Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Pursuit (2)
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When you play MOBAs, sometimes the concept of matchups feels incredibly unfair.
For instance, when a fed mid-laner gets taken down by the enemy bruiser, or when an ADC with ten kills dies to an assassin who's died seven times.
That's how terrifying matchups can be.
Just like right now.
*Fwoosh!*
Dan Un's sword sliced through the air, and Mak Ju-gwang's hand struck the flat of the blade.
*Thwack.*
With a sickening sound, the sword was deflected.
"Hup!"
But without even a tenth of a second's delay, Dan Un swung the deflected sword once more.
It was proof that his physical strength was great enough to ignore the recoil.
"......!"
Alarmed, Mak Ju-gwang thrust his palm forward.
Judging by the dark green energy around his hand, it was clearly a poison palm strike.
*BOOM!*
The two strikes collided in mid-air, creating an explosive sound.
Dan Un gritted his teeth and unleashed the forms of the Clear Wind Sword Art with even greater ferocity.
Mak Ju-gwang retreated, a weary expression on his face.
Though it had only been a few exchanges, the result was nearly a draw.
It was unbelievable.
No matter how promising an ace Dan Un was, Mak Ju-gwang's level had surpassed the peak.
To be precise, he was above the peak but below the transcendent.
In other words, he was a master a couple of levels above Dan Un.
Against such a powerful opponent, Dan Un was putting up an incredible fight.
He was closing the gap in their cultivation levels with sheer physical strength.
And what's more.
*CRACK!*
The same went for me.
The moment Mak Ju-gwang retreated, I immediately used the War King Step to dart toward him, unleashing the Explosive Death Force at the same time.
"Hmph!"
Mak Ju-gwang quickly swung his hand to block the incoming force.
*Rumble. Thud.*
The green light swirling around his hand spread out, detonating all of the incoming energy.
A pungent smell shot up my nose.
My stomach churned, and my head swam.
But I couldn't back down.
"This son of a bitch."
I layered my body with protective energy to guard against the poison and dove into the old man's attack range.
Extreme close-quarters combat.
It was a strategy to make up for my lack of deep internal energy and martial arts proficiency with speed.
The distance was barely enough for a couple of fists.
Within that tight space, our hands and feet moved ceaselessly.
*Th-th-thwack. Thwack.*
Mak Ju-gwang raised a hand to block my Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes, which flew out like lightning.
*FWOOM!*
His palm strike passed right by my head.
*Thud.*
The fist I threw dug into his side.
"Hup."
A dark blue finger jabbed toward my eye.
I quickly tilted my head back to dodge it, and this time a poison palm flew toward my chest.
*BOOM! Thud.*
A powerful force pushed my body back.
Even with my protective energy, the poison qi seeped through, severing strands of my energy flow.
"Ugh."
The coppery taste of blood rose from the back of my throat and spilled from my lips.
Still, the outcome wasn't bad.
*Slash.*
"Guh!"
Because Dan Un had swooped in like a thunderbolt and successfully sliced open his back.
"You brat!"
Enraged, he thrust out both palms.
*POW.*
A short explosion sounded as a dark green light flashed.
Dan Un quickly raised his sword to block, but unable to completely neutralize the force, he was sent flying backward.
"Cough."
A trickle of blood flowed from his mouth.
But this was Dan Un we were talking about.
He was a man born for the sword, who lived for the sword—a maniac obsessed with the sword.
*Fwoosh.*
He once again assumed his ready stance and faced forward.
He looked ready to charge at the first opportunity.
I couldn't just stand by either.
*Gulp.*
I popped the last wonder pill into my mouth and immediately took my stance.
There was no need to circulate my energy.
The very act of fighting and moving my body was a form of energy circulation for me.
"You're quite something."
Mak Ju-gwang said, his lips twisting into a sneer.
"Getting your ass kicked like a dog, and you say I'm 'quite something'? If you beg for your life right now, I might let you go peacefully."
"Do you think this is the first time I've dealt with brats like you? Your taunts won't work on me."
"You'll be meeting King Yama soon. Do you have enough travel money for the afterlife? You'll need plenty to support your parents in the underworld. I wonder if they know their son is acting like this at his age."
