Chapter 315
Chapter 315
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 315
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Whoosh…
The Night Raven had driven out the chill with flames ignited by Fear Fire.
Kang Seol and Karen instinctively grasped what incomplete combustion truly meant.
How to wield it. How to unleash its full potential.
“I don’t know! Charge straight in!”
Flash-!
Karen, a grin on her face, wrapped her body in flames and lunged forward.
It might have seemed reckless at first glance, but the tangible pressure radiating from the Night Raven was far greater than before.
Whish-!
Regret whipped around, slashing from the Night Raven’s shoulder downward.
Claaang-!
Naturally, the Yaksha wouldn’t let it slide.
A clash of sword against sword led to a tense standoff.
Scraaaape-!
Regret’s jagged blade scraped along the Yaksha’s sword as it slid away.
Whish-!
The Yaksha shook off Regret and leaped back.
There wasn’t a scratch on the Yaksha’s blade.
“Tch…”
The Yaksha was a demonic sword.
A far more vicious and powerful one than even Regret.
Fwoosh…
[Incomplete combustion effect increases.]
Fwoooosh-!
Fear Fire flared up once more.
In glimpses amid the battle, Chiu and Seolhong were decisively overwhelming the luminous ghosts and plague ghosts.
At this rate, they could take down all the other ghosts except the Yaksha.
‘I’ll pin it down, no matter what it takes.’
Slink…
The Yaksha lowered into a stance.
It looked remarkably relaxed.
A far cry from its rigid posture up until now—it exuded utter composure.
“Huh? What’s it doing?”
“…Be careful, Karen.”
“Be careful?”
Karen didn’t know.
So Kang Seol explained the situation plainly.
“The Yaksha… is a sword.”
“…Got it!”
The Yaksha was a sword.
And the body of the swordsman wielding it was also a sword.
Its movements were swordsmanship.
That leisurely poise was swordsmanship too.
It was a subtle motion that couldn’t be underestimated.
‘And… that sloppy movement that’s almost too obvious…’
Kang Seol recalled the precautions about the Yaksha.
Combining what he knew with the latest warnings from Doeksini.
- The Yaksha wields many sword styles, but by my estimate, there are three dangerous ones you’ll struggle against. The reason it was subdued before was sheer luck, not because the Ghost Realm crushed it. One of the Yaksha’s strikes is…
[Yaksha uses an incomprehensible sword technique.]
[Unable to comprehend.]
The first of the Yaksha’s special sword techniques.
- It outpaces perception.
A style conveniently dubbed the Preemptive Sword.
Kang Seol tried to quickly seize control from Karen to counter it, but for some reason, she wouldn’t yield.
‘…Karen!?’
Too late.
Screeech-!
The Yaksha’s sword was already upon them.
And this blade was faster than the eye could see or the ear could hear.
Claaaaaaang-!
“Karen!”
“…”
Karen blocked the Yaksha’s thrust using gauntlets forged from incomplete combustion. The Yaksha’s sword had been aimed precisely at the Night Raven’s throat.
“Watch.”
[Incomplete combustion effect increases.]
Fwoooosh-!
Bang-!
The Yaksha hastily withdrew its sword and attacked again.
Swoosh…
Claaaaang-!
‘…Fast!’
Unfathomable speed.
It was a swordplay so swift that calling it merely “fast” felt inadequate.
If Kang Seol had faced it without merging with Karen, that single strike might have taken his head.
Whirrl…
Claaaaaaang!
Yet somehow, it began to feel like the Yaksha’s sword was merely battering the Night Raven’s armor.
‘No… it’s like…’
Every spot the Yaksha struck seemed perfectly covered by armor.
Kang Seol observed the Night Raven’s current state.
‘No way…’
Fwoosh!
Fwoooosh!
[Incomplete combustion effect increases.]
Incomplete combustion continued layering armor onto the Night Raven’s body.
It didn’t feel restrictive in the slightest. Since it was armor forged from Fear Fire, there was no burdensome weight.
Now, the Night Raven had grown as massive as Jamad. Karen, encased in enormous balloon-like armor with a helmet fully covering her face, spoke.
“Kahaha! That tickles!”
Whoooosh…
Yet another of the Yaksha’s delayed swords came rushing in.
What made it deadly was that its eyes seemed to spot gaps in the armor.
Karen flinched and hastily countered each time it launched one of those chilling attacks.
‘No… or not?’
Craaaunch…
- ….
“Not budging much?”
The Yaksha’s sword caught in a seam of the Fear Fire armor and couldn’t advance. Kang Seol was impressed.
‘It was intentional!’
Unable to predict the Yaksha’s sword, Karen had preemptively armored the spots it would target.
Flash-!
The Yaksha quickly pulled free.
But it was a beat too slow.
Karen thrust forward the fist she’d pulled back.
Craaaaash-!
