novelraw Chapter 27 : Chapter 27
Chapter 27 : Chapter 27
Chapter 27 - Anti-Demon Squad (2)
— Pa-ang!
As Yeon Seung-il raised his energy, dust scattered in all directions.
Yeon Seung-il’s energy, which had been like a calm ocean, began to rage more and more wildly.
“Ta-hap!”
Yeon Seung-il, who was keeping his center of gravity low, shot toward Hyeon-dam.
— Flash!
Yeon Seung-il’s sword was drawn and narrowly grazed past Hyeon-dam’s waist.
— Hwi-rik
Yeon Seung-il momentarily released the hilt of his sword, caught it in a reverse grip, and pulled it directly to the left.
The sword, with its blade pointing downward, was pulled toward Yeon Seung-il’s body, drawing a semicircle.
It was a sword technique Jaun was seeing for the first time.
‘Releasing the sword in mid-air and catching it in a reverse grip?’
Jaun’s eyes shone at the unfamiliar style of swordsmanship.
‘So you can use a sword like that, too.’
Jaun’s eyes sparkled as he closely observed Yeon Seung-il’s movements.
Yeon Seung-il’s sword, which had drawn a semicircle, left his hand once again, this time thrown to the left.
Yeon Seung-il snatched the thrown sword with his left hand and slashed it diagonally downwards.
— Pa-at
A close call.
Yeon Seung-il’s sword slightly grazed past Hyeon-dam’s chest.
“Kuku. Maybe because you’re putting on too much weight, your body looks stiff. Squad Leader, wake up. It’s my turn this time.”
Hyeon-dam, who took a stance, extended his fist straight forward.
“Amitabha!”
Hyeon-dam’s fist generated immense energy and poured down toward Yeon Seung-il.
The sight of Hyeon-dam, with his long hair fluttering as he chanted a Buddhist prayer, was also unfamiliar to Jaun.
‘It really is…… Shaolin martial arts.’
Jaun smiled faintly, feeling Hyeon-dam’s clear energy.
— Pa-gak
Yeon Seung-il, who deflected the pouring fist strike with his sword and spun his body around, extended his fist forward this time.
— Kwa-ang!
Hyeon-dam’s rapidly extended fist and Yeon Seung-il’s fist collided in mid-air.
“……Bare hands?”
Jaun opened his eyes wide and looked at Yeon Seung-il.
Reverse grip sword, left-hand sword. followed by fist techniques.
Hainan’s swordsmanship deviated significantly from the framework of existing martial arts in the Central Plains.
The flexibility to unleash any attack without hesitation to suit the situation.
The sword of Hainan, which constantly continued life-and-death struggles with pirates, was thoroughly practical.
A variety of attacks poured toward Hyeon-dam like crashing waves, and Hyeon-dam, standing firm like a tree rooted in the ground, received Yeon Seung-il’s attacks with a stable posture.
Watching the two men’s continuously perilous clash, Baek-myo turned her head to Jaun.
“……A bit unfamiliar, isn’t it?”
Baek-myo smiled awkwardly looking at Jaun.
Usually, martial artists of the Orthodox Factions did not enjoy such rough sparring that could injure their opponents.
Even when training together in one place, most of it was practicing forms or physical training.
Even when sparring, it was common to recite the names of the techniques to prevent the opponent from getting hurt, but the sparring between the two was real combat itself.
“Well…… Since we have many occasions to clash with the Demonic Cult, you see. If we don’t do this, our senses become dull. Uh…… That doesn’t mean we do this every single day though…….”
Jaun turned his head to Baek-myo, who was glancing at him with worried eyes, fearing he might have been shocked.
“Actually, it’s good, isn’t it?”
Jaun nodded as if satisfied with the two men’s training method of clashing as if it were real combat.
It might be an unfamiliar training method in the Orthodox Murim, but for Jaun, who had sparred with his father day and night, this kind of training method was all too familiar.
‘It could be dangerous, but it’s that effective. With this kind of training, we can reduce wasted time.’
Watching the erratic Hainan swordsmanship and the solid Shaolin martial arts with his own eyes, Jaun was feeling many things.
Seeing Jaun’s pleased expression, the worry disappeared from Baek-myo’s face, and a playful smile took its place.
‘Oh? Look at him?’
Most new recruits so far would be appalled upon seeing this kind of rough training method.
Putting aside concerns about injuries, they had an aversion to the real combat sparring itself, where they rolled on the dirt floor and cursed at each other.
But this child named Jaun, who came in as a new recruit this time, was watching the two men’s clash with rather intrigued eyes.
‘Maybe we’ll get a proper youngest member this time?’
Expectations began to grow little by little in Baek-myo’s heart.
Behind Baek-myo, who had started to have such expectations, Hyeon-dam’s rough voice was heard.
“Huh? What the. I think I almost died just now?”
