Chapter 257: Pursuit-2
Chapter 257: Pursuit-2
"Hah! Hah! Ack!"
Jin So-eun, who had been running beside Seonwoo Jin while gasping for breath, stumbled momentarily.
Her legs had given out.
"Sojeo!"
Because she had seemed unsteady for a while, Seonwoo Jin, who had been running beside her, hurriedly caught her.
Thanks to him, Jin So-eun did not fall, and she spoke while gasping for breath.
"I-I'm sorry, Gongja."
Seonwoo Jin bit his lip.
Of course, carrying Myo A-ran and fleeing through the night had been tremendously grueling work, but even considering that, Jin So-eun's stamina was depleting far too quickly.
And Seonwoo Jin thought he knew the reason clearly.
'The aftereffects of her fight with Hyeoluryeon were still lingering.'
Even if her internal energy had recovered, her physical stamina apparently had not.
And that was entirely understandable.
At that time, Jin So-eun had fought for two full days and nights relying on her mental strength.
She had pushed her body and mind to the limit.
So, it might have been stranger if she had already recovered.
Failing to account for her stamina was clearly his own mistake.
But now, he could not regret that moment nor could he be considerate and let her rest here.
Because Jin Tae-do was closing in from behind at a terrifying speed.
And behind him, the swordsmen of Pa Cheon-jo the Six Harmony Swordsman were pursuing him.
Crunch!
Seonwoo Jin clenched his teeth.
If they were caught here in this state, everything would be over.
Even if he managed to survive somehow, he did not know what would become of Ma Yu-gyeom, Myo A-ran, or even Jin So-eun.
Seonwoo Jin, carrying Ma Yu-gyeom with one hand, pulled Jin So-eun along with the other.
"We must go, Sojeo! Just hold on a little longer!"
"Yes, yes!"
But even as he pulled Jin So-eun and made her run, the situation still did not improve.
Roughly calculating Jin Tae-do's speed and the distance to him, it was obvious they would be caught the moment they reached the bridge at this rate.
'Should I have moved together with the Six Harmony Swordsmen, even at the risk of being spotted by them?'
In hindsight, that seemed to have been the wiser choice.
It was a mistake he made because he failed to consider that Jin So-eun's stamina would not have recovered.
But that was not something to regret right now either.
He needed a method he could use immediately.
Just then, Jin Tae-do's voice rang out from behind.
- Inparang!
The man's voice was filled with ecstasy.
He was clearly certain that he had caught them now.
That was when it happened.
Jin So-eun, even while running and gasping, checked the distance to Jin Tae-do and shouted toward Seonwoo Jin.
"Seon-woo, Gongja! Hah, hah, leave, hah, us, and go!"
The moment he heard those words, Seonwoo Jin felt a surge of anger welling up inside him.
Following Ma Yu-gyeom and Myo A-ran, even she was starting to sing the song of leaving him behind.
So it was when he looked at her with fierce eyes.
She continued speaking.
"That man, won't, hah, do anything, to me, right away...."
She seemed to think that, in her own way, this was the only possible method right now.
But the moment he saw her eyes, Seonwoo Jin felt he could understand what she was thinking.
Even without Mukrang deliberately reading her mind, her resolute eyes spoke of what she had resolved to do.
The moment he read Jin So-eun's resolve, Seonwoo Jin's heart sank cold as ice.
And he asked Jin So-eun.
"Are you planning to throw yourself off a cliff before being caught?"
At that, a look of bewilderment rose on Jin So-eun's face.
"W-what?!"
He could tell just from her expression.
Because it was an expression of bewilderment at having her inner thoughts exposed.
She had apparently been thinking of taking her own life along with Myo A-ran rather than being a burden to Seonwoo Jin.
Seonwoo Jin looked at her with cold eyes and said.
"Jin Sojeo, do not ever treat your life lightly. That is something I absolutely cannot allow."
"B-but...."
"I said I cannot allow it. Without my permission, Sojeo cannot go anywhere."
Faced with the cold gaze Seonwoo Jin showed her for the first time, and the strange passion she felt within that gaze, Jin So-eun could no longer retort.
And despite the situation, she suddenly felt her heart flutter.
Because his statement that she could not go anywhere without his permission somehow felt thrilling.
But in this desperate situation, that thrill could not last long.
