WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈
Chapter 45: Chapter Five - Dragon-Phoenix Assembly (18)
──────
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The drums thundered.
Then came cheers loud enough to make the whole world seem to shake.
“Waaaaah-!!!”
The finals of the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
The curtain had risen.
As befitted the day of the final match, even the events preceding the bout were on an entirely different scale.
All manner of eccentrics performed marvelous feats, followed by bouts between renowned veteran masters of the Martial World. Sword King Namgung Hyeok even stepped onto the platform himself to give a speech.
The events were lavish beyond measure, but they could not satisfy the audience’s thirst.
Naturally.
No one had come here today merely to see such things.
Today might be the day Sword Dragon Namgung Jin-cheon’s undefeated legend, thought impossible to break, finally came to an end.
The audience simply waited for the start of a bout that might one day become a legend in the history of the Martial World.
Fortunately, the wait was not long.
[Then let the main bout begin! Sword Dragon Namgung Jin-cheon, step into the arena first!]
“Waaaaah!!!”
A handsome man with jade-blue eyes stepped into the arena, sword in hand.
As always, the pressure he exuded weighed down the space around him, but today it felt especially heavy.
[Next! Ink Sword Mok Ri-won, step into the arena!]
“Waaaaah!!!”
“Kyahhhhh!!!”
A man whose mere appearance seemed capable of stealing one’s soul stepped into the arena.
If there truly were monsters that bewitched people, they would surely look like him.
A gray martial robe and an old iron sword.
Yet neither could conceal the bewitching smile lingering on his lips.
At last, the two men faced one another in the arena.
The bout had yet to begin.
Still, the atmosphere had reached its hottest point of the day.
Mok Ri-won spoke first.
“I’m sorry about before.”
“For what?”
“For saying Sword Dragon was like someone from the Black Path. I spoke without thinking.”
Mok Ri-won watched Namgung Jin-cheon’s reaction as he apologized.
He had not forgotten Dang Hwa-seo’s words.
The answer he finally received was very much like Namgung Jin-cheon, which was precisely why it left Mok Ri-won dissatisfied.
“I don’t care.”
Mok Ri-won smiled bitterly.
‘He’s so emotionally barren.’
Could he truly be a man who knew nothing of emotion?
The thought crossed his mind.
Then came pity.
Namgung Jin-cheon had been born into such circumstances and such a fate, yet he seemed so heartless. That was what made Mok Ri-won feel sorry for him.
As Mok Ri-won took a deep breath to soothe his aching heart, Namgung Jin-cheon spoke.
“Three moves.”
“Hmm?”
“I said you were to endure three moves. As I told you.”
Looking down at Mok Ri-won, Namgung Jin-cheon added, “I clearly said it would not be an easy match.”
“You did.”
“Prove it.”
Mok Ri-won’s eyes widened.
Then they curved into a bright smile.
“You’ll regret it. Won’t it hurt your pride if you lose so badly?”
“Provocation has no effect on me. Didn’t Poison Phoenix teach you that?”
“You’re quite skilled at provoking people for someone who says that.”
Their conversation went on longer than expected.
The audience spread their Qi Sense wide, hoping to overhear them, but it was futile.
The arena was sealed by a qi barrier personally erected by Namgung Hyeok.
Only the announcer standing in the arena with them could hear their chilling exchange, and they could only keep swallowing nervously.
“You may begin now.”
“Ah, all right!”
At Mok Ri-won’s words, the announcer took a step back.
Then they raised a hand high and shouted.
[Then let the match begin!]
Mok Ri-won and Namgung Jin-cheon assumed their opening stances.
A moment later, the announcer’s hand slowly fell.
The bout began.
Clang-!
Namgung Jin-cheon struck first.
* * *
There was no flashy technique.
It was a truly straightforward vertical slash, so honest it could even be called crude.
Krrrk-.
Even so, it was heavy.
That was Namgung Jin-cheon’s sword, the sword of the sole family in the Central Plains that laid claim to heaven.
Boundless Azure-Heaven Sword Art.
A sword that signified the endless blue sky.
A sword that stood at the end of that sky, with nowhere left to reach beyond it.
