Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 113
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 113
The instant Namgung Sohwa brought her blade down.
Boom!
Two shadows hurtled onto the Martial Arts Arena.
Crash! Screech!
A violent gust swept across the arena with the deafening impact.
Only after the swirling sand, dust, stone fragments, and shattered inner force dissipated did the landscape of the arena become visible.
Four people stood upon the Martial Arts Arena.
“Gasp, gasp! Wheeze!”
Moyong Lim sat collapsed on the ground, his pale face trembling as he clutched at his neck.
Moryong Baek had seized his nephew by the nape just in time, thwarting the assassination attempt.
And there was Namgung Sohwa, her sword hand now subdued, and Dokgo Myeong, who had subdued her.
Moryong Baek hurried back and positioned himself before Moyong Lim.
“We must examine the wound. Remove your hand. Quickly!”
“Yes, yes….”
“Phew, fortunately no major meridian was severed. Only the skin and muscle were damaged. Calm yourself.”
Tap! Tap tap!
Moryong Baek sealed the acupoints leading to his nephew’s head and released a sigh of relief.
‘I reacted too slowly, overwhelmed by that aura. If this young man named Dokgo Myeong hadn’t simultaneously stopped her blade….’
Moryong Baek turned his head with a peculiar expression.
‘But why did he intervene?’
Moryong Baek’s eyes fell upon Namgung Sohwa and Dokgo Myeong, whose hand gripped hers firmly around the sword.
* * *
“Come to your senses.”
Dokgo Myeong’s lips parted slowly.
“The last remaining heir of the Namgung Clan, yet you resort to assassination on the Martial Arts Arena? And now you cannot overcome your inner demons, falling toward demonic possession?”
Namgung Sohwa’s face contorted.
“How dare you….”
Across her skin, pale as snow, blue veins bulged prominently, and upon them bloomed droplets of crimson blood like plum blossoms.
“What right do you have to interfere with me?”
“….”
“Move aside!”
Boom!
Namgung Sohwa unleashed a wave of force, attempting to surge forward.
But she could only tremble, unable to break free from Dokgo Myeong’s iron grip on her hand.
Dokgo Myeong spoke.
“Is this truly what you want?”
“What are you saying?”
“If you kill him, what comes after? Did you plan to simply flee and live in hiding?”
Namgung Sohwa did not answer.
In that instant, Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed with sudden clarity.
“You were prepared to die, whether you won or lost.”
Dokgo Myeong’s vital energy surged outward.
“The restoration of your clan, your achievements as a martial artist, your own well-being… you would cast all of it aside and abandon everything?”
“…Yes.”
Namgung Sohwa twisted her lips upward in self-mockery.
“Besides, I no longer have the strength to keep running.”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression contorted at the sight of that smile.
‘Could you truly wear such eyes?’
They were the eyes of one who had abandoned everything. Like someone so exhausted that they had relinquished both dreams and life itself.
The eyes of the living dead.
All that remained in those eyes was a heavy sense of duty and a relentless killing intent.
“So step aside now.”
“It’s already gone wrong. There’s nothing you can do.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“That’s a dog’s death.”
Namgung Sohwa answered with a feeble, hollow laugh.
Only then could Dokgo Myeong truly see the Namgung Sohwa before him, not the one from her past life.
‘…Yes, I was wrong. You are not who you were before.’
In her past life, she too had entered the Demon Slaying Unit for the crime of killing the direct descendants of the Moyong Clan.
But there was a difference.
‘What you did then was not revenge.’
That incident was not meant to happen so quickly.
It occurred much later, only after the Moyong Clan became the leader of the Righteous Alliance and began tracking the remnants of the Namgung Clan.
By then, she had been fully matured.
Moreover, the killings were not for revenge, but occurred during combat as she fought off those pursuing her.
But now?
‘How heavy it is.’
Life must weigh more than death for you.
And so, consumed with bearing that weight, you had no leisure to turn your gaze toward life itself.
Dokgo Myeong’s lips slowly parted.
“I will ask you just once.”
“…?”
“Do you have confidence you won’t regret that choice?”
Regret? Are you speaking such words to me now?
Namgung Sohwa let out a weary, hollow laugh.
“Are you trying to say revenge is futile, meaningless, something like that?”
“No.”
Dokgo Myeong spoke with firm resolve.
“Don’t choose revenge as an excuse to run away.”
“…!”
“Just a few words will suffice. Say that you regret it, that you think you’ll regret it, and ask for my help. Then I will help you reclaim everything you’ve abandoned.”
“What did you say?”
“It is I, Dokgo Myeong, who will help you do so.”
Dokgo Myeong released Namgung Sohwa’s hand, which he had been holding all along.
