A Dragon in the Pond! (5)
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Kaaaaaaaaa!
The Ink-Scaled Blood Python and Chung Myung raced toward each other, tearing across the lake.
"Water-walking?"
"Now he’s even running on water! He’s running on water!"
Water-walking.
A form of light-footed movement beyond running over grass, an advanced technique that let a martial artist sprint across the surface of water as if it were solid ground. It required not only precise control of qi, but an enormous amount of internal power to drive the water away. Unless one had reached the realm of a supreme expert, it was something no one would even dare attempt.
And yet Chung Myung was using it as naturally as breathing.
The Mount Hua disciples clenched their fists.
Can he do it?
Baek Cheon’s expression hardened.
Chung Myung had already failed once to take down the Ink-Scaled Blood Python.
If his blade can’t get through, then even that bastard can’t do anything about it.
This was not a fight between men.
In a duel between martial artists, victory was not decided simply by who wielded the stronger sword.
If a swordsman who used overwhelming strength faced one who specialized in speed, the stronger sword would naturally dominate. But that alone did not decide the outcome. A swordsman of speed could always look for an opening in the other’s defense.
But this was different.
The Ink-Scaled Blood Python’s scales rendered all swordsmanship meaningless. No matter how dazzlingly or nimbly one swung a blade, it was useless if the scales blocked every strike.
So the question was simple: could Chung Myung’s sword pierce those scales?
And that would be decided in a single blow.
"Hyaaaaat!"
Chung Myung kicked off the water and leapt toward the python’s face.
Chwaaaaaaak!
Then the beast—
Thank you kindly, I’ll eat well.
—seemed to say as it opened its mouth wide to receive him.
"You bastard?"
Chung Myung’s eyes went wild.
How dare some beast treat a human like a meal!
"Taaat!"
His foot struck the empty air.
Like a hawk soaring upward, he flung himself even higher, then plunged straight down toward the python’s black head.
"Aaaaaaah!"
The sword that had been split in two began to swallow a blue Sword Gang. The color deepened and deepened, until it turned a vivid purple.
"W-what is that?"
"Purple?"
But before the disciples had time to be properly shocked, Chung Myung’s sword came down hard on the python’s head.
Kaaaaaaaaang!
With a sound like a giant iron bell being struck, the Ink-Scaled Blood Python’s head—larger even than the bell itself—snapped sharply downward.
"Oh?"
"Uh?"
Baek Cheon blinked.
Had he just seen the python’s eyeballs pop out and then suck back in?
Anyone who said a snake could have an expression would probably be called insane, but to Baek Cheon, it certainly looked as though the Ink-Scaled Blood Python had been taken by surprise.
"Did it work?"
It was too far away to see clearly. All Baek Cheon could make out was Chung Myung swinging his sword again with feverish force.
"Uryaaaaaaat!"
Kaaaaaaaaaang!
Kaaaaaaaaang!
Kaaang!
Kyaak!
Kaaaaaaang!
Huh?
Had there been something strange mixed into those sounds in the middle?
Baek Cheon tilted his head.
Of course, since none of them had heard the python cry before, there was no way to know whether that strange noise had been its scream or not.
But one thing was certain: this was nothing like what had happened the last time they fought it.
Back then, no matter how many times Chung Myung smashed its head—
What’s he scratching at?—
the beast had merely shaken its head as if something had only been annoying it.
But now it was writhing in unmistakable pain.
"Where do you think you’re going!"
Chung Myung grabbed one of the scales with his bare hand.
"Ah, damn, that stings!"
The sharp edge of the scale sliced his hand slightly. Clenching his teeth, Chung Myung flooded his hand with energy. Strengthening his hand with inner power, he clutched the scale tightly and raised his sword again.
"Still not breaking?"
He brought the blade down again with savage force.
The instant the fully purple Sword Gang struck, the python’s head caved in and sprang back out.
Kieeeeeeeeeek!
A scream unlike any before burst from its mouth.
Seeing that, the Mount Hua disciples clenched their fists.
"It’s working!"
"Whoa, so that does work?"
It still hadn’t pierced the scales, but it was clearly dealing damage. Every time Chung Myung struck, the python let out a pained shriek and twisted its massive body in agony.
Wasn’t the result the same whether you cut it to death or beat it to death?
Besides, the huge size that had once been such a terrifying threat had now become a weakness. Without arms or legs, the python had no easy way to shake Chung Myung off once he latched onto its head.
Kaaaaak! Kyaak!
With cries that made one’s skin crawl just to hear them, the Ink-Scaled Blood Python began thrashing its body violently from side to side.
"Stay still, you idiot!"
Kaaang! Kaaaang!
Chung Myung kept smashing its head without a shred of concern.
Its head was so broad that even careless blows landed on target. For Chung Myung, it was a dream situation.