“Gahk!”
“That scream’s refreshing.”
Crunch…
Craaack…
The Yaksha tumbled away, spinning like a top.
Crack…
Like some soft-bodied creature, it pieced its shattered bones back together and rose.
A battle of monster against monster.
“You’re doing great!”
“Wooooah!”
“Kill it outright!”
“Finish it off!”
With spectators around, it felt just like being in an arena.
- …Ah.
Suddenly, the Yaksha clutched its mask and let out a voice.
“Huh? What? You can talk?”
Karen stood leisurely, awaiting the Yaksha’s response.
Fwoom-!
The Yaksha lifted its head and spoke.
- Ahh… That hurts, you damn elf.
“…Is it the mask talking?”
The mask glared at the Night Raven with furious eyes.
‘…It’s cracked?’
Part of the Yaksha’s mask had shattered.
Specifically, from the left eye up to the brow and forehead.
Exposed was the necrotic skin fused to the mask.
“Ugh… Gross…”
“What the hell is that…”
“Monster bastard…”
The spectators buzzed noisily.
- Shut up….
The Yaksha.
Or rather, the demonic spirit dwelling in the mask, bellowed.
- I said shut uuuup!
Zzzzzzzzt-!
Again.
The boundary stone’s power manifested once more.
Sizzzzzzz…
“Dodgeee!”
“W-What?!”
“Gaaah!”
People screamed and fled the Yaksha’s space. Soon, the Yaksha’s rampage began.
The surrounding landscape kept shifting.
“Urgh!”
“Jamad! You okay?”
“It’s trying to teleport us somewhere insane.”
“…What?”
“Stop it! It’s dangerous!”
The Night Raven nodded and charged at the Yaksha.
- Heh heh…
The Yaksha greeted it with a sinister chuckle.
[Yaksha uses an incomprehensible sword technique.]
[Unable to comprehend.]
Zzoooom…
The moment the Yaksha’s sword vibrated, Kang Seol recalled the second of its three swords.
- Its second sword is the Vibrating Sword. When you clash, it’ll feel like you’re being sucked in, so avoid direct confrontation.
Kang Seol and Karen simultaneously thought of the same counter.
Fwoooosh-!
The massive armor encasing the Night Raven dissolved entirely into flames.
Fwoooosh-!
The Night Raven, cloaked in fire, thrust its sword between the Yaksha’s ribs.
- Eek!
Claaaang-!
The Yaksha parried the exact spot with its sword flat.
Zzoooom…
“Urk…”
Doeksini’s warning held no exaggeration. The bizarre energy from the Yaksha’s sword immobilized the body on contact alone.
The silver lining was that the Yaksha seemed to expend immense mental effort to wield such power.
Zzoooom…
The Yaksha asked.
- Hey, what’s your name?
Karen and Kang Seol hesitated, wondering if it was addressing them, but the Yaksha helpfully specified.
- You, demonic spirit.
Regret’s eye widened as it wrestled with the Yaksha’s sword.
【Huh? Me?】
- Why is a demonic spirit like you subservient to a human?
【Subservient? Nah.】
- Nah? Then what are you?
Regret blinked, pondering.
It glanced upward briefly, as if stumped.
【Uh… do I really have to answer?】
- Brainwashed, huh.
Zzooom…
A faint trace of the Yaksha’s true demonic spirit form slipped from its mask.
That black, sinister shape resembled when it first met Regret.
- You’re a demonic spirit. You’re abandoning paradise of slaughter and torment?
【Regret doesn’t care about that anymore…】
- You idiot! Wielding that power and not knowing how to use it! Take the human’s body now!
Regret sneakily glanced up at the Night Raven.
Then replied to the Yaksha.
【Um… she might get mad? She looks like she’d get mad…】
- …Completely tamed. Listen well.
Whooooosh…
A colossal demonic spirit rose from the Yaksha’s sword.
It looked like the incarnation of evil itself.
- Demonic spirits have only one path allowed. No choices. We’re born of malice, repaid only in malice.
The Yaksha looked down at the cowering Regret.
- Refuse it, and after this fight, I’ll devour you.
【Eek… don’t wanna…】
- Heh heh… Decide. Walk the demonic spirit’s path. Or become part of me.
Intimidated by the Yaksha, Regret carefully chose its words.
【Regret… liked the old days too.】
- …What?
【The death flowing on battlefields was nice. Rinsing my mouth with that blood was nice. Ah… yeah, those were good times.】
Teleported to the wasteland, they now conversed away from the spectators.
【But… the world has way more things Regret likes now. Regret likes being woken up in the morning now. Likes falling asleep by the fire. Likes flowers. Likes naps.】
Slink…
Regret seeped from the sword, growing a body like the Yaksha’s.
It kept expanding.
【Regret likes now.】
The Yaksha grimaced.
