Damned Transmigration - Chapter 74

WeTried Translations

Translator: Joy

Editor: Joy

◈ Damned Transmigration ◈

Chapter 74: F*ck

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A Glimmerblade, condensed from sword force, was faster than a Light Sword, but carried less power.

A Light Sword was a decisive sword technique, not something Sword Dragon could use in a spar rather than a fight to the death. At Sword Dragon’s current level of attainment, even forming a Light Sword was still difficult. Melting sword force into sword force, adding intent, and condensing it into one was originally impossible at the fifth tier.

Even if it were a match where a Light Sword could be used, employing it one-on-one against an opponent like Thunder Cloud would be suicidal. So, following the Sword Emperor’s advice, Sword Dragon had completed the Glimmerblade and trained to form it as quickly as sword force itself.

‘He’s coming.’

Before the spar began, Sword Dragon’s heart had pounded so violently it felt ready to burst. Now, it had quietly settled.

Sword Dragon knew Thunder Cloud’s skill. Sword Dragon knew how he fought. Having seen it firsthand, Sword Dragon knew exactly why his alias was Thunder Cloud.

Sword Dragon focused power into his eyes until they tingled.

The moment purple lightning rose, Thunder Cloud had already accelerated. His movements were fast enough to rank among the very best martial artists of the same tier. In particular, Thunder Cloud’s first burst of acceleration was comparable to the sword-drawing technique of a famed quick swordsman.

The spar had only just begun. Sword Dragon’s eyes were not yet accustomed to that speed. Sword Dragon had imagined it dozens, hundreds of times, but experience within the mind could not, unfortunately, become a real sensation.

So Sword Dragon had to concentrate and make sure not to miss it. Rather than opening more distance, Sword Dragon stepped forward.

Lightning flashed.

The instant Sword Dragon caught a faint afterimage, Sword Dragon’s sword moved.

The Orsia Sword Saint Style was not confined to any single thing. It could be a swift sword or a slow sword, gentle or fierce, ever-changing or utterly still. Because it mastered everything that could be contained within a sword, the Orsia swordsmanship bore the name Sword Saint Style.

The sword Sword Dragon swung now contained speed.

The Glimmerblade, completed over a month, split the space before Sword Dragon exactly as intended.

‘It didn’t reach.’

The sensation transmitted through the sword tip was empty. Sword Dragon did not question that judgment and twisted aside.

‘Deep.’

Judgments followed one after another. Sword Dragon did not stop at twisting aside and instead kicked off the ground completely.

Crack!

A foot descending from the air struck the ground like lightning. The continuous stamping action shook the earth.

It was not a mere tremor. Crackling Lightning Qi spread together with the vibration. Even the slightest contact could allow Lightning Qi to invade.

Sword Dragon, who had only made a small leap, instead put weight into the ground and stamped down. The responding stamp drove back the Lightning Qi, creating a crack with a sharp crack.

With Sword Dragon’s center firmly anchored, Sword Dragon gripped the sword with both hands.

The Glimmerblade’s light shone more brilliantly. The sword swung was not as fast as before. It was slower and heavier. The mana in the space itself was drawn toward Sword Dragon’s Glimmerblade.

It was a sword that pressured the space itself.

Yuri felt space itself restraining his body and braced his feet. He had intended to use speed to slip inside Sword Dragon’s sword, but instinctively understood.

‘If I approach, I’ll be cut.’

That was Sword Dragon’s range now.

The red Ganggi of the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil wrapped around Yuri’s entire body. Stopping was not the answer. Maintaining distance would not give him an advantage. Yet if he waited, the sword that pressured space would restrict him.

His feet moved through the footwork.

Whirlwind Cloud Steps.

Yuri’s swaying body created bewildering changes.

Tingle.

Sword Dragon had concentrated on the eyes from the start. In the end, there was only one real body. Do not be deceived by the changes.

Rumble!

The Glimmerblade, bearing tremendous weight, swept the tangled mana along with it.

Whoosh!

A faint tremor ran through the deceptive afterimages.

‘He’s not there?’

They were all false. Sword Dragon did not panic and simply leaned aside.

The judgment was correct.

Swish!

Thunder Cloud’s foot, which had already entered close range, targeted the spot where Sword Dragon’s head had been.

