The Underhanded Trick
The sound of clashing metal rang out repeatedly—clang! clang! clang!
Even though I’d seized the advantage of a surprise attack, the overwhelming gap in skill hit me like a gut punch. Every time my weapon met Hye-yul’s staff, the impact felt like it was shattering the bones in my wrist.
…Damn it. I really underestimated the kid because of his age.
Hye-yul kept switching his grip—sometimes holding the staff near the end for long-range strikes, sometimes closer to the middle for shorter ones. He adjusted his reach with effortless precision. His distance control was practically a divine technique.
Whoosh—!
Look at him now. He’d gripped only the very tip of the staff and swung it in a long arc that I barely managed to dodge. The strike came from an unexpectedly far distance. If I kept trading blows like this, defeat was inevitable. I needed to create some kind of change.
Even amid the relentless barrage of attacks, my mind never stopped working. It was an instinct forged through thousands of real battles.
Whoosh!
Once again, the staff drew a wide circle from far away, aiming straight for my waist. The same trajectory as before. He was repeating the exact same attack twice in a row?
He’s looking down on me.
I grit my teeth, lowered my upper body to evade the staff, then immediately spun and closed in on his lower body. It was a sharp counter aimed at the opening that inevitably follows a big swing!
But Hye-yul simply leaped lightly into the air, completely avoiding my sword.
Now!
The moment his body left the ground, I flipped myself mid-air and thrust upward with the Dark Heaven-Defying Sword technique—Reverse Heaven Slash. A rising strike that defied the heavens themselves!
At that instant, a shout burst from Hye-yul’s lips along with the name of his technique.
“Immortal Points the Way!”
…Come on!
The tip of his staff blocked my Reverse Heaven Slash and immediately split into three separate paths, each carrying a different change. Immortal Points the Way. What a grandiose name for a technique—claiming a divine immortal is showing the path.
What kind of monk goes looking for immortals?!
It was a feint. He pretended to stab at my face with the tip of the staff to draw my attention, while the real strike came from somewhere else. He blocked my real attack with a solid move, then used the illusion to distract my eyes. The problem was that a “real” strike was always hidden within that illusion.
How did I know that so well? Because I’d already fallen for it once and taken a hit to the shoulder.
Head? Neck? Chest? Or the shoulder again?
In that split second, I made a gamble.
It’s the shoulder!
I raised my sword to guard my shoulder against the incoming attack.
Thud!
…Fuck! It was the thigh?!
Instead of my shoulder, an agonizing pain exploded in my thigh. It felt like the muscle had torn apart. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to walk after this.
In the meantime, Hye-yul created distance and landed lightly on the ground. In the blink of an eye, we had exchanged several moves, but the result was disastrous. The moment he touched down, I tried to regain my stance, but—
“Ugh!”
The strength in my injured thigh gave out completely, and I nearly tumbled over in the most pathetic way possible. I barely managed to stay upright by dragging my leg, but I was the only one taking damage. I was the one who’d torn his clothes with the initial surprise attack, yet now I was the only one accumulating injuries.
If things continued like this… only an unhappy future awaited me.
Suddenly, an absolutely disgusting image flashed through my mind. It was a scene of Hye-yul fastening a dog collar around my neck, smiling brightly as he dragged me back to Shaolin Temple.
“Aaaargh! No way!”
I let out a scream-like shout to shake off that horrifying vision. Hye-yul seemed startled by my outburst. He stopped attacking and hurriedly asked if I was okay.
“…Are you all right? I am still inexperienced and failed to control my strength. It seems I struck you too hard. From now on, I shall be gentler.”
“………”
What a damn bastard! Where did he learn to taunt people like this… and right in front of someone as great as me!
My pride plummeted straight into the gutter. The rage was so intense I could practically feel the veins bulging on my forehead in real time. To think this little shit was so good at mockery…
But reality was cruel.
“…Hey, wait a second.”
I raised my hand to stop him.
