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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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“You’re courting death!”
The Duel Assassin shouted and pulled out the chain from his waist. His face was showing his anger, and the weight at the end of the chain was spinning in the air, making a threatening sound like a rattlesnake. The speed and weight were so threatening that even from afar, the air pressure could be felt.
He roared like a beast,
“No one has survived my attack! Take this!”
He grabbed the middle of the chain, swung his arm in a large circle, and then shot the iron weight like a hidden weapon. The sight of it flying while attached to the chain looked like a snake attacking, and also like a black energy blast.
“Yikes!”
I tilted my head to the side and the weighted chain sliced through the air. The chain quickly slithered through the air in front of my eyes like a dragon.
If I had been at a normal level, it was an attack that I couldn’t have dodged. But for me, who had been hit by Sanyeo’s kicks countless times, an attack like this wasn’t anything.
The Duel Assassin frowned, and I sprang forward from the posture where I had lowered my body. While kicks were fast to retract, attacks like these that extended chains were slower to retract, although they were more powerful than a kick.
If I dashed forward now, I would be able to land a blow.
“Not a chance!”
The Duel Assassin firmly stomped on the ground. The dirt floor was dug up from the single stomp, and a clump of dirt rose into the air like he had dug into it with a shovel.
“Ugh!”
Dirt rose into the air and blocked my vision, and I had no choice but to retreat because I couldn’t just jump into the cloud of dust. And then he sprang out of the dust cloud and
“Die!”
Swung his huge fist towards my face.
Thud!
I instinctively extended my hand and blocked his fist, but my body was pushed back from the pain that resonated not only from my blocking arm, but my whole body. Although it felt like my head was on fire, I couldn’t show him that I was hurt. I clenched my teeth and tried my best to hide the pain on my face.
The Duel Assassin retracted the chain that he had thrown and charged at me at the same time. The sight of him wildly wielding the chain was brutal, and his eyes that had grasped their chance were gleaming.
I put one of my legs back and waited for him to approach. I couldn’t be afraid.
The moment he came into my range, extending his hand as if he had grasped an opportunity, I lowered my posture as much as possible, acting as if I was about to grab the hand ax in my left hand.
“…Hiss!”
The Duel Assassin, who had been about to attack me, frowned for a moment at that action, and then stopped his attack and tried to create some distance.
And I sprang forward with the posture where I had lowered my body, using the techniques of the Mount Tai Ax and hit his side with the ax in my right hand.
Thud!
“Kyaaaack!”
I attacked from an unexpected direction at an unexpected speed.
The Duel Assassin, who believed that I had a hidden card in my left hand, had been tricked by my feint.
The Duel Assassin, who had been screaming in agony, gritted his teeth and counterattacked by using his knee even though he had been hit by my attack. His knee came flying towards my face when I thought I had landed a blow.
“Uaaaack!”
“Keuk!”
I was sent rolling across the arena as he was pushed back.
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“…What a tough bastard.”
The Duel Assassin said while rubbing his side. I sniffled and looked up at him. My head was spinning, and I could taste blood every time I breathed. Although his tattered clothes were scratched, the wound on his side that was visible through the rip was not deep.
On the other hand, I had been hit quite hard in exchange for a single blow.
Could I even continue to fight like this?
The Duel Assassin grinned and said,
“Even now, if you kneel before me and say, ‘I apologize for not recognizing you as a master,’ I’ll spare you.”
A weak threat. If I was so weak that I would agree to such a threat, I would not have even come to this place. I spat on the ground and said,
“…Seeing your clumsy way of handling that chain, it’s like you brought a toy you’d use to comfort your child.”
The Duel Assassin’s face hardened again.
“What a foul mouth. I’ll pull out every single one of your teeth.”
“Like this?”
I puckered my lips and mimicked a toothless old man. When I moved my head back and forth with my face sticking out, the Duel Assassin widened his eyes and shouted,
“You bastard!”
He took a step forward. The weighted chain whistled, and then he charged towards me diagonally. I heard the sound of cutting through the wind from the direction outside my view, and I instinctively moved my body.
Thud!
The place where I had been standing was crushed, and then his weighted chain went up into the air. Before I could even properly examine the shape of the chain, it was pulled back by the Duel Assassin. With an imposing expression, he continued to spin his chain in a large circle, his feet firmly grounded.
I could easily tell. If I went into his range now, I would be kicked.
It seemed like this was his ultimate technique. Swinging the chain at a speed that was invisible and whittling away his opponent’s stamina before landing the final blow with a kick once they couldn’t endure and entered his range.
What should I do?
How should I fight him to win?
Would I even be able to block that weighted chain?
I had a headache. Blood was flowing from my nose, and my arms were trembling from the shock I had received while blocking his attack.
He was now putting on an even more smug face as if he had realized that my body had become weaker.
“Where did that imposing aura go! Is that all there is to the leader of the Hongryun Sect! Farewell!”
The iron hail struck the ground again. Dirt splashed and blocked my vision as I stepped back to dodge his attack. I was unlucky. But I didn’t have the time to be making such excuses.
“Damn it!”
I shook my head and tried to brush the dirt off my face with my hands. The short moment that I had lost my sight was too long.
When I finally cleared the dirt from my eyes, the Duel Assassin was grinning, wielding the weighted chain.
Where did he swing it?
I hadn’t seen the trajectory.
In that moment where I was flustered, trying to locate the chain,
Thud!
A powerful shock struck my side and sent me flying into the air.
“Keuk…!”
With a dizzying shock that made me lose half of my senses, the world spun around several times, the dirt floor rushed in, before I saw the sky. I rolled on the ground before landing in the corner of the arena, and I could hear the voices of the spectators right beside me.
