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The answer didn’t come back. My father just looked at me with furrowed brows. How would it turn out? I hadn’t thought about that.

Because, to some extent, I had an idea of what to expect.

“I’m also in the position of having received a request. Leaving it as is feels a bit…”

I tilted my head.

Kuuuuuu—!!!

Qi brushed past me. My father threw a punch. I dodged, but the heat that followed made my eyes roll.

Flame burst.

It was his other arm. His right arm, prepared to strike, was fiercely engulfed in flames. Seeing that, I twisted my body.

The flame was headed straight for me. No, it appeared that way.

One.

‘Huh, wait.’

The activated Tuan had grasped my father’s movement. That flame was a distraction. As soon as I recognized it—

Paaah-!!!

The flames obscured my vision. There wasn’t much aggression in them.

It literally served to blind me. They must have specialized in that, even if you bet on it, I couldn’t see ahead. It completely blocked my sight.

My Qi perception was cut off, and my vision was blocked. That was the power of those flames.

At that moment.

Paaah-!!

Through the gap where my eyes were covered by flames.

From the left side, something burst through. It was a fist. My father’s fist drove straight into my side.

I curled my arms to defend.

The punch struck the muscles I had tensed for blocking.

Kuuuun-!!!

The shock erupted, and my body was thrown back. Being pushed back, I escaped the flames that had been obscuring my vision. What followed was a wall.

Bang-! Bang bang-!!

My body collided with the wall, smashing through it.

Pssss.

My body rolled on the ground, covered in dust.

“Ptooey.”

I spat out debris that had made its way into my mouth. The fragments flew up into the air.

Beyond the arc of the flying fragments. Something came into view.

Flame burst-!!

“Ha.”

My father, fists clenched, was flying straight at me. The heat gathered at the surface of his fist was enough to make anyone sick.

‘Is he trying to kill me or what?’

At least it wasn’t energy meant for use against comrades.

Tsk. I clicked my tongue briefly and swiftly turned my body. In the moment of rotation, I grabbed some dirt with my hand.

Using the recoil, I scattered it toward my father.

Kwaaaar-!!

As if to say he wouldn’t fall for such a crude tactic, my father flicked the dirt off his body with the flames he emitted.

It’s all good. I hadn’t even thought I’d be caught anyway.

This was merely to create a brief opening. A very short one, but it allowed me some time to adjust my stance.

Thwack-!

“……!”

I quickly rose and approached my father. I grabbed his wrist with my hand. And then—

Chiiiiiik-!!!!

I felt a throbbing in my hand. The hot heat attacked my grip.

Keeeiing.

‘Oh no.’

I let go of the hand I had grabbed and distanced myself. The moment I took the heat, the Technique of the Flame Wheel inside me tried to react.

It attempted to push the flames away and create a resistance.

I endured and created some space and then shook my hands off.

Tap tap.

I brushed off my body. The heat had wrapped my hand in strong energy.

“……Isn’t it a bit too much to attack me without even letting me finish speaking? At least let me say what I need to say.”

“……”

As I spoke in a somewhat hurt tone, my father looked at me. The glint in his red eyes made my insides chill.

No matter how I looked at it, he should be weaker than me, but I couldn’t find the words to describe that presence.

As silence quietly passed between us.

“Is speech really necessary?”

My father spoke to me.

“Excuse me?”

“The meanings have already been conveyed.”

Flame burst—-!!!

The Red Flame surged up my father’s body. The heat emitted from him began to affect the surroundings.

“Didn’t I say to fight?”

“……Right, but—”

I hadn’t expected him to charge in like this after saying to fight. I figured he’d give me a bit more of a window.

“Ha….”

I didn’t think I was that impatient, though.

Oh, wait, was I?

‘Definitely, if it were me.’

If someone said to fight, I would’ve smashed their skull right away.

Looking at it this way, my father seemed to be a bit better.

‘Who knows.’

Going by the energy he was emanating, it didn’t seem that way at all.

Chiiiiiing…….

The heat I felt from my father grew even stronger. In addition, we had an issue here.

“What’s happening—!”

“What on earth……!!”

The martial artists of the Nangong Clan, who had been patrolling the area, began to rush over, alerted by the commotion we had created.

Even if that wasn’t the case, those who felt my father’s increasing momentum were also gathering here.

“Oh no…… the wall….”

“What are you all doing……!”

As more and more people looked on in surprise, they approached to observe us. It was only natural they’d think it strange, seeing as we had suddenly started a brawl during a banquet.

“Aren’t those the martial artists of the Blue Dragon Clan?”

“That’s Shin Ryong.”

“What? Shin Ryong? Oh, right?”

“……So who’s the one fighting with Shin Ryong? Were they not in the same Blue Dragon Clan?”

“I don’t know the name, but that seems to be the case?”

“But why are the two of them….”

Those who couldn’t grasp the situation looked at us with puzzled expressions. After going through the trouble of hosting a banquet, a fight broke out outside. The rumors would spread quickly.

Before long, many would surely flock here.

Even though I knew all this.

Flame burst-!!

My father showed no intention of stopping, grabbing hold of the heat in his hands.

‘Ah. That’s a bit much.’

Seeing the flames gathering made me frown.

‘Is he really trying to kill me?’

As I flinched and turned my body.

Kwaaaar-!!

