Chapter 208
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 208.
Whoosh!
The mansion was burning.
Servants were screaming and fleeing, while the swordsmen guarding the interior were bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
“Grahhh!”
“Cut down the Young Master’s enemies!”
As if they had been waiting for this moment, Yoo Baek-jun’s subordinates swarmed in from all directions.
The clashing of blades.
In the mansion, now turned into a scene of chaos, those who had once been comrades engaged in battle.
‘This is bad.’
The situation was far from ideal.
While Yoo Baek-jun and Yoo Tae-rang were locked in combat, Ha Yeon-jeong, who had hastily retreated from the scene, couldn’t help but think:
‘I knew something like this might happen, but… damn it!’
The plan had been risky from the start, which was why she had wanted to stop Yoo Tae-rang.
Even if they succeeded, a mountain of problems would await them afterward.
And if they failed, they would lose everything.
‘Is it my fault for not stopping him? Should I cut my losses and flee now?’
A last resort.
She had always dismissed the idea as unthinkable, but now…
‘Blindly following someone to my death is the last thing I want. I don’t want to die like that. But, but…’
Ha Yeon-jeong bit her lip.
She couldn’t do it.
‘No, not yet. If it’s Yoo Tae-rang …’
Yoo Baek-jun was undeniably strong.
Who would deny that now?
But Yoo Tae-rang could defeat even someone like Yoo Baek-jun.
“Right….”
It wasn’t for nothing that he had been called the most promising successor all this time.
Yoo Tae-rang possessed talent so overwhelming it bordered on violence.
‘What I need to do now is tip the odds in his favor, even if just a little.’
Ha Yeon-jeong hurried to call for reinforcements to aid Yoo Tae-rang .
Even without intervention, Yoo Tae-rang had a high chance of winning—but she needed to raise those odds even higher.
She quickened her pace.
Kaaang!
“Kuh—?!”
The moment Ha Yeon-jeong stepped out of the building, a sword slash flew toward her as if lying in wait.
A blade aimed precisely at her neck.
Had she been even a fraction slower in dodging, her head would have rolled.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“You…!”
Ha Yeon-jeong’s eyes widened.
At the mansion’s main gate stood a woman, waiting as if she had expected her.
“Han Seong-ah!”
As if responding to the call, Han Seong-ah flicked the blood off her sword.
Around her lay the corpses of numerous swordsmen.
“I knew you would come out.”
“Did that brat you serve tell you? That I’d come this way?”
“……”
The words seemed to irritate her, as Han Seong-ah’s eyebrow twitched.
“Choose your words… carefully.”
“He’s your master, not mine. Since when do enemies need to be careful with their words?”
“I won’t repeat myself.”
“A good-for-nothing who’s done nothing for the family all this time. For over twenty years, he was the family’s disgrace, and now he suddenly sets his sights on the Family heads' seat….”
Ha Yeon-jeong sneered at her.
“Even a stray dog would laugh at that. If it weren’t for the family head’s sudden whim, would that bastard even have gotten a chance?”
“What your master failed to do, our Young Master accomplished. That alone proves his worth.”
“Ha! After all the times Lord Yoo Tae-rang has proven himself, you dare compare—!”
“Look around you, Ha Yeon-jeong.”
Han Seong-ah glanced at their surroundings.
The flames engulfing the mansion—no, the disaster that had befallen the entire family.
Who had brought this about?
“This is the sight Yoo Tae-rang has created.”
“……”
The madness of a man who couldn’t accept his own failure had birthed this scene.
An undeniable truth.
“If he becomes the family head, an even greater calamity will befall the family. I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”
Swoosh!
Han Seong-ah raised her sword.
“There is only one rightful family head. I will eliminate all obstacles in his path.”
“What a coincidence.”
Ha Yeon-jeong grinned.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
A brief silence.
Then, the two swordswomen clashed amidst the flames.
***
“You said you were going to kill me, didn’t you?!”
