Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: You'll Die If You Keep That Up
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On the tournament stage at Celestial Lake, Ma Tae-pyeong and Mu-heun stood facing each other.
“……”
The members of the Heavenly Dance Family swallowed nervously.
The rising star of the Divine Dragon Assembly, Baek Mu-heun. The genius Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family and the Cult Leader’s sixth disciple. No one doubted his martial prowess any longer.
After all, who could doubt a master who had defeated Ak Jin-sam of the Red Demon Pavilion and Wu Mu-gyeong of the Law Palace?
But his opponent was Ma Tae-pyeong of the Sword Demon Family.
He was the grandson of the First Elder, Ma-yeon, known to be the strongest of the Twelve Elders, and was considered a strong contender for victory alongside Seol Ha-ryeong of the Sacred Fire Palace.
He hadn't drawn much attention until now, having ended all his matches swiftly, but that didn't change the fact that he was a candidate for the new Divine Dragon.
And now, these two had met on the tournament stage.
***
“Are you both ready?”
Gu-yeom asked.
“Yes!”
Ma Tae-pyeong and I answered in unison.
“Then let the match begin!”
*Boom!*
Amidst the tense atmosphere.
The sound of a drum echoed.
…
…
However, even after the match began, the stage remained quiet.
I had expected him to charge in immediately, but Ma Tae-pyeong simply stood still, staring at me without moving. I, too, just watched him, observing how he would proceed.
Then, Ma Tae-pyeong spoke.
“For a rising star, you seem to have a rather insidious side.”
‘What is this little punk babbling about?’
“……What are you trying to say?”
Ma Tae-pyeong sneered and said.
“Exactly what I said. It’s absurd to think that martial skill of your caliber could just fall from the sky one day… You must know that as well, don't you?”
‘This bastard is talking in circles…?’
“So……?”
I know.
But what am I supposed to do about it?
It might not make sense, but it’s true that I fell from the sky.
To be precise, I fell from the boundary between the living world and the afterlife…
“The reason your reputation has been so abysmal until now was all for this moment. That’s why I called you insidious. Am I wrong?”
Still, I couldn't figure out the intent behind this guy's rambling. If this was supposed to be a provocation, it was so poor I wondered if I should show him what a real provocation looked like.
“……So?”
“However! All your little tricks end here.”
“……”
I get it now. This guy wasn't trying to provoke me, nor was he trying to see through me. He was just…
Trying to show off by starting a conversation.
Ma Tae-pyeong drew the sword from his waist. He then raised it, pointed it at me, and said.
“I, Ma Tae-pyeong, will cut you in two, you who have deceived the world with your insidious nature.”
“Pfft.”
The sight was so ridiculous that a laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
“You laugh?”
“Ah, my apologies. I didn't mean to.”
“What…?”
“It’s just that I can't help but laugh when a pup that doesn't know its place tries to act tough in front of a tiger.”
“What!?”
“Sorry… but stop being ridiculous and let’s start. This is getting boring.”
“You bastard! That laugh will be your last.”
The way he shouted was quite amusing.
I gave him a faint smirk and said.
“Don't be so certain. You might die if you keep that up.”
“What?”
I, too, drew the Sun and Moon Sword and extended one hand toward Ma Tae-pyeong.
*Beckon, beckon.*
I extended my index finger and curled it twice before speaking.
“You’ll die if you keep that up.”
Greatly provoked by my last words, veins bulged on Ma Tae-pyeong’s forehead as he kicked off the ground, launched into the air, and sent a wave of sword energy at me.
*Swoooosh!*
*Twirl.*
I spun around gracefully, as if dancing, to avoid it. But Ma Tae-pyeong didn't lose track of my movements.
“Fifth Form of the Sword Demon Arts: Demonic Rain!”
*Swoooosh.*
Hundreds of sword energies rained down from the air. The dense barrage flew at me as if daring me to dodge.
But I moved as fluidly as a dancer, evading every single strike he sent. My steps were light, sweeping across the stage, my body moving like a feather on the wind.
The powerful sword energy shattered the stage, but I leaped onto the debris that shot up from the broken floor, spun, and jumped off, repeating the motion as I darted around.
To the spectators, my hopping and darting figure must have looked like a dancer.
