Chapter 338: Ice and Fire-3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 338: Ice and Fire-3
Neung So-hwa’s expression was one of utter despair.
Lee Yeon’s fist was flying straight toward her face.
A single thought flashed through her mind: If that fist connects, my head might just explode.
Swoooosh!
The sound of the fist tearing through the air roared in her ears. Neung So-hwa instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
Thwack!
A heavy blunt sound echoed.
Strangely, however, she felt no pain.
"Where do you think you're looking?!"
Bukgung Yeon’s sharp voice pierced the air.
Startled, Neung So-hwa quickly opened her eyes.
There, she saw it—Lee Yeon’s fist, halted mere inches from the tip of her nose.
Looking down, she saw Bukgung Yeon’s foot planted firmly against Lee Yeon, pushing him back.
"Don't just stand there! Help me!" Bukgung Yeon shouted, her voice laced with irritation.
As if snapped back to her senses by the shout—
Bam!
Neung So-hwa swung her leg upward, delivering a powerful kick to Lee Yeon.
Skid!
Under the combined assault of the two women, Lee Yeon’s body was forced backward, sliding across the ground.
"Keep your head in the game! He’s not an opponent you can face while daydreaming!"
As Lee Yeon retreated, Bukgung Yeon raised her voice in a sharp rebuke.
"...I understand," Neung So-hwa replied, her expression grim. "And... thank you."
"Save the thanks for after we’ve sent this bastard to hell!"
With those words, Bukgung Yeon thrust her palms toward Lee Yeon.
Whirrrrr!
Once again, a fierce ice storm began to surge toward him.
Whoosh!
Slaaaaash!
Seeing the incoming frost, Lee Yeon whipped his sword through the air, unleashing a massive Sword Wind.
Boom!
The Sword Wind collided with the ice storm, momentarily halting the blizzard's advance.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lee Yeon didn't stop. He swung his blade relentlessly, firing off wave after wave of Sword Wind.
Crash! Bang! Boom!
The ice storm and the Sword Wind clashed in a violent struggle for dominance.
As the stalemate dragged on, Neung So-hwa quickly circled to Lee Yeon’s left.
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted from her hands, which she immediately hurled toward Lee Yeon.
Roaaaaar!
An incredible amount of heat began to concentrate on him.
Whoosh!
This time, Lee Yeon redirected his Sword Wind toward the flames.
Boom!
The Sword Wind and the fire collided, entering another deadlock.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lee Yeon swung his sword again and again, sending out gale after gale.
Swoooooosh!
Bukgung Yeon and Neung So-hwa continued to pour their ice and fire upon him without pause, waiting for him to tire out.
After some time had passed, Bukgung Yeon’s expression grew grave.
She realized this could go on forever.
He was firing off Sword Wind incessantly, as if his internal energy were infinite. At this rate, they would be the ones to run out of energy first.
Bukgung Yeon extended her other hand. She blasted an ice storm directly at the ground.
Rumble! Crash!
A thick Ice Wall surged up from the earth, completely blocking Lee Yeon’s Sword Wind.
Seeing the barrier hold, Bukgung Yeon withdrew her hands. She had bought them a moment of time.
"This isn't working."
Bukgung Yeon quickly turned to Neung So-hwa.
"We need a new plan."
"But there is no way. Lee Yeon is inexhaustible, and our attacks don't even reach him."
Neung So-hwa extinguished her flames and continued, "Didn't you say you could cut him down with a single strike?"
"..."
Neung So-hwa fell silent, embarrassed by her earlier, misplaced confidence.
"Anyway, you felt it too, didn't you? That feeling of being rejected?"
"I did. The moment my blade touched him, it stopped and was immediately repelled. As if... as if he simply wouldn't allow it."
"What on earth is he?"
"I don't know. I have never seen Lee Yeon like this before."
Neung So-hwa shook her head at Bukgung Yeon’s question. Though she was known as the shield that protected the Imperial Palace alongside Lee Yeon, she had never seen him go all out.
That made it even harder to counter him.
