Chapter: 337
Kuuwung-!
A vibration erupts from the sky.
Paddeudeuk-!
The energy that filled the surroundings seems to fade as it’s being overshadowed by something.
Deep black.
An ominous black color.
The energy spread out in all directions to protect the trainees.
It was being devoured by something.
Kkaaaaah!
Sa, save me!
Screams echo from all directions.
I could feel something was off.
Though it was just a practice exercise, I was aware of the danger.
But this—
It wasn’t a scream caused by a monster.
Phew-!
The energy whirls wildly.
It wasn’t particularly unusual for the energy of the martial artists to mix in the air.
But the energy mixing now was permeated with a dreadful aura.
The peculiar malice exuded by the Safain.
That energy mingled with the air, spraying out in all directions.
The scent of blood wafts through the forest.
Beneath the tainted sky, light fails to pierce through the darkness.
There.
Sshhh!
A flash of light shoots out.
The blade, imbued with energy, flies toward the trainee, who trembles, unable to grasp the situation.
Only when the sword nearly grazes his nose does the trainee finally react with a start.
It was a response far too late.
The blade filled with energy lunged for the trainee’s neck.
Chwaak!
Soon enough, blood splattered, soaking the trunk of a tree.
Just as I wondered if the trainee had lost his life like that—
“Eek!”
Surprisingly, the one who met a grim fate wasn’t the trainee.
It was an unidentified martial artist who had been launching a surprise attack.
Watching someone die right before his eyes, the trainee gasped in shock.
Drop..
Someone was dripping blood from the tip of their sword, scanning the surroundings.
It was a gaze checking for more enemies.
The woman, after a moment of scanning the area, turned her attention back to the one who had slumped on the ground and asked.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes… yes… I’m, um, okay.”
The woman’s hair caught the trainee’s eye.
With a slightly golden-hued brown, it was stained with blood.
A small trickle of blood also flowed down her fair cheek.
That sight was somehow captivating.
Even in this terrifying situation, it was enough to catch the trainee’s attention.
“If you go left, you should find the instructor.”
Seemingly oblivious to those gazes, the woman pointed with her fingertips in that direction.
As if urging him to flee there.
At her words, the trainee came to his senses and sat up, then asked her.
“Miss… aren’t you coming with me?”
It wasn’t a question born of fear.
Certainly, being on the brink of death had its terrifying moments.
But those words weren’t uttered from such a mindset.
The trainee chose to think this way himself.
The woman, witnessing that, merely glanced around with her expression still unchanged.
Silence followed.
“Right now… what on earth is happening?”
“Who knows.”
The woman offered a brief reply and exhaled, wiping the blood from her sword.
The smell of blood grew ever more potent.
While observing the person she had just killed with her own hands.
Since it was a clean cut, there was no pain.
Even while in motion, she had already taken another life.
Yet, it hardly moved her.
This was her first experience of murder after learning the sword.
She had killed a person directly.
And even in viewing the aftermath—
The fact that she felt nothing was troubling.
“…I don’t like this.”
The woman found herself disgusted by her own feelings.
This situation surely wasn’t ordinary.
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. Move cautiously. If you don’t wish to experience what just happened.”
With that, the woman turned away. Seeing her, the trainee desperately reached out to grab her shoulder…
“…Sigh.”
Before his hand could touch her shoulder, the woman turned slightly, looking at him.
Her gaze was so piercing that the trainee involuntarily flinched and stepped back.
“That… that’s dangerous for you too, Miss. You should come with me in the direction I indicated.”
The trainee was well aware of who the woman was.
As a current participant at Shinryonggwan, there’s no way he wouldn’t know her.
She was one of the most renowned figures in the entirety of the academy, impossible to overlook.
One of the Three Deities.
A descendant of the Sword Lord Wihyo, who is referred to as the best swordsman in the world.
Holding extraordinary power, she was destined to achieve fame in no time.
In her cold voice, the trainee hesitated and stepped back.
