Chapter 163: One-Eyed Strange Sword Seo Il-2
Chapter 163: One-Eyed Strange Sword Seo Il-2
A story Hwa Yeong-bin hyung had once told me about Mukrang suddenly came to mind.
The tale that the current martial world's strongest, the Blood Wolf Sword Emperor Ban Jung-yang's Blood Wolf Sword and my Mukrang were identical in shape, differing only in color.
A thought occurred to me that perhaps Seo Il might know something about this.
'Well, if Hwa-hyung knew about it, then it's possible others might too. Especially if it's Seo Il, one of the absolute beings of the martial world...'
And as I watched him glaring at me with a look of displeasure, I considered what I should do.
He had treated me for his own purposes yet was constantly irritated, and his reputation as a petty man preceded him. In that case, the proper attitude to display was...
After swallowing all the water, I spoke to him, my voice still hoarse.
"So this is the legendary realm of Telekinesis I've only ever heard about. This junior is truly amazed. You are truly remarkable, sir."
At this, a glint of something unusual flickered in his eyes, which had been filled with irritation just moments before.
He gave a snort and replied.
"Hmph, something like that is nothing special. Only a brat like you would find it impressive."
I watched his reaction with sharp eyes.
Then, with genuine sincerity, I expressed my admiration once more.
"You mean to say such a realm is nothing special? Sigh, you are indeed a great master. I am truly moved."
He snorted again at this.
"Hmph!"
But one thing was unmistakably clear—the irritation on his face had considerably lessened.
'As expected...'
If there was one common trait among the petty men I knew, it was that they absolutely loved it when others propped them up.
Petty men, almost without exception, loathed acknowledging others and were exceptionally vulnerable to flattery.
And it seemed Seo Il, one of the absolute beings of the martial world, was no different in this regard.
I immediately launched my next move.
It was an attempt to force my body upright.
"Now that I think of it, this junior hasn't even properly thanked his life-saving benefactor... Ugh!"
But there was no way my body was in any state to move right now.
As soon as I tried to move, a wave of excruciating pain crashed over me and I let out a groan.
At this, he pressed me back to the floor with his Formless Energy and spoke as if annoyed.
"Don't do anything pointless. I went through the trouble of saving you, do you want to die again?"
Yet, his eyes as he said this looked incredibly gentle, completely different from before.
He was undoubtedly thinking to himself that at least I was a brat with some manners.
Lying down, I spoke to him in a voice that sounded half-dead.
"Thank you for saving my life. How am I ever to repay this kindness... I am truly grateful, Seo Daehyeop."
He then asked me with a slightly surprised expression.
"Do you know who I am?"
I answered his question with eyes filled to the brim with reverence.
"Of course I do. Who else could it be but you, with the incredible martial arts that allow you to use Telekinesis with such ease, and the ability to send the so-called King of Assassins, Am Hyeol-hyang, packing with a single word? I recognized at first glance that you were Seo Il Daehyeop."
He then let out a chuckle and said.
"Hmph, King of Assassins, my foot. He's nothing but a lowly assassin insect."
It seemed his mood had improved considerably by now.
That was a relief.
Right now, I was engaged in a life-or-death struggle of a different kind than the fight against Am Hyeol-hyang.
A struggle to survive at the hands of Seo Il.
By all appearances, it seemed clear that Seo Il had saved me because of Mukrang.
That raised the following question.
'After he achieves his goal, will he return Mukrang to me? Or will he even let me live?'
My conclusion was that there was absolutely no way he would.
There was no way the man would return Mukrang to me, nor was there any way a petty man like him would let me live after stealing my sword.
He would surely try to kill me to cover up his own dirty deeds.
Of course, my chances of survival would go up a bit if I voluntarily offered Mukrang to him.
But knowing the secrets of Mukrang, that wasn't a choice I could make.
So I had to manage to sweet-talk him somehow.
Ideally, without losing Mukrang and without him killing me.
'I'm not sure if that's possible, though...'
In any case, it was a relief that I had managed to put him in a good mood for now.
