Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Tiger Repays the Favor (3)
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House Wei.
This family, located in the Salovetia administrative district, was a renowned house known as the "Black Tiger."
And the descendants of House Wei inherited towering physiques and superhumanly elastic muscles from generation to generation.
Building on these physical gifts, the Wei bloodline created agile yet flexible bare-handed fighting techniques.
That was the origin of the martial art that earned House Wei the moniker "Black Tiger."
And now, the pinnacle technique of that prestigious house's martial art appeared before Yuri.
Zuk-.
Her planted foot dispersed her body weight.
Both fists clenched tightly at her waist.
At the same time...
Tang-!
The sound of her striking the ground rang out, and her upper body bent forward.
Even in this bizarre posture where her chest nearly scraped the earth, she didn't topple—thanks to the inhuman strength passed down through the Wei bloodline.
Greta charging forward like that resembled a swift tiger.
Krrrng-.
Yuri, facing her, saw the illusion of a tiger lunging straight at him.
A tiger viewing him as prey and charging in.
To avoid being hunted by that beast, Yuri activated the Lightning Boost he'd been saving.
Patsutsutsuk-.
The final Lightning Boost.
He'd probably end up bedridden again once this was over, but right now, he had no time to worry about that.
Not stopping there, he pushed his Ma-ryu to its limits, and even scraped together every last bit of mana to unleash his Aura Blade.
And he began analyzing her moves, his mind overheating as he predicted Greta's next actions.
Yuri was giving it his absolute all, but his expression was gravely serious.
'I can't see it...'
Until now, he'd been able to read Greta's next moves, difficult as they were.
That had let him prepare countermeasures.
But not this time.
No—precisely speaking, he could still read Greta's next move this time too.
But no matter how he responded, he could only envision her attack reaching him.
In other words, Greta's current strike was something the current Yuri couldn't block, no matter how desperately he tried.
'...Isn't this a bit much?'
She'd devoured realms upon realms of experience, yet here she was going all-out against a greenhorn like him.
Where had she tossed her conscience?
On the other hand, he thought maybe this was only natural.
'Well, yeah. This is what a Black Sword Soldier is.'
Battle maniacs.
Every Black Sword Soldier he'd faced so far had been like this.
The moment their eyes lit up, they always went full throttle.
As if giving their all was their way of respecting an acknowledged foe.
Yuri somewhat agreed with that Black Sword Soldier mindset.
'If my opponent goes all-out, then so do I.'
And if he couldn't dodge or block their attack...
'I strike first.'
They'd pull back if it meant a hole in their own heart first.
The best defense is a good offense, as they say.
Right now, that was his only way to survive against this wild-eyed scary auntie.
With that thought, Yuri's sword moved.
And that motion strangely resembled Teresa's.
Sruk-.
Yuri, tasked with perfecting Ma-ryu-Grapple, had made mimicking Sui-seong his top priority.
He'd observed it countless times in spars with Teresa afterward, but failed to replicate it.
That was only natural, of course.
What sane person would expect to copy a pinnacle technique, distilled from centuries of a prestigious house's history, after just a few spars?
The more he dissected Sui-seong, the more Yuri marveled at its complexity.
No way he could mimic it in the short term.
So Yuri changed his goal.
Not a 100% copy, but grasping the rough structure and rebirthing it in his own style.
Of course, even that wasn't easy.
But Yuri had Ma-ryu.
'Right now, I can't react to every bit of the opponent's power from multiple angles like Sui-seong to deflect... but with Ma-ryu?'
If he used his sword as the central axis and deployed Ma-ryu?
Deflect the opponent's attack just enough, then slip his blade into the gap?
That should produce something similar to Sui-seong's effect.
The problem was he couldn't dream of flexibly altering trajectories like Sui-seong.
'That part I can refine bit by bit later.'
With that in mind, he'd built a framework—and now, in this do-or-die moment, he drew it out.
If Johann saw this, he'd probably unleash a torrent of curses.
[You crazy bastard! Using an untested, unfinished technique in real combat?! And at a moment like this, where you're one second from death?!]
'Techniques are perfected in battle, you old fart! Treat practice like combat, combat like practice—you don't know that?'
Ignoring Johann's nagging phantom voice in his ear, Yuri yanked his sword back fully, then thrust it forward.
Shaaak-.
Meanwhile, Greta charging at Yuri.
She gave Yuri's incoming thrust a puzzled look.
'A stab?'
Of course swordsmanship included thrusts.
But Yuri had only used slashes up to now.
Plus, his sword took the form of a dao specialized for slashes over thrusts.
A sudden stab?
For a moment, Greta wondered if Yuri was giving up.
But she shook her head.
'Not his style.'
A guy who'd quit at this wouldn't have made it this far.
So Greta gave it her all.
'Let's see you block this.'
Steel ing herself, she twisted her body sideways.
She slid forward at tremendous speed, then twisted her waist.
Hung-.
The incoming acceleration.
Plus the rotational force and muscle power from the twist.
The three forces combined and exploded, propelling her right arm toward Yuri.
House Wei secret martial art.