“I don’t need it.”
Only then did Wi Seol-ah turn her gaze and speak.
“I have someone to look for.”
Immediately after uttering those words, Wi Seol-ah lightly leaped forward.
It wasn’t a remarkably high jump.
She ascended just enough to survey the surroundings.
‘She’s gone.’
In that position, looking downward, Wi Seol-ah frowned.
The presence of Gu Yangcheon, whom she had tried so hard to follow, had vanished.
‘…What happened?’
It was merely a fleeting moment.
Jang Seon-yeon hadn’t known what might transpire, so she had tried to sense the situation from afar.
Then, the second she finally located him—
That presence disappeared in an instant.
Moments after.
An odd sensation drifted through the surrounding energy.
It was a feeling that sent chills down her spine.
If she could merely sense the energy, it would be fortunate.
‘An ambush?’
Unidentified individuals began to skewer the guards amid the chaos.
The scent of blood confirmed that fact.
Wi Seol-ah glanced around, assessing the situation.
The air was saturated with the smell of blood.
What prompted this raid?
What could their purpose be?
There were far too many questions filling her mind.
‘…Where did he go?’
Wi Seol-ah perceived that those thoughts weren’t consequential.
More important than those questions for herself—
The safety of Gu Yangcheon took precedence.
‘I should have followed him from the start.’
She felt regret.
Even while monitoring which way he went.
The very person she had not intentionally chased after.
Wi Seol-ah clenched her teeth and directed a question to the void.
‘…Did you know this would happen?’
Though she asked herself, there was no reply.
‘Sister.’
She called out, but still, there was silence.
The reason she hadn’t gone to Gu Yangcheon for this training session—
Was that the girl inside had blocked her.
For his sake, she told her to stay still.
Wi Seol-ah asked why it needed to be this way.
But the only answer that echoed back was that it was for his benefit.
In the end, even though she knew Jang Seon-yeon was approaching,
She had held back and only felt his presence from a distance.
And thus, the situation evolved into this.
‘For him?’
Just how could this possibly be for him?
If anything were to happen to Gu Yangcheon—
Kook.
Wi Seol-ah gripped her sword tightly.
A fire ignited in her gentle eyes.
Her gaze sharpened to a point.
What had prompted her to learn the sword?
Losing him would render it all meaningless.
‘I have to find him.’
With the last place she felt his energy, Wi Seol-ah flew forward.
It wasn’t very far.
Descending from the sky, Wi Seol-ah shot forward, accelerating.
Even as she raced through, screams continued to ring out from various corners.
Wi Seol-ah didn’t waver.
‘Where is he?’
She dashed onward, relentlessly searching for direction.
His energy felt exceptionally strong.
Despite attempts to obscure his presence—
Wi Seol-ah could still sense him.
It must be at the highest point around.
As she trailed her gaze up towards a mountain, preparing to enshroud her feet with energy once more to leap—
Thud.
“…!”
Suddenly, Wi Seol-ah stumbled, grasping a nearby tree to steady herself.
Feeling excruciating pain radiating inside her body.
Wi Seol-ah bit her delicate lips as she pulled something from her bosom.
A lucky pouch gifted by the divine.
In haste, Wi Seol-ah opened the pouch, retrieving a dan and swallowing it down in a gulp.
Gulp.
‘Of all moments, now…!’
She bit down hard.
She felt the dan sliding down her neck and deep inside her body.
Despite that, it didn’t spread immediately; the situation was considerably dire.
Still, she strained to draw her energy upward.
The vibrations within only intensified, making it difficult to move.
“Huff… heh.”
Wiping the sweat streaming down her brow.
Wi Seol-ah took another step forward.
Finding him outweighed any immediate pain.
Yet the issue remained.
‘It’s dangerous.’
For the next few minutes, it would be challenging for Wi Seol-ah to muster her strength.
The surrounding atmosphere was currently rife with peril.
The spiritual senses lay dormant.
Unlike the past when she could read her environment and conceal her presence,
The sealed vessel now simply could not.
