A Spark on the Verge
The air was thick with tension on the verge of explosion.
"By the time I arrived at the Infinite, everything was already over. So..."
"You showed up late and accomplished nothing, then."
"..."
"Why have you stopped? Please, continue."
Cho Yak furrowed her brow and locked eyes with Yu Baek. For a moment they waged a silent war with their gazes. Then, suddenly, she let out a short exclamation and her expression softened.
Cho Yak was not the type to tolerate open hostility, but with her sworn sister—the Heavenly Demon—standing right beside them, she found herself wondering if she had done something wrong. Yet after listening a few more times, the intent behind Yu Baek's constant interruptions became painfully clear.
A faint smile touched her lips.
"...I see. You're right. I did nothing at all."
Yu Baek's mouth twitched downward, then flattened completely at her next words.
"Unlike a certain someone who only creates trouble and burdens Sister."
"..."
When the two fell silent, only the Heavenly Demon's stifled, wheezing laughter remained.
Cho Yak let the silence linger a moment longer before speaking again.
"And I understand that you're excited to be out in the murim for the first time, but you should show some respect in front of your elders."
"Elders?"
The Heavenly Demon chimed in like a prompt.
Cho Yak immediately took the cue.
"Since I have sworn sisterhood with Sister, that makes me your martial aunt. How dare you interrupt so freely?"
"Um, well, Cho—"
"You're quite right. My apologies. However, if I may correct one thing—Senior Cho is neither from the same sect nor the Heavenly Demon's blood sister. Calling her 'martial aunt' might cause unnecessary misunderstandings. I'll call her 'auntie' instead. Auntie."
As he spoke, Yu Baek was once again pulling his cheeks back with all his might. His words were not entirely wrong. The titles of martial aunt or uncle were always ambiguous, and they were only properly used for those who shared the same master within the same sect. Still, it was hardly proper for a junior to unilaterally decide such a title, especially when the person being addressed had not declined it, and to call her "auntie" so bluntly was certainly not polite.
Cho Yak's smile wavered slightly. Their eyes continued to clash without a single blink. The Heavenly Demon could no longer hold back; her laughter grew louder and louder.
Watching them, the Head Messenger tapped the table and spoke.
"If you keep this up tomorrow when we go out to settle matters, nothing will get done. Why not settle it the murim way?"
"The murim way?"
Cho Yak turned to ask.
The Head Messenger nodded.
"A duel. I've already borrowed a separate building, so there's space. I'll make sure no disturbances occur."
"Very well."
Yu Baek answered at once. Cho Yak shot him a glare, snorted, and nodded in return.
If one were to name the most renowned garden cities in the Central Plains, Suzhou would naturally come first—its dense network of waterways turning every bridge into part of a garden. Yet Luoyang, with its two thousand years of carefully cultivated tranquil charm, could easily claim second or third place.
Luoyang bordered the Yellow River. While the water was unsuitable for farming, it was excellent for garden irrigation. The same held true for stones and trees. In the middle of a vast plain, where would one find dramatically shaped rocks? Stones and timber had to be brought from Mount Pyeongjeong, and water required digging wells. But when resources were plentiful, such constraints became stepping stones that encouraged creativity.
After more than a thousand years of pondering how to create gardens on empty land, Luoyang's gardens became famous for their restrained elegance. While neighboring Zhengzhou and Kaifeng—merchant cities—had long been packed with buildings, every grand pavilion in central Luoyang came with its own small garden. Even the Hwa Wol Lu, frequented by fastidious high officials, naturally possessed a rather impressive garden.
The rear garden of Hwa Wol Lu was not particularly large. After accounting for the rocks and trees placed for landscaping, the usable open space was limited. In the end, the two combatants stood only two jang apart as they drew their swords, forcing the spectators to squeeze against rocks and the water's edge.
Beyond the duelists and onlookers, several trees and stones served as posts for a boundary rope. When the Heavenly Demon stepped outside it, the Head Messenger shook a bell. The ringing grew loud until the Heavenly Demon nodded from beyond the rope, at which point it finally stopped.
The Head Messenger tucked the bell away and looked at the two.
"Good. It works properly. Who will take the first move?"
"Since I am the elder, I should yield the initiative—"
The moment Cho Yak's words fell, Yu Baek's sword shot out like lightning.
Yu Baek's sword was an ordinary straight sword commonly seen throughout the Central Plains. Its blade was just under three cheok long, tapering subtly toward the tip. The point was sharp, the balance stable—ideal for thrusting—yet both edges were honed, allowing it to cut as well. While it could slash without hindrance, its true strength lay in thrusting. Yu Baek's opening move was a thrust from below.
The blade rose naturally, then drove forward with a single step, its momentum like a swallow skimming water. It seemed to sink toward the ground before springing upward with a sharp, true step. In the blink of an eye it had closed to half a jang from Cho Yak. This was the pinnacle of speed.
