Life-and-Death Duel

Through the rain that poured in savage sheets, a man and a woman stood facing each other, rooted where they stood.

A flash—!

Lightning split the sky, and for an instant the shapes of the swords they leveled at one another stood revealed.

The one who held the longsword rising with chilling presence from among its ornate plum-blossom fittings was Gam Woo-hyeon.

First Disciple of the Great Mount Hua Sect.

The Mount Hua Sword Dragon.

Across Mount Hua's long history there had been martial artists granted the mountain's very name within their titles, as if they alone could stand for the sect. And because there had once been an age when Mount Hua, together with the Wudang Sect, was called one of the twin peaks of the sword, there had also been those whose titles bore the character for sword.

Since the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering first began to be held, Mount Hua had produced many Dragons and many Phoenixes. Thus there had been those called Dragon as well.

But among every martial artist in Mount Hua's entire history, the only one ever to receive the names of Mount Hua, the sword, and the dragon all at once was Gam Woo-hyeon, the Mount Hua Sword Dragon.

And now, more than a decade after that glorious title had been bestowed, the Mount Hua Sword Dragon—midway through his years—had become one of the most formidable swordsmen in Mount Hua as it stood today, a warrior who represented the sect itself. So certain was everyone that the next Sect Leader's seat would fall to him that none dared doubt it.

Half a step.

That was all that remained between them. Whoever closed that half-step first would enter the other's reach.

And yet the Mount Hua Sword Dragon, Gam Woo-hyeon, hesitated to strike first.

…Not a single opening.

Outwardly he was thought hot-blooded and a man of iron loyalty, but within him burned the cold instinct of a born duelist—and that instinct was sounding every alarm.

"……."

The woman standing tall before him, sword leveled in a perfect immovable stance without the slightest break in posture even through the driving rain, was more dangerous than any enemy he had ever faced. He could feel it.

His teeth ground together, the sound buried under the rain. At the same time, he could not bring himself to accept it.

Yeon Seo-rin—barely into her early twenties, already broken through the wall, master of countless arts, a genius among geniuses. A rising star who had long since outstripped the very idea of a rising star. And that absurdly grandiose title of hers, Cheonui Mubong—Heavenly Seamless Robe—sat in his gut like a stone.

A flower raised and coddled in the Sword House's greenhouse, and she dares…!

To stand shoulder to shoulder with seniors who had crossed the line between life and death a thousand times over?

Shhhhhhhhh….

He erased the roar of the rain from his mind and narrowed his eyes.

"……."

His pupils, already dilated for the dark, he deliberately contracted to their utmost limit. A Mount Hua martial artist polished to the extreme could command even the involuntary muscles of the body with practiced ease.

And then the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

A flash—!

Lightning fell again. Not a tremor, not a flicker of disturbance, touched Yeon Seo-rin's body—but her pupils, reacting to the bolt that lit heaven and earth, contracted sharply as they tried to fix objects in the sudden light.

Gam Woo-hyeon's, however, were already fully contracted. In that instant his vision overwhelmed hers.

It was a gap shorter than the blink of an eyelid. For Gam Woo-hyeon, it was enough.

The half-step he had lacked was already closed.

A flash—!

Had the lightning struck twice at once? No. That was the violet lightning his sword carved from empty space.

Who had ever said Mount Hua's sword lacked hardness, that it was not tyrannical? Who had ever claimed that the twenty-four forms of the Plum Blossom Sword—an art of illusory blades—were Mount Hua's peak and essence?

The man who had shattered every prejudice about Mount Hua's sword was none other than Gam Woo-hyeon, the Mount Hua Sword Dragon.

In that sliver of time when even falling raindrops seemed to hang suspended, Gam Woo-hyeon's blade was already at Yeon Seo-rin's breast.

But what met his fingertips was not the sensation of flesh tearing, bone shattering, a heart being pierced.

Chaaang—!

Sword-light crossed. Sparks scattered in every direction. The shock flung the pouring raindrops outward in a single burst.

How Yeon Seo-rin had reacted in time to deflect his sword, he could not tell. He did not linger on it.

Krrrung!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Before his blade could fully rebound, it clung to hers as if drawn by a lodestone—and pressed down.

"……!"

Yeon Seo-rin's brow twitched in startled recognition. This was no crude method of simply crushing her with greater strength and denser inner power.

This is…?!

"Hup!"

The instant she grasped it, a short shout left her lips—and Gam Woo-hyeon's sword bore down on her like Mount Tai itself.

Crrrack—!

Under that catastrophic pressure the solid stone rooftop caved in a perfect circle and collapsed.

"……!"

For most martial artists, the sudden vanishing of the ground beneath their feet would have been fatal. For Yeon Seo-rin it was hardly even an inconvenience.

"Tch…!"

The footing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was not the problem. Even as they fell together—even after both of them had lost the floor—the sword still locked to hers remained impossibly, unimaginably heavy.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

The third floor could not catch them after they punched through the roof. Neither could the second, nor the first.

Kwakwang!

Even through the rain, a vast cloud of dust billowed up. Yeon Seo-rin was driven helplessly into the cellar; Gam Woo-hyeon landed calmly on the broken edge of the first-floor floor and leveled his sword.

"Hoo…."

Beyond the sound of him steadying his breath, from the dust rising out of the dark below, came the wet click of Yeon Seo-rin clicking her tongue.

"Tsk…!"

Rain poured through the shattered ceiling and cleared the dust. Yeon Seo-rin stood there looking thoroughly put out.

"That's Elder Yeom of our House's Super Heavy Sword—Mountain-Shattering Force, isn't it?"

