Chapter 47
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Red Shadow Sword Demon's True Face
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The qi energy enveloping the entire area vanished in the blink of an eye.
Smoooooke—
It was due to the dust rising into the night sky.
Ugh.
The Red Shadow Sword Demon groaned from the considerable shock.
Not only had he taken damage to his body, but the psychological blow from Seo Mun-ha shattering his expectations was impossible to ignore.
The old man's faith in his Seven Killing Threads had been that unshakable.
Drip.
His blood-smeared face twisted horribly, decorated in gruesome clumps of gore.
Letting out an irritated grunt, the old man tore off his own cumbersome mask.
The skin covering his face was a human leather disguise meant to conceal his identity.
"Hoo."
Seo Mun-ha, whom he had called a fledgling, seemed to have noticed long ago. The maid shuddered at his meticulousness, glancing back at the expressionless Baek Ri-seol.
A man who appeared to be in his fifties. Few knew his true name, Ma Wol-gi, behind the moniker Red Shadow Sword Demon. Even he himself had nearly forgotten his original appearance, and nowadays, only a handful recognized his features from his days in Honam.
"Enough with the tricks."
A middle-aged man of imposing build. He abandoned his probing, no longer holding back his true power.
He had never intended to leave anyone alive from the start. A few more additions wouldn't change a thing.
"They call it Radiant Blood Eternal Heaven Sword."
Having revealed his true face, there was no longer anything left to hide.
Whoooosh!
In the clearing laid bare by the aftermath of the previous threads, a true giant now stood revealed.
His red eyes glaring fiercely, the shadow loomed right before them. The maid squeezed her eyes shut, sensing death's approach.
Kwaaaaang!
A sword art accompanied by gale-force winds.
With a casual wave of his hand—sans sword—the underbrush piled flat across the ground vanished entirely. Baek Ri-seol countered the full force of his power with her own technique.
Ice Spirit Cold Phantom Divine Sword, Flower Snow Wind.
Kwaaaang!
Her protective sword aura enveloped her body, deflecting the whirlwind to either side.
Plop plop.
Suddenly, brutal craters formed on both sides of the two women, as if gouged out by force.
"Not bad."
Ma Wol-gi let out an admiring exclamation for her.
He had tried to hold back a little. But the Nine Dragons and Seven Phoenixes were no empty title. In that brief moment, Seo Mun-ha had blocked his follow-up and reeled him in.
Screeech!
The killing threads connected him and Seo Mun-ha.
Following the sturdy silk strands, Seo Mun-ha shifted his position somewhat.
"Young master?!"
It was to separate the two who had become immediate targets.
Greeeeek—
Suddenly, Ma Wol-gi stomped the ground, halting the relentless pull.
Thud.
The two men stopped dead in an instant.
Crack crack craaack!
Fissures spiderwebbed out from around them as the earth shattered into fragments.
A shadow fell over Seo Mun-ha's shaking form.
Kwaang!
Yet another cataclysm shook the once-peaceful ground.
'Hm?'
There was no impact from the Soul Transcendence Kick technique he expected.
Against expectations, Seo Mun-ha twisted his body away. Amid the rising smoke of dust, he faced off against the giant.
Step.
Footsteps approached from all sides, gathering near them.
The familiar gazes of four people darted back and forth. The maid, opening her mouth, pointed at one youth.
"Young master?!"
Bi Ju-seong, whom they thought dead.
Ma Wol-gi turned to the youth, who had barely stanched his bleeding.
'Did I fail to finish him?'
The sensation in his grip had been certain back then. A first-rate fighter couldn't possibly be indestructible like diamond, so the sturdy youth must have trained in some external art like Iron Skin or the like.
"What a tenaciously tough bastard. A single thread of life clinging on."
He looked gravely injured, far from battle-ready.
"And moreover..."
In his haste to chase the maid, he had put off confirming the youth. Now the boy was showing his mettle. Of course, propped up on his spear shaft as he was, he couldn't contribute full strength. But with Dang So-so joining them, it would surely prove a major hindrance.
"Poison Bee King's disciple, are you?"
"Hmph."
Dang So-so gave a curt acknowledgment before brushing past him, offering not an excuse but something close.
"I tried to stop him."
To Seo Mun-ha.
"It's this guy's stubbornness."
With that, she boldly hurled a hairpin she had pulled out.
Ting!
Unlike its arrow-like speed, Ma Wol-gi's casual downward chop sent the Tang Clan famed blood needle stabbing into the ground.
"...!"
Immediately after, the lump of earth before him blackened and died.
'Poison?'
Toxic fumes spread rapidly from the hairpin's center.
She launched herself at him next, swinging her arm as if refusing to let him be.
Swish.
Her slender jade hand traced a slow arc, leaving an afterimage. The halted poison cloud burst forth all at once along its curve.
Papapapaaat!
A familiar linked assault to Seo Mun-ha.
