Chapter 220
Chapter 220
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 220
Chapter Title: Heavenly Dragon's Last Stand
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---Kwaaaaaang!!!
When blades clash, you can usually get a sense of the lives they've lived.
A sword is, after all, the heart. And right now, the same held true for my opponent.
Even if all that remained was his soul, the sword he had honed over a lifetime exploded from his grasp.
I could see the Heavenly Dragon Society Leader. Saliva dripped from his vacant face...
But his sword revealed who he truly was.
A man who had been ravaged and killed by one person.
Yet not someone whose corpse should be toyed with.
---Gwooooooo...
The roaring thunder dragon upheaved the ground. It closed in instantly, seizing the high ground and opening its jaws to devour me.
A heart sword is something you can't grasp or touch by nature. That's why it's called a heart sword-it's irrationality incarnate.
But I...
Seized what shouldn't be seizable and slammed it down.
---Kwaaaaaang!!!
Space warped everywhere my sword touched. Its weight was so immense the world itself began to tremble, unable to bear it.
A single strike that cleaved a mountain.
A single strike that rent the heavens.
In that one motion, half the thunder dragon vanished.
---Kwaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!
Even its cry scattered. Nothing mattered anymore.
That's the nature of overwhelming weight. When you meet it head-on, you can only be crushed beneath its blood-soaked mass.
The remnants of the thunder dragon burst apart from my swung blade. Fragments of energy rained down from all directions.
Thunderbolts fell like rain. Amid the pattering golden aura, I heard the Heavenly Dragon Society Leader's labored breaths.
He summoned his heart sword once more with great effort, but it was smaller than before. After shattering even that, he charged with sword in hand.
His martial prowess was exceptional. There were scarcely any flaws in his sweeping swordsmanship.
He was a master. A splendid master, matching the spirit he possessed.
That's why I released my heart sword as well. I began to dance the final sword dance with him.
---Kang!
Sword to sword.
Heart to heart.
We moved like dancers. Amid the exploding metallic clashes, I wished for it to reach him.
I stepped forward and thrust my body ahead.
The tip of my swung sword deflected his blade, and I drove my shoulder into his chest.
With a dull thud, his body slid back. I pressed the offense against his readjusted stance and charging form.
Sounds mingled. Rain began to fall, just like that day, soaking our bodies.
Muddy sludge clung to our feet. Only the howling wind pushed at our backs.
Parrying and slashing.
Swinging and striking down.
I dedicated this final spar to him. Whether he could see it or not...
A martial artist deserves an end befitting the sword they've forged.
The Heavenly Dragon Society Leader was more than worthy of that.
So, let us sing.
The final song of his life. Even if it's a body already dead...
A song worthy of the sword he wielded.
---Kaaaaang!!!!
His wildly roaring sword aimed for my shoulder. I dodged it by a hair's breadth.
My thrust was deflected by the enemy as well. Our ceaseless exchange flowed like a dance.
When I advanced, he retreated.
When he retreated, I advanced.
Our swords tangled and parted. But even in what seemed an endless moment, the end arrived.
His sword, accumulated with flaws upon flaws, let out a strange sound. After enduring a few more clashes, it screamed as if it could take no more.
---Kang...
With a feeble metallic ring, half of it snapped.
And with it, the Heavenly Dragon Society Leader halted.
"...Ah."
For the first time, a calm voice-not deranged babble-escaped his body.
His bloodied gaze, lifted alongside it, met mine. For a fleeting moment, reason flickered in his ruined form, and sensing his return, I stopped my sword.
"......"
"......"
We gazed at each other in silence.
The Heavenly Dragon Society Leader smiled.
"Thank you. Inspector."
He had lost his sword.
Lost his reason.
Lost even his soul.
Yet despite losing everything...
In the end, the warrior's body stood rigid. His eyes closed, but his stance held firm; his muscles tensed, but his feet, planted on the earth, steadfastly reflected upon all he had built.
I watched the white smoke dispersing from his petrified flesh. It soon vanished completely, leaving the empty shell behind.
"......."
I sheathed my sword. Quietly, I paid my respects.
There was little to say.
All I could offer was respect for him.
"...Well fought. Heavenly Dragon Society Leader."
...
Yeongwol moved urgently.
The young master's heart sword. This was the first time she'd seen its form. He had never shown it during all their time together.
A woman's silhouette forged from darkness. Yet its power belied her ethereal movements.
She jerked her head aside. The shadow sword exploiting her opening sliced not just a lock of hair but even her ear.
---Kwaaaaaang!!!
The belated energy wave slammed her into the ground. She righted herself instantly, but the aftershocks shook her vision.
"I've heard plenty that I swing my sword wildly. A formless blade unbound by shape. Maybe it's because I'm a natural genius-my swings themselves become martial arts."
The young master of Sado Pavilion dangled her sword loosely.
"Having no form is nice. But sometimes it's inconvenient. Patching things with improvisation means I fall short of a structured sword now and then. Of course, the difference is tiny... but in fights between masters, it could trip me up."
"......."
"So I built it gradually. A proper, formalized sword. But I couldn't master it fully. When rushed, I still relied on ad-libs most days. My sword had grown too accustomed to the formless blade... inevitable, I suppose. Still, I wanted a solid sword ready for the day I'd kill the Murim Alliance Leader..."
