WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 19: Duel (1)

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Late at night.

Evil Heaven’s cave dwelling.

Evil Heaven asked Song JwaBaek, who had come up late after dealing with Squad Leader Oh’s corpse.

“Why did you come up alone?”

“His Body-Lightening Technique is lacking, so I came ahead. He’ll be here within two or three gak.”

Evil Heaven nodded at Song JwaBaek’s words.

It was only natural.

He had passed down his unique Body-Lightening Technique, while So WoonHwi had not learned a proper movement skill. There was no way So WoonHwi could keep up with Song JwaBaek’s speed.

“Your breathing is uneven. You have an internal injury. Heh heh.”

‘What an uncanny old man.’

Song JwaBaek had tried his best not to show it, but Evil Heaven saw through it at once.

“Take off your top.”

There was no point resisting. He would only get beaten.

Without a word, Song JwaBaek removed his top.

Over the past three months, his upper body had grown noticeably larger.

There was a palm-shaped blood bruise on his abdomen and a large bluish bruise around his ribs.

Evil Heaven stared at the wounds with an odd look before asking,

“Who killed him?”

His tone made it sound as though killing Squad Leader Oh had been the obvious thing to do.

‘...Damn it. So WoonHwi was right.’

Song JwaBaek inwardly blamed himself for failing to understand Evil Heaven’s intentions.

Still, he had delivered the decisive blow.

Even if the Short Sword had not pierced Squad Leader Oh, their skull would have caved in and killed them.

“I did.”

“Good. That is how it should be. You delivered the finishing blow.”

‘!?’

From Evil Heaven’s words, it sounded as though he knew they had used a combined attack.

When Song JwaBaek could not respond, Evil Heaven clicked his tongue.

“Even with an internal injury, Squad Leader Oh was an Advanced master. Do you think you would have ended up with only those injuries if you had faced Squad Leader Oh alone at your level? Foolish brat. Tsk, tsk.”

Yet despite his words, Evil Heaven did not look entirely displeased.

He claimed to be teaching them by pushing them to their limits, but he was rather satisfied with Song JwaBaek’s growth in just three months.

‘That brat must be a mess too. Heh heh.’

Evil Heaven was certain of it.

But when So WoonHwi appeared shortly afterward looking completely unharmed, Evil Heaven’s expression hardened frighteningly.

Song JwaBaek felt as though he were sitting on a bed of thorns.

“I, I was the one who mainly fought him. He only threatened Squad Leader Oh, who was rolling around with a broken leg, using his Short Sword. That is why he is fine.”

He offered an excuse that no one had even asked for.

But Evil Heaven was already in a foul mood.

“From now on, training time will be increased.”

‘Damn it!’

Song JwaBaek glared at So WoonHwi with blazing eyes.

So WoonHwi turned away and avoided his gaze as though it had nothing to do with him.

The sight only strengthened Song JwaBaek’s fighting spirit.

‘I will defeat him.’

He ground his teeth and swore it.

* * *

At last, Evil Heaven announced the date of the duel.

It would be exactly three months later.

He must have decided that by then, the twins would certainly be able to defeat me.

Since the monster-like old man was teaching them, I could not afford to let my guard down. I had no choice but to train myself to death.

During that time, Tyrannical Blood Brigade Leader Gu SangWoong came to ask about Squad Leader Oh’s whereabouts.

But after hearing nothing but Evil Heaven’s roar, Gu SangWoong had to leave.

I wondered whether Gu SangWoong might continue searching for Squad Leader Oh, but no more was said afterward.

A Venerable One truly was a Venerable One.

Squad Leader Oh, someone of squad leader rank, might have been killed by Evil Heaven’s hand, yet no one dared to raise an objection.

That was good news for me.

Now I could focus entirely on training without worrying about anything else.

Swish! Swish!

The sound of a sword being swung repeatedly echoed through the cave.

I had been repeating the movements of the same movement for more than a two-hour period.

‘When are you going to teach me techniques?’

The Southern Heavenly Steel Sword replied in its stiff voice.

-We won't begin the sword techniques until you've drilled the forms into your body.

I still had not learned any techniques.

For a month, aside from practicing the Cultivation technique and divine art, all I had done was repeatedly train in the basic movements of the Stellar Star Sword Art.

-My former master said that if the basic movements cannot emerge naturally, techniques are no more than a sword dance.

It was true, but I was still curious about proper techniques.

Evil Heaven had demonstrated a few techniques from the martial arts book, saying he would teach them to me, but those were the techniques from before they were refined.

What would the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster’s true sword techniques be like?

-You may find out after mastering all eighteen basic movements. It will not be too late then.

‘Urgh.’

The Southern Heavenly Steel Sword had a perverse obsession with human touch, but seeing it made me roughly imagine what kind of person the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster must have been.

He had probably been rigid and stubborn.

That was likely why he had relentlessly trained himself and left his name behind as one of the greatest swordsmen of his age.

Then I suddenly became curious.

Who had defeated the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster Hoh JongDae and led him to such a bitter death?

-I do not know.

‘You do not know? There had to be a name, at least.’

-At the time, my former master was at the height of his fame. Hardly a day passed without a challenge letter arriving.

‘Did he accept every challenge?’

-Not all of them. He accepted only challenges from martial artists worth facing.

‘Was that person one of them too?’

-No.

‘What?’

-My master was extremely tense after receiving that person’s challenge letter.

It was an astonishing story.

