Chapter 115 – Three Months (2)
I’m so angry.
“Is this all the power Guryong has these days?”
That bastard who dodges my attacks with a sneer, and me who struggles to counterattack.
My anger takes control of my body, and I recklessly attack again, only to be stopped by the enemy’s movements.
Even when I try to calm myself down, the whispers of the Pungga disciples behind me, who are worried about Yanghajeong, make me angry again.
“Ah, don’t rush out too quickly. The opponent’s skill level is incredible.”
Pungwol may not know if that’s an analysis, but I’m so crazy that I want to blow that ugly bastard’s head off.
The old man in front of me deflects my attacks with restrained movements, watching Pungwol, who could attack at any moment.
He knows that if Pungwol charges in while we’re tangled up, it will be a headache.
“Strong and fast, but that’s all. You must have learned excellent martial arts, but you can’t fully utilize its power.”
“Still, it’s enough to kill one old man.”
I respond to the old man’s words and quickly move my hands. Even if I fly Cheonyangjang and Hyeoneumji at the same time, if I don’t see any results, I’ll make the next move more sophisticated.
A decent defense is happening, probably because of the pressure that Pungwol could come in at any moment.
“If you judge with your eyes, you’ll be too late.”
The old man’s magic causes me sharp pain.
Magic is also a product of my strength, and it becomes more intense when an attack is about to come.
I tried to enhance my senses as much as possible and move my body as lightly as possible.
“This magic, prediction, and a little intuition.”
It was a deadly chess game where I had to interpret information that I couldn’t fully accept with my eyes and interpret it with my whole body to make the next move.
The power that flowed through my fingertips was not the strength that was condensed but a powerful force that was infinitely soft and light to kill with minimal force.
“It seems to be getting better, but it’s not enough.”
This martial art is probably better than my mother’s. I haven’t fought him properly, but he seems to be at my father’s level.
He’s almost at the pinnacle, a top-notch master.
I don’t know what the old man sees, but an intense and refined energy flows from the tip of his dagger, splitting and sharpening the flow of my attacks.
Like tentacles reaching out on their own, the sword changes its length and tries to seduce me.
“Now you’re about to die, and you’re giving me a lesson… Are you from the Soryeom sect, not the Magyo? Why are you so confrontational?”
“That mouth never shuts up. Even if I cut your throat, your mouth will still be running.”
My sharp sword energy is not physical, so the strike of the energy alone is much weaker than a strike with a physical sword.
But compared to my Jipung and Jangryeok, the power of my sword energy is multiplied.
Zziiing!
I easily tear apart the thick Jangryeok in my right hand, but it was a move I was planning to discard from the beginning.
While the old man dodges and parries my Hyeoneumji, which I have dispersed into five branches with my left hand, my legs are stomping on the ground with a serious expression.
A powerful wind flows from my fist, centered on the foot that firmly touches the ground.
“Huh!”
The power was so great that the old man couldn’t ignore it, and instead of splitting it with his sword energy, he countered it with the same wind energy that flowed from his hand.
He is definitely stronger than me. The old man could easily counter my powerful wind energy with his slightly unstable posture and a quick punch.
“Ah, it’s done. Retreat.”
“I still have some strength left.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to retreat. It won’t be easy to retreat when you’re out of strength.”
I glance at Pungwol and see that the disciples of Pungga are taking care of Yanghajeong.
I realized that I couldn’t beat this guy with my own strength, even if I mixed it up with Pungwol. He has both powerful attacks and strong defense.
All I have is my speed, but to match Pungwol’s support, he has to sacrifice his own advantages.
If you look at it, it might be more appropriate to say that he trained in a way that is not suitable for Pungwol’s support.
“Are you going? It might be a good idea to wait for the right moment to strike.”
“If you think that’s the way of the sword, then you should start by learning the Thousand Character Classic.”
