NOVEL NEXT chapter 57
57 – Episode 57: Maengju and Hanarin
1.
Without whispering, Namgoongsa asked Pungyahwa.
“Is it true that Eomya defeated me without using Hwagong?”
“…Ugh…”
Pungyahwa couldn’t answer right away.
“Tell me.”
“Yeah.”
“You said Yeom Kangyeon.”
Namgoongsa adjusted his position, stroking his ear dripping with blood.
“Just one move, please.”
“Yes. Okay, I’ll use only one sword.”
Namgoongsa frowned, but he didn’t insist on tackling her now.
She differentiates between when to refuse and when not to when her opponent gives in because of her experience.
Right now, she had to compromise a few moves for the fight to be fair.
“Shall we begin?”
*Bang!* An explosive sound rang out as a knife-like sword barely passed by Namgoongsa’s side.
“…Damn it.”
“You knew how to avoid that. Was it your reaction or intuition?”
《Brain-Soothing Dragon Gang》
*Crash!*
With the earth and sky trembling, Namgoongsa’s great sword launched the same piercing attack.
“Was that your attack just now? It’s slower and leaves more room for movement.”
“The Heavenly Path of Enlightenment!”
A heavy broadsword launched a stabbing strike followed by a fluid movement. With a force that could cut a stone in half, Yeomma swung.
It was undeniably swift. Yet, Yeomma bent her knees and body in a straight line with a flexibility that seemed almost inhuman.
If not for the position of her feet firmly on the ground, it would have seemed as if she were lying in mid-air.
“…..!”
“So slow.”
“Heavenly Flashing Strike!”
An attack thrust so fast that it was almost invisible flew towards Nangung Saya’s shoulder.
“Ugh..!”
-Whoosh!
The unusual sight of the spear and the broadsword clashed as the broadsword side gave way.
However, the change was also on Nangung Saya’s side.
“Wow… following through? Then how about this?”
“Yeomma’s Blade!”
“But I see everything you do!!”
-Clang! Krrrack…!
With an explosion, this time it was Yeomma’s blade that pushed back. Yeomma continued to increase the speed of the attack, appearing to be amused.
-Bam! Thud! Clang clang…
Every time, Nangung Saya’s speed and power increased.
“Interesting.”
“As long as you keep attacking noncommittally, I’m grateful.”
“Heavenly Acceleration”
Lightning surged from Nangung Saya’s body.
With each successive attack, the power and speed increased.
Yeomma chuckled.
“I’ll be launching 30 strikes. Try and block them all.”
“…..What..”
Yeomma’s spear pierced through the air slightly faster than the speed it was just a moment ago.
One. Two. Three…
Twenty. Twenty-one… Twenty-two.
As if building a tower, the intensity of training increased gradually, just like a master raising the intensity of training for his disciple. He accumulated thirty consecutive strikes.
Finally, when he reached thirty, Namgoongsa was drenched in sweat.
“Ugh… Huff…”
“What’s wrong? Are you already exhausted?”
“Groan…”
He was completely toying with him. It was fortunate that Namgoongsa didn’t lose his reason and charge recklessly under the influence of pride and experience.
If it were Pungyahwa, he might have done so earlier.
Here, the difference between Namgoongsa and Pungga became evident.
No matter how violent he was, Namgoongsa calmly assessed the situation, while Pungyahwa easily lost control and charged without hesitation.
However, this situation was mentally challenging for Namgoongsa as well.
The opponent was someone who wielded dual swords. Not only did he handle only one sword, but he also controlled his strength.
The reason he didn’t falter was to acknowledge the difference in skills and find openings, but there were no openings. He couldn’t even exploit the slightest gap. He couldn’t even lead him into traps.
“The next attack will be my last prank.”
Yeomma unleashed a three-strike combo. Namgoongsa exerted all his strength at this moment to finish it.
《Brainlight Acceleration》
Brainlight Acceleration continuously circulates the body’s energy like a power generator. The body of the continuously circulating Dragonlight Sword becomes incredibly fast.
However, it soon reaches its limit.
“Now, finish it.”
“《Dragon King Thousand Worlds》”
It is a sincere technique that has never been shown to his daughter, intertwined with the genuine sword skill Brainlight Acceleration. It predicts all the opponent’s attacks in an instant, pierces through defense as if disassembling armor, and pierces the opponent’s heart.
It went according to plan.
He swiftly deflected the three-strike combo, creating an opening. He had reached the limit of Brainlight Acceleration, and his greatsword struck Yeomma’s neck like a guillotine.
In that moment…
“Now, the fun is over.”
“…Huh?”
Namgoongsa’s left eye closed. No, it seemed closed.
“……..Ugh…”
“Ahjumma, a cockeyed eye suits you well. It would suit the boss too, wouldn’t it?”
Yeomma spoke while touching the wound on his neck.
“Although I knew you were capable of moving, you were unexpectedly fast. I was planning to keep you from reaching me.”
“‘The Scholar of Gun Gonjang.'”
“-Cakang!”
Yumma, who blocked the massive sword with a rapier that could be only a meter long at most, sneered.
“What do you plan to do when you stand up?”
“…You damn b*tch…”
The blood on Paeng Yahwa’s body glistened red as she strengthened the tip of her sword.
“‘The Steel-Blooded Nature.'”
“‘The Stone-Bursting Thunderbolt.'”
“You guys still don’t know what rank I am?”
