novelraw Chapter 61 : Come at Me All at Once
Chapter 61 : Come at Me All at Once
The eyes of the third elder of the Blood Demon Sect shook greatly.
'How?'
A gaze that could not understand was directed at Cheon Mubaeck.
No, to be precise, at Cheon Mubaeck's sword.
'Sword qi!'
It was not a faint sword qi that flowed along the sword body.
The sword qi of a white light, as if it were burning, was beyond the scope of understanding.
He hurriedly turned his head and looked at the seventh elder. He was the one who had the highest understanding of formations in the Blood Demon Sect. The Radiant Annihilation Formation that was currently installed was also made by him, staying up all night for nearly a fortnight.
"The formation was made properly!"
The seventh elder, who had read the third elder's gaze, shouted so.
That's right.
There was no problem with the formation.
The other martial artists, Mount Hua Sect, Zhongnan, the Mute Red Demon, and the Star-Gazing Sword.
Weren't all the masters who were said to be quite a handful standing back with pale faces, unable to use their internal energy?
'What the hell is that!'
The back of the third elder's spine was drenched in cold sweat.
Before he had joined the Blood Demon Sect, he had been a promising master of the Demonic Cult, which had now disappeared.
The fact that he was a promising master in the Demonic Cult meant that he was a person who had gone through numerous actual battles. He had not grown up in a greenhouse, just training and taking elixirs within the sect, like the Plum Blossom One Sword of Mount Hua Sect.
The third elder had stained his sword with blood countless times before coming here.
That was why, paradoxically, the third elder's body was stiff.
'I can't get a feel for it.'
Look at Cheon Mubaeck's burning sword qi.
He was clearly a powerful internal energy master. But, he didn't feel anything.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
No pressure, no fear, no killing intent, no tremendous momentum.
But the third elder felt his breath stop.
It was difficult to move even a single finger. His neck was stiff. His lips were dry. The hand that was holding the scabbard at his waist was trembling.
A person who was beyond the influence of the formation.
And yet, a person who did not feel anything.
'It doesn't make sense. If you're trapped in the Radiant Annihilation Formation, even our sect leader can only use his internal energy to the extent of raising his momentum!'
But was that brat so strong that he could overcome that?
It didn't make sense.
But this was the martial world.
He, who was from the Demonic Cult, had experienced the martial world countless times. He had fought and had been covered in blood countless times before coming to the Blood Demon Sect, and he had fought until he had risen to the position of the third elder even after joining the Blood Demon Sect.
So he knew what kind of place the martial world was.
A place where the impossible was possible.
That was the martial world.
And the third elder was now facing the impossible.
"...Perhaps we should all be tense."
The third elder managed to speak.
The number of martial artists of the Blood Demon Sect who had gathered here was a total of six.
Including the third elder himself, the second elder, the fifth elder, the seventh elder, the eighth elder, and the person on the altar at the very back.
The Blood Demon Sect Master himself.
The third elder suppressed his tension and drew his sword.
'No matter how strong an internal energy master is, if he is in a formation, his internal energy operation is restricted. Then does it mean that the formation doesn't work on that guy?'
Or, he could find a flaw in the formation and squeeze through that gap.
The Radiant Annihilation Formation was not a formation that could be easily made.
Hadn't the seventh elder stayed up all night for nearly a fortnight to build it?
So there could certainly be a gap.
That guy might have found that gap.
'Eum.'
No, it had to be.
Otherwise...
'It means that he is a tremendous guy who cannot be controlled even with the Radiant Annihilation Formation.'
The third elder took a step forward.
In any case, when they had made this plan, hadn't they assumed that a master who was hard for them to face could also come?
The third elder was confident that he could win no matter who came. The fact that Cheon Mubaeck was not affected by the Radiant Annihilation Formation was unexpected, but that was all.
'He's just a successor who has just gained a reputation.'
Even if there was a difference of one generation, there was a difference that was hard to overcome.
Right, he might be able to overcome a difference of one generation somehow. If all sorts of elixirs and training were added.
But a difference of nearly two generations could not be bridged.
Because the experience that was melted in that period was not something that could be obtained even with elixirs.
"You want me to say I'm dead?"
Cheon Mubaeck just stared at the third elder indifferently.
"I don't know what trick you used to get out of the formation, but this is not Henan. You brat. Do you think it's the same in the martial world just because you're good with a sword in your rural village?"
"Bullshit."
"...What?"
"Is it a characteristic of you guys to talk a lot before you fight? Gu Jin-hae and Yuk Seong, who came to the gisaeng house, are all the same."
"You bastard!"
"Hey."
Cheon Mubaeck's voice sank coldly.
The mouth of the third elder, who had stepped forward with a good momentum, was firmly shut.
When Cheon Mubaeck lowered his sword towards the floor and took a step forward, a strong pressure pressed down on him.
"If you're going to fight, let's fight with our mouths shut. Huh?"
