novelraw Chapter 41 : Chapter 41
Chapter 41 : Chapter 41
Chapter 41 - You’ve never killed a person, have you?
When one experiences something too shocking, it's natural to be at a loss for words.
Among the people who watched the first duel, not a single one could easily open their mouth.
‘What in the world just happened?’
‘Uma was defeated in a single blow?’
‘By a kid who looks several years younger…….’
‘Anyway, what happened? I couldn't even see how he was taken down……!’
As the elders had readily admitted before, the core strength of the Diancang Sect was its five next-generation disciples.
And unlike the other four, Uma had many occasions to use his skills.
Running a loan shark business by himself, he had been involved in large and small fights.
Among the common ruffians, Uma was like a crane among chickens, beating down debtors and thugs.
Because of the frequency of his fights, the people of the Diancang Sect often had the chance to witness Uma's skills.
Uma was by no means weak.
He was a talent who could easily rank within the top five inside the Diancang Sect.
But then, what was this result?
The other four next-generation disciples were just as confused.
‘Carelessness?’
Danseol’s half-closed eyes turned towards Uma, who was sprawled on the ground.
He then soon shook his head.
‘For a loan shark who never knows when he might get stabbed, carelessness is not an option. Besides, this was a duel…….’
Biyoung had even gone so far as to ask, ‘Are you ready?’
To say he lost due to carelessness was nothing short of absurd.
‘Just where did a guy like that pop out from?’
Considering Jinbae's condition, it was unlikely he had learned martial arts from him.
Did he attend a martial arts hall?
But even if he had, was it possible for someone of that young age to have such destructive power?
Danseol's expression remained unchanged from start to finish, but a storm of confusion was raging in his mind.
Crucially.
The formless energy he felt when they met during the day.
The killing intent that had forced him to draw his sword.
It was a sensation one might feel only from a supreme master.
Danseol put all his confusion behind him and took a step forward.
“I’m next.”
“Hoh.”
Biyoung stroked his chin with his fingers, looking intrigued.
He looked like a young, handsome boy, but his actions were like those of an uncle over thirty.
The more Danseol saw him, the more he thought he was a strange fellow.
“Don't worry, I won't use what I used during the day.”
“……”
Danseol’s face remained unchanged.
An expressionless face, as if wearing a mask.
However, a reddish blush bloomed on his jade-white face.
It was because Biyoung’s words reeked of the meaning, ‘I’ll go easy on you.’
“Are you ready?”
To Biyoung's words, Danseol answered with action.
As Danseol kicked off the ground and rushed forward, a flexible sword was already drawn in his hand.
Sssssst!
Broadly speaking, it was described as a ‘quick sword,’ but even within that, various forms existed.
Danseol’s quick sword lacked a domineering aspect but had a low, stealthy feel to it.
It was a movement that truly matched his expressionless, half-closed eyes.
Chwaak!
From a low stance, a single strike aimed at the opponent's chest.
Biyoung watched the incoming flexible sword with calm eyes.
Swish.
“Ho……”
A short exclamation escaped Biyoung's lips.
Just as Danseol's flexible sword was about to touch his own, the tip of the sword had subtly wavered.
A technique that used the characteristics of the soft flexible sword to change the path of the sword at the last moment.
This was a sword art not recorded in the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords.
Seeing his flexible sword slide past the flat of Biyoung's sword, Danseol thought he had succeeded.
However,
Tak!
As Biyoung turned the flat of his vertically held sword 90 degrees, the flexible sword's trajectory was greatly diverted.
Paaang!
A sharp sound of something cutting through the air was heard right next to his earlobe, but Biyoung didn't even bat an eye.
“The biggest weakness of your sword is……”
As the thrust cut through the air, Danseol's upper body was left defenseless.
“that once it's blocked, there's no follow-up.”
Biyoung slammed the hilt of his sword down on Danseol's solar plexus.
Thump!
“Keheok!”
Danseol, letting out a groan like a kicked puppy, fell to his knees.
