I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

The blood-lit moon shot out its tongue once more. Seeing the attack a second time, I was getting used to it. This bastard sure wasn’t creative.

This time, though, there was one difference: It wasn’t just one tongue that came at me, it was several.

They slithered toward me like vines with wills of their own, but this time, I could track them despite their speed.

Clang!

I swung my Dark Star Blade, slicing through the tongues. The purple flames wrapped around my sword burned fiercely through their flesh upon contact.

Like a fuse, the fire raced up the tongues, catching up to the main body in an instant.

However, just before the flames reached the moon, the tongue was severed.

It was the same lizard-like characteristic I’d seen last time.

So far, this is manageable.

The real problem was what would come next.

Crack...!

A sound like shattering glass echoed across the Veiled Side. I could see the cracked surface of the moon and its furious expression.

Then came the bombardment.

I tensed every muscle in my body, pushing myself to the limit.

BOOOOOOM!

Unlike the tongues, I had no intention of avoiding this one.

Planting my two feet firmly on the ground, I gripped the Dark Star Blade tightly in my left hand and the Sword of Seven Sins in my right.

Of course, dual wielding was too much for me at my current level, but...

I wasn’t practicing martial arts or fighting an expert—I was blocking falling debris.

All I had to do was deflect the incoming fragments.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

I struck at the falling debris with both swords.

Last time, I’d had Building 13 as cover, but after the bombardment, it had been reduced to dust...

Now, facing the bombardment head-on with no cover, the impact rattled me more than I’d expected.

The deafening explosions all around me triggered a memory from my mercenary days, of a battlefield I had fought on after gaining some experience, one that I remembered mages had also taken part in.

In the empire’s barren and lawless south, large-scale battles, large enough to be called “wars,” were common.

The reason was simple: With resources so scarce, everyone had to fight viciously over what little they had. Additionally, thanks to the southerners’ innate belligerence, most disputes ended in violence.

The imperial court knew about this but never intervened. There was a reason mercenaries bitterly called the south “the forsaken land.”

Mages...

My hatred for them had been born and developed during my time as a mercenary.

In mage-dominated battles, mercenaries were nothing more than disposable pawns. We were one-time-use troops at best.

Our job was to charge ahead and force the enemy mages to waste their mana. Of course, not every mercenary died, but...

Battlefield mages... the so-called war mages usually targeted each other. While their spells clashed in the sky, we two-legged mercenaries had to crawl beneath their attacks like insects.

Whichever side overran the enemy first won.

The spells colliding in the sky would explode like fireworks, raining their deadly aftermath upon us below, a literal storm of fire and ice.

BOOM, BOOM...!

However, I was much stronger now than I had been in those pathetic mercenary days.

On the other hand, the bombardment I faced now was also far greater than anything those war mages had thrown at me.

Eventually, this storm came to an end.

My arms trembled from deflecting the fragments, and my legs, which had absorbed the shock, were shaking.

Cough. I hacked up the dust that had gotten into my lungs.

That was one... right?

I would have to go through this hell at least four, maybe five more times.

The only good news was that, just like the headmaster had said, it couldn’t launch this attack consecutively.

The blood-lit moon stretched its mouth wide again, sending out another wave of writhing tongues, and I was starting to see the pattern in its attacks.

The tongue attacks were more of a nuisance than a real threat, but even so, I couldn’t afford to get careless.

This time, I dodged most of them instead of cutting them down. Since my upper body was more tired than my lower, I needed to let my upper half rest for the next bombardment in five minutes.

Did it not have any other attacks?

As I looked up at the moon, something felt... off.

“...”

For some reason, the moon seemed farther away than before.

Was it pulling back?

Did it notice Headmaster Alderson’s grand magic?

I immediately dismissed that thought.

A mage in the middle of casting a spell was as defenseless as could be. If the demon lord had sensed Alderson casting, that would mean it knew his location, but if it knew his location, then retreating didn’t make sense. Attacking him directly would be the smarter move.

Alderson, completely focused on his spell, wouldn’t even be able to react to the onslaught of tongues, let alone another bombardment. He’d be dead before he could finish his spell.

