar could barely breathe.
And then—
"Aaaagh! I'm gonna die!"
Ma Ra-jin, who had been knocked cold by a blow to the back of the head from Shin Gi-woon, finally came to. A savage voice shattered the silence that had filled the training ground.
That was the signal.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!
"Whoa!? Are those two sparring?"
Se-hwa and Shin Gi-woon charged each other. Ma Ra-jin, freshly awake, asked the question in a daze — but unfortunately, no one was free to answer him. Every single spectator had their eyes locked on the spar. Ma Ra-jin's irritation died mid-grumble as he watched, his jaw hanging open.
"Those two... are my classmates?"
Ma Ra-jin's slack-jawed appraisal. Everyone watching the spar agreed in silence. And with that single remark as the last word spoken, nothing remained but the sound of sword and spear colliding.
This is fun.
Shin Gi-woon felt as if he were walking on clouds. The sharp, prickling killing intent radiating from Se-hwa was stoking something deep in his instincts — instincts he had forgotten a very long time ago. The pure pleasure of sparring someone and taking the win.
When did I forget this?
There was only one true measure of growth: challenging someone who had once defeated you, and crushing them. That, for Shin Gi-woon, had always been one of the greatest meanings of learning the martial path.
He toppled one strong opponent after another, and before he knew it he was a spearman wandering in search of fights — earning the moniker Battle Demon Spear. More time passed, and when his name rose to the greatest spear of the unorthodox path, his spear became known as one that could pierce even ghosts. Thus was born the title Ghost Spear.
More. More...!
This was nothing like the fight with Ryu-jin. That had been a desperate struggle, dragging himself to the limit just to survive. This was a joyful contest — one where he could pour out every ounce of his power without reservation.
"Hahat!"
Laughter burst out of him unbidden. After his fame as the greatest unorthodox spear had spread, Shin Gi-woon had never had a proper spar. He fought assassins sent to kill him, or thrashed insolent junior martial artists, or got tangled in the Martial Alliance's Heavenly Net... yeah, that still pissed him off.
Anyway — he was happy. He wished this moment would never end. He wanted to feel this joy a little longer, a little deeper.
"More! Mooore!!"
"Hey, Shin Gi-woon! Snap out of it! You can't let it swallow you!"
"Not enough!!"
"Damn it, this is driving me crazy."
Ryu-jin had noticed that something was wrong with Shin Gi-woon's state. Truthfully, she bore a large share of the blame. His upper dantian should not have been open yet — she had forced it open herself. He might think it was fine thanks to his past-life experience, but this body was very different from his previous one. Especially with the presence of demonic energy.
"Goddamn it... When you come to, you're getting an earful."
There was nothing Ryu-jin could do right now. The only person who could stop him was Se-hwa alone.
"Ugh!"
Se-hwa was already straining just to block Shin Gi-woon's suddenly ferocious spear. When their arts first clashed, they had been even. She had even been confident that a calm, measured response would win her the match. But the longer it went on... it felt like facing a tiger.
The difference felt innate. And she, of all people, had no business complaining about birthright — yet there was something about Shin Gi-woon that made her want to call it unfair.
"Do you think that level of skill will be enough?"
"Like father, like daughter, they said..."
"Too slow. You mustn't be satisfied with First-Class level."
"Can someone destined for greatness afford to rest easy like this?"
In that instant, an ugly memory surfaced in Se-hwa's mind. Those old men with their irritating little smiles. She had hated them. Hated those sly creatures who always tried to force something onto her.
To escape them, she had volunteered for Jamma Cave — abandoning every privilege, every advantage. It was a lower path she had chosen herself. Her father had respected that choice, and so she had to prove herself.
By graduating Jamma Cave as its top seat.
"HRAAAAAAH!!"
Sparks flared in Se-hwa's cold eyes — and that fire dragged Shin Gi-woon, whose mind had been slipping into the abyss, back to himself. Eyes wreathed in flame. A turbulent, burning will that said she must accomplish something. That intensity restored the spirit of a man who had been on the verge of being consumed by battle-madness.
"You back with us, you bastard?"
...Sorry.
Shin Gi-woon stamped a true step and retreated. Only then did Se-hwa's raw physical condition come into full view. She was already covered in blood from head to toe. It was a miracle she hadn't collapsed from blood loss. The blood pooled at the corner of her mouth suggested her internal injuries were no joke either.
He hadn't come to his senses until he had reduced her to that state. A mistake.
"Can you keep going?"
"I just found the thread. So please — don't stop."
"...Alright."
The embers still burned bright in Se-hwa's eyes. Shin Gi-woon looked into them once more and thought—
Beautiful.