Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1322. If it's a person (2)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Kureureureung!
The gorge shook as if it might collapse.
But that was all.
A gorge that had withstood thousands of years would not crumble so easily from such an impact.
If it were a gorge that would collapse from this level of shock, it couldn't have lasted until now.
It might be different if someone had preemptively bored holes into the cliffs and detonated them from within.
However, from Myriad Man Manor's perspective, the fact that the gorge hadn’t collapsed was hardly a source of relief.
As the thick dust and smoke that had risen began to dissipate with the wind, the shredded remains of their comrades came into view.
It was such a horrific scene that even those charging in consumed by madness momentarily halted their steps.
"Uh…."
But they have no other choice.
“Euaaaakkk!”
To suppress the unease and discomfort swelling in their hearts, they charged forward with even more beast-like roars.
Just forward and forward.
Splash!
They stepped on the ground so blood-soaked that it formed puddles.
The sticky substance clinging to their soles felt like a grudge taking form, but this was a battlefield.
This was no place to dwell on such feelings.
If anything, it was Myriad Man Manor that had no retreat.
If they wanted to survive, their only option was to charge ahead and take down their enemies.
But the one who stood in their way was none other than Chung Myung.
Paaat!
Chung Myung leaped back, slicing through the throats of those charging toward him one after another.
When they swing daos, he deflects them, and if hands reached to grab his ankles, the wrists were severed.
When they tried to withstand his sword strikes by mustering their internal strength, that internal strength was shattered, and if they tried to twist away to dodge, he had already claimed their escape route and pierced their vital points.
It was an iron wall called despair.
They could clearly hear the sounds of comrades dying next to them.
Suppressed groans and the sound of blades ripping through flesh.
Those sounds painted the scene more vividly than what eyes could see.
But there was no turning back. There never had been a place to return to.
“Dieeeeeee!”
The dao is simple.
If you’re going to hesitate and calculate your moves, you might as well wield a spear or a sword instead.
A dao is a weapon that only displays its true might when swung with all one's strength to bisect the opponent in two.
The strike unleashed by one of the Myriad Man Manor martial artists was nothing short of an ideal embodiment of this purpose.
Kwaaaang!
The force of internal strength drawn up from Dantian surged through his arm as if to make it burst, driving the sensation all the way to the edge of the dao.
That sensation, mixing pain and euphoria as if forcibly extracting something from within the body, exploded his mind.
The conviction that no slash could surpass this one consumed his entire being.
The strike drawn to his limit was splendid as if containing his entire life.
Yet even this strike that transcended limits failed to reach the cold-blooded sword master blocking their path.
The strike tore through the air with an overwhelming momentum.
The sword swung to block this dao seemed infinitely feeble in comparison.
The crimson energy faintly surrounding the sword was nothing compared to the dao that emitted a torrent of energy over a foot long.
If anyone were to see this, they would surely say that the sword could not possibly handle the dao.
The sword would be helplessly deflected the moment both made contact.
But the profound principle contained within that sword shattered all such obvious predictions and logic.
Kagagak!
The instant the sword and dao clashed, the sword twisted ever so slightly.
The overwhelming weight and force behind the descending dao were redirected, sliding along the flat of the sword and plunging downward.
Kagagagagak!
In that fleeting moment when the full-force dao strike flowed down the sword's body.
As if dividing the moment into dozens, the sword twisted again and then suddenly changed the dao’s trajectory.
From vertical to horizontal.
The strike that had transcended limits instantly escaped the man's control.
At that moment, Chung Myung's left hand lashed out like lightning and hit the man’s shoulder wielding his dao.
The body, which had already been turned sideways while being dragged by the sword, was forcibly turned around.
The body that had already been turned sideways following the dao was forcibly spun around.
Toward the comrades charging behind him.
Kwaaaaaa!
The strike, too fierce to be described merely as powerful, swept through those following in an instant.
The unforeseen attack left them no room to react.
