WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://discord.com/yT4GsFAYRf

SSS-CLASS HUNTER WHO DIES TO LIVE

Chapter 77: Song of Light and Shadow (3)

5.

I charged forward.

Raised my sword.

And slashed down.

Demonic Heavenly God Art.

The First Form.

Sword of Starving Death.

My body became a starving farmer, my sword a pickaxe. As my blade struck, the air crumbled like dry mud.

It crumbled, and crumbled, and crumbled, and at the far end of the exposed void was Viper's head.

“What……!”

Viper flinched, his one eye filled with astonishment. His shoulders started to move, then stopped, and the next moment his hips shifted. He had abandoned blocking and chosen to dodge.

A farmer's pickaxe never misses the ground.

My sword struck and dug into the air. Viper pulled himself back. The shattered void sucked in a volume of air equal to its own with a whoosh.

Boom!

The air split and burst, and pellets of snow whirled upward. It was winter. Whenever the wind blew, it carried the granular snow, and the air scraping my nostrils was terribly dry.

"---Damn."

Viper lifted his sword. Between the flurries, his one eye shone through. In the Celestial Martial Guild Master's sole remaining eye, shock swirled.

“What is this,”

I charged again.

Once more, I raised my sword.

And slashed down.

“This,” Viper dodged my blade again. “This crap,” Boom, the bursting sound and rising snowflakes. "Damn it,” Each time I swung my sword, Viper dodged, forced to evade, "Damn,” and whirlwinds rose in his place.

“Bloody hell!”

I was about to charge again but stopped.

Or more precisely, stumbled to a halt.

I was not breathing. I had not realized it. “Hhk,” a breath, and dry air rushed into my throat. A waterspout raged inside my lungs. “Hoo,” my insides turned over, and I could barely breathe. “Haa,” every breath hurt. I trembled.

But I did not let go of my sword.

A single exchange.

One clash had ended.

“Damn, almost died there…”

Viper looked at me, cold sweat running down him.

“King of Death, I thought you were only good at running your mouth... but your swordplay is pretty decent too. Fuck. What the hell was that? Those strikes could all be summed up as the [Small-Time Demon Sword].”

“That's right, my disciple! Truly, a demonic ferocity that freezes and shatters the world – [Eternal Demon Sword]!”

The Head of the Martial Alliance, who had been brawling with the Heavenly Demon, shouted.

The [Eternal Demon Sword] Viper spoke of and the [Eternal Demon Sword] the Head of the Martial Alliance referred to were separated by an insurmountable fourth-dimensional wall. That wall was imperceptible without the art of mind reading.

Heavenly Demon, too, was unaware of this wall. She clicked her tongue.

“Even with only one eye, you're quite perceptive.”

“Of course! Though slightly aged, I'm a true genius with the real eye of insight. Otherwise, why would I, the Great Axe Sage, have taken him as my disciple?”

The Head of the Martial Alliance boasted, then glanced at me slyly.

“Hmm. You, too, seem to have picked quite a talent. To think he could wield such a terrifying demonic sword after such a short time as your disciple, ha. He might surpass even the Four Demon Lords – a truly fearsome seed of a demonic ruler!”

“That's... I haven't accepted him as a disciple yet..."

“Come on! Are you still saying that?!”

"......."

Heavenly Demon fell silent.

‘Right.’

Breathing heavily, I thought.

‘This isn't about defeating Viper or him defeating me.’

The purpose of this duel.

‘To get Heavenly Demon to acknowledge me.’

In this respect, the Head of the Martial Alliance and I had the same goal.

To give Heavenly Demon, who was just waiting for destruction, a future.

The Head of the Martial Alliance chuckled.

“My disciple!”

“Oh, Master!”

Viper responded with vigor, and the Head of the Martial Alliance shouted,

“Let me give you some advice! Listen carefully!”

“What…”

Heavenly Demon opened her mouth.

“What, you old fool! What are you doing now!”

“Why? Is there a problem? You said that young demonic fiend was not your disciple.”

“That's not the point... It's rude to give advice during a duel! Even in a game of Go, it's impolite for someone else to interfere, let alone during a duel between two warriors!”

“Two warriors?”

The Head of the Martial Alliance laughed heartily, stroking his beard.

“To my eyes, I see only a green demonic seed and a proud successor of the orthodox path. It's even stated in the great laws that you can team up to defeat a demon. No problem at all.”

“Just look at this old fool...!”

"Ha ha."

The Head of the Martial Alliance boisterously declared.

“My disciple! That green demon, though his strikes are profound, seems to lack the stamina to maintain his ferocity! Don't confront him directly. Evade and wait for his Ki to drop!”

