Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Thunderclap on the Lake
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Ma Yeong floated his boat on Hongtaek Lake and waited atop it for his subordinates. Before long, a Ma Shadow Corps warrior came dashing toward the boat Ma Yeong rode, employing the Duckweed Crossing Water lightness skill.
"We're back."
"Good. Did you wrap things up alright?"
"We handed over three True Heavenly Thunders."
Ma Yeong nodded.
"Perfect. Let's move out."
At his command, the boats nearby lurched into motion all at once. Including Ma Yeong's own, there were four vessels in total. The fifty warriors of the Ma Shadow Corps were divided among them, ten per boat. Separate hands manned the oars, of course—fellow water bandits dispatched from a nearby stronghold.
True to their kind, who practically lived in the water, their boat-handling skills were impeccable. The vessels sliced through the currents at high speed, bearing down on the boat carrying Dan Hyeong-u's group.
Dan Hyeong-u's boat was cruising through about the middle of Hongtaek Lake. He still stood at the prow, savoring the boat's gentle rock while gazing at the water, as Geum Yu-hwa clung to his side with idle chatter. The Sword King sat nearby, keeping a watchful eye to ensure she wasn't up to any nonsense with Dan Hyeong-u, while Jong Chil had been dragged up on deck to swing his sword under the old man's supervision.
Of them all, Jong Chil bore the heaviest burden. He felt it in his bones just how grueling it was to maintain balance on a pitching deck while wielding a blade. A casual swing might've been fine, but every botched strike that failed to ring true set his head ablaze with fury.
Thwack!
"Gah!"
Struck again by the Sword King's inscrutable technique, Jong Chil screamed and crumpled. He rubbed his scalp furiously for a brief moment before hauling himself back up. A prior attempt to slack off like this had earned him an extra wallop that left him teetering on the brink of blackout—that trauma kept him on his toes now.
He rose and prepared to swing again, only to spot something that twisted his face in puzzlement.
"Hongtaek Lake sure has a ton of boats."
Geum Yu-hwa whipped her head around at Jong Chil's out-of-left-field comment.
"Doesn't seem like that many?"
She peered toward the bow. Not a single vessel in sight. Boats dotted the waters sparsely on ordinary days, but not today.
Jong Chil pointed off to one side while eyeing her. Her gaze followed. To the boat's starboard. Her eyes went wide.
"Gasp!"
It was quite a distance off, but dozens of boats bobbed there. And their movements looked far from innocent—slowly fanning out as they closed in, like a noose widening to encircle.
The Sword King caught Geum Yu-hwa's changing expression and turned to inspect the boats himself.
"Hold on... there's writing on them. Yeom... Yama?"
Geum Yu-hwa's face drained of color at his words, but she quickly recovered upon glancing at him and nodded. This boat carried the Sword King of the world. What was there to fear? For all Yama King's Stronghold's menace, they wouldn't dare touch him.
"Those are Yama King's Stronghold boats."
"Yama King's? The water bandits?"
"Yes. From this stretch of Hongtaek Lake to near Suzhou—it's all their turf. The other strongholds might as well be their underlings."
"Hoo, sounds like a formidable bunch."
"You could say that. Even Golden Lotus avoids ruffling their feathers when it can."
The Sword King smirked.
"Smash the Demonic Alliance to bits, but cower before water bandits?"
Geum Yu-hwa fell silent. Golden Lotus had its own complications, after all.
"Still, looks like they've come loaded for bear. We good like this?"
She nodded at the Sword King's question.
"Should be fine. With you aboard, Sword King senior, who'd dare?"
The Sword King bobbed his head, pleased.
"Hohohoho! You get it. Exactly—with me here, what foolhardy bandit would make a peep? Hohoho!"
As Geum Yu-hwa lavished him with flattery, the Yama King's boats completed their wide encirclement. Their vessels dwarfed Dan Hyeong-u's in both speed and size.
The boatmen halted their craft. Time dragged on.
Something felt off to Geum Yu-hwa. Bandits typically bellowed demands after stopping a boat—fork over your loot, or who the hell are you people?
Yet these Yama King's men showed no such inclination. The only activity was a man at the prow of the largest boat, holding up a sheet of paper and scrutinizing their side.
At last, he hurled the paper and bellowed.
"It's the Sword King!"
Geum Yu-hwa's face took on a strange cast. She watched the paper flutter on the wind. What could be written on it? The Sword King shared her curiosity.
He extended a hand. The wind-tossed sheet hurtled straight to his palm like a thrown dart. It bore a portrait of the Sword King—uncannily lifelike, as if the man himself were trapped within.
The Sword King's brow furrowed faintly.
"What the devil are they playing at? That's me, isn't it?"
As he muttered, another figure appeared at that boat's prow. It was Yeon Jeok-sim, lord of Yama King's Stronghold. In his grip gleamed a single True Heavenly Thunder.
"Uahaha! Sword King! Bon voyage!"
True Heavenly Thunder
Launched toward target vessel!
Ping!
Only one soul aboard recognized the projectile for what it was.
Dan Hyeong-u shot skyward. He intercepted the streaking True Heavenly Thunder mid-flight, clamping it tight between both hands. Experience had taught him the devastation it wrought.
Gripping it firm, he banked with birdlike freedom and soared into the heavens.
Yama King's water bandits and the escort crew alike gawked in stunned silence at Dan Hyeong-u's ascent.
