Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Namgung Hyun's Fight
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“That was me putting in my full effort, and not a single scratch? You're far more capable than I thought.”
Cheolwoo lifted one corner of his mouth.
It was an expression of admiration, calling him decent for holding up better than expected.
At the same time, it was the face of someone still utterly convinced of his own victory.
Seeing that look made the sense of defeat, which had subsided thanks to Ja-seong's words, rise back to the surface.
‘No, not yet.’
Namgung Hyun steadied his mind.
His opponent was undoubtedly a formidable foe.
But as the young lord of the Namgung family and as a martial artist, he couldn't be crushed by the enemy's momentum and give up without even putting up a proper fight.
Moreover...
‘I haven't shown anything yet.’
Right—he hadn't shown anything at all.
Not a single bit of the results from all his hard work so far.
‘Even if I lose, I'll pour out everything I've got.’
Namgung Hyun's eyes gleamed with renewed resolve.
“Hm?”
Cheolwoo twitched his eyebrows as he saw Namgung Hyun radiating fierce fighting spirit.
He had thought he'd shown the gap in their levels, yet his opponent showed no signs of giving up.
‘A martial artist's pride? Or the arrogance of a great family's heir?’
Whatever it was, it wouldn't do to keep holding back against someone coming at him like that.
The man standing before him was a proud martial artist first, promising young talent second.
“...In that case.”
Cheolwoo smirked faintly, then hardened his face and glared at Namgung Hyun as he began to raise his aura.
An energy wave incomparable to before spread out in all directions.
“...!”
Realizing his opponent had turned serious, Namgung Hyun also steeled his expression and gripped his sword tighter.
In response, an aura rose from his body as well, starting to push back against Cheolwoo's.
But as if proving his inferior internal energy, Namgung Hyun's aura couldn't properly repel Cheolwoo's.
‘As expected, the difference in power is insurmountable.’
Seeing this, Cheolwoo inwardly felt a pang of regret.
No matter how good the momentum, the gap in internal energy couldn't be overcome.
Having taken a liking to Namgung Hyun's spirit, he found it regrettable in many ways.
And then, with a sudden unexpected change, that regret flew far away.
‘...What?’
Cheolwoo tilted his head at the strange sensation.
Namgung Hyun's aura clearly didn't measure up to his own.
It should have been that way...?
‘But what's with this pressure?’
His senses were betraying his perception.
Namgung Hyun's aura was piercing through his own, pressing down on him.
It felt as if all the aura was being focused solely on him.
‘...No. It's not an illusion.’
Namgung Hyun's aura was indeed being concentrated entirely on him.
Controlling the aura itself like that?
Cheolwoo couldn't hide his shock at this completely unforeseen concept.
And beyond that focused aura, Namgung Hyun was preparing to unleash his technique.
He lowered his upper body, pulling his sword in his right hand close to his chest.
‘...That stance?’
For great families that had dominated the martial world for ages, their martial arts were fairly well-known.
Over the past year, Cheolwoo had ambushed and clashed multiple times with Namgung family warriors out on missions, so he was even familiar with their forms and stances.
Thus, he was certain.
‘That's not the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique.’
No form of the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique took that stance.
What could it be...?
Cheolwoo frowned as he stared at Namgung Hyun.
And in the instant he blinked, Namgung Hyun vanished from his sight.
“What...?”
At that moment, Unyeop, seated on the Tyrant Heaven Fortress side, shot to his feet in shock, eyes wide. Horyeong, in the audience seats, leaned forward.
It was only after Cheolwoo pinpointed Namgung Hyun's position.
-Shrieeek!
The all-too-familiar sound to any martial artist of a sword slicing through the air.
Looking down at the sound, he saw Namgung Hyun burrowing into his guard, swinging his sword.
‘What the...!?’
Namgung Hyun's sword plunged into the stunned Cheolwoo's abdomen.
Soaring Firmament Boundless Sword Art, First Form: Soaring Firmament Flash.
Just as it dwelled in the hearts of countless wuxia writers, the sword symbolizing the endlessly blue sky unfolded from Namgung's hand.
“Guhk!?”
With a cry of shock, Cheolwoo's form staggered back.
Just three steps.
Far shorter than the distance Namgung Hyun had been sent flying earlier, but he had undeniably retreated.
Namgung Hyun, a mere promising youth, had forced back a master known as the Mighty Tyrant Blade.
Everyone who witnessed the astonishing sight widened their eyes.
