Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Clashing Realms
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As if it had been waiting for the perfect moment, it flipped its body and swung. My spear met its sword in a clash, a clear ring echoing through the air.
"To reach this level without attaining true mastery... I hate to admit it, but I can't deny it."
The old man was staring at me, holding his long, slender sword. To be precise, it was the old man's corpse.
"It's not that I couldn't attain it, old timer. I just didn't."
In response to my words, it slowly raised its sword into a ready stance, then tilted it slightly to the side. With that simple motion alone, a gentle breeze rippled out from where the old man stood.
I watched him silently without a word, and the old man chuckled.
"Stop just staring at me like that. At least shake my hand."
"If you want a handshake, put away your sword realm first."
Training with the sword brings an innate understanding of distances. At this range, I can defend. If the opponent closes in this far, I can counterattack.
The sword realm is the instinctive grasp of one's personal space, honed over years of sword practice.
The distance at which you can move freely and subdue your foe in an instant.
"Could it be that even this old man entering your familiar territory frightens you?"
I laughed incredulously and stepped toward it. In that instant, a sharp whistle cut the air as slashes poured down. Our hands and weapons blurred into multiples in a ferocious exchange at terrifying speeds.
Soon enough, the old man and I stepped back simultaneously, neither yielding first.
"It's not fear. You're just being rude, aren't you?"
Offering a handshake while gripping a loaded gun is no different from a bandit.
"I am a sword meant to protect my lord. But given the gravity of this matter—where a single day could decide the fate of the world—my lord commanded me here himself."
In other words, this bastard was something like a guardian tower protecting the Erosion Core's nucleus. What a roundabout way to talk. Some guys think sounding complicated makes them look impressive.
"Shut your rotting mouth and pick up your sword. We're just here to kill each other anyway."
My words made its face twist openly in displeasure.
"You wield great power yet speak like a thug. Insignificant creature with a predetermined end. I am Su Bin-tak, the Divine Sword. Today, I shall show you the sky that unfolds atop the mountain's peak."
Listening to that, one thing became clear. The corpse before me had walked a path utterly different from mine.
"Well, after I dismantle you, at least I'll have something to brag about to Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon later."
Back in that world, no one dared challenge my words on brawling matters. Here, though, I rarely got chances to prove myself right.
"I have no desire to debate swordsmanship with the likes of you."
"I'm holding a spear, you idiot."
Debating swordplay? Unless its eyes were completely shot, it should naturally see I was wielding a spear, not a sword.
"Dying by my blade is an honor you can boast of."
A battle of words, huh? Instead of replying, I ignited Paradox Flame along my spear. The distance between me and this old corpse was right at the edge of its sword realm.
Su Bin-tak slowly raised the slender sword in its grip. In that moment, my eyes moved with lightning speed. Every sense in my body awakened.
"..."
What I saw now wasn't the old man holding his sword. I was visualizing where he would move next—and how I should respond.
"Facing a foe, I have no intention of yielding the first strike."
Su Bin-tak slowly lowered his sword.
I swiftly dodged. It had merely held the sword poised, yet the spot where I'd stood caved in as if crushed by some invisible force. If I'd stayed, that formless power would've flattened me.
That strike was the signal. Su Bin-tak flew toward me like the wind, swinging his sword.
As Su Bin-tak closed in, his dark-purple mana-clad blade traced the forms of mountains and valleys in the air. Gradually, the ground beneath us trembled and warped.
Unlike my approach, those who ascend to specific realms through meditation fight simply by...
"They're just mages wielding swords instead of staves."
The swing of the blade itself isn't the point. You clash against the phenomena created by swinging a mana-infused sword. They call it the Natural Sword.
Lava erupted from the splitting earth and surged toward me. Lightning poured from the sky, aiming for my life. Blasting gales sought to shred my flesh, while jagged hail rained down.
"One swing holds profound enlightenment. Mountains, rivers, flora, and all creation obey."
"Bullshit. Your mana is just so overwhelming it resonates with the ambient mana."
Knowing the principle means knowing how to counter it. I swung my mana-charged spear toward the encroaching world.
All the bizarre phenomena born from immense mana collapsed with each swing of my spear, their forms crumbling away.
"Yeah, you lot always pull this crap the moment something seems even a bit strong."
A faint strand of its mana connected to my body—Heart Sword. It does nothing overt, yet suddenly the opponent clutches their heart and drops dead.
Why would someone die from nothing? It's not nothing; most people just don't realize what happened.
I quickly circulated mana through my meridians, severing the link it had formed.
"Impressive."
With a twitch of its hand, the ground shattered, hurling massive boulders at me. Air Grasp. There's a cooler, more famous term for that petty trick.
