Chapter 254: The Art of Fighting (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 254: The Art of Fighting (3)
The moment Permush opened her lips, the fists of the Colossus rained down. In the chilling winter under an ashen sky, a torrential downpour as fierce as a midsummer monsoon beat mercilessly against the ground.
Cruelly, the Colossus shattered heaven and earth. With an infinitely serene face, it confiscated all life in its path.
“Top! Right in front of us!”
An Association executive shouted amidst the encroaching doom, his desperate voice echoing sharply inside his helmet.
Responding to the call, visor-wearing heroes activated their respective blessings, raising a wall of shields to construct a turtle formation—the Testudo, a defense phalanx of ancient Rome.
“Mid and Jungle, inside!”
‘Mid’ and ‘Jungle’ quickly took refuge within the formation, while ‘Bottom’ attempted to pull far back. But not everyone could escape.
The Buddha Colossus bore over two thousand arms fan-spread across its back. The speed at which it threw its fists was so staggering that only lingering afterimages were visible.
Speed multiplied by mass—what need was there to describe its destructive power? A single fist falling like a meteor threatened to crush the shield shell formed by dozens of heroes in an instant.
“Fuuuuuck!”
The heroes shrieked, straining with all their might to hold out, but—
KABOOM!
Unable to withstand the Colossus's iron-hard strike, they were flattened along with their shields. Drenched in their comrades' blood, the surviving heroes could only hold up their shields. If they surrendered to grief even for a second, they knew they would meet the exact same fate.
Aaaaargh...!
Long, agonized wails stretched through the swirling dust clouds. The indiscriminately raining fists of the Colossus squashed heroes like ants, flattening the very bedrock. Chunks of flesh splashed in all directions, and blood pooled into newly gouged furrows, forming crimson ponds.
Permush watched the horrific scene from atop the Colossus's head, her arms folded nonchalantly.
“Yes, this is where you humans belong. Crawling on the ground like insects, your bodies bursting at a single gesture from us demons. That is what you humans are, you lowly trash. Take this chance to learn your place, hmm?”
Permush wore a slit smile far too wide and cruel to belong to a child.
“None of you will leave here alive, so you'll have to realize your place in the netherworld. Well, that has its own charm.”
Permush felt no personal malice toward humans. Why harbor anything beyond mild annoyance for bugs? Such was the nature of a Corps Commander. Their perspective was fundamentally different. They could not view humans as human beings. It wasn't that she refused to; she couldn't. The same applied to humans themselves—no different from the privileged failing to comprehend the existence of those trapped in society's blind spots.
“By the way...”
Permush scanned her surroundings. The battlefield was a living hell, yet that old swordsman was nowhere to be seen.
‘He is an Awakener.’
There was no way he died from something like this. Having faced an Awakener firsthand centuries ago, she knew better than anyone.
‘And above all...’
Heavenly Sword Kang Geomma.
His presence kept gnawing at her mind. He hadn't been seen for a while now. Even the number of sashimi knives flying through the air had noticeably thinned out.
Permush rolled her eyes left and right. It was precisely because she was never careless by nature that Lord Kuarne had permitted her deployment.
Had she been reckless, Lord Kuarne would never have taken the immense risk of opening a Gate for her.
“I am favored by Lord Kuarne.”
Thus, she could not betray his expectations.
‘I will slaughter every last bug that could stand in Lord Kuarne's way.’
Furthermore, she would kill Kang Geomma—the one Lord Kuarne was closely watching—in the agonizing tortures of karmic fire. His interest, her dear brother's interest, belonged to her alone.
Swiish!
Permush snapped her head back, letting a surprise attack fly past without warning. A single sashimi knife lodged itself near her feet.
Snapping her gaze over, Permush saw the Sword Emperor sprinting along the sword's path toward her. Mid-air, he snatched the sashimi knife and hurled it back like a dagger.
Permush flinched briefly at the unexpected ambush. But a second later, her face twisted into a demonic scowl.
“Just because you got wings, you think you're hot shit?”
She snapped her fingers. The Colossus shifted its fist's trajectory upward.
“Even with wings, a bug is still a bug.”
Heavy fists slammed forward as if pounding the clouds. A volley of fists flew in, eclipsing the Sword Emperor's vision. Trying to counter every single one would get him squashed like a fly.
‘Dodge.’
Dodge every last blow and close the distance. Lowering his stance, the Sword Emperor gripped his hilt with one hand. Like a surfer riding a wave, the straight sword carrying him cut a smooth line through the air, weaving between fist after fist.
The more skillfully he dodged back and forth, the more momentum he gained. He rode the surge as if surrendering his body to the current.
His white hair fluttering, the Sword Emperor continued onward. Meanwhile, his front teeth bit deeply into his wrinkled lip.
‘Damn it.’
He had to force himself to ignore the carnage unfolding on the ground. He kept his eyes locked firmly straight ahead. If only to keep their sacrifices from being in vain... at least until Kang Geomma finished his preparations.
‘If I can go further and leave even a small wound on her...’
He closed the distance in an instant and deftly threw a sashimi knife. Only now did he truly realize why Kang Geomma insisted on using these kitchen knives.
A 3,000-won Daixo Sashimi knife. The quality was surprisingly good and practical. In short, it was incredible value for the money.
Clang— Cl-cl-clang!
The gravel Permush sprayed like a submachine gun collided in mid-air with the sashimi knives. Glaring fiercely, Permush snarled.
“Gnat.”
Soon, the Sword Emperor succeeded in deflecting her entire offensive. The instant he landed, he kicked off the Buddha head with his back foot and lunged forward. A sharp, piercing sword strike.
“Fine then.”
