Chapter 370
Chapter 370
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 370
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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The darkness that had become a yaksha was drooling from the corner of its mouth.
“Shin Yu! Dark Stalker! Answer me!”
Krurrr…
Kang Seol felt a momentary dizziness at the sight of that horrific sword spirit reborn.
‘The yaksha has revived… of all times, now!’
Few knew the yaksha’s power as well as Kang Seol did. The dark stalker mimicked others’ movements, but the yaksha stole them.
A thief divides into righteous or villainous based on intent, but that being was unmistakably a villain.
[The yaksha maintains its existence by linking to you.]
[The summoner bears part of the price.]
……
‘What…?’
An utterly absurd explanation.
In other words, the yaksha needed a medium to exist in reality, and that medium had to be its summoner, Kang Seol.
‘What is this… ugh….’
Was it because the yaksha was tormented?
Kang Seol’s heart tightened.
Then, a stinging sensation burrowed into his brain.
“Kuaaaaaah—!”
- Kuaaaaaah!
The yaksha’s voice didn’t come out; it only echoed in Kang Seol’s head.
But the pain assaulting the yaksha was so intense that it made him scream as well.
And as Kang Seol clutched his head, he noticed the anomaly in the newly linked yaksha.
‘The yaksha… doesn’t know who it is?’
The yaksha was confused right now.
It endlessly doubted its own existence.
‘This… could it be?’
Kang Seol placed more weight on that fact than on his headache.
Whiriririk—!
Tentacles flew toward the yaksha and Kang Seol.
Flinch…
The yaksha hesitated in responding for a moment, but soon countered.
Sring—!
The sword was drawn, forming a half-moon.
Puhwaaaak—!
The tentacles were sliced off in one stroke.
Whoosh…
The severed darkness was all absorbed into the yaksha.
[The yaksha gathers darkness.]
[Absorbs a small amount of darkness.]
……
Kiiiiiiii—!
Pathetic tentacles compared to its massive size.
But losing them all at once made the black snake go berserk.
The black snake, enraged, began emerging onto the surface.
Drdrdrdrdr…
Kiaaaaaaaa—!
Its size was so enormous it felt like it had uprooted the entire mountain.
Krurrr…
Beast facing beast.
They locked eyes.
The yaksha seemed to react to the enmity coming its way, while the black snake opposed the yaksha due to the ominous aura it exuded.
Ssss…
Kang Seol could feel the yaksha’s mask smiling.
‘Is this guy unconscious or awakened?’
An uncertain situation.
With even whether the yaksha was ally or enemy unclear, the black snake’s attack began.
Ssss…
Fwoooooung—!
A tail spinning long and wide.
Kang Seol had already detached from the summon.
Accordingly, a black line stretched between him and the yaksha.
It almost looked like a shadow.
Krurrr…
The tail fell toward the drooling yaksha.
Kwaaaaaang—!
Power enough to devastate the forest.
However, the attacking snake let out a scream instead.
Kiaaaaaaaa—!
Kuuuung…
The tail that struck didn’t move, as if glued to the ground.
Crack…
‘It sliced it! When exactly….’
Dodging the attack was instantaneous, but slicing the tail was even faster.
Bubble bubble…
Puhwaaaak—!
The severed tail suddenly swelled and burst.
Night beasts poured out from within.
Krurrr…
They all charged at the yaksha and Kang Seol.
‘Kuh….’
Any night beasts Kang Seol summoned would just get sucked into the black snake.
His only weapons were improvisation.
But then.
Paaat—!
The yaksha blocked Kang Seol’s front.
‘…Yaksha?’
Krurrr…
The yaksha was confused.
Its inner selves, split into three, were jumbled together.
At least Shin Yu and the dark stalker were Kang Seol’s allies.
Kraaaaa—!
The wolves charged in a pack.
Srring…
[The yaksha uses Turinsword Style: 13 Branches.]
[Uses 13 consecutive strikes.]
[The total damage is the same, but you can decide its distribution.]
……
Yu Hyun, the yaksha’s former master and a perfected swordsman.
Even his body hadn’t been a perfect swordsman’s.
But now, the body the yaksha inhabited was a miraculous one Kang Seol had painstakingly crafted.
