Chapter 167: Dark Wolf Sword Technique
Chapter 167: Dark Wolf Sword Technique
Even after unleashing the Explosive Step, three iron spheres hovered just inches from piercing my back.
I could only shudder.
Not because the spheres were unavoidable.
But because the spheres that should have already pierced through my back and couldn't be dodged had simply stopped in place.
And the same was true of my body, which had been hurtling forward.
A familiar sensation I had felt once before.
Time... had stopped.
In that moment, a voice echoed in my mind once more.
- You've finally passed all three trials. Congratulations.
'Ah!'
A surge of overwhelming elation filled my chest.
It was Mukrang.
The spirit who was likely the Sword God himself had finally revealed himself and spoken to me.
I glanced at the hilt of the Mukrang sword. The wolf's eye embedded there was glowing faintly.
The voice spoke in my mind again.
- To be honest, you passed the trial the moment you threw yourself forward to save those ronin. My test was to prove your chivalrous heart—to sacrifice yourself for others—three times. But I waited because I wanted to make my appearance at a more dramatic moment.
As I thought!
The content of the trial truly was about risking one's life for others.
My prediction had been exactly right.
Then a thought suddenly struck me. 'Wait, then wasn't the third time when I threw myself forward to save the Lust Demon Son Eun-sang?'
Back when I had tried to throw my life away for Lady Dang, the Mukrang sword had been hidden somewhere else, and besides, that was an illusion, not reality. But when I had jumped in to save Senior Son, that had been a real situation.
The answer came immediately.
- That time didn't count. Throwing yourself forward because you expected me to appear can't be considered pure chivalrous conduct, now can it?
It was a cheerful but slightly infuriating voice.
So he meant I had to risk my life with absolutely pure intentions, without any expectation that Mukrang would show up.
Those were impossibly strict conditions.
But it didn't matter now.
As he himself had said, there couldn't have been a more fitting moment for him to appear than this one.
- Now, time is short, so I'll be direct. I left five different martial arts in five different swords. Each one I created after finding inspiration in different sword techniques. What I left in the Mukrang sword are the Mukrang Sword Technique and the Mukrang Heart Method. The names are a bit simple, aren't they? But the contents won't be so simple. They were created from inspiration drawn from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Asura Pacheonmu.
Listening to his words, I forgot the current situation entirely and could only reel in shock.
'...Excuse me?!'
Five swords? There was one more?
No, more importantly—Heavenly Demon Divine Art? Asura Pacheonmu?
Why were those names coming up here?
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the sword technique Asura Pacheonmu, and the movement technique Heavenly Demon's Reign Step were the symbolic martial arts of the Heavenly Demon, the head of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that was said to have endured for a thousand years.
And the Heavenly Demon was one of the Four Demons of the World, among the current absolute beings of the martial world: One Emperor, Two Kings, Three Sages, Four Demons, and Five Ghosts.
So Mukrang was telling me that he had used the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's greatest secret techniques—the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and Asura Pacheonmu—to create new martial arts.
Then he continued in a cheerful voice.
- Oh, and you don't need to worry about being eroded by demonic energy. The Mukrang Heart Method I created isn't a demonic art that accumulates demonic energy. I removed the effect of the Supreme Dignity God Eye that mesmerizes people because of that. My older brother seems to have used it quite handily, but honestly, isn't the Soul Captivation Art too demonic cult-like? Instead, I maximized the regenerative power. Once you master it past seven stars, you'll be able to regenerate even a severed arm in no time.
Something utterly surreal was flooding into my head.
Regenerate a severed arm?
Like a lizard's tail?
I definitely understood the words, but I couldn't process them.
I could only ask blankly.
'...What?'
- Hm, it seems you didn't know the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was originally called the Immortal Divine Art. Even the current Heavenly Demon, whose level is subpar, could probably regenerate an arm.
'Ah... I see. So the Heavenly Demon, one of the Four Demons of the World, is at a subpar level?'
Listening so casually to such staggeringly grandiose statements, I felt as if my sense of reality was slipping away.
Mukrang clicked his tongue and answered.
- For the master of the mighty Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, rather than being called Demon God, Demon Emperor, or Demon Sovereign, he's merely being addressed as one of the Four Demons of the World. His level is not just subpar—it's exceedingly subpar.
