novelraw Chapter 194 : Chapter 194
Chapter 194 : Chapter 194
Chapter 194 - Demons of the Shade
“Waaaaah!”
Another visually delightful match had begun.
The final duel of the quarterfinals of the Later Generation Martial Arts Tournament.
Solbo of the Diancang Sect and Siban, who was said to be from Qinghai Province, were continuing their spectacular exchange of blows.
CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH!
“Ah! That’s a sword that truly refreshes the viewer!”
“Was it called the Gale Sword? The Diancang Sect really has an endless supply of talent!”
“Someone of Young Hero Solbo’s level would be fine even if he fought against their masters, not just the later generation.”
Having overcome the spell on his mind, Solbo’s sword was unstoppable.
It was incomparably light, and at the same time, nimble.
It wasn't for nothing that Sect Leader Jeokseo had praised it as ‘the sword closest to the sect's essence.’
Meanwhile, the martial arts of Siban, his opponent, also had an unusual aspect.
Whoosh.
When dodging attacks, he was as nimble as a mountain squirrel, and when clashing with Sword Aura, his body was so hard that Solbo’s hand would tingle.
‘I have no choice.’
After numerous exchanges ended in failure, Solbo steeled his heart.
He had been reluctant since his opponent wasn't holding a weapon.
However, he hated losing without even using all his strength even more.
Swoosh.
The form of his feet, planted on the ground, changed.
Swordsmen with good eyes strained them as they watched the change.
‘The Vast Sky Eagle Body Method…!’
Even with the same swordsmanship, the power could vary greatly depending on the footwork used.
Until now, Solbo had been using the Flying Eagle Steps to perform his swordsmanship, and all those attacks had been nullified.
But.
What if he used the Diancang Sect’s supreme movement technique, the Vast Sky Eagle Body Method?
The answer unfolded at the tip of Solbo’s sword.
“Haat!”
He shatters the mirror-like clear sky with his sword.
A technique from the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords, named for containing such a nimble sword strike.
The Sky-Mirror Shattering Strike, based on the Vast Sky Eagle Body Method, erupted from the tip of Solbo’s sword.
“!”
Siban’s innocent face momentarily stiffened.
He had instinctively realized that this was a swordsmanship on a completely different level than before.
But Solbo’s sword was faster than Siban’s reaction.
STAB!
The sword path should have originally pierced his neck, but this was a martial arts tournament.
Solbo’s sword struck Siban’s shoulder.
“Ugh…!”
Siban hastily pulled the blade from his shoulder and retreated.
It wasn't a fatal wound, but he was clearly injured.
‘His body is like… a rock.’
Even though he had succeeded in his attack, Solbo’s expression was not bright.
The sensation at the tip of his sword was so dull and hard, it felt as if he had stabbed a rock.
“Young Hero Siban. Can you continue the match?”
When the monk serving as the judge asked Siban, he readily nodded his head.
“I can!”
At that, the crowd cheered as if it were a familiar sight.
“Haha. Why ask something you don't need to ask? This is Siban’s usual flow.”
“When has he ever had the advantage? The fun of Young Hero Siban’s matches is in watching the comeback.”
“Hey, monk! Don't you dare try to persuade him to forfeit, just step back!”
Siban was a figure who had gained as much public popularity as the Diancang Sect.
Every match on his way to the quarterfinals had been a masterpiece.
Either a narrow victory by a hair's breadth or a comeback win by a paper-thin margin.
His matches were filled with the indomitable spirit and grit that martial artists loved.
So how could they not like him?
Contrary to the monk's worried question, the spectators thought that this was just the beginning.
Because Siban became even stronger the more he was wounded.
“The Diancang sword is certainly sharp.”
Siban, who had torn his sleeve to stanch the bleeding from his shoulder, grinned.
It was an innocent and pure smile that suited his cute face.
It was enough to make Solbo’s fighting spirit melt away.
But Solbo soon shook his head vigorously.
‘What are you doing? Focus.’
He recalled what Biyoung had said before he faced Siban.
