Chapter 63 : True Crushing Defeat (3)

Ah Geol stuck the half-iron blade into the ground.

He didn’t even have the strength to hold the half-iron blade. Excessive bleeding exhausted his strength much faster than he had thought. Although he was holding onto his fading consciousness with his will, he was so precarious that he seemed about to collapse at any moment.

The difference in internal energy was so great.

The strong force that created the Heaven and Earth Split was blocked by a light gesture. The Body Protecting Blade, which protected the body like an iron fortress, was also mercilessly broken. He had been struck before he could even properly execute the Body Protecting Blade.

It was too fast.

Seori Hyeonggae was much faster, stronger, and more dazzling than him.

He had been no match from the beginning.

Ah Geol had not done anything properly in this fight.

The Eyeless had also collapsed. His high level of mental concentration had been broken.

So far, he had never missed a place he had seen with the Eyeless. The place the Eyeless had marked was always reached by the blade.

Only Seori Hyeonggae had not been cut.

Although he had not missed his movement with the Eyeless… since he was behind in speed, he had eventually failed to cut him.

It was not a fight between a child and an adult. It was a fight between a child and a martial artist who had trained in martial arts.

In this kind of fight, you could not expect even a bit of luck. It wasn’t that he had hoped for luck in the first place. He had not even thought that he could defeat Seori Hyeonggae. He had known it would be like this. Although he had not been without a glimmer of hope, he had known that he would eventually collapse.

“Hook!”

He took a deep breath.

Since everything had collapsed, there was only one thing left!

The fact that he had stuck the blade into the ground meant that he was going to execute the Heaven Ascending Blade, which struck up from below, just as a carp swims up a waterfall.

He was thinking of death. He would not avoid it.

Just one blade… he wanted to grasp the opportunity accurately and strike just once.

The Heaven Ascending Blade had never succeeded. Executing the Heaven Ascending Blade meant that all his body’s energy had been drained. He didn’t even have the strength to hold the blade, so he had placed it on the ground.

Seori Hyeonggae raised his blade. And he struck down at the half-iron blade that Ah Geol was holding.

Kaang!

The half-iron blade was deflected helplessly.

Ah Geol had even lost the half-iron blade. Since he had been relying on the half-iron blade for his body, he even staggered as if he were about to collapse.

A fish that had been caught!

“Won’t you say a word?”

Ah Geol looked at Seori Hyeonggae with unfocused eyes.

“No matter how much I think about it, there was no one like you around us. If we were senior and junior brothers, you should have held a blade when you were six or seven, but there was no such brat. What is it? How did you come across the Single-Instant Blade?”

Ah Geol collapsed.

He had no strength to stand, so he fell to his knees. Although he was still glaring at Seori Hyeonggae, the energy to resist had long since disappeared. In fact, the first blade had been fatal.

As Ah Geol was silent, the corners of Seori Hyeonggae’s mouth twisted slightly.

Killing intent!

Ah Geol closed his eyes as if he had given up everything.

At that moment, Seori Hyeonggae suddenly laughed very loudly. He laughed so hard that the heavens and the earth seemed to leave.

“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”

The sound of Seori Hyeonggae’s laughter echoed through the mountains and returned.

“You… you’re one of our disciples. You’re a Single-Instant Sect disciple. I don’t know when our master took you in, but there was another one besides us three. Isn’t this really a case for a ghost to cry about?”

The sound of Seori Hyeonggae’s laughter, and the words that followed.

A deep darkness fell over Ah Geol’s face.

There was only one action he could take when everything was blocked. It was not the Heaven Ascending Blade. The appearance of trying to execute the Heaven Ascending Blade was just a trick of the eye. He didn’t even have the strength to hold the blade, so how could he seize a momentary opportunity and catch up with the speed?

There was no life-saving ultimate technique in the Single-Instant Sect’s martial arts.

The Single-Instant Blade was the first and the last. Other than that, there was no other study at all. You fought with a blade, and if you were out of strength or your martial arts were lacking while fighting, you chose the path of death. There was no way to survive disgracefully.

But in his last meeting with his master, his master had taught him a study called the Head Cutting Annihilation Art.

When he had told him the formula, he had listened diligently, thinking that it must be an outstanding ultimate technique without any thought. There was no time to think about other things. But when he thought about it later, it was a life-saving art.