'...Yes, I see.'
I decided to just accept it.
- Anyway, what I wanted to say is this: to teach you that sword technique, I can move your body on your behalf exactly three times. So, when would you like those moments to be?
His tone was full of mischief.
Moving my body for me?
My fight with the Giant Strength Demon Jeo Woong-won suddenly came to mind.
Back then, Mukrang had taken control of my body and utterly cooked Jeo Woong-won, who I could never have defeated at my level at the time.
Come to think of it, the reason I was able to learn the fifteenth form of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords—Emptiness is Form—and the reason I developed so rapidly afterwards, was all because Mukrang had demonstrated those techniques through my body back then.
So now, Mukrang seemed to be asking me, on the verge of death at Am Hyeol-hyang's hands, whether I would entrust my body to him just like that time.
An answering voice came.
- You've understood exactly.
A laugh suddenly escaped me.
So he was using the pretext of teaching me as an excuse to help me fight Am Hyeol-hyang.
There was no way I would refuse.
It was something I ought to be begging him for, even if I had to plead on my knees.
Suddenly, I answered with a bit of mischief in my own voice.
'I absolutely want to receive your instruction right now. I'm far too curious about the Mukrang Sword Technique and Mukrang Heart Method, I can't possibly wait any longer.'
He burst out laughing and answered.
- Hahahahaha! Do you know something? I truly like you. I wish we could have met while I was alive.
And in the next instant, time abruptly snapped back to its original flow.
The sudden return to normal made me flinch in shock.
The three iron spheres Am Hyeol-hyang had fired were still just a hair's breadth from piercing my back when time began moving again.
No matter how skilled Mukrang was, I thought he might be helpless in this situation.
Even if his spirit truly was the Sword God, the level of this body was ultimately still mine, which hadn't even reached transcendent peak yet.
Even if I could use protective strong qi, blocking them would have been difficult—and I couldn't even use that yet...
But in the next moment, I was forced to realize how utterly pointless that worry had been.
Pang!
My body spun rapidly like a top in an instant.
My rotating back deflected two of the iron spheres aside and knocked the remaining sphere away laterally.
He had used my back as though it were a hand to strike the spheres away.
At that sorcery-like sight, I could only mutter dazedly.
'...The Back Technique?'
It was the Back Technique.
The brawling method that uses the back as a striking point.
Since the Seonwoo Clan's Storm Wind Eighteen Strikes also included a back technique, it wasn't unfamiliar to me.
But I had never even heard of, let alone seen, a brawling technique that used the back with such delicate precision.
Then Mukrang's voice came.
- It's called the Jeonryunbak. It was once the martial art of the Fighting God Demon Go Gwang, the greatest under heaven. But what matters isn't which martial art I used. It's about not limiting your thinking.
At the same moment, my body shot toward Am Hyeol-hyang using the Explosive Step.
Paang!
The distance between me and Am Hyeol-hyang, who was charging in my direction, closed rapidly.
I swallowed hard.
I was uneasy.
Even if his spirit was the Sword God, this body was still mine. The thought occurred to me that facing Am Hyeol-hyang, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, head-on might be too much.
I had already been smashed to a ridiculous degree, after all.
As I rapidly closed the distance, Mukrang spoke.
- When you feel afraid of your opponent, don't overestimate him—look at him as he truly is. There are three reasons why we must close the distance with him as quickly as possible.
His words were deeply unexpected.
He was saying there were three reasons I had to close the distance with Am Hyeol-hyang, and I didn't understand.
He explained the reasons.
- First, because the opponent's weapon is a nine-section whip, and our weapon is a sword.
'...Ah?!'
At those words, I could only let out a dumbfounded exclamation inwardly.
It was the most basic of basics: to fight a nine-section whip, which had long range, with a sword, which had short range, you had to step inside the opponent's range.
The reason I had forgotten such a fundamental was all because of Am Hyeol-hyang's overwhelming presence.
Blinded by the fear that I would be finished the moment I got close, I had forgotten the basics.
A wave of shame washed over me.
'No matter how afraid I was of him, if I resolved to fight, I should have naturally tried to step inside his range...'
Then Mukrang spoke in a light, laughing voice.
