“Phew.”
Taking a deep breath, Seol-Hwi looked away from Sang Cheon-jang’s dead body to the warriors of the Blue Dragon Sect surrounding him.
No one moved.
Perhaps they were frightened by the sight of a strong person being cut down. No one was willing to step up.
It was easy to guess what Seol-Hwi looked like in their eyes.
This was no less than a slaughter.
Well, it doesn’t matter what they think.
<Combat power increased> <Event reward! You have obtained the Blood Hand Demonic Martial Arts.>
Because his goal was achieved.
In front of Seol-Hwi, the Blood Hand Demonic Martial Arts was shown to him by the system. Energy circulated through his body and dantian.
Like a river, internal energy flowed between the 12 meridians and the key acupuncture points.
In an instant, Seol-Hwi realized the true meaning of Blood Hand Demonic Martial Arts.
<You have mastered the Blood Hand Demonic Martial Arts.>
Such great martial arts…
Even if he didn’t use it, he could tell. The extreme energy he now has and the power he holds.
Like the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, depending on how it was used, it could deal with an enemy even stronger than the user.
This was a euphoric moment, but still, Seol-Hwi looked down at the dead man and thought,
This time, the AI didn’t ask for a choice.
The options to stun or kill would have come if it was like usual. But this time, AI Seol-Hwi simply killed Sang Cheon-jang.
Presumably, the event seemed to have an effect on this.
“Ah!”
Seol-Hwi, who was lost in thought, came to his senses. He didn’t have time to waste.
His subordinates are in danger.
Seol-Hwi stopped in his tracks.
His eyes landed on two men who had fallen to the floor.
Jeok Song…! Yong Jin…!
Seeing the both of them on the ground, they were stabbed by the enemy’s sword.
They were already cold corpses.
“Captain.”
“You’re here….”
Seol-Hwi’s expression wasn’t good. The rest of his team was not in better shape.
Yorim had one arm cut off.
Seo Ryeong had blood flowing down her forehead, and Imugi was against the wall.
“Ugh…”
He clutched his neck with both hands, trying to stop the blood from flowing.
Even if Seol-Hwi wanted to help, he would have to move Imugi, and that would kill him.
Seol-Hwi raised his gaze and looked at the man standing in the center.
“Hm, you’re here now?”
Lee Gu-myung flicked the blood off of his sword and smiled.
“Your subordinates. Fighting them was no big deal. Taking them down one by one. And now you’ve appeared. Well, you came here faster than I anticipated.”
“…”
“I knew it. Guys like Sang Cheon-jang are just cannon fodder. He isn’t needed.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi didn’t listen to his words. His eyes went back to Jeok Song’s body on the ground.
A man with the same background as him.
It was only because of his judgement that Jeok Song was dead. It was none other than himself who asked them to fight Lee Gu-myung.
“…”
“Captain… sorry. We were lacking.”
When Yorim struggled to apologize to him, Seol-Hwi shook his head.
“No. It’s because of me.”
He didn’t expect this. By the time he killed Sang Cheon-jang and came here, his subordinates had suffered.
This was a task given to them for the event. To achieve its purpose.
“Because of me… everyone suffered. I’m sorry.”
At the sight in front of him, Seol-Hwi felt unknown emotions.
He had chances.
The life he had, the choices he was given, every choice he took made his human emotions dull. He was only counting his own life, so his subordinates dying was natural.
Cannon fodder.
Just like what Lee Gu-myung is talking about.
“But I promise. Not in the next….”
Seol-Hwi bit his lip.
“The next life. I will not throw it away like this.”
And he looked ahead.
At Lee Gu-myung. The disciple of Mount Hua.
He waited for Seol-Hwi to be done and said,
“Is your emotional outburst done?”
“…”
“Now, let’s start.”
Lee Gu-myung slowly raised his sword. Seol-Hwi too, stood with his sword drawn.
I cannot win in the normal way.
That was something he knew better than anyone.
The difference in combat power is more than double.
He had already killed Baek Yang-chun and Sang Cheon-jang and lost much of his health.
All three combats - simulation, turn based, AI - he had used them all.
Now, without any help, he had to fight.
And his enemy is Lee Gu-myung.
He narrowed the distance in a second and immediately used the Mount Hua sword technique.
Rather than stabbing in a curved line, it came out like a straight line.
Chang!
As soon as the both of them clashed, Seol-Hwi’s form collapsed. And there was no way the opponent would miss it.
The sword which contains the essence of plum blossoms.
Twice. Lee Gu-myung drew the falling plum blossoms with the sword and attacked.
“Euk! Kuak!”
Seol-Hwi, who was already wounded, was now stabbed, and he retreated back. He tried to counter by balancing on one foot.