It was an arrogant sword, yet one that could not be denied.
The Namgung Clan’s sword was that heavy.
“One move.”
Namgung Jin-cheon declared it indifferently.
Mok Ri-won drew upon every ounce of strength in his body and endured the sword.
But if that had been enough to withstand Namgung Jin-cheon, he would never have earned the title of the future number one under heaven.
“And two moves.”
Whoosh-!
Blue Qi Waves blanketed the arena.
As though he meant to cleave Mok Ri-won and his sword in two, Namgung Jin-cheon pressed down on the entire space.
Krrrkk-.
The arena floor tore apart beneath the Qi Waves.
The air itself seemed crushed by that deep, vivid blue.
Mok Ri-won felt as though he could barely breathe.
‘Just...’
This was the result of Namgung Jin-cheon merely releasing Qi Waves.
“Can you endure it?”
Namgung Jin-cheon asked.
Mok Ri-won opened his eyes wide and answered by releasing his own Qi Waves.
Ssssh.
A faint ink-black light rose.
It was a chilling light reminiscent of a pitch-black night sky, yet it possessed a beauty of its own.
The Qi Waves flowing from him condensed and grew larger.
Then they stretched out against the azure sky.
Whoosh-!
The contrast between their colors and natures was so stark that it felt like watching day and night struggle against one another.
Namgung Jin-cheon’s blue Qi Waves were overwhelmingly oppressive.
In contrast, Mok Ri-won’s ink-black Qi Waves possessed a gentleness unlike their gloomy color.
Could there be swords so different from one another?
Could there be qi so different from one another?
The undulating Qi Waves wrestling together resembled a painting.
Of course, there was nothing romantic about the situation for the men caught in it.
“Ghh...!”
Mok Ri-won gritted his teeth as he struggled to force Namgung Jin-cheon’s sword away.
Still, it was too heavy.
There was nearly a twofold difference in their inner power.
No matter how true it was that martial arts were not decided by inner energy alone, such a clear difference in raw strength could not help but create a gap.
“It’s still only two moves.”
Namgung Jin-cheon continued to press Mok Ri-won.
He was not normally one to rush another person, but today was different.
How could it not be?
Mok Ri-won’s very existence, his declaration, and the spirit he had shown all stirred Namgung Jin-cheon.
That was why Namgung Jin-cheon wanted this.
He wanted Mok Ri-won not to be an empty shell whose words outpaced his skill. He wanted him to possess enough ability to speak such words. He wanted him to be someone capable of stirring him.
Krrrkkk-!
Chunks of the scraped-away arena floor floated into the air.
Namgung Jin-cheon’s pressure grew stronger.
“Not yet...!”
Mok Ri-won’s eyes gleamed.
“I haven’t shown you anything yet!”
Krrrk-!
Mok Ri-won relaxed his wrist.
Namgung Jin-cheon’s sword immediately cut downward.
Mok Ri-won spun away from its path even faster.
He used the principle of softness, turning his opponent’s strength into fuel for greater speed.
“Not bad...”
Namgung Jin-cheon was pleased.
This time, he swept his sword horizontally.
Once again, it was an unbearably crude motion.
The result was dreadful.
Boom-!
Even after escaping the sword’s path, Mok Ri-won was struck.
The Qi Waves wrapped around the sword had lashed him.
His body rose into the air for a moment, but Mok Ri-won managed to land properly.
His body was already a wreck.
His shabby gray martial robe had been torn in several places, exposing flesh stained red with blood. The fingers gripping his sword trembled.
Even his eyes seemed unfocused.
He looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Namgung Jin-cheon studied him with a contemplative gaze before looking away.
“That makes three moves. Well done. That was rather interesting.”
Exactly three moves.
After crushing Mok Ri-won with those three moves, Namgung Jin-cheon reined in his power without hesitation.
Mok Ri-won was still standing, but that was all.
Having taken a direct hit from his inner power, there was no need for the bout to continue.
That was Namgung Jin-cheon’s judgment.
He turned toward the announcer.
His lips moved to tell them to end the bout.
...But they only moved.
A chill ran through him.
The terrifying presence he sensed before he could speak gave him no choice.
