Dragon-Phoenix Assembly (7): The Exposed Counter
Standing in the open field, I faced Paeng Ojin, who wore a complicated expression, and pointed my weapon at him. Surprisingly, Hong Yeonhwa stayed quiet, watching silently as if this was a necessary step at least once. Paeng Soso, on the other hand, was the anxious one. She'd taught me the counters specifically for this spar, yet there she was, fidgeting. I had to show her that all our hard work hadn't been for nothing.
"I'll yield three moves."
"Then I won't hold back."
My opponent was a Fire Realm master. No matter what I threw at him, he'd handle it with ease. So I went all out from the start.
"Hoo…."
I steadied my breath and circulated the Martial Spirit Divine Art. My physical abilities surged dramatically, inner energy overflowing. I poured it all into a kick against the ground.
Boom!
The excessive power—beyond my footwork proficiency—created a thunderous roar, but it didn't matter. I'd dashed forward at incredible speed.
"Hup!"
Carrying all that momentum, I swung my sword. My most confident technique: Mount Tai Crushing Strike. It devoured an absurd amount of inner energy, the blade glowing white with sword qi—the maximum power I could muster right now.
Bang!
"Heavy."
Paeng Ojin blocked it effortlessly.
"Two moves left."
Sounds like "two seconds left on your lifespan," right…? Nah, just my imagination.
Using the Eight Directions Step's freedom of directional change, I swiftly circled to his diagonal rear. Then I thrust precisely at his side.
Clang!
Of course, Eight Directions Wind and Rain was blocked just as easily. Blindly charging in wouldn't yield results—in fact, once the three moves ended, his counterattack would crush me. So I unleashed Horizontal Small Heaven Army to create distance, targeting the spot below his shins to make it hard to respond.
It meant nothing. He wrapped qi around his shoes—not even a weapon—and kicked it away. No openings anywhere.
Still, judging by Paeng Ojin's expression, it hadn't gone too badly.
"Whether it's your talent, your master, or some stroke of fortune… you're decent for someone your age."
"…Thank you."
My realm was at the entry to peak. But with the Martial Spirit Divine Art active, I could output mid-entry power comparable to Paeng Soso's. Of course, that was just raw power—overall, I still fell short. Reaching peak in your twenties was incredibly rare outside special cases like the Five Great Families or the Nine Great Sects.
Withstanding his pressure and handling sword qi proficiently must have impressed him.
The goal of this spar was just to demonstrate my abilities and gain approval for my relationship with Paeng Soso. All things considered, a solid start.
"Then it's my turn."
A mad surge of aura poured out. He seemed thrilled that neither Hong Yeonhwa nor Paeng Soso could help now, his lips curling up.
…A solid start, right? I shook off the chill creeping down my spine and reset my stance. Then, the moment I closed and opened my eyes—
In an instant, he'd closed the distance I'd worked so hard to create. Right in front of me, he swung a saber as massive as his hulking frame.
Clang.
I hurriedly raised my sword to deflect the incoming blade. It was possible only because it was a familiar form from the Five Tigers Gate Severing Saber Art.
Just as Paeng Soso had said. He had no real intent to kill me, so he wouldn't draw his signature ultimate technique, Hwanwon Byeolryeo Saber. The power was also calibrated to my level—not overwhelming.
But it wasn't something I could brush off easily.
"Kuh!"
Just one clash, and my whole body rang like a bell. I wanted to retreat to dissipate the shock, but I forced myself to hold firm. One thing I'd learned for sure from sparring with Paeng Soso: better to take the pain than create an opening. Once your stance crumbled, Paeng family arts would exploit it ruthlessly, dismantling you before you could even react.
"Good instincts. Try this one."
Before I could fully reset, Paeng Ojin's saber strikes rained down with ferocious momentum. They looked like wild swings at a glance, but each came from an angle that was hard to parry.
"This much…!"
The power and subtlety were leagues beyond Paeng Soso's, but it was a pattern I'd seen countless times. I could manage this. First from upper left, then lower left. The finisher started from lower right. Not particularly strong, fast, or tricky—but mindlessly blocking each one led to your hands tangling, exposing a vulnerability.
The weakness: a slightly longer gap between the second and third strikes. I calmed my mind and swung my sword steadily. Once, twice—and no third. I exploited that tiny window to dart back.
"Tch…."
Paeng Ojin smacked his lips in disappointment. Paired with his fierce looks, it was like watching a real tiger miss its prey. Thank goodness Paeng Soso took after her late mother more than her father.
