The Boss Enters Phase Two
"He actually had that in him?"
Bukjin was genuinely startled as he stared at the Grand Alliance Leader. A dangerous sensation, unlike anything he had felt before, washed over him, making the hair on his arms stand on end.
'This isn't good. The boss mob is going berserk. Did he just enter a new phase because his HP dropped too low?'
Bukjin quickly increased the distance between them and cast Su-hwan on himself to recover his stamina. His entire body was bathed in a blue light as he layered the healing circles one after another.
"Hundred-Step God-Splitting Palm!"
Bolstered by a surge of violent energy, the Grand Alliance Leader crouched low, spread his legs slightly, and brought his hands together in front of his chest. After tracing the Yin-Yang Continuous Link in the air, he unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of palm strikes.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
Gold and blood-red energies swirled together in his palms before erupting outward, taking physical form as they hurtled toward Bukjin.
"Oh, son of a—!"
For a split second, Bukjin was reminded of the Kamehameha from that Dragon Ball manga he used to read back on Earth. The sheer destructive force radiating from those palm blasts was so immense that he didn't even dare to try and block them head-on.
Bukjin poured every ounce of his strength into the Fragrance-Stealing Jade-Breaking Steps, desperate to weave through the onslaught. However, the Grand Alliance Leader's strikes were incredibly fast. His hands moved like a machine gun, spitting out energy blasts at such a terrifying frequency that it looked as if a rain of palms was falling from the sky.
Bukjin was surrounded. It was no longer a duel; it was a firing squad.
'I can't dodge this.'
Bukjin grit his teeth. He steeled his resolve, reaching deep into his mind. In a situation like this, he needed raw, unadulterated spite. He decided to gamble his life on a frontal confrontation.
'Let's do this! If I hesitate now, the only thing waiting for me is defeat!'
Bukjin chose to charge!
"Beautiful Flowers and Full Moon!"
Bukjin steadied his form and let out a sharp kiai, focusing his spirit. He raised his greatsword with both hands, holding it before his chest as he unleashed the third form of the Flowers Before the Moon Sword.
Sword qi fluttered like falling petals, and the blade itself became the moon. As Bukjin thrust forward, countless petals coalesced into the shape of a radiant full moon, soaring through the air.
The illusion of Mystic Energy created by the Flowers Before the Moon Sword was breathtakingly beautiful and majestic. It was a perfect technique that combined offense and defense into one.
The Flowers Before the Moon Sword consisted of four forms in total: Admiring the Moon Before Flowers, Watching Flowers Under the Moonlight, Beautiful Flowers and Full Moon, and finally, Withered Flowers and Waning Moon.
According to Dean Im Tae-heo, these four forms represented the four stages of a relationship: the first meeting, getting to know each other, falling in love, and finally, the breakup. It was a sword style that mirrored the process of love itself.
The first two forms were purely offensive. The third form was a balanced technique for both attack and defense. The fourth form was a Dong-gwi-eo-jin—a suicidal strike meant to take the enemy down with you.
Im Tae-heo had explained that when a man and woman who loved each other to the point of death finally part ways, they often harbor enough resentment to kill one another. Thus, Withered Flowers and Waning Moon was designed to capture that exact sentiment.
Bukjin had absolutely no intention of dying along with the Grand Alliance Leader. That was why he had opted for the third form, the one that balanced offense and defense.
However, Bukjin's cultivation was still objectively inferior to his opponent's. The Grand Alliance Leader was a powerful 4th-grade Martial Master. On top of that, he was currently empowered by a berserk art.
CRASH—!
The petals scattered, and the moon shattered. Bukjin was sent flying backward by the overwhelming force of the palm strike. He slammed into the stone gate so hard that his body left a deep, man-shaped indentation in the rock.
But Bukjin had been prepared. Even as he was hurtling through the air, he had managed to cast Su-hwan six times in rapid succession. By the time he hit the iron gate, his injuries were severe, but he had already recovered enough to move.
The moment he hit the ground, Bukjin rolled, narrowly avoiding the follow-up palm strikes. But as he continued to tumble, he was eventually caught by the barrage again.
Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!
The powerful blasts left palm-shaped bruises branded onto Bukjin's skin. The sickening sound of bones snapping echoed through the hall.
"Gah!"
Bukjin coughed up a spray of crimson blood. He tried to block the incoming strikes with his greatsword, but each impact sent a jolt of force through him that knocked him further back. Against the absolute gap in Mystic Energy, even the Flowers Before the Moon Sword couldn't fully bridge the divide in raw power.
However, Bukjin had range, he had sword skills, and most importantly, he had healing magic.
"This is basically just a war of attrition where I refuse to die," Bukjin muttered dejectedly.
"Hey! Don't hit my handsome face!" Bukjin roared at the Grand Alliance Leader.
Hearing those words, the Grand Alliance Leader felt a chill run down his spine. 'How is this brat still standing? No matter how much I hit him, he shows no sign of falling!'
If it had been any ordinary opponent, they would have been reduced to a puddle of gore long ago by a 4th-grade Martial Master. Bukjin was vomiting blood, yes, but he didn't look like he was about to collapse at all. In fact, the more blood he spat out, the more energetic he seemed to become.
'What on earth are those blue circles that keep appearing over his head? Is it some kind of divine art? That recovery speed is insane!'