Yumma, holding only one rapier even when facing them simultaneously, laughed and said.
“I’m a high transcendent.”
With those words, blood spurted from Paeng Yahwa and Nam Gungsa’s bodies.
Nam Gungsa had a hole pierced through her shoulder, and Paeng Yahwa had her throat lightly slashed.
“Cough…”
“………”
Yumma scoffed as she looked at the fallen women on the ground.
“In the end, neither the Hwagong nor the Ido School were used once.”
The energy of the Thousand Horse Master could be sensed in the distance.
“Well, in order to gain even a piece of land or a house, you have to cut these b*tches’ throats first.”
I was about to finish it, but I felt a momentary presence.
“‘The Abyss.'”
Waves of qi that covered my entire body. Yumma used Hwagong to shield herself, but it provided only minimal protection.
My senses were stolen away.
-Cryack! As the flames raged uncontrollably, Yumma’s deeply slashed thigh regained sensation, and she looked around for her enemies.
“Darn. I couldn’t hold on for long.”
“…Who the hell are you?!”
“What are you doing to the daughter of the Dragon Sword and the Paengga family?”
“…Stupid brat.”
Standing before me were the transcendent-class Martial Lord and Han Arin.
“Yeomma. Did you enjoy tormenting those weaker than yourself?”
Maengju glared sharply with his eyes. Yeomma took a few steps back. No matter how strong one becomes in the late transcendent stage, it is still difficult to face two opponents at once.
It hasn’t been long since he transcended. In other words, unless he is an inexperienced novice who hasn’t adapted to his own power, it is truly challenging.
“Don’t even think about running away.”
Hanarin, who saw through Yeomma’s intention to escape, said cheerfully while shaking off the blood from the sword.
It’s difficult to move and fight with a deeply injured thigh.
“……..”
One opponent is the only disciple of the supreme master, and the other is the head of another faction.
《Yeomma’s Annihilation》
When Yeomma slashed the ground with his sword, flames surged like waves from where it struck.
《Blizzard》
《Dragon’s Oath》
Hanarin’s Storm Sword clashed against the Firewave Sword.
Simultaneously, Maengju’s body became filled with a yellow dragon’s aura.
Maengju’s arm was covered in scales, as if contrasting with the Black Dragon Armor, transforming into an arm of a dragon.
It wasn’t actually growing scales; it was the golden energy that enveloped Maengju’s arm.
*Ku kwa aaah!*
Maengju relentlessly charged at Yeomma while Hanarin attacked like a shadow, taking advantage of the openings created by Maengju.
The two of them matched each other’s movements as if they were battle companions who crossed swords together countless times.
《Yeomma’s Fury》
And for Yeomma, who tried not to allow such openings, it was a battle against those who had reached the realm of transcendence.
As he slashed the ground with his sword, the earth cracked and a massive explosion occurred.
However, Maengju realized that it was an ultimate attack meant to escape and faced the explosion head-on.
“…Damn it…”
Yeomma, who had grabbed Maengju by the neck, swung his sword, but Hanarin blocked it like a ghost.
“I won’t let you do that.”
《Yeomma’s Sword!》
The 30-strike attack shown to Namgungsaya earlier. However, the difference is that Yeomma didn’t give him any chance and performed the 30-strike attack with full force as a single thrust.
《Heavenly Bombardment》
In response, Maengju also released his grip on Yeomma’s neck and confronted him with twin fists.
“Die, die, die!!!”
“It seems like you’re too excited, unlike earlier. When did Pung-yahwa and Namgoongsega’s patriarch have such fun?”
“Shut up!”
Yumma emitted all the energy from his body. Broken glass. The remains of the building trembled. It felt as if it was just before an earthquake.
“《Yumarama Fakmamutra》”
Yumma unleashed his Yuma Magic. Lava, similar to that of a volcano, exploded from Yumma.
In that moment, Yumma was like a small volcano.
However, Hana Rin, who had anticipated that Yumma in dire straits would resort to using a technique to overcome the situation, also activated her own Oui.
She lowered her head and kneeled, adopting an inefficient posture that maximized the efficiency of her technique.
《Pianhwa》
Mangju also displayed her technique.
“《Exorcism of Evil Spirits》”
Her golden fist penetrated into the explosion of Yumma, striking fiercely against his abdomen.
“Guh…!”
But Mangju was also inevitably engulfed by the explosion.
However, Han Ah-rin, who had been hiding behind her, quickly emerged and precisely stabbed into the gap created by Mangju’s punch.
With a thrust accompanied by a kick, the stab pierced through Yumma’s chest.
At the same time, the explosion grotesquely erupted, sending Han Ah-rin and Mangju flying.
(Boom!)
“Ugh… Are you okay?”
“Yes… I’m fine.”
“What a sinister technique. Both Yumma and you.”
“hahahahaha…”
Most of the buildings collapsed due to the explosion. Through the dissipating smoke, what was visible was blood splattered in all directions.
The shape of the blood took on the form of flowers, displaying an eerie immobility as it flowed down.
“Damn… Why isn’t anyone coming? We’re fighting like crazy here.”
“You’re definitely stronger than the other elders.”
“Well…”
“You’re the last elder.”
Upon hearing those words, Yumma laughed as if he felt dejected.
“Ha… Haa.. Ch…”
Meng Zhu and Han Arin prepared for the next battle while moving Peng Yahwa and Nam Gungsa.