Chapter 398: Unquenchable Wrath (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 398: Unquenchable Wrath (4)
The Saintess's divine power flowed into Kim Do-jin's arm.
As the warm, mystical light—so sacred it inspired reverence at a mere glance—lingered on his arm, the blackened flesh began to heal at a rapid pace.
It took all of three seconds.
The moment he confirmed the feeling had returned to his arm, he charged Lu Bu without hesitation.
Lu Bu, in turn, gladly met his reckless challenge.
“Chaaat—!”
A fierce cry powerful enough to shake the heavens and the earth, followed by the thrust of the Bangcheon Halberd.
Kim Do-jin's method of countering that unchanging, colossal power remained the same.
“Hup…!”
With a short intake of breath, he met the tip of the halberd—which seemed to pierce through space itself—with his upright sword.
An instant later, a deafening crash erupted.
CRASH!
The resulting noise was so violent it was hard to believe it came from two mere pieces of metal clashing in human hands.
He spun his body, which had been lifted lightly into the air, to dissipate the shock.
At the same time, he twisted his sword, deflecting the tip of the enemy's weapon.
Then, while still spinning at high speed, he swung his sword.
Swish!
Lu Bu’s lips curled into a smirk as the sword strike flew toward him, carving a dazzling arc through the air.
“Excellent! Truly excellent!”
He was genuinely delighted.
No opponent he had ever faced had managed to unleash an attack so intense it made his own hands go numb.
Yet this fledgling before him not only made his hands numb but sent a shiver of dread through him.
“Hraat!”
Lu Bu swung his Bangcheon Halberd fiercely, countering the blade aimed at his neck.
The best defense is a good offense.
The massive shockwave generated by the clash of pure force swept through the area.
BOOM!
“Ugh!”
“E-everyone, get back!”
It was a force powerful enough to send dozens of grown men flying.
In the eye of the storm, the two men stood with their clothes and hair whipping about, deep smiles etched on their faces.
Lu Bu finally understood.
“You and I are cut from the same cloth.”
He was a warrior. A peerlessly brave warrior who, like himself, would not yield a single inch in the face of battle.
As Kim Do-jin’s arm blackened once more, the Saintess immediately unleashed her divine power.
And once again, the arm returned to its natural color.
“Truly magnificent.”
Even if the body heals, the pain remains.
For his arm to turn so black, the bones, muscles, and blood vessels must have been completely ruptured.
And yet Kim Do-jin—the warrior before him—showed not a single sign of pain, his fighting spirit burning as brightly as ever.
How could he not call that magnificent?
In response, Lu Bu made an offer—the first time he had ever offered an enemy something other than death.
“Five times.”
“……?”
“If you can block my attacks just like that five more times, I will spare everyone here.”
Was he showing mercy?
No.
He spoke with absolute confidence.
No matter how peerlessly brave his opponent was, he was still just a fledgling.
The offer was born from his supreme confidence that he could kill his opponent within five full-powered attacks.
Even if, by some chance, he couldn't kill him in five attacks, it didn't matter.
‘That would be a good thing in its own way.’
That fledgling, if he survived here, would one day stand before him as an enemy again.
By then, he wouldn't be an underdeveloped chick, but a phoenix with its wings spread wide.
He couldn't help but wonder what unimaginable feats his opponent would use to surprise him then!
The thought was unbearably exciting.
As Kim Do-jin raised his sword in a clear sign of acceptance, Lu Bu also gripped his Bangcheon Halberd fiercely.
“Let’s see you dance!”
Kuhahahat!
Was this what the great general Lu Bu was like as he galloped across the battlefield?
With a laugh that echoed thunderously throughout the airport, Lu Bu charged and swung his Bangcheon Halberd.
This time, the attack came not as a point, but as a line.
Though the form was quite different, the method of response didn't change drastically.
He blocked the halberd's blade as it swept from left to right, simultaneously absorbing the impact and using it to spin his body.
Crack!
With every passing moment, bones broke and muscles tore.
At the same time, the Saintess's divine power pieced them back together.
She knew it as well: for him to survive five consecutive attacks, her divine power could not falter.
Using the sharp senses he had just regained, he thrust his sword toward his opponent's chest.
The tip of the sword flew like a streak of light, leaving a long afterimage in its wake.
“Haaat!”
Lu Bu recovered the Bangcheon Halberd faster than he had swung it and thrust it forward.
A collision of tip against tip.
The two locked eyes amidst the shockwave that washed over them both.
Even though his own attack was coming back to choke him, he did not change his method.
No, he didn't want to think of another way, nor did he know one in the first place.
His power was used against him?
Then it just meant his own power was lacking.
‘I just have to clash with even greater power!’
He had lived by this simple creed, but one should not be mistaken.
