Chapter 59 - The Murim Challenger (3)

Chapter 59: The Murim Challenger (3)

Murim Alliance Elder Baek Sunhak was stunned for the first time in a while.

And the reason?

The man standing in front of him, being caressed by the winds.

It was unnatural.

He was different from all the other challengers that he’d faced before.

Fwoosh—!

You could tell just by looking at the winds surrounding him.

Whatever he was doing was on an entirely different level than before…

He had been considering this ‘Earth’ world as a training ground.

Everyone from this place had been abnormally weak.

Because they had no previous knowledge of martial arts, they only used the abilities gained in the tower.

Before he had lost all his power, Baek Sunhak was one of the best fighters in his world.

Seeing the powerless buffoons of Earth, he knew that none of them would last that long.

Challengers from other worlds also noticed this and started looting Earth.

「 Activating trial intrusion. 」

「 Upon killing the challenger, you may steal their rewards. 」

But Baek Sunhak had never once failed an intrusion.

Not a single challenger had even met his expectations.

He’d already killed two challengers from this world and took their rewards.

So surely, this one wouldn’t have been any different.

His innate ability, ‘Sword Flash,’ immediately blinded his opponent’s field of vision…

He was able to assassinate people simply by silently stabbing their throats.

No one had been able to react to that.

That was the reason Baek Sunhak was able to keep his composure and ask for an introduction.

But…

‘Who the hell is he…!’

The young man standing in front of him was different.

With both eyes disabled, he was able to not only dodge but also counterattack.

That alone assured Baek Sunhak that not everyone in this world was as weak as he had made them out to be.

But that should have been his limit.

No one should be able to match him once he had gotten serious.

Claaaash—!

A loud crash echoed throughout the trial as the young man kicked the ground.

And at the same time—

「 Acceleration increased for a moment due to the effects of Boots of Swiftness (C+). 」

For an instant, he was so fast that even Baek Sunhak couldn’t follow him with his eyes.

He knew that he was up to something when the winds wrapped around him but…

Whatever demon art he used, this speed was nothing to scoff at.

But he couldn’t be surprised for too long.

Clang—!

He had to do something about the young man’s attacks.

The increased attack speed made it harder for him to keep up, but Baek Sunhak was a distinguished martial artist.

Chaaang…!

The fruits of his training suppressed the young man’s swordsmanship and countered all of his blows.

In his prime, he was once one of the top 10 swordsmen in his world.

He caused disruptions to the flow of his blade to form all sorts of sword feints.

The seven feints prevented the young man from his barrage but…

As if the feints were too slow, the young man just took a step back to remove himself from the range of the feints.

Reacting swiftly, Baek Sunhak activated his innate ability.

「 Innate ability ‘Sword Flash’s’ cooldown has ended. 」

「 Activating innate ability ‘Sword Flash.’ 」

In an instant, his sword flashed brightly and blinded the young man’s eyes.

But instead of just dodging, the young man started to attack even more ferociously.

「 Activating the skill ‘Mind’s Eye.’ 」

This was the result of him getting used to Baek Sunhak’s innate ability.

The young man dodged a jab aimed at his head and got in close.

Ch-ch-chang!

Whether this was demon arts or something else, Baek Sunhak had to acknowledge him now.

‘What went wrong…!?’

He should have killed him the first time he had been affected by his innate ability.

His swordsmanship wasn’t anything special, but Baek Sunhak was starting to fall behind.

For starters, their physical abilities were about the same before the winds had wrapped around the young man.

「 The skill ‘Ashen Blood’ is activated. 」

The young man’s body healed all his injuries as if they never happened.

‘What kind of monster…’

Getting a clean hit was hard enough already, so nullifying it?

Baek Sunhak’s techniques were clearly superior but…

The main problem was the skill he had to counteract the effects of his innate ability.

Baek Sunhak was too proud to use the skills that he had received from the tower but…

It was better than dying.

「 Activating the skill ‘One Stone Two Birds.’ 」

「 Attack speed increased by 2 times. 」

「 Activating the skill ‘Lighting Blade Ki.’ 」

「 Lightning encases your blade. 」

Krrrrr…!

