Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Proving One's Strength (5)
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"I need to break that stiff neck of yours first."
Shring.
It was right at the moment he leisurely adjusted his grip on his sword.
"What I want to fix is your rotten mindset."
Pat pat.
Baek Ri-seol approached with her sword hugged to her chest. Suddenly, Um Ho felt something off.
'What is it? Her speed.'
She was hopping lightly as if tapping the ground with her toes, but in an instant...
"Gasp."
By the time he blinked, she was right in front of his nose.
But that wasn't all that was shocking.
Bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz.
The four swords cradled in her arms were emitting a chilling sword hum.
'No way.'
A Bronze Hall newbie making swords hum?
A sword's hum was no simple matter. It was a divine skill that could only be shown when the sword and swordsman became one.
"Even a mongrel dog needs to know why it's getting beaten, right? Though it might be beyond you."
But his shock didn't last long.
One of the swords stirring in its sheath shot upward.
Um Ho swung his sword in alarm at the strike that burst forth in the blink of an eye.
Clang clang clang clang!
'Heavy.'
He managed to block the slashing attack that came like a gale, but his wrist ached.
How could he not realize the power behind that casual swing was extraordinary?
"First. The crime of laying hands on what's not yours."
Graaah! Crack!
The moment he thought he'd missed one sword shadow, the blade scraped upward along his sword and thwack. It struck his wrist.
"That's theft."
Whoosh.
This time, another sword soared up.
'A dual sword expert?'
Dual swords at this speed?
Greatly startled, Um Ho quickly shook his blade to deflect the opponent's sword, then swung wide to smack down the newly rising one.
"Second. The crime of mentioning me with your filthy tongue."
Slap!
Um Ho's head snapped to the side as he continued his forms.
What he saw was the blade that had slapped his cheek on its way past.
'When did she draw it?'
A chill ran down his spine.
In that instant, his dismissive attitude vanished.
What followed was astonishment and an immense sense of defeat.
"The third is the most important. Daring to call me that lowly Jegal's lover."
With those words, Baek Ri-seol's sword moved like a cutting gale.
Shhhh shick.
She tossed the sheaths into the air, gripped dual swords in both hands, and thrust forward at terrifying speed.
"Gasp!"
As dozens of sword shadows slashed in, Um Ho moved his sword with full focus, no room for carelessness.
Clang clang clang clang!
But it wasn't easy.
Slash!
Blood sprayed across his brow.
Sword qi had grazed his forehead before he knew it.
Slash!
His nose burned.
Drip drip. Nosebleed poured down.
Clang!
"Hohoho. Don't you think the hand that displeased me is useless now?"
This crazy woman.
Um Ho, frantically blocking and dodging, was utterly dumbfounded.
'She hasn't even been training long...'
Impossible.
To acquire such fast, heavy sword strikes would take a full ten years of dedicated practice at least.
"Wait."
Something was wrong here.
He tried to buy time to gather his thoughts, but...
Pat pat.
His opponent was repeating steps forward and back, slashing with sharp strikes.
Shick!
His mind snapped alert at the piercing whoosh. Um Ho quickly raised his sword and slashed in all directions.
Clang clang clang clang!
He barely dodged.
Thud!
But he missed one.
'Weird? I definitely hit it.'
In his blurring vision, he saw her kicking up a sword with her toe and drawing a new one.
It was truly bizarre swordsmanship.
'At this rate, I'm done for.'
Facing dozens more splitting sword shadows, Um Ho had to make a decision.
'I have no choice but Four Days Sword Art.'
Unleashing his sect's secret art in public, especially for personal reasons, was unforgivable.
"Oh my. What a shame."
But the moment he saw her covering her mouth with her sleeve, mocking him, his reason snapped.
Rage overwhelmed his senses.
'I need to land one solid hit on her.'
It was proof of his existence, once called Mad Dog and filled with superiority.
