Chapter 99: Jinheung Village
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: Jinheung Village
The sword spewed out Sword Qi.
But I didn't swing it.
As mana erupted from my mana circle and swept through my body, the hazy fog clouding my mind seemed to lift, and my vision cleared.
Only then did I withdraw my energy and sheathe the sword.
‘...I almost took that guy's head off.’
It was too much. And it wasn't like me. That wasn't all. The way I treated the Investigation Team Leader, my words and actions in the barracks—it was all very different from my usual self. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd become rougher.
‘I was strangely forceful with Jo Yeon-hee, too...’
Though the result was good, of course.
In any case, at this point, I could no longer deny that I had been under the influence of demonic energy.
That didn't mean I was consumed by demonic nature. They said being consumed by demonic nature makes you lose your reason, but I hadn't felt any difficulty using magic on my way to Jinheung Village.
‘Losing your reason means there's a problem with your brain activity. There's no way I could use magic as usual in that state.’
But the dating app had clearly sent a message saying I had resisted the demonic energy. This was a contradiction.
‘There's no way the app would lie to me. The only other possibility... is the nature of the demonic energy itself.’
I remembered what Cheon Yeo-hwa had told me on the way to Jinheung Village.
—Being consumed by demonic nature and being influenced by demonic energy are two different things. Demonic nature turns a person into a mindless demonic human, but demonic energy merely changes their personality.
According to Cheon Yeo-hwa, someone with strong mental fortitude wouldn't be easily consumed by demonic nature even if they learned demonic martial arts; they could even handle the demonic energy skillfully.
She added that this tendency was especially common when someone who had practiced orthodox martial arts learned demonic ones.
‘The internal energy of orthodox martial arts must be the pure energy of nature. The mana I hold is also the purest form of natural mana. That must be why I could resist the demonic energy.’
Now I finally understood the message about resisting the demonic energy.
If an ordinary mage's mana was Grade 5 water, mine was essentially Grade 1. Thanks to that, I wasn't consumed by the sword's demonic nature and turned into a demonic human. However, since I was still wielding demonic energy, I couldn't escape its influence, which led to this mess.
‘This Sword Qi must be because of the demonic energy, too.’
There was no way someone like me, who hadn't even learned any proper martial arts, could wield Sword Qi. It was nothing more than a fake Sword Qi, created by the demonic energy resonating with my heightened emotions.
“Hooo...”
I took a deep breath in and out. I circulated my mana, forcing the demonic energy down into my dantian.
Unless I consciously focused, I couldn't drive out the demonic energy even by circulating mana. That's because the demonic energy was also a part of my own energy. The fact that I was still under its influence, despite using mana so freely on the way here, was proof of that.
To be honest, it was a bit of a shock. I never imagined I'd be swayed by such a piddling amount of demonic energy. It was a good thing I realized it now; I had almost killed someone.
“Young lady, if you wouldn't mind, would you care to join me for a meal?”
...Well, that's that, and this is this.
After sheathing my sword, I immediately ran toward the man hitting on Cheon Yeo-hwa and sent a kick flying.
Crack!
“Keuk?!”
Struck by the mana-infused blow, the man went flying, rolling several times across the ground.
Drawing my sword on a martial artist from the Orthodox Faction, not some Evil Faction or Demonic Cult member, was definitely going too far. But I wasn't generous enough to forgive the dickhead who was hitting on my woman.
No, if I let this slide, I'd be a total pushover.
“Hyun-woo, it seems you succeeded.”
“With what?”
“With the demonic energy, I mean.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa whispered in my ear.
“...You knew?”
“If it seemed dangerous, I was going to force the demonic energy out of you... but I never imagined you'd escape its corrosion on your own. It took me nearly three years.”
“...It was nothing.”
“Hehe, you truly are worthy of being my lover.”
Honestly, I still didn't know how I broke free from the demonic energy. But I wasn't clueless enough to say that out loud right now.