<Using the Wind God Sword>
It was unexpectedly the Wind God Sword he used.
Swish!
A huge vortex of wind shook the land and raced ahead.
However, there was no one there. The opponent had already moved to the side.
“Thought I would wait for you?”
Lee Gu-myung quickly swung his sword and slashed Seol-Hwi’s chest.
And Seol-Hwi bounced back.
“Huh…?”
Lee Gu-myung was startled at this sight and looked at his sword.
It was meant to cut, but the opponent bounced back?
“Maybe because you are from the Demonic Sect…you have some weird skills.”
He thought he heard the sound of something breaking.
Seol-Hwi probably protected his body with internal energy to avoid the chest attack. If he had known this was the case, Lee Gu-myung would have used more energy.
“Cough…Cough…”
Meanwhile, Seol-Hwi, who had fallen far away, was coughing up blood.
He had suffered internal injuries, yet he felt relieved on the other hand. In a situation where there should be fatal damage, he had escaped the crisis.
Of course, this wasn’t a laughing matter.
This time, the opponent’s attack almost drained him of his internal energy. If he gets hit again, he can’t stop it.
It won’t work the normal way.
Wind God Sword didn’t work.
It was quite useful until now, but not for this opponent.
And the opponent will not do the same thing again either.
“Still, I am a bit disappointed? You killed Baek Yang-chun, so I was kind of nervous. But, you can only hide and kill, like an assassin.”
Seol-Hwi thought calmly, despite his enemy’s sarcasm.
He wondered what to do to defeat him.
If I can know the skills of that guy… no, I can defend myself from anything then.
The opponent’s sword techniques were unpredictable. So defending from them is impossible.
If it continues like this, Seol-Hwi will be cut to the bone by his opponent.
“There is a gap in the bony joints inside your body. More importantly, muscles and bones are quite messy things.”
…?!
And a thought popped up.
Is it because of the death of Jeok Song, or is it because of the thought of being cut to the bone?
Strangely enough, he remembered something from a long time back.
“Normally, butchers change their knives every month. This is because they don’t know how to separate the bone from the flesh. A skilled butcher will change their knife once a year.”
“…”
An old proverb about “Being a cattle slaughterer and killer”.
A story left behind by an old man when he saw a skilled butcher cut down a cow with his skill.
It is said that even if it was bloody, stinky, and poor work, the state he achieved from this experience was no less than a warrior’s.
Bone.
That stirred the brain.
Thinking about it, Seol-Hwi knew it too.
Skills he learned when he was a butcher. The elders scolded him for constantly changing the knives while slaughtering cattle and pigs.
See the flesh and see the blood.
If that cannot be done, the knife will break as it touches the bone and turns dull when it cuts the flesh.
Is that possible? Here?
It felt like a similar situation.
It made no sense! But it was what his intuition was saying.
Some things felt similar to him.
How can I find the right gap?
Lee Gu-myung’s swordsmanship looked invincible.
How can he find a gap in such a situation? So, Seol-Hwi came up with one foolish thought.
Maybe…
Before the opponent attacks.
Maybe there is a way to hit him first.
“What are you thinking about all of a sudden?”
Shhhing!
Spectacular swordsmanship came in from all directions. Seol-Hwi couldn’t counter and kept backing up.
He wouldn’t dare to face it. He wouldn’t even try to defend himself from it.
It didn’t look like he could find a way out.
Just once.
One chance.
The opportunity came.
Lee Gu-myung stopped his relentless attacks and thought he’d driven his opponent to a corner.
“Haa!”
Seol-Hwi didn’t miss that chance.
Ignoring his life being on the line, he rushed in and performed the third form of White Light Body Demonic Martial Arts.
Chak!
Normally, it is meant to touch the opponent’s body and slow them down with its ice energy.
Ching!
But this now was a completely different thing.
A stab, not a slash in a diagonal direction that should usually be done.
As a result, an unusual thing happened.
“What?!”
Lee Gu-myung had a shocked expression on his face.
<Using the Wind God Sword>
The wind engulfed with ice energy was rising violently to sweep over the opponent’s body.
“Kuak!”
Lee Gu-myung flew back.
Crackle!
Sparks flashed around him.
The power of lightning Seol-Hwi used a while ago was added to engulf Lee Gu-myung.
“Ha…”
Seol-Hwi felt disappointed.
Again, the opponent was hit but not enough. To be precise, Lee Gu-myung predicted the attack and defended with all his might.
So he didn’t fall down.
“How dare…”
Puak!
However, there was damage.
Because Lee Gu-myung hadn’t been focusing, he seemed to have suffered an internal wound and a greater psychological impact.
He was no longer calm as he was at the beginning of the fight but full of anger.
