A Duel with the Blue Sky Sword
The duel was on. Namgung Jeong's expression as he stared at Ha-yeon was utterly serious. No, it would be more accurate to say it was closer to a cold, emotionless mask than mere seriousness. An emperor simply makes his choice, and people are expected to fall in line accordingly. He maintained the demeanor of both a father facing his daughter's benefactor and the patriarch of the Namgung Clan without the slightest wavering.
Namgung Jeong, the leader of the Namgung Clan and the Blue Sky Sword of the Murim world, spoke. "I'll say it once more. This patriarch is not joking. However, since something as trivial as the Clear Night Elixir cannot possibly repay the life debt owed to my daughter, I am giving you the chance to reveal everything first. As I am still treating you as a guest in my capacity as her father, I urge you not to miss this opportunity."
"I'm not joking either. If you don't like it, beat me."
"They say a newborn puppy doesn't know the fear of a tiger. Do you truly believe you can defeat this patriarch?"
"What the hell are you talking about? How could I beat you?"
"What..."
Logically speaking, there was no way my current body could defeat the patriarch. Even looking at Doctor Kim, I'd only managed to win by stripping away every advantage he had. A perfectly healthy Hwagyeong master? No need to even say it. No matter how much Murim knowledge I'd picked up or how many elixirs I'd downed for doping, the fundamental difference in weight class was simply overwhelming.
"I guarantee it. I still can't beat you, patriarch."
It was an unnecessarily confident declaration. As I arrogantly jabbed my thumb at my own chest, the patriarch's mouth clamped shut.
"Then why are you proposing this match?"
"No, this is exactly the time to propose it."
I had learned a very important lesson last time. Even if I wasn't interested in others, they—or someone around me—were very interested in me. Or rather, the fact that I could run into a wild Hwagyeong master just walking down the street. After gaining a certain level of strength, I'd stopped worrying about such things. But once my power weakened and I encountered that wild Water Demon King, my perspective changed. This world wasn't as easy as the one I'd lived in before. If my luck was bad, I could end up as a corpse discovered anywhere, at any time.
"Everything else is fine, but I figured I should experience what they call the advanced principles of the Murim world firsthand."
The difference in weight class could be addressed gradually. If things got really bad, I had a mountain of internal energy piled up compared to my realm, so I might be able to create variables or at least have the strength to run away. That left only one major issue in this equation.
What was the overwhelming gap between my current self and a Hwagyeong master?
"A patriarch from a prestigious clan would know plenty of those principles. If not now, when would I get to experience them with my own body?"
If Doctor Kim had been in perfect condition, I wouldn't have been able to handle that combo of Ihyeong Hwanwi and Gungsin Tanyeong. Techniques like those inevitably left you vulnerable if you hadn't experienced them personally. So in this moment where my life was guaranteed, even if I got beaten like a dog, I needed to scrape up every last bit of data I could get.
"I see."
The patriarch stroked his beard.
"But where does your confidence come from that this patriarch will spare your life?"
"You have to repay your debt."
"A debt of gratitude has no form. That is precisely why it can become either heavier or lighter than anything else. How naive."
Ha-yeon scratched her head for a moment. She wasn't young enough to be lectured like that, but hearing herself called young wasn't entirely unpleasant. After living as long as I had, I'd realized something... being old wasn't anything to brag about. Being young was the best.
"Yeah, you're old."
"..."
"Anyway, that's how it is. Whether you spare me or not is up to you."
From the beginning, he'd approached me radiating killing intent. What was I supposed to do about that? I wasn't the type to shrink back from pressure and obediently spit out whatever he wanted like some scared lamb. And logically speaking, I was an ally of the Namgung Clan. I'd saved Namgung Ryeon, and it seemed like they were hostile toward those polar whatever-the-hell guys. I'd even killed both the Earth Prisoner Star and the Intelligence Star. From the start, I'd been on the Namgung side.
If Ha-yeon had been meek and cooperative, revealing everything, none of this would have happened. The patriarch could have simply apologized for the misunderstanding and let it go. But.
Why the hell would I?
This seemed like the only chance I'd get to go all out against a Hwagyeong master who was showing his true power. Why would I pass that up? An explanation? Couldn't I just swing my sword to my heart's content and sort that out calmly afterward?
"What are you thinking? With a single gesture from this patriarch, the entire clan—"
"Ah, you talk too much, patriarch. You came alone because you didn't want it to get noisy, didn't you?"
"..."
"And even if you called everyone to lock me up and torture me, is there any guarantee the information would be true?"
This hadn't been that difficult from the start.
"Let's just have one proper fight. Then I'll tell you what you want to know. Isn't that more reliable than uncertain torture or threats?"
"I see. So this is what it means to be a martial artist."
The patriarch drew his sword. However, he only pulled the sheath free while leaving the blade embedded in the ground.
"Namgung Jeong of the Blue Sky Sword. I am no match for the Sword Venerable of our clan, but I shall proceed."
"I'm Seol Ha-yeon. Nice to meet you."
