Chapter 32
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: That's Enough
“Should I call it good luck? With the judge here, I'll have to hold back. Deep down, I'd love to smash you to pieces. Ah, so that's why you're daring to come at me?”
The black whip in Dang Chu's right hand writhed like a living snake.
Dang Jin-san maintained his distance, gazing indifferently at Dang Chu.
That calm demeanor grated on him.
Especially since it was coming from Dang Jin-san, a guy with not a speck of talent for martial arts, who had enjoyed every privilege solely because he was the patriarch's direct descendant.
“I don't think it's quite at the level of 'daring,' though?”
“You're truly insane.”
Dang Chu shook his head at the response.
“I don't mind you looking down on me, but don't overestimate yourself. Sure, I'm incompetent, but you don't strike me as all that capable either.”
Dang Jin-san's retort held no hint of retreat.
“Tch.”
Gritting his teeth, Dang Chu swung his left hand straight at Dang Jin-san.
A bladeless dagger flew toward him. Dang Jin-san easily blocked it by shifting his shield.
In that instant, the Black Silk Whip targeted Dang Jin-san's head.
Dang Jin-san launched himself at the charging Dang Chu.
Before, he would have scrambled backward to dodge the whip and gotten hit.
But Dang Jin-san had clearly changed.
It was all thanks to his training with Ha Mu-baek.
And he felt it the most himself.
Dang Chu's Black Silk Whip struck empty ground, while Dang Jin-san's sword flew toward Dang Chu's chest.
Dang Chu's face twisted at the unexpected reaction.
He threw another dagger with his left hand and twisted his body.
The Sichuan Tang Clan's Nine Illusions Mysterious Step unfolded from Dang Chu.
He elegantly evaded Dang Jin-san's sword.
The two crossed paths, now facing away from each other.
They spun around simultaneously.
“Not bad. Got a trick or two, huh? Is that why you were flapping your mouth so arrogantly? Impressive. The Sichuan Tang Clan's greatest dullard dodging my whip.”
Dang Chu continued to mock Dang Jin-san.
“Getting beaten by the Sichuan Tang Clan's greatest dullard should feel pretty good.”
Dang Jin-san's curt reply.
Dang Chu's face flushed with rage at those words.
He reacted as if he'd been hit with the worst insult imaginable.
“You dodge once by sheer luck and forget your place entirely. I'll crush you properly.”
Killing intent laced Dang Chu's voice.
As soon as he spoke, Dang Chu moved with dazzling speed.
Nine Illusions Mysterious Step.
True to its name, it displayed nine changes in footwork.
Dang Chu's form scattered in all directions, enveloping Dang Jin-san.
The Black Silk Whip slithered nimbly toward Dang Jin-san's legs.
This time, pressing forward was impossible. He had no choice but to retreat, blocking the whip with his shield.
“Ugh.”
The force behind it drew an involuntary groan.
And it didn't end there.
When had he thrown them?
Two daggers flew at Dang Jin-san's head.
He swung his sword to knock them away—or so he thought—when Dang Chu appeared behind him.
“Hah. Can't even keep up with this much.”
A sneer dripping with mockery.
Dang Chu's left fist flew toward Dang Jin-san's temple.
“Hah!”
Dang Jin-san rolled his body swiftly.
Lazy Donkey Roll.
A move ridiculed by martial artists for resembling a lazy donkey tumbling.
Yet Dang Jin-san executed it without a shred of hesitation.
“Tch. Perfectly suited to a wretch like you. Lazy Donkey Roll, of all things. Heh heh. Why don't you keep running that arrogant mouth?”
Dang Chu seemed pleased just that Dang Jin-san had resorted to Lazy Donkey Roll.
But Dang Jin-san, who had actually performed it, remained impassive.
The three members of Fierce Dragon Corps Seventh Squad watching him felt the same.
It was inevitable.
During spars with Ha Mu-baek, he'd used Lazy Donkey Roll countless times.
When he'd hesitate out of shame and take the hit instead, Ha Mu-baek had bellowed:
“You gonna die over some pointless pride?!”
Then he'd relentlessly attacked in ways that forced Lazy Donkey Roll, until the squad grew numb to it.
As long as it lets you dodge, who cares.
That's the mindset they'd hammered into their heads.
Rising from his Lazy Donkey Roll with the momentum, Dang Jin-san charged at Dang Chu.
Dang Chu, smirking smugly, faltered at the sudden counter but quickly slipped away with Nine Illusions Mysterious Step.
Dang Jin-san pursued with his own footwork.
Three Talents Step Method.
It was the only footwork he could currently perform.
“Hah, chasing Nine Illusions Mysterious Step with mere Three Talents Step? Pathetic. Even with your meager talent, you know what Nine Illusions Mysterious Step is.”
Dang Chu spat the words while swinging his Black Silk Whip repeatedly.
As he said, Three Talents Step couldn't match the flashy changes of Nine Illusions Mysterious Step.
He was busy blocking the whip hammering his shield and deflecting incoming daggers.
Dang Chu's movements grew ever more dazzling and swift.
Dang Jin-san was gradually being pushed back.