“My leg isn’t listening to me. Just… just give me a moment.”
Anger was one thing, but survival came first. I decided to shamelessly buy some time.
My shoulder and thigh, where Hye-yul had struck me, throbbed painfully. It seemed he wanted to end the fight quickly—he kept persistently targeting my right shoulder, the one holding the sword. Even now, although I was gripping the weapon, strength wouldn’t flow properly into my hand. Whenever I tried to execute a technique, the pain felt like my shoulder was being ripped apart.
No matter how transcendent my mental strength was, I couldn’t overcome the slight loss of focus caused by the limits of the physical body. And now my thigh was injured too. I wasn’t even sure I could use proper footwork anymore.
In contrast, Hye-yul looked completely fine. I’d thought my brilliant tactical strike had wounded his side, but it seemed I’d only torn his clothes. I definitely saw blood splatter, yet it looked like he’d only suffered a shallow graze on the surface of his skin. After that initial small spray of blood, the bleeding had already stopped.
This… is bad.
I raised my palm toward Hye-yul in a “wait” gesture and lightly hopped in place to test my leg.
Throb!
Every time I jumped, pain shot through my thigh and strength drained from my leg. I could endure the pain, but it was obvious that the damaged muscle would critically impair my mobility.
“It seems the match is already decided. Wouldn’t it be better to surrender now?”
This guy is at it again.
The continuous taunting was starting to deal mental damage.
“That’s exactly what I was going to say. If I hadn’t gone easy on you earlier, your waist would’ve been sliced in two by now.”
“That is not reasonable. Your attacks were not at that level at all.”
…Just look at this kid talking back.
“And above all, your internal energy was insufficient. Still, recovering your inner power to this degree from the level of a useless cripple is truly astonishing.”
I’d noticed it ever since the Repentance Cave. This guy had a real talent for getting under people’s skin. I was pretty good at it too, but I was the “hard-working” type while he was a “born genius asshole.” Therefore, it was better for my mental health not to listen to him.
“Oh my~ how kind of you. Shut up and let’s fight again.”
“Wait!”
Hye-yul urgently called out just as I was about to attack again.
“…What? Why?”
Despite the urgent tone, he hesitated for a long time. I waited since it helped me recover my stamina. If I’d been in a favorable position, I never would’ve done this, but right now every second counted.
“Blood Demon Witch. If it is not to imprison you in Shaolin Temple… would you come with me?”
“…What?”
What was this guy plotting? My curiosity was piqued.
“What are you talking about? Where do you want to go with me?”
“That is…”
He kept hesitating, as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to say it. I waited for the sake of recovery, but the frustration was becoming unbearable.
“Speak clearly. You look incredibly unattractive right now.”
At those words, Hye-yul seemed to steel himself and spoke quickly.
“Come with me. I will… protect you.”
“…Fuck, what kind of nonsense is that? How exactly?”
“I will prepare a small thatched cottage. There, with me… together…”
Ah~. Recovery complete.
There was no point in listening to this.
“Save your disgusting nonsense for the moon.”
I kicked off the ground and charged at him, activating the seventh stance of the Dark Heaven-Defying Sword—Abyssal Pull.
If I couldn’t enter his range, then I just had to drag him into mine. Abyssal Pull was a technique that generated a powerful attractive force from the abyss, forcibly dragging the opponent in or destroying their balance. Of course, that was only in theory. At my current realm, it was nothing more than a pipe dream. Even in the dream world where my level had been higher than in reality, the effect had been minimal.
However, when the Geomjeong-i from the dream world used Abyssal Pull, the story was completely different. Whenever he swung his sword as if snatching space itself, I couldn’t resist at all. I would be dragged in instantly and shredded to pieces.
What did that mean? It meant that once I reached a high enough realm, I could do the same.
Would the current me be able to produce a perfect effect against Hye-yul by using this? No. But I could at least create a moment of confusion.
Humm—!