Which meant...

Ah.

A realization hit me.

The moon wasn’t backing off.

It had shrunk.

I see.

The moon couldn’t throw around those bombardments forever.

Thinking about it, it made sense. The moon intentionally cracked its own surface, shedding parts of its body as projectiles.

Even if it wasn’t a living being, an attack that consumed its own form had to have a limit.

My body itched. I wanted to fight it.

Just because my opponent was a demon lord, just because it was a massive floating moon, didn't mean I was going to stand here and get my ass beat forever.

I wanted to land at least one good hit on that damn overgrown face.

...The problem is distance.

Could I reach it? Or was it beyond my range?

There was no way to know unless I tried.

While I mulled over my options, the moon let loose another barrage of face fragments.

BOOM! BOOOOM...!

The moon shards rained down, slamming into the earth. This was its second attack, and it too was aimed straight at me.

It already destroyed one building while I was walking down the corridor... so that makes three in total.

Headmaster had said he needed thirty minutes, which meant I had to endure at least fifteen more minutes—twenty at most.

Just three more... maybe four.

Could my body hold out until then? Honestly... I had my doubts. I knew my own limits better than anyone.

When the next bombardment hit, I might not even be able to stand.

I let out a heavy sigh. “Huu...”

As expected, this wasn’t going to be easy.

A lone human standing on solid ground, facing a massive moon looming in the tainted red sky.

The overwhelming difference between us... felt exactly like the gap between me and a demon lord should feel.

More than that, though, being on the receiving end of all these attacks was pissing me off.

The fact that my opponent was a demon lord? That was just a side note.

Ranged attacks... I need ranged attacks...

I doged the onslaught of tongues, racking my brain so hard I could practically feel steam pouring off my head.

Most martial artists preferred close combat, and I was no exception.

Wasn’t it greedy for a martial artist, who fought with their body, to wish for long-range attacks?

Yeah, normally, that was the case.

But my master was anything but normal.

If Baek Nogwang were here, how would he bring that thing down?

He could probably do it with just his fist wind.

After all, he’d once toppled a mountain with just his finger wind.

Of course, using a skill like that required an ocean’s worth of internal energy.

At my level, throwing something is probably my best bet.

So... what should I throw?

The Dark Star Blade? The Sword of Seven Sins?

Not a chance. Neither was disposable.

Naturally, I scanned my surroundings, and as I did... my gaze landed on the fragments of the moon on the ground.

“...”

Were these technically meteorites? They would sell for a fortune.

I doged another tongue attack and grabbed a fragment off the ground.

Oho...

This thing was harder than I’d expected.

It wasn’t just a meteorite, it was practically meteoric iron.

Maybe with this...

* * * * *

* * * * *

I put my idea into action immediately. There was no way I could throw this all the way up to Hadenaihar, but what if I smacked the hell out of the fragment instead of merely throwing it?

My body instinctively took a stance Third Senior Brother had often used.

—Your weapon doesn't seem all that deadly, Third Senior Brother.

—Well, obviously. It’s not a weapon.

—Huh? It’s not?

—It’s called a bat. You do this... It’s called a swing. A bat is a tool for hitting incoming balls.

—Ah, I see. But what’s that writing on it?

—...I am happy.

Third Senior Brother paused and looked down at the words, then continued in a somewhat desolate voice.

—It’s the greatest cheering slogan of the strongest team.

I sheathed the Sword of Seven Sins, tossed the meteoric iron into the air, and gripped the hilt of the Dark Star Blade with both hands. This was the most appropriate stance for batting, according to Third Senior Brother.

Honestly, the Sword of Seven Sins would probably be better for hitting something like a ball...

But I wanted to coat the projectile in purple flame, and so I had to use the Dark Star Blade.

I wondered what my Eldest Senior Brother would think if he saw this.

Seeing me use his treasured weapon as a bat...

Klang!

I struck the meteoric iron with the flat of the blade.

A normal sword would’ve instantly shattered, or at least suffered some damaged, but this was Eldest Senior Brother’s divine weapon. There wasn’t a single scratch on the Dark Star Blade as the meteoric iron shot out into the sky, trailing purple flames.