Cheon Mubaeck flicked the tip of his sword.
"Come at me. You're worse than Neung-heo."
Paradoxically, the third elder could not move as he said.
'It's full of openings!'
The posture of lowering the sword diagonally.
His right hand was also just hanging limply on one side and was not in any posture.
No matter how he looked at it, it was not the appearance of a martial artist who was about to fight. In the third elder's eyes, the openings were clearly visible. But the third elder did not move rashly.
A smile appeared on Cheon Mubaeck's lips.
The corners of the third elder's eyes, who had seen the smile, turned fierce.
"You're thinking a lot, aren't you?"
"..."
That's right.
He was thinking a lot.
He could just stab his sword into the opening right now.
Isn't it obvious? Right, it doesn't matter if that's a trap. If he stabs the opening and is counterattacked, he can just dodge or block.
"You're wondering why that bastard is opening a space so openly, aren't you? You're wondering if there's something, aren't you? You're suspicious that he's hiding a dagger, aren't you?"
The third elder bit his lip.
He could not refute Cheon Mubaeck's voice, which was full of mockery.
He was suspicious.
The reputation of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, the skill that had killed Yuk Seong and Gu Jin-hae, the peculiarity that the Radiant Annihilation Formation did not work.
Considering all those factors, the current state of being full of openings felt rather like there were no openings at all.
Like a sharp dagger that was digging in, Cheon Mubaeck's voice was coldly stuck in his ear.
"That's what it means to be scared."
"...!"
Scared? Me?
"Because you're scared, you can't dare to come at me."
The third elder clenched his teeth.
That's right.
Originally, he would have sprayed his killing technique without hesitation.
That was the martial world he had lived in.
But the third elder had hesitated. He had thought countless times, looking at Cheon Mubaeck. That was seen as being scared of the opponent.
'Bullshit!'
The third elder's eyes turned red.
He was the one who had come through countless pandemoniums.
Gooooo!
The third elder's blood-red robe fluttered violently. A demonic qi swirled around him.
The hair on his whole body stood on end, and with one breath, the muscles of his whole body woke up as if they were alive.
He glared at the expressionless Cheon Mubaeck and shouted.
"I am the Ghost-Faced Asura Yong-mak! How dare you just move your useless mouth with a reputation you've just recently gained!"
"...!"
"The Ghost-Faced Asura!"
When the third elder, that is, Yong-mak, revealed his identity, the faces of the people who were watching the situation were filled with shock.
"The Ghost-Faced Asura..."
"Isn't he the one who was publicly condemned for killing three elders of the Qingcheng Sect twenty years ago?"
"My goodness! The Ghost-Faced Asura!"
This was it.
Surprise, shock, and fear.
Look at the reaction of the people to the four characters 'Ghost-Faced Asura'.
It was not him who was scared. It was them.
The Ghost-Faced Asura looked at Cheon Mubaeck with a triumphant look.
"Are you introducing yourself? I'm Cheon Mubaeck."
But Cheon Mubaeck was still expressionless.
Cheon Mubaeck did not react at all to the four characters 'Ghost-Faced Asura'.
At that point, the Ghost-Faced Asura should have thought one more time.
The fact that he maintained his composure and calmness before a fight meant that he was an opponent who should never be taken lightly.
But the Ghost-Faced Asura's composure was broken by Cheon Mubaeck's words.
He finally rolled his eyes and rushed at Cheon Mubaeck like a madman.
Huung!
'An opening! I'll stab him in one go!'
The thin sword, which was more reminiscent of a skewer than a normal sword, was two inches longer than a normal long sword.
The sword made a sound as it cut through the air and dug into Cheon Mubaeck's solar plexus.
Swaeaek!
The sword that should have pierced through the flesh and blood cut through the space.
Just before the sword reached, Cheon Mubaeck's figure blurred and then disappeared.
'He dodged?'
He dodged this?
In an instant, the Ghost-Faced Asura's mind turned cold as if he had been doused with cold water. But the Ghost-Faced Asura, while withdrawing his sword, continued with his next move. It was indeed the experience of someone who had gone through countless experiences.
'Left!'
The point where he could stab the fastest.
Swaeaek!
The tip of the sword, which was heated with a red sword qi, stabbed Cheon Mubaeck's shoulder at a terrifying speed.
'Where...!'
The Ghost-Faced Asura's eyes widened.
Cheon Mubaeck's figure blurred and then disappeared. This time, he could not even see where he had moved.
The fact that he had dodged was not the main point.
The Ghost-Faced Asura's specialty was an extremely fast quick sword. Even he had met many strong people who had dodged his sword several times. Dodging was a surprising thing, but it was not a shocking thing.
But the shocking thing now was that Cheon Mubaeck's figure had 'disappeared'.
'His whole body is in a relaxed posture. As a human, there should be a preparatory posture for the next move!'
This didn't make sense.
He had dodged the Ghost-Faced Asura's sword without any preparatory posture?