Namgung Sohwa’s pupils trembled.
The surging heart-fire and confusion shook her spirit.
“Why on earth are you….”
“I need an answer first.”
Namgung Sohwa’s eyes wavered.
“What is it you truly want from me…?”
“That sword in your hand.”
“…!”
“Give it to me.”
Dokgo Myeong spoke as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Namgung Sohwa’s pupils quivered violently.
Countless scenes she had desperately tried to forget flashed before her eyes.
Flames erupting from the An-ga estate.
Retainers collapsing while coughing blood.
Brothers who sacrificed their lives to save their youngest sibling.
And the years spent as a fugitive—hiding her surname, hiding her name, hiding her face, even hiding her gender.
At the end of it all, she encountered Moyong Lim, who wielded her family’s martial techniques.
‘Are you asking me to abandon my revenge?’
The heart-fire surged up once more.
Just as Namgung Sohwa’s eyes, which had briefly returned to clarity, began to stain crimson again.
Whoooosh!
A powerful force erupted from within her body, sweeping away the aftermath of the demonic deviation in an instant.
‘My wrist?’
The source of that force was the wrist that Dokgo Myeong had been holding just moments before.
He had infused his energy into it at some point, correcting all the turbulent vital energy.
Namgung Sohwa let out a hollow laugh.
“You are a cruel person.”
“So, what is your answer?”
Dokgo Myeong extended his hand.
Namgung Sohwa stared at that hand.
It was cruelty taken to an extreme.
She had steeled herself to accept the pain, yet he blocked it and made such a proposal instead.
Namgung Sohwa offered a weary smile.
Click!
Then, with trembling hands, she reached for her waist.
His fingertips grasped the scabbard.
Sheath—click!
Slowly, ever so slowly.
Thus the blade disappeared into its scabbard.
“Here it is.”
Namgung Sohwa placed the sword into Dokgo Myeong’s hands.
“Help me.”
With that single plea that Dokgo Myeong had demanded, she collapsed as though all strength had drained from her body.
Thud!
In that instant, Dokgo Myeong caught her falling form.
He had no intention of laying her on the ground. Instead, he forcefully steadied her, refusing to let her consciousness slip away, and managed to keep her standing.
“It’s too early to lose consciousness. You must see this through to the end.”
“…Pardon?”
That was when it happened.
“It seems I owe you a debt.”
Moyong Baek approached Dokgo Myeong from behind, speaking as he came.
“I don’t know what motivated you to help, but regardless, thanks to you I’ve saved Rim-a. I shall repay this kindness properly.”
“…”
“But before that, won’t you hand her over to me?”
His words were directed at Dokgo Myeong, but his eyes remained fixed on Namgung Sohwa.
Dokgo Myeong regarded Moyong Baek with an expressionless face.
“Why should I?”
Moyong Baek let out a hollow laugh.
“Surely you don’t believe the words of an assassin who disguised herself using the Thousand Face Mask and Bone Concealment Technique, attempting to ambush the young lord of the Moyong Clan?”
“…”
“She’s a woman lost to demonic cultivation, her mind shattered. A criminal who tarnished the Main Sect’s name by invoking a family long extinct. The Main Sect must personally uncover the mastermind behind this, so hand over the woman.”
“You’re spouting nonsense.”
“What, what did you say?”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed with killing intent.
Before Moyong Baek could even react, Dokgo Myeong’s fist tore through the air.
Boom!
A sudden, devastating punch aimed at the solar plexus.
Moyong Baek took the full force to his chest and was sent flying out of the arena.
“…!”
Namgung Sohwa stared at Dokgo Myeong with wide eyes of shock.
Dokgo Myeong looked at Namgung Sohwa and spoke.
“What’s with that expression? Did you think I’d given up on my revenge?”
“Then…?”
“Of course not. If I’m going to do this, I’ll do it properly. I won’t be satisfied with just one greenhorn’s neck.”
“Pardon?”
That was when it happened.
Moyong Baek, who had been knocked outside the arena, and Moyong Lim, having absorbed the impact, ascended the Martial Arts Arena with killing intent radiating from their bodies.
“You! What in the hell are you doing!”
“Have you lost your mind wanting to die!”
Dokgo Myeong turned his body.
Namgung Sohwa stared blankly at Dokgo Myeong’s broad back.
“Stay there and watch carefully.”
Dokgo Myeong walked forward with leisurely, measured steps.
Then he slowly drew the blade that had been sheathed at his side.
“Your vengeance begins now.”
Shiiing!
The newly drawn blade bore not a single flaw.
* * *
“W-what in the world is happening here?”
