Chapter 67 : Chapter 67
Chapter 067. Sword Ghost (5)
It was the Sword Ghost's groan that broke the silence.
“Urgh, what is this……!”
Fresh blood was streaming down from the corners of his mouth, but what dwelt in his eyes was disbelief rather than pain.
‘This me, pushed back?’
The opponent was not an absolute master of a different status like the Sword Emperor or the Martial Sovereign. It was merely a woman who had barely stepped into the Entering Transformation Realm not long ago. That is why he came lightly as if taking a stroll.
The Sword Ghost even felt a sense of despondency.
He had done all sorts of filthy things to reach his current stage. Slaughtering an entire village was common, and he did not hesitate to transplant parts of a monster's body into his own.
However, Un Wol-hyang overwhelmed the Sword Ghost in an instant despite walking only the Righteous Path. At an age much younger than him.
In the Sword Ghost's thoughts, there was only one thing that could explain it. An absurd level of talent that was not given to him.
That was the same for the brat who blocked his single sword just before. Talent enough to cause jealousy. He didn't care because he thought that talent would also not be able to bloom if he killed him.
But now that he was pushed back by Un Wol-hyang, he ended up in a state where he could not even be certain of his own life and death.
“Kukukukuku…….”
To think that this is the result of pursuing strength even while giving up being human.
The Sword Ghost felt misery and caused the blood qi dormant in his sword to go berserk. The only way to deal with Un Wol-hyang right now.
SCREECH-!
The Blood Sword, which harbored the blood of innocent people, awakened, and the goosebump-inducing ghost wail originating from it shattered the silence.
The awakened Blood Sword soon transformed into the shape of an evil spirit even larger than before. The sword wrapped in it rushed toward Un Wol-hyang, chewing up the space.
GOOOOO—
Along with the ghost wail, the evil spirit's maw spat out countless red half-moon shaped slashes. The Sword Ghost's surroundings instantly became a single barrier shimmering in blood color.
Un Wol-hyang, who saw the sword qi rushing toward her with a threatening appearance as if wrapped in a Sea of Blood.
A cynical smile hovered at the corners of her mouth.
“I can show you a proper sword dance today, Martial Nephew.”
She kicked off the ground with a somewhat joyful look.
“How dare you!”
The Sword Ghost flew into a rage at the attitude of treating him merely as teaching material, but.
FLASH!
The moment her sword flashed silently, all his nerves were focused there. Because it seemed he wouldn't be able to hold out even after awakening the Blood Sword otherwise.
Soon after, the two swordsmen, who were advancing toward their respective ultimates in completely opposite ways, clashed once again.
* * *
—Martial Nephew, watch closely. Where you must reach.
Since hearing those words, Dam Jeok-san was capturing all of Un Wol-hyang's movements in his eyes while raising his concentration to the extreme.
A powerful will not to miss a single move. This was natural.
Receiving teachings from Un Wol-hyang can be done anytime. However, the opportunity to see her engaging in a Life-and-Death Duel is never common.
That is not all. At the moment when one obtains realization and their stage rises, the miraculous energy of heaven and earth gathers in the Upper Dantian, and inspiration becomes sharp to a degree incomparable to usual times.
At that time, things that could not be seen usually become visible, and things that could not be felt are felt. This also applies to martial arts.
Dam Jeok-san intuited. That if not now, he would never be able to see it. What exists at the place Un Wol-hyang reached, at the place he must reach.
CRASHHHHH—!
When the Sword Ghost made a move, a roar sounded as if hundreds of Thunderbolt bombs had exploded.
However, the moment Un Wol-hyang swung her sword, silence arrived as if nothing had happened.
Truly a bloody battle between those standing at two extremes.
Although there were quite outstanding parts in the Sword Ghost's swordsmanship as well,
‘Martial Aunt's side is much more superior.’
It was not enough to satisfy Dam Jeok-san's eyes. Especially that shape of the evil spirit, which relied on the sword fed with fresh blood rather than his own ability.