-The Mighty Tyrant Blade...!
-Huh...
The audience wasn't filled solely with ordinary folk unconnected to the martial world.
Martial artists who had heard of the tournament by chance, or those come to gauge Anhui's future, were mixed in.
They had all taken in Namgung Hyun's movement and its result.
‘A new dragon has appeared.’
Everyone held their breath, eyes fixed on the arena.
“...Tch.”
Meanwhile, Cheolwoo, who had been pushed back by a young upstart, hardened his face in humiliation.
But he was a veteran warrior who had weathered countless battles fulfilling Tyrant Heaven Fortress's missions; he knew well how foolish it was to lose composure mid-fight.
So instead of rage, he chose to reflect on the unbelievable situation he'd just experienced.
‘The distance between me and that guy moments ago was about one zhang.’
One zhang wasn't a great distance.
But neither was it something crossable in the blink of an eye, like Namgung Hyun had just done.
No human could move like that.
Like a ghost... a ghost?
“...Hm?”
Cheolwoo's train of thought halted abruptly.
‘What did I just say...?’
Ghostly movement.
He had heard that exact description not long ago.
-Th, they flashed before my eyes like this, then that, and in one go... truly ghostly movement...!
A thug captured in Hyuncheong's prison.
The one who had witnessed the gang leader's death had said exactly that—the killer's movements were like a ghost's.
The killer with ghostly movements, and Namgung Hyun.
Flames sparked in Cheolwoo's eyes.
“It was you...!”
“...?”
Namgung Hyun looked baffled at his mutter.
That infuriating sight made blood rush to Cheolwoo's eyes.
Cheolwoo had kept his cool despite the humiliation of eating a hit from a novice.
But with the enemy who killed his leader and comrade of over ten years' standing right before him, he could no longer maintain it.
“Raaargh-!”
Cheolwoo charged at Namgung Hyun like a maddened bull.
His massive frame and the greatsword matching it closed in.
Faced with the blatant killing intent in his expression and aura, Namgung Hyun dodged the attack with calm footwork despite his surprise.
And he questioned the man directly.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“Why? You dare ask why? You don't know?!”
-Whoosh! Whoosh!
The greatsword tearing through the air was immensely threatening.
It radiated a ferocious momentum as if ready to crush Namgung Hyun at any moment.
“...Something's off.”
“Hm, his aura's not normal.”
Seeing this, Ja-seong and Namgung Seon-u wore perplexed expressions.
Ja-seong in particular suspected they might be pretending it was an accident to kill Namgung Hyun.
Thinking he might need to intervene in the match, Ja-seong shot a sharp glance at Unyeop on the opposite side.
But Unyeop himself looked utterly flustered as he watched Cheolwoo?
‘They didn't know either? So Tak Cheolwoo's gone rogue on his own?’
Why? Was getting hit once by Namgung Hyun that embarrassing?
Oblivious that he was the cause, Ja-seong tilted his head as Cheolwoo's storm-like assault continued unabated.
“Uwaaaah-!”
“Guhk...!”
Namgung Hyun, who had been ceaselessly stepping back with footwork to evade, gritted his teeth.
If he kept retreating like this, he'd really be knocked out of the ring this time.
‘I don't know why he's doing this, but I can't just take it lying down.’
He needed to interrupt the enemy's attacks and turn defense into offense.
And right on cue, the perfect opportunity arrived.
-Kagagagak-!
The greatsword raking roughly across the arena floor and swinging upward.
Seeing it, Namgung Hyun's eyes flashed as he raised his sword with both hands, slamming down hard against the ascending greatsword.
‘Fool!’
Cheolwoo sneered viciously.
He found it laughable that Namgung Hyun dared clash with him in raw power.
Come to think of it, hadn't the leader said he was overpowered in strength against the killer?
“Even the leader couldn't match my power-!”
-Kwaaaang!
The two blades collided with a thunderous boom.
Cheolwoo was certain Namgung Hyun's sword would bounce off.
But reality didn't unfold as he expected.
“...What?”
Namgung Hyun's sword didn't fly away.
No, it was pressing down on his greatsword instead.
“Guhk!?”
Cheolwoo strained with all his might to shake off Namgung Hyun's inexplicably heavy sword.
But despite his efforts, his greatsword was ultimately forced down by Namgung Hyun's, slamming into the arena floor.
The defensive form of the Soaring Firmament Boundless Sword Art, Heaven's Might Crushing Pressure, had severed Cheolwoo's onslaught.