As a disciple of Jeomchang Sect, one pillar of the Nine Great Sects and Eight Schools, he couldn't suffer such an ugly defeat.
"Raaargh!"
For the first time, Um Ho circulated his dantian's energy and raised his sword.
Woooong!
Though he couldn't go full power while on the defensive, it was enough.
True to the talent Jeomchang Sect had nurtured, in a split second he manifested sword qi a full han long.
"Hmph! My mercy ends here!"
"Oh my. How dramatic."
"Witness the might of Four Days Sword Art!"
Woooong!
As the foundational Falling Sun Mantra raced through his meridians, light flashed in Um Ho's eyes.
Falling Sun. The sunset glow at dusk.
Mantra. True qi mimicking it.
The moment red energy rose from his dantian, flowed through his wrist, and reached the blade...
Woooong.
The blade trembled, sword qi thickened, and red flames bloomed at the tip.
"Oh god! That's dangerous!"
"Jeomchang Sect's famed ultimate technique!"
"Crazy bastard! A killing move in a spar?!"
The students chattered, but Um Ho focused on one thing.
'Slash! Faster than anything.'
It cleaved like lightning.
His hand moved.
Four Days Sword Art, First Form: Instant Horizon Slash!
- First Form. Slash the present.
Graaaah!
The strike pierced the wind, taking the shortest path to connect tip to target.
Shaaaack!
The sword smoothly traced an imaginary line, bursting with explosive whooshes.
"What aura!"
"The sword vanished?"
Ignorant fools.
Couldn't even see the trajectory.
But Um Ho was convinced by the students' reactions.
'It landed properly.'
His opponent stood frozen, eyes wide, unable to react.
'My victory.'
But the next instant, Um Ho gasped in shock.
"Oh my. This is surprising."
Pop!
The swords vanished from her hands.
"Arrrgh!"
Suddenly, two blades pierced both his insteps, trembling.
His footwork was sealed.
"Even a mongrel needs one trick to survive."
Slash!
At the same time, his sure-kill form was being torn apart.
Clang clang clang!
Relentlessly, along the flowing sword path she danced.
Slash! Shlick!
The one-strike-kill vanished without a trace.
'This is a nightmare.'
Um Ho screamed inwardly at the unbelievable reality.
But the nightmare was just beginning.
Slash!
Pinned by the swords through his feet, the dissected Instant Horizon Slash grazed his side.
"Guhk!"
The moment he screamed, his shoulder burned.
"Aaaak!"
Another sword sliced his shoulder.
Slash! Slash!
Chilling cuts followed, slicing only the skin as if slowly skinning him alive. It was utterly gruesome.
"Keurk! Khek!"
His eyes filled with terror as he blocked with his sword, feet pinned like a speared insect.
In fear, he clumsily tried to counter with fist techniques using his flailing limbs.
"Oh my. Still got some fight left?"
Crack.
His wrist snapped mid-fist form.
"Guhk."
He tried to pull out the sword from his instep.
"Mongrel's got stamina."
Slash!
Only his back got sliced.
Then he realized.
Baek Ri-seol had no intention of stopping.
Slash slash slash!
Like a bloodthirsty heron frenzied for gore.
Her arms waved, ceaselessly spraying blood.
'Help...'
Under the indiscriminate violence, Um Ho stopped thinking.
And instinctively knew.
I'm going to die.
At this rate, I'll die.
Desperate, Um Ho somehow opened his mouth.
- Surrender.
Just one word.
No matter how heated the fight, this was still a spar.
They couldn't attack a surrendering opponent.
"Su... surren..."
But just as he tried to shout...
Crunch.
"Kehk!"
Something pierced his mouth, smashed his throat, and burst out.
Splat splat.
Hot blood and a few teeth clattered down.
Only then did Um Ho realize what had struck his soft palate.
"Oh my. These shoes I bought recently..."
Scrub scrub.
