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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Ambush (1)
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* * *
In the dead of night.
A masked man stood silently, looking down at the young man sleeping in the bed.
'So he really was alive.'
A smile crept onto the lips of the masked man, Dongyun.
'This time, I'll be able to get a proper reward.'
Dongyun had always regretted not being able to kill Jinmyeong when he had the chance.
He was right there in that old tree, but the one who could be called his superior had interfered, letting the boy slip through his fingers.
'Thanks to that, I got the Dragon Elixir back then.'
And now, if he brought back Jinmyeong's head, he would surely receive an elixir or reward even better than the Dragon Elixir.
'Heh heh. Thank you.'
At the time, he had loathed his superior for interfering, but now he felt grateful.
Thanks to him, he had risen to his current position and could now monopolize the reward.
'A shame you just barely made it back alive.'
Apologies were apologies, but he had no intention of letting Jinmyeong live.
*Shing!*
Dongyun drew the sword from his waist.
His hand moved without hesitation, even though Jinmyeong might wake up.
He wasn't worried at all.
Even if Jinmyeong awoke, he was confident he could kill him.
*Swoosh!*
Dongyun swung his sword down toward Jinmyeong's neck.
*Clang!*
Wincing at the impact that shot through his hand, Dongyun retreated.
His sword, which he thought would sever Jinmyeong's head in an instant, had been blocked by a sword that had flown in out of nowhere.
"Who's there!"
Dongyun shouted, scanning his surroundings.
But there was no presence to be felt.
"Hmph. Who are you? Show yourself."
He wondered if it was a master whose presence he couldn't even detect, but his surroundings remained silent.
"If you won't show yourself, then don't interfere."
Dongyun turned back toward Jinmyeong.
"Hmph!"
He saw Jinmyeong, now sitting up in bed, looking right at him.
"You're so loud I can't sleep."
"Heh heh. So you were awake?"
Dongyun didn't seem flustered by the fact that Jinmyeong was awake.
"Hmm. I've heard that voice somewhere before…"
"Heh heh."
Hearing that crass laugh, Jinmyeong recalled someone.
From that night, when he had first opened his eyes.
"I see. You're the one who was chasing me."
The one who had taunted him while he was hiding in the hollow tree.
The same one to whom he'd given a moment of false hope by going into the nearby cave.
"I don't know your face, but hearing that laugh and voice brings the memory back vividly."
Jinmyeong was smirking, but his palms were slick with sweat.
'It's a good thing I was prepared. Otherwise, I really would have lost my head.'
His life had been in danger the moment he'd woken up.
It was unlikely they would leave him alone now that he had returned home.
If they were going to leave him be, they wouldn't have attacked him in the first place.
'Still, I didn't think they'd actually come to the house.'
No, in fact, he knew it all too well.
With no warriors to protect him, his estate was the most suitable place to kill him.
'Can I do this?'
This would be his first fight since he started learning martial arts.
The novel said it was a good technique, but he couldn't help being nervous.
"That was quite amusing. Telling someone who isn't even there to show themselves."
To hide his nervousness, Jinmyeong taunted Dongyun.
Dongyun's face hardened at the taunt, but he couldn't immediately charge at Jinmyeong.
"Hmph!"
It was because of the swords circling around Jinmyeong.
There was no one else there.
But five swords were orbiting Jinmyeong.
'Telekinesis?'
Performing telekinesis with even a single sword was no easy feat.
But right now, Jinmyeong was controlling five swords with it.
It meant his internal energy was profound.
"You think something like that will scare me?"
He knew Jinmyeong possessed internal energy.
The reason Jinmyeong was looked down upon wasn't a lack of internal energy, but a body incapable of performing swordsmanship.
Dongyun thought Jinmyeong was simply bluffing, putting on a show of telekinesis.
"We'll see about that."
One of the five swords circling Jinmyeong shot straight toward Dongyun.
"Ugh!"
Dongyun was startled by the sudden attack.
He hastily swung his sword to parry it, but it was he who was pushed back.
'What kind of power is this…?'
He had never heard of telekinesis carrying this much force.
*Swoosh! Swoosh!*
But he had little time to be surprised, as swords continued to fly at him.
As soon as he parried one sword, others came flying, aiming for him.
*Clang!*
He hurriedly deflected that sword, but another had already grazed his chest.
"Keuk!"
Dongyun stared at Jinmyeong, who still hadn't moved from the bed.
He was completely still. It seemed like if he could just get close, he could slice his neck, but it wasn't that simple.
It was difficult to approach Jinmyeong while continuously dodging or blocking the incoming swords.
'What in the world did he do for a year to get like this…?'
Where did he learn such an absurd martial art?
He had no idea what could have happened during the year he was gone.
"You're being a nuisance."
Dongyun charged toward Jinmyeong.
He did his best to dodge the swords being fired at him.
"Kuh!"
One of Jinmyeong's swords pierced his left shoulder, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
Thinking of the reward he would get later, he pressed forward and thrust his sword at Jinmyeong's neck.
*Clang!*
He thought he would pierce Jinmyeong's neck in an instant.
But the two swords that had been merely circling Jinmyeong blocked his attack.
