The True Worth Of The Demonic Horn Warhammer Art

I stripped the pelt and bear gall from the Red-Eyed Bear. The meat was far too tough to eat, so I left it behind.

“Come on, let’s keep going.”

We started walking again while searching for a Demon Twin-Spear Deer and an Iron-Claw Bear, and after a while we ran into a pack of Piercing Wolves.

“Let us fight here.”

Shunlin gripped the Flame King Staff, her treasure tool weapon, and stepped forward together with Meimei and Hongfa. The Flame King Staff Shunlin carried was not a weapon that spat fire.

A beautiful flame design was drawn on the shaft of the staff, but it had nothing to do with fire at all. When qi was poured into the Flame King Staff, the adjusted qi flowed back into the body, and apparently it had the effect of enhancing physical abilities. However, since I wanted to see their true ability on this hunt, I had forbidden the use of the Flame King Staff’s function.

With Shunlin taking the lead, they began fighting the Piercing Wolves. When Shunlin began to circulate her qi, I noticed its level.

“She’s still only at the Fifth Tier. That’s a little slow. Hm? That flow of qi is…”

I had heard that Shunlin was training in still art. But it seemed that was the wrong method for her. Shunlin was clearly better suited for moving art. I would point it out to her later.

“Even if you bring one down, don’t let your guard down.”

Shunlin was giving instructions. But Shunlin herself did not have much room to spare either. I had left it to them because there were only five Piercing Wolves, but I was on edge the whole time. It was bad for the heart.

Shunlin and the others came back.

“This is all we can manage. What do you think we should do?”

It seemed they had fought because they wanted to hear my opinion.

“First of all, Shunlin, you’re training your qi the wrong way. You’re suited for moving art, so you’d be better off learning Girui Gong. And it looks like you’ve been learning the Luster Warhammer Art and Peach Blossom Sword, but you should switch to the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art and Swallowtail Swordsmanship.”

“Why? What’s wrong with the Luster Warhammer Art and Peach Blossom Sword?”

“The Luster Warhammer Art and Peach Blossom Sword might not be martial arts that were created in Gyorei Cave.”

“What do you mean?”

“Gyorei Cave’s martial arts are built on the foundation of two kinds of qi: Heavy Yin Qi and Floating Yang Qi. That’s why even the Phoenix Will Broadsword Art, which does not directly use those two kinds of qi, is still structured so that they can be used. But the Luster Warhammer Art and Peach Blossom Sword can’t use them. Gyorei Cave probably adopted martial arts that were used somewhere else.”

“But doesn’t the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art require a warhammer made with part of a yōma?”

“To bring out the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art’s true strength, that’s right. But even if you can’t use what are called secret techniques, I think it’s still a more usable martial art than the Luster Warhammer Art.”

The techniques called the secret techniques or ultimate techniques of the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art worked by incorporating into the warhammer parts of a yōma that manifested special powers, then bringing out that power to defeat the enemy.

Incidentally, I had figured out that Gyorei Cave’s martial arts were built on the foundation of Heavy Yin Qi and Floating Yang Qi by studying the martial arts I had learned so far. As for the Luster Warhammer Art and Peach Blossom Sword, I realized it by watching Meimei and the others use them.

Hongfa turned her gaze toward me.

“Kou-shixiong, just how good is the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art?”

“…It’s hard to explain. The next time we run into a yōma, I’ll use the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art and show you.”

We continued onward, and after about thirty minutes of walking, we encountered a Golden-Furred Ape. The Golden-Furred Ape was a great ape about two hundred thirty centimeters tall, covered in pale golden-white fur.

This fur was called golden fur, and I had heard it was sturdier than Gōrō fur.

“Isn’t that a Golden-Furred Ape?”

Haoxuen cried out. He should never have encountered one before, so he had probably seen it in the yōma illustrated guide in the library.

“Looks like it. It’s my first time seeing one too.”

I took up the Thunder Piercing Hammer and faced the Golden-Furred Ape. This great ape was covered in golden fur everywhere except its face, so if there was anywhere to aim, it was only the face. Using only the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art against this Golden-Furred Ape would be difficult, but I believed it was not impossible.

Because the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art used the warhammer, a weapon with short reach, it placed great importance on the techniques of diving into an enemy’s guard, evading attacks launched from extremely close range, and moving into the enemy’s blind spots to create an advantageous position.

The Golden-Furred Ape attacked with a roar. This was not a monkey, it was a gorilla. Baring its fangs, the Golden-Furred Ape swung its long arms around. Slipping through that attack, I leaped into its guard and tried to smash the Thunder Piercing Hammer into its face with qi-enhanced strength. But just before the hammer head struck its forehead, the Golden-Furred Ape blocked it with its arm.

The instant I realized I had failed, I leaped to the Golden-Furred Ape’s side. As if chasing me, an attack like a back blow from the Golden-Furred Ape came flying at me. I jumped up onto its back to avoid it, then sprang from there to its shoulder.

The Golden-Furred Ape shook its whole body, hating that. In an instant’s judgment, I rolled forward and slammed the Thunder Piercing Hammer into its forehead. A heavy thud rang out, and I felt the solid impact. Right after that, the Golden-Furred Ape’s scream echoed through the area.

“Amazing.”

“How can he move like that?”

I heard Hongfa and Meimei’s voices. When I landed and checked the Golden-Furred Ape, it looked like I had dealt considerable damage, but not a fatal wound. Still, blood was running from its forehead, and it was staggering, so this was my chance.

Enraged by the pain, the Golden-Furred Ape let out a roar and charged at me. I rotated around my left foot as an axis to evade the hand swung down to crush me, then converted centrifugal force and body weight into destructive power and slammed the blow into the Golden-Furred Ape’s wounded forehead.

The hexagonal pyramidal hammer head of the Thunder Piercing Hammer caved in the Golden-Furred Ape’s skull and destroyed its brain. When the Golden-Furred Ape fell, Seiran and the others jumped up in delight. Then they put on faces that said, “Well? Pretty amazing, right?”

“In that fight just now, did you use only the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art?”

Shunlin asked.

“On top of that, I didn’t even use any secret technique.”

The secret technique of the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art when using the Thunder Piercing Hammer was what I called Lightning Claw Strike. The reason I had shown that I could defeat it without using even that was because I wanted to show how far the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art alone could take you.

“So if you had used a secret technique, you could have beaten it more easily?”

“That’s right. And if I used Heavy Yin Qi and Floating Yang Qi, the power would be on a completely different level.”

Shunlin and Hongfa widened their eyes. Then Seiran cut in.

“Wouldn’t you also be able to use ‘Moment of Foam’ from the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique?”

“That’s right.”

Rather than using the Demonic Horn Warhammer Art by itself, if you added techniques from other martial arts as well, it would become a vastly more exceptional martial art.