Hyeon-dam’s face flushed red as he wiped away the stream of blood flowing down his neck.
“Is this a life-and-death duel or what? Even if it’s real combat sparring, if you scatter killing moves randomly like that, isn’t that just telling me to die?”
Hyeon-dam, who was huffing and puffing, rapidly raised his energy.
“Tch. You want to do this properly, right? Then I’m going for real too?”
— Kwa-deuk
Hyeon-dam, who stepped firmly on the ground, closed his eyes and brought his hands together in front of his chest.
Bright light began to shimmer in Hyeon-dam’s palms.
Hyeon-dam, who had drawn up enough energy to make his body tremble, thrust his hands forward with force.
[Demon Subduing Tiger Crouching Palm ]
Following Hyeon-dam’s voice echoing in all directions, a glowing palm shadow shot toward Yeon Seung-il along with the image of a giant Buddha.
— Kwa-aa-ang!
“This bastard…….”
Yeon Seung-il narrowly dodged it.
A deep and large palm print was engraved on the ground where he had originally been.
Yeon Seung-il, who glanced at the ground once, raised his energy again and dashed toward Hyeon-dam.
— Kwa-ang!
— Kwang!
Baek-myo, watching the sparring of the two men whose speed and intensity were gradually increasing, shook her head from side to side.
“……Anyway, they’re the same even as they age. They said they’d show their martial arts to the new recruit, but they got excited again.”
Baek-myo, who was grumbling, eventually couldn’t hold back and yelled at the two men.
“If you just pour out everything you have like that, what is the youngest supposed to see and learn! If you’re going to do that, just come in, please! Seriously embarrassing…….”
Hearing Baek-myo’s shout, the two men stepped back a few paces with a loud thud.
Hyeon-dam gasped for breath roughly as he wiped the blood flowing down his mouth with the back of his hand, and Yeon Seung-il, after glancing at Jaun once, spat on the ground and scratched his head.
“Well……. It’s like this.”
“What do you mean ‘like this’, seriously! Anyway, look at those tempers. One of you is going to really die while training. Because you always show stuff like this, new recruits freak out.”
Baek-myo, who looked at the two men with a disapproving expression, grabbed Jaun’s hand and took a step forward.
“Come out. You do it with me.”
Led by the hand of Baek-myo walking out without hesitation, Jaun went into the training ground.
***
“I am Baek-myo Gwak Ye-ryeong. The successor of the Shadowless Sect, a single-disciple transmission sect, and a disciple of the Shadowless Divine Thief who was famous throughout the Murim.”
Baek-myo, who was loosening her legs by repeatedly sitting and standing up, smiled at Jaun.
“My master made a name for himself with thievery using fast footwork, but actually, until the generation before the last, the Shadowless Sect was famous for quite a high level of leg techniques.”
Baek-myo, who winked one eye at Jaun, straightened her leg and raised it high toward the sky.
“In the first page of the Shadowless Sect’s martial arts manual, the phrase ‘Beat without getting hit’ is written. You could say it’s a phrase that well summarizes the evasion using excellent movement techniques and the attack method using powerful leg techniques. Ultimately, the Shadowless Sect’s martial arts can be compressed and expressed as fast feet and strong feet. And I pride myself on having learned both properly.”
Baek-myo slowly shook her leg in the air.
“Among them, I think my movement technique has almost reached my master’s level, you see? So for now, try to make touching my body even once the goal of this sparring. I’ll verify through this sparring whether you are at a level to survive in battle against the Demonic Cult or not.”
Baek-myo, who grinned, slowly lowered her leg and extended it straight toward Jaun.
“Come in when you’re ready. Let’s see our new recruit’s skills.”
Baek-myo, who had raised her spirit to the fullest, glared at Jaun with sharp eyes.
Jaun, who watched Baek-myo for a moment while scratching his head, looked down once at Moon Fang tied at his waist.
After pondering for a moment, Jaun did not draw the sword but lifted it up, sheath and all.
Jaun, who tapped the scabbard against his left palm, lifted the sword and rested it on one shoulder.
Seeing Jaun place the sword on his shoulder still in its scabbard, Baek-myo’s face hardened slightly.
“Oh my…… You’re not even drawing your sword? I must have been underestimated quite a bit. Goodness. You seem to be mistaken about something right now, but despite how I look, I have the fastest body in the Anti-Demon Squad, you know? If you don’t do it properly, you won’t even be able to graze me.”
‘Her confidence is good.’
Jaun, who smiled slightly at Baek-myo’s words, bowed his head and aimed the scabbard at Baek-myo.
At the same time, a massive energy burst out around Jaun’s body.
— Ku-u-ung
Jaun’s energy began to rapidly cover the surroundings.
Yeon Seung-il, feeling Jaun’s energy spreading in all directions, had eyes that shook wildly.
