784 – 9. Not a single day goes by without this (33)
The pieces of cloth torn by the claws of the wild beast were scattered one by one.
It was a gamble that even I was skeptical about. The man already had a record of being brought back to life even after his body was torn to pieces. In that case, the shallow inference is that the hood is the main body.
My intention was only half true.
The main body of the company was not a hood or anything. In that case, not only would there be no way in which he would have so obediently allowed the blow, but it would have been normal for him to look even more embarrassed than he was now.
It won’t end with just a sad exclamation.
Nevertheless, there was another reason why I thought I had achieved half of my goal. This was because there was no longer any way to hide the man’s identity.
As a result of the successive collisions, the curtain was cracking. The upper layer, which had spread like a whitish fog, slowly opened, and the midday sunlight seeped in diagonally.
The man was standing under the bowl of light.
“I never thought I would get a kick out of a junior who was so far away… ….”
No, should I say ‘man’?
Even though only one layer of skin covering her body was removed, her impression looked distinctly different. A pure white beard that had not been visible before was visible, and the graying hair implied an unusual age.
Was the habit of constantly stroking her chin due to her beard?
At first glance, he had a small physique, but the depth of time felt in those dark brown eyes was truly terrifying. So much so that my spine instinctively tingles.
She was an old woman with a benevolent appearance that made it difficult to believe she was a member of the Dark Church.
“You’re having a hard time living in a shelter. Okay, this is why I need to reduce my useless curiosity…….”
“Who are you?”
I asked in a tone tinged with obvious caution.
There are all kinds of strange people living on the continent, and they take on various appearances to avoid exposing their identities. Like an old man or a child.
Even though you can have a body in its prime if you put your mind to it.
If we wanted to hold on to our lives, we had to be wary of these people. The old man in front of me.
He opened his mouth in a friendly tone, like a grandfather treating his grandchild.
“Don’t be like that. Rather, let me explain what my hood is… It is an item called the ‘Veil of Deception,’ and it is a relic from the Unified Empire era. It freely changes the wearer’s appearance. There is a necklace with a similar function in the imperial archives…….”
“Isn’t it time for you to introduce yourself? “There’s no way a person like you doesn’t have a well-known name.”
Hearing my repeated comments, the old man finally sighed and said, “Whoa.”
There was another reason why I was so confident. In some of the Seven Sins, there were cases where an unknown person gained power through a contract, but the techniques used by the old man were different.
Applications that only those who have been skilled for a long time can see.
The depth was also a world away from the temporarily acquired power. Also, to be considered a prominent figure in the world, the personalities of the people mentioned casually were too flashy.
In my mind, the ‘masters’ of the squadron were already passing by one by one. I was just thinking of the names of only a dozen people in the entire history of mankind.
“Didn’t I tell you? “You are my distant junior.”
The list that came to mind was condensed at once.
In order to use the title ‘junior’, of course there had to be some level of connection with me. For example, from an academy.
Suddenly, a memory crossed my mind.
The old man just revealed his plan, saying that he came to see the disciple of ‘Jian’.
Accidents accelerate in an instant. As for the masters who were close enough to call the swordsman a particularly friendly title, there was only an extremely limited scope.
It was literally a moment until the conclusion.
The time it took for my expression to fall apart was also the same.
“No, sh*t…” Why do you…… !”
“Stop, stop.”
Despite the swearing that came out of his mouth, the old man only showed signs of being tired. At the same time, he waved his hand up and down as if to calm down.
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It was almost like a tacit agreement that my guess was correct.
The hand holding the sword is shaking. A feeling of despair or betrayal was swirling in my heart.
“I told you so. It’s because I couldn’t curb my useless curiosity… Also, what you think is only half right. Ian Perkus.”
“What does that mean?”
I asked, gritting my teeth. In my heart, I wanted to kick the ground right away.
But if my prediction is correct, the opponent is strong.
This meant that we had to be as careful as possible. I was not immature enough to be swayed by emotions and commit defeat.
