---

Chapter 7: The Clash of Forces

“Kwaaaah—!!!”

An overwhelming aura bursts forth.

Yusa’s tail expands, and light floods through his torn pupils.

The air distorts under the weight of killing intent.

The swirling energy intertwines with his body, slowly forming a shape.

It flickers into view. It resembles the figure of a beast.

The shadow that had been wavering since earlier is now wildly shaking.

As I quietly observe this—

“Feeling regret?”

Yusa turns to me, responding to my words.

“I am General Yusa of Mankye.”

Crack—!

As Yusa takes a step, the ground crumbles. It wasn’t so much a matter of strength, but rather a struggle to bear his weight.

“Anyone who opposes me will meet their end as prey. That’s the truth.”

He lowers his head. Seeing that, I steeled my heart.

“You’re no different!”

Kwaaaah—!!!

Yusa rushes at me.

Flameeerrrr—!!!

I immediately ignited flames around my body.

In that instant, the jade-colored beast and the azure flame collided.

*

Kwaaaah—!!!

A huge explosion reverberates. Power clashing, shattering everything in sight.

Roar—!!!

With the roar of the beast, the ground shatters beneath us. Stone-like flooring crumbles under the pressure, crushed like tofu.

Flameeeerrrr—!!!

The flames surge into the air, swept up by the raging winds.

Boom! Crash!

The energies violently begin their combat.

Slash!

I narrowly dodged an incoming energy attack. I maneuvered to evade, unleashing my firepower in the process.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

More energies continued to tear through the air. I dodged left and right, yet no opening presented itself.

“Hmm…”

The speed is impressive, and the strength of the incoming energies is formidable.

Above all, there are just too many.

The sheer volume of attacks had me too busy dodging to counter.

“What should I do?”

I pondered amidst the barrage.

There are many ways to intercept this.

Especially a simple method of stopping them with a command.

“But not yet.”

I didn’t want to use that just yet. Pure stubbornness on my part.

“I still haven’t confirmed anything.”

How far can I go? How well can I contend with him at my current level?

I wanted to find out.

I had reached a transcendent level.

What could this new realm accomplish against an opponent of his caliber?

As I assessed, I realized Yusa was on par with the Three Eminent Beings.

In the Central Plains, known as the absolute entities of the righteous faction—the Three Eminent Beings (三尊).

In my transcendent state, could I face off against them using only my own strength as a martial artist?

I wanted to find out.

With that, I thought,

“All other powers shall remain sealed for now.”

The powers of commands and dragon words.

Along with things like demon energy.

Excluding those, I intended to confront Yusa using only my base strength.

Crack.

I barely avoided another lethal strike.

“Looks like you’re pretty angry, huh?”

I couldn’t help but grin. I sensed the anger radiating from him.

“Honestly, he has reason to be confused.”

Truth be told, I felt a twinge of regret. This wasn’t the right way to engage him.

“I planned to fight eventually. Just not now.”

A little ways back, I hoped to engage in combat right at the climax.

“But things have become tangled.”

The situation was indeed muddled.

My recent elevation to a higher level and the death of White had stirred up trouble. Another issue was the absence of the master during this chaos.

On top of that, the unexpected fire in Yusa’s temperament was more intense than I anticipated.

The circumstances were what they were.

His subordinates were dying, and while he was frantic, the master was still nowhere to be found.

With all that, it was understandable that Yusa couldn’t hold back.

“But to burst out so easily…”

I never thought a general would be so quick to unravel. I thought I’d need to provoke him a bit more.

“Hmm.”

If possible, I wanted to utilize him further.

Yet, I couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

Thus, even though it was drastic and dangerous, I decided to push forward.

In light of that, his reaction was somewhat welcome.

Just—

“The danger level has significantly increased…”

I scanned my surroundings. The lethal strikes had stopped appearing.

The floor was dug up, and the disturbed ground raised clouds of dust, obscuring my vision.

I focused my eyes.

The moment I opened my Heart Eye to assess the situation—

Bam—!

Something shot towards my face through the dust.

I barely managed to dodge.

But.

Growl—!!!

The attack missed as Yusa charged towards me.

His tail seized my ankle. With my body pinned, a fist came swinging at me.

Boom—!!!

My stunned body slammed into the ground.

Kwaaaaah—!!!

The offense is relentless. There’s no time to feel the shock. I had to rise immediately.

Roar—!!!

Yusa appeared amidst the beastly sounds.

The brawl was beginning.

My eyes darted around, tracking his movements, ready to counter each one.

Thunk—! Thunk, thunk—!

Our limbs collided, creating a clang like metal ringing in the air.

The force was no joke.

“Ow, that really hurts!”

Even though I wrapped my body in strong energy, each hit felt like cracking open a walnut shell. Absurdly unbearable!

Yusa was no coincidence as a foe on the level of the Three Eminent Beings; his destructive power was remarkable.

“And it’s not even night yet…”

There’s still time before the Moon Night Clan’s abilities kick in. If we keep battling until the moon rises, how much stronger will he become?

Curiosity mixed with a hint of anxiety gnawed at me.

Bang—!

As we kept exchanging blows, I executed a faint maneuver, twisting at the waist.

I sent my palm back, opened my hand wide.

Flameeerrrr—!!!

The flames gathered, taking shape.

Constructing the Flame Jade, I transformed it directly into the Flame Jade Sacred Spear.

Reaching transcendence, my casting speed and proficiency surged tremendously.

In the past, it took some time; now, if I focused, I could make it in a heartbeat.