“A descendant of the Namgung Clan? But why is a direct heir of the Dokgo Clan…”
“Wait, is he really about to fight one against two?”
The spectators fell into utter chaos.
Moyong Baek and Moyong Lim.
Dokgo Myeong standing before them both.
To the onlookers, Dokgo Myeong appeared to be walking toward his own death.
“Dokgo Myeong!”
“Young Master!”
In that instant, Dokgo Ak and Geum Seok-du leaped onto the Martial Arts Arena.
Dokgo Myeong spoke without even glancing their way.
“Seok-du, I entrust Sohwa’s treatment to you. Dokgo Ak, you protect them both from there.”
“W-what?”
“Yes, Young Master!”
Dokgo Myeong exhaled sharply.
His lips curled upward into a grin as he opened his mouth.
“Shall we begin?”
“…”
Moyong Baek’s face twisted.
After deliberating for a moment, he spoke.
“Since this cannot pass as is, propriety would dictate that Rim-a should step forward, but if he does, it becomes a relay match, so I have no choice but to face you directly myself.”
“…?”
“Do not take it as harsh, for this is a burden I have chosen myself.”
Dokgo Myeong blinked, wondering what nonsense this was, then burst into laughter.
“So you’re worried about rank differences and combined attacks just because you come from some prestigious clan?”
“…You insolent brat.”
“Pathetic bastards.”
Both Moyong Lim and Moyong Baek’s eyes widened at Dokgo Myeong’s curse.
“What shame do thieves who steal others’ martial techniques have to worry about?”
“Shut your mouth! What kind of ridiculous slander is this!?”
Watching Moyong Baek shout indignantly, Dokgo Myeong let out a contemptuous laugh.
“Since you’ll both be rushing at me together soon anyway, let’s stop wasting our breath.”
That was the beginning.
He stepped forward.
No—the moment he thought to plant his foot, Dokgo Myeong materialized directly before both of them.
Swoooosh!
A single sweeping strike from left to right tore through the air itself.
“…!”
“…!?”
Moyong Lim and Moyong Baek gasped in unison, drawing their blades simultaneously.
Shing!
In that instant, three silver lines traced across the void.
Boom!
At the point where the three lines converged, the air exploded outward.
Moyong Baek and Moyong Lim recoiled in shock.
‘Ugh! What kind of power is this!?’
‘This man—wasn’t he supposed to have trained primarily in fist techniques?’
The weight behind his blade was incomprehensible.
He had met the combined strikes of the two relatives with merely a single upward parry.
‘The daughter of the Namgung Clan must be obtained at any cost. For the sake of the family, even the shame of a joint attack…!’
At Moyong Baek’s glance, Moyong Lim nodded.
Both drew their blades simultaneously.
Slash!
Two swords shot toward Dokgo Myeong from both sides.
“I knew you’d do that.”
Dokgo Myeong smiled coldly, pouring more force into his sword hand.
In that moment, his blade traced a great circle.
Clang!
Both swords were sent flying.
Riding the momentum, Dokgo Myeong’s blade traced another circle, becoming a tempest that swept across their front.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
“Rim-a!”
Moyong Lim’s side was slashed open.
Attack and defense as one—the true essence of the sword path.
Boom!
With no intention of stopping, Dokgo Myeong’s foot struck the ground with precision.
Dokgo Ak’s eyes widened as he witnessed the entire spectacle.
‘This… this is absurd!’
He had known that monster operated beyond common sense, but this exceeded all bounds.
Crash! Clang! Screech!
Again and again—two times, three times, ten times, twenty times—countless sparks erupted in the air.
He was pushing forward.
Against two peak masters.
Not against an opponent with mismatched hands and feet. Between uncle and nephew, they knew each other’s martial techniques intimately.
And yet.
Boom!
Dokgo Myeong’s blade shattered every strike aimed at him.
Then it extended forward without hesitation, perfectly straight.
“Ugh!”
“How… how is this possible!”
Dokgo Myeong flicked his blade and aimed it directly ahead.
That unwavering sword point gleamed with such sharpness it seemed capable of severing anything in its path.
“What… what swordsmanship is this!”
“How could this be…!”
“Do you think you’re losing because of martial techniques?”
Dokgo Myeong shook his head firmly.
“If you believe magnificent martial arts and powerful inner strength are all there is, why do you even wield swords?”
Dokgo Myeong stepped forward, his eyes blazing with intensity.
“That is not how a sword is meant to be used.”
At the tip of the blade held in both hands, a formidable sword energy flickered brilliantly.
“Open your eyes wide and witness this. This is the Single Sword.”
Screeeech!
A descending strike of unparalleled force.
Blood erupted from Moyong Lim’s chest.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————