Absolute Sword Sense - Chapter 52

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 52: Escape (1)

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Thousand-Li Scent Chaser.

As a Spy, I could not fail to recognize it.

It was an incense whose scent could spread as far as a thousand li.

If this strongly scented powder was scattered, its location could be tracked using a special device or trained tracking dogs.

Not much time had passed since it was scattered, yet even I could smell it.

Why had the Second Venerable One's second disciple, whose master was one of the Blood Cult's Four Venerable Ones, secretly come out in the late predawn hours to scatter Thousand-Li Scent Chaser?

- A Spy?

‘It isn't impossible.’

I would have to subdue Go EunJae to know for certain.

Filled with killing intent, Go EunJae looked ready to attack at any moment.

Whoosh!

Go EunJae pointed a long saber at me.

“Have you never heard that the more curious you are, the shorter your life?”

“I suppose. But I think I've heard that the more careless you are, the shorter your life.”

“...”

Go EunJae was left speechless.

Having been caught sneaking around, Go EunJae had nothing to say.

As Go EunJae glared at me, their eyes darted around as they checked their surroundings.

Then he curled his lips into a cruel smile.

“You fool. Do you think you can handle me alone?”

Go EunJae seemed certain I had no allies.

As someone practiced at lying, I answered without changing my expression.

“You think I'm alone?”

“Hmph. If you weren't, they would have already blocked my escape route or attacked.”

- He isn't falling for it. He looks as dull as a toad, though.

If Go EunJae were that simple, they would not be a Spy.

Go EunJae must have received proper Spy training.

In that case...

Whoosh!

I struck first, swinging my sword at him.

Despite the surprise attack, Go EunJae calmly evaded it with a step.

As expected of an Expert.

“Did you think a surprise attack would work? You and I are on different levels. You must have experienced that today.”

“Put your shoe on properly, you toad.”

Caught off guard by my sudden appearance, Go EunJae had not managed to put on a leather shoe. It was hanging off the top of their foot.

“Toad? You bastard!”

Perhaps being called a toad irritated Go EunJae more. They stopped retreating and launched themselves at me with terrifying force.

Go EunJae's long saber came fiercely for my neck.

I bent backward and thrust my sword toward the center of his chest.

Whoosh!

Go EunJae kicked off the ground and leaped upward to evade it.

Then they brought their saber down with all their strength toward my head.

I swiftly raised my sword to block it.

Clang!

Tap tap tap tap!

Go EunJae must have drawn out their Force of ki to its limit. The blade trembled, and I was pushed back four steps.

Thinking he held the advantage, Go EunJae spoke smugly.

“You fool. You were lucky enough to defeat Ho GeumWon with some trickery, and now you are seriously mistaken if you think you can face me.”

Calling his senior martial brother by name confirmed my judgment.

Go EunJae disliked Ho GeumWon.

Whether that was because Go EunJae was a Spy or not, I could not yet tell.

“Heh, that trick only works on someone with less internal energy than you, right? How pitiful. Blinded by your desire for glory, you foolishly walked into danger alone...”

“You talk too much.”

I thrust my sword like lightning toward his mouth, which would not stop moving.

Confident in their Force of ki, Go EunJae raised their saber without hesitation.

Clang!

“Huh?”

At that moment, Go EunJae's body was pushed backward.

“You?”

Their eyes shook.

I did not miss the chance and unleashed the first technique of the Stellar Star Mystic Art.

Tiger Tooth Sword Strike.

A sword technique carrying fierce momentum descended upon him.

Go EunJae's body had been shaken as they retreated, but they urgently regained their form and unleashed a saber technique.

Clang clang clang clang clang!

Their saber clashed fiercely with my sword.

The saber technique, brimming with a tyrannical air, seemed to be the Tyrannical Blood Saber Art of the famed Chaotic Blade Demon Emperor, Seo GalMa.

It was an outstanding saber art, capable of blocking my sword technique even amid such instability.

Bang!

