Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Fifth Arc - Dragon-Phoenix Tournament (14)
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What the hell kind of lunatic is that girl?
It was the first thought that crossed Dang Hwa-seo's mind upon seeing Hyeun leaning shamelessly against Mok Ri-won's shoulder.
Blood surged to her head.
Her fists clenched so tightly they felt like they might shatter, grinding together with a grating sound.
Dang Hwa-seo finally understood the reason now.
The love she had finally realized was spewing forth its rage at that very scene.
Her meditation before ascending the arena stage, the immovable heart she had achieved through it—all of it crumbled as she breathed raggedly.
“Do you have the luxury to think about other things?”
A voice as cold as ice pierced her ear.
Startled, Dang Hwa-seo whipped her head around. What met her eyes was a man with an utterly impassive face—Namgung Jincheon.
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Just what I said. Do you have the luxury to think about other things?”
How dare she, with me right in front of her.
He hadn’t voiced it, but Dang Hwa-seo could tell.
That was the implication behind his words.
But it wasn’t anger in his tone.
He truly couldn’t comprehend it.
The idea of looking away with him standing before her, the assumption that something in this world mattered more than him.
‘Still as repulsive a breed as ever.’
Inhumanly mechanical.
Arrogant, too.
And yet, that very quality made him aloof.
Dang Hwa-seo felt her heart chill involuntarily under those emotionless blue eyes.
“There won’t be any issue with the match, so don’t wor—”
“Mukgeom.”
“…”
“What have you been doing for the past six years? Is reeling in a single man all you’ve managed?”
Another mechanical question.
Dang Hwa-seo felt fury rising within her.
Even amid it, Namgung Jincheon continued.
“Six years ago, you were at least somewhat usable. Now, you’re no different from the rest.”
Namgung Jincheon’s gaze swept over Dang Hwa-seo once.
“You’ve regressed.”
Crunch—.
Dang Hwa-seo’s fists clenched.
“…You’ll regret saying that before we even cross blades.”
“Are you an idiot by any chance? What twisted logic lets you conclude I could lose?”
“The Sword Dragon must have spent all that time training his mouth. Provoking foes with mere words like this.”
“Your choice of words has regressed too. I don’t provoke. I see no need for it.”
Dang Hwa-seo’s aura grew ferocious.
The atmosphere sharpened accordingly, while the hapless announcer sandwiched between them began rolling his eyes frantically.
“Uh… shall we b-begin…?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
Only then did the announcer step back at Dang Hwa-seo’s response.
He gathered his aura and shouted loudly.
[The match begins! Poison Phoenix! Sword Dragon! Step forward!]
The announcer raised his hand.
Namgung Jincheon let his sword hang low, while Dang Hwa-seo began leaking her energy steadily.
When the hand dropped, the match would start.
Dang Hwa-seo refined her internal energy to the utmost, waiting for that moment.
‘If I don’t seize the initiative, it’s certain defeat.’
Namgung Jincheon was strong.
Thus, arrogant.
That was the sole chink in his armor Dang Hwa-seo could exploit.
A man who knew no bounds would surely meet her first move head-on.
‘First…’
Dang Hwa-seo compounded the poisons within her body.
Body Dissolving Poison and paralyzing toxin, plus ones that stiffened the meridians and shredded muscles.
Even for Namgung Jincheon, these lethal poisons—enough to lay him bedridden for a week—began seeping into her aura.
[Begin—!]
The announcer’s hand fell.
At the same instant, Dang Hwa-seo shot forward, scattering her energy.
Whoosh—!
Like a crashing wave.
Dark greenish-black aura erupted from the floor, engulfing him.
Namgung Jincheon still merely let his sword hang, unmoving.
‘Got him!’
As expected, he hadn’t dodged, so the poison hit dead-on.
As Dang Hwa-seo made that judgment.
“…That’s it?”
Namgung Jincheon’s brows furrowed.
The first change in expression since stepping onto the arena clearly showed disappointment and anger.
Azure energy exploded outward.
*
“I knew it would be like this.”
Hyeun clicked her tongue.
Her gaze fixed on Dang Hwa-seo, being swept away like a fallen leaf atop the arena.
“Lack of information. He never unleashes his full power until the semifinals, and Poison Phoenix hasn’t faced Namgung Jincheon in nearly six years, so she makes a basic mistake like that.”
“He’s forcing out the poison with his internal energy.”
“Anyone at the Pinnacle Realm can do it easily.”
“Even you can’t, can you, Monk Hyeun?”
“…A bit more training, and I could.”