'Were they left there for defense?'
He had thought that controlling five swords was a bluff, and that Jinmyeong could only properly handle three.
After all, two of them had remained by Jinmyeong's side, unmoving.
But contrary to his thoughts, it seemed those two were meant for defending against an opponent's attack.
*Swish!*
And as Dongyun stood stunned by the blocked attack, one of Jinmyeong's swords came flying at his back.
"Ugh!"
Dongyun hastily tried to dodge the attack, but he couldn't avoid it completely.
He brought a hand to his side where the sword had grazed him.
He felt something sticky staining his hand red, but he never took his eyes off Jinmyeong.
"How did you get so strong?"
Jinmyeong's telekinesis was extraordinary.
Where in the world did he get the internal energy to handle five swords?
Even he, who had consumed the Dragon Elixir, couldn't control things like that.
The most he could do was pull a distant sword toward himself.
"Who knows. I don't think I've gotten much stronger. Maybe you were just weak to begin with?"
At Jinmyeong's words, Dongyun's face twitched.
It was a deeply insulting remark, but he couldn't immediately charge at Jinmyeong.
Partly because he had been wounded by Jinmyeong's attacks, but also because attacking him seemed like a futile prospect with those five swords circling him.
'I have no choice.'
Deciding he couldn't do it alone, Dongyun took a small whistle from his robes and brought it to his lips.
But then, he hesitated.
'Do I really have to go this far?'
Just a year ago, Jinmyeong was his prey.
But not anymore.
In fact, he couldn't even get close to Jinmyeong.
His pride was so wounded that he couldn't bring himself to blow the whistle.
"Is that it? Was that all you had? You acted so tough against someone who hadn't even properly learned martial arts, but you can't even handle someone who's only trained for a year."
Jinmyeong's voice reached Dongyun's ears.
He turned his head and saw Jinmyeong's face, still on the bed, mocking him.
"So that's your level, I see."
"Keuk!"
At Jinmyeong's taunt, something in Dongyun's head snapped.
*Peeeeee!*
In the end, Dongyun blew the whistle.
At the sound, his hidden subordinates began to reveal themselves.
Monopolizing the reward? Such thoughts had long since vanished from his mind.
'I will kill him, no matter what.'
Calling his men for a mere opponent like Jinmyeong was a blow to his pride.
But right now, he didn't have the luxury to even think about that.
"Kill him! You must kill him!"
Dongyun shouted at the ten masked men who appeared.
Simultaneously, the masked men rushed toward Jinmyeong.
'Hmm. This is certainly…'
Jinmyeong was still unmoving on the bed, but it wasn't that he wasn't nervous at all.
'I should have killed him faster.'
Facing Dongyun alone had been fine.
In fact, dealing with Dongyun had been so easy that he had allowed himself to be cocky.
In that time, Dongyun had called his men, and now he had to face ten more masked men.
'I didn't know that was to call his men.'
He had seen him pull something from his robes, but he hadn't gotten a clear look at what it was.
'It's too late for regrets. I have to face them now.'
Jinmyeong extended the index finger of his right hand toward the ten masked men rushing at him.
*Splat!*
The moment it seemed the Heavenly Demon Finger shot from his fingertip, the head of the foremost masked man burst like a watermelon.
"Hup!"
The masked men flinched at the sudden turn of events.
'It really is powerful.'
Just as he had read in the novel, the power of the Heavenly Demon Finger was immense.
Since his Sword Control Arts hadn't been able to kill Dongyun, while the Heavenly Demon Finger had killed an enemy in a single blow, it made the latter feel overwhelmingly stronger.
'Is this why the protagonist, despite learning the Sword Control Arts, favored using the Heavenly Demon Finger?'
But that was only possible because the protagonist was strong enough without using the Sword Control Arts, which Jinmyeong was not.
In the end, it meant Jinmyeong had no choice but to master these Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts.
'Sink or swim, I have to try. If I can't even beat guys like this, then it's over for me anyway.'
Jinmyeong finally got off the bed.
*Fwoosh!*
At the same time, a pure white flame began to envelop the five swords circling him.
And the five swords immediately aimed at the masked men.
"Hmph!"
At the sight, the masked men instinctively halted their steps.
"What are you doing! Move!"
But from behind them came Dongyun's rage-filled shout.
The masked men glanced back at him before turning to charge Jinmyeong once more.
*Slash!*
Simultaneously, Jinmyeong's swords also moved toward the masked men.
The five swords flew at incredible speeds, beginning to attack the men.
"Gack!"
The five swords moved swiftly, slashing at the masked men, who panicked, unable to properly parry them.
'Looking at it this way, it seems pretty decent.'
Jinmyeong was fully focused, preoccupied with controlling the five swords.
'Perfect.'
Watching the focused Jinmyeong, Dongyun grinned.
Calling his subordinates had been a blow to his pride, but he didn't regret it.
Thanks to them, Jinmyeong's attention was now directed elsewhere.
Dongyun moved as carefully as he could to get behind Jinmyeong.
*Shhhiik!*
Then, without hesitation, he moved his hand.
His sword, becoming a streak of light, shot toward Jinmyeong's back.