Feeling somewhat pity for the souls who died to temper such a base thing, he turned his gaze away from the Sword Ghost.
Only Un Wol-hyang was now completely contained in Dam Jeok-san's retinas.
A sword that brings complete silence. That is proof that Un Wol-hyang's sword has gone beyond Shadowless and reached the realm of Soundless.
If shadows disappear and sounds disappear, what is next?
Dam Jeok-san found that answer as if possessed by something.
Traceless.
A stage where not only the shadow but even the trajectory disappears.
A sword of death that flies in without omen or trace.
That must be the Limitless that Un Wol-hyang pursues. Dam Jeok-san felt a strange sensation of certainty welling up from inside his chest even though the basis was sparse. As if he himself had become the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable.
‘Is this the inspiration of the moment of breaking through a stage?’
It is an ability more surprising than I thought. Dam Jeok-san did not take his eyes off Un Wol-hyang's sword even while thinking so.
Her sword drew a secretive yet elegant trajectory and pressed the Sword Ghost step by step. And in that process, the essences of swordsmanship she had accumulated unfolded perfectly one by one.
‘It is to show me.’
There is no way she would use such complicated moves just to cut the Sword Ghost. Because her sword, built up step by step according to the Righteous Path, was of a different status than the Sword Ghost.
Dam Jeok-san engraved the trajectories of the sword Un Wol-hyang showed one by one deep into his mind.
‘Although the Limitless that Martial Aunt pursues is different from mine, the fact that its root is the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style is no different.’
It is a self-evident fact that just faintly seeing the Limitless she draws will be a tremendous help to Dam Jeok-san's martial arts.
Take what can be taken.
And put away what cannot be taken to the other side of consciousness.
He gathered the inspiration down to a single hair. Starting from every movement she took, to the flow of qi that could be read with eyes, the trembling of the sword tip, and even the vibration of the air.
Dam Jeok-san saw everything he could see. Bloody tears streamed down again because the Upper Dantian could not handle the inspiration that had become abnormally intense due to the awakening, but Dam Jeok-san did not care at all. The path forward is visible, so is something like this a big deal?
His gaze was fixed on the two people again.
THWACK!
Un Wol-hyang's sword pierced the Sword Ghost's shoulder before anyone knew it. As she twisted and pulled out the sword, bright red fresh blood spurred out like a fountain.
Not missing the gap where the Sword Ghost could not control his body for a moment due to the shock, Un Wol-hyang's sword swept past his flank once again.
The Sword Ghost swung his sword wildly and desperately while staggering. At a glance, it looked crude, but it was a sword move containing the will to take the opponent's flesh even if he gave up his own bones.
SLICE! Un Wol-hyang's hem was cut off, and a scratch was engraved on her pure white wrist. In exchange, the Sword Ghost received a deep wound, but he seemed not to care at all.
Indeed, for a being outside of humanity, this would not be much different from a scratch.
‘Martial Aunt's sword technique is overwhelming.’
What the Sword Ghost chose against it was to endure with regenerative power. However, Un Wol-hyang felt strangeness watching such a Sword Ghost.
‘He is excessively defensive.’
It is not a phrase suitable for someone using tactics close to mutual destruction, but it was actually so. Even Half-Demons with a status much lower than the Sword Ghost can use much more extraordinary tricks if they consume demonic energy.
‘He is saving something.’
Un Wol-hyang was not the only one who noticed that fact.
Dam Jeok-san instinctively sent a telepathic message to Un Wol-hyang.
[Martial Aunt.]
The extremely developed inspiration combined with the Predator's intuition, skipping the process and reaching the result. An ability close to the Upper Dantian foresight of peerless masters.
[The Sword Ghost will choose to flee, do not bother chasing him and just leave him be.]
Dam Jeok-san's telepathic message continued naturally. As if that scene was emerging inside his head.
Un Wol-hyang listened to his telepathic message while calmly driving the Sword Ghost into a corner. The Sword Ghost, who was busy blocking Un Wol-hyang's sword, had no energy to notice the two people's secret conversation.
