novelraw Chapter 88 : Chapter 88
Chapter 88 : Chapter 88
Chapter 88 Same Bed, Different Dreams (1)
“Yu Ha-rin.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
Hwan Chu-hyul raised his head and stared blankly at Yu Ha-rin.
“Will you not…… regret this?”
“That will not happen.”
No emotional agitation was visible in Yu Ha-rin as she slowly cleaned her sword.
“Sometimes, I regret teaching you martial arts.”
Yu Ha-rin raised her head and looked at Hwan Chu-hyul.
“……If you had not mastered that sword, you would not have the kind of pain you have now.”
“Do not say such things, Instructor. Living as a weakling in this world is also a terrible pain.”
At Yu Ha-rin’s words, spoken calmly while cleaning her sword, Hwan Chu-hyul looked at her with sorrowful eyes.
“What remains for you by going to such lengths?”
“…….”
In the silence, Yu Ha-rin lifted her sword, breathed on the blade, and then took the neatly folded cloth again.
And she began to slowly wipe her sword with the cloth she held.
“Your wretched father is already dead. Now, no more……”
“Instructor.”
Yu Ha-rin’s cold voice echoed in the room.
“I have forgotten the past. I am simply looking forward and moving on.”
Hwan Chu-hyul, looking at Yu Ha-rin for a moment, let out a small sigh and carefully opened his mouth.
“The higher the realm you reach, the more the heat in your body will run wild. For a woman born with Yin energy to endure that heat, she must ultimately burn away her Innate Qi. The length of your life will shorten, and in that process, terrible pain will be constant. Even now……”
“It is the path I chose, Instructor.”
Yu Ha-rin raised her head and looked straight at the instructor.
“I would like you to respect my choice.”
Yu Ha-rin’s sword, without a single speck of dust remaining, shone faintly as it caught the chilly moonlight.
“And didn’t you also say, Instructor? Ultimately, heat that has reached its extreme will someday merge with Yin energy.”
“That is an ideal result. It is a path possible only after at least surpassing the Peak Realm. I, who have not yet stepped into the Peak Realm, know well that I cannot show you that path, do I not?”
Yu Ha-rin wore a faint smile.
“Because of that, I must strive even more to jump over that wall. Even if that process is arduous and reckless, I have no choice but to find that path in the end.”
At Yu Ha-rin’s resolute words, Hwan Chu-hyul shook his head from side to side.
“I…… until I met you, I took pride in my outstanding understanding of martial studies. Even if my body could not follow that realm, I was confident I would not lose to anyone at least within my head.”
Hwan Chu-hyul slowly stood up and looked at the moon outside the window.
“But now I feel regret. With this ability that heaven supposedly gave me, what I eventually passed on to you is nothing but a half-baked principle. Planting an illusion about the destination without being able to show the path. That is something close to torture, is it not?”
With a bitter expression, Hwan Chu-hyul turned his body and looked at Yu Ha-rin.
“Do not overdo it. Since you have sufficiently shown your ability in the Life-and-Death Tournament, once you enter the Alliance Leader’s Palace, you will be able to learn martial arts from a more outstanding warrior, not a half-wit like me. It will take some time, but if you relearn a proper path from the beginning like that……”
“Do not say such things. The path you showed me, Instructor, is the proper path for me. I will walk this path silently and prove that your teachings were right.”
“Ha-rin.”
Hwan Chu-hyul’s gaze moved along with Yu Ha-rin, who slid her sword into its scabbard and slowly rose.
“I have come this far by enduring hellish pain. Instructor. It is already too late to start over from the beginning. My body will not be able to endure it, and my life will not permit that much time.”
Yu Ha-rin approached Hwan Chu-hyul and slowly placed her hand on his arm.
“I came this far through the path you taught me. The insignificant me became one of the Five Evils, and now the Alliance Leader’s Palace is before my eyes. So there is no reason at all for you to waver, Instructor. Since you taught me the right path, I intend to walk only that right path and reach the Peak Realm.”
A drop of blood fell with a pop from Hwan Chu-hyul’s tightly shut lips.
Hwan Chu-hyul clenched his fists tightly.