Mok Ri-won stared at the arena with a somber face.
‘…Overwhelming.’
A complicated feeling.
Understandably so, since Namgung Jincheon hadn’t swung his sword yet.
He simply emanated his overflowing internal energy, crushing her with aura alone.
Yet Dang Hwa-seo was already battered.
‘I expected it, but…’
The class difference was too vast.
“How about it, Patron Mok? Still think Poison Phoenix can hold her own?”
At Hyeun’s question, Mok Ri-won clamped his mouth shut.
As Hyeun grinned triumphantly, he finally spoke.
“…Yes. I don’t think Little Sister will fall that easily.”
“Hah! Still…?”
“Little Sister hasn’t shown anything yet.”
Hyeun fell silent.
Mok Ri-won kept his eyes glued to the arena.
Such inexplicable faith.
But to Mok Ri-won, it was a clear certainty.
‘Little Sister can do it.’
Only he could sense it.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star.
Bearing that star of malice, he felt something.
‘Show them.’
Dang Hwa-seo had reached the wall’s end.
Her internal energy had risen enough to surpass the Pinnacle Realm barrier.
She just didn’t realize it.
Mok Ri-won knew why.
‘Cast aside your hesitation.’
She still lacked confidence in herself.
Fundamental faith in her martial arts.
And a clear image, a goal, to ascend to superhuman heights.
‘Recall it. What you truly want to become.’
With that alone, Dang Hwa-seo could break through.
*
Dang Hwa-seo felt nausea rising from the crushing pressure on her shoulders.
‘Damn it…!’
She couldn’t move a fingertip.
Even the poison she’d slammed into him felt undetectable now—clearly, all her attempts had been in vain.
Infuriating.
Madness-inducing rage.
At herself for achieving so little, at the gaping gap, at this body too broken to even thrash.
Yet, the most infuriating was something else.
‘That’s it?’
Those ice-blue eyes looking down at her, as if asking if that was all she had.
That was it.
“Is that all you’ve prepared? Truly nothing more?”
Namgung Jincheon didn’t swing his sword.
He merely added words of confirmation in a tone thick with disappointment.
It was a natural reaction for him.
“Your eyes haven’t died yet. If there’s more to show, then show it.”
Namgung Jincheon still remembered.
The Dragon-Phoenix Tournament finals six years ago.
The ferocious aura Dang Hwa-seo had exuded that day.
How valiantly she’d charged like a man facing death.
“I won’t swing my sword until then. I promise.”
Merely three exchanges.
But for Namgung Jincheon, they were fresher than anything.
The emotions from then lingered in his memory.
For him—who still played these childish games to relive that thrill—Dang Hwa-seo’s feeble defeat was unacceptable.
Crunch—.
Dang Hwa-seo bit her lip.
Crimson blood trickled down her chin.
Pain to shake off the pressure.
‘I know.’
She knew she couldn’t win.
Yet win she must.
It was her promise to herself, the compromise to protect the love she’d realized.
To keep that near-delusional greed, she had to win this match.
‘That’s it, my ass…!’
She wanted to smash her fist into that arrogant face.
No, soak his entire body in poison.
Then win, and proudly tell Mok Ri-won.
To be together.
Crack—.
Dang Hwa-seo snapped her left wrist.
Excruciating pain flipped her eyes back, finally scattering the pressure.
Namgung Jincheon’s eyebrow twitched faintly.
Dang Hwa-seo staggered to her feet.
“You rotten bastard…!”
“Is your preparation just more curses?”
“As if.”
Dang Hwa-seo’s vision flashed.
The price of twisting her wrist was brutal; words barely formed.
No, that wasn’t the only issue.
Seeing her anomaly, Namgung Jincheon thickened his aura further.
Pressure mounted again.
Like someone wringing her brain.
Dang Hwa-seo thought that as she grasped her dazed mind and pieced thoughts together.
‘I can’t fall.’
What could she do?
No, what must she do?
‘It’s not enough.’
Internal energy insufficient.
Poison concentration lacking.
Not enough power to shake off this pressure and plant a fist in his face.
‘What more is needed?’
One thing to add.
Realm.
Narrow this absurd class gap, gain strength to extend an arm.
Desperate.
The Pinnacle Realm she’d always craved, but never so acutely as now.
Not mere aspiration—a prayer overlaid it.
‘I can’t lose.’
Dang Hwa-seo knew herself.
Her nature to thrash and endure any situation could veer into malice if mishandled.
Even Mok Ri-won’s goodwill.
