Absolute Sword Sense - Chapter 62

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Episode 26: SaMa Yeong (2)

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The first technique of the Stellar Star Sword Art, Tiger Tooth Sword Strike.

It was a technique meant to overwhelm an opponent with the fierce momentum of a tiger.

Though my scheme to sow discord had thrown the bearded middle-aged person into confusion, they responded quickly, befitting this group's leader.

Clang!

“Huh?”

When our swords collided, the bearded middle-aged person's eyes widened.

It was only natural for them to be surprised.

I was operating the Stellar Star Mystic Art at Level 4, and rather than the incomplete Stellar Star Sword Art, I was using sword techniques I had fully perfected and developed.

Clang!

The bearded middle-aged person could only focus on blocking my sword forms.

With Evil Heaven gone, there was no reason to conceal the true Stellar Star Sword Art.

‘Faster.’

Tiger Tooth Sword Strike grew more powerful as its sword momentum increased in speed.

Unable to find a moment to breathe amid the relentless barrage, the middle-aged person eventually made a mistake.

‘An opening.’

I knocked their sword aside toward the upper right, exposing an opening.

The bearded middle-aged person could not even block eight movements. On the ninth, they were stabbed above the right collarbone.

Thrust!

In a clash of swords, the slightest lapse in concentration could lead to a fatal injury.

The bearded middle-aged person's balance crumbled after they were stabbed above the collarbone.

“Urk.”

Flustered, they used a step to widen the distance between us.

As I was about to pursue them, I had an idea.

Letting go of the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword, I stretched out my hand toward their legs as they used their step.

Whoosh!

The Silver Thread shot out and wrapped around the bearded middle-aged person's leg.

At that moment, I pulled it.

“Gasp!”

One of their legs was yanked away, and the bearded middle-aged person fell over.

When I infused the Silver Thread with innate life energy, its cord reeled in, dragging them toward me.

“Y-you coward!”

The bearded middle-aged person shouted at me.

This was not a sparring match. What was cowardly about it?

Twng!

They swung their sword to cut the Silver Thread around their leg, but its elasticity sent the blade bouncing back.

Even rusted, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword's edge had been repelled by the Silver Thread.

There was no way an ordinary sword could cut it.

“Damn it!”

Growing desperate, the bearded middle-aged person swung their sword at me to keep me from approaching.

But how could a sword swung while lying down be a proper sword form?

Clang!

I knocked away their sword and drove mine into their heart.

The bearded middle-aged person writhed in pain, then stopped moving as their breath left them.

- It would be better to handle the Silver Thread with your left hand.

‘You're right.’

I agreed with the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword.

If I had used the Silver Thread with my left hand to bring them down, I might have subdued them faster.

Shadow-Flashing Flying Dagger Art was originally a Martial Art used with the left hand, so I should wear the Silver Thread on that hand as well to become accustomed to it.

I had dealt with the most troublesome one. Now for the others...

‘Ha!’

I was about to help the yellow-clad youth, but only two enemies remained.

Though the youth had only joined the chaotic melee in which the others were fighting one another, they had dealt with six of the eight people in that short time.

If not for the Sword Formation, the youth had the skill to deal with them alone.

Whoosh!

It would be better to finish this quickly, so I intervened.

I shot forward and targeted the back of one of the people launching a combined attack against the yellow-clad youth.

“Watch out!”

One of them shouted, but it was too late.

Even facing me head-on, the difference in our skill was great enough for the fight to end within a few exchanges. How could they stop me?

I stabbed the swordsman in the side as they desperately turned.

Thrust!

“Urgh!”

As I dealt with one person, the yellow-clad youth did not miss the chance. With a swift sword technique, they immediately dealt with the other.

However, their methods were crueler than I had expected.

They took one of the opponent's eyes, then cut off the opponent's head.

- ...Those sword techniques are cruel and vicious.

Even the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword clicked its tongue.

Looking at the swordsmen's corpses, the youth's sword art was clearly focused entirely on killing. It targeted the eyes, nose, armpits, even the groin.

- Whoever created that sword art must have been born with a murderous nature.

