38
Chapter 38. Fierce Battle on the Ship (3)
"Pup!"
A bursting sound occurred as sword clashed with sword.
Simultaneously, Dong Bong-su's body, swept up by Go San-gong's form, was flung far to the side.
From the impact, Dong Bong-su unknowingly spat blood from his mouth.
He had suffered internal injuries.
'If the Circulating Energy level had been LV 1 instead of 2, perhaps...'
He might have died from this single sword strike.
'Stronger than expected.'
The level difference with Go San-gong was one thing, but there seemed to be quite a gap between someone who had formally learned Martial World swordsmanship and himself who merely handled a sword as a game skill.
Dong Bong-su opened his Status Window to check the damage situation. Despite successfully defending, his health gauge had worn down by as much as a tenth. If he received it with his real body, there would be only death.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and rose again. Though he had suffered internal injuries, his expression remained the same.
Seeing such a him, Go San-gong gritted his teeth and attacked again. Go San-gong, who thought there were more enemies besides Dong Bong-su, intended to make a quick decision.
From his hand unfolded the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique's 2nd Form Heavenly Wind Thunderbolt.
Like wind following lightning striking down, Go San-gong's sword fell straight from top to bottom.
Woong–!
Because the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique itself was such a heavy sword technique, when the sword cut through the air, its wind pressure was tremendous. With a wind sound like forcefully swinging a club through the air, the sword was falling down over Dong Bong-su's head.
However,
Dong Bong-su had no thought of dodging or blocking and was just blankly staring at that sight. Looking more closely, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised as if smiling.
'What was so good?'
He who had no emotional fluctuations in any situation—what on earth was he looking at and smiling about in this critical moment?
In fact, Dong Bong-su was simply enjoying this situation.
This situation where he was now injured felt strangely good. Everything flowing according to his calculations to a futile degree, he was feeling a strange pleasure he couldn't feel on modern Earth where he enjoyed killing too easily.
There had been several such times since coming here, and now was the same.
He had easily thought he would win sufficiently, but he was unexpectedly struggling. No, in a way, he was being pushed back to the point of not even being a match.
At that unexpected result, he was paradoxically feeling extreme pleasure.
Perhaps hunting predators on modern Earth was also in a way expecting such unexpected situations. It's just that all those predators failed to fulfill his wish and died.
Perhaps he thought he might be able to die happily even if he died right now.
However,
Not dying was... much better.
Because.
In this 'New Murim Online,' there seemed to be far more unpredictable incidents and monsters that could please him.
Pak—!
One step before Go San-gong's sword split Dong Bong-su's head in half!
He took out one lump of metal he normally kept in his Inventory for emergencies at the spot right below his forehead where there was no hood and rolled to the side as is.
It was a technique that wasn't a technique commonly called Lazy Donkey Roll here. A name attached because it's similar to a lazy donkey frantically rolling on the ground.
Of course, Dong Bong-su absolutely disagreed with that.
Something like a lazy donkey doesn't strive so fiercely to live. The name Lazy Donkey Roll itself was wrong. Does one throw away life because of mere shame? For Dong Bong-su, there was no need to understand or do so.
If necessary, what would be the big deal about rolling on the ground a hundred or thousand times?
SCREEeek.
Go San-gong's sword cut through the iron plate that suddenly appeared in mid-air and embedded straight into the deck.
"...!"
Go San-gong couldn't understand.
Where did the iron plate suddenly appear from? But he didn't have the time to ponder that matter for long. Because Dong Bong-su attacked immediately after rolling to the side.
Whoosh.
Along with a sharp sound of cutting through air, Dong Bong-su's sword flew aiming at Go San-gong's side. The skill Dong Bong-su used this time was also Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon.
"Where do you think!"
From Go San-gong's perspective, it was laughable.
At first, he had panicked a bit because he was attacked by surprise, but now he was already prepared. Yet Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon again.
Go San-gong pulled out the sword embedded in the deck and immediately lifted it in the direction Dong Bong-su's sword was coming. He thought he could easily deflect Dong Bong-su's sword this time too.
However!
A strange thing happened.
Right at that moment when his sword and Dong Bong-su's sword should clash.
Dong Bong-su's sword suddenly disappeared. Because of that, Go San-gong's sword cut through empty air and was lifted straight above his head.
At that moment, though very brief, a gap appeared in his body.
Whoosh—!
A sharp sound of cutting through air.
Dong Bong-su's sword that had disappeared was flying again.
"...!"
Pit—
Go San-gong avoided the Novice's Sword by a hair's breadth. However, he couldn't avoid it completely, so a long sword wound formed on his face.
He couldn't tell what on earth had happened. For the flying sword to disappear then reappear. Wasn't this enough to make even ghosts cry?
However, now wasn't the time for such things to matter. Dong Bong-su's attack wasn't finished yet.
