Chapter 1514 – 1514. Ascending To The Light
“What should we do? Should we ambush them first?”
Mireyeong’s voice echoed in my head.
It wasn’t telepathy, where the voice is delivered secretly through the flow of energy. It was closer to telepathy. This must be a type of sorcery.
Since I couldn’t use telepathy like her, I answered her with a voice transmission.
“Let’s wait. Jeongcheok and the rogues will appear soon and draw their attention. We’ll start then.”
I didn’t want to do all the work alone, like taking all the blame.
After waiting for about an il-da-gyeong, the black tigers, who had been holding their breath, seemed to sense something and looked at the black tiger leader. The black tiger, who had been sitting on a rock, stood up. Unlike the other tigers, the black tiger stood on two legs like a human.
The black tiger roared, looking at a certain spot in the forest.
“Aheuuuuuuuuung!”
The sound echoed through the forest. The black tigers, except for the leader, began to move. They moved to ambush the approaching rogues first.
This time, the black tiger leader also seemed to be thinking of moving, as it slowly came down from the rock. And as if to show that it was special, it slowly walked on two legs.
‘Is it now?’
I signaled to Mireyeong not to interfere and then rushed at the black tiger. I swung my sword, imbued with blue energy, at its black fur.
“?!”
The black tiger reacted. It moved its whole body nimbly to avoid my attack. And then, it looked at me with a shocked expression, as if surprised.
“Amazing. If I had reacted even a little later, I would have died.”
I didn’t care about the monster’s reaction. I was just disappointed that I hadn’t killed it in one go.
‘I thought it was a perfectly timed ambush.’
Even if it was nothing else, it seemed that its senses were better than mine. Of course, that didn’t mean the black tiger had the advantage. Battles weren’t so simple that victory or defeat was determined by just one sense.
“Shut up and give me your hide.”
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Gale Lightning (疾風迅雷).
Crackling.
Sparks flew from my whole body.
[Using Acceleration. Duration: 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 6]
I didn’t intend to drag out the fight, so I accelerated with all my power from the start. I closed the distance and swung my sword.
The swing of the sword itself was so poor that even a third-rate martial artist would laugh at it. It was just a random swing. But no one could laugh at my sword. Even if the force behind the strike was terrible, the speed was beyond the perception of ordinary people.
My strike now was faster than sound.
“Kuhhhhh!”
Blood splattered from the black tiger’s right arm. I couldn’t cut off the arm. The black tiger had reacted to the supersonic strike and pulled its body back.
I took a breath and looked at the ground. The black tiger’s footprints were strongly imprinted. I could feel a pattern in the footprints.
“Did you learn martial arts?”
“Do you think martial arts are exclusive to humans?”
“I was just curious. Usually, monsters hone their own abilities rather than martial arts.”
“My only ability is my strong body. It goes well with martial arts that use the body. Especially… this claw technique!”
The black tiger swung its claws. Four condensed black energies flew towards me. Instead of dodging, I countered with my own energy. The four energies flew in the opposite direction. The trees and rocks that were hit by the energy were cut and fell to the ground.
Claw technique. A martial art that uses claws. It was a rather minor martial art that few people learned.
“Heh heh. Try to block this too!”
The black tiger’s arms and legs moved dazzlingly. It looked like it was attacking an invisible target, like shadowboxing. But I couldn’t relax. Every time it swung its arms and legs, energy flew out.
‘It’s impossible to block it like before.’
If I focused on blocking, my body would be sliced by the continuous energy. There was also a limit to how long I could endure with my protective energy.
‘Dodge and approach.’
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Sound Step (雷音步).
I stepped forward. Thunder rumbled from my toes.
I dodged all the incoming energies and approached. The black tiger wasn’t stupid. It kept me in check with its legs and tried to keep its distance as much as possible. But the distance between us was getting closer and closer.
The black tiger kept swinging its claws and nails, but it couldn’t keep firing energy forever. There was a moment when its breathing faltered, and I aimed for that gap.
[Using Instant. Remaining stacks: 5]
The distance closed in an instant.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Snake (雷蛇).
The tip of my sword wriggled like a snake, aiming for the center of the black tiger’s chest.
“Got you! White Smoke!”
The black tiger blew on the pipe it had been holding in its mouth. White smoke rose like an explosion and pushed me away. I was pushed back by the smoke. I tried to plant my sword in the ground to stop before the distance became too great, but the white smoke kept pouring out and pushed my body all the way back.
‘Damn it. This isn’t a martial art, it’s the ability of a magical artifact.’
My body was hot. The white smoke penetrated my protective energy. If I stayed like this, I would become human smoked meat.
I pulled my sword out of the ground. My body floated up and flew backward. In the meantime, I focused my mind and swung my sword.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Light (雷光).
The blue light cut through the white smoke. At the end of the split smoke, the black tiger stood proudly. I stepped forward again with the Thunder Sound Step and rushed towards the black tiger.
Heh heh.
The black tiger smiled and extended its claws towards me. Energy gathered at the tips of its claws, forming a sphere.
