Chapter 580: Clash.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 580: Clash.
‘Arrogant bastard.’
Lee Jae-won’s face contorted into a fierce scowl.
How dare he act so haughty, as if he were actually someone important? Just because he managed to stop a few Formless Swords?
It was arrogant. Beyond arrogant. It was so infuriating that his blood began to boil.
‘I’ll kill him... I’ll kill him... that son of a bitch.’
His irritation quickly sharpened into killing intent. He wanted to kill him—this bastard who dared to hold his head high in front of the true protagonist of this world.
Wuuuuuuuuung—
Murderous aura began to manifest around his body. That manifested intent took the shape of long, slender blades.
One sword... two... four... six... ten.
The blades began to line up behind his back.
Twenty... forty... eighty... a hundred... two hundred.
Countless Formless Swords, far too many to track with the naked eye, rose behind him. His massive will had transformed into hundreds of blades.
“...Jang Sun-woo.”
Lee Jae-won called out to the arrogant brat, his voice dripping with lethal malice.
“I’ll teach you that there is a heaven beyond heaven!”
Lee Jae-won made his declaration. Heaven Beyond Heaven. He would make the boy feel the reality of a sky that existed above his own.
Wuuuuuuuuuuung—
The moment he spoke, the hundreds of Formless Swords floating behind him began to vibrate incessantly. The manifestation of his will had grown even more intense.
Lee Jae-won slowly raised his hand.
Swish!
Then, he swung it down fast, as if he were swinging a physical sword.
In an instant, the hundreds of blades behind him shot forward in unison. They streaked through the air, targeting only one person: Jang Sun-woo.
Lee Jae-won glared at Sun-woo with bloodshot eyes. Even as hundreds of swords rained down upon him, the boy remained unnervingly calm.
‘Heh... he’s lost his mind.’
Lee Jae-won was certain of it. Sun-woo must have been driven into a stupor by such an overwhelming display of will. There was no other way he could maintain such a composed expression.
The hundreds of Formless Swords began to descend upon Sun-woo. Lee Jae-won could already see it—the boy’s body being riddled with holes until he died.
‘Wait, what?!’
But then, something happened. An anomaly occurred that turned Lee Jae-won’s eyes wide with shock.
*
One sword... two... four... six... ten.
Twenty... forty... eighty... a hundred... two hundred.
Sun-woo could feel it. He could sense the countless swords of the mind being raised in numbers too great to count. Perhaps his senses had become more acute after harboring his own Sword of the Mind, but sensing Lee Jae-won’s manifested will was not difficult.
‘...Hundreds of them, huh?’
Sun-woo knew. He knew that every single one of those hundreds of mental blades was aimed directly at him.
‘It’s strange.’
Sun-woo felt a sense of oddity. Normally, he should have been trembling in fear. He might have even fallen to his knees, begging for his life. The situation was that overwhelming and threatening.
And yet, he wasn't afraid at all. He didn't feel his life was in danger, nor did he feel suppressed. That was why it was strange. How could he be this calm?
Sun-woo sharpened his senses even further. As he did, the massive will directed at him became even clearer.
‘What emotion am I feeling right now?’
Feeling that vivid intent, Sun-woo asked himself a question. He searched for the name of the emotion he was experiencing.
The conclusion came quickly.
‘It’s an honor.’
A thick smile spread across Sun-woo’s lips. These were the swords of an absolute being, each possessing enough power to slaughter everyone in this training ground. And not just one, but hundreds of them were aimed at him. All just to kill him.
How could it not be an honor?
Sun-woo gripped his ten-jang-long Killing Sword with both hands. He extended his arms to the side, taking a wide stance for a great swing. Then, he began to concentrate his killing intent even further.
Sshhhhhhh—
The killing intent condensed within the Killing Sword grew denser. It reached a level of concentration incomparable to before.
Sun-woo thought to himself: Right now. In this state. Maybe I can kill him.