Then a colossal blaze engulfed them all.
Kwaaaang!
Blinding cataclysm engulfs the sky!
It was an apocalyptic blast. The eruption devoured Dan Hyeong-u in a light so brilliant it seared the eyes—from on high in the firmament.
When the glow faded and vision cleared, all stared vacantly skyward. Nothing remained. Just drifting embers from the detonation. Who could survive such fury?
"Ah...!"
Geum Yu-hwa staggered. She'd never imagined an end so abrupt. The Sword King fixed Yama King's boats with eyes ablaze in wrath.
"J-Jincheonrae..."
Geum Yu-hwa murmured, voice quaking. It had all the hallmarks. Though its form was gone, the searing memory lingered in every mind.
True Heavenly Thunder had returned to the world. She trembled violently and glared at its wielder.
Yeon Jeok-sim finally snapped back to reality. One True Heavenly Thunder squandered for naught. Good thing they'd brought extras—close call otherwise.
"How can a man..."
He trailed off, speechless. Flight so unbound? Unthinkable without witnessing it.
He hefted his remaining True Heavenly Thunder. The last lurked beneath the waves, clutched by the Submerged Dragon Squad leader—in reserve for any resurfacing Sword King.
"Tch. Guess we'll burn 'em all. Here's hoping this one finishes it."
Yeon Jeok-sim laid a hand on the lid. He strained to twist it.
But it wouldn't budge.
"Huh?"
He cocked his head at his frozen arm. Realization dawned. He shrieked.
"Gaaaaah!"
His arm lay cleanly severed. No wonder he couldn't turn it.
Flash!
Target bisected clean in twain!
Plop!
The bisected True Heavenly Thunder hit the deck. Dan Hyeong-u knew full well what came next. His figure flickered upward.
Kwaaang!
Vessel reduced to drifting ash in an instant!
Yeon Jeok-sim's boat vanished in inferno—scattered to cinders the moment the flames touched it. The shockwave pulverized the two vessels flanking it.
True Heavenly Thunder's might.
Dan Hyeong-u alighted gracefully on the deck amid the party's dazed stares, utterly unscathed by the blast.
Their eyes hung glazed upon him. The Sword King recovered first.
"I truly can't grasp where your power ends."
His words carried a sigh. A twinge of chagrin mingled in—at a mere twenty, this youth had scaled heights he'd chased his whole life.
"Well, glad you're not dead. Nearly broke my granddaughter's heart."
He invoked his unseen granddaughter to shift the mood.
Only then did Geum Yu-hwa and Jong Chil snap to. Dan Hyeong-u's prowess stunned them, but the back-to-back cataclysms shook them more.
As they gathered their wits, Yama King's boats devolved into chaos. Panic laced their maneuvers—like fleeing Dan Hyeong-u's vessel outright.
Dan Hyeong-u scowled at the sight. Not just them—something thrashed wildly beneath the surface. Water teemed with fish and life, muffling presences. All but uncharted territory for him.
Isolating the Submerged Dragon Squad's sleek motions amid that? No easy task. Yet Dan Hyeong-u pierced the tumult.
Sudden desperation seized them.
He stood motionless, then thrust out a hand. Urgency—unseen till now—etched his face.
A massive disturbance erupted underwater.
Kuwaaaang!
Dozens of zhang of water overturned in cataclysmic fury!
A colossal blast. The True Heavenly Thunder detonating directly beneath heaved water skyward for dozens of zhang. Their boat shattered amid the flames.
Sploooosh!
The upheaved lake crashed down like biblical deluge. No choice but pulverization for the boat at epicenter. Powdered wreckage mingled with the downpour.
The detonation's ferocity snared fleeing Yama King boats in its wake—half the Submerged Dragon Squad reduced to crimson mist ascending heavenward.
Deputy lord Jang Chung rode the farthest craft from the blast. He sighed in relief beneath the drenching rain. Heavy losses, but victory.
Elation swelled as triumph sank in. He was lord now. Yama King's Stronghold would claim far greater backing from the Society. Only prosperity ahead. Yangtze dominance? A matter of time.
"Kuh... keh keh... kehehehe! Kahahaha! We won!"
Jang Chung thrust his arm high, roaring. His ecstasy rippled outward.
"Waaaaaah!"
Yama King's bandits hurled fists skyward in cheer. Firebomb trickery or no, they'd felled the Sword King.
"Kahaha! Killed the Sword King! I killed the Sword King!"
Jang crowed as if by his blade alone. Not far off—he'd orchestrated it masterfully.
"Heh heh. My demise that thrilling?"
Mid-laughter, a voice from behind sliced through the uproar—clear as a whisper pressed to his ear.
Laughter died. Cheers drowned the world, yet it pierced pristine.
Jang Chung pivoted slowly, face disbelief. The words mattered more than the voice's intimacy. And they horrified.
"H-Huh?!"
He toppled backward onto his rear, legs gone to jelly.
There stood the Sword King, hale and hearty. His eyes brimmed with kindly mirth. To Jang Chung, though? The grin of Yama King himself.
"Impossible...!"
Ma Yeong reeled in shock. Three True Heavenly Thunders unleashed—zero damage? How?
His scheme: soften Sword King or Dan Hyeong-u with the blasts, then swoop for the kill. Derailed from the outset. Three irreplaceable munitions flushed.
Even picking a water fight to nix evasion...
"Chief. What now?"