Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Chapter 40. Blade Mountain Sword Forest (3)
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A Jeok-gang leaped back like a grasshopper, swinging his whipsword in a wide arc.
Sama Gulgi, who had been crouching low, suddenly straightened up and slapped the whipsword away. Ignoring the blade as it whipped back with a resonant hum, he pressed forward.
As he did, he brought his sword slashing down.
In response, A Jeok-gang retreated three more steps, flicking his wrist. The whipsword traced a dizzying, ever-shifting trajectory.
It was a maneuver meant to shake off the bull-like charge of Sama Gulgi.
But Sama Gulgi had no intention of halting. He thrust his sword into the origin point of A Jeok-gang's flurry of changes, whipping and stabbing wildly as he advanced.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
A straight longsword, rigid and unyielding, simply couldn't block the whipsword's myriad transformations, with its inherent elasticity and flexibility.
Red welts began blooming across Sama Gulgi's body here and there. Yet he glared fiercely ahead, protecting only his vital spots as he pushed on.
And just as A Jeok-gang's flurry of changes neared its end, Sama Gulgi—who had kept advancing relentlessly—finally seized his chance.
A soft, flexible whipsword simply couldn't stand against a rigid longsword once distance was allowed.
With that, Sama Gulgi unleashed a barrage of relentless attacks.
Thus, in the clash between Sama Gulgi and A Jeok-gang, Sama Gulgi had succeeded in seizing the initiative early by boldly attempting a reversal.
Meanwhile, Ho Ye-hwa and Jin Ga-yong—who had sensed the old man dawdling—remained in a lukewarm standoff.
'Stillness amid motion, they say. That guy's the perfect example. If I charge in, it'll come slicing out like he's been waiting. But dragging this out feels like I'm getting played somehow.'
Ho Ye-hwa grumbled inwardly as he slowly circled Jin Ga-yong, just as he had been doing.
Jin Ga-yong, facing him, showed no movement whatsoever—hard to believe he was the same man who had been rampaging moments ago.
He simply pivoted his direction using his extended right foot as an axis, turning with his left. With half-lidded eyes and head bowed, it was impossible to gauge where he was looking or what he was thinking.
The two had maintained this standoff for nearly half of one ke (about three or four minutes) now.
So Ho Ye-hwa's dilemma was this:
Was this guy waiting for me to attack first? Or had he noticed I wasn't coming in easily and was using the time to recover his energy?
If the former, charging recklessly would likely get him in serious trouble. But if the latter... then he was the one playing the fool right now.
So which was worse?
'Obviously the latter. I'd rather get my nose busted than hear I'm an idiot. No way.'
The moment Ho Ye-hwa steeled himself and lifted his heel—
As if he had sensed it, Jin Ga-yong slightly raised his head and glanced over.
Those eyes...!
Impossible to read. The unknown sent a chill through him, and Ho Ye-hwa involuntarily stepped back half a pace.
Stuck unable to advance or retreat, Ho Ye-hwa was growing frustrated when someone watching sent a transmission straight into his ear.
-When you're about to scatter the poison powder, count to three and hold your breath. Attack as soon as the enemy flinches. I'll handle his back. Don't worry if any poison lingers—I'll treat you after.
It was Bong Yeonja.
She had taken position long ago, waiting for Ho Ye-hwa to create an opening. But this sleepy bastard showed no sign of moving, so in her impatience, she decided to take the initiative herself.
A gentle breeze was stirring, and the fog hung just right—perfect timing.
Without any prior agreement, Bong Yeonja sprang into action. Ho Ye-hwa, receiving the sudden notice, panicked inwardly.
Don't, you bitch!
Before he could protest, he clamped his mouth shut. A gust of wind swept through, carrying a fishy, acrid scent that stung the nose amid the damp air. She'd said count to three, but this woman counted awfully fast.
And as Ho Ye-hwa feared, Jin Ga-yong moved.
The worst assumption about why he hadn't moved: he'd spotted the ambush from the start and had been waiting to deal with the ambusher first.
And once a master like him began to move...
Jin Ga-yong advanced with his sword tip leading, meeting the wind head-on. Drawing a small circle with the tip, a vortex formed at the blade's end, slicing through the breeze as his figure blurred into afterimages.
Whoosh.
Bong Yeonja, poised to leap out the instant she released the poison powder, was startled by the oncoming Jin Ga-yong. She hurled every hidden weapon she had prepared in handfuls and rolled along the ground.
Over thirty ultra-fine needles, tipped with dark red dots, rained down like hairs.
But the needles he had flung were all deflected before they could even close in, caught in the spiral trajectory created by Jin Ga-yong's sword-tip vortex.
Still, it bought a momentary halt to Jin Ga-yong's advance. Bong Yeonja sprang up, her pride stung, muttering through bloodshot eyes.
"Fine. Let's see you block this."