"You brat!"
So much for it not working. It worked perfectly.
Mak Ju-gwang shot toward me in a rage.
At the same time, Dan Un executed the Dark Fragrance Step, moving as if skimming the ground.
I, too, used the War King Step.
I moved to the charging Mak Ju-gwang's side, dodging the poison palm coming from the front.
And then, I unleashed the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
It was lacking compared to the War King Arts, but it had enough power to instantly pulverize his ribs.
However.
*Crrrack. Crack.*
For some reason, my fist didn't connect. In fact, the impact strained my own hand.
It was his protective aura.
My sixth sense flared, and a chill ran down my spine.
No need to confirm it.
No, confirming it would be too late.
I focused all the internal energy I could muster into the tips of my toes.
*THOOM!*
The ground cracked as I launched the War King Step.
And then.
*BOOM!*
A blast of poison energy erupted, devastating an area with a radius of half a zhang.
"Ghk."
I thought I'd dodged, but a sharp pain shot through my back. It seemed I'd been grazed.
My vision blurred, and strength began to drain from my body.
Because of my internal injuries, I couldn't even summon the true energy needed to resist the poison qi.
"Die!"
But I wasn't about to just sit here and die.
I had to at least struggle.
Just as I was about to raise my hand to block Mak Ju-gwang, who was flying toward me like a cannonball.
*FWOOOOSH!*
A sword so blue it felt chillingly cold descended from the sky.
Dan Un had unleashed the Blue Cloud Red River Sword.
"......!"
Alarmed, Mak Ju-gwang swung his poison energy.
*KABOOM!*
A massive explosion.
The force was so powerful that it kicked up a cloud of dust five zhang in every direction.
Dan Un stared at the dust cloud and uttered the forbidden line.
"Did I get him?"
As expected.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Black orbs shot out toward us.
"Dodge!"
I grabbed the exhausted Dan Un and threw myself aside.
The orbs flew past us and struck a large tree. As they shattered, the tree began to melt instantly.
*Sizzzle...*
'Cowardly bastard.'
Using dirty tricks in a sacred 2-on-1 fight.
The dust settled, revealing Mak Ju-gwang, who looked like he was half in tatters.
I couldn't tell where he was cut, but both his hands were soaked in blood, and long sword wounds were etched across his face and torso.
Of course, we weren't unscathed either.
"Cough."
As Dan Un coughed, blood sprayed into the air.
"Hnngh. Shit."
I was in bad shape too.
My sixty years' worth of internal energy was hitting rock bottom, making it harder to suppress the poison.
The only silver lining was that my condition was slowly improving thanks to the wonder pill I'd just taken.
*Thunk.*
With fighting spirit burning in his eyes, Dan Un stabbed his sword into the ground and pushed himself up.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to kill him."
Kill him? He clearly didn't have a shred of internal energy left.
I grabbed his shoulder and said.
"Just stay put."
Even for Dan Un, fighting a poison user without internal energy was impossible.
"I'll go kill him."
In other words, I had to be the one to end this fight.
*Thump.*
Without sparing my remaining internal energy, I stomped the ground.
It was the fastest War King Step I had used in today's battle.
"You brat!"
Mak Ju-gwang's right arm pulled back.
He planned to strike the moment I entered his range.
I knew that, yet I approached him anyway.
Only, I was much faster than he expected.
*BAM! Crack.*
I kicked off the ground once more and slammed into him shoulder-first.
With a surprised look, Mak Ju-gwang tried to pull away while driving a poison palm into my side.
I had shifted the point of impact and wrapped myself in protective energy, but the blow was stronger than I'd anticipated.
*Crack.*
I heard the sound of my ribs breaking.
"Kuhk."
A groan escaped my lips involuntarily. I wanted to collapse and scream right then and there.
But the reward for enduring such pain was immense.
"......!"
"Got you."
I had succeeded in grabbing his wrist with my other hand.
Immediately, I unleashed the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
*Thwack. Thwack-thwack.*
"Keoheok."
It seemed to be effective, as Mak Ju-gwang thrashed in agony and swung his poison palm.
