Invincible with Twin Swords

Chapter 34

The Red Snake Asura, Ak Jonggi, was famous for his vile and insidious personality, but his skills were real.

He was not a person to be compared with the Three Frogs of the Yellow River, who only relied on their strength.

His swordsmanship, which dug in like a snake with a strange sword with a reddish light, was tricky for even masters to deal with. He, who was a ronin of mediocre skill, had learned a secret manual called the Nine Changes Swordsmanship that he had obtained by chance and had risen to the ranks of a master in an instant.

In fact, there was a rumor that he had coveted the secret manual that a fellow ronin had obtained and had killed him to get it, but there was no evidence. Because the dead don't talk.

Anyway, that secret manual contained a great mystery, and he had been boasting that the swordsmanship he had learned was his own unique swordsmanship.

The Nine Changes Swordsmanship was a swordsmanship that contained the mystery of the illusion sword, and one real move and eight false moves were unfolded together, making it difficult for the opponent to find the real one. The movement of the sword tip was like a snake, which gave him the nickname Red Snake Asura.

"Do I just have to deal with you?"

Ak Jonggi probably fears the rest of my companions.

Parip hyungnim and Dam Sook had shown their skills, and Deoksam was probably the first target of caution from the moment he appeared at the inn.

"Yeah! You just have to beat me. You can also take my neck as a bonus."

"You should have just taken the carriage and left, but the young brat is drunk on the atmosphere and making a foolish decision! As promised, I will cut off your neck. Before that, I'll pull out that tongue."

He drew his sword.

The entire blade, which was narrow and slightly curved, was imbued with a strange red light.

It had the momentum of a red flower snake that was about to rush at you with its fangs bared at any moment.

It looked like an unusual sword at a glance.

When he raised his internal energy, the red light of the sword became stronger.

"Consider it an honor to have your neck cut by my Flower Snake Sword!"

Ak Jonggi smiled slyly, licking his tongue as if he himself had become a poisonous snake.

"Ooh! What a great sword!"

"I've never seen a sword like that. Is that what martial artists call a divine weapon?"

The onlookers around began to stir.

Since they are ordinary people, it is the first time they have seen a sword that emits such an energy.

A snake-like sword with a red energy!

Whether you are a martial artist or not, you can't help but get excited about a divine weapon.

There are martial artists who equate the weapon they possess with their own skills.

Though it has no meaning.

It's better to swing a rusty sword one more time in the time you spend looking for a good weapon.

But Ak Jonggi was a person who had great pride in his weapon.

The corners of Ak Jonggi's mouth went up at the murmuring around.

"Where are you boasting, pulling out a shabby snake bastard? Red flower snakes were all over the back mountain when I was young."

I had no intention of boasting about a weapon.

But I didn't like to see that guy being so smug.

I changed my plan to face him with the same sword.

I rolled up my sleeves and took out the Ink Blood Saber.

- Grrr!

The Ink Blood Saber made a sound like a wild beast growling as it was drawn from its scabbard.

The red light was so deep that it had a dark ink color.

Moreover, the blade, made by weaving the scales of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent, felt as if it had come from another world.

A momentum where the heat that seemed to swallow everything alive in one bite and the coldness like facing a large poisonous snake coexisted!

Moreover, when I raised my internal energy, the black seal on my right arm and the ink-colored blade of the Ink Blood Saber began to wriggle as if they had become one.

- Woong! Woong!

The ink-colored blade, unable to control its power, let out a saber cry.

In front of the enormous power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent, the red sword in Ak Jonggi's hand was just a weak baby snake.

"Wow! Wow! Have you ever seen a sword like that? Isn't that a divine weapon?"

"Look at that trembling, unable to control its overflowing power! Doesn't it feel like you're facing a large, living poisonous snake?"

"Oh my! My knees are already weak and my legs are giving out!"

The match was decided before the swords even crossed.

"You bastard!"

Ak Jonggi, as if his feelings were hurt, couldn't stand the short time I was boasting about my sword and rushed at me.

The tip of the Flower Snake Sword was flickering like the tongue of a red snake.

He closed the distance in an instant.

One sword tip increased to two, three, and when it reached my eyes, it had changed to nine.

All nine swords were aiming for different vital points.

Among these nine, only one is a real move.

The illusion sword is a kind of optical illusion that makes one appear as many through fast footwork and dazzling sword movements. In the end, it's about deceiving the opponent.

If you chase one movement, another one digs in.

There are as many as nine such movements.

I had faced numerous swordsmen during my ronin days, and they each had different swordsmanship.

Of course, among them, there were many swordsmen who used the illusion sword like Ak Jonggi.

Pinnacle masters who have reached the extreme with the illusion sword are tricky to deal with.

But Ak Jonggi's illusion sword is not comparable to that.

There is a way to deal with an illusion sword of this level.

- KABOOM!

In a single swing, all nine sword paths were blocked.

The Flower Snake Sword he had been boasting about was held, cleanly cut in half.

Ak Jonggi stood there with a dumbfounded expression, holding the broken sword.

His left ear was cut off, but the blood was not yet flowing.

It will start to flow soon.

The way to deal with the illusion sword is not to follow it, but to occupy it first.

If you try to follow and block it, it's already too late.

It's about not following the dazzling sword path and occupying the place where the sword will go in advance.

And it's about swinging once without a break along the single path that connects those places.

If I hadn't completed the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent, the Flower Snake Sword would have been broken, not cut. Ak Jonggi would also have been thrown back.