Permush opened her palm and scattered the gravel onto the floor. Dropping her shoulders, she clenched her hands into fists.
“If you want a brawl so badly, I'll play along.”
Stone debris wrapped around Permush's forearms, molding into gauntlets in an instant. She executed footwork to spring forward.
As the Sword Emperor leaped to meet her, their figures collided in the center.
BOOM!
It was truly a blink of an eye. Countless blows were exchanged between them. Sparks and sonic booms repeatedly flared and faded above the Colossus's head.
Facing Permush head-on, the Sword Emperor was inwardly astonished—both at how adept in martial arts she was when she had done nothing but throw pebbles before, and at himself for going toe-to-toe with a Corps Commander in a one-on-one duel.
Yet the situation was far from hopeful.
‘I don't have much time left.’
The power of Awakening was exhausting. In exchange for granting immense strength, it collected one's life force as payment.
Suppressing his impatience, the Sword Emperor swung his sword with calm composure. Thump! He deflected her fist with the flat of his blade. Swish! He thrust his sword, persistently targeting her vital spots.
He intentionally discarded defense. The best defense is offense—the most fundamental rule of combat.
The tide of battle gradually tipped in the Sword Emperor's favor. Partly because Permush was intentionally humoring him, but also because in close-quarters combat, none could match him. On top of that, he had Awakened his blessing, burning his own life force as fuel.
His movements were lighter than in his prime, and his blade grew sharper by the second. His golden eyes discovered patterns in her attacks, carving out openings in his opponent's guard.
Ultimately, Permush's back foot tripped over her own front ankle. His seasoned swordplay had forced her fists and feet to tangle together.
The Sword Emperor did not miss the opening. He let out a thunderous shout.
“Permush, you wet-behind-the-ears little brat!”
Gathering pure white aura, he coated his blade with it, then slashed diagonally upward from bottom-right to top-left.
Whoosh— BAM!
Taking the blade blast directly to her chest, Permush slammed into the Colossus's head ornament. Regulating his breath, the Sword Emperor glared fiercely at her.
She looked embedded into it as though she had originally been part of a mural. Her head hung low, hiding her eyes, but her mouth was clearly visible. The demon was snickering.
“...Hehehe.”
The laughter sounded eerie. Permush contorted her entire body and stepped out from the stone surface. Brushing off her skirt with nonchalant taps, she spoke.
“I shall admit it. For a fleeting instant just now, you reached the realm of a Sword Saint.”
The Sword Emperor's brow furrowed at the out-of-nowhere praise. Her skirt was tattered and torn, and several lines of blood lined her cheek. Yet a faint trace of pleasure spread across her lips.
Permush met the Sword Emperor's gaze. Her eyes remained dull and dead as ever.
“It is merely a pity. Had you been younger, you would have surpassed your ancestor.”
Suddenly, Permush held up three fingers.
“There are three reasons why you die today. First, you met me, someone who has dealt with an Awakener before. Second, you met me only today.”
She said, folding her fingers one by one.
“Third... you met me.”
“You certainly have a knack for making pathetic bullshit sound grandiose.”
Despite the Sword Emperor's sharp rebuke, Permush merely giggled.
“You have a foul mouth, just like your ancestor. Aaron Nibelung was quite harsh with her words as well, a waste of such looks. She was an entertaining woman.”
Her dry eyes traced back through centuries of memories. Closing her eyes and reopening them, Permush spoke.
“Tell me where that black-haired brat is. If you do, I shall show you respect and blow your head off in a single strike.”
“Do you think I would tell you?”
“No.”
Permush smirked and shook her head.
“Just asking.”
The next moment, Permush curled all ten fingers like eagle talons. She hooked her raised nails into mid-air.
The Sword Emperor's eyes widened in horror at the scene that followed. At every joint of her fingers, the shimmering texture of space itself was visible.
“Do you know the best way to sift out bugs mixed into a bag of rice?”
“...!”
Seeing the Sword Emperor's bewilderment, Permush raised the corners of her mouth.
“Flipping the whole bag upside down.”
Permush's ten fingers clawed through the empty air, as if pulling down an invisible curtain.
「Mantra (मन्त्र)」
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The ground tilted. The arrogant sky lay upside down. The horizon swallowed the sun, only to spit it right back out.
There was no thunderous roar like before. It simply mocked common sense—the obvious truth that the soles of one's feet should always touch the earth.
Those holding onto the dirt fell upward into the sky. Those suspended in mid-air were slammed down into the ground.
In this inverted world, the only one standing upright was the demon in the form of a young girl.
“Hahaha!”
Permush looked up and laughed like a lunatic. Her dull, dead eyes were filled with the upper layer of existence, impossible to tell whether it was sky or earth.
“...A-Ah.”
Having managed to drive his blade into the ground, the Sword Emperor now found himself hanging precariously from its hilt. Until now, he had strived never to despair. He had lived harboring the conviction that, against any formidable foe, he could stand his ground with a single sword.
But now, the man's convictions were being torn to shreds along with the sky.
‘Who on earth could possibly stop that demon playing with the world as her toy?’
Anguish and despair consumed the Sword Emperor. If he let go of this hilt, he would be swallowed by those ash-gray clouds. Just as he looked back and forth between his sword and the void beneath his feet in stunned despair—
“...!”
Figures flapped ivory wings, approaching at breakneck speed. From the ground, from the clouds, from the sky... dual-wielding sashimi knives in both hands, they surged toward Permush.
“What in the world is...”
At that, panic finally flickered across Permush's calm composure. For the first time since the battle began, she showed true dismay.
Step.
A footstep echoed, impossible to tell whether it came from the sky or the earth. However...
Step.
As to whom those footsteps belonged...
Step.
Everyone knew all too well.