Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Storm of the Golden Sun (5)
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Clang-!Clang!Clangclang!Clang!
The thrusting sword tip, aimed to pierce straight through, bounced off the fist and the back of the hand. A collision sound far too dense and solid for bare knuckles erupted in rapid succession.
'My speed's a touch faster... but this destructive power is unreal. Unless I nail the exact vital spot, I'll get pushed back in seconds. What the hell kind of monster is this?'
Even before arriving at Dabcheon Academy—and certainly after—whatever Jin Se-jeong set her sights on piercing, she could run through with a single sword stroke. A standoff dragging on like this was a first for her.
Covering her still-insufficient power with slightly superior speed and honed precision was proving too much for an inexperienced Jin Se-jeong.
As the clashes between fist and blade stretched on, the strain mounting on Jin Se-jeong was only natural.
Claaang-!
In the end, the sword tip she'd thrust out to counter the incoming fist veered just slightly off course.
"Opening."
The gap born from that inevitable slip couldn't escape Ryu Jia's eyes or her lightning reflexes.
Sweeeee-!
Ryu Jia's fist, cloaked in red mana, rocketed toward Jin Se-jeong's solar plexus.
It was too late to pull back the sword and parry the punch—leaving Jin Se-jeong with no choice but to evade.
But dodging this fist would only invite the other one barreling in right after. Once the momentum shifted, Ryu Jia's barrage wouldn't halt until her knuckles landed.
"Hup...!"
So Jin Se-jeong flipped the sword hilt into a reverse grip—and instead of retreating, lunged forward toward the punch, one step at a time.
Kagagagak-!
Positioning the reverse-gripped blade along the punch's path, she advanced a single step. Ryu Jia's fist grazed the edge, spitting sparks as it sliced through empty air.
Reading her foe's timing and closing half a beat early to deflect the strike along the sword—an exquisite display of on-the-fly ingenuity.
"Wow."
Ryu Jia was genuinely awed that a mere first-year had deflected her punch like that.
"Haaat!"
The third form of the Azure Dragon Twelve Swords: a reverse-hand thrust crafted for ultra-close quarters.
Lacking the speed, power, or reach of its siblings, but unmatched in sheer unpredictability, the Azure Dragon Dagger speared toward Ryu Jia's unguarded chest.
The flawless counter from that moment of crisis—perfect improvisation—slipped past Ryu Jia's defenses, hurtling with piercing momentum toward her solar plexus nestled between her breasts.
Clang-!
But that was it.
Jin Se-jeong's Azure Dragon Dagger left only the faintest scrape on Ryu Jia's skin before clanging like it had struck unyielding metal. It halted dead at her sternum, unable to advance further.
"...Huh?"
No intent to kill, sure—but she'd gone all-out against this monster all the same.
The unleashed Azure Dragon Dagger was her sincerest, full-powered strike.
Yet that thrust had barely pierced a single layer of skin, inflicting no meaningful harm on her body shrouded in red mana.
Just like that, the flow swung back to Ryu Jia.
"Stings pretty good."
Already certain her body couldn't be pierced, Ryu Jia whipped her pre-chambered fist at the stunned Jin Se-jeong.
An improvised strike was bound to expose an opening—and with everything poured into the Azure Dragon Dagger, blocking or dodging Ryu Jia's readied counterpunch was beyond Jin Se-jeong.
Sweeeee-!
Ryu Jia's crimson fist, overlaid with red mana, made contact with Jin Se-jeong's body.
Crunch-!
The outcome was the polar opposite of Jin Se-jeong's attack.
KABOOOM-!!!
"Gahak...!"
Launched like a cannonball along the arc of Ryu Jia's swing, Jin Se-jeong slammed into the arena's outer wall. She retched out a pained groan amid ragged gasps.
Reflexively raising her shoulder against the jawbound fist had been smart—but Ryu Jia's punches weren't something you could just block.
A beast of annihilation forged into human shape. Bare-handed defense was futile; fatal damage inevitable.
"Damn it..."
One punch from Ryu Ga's heir, the Storm Dragon Ryu Jia, and Dabcheon's disciplinary chief Jin Se-jeong's left arm hung useless.
"Whoa, you're sturdy. Anyone else hits the dirt permanently from one of mine, no matter where. Just a busted shoulder? This disciplinary chief's the real deal. Rumors checked out."
