Chapter 357
Chapter 357
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 357
Chapter Title: Sword God (2)
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The brawl's beginning.
“......”
Baek Mu-hyeon lifted his wooden sword calmly, without panic.
He neither unleashed a starter form nor lowered into a stance.
Just.
While standing there.
Whoosh!
He swung the wooden sword upward.
“Is that all you've got?”
A flat voice.
Using his sturdy legs as a pivot, he spun his body once more to deflect the attack.
With that simple motion.
Boom!
My secret technique, Poison Flash Martial Advance, was perfectly bounced away.
And then...
Psssh!
The Sun Spear, Eldrin, Mugak—the assaults from all four Spirit Kings were completely nullified.
An utterly absurd display of power!
Baek Mu-hyeon shook out his left hand and cracked his neck joints with a creak.
“You wouldn't tell me that's everything, would you?”
“......”
I was at a loss for words.
No matter how immense his power had been in his past life.
This was too much...
How many Constellations were there?
And he deflected them all with a single wooden sword?
No, it wasn't just deflection.
Looking at Baek Mu-hyeon, not a single thread of his clothing had been touched.
“Hahaha, well now... Not bad at all?”
Fwoosh!
The Fire Spirit King Sallion let out a hollow laugh.
“We went easy since it was a group attack, but he just had to bruise our pride?”
Elraim readjusted his stance.
“Went easy?”
Baek Mu-hyeon's eyebrow twisted oddly.
“You call this 'going easy,' when you're not even drawing on your true power?”
Rumble!
An indescribable, overwhelming force erupted clearly from his body.
Before I could even register it.
His wooden sword was already closing in on Elraim's neck.
“......Hm?”
Splash!
Elraim swiftly summoned a jet of water.
Thud!
But with a dull sound, it scattered pathetically in all directions.
At the same time, his wooden sword reached Elraim.
A simple horizontal slash.
Slash!
With that one strike, Elraim's form vanished completely.
“......!”
Yui-sa's eyes widened.
His other subordinates gaped in shock as well.
Same for me.
I knew Bone-yi was impressive, but I hadn't expected this level.
Reverse-summoning a Spirit King with one swing of a wooden sword?
Then what was the point of all my efforts to awaken Yui-sa?
“Next.”
Baek Mu-hyeon calmly raised his wooden sword again.
“I said I'd face you in earnest. So show me your earnest effort.”
No.
Bone-yi.
If you say that, it hurts.
We've been fighting in earnest since earlier?
You're just insanely strong...
'But.'
Honestly, it didn't feel bad.
Bone-yi being that powerful.
It meant he'd perform at that level once he became my subordinate, right?
Of course, for now.
It was a pain in the ass.
“You insolent cur! How dare you before your lord!”
Grit!
The Sun Spear ground his teeth and charged again.
“Very well.”
Baek Mu-hyeon turned his head.
“You were there too. The one who shows disgust every time he looks at me.”
Boom!
A vertical slash.
“Emotional outbursts without the skill to back them up are nothing but a child's noisy tantrum.”
Baek Mu-hyeon powerfully knocked the Sun Spear's lance upward.
And the result.
“Damn it.”
The Sun Spear's lance flew into the air.
A lancer losing his weapon?
Unthinkable. He tried to hold on.
Crack!
But before the overwhelming force that could shatter dragon-bone fingers, resistance was futile.
“......Filthy strong bastard.”
The Sun Spear muttered.
A scene that showed just how cheat-like Baek Mu-hyeon's strike was.
“Tch.”
Baek Mu-hyeon clicked his tongue at the dazed Sun Spear.
“You've barely stepped into the entry of Constellation level, and you expected what? You're still lacking.”
“Don't make me laugh!”
“I'm not laughing.”
Boom!
Baek Mu-hyeon's wooden sword swept through the Sun Spear's midsection.
That was it.
Just one strike, and the Sun Spear was reverse-summoned too.
“......”
Gulp.
I swallowed hard.
The Sun Spear could be resummoned anyway.
But this was too strong?
Could I ever make the Sun Spear that strong? If asked.
Absolutely impossible.
The Sun Spear was a full Constellation!
“Hmm.”
After pulling off something insane, he shook off his wooden sword nonchalantly and turned to me.
Thrust!
He pointed the wooden sword at me.
It had been blocked by Kaden earlier, but now he bent his knees, ready for a proper clash.
“You're prepared, I assume?”
'Damn it.'
And then.
Rumble!
He charged forward, carving the cave floor, closing in instantly.
What to do?
Run?
No place to flee from that sword strike in this cave.
To be precise, running would just mean certain death.
Just as he closed in.
Thud!
The Destruction Dragon's shield embedded itself in front of me.
“Hyah! Unless you break me, you won't touch Master!”
Kaden's sturdy shout!
['Kaden' uses the skill 'Destruction Immunity' (SSS Grade).]
[Gain immunity to all destruction for 10 seconds.]
Rumble rumble rumble!
Baek Mu-hyeon's attacks, which seemed capable of crushing the world, poured onto Kaden's shield.
“Hoh.”
He gripped his wooden sword anew, intrigued.
Leaping into the air.
He slashed, thrust, and struck.
“Fascinating. A concept that blocks automatically?”
Baek Mu-hyeon tilted his head.
Even if it was a wooden sword, for it to block his sword multiple times?
A sight impossible in the martial world.
Strange skills running rampant—truly befitting the vast universe.
“But.”
He could feel it.
That seemingly invincible shield, blocking everything, would soon shatter.
“I'll end this!”
Spotting an opening as the mystical energy on the shield faded.
Baek Mu-hyeon's sword moved like lightning.