My father lunged at me. I could see the orb he had gripped in his hand.

Flame Jade.

The Gu Clan’s Secret Martial Arts thrived in my father’s hand, pouring itself out toward me. The extremely compressed flames spun violently.

What should I do? Normally, I would have created a Flame Jade to counter this.

‘But I can’t do that right now.’

For now, I couldn’t use that method. There was nothing I could do. I lowered my stance as the Flame Jade drew closer.

Tukwang-!!

I raised my Qi. The energy from Tua Pacheonmu pierced through my body.

During this process, I aligned my center to the left of my foot.

The energy that erupted from my heart gathered at the top of my foot.

Soon, the energy transformed into gray strong energy, wrapping around my foot.

‘I need to do this a bit faster.’

I really didn’t want to, but at this point, I had no choice.

I accelerated. A slight recoil added speed to my movement.

Pik.

My body moved, and the sound followed.

And then.

Thwack-!!

“……!”

My father’s eyes widened. That was because I kicked the Flame Jade that my father had created. At that moment of hesitation, the Flame Jade rose up. As the diagonally flying Flame Jade ascended to a certain height—

Kwaaaarrrrrr—!!!!

The Flame Jade detonated, having distanced itself from the caster.

“Hoooh!”

“What the……!!”

The compression of the flames was released, and the rotation that had encased it exploded.

Everyone was shocked by the violent phenomenon.

“How could something so small—”

The value of the Flame Jade seemed to shine in their eyes, but beneath it, I was quickly preparing my next move.

My father, who had lost the Flame Jade, was momentarily astonished.

He quickly regained his composure.

Woooooong-!

A circular orb formed around my father.

Countless Flame Jades began to materialize in the air.

That was a variant of the Flame Jade.

It took significantly less energy to create than a single orb, but it was a method that allowed for fine adjustments.

Kiiing-!!!

The created Flame Jades drew arcs as they came for me.

I displayed my footwork and took my stance.

Bang-! Bang bang bang-!! Papapapang-!!!

I dodged the countless Flame Jades flying toward me, gradually edging closer to my father.

Seeing a few more Flame Jades fly toward me, I kicked again like before.

Bang-! Kwang-!!

A Flame Jade exploded right in front of me. The impact concealed me and my father.

My father frowned at the concealed explosion.

That must have been because his Qi perception was blocked.

I had layered my Qi on top of the explosion. It was just a moment, but his perception must have been dulled.

That was my intention.

In the gap created by the obscured sight, I drove into his abdomen.

I thrust a fist, wrapped in strong energy.

Paah-!!!

The strike landed. I pushed with all my might.

Kwaa-!!

My father was forced back, scattering smoke.

Kwaguguk-!!!

He didn’t rise from the air. The tips of his feet grinding against the ground slowed him down.

“…….”

My father, clutching his abdomen, finally came to a stop at a certain distance.

‘……Wow, he’s really something else.’

I swallowed my admiration inside.

‘He’s able to endure that?’

He must have taken a hit to the solar plexus, but he didn’t let out a single scream.

There was hardly any grimace on his face.

Even.

‘In that brief moment, he was able to gather his Qi for defense?’

It seemed he anticipated I would hit his stomach, gathering energy near his solar plexus.

That was quite an admirable judgment.

“……”

“……”

My father and I glared at each other.

As I watched, the surrounding martial artists reacted.

“……Are they saying that Shin Ryong is on equal footing?”

“How can they say this is a fight among late-stage talents…….”

Both my father and I appeared to be late-stage talents.

However, the fight we were engaging in was undoubtedly at a different level.

While the martial artists were observing us in shock.

“……I see.”

My father nodded as if he understood something.

“I can’t let this continue.”

“……What do you mean?”

“We’re going to do this seriously.”

After speaking those words, an overwhelming energy surged from my father’s body.

‘Huh.’

My body shook.

Flame burst—-!!!!

Keeiiing. Keeeiing.

I had to forcibly hold back the rings that kept trying to move.

Hwaaaa-!!!

The energy bursting from him shot up into the sky. The dark night transformed.

‘It’s the Red Sky.’

The area heated up. He was expanding his domain. The Gu Clan’s Secret Martial Arts was engulfing the night sky.

The sky turned crimson.

And.

“I’m coming.”

My father, now fully immersed in flames, was about to unleash his true power.

“……”

Watching that, I scratched my cheek.

‘Hmm.’

I glanced slightly to the side. I let out some energy to take a quick look and confirmed.

It seemed.

‘This should be enough.’

It appeared that my objective had been achieved.

I nodded and immediately spoke to my father.

“Ah.”

I raised both my hands high.

“I give up.”

“What?”

My father’s face crinkled in surprise at what I said.

“What are you talking about?”

“I finished my request, so there’s no longer a need to continue.”

“What?”

At my words, my father quickly scanned the surroundings.

After looking around for some time, my father—

“Ha….”

Let out a sigh, as if realizing something he had forgotten.

What my father had forgotten was none other than.

‘Nangong Hyeong.’

Nangong Hyeong was missing.

While attention was focused on the fight that had erupted, all eyes were directed here, including my father’s.

Nangong Hyeong had seized the moment and made his escape.

And with that, it was.

‘Success.’

It was the moment my plan had been successfully executed.

 

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