A challenge letter that made the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster tense.

That meant the challenger must have been a master comparable to the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster.

-The nameless letter contained only the location and time of the duel, along with a flower stalk cut in half.

‘A flower stalk?’

-My former master saw the cut surface of the stalk and went to the appointed place, despite not knowing the challenger’s identity.

‘Ha...’

I had heard stories like that.

They said that the greater the swordsman, the more their caliber could be seen in the marks left by a thrust or slash.

-The match was decided in only forty moves.

‘What?’

Forty moves meant it had not taken very long.

It was hard to believe that a supreme master, who had been said to be worthy of joining the 8 Martial Masters of the World if he had not vanished, had lost in only forty moves.

‘Could one of the 8 Martial Masters of the World or the Four Great Evildoers have done it?’

That was the most realistic possibility.

Perhaps it had been a scheme to cut down a rising master before he could intrude upon their fame.

Was I getting ahead of myself?

Even if not one of the 8 Martial Masters of the World, someone among the Four Great Evildoers could have done it.

-They were far too young for that.

‘Young?’

-I do not understand human standards very well, but to me, they appeared to be no more than in their early twenties.

‘Early twenties?’

The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster had only gained such fame in his late thirties.

How could someone barely in their early twenties possess that level of martial prowess?

Did that mean even the monstrous Bizarre Oddity Evil Heaven would be no match for them?

-The Central Plains are vast, and there are many martial artists. No one can guarantee that there are no unknown supreme masters among them.

Despite the fact that this person had led its master to death, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword remained calm.

Was it because the match had been fair and square?

‘You never found out who it was? Didn’t you know anything about their appearance?’

Perhaps they were a famous master now.

Or perhaps I might know them, since I knew the future up to ten years after my regression.

After a brief silence, as if recalling that time, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword spoke.

-There was nothing distinctive about their appearance. They looked ordinary enough. However, there was one unusual feature.

‘What was it?’

-Their eye colors were different. When they crossed sword techniques with my former master, I saw that one of their eyes was a golden eye.

Hmm... I truly had no idea.

I had never heard of anyone with one golden eye.

Two of the 8 Martial Masters of the World would change over the next ten years, but neither of them had such distinctive eyes.

Who could it be?

-WoonHwi.

‘Yes?’

-There is an important lesson here.

‘A lesson?’

-My former master never neglected training, yet he was killed by an unknown swordsman. Is this the time for idle chatter?

‘...’

Fine. I was the guilty one.

After talking with the SoDam Sword every day, this one had gotten better at talking too.

Unlike the SoDam Sword, however, it only spoke the truth without a trace of humor.

* * *

The trees on the mountain peaks displayed nothing but bare branches.

As snow fell, mountains that had been red and yellow only months ago became white winter scenery.

Winter had fully arrived.

Three months had already passed.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

The crisp sound of a sword echoed through the cave.

The bold trajectory drawn by the steel sword cleaved the air in every direction.

The technique I was currently performing was the first technique of the Stellar Star Sword Art, Tiger Tooth Sword Strike.

It was a technique meant to overpower an opponent with fierce momentum.

I could now perform the sword techniques without obstruction because, as the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword had said, I had tirelessly polished the fundamentals.

As I performed the final sword form of the Tiger Tooth Sword Strike, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword spoke.

-Connect it directly to the second technique.

The second technique was called Submerged Clam Duke Sword. It explosively built momentum, met an opponent’s attack head-on, and counterattacked.

It could turn the opponent’s strength against them.

-Third technique!

Following its command, I immediately continued into the third technique.

Flowing Loach Form Sword.

Unlike the preceding techniques, the changes in its sword forms were prominent, supple as willow branches.

It was a technique that bewildered an opponent through unpredictable, fluid changes in its sword forms.

“Whew.”

After completing the three sword techniques, I let out a breath.

-Now you are looking the part.

At the SoDam Sword’s words, I puffed out my chest.

But the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword coldly assessed my sword techniques.

-There is still a long way to go. The momentum of your sword forms wavers at several points. At your current level, you are only half as good as my former master was.

My raised shoulders sagged.

Perhaps because it played the role of a teacher, I lost confidence whenever it gave a cold assessment.

-Still, this is remarkable growth in only three months. You did well.

Then its praise made me grin from ear to ear.

It was ruthless when it came to Martial Arts training, so I had come to trust it greatly.

-What about me?

‘...Uh. Sure, you too.’

-Do not answer halfheartedly. Trash So WoonHwi.

‘!!!’

This bastard was now putting insults before my name.

From now on, you are the foul-mouthed Short Sword.

-What did you call me, punk!

The enraged SoDam Sword shouted.

‘Enough. Southern Heaven, can I really win with only these three techniques?’

The Stellar Star Sword Art consisted of seven techniques in total.

As with most sword styles, sword forms made up the bulk of a duel.

Techniques were secret moves created through combinations of sword forms.

Since I had not learned every secret move, I thought I might be at a disadvantage.

-Do not worry. I only said that you have not reached my former master’s level. Looking at the sword techniques themselves, you are close to proficient. Rather than clumsily learning every technique, it is better to focus fully on these three.

I was uneasy, but I decided to trust its judgment.

At the very least, I could perform these three techniques proficiently now.

-Have confidence, WoonHwi.

-Wipe them out!

‘Right.’

Preparation was complete.

My fighting spirit had reached its peak.

At noon, with the sun high in the sky, the time for the duel arrived.

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