Chapter 1813 – 1813. Ascension To The Light
“Cough!”
Swept away by the explosion, I rolled on the ground, regaining my senses with a cough. The saliva I spat out was mixed with blood.
Beeeeeeep.
I tried to ignore the loud ringing in my ears and get up. I realized my left arm was gone. Instead of a sense of loss, irritation surged.
‘I have complete recovery, so it doesn’t matter if an arm is blown off.’
As the ringing subsided, pain surged. I had to endure this, even if it was annoying. Using complete recovery now wouldn’t solve anything.
‘I still have my right arm, so I can wield a sword. I have internal injuries, but I’m not about to die.’
I still held the Hwaryeon Flying Blade in my right hand. I put strength into the Hwaryeon Flying Blade and stood up. The surrounding scenery came into view.
Explosion.
It wasn’t just a simple grenade. The entire area was blown away. And I was reinforcing my body with qi. Yet, the explosion blew off my left arm.
‘The explosion came from the left. I think I reflexively raised my left arm….’
Was it an enemy trap?
But many enemies were also caught in the explosion. Just by turning my head slightly, I could see the corpses of dead enemies. Of course, there were also the corpses of those who followed me. It didn’t discriminate between friend or foe.
‘Which bastard… No, before that, how did they cause the explosion?’
I searched my memory. There was no sign of an explosion. Or maybe there was, but I didn’t notice it.
‘I didn’t have time. With an enemy to kill right in front of me, there was no room to pay attention to anything else. Unless the enemy was weak.’
If I didn’t fight with all my strength, I would be the one to be defeated. There were three masters of the Fifth Realm on the enemy side, while there were only two on our side.
‘…Thinking about it this way, we’re at a disadvantage. There’s no reason for the Yuun Merchant Guild to come out like this.’
The conclusion was clear. A third party had intervened. The problem was that I had no idea who that third party was.
‘Our side, the Yuun Merchant Guild, and the Yoon family of the Maga, all caught in a trap.’
I frowned. Even after racking my brain, I couldn’t guess their identity.
Let’s think about it differently. This explosion. It’s not easy to achieve this level of power with just simple gunpowder.
‘It doesn’t seem like a mine. In the first place, science hasn’t developed much in this world… A spell?’
I saw a crater. A crater that was roundly hollowed out as if a meteorite had fallen.
I focused my eyes to find Baekran. Before the explosion, Baekran was to my right.
‘Right rear. She would have been less affected by the explosion than I was.’
I hadn’t known Baekran for long. But it was enough time to judge that she wasn’t an easy woman. There was no way she would die from just this explosion.
‘I don’t think she would have run away. Heavenly Eye.’
[The Heavenly Eye is opened.]
My vision became much clearer. It was like 4k suddenly changing to 16k. My other senses also became sharper and the range increased.
‘Change the viewpoint.’
Another ability of the Heavenly Eye. I could see from a different perspective. For example, looking down from the sky.
‘…Found her.’
Baekran had been blown further away than I was. She was lying on the ground, looking at the sky. Her blank eyes didn’t make her seem dead. Someone was slowly approaching her.
‘An enemy?’
I focused my eyes to identify him. It was someone I remembered.
‘Hong Ganghu’s son, Hong Jeyu.’
Even if I wasn’t interested in men, I couldn’t forget someone I had been moving with for a week.
Compared to his father, Hong Ganghu, he was weak, foolish, and talkative. And he was particularly flirtatious with my woman, Baekran. Baekran treated Hong Jeyu appropriately. She put up a wall when he tried to get close, and when he was discouraged, she would talk to him, trying to extract information.
‘He’s approaching Baekran in such a normal state? That bastard set off the bomb!’
He set off an explosion with his own father within the blast radius? Logically, was he out of his mind? But… I understood him.
‘People will do anything to get a beautiful woman.’
To get my woman, Baekran, he set off an explosion, disregarding his father, his comrades, and everything else.
Words like ‘beauty is short-lived’ and ‘a beauty that can topple a nation’ flashed through my mind and disappeared. Beauty wasn’t always a good thing for a beautiful woman. Too many flies would swarm around. But a woman like Baekran knew how to use her beauty, so there was no need to worry too much.
‘Still, it’s annoying. Should I go kill him?’
Baekran and Hong Jeyu were talking. After a short conversation, Hong Jeyu reached out his hand to Baekran. Baekran hesitated, then took Hong Jeyu’s hand.
My eyes turned cold. What did it mean that Baekran took Hong Jeyu’s hand?
‘She wouldn’t have been threatened. Even if Baekran was affected by the explosion, she looks fine on the outside. With her skills, she could have struck that guy’s head right away….’
She wasn’t so naive that she would be swayed by Hong Jeyu’s words. Rather, she would have manipulated Hong Jeyu.
‘…Does she have some kind of scheme?’
Let’s join up with Baekran first. I was about to move after making a decision.
“Lightning Flash Flame Stone!!!”
A voice filled with hatred called out to me. Sensing the killing intent, I put strength into my right hand holding the Hwaryeon Flying Blade.
A bloodied man was running towards me from afar. He held a crescent blade in both hands. It was Yoon Gongseok, the head of the Yoon family.