“Is it over!”
“Is it over? Is Do-cheol the loser?”
“We don’t know yet! The judge hasn’t made the announcement yet!”
I turned my head.
The judge was pretending to not notice, looking elsewhere. It was a setup to kill me from the start. Even if I was unable to continue the fight, they would not announce the end of the match until I was truly dead.
My whole body ached. When I tried to move my hand, it moved just fine. Although I thought I had been hit without defense, it was like I had unconsciously used my inner energy to reduce the shock.
It was how I had been enduring the training with Sanyeo. If an attack that seemed dangerous came, I had to unconsciously use my inner energy to protect myself. If I didn’t, a bruise would remain, and I would be suffering for the whole day.
The Duel Assassin’s voice echoed faintly.
“Hahaha! The leader of the Hongryun Sect was nothing special after all!”
The clamor of the crowd and the Duel Assassin’s laughter. And within that, I clearly heard the whistling of the chain. I rolled my body before I could even gather my senses.
Thud!
The weighted chain fell from the sky, aiming for the spot where I had been.
“Uaaaaaaack!”
“Oh my!”
Because it was right next to the audience seats, the spectators screamed and were covered with dirt. I dusted off my hair and stood up again. Perhaps it was an attack that had not considered retracting, he was staring intently at me with his chain still extended.
“You still want to continue? You can never dodge it.”
The Duel Assassin said that and retracted his chain. The chain, dragging on the ground, made a strange sound.
“You won’t even be able to see my next attack.”
I took a deep breath and straightened my posture.
I recalled the training with Sanyeo. I had to show her something for all the work she had put into me.
That is how I would get the right to become king of the martial world.
The image of Sanyeo appeared before my eyes.
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“It’s impossible for me to see, are you sure that this is an attack that I can even defend at my level?”
Thump.
The next attack stopped right before it hit my arm. Sanyeo’s smooth thigh was extended straight.
She slowly put her leg down like a crane and then took a step back before saying,
“Focus your gaze. You can see it. You’re not able to see it because you’re thinking that my level is too high. Just think like this. It’s nothing special.”
It was easy to say. But it was hard to actually do it. How could I possibly look down on her when she seemed so overwhelmingly powerful?
Was that even possible?
Sanyeo said after seeing my expression,
“Even if you can’t do it, I’m going to keep training at this level. It can’t be helped even if it’s unfair. It’s not like every fight in the world is fair, is it?”
She was right.
Even if I didn’t like it, I had to do it. As she said, it was pathetic to just die while making excuses if I met someone stronger than me. There were countless fights that were more unfair than this duel with her. Such an unfair fight might be right around the corner.
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“Die!”
Together with his war cry, the weighted chain came flying towards my face again. Having been hit once, it seemed like my mind was clearer now. His trajectory was clear as day.
Although it was fast, it was straightforward. Because it was a trajectory without any tricks, I could dodge it by simply twisting my body.
The Duel Assassin pulled at the weighted chain that was in the air. I lowered my body to dodge the chain that was coming from behind and made eye contact with him again. He widened his eyes as if he had seen something that he couldn’t believe and started swinging his chain again. It didn’t end with just a single swing this time.
He started to wildly wield his chain as if he was going to turn me into minced meat.
“Uaaaaaaaaaah!”
The weighted chain started to fly towards me one after another at a rapid speed. It was pounding the ground like crazy and grazed my cheek before his attacks became even more powerful. But the attacks wouldn’t land.
He was so slow compared to Sanyeo. Even though it didn’t feel like I was concentrating more than usual, my body would automatically move and dodge the attacks. It was as if the senses I had been training for a long time had awakened, automatically moving my body.
But even then, my mind would be racing.
I knew that I couldn’t defend forever, and that I would eventually make a mistake and collapse.
How should I attack him at this time?
What should I do?
The conversations I’ve had with Sanyeo echoed in my head. Have you felt this sensation before? The feeling of the answer floating right in front of you, but just out of your grasp.
[Then, you should use that when fighting. It’s such a good technique. Surprisingly, even those who seem like they have properly learned martial arts are sometimes unable to deal with the Seizing Hand.]
My left hand moved through the air. I leisurely demonstrated the Seizing Hand that I had been madly training for two years.
[Isn’t figuring out what kind of technique you need and progressing, the correct posture of a true martial artist?]
He was throwing his weighted chain and retracting it, over and over again.
Those who tried to attack him would have been aiming at his lower body where his chain couldn’t reach.
Therefore, it was highly likely that his kicks were specialized in kicking those rushing towards him.
If that was the case.
“Hiyaaa!”
He shouted again and threw his weighted chain.
I could see his trajectory. I twisted my foot and dodged the attack that was aiming for my shoulder in a familiar manner.
And at the same time, I wrapped my arms around the chain he had extended. I firmly caught it by tightening my grip as if I was pulling him closer with the Seizing Hand.
And I didn’t try to hold on. Instead, matching his movements, when he pulled his arm to retract it, I put all my strength into it, and threw myself towards him. With my strength and his strength combined, I was flying towards him as if I were a cannonball.
“Huh.”
I heard his short yelp.
Before his legs could even react. Faster than his chain, my ax accurately landed on his forehead. I put all my strength into it as I pressed the ax into his face, and I felt the sensation of his skull shattering resonate to my shoulders.
He staggered at the ax that was deeply embedded in his face, and I was sent flying into the air, my arm still wrapped around the chain, before falling down to the ground.
“Uuh…!”
He couldn’t even scream properly.
I blinked and caught my breath.
In that moment, the world had fallen into silence.
Thud!
The Duel Assassin’s huge figure fell, shattering the silence.
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Thanks vine!