Roll your head. I had to use all my memory, experience, and intuition to come up with a strategy.
“It means I am not the person you remember.”
“But, didn’t you say half of it is correct?”
“Because there is no reasoning that comes closer to the correct answer than that.”
It was a meaningless Zen question and answer.
It was an action that gave even more strength to the previous reasoning. The hypothesis was that the other person wanted to take more time, but I also needed time to think about it.
So, for now, let’s get along.
I suppressed the impulse and calmed down the heart that was repeatedly pressurizing and decompressing. When I thought about it logically, the situation wasn’t all that bad.
First, the opponent cannot demonstrate his or her full strength.
“Why did you betray humanity? “I just heard that he disappeared one day.”
“Humanity? Betrayal? Ha ha ha… “Those were your ‘shackles’!!”
If that had been the case, he would have killed me long ago. There was no need to waste time looking at me. If you make me incapable of fighting, it’s over.
If the old man was as talented as his reputation, he had enough ability to do so.
But he didn’t. To be precise, the statement ‘I couldn’t do it’ was more persuasive.
“Have you ever heard of it? “Every ‘master’ is bound to be tied to something.”
“I’ve heard it from an old swordsmith before… ….”
“Be careful.”
The old man gave this advice with a grin. Instead of listening, I was engrossed in my worries.
Second, the other person is hiding something.
The reason why he keeps diverting my attention by talking about it must have something to do with it. I replayed the battle with the old man step by step. From our first encounter to now.
“Then the moment will come when you will be eaten by ‘shackles.'”
“Is this an experience?”
“Let’s just say this is a little advice for an outstanding junior.”
The calculation is complete. My pupils glanced at the ground.
“Then, since you are doing me a favor, how about giving me a little more?”
“What more do you want?”
“Bet.”
Wow, the old man stroked his beard and let out a faint exclamation. I could sense deep interest from the way he curled the corners of his mouth.
“If I win, please tell me the truth.”
“What is the content of the bet?”
“The swordsman has a knife, so are there two things to do?”
The old man finally couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter. A blurry light shines out from those deep eyes.
“As a senior, I have no choice but to respond… “Come.”
That was the signal.
With a gale, the space was torn into solid lines. In a split second that could be called a leap, my hand lifted the hatchet as if scraping the ground. The rising dust leaves a trail of slashes that continues like a rake.
The collision was like a thunderbolt.
Boom!
The heavy drinking shakes the ground in the area. The erupting shock wave tore the atmosphere apart, and the vision of entering the world at super speed was passing by one by one.
First chapter, the old man’s thin blade rotates half a turn and throws away my axe.
Next chapter, the old man tried to wrap the curved part of the cane he was holding in his free hand around my neck.
In the last chapter, I plunged the condensed aura of the sword into the ground.
Cow!
Explosion causes injuries. The two bodies floating in the air immediately started hunting as if they were flying animals.
The sword is thrown out, caught in the ring of the staff and entangled diagonally.
It rotated around that axis, and the thin blade bounced away from the kick. After that, dozens of blasts resounded.
When the sound reached us, the battle had already ended.
The hatchet rose high into the sky in a series of collisions, and my hand was tightly entangled with the old man’s arm.
A maniacal smile came out of the old man’s mouth.
“Turn the moon over…… !”
Gravity reverses.
The body of the old man, thrown away, fully withstood the weight of the planet, leaving behind a trail of light. The shattered ground explodes, creating a vast crater in the area.
In the process, a lump of flesh is crushed, spewing out blood and brain fluid without even making a noise.
This was not the end.
Before I could land, something spinning sprang up in front of me. It was the sword the old man was holding.
The moment when my thoughts suddenly stopped.
The incandescent blade caused a powerful explosion. In the blink of an eye, the body that was floating in the air suddenly fell to the ground.
Boom!