I retreated while grumbling. It’s frustrating that I don’t have the power to kill him right now, but I must have drained some of his energy.
Let’s leave it to Pungwol for now. I was going crazy wanting to know Yanghajeong’s condition.
Yanghajeong was sweating profusely and couldn’t regain consciousness.
“It seems like he was hit by magic.”
One of Pungga’s disciples informed me.
I completely let go of my guard and listened while keeping an eye on the old man so that I could intervene in the fight at any time.
Magic.
It may be an evil energy or whatever, but its essence is just an energy that opposes naturalness. It’s the energy of magic.
It has nothing to do with demons and simply gives ordinary people a sense of discomfort. Finally, if it enters the body of an unfamiliar person, it causes harm.
I could try to expel the energy with my sword energy, but it’s difficult to do so when she’s in a state of unconsciousness.
“For now, this will have to do…”
The Do-mun and Bul-mun internal energy are polar opposites to all magic energy. My internal energy is suitable for fighting against magic energy.
I perform my energy technique while directing some of my internal energy through Yanghajeong’s pulse.
“Ugh…”
She was furrowing her brows for a moment, but her complexion began to relax as she started to breathe more comfortably.
“Thank you, Sohyeop.”
The disciple of Pungga bowed his head, but that wasn’t important to me.
“What about Gaju and the other disciples?”
There’s no way these guys didn’t factor in Pungmu-do. They must have prepared something and jumped in.
But the disciple of Pungga seemed to know nothing. He only followed Yanghajeong and some of the disciples of Pungga who had retreated.
“What are they doing?”
I knew there must be some reason, but watching Pungwol gradually being pushed back made me feel restless.
Pungwol, who used to defend against my attacks and occasionally showed his fangs in Guryongjaengpae, now had his barrier fading away against the old man’s attacks.
He was not used to quickly and urgently manipulating his sword to defend against the fast and piercing Jipung, which resulted in a decrease in his overall power.
It was a perfect example of the saying “haste makes waste.”
“Darn it.”
It would have been better for me to face the old man alone while Pungwol restrained him.
Since I don’t have a single move to take down the old man, he can concentrate his skills on Pungwol.
“[Hyungnim, retreat!]”
I heard my younger brother’s voice, but Pungwol couldn’t easily retreat. I had to intervene first since I had recovered some of my energy through my internal energy technique.
“Old man, I came to check on Sophie for a moment!”
“Ridiculous. Does your internal energy recover when you see Sophie?”
“If I want to let an old man who can’t even fit in a coffin rest comfortably, I have to be diligent!”
While the old man’s leg was momentarily distracted, my Hyeoneumji swept in, and Pungwol stepped back.
Pungwol returned to his position behind me, and I faced the old man head-on.
“As expected, that friend is too dull and boring. Can you play with me for a bit?”
Darn it.
Pungwol, who is clearly a top-notch expert, was being pushed back for a reason. The old man had roughly estimated the amount of energy he could spare to neutralize my attacks.
The old man’s attacks, which had been stopped at a level that appropriately neutralized my offensive, began to increase gradually.
The ratio of our attacks, which was 7:3, had started to approach 6:4 and then 5:5.
“I actually prefer this. Until now, you were too impatient with your attacks.”
I still wanted to kill this guy. But after confirming his skills, I realized that I needed to be more calculating.
But being evaluated so calmly and confidently made my anger boil.
“Ugh!”
I ended up getting my shoulder sliced. I thought I could handle it since I had been able to withstand his attacks without getting hurt, but I was wrong.
“Lighter, lighter.”
I can’t try to resist his attacks. I need to be as light as a willow leaf in the wind and let my body flow with the enemy’s movements.
I don’t think about attacking. If I had the luxury of doing so, I would, but right now, even that is a luxury.
The ratio of our attacks had decreased to about 2:8, but the old man’s expression had worsened.
The dagger in his left hand had moved to his right hand, and the elongated sword energy was now aiming at me.
