Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: You Picked the Wrong Person (4)
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I bellowed at Kwak Sahong and immediately shifted into combat stance.
Hummm—
The Regret gripped in my right hand was wrapped in the aura I'd drawn up from my lower dantian.
My left hand, which I'd flicked toward Kwak Sahong, formed a sword mudra.
Shaaaa—
The sword mudra thus formed had black true qi, drawn out like thread from my upper dantian and wound around it in the shape of a spell formula, etching a necromantic circle.
At the sight of me doing this...
"Skinny rice? Die? And what? Pay the price? Hah, you've completely lost your mind."
Kwak Sahong let out a hollow laugh, then continued.
"Hey, Eon Yong-un. Just moments ago, you lot were four and I was one. Now you're one and we've got twenty-one. You call this bravado?"
He showed interest in the black magic wound around my sword mudra.
"That energy wrapped around your left hand looks like some shallow shamanism. So, did you perform the ritual to dispel the cyclic elder curse I placed on your grandfather?"
However, he couldn't quite grasp exactly what the black magic on my left hand was.
I sneered at him and opened my mouth.
"If you can't figure it out even after watching, I could tell you and you'd still be clueless."
At my words...
Kwak Sahong clicked his tongue again.
"Tch. Haven't seen you in a while, and your ego's bloated up good. Trying to neutralize the corpse puppets, are you?"
The bastard had somewhat guessed my plan, figuring he was a corpse manipulator himself.
"Give it up. The curse on your grandfather could be broken once you knew the principle and location, but these corpse puppets can only be moved or subdued by the Blood Bell."
But that was just the guess of a frog stuck in the well of corpse manipulation.
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Kuh."
Just then, the sun vanished behind the mountains, and the twilight faded, prompting Kwak Sahong to click his tongue loudly.
"Tch. Breaking the cyclic elder curse on Sanseo Geumbung was one thing, and that swordsmanship resembling the Divine Cult's yet somehow different... I have so much I want to discuss with you, Eon Yong-un."
And as if to prove the power of the corpse puppets he commanded...
He stepped back and began shaking the red bead wrapped around his left hand.
Ding-a-ling—
Ding-a-ling-a-ling—
"But if you're going to act like this, no choice. Looks like I need to chop off an arm or so to humble that bloated ego and have a chat."
With that, the twenty corpse puppets, who had been lined up in a row, charged at me.
Kraaaah!!
Perfectly timed, the black magic on my sword mudra completed, which was welcome news for me.
"Druwa! Druwa!!"
However, regardless of my delight, I had to be cautious of the corpse puppets' attacks.
If I mindlessly took their claws, coated in poison and sharpened to points...?
'I'm immune to most poisons, but still.'
Before poisoning, my skin would be torn off, and colliding with bodies as hard as steel was something to watch out for too.
Kraaaah!
So I whipped my arms, pulling back my stomach convulsively amid the charging corpse puppets.
Kroh!!
Twisting my body like an acrobat and rolling on the ground, I dodged their forearms and leaps.
Kraaaaaah!!!
And for attacks swinging in from impossible angles, I appropriately blocked with the flat of Regret's blade.
Clack!!!!!
Ah, of course.
I didn't just dodge and block.
Even in crises closing in from all sides, I used the gaps in their movements to thrust my left hand in sword mudra form like a seal, stamping the brand onto whatever—face, nape, palm—parts of the corpse puppets' bodies.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Of course, for now, I'd only stamped the brand.
I hadn't activated the black magic yet.
Thus, whether branded or not, the corpse puppets still moved to the sound of Kwak Sahong's bell.
And I had to keep rolling on the ground, breaking a sweat, twisting my body amid them.
Watching me, Kwak Sahong sneered.
"Kekeke, see? Told you it's pointless."
Meanwhile, my master, lost in melancholy, posed a question.
- Yong-un, you're always the type with a plan, so you must have something up your sleeve this time too, but does it have to be this way? Back when you dealt with Haegum Bangju or that Ha Ryu-park bastard, it took less effort, didn't it?