If you interpreted the Head Cutting Annihilation Art, it became ‘a martial art where you die by having your head cut off’.

When you were bound to die because your energy was exhausted, when you really thought that you had no choice but to die, it was a study where you entrusted your life to a ghost and hoped for a stroke of luck.

First, your head had to be literally cut off.

To do that, the opponent should not cut any other place. You had to make them cut your head.

There was a reason why Ah Geol had collapsed to his knees. He had offered his head to Seori Hyeonggae. Although he could have struck another place, the first thing that came into his eyes was his head.

Seori Hyeonggae would cut his head.

At that moment, he would drop his head in time with the speed at which the blade struck down. With his face facing the sky, and the back of his head facing the ground… he would drop his head while staring at the falling blade.

The blade strikes his forehead.

His head is cut and blood splatters. It was natural that his skull would be cut, and perhaps his brain would be damaged. But the brain damage would be minimized. His true energy was already protecting his brain.

If you were hit by a blade to the head, you would die instantly.

Seori Hyeonggae would leave. He would not use his blade again to confirm that he was dead.

The true energy that had protected his brain would be released after two days. And if he was lucky enough to be alive until then, his breath would return. The green line leeches he had released in his bosom had to crawl to his brain, and they had to stick to his cut head and stop the bleeding.

If you miscalculated the timing of being hit by the blade even a little, you would die instantly.

If Seori Hyeonggae used his blade again to confirm his death, you would die instantly.

If you had exhausted too much strength and your true energy could not hold your brain for two days, you would die instantly.

If the green line leeches did not move, you would die. Even if they went to your brain, if the wound was too large and they could not stop the bleeding, you would die. Even if they had stopped the bleeding, if the green line leeches did not stick to the bone and act as a scalp, germs would invade and you would die.

The Head Cutting Annihilation Art was a final ultimate technique that was executed when there was no hope of survival.

His master had seen the success rate of the Head Cutting Annihilation Art as one percent. If you tried it a hundred times, it would succeed once.

But Ah Geol had bet his life on this one percent. He had believed in the one percent and had stood in front of Seori Hyeonggae instead of Mongseol.

It wasn’t that he had stood behind her to protect Mongseol. If Mongseol had not been ambushed by strangers, he would have gone to the Wind Path Valley and fought them.

Since he was an opponent he had to fight anyway, he had stepped forward.

Of course, if he had gone to the Wind Path Valley, he would have made a lot of preparations, just as he had for Dongbak. He would have found a vital point for certain victory, and he would have prepared a lot to win.

Although he was fighting hastily now, he had the thought that he could execute the Head Cutting Annihilation Art at the last moment.

But Seori Hyeonggae recognized the Head Cutting Annihilation Art.

When he offered his head to him, he had immediately reacted with the words that he was a Single-Instant Sect disciple.

The Head Cutting Annihilation Art had also gone wrong.

‘My luck has really run out.’

Ah Geol twisted his lips and let out a bitter laugh.

How would Seori Hyeonggae know the Head Cutting Annihilation Art? There was no way his master had passed it on.

Although he had learned it later, his master did not pass on this kind of study. Although he made them use the eighteen weapons to learn the blade, he did not pass on sword arts or spear arts. He just let them know how to use the weapons.

It was presumed that the study called the Head Cutting Annihilation Art was not a martial art of the Single-Instant Sect, but a martial art of another sect.

“I have a lot of questions… but never mind. It’s over when you’re dead.”

Seori Hyeonggae raised his blade.

At that moment. It seemed that it was not his fate to be killed by a blade, and a person walked out of the forest in time.

He was short. He seemed to be shorter than an ordinary woman. His back was slightly bent. So it looked as if he were hunching his shoulders.

Seori Hyeonggae did not hide his displeased expression.

“What is it?”

A cold wind swirled in Seori Hyeonggae’s voice.

“That guy, you’ll have to hand him over.”

The short man who had appeared from the forest said with a grin.

His pupils were abnormally shiny. It was as if his eyes had been oiled.

“Jo Chuhan came. He brought the body of a Living Sword Sect disciple and said that the people of the main sect should take care of it. So I’m taking care of it. Tell me why I have to hand him over. If you say something foolish, think that you’ll also die.”

