"Do you know?"
In fact, the Ten Thousand Heaven Flower technique was the vision elent of the Open Ship's Key.
It ant "original," older than the Dangga, and it was a fact not many modern martial arts readers knew.
He didn’t learn this because he particularly wanted to know.
It was simply...
"Ihan, Dangga has no foundation, no foundation!"
It was useless information he learned thanks to Dogo, who had always been deeply passionate about martial arts.
‘...You think about too many random things.’
It seed like his state wasn’t entirely intact either.
Considering he was focusing on pointless details in this situation.
Then again, he did just trigger a self-destructive move with a "kill , kill you" ntality.
"I’m the crazy one..."
Zing—!
Ihan didn’t even think about holding his aching ears as he stood up, cursing himself.
While it was fine that he used an axe as a sacrifice to trigger the burst of energy, he hadn’t thought through the aftermath at all.
Clearly, this was sothing a madman would do.
...Still.
‘In the end, I didn’t die, and the effect was good.’
So it wasn’t a total loss, right?
"Aaaagh—!"
Ihan looked down at Iliad, writhing in pain on the floor, and smirked.
"You’re such a drama queen."
***
Honestly, he was lucky.
‘This guy... his swordsmanship is insanely impressive.’
His sword skills and talent were undeniable.
The Great Sword Style and White Night, while the naming was a bit childish, the power behind them was nothing short of real.
But...
‘His willpower is lacking.’
To put it more precisely, it was clear he had been away from the field for a long ti.
Since his leg injury was over ten years ago, it was only natural.
Even so, while his talent remained,
‘He’s falling for such a simple-minded strategy.’
His ability to respond was painfully slow.
The catastrophic consequences this would have in a real battle are too obvious to even discuss.
“......”
However, there was no trace of satisfaction from victory on Ihan's face.
And that was understandable.
[Growl-!]
“...You’re not even a dog.”
...It wasn’t over yet.
If he were facing an ordinary human, it would have ended here. But unfortunately, his opponent was not a regular human.
He was a mana creature.
Crack!
Just monts ago, they had been able to communicate, but now, from the fallen Iliad ca the sound of a beast’s growl.
He wasn’t rely imitating a beast; his humanity was truly disappearing.
“C-Captain! You have to resolve this quickly! If he fully transforms, there’s no hope!”
...I don’t need you to tell , kid.
Even without Taechang’s urgent shout, Ihan knew this was a troubleso situation.
The mana transformation has three stages.
Stage 1: Personality change.
Stage 2: Murderous impulse.
Stage 3:...
‘The loss of humanity.’
Just monts ago, they could still talk, but now, it was as if Iliad had truly forgotten all his intelligence and emotions, becoming a monster. Once a creature reached this stage, it was like crossing a river that could never be crossed back.
[Ka-haaaah!]
Crack! Crack!
Iliad’s body began to slowly recover.
The burns and wounds from the explosion, the broken joints, all healed quickly, like a lizard regrowing its tail.
This was bad.
‘The end for a mana creature is always...’
The depletion of life force, leading to a fatal end.
Naturally, the more his body forced itself to heal, the quicker it accelerated the depletion of his life force—a suicidal act.
Paaat!
[Ka-haaaaah!]
Iliad’s body shot up.
Now, as he was turning into a beast, he seed to still rember only the one who had pushed him so far, and he showed intense hostility toward Ihan.
But even so,
“...You’re still not letting go of that sword? Disgusting.”
Crack!
[Haaaah!]
The sword, held so tightly that blood poured from his hands, flashed.
Swoosh!
It was natural that a beast, after descending into such a form, wouldn’t be able to use swordsmanship anymore. But sadly, humans learned with their bodies, not their minds.
Crunch-!
“...Wow, this guy’s getting stronger as he goes crazy.”
Iliad’s sword pierced Ihan’s side.
***
Swoosh!
The three swords danced.
Just naturally, following what his instincts and body rembered.
Swoosh!
...It might be strange to say this, but the sword of Iliad, who was wielding it without any sense of reason, was more beautiful than ever before.
It was that perfect.
"Perfect..."
Felicia muttered, almost involuntarily.
Her fallen son was wielding the sword, and yet the swordsmanship he displayed was truly magnificent.
Even though he had lost his reason, forgotten his swordsmanship, and was simply swinging his sword by instinct, there was a perfect swordsman right there.
‘Yes, that was it.’
The sword Iliad had used to carve the bronze statue.
One day, as though receiving divine revelation, her son used no sword techniques or sword energy but instead simply carved away at the statue with an ordinary sword—a sword born from enlightennt.
But after that, Iliad had broken before he could complete the sword.
...It was an ironic matter.
Fifteen years passed, and now she was seeing that sword again.
The completion of a sword she could never reach with her talent.
Watching her son head toward its completion, she thought...
‘I’m such a useless mother.’
Even in this situation, instead of worrying about her son, she found herself admiring him as he pursued the completion of the sword.
How selfish and filthy of a human being was she?
‘I’m nothing but disqualified, both as a mother and as a human...’
Felicia couldn’t hide her despair.
[Ka-haaaaah!]