“……If I had known the proper path, you would not have had to walk such a reckless and dangerous path like this. It is all due to my deficiency.”
“I am a body that came into the world harboring the energy of Fiery Yang despite being a woman. Not just you, Instructor, but anyone would not have been able to show me a clear path. Stop worrying here and just…… watch over me and cheer for me as you do now.”
Yu Ha-rin’s hand left Hwan Chu-hyul’s body.
Turning around, she slowly walked out of the room.
Hwan Chu-hyul did not have the courage to look at Yu Ha-rin’s back, so he could only stare blankly out the window.
****
“Yu Ha-rin.”
“Yes.”
“Han Jaun.”
“Yes.”
As the two people climbed onto the tournament ground, the surroundings instantly became quiet.
Just like the calm before a storm.
A silence that felt like it would soon explode filled the tournament ground.
In that silence, the eyes of the spectators were directed only toward the two people who had stepped onto the tournament ground.
Jaun, watching Yu Ha-rin approach with a calm gait, bowed his head slightly, and Yu Ha-rin also bowed her head in return.
Subsequently, as the supervisor walked onto the tournament ground, the atmosphere around the tournament ground heated up even more.
The supervisor, who looked at the two and swallowed his saliva, slowly raised his flag.
“WAAAAAA!”
“WAAAAAA!”
“Yu Ha-rin! I believe only in you!”
“Flatten the nose of that arrogant Murim Alliance guy!”
As the supervisor’s flag went up, the cheers of the spectators, which they had been holding back, erupted all at once.
The simultaneous forfeiture of Jaun and Yu Ha-rin, who were literally dominating the Life-and-Death Tournament.
The spectators, who were initially puzzled, now understood well why those forfeitures had happened and what this resulting match signified.
Jaun’s name was also heard occasionally, but the name filling the arena was Yu Ha-rin’s.
The emotions of the warriors who had passionately cheered for Jaun had changed to jealousy before they knew it.
In the end, they were warriors of the Sado Alliance and did not want to see Jaun, who belonged to the Murim Alliance, go up any further. Of course, among them were muscular, hulking men who screamed for Jaun until their throats burst, but the overall trend belonged to Yu Ha-rin.
The last pride of the Sado Alliance, the warrior representing the Five Evils, the current best rising star, the new genius of the Sado Alliance who would succeed Ice Rakshasa, Yu Ha-rin.
Every warrior of the Sado Alliance yearned for Yu Ha-rin to be the one who shone until the end in this Life-and-Death Tournament.
And as if she knew such expectations, Yu Ha-rin bowed deeply toward the warriors of the Sado Alliance.
Yu Ha-rin, having finished her greetings to the surrounding warriors like that, slowly turned toward Jaun.
“We finally met.”
At Yu Ha-rin’s words, Jaun nodded lightly.
“You don't intend to go easy today either, do you?”
“That will depend on how much you do.”
The heated cheers for Yu Ha-rin filled the surroundings.
Even in the midst of it, Jaun was looking at Yu Ha-rin with sparkling eyes without a hint of agitation.
Looking at Jaun, who answered calmly, Yu Ha-rin let out a chuckle.
“You’re so annoying, really.”
Yu Ha-rin, who had been looking at Jaun for a moment, slowly drew the sword from her waist. The well-maintained sword, which looked as though it could cut even the air, flashed as it reflected light in all directions.
“Do you know what I gave up to come out for this match today? I deceived a member of the Five Evils, I disappointed the Alliance Leader, and I even made the instructor I respect the most worry.”
Hot heat began to smolder in the eyes of Yu Ha-rin, who was unfolding her story calmly.
“And yet you dare to say such a thing in front of me?”
THUD
A massive energy began to spread out from Yu Ha-rin’s body.
‘As expected. She was no ordinary person.’
Jaun, who was feeling Yu Ha-rin’s energy, nodded his head.
Yu Ha-rin’s level was already at the very end of the First-rate.
She was a talent with the possibility of reaching the Peak Realm at an even younger age than Ice Rakshasa depending on her effort and providential encounters.
Of course, she had not yet reached the Peak Realm, but it was insufficient to speak of her martial prowess simply as a realm.