The same yaksha’s sword could produce heaven-and-earth differences in power.
That was proven by the yaksha’s sword.
Puhwaaaaak—!
From the 1st branch, the yaksha’s sword flowed into the 13th in an instant.
‘This fast?’
From the 3rd branch, the 7th, and the final one.
The hidden vicious moves remained, but speed and power were far stronger.
‘No one can block this….’
No one could stop this being.
If Kang Seol had faced the yaksha when it wielded this much power, he would have been the one defeated.
After instantly eliminating all the wolves, the yaksha leaped toward the black snake.
Kiaaaaa—!
The black snake spat something from its mouth.
Fwoooo…
Darkness.
The yaksha didn’t slice it.
Huuuuup…
Instead, it inhaled deeply, and the darkness began getting sucked into the yaksha.
‘It’s even absorbed the dark stalker’s trait!’
Or perhaps it was becoming the dark stalker.
[The yaksha gathers darkness.]
[Absorbs a large amount of darkness.]
Accordingly, the yaksha’s aura swelled explosively, while the black snake’s body gradually shrank.
Snapping to his senses, Kang Seol shouted.
“Dodge it!”
The black snake seemed to be spewing darkness beyond what the yaksha could absorb, aiming for it to overload and explode.
‘It’s aiming for that! Hurry….’
But.
Fwooooo…
“…No way.”
The yaksha kept taking in the endless darkness. Even as the black snake poured out what it had amassed over a long time.
However, it wasn’t solely due to its own power.
[Cannot accommodate the darkness.]
[Darkness overflows.]
[Inaccommodable darkness converts to another power.]
[Shadow space permanently increases by 30.]
[Shadow space permanently increases by 70.]
[Acquire ability points.]
[Acquire ability points.]
……
The yaksha had long passed its absorption limit. Because of its linked summoner Kang Seol, it could take in vast darkness.
This played a decisive role in the black snake’s defeat.
Kiiiiii—!
Judging the situation had gone awry, the black snake lunged its head at the yaksha.
A headbutt using its solid skull.
Kuuuung—!
Kwajijijik—!
Kwajijijijik—!
It succeeded in blocking the head, but the yaksha flew back like a puppet with cut strings, smashing trees.
Thud—!
But only for a moment.
Puhwaaaaaak—!
[The Grace of Blood descends.]
[Recalls the Blood Ghost Sword.]
……
The sword taught something, and blood seeped into the air like paint.
Srrrk…
The black snake stuck out its tongue and collapsed.
Puhwaaaaak—!
And similarly, a massive number of night beasts poured out from it.
Kang Seol expected the yaksha to act the same as before.
But that was just his hope; the yaksha, recalling something, acted oppositely.
“…….”
Swish…
The yaksha halted with its sword extended toward Kang Seol. As if treating him as an enemy like the original yaksha.
But then.
- It won’t listen now. Duck, Kang Seol.
“…What?”
Kang Seol uttered the words but realized who transmitted the thought and ducked.
[The yaksha uses Gentle Breeze.]
[Sword winds flow over a wide area.]
……
‘Shin Kang’s sword!’
The One-Armed Sword Saint’s sword.
Swift Wind Sword.
Its 1st verse, Gentle Breeze, erupted from the yaksha’s sword.
Ssssss…
It felt like a cool breeze tickling the cheeks, so comfortable that even the faint scent of grass was perceptible.
But the devastation that wind wrought was horrific.
Psshuk…
Pssshuk…
Thud…
Thud…
All those countless night beasts toppled to the ground.
That wasn’t all.
Kwajijik!
Kwajijijik!
Kujik…
Every tree in the area split in half and fell.
‘This is… Shin Kang and Shin Yu’s sword… ugh….’
Kang Seol clutched his heart.
This swordsmanship required so much power it burdened both the yaksha and Kang Seol.
“Kraaaaaak—!”
Kang Seol writhed in agony.
It wasn’t a scream from physical pain.
‘The yaksha….’
It was due to the yaksha’s confusion.
It had frozen in shock at the swordsmanship Shin Yu unleashed, its consciousness fading far away.
‘The yaksha… felt fear.’
The mask’s expression was blank.