I thought so too.

The purpose of sword styles was to kill opponents as effectively as possible, but this went too far.

“Great Hero! Thank you for your help.”

The yellow-clad youth gave me a fist-and-palm salute.

Someone with such cruel methods was smiling so brightly with such an innocent face.

It truly did not suit them.

Swish!

I pointed my sword at the youth.

Now that these people had been dealt with, it was time to learn their identity.

“Ah?”

I asked the puzzled youth.

“Who are you?”

They were neither someone left behind by Evil Heaven nor a Blood Cult member.

Considering their ruthless skills and how readily they killed members of the martial artists' alliance, they clearly did not seem to be a force of justice member. I wanted to know who they were.

Then the youth suddenly did something unexpected.

Thud!

They dropped to their knees, showed me respect, and spoke.

“Great Hero. I have long admired your cult. I heard there might be traces of your cult here, so I came to devote myself to it.”

‘!?’

For a moment, I was speechless at their unexpected words.

Their sword had mentioned looking for a Blood Cult master, but I had never imagined their purpose was to join the cult.

Until now, I had been too busy dealing with enemies to pay much attention, but the youth's voice was rather strange.

Their face appeared to belong to someone in their early twenties, yet they had the voice of a boy who had not gone through puberty.

Their attempt to force it deeper sounded unnatural.

- Their slender build is unusual too.

As the SoDam Sword said, their slender figure had remarkably delicate lines.

They were either a teenage boy concealing their true age, or a woman disguised as a man.

- What will you do?

‘I'm not sure.’

I could not bring someone of uncertain identity into the cult.

To begin with, I had no authority to recruit anyone.

Still, they had prevented the martial artists' alliance members from calling for others, and they had constantly tried to make a good impression on me. They clearly bore goodwill toward the Blood Cult.

I watched them for a moment before speaking.

“Who are you, to wish to join the Blood Cult?”

I meant for them to reveal their identity.

I had hoped their sword would chatter and tell me, but it was more tight-lipped than expected.

The yellow-clad youth hesitated briefly before speaking.

“Is one's identity truly so important? I have heard that a ruler cherishes talented people.”

“That applies only to those one can trust. How can I recklessly accept someone when I do not even know who they are...”

- ...

- Un Hwi!

I heard it too.

The ringing in my ears.

A considerable number of people were approaching from nearby.

Judging by the sounds of their swords, there seemed to be at least fifteen of them. They appeared to be this group's allies.

We had to get out of here.

‘...The southwest side of the mountain range is this way.’

To reach the place Evil Heaven had told me about beforehand, I had to go around the mountain range toward Guizhou.

“Is something wrong?”

“A large group is coming this way.”

The yellow-clad youth looked puzzled at my words.

They apparently had not sensed them through Ki sense yet.

“A large group? That cannot be. While I was scouting the area, there was no one...”

“Quiet.”

I silenced the yellow-clad youth.

Just because there had been no one while they were scouting did not mean there were none now.

[There seem to be at least twenty or thirty of them. We should leave this place first.]

It was only an estimate, but that was roughly their number.

At my sound telepathy, the yellow-clad youth replied as if they could not understand.

[I heard you were a Venerable One. With martial prowess like yours, you should be able to handle that many...]

Handle them, my ass.

Whoosh!

Leaving behind the yellow-clad youth, who still believed I was a Blood Cult Venerable One, I used movement skill toward the northwestern forest.

I should not let others see me using the Silver Thread as a rope again.

It was far too easy for them to misunderstand.

Whoosh!

Then I heard someone rapidly pursuing me from behind.

When I glanced back, the yellow-clad youth had already caught up to me.

‘Fast.’

I had expected them to possess excellent martial prowess, but their movement skill was exceptional.

They had far surpassed the wall of Advanced mastery.

If someone that young possessed such skill, they had to be from a prestigious family or have an exceptional master in their martial lineage. I grew more and more curious about their identity.

[As expected of a Venerable One. I only sensed their presence after getting much closer. You are remarkable.]

The yellow-clad youth praised me through sound telepathy.

What? They had already sensed them?