‘… Huh…’
Heat rose within her.
The effects of the medication spread gradually.
Yet, urgent circumstances left her immobilized.
At that moment.
Crisp.
A sound came from the grass behind her.
Wi Seol-ah raised her eyes and brandished her sword.
Were they the same foes as before?
These were people of unknown identity.
Although they had struck unexpectedly, they were far from feeble.
Top-tier as many would describe.
Because they were the enigmatic martial artists of the moment.
Wi Seol-ah directed her sword toward the source of the sound.
Focusing her dazed, drug-fogged vision, she attempted to regain her bearings.
It was merely a matter of enduring a few more minutes.
Somehow…
“I was curious where you were rushing off to, so I thought I’d remain hidden if possible.”
“…Ah.”
Upon hearing the voice from beyond the brush,
Wi Seol-ah’s wide eyes widened slightly.
It was a familiar tone and a well-known voice.
“Given the situation, coming out seems appropriate.”
As the figure cleared the grasses and approached Wi Seol-ah.
Draped in distinctive black attire,
A young man with an expressionless face and ruggedly tied hair caught her attention.
“Are you alright?”
One of the six dragon peaks.
It was the two-dragon, Bu Yi-jin.
—
Meanwhile, as situations dramatically unfolded.
“Ugh…!”
Cheol Ji-seon was screaming incessantly.
And rightfully so— a fully grown man was being flung around by his collar!
The troubling part? It was him!
Like a bag of groceries, he was swung about effortlessly.
How on earth could this be?
No matter how vast the difference in realms, this was absurd.
Indeed, the very person grabbing onto Cheol Ji-seon’s collar and darting away,
Was none other than the martial artist he met just moments ago, Namgung Bi-ah.
Outwardly, she appeared to be a delicate woman.
Yet, she was treating Cheol Ji-seon like a mere toy.
“Save… save me!”
In this ludicrous situation,
Cheol Ji-seon could only scream internally.
“Miss! Please… slow down!”
He urged desperately, but Namgung Bi-ah didn’t even give a listen.
He wished she would have just let him go instead.
“Where on earth did she go?”
Suddenly, Namgung Bi-ah appeared from nowhere, asking about Gu Yangcheon’s whereabouts.
Without waiting for Cheol Ji-seon’s reply, she glanced in a random direction and started to run, dragging him along with urgency.
“Nooow!”
The speed was beyond comprehension.
It was hardly believable that a single person could be carried and run so fast.
Cheol Ji-seon couldn’t see it because wild beasts like Gu Yangcheon or Jamryong were around.
Yet, even the woman known as the Sword Dancer exceeded imagination.
‘…I can’t say I haven’t called out Jinryong yet.’
Though he didn’t specify who he was looking for, Cheol Ji-seon knew that Namgung Bi-ah sought Jinryong.
Whenever Namgung Bi-ah was with Jinryong, the look in her eyes was distinctly different, even to Cheol Ji-seon.
Even beyond that, the fact that the two were engaged was common knowledge throughout Shinryonggwan.
How on earth could that terrifying True Dragon become engaged?
It was unclear whether it was a forced union by their families.
The trainees from Guando often lamented whenever they witnessed the utterly different attitude Namgung Bi-ah displayed towards Jinryong.
In reality, Namgung Bi-ah played a significant role in Jinryong receiving merciless criticism.
Beyond the acclaim of Anhui Jeilmi.
Rumor had it she was referred to as the best beauty under heaven.
As if she were indifferent to others’ perceptions.
It was something someone noted while watching the Sword Dancer perform solo.
Cheol Ji-seon had to agree.
Without doubt, the women surrounding Jinryong were strikingly beautiful.
But among them, the descendants of Namgung Bi-ah and the Sword Lord stood out dramatically.
The issue was—
This was hardly the time to contemplate appearances.
“Ahh…!”
The rush of wind colliding with his face had him worried it might carve his skin away.
