Book 2: Chapter 490
Palm and fist collided. (*: Palm technique vs fist technique)
Rumble!
Together with thunder-like explosions, a dust storm swirled in every direction.
Even the ones who had escaped from the mine were affected despite being far away. They felt the ground beneath them shake as their bodies were buffeted by heavy winds that threatened to carry them away.
Dok Go-yun’s body was pushed back. But he didn’t have any injuries.
“Hmph.”
Instead, he even sneered as if to show off.
In the skirmish just now, he’d clearly had the advantage. Although the young man’s body hadn’t been pushed back like Dok Go-yun’s, his right arm had been shattered to such an extent that it looked like a rag.
Of course, it wasn’t a one-sided advantage.
The right side of his forehead was split and blood flowed from it, although it wasn’t a serious injury, it was unlikely that the bleeding would stop easily. (TL:…what about ‘he had no injuries’?)
Even as the blood dyed his eyes, Dok Go-yun didn’t blink. Instead, he analysed the condition of his body.
His left knee was cracked, his abdomen and chest were bruised, and his right shoulder was fractured while his left palm was torn. (PR: ‘tis but a flesh wound)
He hadn’t suffered any fatal injuries, but he thought that it would be a bother, so he decided to use it now.
Dark Cloud Fog(黑雲霧), Mother’s Palm Wrap(母掌包)
Fwoosh-
Dark fog that was incomparable to before was released from Dok Go-yun’s body.
The young man’s eyebrows furrowed at that. Maintaining his stance, he observed it for a while before he finally realised.
This thing’s goal wasn’t to attack.
Taht!
Only then did he kick off the ground to narrow the distance with Dok Go-yun, but he was a step too late.
“You were too slow!”
In the darkness, Dok Go-yun let out a laugh. As he stretched out his right arm, the dark fog that was surrounding him raged like a turbid stream and pushed the young man’s body away.
The young man tried to hold on by releasing his internal energy but was soon swept away forcefully.
Dok Go-yun didn’t let go of this chance and immediately chased after him. Running faster than the flying young man, he then stretched out his pure white hands.
Boom!
He unleashed the Fourteen Vexing Bone Palms(煩骨十四掌) technique in order, pressuring the young man.
He’d done it. He’d controlled the flow.
Dok Go-yun continued his offensive as if he was dancing.
“What’s wrong? Your movements are so slow!”
The young man was being driven into a corner, but he muttered without exposing a vital point.
“…demonic arts are demonic arts. I can’t believe you were able to heal your wounds in an instant.”
“Haha. It’s okay to admit you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous. You didn’t use it from the beginning. The reason is simple. It must have a pretty heavy price.”
Even as he said that, the young man stumbled as if he would collapse at any moment.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Although Dok Go-yun smiled as he answered like that, inwardly, he was surprised.
The young man’s guess was right.
Mother’s Palm Wrap was capable of healing most injuries in an instant, but it had the disadvantage in the form of its extreme consumption of internal energy.
‘I also lost too much blood.’
Although it could heal internal and external injuries by increasing the user’s healing factor, it could not replenish blood that had already been lost.
Of course, even if the opponent realised that, that didn’t change Dok Go-yun’s superiority.
The stumbling young man stomped the ground with his right leg. Crack! The ground cracked like a spiderweb, and pieces of stone were sent flying. In the meantime, an enormous amount of power condensed in the young man’s fist.
He was a quick witted guy.
Realising that as time passed he would be more and more at a disadvantage, he decided to use this trick and end it in one blow.
‘Good. I’ll accept it.’
Not thinking that he’d lose in a head on contest, Dok Go-yun also raised his vitality* to the limit. (*: not exactly, think of a pure form of ‘internal energy’)
As the inner principle of the Dark Cloud Fog, the Black Spirit Possession, began to unfold, both of Dok Go-yun’s arms became dyed black as if they had been painted with ink.
Crunch, as if he wasn’t in a hurry to release it, the internal energy gathering on the young man’s fist began to emit light.
By the end of this collision, one of them would become a corpse. But neither side thought that the corpse would be theirs.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the match would forever be unknown.
Just before their two powers could collide, a gentle breeze blew between them.
At least that was how it felt for Dok Go-yun and the young man.
At some point, with a flutter of robes, Yang In-hyun appeared at the point where their powers would collide.
“…!”
What was he doing?!