Without hesitation, Biyoung kicked Danseol's upper body.
Thwack!
Flying faaaar away, he landed, ironically, in the same spot where Uma had fallen.
As if gathering luggage in one place, Biyoung tossed aside those he had finished dueling with.
“Next.”
“…………!”
Now, people were beginning to realize that something was seriously wrong.
Even if one were to concede a hundred times that Uma was caught by a surprise attack, Danseol had been completely defeated despite being the first to draw his sword and charge.
“I'm next!”
“Oh.”
Biyoung looked at the opponent before him with a somewhat surprised expression.
The man who would be sad if he wasn't considered the second most cowardly.
It was Solbo, who appeared huffing and puffing.
‘He’s said to be a coward, but is he a man who steps up when it counts?’
Biyoung nodded readily and asked Solbo.
“Are you ready?”
“No!”
Stumble.
Biyoung, who was about to charge, misstepped.
“No?”
“That's right! I came out to forfeit this duel!”
“Uh……?”
Forfeit?
Is there such a thing as a forfeit in a duel?
Biyoung stared at Solbo with a bewildered look.
His eyes were utterly resolute, his will seemed firm, and there was not a hint of hesitation.
The problem was that the destination of that will was ‘forfeiture’.
Biyoung’s gaze went past Solbo to Eung Gajin and Jeong-i on the other side.
Eung Gajin’s cheeks were trembling with shame, and Jeong-i had turned her head away completely.
“Solbo! How can you call yourself a descendant of our sect acting like that!”
Not only had Uma and Danseol been defeated without a fight, but now Solbo was declaring a forfeit.
Eung Gajin, who was usually very patient, couldn't hold it in any longer.
“Heek!”
“Face that fellow at once and show him your skills! Do you have no shame!”
“I’m telling you, fighting that guy is suicide! Look at those two sprawled over there!”
After saying that, Solbo leaped away and escaped the rear courtyard.
“Running away……? He just ran away……?”
Eung Gajin’s usually resolute face went blank, as if possessed by a ghost.
Defeat, then a forfeit, and now running away.
For someone representing the Diancang Sect, it was an incredibly disastrous development.
Seeing Eung Gajin’s face contorted to the point of being pitiful, Jeong-i sighed and took a step forward.
“I’ll go next.”
Unlike what I had seen in the basement earlier, her attire had changed to a martial uniform.
When she was wearing a gisaeng's dress, I wondered if she could even wield a sword, but seeing her like this, she had the sharp aura of a swordsman.
“I hear you’re the most skilled among the five.”
“My skills and Senior Brother Eung’s are not that different.”
Although Jeong-i was four years older, it seemed the habit of using honorifics from her time at the Blue Pavilion had stuck with her.
It felt like their roles were reversed, but Biyoung paid it no mind and asked the same question.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
With Uma, Biyoung had charged at the start, and with Danseol, it was the opposite.
And Solbo…… had run away.
What would happen this time?
“………….”
For a while, nothing happened.
The reason Biyoung chose to duel was to assert his will, but it was also to gauge the skills of the next-generation disciples.
He had fought alongside Uma, and he had crossed swords with Danseol, so there was no need to drag it out.
It was a shame he couldn't check Solbo's skills, but he needed to see Jeong-i's and Eung Gajin's swordsmanship at least once.
Their levels were probably all in the same ballpark, but they were still the best fighters the current Diancang Sect could put forward.
“Not coming?”
“When the time is right.”
“It'll be too late if I go first.”
With a cynical smile, Biyoung shot his killing intent at her, just as he had with Danseol.
Jeong-i’s thin eyelids trembled once, and then her upper body began to rotate.
“!”
Confirming Jeong-i’s movement, Biyoung’s eyes shot up.
‘Sword dance…….’
Her steps moved towards Biyoung, her upper body spun like a top, and the tip of her sword embroidered the air as if painting a picture.
The only sword art in the Diancang Sect that pursued flamboyance, a sect that valued fast and concise sword techniques.
