The Legend of the Northern Blade

Once a beast has tasted human blood, it will start preying on humans. Similarly, after a warrior murders another human for the first time, they will continue killing humans.

Although there are many warriors in the gangho, just how many of them have needed to fight for their lives before?

The era of battles to the death had ended with the rise of Heaven’s Summit. The new order’s idea of peace simply did not allow for senseless murder and genocide, and all such actions were quickly nipped in the bud.

On the other hand, the Gray Wolves of Chaos lived constantly on the border between life and death. Day after day, mission after mission, their blades tasted the blood of countless humans. As they became more and more proficient at killing, their technique improved by leaps and bounds.

They were warriors who existed solely for the purpose of killing. It wasn’t just their martial arts that were brutal—the way they walked, the rhythm of their breaths, the look in their eyes—every single movement of theirs exuded intention to kill.

They closed in on Jin Mu-Won’s group, tightening their encirclement.

Shim Won-Ui’s eyes hardened. Furious, he growled, “How dare they!”

No one has ever threatened me like this before. No one has ever dared to treat me like this! What on earth is Captain Mok doing at this time…?

Suddenly, Shim Won-Ui’s thoughts came to a halt. As he was searching around for Mok Eun-Pyeong, he finally noticed the corpse lying on the ground. He clicked his tongue in irritation, then turned to face the Wardens, saying, “Tsk! What a useless piece of trash. Oi, what are the rest of you good-for-nothings doing? Hurry up and finish off these intruders!”

“Yes, sir!”

The Wardens immediately charged forward to intercept the Gray Wolves of Chaos. However, the expressions on their faces were grim. The way Shim Won-Ui had just addressed them was degrading. Still, they did not dare to openly show their resentment, as they had bigger problems to deal with right now.

The Gray Wolves of Chaos leapt toward the Wardens, howling, “AWOOOO!”

“Stop them!”

The two sides clashed, and the battlefield erupted into chaos. Every time a sword flashed, a scream would ring out, accompanied by a fountain of blood. Soon, the Northern Army Fortress was swallowed up by a crimson windstorm of blood and severed body parts.

Shim Soo-Ah trembled in shock and horror. She was the precious treasure of Judgment Heaven and the only daughter of the Sky Lord, Shim Mu-Wae. Who would ever let her witness such a brutal, barbaric scene?

Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung’s face was just as pale as Shim Soo-Ah’s. However, unlike the younger girl, her mind remained clear despite her rampaging emotions.

The Silent Night has decided to show itself after going into hiding for dozens of years. If news of this gets out, there will be a huge, uncontrollable, uproar.

Now that the Silent Night were involved, she needed to make changes to her original plans. Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung considered every possible outcome, taking into account the manpower she had and the changes that could occur in the gangho, and swiftly made the corresponding modifications.

This ability of hers to remain calm and rational was not inborn, but a result of her martial art, the “Heavenly Mental Enhancement Technique (全腦昊天功)[1]”. It was a martial art that maximized her intelligence and mental capability by allowing her to blot out emotions, always think rationally, analyze multiple things in parallel, and utilize 100% of her brainpower.

Unfortunately, this technique was so complicated, that the only person who had ever succeeded at mastering it was the “Ghost of Zhuge Liang”, Seo-Moon Hwa.

Even so, Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung was at least smart enough that she was allowed to learn the technique at a young age. She had only reached the seventh stage of the technique, but her mental capabilities were already far ahead of other geniuses.

Suddenly, her eyes fell upon Jin Mu-Won.

He was composed, far too composed. Although blood was splattering everywhere and corpses were dropping to the ground like flies all around him, he did not even bat an eyelid.

Just what is the reason for his confidence? Is he hiding something? If not, then…

Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung shifted her gaze toward Eun Ha-Seol.

The two women’s eyes met. Perhaps it was coincidence, but Eun Ha-Seol had turned to face Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung at exactly the same time.

Eun Ha-Seol.

Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung narrowed her eyes.

Just then, two Gray Wolves pounced in Jin Mu-Won and Eun Ha-Seol’s direction. Eun Ha-Seol instantly stepped in front of the young man as if she was his protector.

It was only for an instant, but Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung was certain that she saw Eun Ha-Seol’s eyes turn silvery-white.

What? It can’t be!

A long-forgotten name appeared in her mind. There was only one martial art in the world that would cause a person’s eyes to become silvery-white. Most importantly, the person who practiced this martial art was once known as a human calamity.

The Witch of the White Night (白夜魔女).[2]

Seo-Moon Hye-Ryung’s shoulders trembled.

Meanwhile, the duel between Tae Mu-Kang and Dam Soo-Cheon had reached its climax.

BOOM!

Tae Mu-Kang was pushed back by Dam Soo-Cheon’s blow, leaving a huge, deep trench in his wake as his feet dragged across the ground.

Blood flowed out from Dam Soo-Cheon’s lips. Although Tae Mu-Kang was the one who had lost that particular exchange, it was Dam Soo-Cheon who was bleeding from internal damage.

The problem lay in Tae Mu-Kang’s Rebound Flux. Every attack aimed at Tae Mu-Kang would be reflected back to him with several times more force, but there was nothing Dam Soo-Cheon could do about it.

I won’t be able to break through his Rebound Flux using ordinary martial arts.

Dam Soo-Cheon shot a glance at Jin Mu-Won and Shim Won-Ui. All of Shim Won-Ui’s attention was focused on the Gray Wolves of Chaos, but Jin Mu-Won’s eyes hadn’t missed a single moment of the battle between him and Tae Mu-Kang.