A look of bewilderment flashed across Dok Go-yun’s face. Even if it was Yang In-hyun, he would not remain intact if he were to stand in the middle of the collision.
However, if Dok Go-yun were to withdraw his power or try to forcibly change direction, he would have to bear the recoil with his body.
His opponent was equally flustered.
Srrng-
In the meantime, Yang In-hyun drew his sword and slowly swung it in a clockwise direction.
As a result, the essence of the dark cloud released by Dok Go-yun was captured on the tip of the blade.
“…!”
Even while witnessing it with both eyes, he couldn’t believe it.
It was neither broken nor sliced.
Like a thread attached to the tip of a needle, Dok Go-yun’s killer move was manipulated by Yang In-hyun as he pleased. As a result, the force of the dark cloud gathered at the tip of the sword gradually began to be neutralised.
Soon, the sword reached the opposite direction. In other words, it reached the place where the young man’s fist was surging.
Boom!
The sound of thunder was heard once more.
But instead of being sent flying dozens of miles, the young man’s body simply shook as he took a few steps back.
“…”
The young man’s expression also hardened for the first time. Dok Go-yun felt that this reaction was natural.
It wouldn’t have been so surprising if their attacks had been blocked or even destroyed directly.
But the technique Yang In-hyun displayed was several levels above that.
It was a technique that couldn’t be explained as simply the exquisite use of Gentle Overpowering Movement(以靜制動)*, and at the same time, it was also proof of how great the distance between them was. (*: basically the ‘redirecting/making use of the opponent’s attacks’ that is present in many(most) martial arts.)
“…who is this sir?”
The young man spoke in a respectful tone.
Just now, this man could have stopped the fight in a much easier way. At that time, the openings that they’d both shown as they launched their killing moves to take each other’s lives were fatal. If he had wanted to, he could have used them to slice through their throats before they had even realised they were dead.
“I think you are misunderstanding something.”
“…misunderstanding?”
“Right. We have nothing to do with the evil actions being carried out in this mine.”
“…”
The young man’s eyes narrowed.
“You probably mistook the black fog surrounding the mine to be similar to the dark cloud fog that Dok Go-yun uses, but that’s wrong. The two powers are completely different.”
“…”
“You should have experienced Dok Go-yun’s dark cloud fog enough in your skirmish just now, so if you analyse the black fog covering this area, you’ll understand.”
The young man hesitated for a moment before doing as he said. Upon seeing him close his eyes and concentrate, Dok Go-yun wanted to launch a technique at his body, but he remained still after noticing Yang In-hyun’s gaze.
After a while, the eyes of the young man’s handsome face, which were filled with bewilderment, opened.
“…I don’t believe it.”
“So you understand.”
“I apologise. It was my mistake…”
As he said this, the young man bowed.
A vein pulsed on the head of Dok Go-yun, who was watching on.
“Hey, aren’t you apologising to the wrong person? I was the one who got hit by your surprise attack.”
When he looked at Dok Go-yun, the young man’s expression became cold once more.
“You asked for it.”
“What?”
“Did you not expect this to happen when you decided to learn demonic arts?”
As he looked at the young man, Dok Go-yun grit his teeth as if he was pissed.
“I’ve never seen such an asshole. Do you know who I am to be so rude to me?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“You brat, you really wanna see if…”
“Stop.”
After interceding with a brief word, Yang In-hyun looked at the young man.
“…it seems you have calmed down enough so I would like to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Who did you learn martial arts from?”
* * *
“That…”
Iris’ voice cut off slightly. Confusion was clear in her expression. But she was able to recover her emotions faster than they appeared, and she looked at Pale with her characteristic cool figure.
Their eyes met in the air.
“…”
Lukas felt strange.
Seeing Iris and Pale at the same time felt extremely unrealistic. It was as if characters from entirely different novels had come out of the pages and met each other.
‘They’re similar.’
They were strangely similar.
Of course, their appearances, atmospheres, and physiques were different.
If so then? What was the similarity that Lukas was seeing between them?
Lukas looked at Iris. As she looked at Pale, a smile began to spread across her face.
It was at that moment that Lukas realised the identity of the strange feeling he’d been having while looking at Iris.
“It’s an honour to meet you, Blue Knight of Famine.”
“Huh? You know me?”
“Because you are quite famous.”
“That’s strange. There is no way anything about me is written in this library.”
