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Chapter 332

Sometimes there are those kinds of people. Not swinging their swords, but rather being swung by them.

Of course, until now, Namgung Seong was not that kind of swordsman. Still, it was easy to understand why he ended up like this. He had been too absorbed in the sword for an excessively long time.

I don’t intend to deny the significance of training, but humans cannot train endlessly for days on end.

Even a swordsman at Namgung Seong’s level can fall into such a plight if he becomes overly focused on the sword. That fact is proven by the tales of the Sword Demon.

The Sword Demon. Essentially a person who demonstrated how far an ordinary human can fall when intoxicated by power. He became so obsessed with the sword that he turned into the sword itself.

The sword doesn’t distinguish between good and evil. It merely swings according to its wielder’s hand. The Sword Demon was a sword gripped in the hands of the Heavenly Demon. In the Sword Demon’s movements, his own will was completely absent. What was revealed was solely the will of the Heavenly Demon.

With a single word from Yeon-woo, it seemed Namgung Seong realized the kind of situation he was in, and his movements froze.

That was also a kind of mental barrier. After an endless obsession, he found himself trapped by the sword.

The sword is meant to be wielded, not to have its wielder overtake it. He knew that fact but couldn’t help but become ensnared.

Essentially, he had let go of the self he established while ascending to the Expert rank. Obviously, he could never become a Master in that manner.

Nobody, except for the Sword Demon, has elevated themselves to the Master realm while discarding their own personality.

And in the case of the Sword Demon, his existence was only possible because of the Heavenly Demon, so it holds no real significance as a reference.

There was nothing more he could provide. From here on out, he had to arrive at his own understanding.

Yeon-woo thought this and settled a little distance away. Just in case something went wrong, he’d have to manage it somehow.

All sorts of incantations swirled in Namgung Seong’s head. They tangled and wound around him. The pure energy of the Cheonrae Jeongwang Divine Art was rampaging throughout his entire body.

His body was sending him warnings. He shouldn’t stay like this. He needed to devise a countermeasure. In order to keep from losing consciousness, he deliberately inflicted pain on himself to stimulate awareness.

Ultimately, he had to find out what lay above his own sky. It was an empty sky with nothing there. No matter how far he looked, the endless sky yielded nothing. Even after flying endlessly for days, there appeared to be no end in sight.

Now, he needed to discover an answer. To avoid being swung by the sword. To become the sky. To be the rightful heir of Namgung.

The name of the Namgung star stems from that. It was believed that this child could elevate the name of Namgung higher than the stars.

Namgung Seong studied over and over not to respond to his family’s expectations, but because he wanted to fight shoulder to shoulder with his friends.

Namgung’s honor? What use is that? He was selfish, so it held no value whatsoever.

He merely didn’t want to be left behind by someone. He didn’t want to look up at anyone. He had to become the sky. Because he was the sky.

They say there is a sky. Just dark clouds and dazzling lightning, they say.

They say there is a sky. Just a burning sun and warped mirages, they say.

There was a sky. And yet, there was nothing. Except for himself.

…….

With a great whoosh, the atmosphere of the training hall became heavy. That phenomenon meant only one thing. After nearly an hour of battling his own mental barriers, Namgung Seong had overcome dryness.

A profound heavy sword. It was a weighty blade that surpassed even the mighty sword and oppressed the entire space around him.

Yeon-woo also well understood the phenomenon. The Emperor’s Sword Form. It merely assumed a ceremonial stance, yet Namgung’s strongest ascending martial arts overwhelmed the enemies before him.

The sword he had set down was now back in his grasp. Yeon-woo couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. Even the Emperor’s Sword Form held by Namgung Seong at the latter Expert stage was on that level. Just how powerful must the perfected Emperor’s Sword Form of a Master be?

It felt like a giant hawk was glaring down at him. It was as if the entire space in which he lived was enveloped by Namgung Seong’s body, directly pressing upon him.

“Ugh, you arrogant bastard.”

“Yeah, this is right. I’ve always been this kind of guy.”

Namgung Seong laughed heartily, simply as Namgung Seong. In his sky, there was only himself. The sun, the moon, the clouds, the stars—nothing could hold more value than himself.

Crowned Celestial Sword Form, absolute strike: Fierce Falcon Claw.

While maintaining the Emperor’s Sword Form, Namgung Seong’s body shot forward. It was fast. Several times quicker than before. So fast that even Yeon-woo struggled to keep up with his eyes.

Fundamentally, living beings take time to reach their maximum speed. However, for Namgung Seong at this moment, such common sense held no meaning whatsoever.