Greedy once awakened, she’d never let go; defeat here, and she’d bind him as a shield somehow.
Pity or threats.
She’d stoop to Tang Clan filth to keep him near.
Dang Hwa-seo didn’t want that.
That was the promise’s purpose.
To stand tall on her own, earn the right to walk beside him.
Step—.
Dang Hwa-seo took a step forward.
Pressure intensified again.
Yet her unyielding rise silenced the arena at some point.
‘Move.’
That arrogant man had promised three exchanges.
He wouldn’t break it himself.
Then, she must pour everything into those three.
Surpass her limits.
Step—.
Another step from Dang Hwa-seo.
She squeezed every poison from her veins indiscriminately.
No distinctions in type.
Just imprinting one intent into the wildly released toxic energy.
‘Just one hit.’
A lethal toxin to drop that man to his knees with a single blow.
Intensely so.
One so fatal he wouldn’t even think to dodge, even sensing the threat.
As her thoughts reached there, Dang Hwa-seo seized a sudden image.
A faint smile curved her staggering lips.
‘…Yes, I know a poison like that.’
The dark green aura deepened.
A pure energy began mingling within.
Dang Hwa-seo clenched her fist tight.
‘A poison to kneel even the greatest heroes.’
Not awe or dread, but one breaking the heart itself, bowing the head.
‘The strongest poison of all.’
One forgetting peril, igniting fervor heedless of crisis.
‘Yet so sweet, impossible to escape.’
One you’d rather die immersed in.
Dang Hwa-seo knew such a poison.
Whoosh—!
The aura spread low.
The toxic mist, like fog, extended beyond the arena to the spectators’ seats.
A sweet, cloying scent filled the arena.
Dang Hwa-seo, oblivious even to that, took another step.
“-----!”
A voice rang like tinnitus, but Dang Hwa-seo remained unaware.
Dangerous.
The match must be stopped.
Yet none among the warriors present did so.
Masters who sensed something in Dang Hwa-seo’s aura merely quietly erected energy barriers around the arena to block the toxin.
From afar, Hyeun widened her eyes in shock at Mok Ri-won.
He smiled contentedly.
“How…?”
“I just knew.”
Mok Ri-won said that, focusing on Dang Hwa-seo.
‘So pure.’
Unbefitting the name toxic energy, the aura felt incredibly clear.
Somehow warm and sweet, stirring a desire to bury oneself in it.
That must be Dang Hwa-seo’s answer.
Her definition of true poison.
Step—.
Another step.
Dang Hwa-seo felt her head go blank.
A strange floating weakness came with surging drowsiness.
Yet she couldn’t yield to it.
This epiphany, born in dire urgency, filled her with unwitting regret, urging her hand forward.
‘Lethal toxin—this is true lethality.’
A crushing poison is third-rate.
A silent creep is second-rate.
First-rate, true lethality, must embrace you knowingly.
The distance between Dang Hwa-seo and Namgung Jincheon shrank to two steps.
She looked at his face.
Focus blurred; expression indistinct.
His suppressing aura and pain ground her thoughts to a halt.
Yet Dang Hwa-seo could smile.
“I see it.”
Not with eyes, but heart’s image—a landscape etched in her vision.
Dang Hwa-seo extended her hand to Namgung Jincheon’s solar plexus.
Releasing her internal energy in a burst.
Love Heart.
The name of the poison she forged.
Boom—!
Clear dark-green waves swallowed Namgung Jincheon.
…Dang Hwa-seo’s desperate struggle ended there.
“Quite….”
Namgung Jincheon, soaked in poison, reached toward her.
“…convincing.”
Then, tap—he pushed her forehead back.
Thud—.
Dang Hwa-seo collapsed.
Namgung Jincheon looked down at her impassively.
The announcer, evacuated afar, finally peeked up at the arena.
Clutching his pounding heart, he assessed the situation.
‘Even that poison leaves him unscathed?’
The announcer felt awe.
The merest whiff in the arena had nearly stopped his heart.
Had a nearby master not dispersed it, who knows what fate.
Yet Namgung Jincheon stood tall, drenched head-on.
The announcer’s voice trembled.
[S-Sword Dragon…!]
For a moment, Dang Hwa-seo’s change sparked a ‘could it be?’
Inhaling the poison, seeing Namgung Jincheon bathed in it—that ‘could it be’ neared certainty.
But no.
[Sword Drago-o-on!!! Viiictoooory!!!!!!]
No upset.
Sword Dragon Namgung Jincheon.
He was a man truly approaching the realm beyond realms.