She saw her son, wielding the sword like a beast.
Scrape!
"...Tch!"
She narrowly avoided the sword, but her skin was still cut, and blood flowed as she saw her brave son.
“...Master’s Golden Body was pierced so easily...”
“He’s even stronger than a steel wall!”
“Shouldn’t we give him the shield now?”
...She felt guilty.
Because of one incompetent human, her son had beco like this, and a child with no ties to their family was bleeding, while her grandson and that child’s disciple were anxious.
It felt as though everything was her fault.
Felicia.
“Stop, stop it, Iliad, please...”
[!!]
“I’m sorry, please stop, I apologize, just stop...”
She called out to him impulsively, and the one who had clearly lost all reason responded.
Bang!
Suddenly, Iliad’s fist shot toward Felicia in the blink of an eye.
[Ka-haaaah!]
Iliad, full of rage, charged at her, even more intensely than when he attacked Ihan. Felicia watched the entire scene unfold in front of her, but she didn’t take any defensive stance.
She didn’t even show any will to stop it, as if she were rely accepting her son’s anger.
To atone for her mistakes...
Bang!
“I told you not to interfere, didn’t I? If you ddle, nothing will go as planned.”
“!!?”
“You looked like you might get sowhere, so don’t get in the way.”
“......”
...She was shocked.
Was it because soone had suddenly blocked her way?
Was it because Iliad was knocked back by a punch?
No.
What shocked her was—
‘That kid, could it be...?’
Felicia looked into his eyes and instantly realized.
Those eyes weren’t the eyes of soone in danger, nor did they show any intent to protect himself.
In this urgent, life-threatening situation...
‘He’s... training?’
She realized that he was using Iliad for his own growth.
“.........Crazy bastard.”
***
‘Who’s talking about who...’
Despite hearing her curses, Ihan didn’t look away, still focused on the opponent he had to face.
He only concentrated on the opponent in front of him.
However,
“You guys...”
“Yeah?”
“Are you worried about right now?”
“......”
“Sorry. For showing such a pathetic sight.”
Ihan apologized, acknowledging the situation.
As a trainer, he was supposed to set an example for these people, but he was showing a pathetic side.
“You must be thinking, ‘What’s this guy doing, unable to even defeat a retired weakling?’”
“W-Well, he was once called the Sword Saint, you know? No one could handle him unless they were an Aura user...”
“Still, that’s a guy who’s been retired for over ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ ten years.”
“......”
“From now on, I’ll show you. So you can proudly say your master is soone to be proud of.”
“...Master, your eyes are starting to look off...”
Ihan ignored their comnts, letting out a grin he couldn’t suppress as he smiled brightly.
‘Ah, this is fun...’
Today was truly a lucky day, wasn’t it?
‘And now I’ve finally pushed him to the limit.’
He rembered the bronze statue.
The one he saw the first ti he visited the family to et Felicia.
That magnificent piece created solely through pure swordsmanship.
He had hoped. To one day receive the sword that had sculpted that statue.
...Sadly, the master who had created it was already long retired and wasn’t in a condition to fight anyone, and Ihan’s expectations quickly faded.
‘But here it is, so unexpectedly appearing in front of .’
Ihan was delighted with this unexpected stroke of luck.
Not just any sword wrapped in sword energy or aura, but a sword infused with enlightennt, a sword of sword intent.
A sword that pierced through his flimsy Golden Body like tofu.
And now...
‘How much has it cut?’
As he repeatedly sliced and stabbed, bleeding profusely, Ihan felt strangely dizzy, yet his mind was sharper than ever.
Haah...!
His senses were so acute that he could even hear the footsteps of wild animals fleeing in panic and the flapping of birds’ wings. The scent of earth and sand filled his nostrils, clearing his mind.
His whole body was hypersensitive, and everything around him felt intensely stimulating, and he felt as though, right now, he could complete it.
“...Co at .”
[Ka-haaaaah!]
Iliad, whose fury was intensified by the interference with his attack on Felicia, charged toward Ihan with a sword thrust.
Whoosh—!
Today, or perhaps in Iliad’s entire life, the most perfect and powerful sword was unleashed at this very mont, and it shot straight toward Ihan’s heart.
There was no way to avoid it.
No shield in the world could withstand such a force.
“──.”
Ihan watched the entire mont in what felt like slow motion.
A flash of mory.
Instead of lanting over his past in that fleeting mont,
‘Willpower and belief!’
He poured all his willpower into every single cell of his body.
Crunch—!
“......?”
“...Heh.”
Thud...!
It was a bizarre sight.
The one who stabbed the blade into his heart was the one who seed shocked, while the defenseless victim was smiling.
“...Indestructible.”
Crack!
Ihan twisted the broken sword with his bare hands, declaring,
Indestructible, the state of a Bodhisattva that martial artists dream of.
Even after reaching Nirvana, the body does not decay like diamond, and it cannot be destroyed. People referred to this state as Indestructible because of its immortality.
“-Indestructible.”
The Indestructible state of the Golden Body was achieved, and the Golden Hand of the warrior struck Iliad’s heart with a force that would have shattered it.
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