Instead of resisting, I follow the movements of his arms, and instead of pushing him away, I pull him in and disrupt his aim.
My sword energy had become incredibly soft at my fingertips, like a piece of cotton.
“He’s someone who must be killed.”
I smirked. The old man’s words were the highest praise an enemy could give, so I couldn’t help but laugh.
Of course, I will kill this old man.
I didn’t respond to the old man’s words, and he frowned before trying to trap me with his sword energy and Jipung’s net.
It’s dangerous.
Pungwol was trying to come to my aid from behind, but since the nature of the attack had changed so suddenly, he would be at least half a step behind.
Perhaps after Pungwol arrived, the old man would suffer some losses, but I could feel his determination to kill me or inflict a fatal injury, even if he had to suffer losses.
Think, think.
Sasasasasat
The net of death, which was cutting through space like peeling an apple, was narrowing down to deliver a death sentence with each step.
In the midst of the accelerated thinking, I came up with an idea and used the maximum extent of the Dungryongbo technique to approach the old man.
The closer I got to the old man, the stronger his sword energy and Jipung’s baptism became, but the attacks became more linear and simple due to the shorter distance.
The problem was that I didn’t have an attack powerful enough to withstand his attacks.
It was just a matter of whether I would die from being hit by a light attack dozens of times or a powerful attack once.
But the old man should have thought about the possibility that I had a hidden card up my sleeve.
Miss.
I successfully neutralized the waves of sword energy and Jipung’s net concentrated in a narrow space with a single burst of energy from my right hand.
“What…?”
The old man looked at me with a bewildered expression, but I quickly rushed towards him, ready to strike.
Now is the time, if not now, there won’t be another chance.
“Die!”
I pushed my refined inner energy from my left hand with a light flick.
The sword energy that flew through the air like a gust of wind seeped into the old man’s body.
“Ugh!”
The old man’s face contorted in pain, but he didn’t die.
“How… how can you have such powerful attacks…!”
“I don’t want to satisfy your curiosity, let’s just go to the afterlife!”
The old man’s expression twisted into a sinister one.
My attack was a one-hit kill, but it seemed like he had enough strength to fight even with his internal injuries.
The attacks that came at me rapidly once again pressured me.
“Darn it, I should have learned properly…!”
With only half-baked knowledge of my inner energy technique, I couldn’t kill this guy.
Moreover, the powerful technique from earlier was an attack that poured out the Hyuncheonjigi, causing my body’s abilities to plummet without it.
Without the Hyuncheonjigi, my body couldn’t merge the opposing forces of the Sanggeukin and the Du Nae-gi, and my meridians were in a state of paralysis.
“You seem tired! So I should have played with you more carefully!”
The old man was clearly angry and ignored Pungwol’s attacks, focusing only on me.
Some of Pungga’s disciples also tried to join in, but none of them could withstand the old man’s fierce attacks.
Darn it, darn it!
The old man thrust his index and middle fingers in both hands towards me. A powerful attack filled with intense magic, aimed to kill.
I couldn’t keep up with his intricate movements, and I couldn’t even guess where he would strike.
I moved my hand with the thought of just blocking one attack.
Spot.
“…What?”
Fortunately, the old man missed, and I was able to avoid a fatal injury, but my shoulder was slightly numb.
The trace amount of magic that penetrated my shoulder was erased by my inner energy, and the old man glared at me as if he wanted to tear me apart.
“You are a seed that must be killed. Only you!”
Bang.
As if responding to the old man’s forceful shout, the wall behind him exploded, and rocks poured out.
“…Huh?”
The figure that appeared through the shattered wall was none other than Pungmudo, who was barely holding onto his sword in a state of collapse.
“Yeonghogyeong?”
The head of the Ma-gyo, Yeonghogyeong, who was relatively unscathed, was facing off against Pungmudo.
I inwardly sighed.
“This is fucked up.”