Papat-!
Go San-gong hastily retreated backward.
At that, Dong Bong-su immediately followed and this time executed the Three Talents Sword Technique 1st Form Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers.
[Three Talents Sword Technique 1st Form Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers Lv.4 Proficiency: 33.0%]
A sword technique extremely common in the Martial World. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers is an enhanced version of sideways slash.
All action bonuses of this skill are related to related skill proficiency and presence/absence of Sword Energy/Sword Aura activation.
Current Applied Level: Lv.4 (Player can adjust this skill's level)
Horizontal Slash Range Bonus: 4%
Horizontal Slash Attack Power Bonus: 4%
Horizontal Slash Casting Speed Bonus: -3%
Energy Consumption per Use: 60 JP
Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers had also reached level 4 like Direct Strike at the Yellow Dragon.
When just looking at the unfolding form, Sweeping Away a Thousand Soldiers was very similar to Heavenly Wind Flowing Cloud, the form Go San-gong had used earlier.
This time Dong Bong-su was attacking and Go San-gong had to defend, so only the situation was reversed from before.
Now Go San-gong raised his sword with the tip pointing downward and blocked Dong Bong-su's sword. No, he tried to.
Dong Bong-su's sword disappeared again this time at the instant when sword and sword were about to collide...
Right at that instant when Go San-gong was blankly bewildered trying to raise his sword forward.
Whoosh–!
Dong Bong-su's sword reappeared. However, the sword was held in his left hand instead of his right hand. His right hand had already cut through empty air and passed Go San-gong's front, and the sword that had been in that right hand was in his left hand. Anyway, since the rotational force from swinging was preserved intact, Dong Bong-su's sword's power remained the same. Only the hand position had changed.
This time too, Go San-gong blocked the Novice's Sword by raising his sword to the side without time to think about what had happened.
"Keuk!"
Because he defended suddenly rather than blocking while prepared, he couldn't fully transmit his internal energy to the sword. At that, Go San-gong also flew to the side like Dong Bong-su had flown earlier.
Thud.
Unlike Dong Bong-su, Go San-gong struck hard against the ship's side. Though he hadn't suffered internal injuries like Dong Bong-su, the psychological shock was considerable.
'What kind of sorcery is this!?'
A sword technique he had never heard of or seen.
'No. Could this even be called a sword technique?'
He didn't know.
Whoosh—
Again the sound of cutting through air occurred and Dong Bong-su's attack continued.
Though he was avoiding with difficulty, having grasped the irregular attack pattern, Go San-gong could block or avoid Dong Bong-su's attacks more easily than before. To prepare for irregular attacks, he had switched his method of dealing with it to keeping as much distance as possible.
Afterward for a while, Go San-gong's Heavenly Wind Sword Technique and Dong Bong-su's Three Talents Sword Technique mobilizing the Inventory Divine Art clashed. At a glance, it seemed difficult to determine superiority between the two.
But the reality was that Dong Bong-su was cornered.
'Now 1 minute left.'
[Circulating Energy Lv.2 Proficiency: 38.9%]
A training method that artificially induces energy through meridians distributed in the body using energy accumulated in the Dantian.
When activated, attack power and defense power temporarily increase.
Duration/Cooldown: 5/10 (minutes)
Energy Consumption per Use: 200 JP
Current Skill Bonus: 60%
Circulating Energy's duration was only 5 minutes. In contrast, the cooldown was 10 minutes.
Already 4 minutes had passed. In just 1 more minute, for the 5 minutes after that, he would have to fight without Circulating Energy.
Death.
Under the current situation, wouldn't that word be synonymous with being told to die?
'What should I do?'
Dong Bong-su was now fighting, mobilizing most of what he could do. Yet he hadn't subdued Go San-gong. There were one or two more things left, but the probability that even those wouldn't work was high.
Though he was conserving as much as possible and watching for an opportunity, Go San-gong, who had already grasped the weakness of the Inventory Divine Art, was repeating the method of not trying to block normally but retreating then attacking.
'Then did that mean this was the end?'
Even while continuing combat, Dong Bong-su's head never rested for a moment. Grasping the enemy's action pattern, predicting future attacks, and ultimately continuing to think of a method to kill Go San-gong. However, a method didn't easily come to mind.
Pak—!
Since his attention was dispersed anyway, a gap appeared.
Not missing the opening, Go San-gong's sword that wedged in lightly grazed Dong Bong-su's arm. Stinging pain was transmitted to his central nervous system and his body became slightly numb. Simultaneously, his health gauge went down very slightly.
'...Health gauge went down? Health gauge... Health gauge...!'
Seeing the health gauge go down slightly, a lightning-like thought flashed through Dong Bong-su's mind.
Finally, he thought of a method to eliminate Go San-gong.
'There's no time. I must implement it immediately.'