“Hey hey, Master! Is that true?”

Viper smirked.

“I already figured that much out long ago! Got any more practical advice?”

“Seriously. What is with that way your disciple talks?!”

Heavenly Demon gritted her teeth. She was fuming for several reasons.

“Is that truly the dignity of the orthodox hero you intend to accept as your last disciple?!”

“Oh? Now the demonic fiend is picking a quarrel over how he talks. Would you expect the manners of the Central Plains from a child of the outer lands? Or what? Are you worried your disciple... Ah, you said he is not your disciple yet. Anyway, are you worried that young demonic fiend will be crushed by my disciple because he talks like that?”

“This..."

“My disciple! Use the [Filling Butterfly Sword] and [Order of Life and Death]! It will work instantly!”

Viper's thick eyebrows twitched.

Underneath, his one eye was filled with profound realization.

“Indeed. [Filling Butterfly Sword] and [Order of Life and Death].”

“Yes! And if you add the essence of [Divine Martial Heaven], that would be even better, but can you do it?”

“Damn, of course! Master. I am the Head of the Celestial Martial Guild, Viper!”

Viper, with a grand gesture, cleared his nostrils and grabbed his sword.

Meanwhile, I finally managed to catch my breath.

Repositioning myself, Viper teasingly asked me,

“King of Death."

“Yes."

“You asked if I've ever experienced starvation?”

“That's right. Viper.”

“Is that your martial art?”

A sharp question, as piercing as the look in his one eye.

I regulated my breathing and answered.

“That was the mental image contained in the strike just now.”

“That seemed likely.”

Viper chuckled. Then he tilted his head, shifting that smile.

“Let me ask you in return, King of Death. What do you think martial arts are?”

A discussion about martial arts by the Head of Chun-Moon Guild.

It was like the Inquisitor discussing God, the Sword Saint discussing the sword, or the future Master Alchemist discussing medicine. It was something to sit down and earnestly listen to.

I would have done just that, had I not met the Sword Emperor, learned demonic arts from Heavenly Demon, and more importantly, not read the man's psychology before this.

“I will answer you!”

Viper lowered his stance and raised his sword.

Like a venomous snake ready to strike with its fangs bared.

“To step forward! To swing your arm! To throw a punch!”

And he moved.

No---he flowed.

Like he himself became liquid, flowing smoothly and gracefully from a higher place to a lower one, he came towards me.

Flowing like that, then suddenly, Ka-ching...!

“Martial arts is…”

From below to above, he unleashed an upward slash which I barely blocked.

Immediately after, Viper turned his sword around. The blades sparked as they collided. Viper then straightened his sword, aiming it skyward in a straight line, and slightly twisted his wrist. Tilted it.

And poured it down.

“To land a blow on the punk in front of you!”

It poured down.

“That's all there is to it! Punk!”

A torrent of sword strikes enveloped me.

“Damn it,” Ka-ching! As soon as I blocked, "Ah,” Ka-ching! The next strike, "Uh!” Then another, "Damn,” The relentless sword strikes chewed at my blade, bit into it, forcefully creating a gap. “Uh,” And then, whoosh...! The blade that finally penetrated nicked my cheek.

“Oh no...!”

Blood burst out. I barely stepped back a few paces, but,

“I won't let you escape!”

Viper, like a snake sinking its fangs into its prey, smoothly coiled and clung onto me.

Again, an upward strike came from below.

“Uh,”

As soon as I blocked, he rode the momentum up, unleashing a shower of sword strikes.

"Damn it,”

Damn it. Just as I thought, he is strong.

No wonder he ranks among the Hunters as a martial arts specialist. This man, Viper!

“Hey hey, King of Death! You started with the first strike but that’s all you’ve got?”

Viper scoffed.

The fury that surged within me erupted from someone else's mouth.

“Damn it..!”

It was Heavenly Demon.

“You brat!”

She yelled at me.

“What are you doing! It’s a downpour! It’s water! Doesn’t his sword resemble pouring rain!”

Heavenly Demon, who had been grinding her teeth at the Head of the Martial Alliance's provocations, finally raised her voice. Clenching her fist, she shouted at me.

“What's there to be afraid of! Catch it and drink it!”

Heavenly Demon had accepted this duel.

Me, becoming the successor of the Demonic Cult, and Viper, inadvertently becoming the successor of the Orthodox Faction. She acknowledged our fight. This was a battle between the Demonic Cult and the Orthodox Faction, and we were the 'representatives' of Heavenly Demon and the Head of the Martial Alliance.

"Ha."

I laughed.

“Understood!”

Holding the sword in reverse grip, I raised my stance.

Demonic Heavenly God Art.

The Second Form.

