Chapter 40 Pursuit (2)

Chapter 40: Pursuit (2)

When playing AOS games, you sometimes feel how unfair matchups can be.

Like when a well-farmed mid laner gets outplayed by the enemy’s tanky carry, or a 10-kill ADC gets killed by an assassin champ with 7 deaths.

That’s how terrifying matchups can be.

Just like right now.

Whoosh!

Danun’s sword sliced through the air and plunged in, but Makjuwang’s hand struck the blade’s center.

Thud.

With a spine-chilling sound, the sword bounced away.

“Hmph!”

Without even a 0.1-second delay, Danun swung the rebounding blade again.

Proof his physical strength was immense enough to ignore the recoil.

“······!”

Mak Joo-kwang gasped, thrusting his palm forward.

Judging by the dark green aura, it was clearly a poison palm.

Kwaaang!

The two strikes collided in midair, creating an explosive sound.

Dan Yun gritted his teeth and unleashed the sword techniques of the Clear Wind Sword Art with even greater ferocity.

Mak Joo-kwang, his face twisted in disgust, stepped back.

Though only a few moves, the result was nearly a draw.

It was absurd.

No matter how promising an ace Dan Yun was, Mak Joo-kwang’s realm had surpassed the peak.

If one had to categorize it, it was beyond the peak but below the transcendent realm.

In other words, he was a master several levels above Dan-un.

Against such a formidable opponent, Dan-un was putting up an incredibly strong fight.

He was bridging the gap in cultivation with sheer physical strength.

Moreover.

Kwaaang!

That goes for me too.

The moment Mak Ju-gwang stepped back, Dan-un immediately unleashed the Zhen Wang Bo, lunging toward him while simultaneously deploying the Exploding Light Technique.

“Hmph!”

Mak Joo-kwang swiftly swung his hand to block the incoming explosion.

Kwoong. Thud.

The green light coiled around his hand spread out, detonating the entire explosion.

A sickening stench flooded his nostrils.

His stomach churned and his skull rattled.

But retreat was not an option.

“You bastard.”

Coating his entire body with protective energy against poison, he plunged into the old man’s attack range.

Close-quarters combat.

It was a strategy to compensate for his shallow internal energy and limited martial prowess with sheer speed.

A distance barely wide enough for two fists.

Within that narrow space, our hands and feet moved ceaselessly.

Thwack. Thwack.

Baek Ryong-sip-sam-tu flew like lightning, but Jang Ju-kwang blocked it with a raised hand.

Whoosh!

His palm strike passed right beside my head.

Thud.

My fist drove into his side.

“Hmph.”

A dark blue finger shot toward my eye.

I quickly tilted my head to dodge, but this time, a poisonous palm flew toward my chest.

Pwoong! Thud.

The force pushed my body back.

Even with my protective aura wrapped around me, the poison seeped in, severing the flow of my qi strand by strand.

“Ugh.”

Salty blood gushed from the back of my throat, spilling over my lips.

Still, the outcome wasn’t bad.

Swoosh.

“Kick!”

My Danun blade, flying like lightning, succeeded in splitting his back.

“You bastard!”

Enraged, he thrust both swords forward.

Pwoong.

A short explosion echoed as a dark green light flashed.

Danun swiftly raised his sword to block, but the force still sent him flying backward.

“Guh.”

A trickle of blood flowed from his mouth.

But who was Danun?

Born for the sword, living for the sword, a man possessed by the sword – that was him.

Whoosh.

He assumed the horse stance once more, gazing straight ahead.

He looked ready to charge the moment an opening presented itself.

I couldn’t just stand by either.

Gulp.

I popped the last pill into my mouth and immediately took my stance.

I didn’t need any qigong.

For me, moving my body in battle was qigong itself.

“Not bad.”

Makju-gwang said, twisting the corners of his mouth.

“You’re getting beaten like a dog, and you call that ‘pretty good’? If you start begging for your life right now, I’ll send you off nicely.”

“Do you think I’ve only faced a handful of blood-soaked fools like you? Your tricks won’t work.”

