Three Years of Blacksmithing, Achieving Divine Martial Arts - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 25. Cannot Escape the Water
Rain had fallen since the morning of the fourth day.
The dry wooden bridge that crossed the So River had long ceased to serve as a passage. The rotted railings sagged in places, and below flowed only empty waters where not a soul could be seen.
So Cheol

had set a small boat beneath it and cast his line. Rainwater dripped from the brim of his straw hat, and his face was hidden behind a mask made of shark skin.
After waiting for roughly half an hour, sounds of movement came from the reeds.

“Gwangsa Bang Ju.”

A low voice carried through the rain.
So Cheol merely tilted his head slightly.
Hwang Won had not come alone. Twelve more followed behind him. All wore weapons and moved with the ease of seasoned fighters—the same martial masters from the Wangsan Residence that remained in Gwangsa Bang Ju’s memory.
Among them, Hwang Won’s presence stood apart. Though his clothes clung to his body, drenched from the rain, his breathing remained perfectly steady. Just as Gwangsa Bang Ju’s memory confirmed, he was a 3rd Grade Internal Power martial master.
So Cheol counted silently to himself as he gathered in his line. Thirteen in total. More than he’d anticipated, but he had no thought of leaving. If these men returned alive, the thread of investigation into Hwang Tae Gon would resume.

“Hwang. Come aboard.”

He pressed his throat and spoke in a hoarse voice. It could not perfectly match Gwangsa Bang Ju’s voice, but the sound of rain filled the gap.
Hwang Won paused to survey his surroundings, then kicked a rotted piece of wood at his feet into the water. His body rose lightly as he stepped on the floating timber, and in the next moment, he descended onto the boat.
The twelve who followed crossed the water one by one. The narrow boat sank low beneath the weight of so many.
Yet not one face showed tension.
They knew at Wangsan’s residence that Gwangsa Bang Ju had been wounded. One 3rd Grade and twelve 2nd Grades—even if things went wrong, they believed they could subdue him.
Hwang Won spoke first.

“Let me ask about my brother first.”

So Cheol did not answer.

“Hwang Tae Gon disappeared after meeting with the Bang Ju. Did the Bang Ju kill him?”

Rainwater ran down the line of his shark-skin mask.

“If I’d killed him, would there be any reason to hide it?”

Hwang Won’s eyes narrowed.

“Then who killed him?”

So Cheol deliberately did not answer at once. Hwang Won took a step closer, and the eyes of the surrounding fighters naturally turned toward him.
Only then did he speak.

“Wangsan.”

Hwang Won’s expression hardened.

“What did you say?”
“Your master killed Hwang Tae Gon.”

A dry laugh erupted from beside them. Hwang Won did not laugh.

“Bang Ju. You’ve gone too far with your jest.”
“Hwang Tae Gon knew too much. He passed between me and Wangsan, and even glimpsed the Bogong. Sooner or later, his mouth had to be sealed.”
“Enough.”

Hwang Won’s right hand moved toward his weapon.
In that instant, five colors flashed across So Cheol’s palms.
The Osip and the sword he’d taken from Hwang Tae Gon fell into both his hands at once.
Hwang Won’s eyes widened.
So Cheol was already swinging the hammer.

Crash!

Hwang Won drew his blade to block, but he was too slow. The moment the two weapons collided, his upper body was driven backward, and the wooden planks beneath his feet cried out in protest.

“The Yulseok Chui Technique…? And that blade form―”

Hwang Won’s gaze fell upon the sword in So Cheol’s left hand. The instant he recognized the Salho Cham Shin Sword, So Cheol twisted his wrist instead of answering.
A man nearest to him lunged from the side at that same moment. So Cheol slipped past the blade and drove a half step forward; the sword swept past the attacker’s throat.
Scrape.
Before the body could fall, a second man rushed in. So Cheol shoved the first man’s shoulder to block the path, then drew the returning blade straight across.
The wound gaped deep below the collarbone. The man lost his grip on the weapon and collapsed; blood sprayed across the rainwater.
The third began to retreat.
The Osip swung sideways, striking the temple.

Thud!

The body, neck broken, dragged two others with it as it tumbled toward the bow.

“Seize him!”

At Hwang Won’s shout, the remaining men drew their weapons as one.
So Cheol understood at once. He’d cut three down with the ambush, but that was the limit.
Hwang Won alone was 3rd Grade. The remaining nine were all 2nd Grade. He could hold out while the narrow boat’s confined space restricted their movements, but the longer the fight dragged on, the more he would be surrounded.
Hwang Won’s blade came at him straight on.

