TRPM 112

chapter 112

Kang Gun-hyung’s punch flew toward Yeon Mirae with a shock that sounded like a bomb exploding… but…

Swoosh…!
“Ugh?!”

Yeon Mirae didn’t just lightly dodge Kang Gun-hyung’s attack—she left a sword scar on the arm that had been stretched toward her.

Seeing this, Kang Gun-hyung wore an expression of disbelief.

“The sword Yeon Mirae is holding is a mass-produced sword.”

Even though it was mass-produced, it was made by a decent company, so it was fairly sturdy and sharp—but compared to Kang Gun-hyung’s body, it was weak.

Yeon Mirae had wrapped her sword with demonic energy (ma-ki), but Kang Gun-hyung also had aura surrounding his body and arms…

“This means Yeon Mirae’s ma-ki cut through Kang Gun-hyung’s aura and inflicted damage on his body.”

In other words, Yeon Mirae’s ma-ki was stronger than Kang Gun-hyung’s aura.

Considering the nature of inner energy, it made sense.

[First, as mentioned, inner energy can substitute for other types of energy, and depending on the inner energy techniques, its quality is also quite high.]

Even though the accumulation speed of inner energy is slower than that of aura techniques, if the amounts are similar, inner energy will inevitably dominate.

Additionally, while Yeon Mirae’s ma-ki is difficult to control and manipulate, its quality is superior to the inner energy she had been gathering previously.

So naturally, Kang Gun-hyung’s aura alone couldn’t block it.

“Moreover, her technique is superior too.”

Even though Kang Gun-hyung was a strong aura master and hadn’t neglected his training, that didn’t mean he had honed martial arts skills. He had only strengthened his body and increased his aura.

In contrast, Yeon Mirae didn’t forget to refine her techniques even after reaching the level to produce sword aura. That difference meant that while Kang Gun-hyung might surpass her in raw strength and speed, Yeon Mirae overwhelmed him with a combination of inner energy and skill.

“…I specifically asked you not to fall so easily…”

“You are disappointing.”

Yeon Mirae muttered, watching Kang Gun-hyung fail to respond properly to her attack.

“Grr…!”

Until now, no one had dared provoke the aura master like this, so perhaps it was why Kang Gun-hyung took the bait so easily.

Fuming, he charged at Yeon Mirae with greater intensity than before. Simultaneously, his arm emitted a bright light.

I thought to myself:

“…If an aura master swordsman surrounds his sword with aura to make a blade of light, he calls it an Aura Blade…”

As I was thinking that…

“Aura Fist…!”
“That old man crushed a dragon’s head with that in a single strike…?”

The guild leaders who saw Kang Gun-hyung’s fist muttered among themselves.

Yes, when a fighter surrounds his fist with aura to form a fist of light, it’s called an Aura Fist.

Aura Fist is a technique only usable by aura masters. Just like an Aura Blade can’t be blocked unless it’s the same level of aura, an Aura Fist can’t be blocked unless it’s a similar level of aura technique… but still…

“…Crushing a dragon’s head in one strike seems exaggerated.”

I thought one of the guild leaders’ remarks was a bit of an overstatement. Aura masters can hunt dragons easily, and theoretically, I could kill a dragon in one strike.

However…

“Kang Gun-hyung doesn’t seem strong enough for that…”

Even if he could use Aura Fist, killing a dragon in one strike seemed unlikely. Perhaps the dragon he faced was just a hatchling, or maybe the Taeguk Guild exaggerated to hype him up.

Anyway…

“…Crushing a dragon’s head in one strike?”

Yeon Mirae also heard the guild leaders’ chatter from the outfield. But she showed no sign of tension. On the contrary…

Clang…!
“With this kind of aura…?”

She deflected Kang Gun-hyung’s punch with a lightly aura-coated sword and spoke. She realized that, considering the dragon-killing feat, Kang Gun-hyung’s strength wasn’t as formidable as people said.

“I can only kill a dragon with at least three swings, yet you killed one with a single punch? Impressive.”
“You…!”

Kang Gun-hyung, enraged by her taunt, cursed furiously. But he didn’t move.

He realized.

Yeon Mirae was far stronger than he was.

“Quick to give up, aren’t you?”

Yeon Mirae said pityingly and assumed a stance. Her arm holding the sword moved back, and the sword in her hand pointed horizontally toward Kang Gun-hyung. Even someone unfamiliar with sword techniques could see it was a thrusting stance.