It did not reach.

Rather than feel relieved, Sword Dragon swung the sword. Just as the Glimmerblade was about to connect, Thunder Cloud’s body spun like a top.

Clash!

Golden light and red flames scraped against each other and scattered through the air.

‘Shallow.’

Rather than cutting him, Sword Dragon had shaved him down.

Sword Dragon had felt Thunder Cloud’s Ganggi was like flame, which was why the Glimmerblade had been necessary. Ordinary Ganggi would not even have shaved him down. In other words, this side was sharper. If it had merely been Ganggi, the gap would have been so wide it was nearly one-sided, but in terms of sharpness, the Glimmerblade was superior to Thunder Cloud.

‘Crazy.’

Sword Dragon nearly let out a hollow laugh from sheer disbelief.

It was a sword taught directly by the Sword Emperor. The Sword Emperor had personally taught Sword Dragon swordsmanship, and the Orsia Sword Saint Style had been honed by the world’s greatest swordsmen over hundreds of years.

Yet even with such a sword, shaving him down was all Sword Dragon could manage?

Sword Dragon did not know Thunder Cloud’s martial arts, but that wavering, flame-like Ganggi exerted pressure on Sword Dragon simply by existing.

‘Can I keep shaving him down?’

Sword Dragon judged that this side held the advantage in sharpness for now, but durability was an entirely different matter. Sword Dragon could not be certain of maintaining the Glimmerblade’s sharpness and continuing to cut Thunder Cloud.

However, lacking confidence was no reason to retreat.

Sword Dragon guided the sword. A small tremor spread wide like ripples on water. Slashes divided into dozens, hundreds, and spread around Sword Dragon. Those scattered slashes changed again, forming complex sword paths.

Boom!

The slashes exploded instead.

Counterattacks had entered through every gap. Was it a fist? Or a foot? Sword Dragon could not tell which.

‘Probably both.’

Where a fist could strike, Thunder Cloud used a fist. Where a foot could swing, Thunder Cloud used a foot. Thunder Cloud’s movements were more troublesome than Sword Dragon had imagined. Facing a martial artist who could freely use both arms and both legs felt like fighting four martial artists at once.

Yet it was enjoyable.

Sword Dragon felt a tingling thrill and changed the sword held in both hands to a one-handed grip.

Sword Dragon could not hear something as trivial as the sound of the sword swinging. Constant revisions were added to the sword paths that first rose in Sword Dragon’s mind before being put into practice.

They had to be.

Thunder Cloud stood a short distance ahead. The length of Sword Dragon’s arm, plus the sword, gave Sword Dragon the advantage in range.

A swordsman inherently held a range advantage over a hand-to-hand fighter. Any weapon would. Once a martial artist entered Ganggi and could freely control its changes, simply extending Ganggi farther could allow skilled control of distance.

But the Glimmerblade could not do that. It was Ganggi condensed until it became firm. At Sword Dragon’s current level, extending and retracting the Glimmerblade was impossible.

Thunder Cloud did not send his Ganggi flying. His Ganggi was maintained around his body.

In the end, Sword Dragon still held the range advantage. Sword Dragon only had to prevent Thunder Cloud from entering and cut him down.

‘Advantage?’

Despite holding superior range, Sword Dragon was still repeatedly revising the sword paths in Sword Dragon’s mind.

Continuity was important in martial arts. It had to flow without breaking. A diagonal downward slash left the upper body open, so the sword had to rise again. A thrust opened the body wide, so it had to link into a pull or a cut while still extended.

That was not easy against Thunder Cloud.

Sword Dragon could not thrust. If the body opened like that, Thunder Cloud would not miss the opening. Sword Dragon could not slash diagonally, either.

An unceasing intuition in Sword Dragon’s mind said it could not be done. Yet when Sword Dragon compromised and chose a possible sword path, the path was unsatisfying.

It felt as though the flow were being cut apart bit by bit...

‘...!’

The spar between Thunder Cloud and the Fist King two days ago.

Thunder Cloud’s movements now resembled the Fist King’s somehow. He could not cut away everything as the Fist King did, but he was certainly cutting away what could be cut. In doing so, he was subtly guiding Sword Dragon’s sword wherever he wanted.