* * *
Mok Ri-won had been confident of victory before the bout began, but there was one thing he knew.
‘I’m lacking.’
He was lacking in every respect compared to Namgung Jin-cheon.
That was the truth.
Naturally.
Compared to Namgung Jin-cheon, who had consumed all manner of rare spiritual medicines as casually as meals, the Human-Faced Spider’s inner core was the extent of the spiritual medicines Mok Ri-won had ever consumed.
And that was not all. His gains in inner energy through inner cultivation had also been strictly restrained.
The Star-Linking Divine Technique discouraged the hasty growth of inner energy.
Nor did he possess enough experience to make up for it.
Unlike Namgung Jin-cheon, who had grown through sparring with countless invited masters, Mok Ri-won’s guided sparring sessions with Mok Seon-o were the entirety of his experience.
By every measure, it was a match he was bound to lose.
Yet even so, there was one respect in which Mok Ri-won surpassed Namgung Jin-cheon.
‘Martial talent.’
Talent for martial arts.
Overwhelming talent that deserved to be called the greatest in the Central Plains.
And instinct.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star meant martial talent.
The Extreme Demon Physique was a body made for killing.
Mok Ri-won, formed from the union of those two things, was a man capable of wielding a sword with more perfect technique than anyone else in the world.
That was why he relied on it and chose a move that could easily be seen as a gamble.
‘It’s all right if my inner energy is lacking.’
He could make up for it with experience.
‘It’s all right if I lack experience, too.’
He could build it during the bout.
‘...I.’
He had not shown anything yet.
Ssssh.
Mok Ri-won forced his unsteady body upright.
Then he looked at Namgung Jin-cheon.
For the first time since the Dragon Phoenix Gathering had begun, emotion showed on Namgung Jin-cheon’s face.
Surprise.
Now he finally looked human.
Mok Ri-won smiled at the thought.
“Are you running away?”
“...”
“I told you. I haven’t shown you anything yet.”
“Your will is worthy of praise. But you have nothing more to show.”
“I do.”
“Even if you do, not in that condition.”
What, exactly, could he not manage?
What was Namgung Jin-cheon basing that judgment on?
“Are you scared?”
Namgung Jin-cheon’s brow furrowed.
“...You have a talent for making people uncomfortable.”
“You said provocation didn’t work on you, but it seems to work quite well.”
“If your wish is to end up bedridden...”
Whoosh-!
Namgung Jin-cheon released his Qi Waves again.
Mok Ri-won felt his newly steadied breathing fall apart once more.
Yet he could still smile.
‘Good.’
He needed this pressure.
He needed this Killing Intent.
He needed Killing Intent so sweet that he wanted to sink into it and close his eyes.
Tap.
Mok Ri-won stepped forward.
He savored the pressure weighing down on his shoulders.
Then, inwardly, he offered words of apology to his master.
‘I’m sorry, Master.’
“Ri-won, restrain it. Restrain it again and again. Erase every trace of your Killing Intent. Only then can you avoid harming people.”
It was an apology for directly defying the words Mok Seon-o had spoken with such a sorrowful expression, out of concern for him.
‘But, Master.’
Even so.
‘I don’t want to lose.’
He wanted to win.
No, more than that, if he had to lose, he wanted to lose to a sword that understood Chivalry.
He did not want to fall to a sword reaching for ambition alone.
Of course, it was not merely because of that nearly unreasonable sentiment that Mok Ri-won turned toward his nature.
‘I’ve done all I can.’
He had made his body a wreck in case he could not control his Killing Intent and hurt Namgung Jin-cheon.
He had held back so much of his strength that, no matter how desperately he struggled, his sword would never reach Namgung Jin-cheon’s throat.
He would not release every restraint, either.
Mok Ri-won exhaled.
Then he looked upon the knot he had kept suppressed in his heart.
It was a knot that would ruin his life, yet one he could not cast aside and had simply avoided.
A knot he had barely restrained by limiting his thoughts, martial arts, and emotions.
The star of the killing fiend.
Facing it, Mok Ri-won reminded himself.
‘Only today.’
Then he peeled back just one layer of the nature he had suppressed his entire life.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