“Th-this is…….”
Yeon Seung-il stammered as if he couldn’t believe it.
‘Since they are colleagues likely to be together even during the future war with the Demonic Cult, these people should know my skills to some extent.’
As Jaun took a step forward, the energy he had spread out enveloped Baek-myo’s surroundings just like that.
‘Those two probably can’t properly distinguish it yet……. I just need to make the Squad Leader keep his mouth shut.’
Jaun, who glanced back once at Yeon Seung-il who hadn’t come to his senses, focused on Baek-myo.
Baek-myo’s energy, which was like a warm breeze, shook here and there as if surprised within Jaun’s heavy energy.
“What is this……?”
Cold sweat began to form on the forehead of Baek-myo, who flinched repeatedly.
It felt as if giant rock walls were erected on all sides.
The surroundings were clearly empty, but Baek-myo could hardly move as if blocked by an invisible wall.
With lips gone dry, Baek-myo looked at Jaun with a bewildered expression.
“Y-you, what is this…….”
Jaun, who slowly lifted the scabbard, opened his mouth.
“I’m going first.”
Having finished speaking, Jaun took a big step forward and struck down with the scabbard toward Baek-myo.
— Hu-u-ung
Jaun’s sword cut rapidly through the spot where Baek-myo had been standing.
‘Huh? I missed her. She got out of my sight in that instant?’
The figure of Baek-myo, who had been standing in front just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.
Through the energy he had spread out, he could feel where Baek-myo had moved, but his eyes couldn’t catch the moment she moved.
‘They said the Shadowless Sect has occasionally produced absolute masters who shook the Jianghu.’
Certainly, if judging only by movement techniques, Baek-myo could be called the best among the people he had met in the Jianghu.
‘The Jianghu is definitely vast.’
Jaun, who slowly turned his body, aimed the scabbard again toward Baek-myo who had slipped away to one side.
Baek-myo’s martial arts level was higher than he thought, and Jaun was quite pleased with that fact.
Baek-myo, whose entire body was already soaked in sweat after dodging just a single attack, shouted while gasping for breath with a flustered expression.
“Hey! What are you? Huh? What kind of new recruit is like this? Does this kind of intimidating pressure make sense for a new recruit? Who are you!?”
At Baek-myo’s shout, Jaun smiled brightly.
“The youngest of Squad 30 of the Anti-Demon Squad. Now, I’m going again.”
Jaun, who answered briefly, slashed down with the scabbard once more.
“Hey!”
Along with an urgent shout, Baek-myo’s figure became blurry once again.
‘I really can’t catch her with my eyes.’
Feeling Baek-myo’s energy from the side, Jaun quickly raised his sword and thrust it out.
— Pa-ang!
Baek-myo kicked away Jaun’s scabbard that flew toward her waist and retreated backward.
“Wow, shit……. What is he really?”
Baek-myo, who massaged her numb foot once, turned her head toward Yeon Seung-il.
Yeon Seung-il, his mouth gaping open enough to dislocate his jaw, still hadn’t come to his senses.
Baek-myo, confirming Yeon Seung-il’s expression that looked as if his soul had left him, sighed.
“For the Squad Leader to make that kind of face means your skills are real. Ha……. Fine. Let’s properly see just how great of a guy you are.”
Baek-myo gritted her teeth and concealed her presence.
‘She’s coming.’
Baek-myo’s movement was caught in the energy Jaun had spread wide.
Baek-myo, who had come around to Jaun’s back before he knew it, lifted her leg and brought her heel down on Jaun’s head just like that.
Baek-myo’s movements, now that she had properly made up her mind, had become sharper, and such an attack from her wasn’t easy to block even if known in advance.
‘That was slightly dangerous.’
— Tak
Jaun, turning his body, narrowly blocked Baek-myo’s foot with his scabbard.
‘Let’s see…… Then how about this.’
Jaun dug into Baek-myo’s guard in an instant.
Jaun, who leaped right in front of Baek-myo in the blink of an eye, strongly extended his left hand imbued with energy forward.
— Hu-ung
“Kyaaak!”
Jaun’s fist slightly grazed Baek-myo’s waist.
While barely dodging Jaun’s fist, Baek-myo let out a short scream.
Baek-myo’s expression, having retreated a few steps with a flustered face, gradually hardened.
Baek-myo, who was looking at Jaun, gritted her teeth and leaped high into the air.
At the same time, a haze rose around Baek-myo’s body.
“I won’t go easy on you now. Be prepared.”
Baek-myo’s body floating in the air began to scatter hazily.
[Shadowless Kick First Form: Ten Thousand Flowers Transformation ]
Baek-myo’s feet, with her resolve firm, began to shake dizzily in the empty air.
Like a small storm, the shadows of Baek-myo’s feet, fluttering brilliantly, poured down toward Jaun’s body at high speed.