Yoo Baek-jun gave no quarter.
Without allowing the heavily injured Yoo Tae-rang a moment to recover, he pressed the attack relentlessly.
“Guh—!”
Spitting blood, Yoo Tae-rang forced himself upright and steadied his stance.
He gripped his sword again.
But Yoo Baek-jun was faster.
Kooong!
Yoo Baek-jun’s figure shot forward like a bolt of lightning streaking across the sky.
Heavenly Thunder.
Originally, this was nothing more than a simple charging technique with somewhat lacking power.
But now, enhanced by Heavenly aura, even this basic move had become akin to a deadly strike.
“Keugh—!”
Yoo Baek-jun’s fist slammed into Yoo Tae-rang’s solar plexus.
Yoo Tae-rang had activated a defensive force, but it meant nothing.
Kwa-ddeuk!
The blue energy transformed into the shape of a dragon, shattering the defensive barrier and delivering a devastating blow to his abdomen.
Crunch!
The sound of breaking bones echoed.
Suppressing the pain, Yoo Tae-rang swung his sword with vicious speed. Countless sword energies shot toward Yoo Baek-jun.
“Hup!”
Yoo Baek-jun countered.
His hands moved in a circular motion, forming a massive barrier that absorbed the incoming sword strikes.
The energies were swallowed whole.
“……!”
As Yoo Tae-rang recoiled in shock, Yoo Baek-jun closed the distance in an instant, his right hand outstretched.
A swirling storm of energy gathered in his palm like a miniature tempest.
He unleashed Iron-Cutting Fist.
Shoooaaak!
“Kuh…!”
The released energy became a blade-filled storm, engulfing Yoo Tae-rang.
He tried to block with his sword, but the storm was unstoppable.
His body was shredded.
“Try blocking this.”
Afterimages of Yoo Baek-jun surged toward Yoo Tae-rang.
More illusions, moving with even more dazzling speed, rained down attacks on him.
Still reeling from the Iron-Cutting Fist, Yoo Tae-rang could barely defend.
“Hah…!”
As the afterimages faded, Yoo Baek-jun closed in.
Planting his feet firmly, he unleashed a rapid barrage of punches.
“……!”
Like a furious typhoon, the onslaught was relentless.
His arms moved without pause, generating wind, while the Heavenly aura infused in his fists filled the surroundings.
Yoo Tae-rang raised his sword.
Kwaang! Boom!
His right fist collided with the blade, the Heavenly Aura greedily absorbed the sword’s energy.
Then, his left fist struck—without sword energy, the blade couldn’t withstand the force.
Soon, Yoo Tae-rang was left completely defenseless as the fists pummeled him without mercy.
He then lost his grip on the sword.
‘Now.’
Yoo Baek-jun reached back with his right hand.
A spatial rift opened, and a spear materialized in his grasp.
He gripped it tightly—
“Ha…!”
—and thrust.
Straight toward Yoo Tae-rang’s heart.
But the attack never landed.
“Keuk… Heuk…!”
Because Yoo Tae-rang had vanished.
His body flashed brightly for an instant before disappearing, as if teleported.
Yoo Baek-jun raised his head and he saw Yoo Tae-rang in the distance.
‘Good. Now the artifact is gone.’
Yoo Tae-rang possessed an artifact.
Much like Yoo Baek-jun’s Black Sword Grandal, it was a life-saving relic that activated when the user was on the brink of death.
Not only that, it also rapidly healed injuries up to 50% of the user’s condition.
‘Killing him now would’ve been ideal, but I knew that was unlikely.’
Yoo Baek-jun stared at Yoo Tae-rang.
Depriving him of the artifact now was a significant advantage.
Things were about to change drastically.
“Hah… Heuk…!”
Yoo Tae-rang gasped for breath.
Though the artifact was rapidly healing his body, the damage he had taken was too severe for him to move.
“…….”
Pain wracked his entire being.
But his mind was in even greater turmoil, to the point where he couldn’t even feel the pain.
