novelraw Chapter 86 : Swift Thunder vs. True Thunder (2)
Chapter 86 : Swift Thunder vs. True Thunder (2)
I had lingered in the Heavenly Demon Cult for longer than I thought. More than half of it was my fault, but I was so sleepy at the time that I couldn't do anything about it.
It's not much of a substitute, but strangely, my body felt refreshed after sleeping. As if it could fly.
In fact, I had stopped by the Shaolin Temple in case I could meet the Divine Monk in the Heavenly Demon Cult, and then, to get to the Namgung family, I had covered a distance that would have originally taken at least a week in just three days.
If I hadn't stopped by the Shaolin Temple, it would have been much shorter.
I had hoped to arrive before the incident broke out, but seeing the black smoke continuously rising from the location of the Namgung family, it seemed I was late.
Just as I was about to hurry, I met an unexpected person.
The Sword King before my regression, and the one called the strongest in the history of the Namgung family.
Sword King Namgung Mu-gwang.
I had never imagined that he would appear in such a state. Moreover, looking at him now, he was in a state where he had barely learned any martial arts. But to boast such martial prowess in that short time... I thought the world was truly unfair.
That bastard is a genius, and this bastard is a genius.
It feels like everyone around me is a genius except for me. Then you might say, aren't you a genius too? But I pride myself on having struggled all the way here purely on the luck of my regression.
Anyway, as I was late, I headed to the Namgung family quickly.
"My older brother is in danger!"
Namgung Mu-gwang had been repeating something about his older brother since a while ago. Was this the twentieth time? He had lost his reason.
But did Namgung Mu-gwang have an older brother?
I remember Namgung Mu-gwang being an only child... Well, since he was one of the few survivors of the Namgung family, how would I know about his family relations?
Come to think of it, there was a guy in the Suicide Squad who always looked at me with an annoying expression, was his surname Namgung? I couldn't remember well.
I stopped running for a moment.
"Wait, right now, the Divine Monk comes before your older brother."
At my words, Namgung Mu-gwang's eyes trembled continuously.
I could still feel the Divine Monk's energy. This was proof that the Divine Monk was alive.
And the directions the Divine Monk and Namgung Mu-gwang were pointing were complete opposites.
If I were to go and save Namgung Mu-gwang's older brother first, the Divine Monk would die with a high probability. It was unfortunate, but for the future of the martial world, it was right to save the Divine Monk now.
I don't know how great that person called his older brother is, but he would surely be no match for the Divine Monk who had reached the Profound Realm.
In the first place, if he were such a person, I would have known about him before my regression.
"S-still, couldn't you go to my older brother first! My older brother is... because of me..."
"Sorry. I want to help too, but as you can see, the situation is urgent. If the Divine Monk were to die here, it might cause an uncontrollable aftermath in the martial world."
I could see Namgung Mu-gwang clenching his teeth. I patted Namgung Mu-gwang's shoulder and headed to where the Divine Monk was.
It was truly unfortunate for me, but it was an unavoidable choice.
Thud.
At the sound from behind, I turned my head, and Namgung Mu-gwang had collapsed. That image overlapped with my own when I had lost my older brother before my regression, but there was no reversal of my decision.
As I said before, if the Divine Monk dies today, the Orthodox Faction will be swayed by the intentions of the third force, the Chaotic Heavenly Society, just as it had flowed before my regression.
Nevertheless, I prayed to the heavens for Namgung Mu-gwang. If there was such a thing as a miracle, I hoped that the same thing as before my regression would not be repeated.
***
Thud.
"Where is the Sword Dragon?"
At the voice from above, Namgung Mu-gwang raised his bowed head. There was a woman.
He couldn't remember who she was. But his intuition was telling him.
The feeling he had felt earlier was not from the man, but from this woman. Then a question arose here.
Because he had felt nothing from the man just now. Had he ever had such an experience in his life? A being called a person has their own unique characteristics or properties. The world called it individuality. Namgung Mu-gwang could feel the individuality from everyone he met. Except for the man he had just met. The curiosity arose deeply, but Namgung Mu-gwang quickly erased the rising question.