Energy Ball (罡丸). A small bomb made by compressing energy.
The energy ball flew towards me. Even if I used Instant, it was impossible to dodge it completely.
[Using Instant. Remaining stacks: 4]
I used Instant. I found the answer in the slowed-down world. If I dodged now, I wouldn’t die, but I would have to be prepared to lose an arm or a leg.
It was also good to move forward, trusting in complete recovery.
‘It’s embarrassing to be hit by such a weak attack….’
While I was agonizing, I activated the Genius Time.
[Activating Genius Time for 10 seconds.]
The black tiger’s energy ball was particularly noticeable. I could see the structure of the energy ball. When the energy ball exploded, the compressed energy would sweep in all directions like a storm and cut everything.
‘There’s only one way. I have to cut through that energy ball completely.’
It was easy to say. And reality wasn’t as easy as the words I boldly uttered.
‘This time, it feels different.’
I moved my sword as my senses and inspiration led me.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Energy Blade (雷罡刃).
I cut.
It wasn’t enough to just cut.
I had to cut through the core of the energy ball. It was clearly a conceptual realm beyond physical laws.
‘It’s possible.’
The reason was simple. I was at a higher level than the black tiger.
The blade of lightning was swung. The energy ball was split in half. Instead of exploding, the energy ball seemed to melt into the air and disappear.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Void Path (虛道).
I ran through the void. There was nothing to stop me. I became lightning and stabbed my sword into the monster’s chest.
“It didn’t explode?! What trick did you use?!”
The shocked black tiger shouted. I could smell the beast. Its voice was full of injustice.
“What trick? You’re just weaker than me.”
Before the black tiger’s claws could move, I raised my sword and cut off its head. A fountain of blood spurted out. The black tiger’s huge body fell backward with a thud. There was no need to confirm the kill. It was definitely dead.
“You did a good job.”
Mireyeong appeared next to me. She wiped my head with a white towel. The towel was stained red with the black tiger’s blood.
I looked around. It was a mess. There wasn’t a single tree that was intact. It looked like the ground had been turned upside down.
“Mireyeong, let’s take care of what we need to first. Does it have a spatial storage item?”
“Hmm. It should? If it’s at the Five Energies (五氣) level, it should be able to get a spatial storage item. But… this monster isn’t wearing any clothes….”
“Usually, monsters carry it inside their bodies.”
Of course, such monsters were very rare.
Crackling.
The electricity from my hand scanned the black tiger’s body. It was a kind of scan.
“Did you find it?”
“It’s in its ear. It’s not deep, it’s just kind of hanging there.”
I put my hand in its right ear. I easily pulled out a wooden box, slightly smaller than my palm. I took out all the items from the spatial storage item.
The first thing that fell out was a martial arts manual called Iron Crow Claw Technique (鐵烏爪法). Following that, cheap elixirs and human meat poured out. There was over 300 kg of human meat. Most of it was from the head and thigh areas.
“Ew. As expected of a monster, it carries human meat. Hmm? Honey?”
I was mesmerized and grabbed the manual that had fallen on the floor. The cover clearly stated the words Demonic Transformation Divine Art (易魔神功).
“Why does this guy have the Demonic Transformation Divine Art manual? Could it be… is this guy also a member of the Ink Lotus?”
“Demonic Transformation Divine Art? Hmm. I can feel a strange energy from that book. Can I take a look for a moment?”
“Yeah. It’s fine. But don’t learn it.”
“Ew. Why would I learn something that’s oozing such ominous energy?”
Mireyeong began to examine the Demonic Transformation Divine Art. Her face became more serious as she went on. I started to clean up first. I threw away all the human meat and put the black tiger’s corpse and the cheap elixirs into the spatial storage item. I just burned the Iron Crow Claw Technique. I wasn’t interested in it.
“Honey, this… is a pretty dangerous sorcery.”
“I heard it’s a martial art close to sorcery. Was there really sorcery involved?”
“The book itself is ordinary, except for the fact that it has an evil aura. It’s structured so that you unconsciously use sorcery while operating your inner energy according to the incantations written here. But if that’s all, it’s fine. It’s not a simple sorcery that can be activated so easily. But….”
“But?”
“The moment you consume human flesh, the sorcery is fully activated.”
“You mean the sorcery that turns you into a monster?”
“Yes. And the monster will gain even more power.”
“……It’s effective on monsters too?”
That was the first time I had heard that.
“The sorcery written here is originally for monsters. It’s the Rakshasa’s sorcery. The Rakshasa’s sorcery that makes you stronger by eating humans.”
I tilted my head. I understood that it was an incredible sorcery. But was it something that would make Mireyeong look so serious?
“Why are you so serious? It’s not a sorcery that will harm you if you don’t learn it. If there’s a problem, it’s a problem that the Demonic Transformation Divine Art guys have to deal with.”
“The Rakshasa’s sorcery is not a sorcery of this world.”
“Is it a sorcery from another world?”
“Yes. The Rakshasa’s sorcery is a sorcery of the underworld. In other words, it’s magic.”