Yu Ha-rin was emitting an energy so stable and refined that it was at a different level from the First-rate masters Jaun had met so far.
‘With that energy alone, I can feel the path you have lived.’
How much she had strived.
How much she had poured in.
How sincere she was about martial arts.
Confronting Yu Ha-rin’s energy, for the first time in his life, Jaun felt a doubt about whether his own life might have been idle.
To achieve this level of accomplishment at that age in the Sado Alliance, which did not have a proper system.
The Sado Alliance, which had only recently grown in power, was bound to have deficiencies both structurally and systematically compared to the Murim Alliance.
But even in such deficient circumstances, a brilliant raw gem was grinding and polishing her own light.
Jaun let out a large breath.
“Let us speak with our swords.”
Jaun, who pulled out his Dark Steel Sword, turned his head toward the supervisor.
The supervisor, having confirmed that both Jaun and Yu Ha-rin were finished with their preparations, shouted loudly.
“Match start!”
The supervisor’s flag cut through the wind and fell downward.
WHOOSH
Simultaneously with the fall of the supervisor’s flag, flames flared up from the sword Yu Ha-rin was holding.
Subsequently, her sword, which rotated fiercely, began to rotate around her body like a disc made of flames.
It was cold, yet it was warm.
The heat Yu Ha-rin emitted was giving a feeling difficult to express in words.
Subsequently, Yu Ha-rin’s body instantly disappeared from Jaun’s vision.
It was a speed comparable to Baek-myo.
CLANG!
Jaun instinctively struck away Yu Ha-rin’s sword, which flew toward his neck.
Jaun did not intend to open his Middle Dantian in this match with Yu Ha-rin.
The biggest purpose was to give the Sado Alliance an appropriate stimulus but prevent them from becoming wary.
Because of that, he could not let down his tension.
Jaun focused his mind and raised his sword.
In the meantime, Yu Ha-rin, who had stepped back once, surged toward Jaun again.
CLANG! BANG!
BOOM! POOF!
In an instant, Jaun’s sword and Yu Ha-rin’s sword collided several times, creating small explosions in the air.
Yu Ha-rin’s flames, which shattered finely in the air, fell in all directions and emitted smoke with a SIZZLE.
The spectators dared not even let out a shout at the duel, which was at a different level from anything so far.
They just clenched their fists and cheered for the two in their hearts.
The heat from the spectators added to the heat emitted by Jaun and Yu Ha-rin, making the tournament ground turn hot.
CLANG
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!
Yu Ha-rin’s sword continued brilliantly and at high speed.
Her sword was a Quick Sword, an Illusion Sword, and a Soft Sword.
Jaun blocked the terrible heat transmitted through the sword by pulling up his Demonic Energy.
Black sparks and red sparks exploded continuously in the air.
At the feast of flames that looked like fireworks exploding, small exclamations were heard from various places in the spectator seats.
Jaun’s hand became sticky with sweat.
Already, Yu Ha-rin had forgotten everything and was concentrating on the sword.
Each and every sword path was a killing move, and because of that, one could suffer a great injury or lose their life if they made a mistake.
Cold sweat trickled down Jaun’s spine.
Yu Ha-rin’s sword, which had continued for a long time, began to create a different variation.
WHOOSH
The flames wrapping around Yu Ha-rin’s sword increased in size in an instant. And Yu Ha-rin’s sword, enveloped in a massive flame, appeared above Jaun’s head in the blink of an eye and fell straight down.
“Hyaaaaap!”
Yu Ha-rin’s well-polished sword, which was dazzlingly bright, came down cutting through the air.
The sword wind pushed away the air around Jaun, and the massive flame burned away the remaining air.
In an instant, heat that made it difficult to even breathe covered Jaun. In that burning heat, Jaun’s sword began to soar slowly from bottom to top.
The more Jaun’s sword soared upward, the slower Yu Ha-rin’s sword became, as if submerged in water.
And soon, Jaun’s slowly soaring sword met Yu Ha-rin’s sword.
BOOM!
A massive explosion of energy occurred.
The bodies of the supervisors standing in the corners of the tournament ground were blown in all directions.