Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Gwisu Blocks the Axe
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Gwisu's cleaver blocked Tak Hyuk-dong's axe as it came plummeting down vertically.
Kwaaaang!
"Huh?"
Tak Hyuk-dong furrowed his brow at the sensation, like pounding on an iron wall.
The pain shooting up his wrist was no joke.
'This bastard?'
He circulated his Ten Thunder Power and unleashed the Mighty Seven Axes.
The axe that had clashed with the blade swept horizontally in an instant.
It was the first form of the Mighty Seven Axes' Phantom Profound Extension.
Kwarurung!
Thunder roared as the axe traced a massive arc following the technique's trajectory.
Gwisu's upper body shook, slipping out of the Mighty Seven Axes' path for a split second before burrowing into Tak Hyuk-dong's guard in a flash.
Tak Hyuk-dong startled at the snake-like clinging saber art and swung his axe while retreating a step.
Kwang! Kakakakang!
But the bastard stuck like glue, whipping his blade with blinding speed.
Tak Hyuk-dong twisted his arms in all directions to fend off the onslaught of saber strikes.
Kakakakakakang! Kang!
"Ugh! Kruk!"
Gwisu created ten saber shadows with a single stroke.
Like ten snakes coiling up a tree, he pressed Tak Hyuk-dong with fluid, sticky ferocity.
Kwang! Kwangkwakwang!
"Kraauk!"
Tak Hyuk-dong's face turned beet red.
Every time he barely blocked the flashy saber shadows, a shock hit his wrist like it might snap off.
'What the hell is this bastard? What kind of saber art is this?'
His axe got tangled in the bastard's blade like a fly in a spiderweb.
Swaaak!
The blade grazed his chest, sending chills down his spine.
The moment his focus slipped to the blade, Gwisu's palm struck his abdomen.
Jee-eong!
"Keurk!"
A razor-sharp energy sliced through his organs like a knife.
Tak Hyuk-dong's upper body jerked.
As the bastard's blade came to bisect his waist, Tak Hyuk-dong hurriedly rolled backward.
Swuaaaang!
The air exploded where the energy passed, shrieking in protest.
Tak Hyuk-dong tumbled desperately and scrambled back to his feet.
'This...'
Cold sweat poured down. This guy was on another level from the others.
'What the hell kind of internal energy is this?'
The nature of his internal energy was starkly different from the norm.
Sticky and turbid, yet venomous like poison.
Even his thunder-infused Ten Thunder Power lost its bite against that sticky energy.
Tak Hyuk-dong clutched his churning gut and rolled his eyes.
'Fuck.'
Sring!
He whipped his head around at the sound of a blade drawn from behind.
Geon Cheon-hwi was stepping forward, sword in hand.
"I-I can handle this alone!"
Ignoring the stammering Tak Hyuk-dong, Geon Cheon-hwi said gravely.
"We attack together."
"What? No, a man's pride! I just let my guard down for a moment..."
"That guy's the real deal."
Tension etched clearly across Geon Cheon-hwi's face.
Tak Hyuk-dong shut his mouth, gripped his axe tighter, abandoning his pride.
"I'll take the front."
Tak Hyuk-dong circulated his Ten Thunder Power to its limit and glared at the approaching Gwisu.
The bastard sneered.
As if daring them to try a joint attack, he even clasped one hand behind his back in leisure.
Blatant provocation.
And Tak Hyuk-dong wasn't one to ignore a taunt.
"You fucking dog!"
Tak Hyuk-dong raised his axe overhead and brought it down with all his might.
Swuaaaaang! Kwaaaang!
The Mountain-Breaking Single Axe technique.
The massive axe fell like it would split a mountain.
Kwarurung!
Thunder cracked fiercely as heavy energy gathered on the axe blade.
The axe arced in a semicircle, cleaving toward the bastard's skull.
"Huh?"
Seulk!
With a faint afterimage, the bastard sprang out to Tak Hyuk-dong's left in an instant.
Tak Hyuk-dong's eyes bulged as he twisted into a defensive stance, but the bastard's blade was far faster.
"Hueup!"
As he panicked, Geon Cheon-hwi burst from hiding behind him, unleashing the Thunder Dragon Ten Sabers.
A saber art laden with heavy power amid blinding speed.
Kang! Kakakakakang!