Cheon Yeo-hwa smiled happily and hugged me. By the way, "corrosion of demonic energy"... is that a different concept from being consumed by demonic nature?
“You look like you have many questions, but for now, it seems you must deal with that man.”
The man who had been lying on the ground got up, using his sword like a cane.
“You bastard!!”
The strangely greasy-looking guy yelled at me. His voice was laced with internal energy.
‘He's already up? I kicked him pretty hard.’
The aura coming off him was stronger than I expected. It was on par with Elder Su Yanggeon.
As far as I knew, Elder Su Yanggeon was a master who had reached the pinnacle of the consummate realm. He was also a seasoned martial artist in his forties.
In comparison, that man was in his mid-to-late twenties at most. Yet he was at a similar level as Elder Su Yanggeon.
‘Is he one of those so-called geniuses?’
Then he should be off training his martial arts. How dare he try to touch my woman?
If he'd had the sense to just get knocked out after one hit, I would have let it go. But the sight of him gathering his internal energy to pressure me completely shattered what little patience I had left.
“How dare you launch such a cowardly sneak attack...! You must be one of those treacherous Evil Faction bastards!”
“What the hell are you talking about, you fucking pervert?”
“W-What?! A p-pervert?!”
The guy's face turned red, then purple. Looks like I really got under his skin.
“...Young lady, please wait a moment. I shall teach this treacherous Evil Faction bastard a lesson about how scary the world can be.”
A dry laugh escaped my lips. The plum blossom pattern on his uniform—he was clearly a martial artist of the Mount Hua Sect. Was he acting like this knowing that Cheon Yeo-hwa was a lady of the Heavenly Demonic Cult?
‘He must not know.’
Mana coursed through my body along my magic circuits. Of course, I wouldn't use demonic energy. Using it would only make things more complicated if I got caught.
A strange atmosphere settled between us. The crowd of onlookers around us grew. Jinheung Village was a rural town, and for country folk, a duel between martial artists was a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. So it wasn't strange.
The strange thing was that no other martial artists, including those from the Mount Hua Sect, were in sight. That meant there was no one to stop us.
“Let me tell you in advance. You won't be crippled, so you can relax and take the beating.”
“This phony talks a lot. Are you going to fight with your mouth?”
“...I'll kill you!!”
Apparently triggered again by the word "phony," the guy charged at me. He wasn't holding his sword. It seemed he'd abandoned it after seeing I was bare-handed, but he would soon realize what a stupid choice that was.
‘By the way, how did he understand the word 'phony'? Did he just guess from the nuance?’
Anyway, that wasn't important right now.
Swish! Swish! Swish! The guy closed in on me with strange footwork. I instinctively realized it was a footwork technique.
I was trying my best to follow him with my eyes, but it was hard to pinpoint his exact position and distance. It seemed to be an effect of the technique.
“From now on, you'll find it hard to even breathe!!”
Closing the distance in an instant, he threw a punch at me.
Tiger Subduing Fist (伏虎拳) - Tiger Subduing Advance (伏虎進擊)
Smack! Faced with the powerful strike, I reinforced my body with mana and blocked it with crossed arms.
A surprisingly sharp pain shot through them.
His attack didn't end there. Using his strange footwork again, he instantly moved to my side and aimed for my ribs.
Tiger Subduing Fist (伏虎拳) - Heavy Tiger Kick (重虎腿)
As a knee kick flew at me with enough force to shatter ribs, I immediately turned and retreated. I had a strong feeling I shouldn't block this one.
The moment I backed away, he continued to pursue me with his footwork.
I repeatedly used 'Thought Acceleration' to evade his relentless barrage of attacks.
Whoosh! A fist cut through the air, passing right by my face.
‘...That was a little dangerous.’
Of course, I planned to use a barrier if it looked like it would actually hit, so it wasn't a major threat.
“You slip away like an eel!”