Bursting Fist Barrage.
Tudada dada-.
Greta's right fist flew at Yuri, trailing dozens of afterimages.
And Yuri's incoming sword, countering it, looked utterly wretched and precarious, like cheap thread.
Not just any punch—this was gauntlet-enhanced with Battle Aura.
Yuri's Aura Blade, a mere reinforcement level, looked ready to snap any second.
That was how it looked to Arin and Poppi watching Yuri's fight.
And to any ordinary person's common sense.
But common sense was overturned.
Tudodo do-.
Yuri's thrust toward the shower of fists...
Palang- palang-.
Slipped leisurely through the gaps between them.
Like a butterfly fluttering along.
Poppi and Arin's eyes went wide at the impossible sight.
But Greta was the most shocked of all.
'...What?!'
To others, it might look like Yuri's stab was weaving through her punches.
But Greta knew better.
'It's bouncing my fists... away?'
Not his sword slipping through—but her fists veering off course before touching his sword.
Whenever her fist neared Yuri's blade, it kept deflecting into weird trajectories.
Raised in a prestigious house, learning about rival families, Greta recognized this pinnacle technique.
'Sui-seong?'
They said the Winchester family's Sui-seong was a supreme art that ignored enemy defenses and offenses alike.
But the one unfolding before her was slightly different.
'Rumor had it the Winchester Sui-seong was incredibly fluid and refined?'
Deflecting attacks effortlessly and slithering in like a snake—that was Sui-seong.
But Yuri's thrust was different.
It was more like...
'A soldier charging with a shield up.'
No evasion at all.
Just relying on that one shield to barely deflect attacks that'd kill on impact, bulling straight forward.
That was exactly the vibe of Yuri's thrust.
Yuri's sword fluttered along.
To Greta, that "flutter" looked more like "wobbling."
A precarious, labored sword staggering toward her.
It surprised her, but it wasn't threatening.
Simple reason.
'Too slow.'
Yuri's thrust was painfully slow.
No, not that slow in absolute terms—but glacially so compared to Bursting Fist Barrage.
At this rate, her fist would hit Yuri first for sure.
As Greta felt that certainty...
Her gaze met golden pupils peeking through his black forelocks.
In that instant, Greta's heart sank.
And.
Patsuk-!
Lightning crackled in the golden pupils.
The Lightning Boost Yuri had cherished activated, spreading instantly through his body.
Pajijijik-!
Yuri's sword, fluttering like a butterfly, suddenly shot toward Greta's heart like a bee.
To Greta, it was as if the shield soldier suddenly collapsed, revealing the veteran spearman lurking behind.
Shik-!
The thrust rocketed toward her heart at insane speed.
Greta's face paled.
'Slow.'
Undeniably, Yuri's thrust had started slow.
But now her fist was the slower one.
At this rate, her heart would be pierced before her fist reached Yuri.
'Am I... going to die?'
In that life-or-death crisis, Greta moved on pure instinct.
Kwaang-!
Pu-hwang!
A massive explosion erupted between Yuri and Greta, and the ground erupted upward.
* * *
Kwaang-!
The blast kicked up thick clouds of dust.
'What happened?!'
'I'm hungry!'
Startled, Arin and Poppi leaned forward.
Hwiiik-.
From the dense dust, a black silhouette shot out trailing a tail of dirt.
Seeing it, the two sprang into action.
"Yuri!"
"I'm hungry!"
* * *
Yuri, blasted from the dust, rolled across the ground clutching his sword.
Hudeuk- hududeuk-.
He tumbled over a dozen rolls before stopping.
Splayed out like a corpse, he twitched faintly moments later.
"Huh...."
A weak groan escaped as his upper body jerked.
Yuri strained to rise, pushing with his arms.
Blood erupted from his mouth in a gush.
"Keuk!"
The fountain of blood soaked the dirt.
And that moment, Poppi and Arin arrived.
"I'm hungry!"
"Yuriiii!"
Poppi dashed up desperately and laid Yuri flat.
Arin spun his body this way and that, checking him over.
"Let's see—limbs all attached, no holes in the body, both ears look fine, eyes seem okay... Yuri, you see this? How many fingers?"
She waved two fingers—index and middle—in front of his face.
Yuri's lips moved faintly.
Arin pressed her ear to his mouth since his voice was so weak.
"What?"
"...Beat."
"Huh? Can't hear. What?"
"Shut up!"
"Kyaa!"
Arin's ears rang from the yell right next to them, and she flailed.
"Uwaaak! Feels like my eardrums burst! Poppi, is blood coming from my ears? Is it?!"
Yuri's lips twisted crookedly at her fussing.
"I'm dying in pain here, and you're hovering and stressing me out."
"We were worried!"
"You like groping an injured guy's body?"
"Gro-groping?! I was just checking for injuries! Palpation—you know, palpation!"
"Palpation my ass... Poppi, quit grinning and help me up."
Poppi, who'd been smiling softly at their bickering, nodded and gently lifted Yuri's upper body.
Leaning lightly against Poppi, Yuri stared at the spot where the dust still hadn't settled.