Yet Cho Yak's eyes judged that if this was all he had, he was underestimating her severely.
Cho Yak's weapon was something rarely seen in the Central Plains. Its blade alone exceeded four and a half cheok, and with the hilt it reached six cheok. From the hilt, half a cheok of blade protruded on both sides, though the section between hilt and protrusion was unsharpened. Large and heavy, it was clumsy for thrusting and too straight for a single clean cut. The hilt was too short for controlling distant opponents, yet the blade was too long for close combat. At least, that was true for foolish swordsmen who only knew how to grip the hilt, or weak ones who could not spin the sword with one arm.
Cho Yak brought her fist down like a hammer. The upper part of the hilt, carried by that fist, collided forcefully with Yu Baek's incoming blade.
The result was swift and decisive. Cho Yak's sword, braced by her fist, did not waver an inch. Yu Baek's sword, pushed with both hands, was flung away as if struck by a great wave, its tip embedding in the ground.
There was a difference in one hand versus two, but before that there was the difference in sword weight, arm strength, and—most importantly—the direction of force and the striking point from hand to blade.
Yu Baek was no stranger to sword theory. Until the final moment he tried to control all directions with his sword tip, but the principle of speed that Cho Yak had long since surpassed made it impossible to follow and break her technique.
Though Yu Baek had failed in a single exchange, Cho Yak's greatsword remained poised in front of her body. Considering the speed difference between long and short swords, she could match his next move in time. So she thought.
But Cho Yak held the sword with one arm. Where had her other hand gone?
The answer revealed itself at once. Her left hand shot down to press the upper hilt while her right pulled. The greatsword, taller than a person, now rested on her left hand like a shorter blade and came crashing down toward Yu Baek's shoulder.
Yu Baek's sword tip, flung to the ground, was too far and carried no force. Even if he tried to deflect with his shoulder to buy time, it would not arrive in time.
In the instant Cho Yak was certain of victory, she felt an ominous premonition.
She guessed that Yu Baek's best option was to throw his body forward, take the blow before power could be added to the sword, and turn the fight into a brawl. Was this move truly beyond his imagination? Reflecting on their previous exchange, it did not seem so.
Yet instead of advancing, he showed a faint sign of trying to maintain distance. What was his intent?
Before she could consciously think, Cho Yak's eyes flicked to Yu Baek's left hand.
His left hand, pulled tightly against his side, had fingers neatly aligned, gripping the sheath. Not only his fingers—once she noticed, his entire body was aligned. His right arm that had released the sword, his slightly bent legs, his core drawn in—they all pointed toward a single spot, radiating the power of a volcano on the verge of eruption, still and yet in motion.
It was not a perfect stance, but the ultimate of swordsmanship did not come from posture. It came from a cleanly emptied mind.
Cho Yak twisted her arm's movement with all her strength, pushing upward. At the same time, Yu Baek's left arm moved.
In that frozen moment that lasted but an instant, gazes and movements crossed. Only when they finally exhaled their held breaths did they realize the exchange had ended.
"Haa..."
Cho Yak let out a long breath. Her chin itched. A single drop of blood trickled down her jawline toward her neck.
Indeed, no matter how childish and arrogant the brat was, he had been taught by that sworn sister of hers. His way of fighting could not be underestimated. She had not expected a "cut the flesh to take the bone" technique in a mere duel, but that was no excuse.
From the very beginning, pretending to be the weaker party, missing the first strike, and using his shoulder as bait to target her neck—all of it had been a single grand strategy prepared for victory. And through that method, Yu Baek had come within a few fingers of winning.
She had barely managed to block the sheath strike, but he had surely been preparing his next move with his right hand as well. It was fortunate that her foot had reached his abdomen first. Had she been a moment slower, it would have been her rolling on the ground instead.
"What, is that it?"
The Heavenly Demon sounded disappointed.
But disappointment changed nothing. If Cho Yak had been the one sent flying, there would have been a next move. For Yu Baek, who was neither a vampire nor anything else, there was clearly nothing more he could do.
Just as Cho Yak was about to sheathe her sword, Yu Baek rose to his feet.
"As expected, I can't win by going easy."
Though he looked awkward and uncomfortable, he did not appear about to collapse. When she focused on his eyes, he somehow seemed several chi taller than before. Where his clothes had torn, revealing his abdomen, she saw muscles twisted and knotted like ropes. No amount of reverse tendon training could make one's abdomen twist like that upon impact.
Cho Yak muttered without thinking.
"Yeokcheon Cho-ui Ji Sin...?"
"I learned it by watching over your shoulder. Shall we continue? Auntie."
As Cho Yak raised her half-sheathed sword again with a stunned expression, the Heavenly Demon's explosive laughter filled the barrier.
They had only exchanged a single move.