“That, that footwork… isn’t that the footwork of the Heavenly Dance Family?”
Eleventh Elder Ma Yun-chu asked Baek Gun-hak.
“……It is.”
“Was it always meant to be used like that?”
“Well…”
It wasn’t.
In truth, the Heavenly Dance Family’s footwork wasn’t specialized for combat, so even Baek Gun-hak had never imagined it could be used in such a way.
The fluid, dance-like movements were indeed from the Heavenly Dance Family, but predicting where the sword strikes would land and dodging them had nothing to do with the footwork itself.
Yet, the reason his son was using this technique was clear…
‘It must be to elevate the family’s prestige…’
In front of the Heavenly Dance Family members, his brothers, and his father, he was reminding them once again.
‘The one fighting in the Divine Dragon Assembly right now is none other than a member of the Heavenly Dance Family.’
‘Behold, the footwork of the Heavenly Dance Family can also be brilliantly applied in any situation.’
‘I will take the lead in bringing news to the Cult, bearing the family’s name.’
‘Look, I am no longer the troublemaker who caused the family so much grief, am I?’
Watching Mu-heun’s match, the members of the Heavenly Dance Family felt as if they were hearing those words.
The expressions of the Heavenly Dance Family members gradually grew serious, as if they sensed something in the display I was putting on.
Feeling that I had shown my family enough, I dodged Ma Tae-pyeong’s Demonic Rain and swung my sword.
‘Heavenly Demon Slash.’
As countless sword energies rained down from the sky, I thrust my sword through a narrow gap with perfect precision. The demonic slash that shot forth then weaved through all the remaining openings to reach Ma Tae-pyeong.
*Swoooosh!*
*Boom!*
“Kugh!”
It was my first counterattack. As Ma Tae-pyeong blocked my slash with his sword, I spoke to him with a bored expression.
“Stop fooling around and come at me for real.”
“This bastard……”
I knew this wasn't the full extent of his abilities. But he needed to realize he wasn't the only one holding back. And to draw out my true power, Ma Tae-pyeong… you need to come at me with everything you've got.
“It seems you want to test me, but to do that, you'd have to be stronger than me. What’s the point of a half-hearted attempt? In the end, there can only be one winner in this match.”
“……”
Ma Tae-pyeong stood for a moment, looked up at the sky, and then said.
“Hahahahahahahaha! Indeed, so this is the rising star of the Divine Dragon Assembly.”
The atmosphere changed. The earlier awkwardness vanished as if it had been a lie.
“Now, I’ll get serious.”
His expression turned chillingly cold.
‘That’s it.’
The same expression he’d worn since the first round of the Divine Dragon Assembly.
‘So he was just acting until now…’
But I remained unfazed, or rather, even more bored, and said.
“I was about to die of boredom waiting.”
Unmoved by my words, Ma Tae-pyeong gripped his sword with both hands and took a stance.
“Sword Demon Arts: Three Kings.”
In an instant, the aura around him shifted. With his eyes calmly closed, Ma Tae-pyeong began to exude a suffocating killing intent.
“First King: The King of the Sundering Sword.”
I instinctively sensed the threat and moved to dodge.
Then, I felt his sword energy graze past my left side.
*Cra-ack!*
He had clearly unleashed sword energy, but… it sounded as if a giant hammer had struck the air, and a rugged line was carved in the direction his sword had pointed. The tournament stage between us, and even beyond, was torn apart and shattered by the sword.
The shocking sight sent the audience into an uproar. A single swing of the sword had split the massive stage in two. The King of the Sundering Sword, the weakest of the Sword Demon Family's ultimate techniques, the Three Kings. Its power stunned everyone present.
“Woooooaaaaah!”
“Was Ma Tae-pyeong always that strong?”
The Azure Dragon Unit Commander, Cheon Ga-rak, and Vice-Commander Cheon Gi-seom were also shocked.
“Wh-what was that?”
“F-Fourth Young Master…”
The members of the Heavenly Dance Family also swallowed nervously.
A genius.
One born with a talent for the sword.
I wasn’t the only one who had been biding my time to make a name for myself at the Divine Dragon Assembly. Considering Ma Tae-pyeong was not yet thirty, he was truly a prodigy of the sword.
