Chapter 89: Lacking (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 89: Lacking (3)
“Lacking?”
Veins bulged on the Sword-Wailing Demon’s forehead as he channeled strength into his lower body, barely maintaining his stance. He couldn’t understand what, exactly, was lacking. But it was certainly a remark he should never have to hear from an inferior.
“Don’t be arrogant!”
Crack!
Roaring in anger, the Sword-Wailing Demon tried to stand, but he couldn’t budge. He twisted his ankles to push himself up, only for Namgung Jun to exquisitely shift the direction of his sword and suppress him completely.
The amplified Sword Force pressed down brutally on his entire body.
Thud!
Instead of rising, the Sword-Wailing Demon suffered the humiliation of having one knee slammed into the ground.
The impact was strong enough to numb his entire leg, yet he couldn't even register the sharp pain.
How?
The Sword-Wailing Demon could not accept the current situation. His mind and body understood it perfectly—Namgung Jun had read his center of gravity and movements, striking first to drag him back down.
But his heart simply refused to accept it.
How could Namgung Jun, an inferior, grasp his movements and intentions so precisely?
“Namgung Jun!”
Roaring, the Sword-Wailing Demon erupted with Demonic Qi, as if detonating his body’s entire reserves. The Qi Wave emitted by a supreme expert of the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown realm was an attack in its own right.
As the Sword-Wailing Demon resisted with overwhelming power, Namgung Jun was finally forced to back away.
However, nothing about the situation had changed.
Namgung Jun stood with his sword held in an unwavering posture, while the Sword-Wailing Demon was a complete mess. The contrast between the two swordsmen was stark, and it was obvious who was at a disadvantage.
This was a situation completely unexpected not only by the Sword-Wailing Demon but also by the demonic practitioners fighting Lee Se-ha. By now, the Sword-Wailing Demon should have subdued Namgung Jun. Yet, far from subduing him, he had been pushed back instead, completely shattering their strategy.
“The tide of battle is turning!”
“The Sword-Wailing Demon is…?”
Several demonic practitioners holding off Lee Se-ha stared at the scene in sheer dumbfoundment. A few of the more quick-witted ones quietly slipped away, their senses now focused on Namgung Jun. They intended to ambush him from behind and aid the Sword-Wailing Demon.
At this rate, the tables will turn.
They were barely holding back the Black Cloud Wandering Maiden with their sword formation and numerical superiority. If a disaster befell the Sword-Wailing Demon now, the rest of them were as good as dead.
A bolt of lightning struck the nape of a demonic practitioner who had glanced toward Namgung Jun.
Spurt!
“Where do you think you’re looking?”
A hole was pierced through the neck of the man who had momentarily averted his gaze. Even while dealing with the sword formation, Lee Se-ha had instantly noticed his divided attention and launched a surprise attack.
“Block her!”
“Focus on the Heavenly Sword Hall Master in front of you!”
“You fools!” shouted the Bright Order Ranks, who formed the core of the sword formation circling Lee Se-ha.
Was this truly the power of a supreme expert like the Black Cloud Wandering Maiden? They had deployed a sword formation to pressure her, but they were at their absolute limit just holding her back. Her martial prowess was far greater than they had expected.
Only then did the demonic practitioners belatedly recall her age.
She was young enough to be called a rising star in the Jianghu, meaning she was at a stage where she grew rapidly by the day. Her title as the Black Cloud Wandering Maiden and her rank as the Heavenly Sword Hall Master had made them forget just how young Lee Se-ha truly was.
Clatter!
Steel nets, originally meant for Namgung Jun, rained down one after another. They were special nets woven with steel and other unique materials, making them difficult to cut even with Sword Qi—tools crafted to help inferiors deal with experts.
Yet, they were utterly useless against Lee Se-ha’s fierce sword strikes.
The faces of the demonic practitioners darkened as they watched the nets get sliced apart before they could even cover her. Though intended to restrict movement, against Lee Se-ha, they could do no more than momentarily disrupt her rhythm.
Crackle!
Lee Se-ha’s sword, enveloped in violently writhing Thunder Qi, showed no signs of stopping. The Heavenly Thunder True Yang Sword Technique was a style that fully utilized the hegemonic power characteristic of Thunder Qi. The five Bright Order Ranks and the twenty-five demonic practitioners maintaining the formation against her were gradually becoming intimidated.