Bong Yeonja extended her pinky to her lips, a thimble gleaming with golden powder on a black base covering her finger.
Whoosh—
She blew fiercely from her mouth, which had been chewing something. A streak of golden powder ignited with a crackle, shooting forth as a fiery stream.
It looked as if she were breathing fire from her mouth, and the blazing stream swallowed the surrounding air, growing larger.
Roar.
The world lit up as if rent asunder. Then darkness fell again, belching acrid smoke.
At that moment, Jin Ga-yong tried to redirect his vortex to disrupt the flame stream, but what was this? Instead, it flared up as if doused in oil, engulfing him whole!
Bong Yeonja let out a triumphant cry.
Spewed in a spray that clung and incinerated targets in an instant, it was a technique called Dragon's Breath.
Wide area of effect, damage even on glancing hits. Hard to block as a gas, but precise aim could take out groups in one go—the advantages were many.
The drawback was short range, but up close, it was devastatingly powerful.
Hohoho~
Bong Yeonja burst into gleeful laughter at her satisfaction, but someone doused her elation.
"Snap out of it!"
No sooner had Ho Ye-hwa's shout ended than a sword thrust out from the flames, stabbing toward Bong Yeonja's chest.
Ting~ Clatter clatter.
What sound was that?
The iron rings of the mirror armor hidden beneath Bong Yeonja's outer robes snapping and tearing one by one. Designed to disperse powerful impacts, it produced this effect.
In other words, the sound that saved her life.
Having narrowly escaped death, Bong Yeonja looked up in astonishment. Jin Ga-yong, whom she thought swallowed by the flames, was staring at her with cold eyes.
'But... I saw it clearly with my own eyes. How?'
Bong Yeonja had to shelve her rising questions. Jin Ga-yong, his thrust foiled, moved again.
She backpedaled frantically, unleashing a barrage of hidden weapons and poison bombs.
Each one was precious, not meant for such wasteful use—but what choice was there?
Dead was dead, after all.
'What an airheaded bitch. Why the hell did she suddenly start cackling like a maniac right then?'
Bong Yeonja wondered how Jin Ga-yong had survived being engulfed in flames. But Ho Ye-hwa was baffled by what was in her head.
To him, the sequence had been this:
When Bong Yeonja breathed fire, Jin Ga-yong swung his sword and retreated beyond range—easily, without apparent difficulty.
But what came next defied understanding.
If an attack failed, whether switching to defense or counterattacking, doing something would be normal.
Instead, Bong Yeonja paused mid-fight and laughed like a lunatic, "Hohoho~," missing the enemy's movement entirely.
How bizarre was that?
From Ho Ye-hwa's perspective, Bong Yeonja just looked off.
'Did some random funny thought pop into her head? I'll ask later. If she survives, that is. Damn it.'
Ho Ye-hwa cursed inwardly as he accelerated. In each hand, he gripped the Soul Spirit Sword and a plain blue steel sword. His steps carried him toward Jin Ga-yong, who was cornering Bong Yeonja.
Ho Ye-hwa had been probing cautiously all along, but with his ally in peril, he charged ahead without a second thought.
Now within striking range, he kicked off the ground, launching his body forward.
Whoosh.
"Ho~ I figured that coward would run without swinging once, but he's got some guts after all."
"From what I've seen, he's all talk and shallow, but he has his own sense of loyalty and righteousness. He just treats me like dirt."
"......"
When the Shandong old man trailed off his commentary with a strange look, Flying Tiger asked.
"What? Something wrong?"
"No."
"Boring. Anyway, old timer, about that Jin team leader dodging Lady Dang's fireball earlier—did it look weird only to me?"
"How'd it look to you?"
"Up until right before, I thought he'd get engulfed in flames. But replaying it, he dodged casually. Wonder if I saw wrong."
"You saw right. What's the issue?"
"Huh?"
"As you said, Jin Ga-yong first tried to sweep the flames away with his sword wind. But upon clash, he realized it wouldn't work, withdrew his blade, and retreated. That's it."
"But that means he urgently changed course at the last second. Yet his movements were smooth, without waste?"
"If that's how you saw it, then even in urgency, he moved with precise composure."
"Eh... really?"
"That's how it is."
Flying Tiger mulled over the old man's words. They implied much.
'It looked that way to me, but differently to the old man? Yet at my level, interpreting it my way isn't wrong. Hmm, so talk of composure is relative? Depends on perspective...'
Then an exclamation escaped the Shandong old man. Flying Tiger halted his thoughts and surveyed the arena.
Both fights were undergoing significant shifts.
First, on Jin Ga-yong's side: he had to reluctantly release Bong Yeonja from her corner. Her resistance was fierce, and Ho Ye-hwa had intervened at the perfect moment.
Now, a one-versus-two was about to begin, but first came a brief breather for readjustment.
And on Sama Gulgi's side...
'Oh ho, look at that? That tricky bastard's about to pull something off.'