"May the Force be with you."
As I pulverized the incoming rocks, Su Bin-tak leaped into the sky and plummeted toward me. Its slender blade was now coated in blackened stone, forming a greatsword.
"Dominance."
An advanced form of Force Strike. Put grandly, it's the ultimate realization of Force Strike.
If Force Strike is defined by heavy, powerful blows, Dominance takes it a step further.
"Heavy and powerful, yet utterly unavoidable."
Of course, as the saying goes—"no blade cuts through all"—if the opponent outclasses you, even an unavoidable Dominance can be dodged. Sadly for this old corpse, the gap between us wasn't that wide.
The aura pouring from Su Bin-tak as it streaked down like a meteor crushed the area around me with overwhelming pressure. I couldn't even think of moving.
"So that's how it's done, huh?"
I raised my spear toward the descending Su Bin-tak. Like a petal drifting onto a lake, the spear tip moved with fluid grace.
"You bastard!"
Dominance—the strike that claims victory—collided with my spear. A sound like heaven and earth shattering erupted, pulverizing thousands of nearby corpses and scattering them in the shockwave.
Where we clashed, a crater the size of a baseball stadium yawned deep and vast. Yet the ground beneath my feet remained utterly unchanged.
"How did you..."
"What's there to be surprised about? I just enveloped your Dominance with Force. That's how you types describe it, right?"
I swung my spear once in a grand arc, its violent vibrations halting abruptly.
"Force beaten into Dominance. Swiftness advancing to Instantaneity. Immersion in Change birthing Enthrallment. Riding the flow of Yielding to achieve Embrace."
I said it with a mocking tone. The old man trembled with rage at my words.
"Such principles are beyond the grasp of one without enlightenment or true attainment."
Once more, its sword swung. The blade traced flashy, intricate trajectories laden with countless variations, surging toward me. Not mere visual confusion, but mental disarray—Entrallment.
Likewise... in an instant, the spear vanished from my hand, only for hundreds of strikes to erupt simultaneously, shredding the dazzling illusion of endless transformations that ensnared the mind.
"Urgh..."
Muscles in my spear arm tore. Likewise, bones cracked repeatedly in the old man's sword arm.
I had successfully parried; Su Bin-tak's attack had failed. Naturally, the damage it suffered was far graver.
We stared at each other, then vanished simultaneously. Swords and spears clashed from every direction in a storm of strikes.
The space where Su Bin-tak and I fought was now inaccessible to anyone. Approach carelessly, and you'd be shredded like paper in a shredder.
"You're bizarre. No, revolting. Not just that black flame—everything about you."
"Thanks."
They say calling a game shitty is high praise. Guess I've earned its praise today.
"A crude bandit aping the surface forms without reaching the inner realms."
"Ebebebebebeb."
For something dismissing me as a mere mimic, I was defending flawlessly against this self-proclaimed enlightened master.
Now, it seemed the opponent had no intention of maintaining its testing facade. It unleashed everything it had.
Penetrating Village Realm, Omnidirectionality, Heart Sword, Autonomous Flying Sword, Endless River, Merging Currents, Sword-Unity, Instant Kill...
Every acrobatic feat of high realms unfolded like a buffet. The Natural Sword embedded in its barrage sought to reshape the world itself.
"..."
The fierce exchange of blows halted abruptly after a prolonged clash. Su Bin-tak straightened its sword grip and adjusted its disheveled robes.
Red blood trickled from the cuts etched across my body. Thick black ichor oozed from the wounds on Su Bin-tak's form.
"How can this be? To reach such heights... through this method?"
It struggled to maintain composure, but the doubt on its face couldn't be fully hidden.
"Probably my nature."
A realm is, ultimately, liberation.
Breaking free from the shackles of your own limits. Freedom from oneself.
I don't know about others, but that doesn't suit me.
I control. I suppress, comprehend, and analyze. Paradox Flame itself is a power that wreaks havoc if not handled that way.
To rein in this accursed ability, I poured in immense effort. Naturally, the aesthetics of control, management, and analysis seeped into my very being.
It didn't sweat, being a corpse, but I was drenched in sweat and fatigue. Still...
I tapped the ground with my spear. Paradox Flame flared, burning away the exhaustion accumulated in my body.
Enveloped in black flames, I gazed at Su Bin-tak.
"So, is that the end of the 'realms' you've attained?"
All of them were things I'd faced and analyzed before. Petty tricks I'd experienced and escaped from.
"If you've got some fancy trick you're sure I don't know, better try it now."
Everything so far was stuff I knew. If you're gonna build up expectations, you better deliver.