This force should have been more than enough to threaten a supreme expert. Even if it couldn't kill one, it should have been capable of binding her and draining her strength.
But in the face of the Black Cloud Wandering Maiden, the battle flowed differently. Her martial power was far higher than the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult's analysis had suggested.
Crackle!
Splendid Thunder Qi draped itself around Lee Se-ha’s body like a silken court dress.
“Where do you all keep looking? No one is getting past me to reach my disciple.”
As if she had been holding back, she unleashed even swifter sword strikes the moment a portion of their forces tried to break away. Her already rapid thrusts grew fiercer, piercing through the edge of the sword formation.
“Gah!”
A hole was punched through the abdomen of a Bright Order Rank who failed to react in time. The others grew flustered as the Black Cloud Wandering Maiden's martial prowess became more lethal with every passing moment.
Was the Black Cloud Wandering Maiden always this strong?
Even if she is the youngest Hall Master, for her martial arts to be this powerful…
Our calculations were completely wrong.
Thud!
The ground beneath the demonic practitioners’ feet shook from Lee Se-ha’s Earth-Trembling Stomp. Her entire body, shrouded in a raging storm of Thunder Qi, surged forward violently.
“Don’t even think about interfering with my disciple.”
While Lee Se-ha pinned down the demonic practitioners even more fiercely, the Sword-Wailing Demon and Namgung Jun clashed once again. This time, however, the Sword-Wailing Demon could no longer hold the upper hand.
“Ugh.”
A faint groan escaped his lips as he blocked Namgung Jun’s Heavy Sword. Though he had used his overwhelming internal energy to escape the initial pressure, he had paid a clear price. His right shoulder sagged slightly—the cost of taking a direct hit from the Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique Namgung Jun had unleashed with his left hand.
Boom!
Of course, since he wielded his sword with his right hand, it wasn’t a fatal issue. The problem was that Namgung Jun was now deliberately targeting his left side.
Normally, an inferior’s targeted attacks on an exposed weakness would be too blatant to pose a real threat. But Namgung Jun was different. Not only did he alternate between five different sword techniques, but his strikes were also laden with countless psychological feints. It was a level of responsiveness impossible to expect from a rising star not yet twenty years old. It felt as though he were facing the subtle, suffocating pressure of an experienced old master.
This brat… he’s getting more experienced by the second.
Having completely lost his momentum, the Sword-Wailing Demon was gradually pushed back. Even the martial arts he had trained in to become a Bright Mirror Master proved largely ineffective, as Namgung Jun parried every single one of his offensives with fluid sword strikes.
And that was not all.
Namgung Jun was refining his forms and stances, unleashing the various sword techniques he had learned one by one as if testing them out. To be treated this way by an inferior in the middle of a life-and-death battle was an absolute humiliation.
Yet, the Sword-Wailing Demon could not afford to complain. A single slip-up, and he would lose his life to that sharp blade.
“Haaah!”
The Sword-Wailing Demon hastily retreated to evade a horizontal slash, but the Eternal Righteous Sword pursued him relentlessly, seeming to stretch in length as it closed the distance.
It was truly marvelous swordsmanship.
He stepped back once more, but his body felt sluggish.
Slash!
A sword strike flashed past, seizing a split-second opening. Namgung Jun’s blade tore through the Sword-Wailing Demon’s flank, biting deep. His Protective Astral Qi had been completely severed. The Heavy Sword of the Heavenly Wind Sword Technique was more than enough to breach it.
It’s different from back then.
When facing the Karmic Reversal Cult Leader, he had been unable to generate strikes powerful enough to shatter Protective Astral Qi, forcing him to rely on tricks. Now, it was a minor annoyance; he possessed more than enough power to shatter it outright.
“Cough! How did you… break my Protective Astral Qi?!”
“Protective Astral Qi is hardly omnipotent.”
His internal organs severely shaken after taking over a dozen consecutive sword strikes, the Sword-Wailing Demon slid backward.
“The Nine Yin Severed Meridian! Is your talent truly beyond common sense?!”
“You should have come sooner.”
The Eternal Righteous Sword soared, radiating a sharp, piercing momentum. The Sword-Wailing Demon tried to respond, but it was too late. Namgung Jun’s sword, having exquisitely penetrated the supreme expert’s breathing rhythm, had already reached an unavoidable point.
