The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

"..."

Soyeon Sang was speechless for a while after hearing Cheon Myeong's words.

And for good reason, to suddenly ask to fight him.

First of all, as Cheon Myeong's escort warrior, it didn't make sense to fight his master instead of protecting him.

What made Soyeon Sang even more dumbfounded was Cheon Myeong's shameless attitude.

'What on earth does the Young Master think of me?'

Does he think my level is similar to Yakhyeon's?

Isn't that why he can talk like that?

If not, he couldn't understand why he was asking to fight him.

"...Did you just ask me to fight you?"

"Ah, it might have sounded like there was a slight misunderstanding."

"..."

"To be precise, I'm asking for a duel."

Even when Cheon Myeong said that, Soyeon Sang's mood was still unpleasant.

A duel is something that is done between opponents of similar skill.

If the skill difference is too great, it's not a duel, but just a case of the skilled person bullying the unskilled person.

And Soyeon Sang naturally thought that there was a skill gap between him and Cheon Myeong as wide as the sky and the earth.

"Why are you asking me for a duel?"

"Wouldn't it be a more practical training to have an opponent than to just swing a sword by myself?"

"..."

"And since there's a very excellent opponent here, I'm asking for a duel like this."

If it had been before Cheon Myeong lost his strength, he wouldn't know.

But now, no matter how he thought about it, Soyeon Sang thought that there was nothing Cheon Myeong could gain from a duel with him.

"Young Master, I dare to say this... there is a huge skill gap between you and me right now."

"I know."

"...Do you still want a duel with me?"

"I probably can't beat you right now. But I think there are things that can be gained from defeat."

"..."

If he's going to say that, he can't help it.

Soyeon Sang decided to agree to the duel as Cheon Myeong requested.

"I understand. Will you be using a real sword for the duel?"

"Yes, that would be a practical training."

"...Let's go to a wider place."

Soyeon Sang said that and walked towards the center of the yard.

And Cheon Myeong slowly followed behind him.

Soon, the two were standing facing each other in the middle of the yard.

"Young Master..."

And Mihwa was watching the scene with an anxious face.

No matter how much it was Cheon Myeong, he would never be able to win against Soyeon Sang.

What kind of place was the Guardian Hall that Soyeon Sang belonged to? Only those with considerable skill within the Demonic Cult could belong there.

So even for Mihwa, who had no knowledge of martial arts, the result of the duel seemed clear.

'Elder Soyeon Sang will go easy on the Young Master, right...?'

Thinking so, she didn't stop the duel.

But since it was a duel using real swords, Mihwa couldn't help but be nervous inside even though she knew that fact.

Clang-.

And amidst that tension, Cheon Myeong drew his sword first.

Soyeon Sang also drew his sword afterwards.

But it was just drawing the sword, and from his face, it could be seen that he was not nervous about this duel at all.

"Can we start?"

Cheon Myeong asked, facing his sword.

Then, Soyeon Sang answered with a blank face.

"You can start whenever you want, Young Master."

Frankly, even if Cheon Myeong launched a surprise attack when he wasn't holding his sword, he could handle it sufficiently.

There was a clear skill difference between Cheon Myeong and himself to that extent.

He felt that even holding a sword like this was a waste of time, so Soyeon Sang's mind was full of the thought of wanting to end this duel as soon as possible.

'He's quite relaxed.'

Seeing Soyeon Sang speaking with a blank face, Cheon Myeong had that thought.

But it couldn't be helped. Anyone could see that the underdog between the two was this side.

If it had been when he was Jang Cheon, he would have been angry at that attitude, but Cheon Myeong himself didn't think he could win against Soyeon Sang in this duel, so he wasn't particularly angry even when Soyeon Sang showed that attitude.

"Then let's start."

Cheon Myeong said lightly and rushed at Soyeon Sang.

Cheon Myeong headed straight for Soyeon Sang in a straight line.

When the distance got closer to some extent, he maintained that state and swung his sword.

Clang-.

A pretty clean frontal slash.

But that's all.

Even with the added speed of rushing, the sword strike itself didn't feel very powerful, so it didn't feel threatening at all.

'...It's light.'

Is this the blow of a successor candidate for the next leader?

No, it would be the blow of a former candidate.

After directly receiving Cheon Myeong's sword, Soyeon Sang couldn't hide his disappointment.

Whoosh-.

Whether he knew Soyeon Sang's feelings or not, Cheon Myeong continued to swing his sword diligently.

Sword strikes poured down on Soyeon Sang from various directions.

However, Soyeon Sang stood in one place and lightly blocked all those sword strikes.

"..."

In the silence, only the sound of swords clashing echoed continuously.

Just by listening to the sound, it seemed like a considerable fierce battle was taking place.

But in reality, only one side was in a hurry, and the other side was showing a relaxed appearance from beginning to end.

Of course, the one in a hurry was Cheon Myeong, and the relaxed one was Soyeon Sang.

He was so relaxed that Soyeon Sang had not taken a single step from that spot since the duel began.

'I can't go easy on him anymore.'

The opponent he had held hope for for a moment was only showing a disappointing appearance, so he felt anger boiling up inside.

Before that anger was expressed outside, Soyeon Sang decided to end the duel at this point.

Whoosh-.

Soyeon Sang, who had only been defending until now, swung his sword for the first time.

A blow with power, unlike Cheon Myeong's.

In the end, Cheon Myeong couldn't withstand that blow and had no choice but to let go of the sword he was holding.

Clang-.

The sword that left his hand flew a considerable distance and fell behind Cheon Myeong.

At the same time, the duel was decided.

Since the swordsman had dropped his sword, it was natural that he could no longer fight.

In other words, Cheon Myeong's defeat.

It was a result that everyone had already expected.

