Chapter 1131
WHIRRR—!!!!
I could hear something spinning. Actually, it was my father’s body, not mine.
The noise of a rapidly spinning ring. The force of that spin pushed my energy back.
The friction bursting from that created flames that wrapped around his body.
WHOOSH-!!!
Bright red flames engulfed my father completely. I swallowed hard at the sight.
This was different. The quality of the flames was worlds apart from what I saw earlier.
‘What is going on?’
It seemed he was hiding his true power just like I was. My father was showing me a flame completely different from before.
The dark training grounds ceased to exist. It was as if a small sun stood right in front of me, emitting a tremendous light.
“…Are you serious about fighting again?”
I asked, not hiding my surprise. Here we were, ready to fight again right after the last bout?
I frowned, wondering if it was really necessary.
“Not again.”
My father spoke to me in his usual heavy, calm tone.
“Back then, both you and I had a purpose, didn’t we?”
“…”
I raised an eyebrow at that. Hearing it made me feel something was off.
‘Purpose.’
My father’s purpose at that time was to prevent Nangong Hyeong’s escape. That was why he fought. It should’ve been the same when he fought me.
But then…
‘The fact that he talks about a purpose here means…’
And if he didn’t show his true intentions, what did that mean? If he had to stop Nangong Hyeong, my father should have revealed his seriousness.
Of course, even though I was the opponent, it shouldn’t matter.
It certainly should’ve been the case, but mentioning ‘purpose’ without showing his true strength was curious.
‘No way.’
I widened my eyes and asked my father, “…Deputy Lord. You didn’t… help Prince Nangong escape, did you?”
What if my father’s goal wasn’t to capture Nangong Hyeong in the first place?
And that he hadn’t shown his true skills and had still gone ahead to help me?
‘…No way!’
There was something strange about this.
What did that mean for Hyeon So-yeon, who asked my father to capture Nangong Hyeong? I was completely lost about how things turned out.
“Who knows.”
My father replied vaguely, shaking his body.
“Isn’t it proper to follow what the client says?”
“…”
Hearing that, I let out a hollow laugh. It wasn’t a complete answer, but it ultimately meant…
‘You helped Nangong Hyeong escape too.’
That meant our goals were the same.
“…Wow.”
This felt like a real hit to the back of the head. After racking my brain, it turned out my father was one step ahead.
“…And now you want to fight?”
“Is there a problem?”
“…The one getting hit is me, so why wouldn’t there be?”
“There isn’t. Helping you doesn’t change that.”
“…”
Having been helped, he wanted to spar properly. Such a straightforward and foolish thing to say, yet undeniably accurate.
In fact, my father had kept quiet, so I wasn’t in trouble.
But why should I have to fight now?
‘Totally insane.’
This situation felt just like that to me.
“…Why do you want to fight?”
“Because I’m curious.”
“Curious about what?”
“Until what point can you go?”
“…Huh?”
“The Clan Leader told me to watch you. I assume you know that.”
“…”
When the Sword Sovereign was mentioned, I shut my mouth again. That was true. I already knew about that.
“But the more I watch, the more questions I have. How far can you go?”
“…What do you mean?”
“How far can you see? How far can you actually go?”
WHIRRR—!!
My fighting spirit thickened immensely. The size of the red flames was the same, but I could clearly feel the amount of pressure gathering within them.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just show me.”
“…”
“Consider it a repayment for saving you.”
My father stiffened his body.
BOOM-!!!
Stable flames wrapped around him like a membrane.
‘…Has he surpassed the Eighth Stage?’
My father’s current realm. The flames of the Technique of the Flame Wheel were clearly at or beyond the Eighth Stage.
Eighth Stage at his age?
Even I, who was increasing my energy using the powers of the Heavenly Demon in my previous life, could barely touch that level.
And yet my father had reached there before even reaching Adulthood.
“…”
The scorching heat pricked my body.
EEEEEEKK-!
The same type of ring inside me started to push out again, stimulated.
I was busy trying to hold it back tightly.
‘Just stay down quietly.’
Don’t act up, just chill out. I clenched my teeth and held my breath.
It was impossible not to notice it sticking its head out again.
“Hah.”
I steadied my breath and smashed the ring in my heart using my energy.
It was getting uncomfortable, but I could hold up through this.
Just as I settled my breathing and focused my energy—
“Here I go.”
“…”
My father moved. As sparks flew, a flash happened and suddenly—
POW-!
He was right in front of me, throwing a punch.
‘Hmm.’
I contemplated for a moment. Am I supposed to really do it?
‘…But isn’t that a bit much against my dad?’
It was a fleeting contemplation.
Then my father’s words about repayment weighed heavily on my mind.
I nodded briefly.
That contemplation ended. There was really nothing to think about. After all,
‘Incest is my specialty.’
Among my talents, the best was definitely this!
THWACK-!
“…!”
I punched through the flames and grabbed my father’s wrist. Just like earlier, but the speed was different.
Ignoring the wrapping flames, I pulled at his wrist. My father’s body came right along.
I extended my clenched fist.
WHAM-!!
“…Cough.”
One hit rocked his strong energy around. The flames within his body surged.
