Chapter 94
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: 26. Duel of Black and White (4)
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Swish— swish—
As White Horse Lantern swiftly swung the Overgold Sword, blade winds rose along its edge, sweeping toward Wang Baek-gun with ferocious momentum.
In response, Wang Baek-gun whipped around his extended "black left hand" to block the wind paths.
Clangclangclang~
The clashing sounds rang out as the blade winds were repelled and shattered one by one.
Seizing the gap created by slicing through the winds, Wang Baek-gun thrust his sword forward.
(*At that moment, his sword, Heuk-chan, had its broken blade tip reinforced by sword energy, making the point plenty sharp.)
A streak of white light shot out with a sharp whistle, and by then, the sword energy had already pierced White Horse Lantern's forehead.
But there was no sensation of impact.
The White Horse Lantern with a hole through its forehead rippled like water and scattered—merely an afterimage left in its wake.
Having experienced this once before, Wang Baek-gun wasn't particularly surprised or disappointed. He knew well that at his speed, he couldn't instantly subdue this mad wind.
'Behind me?'
Using his left foot as a pivot, Wang Baek-gun spun his right leg around, flipping his stance while blocking with his signature "black left hand."
Clangclang.
Once again, White Horse Lantern's blade winds all snapped and burst apart, but compared to before, the sounds were similar yet different.
The clear ring had turned dull, as if something were scratching at them.
***
How on earth do you block this mad wind?
Wang Baek-gun's strategy was simple.
He used his left hand, trained to the extreme in Black Rock Hand—the Dance Melody Manor's prized technique—as a shield, minimizing his movements by spinning in place to block every assault.
Then, he struck at openings with Heuk-chan, coated in qi.
Defense first, attack second.
And if one strike didn't land, he kept going until it did!
But on the second defense, a flaw emerged in this strategy.
As White Horse Lantern heightened the cutting power of his blade winds by another level, scratches appeared on Wang Baek-gun's "black left hand," which had blocked them perfectly until now.
Just like lines etched into solid rock.
***
Whoosh.
Wang Baek-gun thrust with Heuk-chan, and once more, White Horse Lantern's form sank away, reappearing from the left to unleash blade winds.
But this time, White Horse Lantern demonstrated an even higher level of cutting power, and moreover, his Shadowless Step had grown even faster.
Crack. Clangcrack.
This time, a long gash appeared on Wang Baek-gun's left hand.
And ominously, this was just the beginning.
Judging that his attacks were landing, White Horse Lantern began burning his inner energy in earnest, launching a full onslaught. Up until now, he'd balanced offense and defense at roughly "60% attack, 40% defense," but now he went all-in, as the saying goes.
Rooooar—
White Horse Lantern appeared from all directions like a cloning technique, unleashing blade winds everywhere, trapping Wang Baek-gun in a curtain of them in an instant.
It was truly a mad wind!
Even so, Wang Baek-gun blocked without faltering, but unfortunately, his left hand was no longer just splitting—it was starting to be sliced away.
'Just once!'
Wang Baek-gun muttered to himself as he thrust Heuk-chan toward where he guessed White Horse Lantern might be, but it was another miss. Undeterred, he spun his body and swung his left hand toward where the blade winds were coming from.
By now, he could barely track White Horse Lantern's movements or attacks, relying purely on instinct just to keep up.
His left hand was little more than rags.
The palm had long since split open and frayed, with the ring finger and thumb joint severed. Yet the blood only oozed slightly—this was entirely due to the bizarre properties of Black Rock Hand. The side effects were severe in return, but... in any case, even this remarkable technique's effects were now wearing off.
Thus was Wang Baek-gun cornered.
Yet amid it all, he never stopped his desperate thrusts. Even though they hadn't so much as grazed the enemy's sleeve and only devoured his inner energy in chunks.
Just once.
He could only pray that White Horse Lantern slipped or something allowed his thrust to finally connect.
But.
'The strong survive, the weak perish' was the merciless law of the jianghu, the natural order.
A fate all living beings must accept, no?
Whirl.
Up until now, White Horse Lantern had kept his distance, generating only blade winds, but this time he changed his approach. He suddenly closed in, wrapping the Overgold Sword around Wang Baek-gun's left hand and flicking it upward.
Wang Baek-gun's entire left arm shot up. He'd already depleted much of his energy, and his focus had scattered.
Thus, the shield protecting Wang Baek-gun was lifted.
Stab. Stab. Stab.
Wang Baek-gun desperately grabbed the Overgold Sword's blade. But it had already pierced his body multiple times, and now it was buried deep in his heart.
Cough.
Wang Baek-gun coughed harshly, spewing backflowing blood, and let his raised Heuk-chan drop limply downward.
And his left hand alone—half-severed, with only a few fingers remaining—clung tightly to White Horse Lantern's Overgold Sword.
Far too late...
In that state, their eyes met.
And White Horse Lantern said with a refreshed expression.
"Old Wang bastard, I saw your secret move well enough. So now, accept death without regrets."
Was it because of that advice?
Wang Baek-gun rapidly lost his vitality, slowly lowering his head.
White Horse Lantern then shifted his gaze past Wang Baek-gun's shoulder, scanning Jeong Unit's members—especially Flying Tiger—just in case they couldn't accept the duel’s outcome and tried something foolish.