If you release the power without gathering it, it's not cutting, but swinging like a club.

It's something I realized through the duel with Jin Myeong in the Forest of Swords.

Now all the power was concentrated on the blade of the Ink Blood Saber.

Thanks to that, the Flower Snake Sword was cleanly cut, and Ak Jonggi was standing right in front of me without being thrown back.

If the Ink Blood Saber had been a little deeper, his neck would have been cleanly cut along with the Flower Snake Sword.

I showed some mercy and only cut off his left ear.

He will know what this situation means.

Because he has the skill to understand this much.

Ak Jonggi's chin was trembling at the overwhelming difference in skill.

His left cheek was completely stained with the blood that had belatedly gushed out from his cut ear, but he didn't even think of stopping the wound.

I whispered in his ear.

"Don't betray your comrades and live a good life!"

A ronin is a lonely being.

Since they don't belong to a sect, there are no junior or senior brothers.

That's why they rely on each other.

Since they are people who fight for money, anyone can prioritize their own interests.

But you shouldn't betray the comrades you believe in.

This is something you should have as a person, before being a ronin or a martial artist.

The onlookers around were all quiet.

In a single sword strike, the sword and ear were cut, and the face was covered in blood.

It was a situation where it wouldn't have been strange if his neck had been cut.

It is fear, not admiration, that dominates their minds.

I put the Ink Blood Saber, which was not stained with a single drop of blood, into its scabbard.

I turned around and saw Na Yeryeong and Dam Sook with their eyes wide and their mouths agape.

To their eyes, Ak Jonggi's illusion sword must have been amazing.

To have blocked that flashy sword path with a single sword strike.

The expressions of Parip hyungnim and Deoksam were also slightly stiff, unlike usual.

What's so great about me winning or blocking the illusion sword to them?

But they felt it in the single swing of my Ink Blood Saber.

That I had grown.

A martial artist must grow.

No matter how high you are, if you sit and rest, someone will soon pass you by.

The eyes of the two were sparkling.

I quietly approached the still surprised women.

And I said in a low voice.

"Somen and dumplings?"

There was no answer.

Is it not enough?

"Boiled pork and Shaoxing wine too?"

* * *

We safely took our seats in the best private room on the second floor of the inn.

There will be a rough journey ahead where we will be going back and forth between life and death.

It would be good to rest comfortably for just one day today.

"Miss Dam will have somen, and what do you like, Miss Na?"

"Since we're leaving tomorrow anyway, a glass of Shaoxing wine should be fine, right?"

This woman! She was a woman who knew the taste of alcohol.

Since our tastes are the same, we can drink together often in the future.

When a man and a woman have a drink together, no one knows how that relationship will turn out.

"Oh ho! I didn't know Miss Na enjoyed Shaoxing wine. I will show you the proper way to drink today."

I have spent decades with Shaoxing wine.

The true charm of a man is revealed at a drinking party.

"I'll have the boiled pork!"

Deoksam answered without being asked.

Surprisingly, Deoksam was a picky eater. He only liked meat.

You shouldn't be a picky eater to be healthy...

Well, who here is as healthy as Deoksam?

"Can I eat a lot?"

Dam Sook, who was already holding her chopsticks, asked with an expectant look.

"Eat as much of that damn somen as you want!"

What a cute wish, to want to eat somen at an inn on her first trip to the martial world.

Moreover, I don't know if she can finish a whole bowl of somen with that small build.

But the thought that 'how much can a petite woman who is only half of Deoksam's size eat?' was my mistake.

Dam Sook was a person born to eat somen.

She was absorbing the somen as if she had learned the Star-Absorbing Great Art.

The strange thing is that she has already finished more than ten bowls, including the broth, but where on earth did that somen go? If you stack the empty noodle bowls, they will probably be as tall as Dam Sook.

But right now, I didn't have the luxury to care about somen.

I had never lost a drinking contest with anyone before.

But today, my long-held pride was being mercilessly shattered.

"No! Are you using some kind of strange sorcery?"

My tongue was already twisted.

Parip hyungnim and Deoksam, who were drinking Shaoxing wine with me, were already finished.

Parip hyungnim was already curled up under the table, asleep, and Deoksam had passed out with his face buried in the boiled pork.

Only Na Yeryeong and I were left.

Dam Sook was just now finishing her last bowl of somen.

"You all have a very low tolerance for alcohol."

Low tolerance? Me, Jin Danyeong, have a low tolerance for alcohol?

Absurd! I had even thought of naming my nickname Shaoxing Young Master at one point.

My mind became hazy from the alcohol.

Some people say you can just push out that damn drunkenness with your internal energy, but that's not polite to the alcohol.

In essence, you drink to get drunk.

"No, so what I'm saying is, aren't you using sorcery right now, Miss Na? Otherwise, how can you not be drunk at all?"

"Tolerance for alcohol is something you're born with. What should I do when a man is so weak to alcohol?"

My pride was hurt.

Even if I had lost to the Red Snake Asura in front of numerous people during the day, my pride would not have been hurt this much.

My pride in my drinking capacity was different from my martial arts.

The past decades I had spent with Shaoxing wine flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.

Was the reason I thought I had a high tolerance for alcohol because I hadn't met a proper opponent yet?

My vision blurred, and the thread of my consciousness was running far away.

I have to hold on!

But my eyelids were too heavy.

And so, I experienced my first defeat after returning to the past.

To Na Yeryeong.

(End of Chapter)