Chapter 392
Chapter 392
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 392
>Chapter Title: Clash of Ambitions
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Ping-!
Night ravens shot forward like flesh flicked from a bowstring.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“Haaaaaaaah!”
Fists collided.
Kwaaaaaang-!
A devastating shockwave.
In an instant, it dyed the surroundings with fierce winds.
Whoooosh…
“Keuk…”
“…Rough.”
Just as the taste of the same dish varies wildly depending on the ingredients, the same night ravens wielded different powers depending on who controlled them.
In that regard, Jamad was overwhelming. What was encouraging was that he wasn’t being pushed back much.
The two faced each other in a standoff, then leaped back and clapped their hands.
Claaap-!
Claaap-!
[Using Slime Armor.]
[Reduces attribute damage taken by 30% for a certain time and grants resistance to physical damage.]
Blub…
A shell of black slime covered Kang Seol’s clothes.
[Jamad uses Mountain Sorcery: Sand Dust.]
[Physical collisions generate sand dust shockwaves.]
[Inhaling sand dust outside of the caster gradually slows you.]
Both prepared for an all-out brawl. Their abilities varied greatly, but in the process of influencing each other, their aggressive natures became a common denominator.
The smaller night raven burrowed into the embrace of the larger one.
Jamad’s massive frame didn’t even fully fit in his view.
‘…Huge.’
To think such a large man stood by Kang Seol’s side. It was because of him that the impossible had been made possible countless times.
“Come on!”
Gratitude could wait. Now was the time to overcome.
- A fight between bare hands and bare bodies? Ah, you mean a martial artist’s duel. In truth, humanity’s struggles began there.
Even in dreams, Toki was his master. Though he hadn’t realized it during those dream days, his respect was genuine.
He always pushed Kang Seol forward.
Whoooong…
- I told you, didn’t I? You were born with special power. When facing a martial artist, lock your eyes on theirs.
- Huh? Not the limbs?
- You’ve got four limbs combined! You got four eyes?
- Well, no, but…
- With your innate senses, you can deflect incoming attacks. What matters is the strike they’re aiming for. Aiming means seeing. Grasping that is priority one.
- …Look into the eyes.
- Yeah, that only applies to you, Kang Seol. If I taught the same to others, they’d get beaten and come assassinate me in the night.
Smirk…
Bwoooong…
An arm thick as a house pillar thrust aggressively from outside to inside.
Swoosh…
Lowering his stance was the planned response. Sweeping the legs to topple him was impossible due to the size difference, so he needed an opening.
And openings were always created in the gaps between counters.
- He’ll use his knee.
Whooo…
Eyes on the opponent’s gaze.
The knee rose.
‘Now!’
Pop-!
He placed his arm on the knee like a stepping stone, closing in on Jamad.
- Swing back.
Kwaaaaaang-!
Sand dust billowed up.
A blow that deafened the ears.
Jamad raised his opposite arm to block the attack.
“…Not bad.”
Jamad brimmed with leisure.
‘Tch…’
The opponent’s eyes pinpointed his weakness. He needed to retreat.
Whip…
Pop…
Kang Seol fell back and halted.
“Did you learn that yourself?”
“…I did.”
“You learned well…”
Conversation was just a means to catch breath; the struggle didn’t stop.
Clap-!
Claaap-!
Hands clapped simultaneously.
[Wilderness…]
[Jamad uses Mountain Sorcery: Dust Explosion.]
[Deals damage proportional to accumulated sand dust.]
[Interferes with the target’s spellcasting.]
Boom-!
A shockwave burst from his mouth.
“Cough…”
[Spellcasting failed.]
[Cannot use spells for a moment.]
Bwoooong-!
A hill-sized mass charged at him.
The hit wasn’t severe, but his spells were sealed.
Paaat-!
Dark crows blocked in front to protect Kang Seol.
“Get out of the way!”
Kwaaaaaang-!
Jamad’s fist pierced a dark crow’s chest, clearing a path.
It was merely an application of hand-to-hand combat, yet the destructive power was immense.
Ssss…
Through the gaping hole in the dark crow’s chest, Kang Seol was gone.
Paat-!
Kang Seol appeared in Jamad’s blind spot, right up against the dark crow’s body.
Kikik…
‘When certain, strike!’
He twisted his waist and kicked Jamad’s face.
Kwaaaaaang-!
‘It landed solid!’
No, that was by Kang Seol’s standards.