As I rushed toward him, I swung my sword as if hooking onto space itself while executing Abyssal Pull. Hye-yul’s feet were involuntarily dragged half a step forward, as if pulled by a magnet!
“…!”
A flash of bewilderment crossed Hye-yul’s face. At the same time, I felt my internal energy being sucked out of my body in a huge rush. I had burned nearly half of my inner power just to drag him half a step and create a brief moment of surprise. It was the pinnacle of inefficiency.
But that was enough.
I followed up Abyssal Pull with the tenth stance—Reverse Scale Strike. A lethal blow that pierced the single weakest point in the opponent’s defense, their “reverse scale”!
It was a technique I normally couldn’t use against Hye-yul’s seemingly perfect defensive posture, but that momentary confusion had created a needle-thin gap in his defense.
Swish!
My sharp strike grazed his thigh. Fabric tore and crimson blood sprayed out.
…Damn it!
The amount of blood was still too little. I had poured out more than half my internal energy, and my injured shoulder and thigh screamed in protest from the unnatural shift in posture… but even with my desperate surprise attack, Hye-yul instinctively twisted his thigh and deflected the blow.
I hated to admit it, but this guy was truly gifted.
Still, it wasn’t completely ineffective. He limped backward hurriedly, retreating out of my attack range. His expression clearly read, “I was really surprised just now.”
“How about that? The match is over, right? Just surrender already.”
I threw his own taunt right back at him.
But contrary to my provocation, Hye-yul’s expression grew unexpectedly serious.
“Wind Fire Wheel!”
As always, Hye-yul announced the name of his technique before attacking. I had no idea why he kept shouting the names in advance, but in martial arts novels it had always looked cool. Hearing it in real life, though, it just sounded ridiculous.
Still, it was entertaining. Watching how a technique with such a name actually manifested in reality was quite interesting.
Wooooong—!
His staff spun at high speed like a windmill, sweeping in every direction. Its power was far more threatening than anything he’d shown before. Since he was injured, it looked like he was going all out to end the fight immediately.
Even while limping, there were no openings in the whirlwind of staff strikes coming from all sides.
…Not interesting at all.
Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!
I barely managed to deflect the continuous barrage with my sword, but I wasn’t sure my wrists would survive. Sparks kept flying, blurring my vision. If I took many more of these attacks, I would be the one lying flat on the ground.
In that desperate moment, another horrifying image flashed through my mind. A dark, gloomy cell in Shaolin Temple. Me trapped inside it, and Hye-yul approaching with a greasy look in his eyes… that kind of scene.
No!!
Screaming internally, I used the counter technique Reverse Heaven’s Might, which received the opponent’s attack, redirected its power, and sent it back.
Kaaang!
With a light collision, my sword coiled around his staff and drove inward. At that moment, Hye-yul’s eyes flashed. He changed his grip, sliding his hand to the very end of the staff, then swung it with greatly extended reach. My attack was blocked midway, and the lengthened staff—still carrying the momentum from deflecting my sword—bent as if it would touch the ground and shot toward my ankle!
“Huk!”
Startled, I spun my body like a top and barely escaped his assault. His attacks were growing fiercer by the second.
…I didn’t want to use this method.
The moment Hye-yul’s sharp gaze locked onto me again, ready to attack—
I roared at the top of my lungs.
“Heavenly Poison Old Man! Now! Scatter the poison!”
“!!!”
At my shout, he reflexively whipped his head around.
This is it!
I didn’t miss the opening and struck at his lower body.
Slaaash!
If I had stabbed his right leg earlier, this time it was the left. From the feel of it, the cut went even deeper than before.
“Ugh!”
A pained cry escaped him, and red droplets of blood scattered across the ground.
I smiled viciously and said,
“Fell for it again? Hye-yul!”
This guy was definitely… His martial arts level was high, but his real combat experience was zero!
Filled with resentment, Hye-yul shouted,
“H-how underhanded!”
He protested with all his might, but what was I supposed to do about it?