Jin Se-jeong: left deltoid torn, humerus snapped, ribs cracked—a grievous wound. Ryu Jia: pristine save for that minor scrape on her sternum.
One fair exchange of blows each, yet the gulf was vast.
A referee would've screamed "Ref Stop!"—but Ryu Jia had no intention of ending it. She strode toward Jin Se-jeong with purpose.
"More where that came from, right? Not quittin' over one bum arm? Up you get, chief."
Dismissing the injury like it was nothing, she even prodded Jin Se-jeong to rise.
Faced with this fight-starved predator, Jin Se-jeong clenched her teeth and hauled herself up.
As Ryu Jia said—not a fight you bail on over one arm.
"Nngh... Hoo. Obviously. No surrender."
This was a clash of true females, wills enforced through raw power.
Jin Se-jeong bore the duty of disciplinary chief and childhood friend: win, protect Yang Woo-bin from these depraved fiends.
'Lose here, and Ryu Jia-senior steals Woo-bin. I'll be a battered wreck, weeping as he writhes under her, moaning like a bitch. Never... never that...!'
She envisioned defeat: Yang Woo-bin reduced to Ryu Jia's living fucktoy.
A future to chill the blood just imagining—utter nightmare fuel.
Such a horror couldn't be allowed. Broken left arm dangling limp, her eyes blazed with her fiercest battle lust yet.
"That's the spirit."
Ryu Jia's lips curled in satisfaction at the blue fighting spirit blooming across Jin Se-jeong's frame.
A rare foe—the first in ages—capable of marking her flesh.
Right now, Jin Se-jeong outshone even Yang Woo-bin. This brawl eclipsed any "sex (or whatever)" with him in thrill and delight.
"One-shot decider, full power. Draggin' it out just drains you for no fun, yeah?"
Forgetting Yang Woo-bin entirely, eyes locked solely on Jin Se-jeong, she unleashed her red mana in a ferocious surge.
Her body, fortified by Ryu Ga's Red Ki, funneled into her right arm—dyeing the fist a vivid crimson.
"Music to my ears. I'll take that wager with thanks."
As Ryu Jia noted, dragging things out favored the unscathed. Jin Se-jeong gratefully accepted the offered handicap.
Pride smarted at taking an enemy's pity—but victory trumped all.
Short exhale. Breath steady. She wrung every drop of mana, channeling it into right foot, ankle, leg, knee, pelvis, waist, right shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand—and sword.
"Come at me."
Upper body aglow with blue light, thrust primed, she flashed a cocky grin utterly at odds with her grievous wounds—baiting Ryu Jia to charge first.
"Bet."
Blatant counter-fishing, plain as day—but Ryu Jia wasn't one to sidestep provocation.
Born a powerhouse, such ploys were mere playful spice, heightening the joy. Born strong meant duty-bound to pulverize every scheme head-on.
Thus, she stomped the earth with explosive force—charging dead ahead in a straight line, just as Jin desired.
KABOOM-!Sweeeee-!!!
Shattering the ground, kicking up dust clouds, hurtling backward sound itself—a streak of red lightning incarnate.
Substantial light with physical might, barreling to obliterate Jin Se-jeong, all power packed into the thrust fist.
'Insane.'
Shoulder-block like before? Instant crumple, total annihilation. Certainty absolute.
Facing a natural disaster molded into fist-form—mind bleached bone-white from the pressure.
But even as psyche buckled, her rigorously drilled body was already in motion.
Vrrrrrring-!!!
Acceleration ignited from sole and toes anchoring the earth, building speed, force, mass through ankle, knee, pelvis, vertebrae.
Torque-spawned velocity and power transmitted flawlessly: right shoulder, elbow, wrist, right hand.
The colossal force, amplified across Jin Se-jeong's frame, converged at the sword tip—a pinpoint thrust loaded with every ounce of speed, weight, power, lancing toward Ryu Jia's crimson fist.
The twelve forms' sole counter: against an in-range foe, every shred of power focused to one point, unleashed at flawless timing—an ultimate thrust colliding with Ryu Jia's fist.
······!!!!!!!
Blue flash met red in cataclysmic clash—the shockwave rent heaven and earth.