"Woooah~"
"Amazing!"
The bandits cheered wildly, while Jeong Unit's members fell into troubled, regretful silence, at a loss for words.
***
Now what?
Flying Tiger was at a loss too.
This was a moment to think hard. But White Horse Lantern's piercing gaze had locked onto him, distracting his nerves and slowing his thoughts.
A true master's glance carried that much pressure.
Damn it all.
Glancing at Jin Ga-yong, Flying Tiger saw his face—fixed straight ahead—in utter shock, like he'd seen a ghost!
Jin Ga-yong muttered.
"Ghost Armor?"
Huh? What's that? Sounds familiar...
Flying Tiger instinctively turned that way and doubted his eyes, blurting "Huh?" as his jaw dropped.
What the hell is that?
***
Wang Baek-gun's head hung limp, focus lost, but the hand gripping his sword twitched. Veins bulged on the back of his hand like wriggling maggots.
Then that hand jerked sharply.
It flicked the wrist, spinning the sword with a whirl~ before gripping it in reverse and stabbing into White Horse Lantern's left thigh!
Stab.
The broken sword tip pierced clean through, poking out the other side.
"Gasp!"
Too shocked, White Horse Lantern reflexively shoved Wang Baek-gun back and tried to retreat—but ended up tumbling down with him.
He hadn't registered his injured leg and instinctively used Shadowless Step, losing balance.
On top of that, as he pushed, he tried to retrieve the Overgold Sword from Wang Baek-gun's heart. But Wang Baek-gun's gripped left hand wouldn't let go, dragging him down too.
Truth be told, releasing the hand on the sword would solve it. But he had no time for that, and subconsciously, dropping his weapon—like an extension of himself—was no easy feat.
Thudcrash.
And so the exalted master White Horse Lantern awkwardly sprawled, tangled with the dragged-along Wang Baek-gun.
(*Wang Baek-gun looked just like a jointed puppet with loosened limbs.)
Before White Horse Lantern could regain his senses, something even more absurd happened.
Wang Baek-gun's heart was clearly split, life gone from his eyes, yet his mouth was moving!
"White Family heir, this Wang may die, but my regrets remain unfulfilled. So I ask again: do you still have the guts to face this ghost's body?"
White Horse Lantern's hairs stood on end.
He was wrong! From dead Wang Baek-gun's words, the 'secret technique' wasn't his 'black hand' but this 'ghost's body' he now called it.
The next instant, White Horse Lantern yelled "Die~!" and battered Wang Baek-gun wildly.
Thud. Thud. Thud...
The bizarre sight of panicked White Horse Lantern entangled with the dead Wang Baek-gun left onlookers doubting their eyes.
What the hell was this situation?
Just moments ago, emotions had split extremely between cheers and sighs based on the outcome. Many hadn't even seen what happened amid the fervor.
So they struggled to process this sudden twist, their minds blanking for a moment.
"Huh?"
But Flying Tiger was different.
Thanks to Jin Ga-yong, he'd glimpsed this eerie scene earlier, and the constraint from White Horse Lantern's gaze had lifted, letting his mind race.
Of course, even he couldn't fully accept a dead Wang Baek-gun reviving or turning ghostly.
But he was focused on a more pressing issue, so while he couldn't comprehend it, he wasn't shocked like the others—instead, he saw an opportunity.
'But that means abandoning Squad Leader Jin?'
Flying Tiger instantly thought of a ploy and acted without hesitation.
This was no time for caution—every second counted!
Flying Tiger hurriedly backed away, yelling to his fellow squad members.
"Everyone, get back! It's Explosion Annihilation Art!"
"Explosion Annihilation Art?"
His sudden shout startled not just the squad but the dumbfounded bandits too.
Explosion Annihilation Art?
Literal translation: a technique that explodes to annihilate...
"Protector Wang is going to take the enemy leader down with him!"
Flying Tiger spun toward the Three Kings Hall entrance, poised to bolt, and shouted that.
Aha!
So Explosion Annihilation Art meant detonating your own body like a bomb to kill the foe.
Then what's the blast radius?
Scamper.
Jeong Unit's members paled and raced out of the Three Kings Hall.
Jin Ga-yong was no exception. He glanced at Wang Baek-gun with conflicted eyes but soon turned away, heavy-hearted and confused.
Flying Tiger urged "Hurry!" while briefly waiting for Jin Ga-yong, then ran alongside at the rear.
Meanwhile, he subtly rolled a secretly drawn Thunder Bomb backward, careful not to hit Jin Ga-yong running beside him.
Rollrollroll~
The bandits scattered in chaos, seeking cover.
Flying Tiger's shout hadn't just alerted Jeong Unit; seeing their swift group escape convinced the bandits.
Wang Baek-gun's about to blow, turning the Three Kings Hall into rubble!
They had to flee, but their positions were the problem. Jeong Unit was near the entrance, while they were deeper inside, closer to the ticking human bomb.
In that pandemonium, one Thunder Bomb rolled to a stop smack in the hall's center.
Right near White Horse Lantern, who was beating the dead Wang Baek-gun to pulp and shoving him away to stand.
Sizzle...
"What the fuck is this?"
White Horse Lantern's mutter was swallowed by the ensuing blast.
BOOM~!
Thankfully, this time the Thunder Bomb detonated properly.