Those whose waists were severed tumbled away with looks of disbelief.
“Ah….”
A hollow breath escaped the Myriad Man Manor martial artist's lips as he suddenly created this catastrophe.
But there was no need to feel guilty.
The dead have no right to feel guilt.
Pook!
He looked silently at the sword tip protruding from his chest.
For some reason, he suddenly found it rather funny.
Lifting his head, he saw his comrades charging forward and trampling over the corpses he had bisected.
Their momentum was fearsome, but he could see poorly concealed terror lingering in their eyes.
Sogok!
The sword slid free from his chest, and his body crumpled forward.
Before his body could even touch the ground, those who had leaped over him swung their blades ferociously at Chung Myung.
“Dieeeeeee!”
"Please!"
Unable to withstand the pressure from Chung Myung’s cold gaze, one of them let their true feelings slip.
Meanwhile, those who had climbed the cliff descended on Chung Myung's head.
If a frontal assault wasn’t enough, then increasing the number of attackers was the next best strategy.
But what those who had launched themselves into the air faced was the terrible price for foolishly jumping into a place with nowhere to escape.
Swaeaeaeaek!
Tang Pae’s daggers struck and pierced the Myriad Man Manor martial artists' bodies.
Those who barely managed to deflect them found themselves confronted by the ghost-like approach of Yoo Iseol’s blade.
Sogok! Sogok! Sogok!
Blood sprayed in all directions as their bodies were slashed repeatedly.
Yoo Iseol’s gaze remained calm.
It wasn't difficult.
Those charging violently wrapped in madness might seem threatening at first glance, but this ultimately meant they weren't as sophisticated as usual.
Her sword was not so careless as to miss those charging in recklessly and lost in emotion. (그녀의 검은 격정에 몸을 맡긴 채 대책 없이 달려드는 이들을 놓칠 만큼 허술하지 않다.)
No matter how many charged in, she could block them all.
She knew perfectly well why this process felt so absurdly effortless.
Paaaaaat!
The throats of those charging from the front were pierced in an instant.
The forcefully swung sword was retrieved with swift precision, then immediately blocked incoming attacks without the slightest waste of movement.
Chilling.
Although Yoo Iseol was not one to waver, even she felt a cold shiver from that sword.
Humans were emotional creatures after all.
Sword masters strive to achieve an ideal blade, yet being human means their swords inevitably carry traces of emotion.
That was why a frenzied swordsman’s blade is wild, while one filled with fear wields a trembling blade.
But she didn't feel any of that emotion from Chung Myung’s sword.
It simply existed where it needed to be and swung where it needed to strike.
So consistent it felt unsettling.
The battlefield is a place where every deeply buried human instinct erupts to the surface.
Even Yoo Iseol known for her composure felt shaken by the overwhelming madness of the battlefield.
But how could Chung Myung remain so calm?
How can he take all this for granted?
Yoo Iseol suddenly thought that his sword was sorrowful.
Sadness and Chung Myung don't mesh, it was even absurd, but she somehow felt that way.
Paaaaaat!
Chung Myung mercilessly splits the chest of one charging in and withdraws his sword.
Red blood spattered across Chung Myung's cheek.
Yoo Iseol thought as she swung her sword.
'We can do this.'
They could hold them off. At this pace, they could stop the enemy until the end of this gorge.
Even if a thousand or even ten thousand came charging, there was no way Chung Myung would falter.
But… one thought wouldn’t leave her head.
Her gaze drifted past Chung Myung’s shoulders, over the bodies he cut down, and toward the far end of the canyon.
The one standing there was orchestrating all of this.
Beyond Myriad Man Manor, the one called the military advisor of Evil Tyrant Alliance, Malice Rakshasa Ho Gamyeong.
Could that man really come here without knowing that fact?
Yoo Iseol's eyes trembled faintly.
The cold serpent-like gaze of Ho Gamyeong was watching them intently.
