A Medieval Knight in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 21

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
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‘A polearm?’

Jin Cheongang couldn’t hide his puzzlement upon seeing the polearm held in William’s hand.

A martial artist using a polearm.

Weren’t martial artists using polearms long gone after swordsmen gained prominence, except for a few sects?

‘It’s meaningless to question such things about a foreigner.’

Jin Cheongang cleared his mind of idle thoughts and glared at the opponent in front of him.

A foreigner with a polearm.

He couldn’t even guess what reason a foreigner had for appearing from the Haenam Sword Sect, but Jin Cheongang could know one thing for certain.

‘He’s definitely not an easy opponent.’

The composure as if taking a stroll despite standing in the middle of a battlefield. A stance that couldn’t be shown without confidence in one’s skills.

Although he had real combat experience, seeing the foreigner’s eyes that had gone through countless battles, he was an opponent no less, if not more, experienced than him.

Jin Cheongang swallowed his saliva and assumed the basic stance of the sword technique he had learned from his master, the Black Wolf Sword.

And he slightly observed the movements of the Haenam Sword Sect. No one showed any signs of coming down. They just shot arrows at the Black Shark Squad from afar.

If they continued to stay in position and not move like that, the damage to the Black Shark Squad would accumulate.

‘…I have to either get past him or subdue him in an instant.’

If he failed to succeed in either, the Black Shark Squad would be buried on Haenam Island at this rate. Jin Cheongang gritted his teeth and unleashed the first form of the Black Wolf Sword.

A nimble quick sword that strikes out as if a hidden wolf suddenly bites the prey’s neck. A terrifying quick slash aimed at William’s neck.

‘Quite fast.’

William blocked the first strike by inserting the shaft of the polearm into the sword’s path. As the first strike was easily blocked, Jin Cheongang retracted his sword without hesitation.

He knew that engaging in a contest of strength with someone wielding a polearm was a foolish act.

If he dared to try a contest of strength, the moment the polearm’s blade on the weapon reached his head, his head would have flown off.

‘He reacted to my quick sword and blocked it… a tricky opponent.’

What is the most important thing for a swordsman using quick swords?

Whether the opponent could see and respond to the quick sword.

The quick sword, which focused solely on fast attacks while discarding other elements, would inevitably have its power halved if faced with an opponent who could keep up and defend against it.

Therefore, Jin Cheongang judged that he needed to test the waters a few more times. Although it was inevitable that time would be drawn out, it was better to confirm it definitely even if it took a little more time than hastily rushing.

And so, Jin Cheongang’s sword flashed once again.

Three clashes.

Jin Cheongang broke out in a cold sweat as he saw the end of the shaft pierce through where his head had been.

‘Using the end of the shaft like a spear. Troublesome with his uncanny agility.’

The polearm had not been swung even once yet. That’s why Jin Cheongang couldn’t help but feel tense even while continuing his probing attacks.

His side had exposed important information about the ‘quick sword’, but the opponent didn’t reveal much information despite using an unfamiliar weapon.

The opponent didn’t show any decent techniques or internal energy manipulation.

He simply probed with the sharp awl attached to the end of the shaft, aiming for vital points.

Due to the fundamental difference in range, even that felt tricky to Jin Cheongang. The motion of extending and retracting from a distance longer than a sword was quite challenging.

‘Is he trying to buy time?’

The opponent was not actively taking the offensive. At this rate, the Black Shark Squad would suffer critical damage and be annihilated before he could get past this foreigner.

Jin Cheongang glared at the foreigner with an anxious gaze.

‘I have to bypass him somehow.’

“You seem to be in a hurry?”

“…”

“You demon cult bastards have no sense of decency.”

William smirked as he looked at Jin Cheongang. Although he was in a defensive position, he had completely seized the initiative. The fundamental difference in range and defensive actions were blocking Jin Cheongang’s movements.

‘If I buy time, he will have no choice but to overextend himslf.’

Time was on William’s side.

That’s why William had no reason to be impatient.

Just slowly pressuring would make the martial artist in front of him try to make a reckless move to somehow break through the situation or kill him in order to get past him.

William maintained a stance as if ready to thrust at any moment, pressuring him while slightly widening the gap.

A distance where the quick sword couldn’t reach the enemy’s body, but the polearm could.

