Episode 123

As Jeok Song and the 1^st Commander of the Four Imperial Troops stood facing each other, a notification appeared.

Seol-Hwi was used to this now. He knew that everything wouldn’t go the way he wanted it to.

Two references and two warnings were given. It wasn’t as bad as he thought; all Seol-Hwi had to do was win his spar.

Golden belt…?

This was what caught Seol-Hwi’s attention. He knew that ‘a certain amount of gold’ meant money, but this ‘golden belt’ was unique.

Meanwhile, as Seol-Hwi was distracted by this matter, the current fight was in full swing.

“My opponent… is you? Ridiculous.”

Hongji was clearly annoyed. Another member of the Hidden Truth Corps’ command units had come out.

The command units were tracking teams, that would perform follow up actions like stealth, scouting out places, or sneak attacks. They held no true power.

Hongji thought someone strong would come forward, but what was this? A member of a simple tracking team?

He only had one chance to fight in this competition, and he had to go up against a weak opponent.

“Well, that’s what everyone thinks.”

“…?”

The opponent said his first words, and Hongji stared at him. Jeok Song’s gaze was calm, as he continued talking,

“There’s always ridicule first. But when this fight is over, things will change. You’ll have an expression that says you don’t believe what just happened, and you’ll be filled with anger.”

“Ugh. Bastards like you shouldn’t act all high and mighty…”

“Who’s acting high and mighty? You judge me before we’ve even fought. As for me, I can’t believe you’re a commander of the Four Imperial Troops…”

“This bastard…?!”

While Jeok Song kept provoking Hongji, the announcer intervened.

“Are you both ready?”

Both men nodded their heads, and the old man stepped off the stage.

“Begin!”

Hongji was the first to move.

He didn’t run in a straight line towards his opponent, but rather, he was moving left and right to distract Jeok Song.

Perhaps Hongji thought that there was some truth in his opponent’s words, which was why he decided to do this.

On the other hand, Jeok Song…

He was turning his head back and forth, not caring about how Hongji was getting closer to him. Seol-Hwi knew what he was trying to do.

You’re planning on using it right at the start?

The Infernal Energy Explosion Sword.

Jeok Song was trying to use the ability of his Divine Weapon.

But if you don’t do it right, a gap will be exposed…

The opponent was quickly approaching, and Jeok Song was seemingly turning his head around uselessly. Anyone could see that this was leaving him open for an attack. Since Hongji was skilled, he wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Have you become that proficient? Jeok Song?

The ability draws attention to itself, and then it can be linked to a following attack. Or, when using a regular technique, one could naturally insert the Divine Weapon’s ability after it.

But Jeok Song was someone who didn’t have much time to master this.

↘ ↓ ↙ ← → ↘ ↓ ↙ ← A.

Not to mention, the activation movements would take a while. The enemy wouldn’t wait until he was done.

This…!

What Seol-Hwi feared eventually happened.

Hongji had made his way to Jeok Song. Seol-Hwi’s subordinate swung his sword, only to cut through air.

The opponent moved without missing a beat. After he dodged, Hongji took advantage of the gap Jeok Song left to strike him.

Kwang!

Two swords clashed. Jeok Song countered Hongji’s blade, but the attack was strong enough to knock him into the air.

“Damn it!”

Imugi, who was sitting next to Seol-Hwi, jumped up from his seat.

Jeok Song managed to right himself in the air, but Hongji was still ready for him on the ground.

Seol-Hwi’s subordinate rushed towards Hongji. The man looked like he would defend against Jeok Song, but as the sword of his opponent drew closer, Hongji dodged at the last minute.

As a result, Jeok Song missed again. But then,

“…!”

Boom!

At that moment, a powerful explosion occurred on the stage. And Hongji’s body fell down afterwards.

“Infernal Energy Explosion Sword!”

“How did he do that?!”

Yong Jin and Yorim were shocked.

This guy! He was aiming for this right from the beginning!

Seol-Hwi was also shocked by what happened.

He slowly put the pieces together. When Hongji attacked him the first time, Jeok Song deliberately showed a gap.

And when Hongji took the bait, he jumped into the air. Jeok Song had only pretended to be knocked back.

To use his ability!

That was the reason why.

Of course, not having ground under his feet was a disadvantage. But Jeok Song managed to activate his ability while in the air.

As for the power of linked actions, he had already completed it a while back. Doing the other half on the ground was impossible with the opponent coming at him, but if he could get up into the air, he could complete the other half. This was something Seol-Hwi had never thought of.

Everyone in the audience is surprised…

As for Hongji, despite falling down, he wasn’t caught in the full blast of the explosion. So after a little while, he managed to get back up.

“Kuak!”

Still, he groaned as he got up. With one arm hanging limply, it looked like he had been seriously injured.

“What…!”

The old announcer who saw all of this, Yulsa, was shocked.