That loathsome Lee Jae-won. That enemy, Lee Jae-won. The adversary chosen for him by the world.
Sshhhhhhh—
At that moment, the manifestation of the massive will poured toward Sun-woo all at once. Hundreds of Formless Swords flew at him simultaneously.
Sun-woo waited, sword in hand. He waited for every single blade to enter his range.
Ten jang... five jang... two jang... one jang.
Grip.
Sun-woo squeezed the hilt so hard that blood nearly seeped from his palms.
Vwooom!
He swung the massive ten-jang Killing Sword with everything he had.
A moment later, Sun-woo’s Killing Sword collided with Lee Jae-won’s Formless Swords.
Shatter—
The anomaly occurred. The Formless Swords that touched the Killing Sword began to crumble into nothingness. They vanished hollowly, as if their very life force had been extinguished.
In an instant, every Formless Sword within his range disappeared.
Vwoom!
Sun-woo swung the Killing Sword again. The following wave of Formless Swords began to scatter. It was almost pathetic.
Half of the hundreds of Formless Swords had been wiped out by Sun-woo’s full-power strikes.
“No... fuck... what the hell is...?”
Shock began to cloud Lee Jae-won’s eyes as he watched.
His Formless Swords—the ultimate Heart Swords he had inherited from his master, Seon-ong—the collective manifestation of his will numbering in the hundreds—had been halved by just a few swings.
How could he not be horrified?
‘...I might... die.’
Suddenly, Lee Jae-won’s intuition began to scream. It warned him that this was too dangerous. That if things continued like this, he might actually die.
Tremble, tremble.
His entire body began to shake. An emotion he had forgotten for twenty years was crawling back up his spine.
The primal fear of death.
He was terrified. Utterly terrified. Seeing his ultimate technique crumble so easily made him realize that he, too, might vanish as hollowly as his Formless Swords.
‘Fuck... I won’t die! Why... why would I die?!’
Lee Jae-won screamed internally. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live happily forever in the paradise he had built. He couldn't die like this.
“I’ll kill you before you kill me!”
Lee Jae-won glared at Sun-woo with eyes full of murderous rage. He spread his arms wide and began to wave them frantically.
The Formless Swords, which had only been flying in straight lines, began to move independently in response to his hands. They began to thrust and swing from all directions, pressuring Sun-woo.
Vwoom!
Vwoom!
Sun-woo quickly swung his ten-jang Killing Sword, erasing Lee Jae-won’s erratic Formless Swords before they could even get close.
“Die! Die! Die! Just die already!!!”
Seeing this, Lee Jae-won waved his hands even faster, like a mad conductor of a lethal orchestra. The movements of the Formless Swords flying at Sun-woo became even more violent.
How much time had passed?
Slice.
One Formless Sword slipped past the range of the Killing Sword and grazed Sun-woo’s cheek.
Drip.
A cut opened on his cheek, and red blood began to flow.
‘Yes!’
Lee Jae-won cheered internally. Joy surged through him at the sight of the wound. It was only a small cut, but it gave him hope. Hope that he could kill this bastard who was somehow nullifying his Formless Swords.
“DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”
Lee Jae-won began to pour out his swords even faster, manifesting his singular will to kill.
Slash.
Soon, another Formless Sword grazed Sun-woo’s side. Blood sprayed instantly.
“Ugh.”
A shallow groan escaped Sun-woo’s lips. A sharp, intense pain radiated from where the sword had grazed him.
‘This isn’t working.’
Sun-woo realized it. Lee Jae-won’s Formless Swords weren't individually powerful, but their sheer numbers were incredibly threatening. They were using a war of attrition to find the smallest openings.
The ten-jang Killing Sword possessed transcendent destructive power and an absurd range, but it lacked delicacy and precision. It was like a chainsaw—efficient for felling a tree, but inefficient for trimming small twigs.
‘I need to be... more precise. And... more delicate. So that I don't allow even the smallest gap.’