Yet the three from Fierce Dragon Corps Seventh Squad watched silently.
They trusted his solid defense despite the pressure.
“Kahaha! Why don't you keep blabbering like before?!”
Dang Chu's voice rang from the right—then his whip struck from the left.
Dang Jin-san blocked the whip with his shield, leaned back to dodge a dagger, and sidestepped per Three Talents Step.
Dang Chu's kick whistled past the spot he'd evaded.
Dang Chu moved without pause, circling behind Dang Jin-san again.
Or so he thought—until the shield suddenly loomed before his face.
Thwack!
A resounding impact echoed.
It was too close to dodge, and Dang Chu's speed too great.
“Urk.”
The momentum turned against him, delivering a hefty shock.
Pain throbbed across his entire face.
And a familiar yet alien sensation from his nose.
He touched it.
Blood streamed from both nostrils.
“Tch.”
Seeing it, Dang Chu groaned in fury.
A nosebleed. From both sides, no less.
He might have gotten them as a child, but not once after fifteen.
And now, to suffer it at the hands of that Dang Jin-san.
He pressed pressure points to staunch it roughly and lunged again.
Thud.
This time, a dull blow struck his abdomen.
“Urk. H-How...”
Dang Jin-san's sword had smashed into Dang Chu's gut.
“Dang Chu. You're underestimating me too much. Nine Illusions Mysterious Step. I can't perform it, but I've learned it and know the incantations. I know every direction you're so proudly stepping through. And your level is just rigidly following those incantations.”
Dang Chu's eyes widened at Dang Jin-san's words.
“Even if you know them...”
“Predicting the path instantly and countering like this isn't easy. That's why I took time to adapt.”
Dang Jin-san's calm explanation.
“N-No way. How could you, Dang Jin-san, have this kind of skill...? This can't be!!!”
Dang Chu screamed in denial, flailing his whip wildly.
He'd already thrown all his daggers.
The Black Silk Whip moved savagely per the Spirit Snake Whip Method's patterns.
A technique Dang Jin-san knew well. He couldn't execute it, but he understood it.
When he'd first joined Fierce Dragon Corps and tried imitating it, it hadn't obeyed him at all.
Now, he'd left the whip in his dorm and come with sword and shield.
But he knew all the patterns.
Dang Jin-san slipped through the gaps between Dang Chu's frenzied Spirit Snake Whip Method patterns.
His sword struck Dang Chu's right hand squarely.
“Agh!”
Dang Chu screamed, dropping the whip.
How could a guy who couldn't even perform Returning to Origin Step properly predict Nine Illusions Mysterious Step paths and pinpoint the gaps in Spirit Snake Nine Whip so precisely?
Now bare-handed, Dang Chu was defenseless.
“Shall we pick up from that day?”
Dang Jin-san tossed his sword and shield aside and charged at Dang Chu.
Dang Chu tried to evade with Nine Illusions Mysterious Step.
But Dang Jin-san could read his paths, blocking them even with Three Talents Step.
Thud. Thwack thwack.
“Guh. Ack.”
Three Talents Fist Method pummeled Dang Chu's body.
Dang Jin-san showed no mercy, pouring in maximum power.
He endlessly drew inner energy from his dantian.
“Agh. Kraaah!”
Screams burst from Dang Chu's mouth.
His eyes bruised black, nosebleed flowing anew.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
Dang Jin-san's fists carried the pent-up resentment of years past, striking all the fiercer.
“S-Stop... Please...”
Overwhelmed by agony, Dang Chu pleaded with desperate eyes.
His gaze was already that of the defeated.
Yet Dang Jin-san didn't stop.
His fist reared back for Dang Chu's temple once more.
Grab.
But it didn't land.
The judge Mok Hae-jin's palm intercepted Dang Jin-san's fist.
“Ahh...”
Dang Chu, eyes squeezed shut, sighed in relief.
Then collapsed.
His appearance was utterly wretched.
“That's enough. Your victory. Any more and you'd cripple him.”
No one could argue the judge's call.
Dang Jin-san quietly stepped back, looking down at Dang Chu with cold eyes.
It felt refreshing.
Yet bittersweet.
Was it that guy—this level of opponent—that he'd cowered from all this time?
Such thoughts soured it.
“Dang Chu. Eliminated.”
Mok Hae-jin fired a signal flare skyward.
The third elimination today.
“Third signal flare.”
Cheong Wu-ja muttered, gazing at the sky.
The burst wasn't far from where they gathered.
Bi Ga-young recognized it as Mok Hae-jin's but didn't tell Hidden Dragon Corps First Squad.
No reason to, and she shouldn't.
“Maybe Namgung Ji-hu and Dang Chu are wiping them out.”
Yeong Ho-jun chuckled.
The two who hadn't arrived.
They'd worried the Fierce Dragon Corps scheme had lost them in the mountains.
Namgung Ji-hu would be fine, of course.
But reckless Dang Chu, charging ahead without thought—that was the issue.
First, two flares had burst simultaneously, now one from a bit farther.
Best case: the first two from Namgung Ji-hu, the last from Dang Chu.
Namgung Ji-yu frowned delicately despite their words.
A bad premonition gnawed at her.