For the will that clung to strength alone had become as vast and deep as the ocean itself.
From the shaft to the blade.
A blood-red energy coalesced around the entire Bangcheon Halberd.
The manifestation of the Aura of Strength—the exclusive domain of those who had surpassed the limits, an aura said to cut, crush, and shatter all it touched.
Even before this terrifying Aura of Strength, Kim Do-jin remained completely unshaken.
‘Just a little more.’
His opponent's attack was a chisel and mallet, and Kim Do-jin himself was a giant block of marble.
He was being constantly chipped away.
The will that had cooled after obtaining a new body was reawakening.
CRASH!
He blocked the second attack and countered.
CRUNCH…!
He weathered the third attack and countered again.
CRACK!
The fourth attack followed suit.
With each successive blow, the sound of their weapons clashing grew fainter.
This meant that Kim Do-jin's swordsmanship, his ability to receive Lu Bu's attacks, had grown more refined.
Only then did Lu Bu realize.
“Insolent bastard…!”
His opponent was using his own attacks as a catalyst, a stepping stone for growth.
And that he was, in fact, growing stronger.
A wound was carved into his pride, the pride of one who had always looked down upon all creation from his lofty perch.
Grind!
The promised fifth strike.
“Kuaaaak!”
He let out a ferocious roar like that of a beast and prepared his final move.
If all the attacks until now were ordinary, this time was different.
This was the culmination of a lifetime spent honing his spear arts, a technique to wield his overflowing power with maximum efficiency and force.
Red Dragon Spear Art.
Its first form, the Red Dragon's Claw, flew forward to seize Kim Do-jin by the neck.
A merciless technique that, true to its name, clawed indiscriminately at everything in its path.
“Let's see you devour this one as well!”
This was the attack of a beast whose pride had been wounded.
Facing it, Kim Do-jin, his expression perfectly calm, read the message that appeared before his eyes.
[A suitable Divine Authority is being seized from the accumulated power of Wrath.]
[The power of Gluttony has imbued the Divine Authority of Wrath, ‘Unquenchable Wrath,’ causing a new power to blossom.]
[The trait ‘Unbreakable Greed’ has been added to the Divine Authority of Gluttony.]
Unbreakable Greed.
Just from hearing that ridiculous name, he had a rough idea of what kind of power it would grant him.
His physical abilities would increase the longer and more intense the battle became.
There was no other way to explain the torrent of power now flowing through his body.
‘With this, I can do it.’
Kim Do-jin admitted it. His past self and Lu Bu weren't exactly kindred spirits, but they shared certain similarities.
That similarity was none other than obsession.
Just as Lu Bu was obsessed with power, Kim Do-jin was obsessed with swordsmanship.
Just as Lu Bu's will for power had reached the depths of a vast ocean, so too had Kim Do-jin's.
‘Envelop the force.’
He moved within the wide-ranging attack that clawed at him and everything around him.
Clang!
Clang!
He neither parried the attacks nor used their force to spin his body.
With a fluid motion, his sword enveloped his opponent's attack, simply accepting the force into his own blade.
Seeing this, Lu Bu's eyes widened slightly.
“This bastard…!”
In that moment, Kim Do-jin swung the sword that had accepted his opponent's power.
It was a force his current body could not handle.
As he unleashed it, his arm and shoulder were broken and rebuilt dozens, hundreds of times over.
If not for the Saintess's power, even hundreds of spare arms would have been rendered useless.
‘No, I probably would have died before that.’
It was a shame. Even after pushing himself this far, he still hadn't been able to absorb his opponent's power completely.
It was partly because he hadn't adapted to the new stage of his Flow technique, but the bigger problem was his body.
‘It's not enough.’
It was woefully insufficient to face powerful beings like Lu Bu.
Lu Bu, presumed to be the Apostle of Wrath.
Then the other Apostles must be at least his equal, or in the worst case, even stronger.
‘I have to get stronger.’
He had found a way.
‘If I actively use Gluttony, I can get stronger faster.’
The unidentified black energy coiled up in his gut.
If only he could freely control that thing, which sometimes moved as if it had its own ego.
If he could use it to absorb the energy of the other Seven Deadly Sins and make it his own.
He would be able to reach a higher level—no, a completely different dimension.
Realizing this, Kim Do-jin grinned at Lu Bu and offered his thanks.
“Thank you.”
It was a thank you for helping him grow stronger, and for showing him the path to even greater strength.
Amidst the red bombardment that had changed direction and was now pouring down on his own head, Lu Bu smiled bitterly.
“Insolent to the very end.”
He lightly swung his Bangcheon Halberd to completely erase the red bombardment, glanced at Kim Do-jin, then turned his back and commanded his gaping subordinates.
“We're retreating.”
It was Kim Do-jin's victory.