She stuck her tongue out at Gam Woo-hyeon above her.

"Did it rankle that badly that Mount Hua's Geomgun lost to Elder Geomak Pasan?"

It was true. The true nature of that earth-shaking heavy sword was a single stroke applying the same martial principle as Yeom Gwak-chu, Geomak Pasan's unique art.

"We of Mount Hua," Gam Woo-hyeon answered coldly, "do not forget our grudges."

Geomgun was the senior martial brother of Gam Woo-hyeon's own master, the present Sect Leader—his martial uncle. Gam Woo-hyeon had been there the moment Geomgun fell. He had not forgotten that grudge. He had studied it to its roots, pursued it to its end. His Super Heavy Sword was a secret blade carved ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from that very resentment.

"Showing off with a stolen sword."

Yeon Seo-rin let out a soft snort of laughter. Gam Woo-hyeon answered her.

"And you yourself—"

His voice was level, but his temper was foul. Under his Super Heavy Sword—Sword-Shattering Force—Yeon Seo-rin should have taken a crushing blow. She should not have been standing there unharmed.

"So the Sword House has stolen our Mount Hua's Dark Fragrance Drift as well."

At the last instant, like scent scattering through the dark, her body had seemed to lose all weight and slip outside the Super Heavy Sword's range. That had been Mount Hua's Dark Fragrance Drift without question.

"Hahah!"

Yeon Seo-rin laughed with open delight.

"Truth is, martial research is what our great houses do best."

Geomak Pasan had indeed broken Geomgun. But from the Luoyang Sword House's point of view, the manner of that victory had been less than satisfying. In the end, what felled Geomgun had been the transcendent personal might of the man called Geomak Pasan—not the Sword House's arts defeating Mount Hua's. And so the Sword House's countless martial scholars had done what they always did: they dissected the Mount Hua essence they had obtained.

"Isn't it about time you quietly accepted that the hidebound methods of the Nine Great Sects have failed?"

"Nonsense…!"

Gam Woo-hyeon's fury flared.

"Mount Hua's sword is nothing like the rootless parlor tricks of some great house…!"

His blade roared purple once more.

Unlike the first strike, which had needed to be a surprise and so could not be unleashed at full power—

"Yeon Seo-rin!"

This time he would show her the Mount Hua Sword Dragon's full strength.

"Be crushed to death under Mount Hua's grudge!"

In a space already collapsing into rubble and stone, there was nowhere for her to flee. Pressure as if the sky itself were falling drove her down.

And yet—

What rose to her lips in that final instant, what Gam Woo-hyeon clearly saw, was Yeon Seo-rin's own distinctive, open smile.

Ssreung—!

A pure, ringing sword-cry echoed at Gam Woo-hyeon's ear like a hallucination.

What had happened? Why was Yeon Seo-rin sheathing her blade? And whose blood was that on her sword?

Puhak!

"…Keheuk?!"

Blood erupted from his right shoulder. Gam Woo-hyeon staggered back several steps—and even then managed, barely, not to drop his sword.

"See?"

Yeon Seo-rin climbed slowly back to ground level over the rubble, smiling.

"I told you. The methods of the Nine Great Sects are hopelessly outdated."

"Wh-what…?"

He retreated as she advanced, sealing the pressure points to stop the bleeding.

"What was that sword just now…?"

"What else? Our House's counter-art, developed specifically to break the Super Heavy Sword."

"A counter-art…?"

He did not know the unfamiliar term used only among the Sword House's martial scholars, but he could follow the meaning.

"And Geomak Pasan simply stood by and watched while they developed an art to dismantle and defeat his own sword?"

"Stood by?"

Yeon Seo-rin laughed as if she found it delightful.

"Elder Geomak Pasan himself cooperated in creating it."

"What did you say…?"

This time there was no strange terminology—only a context he could not grasp.

"Geomak Pasan himself helped develop a sword meant to kill him…?"

The Super Heavy Sword, Mountain-Shattering Force, was unmistakably Geomak Pasan's own unique martial art, developed by his own hand. That he would lay that unique art bare before the scholars and even assist in forging a technique to counter it—for someone raised in the Nine Great Sects, whose foundations were "not to be taught to the unworthy" and "never to leave the gates," it was a situation beyond comprehension.

"You look like you don't understand a single word."

Yeon Seo-rin flicked her sword with bored impatience.

"I told you from the start. I wanted to see Mount Hua's sword—not yours."

Sparks of light flashed in her eyes.

"Some crude art you cobbled together alone in a back room with that inadequate head of yours isn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worth looking at anymore."

She let the greed show naked on her face and split her mouth in a long, hungry grin.

"Show me a proper sword of the thousand-year Mount Hua."

"Wh-what…?!"

Gam Woo-hyeon recoiled without meaning to.

"Nothing?"

She came tramping toward him, closing the distance as if it did not exist, and asked,

"After losing to Elder Geomak Pasan, Mount Hua never refined anything further? You said you don't forget your grudges—so you must have ground your teeth and improved something, didn't you?"

She drove at him like a storm.

"Where is the Plum Blossom Willow Sword you used to boast of?! The Twenty-Seventh Patriarch's Nine Palaces Moon Maiden Sword?! The Seven Stars Creation?! The Myriad Plum Blossom Scripture?! The Rare Bird, Fire Ox, and Glittering Pepper?!"

"……?!"

Gam Woo-hyeon understood then.

Cheonui Mubong—Heavenly Seamless Robe. That title had not been given because she was a flawless martial artist.

"Show me more!"

It had been given because she could not accept incompleteness—because her nature was a terrifying, bottomless greed for martial arts.

"Show me all of it!"