After blocking the technique, Go EunJae widened the distance between us.

“You hid your skill.”

Go EunJae seemed startled that my Force of ki exceeded the Advanced level.

Naturally, Go EunJae had assumed I was weaker and looked down on me.

Had he never heard the martial world's saying that one should hide thirty percent of one's skill?

- You hide fifty percent.

“Cough.”

Go EunJae's shifting eyes showed they were considering something.

They were probably weighing whether to flee or kill me to silence me.

Then Go EunJae turned and used a movement skill.

“Running away?”

I used my own movement skill to catch him.

But after moving only a few jang, Go EunJae suddenly stopped. Dragging their saber along the ground, they spun around.

Blue sparks flew from Go EunJae's saber scraping across the ground.

Crackle crackle crackle!

‘What is he doing?’

At that moment, dirt and sand swept up by Go EunJae's saber rose into a cloud, blocking my view.

I urgently swung the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword, blocking the flying fragments of sand.

Crackle crackle crackle!

I blocked the sand fragments, but my vision was instantly obscured by dust.

Then the SoDam Sword and Southern Heavenly Steel Sword shouted at once.

- Concealed weapon!

- Dodge!

Without time to think, I spun and kicked off upward.

Whoosh!

I felt something small and sharp miss just beneath me.

The SoDam Sword's voice rang in my head.

- Throw me forward!

Before I even landed, I drew the Short Sword and threw it into the dust.

“Gah!”

Clang!

Blue sparks flashed within the dust.

The moment I landed, I unleashed a sword technique toward that spot.

The sixth technique of the Stellar Star Sword Art.

Pursuing Lesser Return Sword.

This sword thrust forward while precisely rotating its sword force around a single point. It was one of the Ultimate Techniques from the latter half of the Stellar Star Sword Art, a technique that elevated a simple thrust to its extreme.

It lacked variation, but its power was exceptional among the Stellar Star Sword Art.

“Damn it!”

His voice came from within the dust.

Clang clang clang clang clang!

The Pursuing Lesser Return Sword struck, flashing before my eyes.

Twelve thrusts came at once in a continuous barrage, and he could not block even five before being thrown backward.

When I passed through the dust, he was clutching his left chest.

That spot was staining red.

- I'm here.

The SoDam Sword called out, as though afraid I would forget it.

I looked over and saw it embedded in the ground.

But he came first.

Go EunJae looked at me in disbelief.

“You... What are you? How did you avoid the concealed weapons in that dust?”

It was dark, and Go EunJae had obscured my vision with dust, so they seemed astonished that I had avoided them.

“I have a third eye.”

“What?”

“None of your business. Let's settle this.”

I raised my sword and took a guard stance.

Even though he was injured, I could not let down my guard against someone who could use concealed weapons.

Go EunJae also took a guard stance, but their movements stopped.

They seemed to hesitate, having judged that they could not defeat me by skill alone.

- He might run. Attack first.

The SoDam Sword told me.

‘No.’

As someone who had once been a Spy, I could guess what Go EunJae was thinking.

A Spy had only two options in this situation.

Run until the end, or commit suicide.

But ending one's own life was an extreme choice. Even a Spy could not easily make that decision.

They would have no choice but to hesitate, even if only for an instant.

‘You have to prepare yourself.’

I stared intently at him and silently recited the verse formula for the Illusory Mind Eye.

Drenched in cold sweat and consumed by thought, Go EunJae knew nothing and only kept their guard up.

‘Will it work?’

I drew out my innate life energy to its utmost limit.

It might not have worked in the middle of a fight, but now there was a sufficient chance.

Then, as if Go EunJae had made a decision, they brought the saber pointed at me to their own neck and shouted,

“Rather than fall into the hands of the likes of you, I'll do it myself...”

“Look into my eyes!”

“What?”

Unconsciously, Go EunJae looked into my eyes.

That very instant, they pulled away the saber blade they had placed against their neck and threw the saber as far as they could.