Pale only spoke a little, but it was enough for Lukas to realise something.
There were no records of the ‘World of Void’ in the Akashic Records, or in other words, the Void Records. This place carried a record of everything that happened in the multiverse. But the ‘World of Void’ did not fall into the category of ‘everything in the multiverse’.
It was nothing but a dumpsite for abandoned possibilities. That was the identity of the ‘World of Void’.
“I know about you too. Black Witch!”
“How?”
“I know everything. Mm, even that Lukas had been indebted to you in the past.”
Pfft, then Pale let out a laugh. It wasn’t obvious, but anyone could tell that it was done mockingly.
“I guess you forgot everything now. Ah, how pitiful.”
“…”
The atmosphere gradually became sharper.
This wasn’t just Lukas’ imagination.
“You forgot your oath. Did you know that? It’s much harder and crueller to forget a promise than to break it! But every single one of you betrayed Lukas.”
“…that was done by God.”
“Was it because of the rule? Ah. Of course it was. However, that doesn’t mean exceptions were impossible, does it? Moreover, I don’t think you can even fool yourself with that excuse!”
“…”
“Mm. I said too much. I’m sure you’ll forget it all anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Listen to my words with one ear.”
Pale finished speaking with a smile.
Iris was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Blue Knight Pale, I never would have expected you to mention the rules of God.”
“Mm?”
“After all, aren’t you one of God’s biggest victims?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well. Should I talk about it here? About the life of a blue haired girl named Pale before she became the Blue Knight of Famine. —I guess you forgot.”
Like a magnolia blooming in the dark, Iris’ white teeth showed as she smiled.
“Aren’t all the records of you before you went to the World of Void in this place?”
Ttuk.
Pale froze.
“…it’s strange.”
And the smile on her face disappeared.
“How many extra lives do the people outside have?”
Then she stretched out her hand.
It was her characteristic stance when calling out her sword. Crack! Something emerged from the ground.
“Stop…!”
Lukas belatedly tried to stop her, but unlike with Diablo, Pale had no intention of stopping. In an instant, she grabbed her sword and rushed towards Iris.
“Kuk!”
It was dangerous.
Iris wouldn’t be able to take even a single blow from Pale. Just as Lukas was about to urgently call upon the power of void.
“Hey, Blue Knight. I’ve never seen you, or your armour, before.”
Iris called out with a smile.
“Is that what your sword is supposed to look like?”
“…?”
At that, Pale looked down at her own sword. Then she realised.
The sword she was holding was not its usual pale colour, but was instead covered in ridiculous rainbow colours.
“Huh?”
“You didn’t summon it. I materialised it.”
Then, the tip of the blade moved like jelly and tried to cover Pale’s entire body. Pale belatedly tried to let go of the sword, but it had already taken on a lumpy form, even down to the hilt, so it was hard to get rid of.
Just as Pale’s body was about to be completely swept away by the mucus. Bang! The mucus was sent flying following a sound similar to that of compressed air bursting.
Iris looked at the figure and said.
“You cannot become the Blue Knight in this place.”
“…aha. That seems to be the case.”
Pale gave her a torn smile.
“But I don’t think I need a sword to eat you.”
Those words were right.
Even without becoming the Blue Knight, Pale was still a formidable being. She might even be able to enter the minimal time zone as she was now.
But Iris’ relaxed expression didn’t go away.
“I can’t defeat you.”
“It’s good that you know.”
“Nevertheless, if it’s in this place, it is possible for me to run away forever. While still pestering you.”
“…”
“Would you like to play tag with me here forever?”
The two women were smiling at each other.
That was certainly true. But Lukas felt like he could see a rift growing between them.
“…hmm.”
Pale was the one to turn away first. She spoke with a huff.
“Let’s go.”
She grabbed Lukas by the arm.
And, somehow, he was unable to shake her off. It was as if Lukas was stuck to Pale. Before leaving, he turned to look at Iris’ face one last time.
And he realised again.
Iris was a woman who could always hide her true feelings behind a smile.
Whether she felt joy, sadness, anger, or nothing at all.
She always had a smile on her face. That was just a way of life for the woman named Iris Peacefinder.
…In other words, that meant.
If Iris ‘felt nothing’ towards Lukas, she would have smiled. She would have smiled like she always did.
But she didn’t.
Right before they left, Iris was expressionless
(TL: Lukas… was wise to remain silent this time.)