Growing desperate, the Grand Alliance Leader began to unleash his palm strikes even faster.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bukjin was bounced around like a human punching bag, flying from one side of the hall to the other. This continued for a short while until...
Ding!
A familiar smartphone notification rang out in Bukjin's mind.
Master, the training level of the [Peerless Sword Body - Complete Version] app has reached Perfect Mastery.
You have officially ascended to the Black Iron Sword Bone rank.
The voice of the AI, Sinsin, echoed in his ears. In the next moment...
Crack! Snap!
The sound of bones grinding and shifting filled the air. It sounded like a larva breaking out of its cocoon. Suddenly, Bukjin felt a new power erupt like a fountain from his internal organs and the very marrow of his bones—a sensation he had never experienced before.
'This feels like... like a robot transforming!'
Bukjin gripped his sword with both hands. An indescribable strength surged through his body.
"Beautiful Flowers and Full Moon."
Bukjin swung his sword.
Slash—! Shink—! Slice—!
The reddish-gold palm blasts were sliced apart as easily as tofu.
"Wh-what?"
The Grand Alliance Leader's eyes widened in shock. 'My Hundred-Step God-Splitting Palm was broken?'
Right then, the Grand Alliance Leader felt a piercing pain deep within his chest. 'Oh no!'
He had been forcibly suppressing the poison he'd ingested by drinking water, but he could no longer hold it back. The seizure began. To make matters worse, the Mystic Energy in his body was starting to run dry. This was the aftermath of using the Blood-Reversing Qi-Circulating Berserk Art and the Hundred-Step God-Splitting Palm in such quick succession.
The poison spreading through his system wasn't just draining his Mystic Energy; it was consuming his very life force. After unleashing high-level techniques for so long, his internal reserves were finally hitting zero.
Bukjin's sharpened senses didn't miss this opening. Activating Flying Rain Amidst Clouds, he closed the distance with incredible speed. He used the Fragrance-Stealing Jade-Breaking Steps to slip into the Grand Alliance Leader's blind spot and initiated the basic sword technique, Close-body Triple Link.
Bukjin reached the enemy's side without any interference and prepared his final move.
"Ah! How lonely it is to be invincible..."
The music he was playing as BGM reached a crescendo.
"Evil Dragon's Roar! RAAAAARGH!"
Bukjin opened his mouth wide. He poured every bit of his mental power into this single strike. The Evil Dragon's Roar was the final trump card Bukjin had been hiding. Until now, he hadn't used any mental power against the Grand Alliance Leader, all to trick the man into believing he had never trained his spirit.
Caught completely off guard, the Grand Alliance Leader was suddenly faced with a ferocious, terrifying blue water dragon. With its massive maw open and fangs bared, the dragon let out a rage-filled roar and lunged to swallow him whole.
The unique effect of the mental attack instilled a primal fear in the Grand Alliance Leader's heart, causing his body to freeze for a brief moment.
"Reverse Cold Current!"
Bukjin swung his sword with everything he had. Reverse Cold Current was the killing move that best matched his water-attribute Mystic Energy and was the highest-level technique among all the sword arts he was currently practicing. It was his strongest strike.
An illusion of a massive tidal wave surged forward, and atop the wave, the water dragon manifested by his mental power roared in fury. Cold sweat poured down the Grand Alliance Leader's body like rain. An indescribable sense of impending death made his skin crawl.
"AAAAAAARGH!"
The Grand Alliance Leader screamed like a madman, shattering the mental shackles without regard for the cost to his soul. But he was already a step too late. By the time his hands moved to his chest to defend, Bukjin's blade had already carved through his torso.
BOOM—!
The Grand Alliance Leader, having taken the full force of Bukjin's sword, had both of his arms shattered.
"Urgh!"
A massive amount of blood erupted from his mouth. He collapsed onto the stairs, his entire body drenched in gore. Amidst the agonizing pain, the Grand Alliance Leader flailed his limbs, desperately trying to stand back up.
Flutter—!
Then, the sound of a bird's wings echoed. Bukjin, using Flying Rain Amidst Clouds, closed in instantly and swung his sword again. It was the same killing move of the Jesujeon Sword Technique: Reverse Cold Current.
"D-don't kill me...!" the Grand Alliance Leader shrieked. "I have a great secret to tell you!"
A flash of sword light followed. The Grand Alliance Leader's head soared into the air.
Bukjin landed in front of the stone throne and exhaled a ragged breath.
"You piece of trash! Trying to trick me even at the moment of your death? I couldn't care less about your filthy secrets!"
Bukjin knew that people with dirty pasts always had the most to say when they were dying. He stared at the decapitated corpse for a moment, then raised his sword again and drove it straight through the man's heart.
Bukjin was someone who never, ever forgot to confirm a kill.
Only after dealing with the Grand Alliance Leader did Bukjin finally let out a sigh of relief. Having finished his work, he slowly turned around and addressed a certain corner of the great hall.
"You can stop pretending to be dead now. I spotted you a long time ago."
The moment Bukjin finished speaking, a figure bolted out from among the corpses and sprinted toward the exit of the hall with the speed of lightning.
Bukjin blinked in surprise. 'Huh? There really was someone pretending to be dead?'
In truth, Bukjin had just shouted that out on the off chance he was right.