Was it perhaps hearing Cheol Ji-seon’s pitiful pleas?
Namgung Bi-ah suddenly released the grip on his collar.
“Oh… wait a sec.”
It was good that she relinquished him.
Yet, running at that speed before abruptly stopping caused Cheol Ji-seon to reel and tumble to the ground.
Gwaack!
As he rolled along the ground,
He narrowly managed to halt his momentum by crashing against a nearby tree.
“…Huff…huff… I made it.”
Bearing the aftermath of his shaken head, Cheol Ji-seon rose to his feet.
Surmising Namgung Bi-ah had accidentally dropped him, he pondered.
Could it be rather she tossed a person aside like some burden?
‘…It’s true he’s quite a load.’
With memories of peril flashing through his mind,
Cheol Ji-seon, still grappling with guilt about being yanked around by Namgung Bi-ah,
Began searching for her.
Even regardless, she had saved him from peril.
He also knew the whereabouts of the True Dragon she sought.
‘If I tell her, won’t I be finished?’
That thought brushed through his mind.
The gaze of the Sword Dancer as she sought Jinryong earlier while grasping her sword.
Her beauty was secondary,
But her intensely feral demeanor was enough to frighten him.
Yet, notwithstanding his fear, Cheol Ji-seon meant to speak up.
Lured by Jang Seon-yeon’s schemes, he sparked a commotion.
Even though Jinryong had assured him it was fine and urged him to uncover the truth.
‘…No matter how I think about it, this isn’t right.’
In the end, the one who had caused the ruckus was Cheol Ji-seon.
Just as he began turning around to search for Namgung Bi-ah,
Crackle-!
He suddenly felt a jolt of energy in the air.
Immediately recognizing that this energy belonged to Namgung Bi-ah.
He was aware through rumors that she wielded lightning powers.
Yet.
Wasn’t the release of such energy indicative of danger?
The thought of fleeing crossed Cheol Ji-seon’s mind, his instincts making him hesitate.
Shouldn’t he seek the instructor right this moment?
For just a brief moment, the thought flickered in his mind.
But soon, he steeled himself and once more lowered his wary feet in the direction of the energy’s source.
How long had it been since he fell?
The direction from which both sound and energy emanated felt further away than he had anticipated.
To think they could traverse such a stretch within such a short time.
Cheol Ji-seon continued to gather energy and shifted forward.
He withdrew the sword strapped to his waist with trembling hands.
As he dashed toward where he sensed the energy—
…!
He had to gulp when seeing the scene that lay before him.
“This…”
The instant he heard the baritone voice.
“The intruder has emerged again.”
Cheol Ji-seon staggered as the pressure in that voice weighed heavily upon him.
Leaning against the distant rock was—
The leader of the Tang Clan.
Beside him, tending to wounds was the daughter of the Peng Clan.
And then,
The Sword Dancer releasing power now blocked someone.
Wearing dark silk robes gracefully,
A middle-aged man with intricately braided hair appeared.
His pale skin left an impression.
His eyes glistened purple.
At that moment Cheol Ji-seon registered one thing.
He was not someone he could dare confront.
The man cast a quick glance at Cheol Ji-seon.
Then, as if showing a lack of interest, directed his focus back to the Sword Dancer.
“It’s been a while. You and I are acquainted, aren’t we?”
“…”
A tension flared across Namgung Bi-ah’s face.
It was clear she recognized him.
The man’s reaction seemed discontent as he raised an eyebrow slightly and inquired.
“Do you know who I am?”
Namgung Bi-ah nodded slightly at his question.
“…I know.”
“Yet you draw your sword.”
The tone of his voice carried a mocking air.
“Am I amusing to you?”
“…”
“Well then, maybe you’re looking at me differently because you remembered how you fared against a demon.”
An enigmatic aura of darkness unfurled from the man’s form.
“…You paint the picture of the Black Night Prince.”
With the middle-aged man’s declaration,
Cheol Ji-seon collapsed, stunned.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.