In an instant, from a standstill to maximum speed, unleashing maximum power.

It seemed like a simple charge, but it was a fatal strike that couldn’t be countered.

In line with that, Yeon-woo’s mental visualization danced. Not only his own arm but also the shadowy arm protruding from his shoulder traced a graceful arc. The undulating trajectory of the blade finally reached a single point.

He raises the moon on this ground. An overflow of starlight mana adorned the air with stars. Countless stars of the universe positioned themselves beside the moon, painting the night sky.

Full Moon Sword, absolute strike: Moon Cross.

The swiftest heavy sword. Speed equates to impact. The lethal combination of the sword’s sluggishness and the body’s swiftness—was a blow that transcended the boundary. For Namgung Seong, distinguishing between sword and body held no meaning anymore.

Yeon-woo responded with a sword path that could not be realized within the human body. Unleashing strikes of identical force from distinct directions, overlapping in a way physically impossible.

It was a sword style that could only be realized by Yeon-woo, where two pairs of arms must not hinder one another.

The air trembled. The ground shattered, and the walls flew apart. The ceiling of the training hall, which should have had sufficient defensive capability merely from the mana expelled, tore apart.

The moment the two mighty strikes collided at a single point, a burst of light erupted with the force of a storm. They didn’t rub against each other. To break through one another’s auras, the celestial blue and golden auras devoured each other.

Boom!

With a colossal sound, the auras were nullified. The shockwave burst forth, tearing apart the remnants of the building, but both continued to prepare for the next clash.

Neither underestimated the extent of their confrontation. Namgung Seong twisted himself in mid-air. Flipping his body and flapping his wings, he rapidly spun and caught Yeon-woo’s rear.

Crowned Celestial Sword—Fifth Strike, Night Shadow’s Cry.

The sword rushing towards his neck was met by the shadowy sword without him even turning around. The immense weight caused Yeon-woo’s sword to be unceremoniously pushed away, grazing the skin of his neck.

But that was all. If it hadn’t ended there, Namgung Seong, with his posture twisted like he was standing on the ceiling, would have found himself in danger.

“Hmm…!!”

Rushing to escape the situation, Namgung Seong flapped his wings. A tremendous wind tried to push Yeon-woo away, but Yeon-woo’s sword clung to Namgung Seong’s blade as if it were unwilling to fall.

Not the shadowy arm, but Yeon-woo’s arm was raised high above his head. This time, there was no room for luck. To Namgung Seong’s eyes, it appeared not just as a sword, but like a guillotine about to fall.

Seeing Yeon-woo inhale deeply, Namgung Seong opened his eyes wide and shouted. The backlash from unleashing Night Shadow’s Cry could not be undone. Thus, Namgung Seong had only one option.

“Haah!!”

The oppressive pressure bearing down on Yeon-woo intensified. Even in this state, expecting the same level of strike as usual was asking too much. With a prickling, suffocating force, Yeon-woo’s knees trembled in fear.

“Ugh, Aah…!!!”

At the end of Yeon-woo’s scream—closer to a cry—his tremulous sword was brought down toward Namgung Seong.

It nearly connected.

“Whoaah!!”

“Whew, whew, it stopped…!!”

Namgung Seong let out a scream filled with terror. In the blink of an eye, he circulated his inner energy and engaged in a forceful landing, rolling across the ground to escape.

What is colloquially called a “burrow escape,” the method of evasion that martial artists regard as the most pathetic.

But Yeon-woo understood that feeling. As mentioned, Namgung Seong was hovering in mid-air as if standing on the ceiling. Meaning that where their gazes met was not at Namgung Seong’s head, but rather his lower half.

The downward strike, unable to unleash its full power under the momentum of the Emperor’s Sword Form, still held enough force.

It had enough power to break at least one body part with ease.

Thus, if the strike descended from that posture, what would happen was simple. About three eggs would shatter. Including the child that Namgung Seong might eventually have.

They both understood that the exaltation from reaching the realm of the Master was mutual, but even so, Yeon-woo would not break his friend’s masculinity. Therefore, Yeon-woo barely managed to halt his sword, and Namgung Seong quickly withdrawn.

Their gazes interlocked heatedly in mid-air. Hot tears flowed from Namgung Seong’s eyes. The two approached each other—a now upright Namgung Seong and a panting Yeon-woo.

“…Thank you, my friend…!!”

“Ahhh…!!”

Namgung Seong was expressing gratitude not for allowing him to step into the realm of the Master, but rather for having stopped him.

(To be continued)

 

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