"What are you standing around for? You were bragging earlier—did you get hurt or something?"
He shook his head at Dang So-so's sharp tone.
"No."
He had drawn Muryeong in a pinch, but he couldn't help feeling reluctant to reveal it to them.
He hadn't expected to lose his sword, and with his group unable to separate, he showed his distress.
"If you're scared, fall back!"
Misinterpreting his teeth-gritting, she stepped forward—then suddenly screamed.
"Kyaa?!"
Seo Mun-ha, who had tied her clothing strings, steadied her as she lost balance, like giving medicine after poison.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
As she shrieked, he tapped the ground with his foot and glanced meaningfully.
'...Killing threads?'
Dang So-so had nearly sliced her ankle on the scattered sword qi.
"You okay?"
Baek Ri-seol gazed curiously at Seo Mun-ha stepping forward alone once more.
"No choice."
It wasn't just the scattered killing threads hampering his footing.
Considering the two Tang fighters at the fore and various adverse conditions, only a three-way assault could even the odds.
"You four—no, you two. I have a favor to ask."
Seo Mun-ha, having clashed hands directly, knew this best.
"Keep what you saw here secret."
At his reckless request, the two women showed different reactions on their faces.
"What..."
Brushing past Dang So-so as she spoke first, Seo Mun-ha turned his back to her and swung Muryeong.
Clang.
The two women shared identical puzzled expressions at the reunited blade and shaft.
Greeeek!
Muryeong shattered one straight-line killing thread.
Millennial cold iron clashed against millennial cold iron with a tearing screech. Ma Wol-gi reclaimed most of the threads, piercing through the prior poison cloud.
"What kind of joke is this?"
Voicing the bewilderment of allies and foes alike, his face filled with displeasure at the subtle insult and contempt.
"First time hearing Ghost Flash is a spear master."
The spear's origin of millennial cold iron was obvious enough. This unfamiliar form wasn't some famed divine weapon either.
Seo Mun-ha, never neglectful of weapons, had presented direct counter-evidence to his words. Yet since one's martial arts were a kind of weapon themselves, wielding improvised arts over a divine weapon out of arrogance would be foolish.
Those controlled by tools rarely met good ends.
Revising his prior assessment, Ma Wol-gi openly showed disappointment, lamenting the foolish choice.
Tang!
No illusion like this one.
At that moment, Seo Mun-ha stomped forward, closing the distance in one explosive surge.
"...!"
A spear master's greatest edge over a swordsman was reach.
The killing threads' range rivaled it, but caught off-guard by the footwork, the man easily yielded the interval.
A glaring lapse for a life-or-death duel, not a spar.
Whish!
A thrust piercing toward his chest.
'Not bad...!'
Surprised by the clean ambush, he hastily swept up the spearhead.
Kaang!
Whether sword or spear, thrusting had clear pros and cons.
Unmatched power, but it wrecked balance, inevitably creating openings. The stronger the thrust, the fiercer the recoil, hindering follow-ups.
'However.'
In the wake of the blocked strike, Ma Wol-gi felt his flesh tingle and hair stand on end.
His numb arms couldn't exploit the obvious gap.
Forcibly linking stances was a brutally overwhelming power.
"Didn't I tell you?"
Twisting his torso, Seo Mun-ha recovered his stance with the raised shaft and pressed the attack.
"I don't disappoint."
Stable true qi, exquisite forms.
This was no half-learned spear art.
Seo Mun-ha struck down at Ma Wol-gi's crossed hands with the blade. The shock traveled past the intersecting threads to his very toes.
Thud! Kwajik!
The ground around the two men crumpled further.
No flashy techniques or tricks.
Yet Baek Ri-seol and Dang So-so couldn't look away from the monotonous offense and defense.
'Channeling internal energy like that?'
'The Seo Mun Clan has spear arts?'
Bi Ju-seong especially seemed entranced by every movement, lost in awe.
Forget helping—he wasn't even in the league.
Screech! Scriiik!
Ma Wol-gi reclaimed all the killing threads.
The long blood-red strands converged like veins, swiftly forming a crude longsword no less formidable than any divine weapon.
Pang!
Spear and sword clashed dead center.
Ma Wol-gi held the edge in internal energy. He seized this exchange after swift adaptation, but his expression remained grim.
Slither.
Seo Mun-ha, pushed back sharply, thrust without slowing his assault.
'Northern Guard Profound Distant Spear...'
Crossed hands led chaotic trajectories, backed by left and right.
Flashing blue light, Seo Mun-ha swung Muryeong wildly like a sword.
"Heaven-Splitting Cataclysm!"
A ferocious form fit to shatter the heavens.
Puk! Puk! Pubek!
Destroying the terrain was secondary. Unable to evade, the maid raised her arms to shield her head and couldn't hold back her scream.
"Kyaaaak!"
Even Ma Wol-gi retreated, his form recoiling from the unpredictable paths.
Whooosh!
