A chilling flash of sword light flickered.
Each time Baek Woo Jin swung his sword, three or four afterimages appeared around him, which confused the opponent
“Urgh…!”
Before Namgong Soo knew it, the area around him was filled with swords conjured by Baek Woo Jin. It became nearly impossible to distinguish between what was real and what was an illusion.
If there was truly a hell of swords, this must be what it felt like.
He barely managed to identify the real sword and block the attack while gritting his teeth.
What on earth is this swordsmanship!
Everything was out of sync. It seemed chaotic, yet there was a solid foundation beneath it. It looked slow but struck like a tiger catching its prey.
He felt like he was in the midst of a five-mile fog
Where it would land, when it would strike, how it would hit—it felt as though a thick fog surrounded him and that fog was slowing his reactions by more than a beat.
The swordsmanship seemed to perfectly mirror Baek Woo Jin’s unpredictable and irritating personality, which made it all the more infuriating.
The movement of a sword changes according to the intention of the wielder. For example, if you want to use a fast sword technique, it must be accompanied by the correct form and the intention to swing the sword faster.
That was what made it even more puzzling. What intent did Baek Woo Jin harbor that caused his sword to be so erratic?
“Come on, your legs are wide open.”
As Namgong Soo struggled to block the relentless downpour of sword strikes, his lower defenses weakened. This allowed Baek Woo Jin to sweep his leg across the ground.
“Damn it…!”
Namgong Soo who was lost in useless thoughts missed the chance to evade and lost his balance.
This can’t happen!
A strong will to avoid the disgrace of rolling on the ground awakened him. Just as he was about to hit the ground, he pushed off with his hand and propelled himself into the air to regain his stance.
A collective gasp of awe rose from the spectators. They were quite impressed by his acrobatic movements.
“Huff, huff…!”
Namgong Soo, however, looked as though he’d just lost ten years of his life.
His pupils trembled wildly as if they were shaken by an earthquake.
Unpredictable events were unfolding one after another, with the most shocking being Baek Woo Jin who was grinning in front of him.
How does he have such skill?
Was Baek Woo Jin hiding his true strength all this time, or did he stumble upon one of those fortuitous encounters?
For Namgong Soo, this martial arts tournament carried immense stakes.
The title of Divine Dragon, the chance to make his name known among the martial artists of the martial arts world, and even Yoo Hwa Yeon.
Even though none of these were truly his yet, he felt as if they were being stolen away.
I can’t let this happen.
Almost everything he desired was blocked by the wall that was Baek Woo Jin, but not everything was lost yet.
I cannot lose to you.
There was nothing more ridiculous and humiliating than losing to someone you had looked down on and tormented so much. Namgong Soo did not want to live with such shame.
The energy inside Namgong Soo, which had been unfocused, began to sharpen once more.
From the sword he held upright, an ominous aura started to extend in multiple streams.
It was the manifestation of the Emperor Sword Form.
Baek Woo Jin stared at the sword before him with a terrifyingly calm expression.
The sword which was imbued with a majestic momentum surged forward sharply. When Baek Woo Jin moved aside to dodge, the sword shifted direction and charged again as if it was anticipating his movements.
Slow yet unyielding, relentlessly targeting the opponent with unwavering determination. The Emperor Sword Form was one of the few sword techniques that embodied the profound essence of the slow blade.
Unlike other sword styles, which could be concisely explained in a single sentence, the slow blade was extraordinarily difficult to define in a single way.
Simply put, it was a slow sword, the opposite of a swift blade. However, if it were merely slow, it would be easy prey for an opponent’s strike, so who would choose to use it?
The Emperor Sword Form was created by inscribing the answer of “momentum” into the profound art of the slow blade.
It transformed the image of a slow, unhurried approach into that of an emperor who owned everything in the world and had no reason to rush, thus becoming the Namgong Clan’s version of the slow blade—the Emperor Sword Form.
The pressure is quite intense.
The pressure of the Emperor Sword Form had been truly immense. The momentum radiating from the sword naturally constricted the surroundings and exerted a force that weighed heavily on the opponent’s body.
Because it approached slowly, that pressure felt all the more vivid and lasting.
Even if the sword was deflected, it would circle around and return. One might attempt a counterattack using a swift sword style in frustration, but it would be in vain.
Clang!
With the sword raised in a middle stance, it required only the slightest movement of the arm to block an incoming attack.
The path to counterattack seemed hopeless, and the pressure from the steadily approaching sword grew ever more overwhelming. Most foes would likely surrender to despair It was a sight truly befitting an emperor.
“This world’s swordsmanship is quite extraordinary.”
The swordsmanship of the martial arts world was certainly superior to that of the fantasy world. It was more systematic and clearly organized in its understanding of the sword.
Among the sword techniques Baek Woo Jin had learned in the fantasy world, there had been one that unraveled a slow blade with a similar concept to the Emperor Sword Form.
He had secretly learned it from one of two people who could be called his masters in that world, and he referred to it as the Sword of Space, a swordsmanship that dominated space itself.
The essence was similar to the Emperor Sword Form, but there were two decisive differences. The first was the entity that emitted the energy.