“You bastard!”
Watching Namgung Jun’s increasingly refined sword strikes, the Sword-Wailing Demon made up his mind. He had to admit that staying on this path would only lead to his own futile death. With a mindset of mutual destruction, he lunged at Namgung Jun. Scraping together every last drop of his remaining strength, the Sword-Wailing Demon slashed his sword.
His blade, which had been sweeping low and tearing up the ground, suddenly surged upward to slice Namgung Jun’s chin. Even in the split second it took to rise, the tip of his sword transformed endlessly, like dozens of writhing serpents. It was as if the essence of the Illusion Sword, which the Sword-Wailing Demon had trained his entire life, was being manifested in a single strike.
“Jun!” Lee Se-ha cried out in shock. Even while dismantling the sword formation from afar, she had been keeping an eye on him.
She could tell instantly. It was an ultimate technique of mutual destruction, executed with no regard for his own survival. She wasn't even sure she could withstand it unscathed.
Had he anticipated even this?
Namgung Jun’s heel slid back smoothly, naturally widening the distance by three paces as he twisted the Eternal Righteous Sword. As the blade carved a tiny circle, following the rotation of his wrist, it completely crushed the tip of the Sword-Wailing Demon’s sword, which was exhibiting seventeen distortions in a mere fraction of a second.
Crash!
The strike, which even dispersed the dozens of Qi Waves spilling from the enemy’s sword tip, snapped the Sword-Wailing Demon's blade in half.
“Your final move wasn’t bad. A decent strike.”
At the same time, the Eternal Righteous Sword, which had been pointing toward the ground, soared high once more and cleanly pierced through the Sword-Wailing Demon’s throat.
Spurt!
As the Sword-Wailing Demon’s head flew into the air, spraying a fountain of blood, Lee Se-ha’s eyes sparkled.
“My disciple. You did it.”
The Sword-Wailing Demon’s Qi Wave vanished in an instant. Because it had filled the entire area just moments ago, the ensuing emptiness felt even greater. The demonic practitioners who had been pressuring Lee Se-ha stared blankly, their gazes shifting between the headless corpse and Namgung Jun.
These were men who had not doubted for a second that the Sword-Wailing Demon would become the fourteenth Bright Mirror Master. His death came as a massive shock. Furthermore, the fact that the one who killed him was Namgung Jun, not Lee Se-ha, was even more astonishing.
A young swordsman had bridged the gap between realms to slay an expert superior to himself.
The demonic practitioners stared blankly at Namgung Jun.
“Ah…”
“Did the Sword-Wailing Demon truly…?”
“To think he fell to a mere boy.”
The faces of the men holding off Lee Se-ha grew solemn, but their expressions soon filled with venom.
“Since the Sword-Wailing Demon has returned to the Bright World, there is no longer any meaning to this.”
“Let us all die here.”
“We must take at least one of their arms to earn the right to enter the Bright World!”
Hummmm!
The Qi Waves of the remaining cultists changed drastically. The eyes of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult practitioners began to glow fiercely with red or blue light, while the Bright Order Ranks erupted with an ominous indigo glow from their eyes. Along with it, their Demonic Qi amplified with a sinister momentum.
Namgung Jun assessed the instantly shifting Qi Waves and took his place beside Lee Se-ha.
“Master.”
“This has become troublesome,” she said. “Though, it’s a common occurrence when dealing with these Sun-Moon Demonic Cult bastards.”
The Bright-Subduing Demonic Art of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult. A secret technique that multiplied one's martial prowess several times over at the cost of burning away their lifespan in real-time.
What they aimed for was mutual destruction. Since they were going to die anyway, their intention was clearly to inflict as much damage as possible on the master and disciple.
“Can you still swing your sword?” Lee Se-ha asked.
“Of course.”
“Still, I’ll take the lead. Support me.”
Just as the master and disciple were about to step forward without a hint of backing down—
Swoooooosh!
Dozens of sharp Air-Splitting Sounds erupted from high in the sky, followed by countless rippling Qi Waves.
“Master!”
The moment Namgung Jun hastily moved to block Lee Se-ha, a rain of arrows poured down from above.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The arrow storm, pouring down like a torrential downpour, swept over the entire area in an instant.