This was a miracle.
"Tell me quickly. Where is the Sword Dragon?"
He had to hold on to this miracle no matter what.
"Over there! I'll guide you!"
Namgung Mu-gwang got up and tried to guide her again, but the woman said.
"You're slow. Is the direction this way?"
"Yes, yes!"
The moment he answered, the woman was already bending her legs. Namgung Mu-gwang, for that brief moment, felt as if time had stopped.
The woman kicked off the ground. Boom! A huge roar struck his eardrums. The falling rainwater scattered in all directions in an instant. A passage was created in the air. Soon, that passage was covered by the rain and disappeared. Namgung Mu-gwang looked ahead, but the woman's figure was already gone.
***
Namgung Byeokgeom felt the strength draining from his body. More precisely, the flow of his true qi had been cut off since he had allowed the opponent's attack. At first, he thought it was because of the excessive use of internal energy and his injuries. But it wasn't.
"Poison."
"Hehe. You're not a fool."
He had reached the Transformation Realm and had achieved invulnerability to a thousand poisons. Most poisons wouldn't work, but it seemed to be a quite powerful poison. What was more surprising was that he hadn't noticed it at all until the poison took effect.
It was impossible to hold on any longer.
Namgung Byeokgeom squeezed out his last strength and raised his sword. Although he was frustrated that he couldn't kill his opponent, he could at least save his youngest brother.
Others said that his youngest brother had no talent, but Namgung Byeokgeom, who had seen his youngest brother, thought that on the contrary, his talent was so overflowing that Namgung could not fully contain his vessel.
-Older brother, isn't it smoother to do the sword path like this? The way it's written in the book is somehow uncomfortable.
In the old days, he had ignored those words, but after entering the Transformation Realm, he realized that his youngest brother's words were right.
The strongest he had seen was the Heavenly Maiden, but the best talent was his youngest brother. If only his youngest brother were alive, Namgung would be able to revive again.
So his role was up to here.
The strength in his raised arm fell, and it slowly went down.
"Hehehe."
The opponent, seeing that, chuckled and laughed.
"You're not even worth playing with anymore. Die!"
The opponent kicked off the ground and approached. Namgung Byeokgeom closed his eyes tightly. Boom! Boom! Boom! A huge explosion and shockwave covered him. When he actually experienced death, death was no big deal. Then is the grim reaper waiting in front of me? he thought, and opened his eyes.
A slender back was visible.
It was a back he had looked at countless times, so he couldn't not know.
"Heavenly... Maiden...?"
"I've come to save you, Sword Dragon."
It was just one sentence. At those words, the Sword Dragon, Namgung Byeokgeom, closed his eyes again and lost consciousness.
Thud.
Eun Ga-yeong just watched as Namgung Byeokgeom collapsed onto the muddy ground soaked with rainwater. She didn't bother to hold him and place him in a place where the rainwater wouldn't reach, because they weren't that close.
Eun Ga-yeong recalled why she had come to save the Sword Dragon.
The trigger was the Sword Emperor's words to do what she wanted.
Even at this moment, she was not sure what she wanted to do.
Why am I here?
She asked herself again, and when the Sword Dragon looked at her and fainted comfortably, an answer flashed through her mind.
-I lost. Can you have one more duel with me next time?
-Yeah.
That's right. Eun Ga-yeong had not yet had a duel with the Sword Dragon. As she found the answer, the uncomfortable feeling that had been bothering her disappeared. But it hadn't completely disappeared. If the whole was 100%, it was about 1%.
Even though it was just a little, she felt more at ease as she got a little better.
Eun Ga-yeong left the Sword Dragon behind and looked at her opponent. And she said her impression of the opponent without exaggeration.
"A pig?"
The opponent laughed. Then he looked even more like a pig.
"A pig?"
"Hehehe. This guy, that girl. There are so many people to kill in the world. Right?"
"A pig is talking."
"Hehehe. I won't say it twice. Don't you dare say that in front of me again."
"A pig?"
"Hmph! I told you not to say it!"
