Only I Am A Reader

Thud!

Cheon Chang's Black Dragon stood tall no matter which one of Leo's weapons hit it, but Leo didn't give up striking. In order to truly achieve the results that he desired, he had to mask the fact that he could never win in his current state from his mind!

'As expected of master's rightful student.'

At first, Cheon Chang couldn't help being surprised by the transformation that Leo's fighting style had undergone. However, he quickly came to terms with it. This was only inevitable for someone of Leo's wide-ranged capacity of learning.

Unlike his stiff heart which could only hold a single object deep inside, Leo's heart was all-encompassing. Cheon Chang wondered if he should stop his junior brother who was slightly deviating from the path tailored by their masters, but he for once knew that forcing anything wasn't the key.

Hadn't he been desperately trying to truly learn the sword for years to no avail? No one was truly the same as the other, and Leo wasn't his master's clone, he was someone who deserved to choose like he did, but he didn't have to be as late as him!

A good part of his life had been occupied by self-torture. At this point, Cheon Chang realized that he had wasted the time his master was around chasing after nothing. Perhaps, after this war came to an end, it was his time to find happiness.

'Let's not repeat the same mistake.'

Matching already made techniques was almost impossible, unlike techniques that were made to fit with each other like pieces of the same puzzle. Hoping to assist Leo in realizing the perfect training environment that he envisioned, the Absolute Spear changed his style of response.

While he still relentlessly kept his level above Leo in attack mode, he momentarily paused his offense once Leo exchanged between any weapons other than the sword and the spear. Making the battle flow more seamlessly!

After over two weeks of training, he also made sure to go for a bonus round where he removed that small restriction, giving Leo the chance to perform what he was starting to get used to in a real battle situation.

'This is a fitting last run.'

Throughout his journey around murim during the last two years, Leo had made sure to dutifully train, but he only trained each and every weapon on its own, giving them test runs using the raids he headed as testing grounds.

Now, however, after obtaining the weapons most suitable to him as well as one of the greatest sparring partners of all time, Leo finally managed to set the foundation for the fighting style that he had in mind!

'It's unlikely that I will need to fight this way after the war, but…'

He had no idea what would be waiting for him back on Earth, but Leo had learned all these weapons to be prepared for any situation rather than to use everything at once. Although… He had to say that exchanging weapons would be super convenient thanks to his Reading Space!

"Let's stop here today, senior brother. I will cook us one last meal."

The already serious battle didn't show the tension in the air, but this was the last day before the dispatch. Rather than throwing himself at more training, Leo wanted to spend more time with his family.

'My predictions can only go so far…'

Leo couldn't guarantee how the war would end this time. There had been no mention of the alliance that should have started with the invasion's beginning thanks to his efforts and that wasn't the only change that could cause a huge deviation.

However, Leo regretted nothing. He would still do it all the same! Instead of racking his brain about it, he preferred to give it his all on the battlefield.

'I will make sure that it isn't our last!'

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

Exactly a month after the spectacle that took the large organizations by surprise, Murim witnessed a movement comparable to the situation during the old Demon War. Everyone was moving in large numbers towards one direction, the flat plains!

The scenes resembling the start of a planned immigration gave an image of unity. However, those that observed closely could see that there were mixed responses from the various factions of murim…

While some sects and families like Mount Hua, the Southern Edge, and the Murong Family moved out with as much as half or more of their forces, others starting with the 'valiant' Namgung Family only spared a tenth or less!

The disparity varied from a slight difference to blatant neglect, showing the real faces hidden behind the masks. There were even sects that resorted to sending out a large number of outer circle students that barely possessed any ability to fill up their quota.

Regardless of the ones that shirked their responsibility using the unconfirmed possibility as an excuse, Zhuge Gun moved out with every single man and organization that were loyal to him for the sake of vanquishing the incoming demons!

The march took several days even when everyone had already been camping in the closest human settlement thanks to the numbers and the crowds. Since the letter only warned of the monsters' appearance towards the end of the second month, no one was particularly in a hurry.

They were only moving over to settle in their positions and get used to the terrain!

However, the real shock didn't come from the gigantic march performed by the Righteous Faction! At the same time they were moving out, Mount Heaven had opened up its gates one more time, releasing the actual forces that had stayed hidden for all of these years!

'This is insane!'

The brains of the scouts that had been dispatched as well as the monster cleaners in the vicinity stopped functioning once they laid their eyes and senses on the pitch-black horde. The numbers were one thing, but the aura emanating from them was even crazier. The history that they had learned of was actually not a joke…