Sun-woo decided he needed to reduce the size.
Wuuuuuuuuung—
Sun-woo manifested his will. He began to compress the massive ten-jang Killing Sword.
Denser.
Tighter.
Fuller.
Harder.
Wuuuuuuuuung—
The ten-jang blade began to shrink steadily.
Eight jang... five jang... three jang... one jang.
Soon, Sun-woo’s sword began to be dyed in a pitch-black, ink-like hue. All the killing intent he harbored for Lee Jae-won was now fully condensed into the Dragon Tail Soft Sword.
Vwoom.
Sun-woo swung the sword lightly in a horizontal arc. The incoming Formless Swords scattered instantly.
Vwoom.
This time, he swung vertically. A Formless Sword aiming for his head was neutralized on the spot.
Vwoom. Vwoom. Vwoom.
After that, it was a repetition. He began to swiftly cut down every incoming Formless Sword.
A blade swung toward his head; he raised his condensed Killing Sword lightly and parried it in one go.
A blade thrust toward his throat; he met it with the tip of his sword and erased it.
A blade flew toward his shoulder, seemingly intent on piercing through; he turned his edge and split it down the middle.
It didn't stop there. Arms, chest, heart, abdomen, thighs, calves—the Formless Swords flew at every part of his body. But each time, Sun-woo swung his Killing Sword with blinding speed to neutralize every attack.
Though the number of Formless Swords he destroyed in a single swing had decreased, his precise movements left no room for even a needle to pass through.
“Dammit! Why! WHY?!!!!!!”
Lee Jae-won felt his irritation peak. All of his attacks were proving useless. No matter how many swords he poured out, it didn't matter. Everything vanished. It was all for nothing.
A sense of despair began to set in as he watched his swords disappear so hollowly.
Step. Step.
Then, the sound of footsteps reached Lee Jae-won’s ears. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked ahead.
He saw it. Jang Sun-woo was walking toward him, cutting down the hundreds of incoming swords as he advanced.
Shiver.
A chill ran down Lee Jae-won’s spine. The boy was closing the distance while swatting away hundreds of blades. He wasn't pushed back even an inch. He was coming to kill him with that ominous, dark sword.
“Fuuuuuuuuck!!! Don’t come any closer! Stay away!”
Consumed by terror, Lee Jae-won screamed. He begged him not to come any closer. He desperately began to pour out even more Formless Swords, doing everything in his power to stop Sun-woo’s advance.
Step. Step.
But his efforts were futile. No matter how many swords he threw, no matter how he swung them, Sun-woo’s stride toward him did not falter.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Lee Jae-won spat out curses incessantly. He realized the situation had become dire. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop those steps. His Formless Swords, the manifestation of his will, simply couldn't win.
Step. Step.
The distance between them continued to shrink.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
With every step Sun-woo took, Lee Jae-won’s heart beat louder. The fear of death was accelerating.
“I don’t want to die... Why... why do I have to die! Why me?!”
Lee Jae-won felt it was unfair. After a lifetime of being bullied, he had finally found happiness in a world of his own. How could his life be taken away so pointlessly?
It had been twenty years. He had only enjoyed this for twenty years. He wanted more. He wanted to fuck more women. He wanted to be looked at with even more respect.
“I WON’T DIE!!!!!!!!”
Wuuuuuuung—
The Formless Swords began to react to Lee Jae-won’s desperate will to survive. Hundreds of them began to converge into a single point.
Before long, the gathered swords began to form the shape of one massive blade. It looked like a weapon wielded by a giant from ancient myths.
“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S GOING TO DIE!!!!”
Having created the colossal sword, Lee Jae-won unleashed his will. The gargantuan Formless Sword shot toward Sun-woo with a momentum that seemed capable of cleaving the entire continent in two.
Watching this, Sun-woo raised his pitch-black, ink-colored sword.
Then, he swung. He unleashed the ink-colored Killing Sword, the vessel for all his condensed murderous intent.