Eun Ga-yeong couldn't tell if he was telling her not to say the word 'pig', or not to say that a pig was talking. So she had said the former, but it seemed she should have said the latter.
The opponent let out a loud shout and rushed forward. His body was heavy, but his movements were extremely agile.
'Fast.'
But it wasn't a level she couldn't react to. The opponent who had reached her front extended a fist.
Surprisingly, the power of lightning was contained in that fist.
What Eun Ga-yeong had realized upon entering the Profound Realm was, on a small scale, to empty and fill, and on a large scale, to make a 2-dimensional thing into a 3-dimensional one.
Thus, Eun Ga-yeong's great and small meridians had a spherical (球) shape.
Eun Ga-yeong's constitution was the Heavenly Martial Body.
A body bestowed by the heavens.
Or a legendary body known to be able to learn a thousand kinds of martial arts.
Eun Ga-yeong first emptied.
She received the opponent's fist, which was imbued with the power of lightning, with her sword.
The lightning qi flowed through the sword to Eun Ga-yeong.
She felt her body being electrocuted by the lightning qi, but it was not a level she couldn't handle.
She filled the emptied great and small meridians with the opponent's lightning qi.
And Eun Ga-yeong swung her sword as it was.
Slice!
One of Hwangbo Yu-gi's arms flew into the air.
"Aaaargh!"
Hwangbo Yu-gi, looking at his severed arm, let out a scream.
"How dare this bitch cut off my arm!"
Hwangbo Yu-gi put his remaining arm into his bosom, took out a pill, and put it in his mouth.
Eun Ga-yeong knew what that was.
The Liberation Pill.
It was used by the Chaotic Heavenly Society in Gansu, and its effect was to increase the existing power by about 2 times.
However, there was a side effect: one would lose their reason due to the suddenly strengthened power. So if one used this point well, it could be said that it was easier to deal with the opponent.
However.
"Ah- this feeling is always the best."
The opponent's appearance was different from the ones she had seen in Gansu. Rather than losing his reason, he was showing a calmer appearance than before.
"It's a real shame that I can't maintain this state for a long time. Isn't it?"
The moment his words ended, the opponent's figure disappeared. Eun Ga-yeong instinctively swung her sword. Something hit the sword, and she retreated more than ten steps.
"Hoo! To block this is amazing. Then, how about this?"
The character for strength (力) appeared in the opponent's pupils, which had not been there until just now. However, the momentum felt from the opponent was not that of the Profound Realm. But the opponent, who had clearly felt inferior until just now, felt at least on the same level as her or higher after eating the Liberation Pill.
The opponent extended his fist.
It was visible before, but now it was not.
Because it was not visible, the future sight did not activate.
Because it was not visible, she could not feel anything.
All she could tell in the current situation was that the opponent's power far surpassed her own. That overwhelming power was directed at her.
Although she was a Heavenly Martial Body, she could by no means produce the same power as her opponent. That was something unique that only the opponent could do. Although she could imitate it similarly, the same power and speed as her opponent would never come out. Perhaps to do something like that, one would have to be born with at least divine power.
Crackle.
The lightning qi added to that made him even faster.
She could only tell that the opponent had already passed by with the faint remaining lightning qi.
In such a situation, Eun Ga-yeong put lightning qi, only the yin lightning qi, into her sword.
Hwangbo Yu-gi, looking at the motionless Eun Ga-yeong, sneered. There were almost no one in the Chaotic Heavenly Society who could keep up with his speed after eating the Liberation Pill.
His speed, the years he had lived, were by no means easy for a girl who looked to be only about twenty to chase.
'It's the end.'
Hwangbo Yu-gi, who had been circling around Eun Ga-yeong, changed direction and kicked off the ground. The direction was bent vertically, and Hwangbo Yu-gi flew towards Eun Ga-yeong's blind spot.
Its speed was like a thunderbolt.
Hwangbo Yu-gi extended his final fist.
The secret technique of the Lightning Divine Fist, One Thunder.
A fist that contained all of himself in one point.
Now, his fist contained the power to destroy a castle, to exaggerate a little.