There was no time for further words. The sword energy Ha-yeon unleashed had already reached right in front of Namgung Jeong's nose. Thick, razor-sharp strands of sword energy twisted intricately as they enveloped him.
"Hmm."
Namgung Jeong swung his sword. It was nothing but a blunt sheath, yet it carried the sharpness of a blade's edge. Dozens of strands of sword energy were instantly severed, losing their power and dissipating.
"Oh."
He'd cut down sword energy using only the bare sheath without even wrapping it in energy. Had he interpreted the concept of stillness within motion similarly to me? Or was this another Murim principle? If so, I should be able to sense it with my body too.
"As expected."
This was exactly why you had to clash to truly understand. Feeling that his choice hadn't been wrong, Ha-yeon prepared her next move. As Namgung Jeong watched her, he muttered softly.
"I understand your intention, but it seems this patriarch has been underestimated far too much."
"I never underestimated you. I'm always like this."
"Regardless of intention or circumstance, it is an adult's duty to teach proper etiquette."
"Well. We'll see about that."
Namgung Jeong's aura changed. It was as if he was declaring that his and the Namgung name were not so light that someone like her could use him as a mere test subject for a spar. The momentum of a martial artist who had wielded a sword for decades exploded forth. The spirit that could only emerge after transcending the limits of one's species. Even within that spirit and momentum was a razor-sharp killing intent. This was a true swordsman who had spent his entire life with a blade in hand.
"I will teach you that the position of patriarch of the Namgung Clan is not something you can wield for mere personal curiosity."
With those final words, the patriarch's figure blurred and vanished. It was a development that had become almost familiar by now. The cheat-like rear-attack technique that began with Gungsin Tanyeong and continued into Ihyeong Hwanwi. In my past life, I'd fallen for that technique twice. Once, I'd even known it was coming but still had no choice but to let him take my rear.
But.
"I've seen it twice already."
Any decent human being should avoid falling for the same thing at least three times, right?
Ha-yeon stepped with her footwork and spun her body. The patriarch had appeared on her left rather than behind her, but the slash she had swung in advance carried absolute certainty—as if she'd known exactly where and how he would emerge. The conviction that even if he suddenly vanished from before her eyes, he would definitely appear right there!
And her conviction proved correct.
Clang!
Sheath and sheath slammed against each other. Yet within them dwelled a sharp keenness. Ha-yeon's carried the blade of stillness within motion wrapped in murderous intent, clashing with the patriarch's sword as they exchanged a brief series of moves.
Clang!Clang-clang!Clack!Ching!
Swinging, pushing, stabbing into openings. After exchanging twelve moves, Ha-yeon used her footwork to retreat. Continuing a head-on battle would allow the difference in weight class to overwhelm the flow. The patriarch seemed to know this as well and tried to press the attack without giving her time to catch her breath, but his expression suddenly hardened and he stepped back. Then he swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc.
Swoosh!
The patriarch's face stiffened as he saw something being sliced and scattered through the air.
"Sword energy? You installed formless sword energy?"
"Mmm. Take a look at this."
"How did you do it? You installed it while exchanging moves with this patriarch? Is that even possible?"
"Find out by clashing with it yourself."
Ha-yeon extended her left hand and grasped at the empty air. Then, as if seizing an invisible thread, she pulled something toward her.
Invisible, stationary sword-qi traps set in the air, triggered at will by the user's intent.
Ting!
All manner of sword energy fixed in the sky, pulled taut, poured down from above. Transparent, capable of being installed, and operating like mechanisms according to the user's will. For the first time, Namgung Jeong's eyes widened significantly. It was perhaps a rather embarrassing sight for the patriarch of a prestigious clan to show, but at this moment, such things didn't matter.
"What is this... heretical..."
The power contained in each strand wasn't particularly strong. It was at a level that could be fully blocked with protective energy. Yet that didn't diminish the wonder of this ability.
"Hup!"
Rather than awkwardly receiving the unknown attack, he seemed to have chosen to counter it with the overwhelming firepower of sword gang. Namgung Jeong's sword gang filled the air not as lines but as surfaces. He must have been quite shocked by the action that defied common sense. It was clearly an excessive response, but against an attack with insufficient information, there was no more standard counter than this.
Then, time to keep pushing.
"You have a lot of internal energy, huh?"
Using both hands and her sword, she installed sword energy in the air. Then she pulled the axis once more, making it pour from all directions. Within it, she had hidden several sharp daggers refined once again with the principle of stillness within motion.
"A sword formation. This is a sword formation."
Namgung Jeong sensed something familiar in the waves of sword energy rushing in from all sides. Countless blades restricting movement, with lethal daggers serving as the core within them. A simple sword formation that harmonized attacks arriving after a delay with immediate strikes, forcing significant injury.
"A sword formation is normally achieved through the coordinated efforts of multiple experienced swordsmen, but if one person can handle all those attacks alone, it would create the most perfect harmony."
By the common sense of the Murim world, this was an impossible feat—nothing short of sorcery that only a monster could perform... Yet the woman before him was calmly fixing and installing sword energy while freely manipulating its speed. The true nature contained within was clearly not the heresy of a monster, but a sword formation born from the sweat and effort of a swordsman.