‘This is different from underground.’

The martial arts Thunder Cloud had displayed then were flexible and free. The movements that plunged into the midst of hundreds of hands and danced there had been beautiful enough to inspire that impression.

Like his alias, Thunder Cloud had been like a cloud. He seemed within reach yet could not be caught. He deflected attacks, stole their flow, and swallowed it in turn.

Now was different.

Those flexible, free movements were now as sharp as a forest of blades. Rather than deflecting, Thunder Cloud was guiding this side by cutting things off completely.

‘Don’t tell me...’

Had Thunder Cloud incorporated the spar from two days ago into himself? Was Thunder Cloud also someone who learned from defeat?

Thunder Cloud did not strike the sword directly. He focused on evasion, waited for the sword, and targeted the exact moment after it moved.

At that moment, Sword Dragon realized it.

Thunder Cloud had not discarded the freedom he had possessed before. He had merely given it direction. A solitary freedom that suppressed and restricted the opponent. Even Sword Dragon’s sword paths, constantly revised, were within Thunder Cloud’s intentions.

“Heh.”

A laugh escaped Sword Dragon without realizing it.

The choices Sword Dragon had judged to be best had, in the end, been manipulated. It was extraordinarily enjoyable.

Sword Dragon immediately changed course. Sword Dragon reduced the revisions to the sword paths. Sword Dragon abandoned the idea of maintaining distance and cutting safely while shaving Thunder Cloud down.

That was clumsy and weak. If it was wrong, it was wrong. If it was right, it was right.

A broad smile appeared on Sword Dragon’s face as Sword Dragon strode forward.

The sword had been swung to cut, but did not reach. As Sword Dragon twisted to avoid the fist that came as though it had been waiting, an extended foot barely grazed Sword Dragon’s face.

Neither side had connected.

Sword Dragon saw Thunder Cloud’s body tilting. It was too late to return the swung arm, so Sword Dragon simply released the sword.

The left hand prepared below immediately caught the sword and slashed at Thunder Cloud’s body.

Just as it was about to connect, Thunder Cloud leaped on one foot.

The unstable posture gained stability and strength simply because internal energy was added to it. Thunder Cloud jumped over the slash, kicked the air again, then brought the foot that had already kicked upward down onto Sword Dragon’s head.

Instead of dodging, Sword Dragon raised the arm that did not hold the sword and blocked the foot.

Crack!

Protective Ganggi shook violently. The heavy impact made Sword Dragon’s arm tingle, and Sword Dragon’s feet dug into the ground. If Sword Dragon had not focused on defense, that strike would have broken the arm.

The sword held in the left hand spun.

Holding the sword in a reverse grip, Sword Dragon drove the flashing Glimmerblade into Thunder Cloud like an awl.

It did not pierce properly. It penetrated Thunder Cloud’s protective Ganggi, but Thunder Cloud stepped on Sword Dragon’s forearm and flipped over Sword Dragon’s head.

‘My arm...’

It was not broken, but it was numb. Lightning Qi had invaded during that last strike.

Sword Dragon immediately circulated internal energy and restored feeling to the arm. Sword Dragon switched the sword back to the right hand and sharply turned.

Bewildering changes would not work. This side would be cut apart bit by bit and consumed.

Faster. Sharper. Enough to cut deeply even with a shallow strike.

Kiiiing!

The Glimmerblade’s light intensified.

‘Soon?’

Sword Dragon sensed it. The outcome of this tightrope-like spar would soon be decided. Thunder Cloud landed not far away and clenched a fist.

Is he planning to enter?

‘Come.’

This time, Sword Dragon intended it. Sword Dragon deliberately gripped the sword with both hands.

Sword Dragon would cut him the moment he came.

Sword Dragon gave up on changes. Sword Dragon was just as confident in quick swordsmanship.

The instant Thunder Cloud’s figure shifted slightly, the distance between them vanished.

Sword Dragon swung the sword immediately.

A sword swung thousands, tens of thousands of times. Of every sword Sword Dragon had ever swung, Sword Dragon was certain that this one was the fastest and sharpest.

‘It reached...!’

The moment certainty followed, Thunder Cloud’s body looked like a bolt of lightning, and something scattered.