The Thunder Dragon Ten Sabers clashed with the onslaught of ten saber shadows, sparks flying everywhere.
"Ugh!"
Sticky, repulsive shock traveled up his wrist.
The tenacious, insidious assault pierced the Thunder Dragon Ten Sabers' saber veil, targeting his vital points.
Geon Cheon-hwi pressed forward against the saber art's overwhelming power.
"Haaap!"
He countered Gwisu's enigmatic saber art with the Thunder Dragon Ascension form from the Thunder Dragon Ten Sabers.
Blue energy gathered on Geon Cheon-hwi's vertically rising saber, shattering the saber shadows.
A flicker of surprise crossed Gwisu's eyes, but that was it.
He twisted his wrist, and the saber shadows merged, instantly trapping the rising saber.
In that moment, Geon Cheon-hwi's blade changed trajectory.
The ascending blade arced into a circle, shifting forms.
Kakakakang!
Four clashes in an instant, and blood sprayed from Geon Cheon-hwi's shoulder as he staggered back.
As Gwisu closed in to seize the advantage.
"Formation! Get back!"
Tak Hyuk-dong leaped over Geon Cheon-hwi and swung his axe down.
"Hmph!"
Gwisu snorted and thrust out a palm strike.
The palm force erupting from his hand repelled not just the falling axe but hurled Tak Hyuk-dong backward as well.
Jee-eong!
"Keurk! W-what the hell?!"
Deflecting an axe with bare hands?
How monstrous was that palm force?
Even as he panicked, the crisis continued, and this time Geon Cheon-hwi took over against the bastard.
Geon Cheon-hwi's Thunder Dragon Ten Sabers blocked Gwisu's saber art while Tak Hyuk-dong bull-rushed with the Mighty Seven Axes.
'No way?'
'Even together, it doesn't work?'
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong faltered.
They could clearly feel they'd improved since before through training, yet they were still being pushed back.
Their faces flushed crimson as they barely withstood Gwisu's attacks and staggered away.
Kang! Kakakakang!
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong retreated fiercely, then split left and right after taking saber slashes to shoulders and thighs.
"Kraauk!"
"Kruuk!"
Gwisu charged in, truly pressing the two.
Ha Taegon roared with laughter watching Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong get pushed back relentlessly.
"Kuhahaha! As expected of a great hero! You're turning the tide of battle!"
His eyes hadn't been wrong.
In a battle of martial artists, the difference one supreme expert made was clear from the atmosphere alone.
Gwisu was the real deal.
No doubt about his skill watching him dominate Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong.
Ha Taegon chuckled and glanced at Namgung Hyeok.
'He's scared!'
The furrowed brow as he watched the three-way fight confirmed it.
Who wouldn't fear an enemy like that supreme expert?
Even if Namgung Hyeok had broken his sword, the kid was still just a greenhorn.
No more than a late-stage junior.
How strong could a punk like him be?
He shouted triumphantly.
With ten paces between them, he could point and laugh freely.
"Uahaha! You'll be like that soon! Begging for mercy won't save you!"
Namgung Hyeok twitched his eyebrow and stared straight ahead.
Yeah, he wants to deny reality!
Ha Taegon guffawed.
"What? Gonna lend a hand with those twiggy fingers? Dream on. As if a punk like you jumping in could change the outcome? Just worry about how to die easy."
A greenhorn daring to join a fight between those supreme experts?
'Oh?'
His expression—he's pissed?
Of course he'd be furious.
He never expected a monster like that hiding in the bandit stronghold.
As Ha Taegon chuckled and turned toward the fight.
Namgung Hyeok scowled deeply, then sighed.
"Ah, those frustrating idiots. I told them to capture him—what are they doing?"
With that, he strode right into the thick of the fight between Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong.
Ha Taegon's eyes went wide.
'Huh? He's really jumping in? Gotta respect the guts!'
Thinking it mere youthful bravado ignorant of the world, Ha Taegon yelled.
"Great hero! That's Namgung Hyeok! You need to take him out, that bastard's the...!"
His bellow cut off as his eyes bulged.
Kuwoong!
The moment Namgung Hyeok kicked off the ground!
The earth cratered, and his figure shot toward Gwisu like a cannonball.
Swuaaaaang!
Gwisu's eyes flew wide.