He possessed combat experience honed to the limit through decades on the battlefield, martial arts high enough to reach the Profound Realm, infinite internal energy, and an inexplicable defensive technique.
Right now, Lee Yeon was a monster with perfect offense and defense. How were they supposed to fight such a creature?
"I don't think it's that he's absolutely immune to all attacks..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Think about it. If our fire and ice weren't a threat to him, why would he bother using Sword Wind to block them?"
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense."
"So I was thinking... maybe he only repels physical attacks?"
"What?"
"I don't know what kind of trick he's using, but he might have a unique technique that only deflects physical force. That’s why your sword was repelled the moment it touched him."
"Hmm... that is plausible. He was certainly frozen for a moment by your Ice Palm earlier."
Neung So-hwa nodded. Bukgung Yeon’s logic seemed sound.
Slice!
K-boom!
Suddenly, the sound of something being severed followed by a massive explosion rang in their ears.
Startled, Bukgung Yeon and Neung So-hwa whipped their heads around.
They saw the Ice Wall crumbling into pieces in an instant.
"He really is a man who doesn't know how to wait."
Bukgung Yeon raised her sword and continued, "I'll draw his attention. This time, set that bastard's body on fire."
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Neung So-hwa nodded with a grim face and raised her saber. She thought to herself that if only physical attacks were ineffective, they still had a chance of winning.
It was at that moment—
Boom!
With a thunderous sound, Lee Yeon’s figure blurred as he lunged toward them.
Bukgung Yeon’s face hardened as she swung her sword at his head.
Clang!
Lee Yeon effortlessly parried her blade and shoved it aside. With her chest exposed for a split second after the parry, Lee Yeon lunged his sword toward her heart.
Clink!
However, his plan was thwarted by Neung So-hwa’s saber. She had interposed her blade to block his thrust.
Bukgung Yeon quickly extended her left hand. She unleashed the Ice White Divine Palm toward Lee Yeon’s chest.
A pure white energy, like a snowy field, surged toward him.
Whoosh!
Lee Yeon met her Ice White Divine Palm with a punch.
Boom!
The palm and the fist collided, creating a massive shockwave. Both of their left hands were knocked back simultaneously.
In that instant, Neung So-hwa sensed an opportunity.
With his left hand pushed back, his chest was wide open.
Neung So-hwa reached out. She poured out the ferocious flames created by her Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Qi.
Roaaaaar!
An immense amount of thermal energy slammed into Lee Yeon’s chest.
Neung So-hwa felt a surge of triumph. She was certain she had dealt him a significant blow.
Thud!
"Gah!"
Suddenly, Neung So-hwa let out a scream. A searing pain erupted from her solar plexus.
Looking down, she saw the tip of Lee Yeon’s foot planted firmly against her vitals.
Having been struck in a critical point, Neung So-hwa felt her consciousness flicker.
Twist!
Lee Yeon twisted his foot against her solar plexus and sent her flying.
Whoosh!
Neung So-hwa was hurled backward.
Bukgung Yeon was stunned. She had never expected him to counterattack so perfectly after taking a direct hit from those ferocious flames.
Tough bastard.
She realized he was incredibly resilient.
But she also saw an opportunity. Having taken the fire head-on, he surely wouldn't have the strength left to swing his sword properly.
Bukgung Yeon quickly reached her left hand toward his face.
Whirrrr!
She began to pour pure white energy directly at his head. Before long, his face began to freeze over.
I've got him!
Bukgung Yeon rejoiced. Unlike her sword, which had been rejected, his face was now completely encased in ice.
Swoosh!
Bukgung Yeon lunged with her sword, intending to shatter his frozen skull.
Crack!
The sword connected with the ice.
C-c-crack!
As the blade touched it, the ice surrounding Lee Yeon began to splinter. Bukgung Yeon expected his head to shatter along with it.
Shatter!
The ice broke away completely.
"Thank you."
At that moment, Lee Yeon’s dry, emotionless voice reached her.
"For breaking the ice for me."
Shiver.
Hearing his voice, Bukgung Yeon felt a chill run down her spine.
