Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: White Frost Greatsaber
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KRRRUUUMBLE-!
Struck head-on by Do-jae's body slam, Rishun was sent flying back, crashing into a wall.
One wall, two walls, three...
After smashing through a total of six walls, they landed in a large room where the patrolmen ate and slept.
CRASH-!
"What the hell!"
"What's going on?"
"Di... Director Rishun?"
The patrolmen, who had been resting after their shift, were startled by the sudden intrusion and pulled their blankets up to their waists in alarm.
The entire room reeked of dampness, the sweat of men, and a strange, fishy odor.
There were three men in total.
Looking disheveled, they scrambled to their feet and backed away from Do-jae and Rishun.
"Ugh. Filthy bastards..."
A vein bulged on Rishun's temple as he pinched his nose.
At first, caught off guard by Do-jae's charge, he had been pushed back helplessly. But he had gradually braced his legs, and by the time they reached the duty room, their strengths were evenly matched.
Using Do-jae's momentum against him, Rishun used his remaining arm to spin him around and hurl him into the wall.
Then, he extended a hand toward the hole in the wall, and his saber flew into his grasp like an arrow.
"Useless fools! I fed and housed trash like you, and you can't even stop one damn intruder?"
While Do-jae was embedded in the wall, Rishun raised his saber and slowly walked toward the patrolmen.
At that, one of the patrolmen dropped to his knees and began to beg for his life.
"Director Rishun... Please... Please spare me..."
As the one man pleaded with all his might, his voice choked with tears, the other two also prostrated themselves on the floor, begging so hard their palms might have peeled.
But Rishun had no intention of sparing them.
Already irritated because of Do-jae, the sight of the Party's low-rank hunters sleeping so soundly sent a surge of annoyance through him, fraying his last nerve.
Swoosh-.
Rishun smoothed his disheveled hair as he approached the patrolmen.
The one who had been begging from the start was trembling so violently that the blanket covering his sturdy lower body had slipped down.
Perhaps that sight was the final straw.
Rishun let out a hollow laugh, as if he had just seen something truly unbearable.
"Pathetic fools. Die!"
CRUNCH-!
Rishun stomped on the head of the man who was bowing before him.
Forced to witness a human skull being crushed right next to them, the remaining two patrolmen stared blankly at Rishun, their faces spattered with slick fragments of brain.
"Ah... I'm sorry..."
"We were wrong... Please let us live..."
They begged for their lives, their minds lost to a terror beyond comprehension, but it was useless against Rishun, who had already decided to kill them.
THWACK-!
CRASH-!
Kicked by Rishun, the men flew into the wall with enough force to dent it, their lives extinguished.
Scrape. Scrape.
After wiping the bottom of his shoe on a patrolman's naked body, Rishun turned to face Do-jae.
Do-jae emerged from the crater, his blue eyes gleaming.
*What is that form?*
Rishun pushed back his messy hair and studied Do-jae's appearance.
Walking out from a thick cloud of dust, covered head to toe in chunks of rock, he looked bizarre.
*So his ability is to transform into a stone golem.*
Rishun grew wary of Do-jae, now clad in Golem Armor.
It was the first time he had seen an ability that covered the entire body in stone.
Awakened beings with abilities that brought about such physical transformations were often vastly different before and after the change.
As if to prove the point, the aura flowing from Do-jae felt much stronger than before.
If Rishun had been unable to read mana, he would have mistaken him for a boss monster.
*I'd believe it if you told me this was the Qi of a completely different person.*
Qi, as Rishun called it.
It was the word the Chinese used for mana.
While Korea and most other countries used the term 'mana', some nations called it 'Chakra' or 'Divine Power'.
Each term carried the culture and society of its country, leading to slight differences in how this intangible energy was handled.
But in essence, it was all one energy.
That was why Rishun could feel the mana emanating from Do-jae's Golem Armor.
*Is he using his Qi to bind rocks together as an outer shell?*
Rishun instantly grasped how Do-jae's Golem Armor worked.
Mana flowed from the center of his chest, where the heart would be, spreading out like a spider's web to bind the chunks of rock.
Rishun had a skill similar to Do-jae's.
It was a skill called Void Grasp.
A skill that allowed him to move distant objects by projecting mana.
*I don't know how impressive his internal energy is, but this is just a waste of power.*
Rishun judged the Golem Armor to be highly inefficient.
He questioned how effective it could possibly be defensively, given the amount of mana it consumed.
*I was tense for nothing.*
At first, he had hesitated to attack due to the sudden, explosive increase in mana, but if all that mana was being used just to create the Golem Armor, he figured he could let his guard down.
And so, Rishun adjusted his grip on the saber's hilt and pointed the blade at Do-jae.
***
Meanwhile, Do-jae was also sizing up his opponent.
Enraged by Rishun's casual murder of a child, Do-jae had tried to move the fight elsewhere to prevent any more innocent people from getting involved.
He had succeeded in relocating by smashing through several thick walls, but he hadn't expected to end up in the patrolmen's quarters.
If he had continued to push Rishun back, they too could have been caught in the crossfire and injured.