'There was no ranged attacker among them then, and while there is a way, it consumes a massive amount of true qi.'
Black magic that burned true qi felt good since it didn't shorten lifespan, but the fuel efficiency was terrible.
But right now, I had to think of the Kwak Sahong before me.
And what came after.
'That old man I passed by before meeting Kwak Sahong.'
Considering even that old man with his extraordinary aura, even if it took more effort, I needed a reliable method that conserved true qi.
That was why I was rolling around like this.
Anyway.
With those thoughts, I kept extending my sword mudra between dodges, stamping brands on the corpse puppets.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
'Since Kwak Sahong's underestimating me, this is the surest and most efficient way.'
- I see... No, watch your right!
Whoosh!
Pop! Pop!
Even as I explained my thoughts to Master, I didn't stop stamping.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Thus, undeterred by his sneers, I silently branded fifteen corpse puppets without overlap.
Was it his instinct as a sorcerer ringing alarm bells?
Kwak Sahong, who had been casually ringing his bell as if to say "show me your tricks," suddenly unleashed sword strikes and charged.
"That's as far as my leniency goes!"
While I'd treated Kwak Sahong like trash as a sorcerer, purely in terms of martial prowess, he was a cut above me.
'If his attacks join in, stamping like this will get tough.'
I quickened my already busy footwork even more.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
With only two unbranded corpse puppets left, I attempted a bit of a gamble.
'I'll risk a light graze!'
Through a razor-thin gap I wouldn't normally dive into, I threw my body like an acrobat leaping through a flaming hoop.
Swaaa— Aaaak!!
As the corpse puppets' bluish claws grazed past my nose, I calmly folded and twisted my body, narrowly dodging the nails.
Pop! Pop!
I branded the remaining two, then rolled with a falling technique.
'Got it!'
I cheered inwardly, but had no time to voice it.
Kwak Sahong, shaking his bell like a street performer, rushed in pouring sword strikes at me.
Using the momentum, I sprang up.
"Hup."
And immediately slashed Regret upward, batting away Kwak Sahong's sword.
Clang!!!
Kwak Sahong had swung with full commitment, while my strike from a collapsing stance was haphazard, inevitably full of openings.
My swordsman's instincts screamed danger.
Ching!!
But it was doable.
From now on, the corpse puppets would switch masters.
Ching ching!!
I busily parried Kwak Sahong's sword with my right hand.
And amid it all, I shifted my left hand from sword mudra to fist.
Snap.
As the necromantic circle at my fingertips transferred to my palm...
I spread my palm without hesitation and spoke.
"Freeze."
With that, the fierce glow in the eyes of the twenty corpse puppets shining red suddenly turned pitch black, and they halted abruptly.
The moment my lips curled up...
"So, who's got the twenty-one now?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As the corpse puppets froze at my command, Kwak Sahong was utterly shocked.
"I-Impossible... You didn't use sound arts or tools, excluded the sorcerer, or scrape off my control spell, so how?!"
I readjusted my grip on Regret and caught my breath for a moment.
Then I spoke to Kwak Sahong.
"Why not? People and animals alike ditch a leader they don't like or follow a more fitting one who shows up. Undead are similar."
Bodies driven by rotting flesh and grudges can't think on higher levels.
But with black magic like the 'Traitor's Brand' I'd just used, they attach to the higher authority.
'It's considered rude in black mage society, but I'm not on courtesy terms with that Kwak Sahong bastard.'
Anyway.
As I thought that...
"Eon clan's head-changing? The Eon Family Soul Binding Technique has no head-changing spell...? Wait, did I stop shaking the bell when I unleashed my sword strikes just now?"
Reaching some bizarre conclusion on his own, Kwak Sahong wildly shook the bell on his left hand.
Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!
Of course, the corpse puppets who'd switched masters to me didn't budge.
By then, I'd caught my breath fully.
I issued commands to my newly acquired corpse puppets.
"Ugh, so noisy. You guys hate the noise too, right? Take him out!"