- That doesn’t change what you are. Born a demonic spirit, you’ll live eternally.
Slink…
Regret continued growing.
【Regret doesn’t wanna live forever. Regret… was born a demonic spirit but will die as Regret. Done with the demonic path.】
Glance…
Regret met Kang Seol’s eyes.
【I like when this guy smiles. Regret’ll walk its own path.】
- You can’t change.
【Change? Have I changed?】
Regret tilted its head, then decided.
【Nah! Regret’s changing!】
Ruuuumble…
Regret grew without end.
Now, larger than even the Yaksha’s true form.
Regret’s existence was a grand miracle born of small ones.
A cradle of death, a grave of life.
It could no longer be defined as a mere demonic spirit.
【I’m Regret! Born on the battlefield and…】
Craaack-!
Regret slammed its forehead into the Yaksha’s.
【I’ll free the one trapped crying inside you. So don’t order me around.】
The Kahn imperial citizens and others witnessing this felt greater terror from Regret than the Yaksha.
【Something smaller than me…】
- …What?
Crunch!
Craaack-!
Regret reared back and headbutted repeatedly.
- Gruuh!
【Regret headbutt! Regret forehead hammer!】
Unable to endure Regret’s torment, the Yaksha retreated into its sword. Only then did Regret return to its blade.
[Incomplete combustion effect increases.]
Fwoosh-!
Seizing the opening, the Night Raven ramped up its firepower.
- Urk… Graaaah!
The Yaksha recoiled its vibrating sword and clutched its mask.
Right then.
Zzzzzzt-!
“Kang Seol! Brace yourself!”
Whoooosh…
Suddenly, the ground seemed to vanish beneath them.
The earth was gone.
‘…What?’
Looking around, clouds were below eye level. The Yaksha had used the boundary stone to teleport to an absurd height.
‘Damn it…’
They couldn’t save everyone from the fall.
Screeeeech-!
The group plummeted.
But the Yaksha hadn’t intended this teleport either.
Zzzzzzt-!
Another midair shift occurred.
Gasp…
Breathing had been hard before, but now it felt like their chests would burst.
Jamad’s forehead bulged with veins as he fought the teleport and rampage.
‘This place is…’
Pitch darkness.
Where the hell were they?
Everyone struggled to breathe.
In the blackness, Kang Seol spotted a glowing back.
It was huge.
And drawing closer.
‘No way…’
Kang Seol realized they were underwater, and that approaching glow was a massive deep-sea fish’s eye.
Craaaaack…
As the deep-sea fish opened its maw, the entire space holding the Yaksha was sucked toward its jaws.
Bzzzzzzt-!
Just before it clamped shut, they barely teleported again.
Landing on solid ground, Jamad collapsed.
*Cough*…
“Rampage! Kang Seol.”
“Jamad!”
“Can’t… stop the next one…”
The boundary stone’s power had gone berserk.
In the unexpected chaos, Kang Seol swiftly located the culprit, the Yaksha.
And forgot his words at the sight.
Crunch-!
Craaack!
The Yaksha was punching its own mask.
“Uwaaa!”
Pummeling it with fists.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“That’s…”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”
It was crying.
Water streamed endlessly from the eyeholes carved into the Yaksha’s mask.
“Uwaaaaaaaaa! Get out! Get oooout!”
Kang Seol’s heart sank.
A sight he hadn’t wanted to face—but one he had to.
To save him, he had to meet him.
Drip…
The Yaksha’s actions halted.
Swoosh…
A ridiculous pose.
Hands clasped properly in front, feet shoulder-width apart. The most basic stance, taught when first gripping a sword.
It should have been laughable.
Considering the weight this battle bore for Kahn’s future.
But even Karen clamped her mouth shut alongside Kang Seol.
And assumed her stance.
Shing…
Doeksini’s final advice.
- When you grabbed the Yaksha… I felt something off. A pure aura that didn’t suit it at all. That’s why I named its three swords. If you sense what I described…
Click…
‘It’s coming!’
Fwooooooooom-!
An immense pressure wave accompanied the slash.
[Yaksha uses ultimate: One-Mind Slash.]
[Cuts the target.]
- Consider fleeing too. For now, at least.
‘…One-Heart Sword!’
Doeksini was wrong.
This wasn’t the Yaksha’s swordsmanship.
It was the unique style once wielded by Kang Seol’s words, now embodied by the Yaksha’s form.
Craaaaaaaaash-!
The grotesquely gouged earth proved the One-Heart Sword’s power.
Layer by layer…
As the Yaksha’s form peeled away, the being Kang Seol had sought appeared.
Kang Seol asked.
“…Name.”
“Don’t know… Don’t know… Ah… Uh… Ee… Hic… Sob…”
Grind…
Hearing that, Kang Seol clenched his teeth until they nearly shattered.
“I’ll… save you now.”