If he kept this up a few more times, even the mighty Ink-Scaled Blood Python would have no choice but to go down.
Then it happened.
A blood-red light burst from the python’s eyes.
Kaaaaaaaaa!
Letting out an ear-splitting shriek, the Ink-Scaled Blood Python charged toward the lakeshore at terrifying speed.
"Huh?"
And then, with Chung Myung still on its head, it smashed its face into the ground.
KUUUUUUUUNG!
"...Ghk."
The impact was so monstrous it left a hollow in the earth.
Yet even through pain that felt as though his spine would snap, Chung Myung refused to let go of the scales.
"You—"
The python’s eyes once again flared with bloody light.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! KWAANG!
It repeatedly hurled its head into the ground. The surroundings turned to wasteland as grass and stones exploded outward in every direction.
"Th-that!"
The Mount Hua disciples instinctively grabbed for their swords.
This had become a race to see who would die first. If Chung Myung truly could not withstand the Ink-Scaled Blood Python alone, then they would all have to rush in together to save him.
Just then, Baek Cheon caught sight of the python, with Chung Myung still attached to its head, suddenly charging off to one side.
"Ah! No!"
A patch of grass had bloomed with white flowers.
"Purple Wood Grass!"
The Ink-Scaled Blood Python was headed straight for the place where the Purple Wood Grass had grown. One blow like that, and not a single root would survive.
"Anywhere but thereeeee!"
At Baek Cheon’s shout, Chung Myung, still hanging on, jerked in response.
"Hyuuraaaaat!"
Leaping upward, Chung Myung spread both arms wide, then grabbed the python’s head, which he had just been standing on a moment ago.
Then, planting his feet at last on the ground, he threw all his strength into resisting.
Kwakwakwakwakwakwaaaang!
Chung Myung’s feet plowed through the ground like a pair of iron plows. Pushed forward with every surge from the beast, he gradually added more force of his own. Slowly, he began forcing the giant head back.
"Grrrrrgh. Grrrrrrrrrgh!"
Drawing out every last ounce of inner power, Chung Myung finally stopped the Ink-Scaled Blood Python right in front of the Purple Wood Grass.
"Here...!"
Only then did he release the giant head and step back, spinning sharply on the spot.
And with that motion, he kicked the python square in the face.
"I told you, didn’t I, you idiot!!"
KWAAAAAAAAAAANG!
Struck by Chung Myung’s spinning kick, the Ink-Scaled Blood Python’s massive body flipped halfway over and crashed back into the lake. A tremendous spray of water shot into the air.
"Ow."
Chung Myung himself waved his arms as if his whole body ached. He was caked in dirt and grass from head to toe, but he had no time to care. His eyes were fixed only on the lake where the python had fallen.
Bubble. Bubble. Bubble.
As though the lake itself had begun to boil, bubbles burst up from one corner.
"Time to finish this."
Chung Myung leveled his sword forward.
At that, the boiling patch suddenly swelled into a round bulge. Then water surged upward and cascaded down, revealing the Ink-Scaled Blood Python once more.
"Huh?"
Chung Myung tilted his head.
Something seems different.
What was different...? Ah!
Chung Myung blinked.
The python’s scales were bristling upright. The iron-hard scales that had protected its entire body so tightly were now standing on end in a threatening display, as if they didn’t care whether they exposed the flesh beneath.
"Looks like it’s pissed."
Chung Myung grinned.
"Should’ve watched who you were messing with."
Kaaaaaaaaa!
As if it had heard him, the Ink-Scaled Blood Python jerked its head up and unleashed a monstrous roar. It was so huge that it made the ears ring and the body tremble.
The Mount Hua disciples watching from behind clapped their hands over their ears, unable to bear the howl.
The python, spitting streaks of blood-red light, began charging straight at Chung Myung.
This was different from before, when it had only attacked by extending its neck. It was now rushing forward as though it were flying over the lake.
Thanks to that, more than half of its long body was exposed above the water.
Those watching stared, mouths hanging open, at the sheer size of it. So overwhelming was the exposed bulk that Chung Myung, standing in its path, looked like an ant facing a massive serpent.
But Chung Myung did not retreat even a single step before the enormous Ink-Scaled Blood Python bearing down on him. He merely glared at it with a blank expression.
Can I do it?
With this body, and with this inner power?
Well. He didn’t know.
But there was no reason not to try.
Chung Myung’s eyes turned cold as he watched the charging python.
He had once again pushed beyond his limits, but that alone meant nothing.
Only by going further than that could it mean anything at all. If he didn’t try, then any growth was worthless.
Once again, a purple Sword Gang bloomed at the tip of Chung Myung’s blade. It deepened and deepened, then began to transform once more.
A vermilion Sword Gang.
A vermilion Sword Gang, the color of Mount Hua’s blooming plum blossoms, appeared vividly at the sword’s tip.