In response to the prior qi surge, Seo Mun-ha created his own domain and extended his arm straight at the man in line.
"Evil Spirit Fang Destroyer!"
The momentum dwarfed the initial ambush; the quaking earth seemed to tremble in terror.
Kugugugu—!
True qi converged to a single point.
Internal energy rampaged through his body and exploded outward.
'Danger!'
A demon at the Peak Realm.
Even as Absolute Realm sword master, he had no means to withstand it. Instinct screaming peril left no alternatives.
Pak!
Stomping forward, he flung his body aside with all his might.
The spear strike devoured the surroundings as it advanced.
Just staying outside its domineering path was grueling. Escaping its radius, he swallowed a groan and broke into cold sweat.
'Hup!'
Barely dodging, he had no time for relief.
Even grazing it would have ensnared him in the trajectory—an insidious chill crept up, mingled with surging humiliation.
Feeling death and fear from a youth not yet twenty.
"How dare you...!"
Ma Wol-gi, who had commanded countless demons.
His feats slaughtering thousands as Red Shadow Sword Demon denied his own oversight against this green brat.
Swish.
Unbelievable. Unacceptable. But one thing was clear.
Kill or be killed.
An obvious truth, yet how long since he'd last felt this?
Not even Heavenly Demon Ten Seats or Top Hundred Experts—the foes he deemed somewhat laughable.
'Must go all out.'
His gaze steadied as he resolved himself.
Suddenly, things unseen came into view.
Seo Mun-ha readjusting his stance amid irregular breaths.
'I see.'
No way he emerged unscathed from chaining such power.
Moreover, his internal energy was merely Third Realm level.
The forms' power far exceeded Crescent Moon Realm norms. Small wonder this unknown made even the mad demon flinch.
A youth threatening an Absolute Realm warrior in a flash.
'Drag it out, exploit my internal energy superiority.'
But entangled with Seo Mun-ha, Ma Wol-gi had already burned much time.
Reinforcements could arrive any moment without surprise. Even overcoming Seo Mun-ha, the two women's skills weren't to be underestimated.
'In other words.'
Ma Wol-gi, leaving no margins, summoned his remaining energy in full.
Where Seo Mun-ha stood would become his path to life.
Unlike the shrewd rising star dancing to his tune amid misconceptions, Seo Mun-ha gripped the spear's butt end.
'If only...'
It would have been nice to capture him.
The all-or-nothing stance had cornered his rival unintentionally. He too squeezed out his final reserves.
Whoooong!
Against a Fifth Realm, Entering Divinity demon, no less.
Refusing to evade collision, Seo Mun-ha met him head-on.
"......"
The belated shockwave was enough to shatter the quiet mountain night's silence.
Kwajik! Kwaang!
Ultimate techniques crushed the area with overwhelming weight.
Formless energy interfered with reality; terrain and features vanished utterly.
Pang!
The Red Shadow Sword Demon read Seo Mun-ha's movements and trajectories with a hardened face.
'Stance is a thrust? Even mutual destruction?'
Seo Mun-ha showed clear fatigue past three exchanges, while the Sword Demon, though scarred more, retained reserves.
Beyond raw power, they vied in form potency and internal energy superiority.
This time too, Seo Mun-ha moved first.
Crack.
Stepping left, he snapped branches at his feet.
His body tilted forward slowly, as if time froze.
Sloooowly—
The Red Shadow Sword Demon's pupils rolled downward in pursuit.
His widened eyes caught the inky spearhead.
Whoooong!
The venomous fang neared his heart, ripping at flesh—yet Seo Mun-ha still stood motionless there.
"Shifting Form, Changing Position..."
Like the two women's startled exclamations, Seo Mun-ha's split forms overlapped as one.
Kak! Kaaaang!
Simultaneously, the reversed Seven Killing Sword blocked the spear tip in place of his heart.
To them, no splendor or profound principles.
Body fused with weapon in purest simplicity.
Craaaaaack—!
True qi clashed against true qi in pursuit.
In dire straits, the Red Shadow Sword Demon even summoned his innate qi.
The ominous blood-blade parried the spear thrust, but couldn't fully negate the impact.
'Completely lost sight of his form.'
Groaning from the shockwave.
'Me, again?!'
The mental blow surpassed the physical.
Flustered, enraged at the foe slipping his gauge once more—rage boiled over.
Slash.
Air, halted in the gap too small for an opening, rushed fiercely.
"......"
A chilling sensation utterly novel.
The Red Shadow Sword Demon's eyes and ears spun upside down abruptly.
Plop.
His crimson-flecked pupils reflected his own body crumbling powerless. Piercing myriad titles came a youth's flat voice.
"Troublesome."
Wiping his mouth, Seo Mun-ha swung the blade once more.
"Farewell."
As if shaking off sticky blood.
Pak!
The fading red glow watched it all, coincidentally.
The sprawled blood mass and trail, from inches away.