- You must keep your thinking free, but you must not forget to stay true to the fundamentals. The reason martial artists lose so easily against stronger opponents is not because the opponent is strong, but because they themselves drown in fear first and crumble on their own.
I understood his words to the bone.
I had seen it many times myself: when lesser fighters crumble swiftly before masters, more often than not, it's not because their skill falls short, but because they respond too passively or too recklessly.
At that moment, Mukrang explained the next reason in a satisfied voice.
"Second, because that fellow is currently letting his guard down. Had he launched another iron ring, it would have been sufficiently threatening, but the fact that he underestimated you this much means he's allowing you to close the distance this easily. To you, who are holding a sword—a short-range weapon, no less."
That, too, was a perfectly accurate observation.
The moment I turned toward Am Hyeol-hyang, he stopped attacking and simply allowed the distance to close.
He was clearly off his guard, thinking that whatever I did would be futile.
"Third, because I cannot move your body for that long. From now... only about enough time to count to twenty remains. So, in truth, the one who needed to settle this quickly was us, not that fellow."
'Whaaat?!'
The other two reasons had surprised me as well, but none compared to the third.
Only enough time to count to twenty... how could I possibly capture Am Hyeol-hyang, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, in such a brief span?
It was then.
At last, my body entered the range of his killing strike.
Immediately, the Nine-Section Whip shot toward me in a curve, as if it had been waiting.
Chwaaaak!
It was a deadly thrust of terrifying speed, coiling like a living centipede lunging at me.
'Danger...!'
By the time I cried out in shock, my body had already softly fluttered and evaded that thrust.
Chwaaaak!
The same happened with the thrust that changed direction and stabbed from directly behind.
My body spun gently like a petal scattered in a fierce wind, slipping through his attacks.
Mukrang spoke.
"Had you been someone else, I might have tried to teach you a movement technique, but for you, there was no need. The Heavenly Wind Movement Art is a sufficiently superb technique."
Even as he spoke, my body was evading everything—the attacks of the Nine-Section Whip that coiled around and tightened in, the strikes that came cleaving down as if to split me in two, even the continuous thrusts stabbing at me.
"Don't try to force movement by relying too much on your senses. Wasn't the goal of the Heavenly Wind Movement Art to become like the air? Where does the air ever move with intent? Submit to the flow. Then no attack will be able to touch you."
'Aaaah!'
I couldn't help but let out an exclamation of admiration.
It was exactly as he said.
By not trying to move on its own, my body had been able to slip through every one of Am Hyeol-hyang's attacks.
It was ecstatic.
Even though I wasn't using the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, I felt as if I had fallen into a state of rapture.
Then Am Hyeol-hyang's gaze, briefly taken aback, gradually began to turn serious.
He seemed to sense that something was amiss.
Hwaaaak!
In an instant, the heads of the Nine-Section Whip split into nine.
Then, occupying nine directions around me, they stabbed in like rays of light.
It was a thrust of tremendous speed, stabbing from nine directions as if to turn my body into a honeycomb.
Chwaaaak!
But those thrusts didn't touch my body either.
Because the moment the Nine-Section Whip pierced through me, my body shattered and scattered like a flower petal.
It was the ultimate technique of the Heavenly Wind Flower Petals that Mukrang was executing through my body.
But the Heavenly Wind Flower Petals he unfolded was less extravagant than what I had done.
Compared to the dozens of afterimages I had created, he produced barely a dozen or so—a far smaller number.
Those dozen afterimages flowed like petals, moving around the man.
Mukrang spoke.
"I don't know about amateurs, but when facing an opponent more skilled than yourself, what matters is quality, not quantity."
I could immediately understand what he meant.
Because the afterimages had become clearer due to the smaller number, and even Am Hyeol-hyang momentarily failed to locate my real body.
But as expected of one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, he showed no sign of panic even when he couldn't find the real body.
Hwaaaak!
His Nine-Section Whip instantly condensed, spiraling inward as if being sucked into a circle.
'That's?!'
It was clearly a technique I had witnessed before.
The technique that had torn my Emptiness is Form apart like a dragon whirlwind.
He likely intended to sweep away both the afterimages and the real body with that.
'Care...!'
Just as I was about to warn Mukrang.
The man's Nine-Section Whip expanded explosively first.
Hwaaaaaak!
Once more, a colossal dragon whirlwind revealed itself before me.
