Chapter 133
Chapter 133
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Tiger Hunt Blade: Hyuk Ri-gwang
-----------------------------------------------------------------
- Boom! Clang! Crash!
“Urk!”
The spar restarted at Hyuk Ri-gwang’s request.
Of course, the crowd was convinced the outcome wouldn’t change.
-What’s the point? He’ll just lose again.
-Did you see that earlier? I couldn’t believe my eyes even after seeing it myself. Where the hell did that young hero pop out from?
The people in the clearing were those who had personally witnessed Ja-seong’s spar with Zhuge Cheon-sang.
That was why they knew.
Ja-seong’s power.
A strength so overwhelming it made one mistake him for a ghost or a god.
In fact, even Hyuk Ri-gwang, the guest warrior of the Zhuge family with the highest martial prowess, hadn’t been able to do a thing before being subdued.
Most hadn’t been too surprised by the expected result.
They were simply amazed once more by Ja-seong’s martial arts.
Yet the man who had been overwhelmingly defeated, Hyuk Ri-gwang, requested another spar.
At first, everyone thought he was stubbornly clinging to false pride.
But look at him now.
- Boom!
“Guh!”
He let out pained groans and kept retreating nonstop, yet he endured.
- Whoosh!
Ja-seong struck down hard at Hyuk Ri-gwang’s polearm aimed at his lower body.
Unable to withstand the heavy weight in the sword, the polearm sank deep into the ground.
Ja-seong twisted his wrist, changing the direction of the sword blade that pinned the polearm.
The sharp edge now pointed straight at Hyuk Ri-gwang’s face and advanced without hesitation.
- Shrieeek!
“Eek!”
The sharp blade rushed right up to his nose in an instant.
Gritting his teeth, Hyuk Ri-gwang released the polearm and pulled his body back.
Thanks to that, Ja-seong’s sword only sliced off a few strands of his bangs.
He had dodged the attack, but his stance collapsed.
To avoid being pushed into a defensive position, he retreated further.
Even using his toes to yank the polearm’s hilt from the ground and reclaim his weapon.
Everyone who saw this couldn’t hold back their admiration.
From that brief moment of action and judgment alone, they could feel how much real combat experience he had accumulated.
Whether he knew the crowd’s thoughts or not, Hyuk Ri-gwang snatched the returning polearm and widened the distance from Ja-seong.
The two warriors faced off once more.
The spectators, who had been starting to scatter, now fixated on the spar without even blinking.
“Haha!”
Laughter reached their ears.
It came from Hyuk Ri-gwang’s mouth.
Why on earth was he laughing?
He was holding his own admirably, and there were parts worth praising, but in the end, he was being pushed back by a young hero not even half his age.
Normally, one would feel humiliation, not amusement.
Even amid the crowd’s baffled gazes, Hyuk Ri-gwang didn’t wipe the smile from his face.
In truth, his heart was filled only with joy.
How could it not be?
As a warrior, he had finally met someone who could receive everything he had to offer—someone who let him unleash the long-suppressed fighting spirit and will to battle he had endured for years.
The stifling weight that had always burdened a corner of his mind felt as light as a feather now.
Realizing this was his chance to pour out everything he had built up, Hyuk Ri-gwang shouted loudly.
“Everyone, fall back ten zhang!”
His roar, like a beast’s bellow, made everyone except Ja-seong flinch and tremble.
And without realizing it, they stepped back, widening the space.
The clearing, now twice as large as before.
Confirming this, Hyuk Ri-gwang grinned ferociously and unleashed everything he had suppressed for over twenty years.
- Thud!
A fist slamming into the ground.
From that heavy impact, Hyuk Ri-gwang’s aura changed dramatically.
“Grrrr...!”
His muscles swelled across his body, his eyes turned bloodshot.
A beastly growl—not human—escaped his mouth.
Above all, the ferocious killing intent began pouring from his entire body.
- Flinch
The spectators’ faces paled involuntarily.
Some of the weaker-hearted even began to tremble.
Zhuge Geun-yeong and Hwa-ryeon’s group couldn’t hide their shock at Hyuk Ri-gwang’s sudden transformation either.
“What... is this?”
Zhuge Geun-yeong’s surprise in particular was exceptional.
Hyuk Ri-gwang had been a guest of the Zhuge family since before he was born.
Due to his peculiar temperament and behavior, everyone in the family knew him, and many had taken interest in his bizarre martial arts.
But the evaluation of his martial arts had always been, “His killing intent is thick, and it’s hard to respond to attacks from his unnatural positions.”
Zhuge Geun-yeong himself, who had seen Hyuk Ri-gwang fight in the past, shared that assessment.
‘Was that not all there was to it? I’ve never seen him like this before.’
His appearance hadn’t changed.
The strange lowered stance was the same as always.