“I’ve got a meeting with King Yama soon. Got enough travel money? You’ll need plenty to support your parents in the afterlife. Though I wonder if they even know you’re still pulling this crap in your old age.”

“You bastard!”

It works, all right. It works too well.

Mak Juwang roared and lunged toward me.

Simultaneously, Danun activated the Shadow Step, moving as if skimming the ground.

I activated the King’s Step as well.

I shifted to the side of the charging Mad Drunkard, dodging the poisonous fist flying straight at me.

And then, the Burst of the Dragon’s Thirteen Fists erupted.

Though inferior to the King’s Style, its power could pulverize ribs in an instant.

But.

Crunch. Crunch.

For some reason, my fist didn’t penetrate at all. Instead, it strained my hand considerably.

It was a protective aura.

My sixth sense flashed, sending a chill down my spine.

There was no need to confirm.

No, confirmation would be too late.

I immediately concentrated all the internal energy I could muster into my toes.

Thud!

The ground split as the Zhen Wang Bo unfolded.

And then.

Boom!

The poisonous blast erupted, scorching the area within half a zhang radius.

“Guh.”

I dodged, but a searing pain shot through my back. I must have been grazed.

My vision blurred, and strength began draining from my body.

The internal injury prevented me from summoning the vital energy needed to resist the poison.

“Die!”

But I couldn’t just sit here and let myself die, could I?

I had to struggle, at least.

Just as I raised my hand to block the flying Makjuwang, like a cannonball.

Bwoo-wang!

A sword, so blue it felt cold, fell from the sky.

Danun had unleashed the Cheongunjeokha Sword.

“······!”

Makjuwang, startled, swung his poison blade.

Kwaaang!

A massive explosion.

Its power was so immense that dust billowed up five zhang in every direction.

Danun stared at the dust and uttered the forbidden words.

“Did we take him out?”

Sure enough.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Black spheres shot toward us.

“Duck!”

I grabbed Dan-un, who had expended all his strength, and leapt away.

The incoming spheres grazed us and slammed into a massive tree. The spheres shattered, and the tree began melting instantly.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Using a male-female pair in a sacred 2:1?

As the dust settled, the half-shredded form of Mak Joo-kwang was revealed.

I couldn’t tell where he was torn, but both his hands were soaked in blood, and long, deep gashes were etched across his face and upper body.

Of course, we weren’t unscathed either.

“Cough.”

As Danun coughed, blood splattered into the air.

“Huh. Damn it.”

My condition wasn’t any better.

My internal energy, which had reached sixty years, was depleted, making it increasingly difficult to suppress the poison.

The only silver lining was that the strange pill I’d just taken was slowly improving my physical state.

Thud.

With eyes blazing with fighting spirit, Dan-un thrust his sword into the ground and stood up.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to kill him.”

With barely a shred of internal energy left, killing him was a pipe dream.

I grabbed his shoulder and said.

“Just stay put.”

Even Danun couldn’t fight the poisonous man without internal energy.

“I’ll kill him and come back.”

That meant I had to finish this fight.

Thud.

I stepped into the true stance, sparing no remaining energy.

It was the fastest Zhenwang Step I’d unleashed in today’s battle.

“You bastard!”

Mak Jukwang’s right arm snapped backward.

He must’ve planned to strike the moment I entered range.

I knew that too as I closed in.

Only, I was far faster than he anticipated.

Thwack! Crack.

I thrust off the ground once more, shoulder first, slamming into his body.

Mak Joo-kwang, his face frozen in shock, pulled away and drove his dagger into my side.

I shifted the point of impact and activated my defensive aura, but the blow was stronger than I’d anticipated.

Crack.

The sound of ribs snapping echoed.

“Guh.”

A groan escaped me unbidden. I wanted to collapse right then and scream.

But the price I paid for enduring that pain was immense.

“······!”

“Got you.”

I succeeded in grabbing his wrist with my free hand.

Immediately unleashing the Dragon’s Thirteen Piercing Fist.

Crack. Thud.

“Guh.”

Whether it worked or not, Mak Joo-kwang writhed in agony and swung his staff wildly.

Whoosh.

His staff technique grazed my face.