After that, his one-sided assault continued, with me barely hanging on. At first, he chalked my defenses up to luck and just expressed regret. As it repeated, he started praising my senses.
Makes me feel a bit guilty. But maybe I couldn't fully fool a Fire Realm master's eyes. At some point, suspicion crept into his gaze.
While I debated feigning fatigue to buy some space—
His figure suddenly closed in with a surprise acceleration, chaining strikes off his body's momentum: Fierce Tiger Emerging from the Forest. A new move in this spar, but so ingrained from training with Paeng Soso that I reflexively swung to counter—
"???"
He abruptly halted midway. My sword clashed against his a couple times before whiffing into empty air.
Normally impossible without straining muscles and bones… but since he'd been holding back the whole spar, he could stop on a dime.
The problem: I'd anticipated the next attack before it even started, swinging for the structurally vulnerable follow-up—the exact counter.
"Ah."
…That's when I realized I'd taken the bait I'd tossed out half-jokingly.
Shock filled Paeng Ojin's eyes, swiftly turning to blazing fury.
"Soso, you wretch! You've gone mad for a man and sold out the family pillar!"
"Hiyak!"
Paeng Soso, who'd been watching anxiously from a distance, yelped in fright and scurried behind Hong Yeonhwa. Of course, with their height difference, she wasn't properly hidden.
It was a cute side of Paeng Soso I rarely saw… but not the time to appreciate it.
Ah, busted.
Paeng Ojin sheathed his saber mid-spar without a care and strode toward Paeng Soso.
"Mm…."
Hong Yeonhwa, who'd been tapping her chin thoughtfully, seemed to reach a conclusion.
"Eutcha."
"H-Hong unnie?!"
In some incomprehensible maneuver, she swapped positions with Paeng Soso. Suddenly thrust in front of Paeng Ojin, Paeng Soso made a betrayed face, but Hong Yeonhwa replied calmly.
"Can't be helped now. Don't worry—you won't die."
"Feels like I'll get beaten half to death!"
"Ahem. This isn't the time to whine to me, is it?"
Screeech.
Paeng Soso stiffly turned her head like an unoiled doll, revealing Paeng Ojin with a statue-of-the-mountain-king-level scowl.
"F-Father? Um, what I mean is…."
"Do you know what you've done, Soso?"
A calm voice utterly unlike his earlier bellow. But reading the deeply suppressed anger and disappointment wasn't hard.
"Sorry… I'm sorry…."
"I don't want apologies. Do you even know what you did?"
Paeng Soso's eyes darted side to side before she murmured cautiously.
"…I leaked the family martial arts' counters to an outsider."
"No. Wrong, daughter. What you did is far worse."
Paeng Ojin let out a deep sigh.
"You've betrayed all the Paeng ancestors, betrayed your father, and with your own hands, basically killed the Jin young hero you like so much."
"Eh…?"
"Passing down the arts might be forgivable, but creating and teaching counters? That's a bigger sin."
No matter how supreme the art, once counters spread, it becomes worse than third-rate. An art that can't touch the enemy is meaningless. Creating counters was tantamount to declaring war until one side was wiped out.
"At this point, the surest way to prevent any potential leak of those counters is…."
"Exterminate and erase evidence…."
Paeng Ojin nodded at Paeng Soso's dazed mutter.
"Yes. Of course, as my daughter and the family head's heir, you could get off with lifelong confinement. But Jin Sochan…."
He has to die.
Paeng Soso's face drained of color as she grasped it. She'd done it hoping I'd take fewer hits from Paeng Ojin, never imagining it'd threaten my life.
As the trembling Paeng Soso opened her mouth to speak—
"Don't scare her with empty words. She's reflected enough by now."
Hong Yeonhwa, who'd been watching quietly, cut in.
"Creating counters is no different from a declaration of war. But you have no real intent to harm my husband, do you? Besides, with me here, you couldn't anyway."
In the end, the only option left was to bring me into the family.
Paeng Ojin let out a long sigh after hearing her out.
"Haa… You're right. But Soso needed to truly understand her mistake."
"That's why you stayed quiet until now."
Only after seeing Hong Yeonhwa shrug did I finally loosen my grip on the sword hilt.
Whew… Nearly ended up a fugitive for life.
Paeng Soso relaxed too, stroking her chest as she muttered.
"Phew… Was worried I'd have to inherit the family head position. Glad that's off the table."
…Soso? What the hell were you thinking?
