Chapter 76 - Festival

And at the very instant that voice drove itself into their minds, Dong Bongsu plunged his sword into what he presumed was the head of the lump of meat in his hand.

WHOOOSH!

An indescribably brilliant light burst from Dong Bongsu's body in every direction. It was the flash announcing Lv. 30.

With the sun already completely below the horizon, its effect was tens, even hundreds of times greater than an ordinary flashbang. The level-up flash spread across the barren wilderness at the speed of light.

"Argh! Wh-what the hell!?"

The flash temporarily blinded everyone whose eyes were open—especially the Northern Ghosts, whose eyes had gleamed with the madness of war...

"Let's grind those filthy Northern Ghost bastards into pulp!"

"Attack!"

For the mercenaries with their eyes closed, it was the signal to attack.

Now it was their turn to charge forward with a thunderous roar.

THUD! THUD-THUD-THUD!

"Die, all of you! You sons of bitches!"

Dong Bongsu had leveled up almost exactly midway between the Northern Ghosts and the mercenaries, making the damage to the Northern Ghosts all the greater. Most had been unable to avoid the rays fanning outward. His provocation had drawn every Northern Ghost's attention to him; now most were covering their eyes with one hand and swinging their weapons blindly.

The plan had worked perfectly. Dong Bongsu had already expected that killing just one more Northern Ghost would make him level up. His level gauge had been nearly full for some time. Even killing hundreds more ordinary soldiers during this ear hunt had failed to push him over the threshold. But the Northern Ghosts were different. They were martial artists. He would not need to kill several. He had anticipated that just one would suffice. And even if one failed to bring a level-up, that was fine. He could kill two or three—or more, if that still wasn't enough.

SWISH. THUD. SLICE. THUD.

Dong Bongsu began moving again. This time, rather than fleeing, he plunged into the Northern Ghosts' midst. Each silent movement of the dark-red Vagabond Sword added another headless corpse to the ground.

[..., 7, 8, 9, 10, ...]

[The player has achieved 10 Consecutive Slashes. All stats have increased by 10%.]

It did not take long for the Skill [Consecutive Slash Lv.2] to activate.

300, 299, ..., 300, 299, ..., 300, ...

Consecutive Slash's five-minute duration kept resetting with each enemy's death. At this rate, its effect would probably never expire before the battle ended.

A short time later, the enemies opened their eyes and recovered their senses, but the Northern Ghosts' numbers had already been halved. Only because they were Northern Ghosts had even that many survived. Ordinary soldiers would have been slaughtered to the last man in those few seconds. In the end, however, their fate would be no different from that of the nomadic soldiers killed in the earlier battles.

After all, Dong Bongsu's Consecutive Slash timer still read 300 seconds.

SWISH-SWISH. THUD-THUD.

Blood sprays and scraps of flesh fly.

And amid it all, Dong Bongsu realizes he is alive.

Once again, he recognizes what he is. Is he enjoying himself? The corners of his mouth have curled upward in a bizarre smile.

His sword ceaselessly threaded its way through the enemy ranks. Then, at one moment, someone blocked it. It was the first time that had happened during this ear hunt. Dong Bongsu's lips split into a broad line, his white teeth gleaming in the darkness.

At last, a true carnivore!

"Die! Die, you bastards!"

"Raaagh!"

CLANG! SLICE! THUNK!

The sights and sounds of the battlefield, its mingled shouts and crashes, faded from Dong Bongsu's hearing and vision. Though his pupils had widened with the coming of night, his eyes were fixed on only one thing.

The man who had blocked his [Mount Tai Bears Down]. Like the other Northern Ghosts, he wore his hair in a queue, the front and crown of his head shaved bare and the hair at the back braided long. What distinguished him was the killing intent pouring from him, as fierce as that of all the other Northern Ghosts combined.

Dong Bongsu's Vagabond Sword and the man's saber were locked together in midair. Dong Bongsu's sword had descended from above, while the man had raised his saber at a right angle to it. In short, the weapons formed a cross.

Between the crossed sword and saber, Dong Bongsu's emotionless eyes met the man's eyes, bloodshot with killing intent, in a fierce stare.

"Are you Ear Ghost?"

The speaker was Paitan, leader of the Northern Ghost Corps. Dong Bongsu applied a sudden springing force through his hands, pushing Paitan backward as he answered.

"That's what they call me."

Using the rebound from pushing Paitan away, Dong Bongsu flew backward and swung his sword, shearing clean through the neck of a Northern Ghost charging him.

With a sharp flick, he shook the blood from his blade and started toward Paitan again. Paitan watched him and spoke.

"Just what martial art did you use earlier?"

"Does it matter?"