At that moment, Hwangbo Yu-gi's eyes widened.
It was a speed that a human could never follow.
But a sword was falling precisely towards the fist he was extending.
Although he couldn't understand how this was done, Hwangbo Yu-gi still had a sneer on his face.
Because he knew that that slender arm could never handle the power contained in his fist.
The sword and the fist met.
Slice!
Hwangbo Yu-gi's arm was split vertically.
Huh? Hwangbo Yu-gi, seeing his arm being split in half, couldn't understand.
The sword went on to cut Hwangbo Yu-gi's neck, circled in the air, and then entered Eun Ga-yeong's scabbard.
"Pant, pant!"
Eun Ga-yeong was breathing heavily.
The victory just now was a gamble, and the fact that she was alive was purely luck.
The opponent was faster than her, and his power was also stronger.
If they had fought head-on, she would have surely lost. So she had used a kind of trick.
She had used lightning qi.
Eun Ga-yeong had put only the yin lightning qi into her sword.
Lightning qi attracts each other.
That power is enough to connect the sky and the earth, which are unimaginably far apart.
It's the so-called force of attraction.
What Eun Ga-yeong had used, what she had gambled on, was the power of attraction.
What if Hwangbo Yu-gi had put the same yin lightning qi as Eun Ga-yeong into his fist just now?
Perhaps Eun Ga-yeong would have been thrown back with great speed and her whole body would have been shattered and she would have died.
Fortunately, the opponent had put the yang lightning qi into his fist, and Eun Ga-yeong's yin lightning qi had reacted to it.
So she was able to swing her sword accurately at a speed she could never have reacted to normally, and she was able to cut him.
Because speed is power.
The only way for Eun Ga-yeong, who was absolutely lacking in power compared to her opponent, to win.
All ten of Eun Ga-yeong's fingers were twisted. Compared to dying, the current injury was nothing.
Rumble, boom!
Thunder fell from the sky. The location was not far away. A huge vortex of qi was swirling there.
Just as she had fought with Hwangbo Yu-gi, a fight was about to begin there as well.
Eun Ga-yeong slung the fainted Namgung Byeokgeom over her shoulder and headed to the place where the lightning had struck.
***
The Divine Monk was visible.
Fortunately, the Divine Monk was alive.
But it seemed he would die soon.
The Divine Monk's arms were hanging limply, and his opponent was thrusting his sword at him.
The opponent's sword was faster than he had thought. It was like watching the Four Yi Sword Art of the Diancang Sect.
At this rate, he wouldn't be able to reach him in time.
Splash.
Yoo Jae-ha stepped on the ground.
Crackle.
Lightning qi arose from the foot he had stepped with.
Previously, Yoo Jae-ha had realized the principle of nature while escaping from the Heavenly Demon.
Well, it wasn't a big deal. It was just a level of reminding that everything in this world has a harmony of yin and yang.
The sky.
The earth.
And humans.
He put lightning qi into his foot. The lightning qi on the ground held his foot.
A strong adhesive force that had not been there before is felt from the foot. Splash. Yoo Jae-ha took the next step. His foot pushed off the ground. Stronger than before.
His body moved forward.
Raindrops hit his face.
Splash.
Another step was taken, and the speed of his advance became faster. The raindrops hit his face even harder.
When he lowered his body slightly, it got a little better.
The speed became even faster.
Splash.
Another acceleration.
And the sword was visible in front of him.
Yoo Jae-ha kicked up as it was.
Bang!
The direction of the sword that had been heading towards the Divine Monk's heart was bent, and it pierced the empty air.
At that moment, the Divine Monk chanted the name of Buddha.
"Amitabha."
Namgung Cheon was wary of the one who had suddenly intruded and deflected his sword.
Rumble, rumble.
Yoo Jae-ha, unable to control his speed, crashed into the stone wall.
Rumble, rumble.
As the pile of stones fell, Yoo Jae-ha stood up.
"Wow, shit. I almost died!"
Ugh!
He vomited what was inside him.
He was not yet used to this speed.
(End of Chapter)