Failing to hit me at such close range, he looked startled.

Was I fast?

No.

It was because I grabbed his wrist and shook his center.

And that I could do it was proof that Mak Joo-gwang was also very tired.

Well then, what’s there to see?

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

I’ll just beat the crap out of him.

“Gah!”

“Die, you bastard!”

In the close-quarters brawl erupting in the melee, Mak Joo-gwang couldn’t keep up with my speed.

He tried to block and attack, but my fists and feet exploited those openings, inflicting even greater pain.

The reason I could overwhelm a master who had reached a higher realm than me.

‘Because I’m a Zhenwang-style practitioner.’

Due to the Zhenwang-style’s passive energy circulation, the more I fought, the more my internal energy recovered.

With my energy restored, I could expel the poison, and my body gradually grew lighter.

Meanwhile, Mak Ju-kwang was already at rock bottom, both in stamina and energy.

This was worth a shot, wasn’t it?

After all, I was a specialist in close combat.

Only after unleashing dozens of seconds of attacks did Mak Ju-kwang finally manage to shake off my hand.

He immediately retreated backward.

Boom.

He sprayed the poison he carried.

But that was nothing more than an obvious tactic.

Gurgle! Boom.

Using most of my recovered internal energy, I detonated the Exploding Crystal.

The sudden blast of the crystal forced the poisonous gas to change direction, sending it flying toward Mak Joo-kwang.

“Guh.”

Mak Joo-kwang, supposedly a poison master, didn’t spit blood or anything.

Instead, he gasped for breath uncomfortably.

A poison master, for whom poison is a tonic, reacting uncomfortably to poison?

It meant his internal energy was completely depleted.

Thud.

Squeezing out every last drop of internal energy, he unleashed the Jeonwangbo.

“······!”

He gasped and reached out his hand.

Thud.

With his internal energy depleted, it was merely the gesture of a healthy old man.

Of course, my own internal energy was depleted too.

Crack! Bang! Thud!

But my physical strength far surpassed Mak Ju-gwang’s.

The fist techniques I’d honed for ten years at the Ascension Pavilion erupted in full force.

Three Yang Water, Gale Fist, Dragon’s Thirteen Piercings—timely strikes rained down on Mak Jugwang’s entire body.

This went on for over thirty seconds.

“Guhhh…”

Mak Jugwang collapsed, exhaling his final breath.

Thud.

The moment I confirmed his death, my strength drained, and I slumped straight to the floor.

Danun, who had approached unnoticed, looked down at me with an admiring gaze.

“Well done.”

“We’re both in the same boat.”

“But you know… earlier, attacking like that wasn’t the way… This is how it should be done…”

Oh, man.

* * *

Dal-po’s physical condition was so dire he needed rest, but as soon as we slightly recovered our internal energy and stamina, we carried Yi Jeok-ha and left the spot.

After all, we were the crazy bastards who kidnapped the son of the Martial Emperor, universally acknowledged as the world’s greatest martial artist. We had no idea when or where enemy reinforcements might arrive.

The one silver lining was this:

“Thanks to his profound inner strength, the poison hadn’t penetrated to his marrow.”

That Yi Jeok-ha’s cultivation hadn’t been in vain.

A slight pang of jealousy rose, but seeing his darkened face, I dismissed the thought.

He had been reminded that the gods did not grant everything.

Thanks to that, we could move without worrying about his death.

Even if we couldn’t move as fast as when we came, due to our battered physical state.

Had we walked for about four hours?

Just as our legs were trembling and we felt like collapsing from exhaustion.

Tension settled on Danun’s face.

“Someone is approaching.”

I hoped it was a mistake, but it couldn’t be.

He was the one with the sharpest senses during our time at the Ascension Pavilion.

‘It better not be an enemy…’

I had no inner strength left, and my stamina was depleted.

Facing an enemy in this state would make me look like a Pokémon facing a Duskull.

But my worries proved unfounded.

Heeeeee!

Because I saw a banner painted with nine vibrantly colored dragons.

“This is the Five Grains Mountain Branch of the Hyeongcheon Sect. You both did well.”

Somehow, I managed to survive another day.