I straightened the spear’s point and thrust it towards him.

Wiiii—!!

The spear sliced through the air, aimed straight for Yusa’s torso, but—

Growl—!!

Crack—!!!

“Oh…”

He raised his hand to intercept the spear. Flames coiled around his arm.

With compression and rotation at extreme levels, it should have ripped his flesh apart, but he caught the spear dead in its tracks.

And then—

Huh!

With his free hand, he barreled a punch towards my face.

“Tch!”

Seeing that, I clicked my tongue and released my grip on the spear.

Not a retrieval but an explosion.

Kwaaaaah—!!!

Blasting energy so close would hurt me as well, but there was no time to hide now.

When the spear detonated, the energy erupted forth, disregarding the recoil.

Even if it damaged me, it was still my energy.

I controlled all the flames that floated in the air, gathering them tightly.

Dozens of Flame Jades were formed.

Without hesitation, I hurled them towards Yusa.

Crack—!!!

Like meteors falling from the sky, they rained down. The moment Yusa noticed the Flame Jades hurtling toward him, he momentarily crouched down.

Roar—!!!

With a savage roar, he unleashed his own energy.

Simply expelling energy from his body, the intensity was so ferocious that the Flame Jades couldn’t even touch him, extinguishing instantly.

Explosions erupted like fireworks in the air as turquoise flames burst forth.

“Ha.”

To think a mere roar could produce this level of power. I couldn’t help but marvel in surprise.

However, now was not the time for idle admiration.

Grrr—!!!

He lunged toward me with claws sharp and deadly, wrapping them in energy.

His hand that had gripped the sacred spear had long since regenerated.

Crack—!!!

His claws cut through the ground. I barely dodged, but his tail rushed in.

Puffed up, it displayed its size.

This time, I chose not to dodge. The area was too broad, and avoiding it was an uphill battle.

“I’d better swing back.”

If I couldn’t evade, I’d have to counter.

So I unleashed flames from my clenched fist.

Gu Yeomtaeyarang!

The fiery energy surged forth, striking his tail. Flames coiled around it, trapping him.

Grrr—!

Letting out a suppressed growl, he winced in pain. His expression revealed some distress. The issue was that while there was a visible effect, it only halted his actions momentarily.

Slash—!!!

His claws dashed across my upper body. An unblocked strike had landed.

“Ugh.”

Stifling a groan, I created distance. I avoided any fatal wounds, and the injury wasn’t deep, so I was alright.

Pat-Pat—!

Yusa extinguished the flames that clung to him with his aura.

I absently wiped away the blood trickling down as I faced him.

Our eyes locked. He frowned upon seeing me.

“What’s this?”

His expression brimmed with confusion.

“You’re weaker than I thought, huh? Are you hiding your strength?”

Weaker than expected. I inwardly clicked my tongue.

I hadn’t shown my full power, but it seemed he found it unsatisfactory.

“Hmmm…”

His confusion was morphing into suspicion. Was he truly hiding his strength?

If so, why hide it at all?

Or perhaps, was he judging me as weaker than he?

Such doubt blossomed in his expression.

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

I had indeed made an effort to appear strong.

Yet—

“Half of it is true, and half is wrong.”

Though he might think I was weaker than expected, it was also true I was hiding my true strength.

“It seems that this isn’t enough,” I concluded.

Merely revealing a little would still place me in danger, so I decided to take another step forward.

Flame—!!!

I fed energy into my heart, drawing it up.

Instantly, the sky began to shift.

The slowly darkening sky rapidly turned a deep blue.

Though only in a limited range, it was confirmably changing, and it was my doing.

Celestial Blue (靑天).

I spread my domain using energy.

Underneath the blue sky, the heat intensified.

And there—

Whooooooosh—!!!

At the center of the Celestial Blue, energy congregated, forming what resembled a sun.

Flame Wheel Sun (火輪星).

This was also a secret technique from the Technique of the Flame Wheel.

Creating the sky and placing a sun above it.

I completely established my domain.

Yusa seemed flustered by the altered situation, his eyes darting around.

Watching that, I tightened my grip.

The Flame Wheel Sun originally magnified the caster’s presence within the territory.

While it could also intensify one’s presence through transformation—

“By doing this…”

I hoped to distract Yusa’s sharp senses, if only for a moment.

That was my thought as I initiated the casting.

But the fully risen Flame Wheel Sun—

Suddenly, I froze!

“Huh…?”

Something felt off.

Was it just me? My body felt oddly different.

Just as I was puzzled by this strange sensation—

Grrr—!!!

Snapping back into my senses, Yusa charged at me. I instinctively reacted, moving my body.

Yes, it was instinct.

Thunk—!

“Ugh!?”

By the time I noticed, my fist was lodged in Yusa’s solar plexus.

Catapulted by my punch, Yusa was sent skidding roughly across the ground.

“Huh…?”

Why did that attack go through so easily?

Just moments ago, I could hardly land a hit!

I looked at my hand in shock.

And then it dawned on me what that strange feeling was.

“….Has the power of the Moon Night Clan opened?”

My body had suddenly transformed into that of the Moon Night Clan.

I had used sorcery to form ears and a tail, but I could feel the difference.

I had undeniably changed.

“Yet the moon isn’t fully risen, so how…?”

As I pondered this, a thought crossed my mind.

“Could it be…?”

I lifted my head to gaze at the sky.

There, resembling the sun I had conjured or perhaps the moon, the Flame Wheel Sun radiated a brilliant light.

 

---