“Impenetrable.”
Go Yang finally couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
"Attack and defense might seem similar at first, but they're entirely different things."
Ho Gamyeong agreed with those words.
The Chung Myung he saw was a relentless spear.
An unstoppable spear that would inevitably pierce through any defense to skewer the heart.
An unstoppable spear that shattered even impenetrable shields.
It was a spear that destroyed contradictions.
But this spear also flawlessly blocks every attack.
Such a thing should not exist in reality.
A sword is inherently delicate.
Whether it was charging or retreating, everything from the distribution of internal strength to its use was bound to be different.
But Chung Myung handled it all as if effortlessly.
Go Yang scratched his chin somewhat irritably.
They were the pursuers.
Even if Chung Myung’s group managed to escape this gorge, there would be plenty of time to hunt them down.
Their forces? They had more than enough, if not excessive.
Even if this gorge suddenly collapsed and they lost everyone here, they had many more in reserve.
This was true even considering just Myriad Man Manor alone.
Moreover, the remaining forces included far stronger individuals than those deployed here.
The famed Red Dogs, the symbol of Myriad Man Manor, hadn’t even entered the battlefield, nor had the platoon-level forces except for the small Blood Sword Platoon present here.
There was no reason to feel rushed, no matter how one thought about it.
They were the pursuers after all. But Go Yang now felt anxious.
An undeniable, overwhelming anxiety.
Despite being the hunter, he felt suffocated as if an invisible noose was tightening around his neck.
Go Yang spoke in a slightly irritated tone.
"At this point, I can't help but understand that excessive caution."
Ho Gamyeong glanced at Go Yang with indifferent eyes.
Go Yang bit the inside of his cheek and spoke again.
"You can’t see it, can you?"
“…That’s right.”
It was a conversation that felt like grasping at clouds.
Yet the two understood each other perfectly.
They couldn't see it.
Where that ends.
This wasn’t about strength or the limits of martial arts.
Hunting, at its core, requires understanding.
A deer hunter must know deer's habits, and a tiger hunter must completely understand tigers.
Otherwise, the hunter not only fails but risks their life.
But that man exists beyond the realm of understanding.
Whenever they thought they had grasped him, another facet of him pops out.
Facets that shouldn’t coexist within a single person appear one after another, and the moment you think you've found a thread to follow, he vanishes again into an ambiguous fog.
Thus, he cannot be predicted.
What he would do, what he was capable of. (무엇을 할지, 무슨 일을 저지를지.)
And so, there was a deep, unshakable fear that this uncertainty might eventually consume even Evil Tyrant Alliance.
"...But it's meaningless. The terrain here isn't advantageous."
Ho Gamyeong gave no answer.
"If we could at least drain their stamina, that would be one thing, but all we’re doing is racking up pointless casualties. You know well that he won't tire from something like this, don't you?"
It wasn’t that Go Yang valued lives highly.
But there was no need to needlessly waste usable (可用) fighting strength.
Just as Go Yang was about to say something more to the silent Ho Gamyeong.
“Perfection…”
"Hm?"
"Yes, perhaps it is perfect. However... just because something's perfect doesn't mean it can't be killed."
“….”
“If it's a human, that is.”
For a moment, a chilling gleam flashed in Ho Gamyeong’s eyes.
His cold gaze was fixed on Chung Myung's right leg.
From the moment Chung Myung stepped forward, Ho Gamyeong, who had focused solely on one thing, finally saw it.
The sight of Chung Myung's right foot dragging ever so slightly for a moment.
“So you’re human after all, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword.”
A triumphant smile spread across his face.
Consider supporting me by subscribing on Patreon for 5$. The Patreon membership for Mount Hua and Infinite Mage is the same. The benefit:
Advance chapters of Mount Hua : 76
Advance chapters of Magic Realm Convenience Store Worker : 10 Chapters
|Note
Thank you for the Chapter """