*Whoosh.*
The palm strike he threw grazed past my face.
He looked surprised that he couldn't hit me at such a close distance.
Was it because I was fast?
No.
It was because I was holding his wrist and throwing off his balance.
And the fact that I could do that was proof that Mak Ju-gwang was also exhausted.
Well then, what was there to wait for?
*P-P-P-POW!*
Time to beat the crap out of him.
"Gyaaaah!"
"Die, you son of a bitch!"
In the brawl that erupted at point-blank range, Mak Ju-gwang couldn't keep up with my speed.
He tried to block, launching attacks and defending himself, but my fists and feet broke through his guard, inflicting even more pain.
The reason I could overwhelm a master who had reached a higher realm than me.
'Because it's the War King Arts.'
A unique trait of the War King Arts is that energy circulation is a passive skill, meaning my internal energy recovers the more I fight.
As my internal energy was restored, I could drive out the poison, and my body gradually felt lighter.
In contrast, Mak Ju-gwang's stamina and internal energy were already hitting rock bottom.
In that case, it was worth a shot.
After all, I am a specialist in close-quarters combat.
After I rained down blows for several dozen seconds, Mak Ju-gwang finally managed to shake my hand off.
He immediately retreated.
*Poof.*
And scattered the poison he had.
But that was far too obvious a move.
*Rumble! Pow.*
I used most of my recovered internal energy to unleash the Explosive Death Force.
Pushed back by the instantaneous burst of force, the poison qi changed direction and flew toward Mak Ju-gwang.
"Ghk."
True to his name as a poison user, Mak Ju-gwang didn't vomit blood or anything.
Instead, he gasped for breath uncomfortably.
A poison user, for whom poison is medicine, reacting uncomfortably to poison?
It meant his internal energy was completely depleted.
*THOOM.*
I squeezed out every last drop of internal energy to execute the War King Step.
"......!"
He reached out his hand in alarm, but.
*Thwap.*
Lacking internal energy, it was no more than the gesture of a healthy old man.
Of course, my internal energy was also depleted.
*CRACK! THWACK! CRUNCH!*
But my physical strength was far superior to Mak Ju-gwang's.
The fist and foot techniques I had trained for ten years at the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion all burst forth.
I struck Mak Ju-gwang's entire body with timely techniques like the Three Yang Hand, the Gale Fist, and the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
This continued for about thirty seconds.
"Guhhhh..."
Mak Ju-gwang let out his final breath and collapsed.
*Thud.*
The moment I confirmed his death, my strength gave out, and I slumped to the ground.
Dan Un, who had approached at some point, looked down at me with proud eyes.
"Good work."
"Same to you."
"By the way. You shouldn't have attacked like that earlier... You should have done it like this..."
Oh, for fuck's sake.
* * *
My body was in such bad shape I needed a month of rest, but as soon as we recovered a little internal energy and stamina, we carried Lee Jeok-ha on our backs and left.
Since these were madmen who'd kidnapped the son of the Martial Emperor, widely acknowledged as the greatest under heaven, we didn't know when or where enemy reinforcements might show up.
The only fortunate thing was.
"Thanks to his profound internal energy, the poison qi didn't penetrate to his marrow."
Lee Jeok-ha's pay-to-win approach hadn't been in vain.
A pang of jealousy rose in me, but seeing his darkened face, I dismissed the thought.
It reaffirmed the fact that God doesn't give you everything.
Thanks to that, we could travel without worrying about him dying.
Though our wrecked bodies prevented us from moving as quickly as we had on the way here.
Had we been walking for about eight hours?
Just when my legs were trembling and I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion.
A tense look appeared on Dan Un's face.
"Someone is approaching."
I wished it was a mistake, but that was unlikely.
Back in the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, he was the one with the sharpest senses.
'I hope they're not enemies...'
I had no internal energy and my stamina was depleted.
If we faced an enemy in this low-HP state, we'd be like a Pokémon facing Ash.
However, my worries were unfounded.
*Hee-hee-hing!*
Because I could see a flag with nine colorful dragons painted on it.
"This is Hyeongcheon Branch Master O Gok-san. You both have done well."
Somehow, I managed to survive another day.