Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Rana - [2]
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O Eun-rim blankly raised her head. She watched the incomprehensible phenomena unfolding in this vast warehouse.
She had heard the sound of the Flicking Finger Divine Skill before. A 'tak, tak' sound, right?
It had been like that until just moments ago, but not anymore.
Now, resounding continuously were heavy 'clang, thud, clang' sounds.
Deep, weighty noises. The sounds of metal BB bullets ricocheting off container walls and the floor.
The clamor echoed relentlessly from every direction. O Eun-rim's gaze darted this way and that toward the sources of the noise.
But she couldn't see a thing.
Something was definitely flying around right now, but the only confirmation came from the glints of light reflecting off the metal BB bullets.
It had been barely visible before, but now it was utterly impossible to spot. Clearly, they were flying much faster and harder than earlier.
So, had he been holding back before, conserving strength while launching the bullets? Was this his full power at last?
He probably hadn't been intentionally restraining himself earlier. More likely, with the threat of counterattack gone, he could now focus entirely on offense.
High up near the ceiling, the Invincible Unaffiliated stood atop the wires he had strung up.
Like a master acrobat, his body didn't waver in the slightest on those thin lines.
O Eun-rim watched him launch BB bullets from that very pose.
He looked utterly invincible, without a shred of exaggeration. No matter how much imagination she brought to bear, O Eun-rim couldn't conceive of any way to strike back at an opponent like that. How could she possibly harm an enemy perched so high with nothing but a single sword?
She couldn't tell exactly how many BB bullets were airborne at the moment. But she could see the flashes reflecting the light—at a glance, there were more than six flying around.
Each one hunted the lone girl like a living predator.
And yet that girl survived unscathed amid the swarm of tiny, swift hunters.
She evaded the projectiles with dance-like footwork. And with every subtle flick of her wrist, one or two BB bullets were unfailingly sliced apart.
O Eun-rim couldn't even dream of launching a surprise attack in those instants.
She lacked the confidence to avoid getting tangled up in those invisible little bullets.
She had figured she couldn't take the initiative in a clash between peerless masters. Still, she hadn't expected to feel this utterly powerless.
O Eun-rim gritted her teeth. She retreated a bit farther and gripped her sword tight.
Her resolve to at least avoid getting in the way was a godsend to Heo Pung-gae right now.
Heo Pung-gae kept up his ferocious assault, unleashing the Flicking Finger Skill from both hands. All the while, he gazed down at Rana as she dodged and parried his attacks.
Even under this one-sided barrage, Rana was still smiling.
Was she actually enjoying this? Or just putting on her usual bluff?
He couldn't tell which, so he pressed on with what he was doing. He flicked BB bullet after BB bullet from his fingertips.
Nearly ten projectiles ricocheted wildly, dazzling the eyes. Even Heo Pung-gae himself had no confidence he could hold out long in the thick of it.
Launching unilateral attacks from on high like this was the Invincible BB Bullet's signature tactic. It was one of the strategies that had let him force draws against peerless masters time and again.
When you were the only one attacking from a superior position, what did it matter how skilled your foe was? There was no reason to lose. He'd been forced into unwanted close-quarters fights in unfavorable terrain and lost before—and he'd only beaten a peerless master this way exactly once—but it was still an invincible method all the same...
Rana's gaze locked onto something. Even as she wielded her swordstick, her eyes fixed on one spot.
Sensing something ominous, Heo Pung-gae followed her stare down to his feet.
Flames were licking the wire he stood on.
Heo Pung-gae flinched. True Samadhi Fire's harmony? But he'd thought you could only produce fire from your fingertips—could it really ignite something from this far away?
Whatever the case, Heo Pung-gae kept his composure and reacted swiftly.
He leaped lightly to another wire. The one below burned through and snapped.
Moments later, fire began creeping along the new one too, but Heo Pung-gae calmly shifted between lines, pressing his one-sided assault.
The 'clang, clang' sounds kept ringing out. Countless round dents pocked the container walls.
Flames raced along the wires here and there. BB bullets zipping past the burning fishing lines reflected their glow, flashing crimson.
Meanwhile, the Martial Alliance enforcer couldn't move, his legs shattered. His body twitched with every sound, but his eyes remained transfixed on the spectacle, as if entranced.
He was diligently filming the scene on his phone camera to report back to the Martial Alliance—and in doing so, he felt utter awe.
Would this footage even serve as useful reference material? He was witnessing it firsthand and still couldn't make sense of it.
He'd heard that peerless masters were akin to wizards, but this was ridiculous...
His eyes flew wide open.
What he'd seen so far had been incomprehensible enough—but now something even more baffling was unfolding before him.
Heo Pung-gae flinched upon seeing Rana suddenly freeze in place.
A single BB bullet was plummeting straight toward her head. But in response, she didn't swing her swordstick.
Instead, she pointed the tip skyward.
Soap bubbles began bursting from the blade's edge.
No—upon closer inspection, they weren't soap bubbles.
These things pouring out abruptly resembled orbs of light, or perhaps transparent, solid pearls.
More abstractly, they looked like starlight. And like a child's soap bubbles or twinkling stars, they appeared utterly harmless.
The BB bullet touched the starlight—and vanished. Without a sound.
Rana lowered her swordstick. She turned the tip toward Heo Pung-gae.
In Heo Pung-gae's eyes, it looked like she was blowing soap bubbles through the slender swordstick like a straw.
And then his field of vision filled with sparkling starlight. There were only five in total, but their glitter made it seem like more.