Sword of Parched Death.

I blocked Viper’s pouring strikes before they could even start, and reversing them, I drew them in along the path I desired. I let them flow.

And poured them onto the bare ground.

“Ah.”

A wasted move by Viper.

A move I had made him waste.

As our gazes crossed for a moment, the voices of the old man and the woman intertwined.

“My disciple! Be like decomposed leaf soil! Become like wet earth..."

“Ha! Just turn it into a puddle!”

Viper crouched into a defensive stance and I twisted my sword to the side simultaneously.

Demonic Heavenly God Art.

The Third Form.

Sword of Submerged Death.

Slightly angling it.

Diagonally horizontal, Ka-ching! Delivering the strikes, Ka-ching! Matching Viper’s breath, Ka-ching! Syncing with his blink, Ka-ching! And then,

Off-beat at the end,

Shush, Bang…!!

“Damn!"

Viper, cut on the flank, gritted his teeth.

The Head of the Martial Alliance shouted.

“Harsh! Retreat!”

“Stick to him!”

Heavenly Demon yelled.

Viper followed the Head of the Martial Alliance's voice to retreat, and I followed Heavenly Demon's voice to stick close.

Demonic Heavenly God Art.

The Fourth Form.

Sword of Frostbitten Death.

“Damn it!”

Viper got angry.

“This fight is crap!”

“Viper, you're no pushover either!”

“No, really, it’s crap! King of Death, were you molasses in a past life? How do you stick so closely?”

“And were you not a snake in your past life, Viper?”

As we both pondered each other’s past lives, Viper and I exchanged blades. Snowflakes burst around us, and the winter wind howled.

The spectators grew even more excited.

“Break it off properly, my disciple!”

“Strike now!”

“Don’t block! Use Lazy Mule Roll to evade! Then follow with Ground Hands…”

“Child! You must not block that either! Dodge!”

The wounds grew.

They deepened.

Blood spattered, flesh flew.

Both Viper and I became bloodied. The burst wounds quickly turned into scars in the cold wind.

“Ah, you damn demon! Always meddling like this!”

The Head of the Martial Alliance, still laughing, scolded.

“This snake-filled old fool…”

Heavenly Demon, also laughing, rebuked.

As their laughter intersected, Viper and I’s sword strikes intertwined.

Neither Viper nor I intended to kill each other. There was no killing intent in the exchange between Heavenly Demon and the Head of the Martial Alliance. Therefore, this was not a life-and-death battle.

It was not a fight to kill someone.

But it was unquestionably one hell of a fight.

“Huff, hah! Ha!”

I became Heavenly Demon's sword. Fully infected, unable to fight with full strength unless she poured all her Ki, I fought on her behalf.

It was a landscape she had lost.

“Haaaaah!”

Viper became the Head of the Martial Alliance's sword. Fully infected, unable to swing his axe without breaking his vital energy, he charged with full force on his behalf.

It was a dream he could no longer dream.

"......"

Every landscape fades.

No matter how brilliant a dream, it eventually loses its color.

Humans decline.

"Uh......"

At some point.

The Heavenly Demon became silent.

The woman of the martial world who had been called the greatest of all time slowly covered her face.

“Such annoying creatures…”

A declining genre.

And a declining world.

“I let it all go long ago. Why does it come back again…”

Only humans can abandon humans.

Only humans can choose not to abandon humans.

"What to do......"

How much time had passed?

When both Viper and I could no longer even lift a sword, our duel ended. There was no winner. Even more so, no loser.

"......"

I sheathed my sword.

Breathing heavily, I walked with heavy steps. Across the snowfield. Walking up to Heavenly Demon, who stood with her face covered, I bent my trembling knees.

“Heavenly Demon.”

I leaned on the snowy ground with a shaking hand.

“I wish to become your disciple.”

I want to be your landscape.

“I wish to take you as my master.”

To be your unfading dream.

“My alias is the King of Death.”

To connect your landscape to mine, your dream to mine, your life to mine.

“My real name is Kim Gong-Ja.”

In an era mocking all seriousness.

To be the pillar that prevents anyone from ridiculing you.

“Please accept me as your disciple.”

Please keep living.

That's what I meant.

"......"

The sky was tinged with sunset.

Snowflakes were falling on the snowy field.

“I am the Heavenly Demon, So BaekHyang.”

From the sky to the snowy field, snowflakes fluttered in the wind for a long time. Countless snowflakes. Among them, one drifted and fell onto the black hair of a woman, melting the white into the black.

“Perform the Nine Bows.”

Heavenly Demon opened her lips.

"I will accept you as my last disciple.”

Join our discord at https://discord.com/yT4GsFAYRf