Seonwoo Jin suddenly handed Ma Yu-gyeom over to Jin So-eun.
"Take him!"
"W-what?! Ugh!"
As Jin So-eun, whose legs had given out, staggered while holding Ma Yu-gyeom in addition to Myo A-ran's weight, Seonwoo Jin turned around and spoke to her.
"Run with all your might and cross the bridge. I will buy some time here."
At those words, Jin So-eun cried out in horror.
"Go-Gongja! That is?!"
But at that moment, Seonwoo Jin had already stopped his body, meeting her eyes as he drew his sword.
Sreureung!
And looking at her, he calmly said.
"Trust me, Sojeo. I will definitely catch up."
The look in Seonwoo Jin's eyes as he spoke was deeply and quietly subdued.
Somehow, Jin So-eun felt reassured by that look in Seonwoo Jin's eyes.
Because his eyes did not, at the very least, look like the eyes of a man prepared for death.
So Jin So-eun was able to nod with resolute eyes as well.
'If he said he can do it, then that must be the case.'
It was trust.
Absolute trust in Seonwoo Jin.
Jin So-eun turned her head and began running desperately while carrying both Myo A-ran and Ma Yu-gyeom.
To lighten his burden, she herself had to cross the bridge as quickly as possible.
***
Jin Tae-do's eyes took in the sight of Seonwoo Jin drawing his sword and stopping.
A smile naturally formed on his lips.
'Stupid bastard.'
To Jin Tae-do, Myo A-ran, the White Wolf Sword, Jin So-eun were merely side branches.
Side branches that would be nice to kill but didn't really matter if he didn't.
His true target had been only Inparang all along.
Yet Inparang, his true target, instead of sacrificing the other side branches and slipping away, was trying to sacrifice himself for them.
To Jin Tae-do's way of thinking, it was utterly incomprehensible, an act of sheer stupidity.
'But, it doesn't matter.'
If the bastard was going to act stupid, there was no need to refuse, was there?
Laughter burst forth at the surging ecstasy.
"Kuhahahahaha!"
With a mad laugh, Jin Tae-do finally reached the spot where Seonwoo Jin stood.
And he immediately lunged for him.
It was the ultimate fast thrust of his signature technique, the Jinyong Sword Technique, which reached its target before the sound.
"Die!"
Shiiiik!
That was the moment.
Jin Tae-do saw Seonwoo Jin also thrusting his sword toward him.
As if attempting mutual destruction, the bastard had chosen offense instead of defense.
Jin Tae-do smiled a bitter smirk.
'Keuk, foolish bastard!'
It was laughable.
A man who had learned the Southern Cross Sword dared to thrust his sword at the same time as him.
Moreover, wasn't the Southern Cross Sword a strong sword style, not a quick sword style?
Before the bastard's sword even got halfway, his own sword would surely pierce the bastard through.
But the moment he thought that, Jin Tae-do couldn't help but be shocked.
"!"
Shiiiik!
The bastard's sword was thrusting toward his chest at nearly the same speed as his own.
Though slightly slower, it was nearly simultaneous; at this rate, he himself could not avoid death.
'How?!'
Shocked, Jin Tae-do urgently tilted his body to the side.
After finally cornering him to this point, mutual destruction with the bastard—he could not commit such an insane act.
Shiiiiiiiik!
The bastard's quick sword grazed past Jin Tae-do's chest.
It was a moment that sent a chill through his chest.
And the next moment, he saw the bastard pass by him, wearing a bitter smirk.
Because he had tilted his body to avoid the bastard's sword, Jin Tae-do's sword had no choice but to go wide as well.
Their positions swapped, and Jin Tae-do cried out toward Seonwoo Jin with a shocked expression.
"That sword, don't tell me, the Sail Sword Technique?!"
It was.
The technique Seonwoo Jin had just used was One Strike of the Jeomchang Sect's Sail Sword Technique, famed as the fastest in the world.
While Jin Tae-do could never acknowledge it as the fastest sword strike under heaven, it was undeniably a formidable quick sword.
And that One Strike had just been executed by the bastard Inparang. It was a situation Jin Tae-do couldn't comprehend at all.
That was when it happened.
Behind Seonwoo Jin, six Six Harmony Swordsmen, including Ja Seong-jin-in, pounced on him.