While the Emperor Sword Form used the sword as a medium to release energy, the Sword of Space had two entities.
The sword and the person.
“Sss…”
As he lightly drew breath into his lungs, he simultaneously unleashed the internal energy that had been dormant in his dantian.
A considerable amount of internal energy surged out like delicate threads, stopping in a defined space and no longer advancing, but drifting ominously through the air around him.
The second difference was that while the Emperor Sword Form bound space as a means of pressuring the opponent, the Sword of Space focused entirely on devouring the entire area with the pressure being merely a side effect.
Namgong Soo’s slow yet unyielding sword and steps came to a halt at the same time.
“Th-This…?”
Namgong Soo had sensed it too. The Emperor Sword Form’s domain was being consumed by the energy radiating from Baek Woo Jin.
“How could you possibly…?”
Not only that, but it also closely resembled the Emperor Sword Form, the Namgong Clan’s secret technique.
“That’s none of your concern.”
Isn’t there something else you should be worrying about?
At that moment, the domain that the Emperor Sword Form had forcibly held together completely vanished. And the pressure that Baek Woo Jin had been feeling reversed; it was now bearing down on Namgong Soo.
“Ugh!”
When he tried to retreat from the feeling of being surrounded by blades on all sides, Baek Woo Jin’s sword naturally blocked his escape route.
“Yo-You bastard!”
In a desperate frenzy, Namgong Soo swung his sword wildly and aimed at Baek Woo Jin’s vital points, but Baek Woo Jin effortlessly blocked each attack with just a movement of his arm and without changing his stance.
The space had already become Baek Woo Jin’s domain in all but name. No matter which direction Namgong Soo attempted to attack, Baek Woo Jin’s sword always reached the spot first, cutting off his path.
This can’t be happening.
A sensation he had never felt before swept over his entire body. He felt like nothing he did would work and that there was no way to escape this situation.
It was the feeling of utter helplessness.
Seeing Namgong Soo with his head half-lowered, Baek Woo Jin recalled the energy that had been permeating the surroundings. Some of it had already dissipated, blending with nature, and he could only recover a fraction of the internal energy he had expended.
Ugh, I’m running low on internal energy.
Though his ability to dominate the space surpassed that of the Emperor Sword Form, the downside was that it consumed an enormous amount of internal energy.
“I… I…”
He approached Namgong Soo who was mumbling to himself like a broken man.
“Hey, Gong Soo-ah. Snap out of it.”
A feeling of helplessness he had never known before, the overflowing pride Namgong Soo had in his swordsmanship, and his anger towards Baek Woo Jin—all of these emotions were converging and trying to drag Namgong Soo into the abyss of heart demons.
“Oh no, no running away.”
Once someone fell into a state of heart demons, they would lose all connection to the outside world, and no one could wake them until they escaped on their own.
If that happened, no matter how much he was beaten, Namgong Soo wouldn’t feel any pain.
That won’t do, hmm.
Before things went any further, Baek Woo Jin slapped Namgong Soo hard across the face.
Smack!
With a sharp sound, Namgong Soo’s fading vision started to clear and he stared blankly at Baek Woo Jin.
His eyes which had been unfocused and constantly muttering something began to turn bloodshot.
“If it weren’t for you…!”
Namgong Soo charged at him. All of his refined movements were discarded, leaving only the raw animalistic motions driven by instinct.
This was another manifestation of heart demons. Whereas the previous state had been one of self-doubt, trapping him in a prison of despair, this current state was fuelled by rage, with hostility lashing out at everything in sight.
This too made him insensitive to external pain, and it was something that had to be stopped.
“This brat keeps running away.”
Baek Woo Jin sheathed his sword and grabbed a gourd in his hand.
“Dieeeeee!”
Namgong Soo’s attack was aimed directly at a vital point, one that could be fatal.
In his expanded field of vision, Baek Woo Jin noticed the surrounding figures moving frantically.
Despite how it appeared, the attack wasn’t particularly dangerous. With only his instincts driving him, Namgong Soo’s attacks had become so predictable that Baek Woo Jin could easily evade them and even counterattack at will.
“Here you go!”
After sidestepping the sword that thrust toward him, Baek Woo Jin easily dodged and struck Namgong Soo’s chin with the bottom of his gourd.
Crunch!
“Argh!”
With an unpleasant sound and intense pain, Namgong Soo’s body flipped backward.
“Ugh…”
His jaw was slightly dislocated. Baek Woo Jin glanced at the group approaching the arena, then quickly advanced toward Namgong Soo.
“Hey, Gong Soo-ah. I don’t have much time.”
“W-What…”
Namgong Soo who barely regained his senses wavered as Baek Woo Jin tightly grabbed his bangs.
“Ugh!?”
Namgong Soo’s eyes snapped open and he clearly saw Baek Woo Jin sitting on top of him and grinning down at him.
“I don’t have much time to beat you up, you know.”
At the same moment, he saw a fist as big as a cauldron lid descending vertically.
“N-No…”
“Yes!”
Thwack!
Baek Woo Jin’s face lit up with a bright smile. It was so refreshing it was almost invigorating.
That was the last thing Namgong Soo saw before losing consciousness.
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