"Heh heh heh... True enough. What does something like that matter when we're all about to die?"

Paitan shot toward the approaching Dong Bongsu. His momentum was formidable enough to generate powerful gusts around him. Bearing its full force head-on, Dong Bongsu felt as though a typhoon were closing in from every direction to crush him.

'Body and Saber as One!?'

It was his first encounter with that realm, but he recognized it. Paitan's imposing presence was so completely united with his saber that anyone, not just Dong Bongsu, could have noticed.

Dong Bongsu immediately activated the Skill [Qi Circulation]. A powerful surge of qi burst from his body, increasing both his Attack Power and Defense by 90%. In that state, he charged straight at Paitan.

CLANG!

Their blades collided in midair, sending a tremendous crash ringing across the battlefield.

Perhaps Dong Bongsu's strength fell a little short; he was hurled a full zhang backward.

"Kh, kh heh."

Was he groaning in pain? Or laughing?

A strange sound escaped Dong Bongsu's mouth.

The collision had split the flesh of his sword hand by about one fen (approximately 0.3 cm). A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, suggesting he had also suffered a minor internal injury. Burning pain flared in his chest and hand.

And so, Dong Bongsu laughed.

Why? Because this was a fight worth having. No—a man worth killing!

Paitan grinned back and launched himself at Dong Bongsu once more.

But this time, the one sent flying by the collision was Paitan, not Dong Bongsu. And he was hurled much farther than Dong Bongsu had been.

"Urgh! Gah!"

Paitan tumbled several times through the air before landing. Yet the lingering force of the impact left him unable to stand straight. Clots of black blood came pouring from his mouth. He had suffered a serious internal injury.

"Sword qi...?"

He muttered as he steadied himself, using his saber as a cane. But he soon shook his head. Something like a strange heat haze rose in a sharp edge from Dong Bongsu's blade.

The sword qi Paitan knew did not take visible form like that. For sword qi to manifest so clearly to the naked eye, one had to have reached at least the Sword Ring realm.

That was no Sword Ring. A Sword Ring should have had its characteristic ring of bundled sword qi, but none was visible.

"Just what is that...?"

Instead of answering, Dong Bongsu tore off his sleeve with a ripping sound and wrapped the cloth around his sword hand, where the latest impact had widened the split. Once he finished, he approached Paitan again and spoke.

"Sword qi."

"...!?"

Paitan could not believe it. The ordinary sword qi he knew could never look like that.

Yet it was indeed sword qi. It simply wasn't the sort of 'ordinary' sword qi he knew, but a different [Sword Qi].

In truth, although Dong Bongsu had learned the Skill [Sword Qi], he had rarely needed it. Until now, he had never encountered an opponent who could properly withstand it. Paitan would be the first opportunity he had to test its power to his heart's content.

Dong Bongsu darted at Paitan again. Paitan hurriedly raised his blade to block Dong Bongsu's sword qi. Saber qi now coated his weapon, though unlike Dong Bongsu's sword qi, it showed no outward sign at all.

The Skill [Sword Qi] clashed with the martial art of saber qi.

The forceful qi unleashed by Dong Bongsu and Paitan collided, producing an explosion.

Twice, three times, four times...

Sword qi flew wildly, and the explosions continued. By then, all the other Northern Ghosts had been butchered. The mercenaries had encircled the two men at a distance and were watching their duel. A battle between experts was a rare sight in a mercenary's life. They watched with even greater concentration than they had brought to fighting the Northern Ghosts.

BOOM! CLANG! CRASH!

Whether Paitan blocked or not, Dong Bongsu swung his Vagabond Sword like a madman. He deliberately refrained from using any unconventional tricks involving his Inventory. Not because the mercenaries were watching. He simply wanted to know how far his own strength alone could take him.

And soon, he was certain.

He could venture into Murim now.

BANG-BANG-BOOM!

Paitan kept retreating under Dong Bongsu's attacks. The strength of Dong Bongsu's sword qi was part of the reason, but the more fundamental problem was the strange force that occasionally burst from his sword and shoved Paitan backward.

"What is it? What the hell is this now!?"

"Consecutive Strike."

Dong Bongsu kindly supplied the answer as he swung the Vagabond Sword again.

· Successfully landing 2 Consecutive Strikes inflicts 'Bleeding' on the enemy. Failing to land 2 Consecutive Strikes pushes the enemy backward. (Activated at Lv.1)

※ For successive attacks to count as Consecutive Strikes, each attack must occur within 1 second of the previous attack. The effects of the inflicted status conditions vary by level.

Consecutive Strike's second effect triggered again, knocking Paitan back. If there was any consolation for him, it was that this peculiar technique merely pushed him backward without dealing any particular damage.