‘Do you think all the swordsmen who faced Siban lost by a comeback because they were pushovers? No. It was just that Siban was a slow boiler.’
The bigger the pot, the slower it boils, but once it starts boiling, it’s hard to stop.
Solbo maintained his tension and continuously unleashed the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords.
CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH!
Every time Solbo unleashed a sword strike, the surrounding air belatedly followed behind him.
A gale raged around the sword he wielded.
They were attacks so fierce that even the senior members sitting in the seats of honor had to swallow a dry laugh.
POW POW POW POW!
Siban’s body soars into the air.
The fresh blood gushing from his body scatters in the sword wind.
The Vast Sky Eagle Body Method had given wings to the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords he unleashed.
Even for a swordsman other than Siban, it would have been a daunting attack to face with bare hands.
“Hoo.”
Solbo calmed his breathing and retrieved his sword.
Soon, with a THUD!, Siban’s body fell to the floor of the martial arts arena.
His body was hard, so the sword hadn't penetrated the flesh, but he had been hit with five slashing attacks, so he wouldn't be able to get up for a while.
At least, that's what Solbo thought.
Well then.
Does that mean his next opponent is Biyoung?
‘Even if I can't win, I want to show him how much I've grown.’
It was just as Solbo was making that resolve.
“Waaaaah!”
“?”
Startled by the sudden cheers, Solbo turned around.
“Ah?”
An earthquake erupted in Solbo's large eyes.
Siban, whom he had thought was unconscious, was awkwardly getting up.
“This can't be…”
He couldn't believe it even as he saw it.
Even Uma, who had the hardest body in the Diancang Sect, would not be able to stand unscathed after that attack.
His physique wasn't particularly large, and he didn't feel any great ability like a Body Protecting Aura.
However.
How could he stand up again?
‘Can that… be called grit?’
He had a strange feeling.
This wasn't on the level of forcing one's body to move through mental strength and willpower.
Look at that right arm, dangling brokenly.
Continuing a match in that state wasn't grit or anything of the sort.
It was suicide.
Solbo inadvertently turned his head towards the monk.
He seemed to be waiting for the judge's decision.
“That fool…”
Biyoung, watching the scene from afar, clicked his tongue.
At the same time, Siban’s figure vanished.
WHOOSH!
“!”
Solbo’s eyes widened at the suffocatingly oppressive aura.
Siban, who had been staggering as he barely stood up, was suddenly right in front of him.
Creak.
A chilling sound reached Solbo’s ears.
Before he could even process the source of the sound, Siban’s left fist struck Solbo’s right shoulder.
THUMP!
“Keuk!”
Solbo staggered and took several steps back.
His expression was a mess of bewilderment, despair, and shock.
It was the same face as the martial artists who had suffered comeback defeats to Siban.
“How could this happen…?”
An inhuman recovery ability.
And the dissonant sound he heard around him.
Solbo could not understand the current situation.
“That guy… he won’t get scared again, will he??”
Uma, who was watching the match, asked Biyoung.
Then he flinched without realizing it.
Because Biyoung was making a terrifying expression he had never seen before.
It was a face that made even the ill-tempered Uma hesitant to speak to him.
‘I definitely heard it.’
Biyoung wanted to jump into the martial arts arena right away.
That sound, ‘creak.’
It was a sound he could never forget, even after dying once.
A being that was a headache in a different sense from the Heavenly Demon.
Demons of the shade, more secretive and cunning than the Unorthodox Faction, making it impossible to predict what they would do.
The Blood Cult.
That was definitely a memory of the Blood Cult.
‘But…’
The evidence wasn't sufficient.
The methods of the Blood Cult always leave traces on the human body.
The eyes become bloodshot, the body emits a foul odor, and the physique becomes bizarrely distorted.
On the other hand, Siban had no other commonalities apart from the ‘creak’ sound.
Looking at that bright, innocent, and passionate face, the words ‘Blood Cult’ simply did not come to mind.
Moreover.
If Siban was indeed a member of the Blood Cult, what reason would he have to come to this martial arts tournament?
It would be like sticking his head directly into a tiger's mouth.