Just how vast was the Murim world? Namgung Jeong truly sighed as he readjusted his grip on his sword. A formation controlled by a single person would naturally be perfectly synchronized, and on the surface it seemed to have no weaknesses. However, such a sophisticated technique that consumed so much internal energy and mental power would inevitably carry a heavy cost.
In that case, shouldn't he respond with his clan's ultimate technique?
Within the space of sword energy densely tightening from all directions, a single sword was raised. Ha-yeon's eyes widened in alarm. But she couldn't retreat. She herself was part of this dense and complex sword formation. The moment she gave ground, all her previous calculations would fall apart. Her head was already hurting from manipulating each individual strand of sword energy—now he wanted her to break formation too? Absolutely not.
The ultimate sword technique of the Namgung Clan that targets space itself.
Woooong!
"Whoa."
Fuck, that's not good. Time to run.
Ha-yeon, who had been manipulating Gladiator, immediately used her footwork. And that choice was correct.
Kwaaaang!
A sword swung with enormous area coverage. It wasn't even sword energy, let alone sword gang. A blade wrapped in some kind of momentum tore through space itself. It was a literal strike that seized and ripped space, binding the feet of Ha-yeon who had unconsciously tried to escape with her incomplete Ihyeong Hwanwi and Gungsin Tanyeong.
"Ha, shit."
There was no massive shockwave. No deafening noise, no flash that lit up the night. The space had simply been slightly broken. The objects reflected in the trajectory where the sword had swept were distorted enough to appear warped.
It was a strike he had personally been proud of, yet Namgung Jeong's expression had never been more serious. His gaze turned toward Ha-yeon's pale, delicate hand. In that hand was a clump of black, rough hair. It was Namgung Jeong's own bangs.
Why had this happened?
"You knew."
"Yeah."
"You knew about the Emperor's Sword Form?"
"I've experienced plenty of other things besides that. Used them too."
It was because Ha-yeon's understanding of that strike far surpassed even Namgung Jeong, who had executed it. It was so familiar that it had seeped into her very bones, allowing her to find the opening in her opponent's strike and drive a wedge into that gap. The level difference was simply that vast.
It would have been better if Namgung Jeong had simply pushed her back with raw power using his superior weight class instead of that strike.
When the hell am I supposed to use that?
Because the technique called the Emperor's Sword Form was the sword art that the former Swordmaster Ha-yeon had used most frequently. In the empire, it had been called Space Slash. It was also a fundamental technique that anyone seeking the title of Master on the continent had to know.
"..."
Namgung Jeong ran his fingers through his pathetically severed bangs.
"...I lost."
"Bullshit. I haven't finished yet."
"This is this patriarch's defeat."
"What are you talking about? I took your full-powered strike on my head and only cut off some hair. Did you learn some other defensive principle besides what they call protective energy?"
"If my honored guest had only known how to use sword gang, it would have been meaningless. I arrogantly brought out the final, unripened extreme of the Emperor's Sword Form and suffered accordingly. Even if I were to crush you with brute force now, could that truly be called victory?"
Namgung Jeong's pupils sank calmly.
"However, there is one fact I must point out, shamelessly, not as a martial artist but as a human being. I will ask despite the impropriety. Did you kill the Earth Prisoner Star?"
"Yeah. I killed the centipede called the Intelligence Star too."
"Then, as a human being, the reason for this patriarch to gather the clan's members and kill you has just disappeared. Since this was not a battle between human and monster, but between human and human... I shall acknowledge my defeat."
"No, I can't acknowledge it."
Namgung Jeong pondered for a moment before raising his sword again.
"Are you certain?"
"Uh, uh? Yeah."
"Then I shall proceed."
"Hey, wait a second, patriarch. This fast?"
The patriarch flew toward her. In his eyes, instead of suspicion or disbelief, a certain longing burned. It was none other than a desire for Ha-yeon, who possessed a high level of understanding regarding the incomplete Emperor's Sword Form—also known as Space Slash.
"I have lost once. However, since you have requested a second round, if I win this time, may I ask for your interpretation and teachings regarding the final principle of the Emperor's Sword Form—the strike that splits space?"
"So this is what you were really like, patriarch?"
"I am also a martial artist. Moreover, even though the situation has come to this, as the leader of a group of humans, there are truths I must uncover that cannot be simply overlooked. If you consider it rude, I apologize."
"Sounds good. I have a lot I want to learn too."
Ha-yeon's sword blazed. Since the misunderstanding had been cleared up, there was no reason not to. This was one of the few opportunities to experience the various hidden principles of the Murim world with her own body. See? I didn't just randomly throw out a duel challenge. Swordsmen are supposed to clash properly at least once to truly understand each other.
"Come at me!"
I got absolutely destroyed.
Yeah. The patriarch was strong. Fuck, the guy didn't let his guard down at all, so there weren't any openings. When someone with a much higher weight class than me doesn't let their guard down, I just get beaten easily. Ha-yeon pressed firmly on her throbbing forehead and cheek.