Clang!

So Cheol caught it with the Osip, and the impact resonated through his wrist. His own strength was superior, but the Internal Power threaded through the blade transmitted through the hammer head and seeped in.
Seizing the gap, two more blades came from either side.
So Cheol tilted his body back to slip past the first strike, and blocked the second with Hwang Tae Gon’s sword. Behind him, another footstep landed on the planks.
This wouldn’t work.
There had always been another reason for setting this boat afloat.
So Cheol pushed away Hwang Won’s blade and raised the Osip above his head.
Hwang Won quickly widened the distance.

“Get back!”

The hammer was not aimed at men.

Crash!

The Osip struck the center of the boat.
The thick planks caved inward, and a crack spider-webbed from bow to stern in one violent instant. Water surged up through the breach.

“What are you―!”
“Believe it or not, it’s your choice. But Wangsan means to kill me next and keep the Bogong for himself!”

The hammer fell a second time.

Crash!

The boat split open at the center.
Men lost their footing and plunged into the water as one. So Cheol hurled himself into the river with the splintered planks.
As cold water closed over his head, the sense of fighting on solid ground vanished.
The Yo Rin Nae Gap shed the currents around him, and breath held within the Hwan Sa Myeon settled deep and long. When the Water Dragon Swimming Technique unfurled, his body glided with the river’s flow.
So Cheol gathered the Osip and his blade.
In the filtered light of five colors, the Hyun Su Gang Cha came into his grip.
The nearest man still thought only of pulling his face above the surface; when he noticed So Cheol cutting in from the side, the prong of the trident was already pressed against his chest.

Thwack!

The Hyun Su Gang Cha pierced through his body.
So Cheol twisted his frame as he wrenched the spear free, and by the time the two pursuers behind him could change direction, he’d already opened up several lengths of distance.
Underwater, numbers alone didn’t translate into power.
Who was ahead and who was behind kept shifting constantly. When they swung their blades, the water resisted; when they kicked, they couldn’t surge forward as they would on land.
For So Cheol, it was the opposite.
When he twisted at the waist, the water flowed aside; with a single flick of his heel, his body slipped past the blade’s reach. Between attack and retreat, he barely slowed his breath at all.
The two men pressed their backs together and surged toward the surface.
So Cheol didn’t follow. Instead, he sank lower for a moment, then shot up diagonally. The spear point struck one man’s thigh first, and as his body convulsed, So Cheol used it to block the other’s line of sight.
He twisted the shaft and pulled free; blood bloomed in a scarlet cloud. Behind that veil, So Cheol drove the spear again, this time beneath the other man’s ribs. Both their grasping hands crossed in empty water.

“Don’t scatter!”

Hwang Won’s voice cracked across the surface.
The remaining men tried to draw close to one another. But So Cheol gave them no time to regroup.
He kicked off the riverbed, slipped aside, then seized the trailing man’s ankle and dragged him down. The moment his companion above reached out a hand, So Cheol released him and pivoted to another target.
Everything blurred.
Rain hammered the surface above, churning the depths into a murk of blood and silt. Even if someone swung a blade, there was no telling what they’d struck through the murk.
Only So Cheol kept his bearings.
His body moved far more freely than it had the night he fought So Cheol of Gwangsabangju. The perfected Water Dragon Swimming Technique, the Yo Rin Nae Gap, the Hwan Sa Myeon—all of them did their part in the water.
One man broke and abandoned the group.
He surfaced gasping, breathing hard, and began swimming for the bank.
On his second stroke, his ankle bent downward.

“Help―”

The word never finished.
So Cheol hauled him back under.
The water had surged for a moment; soon enough, the rain smoothed it over again.
After that, the group fell apart faster. When two rushed him together, So Cheol rode the current and slipped away; the instant one lagged, he wheeled back. If they tried for the surface, he waited below; if they headed for the bank, he cut them off from the side.
The last 2nd Grade martial artist gripped the Hyun Su Gang Cha in both hands.
Clenching his teeth, refusing to let go, he felt Hwang Won’s blade stab at him from behind.
So Cheol released the spear as though surrendering it.
His body sank lower.
Hwang Won’s blade grazed past his ally’s shoulder. So Cheol rolled beneath it and seized the spear shaft again from the opposite side.
He pulled once.
The man clutching the weapon was drawn straight toward him.
So Cheol’s knee drove into his chest.
The dull impact rippled through the water.
The man’s grip loosened.
The spear point glided past his neck.
Now only Hwang Won remained.
Hwang Won didn’t bolt for the surface. He lingered in place, steadying his breath, searching for So Cheol. His face bore the acceptance that all twelve companions had vanished.
Still, a 3rd Grade martial artist was a 3rd Grade martial artist. He wouldn’t collapse just because they were underwater. Internal Power flowed around his frame, pushing the water back, and each swing of his blade split the murky current.
So Cheol closed in first.
Hwang Won’s blade moved like lightning.