Jamad, grimacing from the impact, grabbed Kang Seol’s leg.
‘Ugh…’
Kwaaaaaang-!
Jamad slammed him into the ground.
“Gah…”
What he saw was an elbow.
Dropping toward his solar plexus.
[Using Shadow Stretch.]
[Teleport within one step.]
Sliiiide…
He barely avoided the dark crow’s fate.
Thud!
Thud!
The other two dark crows lunged at Jamad.
Paaaaang-!
Paaaaaaang-!
Jamad sent their bodies flying with each empowered strike.
“Begone, you flies!”
“Haa… haa…”
Kang Seol wiped the blood from his mouth and stood.
It was clear.
Even if fake, Jamad wasn’t truly trying to kill him.
He just seemed to want conviction. Why Kang Seol chose this reckless path. Why he strove for two years.
But conversely, Kang Seol had to defeat him. To prove his choice.
Crackle…
‘…A monster.’
Jamad ultimately tore the dark crows apart, forcibly dispelling the summons.
Overwhelming power.
Even suppressing his specialty sorcery to the max, it was this much.
“You’ve grown, but it’s not enough.”
“……”
“Kang Seol… What forced your choice? Why did you leave alone?”
Jamad finally asked Kang Seol, who had gone to a unreachable place.
“…Some things must be done alone.”
“Nonsense! We were brothers! We should share ambitions! Hardships! So why…”
Kang Seol replied with calm eyes.
“Even if you’re my brother, you can’t replace everything.”
“I would achieve your ambition…”
His eyes saddened slightly.
“You’re just waiting for a future dependent on me, Jamad.”
“What does it matter! Between brothers…”
“Then… if you just lean and gain it… that’s not ambition. That’s just fate.”
“……”
“I wanted my ambition to remain ambition, Jamad. You’d understand.”
“…Damn it.”
Understanding of ambition and goals.
Who understood the value of desire more than Jamad? How could he not know?
He couldn’t condemn Kang Seol’s attitude of achieving something on his own.
Jamad ultimately couldn’t reply.
Kang Seol had once thought that.
With powerful summons, maybe he could challenge ascension someday.
The expectation that he could walk the path the Ten Horses had traversed.
But what returned was negation.
‘Walking the same path repeats the same future.’
Reach ascension, then fail. He couldn’t repeat that future.
Grrrrind…
Jamad clenched his jaw and walked slowly forward.
“Carving your own fate without leaning on me… Fine words. But…”
Crunch…
Crrrrunch…
His muscles screamed.
“Then prove it to me. That you’re worthy.”
Jamad unshackled himself.
Whooooong…
Kwaaaaaang-!
He struck the ground, shaking the mountain.
“Show me! Everything you’ve seen!”
“That’s the plan!”
No more holding back.
“Bitan!”
【Yes!】
Bitan transformed into a sword.
Tzzzzzzzzzzt…
And Kang Seol changed into black attire.
[Using Phantom Ultimate: Yaksha.]
[Burden due to insufficient rank.]
Zzzzt…
Lightning crackled, and a grinning mask covered Kang Seol’s mid-face.
[Resonating with Yaksha’s senses.]
[Resonating with Yaksha’s memories.]
[Following Yaksha’s movements.]
[Gaining Yaksha’s power.]
[Spell reaction speed increases.]
……
Numerous lines followed.
Whooooosh…
[Meteor Shower! Continuous enlightenment while maintaining Meteor Shower state.]
Horrible memories and torment overlaid him.
The process all Yakshas endured.
“Gaaaaah!”
But now, it was different.
A single ray of light pierced through.
Kwaaaaaang-!
Collision!
Kikik…
Kikikik!
Kang Seol barely blocked Jamad’s strike. Jamad had turned serious.
Even as Yaksha, he couldn’t easily shrug off Jamad’s empowered blow.
His gaze conveyed across their breaths in standoff.
Jamad harbored no killing intent. He just wanted to feel it. Breathe together.
Kang Seol’s resolve, his fighting spirit.
Hoo…
Hoo…
Paat-!
They executed the movements they envisioned.
‘…I see the path. This is… the world Yaksha sees.’
No, the world Yurin saw.
As if it handed him the answer and solution.
Kaaaang-!
Kaaaaang!
Clear sword cries.
Jamad’s expression shifted gradually. From unease to surprise, then surprise to contempt.
“Such…”
Grind…
“Such meager power!”