Seeing me run around without being able to land a decent counterattack, a smile spread across his lips, as if certain of his victory.
His smug look suddenly pissed me off.
[Weakness Insight]
I saw an opening in him that I hadn't noticed before.
I threw a punch, packed with mana, right at it.
Pow!
“Keok?!!”
Taking advantage of his surprise at the unexpected attack, I pressed on.
[Strength]
[Haste]
[Balance]
[Berserk]
“W-What?!”
Thwack! Thwack! Pow!
As I layered support magic on top of Weakness Insight, he couldn't react to my sudden burst of speed and kept taking clean hits.
His confident expression from moments ago was gone without a trace.
His strange footwork was useless in the face of overwhelming speed and power.
POW!!
My final punch landed squarely on his face. Just like before, he went flying, rolling several times across the ground before he was out cold.
Cheers erupted from the crowd of onlookers.
I confidently raised my right arm, giving the fans some service.
“...Hyun-woo, didn't I tell you not to use magic if you can help it? That's not how you train.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa poked me in the side, seemingly displeased about something.
“If I thought of this as training, I wouldn't have used magic. But this was a battle of pride between men.”
Besides, if I had been serious about using magic, I wouldn't have stopped at mere support spells.
“Anyway, what's with that guy?”
As far as I know, Daoists can't get married. Besides, a guy in his mid-to-late twenties should be well past the age of thoughtlessly hitting on women.
“...A sudden gust of wind blew my veil off.”
“Ah.”
That one word told me everything I needed to know. Faced with Cheon Yeo-hwa's bare face, even a Daoist couldn't help but fall for her.
“Well, that can't be helped. The only person who wouldn't fall for you at first sight would have to be gay.”
“Gay...?”
“It's a thing.”
A hideous word my Yeo-hwa should never have to know.
Anyway, I was about to wrap things up and head back to the tent for some quality time with Cheon Yeo-hwa when I turned around.
“It's not over...!”
A voice filled with rage echoed from behind me.
“I, Cheonghwa, the Sword Dragon (劍龍) and a second-generation disciple of the great Mount Hua Sect, will not yield to the dark arts of a treacherous Evil Faction bastard!!”
The guy, one cheek swollen bright red, suddenly started introducing himself. Sword Dragon, huh? That was a title worth coveting.
I felt a faint killing intent from the way he was glaring at me.
‘And that's supposed to be a Daoist?’
He abruptly raised his sword. However, it seemed he had one last shred of reason left, as he didn't draw it from its scabbard.
A faint, deep red haze shimmered over his scabbard. It was Sword Qi.
‘Well, the Mount Hua Sect is famous for its Plum Blossom Sword Art. It's understandable he'd feel wronged after getting knocked out without even swinging his sword once.’
I sent Cheon Yeo-hwa behind me and gripped my own sword, scabbard and all. I couldn't use Sword Qi now without using demonic energy, but I could make up for the difference in power with support magic and mana.
I wouldn't use any other magic. This was a good chance to see the skill level of a professional swordsman.
The man took his stance and glared at me fiercely for a moment before closing in with a footwork technique that was completely different from before.
As he instantly drew near, I caught the faint scent of plum blossoms.
From top to bottom, the sword swung in the blink of an eye, rushing toward my head. I could feel his intent—since he couldn't cut me, he would beat me with the scabbard.
With Thought Acceleration, dodging it wasn't too difficult.
However.
“That is enough.”
A white-bearded old man suddenly appeared and blocked his attack with a single finger.
“M-Master?”
The face of the man who had introduced himself as the Sword Dragon was filled with panic.
He began to tremble like an herb gatherer who'd run into a tiger, eventually dropping his sword and slowly backing away.
“Huuu... I told you time and again not to act so rashly...”
I could feel the anger in the old man's voice.
Immediately after, the white-bearded old man vanished.
WHACK!!
A clear sound echoed across the clearing, and the Sword Dragon collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
It was a complete shitshow.