Naturally, the enemies had drawn closer, but even a master at Brigade leader level would find it difficult to notice them immediately from that distance.

[There seems to be one truly strong person among them. If we fought that person, the other enemies would gather too, so I think your judgment was correct, Great Hero.]

They had even roughly gauged the enemies' level.

Could this person be concealing their Martial Arts like I was?

‘Ah!’

But I had no time to consider that.

Someone was rapidly approaching us from behind.

The ringing grew louder.

At this speed, they would catch us before long.

[Great Hero! They're too fast!]

The yellow-clad youth sent sound telepathy, but they were so flustered that their real voice slipped out.

As I expected, the youth was certainly a woman.

She must have been truly startled to forget even to hide her voice.

- ...It hurts. It hurts.

The ringing became clear.

But something was strange.

The ringing that seemed to come from a sword kept saying it was in pain.

Just like the sword Baek HyeHyang had carried back then.

- Un Hwi, they've caught us.

The SoDam Sword shouted at me.

Running any farther was impossible.

I urgently sent sound telepathy to the yellow-clad youth.

[We cannot escape. Let us launch a combined attack.]

[Yes!]

The yellow-clad youth seemed to have thought the same and nodded in reply.

Hiding her voice was no longer even a concern.

The yellow-clad youth and I stopped, hid behind thick trees, and suppressed our presence as much as possible.

We waited for the enemy to appear.

The ringing drew closer.

I sent the signal through sound telepathy.

[Three.]

[Two.]

[One!]

The instant I said one, the yellow-clad youth and I simultaneously unleashed sword techniques and charged at the person emerging from the brush.

The person hurriedly drew their sword and blocked our attacks.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After only three exchanges, it felt as though my palms would tear apart.

The Force of ki behind the sword was immense.

But midway through the attack, I had no choice but to stop.

Whoosh!

I broke off my technique, used a step to create distance, and shouted at the yellow-clad youth.

“Stop!”

“Four?”

At my shout, the yellow-clad youth instinctively retreated from the person.

In the meantime, I quickly removed the mask covering my face.

Once I did, the master who had emerged from the forest spoke in surprise.

“Brat?”

“Elder!”

The peerless master who had pursued us was none other than the Second Venerable One, the Chaotic Blade Demon Emperor Seo GalMa.

He wore gray clothing resembling a Taoist robe and had tied his hair neatly atop his head, so I had not recognized him immediately. I never imagined it would be him.

“Why are you here, Elder?”

At my question, Seo GalMa's face brightened at once.

“Ha! You were alive.”

The corners of my lips rose as well.

I had not known I would be this glad to meet him here.

Meanwhile, the yellow-clad youth looked at me with an incredulous expression.

[Great Hero... No, you are not a Venerable One.]

At the youth's disappointed sound telepathy, I raised both hands slightly.

Then I said aloud.

“When did I ever tell you that I was a Venerable One?”

At that, she replied as if dumbfounded.

“Is that really what you are saying right now...?”

Swish!

Then Seo GalMa pointed his sword at her.

“Your face is that of a young man, but your voice belongs to a woman. You appear to be wearing a Skin Mask. Who exactly are you?”

Though Seo GalMa held a sword rather than a blade, he radiated an intense presence.

It seemed as if he could cut down the yellow-clad youth in an instant if she made the slightest move.

The yellow-clad youth looked at me desperately, her eyes asking me to explain.

So I spoke.

“She helped me avoid being discovered by the enemies. She says she came here because she wishes to join the main cult, but I do not know where she comes from.”

I briefly told him everything.

Even I knew nothing more than that.

I conveyed something to the yellow-clad youth, who wore an uncomfortable expression.

[This elder is the genuine Venerable One.]

Understanding my intention, she hurriedly knelt on the ground.

Then, showing respect as she had to me, she spoke.

“Venerable One. I have long admired your cult. I came because I heard there might be traces of your cult here. Please accept this humble self.”

Seo GalMa frowned at her words.

It was the same reaction I had.

Someone unknown had suddenly applied to join the cult. Seo GalMa could not react differently.

However, his response was entirely different.

Swish!