"......."
"So consider it an honor, you bitch. Everyone who's seen this blade is dead. Remnant Demon Thousand of the Asura Thirty-Six Slashes. The sword that'll drag you to hell. Forged dreaming of becoming the First Demon."
She felt it. Instinctively.
The impossibility of surpassing that sword.
Yeongwol leaped away at once. She desperately tried to land her poison.
But her venomous snake sword couldn't pierce her opponent's guard.
A formless sword was backed by one with form.
Leaving no openings whatsoever.
Impenetrable armor. Facing an opponent clad in it felt just like that. Instead, the moment she swung, her shoulder and upper body were shredded in one go.
"Aaaahhh!!!"
"You thought poison would work head-on?"
She tumbled across the ground. As she gasped and straightened, an even worse agony than the slash welled up from within.
A torment of heavenly tribulations that stole even her scream. It healed the wound but left her drooling in unbearable pain, unable to move.
Not just any wound. The heart sword gnawed and ravaged inside, crippling the heavenly tribulations' function.
Regeneration slowed. The pain felt double the usual.
A suffering no human could endure.
"Ah... aaah..."
Ah, one more wound like this...
And her mind would break before her body.
Yeongwol dodged the onslaught with all her might. She deflected the undeflectable desperate strikes, buying time.
When she couldn't hold out, she swallowed the strength enhancer hidden in her bosom. Yet even that couldn't breach the transcendent realm's wall.
The sword she had desperately forged crumbled before her.
"Without your poison, you've got nothing going for you, huh?"
"...You!"
"What? You bitch."
Blood gushed from the gash across her abdomen from the whipping sword. Yeongwol clamped it shut and cried out desperately.
"Heavenly Dragon Society Leader! C-come here right now!"
She couldn't hold any longer. No choice-change the plan.
Switch opponents. Didn't matter if Jeokun wasn't dead yet. She could kill him herself.
The battlefield needed shaking up. Those bastards-the Demonic Faction's Greatest Sword and Sado Pavilion's Chief Inspector-were keeping everyone at bay.
Create a turning point somehow...!
"Heavenly Dragon Soci..."
---Tak.
A strange sensation hit her. Yeongwol turned.
The faint thread transmitting orders had snapped. A thread of inner energy-that could only mean one thing.
No one else could sever it. Its breaking signified...
The corpse had fully collapsed.
"...N-no way..."
Heavenly Dragon Society Leader. The Heavenly Dragon Society Leader.
A transcendent master who could tear anyone apart, no matter who.
That Jin Baekcheon who beat him was beyond spec. You can't topple a transcendent casually. They're rare talents, countable on one hand. Even within Reverse Heaven, no one but Reverse Star could touch them lightly.
How long since leaving that place? Surely... not that much time had passed.
Even if, by some miracle, he won...
It ended this quickly?
"Wh-what the hell!"
"What, something change? Ah, looks like even the Heavenly Dragon Society Leader fell."
Gu Okyeong smirked.
"What a monster. Knew he was above me, but damn, beyond spec for real. If he were the enemy, I'd be in deep shit."
"Wh-what the hell are you hanging around with?!"
"Some damn hot guy. Anyway, time to wrap our chat. Yeah? Wanna sort this mess before more blood spills. Rip that face off and show them who's fake and real, right?"
"Urk!"
No, no. It can't end like this.
This can't be my pathetic finale!
"I-I'm Yeongwol!"
She'd succeeded in every mission to reach this point.
Even poisoned that Heavenly Demon monster from the cult.
"Yeongwol of Reverse Heaven!!!"
Chosen as part of Reverse Heaven, she'd foreseen her brilliant end. She was destined to join Reverse Star one day!
But... but...
It crumbles here?
This pathetically?
"P-protect me! Protect meee!!"
"Who here can protect you?"
She staggered back. A blade pierced her shoulder.
Her mouth screamed. She spun, stumbling, but there was no escape.
Wherever she fled, that woman would pursue.
The sword in her shoulder was yanked free. Blood poured as she tried to regenerate, but heavenly tribulations ignored her.
The heart sword sealed the wound, blocking regeneration entirely. Yeongwol collapsed trembling to the ground.
She had to live.
But how?
Everything tangled. All twisted. Why had it gone so wrong?
She never should've left Sado Pavilion. Fell for the bait. Toyed by the enemy's scheme.
Ha, but she was the toyer, not the toyed.
Why... why this much...
"...I... I'm..."
Rushed it.
Why on earth.
Yeongwol stared at the woman before her. The shadow gazing down imperiously held no trace of lingering attachment.
Within that figure mingled what she'd so desperately craved.
Heavenly Demon Cheon So-so.
A woman overwhelmingly strong, resembling her.
Long since left the cult...
Yet unable to erase from her heart.
「Drink. It'll ease your gut.」
"...Ahaha."
Yeongwol laughed at last.
"Sh-should've... chased the real one to death instead of the fake. Then... I wouldn't have regrets."
"What're you on about, you psycho bitch. To chase someone, show some real heart."
The blade tip pried into her throat.
Yeongwol gurgled.
"A lifelong con artist who deceived everyone-what right do you have to chase anyone? Your whole life was fake from start to finish. A crazy bitch unfit to possess another soul."
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