The power that Jeok Song displayed was something he didn’t expect. It was a power that shouldn’t be possible for a simple subordinate.

Thanks to that, Yulsa missed the chance to intervene in the fight.

Jeok Song didn’t stop. He ran towards his opponent who was wounded, and swung his sword…

“Enough.”

Yulsa suddenly appeared, to block the attack with his hand. He knew the fight was over.

Text boxes appeared in front of Seol-Hwi’s eyes, informing him of the on-site reactions to the fight.

“As expected.”

“You did well.”

“I believed in you!”

Seol-Hwi’s other subordinates praised Jeok Song. Among them,

“As expected from one of my rivals!”

Imugi alone said something weird. Jeok Song shook his head, and then sat down.

“The next battle will commence. Who will…!”

Before Yulsa could even finish his words, someone stood up.

Like before, no one came forward to challenge him. And also like the previous fight, Seol-Hwi was asked to choose.

“I will subdue him!”

Yorim ran to the stage after Seol-Hwi made his choice.

For this too, he chose the same option, and the second fight with one of Seol-Hwi’s subordinates began.

“You used dirty tricks! Do you think you people can beat us?”

Ack Ho felt angry at the loss. He couldn’t believe that Jeok Song had taken down Hongji.

He thought that something like a powder or dust was hidden, until it was detonated to set off the explosion.

Half of his guess was right. Though no powder was used, Jeok Song did have a trick up his sleeve: his Divine Weapon.

“There is no way you people from a command unit can take us down, when you don’t even learn any proper martial arts.”

The man continued making a fuss about the results. It wasn’t known if his words were more to provoke Yorim, or lament the loss.

“Stop.”

Yorim was unable to listen to this any longer.

“Why does your mouth move so much? Have you been practicing your mouth instead of your martial arts?”

“What? You bastard!”

One word from the announcer started the fight.

“Begin!”

Yulsa gave the signal, and stepped off the stage. Ack Ho was the first to make his move.

Wheik!

A weapon to attack from long range - like Yorim, Ack Ho was a spear user.

The movement of this opponent is a little sharper.

Seol-Hwi watched the fight thoughtfully. This was an honest attack, not the kind which tried to distract the opponent.

But it was odd. Unlike Yorim, whose gravity was on his heels, the opponent was constantly shifting his balance.

“Absorbing Demonic Spear Technique. A martial art they use.”

Was the frown on Seol-Hwi’s face noticed? Seo Ryeong told him the technique’s name.

Ranked as 12^th in the sect - a technique that even Elder Yo Mungwi utilizes.

It’s a spear technique founded on the basics, so it’s good at changing the user’s movement, and operating energy flow in the right manner.

Swish! Swish!

After a few clashes, Yorim got into a low stance.

He knew. His opponent, who had stopped moving, will come for him in a moment.

Papapat!

Ack Ho suddenly and rapidly moved towards Yorim.

Yorim looked for an opening, and then slammed his spear down.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

When the spear infused with internal energy was slammed onto the floor, it cracked the ground.

But the attacks, be it powerful or not, didn’t hit the target. And this was the right gap for the enemy to use.

Papapat!

Ack Ho, who was circling around Yorim, suddenly appeared in front of him. The spear seemed to move even faster. There was no way to defend against this.

Wheik!

But somehow, Yorim responded.

By twisting his body, he evaded Ack Ho’s attack. Yorim swung the spear he was holding to stop Ack Ho from continuing with his offensive.

Ack Ho jumped into the air, and brought down his long spear.

Ching!

Yorim raised his weapon to block it.

Papapat!

And then the two retreated again. Although it was only a short time, it was enough for them to understand the opponent.

“Woah!”

“Amazing!”

“That subordinate is good!”

The reactions were enthusiastic.

This fight was nothing like the previous ‘dog fight’, which had ended in an instant.

Yorim and Ack Ho were having a fierce battle between them. From the audience’s point of view, this was a proper confrontation.

Seol-Hwi was focused.

He didn’t have much of a chance to observe the battles of others, so he was invigorated watching the current spar.

“Why is he responding to the enemy’s movements?”

“Right. That isn’t like Yorim at all.”

Seol-Hwi’s other subordinates were puzzled by Yorim’s actions.

Yorim had never liked close quarter combat. He would always widen the distance when the enemy would get too close, rather than try to attack first.

“Maybe he is trying to use it.”

Seol-Hwi’s words drew their attention.

“… Use what?”

Yong Jin asked.

“Imugi should know better than me.”

Now everyone turned towards Imugi.

“… Me?”

He didn’t seem to know what Seol-Hwi was talking about.

“Of the two technique books I gave you, what did Yorim choose?”

Imugi looked blank, and then replied,

“Flame Aggregating Demonic Martial Arts.”

After hearing that, the eyes of the team members changed.

The reason Yorim was luring in the enemy.

Now they realized why he was so focused on it.