A split second later, I heard a loud crack.

Oh!

Goosebumps ran up my arm.

A perfect hit!

Since entering the Veiled Side, this was the first time I had actually landed a hit on the demon lord.

At the same time, I could now roughly estimate the distance between me and the moon up in the sky, based on the speed of the meteoric iron I’d sent flying.

It’s not as ridiculously far as I thought...

At this distance, I could find a chance to attack in between dodging.

Rumble...

The third bombardment began, and when it ended...

My body was nearly at its limit, but I could tell that the moon’s attacks had weakened somewhat.

That will allow me hold out a bit longer.

Was it running out of fragments to throw?

Or maybe my attack was paying off.

As a general rule, people believe what they want to believe. Since the truth didn’t really matter to me right now, I chose to believe it was the latter.

It was like that saying, “A good offense is the best defense.”

There was another brief moment after the bombardment before tongues started raining down again.

I decided to make use of this time.

I rushed to an area littered with moon fragments. Tensing the muscles of my legs, I stamped my foot hard.

Kabang...!

The ground trembled as the scattered moon fragments flew up into the air from the force of my stomp.

I took a deep breath, then started punching the airborne fragments one after another.

The pieces returned to their owner with furious momentum. It was quite the satisfying little reunion, if you asked me.

KABOOOOM!

Nothing beat the feeling of using my bare fists. Since I wasn’t using the Dark Star Blade, I couldn’t coat the fragments with purple flame, but that didn’t matter.

I wasn’t landing just one single hit.

It was exhilarating to use the demon lord’s one attacks against it.

If I were to name this move, something like meteor strike would be fitting.

Not every fragment reached the moon, but enough of them left a solid mark.

Rumble...

The blood-lit moon tilted in the air slightly. I could see more cracks forming on its surface.

“Well then...”

All right, monster, what’s your next move?

As I drew my Dark Star Blade and glared up at the demon lord...

Its two eyes gleamed. That god-awful laughter echoed through the air once again.

The moon righted itself and glared down at me.

Rumble...

It was the same rumbling sound I’d heard time and time again. However, it felt a bit different now.

The blood-lit moon was getting larger, closer.

My dumb ass thought this was a good time to be fascinated by how the moon was bigger than it had looked when—

“Uh...”

I realized the damn thing was falling.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

A body slam?! Right now?!

For this to be a demon lord’s last resort was... kind of dumb, to be honest. But with that kind of mass crashing down, it was still a major threat.

This was basically a small-scale meteor impact. Wouldn’t this have the same effect as Meteor, the famous grand magic even I knew about?

At the very least, I was certain that this entire area was done for.

Just as I started to regret provoking it too far...

A blinding flash streaked through air and pierced straight through the moon.

“...!”

Then, I saw it. A figure standing atop Building 12.

[...]

Though I couldn’t see his face clearly, I was sure Fourth Senior Brother was smiling faintly.

His body was broken and his clothes were torn up. Even for him, it must have been a hard fight.

Crumble...

Even a body as strong as steel was crumbling away like dust.

Ah...

So this was goodbye.

The fact that I didn’t get to exchange even a single word with him really stung.

I wanted to show him the flame I had just learned, rant and complain about this whole mess, and maybe even ask for advice on what I should do next...

If it were him, he’d have the perfect answer.

However, time was up. The opportunity was gone.

I decided to turn that disappointment into fuel for our future reunion.

Thank you.

After offering my brief, silent thanks, I turned my focus back to the demon lord.

If before it had been “falling,” now it was just “crashing.” But thanks to Senior Brother Arang’s attack, its speed had slowed.

Now was my chance.

I poured every last drop of my remaining energy into the Dark Star Blade. The flickering flames on the blade roared to life, growing in size in seconds.

FWOOOOSH!

The flame, which had grown enough to reach the sky, looked more than enough to cut down the crashing moon.

I focused my breathing and measured the distance.

Three. Two... And, finally... one.

With the demon lord within range, I swung my sword.

BOOM! CRAAAAACCK!

The blood-lit moon split in two.

____