He flinched at the colossal pressure erupting from the front.
Gwisu hurriedly shoved Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong away and raised his blade to block.
At the same time, Namgung Hyeok's Soul-Shattering Fist smashed into Gwisu.
Kwa-aaaaaaang!
Crash!
Like hundreds of catties of gunpowder exploding, Gwisu flew back and crashed into the stronghold's wooden fence.
Kwaang!
White dust billowed as the fence collapsed in ruins.
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong snapped their heads up.
"Huh?"
"Gasp?"
What just happened?
They never imagined Gwisu would fly off and slam into something from a single blow.
'What kind of power?'
'Did he strap a cannonball to his fist?'
They could scarcely believe a person could fly like that, even seeing it before their eyes.
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong stared blankly at Namgung Hyeok.
Namgung Hyeok shook out his fist, steam rising from the heat, as if it were nothing.
Ha Taegon, witnessing it from afar, nearly fainted in shock.
'W-what? What the hell just happened?'
Sending Gwisu—who had been toying with the Thunder Dragon Squad leader and deputy—flying with one punch?
That greenhorn...?
No way? What is this?
Ha Taegon panicked briefly, then his eyes widened.
'R-right! No way that's it!'
The fence rustled, and Gwisu rose as if unharmed.
"Great hero! Finish him quick!"
Gwisu glared coldly at Ha Taegon before turning to Namgung Hyeok.
He lightly shook his trembling arm and eyed Namgung Hyeok.
"...You're different."
He tossed aside his shattered blade and sized up Namgung Hyeok.
He'd been startled by the surprise blow, but that was all.
Since it landed in a moment of carelessness, Gwisu dismissed it.
Just a bit surprised, that's all.
Namgung Hyeok was faster and stronger than expected, nothing more.
"I let my guard down."
Namgung Hyeok cocked his head and looked at Gwisu.
"Hmm."
He flexed his fist curiously, then asked.
"Where are you from?"
"What does a soon-to-be-dead man need to know?"
"By my plans, I'll live at least another hundred years minimum? I'm not dying today, so tell me."
If he ascends, five hundred or a thousand years more.
Gwisu's eyebrow twitched at Namgung Hyeok's smirk.
"Strutting just because one sneak attack landed."
"You idiot, if I hadn't held back, you'd be done."
"Arrogant fool. I'll show you there's a wider sky."
Gwisu's expression chilled, the atmosphere shifting.
"Huh?"
"Young master!"
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong tensed at the ominous aura from Gwisu's sudden change and called out.
Namgung Hyeok sneered.
"Who'd think you're the best under heaven? Ever seen one?"
The guy standing before you is called supreme under heaven, past and present, you fool.
Heard there's always a bigger sky?
Gwisu hardened his face and charged.
"You worm!"
He crossed five paces in one leap, shooting toward Namgung Hyeok.
Hwaaaang!
A red-hot palm force bored into Namgung Hyeok's heart.
Fast, concise, brimming with ferocious power.
Namgung Hyeok dodged lightly and tapped Gwisu's wrist.
Pak!
Kwaang!
The twisted palm force cratered the ground, leaving a deep handprint.
Gwisu's eyes flashed savagely as he counterattacked swiftly.
He twisted his wrist in bizarre fashion, unleashing dozens of changes in one breath.
Instantly, a blood-red curtain of palm force enveloped Namgung Hyeok.
Namgung Hyeok circulated Infinite Steps to evade the palm force and struck Gwisu's wrist.
Papapapapapang!
Explosive bursts filled the air as the ground flipped and handprints pounded into the clearing.
Gwisu pursued Namgung Hyeok with bloodshot eyes, unleashing palm force madly.
Each drop like rain carried power to crush a thousand-catty boulder.
Kukwakwakwa kwang!
White dust rose, the earth's surface upheaved in a shocking spectacle.
Papapapak!
Stone shards and energy shockwaves ravaged the surroundings.
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyuk-dong were horrified.
This was a whole different league from when he'd fought them.
Ha Taegon clenched his fists.
"As expected, great hero! Crush him! Give him an inch and he'll take the sky! Right! Pound him flat!"
Ha Taegon cackled watching Gwisu's onslaught.
But the man himself couldn't laugh.
Gwisu panicked with every exchange.
'What the...?