‘This is shocking.’
An attack he never saw coming, at a moment he never expected.
A strike he couldn’t even react to.
It had been that fast. That’s how fast and lethal it was.
‘I’ve… never seen that before.’
Yoo Tae-rang had gathered intel on the incidents in Seoul and Busan, piecing together everything about Yoo Baek-jun.
His fighting style. How he fought, what techniques he used.
That move wasn’t among them.
‘Where did he learn it? Who taught him? Yoo Moo-hak? Ja-yeon? No…’
There was no way they knew something he had never even heard of.
Then where?
—Swordplay, spearmanship, and fist techniques all in one. How familiar that sounds.
A voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
Yoo Tae-rang’s eyes widened.
‘The Martial God.’
Amidst his confusion, a single name surfaced in his mind.
The Martial God.
The progenitor of the Sword Saint family was said to have mastered all forms of martial arts.
Swordplay, spearmanship, even fist techniques.
“That’s… impossible.”
The idea that the Martial God had personally bestowed these skills was absurd.
But what if Yoo Baek-jun had discovered records of those techniques?
What if he had learned the very techniques the Martial God once wielded?
“…….”
Then everything made sense.
Why Yoo Moo-hak had suddenly favored Yoo Baek-jun as his successor.
Why Ja-yeon, who had never shown interest in him, had taken such notice of Yoo Baek-jun.
Why that bastard had gained such overwhelming power so suddenly.
All of it.
‘Why not me?’
The thought surfaced.
‘Yoo Baek-jun has accomplished nothing all this time. Why did such an opportunity come only to him? Why not me?’
Grind!
Yoo Tae-rang gritted his teeth.
“You…!”
Yoo Baek-jun’s approaching figure came into view.
Yoo Tae-rang tried to stagger to his feet.
But at that moment—
Yoo Baek-jun froze.
—Do you not need power?
The advancing footsteps halted as if time had stopped, and a faint silhouette materialized beside Yoo Tae-rang.
A featureless, pale-white face.
The Sword Demon.
—Just as he seized his opportunity, so too can you claim yours.
“Go away, Sword Demon. This is no time for your nonsense.”
—Nonsense? Do you truly believe that?
The Sword Demon whispered insidiously.
—He wields the power of the Martial God. A strength you cannot overcome alone. Look at yourself now, Yoo Tae-rang.
A pitiful sight.
Though he had recovered enough to move, his condition was still dire.
—Your wounds may heal, but even if you fight again, can you win?
“Shut up…!”
—You know it yourself, don’t you?
The Sword Demon laughed.
—That you cannot defeat him.
Yoo Tae-rang’s body stiffened.
No. If he fought again, the outcome was uncertain. He could still win.
He wanted to say that, but the memory of Yoo Baek-jun’s fist techniques was seared too deeply into his mind.
“…….”
His confidence crumbled.
For the first time in his life, he felt powerless.
Yoo Tae-rang opened his mouth to refute—but no words came out.
The Sword Demon didn’t miss it.
—Do not hesitate, Yoo Tae-rang. You haven’t forgotten your goal, have you?
“My goal.”
Yoo Tae-rang’s gaze sharpened.
From childhood until now, his ambition had always been singular.
“To become the Family head.”
He raised his head.
Before him stood The Sword Demon, holding a faintly glowing sword in one hand.
It extended the blade toward him.
“Anyone who stands in my way will die. Even if they are family.”
Yoo Tae-rang grasped the sword.
“Yes… I will become the family head.”
The moment he did, a violent storm of magical energy erupted around him.
A force so intense it repelled everything nearby.
—Keuk… Khuahaha!
Amidst the tempest, The Sword Demon laughed.
—And the moment you achieve your goal… will be the moment I achieve mine.
The Sword Demon’s mad cackle echoed as the magical storm grew even fiercer.
Watching this unfold, Yoo Baek-jun let out a deep sigh.
‘So Phase 2 begins.’