“You’re still alive. You’re a pain in the ass.”
“You cowardly bastard! You set off a blast? My son died in that explosion! I will never forgive you!!”
A sudden outburst. But Yoon Gongseok’s eyes were completely gone. In addition, his qi became stronger than before.
‘Last stand. He’s completely made up his mind.’
This guy had given up on life. Whether he was mad with hatred, or if this was also a calculated rage, I couldn’t tell.
What was important was that he was trying to kill me, and I had no intention of dying, no matter the reason.
Crackling.
Red electricity sparked along the blade of the Hwaryeon Flying Blade. I grabbed the electricity with my will and forcibly extended it, coating the blade. Qi and electricity mixed, becoming one blade.
Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Thunder Gang Blade (雷罡刃).
As soon as I was ready, I swung my sword. The sharp blade collided with Yoon Gongseok’s crescent blade. Of course, his crescent blade was also imbued with qi. But simply qi alone was not enough to block the Thunder Gang Blade.
As soon as Yoon Gongseok saw his qi being torn apart, he twisted his crescent blade greatly to deflect the attack.
‘No way. Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch?’
[Using Instant (刹那). Remaining stacks: 6]
I used Instant. When precise and subtle control was needed, Instant was a great help. The blade was forcibly slid downwards, and the crescent blade was bounced upwards.
Crack, snap!
I heard the sound of muscles being squeezed from Yoon Gongseok’s shoulder. He forcibly grabbed the crescent blade that had bounced upwards using his muscles.
‘Do you think you’re the only one who can be prepared to die?’
I had that experience many times over. Because I had complete recovery, I could come back to life.
Snap.
My right shoulder screamed. I reversed my grip on the Hwaryeon Flying Blade that had gone down. The blade was now facing upwards. What was needed now was not strength, but speed.
Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).
With a flash of red light, the blade sliced from below his chin to the top of his head. The crescent blade that fell barely grazed my shoulder.
Thud.
Yoon Gongseok’s corpse fell. His brain was visible through his split face. His eyes moved back and forth. I put strength into the hand holding the crescent blade and swung my sword, beheading him.
Swish.
Yoon Gongseok was completely silent.
I shook my stiff right arm and turned to the side. Hong Ganghu, Hong Jeyu’s father, was there. He was also bloodied, but compared to me and Yoon Gongseok, he looked relatively fine.
“Impressive. To think you could defeat him with only one arm.”
“You’ve been there since earlier, haven’t you? Why didn’t you intervene?”
“He was just someone I was working with temporarily. There was no loyalty or friendship.”
“Why are you twisting your words so much? Just say you’re confident you can kill me alone.”
“I was going to respect his last moments. Of course, as you said, I’m confident I can defeat you alone. You’re no different from a corpse right now. Who would be afraid of a corpse?”
Corpse.
It wasn’t exactly wrong, so I wasn’t angry. It was hard to move my right arm after that last attack.
‘Come to kill me.’
I’ll counterattack when he tries to kill me. I’ll take his sword first, use complete recovery, and then stab him when he’s off guard.
It was a simple plan. And it was also a trump card that always worked. Having one more life was an advantage that couldn’t be overstated.
Hong Ganghu stopped as he approached. He took a small box out of his pocket.
“I’ll give you a Blood Vitality Pill. Then you’ll be able to move your right arm.”
“…What are you up to?”
“The situation has changed. My son… Jeyu made a foolish choice, blinded by a woman. At this rate, both Jeyu and I will be killed by the Guild Master.”
He knew that Hong Jeyu had been up to no good.
“If you kill him, you can live?”
It would prove Hong Jeyu’s recklessness. It was easy to prove. I could just behead Hong Jeyu and offer it to the Guild Master. The Guild Master wouldn’t try to get rid of a Fifth Realm master unless he was an idiot.
His eyes deepened as he looked at me.
“I am his father. How can a father abandon his son?”
“It seems like the son abandoned his father?”
“…I have nothing to say. But I cannot abandon him. What will you do?”
There was no point in accusing him of having another scheme. He was truly acting for his son.
‘Paternal love? To think that he would have such deep paternal love in this world where betrayal is rampant.’
To still have that much paternal love even after being betrayed by his son. It was amazing.
I received the Blood Vitality Pill from him. I didn’t take the Blood Vitality Pill, but stored it in my spatial storage.
“Why aren’t you taking it?”
Ignoring his question, I used complete recovery. The pain disappeared, and my severed left arm grew back. There was no awkwardness with the new body. My body was in top condition.
“……”
He stared at me with shocked eyes. A cold sweat ran down his cheek from his forehead. Seeing his eyes shaking anxiously, he must have imagined what would have happened if he had tried to kill me.
“You have a mysterious power.”
“It’s a trump card that always works. It’s a secret, of course.”
“I have a tight lip.”
“That’s why I’m letting you live.”
It was a lie. I had no intention of letting the guy who betrayed me live. I was planning to betray Hong Ganghu when I got the chance.
‘He seems to think so much of his son… I should kill his son in front of him and then kill him.’
I also didn’t like that son of his who was flirting with my woman and blew off my left arm with an explosion.