“In any case, I need to confirm.”
While Biyoung was muttering quietly, another exchange took place.
CLANG!
Everything was different from the energetic and valiant match they had seen at the beginning.
A bloody battle where blood splattered everywhere and both combatants’ energy was depleted.
The two martial artists’ exchange continued desperately, truly deserving of the word ‘scuffle’.
The problem was that, unlike Siban, Solbo was not accustomed to this kind of fight.
‘My arm won't move as I want…!’
A battle where both sides were injured.
It wasn't that Solbo lacked fighting spirit, but there was a difference in experience.
Siban swung his arms and legs without any form, just as he had at the beginning, but in a situation like this, that kind of haphazard attack transformed into an advantage.
Because neither of them was in a state to use precisely formed techniques.
Creak.
Again.
The sound he feared would appear in his dreams invaded Solbo's ears.
At the same time, Siban’s right arm twisted into a strange shape.
“What?!”
Solbo had not expected him to swing his broken right arm.
Siban’s straight punch struck him in the chest.
THWAAAAACK!
With a dull impact sound, Solbo’s body flew through the air.
His limply thrown body could only stop its flight after embedding itself in one of the walls of the martial arts arena.
“This match is Siban’s victory!”
At the monk's declaration, the martial arts arena boiled like a furnace.
“Wooooooooooow!”
“Siban did it again!”
“He even managed to defeat a swordsman from the Diancang Sect!”
Siban had created another miraculous comeback victory, as he always did, and the spectators once again poured out their cheers for him.
With his body in tatters, Siban bowed his head to the audience.
He also waved his intact left arm to acknowledge them.
An innocent, skilled practitioner who had come from a rural outpost.
That was how Siban appeared to the people at the scene.
Except for one person.
***
That night.
A monk and a handsome young man visited the Myo Quarters.
“It feels kind of desolate. Unlike Shaolin.”
“Amitabha. It seems to be because there are very few people left.”
For this martial arts tournament, Shaolin had organized the lodgings into four sections.
The prestigious orthodox sects were assigned to the Ja Quarters, while the nameless from the remote areas would stay in the Myo Quarters.
In Siban’s case, since he had no particular connections, he was naturally assigned to the Myo Quarters.
The area around the Myo Quarters was, as Biyoung said, desolate and quiet.
It was a far cry from the bustling scenes everywhere at the beginning of the tournament.
It was only natural.
Being assigned to the Myo Quarters in the first place meant that they were nothing more than common riffraff.
They had neither the face to stay and watch the tournament until the end, nor the skill to survive to the upper brackets.
“If you go over there, you will find Young Hero Siban’s quarters.”
“Thank you, Great Master.”
Biyoung politely bowed to Great Master Goeng-geon and then took his leave.
When he said he wanted to build a friendship before the semifinals, Goeng-geon had led Biyoung to the Myo Quarters without any suspicion.
Only after Goeng-geon’s figure had completely disappeared into the darkness did Biyoung start to walk.
“Is this it?”
Since all the surrounding lights were off, finding the quarters was not difficult.
All he had to do was find the one lodging from which light was leaking.
The Myo Quarters were much smaller in scale than the Chuk Quarters where they were staying.
About enough for two or three people to reside in one room.
He could feel a candle flickering beyond the window.
“Young Hero Siban. Are you inside?”
“………….”
Was no one there?
Or was someone there and not answering?
Biyoung called Siban’s name a couple of times, but there was no reply.
He should be spending the whole day treating his injuries, but if he wasn't at the medical pavilion or his quarters, where in the world could he be?
“Tsk. Can't be helped.”
Biyoung said so and turned his back.
Then, with a sudden lightning-fast movement, he turned around and flung open the door to the room.
CRACK.
A sound of the doorknob breaking was heard, but Biyoung paid it no mind and entered the room.
“…………He’s really not here.”
The inside was so empty of any luggage that the word ‘tidy’ was an understatement.
Was he really not here?
It was when Biyoung was smacking his lips and checking various places inside.
Creak.
“!”
Above Biyoung’s head.
That dissonant sound came from the ceiling.