The five orbs were flying straight at him.
Tracking their path was child's play. The starlight bubbles absorbed the ceiling lights and surrounding flames, twinkling in iridescent hues. Their vivid trails were impossible to miss. And compared to the BB bullets Heo Pung-gae was launching, they weren't even that fast.
So dodging them was easy—but blocking them? Impossible.
Heo Pung-gae knew it for a fact. One of those apparently harmless bubbles had just punched clean through the wall where he'd been standing.
In his shock, he thought: What the hell is that thing?
He blinked—and his astonishment only grew.
From what he'd just witnessed, they were streams of qi. Not only vividly visible to the naked eye, but powerfully condensed bundles capable of warping reality itself.
Gang qi bundles kept pouring forth.
The gang qi streaked everywhere. Slicing through wires strung across the space, erasing chunks of warehouse wall, vanishing into the distance.
He needed more wires to stand on.
Heo Pung-gae hurled a few more lines from his pocket. He connected several additional ones, but he didn't have enough left.
Of course, the qi fueling that display wasn't infinite. But she didn't look like she'd run dry first. Rana's expression was one of perfect calm as she kept it up.
This couldn't possibly be real.
Heo Pung-gae simply couldn't accept this absurd reality—but shock didn't paralyze his mind or his hands.
He took a deep breath to steady himself.
Fine, so what if the situation felt utterly unreal? Back in his prime, he'd seen swords flying through the air, carving up people left and right. He'd lingered long in the martial world and witnessed plenty of bizarre things. This might be the most nonsensical yet, but...
Heo Pung-gae launched his final counterattack.
He plunged his hand deep into his pocket and dumped out every BB bullet he grabbed.
Myriad Falling Rain—a desperate measure he hadn't wanted to resort to in a war of attrition.
As the BB bullets rained down like an aerial bombardment, Rana's eyes widened.
She looked startled—but not that startled.
Rana smirked and scattered her gang qi bundles like shotgun pellets, unleashing them all at once instead of the four or five from before.
More than enough to obliterate the onslaught from above.
The instant starlight and bullets collided, Heo Pung-gae shot a glance at O Eun-rim standing behind her.
Now.
O Eun-rim was already primed to move.
The moment she caught his signal, she kicked off the ground.
She charged fiercely yet silently, unleashing White Serpent Thrust.
Another flawless strike. Her blade speared toward Rana's back, the girl too focused on defending against Myriad Falling Rain.
Rana seemed to sense her presence.
She twisted around to face O Eun-rim and swung her swordstick—but O Eun-rim made no move to clash blades.
She knew mere distraction was her role. Midway through her charge, she leaped backward, widening the gap.
Then Rana closed in. O Eun-rim tried to keep retreating on foot, but her body lurched.
The warehouse was shaking out of nowhere. Amid the tremors, Rana advanced at a leisurely pace.
Her footsteps matched the rhythm of the quakes perfectly. It was absurd to think, but it felt like her light steps were causing the earthquake itself.
O Eun-rim, however, could barely stay on her feet amid the vibrations. Backpedaling only made it worse.
O Eun-rim fell flat on her rear. The instant she did, the shaking stopped.
She looked up to find Rana standing before her, swordstick leveled, a smile on her face.
"Nngh..."
O Eun-rim's face contorted in agony. The swordstick's blade had buried itself in her shoulder.
That was when Rana twisted the swordstick ninety degrees.
Bang! A gunshot cracked through the air. Several strands of Rana's hair were sliced away.
Heo Pung-gae whipped his head toward the sound.
The Patriot Hero was slumped in place, pistol in hand, muttering to himself.
"We... lost."
He'd feigned neutralization, biding his time for an opening. He'd hidden a handgun in his clothes and fired the moment her guard dropped. But with his right hand useless, his off-hand shot had gone wide.
Rana turned to look at him too. She was still smiling—but her eyes weren't.
Silence descended.
Rana stared blankly at the Patriot Hero for a moment, then let out a sigh.
"You're really ruining the fun right when it's getting good."
She muttered as she drove a kick into O Eun-rim's chest.
O Eun-rim sailed through the air before slamming into a distant wall. Once Rana confirmed she couldn't move, she set her swordstick down on the floor.
Then she drew an MP5 submachine gun.
Heo Pung-gae panicked all over again. Where the hell had that SMG come from? He'd been watching closely and still hadn't seen it. Did she have some kind of instant-draw technique for firearms, like iaido?
Either way, her intent was obvious. She hadn't used it during the fight—now she would. It was an execution tool, plain and simple. A way to punish the insolent intruder who'd spoiled her enjoyment.
Heo Pung-gae spoke up.
"Didn't I already call you out for firing guns in the sacred martial world?"
Rana snorted.
"You gotta use martial arts to count as a martial artist, right? Gun wielders are just gunners. Fair game to shoot."
"You're the ones selling the damn guns—why act all aggrieved?"
"We sell 'em so kids without martial arts can fight on equal footing with martial artists. Keeps things fair."
Rana leveled the submachine gun at the Patriot Hero at last.
Bracing for the end, he squeezed his eyes shut. Then a sharp click sounded in his ears.
It wasn't a gunshot.
He cracked his eyes open to see Heo Pung-gae standing in front of him, back turned. He'd dropped down from above.
Blocking his path, Heo Pung-gae said,
"We've lost. People will swarm in soon—wouldn't it be best if you withdrew now?"
Rana's reply was simple.
"No."