Celestial Lake also churned violently from the impact of the sword strike, and the two halves of the tournament stage drifted slightly apart.
Seeing this, Un-pyo and Pa-sun were horrified.
By the time the sword strike, drawn at an imperceptible speed, registered in their eyes, the stage was already split in two, and their master had barely managed to evade it.
A chill ran down their spines, and worry took over.
Could their master truly defeat him…?
If Seol Ha-ryeong hadn't frozen the lake, the two halves of the stage would have completely separated and drifted away.
Ma Tae-pyeong was a master who had completely conquered the Transcendent Peak. Among the participants of the Divine Dragon Assembly, only a handful, including Seol Ha-ryeong and myself, could face him.
Just then, Ma Tae-pyeong spoke again.
“How could I, the one who will one day take the First Seat of the Council of Elders, possibly lose to you?”
“……”
“Now that the smile is gone from your face, you look somewhat presentable.”
I didn't respond to Ma Tae-pyeong's continued provocations. No, I felt no need to. However, ignoring him completely would be rude, so I decided to say one thing.
“How boring.”
Just then.
“Heavenly Demon Sword Arts, the Soundless Sword.”
*Swish.*
I used a technique that even most masters would find difficult to detect. It was a sword style that Master Heavenly Demon himself hadn't favored much but had taught me, saying it might be useful someday.
A sword art without sound. I unleashed the Soundless Sword, and a red line of blood was drawn across Ma Tae-pyeong’s cheek. Now, it was time to teach this guy what a real provocation was.
Wiping the blood from his cheek, Ma Tae-pyeong seethed with rage.
“……You bastard.”
“I told you to stop running your mouth, didn't I?”
“……”
“I told you you’d get yourself killed.”
A vein bulged on Ma Tae-pyeong's forehead.
“Enough talk!”
Ma Tae-pyeong kicked off the ground with enough force to shatter the stage and rushed toward me, swinging a sword that visibly pulsed with an immense concentration of energy.
It was a level of speed and power completely different from before. I, too, focused my energy into the Sun and Moon Sword and met his blade. The moment our swords clashed, a powerful shockwave shook the entire tournament stage.
*Claaaaang!*
The stage had truly become a battlefield, an epic scene unfolding as if dozens of thunderclap bombs were exploding at once.
***
Ma-yeon, the head of the Sword Demon Family, watched the duel intently before approaching the head of the Heavenly Dance Family and speaking.
“I would like my grandson to win, but the Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family is certainly no pushover.”
“Haha, you flatter him.”
Baek Gun-hak maintained a faint smile, hiding his concern.
“Not at all. From what I can see, their skills are evenly matched… or perhaps the Fourth Young Master is even stronger. But… that is why I am worried.”
“Worried about what…?”
The First Elder stroked his beard and smiled faintly.
“My grandson, in his fighting spirit, might accidentally use a killing blow, you see.”
“……!”
“Hahaha! Do not worry, Head of the Heavenly Dance Family. Accidents are common in duels, but surely… he won’t die, will he?”
“You…! What are you trying to say?”
“Just that… I am concerned. That is all.”
Concerned.
He wasn't concerned that Ma Tae-pyeong might kill Baek Mu-heun. The First Elder's true meaning was that he was concerned about how powerful Baek Mu-heun might become if he continued on this path.
Baek Mu-heun was currently fighting on equal footing with Ma Tae-pyeong, who had been hailed as a genius since childhood. As the head of the Sword Demon Family, Ma-yeon understood Mu-heun's talent better than anyone.
For him to die at Ma Tae-pyeong's hands before he grew too powerful to control—that was his true intention.
Realizing this, Baek Gun-hak's expression hardened, and the atmosphere in the VIP seating for the elders turned ice-cold.
Just then.
“We’ll know when we see it! What’s with all the chatter?”
“That’s right. Since when have we become so afraid of a children’s fight?”
Second Elder Gyu Un-jang and Third Elder Seo Mu-yeol.
The two of them threw a stone into the icy atmosphere.
“Indeed. We will know when we see it.”
Baek Gun-hak also responded, and the elders focused on the match once more.
However, the mood circulating among the elders was not the same as before.