It was brandishing vicious claws that seemed ready to tear everything around it to shreds.
But Mukrang's response transcended my imagination once again.
'Wh-what?!'
I couldn't help but scream in astonishment.
It wasn't simply because my body had slipped through that attack.
Not only my real body, but even the afterimages were evading that brutal attack according to the profound mysteries of the Heavenly Wind Movement Art.
The afterimages moved as if they were alive. I couldn't even continue speaking.
'Wh-what is this?!'
Then Mukrang spoke in an amused voice.
"Didn't I tell you to liberate your thinking? You have already mastered Emptiness is Form. What was possible with the sword—why would you think it impossible with the body?"
Ting!
In that moment, it felt as if I'd been struck hard on the head.
He was right.
My Emptiness is Form was a technique that swapped an illusion sword for a real sword to attack the opponent. If that was possible with a sword, then it was entirely possible with the body as well.
Then Mukrang's amused voice came again.
"Now, about half the time remains. There is much more I would like to show you, but I'll have to be content with this much for now."
At those words, my mind snapped to attention.
Come to think of it, I had been so shocked that I'd even forgotten time was passing.
He had said earlier that only enough time to count to twenty remained.
Just as I hastily collected myself, Mukrang spoke.
"Focus."
At the same time, sword qi began to coalesce around the Mukrang Sword.
It wasn't the pale violet of my usual sword qi, but a deep, dark violet.
Hwaaaak!
"The Asura Pacheonmu is a sword technique composed of a single form. Because the sword of a conqueror who reigns over the whole world had no need for a second form. But my Mukrang Sword Technique is composed of three forms. Because, instead of the tyranny that shatters the opponent in a single stroke whether they're strong or weak, I wished to incorporate the consideration of matching my opponent's level."
At that moment, the head of the Nine-Section Whip split into nine once more.
And unlike before, it didn't stab immediately—it was coiling around to occupy nine directions, like the heads of a nine-headed dragon.
It seemed ready to constrict the instant it claimed every direction.
I was watching the shadows of the Nine-Section Whip covering the sky with tense eyes.
Then Mukrang's relaxed voice reached me.
"First form. Opening Heaven."
It was the moment those words ended.
Suddenly, the sky opened.
The sky—which had been blocked by the Nine-Section Whip that tightly encircled me without a gap—suddenly split apart and opened, as if cleaved by something.
And the fact that this something was the sword in my hand made me shudder uncontrollably.
I turned my gaze to Am Hyeol-hyang.
Then, for the first time, Am Hyeol-hyang, his expression one of horror, was retreating backward in a daze.
He, too, clearly hadn't grasped what had just happened.
Then Mukrang's voice came again.
"Second form. Flying Ascent."
Then my sword advanced forward.
Around the advancing sword, an enormous wing of deep violet spread out.
With a horrified expression, Am Hyeol-hyang swung his Nine-Section Whip, trying to block it.
But it was useless.
The moment the deep violet wings fully unfurled, the man's Nine-Section Whip could not withstand that colossal force and snapped apart.
Ttuk! Ttuduk!
The Nine-Section Whip, split into three pieces, scattered helplessly.
Am Hyeol-hyang was now hurling his body backward with a desperate expression.
He was probably trying to flee.
At that moment, Mukrang intoned the name of the third and final form.
"Third form. Heaven Annihilation."
Then, all at once, the fully spread deep violet wings began to pour forth a violent gale and lightning strikes.
It was a ferocious bombardment, as if truly intent on annihilating the heavens.
Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwang!
A moment that felt like both an instant and an eternity passed, and finally, the third form ended.
But even after my body touched the ground again, I couldn't say a word.
The earth where the third form had passed was completely scorched to ruin.
And so was the body of Am Hyeol-hyang.
His Nine-Section Whip, the clothes he had worn, and his body—all had been ground to dust and mixed somewhere into that devastated earth.
It was simply too overwhelming.
I couldn't fathom where exactly he had incorporated that so-called consideration.
At that moment, Mukrang spoke in his characteristically cheerful voice.
"Time's up. How was it? Did you learn well?"
I realized then that my body was beginning to move according to my will again.
But even so, I didn't answer.
I couldn't give any answer.
I just stared blankly at the scorched earth and Am Hyeol-hyang, who had become a part of it.