At least he didn't seem likely to kill me on the spot.
But I couldn't let my guard down.
A personality like his was bound to be extremely fickle.
He could suddenly accuse me of brown-nosing and fly into a rage.
So I decided to preempt him.
"Ah, now that I think of it, didn't you ask me something earlier? Something about my sword..."
As I asked this, looking at Mukrang, his expression suddenly hardened as if he'd come to his senses, and he asked me.
"That's right, I did ask. Where did you obtain this sword?"
With an expression of complete innocence, I answered him obediently.
"As for Mukrang, I obtained it from the warehouse of the Black Sang Pavilion Master during a fight with the Heuksangbang in Guizhou City."
He then looked at me with sharp, probing eyes and continued his questioning.
"The Heuksangbang, you say... After you obtained that, have you ever had any special experiences?"
At his question, I asked back with a naive expression, as if I had no idea what he was talking about.
"What do you mean by special experiences? I did fight the Blood Cult's Small-faced Demon Lord and got targeted by Am Hyeol-hyang earlier, but..."
Playing the naive fool was no problem at all, having done it to a sickening degree back in the Seonwoo Clan.
Thinking about it, it might even be a field I was more confident in than my movement arts.
Hearing my counter-question, he snapped at me in anger.
"Not that kind of thing!"
I put on a startled expression and asked again.
"I'm, I'm sorry, Daehyeop. Then what exactly do you mean...?"
He furrowed his brow at this.
He seemed to be pondering how to explain it to me.
Well, considering he'd have to talk about Mukrang and the Sword Emperor to explain properly, that was only natural.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked me something else.
"What was that sword technique you used earlier?"
Again, I answered readily with a bright and clear expression.
"It was my family's Seonwoo Thirteen Swords and the Jeomchang Sect's Sail Sword Technique."
At those words, a light of disappointment flickered in his eyes.
"Right, I recognized the Sail Sword Technique earlier, but so that illusion sword was the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords. No wonder."
Seeing the disappointment in his eyes, I knew I had to keep the conversation going.
It was dangerous for him to feel disappointed.
The moment he thought there was nothing more to gain from me, there was no telling what he might do.
In the worst case, he might try to kill me outright.
So before he could think of anything else, I carefully asked him first.
"Could it be... you are doing this because of the Sword God's Legacy?"
At this, his eyes flew wide open as if he was startled, and then he asked again with a sharp gaze.
"How do you know about that? Don't tell me?!"
His brightly burning eyes suddenly darted towards my Mukrang. He seemed to think I knew because there was something inside Mukrang.
But in that moment, I spoke to him again with a troubled expression.
"I heard it from my sworn brother."
His burning gaze was directed back at me.
"...Your sworn brother? Who is this sworn brother, and what exactly did you hear?"
I hastily answered.
"Hwa Young-bin the Red Sunset Divine Sword of the Mount Qingcheng Sect is my sworn brother. He once saw my sword and told me it looked exactly like the Sword Emperor Elder's Blood Wolf Sword. And he also told me that he obtained the Sword God's Legacy from that Blood Wolf Sword."
Understanding my words, the light in his eyes subsided with disappointment.
"Hmph! Elder, my foot! So... you're saying you only told me what you heard from him?"
At his cold voice, I put on a deeply apologetic expression and answered.
"Yes, so I had also once wondered if a secret might be hidden in the Mukrang Sword. That is why I thought perhaps you were asking about it... I apologize if I've disappointed you."
He let out a deep sigh, his eyes filled with disappointment.
And he muttered.
"Then this too must be nothing but an empty shell."
This too...
Even setting aside the word 'shell,' the phrase 'this too' was quite meaningful.
I asked him with a slightly surprised expression.
"Did you say 'this too'?"
He looked at me, his brow furrowing slightly.
He seemed to be debating whether to tell me the story or not.
During this, I simply looked at him with an innocent and curious expression.
The next moment, he clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.
"Well, I suppose there's no harm in telling a brat who already knows about the Blood Wolf Sword."