The basics of facing a polearm were not to give distance, so Jin Cheongang’s way to attack was set.

Break through the current situation somehow and engage in a duel.

‘Aiming for the oponent’s body will get it swept away by the pole. I’ll aim for the hand instead!’

Jin Cheongang used the Black Wolf Step, which he learned along with the Black Wolf Sword, and charged in again. His nimble figure, as swift as the quick sword, instantly arrived at William’s side.

William’s eyes followed Jin Cheongang’s movements that suddenly accelerated.

It wasn’t a surprising speed as he had faced faster opponents before. He slightly held the item tied to his waist with his left hand and threw it into the flashing sword light.

And with the sound of metal scraping, Jin Cheongang’s body lost balance and staggered.

“Ugh…!”

‘That is?’

A round and small shield that wasn’t easily visible in the dark night. Jin Cheongang instinctively realized that his sword had slid off the shield.

Then he instinctively bent his body backward.

He saw the polearm’s blade narrowly pass by his field of vision. If he had been a little slower, one of his limbs would have been flying in the air.

But it was better than dying, even if it was humiliating. Jin Cheongang, who had rolled back and stood up covered in dirt, looked at William with a troubled face.

‘A shield…’

The poleaxe alone was surprising enough, but he even knew how to use a shield.

Jin Cheongang felt perplexed by the foreigner’s equipment.

‘I’ve never learned how to fight an opponent with a shield.’

Surely it was just a round shield barely large enough to cover the face, but Jin Cheongang felt like he was fighting an opponent whose entire body was covered with a shield.

“There won’t be a next time.”

He hung the shield on his waist again and gripped the polearm with both hands.

A grip slightly different from before.

Jin Cheongang raised his sword with a tense expression, realizing that the opponent, who had felt like a fortress, was about to attack.

‘Even if I overexert myself a bit, there’s no choice but to extend the length of the sword energy and strike.’

That was the only way to overcome the fundamental difference in range.

The more the sword energy was extended, the internal energy consumption increased exponentially, but was this the time to consider such things?

Jin Cheongang began to draw out internal energy from his dantian and push it into his weapon.

At the same time, William’s polearm, which sensed the movement of energy, also began to be enveloped in a blue light.

William observed Jin Cheongang, who was holding a sword glowing red, with sunken eyes.

He remained calm even in the excitement of battle. He calmly analyzed Jin Cheongang’s movements that he had shown so far.

‘Although quite fast, the power isn’t strong. A sword thoroughly designed to cut off the opponent’s breath in a few moves. Since the sword’s length isn’t very long, for that guy to deal meaningful damage to me, he has to enter my range.

Or… overcome the difference in range with sword energy.’

William’s right foot heavily stepped on the ground. A motion with weight behind it.

‘He’s taking the initiative!’

At that motion, Jin Cheongang’s sword flashed and charged in again. The target was the arm that was extended forward to some extent. If he followed the pattern of the fight so far, the foreigner would block or deflect the attack with the polearm.

Jin Cheongang planned to launch consecutive sword strikes and observed William’s reaction.

And,

‘What?!’

Jin Cheongang was surprised to find that William had lowered his body to dodge his attack altogether.

Because only the image of him straightforwardly blocking had been imprinted in his mind, he had unconsciously excluded the possibility of ‘evading’ the attack.

And Jin Cheongang had to pay the price for that.

“In the Western Regions, many knights favor the polearm. As before, the awl attached to the end of the shaft can be used like a spear, but… it can also be used like this.”

William’s polearm rotated and thrust the blade at the opponent for the first time. The target was the ankle. Jin Cheongang instinctively burst out energy from his toes.

An attempt to somehow gain distance.

William wrapped aura around his body and deflected the energy wave. Opponents who used such tricks were as common as pebbles on the roadside.

He caught Jin Cheongang’s right ankle in the part below the head of the poleaxe, which was deeply hollowed out like a hook, and pulled.

As the body trying to bounce away with strong force was forcibly stopped, Jin Cheongang’s body fell backward.

His right foot was dragged by the polearm, completely losing balance.

William immediately retrieved the polearm and thrust it towards Jin Cheongang’s chest.

A simple thrust. But the most threatening move.

Jin Cheongang rolled his body to the side and got up.

If he had been a little late, his heart would have been pierced right there. He sprang up and looked at William with a tense face.