“Kuk! Who would dare to say something white to the Flame Blade? That guy, he killed the Eighth Elder, Jo Chuhan.”

“What…!”

“You can guess how angry the Duke must be, right?”

Seori Hyeonggae’s brow furrowed.

“…He’s a lucky guy. He’s become the only one to escape my blade. Don’t be too conceited. You’ll die at the Duke’s hands. If you come out safely, let’s have another round.”

Ah Geol looked at Seori Hyeonggae.

His pupils had already lost their strength. Due to the excessive bleeding, his complexion was whiter than a sheet of paper.

“Alright… next time…”

Ah Geol could not even finish what he wanted to say.

Kung!

Ah Geol collapsed, his face hitting the ground.

As soon as he knew that he had been saved, the tension that had been tautly on edge collapsed.

Seori Hyeonggae raised his blade and aimed it at the short man, Sanmyo Shin Dopa.

Swoosh!

The blade slid out. It went straight for Shin Dopa’s face. It was not a fast stab. Slowly… it stabbed at a speed that he could easily dodge if he wanted to.

Shin Dopa did not dodge.

Swoosh!

The blade touched his ear.

“You Ten Lesser Swords… have you stopped growing? I thought at least one of you ten would ask to see the Single-Instant Blade, but not a single one came. Don’t go around saying you’re a martial artist.”

Tok! Tok!

Seori Hyeonggae tapped Shin Dopa’s cheek with the blade he had been holding to his ear.

Shin Dopa did not get angry even though he was being insulted. He still smiled with his hands behind his back.

“We’ve never said we were martial artists. We just fought with swords. Is the Single-Instant Sect still growing? I thought one of the three would challenge the Duke, but not a single one came. So we thought you had lost your wildness and had become livestock. Ah! One of them went to the afterlife, right? Tsk!”

“Huhu! You’re itching to die.”

Swoosh!

Shin Dopa raised his hand and moved away the blade that was touching his cheek.

“I’m off. The Duke is waiting.”

He calmly turned his body and walked towards Ah Geol. And without any hesitation, he grabbed Ah Geol and tucked him under his arm.

Shin Dopa executed a movement technique and moved away.

Seori Hyeonggae just stared at the receding Shin Dopa with a deeply frowned face.

“Duke…”

He didn’t know what he was thinking, but Seori Hyeonggae muttered the Duke’s official title.

* * *

He watched Shin Dopa as he moved away.

He was a person with one eye and a complexion as hard as a rock, the One-Eyed Blood Sword, Jeon Gaseong.

Kuuk!

Jeon Gaseong clenched his fist tightly.

Shin Dopa had delivered the Duke’s order two days late.

The outer hall had many eyes and ears in the central plains. Although there was an information network operated by the Sacred Sword Sect, since there were sects related to the Sacred Sword Sect in each region, they could obtain live information.

But these sects were in charge of the outer hall.

Since the affairs outside the Sacred Sword Sect were the responsibility of the outer hall, the management of the sects was also done by the outer hall.

When you came out into the central plains, the eyes of the outer hall martial artists became ten times brighter than the inner hall martial artists. They would give all sorts of information to the outer hall martial artists without any hesitation, but they would give it to the inner hall martial artists while watching the outer hall martial artists’ faces.

Shin Dopa had come here very easily. He had hardly done any pursuit worthy of the name.

He had started two days late, so he was at a disadvantage in the competition. He had also tasted the disadvantage of having all his information cut off. All the sects in the central plains had kept their mouths shut.

He had followed the traces on his own.

Ah Geol was naturally Shin Dopa’s share. If he couldn’t even get Ah Geol after using such a cheap trick, he was a fool. And Shin Dopa was a fox that even Jeon Gaseong could not be careless about.

‘Take him well. It’s a long way to the Sacred Sword Sect. I don’t know if you can take him all the way.’

Jeon Gaseong’s hard face twisted slightly.

“But anyway, the Three Blades One Kill… it’s gotten stronger. It doesn’t seem like that Hyeonggae guy used all his strength. The Single-Instant Sect. They’re guys who must be eliminated. If you let them live, they’ll cause trouble someday. I wonder why the Duke is letting such guys live.”

Jeon Gaseong frowned as he looked at Seori Hyeonggae’s receding back.

(End of Chapter)