But his nature, his inner self, was completely different.
What stood before his eyes now was a beast wearing the skin of Hyuk Ri-gwang.
‘That’s dangerous.’
Zhuge Geun-yeong swallowed hard, his primal survival instincts stirred by the savage killing intent.
Was it okay to just leave this as is?
‘And Ja-seong...?’
His gaze turned to Ja-seong.
Ja-seong’s eyes, facing the beast radiating intense killing intent, had sunk into an oddly calm state.
*
So, he’s finally planning to get serious?
I thought as I watched Hyuk Ri-gwang suddenly yell for the audience to retreat.
Unlike the first spar, where I subdued him easily, the second one had dragged on quite a bit.
Because Hyuk Ri-gwang had astonishingly adapted to my movements so quickly.
When he dodged Changgung Ilseom and blocked Hwagwang, I just thought he was decent.
But when he even blocked Geomyeong Gwancheon, that turned into half astonishment.
No opponent I’d faced before had blocked Geomyeong Gwancheon with a defensive technique—they hadn’t even attempted it.
Yet Hyuk Ri-gwang had done it.
What was even more intriguing was that it all seemed to stem from pure instinctual sense.
It didn’t even look enhanced by internal energy, yet he had senses this sharp.
Honestly, I was impressed, and the spar was getting more enjoyable.
The continuous clashes between sword and polearm went on.
Amid that, I realized something.
That Hyuk Ri-gwang wasn’t going all out.
More precisely, something crucial was missing from his bizarre blade art.
At first, I thought there might be some important reason, but it seemed like just a long-standing habit of his.
I had unwittingly pounded away at something he’d suppressed for ages and awakened it.
As the spectators retreated far back, Hyuk Ri-gwang grinned, reset his stance, and slammed his fist into the ground.
And in an instant, his aura transformed.
“Grrrr...!”
Along with a low beastly growl, killing intent exploded outward.
The ferocious killing intent stabbing sharply at my entire body made it feel like I was facing a massive wild beast.
No, it wasn’t just a feeling.
His outer appearance hadn’t changed much, but I could feel his inner self had completely flipped.
A beast that had discarded its human mind, consumed entirely by the madness of battle.
The current Hyuk Ri-gwang was a tiger incarnate.
Only then did I realize I had misunderstood the meaning of his martial art, Tiger Hunt Blade.
The character for tiger, plus hunt.
I had thought it surely meant hunting tigers.
But it was a martial art capturing how a tiger hunts.
As that realization hit me, the fierce tiger began moving in earnest.
“Raaargh!”
Hyuk Ri-gwang charged with a massive roar.
His speed and ferocity were on a whole other level from before.
- Kwagagak!
Hyuk Ri-gwang’s polearm clashed with my sword.
The metallic ring was of a different caliber, sparks flying into the air.
The force pushing my sword back was no joke.
In pure strength alone, he surpassed anyone I’d faced so far.
Feeling myself being gradually pushed back, I twisted my sword to deflect the polearm and retreated.
Far more intense and threatening than expected.
If I didn’t subdue him in one go, I might be the one in trouble.
With that in mind, I lifted one foot, intending to step into the stance for Cheonbu Byeokryeok.
But Hyuk Ri-gwang didn’t give me the opening.
“Raaargh!”
“ Tsk...!”
A charge ignoring all defense, solely to tear into its prey.
I clicked my tongue and used footwork instead of the stance to dodge Hyuk Ri-gwang’s rush.
The polearm he thrust sliced through empty air, and his form slid past me across the ground.
But only for a moment—the beastly agility turned his body, and he charged at me again.
- Boom! Crash! Crash!
The relentless clashes gradually wrecked the clearing.
If the spectators hadn’t retreated as Hyuk Ri-gwang had shouted, someone might have been seriously hurt or even killed.
The fierce tiger before me paid no heed to its surroundings, continuing its violent attacks with abandon.
In contrast, I was only passively defending.
Waiting for an opening to subdue the tiger lost to battle madness, its reason gone.
But Hyuk Ri-gwang made my wait in vain, charging relentlessly without tiring as time passed.
Judging that no opening would come like this, I decided to act boldly.
I unleashed Hyeoncheon Gwangpung straight at the oncoming Hyuk Ri-gwang.
“Grrrng!”
The storm of swift sword strikes infused with wondrous technique whipped up, distorting Hyuk Ri-gwang’s face into a demonic grimace.
For the first time since losing his reason, he retreated.
The opening had finally come.
I raised my foot again and stepped into the stance.
- Thud!
As my weight shifted forward, a heavy wave of energy spread out.
I tried to restrict Hyuk Ri-gwang’s movements with the energy wave, but my intent missed the mark.
“Huh?”
Sensing something, Hyuk Ri-gwang leaped away, escaping the energy’s domain.