Then he drew a sword from behind his back.
Seureureung!
And he unwrapped the cloth covering the sword hilt to show what was inside.
Seeing it, I was genuinely shocked.
"Th-That is?!"
He nodded and spoke.
"Yes. A sword that looks exactly the same as your sword, and that bastard's sword. This is the Byeok-rang Sword, likely another sword left behind by the Sword God."
What he was holding was a sword truly identical in appearance to my Mukrang.
Except for the fact that its color was blue.
I muttered in a daze.
"So it wasn't just the Blood Wolf Sword and the Mukrang Sword."
He scoffed and said.
"Of course not. Just what I've found alone, there were this Byeok-rang Sword and the Yellow Wolf Sword. Including your Mukrang Sword, that makes four already. Perhaps there are even more swords of different colors besides these."
A strange feeling washed over me.
To think that other swords besides the Blood Wolf Sword and the Mukrang Sword existed.
It felt as though the spirit of the Sword God, who had suddenly appeared one day to save my life, must also reside within them.
It seemed many fated encounters were already existing in the world, I just hadn't known of them.
I muttered blankly.
"They always said the Sword God's legacy had no physical form. But it seems in truth, he already left us many legacies."
Seo Il snorted at this.
"Hmph! What good is it to leave many things behind? The only real one among them is that bastard's single Blood Wolf Sword!"
At his words, I looked at his face.
It seemed that despite having discovered two swords, the Byeok-rang Sword and the Yellow Wolf Sword, he had utterly failed to uncover their secrets.
And when I thought about the test of Mukrang I had guessed at, this was only natural.
I replied again with a bright expression.
"Still, the Mukrang Sword is a fine sword. I'm currently serving on the frontline, and Mukrang is the only sword I've ever seen that can cut down demons without sword qi or a sword aura. And yet, Daehyeop, you possess two swords just like Mukrang. I'm envious."
He gave a dumbfounded laugh, as if I was ridiculous, and spoke to me with a look of pity.
"What use is a sword that's just a bit sharp? A sword like that could be found by the cartload if you roamed the martial world. And besides..."
He paused to clear his throat, then continued.
"Ahem, I don't have the Yellow Wolf Sword anymore. I broke it."
"...Whaaat?!"
This time, I was truly, genuinely shocked.
It was to the point I doubted my own ears, wondering if I had misheard.
He broke the Yellow Wolf Sword? Didn't that mean he broke a sword that was supposed to contain the spirit and legacy of the Sword God?
Unable to hide my horrified expression, I asked again.
"You, you broke the Sword God's legacy?!"
He suddenly snapped in irritation.
"What's the big deal about breaking a mere sharp sword?!"
Seeing him bristle so, he definitely seemed to think it was a big deal himself.
But I didn't let on and asked with a crestfallen face.
"I-Isn't it possible the Sword God's secret manual was hidden inside?"
"Don't make me laugh! I carried that sword for nearly decades and found no secret! Even after I shattered it! It was nothing but a slightly sharp, absolutely useless sword!"
So that was the reason he had broken it.
Thinking that maybe something would be hidden inside if he broke it...
It was simply staggering that one of the martial world's divine artifacts had completely vanished for such a trivial reason.
It was then.
A sudden wave of pain washed over my body again.
Maybe it was because I had heard something so absurdly shocking, or perhaps because I had talked too much.
Of course, the reason wasn't important.
The important thing was that I wanted to just collapse and fall asleep again right now.
But I couldn't sleep just yet.
If I fell asleep here, there was no telling what he might do to me.
So before I fell asleep, I left him with one final word.
"Perhaps that's not the way to find the Sword God's Legacy. Maybe it's something else..."
After straining my last bit of strength to say that much, I closed my eyes just like that.
Then, his urgent voice reached my ears.
"What? What did you just say? What kind of way if not that?!"
But I ignored his voice.
It wasn't exactly an act.
My body was so drained of energy that I was slipping into sleep in an instant.
His voice entering one ear was flowing right out the other.
"You brat! Can't you hear me?!"