And he couldn't even see where he had dodged?
What was even more ridiculous was that the opponent was not even counterattacking.
Dodge, and counterattack.
Wasn't this the basic of a fight?
Then it meant that the opponent was toying with him.
"You bastard!"
A rough roar erupted from the Ghost-Faced Asura's mouth.
Swaeaek! Swaeaek!
A killing sword with a terrible killing intent cut through the space.
Faster, and faster.
The Ghost-Faced Asura poured out the internal energy of his dantian and continued to stab at an extremely fast speed until his muscles tore.
But each time, the stab only cut through Cheon Mubaeck's blurry figure.
'What on earth, why? How?'
Questions that were popping up in his mind.
It was impossible by common sense.
How could he miss every time and dodge everything? Was the opponent that fast? No. Rather than being fast... it felt as if he were disappearing.
Only then did the Ghost-Faced Asura see Cheon Mubaeck's feet.
"...He's floating?"
He was floating about one inch.
"It doesn't make sense...!"
The Ghost-Faced Asura's face was filled with shock. That's right. Cheon Mubaeck was not stepping on the ground and using a footwork, but he was stepping on the air and using a footwork.
'Void-Treading Steps?'
That brat, is he using the Void-Treading Steps?
But that was his illusion. It was not the Void-Treading Steps. Unlike the Void-Treading Steps, which belonged to the lightness skill, Cheon Mubaeck was using a footwork in a narrow range.
Suddenly, an old story came to the Ghost-Faced Asura's mind.
At the time of the righteous-demonic war.
The demons who had returned, defeated and scared, had muttered in his eyes, who had been just a low-level demon soldier.
'He's not a human. From the sky. He's stepping on the air and swinging his sword freely!'
He had not believed it. But he saw it with his own eyes. Although he was not stepping on the air from the sky, this person was stepping on the air, floating about one inch above.
The Ghost-Faced Asura's eyes widened.
'The Changcheon... Sword God?'
* * *
Cheon Mubaeck laughed.
Although it was lacking compared to his past life, he was gradually regaining his past martial prowess.
'The Heaven-Earth Eagle Steps.'
It was one of the representative martial arts that came to mind when thinking of the Azure Sky Sword God.
The Ghost Crying Light Cliff, a protective qi, and the Heaven-Earth Eagle Steps.
A footwork that stepped on the empty air, not on the ground.
These two were martial arts that Cheon Mubaeck had completed not just in one life, but through numerous past lives.
It was the essence of a martial art that contained hundreds of years of experience, effort, and enlightenment.
And the current Cheon Mubaeck.
'Although it's faint, it's possible.'
A thrilling sense of elation spread through his whole body through his blood vessels.
The process of gradually regaining his past martial prowess from such a weak body.
Cheon Mubaeck laughed.
"Are you surprised?"
"Eek!"
The Ghost-Faced Asura changed his direction. He gathered his remaining internal energy. His muscles became taut as if they would tear. A stab poured down, aiming for his lower body.
'Slow.'
One of the characteristics of the upper dantian.
The expansion of the senses.
Cheon Mubaeck's senses, which had approached the unknown sixth sense beyond the five senses, predicted the Ghost-Faced Asura's movement.
It was a sense of a special realm that was hard to describe as kinetic vision.
'Alright. There's nothing more to see now.'
He did not dodge. The sword that had been lowered diagonally slowly came up.
As if time were flowing slowly.
Cheon Mubaeck's sword stood upright.
Cheon Mubaeck's coldly sunken voice flowed out.
"You've learned the Heaven-Breaking Consecutive Strikes wrong."
In an instant, the Ghost-Faced Asura's time and thoughts stopped.
'How?'
Does he recognize his own martial art, the Heaven-Breaking Consecutive Strikes?
The moment a question came to his mind.
'Huh?'
Cheon Mubaeck's sword increased, one, two, and more.
Chaechaechaeng!
The Ghost-Faced Asura's sword, which had been moving forward vigorously, lost its power due to the continuous shocks and flew far away from his grasp.
'What is this...'
The countless sword tips that filled the empty air. They gradually increased and then looked like a single point.
And the world was gradually dyed red.
"This is the Heaven-Breaking Consecutive Strikes."
Puk, puk, puk, puk...
Four times, five times, no, dozens, hundreds of times.
Holes were pierced through his whole body. With an extremely fast stab, without even a moment to dodge.
The Ghost-Faced Asura's eyes were filled with shock and then with admiration.
The end of the martial art that he had so wanted to master.
'This is... the Heaven-Breaking Consecutive Strikes...!'
Unfortunately, that was his last thought.
Kung!
The corpse of the Ghost-Faced Asura, which was unrecognizable with hundreds of holes pierced through it, rolled on the floor.
Cheon Mubaeck's deeply sunken gaze was directed at the front.
"Just come at me all at once. You bastards."
(End of Chapter)