They too had arrived, following Jin Tae-do.
"You bastard! Haaaaap!"
Shwaaaaaak!
Jin Tae-do smiled once more as he watched the six transcendent peak masters lunging at Seonwoo Jin's back.
It was a bit flustering that his single strike had been rendered futile, but the fact that the bastard was a rat in a trap had not changed.
Furthermore, the bastard's position was now encircled by him and the Hengshan Sect swordsmen; he couldn't even go toward the bridge without getting past him.
And of course, he had absolutely no intention of stepping aside.
But that was the moment.
As if he couldn't even hear the shouts of the Six Harmony Swordsmen coming from behind, the bastard began charging toward him again without even turning his gaze backwards.
Pabak!
The bastard's eyes were fixed directly on him alone.
A look of tenacity, as if determined to kill him no matter what.
He was probably attempting mutual destruction again.
But this time, Jin Tae-do did not thrust his sword but set it up before his body.
He intended to defend rather than attack.
'Think the same trick will work twice?'
He didn't need to personally deal with the bastard.
All he had to do was stop him.
Then the swords of the Hengshan Sect masters would come thrusting from behind, wouldn't they?
So this time, whether the bastard used quick sword or strong sword, he had absolutely no intention of moving aside.
As Jin Tae-do was thinking this and preparing for Inparang's quick sword.
"Hap!"
The moment Seonwoo Jin's sword was swung, Jin Tae-do's eyes filled with shock once again.
Along with the short shout, the bastard's sword split into dozens, hundreds of blades and unfurled like the sun.
Hwaaaaaak!
This time it was an illusion sword.
Shocked, Jin Tae-do shouted.
"Even an illusion sword?!"
Jin Tae-do could not help but be bewildered by the bastard's unexpected sword technique.
Strong sword, quick sword, and even illusion sword.
And each one was a tremendous sword technique worthy of being called a world-class ultimate technique.
He couldn't understand how the bastard had learned such things.
But Jin Tae-do was one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World.
No matter how great the sword technique, to him it was only a little surprising.
He soon began observing Seonwoo Jin's blade with a cold expression once more.
'Yes, come on then.'
No matter what unfamiliar sword technique he faced, Jin Tae-do had no intention of letting the bastard get behind him.
He was soon able to spot the bastard's true form hidden behind the illusion sword with cold eyes.
'It is there.'
It was when he was calmly aiming for Seonwoo Jin's true form.
Suddenly, Seonwoo Jin's sword underwent another change.
Shwaaaaaaaaak!
"!"
At that moment, Jin Tae-do was genuinely horrified.
The hundreds of sword shadows that had clearly been an illusion sword were suddenly manifesting into reality all at once, pouncing toward him.
He could not know it, but it was the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords' ultimate technique, Emptiness is Form.
'What kind of sword technique is this!'
Jin Tae-do scattered his sword with all his might.
"Haaaaaaap!"
Shwaaaaaaak!
Then his sword image spread wide in an instant, becoming an iron wall covering his entire body and beginning to receive Seonwoo Jin's attack.
A wall of sword qi, a sword barrier, intercepting the bombardment of hundreds of sword shadows.
Pababababababak!
Seonwoo Jin's sword shadows collided with Jin Tae-do's sword barrier and dissipated into nothing.
The sword strikes, like sunlight that had filled the sky, ultimately could not pierce Jin Tae-do's sword barrier and faded away.
Jin Tae-do's sword barrier, with all his strength behind it, had ultimately succeeded in defense.
Realizing the opponent's blade had finished, Jin Tae-do let out a sigh of relief and thought.
'It is over.'
Though his spine had chilled for a moment, Jin Tae-do was still satisfied.
Because while blocking the attack before his eyes, he had simultaneously not lost sight of Seonwoo Jin's form visible behind the sword shadows.
In the end, the bastard had failed in his final attack and could not get past him.
It had been a quite surprising sword technique, but in the end, this was it.
Into Jin Tae-do's eyes came the sight of the Six Harmony Swordsmen's swords thrusting into the back of the bastard who had poured out his fierce attack.
"Limitless Life Buddha!"
Shiiiik!
Swords were embedded into the bastard's widely exposed back.
It could never be blocked.
Because the bastard's back, having exhausted all his strength in the final attack, was completely wide open.