“I wish you had struggled a bit more… but…”

Well, it can’t be helped. If he’s choosing to give up…

“Consider this a warning. If you don’t want to die, avoid hitting vital spots.”

As Yeon Mirae leisurely assumed her stance, Kang Gun-hyung could not move. It wasn’t due to injury—he had experienced many battles as an awakened, and the scratches on his arm were minor.

It was simply…

“He must have judged that he can’t win against Yeon Mirae no matter what.”

Though slower, Yeon Mirae was ready to dodge and counter from any stance. Kang Gun-hyung noticed this.

“He probably thought it’s safer to dodge my attack first and counter rather than risk a half-hearted strike.”

Kang Gun-hyung was faster, so dodging and countering was reasonable. But would Yeon Mirae not anticipate this?

“…”

Yeon Mirae, silently observing, made the first move. She dashed toward Kang Gun-hyung, thrusting her sword.

Kang Gun-hyung tried to dodge… but…

“…!”

He likely thought her sword was moving faster than expected. The target was his face, specifically his eyes, not his body. It must have seemed like the sword suddenly accelerated.

So he gave up on dodging and raised a guard. Better to lose one arm than have his head pierced. Even with one arm lost, he could counter with the other.

However…

“Falling for such a simple trick… how pathetic.”
“What…?”

Before the sword touched Kang Gun-hyung’s arm, Yeon Mirae pulled it back, then thrust it again. Continuing her dash, the sword pierced his chest.

Reverse Heaven Sword (逆天劍) – First Form: Piercing Strike (穿孔)

The sword pierced Kang Gun-hyung’s chest, leaving a round hole. It looked less like a sword pierced the chest and more like the chest disappeared upon contact.

“…Guh…?!”

Blood poured from the hole, his nose, and mouth.

“You should have dodged.”

Yeon Mirae said as she watched. She had warned him to avoid vital spots, but he failed, and his major organs were destroyed. Considering he was an aura master, he wouldn’t die instantly, but survival was unlikely.

“…Yeon Mirae likely intended this kill.”

It might appear that Kang Gun-hyung was too weak to dodge, but she had created an unavoidable situation.

Yeon Mirae might face charges for killing the Taeguk Guild master, but considering what the master intended for the other guild leaders, it could be treated as eliminating a potential criminal—perhaps only a light fine.

“Ugh…”

Kang Gun-hyung gaped at the hole in his chest, then collapsed, out of strength.

“Hmm…”

Yeon Mirae confirmed his death and sheathed her sword. Her sword was astonishingly clean despite just piercing a human body.

“Oh, right. You were here too.”

She looked at the three guild leaders staring at her in shock: Shin Chae-geon of Night Eagle Guild, Yoo Won-hoon of Legiones Guild, and Song Eun-ji of Cleaner Guild. They saluted nervously.

“I’ll let you off this time. You’ll need to testify about this, and you seemed to have at least some conscience.”

But…

“If something like this happens again… you know what I mean?”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
“We’ll do our best!”

Satisfied, Yeon Mirae turned away, and only then did the three breathe a sigh of relief.

“…I don’t have to worry about these three guilds for now.”

I recalled the events before regression. Four guilds had been stable during my time at the academy: Taeguk, Night Eagle, Legiones, Cleaner.

When I was a second-year cadet, three of them suddenly went to war, leaving only Taeguk Guild. The association or government couldn’t challenge them strongly.

Even Taeguk suffered criticism for failing to fill the void left by the other guilds.

“…The sudden rise of the Black Mist activities made things worse.”

With too many dungeons relative to awakened fighters, the Taeguk Guild sent even high school students into dungeons. Despite opposition from educators, they had no choice but to relieve the children’s burden by entering dungeons themselves.

“…With no strong fighters, terror incidents occurred… it’s all basically Taeguk Guild’s fault.”

If the guild hadn’t gone to war, the situation wouldn’t have worsened so much.

“…So destroying the Taeguk Guild this time is not a bad outcome.”

While this iteration of Taeguk might not follow the same path, given the guild master’s greed, similar events would likely happen. The collapse would change many things, but…

“…Focus.”

I addressed Yeon Mirae and the three guild leaders.

“You have a task to complete.”

By the way, there’s no veto power.