‘If I hadn’t rolled quickly, I would have died on the spot.’

Faced with the bizarre utilization method he had never seen in the Central Plains, Jin Cheongang recalled the saying that the world was vast and there were many eccentric people.

‘If I survive, it will be a good experience. If I survive, that is…’

The opponent was definitely not below his level.

Although he seemed to be conserving internal energy, using it only to a minimal extent, his movements were still threatening.

Jin Cheongang contemplated whether he should push the opponent with internal energy but immediately rejected the idea.

His fight was not only against the foreigner in front of him.

If he wasted any more internal energy, forget the next fight, he would have to run away.

“When the Heavenly Demon Descends! Ten Thousand Demons…”

“Break through! Break through somehow!”

‘It had dragged on for too long.’

Jin Cheongang glanced at the his surroundings with an anxious face. He had to do that, or he would feel uneasy. As he suspected, despite the considerable sacrifices, the Black Shark Squad had narrowed the distance.

‘At least a third of them are lying on the ground.’

The situation was not good. Therefore, Jin Cheongang threw all his pride to the ground.

That was the only way he could complete his mission.

‘Whether you are a martial artist or not, you have to complete the mission. You foolish Jin family bastard.’ Jin Cheongang shided himself

What was there to feel ashamed about as a martial artist after having already used such a balatant escaping Skill? Jin Cheongang grabbed a handful of dirt, bent his waist, and threw it towards William.

And taking advantage of the moment he dodged the dirt, he used his movement technique again.

The distance between him and William rapidly increased.

An escape in the midst of a duel.

William let out a hollow laugh at the absurd action and took out a gourd bottle.

“It’s obvious what he’s going to do.”

How many times had he experienced such a situation on the battlefield? He pulled out the lid of the gourd bottle with his teeth and brought the opening to his mouth.

In an instant, his cheeks puffed out.

A ridiculous appearance that didn’t fit the battlefield at all.

But this wasn’t done to make someone laugh.

‘Considering the description in the original work, to detonate the Lightning Bomb, the fuse needs to be lit.’

He put strength into his right foot and drew out internal energy. Using a method that would be cursed as ignorant by the Central Plains people, he burst forward using the internal energy gathered in his foot and moved to chase Jin Cheongang’s figure.

‘Fortunately, the foreigner’s qinggong skills aren’t outstanding. I should have done this from the beginning.’

Fighting like a martial artist at this point.

Jin Cheongang ridiculed himself and took out the Lightning Bomb from his chest. Since he was hidden among the Black Shark Squad, the opponent wouldn’t be able to stop him. He quickly took out a fire starter and lit the Lightning Bomb.

‘I may have lost the fight, but I will win the war.’

He imbued internal energy into his hand and threw the Lightning Bomb into the battlefield where arrows and death were rampant, the lit bomb was fired like a cannonball towards the Haenam Sword Sect.

“It’s a Lightning Bomb! Everyone, retreat!”

A weapon of terror that could turn even a supreme master into a rag if hit directly.

For the first time, the formation of the Haenam Sword Sect moved backward. The Black Shark Squad members waited for the explosion at a position where the Lightning Bomb’s range barely couldn’t reach.

‘It’s over now!’

Once the Lightning Bomb exploded, the Haenam Sword Sect would suffer an irreversible blow. Jin Cheongang smiled in relief, forgetting his fatigue at the future that would soon unfold…

“…Huh?”

As the Lightning Bomb was shooting out like an arrow, as if all hope ended there, a stream of water appeared and crossed the expected trajectory of the Lightning Bomb.

The stream of water forcibly twisted the path of the incoming Lightning Bomb and even extinguished the fuse.

In an instant, the bomb that had been developed with an enormous amount of money turned into a pebble and fell in front of the Sect Leader.

“Huh…”

Fire is extinguished when it meets water.

The law of nature suddenly poured cold water over the demon cult.

More precisely, it was William, who had spat out water from his mouth.

“If the fuse gets completely wet, you won’t be able to light it. Isn’t that right?”

“You bastard…!”

Jin Cheongang glared at William with a face full of anger. William raised the gourd bottle as if showing it to Jin Cheongang and shook it.

“There’s still plenty left. Try throwing more.”

William had a sneer on his lips that made one involuntarily curse.

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