Whoosh!
Simultaneously, she heard the sound of a sword cutting through the air toward her.
"Damn it!"
Bukgung Yeon tried to twist her body away, but it was useless.
Stab!
His sword had already pierced through her right shoulder.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Bukgung Yeon screamed as the blade sank in. The pain was excruciating.
"Now the right and left are a matching set."
Lee Yeon uttered the cruel words with an indifferent expression.
Thump!
Bukgung Yeon quickly kicked out at Lee Yeon’s abdomen.
Whoosh!
Using his stomach as a springboard, she threw herself backward.
Squeltch!
Lee Yeon’s sword slid out of her shoulder in an instant, allowing Bukgung Yeon to put some distance between them.
"Aaargh!! You piece of... shit!!!"
Having gained some distance, Bukgung Yeon spat out a curse at the maddening pain in her shoulder.
It hurt. It hurt far too much—incomparably more than when her left shoulder had been pierced by a spear.
"Are you alright?!"
Neung So-hwa, seeing this, called out to her with wide, shocked eyes.
"Haa... haa... haa... No, I'm not."
Bukgung Yeon panted heavily, her eyes welling with tears as she spoke. She grabbed her shoulder.
C-c-crack!
In an instant, she froze the wound shut.
Sssssss!
The sound of something being neutralized echoed.
"Haa... haa... Now... I can breathe."
Only then did Bukgung Yeon’s contorted face begin to relax slightly.
Whoosh.
She opened her hand and withdrew the cold energy from her shoulder. The frozen area began to thaw, and moisture started to flow from the wound.
"Did you think anything other than a physical attack would work?"
Lee Yeon’s dry voice drifted toward them from the front.
"How pathetic. The best you could come up with was shooting fire and ice."
Lee Yeon’s eyes gleamed with a wild light.
"You cannot leave so much as a scratch on a single hair of my body."
He spoke with absolute certainty.
"...What kind of dark arts are you using?"
Bukgung Yeon, having regained her composure, glared at him.
"I've heard that martial artists dismiss anything beyond their understanding as 'dark arts.' You fit that description perfectly."
Lee Yeon replied in a calm tone.
"Physical attacks like swords and sabers are one thing, but even fire and ice don't work. How can it be anything but dark arts?"
"Why should attacks work in the first place?" Lee Yeon asked, as if he genuinely didn't understand.
"Because that is the logic of the world!"
"How amusing."
"What!?"
"How can someone who has reached a realm that defies logic still be so bound by the laws of the world?"
Lee Yeon spoke with a look of utter derision.
"I have simply transcended laws and logic."
"This is why I hate old men," Bukgung Yeon muttered, frowning. "Always talking in circles to sound important when they could just say it simply."
"Young people these days have so many problems. They don't even know how to listen to their seniors."
"You're a soldier, not a martial artist. Do you even have the right to call yourself a senior?"
"I suppose that's true."
Lee Yeon nodded as if conceding the point.
"So, the bottom line is you have no intention of telling us?"
"I have already given you the answer. It is up to you to figure it out."
"How very kind of you."
Bukgung Yeon spoke with a fake smile. She immediately began to gather cold energy in her left hand.
Whirrrrrr!
"Are you going to attack again? You should have realized by now that it's useless."
Lee Yeon mocked her. No attack had worked on him so far. Bukgung Yeon had seen enough to know that. Why was she trying to blast him with cold energy again?
"This time, it'll be a little different from before."
"It won't. No rule of this world can inflict a single wound upon me. For I am a being who has strayed from the natural order!"
Lee Yeon raised his voice, filled with conviction.
"Then try and take this. If you're really a being beyond the natural order."
Bukgung Yeon replied with a cold smile.
Whirrrrrr!
She thrust her left hand forward, unleashing a blast of frigid cold at Lee Yeon.
"Hmph."
Lee Yeon snorted and swung his sword, intending to slice right through it.
Slaaaaaash!
His sword collided with the freezing cold, and the distinct sound of something being cut echoed through the area.