Because the yaksha’s consciousness sank beneath the surface upon seeing Shin Yu’s swordsmanship.
- Phew… it’s quiet now.
Thanks to Shin Yu stepping in, the situation calmed.
“…What the hell happened inside?”
- This guy kept asking.
This guy must be the yaksha.
“What?”
- Who he is. And what his sword is like.
“…….”
A thoroughly mad being.
And an even madder one stood before him.
‘That yaksha….’
Shin Yu had subdued the monstrous yaksha, if only temporarily, with incomprehensible swordsmanship. A dangerous thought arose: what if he’d had a body?
Then, voices came from afar.
“Kang Seol! You okay?!”
“We’re over here!”
Shin Rip and Shin Hyun raced toward Kang Seol’s position at near-bullet speed.
Paaat—!
“What in the world… happened here?”
“Well…”
As Kang Seol turned to the yaksha, it—or rather, Shin Yu—did something bizarre.
Puhwaaak—!
The yaksha severed its own arm below the elbow.
“…Shin Yu?”
Pop—!
Shin Yu leaped away and fled.
Shin Yu had abandoned the yaksha’s body.
“Hmm… the guy’s still…”
“Hehehe… We’ll have to hear the details from him. What exactly went down here?”
Kang Seol explained everything that happened without omission.
He’d dueled Shin Yu, achieved some results, and parted ways, but suddenly the ground shook, a demon beast appeared, and judging by size, it was definitely the underground one.
“Yeah, sounds right.”
“That’s exactly it. We hurried here as fast as we could toward the noise, but it’s all over.”
With the Shin brothers, the situation would’ve been much easier.
‘No, now’s not the time for that.’
Not with the expressionless yaksha behind him.
Kang Seol calmly explained the reason for the yaksha’s birth and its past, then awaited their judgment.
‘If they deem the yaksha dangerous….’
The three would need to devise another way.
But Shin Rip and Shin Hyun’s reactions were oddly off.
“So this guy has the previous-generation demon sword that enjoyed slaughter possessed it?”
“Yes.”
“Hehehe… I was wondering…”
“…Pardon?”
“No big deal. Shin Yu helped, right? Looks like he’s starting to open up.”
Kang Seol didn’t understand why Shin Yu came up. Lacking full knowledge of him, he couldn’t follow.
Shin Rip said.
“No demon sword works on Shin Yu.”
“…What?”
“We confirmed it when Shin Yu was still alive.”
“Kekeke… Wasn’t it a masterpiece? The little guy swinging a demon sword around.”
A fact he’d never heard.
“There’s no sword he can’t wield. Not just swordsmanship. He can handle any blade.”
A demonic sword and every sword.
Learning this new fact about Shin Yu left Kang Seol dumbfounded.
“Then what happened to the demon swords that contacted Shin Yu?”
“Well… no issues usually. But possessing one body is a first, so I’m not sure. A demon sword fainting from shock.”
“Anyway, Shin Yu dodged an awkward spot.”
“Go after him. Hurry.”
Shin Rip nodded at Kang Seol.
Fwoooo…
After briefly gazing at the yaksha that had absorbed all the black snake’s darkness, Kang Seol left as the situation settled to find Shin Yu.
* * *
Kang Seol encountered Shin Yu where the forest newly began beyond the trees he’d slashed.
He’d found traces of Shin Yu a bit away.
“Shin Yu. It’s just me. Come down.”
Fsssh…
Thud—!
A hand landed right on Kang Seol’s shoulder.
- Kyaaaaak—! Hand! Hand!
- It’s Shin Yu.
Brushing off the viewers’ jokes, Kang Seol began talking with Shin Yu.
“Why’d you leave?”
No longer linked, Shin Yu wrote on the ground.
Scratch scratch…
- Scared.
“What’re you scared of?”
- That place, for me
Shin Yu paused briefly.
That hesitation was like an ellipsis.
- Can you listen to my story for a bit?
“Chit-chat? You mean the one you cut off earlier?”
- Yeah.
“You said no? Said we need to get closer.”
- I won’t.
Whack—!
Shin Yu smacked a tree branch.
“Joking.”
Shin Yu hesitated a moment, then began.
- I…