I wonder if he’s laughing at me. He must be thinking, “Is this all I have?”

Damn, now I’m fired up. I guess I’ll just have to show you my true power!

Dam Soo-Cheon squeezed out all of his strength.

BRRRRRRR!

The air vibrated, and a blinding light enveloped his body.

“Tsk!” Tae Mu-Kang, who was just about to charge at Dam Soo-Cheon, frowned and hesitated for a moment.

Dam Soo-Cheon did not let that brief opening slip past him.

KABOOOOM!

“Ugh!”

Dam Soo-Cheon’s fist of light struck Tae Mu-Kang’s chest like a thunderbolt, sending him flying. The Rebound Flux which had protected him till now wavered as if it was going to disappear any moment.

Tae Mu-Kang slammed into the ground, creating a large crater. The flickering light in his eyes betrayed his shock at having his Rebound Flux—which was much stronger than that of others as it was a product of his unique martial art—nearly destroyed.

That meant that his current opponent, Dam Soo-Cheon, had just used a technique that surpassed his own. He asked, “What martial art did you just use?”

“The Divine Flash (聖光流).” [3]

Tae Mu-Kang frowned. He had never heard of such a martial art before. He waited for a bit, but Dam Soo-Cheon seemed wholly uninterested in explaining further.

It wasn’t that Dam Soo-Cheon didn’t want to tell Tae Mu-Kang about it, but that he couldn’t. The Divine Flash was an incomplete martial art, and still had many flaws to be corrected and details that could be improved upon.

The Divine Flash was created a hundred and fifty years ago, by a crazy martial artist. In order to prove his strength, this crazy martial artist sought out many powerful warriors and engaged in duels to the death with them.

Throughout his entire life, he fought more than three hundred duels but only won about fifty of them. Out of his two hundred and fifty losses, over thirty had resulted in near-fatal wounds.

His winning rate was so low that no one in the gangho thought much of him. Even the duels that he won were ignored, as people felt that there was nothing particularly interesting about them.

Nevertheless, at that time, no one realized his true worth. He had survived despite taking part in three hundred duels to the death. Also, most of his fifty wins had occurred within the last few dozen duels.

He was a man who had survived countless battlefields and gained experience from them. The experience that he gained piled up until finally, he began to grasp the rough form of his own unique martial art.

It was a martial art that countered all demonic arts by embodying the element of light. A martial art that was brighter and more dazzling than any other.

The man named it, the “Divine Flash”.

For generations, the Divine Flash was passed down in single succession, one disciple at a time. The inheritors of the martial art each spent their whole lives refining it.

Dam Soo-Cheon was the sixth-generation successor.

Even so, the Divine Flash that he inherited had yet to be perfected. In fact, one of the main reasons that he embarked on the Hundred Man Challenge was to gain the fighting experience necessary to refine the martial art.

BAM!

Dam Soo-Cheon kicked off from the ground.

I have to finish this battle as quickly as I can.

The Divine Flash was one of the most powerful martial arts of all, and every punch was capable of causing unimaginable destruction. However, in exchange, its chi consumption was absurdly high.

CRASH!

Tae Mu-Kang was pushed back once again, but Dam Soo-Cheon did not get away unscathed either. Blood flowed from his lips, and his face turned as white as a sheet.

Another problem with the Divine Flash was that the user’s body would be hit with recoil from the heavy punches. It was a double-edged sword.

BAM!

Tae Mu-Kang flew backward again. However, this time he did not fall to the ground, instead landing on his feet. He launched himself forward, emitting a huge fog of murky chi to obscure Dam Soo-Cheon’s vision.

Where did he go?

Dam Soo-Cheon focused his senses. A light appeared on his forehead.

This was a sensory enhancement technique known as the “Three-Eyed Technique”, mainly because it made its user look like they had three eyes.

As Dam Soo-Cheon expanded his senses, he finally pinpointed Tae Mu-Kang’s location and looked up above him.

Tae Mu-Kang was falling down from the sky at a frightening speed with his murky flux spinning around him with astonishing force.

KWAAAARRRRR!!!

Tae Mu-Kang landed right on top of Dam Soo-Cheon’s head and unleashed his move, the “Spinning Drill of the Chaos Demon”, a technique that utilized the rotation of flux to increase the force of the blow.

“Gah!” Dam Soo-Cheon grimaced, facing Tae Mu-Kang head-on. He knew that dodging this attack was the correct thing to do, but his pride as the only successor to the Divine Flash did not allow him to do so.

He gathered all his chi for the final blow. The light on his forehead shone brighter than ever before.

Meanwhile, Tae Mu-Kang’s flux was spinning faster and faster. If Dam Soo-Cheon continued defending, his body would soon be torn to shreds like he had been through a meat grinder.

However, Dam Soo-Cheon stayed rooted to the spot. In order to suppress his instincts that were screaming at him to dodge, he constantly muttered to himself, “Not yet, not yet…”

In his mind, he formed a clear mental image of the technique he was about to release. His body was in the present, but he could already foresee the conclusion of this battle.

Dam Soo-Cheon’s eyes blazed with a blinding white light.

Footnotes:

[1] Heavenly Mental Enhancement Technique (全腦昊天功): Literal translation – Heaven-Analyzing Brain Optimization Technique.

[2] Witch of the White Night (白夜魔女): Literal translation – Demonic Lady of the White Night.

[3] Divine Flash (聖光流): Literal translation – Holy Light Style.

TL Notes: Where can I learn the Heavenly Mental Enhancement Technique? I want it so bad.