These thoughts had made Do-jae hesitate, and in that brief moment, Rishun had grabbed his arm and slammed him into the opposite wall.
*A moment's hesitation created more victims.*
Just before hitting the wall, Do-jae had activated his Golem Armor to minimize the impact.
Thanks to the increased weight and bulk of the armor, the wall had completely collapsed, kicking up a thick cloud of dust, but Do-jae himself was almost unharmed.
And when he got up and looked through the dust, he saw Rishun's brutal actions.
Seeing him crush a man's head underfoot, even Do-jae couldn't help but feel a sense of disgust.
Before Do-jae could even move to stop him, he had kicked the other men to death.
To that monster, a human life was worth less than a fly's.
*You monstrous bastard... Come on!*
Seeing Rishun point the tip of his blade at him, Do-jae clenched his fists.
And in the instant their eyes met.
Whoosh-.
FWOOSH-!
Rishun's martial arts unfolded at his hands.
With light steps and agile movements, he swung the long saber, its blade a full 150cm, without hesitation.
SWISH-!
Do-jae dodged the blade and threw a punch at Rishun's face.
But just as it was about to connect, Rishun instantly turned his head and dodged it.
He wore a triumphant expression, as if he could see Do-jae's every move.
"Such a slow fist art. No, calling it a fist art is too generous. It's no different from a child's tantrum."
Rishun watched Do-jae's movements and let his arms hang loosely.
Was he implying that Do-jae's attacks weren't even worth defending against?
Do-jae didn't stop, continuing to press his attack.
But each time, Rishun evaded with light footwork.
He kept trying to close the distance, but the gap never shrank.
GRIND-.
Do-jae manipulated the Nerves of the Golem to form a long stone sword.
It was to overcome the disadvantage in reach, as he was bare-handed while Rishun was armed.
"What's that? Some crude stone sword?"
Ignoring Rishun's taunt, Do-jae continued to infuse the sword with mana, making it even more solid.
It had been a short time, but Do-jae had learned a little about swordsmanship.
Though there was a gap in their skills and stats, holding a sword made a significant psychological difference.
Recently, he'd often overwhelmed opponents with the Golem's power without a weapon, but since becoming a hunter, he had always fought with a sword.
Holding the sword now, Do-jae felt his mind calm slightly.
CLANG-!
Do-jae attacked Rishun again.
His speed and power were on a level that made him seem reborn.
His movements to close in were controlled, the trajectory of his sword fluid.
It was no longer the crude attack that relied solely on arm strength, which he had used to hunt monsters, but something that could be called swordsmanship.
But every one of Do-jae's attacks was blocked with ease.
He continuously aimed for vital spots like Rishun's neck and heart, but they were parried far too easily.
They weren't his finishing blows, but seeing his sword blocked so effortlessly made Do-jae tense up.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG-!
With astonishing reaction speed, Rishun angled his saber to deflect Do-jae's sword.
In less than a minute, the two exchanged dozens of blows, big and small.
Just then, Rishun let out a deep sigh.
"This game has gone on long enough."
A blue vein bulged on the back of Rishun's hand.
And he swung horizontally at Do-jae's sword.
SHATTER-!
When the saber and sword collided, they threw off intense sparks, and Do-jae's sword was shattered in a single blow.
Despite having been reinforced with a large amount of mana, the sword was smashed to pieces by one of Rishun's powerful attacks.
Rishun's saber, on the other hand, was completely unscathed, still radiating a sharp edge that seemed capable of cutting through anything.
*Is the difference in our weapons this severe?*
Even steel gets scratched when it hits something hard.
Wasn't that why Chilgok Unit 3 always maintained their swords after a battle?
Cutting monster flesh and breaking bones would dull the blade, and if not properly maintained, it could rust or even break.
Do-jae put some distance between himself and Rishun and regenerated his sword.
Then, he observed the saber.
[Equipment Information]
Name: White Frost Greatsaber
Type: Saber
Description: A curved saber forged from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron. One of the ten great weapons of China and a treasured blade. It can slice through ordinary steel as if it were tofu.
Effects: Attack Power +150 / Durability +200 / Regeneration +50
Skill: Frost Aura Lv. Max.
*Attack power that surpasses my Golem Armor... No wonder it shattered so easily. He has an incredible weapon...*
The Golem Armor's defense was currently 130, thanks to level-ups and stat bonuses.
But Rishun's saber had an attack power a full 20 points higher.
It was only natural that Do-jae's Golem Armor would crumble under Rishun's powerful attacks.
But he couldn't afford to be stunned.
Do-jae had a move of his own prepared.
FWOOSH-!
Do-jae thrust his arm out, throwing sand and clumps of dirt at Rishun to obscure his vision.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he closed the distance and thrust his sword.
Shhk-.
Just before the tip of Do-jae's sword reached him, Rishun twisted his body to dodge.
Do-jae didn't stop just because the attack failed. To halt his forward momentum, he extended his left leg and pivoted toward Rishun.
Then he twisted his wrist and swung the sword at Rishun.
Once again, Rishun bent backward, dodging Do-jae's sword.
No, he *thought* he had dodged it.
SLICE-