Pain shot up my spine. With a loud cry, the crushed internal organs mixed with blood into the rising dust. If it were not for the image of ‘indomitability’, it was a force that would never have ended in minor injuries.
I woke up shakily. When I wipe my mouth with my hand, blood stains appear. Does this mean that no matter how much he can’t show his true strength, he’s definitely not an opponent to be taken lightly?
There was one more thing to be afraid of.
I said, “Crash.”
An arm stretched out from a lump of flesh that had no shape left. The head had already been restored, giving it a bizarre appearance.
“hahahahaha! It was fun, indeed… “This body has its limits.”
“You are not your true self.”
This was a question I asked while spitting out the blood that had accumulated in my mouth. Instead of answering, the old man just smiled.
“The nature of Cheongeomam (天劍巖) is more difficult than I imagined… You know, my specialty is magic, right? “But I thought it would be too difficult to deal with you using only swordsmanship.”
“That’s why I didn’t feel any presence.”
“Hmm, are we there already? Interesting… “So what are you going to do now?”
Crash, the sound of the remaining arm regenerating and hitting the ground.
“No matter what you do, you can’t kill me. This is just an alter ego… But I don’t think your skills are great enough to ignore me? “A ‘half-hearted’ junior.”
“Don’t tease me too much.”
I then gently pointed my index finger at the sky.
“There is a reason why you deliberately provoked me.”
The old man’s puzzled eyes followed my finger. There, stuck in the sky, was a hatchet.
“Puh, hahahaha… hahahahaha!”
The old man finally burst into laughter. I didn’t know how I could exert such great power on a topic that was only my head, but that was the reality I faced anyway.
No, the time to consider the laws of physics has already passed.
My gaze went against gravity. The hatchet stuck in the empty air was emitting a soft starlight, slowly creating a silver crack in the curtain.
Blah blah blah, blah blah.
“It seems like Cheongeomam is tricky… “My aura was at a level where it could be broken in the first place, so you must have blocked me from the beginning.”
“I was wondering why they kept throwing out big techniques… Was it to shake the barrier? Ha ha ha! “But your guess is only half right.”
The mouth of the old man who was laughing loudly drew a disgusting line again.
“The power of the barrier has weakened due to the Heavenly Sword Rock, but even more than that, your mentality is difficult… Did you say ‘indomitable’?”
Sunlight pours in through the cracks in the gradually breaking curtain. With a crash, one of the old man’s arms that had just been regenerated reverted to a handful of blood.
“It’s dangerous, it’s dangerous…” I’m really glad. “Because you are still ‘half-formed.'”
With a crash, the remaining arm falls apart.
“Next time it won’t end like this. It looks like the analysis of ‘Cheongeomam’ will soon be finished… Still, since we made a bet, I guess I should give you some information, right?”
Soon, a clear plosive sound.
With the sound of glass shattering, particles of light fluttered down. It was at that point that I quietly raised my right hand without saying anything.
“Our goal is not ‘Heavenly Sword.'”
The hatchet fell with a thud and landed in my right hand. Now the old man’s head had melted, and all he could do was look at the sky and move his lips.
“Something more important, more precious… ha ha ha… …..”
The old man’s laughter faded and became distant. I looked at the evaporating remains and said a short goodbye.
“Let’s not see each other again…” ‘The great wise man’.”
Towards the Empire’s squadron ‘master’.
The curtain had already disappeared. While I was wondering where I should go, I suddenly became absorbed in the last words left by the ‘Great Sage.’
Is it more important and valuable than the ‘Heavenly Sword’?
It was then. As if it were an auditory hallucination, the old man’s voice was heard on the wind.
‘Seven Sins.’
The moment those words stuck in my mind, I was mesmerized for a while.
“…… “Holy sh*t.”
I was thrilled.
That’s right. It was at Cheongeomsan Mountain.
Vessels and offerings that can become the ‘Seven Sins’.
The Vampire’s Daughter and the Dragon’s Eyes.
It was truly a treasure comparable to the Heavenly Sword.