Pretty silk slippers. Flower-adorned shoes, now drenched in blood, wiped on the ground.
Seeing this, Um Ho despaired.
'This woman...'
Has no intention of accepting surrender.
No intention of letting me live.
"Gaaaak..."
He tried to wail in pain and humiliation, but his broken teeth made speech impossible.
"What? You say you haven't lost yet?"
No.
'Surrender. I surrender.'
He screamed inwardly, but she gave a thumbs up.
"I admire your spirit, so I'll give you my best until the end."
Um Ho's eyes filled with despair.
The onlookers were dumbfounded.
There weren't many who saw clearly due to inferior martial arts.
The spar began.
The girl spread her arms, sleeves fluttering as she moved, and Um Ho's sword flew away.
Those with insight saw better, but as they say, seeing depends on knowledge?
Their shock was even greater.
Un Ho-seung muttered in a daze.
"She broke Four Days Sword Art?"
"...She severed the flow in an instant."
Even Im So-jeong's sleepy eyes went wide.
Pfbt. Thud.
Even the twins were stunned that the mad dog had dropped his sword.
"To drop your sword mid-battle, the ultimate shame... and Um Ho suffered it?"
"Unbelievable even seeing it."
A swordsman's virtue was to die gripping his sword.
Not only defeated, but dropping his sword and passing out? For Um Ho, a great Jeomchang Sect disciple.
The girl's reaction was even more shocking.
"Oh my! The deadly feign faint?"
"I know it. Pretend to pass out, attack when off guard, right?"
"Villain! I'm not falling for it!"
Thud thud thud thud!
With her bizarre claim, she diligently pummeled the prone Um Ho.
Then started kicking his unconscious body.
Unable to watch, Um Ho's comrade stepped in.
"Stop! The match is over!"
"The mongrel just mumbled 'Not yet.'"
"He's passed out! Unconscious!"
"What? He has a secret move left?"
Thud thud!
Her dainty kicks full of spirit made Um Ho twitch.
Un Ho-seung muttered watching.
"Doesn't look like she'll stop the spar."
"...Yeah. Seems so."
"Talent aside, her personality seems fiercer than Sword Empress."
The legend of Sword Corner, who pacified Namhae Island with mighty arts and icy temperament like northern winds.
"...Agreed."
Even Im So-jeong had to concede this time.
"Um. Hey."
We have to stop her.
Stunned by the unexpected outcome, two Silver Hall instructors tried to intervene.
"Whoa whoa. Where are you going?"
"Jegal, student. Move."
"Isn't it just a spar between students? Watch."
"How is that a spar?"
"Then what is it?"
Words weren't getting through.
As the two instructors exchanged glances and prepared to act...
The grinning Jegal Tan spoke to Nangong Yun-ho beside him.
"Yun-ho. Want to hear something fun?"
"What?"
"Sparring with instructors is pretty fun too."
"Tempting."
"I want to check how much stronger they've gotten since before. Got time?"
Casually.
The two instructors remembered the infamous title upon seeing Jegal Tan's hand on his sword.
'Instructor Hunter.'
How ruthless the sword of the Jegal madman who forced fellow instructors to retire.
Chill. Chill.
Their bodies shivered.
His sharpened aura in the time apart seemed to scrape their necks.
They glanced sideways.
'Jegal Tan's bad, but this one too...'
Ghost of Bronze Hall, they said.
Nangong Family discard, dullard, they said.
'Intimidating just by looking?'
This wasn't a mere student's presence.
If the Nangong decision was true, they'd question their sanity.
'Where did it all go wrong?'
Shiver shiver.
They needed to move, but their feet wouldn't budge.
Thud thud thud thud!
Meanwhile, the dull violence continued.
"Stop now, or this kid..."
"Waaah. Sorry."
Thud thud thud thud!
A little girl was bizarrely kiai-ing, twisting both students' arms.
Truly.
It was a total mess.