Clang!

The Hyun Su Gang Cha and the blade collided head-on.
So Cheol didn’t angle it aside. He drove his force straight down from above.
Hwang Won’s arms descended.
His body sank with them.
Hwang Won kicked hard and angled toward the surface. So Cheol stuck to him, bringing the Hyun Su Gang Cha down again.

Thud!

The spear point didn’t pierce his body. Instead, So Cheol used the shaft and the flat of the blade to press him down, forcing him back away from the surface.
Hwang Won blocked several times before he understood the intention. His Internal Power could have prevented his bones from breaking, and the water dispersed the impact enough that he suffered no major wounds on the surface.
On the third approach toward the surface, when he sank again, his expression shifted.
The air remaining in his lungs was running out.
Hwang Won twisted his body to slip sideways, and So Cheol moved with him. The distance to the surface, which had been two arm-lengths, narrowed to less than one. Hwang Won’s hand reached upward.
The Hyun Su Gang Cha swept sideways, striking the blade.

Bang!

His body was driven downward again.
Fear flickered across Hwang Won’s eyes for the first time.
So Cheol did not pursue to finish him. He maintained his distance, blocking only from above.
There was no telling what strength a 3rd Grade warrior might summon in his final moments. There was no reason to close in and risk his own life.
Hwang Won seemed to realize this.
At first, he had tried to cut a path with his blade—ascending when So Cheol evaded, unleashing his Internal Power when blocked.
After a few failed attempts, he abandoned the blade and charged in bare-handed.
So Cheol withdrew further.
The moment Hwang Won changed direction, So Cheol moved to block again.
The struggle stretched longer than expected. Even after half a Shijin had passed, Hwang Won endured. Blood vessels burst at the corners of his eyes and his face paled, yet he anchored himself with Internal Power and kept clawing upward.
So Cheol was unhurried.
Thanks to the Hwan Sa Myeon, his breath still had room to spare. When his body grew heavy, he planted his feet on the riverbed and rested; when Hwang Won gathered strength, he moved again.
Past the mark of one Shijin, Hwang Won’s movements changed.
He no longer searched for a path as before.
He hurled himself at So Cheol like a madman, eyes fixed only on what lay before him. He cast aside his blade, reaching with bare hands, and when they found no purchase, he would scrape at the mud and fling himself forward again.
So Cheol maintained only the distance his hands could not reach.
Bubbles burst from Hwang Won’s mouth in succession.
His body convulsed once, sharply.
He tried to rise toward the surface again, but his legs had lost their strength. The sweep of his arms through the water grew smaller with each stroke.
It was nearly an hour and a half after they had begun.
Hwang Won’s hands stilled.
His body tilted slowly to one side.
So Cheol did not approach at once.
He waited a moment, then prodded the shoulder with the end of the Hyun Su Gang Cha. There was no response.
Once more.
This time he drove it deep into the ribs.
Blood bloomed again, but Hwang Won’s eyes did not move.
So Cheol withdrew the spear.
He seized Hwang Won’s hair and dragged him toward the surface.

A gasp of air—

Cold air flooded into his lungs.
Rain still fell.
Fragments of the shattered boat drifted across the water. The traces of the thirteen men who had crowded there moments before lay mostly submerged.
So Cheol dragged Hwang Won’s corpse to the riverbank.
The moment the body touched ground, exhaustion crashed through his arms and shoulders all at once. Even he, who had endured so long in the water, felt it this keenly. He understood now why Hwang Won had fought so desperately to reach the surface.
He paused to catch his breath, then studied Hwang Won’s wounds.
There were not only marks from the Hyun Su Gang Cha.
The Yulseok Chui Technique he had used on the boat.
Blade wounds from the Salho Cham Shin Sword.
At the bottom of the river lay other bodies bearing the same marks.
So Cheol’s gaze turned back to the river, shrouded in rain.
The fight was over.
Now he had to erase all trace that he had ever been here.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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