[I think I can track him.]
At that story, Un Wol-hyang's eyes flashed with a strange light for an instant. Where would the Sword Ghost flee to? It must be his main base where another Cardinal would be guarding. The words that he could track him were the same as saying he could accurately find the main base where the ritual was taking place.
Hearing those words, Un Wol-hyang rather increased the speed and power of her sword even more.
“Your skill is insignificant compared to your notoriety. I will cut off that filthy neck today.”
She spoke to the Sword Ghost in a languid voice. At the same time, a baptism of sword strikes poured down fiercely. Inside it contained killing intent thick enough to even startle the Sword Ghost.
“…….”
Does the Sword Venerable really intend to fight to the death? The Sword Ghost had no choice but to think so. Also, that thought made the Sword Ghost's feelings impatient.
‘I need to strike first.’
With a roar of GUOOOOO, dark red demonic energy swelled up from his sword blade with formidable momentum. Just the fluctuation of energy distorted space and made the atmosphere tremble.
“Is it the Blood Killing Destruction Sword?”
Un Wol-hyang calmly raised her sword even after seeing the situation that was no different from an omen of disaster. The Blood Killing Destruction Sword, the Sword Ghost's signature ultimate technique said to be extremely strong in person-to-person combat. It was a sword she wanted to properly clash with and break at least once.
WHAAAAAK!
Dark red demonic energy encroached upon the whole world. The Sword Ghost's sword was originally of the Unorthodox and Evil path based on dispersion and pollution. The Blood Killing Destruction Sword was its essence.
The demonic energy that encroached upon the world clung tenaciously to Un Wol-hyang's body. It whispered terrible ghost wails in her ears, rotted her skin, and made her mind collapse. A wicked attack that a human would naturally be terrified of.
However, Dam Jeok-san noticed that Un Wol-hyang was still maintaining a coldly settled reason.
Her sword pierced the hell of the Blood Killing Destruction Sword while harboring the silence of Traceless.
However, a thrust slightly strayed from the center.
‘She intended it.’
If she had pierced the center accurately, the Sword Ghost would have been in a near-death state. Dam Jeok-san intuited the fact that Un Wol-hyang followed his words.
CRACKLE-CRACK!
Un Wol-hyang's sword went beyond the Blood Killing Destruction Sword and embedded itself in the Sword Ghost's shoulder. Fresh blood splashed up with a SPLURT sound. However, that was also brief; the Sword Ghost pushed the blade against his shoulder as is and cut his arm half off.
The guy fired off all his remaining latent power without caring about his tattered body. An act practically no different from consuming Pre-natal Qi. However, unlike humans, Half-Demons can recover even consumed Pre-natal Qi over several months.
This was the real way he had survived until now. Unlike his signature ultimate technique, it was a secret technique of escape he had secretly kept.
WHOOSH!
The moment the Sword Ghost kicked off the ground, the guy's figure turned whitish and moved far away to the other side. A transcendental lightness art as if he had unfolded Earth Shrinking.
It is merely a temporary speed obtained in exchange for firing off latent power, but with this much, he can shake off anyone's pursuit.
“Just wait and see, next time I will cut off the necks of you bitches and bastards and hang them on the tip of my sword.”
The Sword Ghost babbled so while looking back for a moment even as he grew faint in the distance.
“I will make him pay the price for that nonsense before long.”
Dam Jeok-san said to his Martial Aunt, who was looking at the Sword Ghost with coolly settled eyes.
“I will look forward to it, Martial Nephew.”
She spoke while smiling beautifully enough to give goosebumps. Dam Jeok-san stroked the goosebumps on his neck and focused his mind.
The Sword Ghost left the field of view in an instant, but Dam Jeok-san's senses were sharply alive and grasping his movements.
‘I can smell it.’
He, who was once a threatening attacker, had now become an important key that would lead the Monster Repelling Squad to the center of this conspiracy.