"Do you admit defeat?"

Soyeon Sang asked, pointing his sword at Cheon Myeong.

Then, Cheon Myeong answered with a light smile.

"Yes, I lost."

"..."

"You're amazing. I didn't think it would be decided in one move."

No matter how much of a skill difference there was, seeing Cheon Myeong smiling foolishly after being defeated so simply, Soyeon Sang even felt negative about that appearance.

But it didn't matter to him anymore, did it?

Since he had learned that Cheon Myeong was just a person who talked a good game, he would just have to faithfully carry out his duties from now on.

Thinking so, Soyeon Sang was about to sheathe his sword.

However.

"Wait a minute."

"..."

"It's still too early to sheathe your sword."

"...What do you mean?"

The duel was already over.

So there would be no problem with him sheathing his sword.

Soyeon Sang asked Cheon Myeong with a puzzled face.

"We have to continue."

"...Hasn't the duel already ended?"

"The first duel is over. So now we have to start the second duel, right?"

"..."

Did he mean it in that sense?

Of course, Soyeon Sang had no intention of continuing the duel with Cheon Myeong.

'Humoring him once is enough.'

His duty was to protect Cheon Myeong, after all.

Humoring him in a duel like this was neither his duty nor his obligation.

So, while the first time was one thing, now that his expectation for Cheon Myeong had completely disappeared, Soyeon Sang thought that there was no need to continue this meaningless act.

"Young Master, I think this duel is meaningless."

"..."

"So I'm sorry, but I don't think I can continue to humor you, Young Master."

Soyeon Sang clearly stated his intention to Cheon Myeong.

Of course, those words might sound quite rude.

But Soyeon Sang was a person who clearly distinguished between public and private matters, and also because various emotions were mixed in, he had spoken to Cheon Myeong in that way.

"I understand."

"..."

"Your duty is to protect me, after all, not to humor me in training like this, right? On top of that, since your opponent is so weak that he ends in one move, it's not fun to have a duel."

"...Thank you for your understanding."

"Then how about this?"

He said he understood, but he suddenly made a proposal.

Soyeon Sang hadn't heard the rest of the story yet, but he already had some idea of what Cheon Myeong would say.

"Have one more duel with me this time."

"..."

"So if I manage to make you move even one step from that spot, continue to humor me in my duels in the future."

"On the contrary, if I subdue you while standing in this spot, does that mean I don't have to participate in duels in the future?"

Nod-.

Cheon Myeong nodded silently instead of answering.

Frankly, Soyeon Sang didn't need to humor such a bet.

However, if he won for sure through a bet, Cheon Myeong would have nothing more to say to him.

Soyeon Sang felt that this was cleaner.

'The result is already decided anyway.'

Even if he held his sword with one hand, he could block all of Cheon Myeong's attacks from that spot.

Because the result was so clear, Soyeon Sang decided to accept Cheon Myeong's bet.

"I understand."

When Soyeon Sang said that, Cheon Myeong smiled lightly.

And he approached the sword that had fallen behind him and picked it up.

Thump-.

Cheon Myeong pointed his sword at Soyeon Sang again.

And the same went for Soyeon Sang.

Soyeon Sang just wanted to end this meaningless act as soon as possible.

"Please start when you're ready."

This time, Soyeon Sang said to Cheon Myeong first.

Then, a slight strange light flickered in Cheon Myeong's eyes, unlike before.

'Something feels...'

Soyeon Sang suddenly felt a slightly different feeling from Cheon Myeong than before.

But there was no need to worry about it.

No matter what Cheon Myeong did, he would not move even one step from this spot.

Fwoosh-.

At that moment, Cheon Myeong rushed at Soyeon Sang head-on.

'It's the same.'

Is he going to rush at me head-on this time too?

Or is this a feint, and he might suddenly attack from another direction?

But whatever it was, it was all a useless act.

This time, instead of just blocking, he would immediately counterattack and end the duel.

Fwoosh-.

However, at that moment, Cheon Myeong's movement, which he had thought was the same as before, suddenly changed.

It was the same that he was coming from Soyeon Sang's front, but he had taken a step and leaped in the middle.

Of course, the height of the leap was not that high, but it was a clearly different movement from before.

"...?"

What kind of cheap trick is he trying to pull?

Soyeon Sang decided to watch Cheon Myeong's move until the end.

Since there was a skill difference between them, he would be able to respond sufficiently even if he watched until the end.

Whoosh-.

At that moment, Cheon Myeong's body, which was slightly floating in the air, began to spin with a fast movement.

At that moment, Soyeon Sang felt something unusual in that movement.

And as he was thinking that, Cheon Myeong's sword strike instantly rushed at Soyeon Sang's eyes.

"..."

A weight that was unbelievable to think of as Cheon Myeong's sword strike.

It even felt like a huge being had struck his sword with its tail.

'This is...!'

Soyeon Sang also swung his sword to match Cheon Myeong's sword strike.

Since it had rushed at him from that side more quickly than expected, there was a sense of being a little late, but he must have responded with force.

Originally, this much was enough to make Cheon Myeong drop his sword from his hand like before.

However.

Cheon Myeong did not let go of his sword.

Rather, he was pushing forward relentlessly at a level equal to Soyeon Sang's sword strike.

'I can't take it...!'

In the end, unable to withstand Cheon Myeong's sword strike, Soyeon Sang retreated from that spot.

After retreating quite a bit, Soyeon Sang was looking at Cheon Myeong with disbelieving eyes.

And looking at Soyeon Sang, Cheon Myeong said.

"Your feet moved, right?"

"..."

"Then I won. Right?"

Cheon Myeong asked with a smile.

That appearance looked like a completely different person from when he had just delivered a fierce blow.

(End of Chapter)