Then they opened their mouth wide, their eyes unfocused.

Whoosh!

I rushed toward him.

With lightning-fast movements, I sealed his blood pressure points and chi.

The moment I did, Go EunJae's eyes returned to normal and they came to their senses.

“Ah?”

Their body frozen with their mouth open, Go EunJae could not hide their bewilderment.

Go EunJae probably had no idea what had happened.

Panicked, Go EunJae tried to force their body to move, but it was useless.

“Let's see.”

I stuck my fingers into Go EunJae's wide-open mouth.

Go EunJae stared at me with bloodshot eyes.

It was too late, no matter how Go EunJae looked at me.

Not this side, but the other?

‘Found it.’

- What did you find?

I carefully grasped what was attached near his molars and pulled.

A very thin thread was tied around his left molar.

As I slowly pulled it, Go EunJae gagged.

Slip!

Something tied to the thread emerged from Go EunJae's throat.

It looked like a tiny black bead.

- What is that?

It seemed the SoDam Sword could see well despite being stuck in the ground.

‘A poison pellet.’

- A poison pellet? It's poison?

‘That's right.’

Usually, this was the standard procedure.

As expected, Go EunJae really was a Spy.

Spies had two methods of suicide.

One was to cut their own throat, and they usually preferred that.

If a poison pellet dissolved in stomach acid, all their organs would melt from the poison and they would die. The pain felt far too prolonged.

- How would people who have never died know that?

‘Do you have to experience it to know? You don't die immediately after taking poison, so you can guess.’

- Ah, right. Then it would be better to die instantly.

That was why they cut their throats.

It was better than being captured and swallowing the poison pellet.

But what could Go EunJae do? They had failed at both.

Still gagging as though they would vomit, Go EunJae looked back and forth between the poison pellet and me with disbelief.

I smiled at them.

“You fell into the hands of the likes of me?”

Then I drove my fist into his toad-like face.

* * *

Ding! Ding! Ding!

As I approached the Main Hall of Blood-Nurturing Valley, alarm bells rang out.

It was a truly ominous sound.

Just as I expected.

Scattering Thousand-Li Scent Chaser meant informing someone of this place's location.

Thanks to that, something had surely been caught in Blood-Nurturing Valley's watch network.

I glanced at Go EunJae, slung over my shoulder.

‘It really has changed.’

Blood-Nurturing Valley's location would indeed be exposed.

But not now.

Considering that Chaotic Blade Demon Emperor Seo GalMa was never meant to come here, it seemed that had affected things.

‘Could Ho GeumWon's fate have changed as well?’

If my guess was right, he would have died at Go EunJae's hands somehow.

But since I had captured Go EunJae here, Ho GeumWon's fate might have changed.

In any case, I needed to hurry.

Whoosh!

I used a movement skill, passed the pavilions, and went inside.

Once inside, I saw countless Blood Cult warriors from Blood-Nurturing Valley moving busily.

They were placing oil-soaked straw throughout the buildings.

- What are they doing?

‘It looks like they intend to burn everything.’

If the location had been exposed, erasing all traces came first.

The Blood Cult had remained hidden beneath the surface for a long time, so its response to such matters was extremely swift.

People had gathered before the Main Hall.

My master Evil Heaven, the Song Clan twins, Baek Ryeon Ha, the Blood-Hand Witch Han BaekHa, Chaotic Blade Demon Emperor Seo GalMa, the Omnipotent Godly Doctor, and Tyrannical Blood Brigade leader Gu SangWoong were speaking with grave expressions.

“Master.”

“No. You?”

“Young master?”

When I appeared, everyone's attention turned to me.

Their expressions varied, but most were filled with doubt.

It was only natural. I had vanished while alarm bells warning of danger were ringing.

“You brat. Where have you been?”

Evil Heaven asked me.

Thud!

I set Go EunJae, whom I had been carrying over my shoulder, on the ground.

“EunJae!”

Seo GalMa cried out when he saw his unconscious disciple.