One of his legs wobbled. It was intentional on my part. I aimed for his Blood Qi and attacked, easily knocking him off balance.
Seeing that, I extended my fist once more.
SMACK-!!
Hitting him exactly in the side.
Using the recoil, I channeled my power into the blow.
SPLAT-!
With a sound like air bursting, my father got flung away.
GRRRRR-!!!
I grounded myself with my legs.
He staggered to slow his speed from the ruined posture.
There was no doubt it must have hurt like hell. I struck where his energy wasn’t distributed, causing his body’s balance to crumble. Yet he endured.
What incredible mental fortitude. If it were me, I would have already hit the floor by now.
Respecting that aspect but—
‘Not yet.’
Taking a chance, I moved closer and lightly pressed down on his joint with my foot.
THUMP-!
“…!”
His knee crumbled helplessly.
His upper body bent forward too.
With the recoil, his head lowered.
And my fist flew right in.
CRACK-!!!
His face shot up.
As I activated my True Aura, I contained the Technique of the Flame Wheel within my body.
The heat coursed through, stimulating my Blood Qi.
My fist felt light, as if it could tear through the air.
SWISH-WHAP-WHAP-WHAP-WHAP-!!!
The sound followed my speed, swinging my arm like a whip and raining down blows on my father’s entire body.
In terms of speed, it was literally a fleeting moment.
I was set to finish it up right there. I intended to prevent him from moving entirely. The True Aura made that possible.
As I thought that, planning to move even faster—
THWACK-!
‘Huh?’
In an instant, my left arm was caught.
What the heck?
‘He reacted to this-.’
THUD-!!
“…Ugh!”
A punch dug into my abdomen. Not only had my father caught my hand, but he also counterattacked.
Even with the pressure, it felt dizzying.
I couldn’t hold back a groan, staggering as I twisted my body.
I narrowly escaped the impact.
We created distance, stepping to opposite ends of the training ground.
My father had clearly taken a hit, but his face didn’t show much damage.
On the other hand, I had only taken one hit, but I was looking at him with my eyes like lanterns.
‘How did he react?’
I couldn’t comprehend how my father managed to respond.
‘Surely.’
I had predicted his movements and shut down all routes. I had even tried to prevent him from retaliating.
So what had he seen in that gap?
It was a path I couldn’t even recognize.
My brows furrowed. My father was terrifying.
THUD THUD.
After all that, my father merely shook off his body.
CRACK-!
There was a rough sound as he loosened up, indicating there was some impact.
“Baek Yangcheon.”
My father called out my name.
“…Yes.”
“Is this the right way?”
“…”
The strength in my father’s eyes intensified. Seeing that made me exhale heavily.
“If we really go for it here… wouldn’t house and everything else go up in flames?”
Just moments ago, we had blown everything up and now he was asking what more we could do.
‘In the first place, doing this right is the problem.’
From the time he sealed the Technique of the Flame Wheel, doing it properly was impossible.
There was hardly a justification for doing it right in the first place.
Just when I hesitated for a second…
WHOOSH-!
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, I felt an immense energy coming from my father’s hand. Flames gathered, forming a Flame Jade.
And not just any Flame Jade, but a proper one.
“…Deputy Lord?”
“If you’re not going to do it properly, I’ll just have to force you.”
“…N-No, just calm down. If we cause another accident, we’re really screwed.”
It seemed like my words fell on deaf ears, as my father completed the Flame Jade and—
WHOOSH-!!!
The size started to grow.
In an instant, a Great Flame Jade was formed.
“Make sure you do it right.”
“…”
This guy must be insane.
‘Huh. Is this a threat?’
Was he really going to blow up the Flame Jade if I didn’t do it right? What kind of ridiculous threat is this?
The real problem is that I could genuinely see my father doing just that.
‘Tsk…’
I clicked my tongue briefly.
At this point, I didn’t know what to do. I released the power I had held back. Cranked up to maximum speed.
“If you don’t do it right—.”
WHAM.
Before my father’s words finished, my fist smashed into his cheek. I pushed all my strength and slammed him down to the ground.
BAM-!!!!
The training ground floor cracked like a spiderweb. My father’s body soared into the air. Looked like he had lost consciousness from the impact.
The Great Flame Jade he had been holding rebounded.
ZZZZZ-!!
It seemed the caster was about to lose consciousness.
Seeing that, I quickly grabbed the Flame Jade.
BOOM-!!!!
I twisted the direction of the spinning Flame Jade. My flames clashed against my father’s Flame Jade, but—
‘Don’t mess this up. I’m busy.’
With the released energy pushing against it, the Flame Jade quickly extinguished.
The explosion that was about to happen vanished.
“Hah…”
Only then did I shake off my hands and run my fingers through my hair.
Next, I checked on my father.
He lay there, like a dead rat.
“…”
I slightly bent down and poked my father.
“Hello…? Father…? I mean, Deputy Lord…? Are you alright?”
Fortunately, I could hear him breathing. But the way he was half-buried into the floor looked pretty ambiguous.
“Hmm…”
Did I hit a bit too hard…?
That thought crossed my mind.