“Ah...”

Sword Dragon let the sound slip out without realizing it.

“Fuuuck.”

A cheap curse that could not possibly have come from the heir of the Orsia Family, which stood at the summit of the western family Cartel and led martial affairs even among the Pride.

Sword Dragon could not help cursing.

Sword Dragon had truly thought the swing was good. Seeing something scatter, Sword Dragon had even wondered if Thunder Cloud’s neck had somehow been cut.

It was a misunderstanding.

What scattered was Thunder Cloud’s thick hair. Sword Dragon’s sword had cut through Thunder Cloud’s protective Ganggi and severed the ends of his hair, but had not cut flesh.

The moment Sword Dragon thought the blow had connected, Sword Dragon lost track of Thunder Cloud’s movements.

When Sword Dragon looked again, it was already over.

Thunder Cloud’s fist had stopped in front of Sword Dragon’s face. Had it not stopped and continued forward...

“Yuri.”

Sword Dragon’s face twisted into a deep frown. For once, Sword Dragon did not call Yuri Thunder Cloud.

Yuri did not withdraw his extended fist. He stared intently at Estor’s face, then nodded.

“What is it, Estor?”

Yuri called Sword Dragon by name as well.

“My sword is cool, isn’t it?”

It was an abrupt question. Yuri could not understand what Estor meant, but answered readily.

“It’s cool.”

“It’s called the Glimmerblade. I learned it diligently for a month to defeat you.”

“The name is cool too.”

“What was the thing you just used called?”

“Purple Lightning Flash.”

“What is that? A technique from the Ganggi art you learned?”

“I turned inspiration from magic into martial arts.”

It was a technique that turned the third formula of the Heinderga Magic Formula, Piercing Flash of Lightning, into martial arts.

“You didn’t use it underground.”

“You didn’t use the Glimmerblade either.”

“I couldn’t use it then.”

Estor grumbled and swept his hair back.

“You did something strange in the middle. Did you learn that from the Fist King?”

“Yeah.”

“I doubt the Fist King thinks he taught you anything.”

“He said he would teach me a move.”

Yuri turned to the Fist King to confirm. The Fist King, who had been standing outside the barrier with his mouth half-open, burst into hearty laughter and nodded.

“Why did I lose?”

Estor asked with a sulky expression.

“Because you abandoned changes in your sword and tried to decide the match with a single strike.”

“I think I would have lost even if I hadn’t abandoned them.”

“You would not have lost like you did now. At the very least, if you had focused on changes, I could not have used Purple Lightning Flash.”

“I put power into a single strike because you kept cutting things off.”

“That is what I wanted you to do.”

“So it was your intention?”

There was no need to answer. Yuri withdrew his extended fist and lightly shrugged.

“Fuck.”

Estor cursed again.

Estor had expected defeat even before the spar began, but losing was still frustrating. No matter how much defeat had been expected, frustration was unavoidable.

Beyond that frustration, though, there was something else. The instant defeat became certain, the curse had escaped before Estor knew it. After pondering what that feeling could be, Estor grumbled a simple impression.

“You spar like a damn dog...”

“Thank you.”

The moment Yuri heard that, the answer slipped out reflexively. There was a difference between a word and a curse, but to Yuri, it was high praise.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“It is the first time I have put the Fist King’s teachings into a real fight. Estor, because you were such an excellent opponent, I was able to become stronger.”

Yuri could not honestly state the real reason for his thanks, so he gave another reason.

Estor’s face reddened.

Yuri, who had won the spar, had answered with respect. Estor was ashamed of giving such a pathetic answer while being carried away by frustration over defeat.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for now?”

“I could not accept defeat, and gave a shameful answer that insulted you.”

Estor took several steps back and bowed deeply.

“Yuri. I have never once gained the upper hand against you. Your movements were admirable to that extent.”

Estor spoke with respect, and the eyes raised afterward burned with passion.

“However, today’s defeat is not my end, because I, Estor Orsia, grow stronger with every moment.”

“Hmm... right. I look forward to your growth too.”

In the warm, heartening atmosphere, Yuri nodded with a serious expression.

Satisfied with the response, Estor sharply turned around.

“I.”

Eyes filled with anticipation faced the onlookers.