With that, the twenty corpse puppets charged at Kwak Sahong in unison.
Kraaaaaah!!!
Of course, unlike Kwak Sahong, I didn't just command from afar.
"Didn't you say you picked the wrong person?!"
I immediately swung Regret and leaped in among the corpse puppets.
Kwak Sahong stared at us in bewilderment but wasn't stupid enough to just watch.
He instantly wrapped his sword in swirling aura, infusing it with power comparable to the sword beam he'd unleashed when we were four against one, and swung.
Swaaaaaak!!!!
Thud!
One corpse puppet was sliced apart like a fish at market.
But we still had nineteen left.
Plus, I could control them with precision Kwak Sahong couldn't.
"Fourth and Eleventh, circle left and right to flank."
Swaaaak!
Whoosh!
Seeing the corpse puppets obey my words flawlessly...
Shock filled Kwak Sahong's face once more.
"N-No, not even living puppets... they understand words?!"
Of course, corpse puppets were inherently stiff, so I'd only induced a miss from Kwak Sahong's hand once at the start.
Swaaaak!
Slash!
Once he got cautious, the corpse puppets started getting damaged one by one.
But that was enough.
'They're not mine anyway, so no loss.'
As they took damage, Kwak Sahong's true qi steadily drained, visibly tiring him out.
"Hah. Hah. Kuhk."
By the time the reddish aura on his sword noticeably thinned...
"Make space for me! Seventh, pull back!"
I began clashing swords with him in earnest.
Clang! Ching clang!!!
At my actions, Kwak Sahong babbled incoherently in confusion.
"Heok. This isn't how righteous faction fights go..."
"No? You called me a scoundrel, a scoundrel."
Had he forgotten that scoundrel was the only common ground between me and his old Yong-un?
Now, barely able to hold his sword, he said this.
"...Hah. Hah. Heok. No way you're Master's new disciple? That doesn't make sense either."
I approached him with the fourteen remaining corpse puppets.
Narrowing my brow, I spoke.
"Can't wrap your head around it? Don't bother trying too hard. What's a dying man going to do with understanding? Pointless."
Did he sense the killing intent in my demeanor?
After losing his corpse puppets, Kwak Sahong's perpetually flustered face suddenly regained composure.
Thus composed, he threw a desperate gambit at me.
"...Kill me, and it's your loss. If you followed Yi Gwon-yeong, you must've seen the elder who went to Yi Manor. Lower rank than me, but terrifying old man. Kill me, and you'll face his wrath."
Fitting for a guy with "gambler" in his moniker, he had no intention of dying cleanly.
Curious what nonsense he'd spout, I slung Regret over my shoulder and replied.
"Dunno. Not scared much? If I bet, I'd say your underlings who went to Yi Manor all get mulched."
"Then kill me after that? And capturing someone like me alive is bigger merit. You lose nothing, Eon Yong-un."
"Nah, guys like you always turn into tumors if left alive."
"Like you? Another cultist got caught?"
"Something like that."
He was grasping at straws and bluffing, but there was nothing to gain from a Divine Cult bastard of Kwak Sahong's caliber.
Torture wouldn't loosen his lips; he'd sooner escape, assassinate someone important, or cause headaches.
Just a seed for frustration.
'He wasn't originally slated to die now, but events are spiraling out of control anyway. Since the kids and I ganged up, better eliminate him here.'
Such thoughts brought Regret slanting down from my shoulder again.
Sensing the killing intent in my movement, Kwak Sahong threw another desperate gambit.
"If I die, the blood-hardened corpse puppets in my lab will rampage! Before you can deploy the earth technique on the diamond corpse, they'll tear you apart..."
"Yeah. Plenty of other ways."
But I didn't let Kwak Sahong finish.
Slash!!!
Having severed his head from his body, I stared toward his lab.
"Guess I should check there next."
Yi Manor would be handling things to some extent, and I needed time to recover from simultaneously expending true qi from upper and lower dantian.
"Seemed like desperate bluffing. But just in case, better confirm."