Blade Ki, rare even in the murim world, was the telltale the main sign of a top-tier martial artist.

That ability was about to be performed by Baek Sunhak but…

「 Trial intrusion penalty is active. 」

「 All stats are reduced by -8. 」

「 Certain skills are disabled. 」

The tower forbade it from activating.

「 The skill ‘One Stone Two Birds’ is forcefully deactivated. 」

「 The skill ‘Lightning Blade Ki’ is forcefully deactivated. 」

Kangg…!

“Ugh…!”

Baek Sunhak’s wrists vibrated as he fended off another blow.

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ is astonished by the young challenger. 」

The administrator that he formed a contract with was chiming in all of a sudden.

Not only that.

「 Administrator ‘Monster of the North’ predicts your loss. 」

「 Administrator ‘Tyrant of the Night’ is interested in the young challenger. 」

「 Administrator ‘Hero of the Black Archipelago’ admires the young challenger’s skill use. 」

The other administrators who had been observing him also showed interest in the young man in front of him.

Hence, this man was well beyond a typical challenger.

Baek Sunhak felt the sweat drip down his back as he tried to think of any skill he could currently use.

Thinking he could still pull ahead, Baek Sunhak pushed more ki into his sword.

Even though he wasn’t able to use sword ki, it would still strengthen his sword.

Fwing…!

Seeing a blue fog rise up from his sword, Baek Sunhak went on the offensive.

「 Innate ability ‘Sword Flash’s cooldown has ended. 」

「 Activating innate ability ‘Sword Flash.’ 」

After activating his innate ability, he mustered up the few skills that he could actually use.

「 Activating the skill ‘Single Cut.’ 」

「 Your next ability with a blade has increased cutting force by 2 times. 」

「 Activating the skill ‘Fairy Steps.’ 」

「 Increases movement speed by 2.8 times for 1 minute. 」

To prepare for his one, last-ditch effort.

He even raised his movement speed to catch up with his opponent.

Shaaaek—!

The young man didn’t back down from this clash.

This was when Baek Sunhak smiled as he anticipated his victory.

All he had to do was cut him in half, straight through his sword.

‘It’s done. It’s finally ov…?’

But…

“What…”

Contrary to his belief, Baek Sunhak wasn’t able to slice through the young challenger’s sword.

「 Activating the skill ‘Triple Laceration.’ 」

「 Your next three attacks are strengthened. 」

The young challenger’s sword was also overflowing with mana.

***

Clang—!

I felt chills down my spine after blocking the old man’s latest attack.

‘Holy sh…’

Right before going blind, I saw a blue fog around his sword.

Because it was similar to the ‘aura’ that the black knight used on the 5th trial, I deliberately activated Triple Laceration.

And thank goodness that I did.

That’s just how impressive the old man was.

‘I would have died if I didn’t use my skill…’

My throat suddenly felt cold after realizing how close I was to death.

If he had sliced through my sword, my neck would have followed closely behind.

I knew my limbs would reattach with relative ease, but I wasn’t sure about my head.

「 Innate ability ‘Sword Flash’s effect has concluded. 」

And as soon as my sight returned…

I was greeted by a shocked old man.

That was of no concern to me.

I knocked his sword aside and took another swing at him.

Triple Laceration gets stronger with each attack.

Hence, if the first one was just about equal to his blue ki…

Skaaaak…!

My second blow shattered his blade into pieces.

He may not have expected my attack to shatter his sword because, as his sword broke, he was unable to pull back in time…

And the tip of my sword gouged into his chest.

“A-a…”

He stumbled back and coughed up a bit of blood, but I wasn’t going to take pity.

The old man had the ability to fend off an attack from my Laceration.

If he had anything like that left in his arsenal, I could fall to it.

At this point, it was kill or be killed.

So I swung my sword without hesitation and…

「 Deactivating the skill ‘Triple Laceration.’ 」

Shaaaak—!

“No, unbelie…”

Split in half, the old man was unable to finish his sentence before he ended up on the floor.

And…

「 Congratulations. You have overcome the Tower of Trials floor 9. 」

My smile couldn’t be contained as I read the declaration of my victory.

After another close fight, the exhilaration of the battle was overwhelming.

——