Puuuuck-!
“Keuk…”
Kwaaaang…
Drip…
Kang Seol flew back from the kick.
“And you wasted… time on this.”
No, it wasn’t power weak enough to disdain as meager.
Simply, Kang Seol hadn’t adapted to Yaksha’s power yet.
“Haa… haa…”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Snap-!
Flicking his fingers, shadows surged.
[Using Black Flower.]
[Shadow Hands unleash combos. Damage per hit equals Shadow Hand, and on the same target, each consecutive hit adds 20% extra damage.]
Boom!
Pu-pu-pu-pu-bang-!
Jamad swung his fists in succession, bursting all the shadow hands.
“Cheap tricks are used like this!”
Clap-!
[Jamad uses Mountain Sorcery: Rock Flower.]
[Multiple summons of Rock Fists that deal mountain damage.]
Crrrrunch…
Fists larger than Kang Seol’s shadows formed in droves.
Kwaaaang-!
Kwaaaaaang-!
They bored in relentlessly, forcing him to twist like his waist might snap.
Kwaaang!
Kwaaaaaang!
‘…Huh?’
Somehow, this vision felt a bit familiar.
His movements gained stability.
Tzzzzzt…
A rock fist grazed his forearm.
“Kuk…”
Did Yurin see the world through eyes like this? No, she’d always lived in such a world.
And always gritted her teeth to reach it.
The pain and torment she endured surged like a tide.
Even in this dire moment facing a mighty foe, he thought of her.
He hadn’t lost focus, but it led to an unexpected crisis.
Kwachichik…
Deflecting the rock fist, it shattered, revealing Jamad’s forearm.
It had slyly mixed into the sorcery flow and approached.
He was right there.
The world filled with Jamad.
With his momentum and power.
“It’s over… Kang Seol.”
In that instant, Yaksha’s spark flew.
Pajijik…
Kang Seol had felt this sensation several times before.
Phantom pain alongside time seemingly frozen.
The world like a black-and-white photo.
Everything halted.
Jamad’s ferocious face, his massive body—all paused.
What differed from before: this time, Kang Seol couldn’t move either.
Only his head creaked slowly, turning.
There, she was.
Flutter…
Flutter…
“Seol-ah, come here.”
There, Kang Seol himself was too.
“What’s up?”
A memory.
Memories resurfaced.
‘Back then…’
A winter where everything froze still.
From the crow’s nest, one fledgling fell into the snowfield.
The other crows halted in motion, dead.
Yurin placed the struggling chick in her palm from the snow.
Cheep…
Kick…
The fledgling crow flailed.
Too small, too frail.
“Will it die like this…?”
“…Maybe.”
“……”
She always mourned life’s passing.
She said departed lives often appeared in her nightmares.
“…Like us.”
“Huh?”
“Exactly like us.”
She smiled bitterly.
The crow still flailed in her palm. Then soon stilled.
Not frozen to death. Just lost life matching the halting world.
“That desperate struggle to live… that final push to survive… just like us.”
“……”
That winter memory revived vividly.
Her words breathed life, seeping in like breath this moment.
“Seol-ah, we must…”
Heehee…
A happy laugh.
“Be happy…”
Fwoosh…
Winter faded.
Frozen time would soon end. The change: a tiny line appeared.
A very small line.
He reached his arm toward the small line.
The price… was great.
Kwaaaaaang-!
“Krghaaack…”
Fortunately, a glancing blow.
Yet agony came, breath stolen.
Chest caved in.
Recovery would take time.
“Urk… uweeeek…”
He glared ahead, vomiting blood. Jamad stood still, facing him.
Not pursuing to finish wasn’t mercy.
Contempt shifted once more.
This time, to a refreshing smile.
Splash…
Blood burst from Jamad’s side.
Bitan was bloodied.
“Hoo…”
Jamad staunched it with shadows.
“This body isn’t used to such things… As expected, you were good at this.”
“……Let’s continue.”
Smirk…
“Now, I have some expectations.”
That winter tale continues.
No crumbling here.
He promised her.
Yurin left more than mere power.
A value beyond ambition.
A promise.
“Jamad, to the end… I’ll see it through here.”
“Kukuk… kukuku…”
Jamad laughed madly.
“Yes! That’s right! That’s how it should be! Kang Seol! That’s the you I know!”
The one who grimaced when Kang Seol bled.
Only after bleeding himself did he laugh.
“…My brother.”