Jeong-i was performing the Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword.
Whiriririk.
The sight was difficult to see as a movement for crossing swords.
The lines of the sword, blooming like a profusion of flowers, mesmerized the eyes, and watching the swaying movements of her body felt like being met with a warm spring breeze.
Only then did Biyoung think he understood the background of why Jeong-i worked at the Blue Pavilion.
Her clear and pure voice, like rolling jade beads, was exquisite, but the movements of the Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword were more beautiful than any dance in the marketplace.
“Ah……!”
Gasps of admiration burst from the mouths of those watching the duel.
Even standing still, her elegant figure perfectly suited the expression ‘snow-white skin and flower-like beauty’.
When the sword dance of the Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword was added, a magnificent scene unfolded that one would never want to erase from their mind.
The Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword was slow yet fast, and fast yet slow.
Sometimes the flow of the sword lines was clearly visible, and at other times it quickly vanished from sight.
The difference in its movement was enough to deceive a person’s eyes.
From within the beautiful dance, so beautiful that one could forget they were in a duel, a powerful strike that caught one off guard flew towards Biyoung’s shoulder.
“Heo!”
An exclamation of admiration burst from the onlookers.
Because the preceding movement had been slow and graceful, this single strike appeared several times faster than usual.
Anyone who had been watching Jeong-i’s movements in a daze would have had their shoulder pierced ninety-nine times out of a hundred.
However, the opponent before her was someone who knew the Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword like the back of his hand.
Kang!
Jeong-i’s blade, which had been digging towards the shoulder area, was blocked by Biyoung's scabbard.
“Ugh……!”
Jeong-i’s fine brow furrowed slightly.
She had been confident not only in her Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword but also in her internal energy.
But the moment their swords clashed, she almost lost her grip on what she was holding.
‘How can he have such internal energy at that age…….’
Unable to swing her sword properly, Jeong-i rotated her body once and extended one leg straight out.
Whiririk!
It was a pretty solid roundhouse kick, but Biyoung leaped back, and the distance between them widened to about two zhang again.
“Hmm……”
Biyoung smacked his lips as if something was lacking.
Then he suddenly asked her.
“You’ve never killed a person, have you?”
“……!”
“The fact that you aimed for the shoulder from the start, and there's no killing intent in your sword. Well, openly aiming for the heart like Danseol just now is also a problem.”
“Isn’t it the same for someone who used a scabbard instead of a blade?”
“It’s different.”
“What’s different?”
At that moment, a demonic fire flickered in Biyoung's eyes.
“I have a lot of experience.”
“!”
What kind of experience could he have so much of?
Could it be what she was thinking?
Jeong-i’s mind began to grow complicated.
“And, the gap is so wide that I can fight carelessly.”
Sway.
With those words, Biyoung's body blurred.
“!”
Jeong-i gritted her teeth and brought out a defensive technique from the Flowery Chaotic Dance Sword.
She remembered.
She remembered what had happened to Uma after that movement.
Hwihwik!
Jeong-i embroidered the air with the tip of her sword, taking an all-around defensive stance.
If the Mount Hua Sect's Plum Blossom Sword Art was like blooming a single large flower, the flower Jeong-i created was large enough to cover her entire body.
No matter how sharp the attack, it seemed there was no way it could get through without being caught in the net spread by the tip of her sword.
However,
“Tsk tsk……”
“!”
For the first time today.
No, perhaps in the last few years.
A look of utter dismay, never before seen on her face, appeared.
It was because, belying her frantic deployment of the sword, Biyoung's voice came from behind her.
“You can’t lose track of your opponent while you’re distracted by your techniques.”
Jeong-i was immediately seized by a shock, as if lightning had struck the crown of her head.
Ppaak!
Belying the splendid sword dance she had just shown, her body went limp like a rice plant beaten by rain.
Thud.
“It would be troublesome if your face got hurt while working at the Blue Pavilion.”
Biyoung extended one foot to support Jeong-i’s back, then looked at the last remaining opponent.
“Next.”