“Hup!”
I sucked in a breath.
The wooden sword already at my abdomen.
Thump!
An immense shock spread from my gut to my crown, fingertips, and toes—zap!
'Whoa.'
No doubt about it.
How long had it been since I'd felt pain greater than the Elder's beatings?
My body, tempered endlessly with unbreakable Pain Resistance.
Yet I shuddered from the bone-deep agony.
“Master!”
Kaden shouted.
Whirr!
Dana poured out healing.
“Gah!”
Even so, crimson blood gushed from my mouth like a fountain.
The other subordinates and Hasera moved to assist with a group attack.
Yet amid it all.
Swish, swish!
Baek Mu-hyeon simply parried and blocked with his wooden sword.
'Right.'
I glared at him, biting my lip.
You want to clash with me directly?
Leap!
Regaining control of my bouncing body, I landed heavily.
Fwoosh!
I spun my spear in circles.
No matter how grand a Constellation you are, a solid hit from this spear would hurt like hell, you know?
So.
Try not to get hit if you can!
Rumble!
Suppressing the pain, I kicked off the ground.
Pressure surged in my gut like I might vomit, but I ignored it and thrust my arm forward.
A thrust.
This single thrust contained the essence of all myriad techniques.
Swish, swish swish!
My steps zigzagged, treading shadows.
Footwork.
This footwork was the same.
As erratic as possible, as ferocious as possible.
“Die!”
I charged straight in.
* * *
“Hmm......”
The so-called good Baek Mu-hyeon.
Ghost Bone-yi groaned as he watched the battle.
'No matter that it's our past selves...'
He was strong.
Too strong.
Could a monster that discarded all human emotions, leaving only goals and desires, become that strong?
'Well.'
That was exactly what a Constellation was.
And this greedy Baek Mu-hyeon wasn't just any Constellation.
One who had gathered hundreds of Constellations—a colossal star, greater than a stellar cluster.
Rumble!
Whenever Baek Mu-hyeon's true self swung his wooden sword.
Countless skeletons were crushed and split.
The problem was that those skeletons were stars illuminating the universe.
'......This.'
No hope?
Bone-yi smiled bitterly.
'What have I...'
What kind of monster had I been raising?
If things continued like this.
Clearly, total annihilation in less than an hour.
Under that terrifying wooden sword, the lord's body would shatter.
And the shiny skeletons wouldn't revive.
'Really.'
What an absurd situation.
I didn't know what a [Dungeon] was.
But the universe's system must have created it based on balance.
And there was a clear reason it materialized their master, the Myriad Arts Elder, and Kang So-so.
'To fight together.'
To match that difficulty...
But the Elder and the lord...
Were raising the difficulty themselves.
'Of course.'
A thread of hope remained.
'There.'
Bone-yi turned his head.
The red-haired girl who hadn't joined the fight since earlier.
Muttering spells with her eyes closed.
'Eloise Arin.'
What was she planning?
Did she have one last shot left?
Grit!
Ghost Bone-yi bit his lip.
'Please, my lord.'
Win this.
Win, and.
Give us new dreams and new lives, like you did for them.
Bone-yi.
He quietly cheered.
* * *
- Professor.
- Buy just a little time.
- Then.
- Just one shot, bind Baek Mu-hyeon so he takes that one hit.
- Can you do it?
Before the battle started.
Arin's whisper to me.
'Damn.'
I wondered if it was possible, but whatever.
If Arin asked, I had to do it.
Rumble!
Baek Mu-hyeon's wooden sword surged forward at terrifying speed.
“Urgh!”
Swish!
Using Kaden as a shield, I swiftly tread shadows.
What I'd been doing all this time: dodging his sword while leading with my skeletons.
“How long do you plan to just run?”
“You said fight in earnest? This is my earnest, asshole.”
At first, I'd clashed with full power.
One clash, two, three.
My God-Slaying Sword and his wooden sword collided fiercely.
'Ah.'
That was when I realized.
Any more clashes, and I'd be the only one dying.
Each hit felt like being bludgeoned thousands of times with the Elder's club—heavy as hell.
How was I supposed to endure that?
In the end, I chose flight.
Not turning tail completely.
But using my skeletons to evade ambiguously.
“Hmph, earnest about fleeing?”
Baek Mu-hyeon snorted.
“No shame as a sword wielder?”
“Hey, pal. Shame? You gotta live first to feel shame.”
Boom!
His wooden sword flew at my abdomen again.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I deflected his attack with my transformed shield in a fwoosh! and pulled back.
“Whew, scary.”
At my banter, Baek Mu-hyeon's face twisted.
He thought I was acting cocky, taunting him.
But no...
I was genuinely scared...
“I'll kill you!”
As if voicing Baek Mu-hyeon's rage, immense energy rose from his body.
Screech!
Soon, his wooden sword drew a horizontal arc again.
That instant.
- Professor!
Arin's voice rang in my head.
- Now!
- Bind him! Make sure he can't dodge!
Bind him.
That terrifying momentum.
After nullifying all subordinates' attacks, bind that charging rhino coming at me?
'Will it work?'
No, trying to block something like that would get me killed.
'But.'
Arin surely knew that.
She must have had no other choice but to ask me.
Instinct told me.
No, my heart told me.
This next move.
Everything would end with it.
One of us would die.
Me or that bastard.
'Alright?'
That meant.
I had to stake my life on this clash?
'Okay, let's do it.'
Recklessly betting my life.
That was my specialty, right?
Smirk.
I raised my sword and forced my lips into a grin.
'If you can't dodge it, enjoy it.'
A resolute declaration to myself.