He stared calmly at the charging Ink-Scaled Blood Python, then finally moved his sword.
Grrrrrk.
Strength gathered in the hand gripping the hilt. As inner power surged until the veins stood out, the sword burst forth with vermilion light.
Force with force!
Inner power exploded from his dantian and swept through his entire body. Power unlike anything before activated every muscle in him, then rushed down his arm and into the blade.
The sword let out a deep, resonant hum, as though it might burst at any moment.
At the same time, Chung Myung’s sword tip began drawing countless plum blossom petals into the air.
Plum blossoms bloomed and bloomed again, as though suspended in space.
Kaaaaaaaaa!
Seeing the Ink-Scaled Blood Python close in to point-blank range, a sharp blue light flashed in Chung Myung’s eyes.
"Taaaat!"
The blossoming plum flowers gathered into one.
Falling Plum Severing the River.
Petals were fragile beyond measure, but when countless petals came together, they could block the flow of a river.
Plum blossoms imbued with terrifying inner power gathered and gathered, then shot forth like a meteor.
Wiiiiiing!
With a piercing whistle that seemed ready to tear the ears apart, the launched meteor drilled into the python’s body.
Kwadddddeuk!
The Ink-Scaled Blood Python’s hide, harder than Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, was literally shredded before the Sword Gang of Falling Plum Severing the River. Even after flinging scale fragments in all directions, the force did not lessen, and the Sword Gang finally bored into the beast’s body.
Kaaaaaaaaaaak!
The python gaped its mouth and reared its head. A cry of agony rang out so loudly it shook Divine Pond like a bell.
Paaaat!
With a sound like something bursting open, the massive, iron-hard back began to split. Blood the color of fresh gore burst from a hole the size of a human head like a waterfall.
"Kruk... Krrrrr..."
Trembling all over, the black body slowly turned. Small, red eyes fixed on Chung Myung.
"Hooof."
Soaked in sweat from head to toe, Chung Myung met that gaze head-on.
It’s not perfect.
He hadn’t been able to unleash it as perfectly as in the past. But what mattered was that he had managed to release it, even if clumsily. The rest would be solved by time.
"Cough!"
After hacking out a couple of dry coughs, Chung Myung lowered his sword slightly and straightened his back.
The Ink-Scaled Blood Python that had caused him so much suffering now writhed with a hole the size of a head drilled into its side—around where a human’s flank might be.
Of course, a hole that small in a body that huge might not seem like much, but a wound like that couldn’t be judged by size alone.
By now, the power of Falling Plum Severing the River would have shredded its insides completely. And proof of that was the way its previously rigid head was now swaying unsteadily.
"Time to end this. Come on, you—"
Then it happened.
Paaaassh!
Suddenly, a gigantic spray of water burst into the air.
The Ink-Scaled Blood Python vanished beneath the surface as though it had collapsed. Then, in an instant, it swam away at terrifying speed, fleeing into the depths of the lake.
"...Huh?"
Chung Myung’s eyes went wide.
It ran away?
For a human... no, for a martial artist, it was not something easy to imagine. But a beast had no honor to defend, no pride to cling to. If the opponent was one it could not defeat, running away was the sensible thing to do.
But Chung Myung, who had not thought that far ahead, could only stare blankly at the lake.
"Chung Myung!"
"We won!"
The Mount Hua disciples shouted in triumph and ran toward him.
"Whoa, good heavens! He really took it down!"
"Seriously amazing, Chung Myung. That sword you used at the end was... huh?"
Jo Gul, who had been speaking, tilted his head.
"Chung Myung?"
Because Chung Myung had his head bowed and was trembling all over.
When Jo Gul cautiously approached and looked at Chung Myung’s face, he turned pale with shock.
Chung Myung’s eyes were practically rolled halfway back, and he was shaking with a look of utter reasonless rage.
"T-this... how dare it... run away?"
His eyes were so ferocious they looked nearly deranged, and anger dripped from them.
"It makes me suffer like this and then thinks it can just run off? Where did that uncivilized shit come from? That spineless snake with no manners!"
"What kind of honor are you expecting from a snake? One with no money at that!"
"It may not have money, but it must have an inner core! Its inner core! Hand over the inner core! Givveee meeeee the inneeeer coooore!"
Suddenly, Chung Myung took off running toward the lake.
"Hey, you idiot!"
"Stop him!"
But they were already a step too late. Chung Myung threw himself into the lake with heroic resolve.
"My inneeeer coooore!"
Splash!
Chung Myung vanished beneath the lake in an instant.
"... ..."
Jo Gul, who had been stretching his neck to watch, slowly turned to look at Baek Cheon.
"...Is he going to be all right? He’s underwater."
Baek Cheon smiled serenely.
"Leave him be. Whether he dies or not, it’s no concern of ours."
"... ..."