Episode 418
Episode 134. Guardian of Hwaan (4)
* * * “What is this place?”
dimension on the other side.
Entering the space that Mantu described as the ‘road of succession’, there was still only darkness in Marlon’s field of vision. Except for a single spark that was shining in the distance.
“Hey Yuma. Yuma?”
No answer could be heard.
“Didn’t he come in? Yuma aaaa!”
Marlon shouted Yuma’s name several more times before giving up.
He also made an attempt to return to Inse by going back the way he had come, but to no avail. The space that could be called the entrance was blocked by a transparent wall and did not budge.
It was the same even if he pulled out Urix and raised an aura, cutting and stabbing. It was dark everywhere and all I could see was a strange flame.
Marlon suddenly felt chills running down his spine at the thought of being trapped alone in that space.
“This is troublesome… Ah! How should I go out later? I can’t start a fire like that guy and cut the dimension.”
Not a single wind blew.
The flames, which seemed to just beckon to come this way, looked like traps. Marlon, who paused for a moment to think about what to do, quickly came to a conclusion.
‘I have to go over there, is there anything special?’
It wasn’t that I wasn’t afraid. The sudden thought that there might be no way back was pressing heavily on the back of Marlon’s neck even after a while.
However, it seemed embarrassing to wait for Yuma to come back with no other options.
“Hmm.”
It seemed that no matter how much I walked, I couldn’t get close to the flames.
No, it actually was. Like a mirage, the flame continued to keep a certain distance and dazzled Marlon.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been in such a damn unpleasant space. Anything come out!
This body will deal with everything…
The words that I had been spouting out as if grumbling were cut off. It was because something really popped up right in front of Marlon.
It was a human form. He was a boy a little shorter than Marlon.
Marlon, who was examining the boy, soon had to shut his mouth involuntarily.
‘Is that me?’
A boy holding a sword several meters in front. He looked exactly the same as Malone did when he was sixteen. It was the look of those days when the cage at the fish store was beaten.
And the tip of the boy’s wooden sword was pointing right at him.
“Do I have to fight you? isn’t it me? Oh, it’s a bit confusing.”
“You are scared.”
“what?”
“Anyone who is afraid to fight himself does not deserve to walk this path.”
“What are you talking about, who is scared? You look just like me when I was about 10 or 6 years old… Are you going to fight?”
“He tends to talk a lot unnecessarily in front of opponents who clearly show hostility.”
Hearing something similar to a scolding from someone who looked younger than himself, it felt strange.
Then a very unpleasant sensation ran through my body, and I hate to admit it, but it was from shame.
“Ha, what a funny situation. If you were me back then, even if a hundred people came to visit you, you wouldn’t be able to help me now.”
“To brag about one’s own combat abilities is something that only suits the strongest. It’s because they don’t lose even if their opponent knows their inaction. Isn’t that the story for you?”
“I looked at it like I did, but it climbs too much.”
Sureureung!
It had to sound like that. I just pulled Yurix out of the scabbard. However, it was not Urix that protruded from the scabbard, but an old wooden sword.
The scabbard that was tied around the waist seemed to have disappeared.
‘What is this!’
That was not the only sudden change.
The knuckles holding the wooden sword became thinner. The hard calluses that he had obtained after joining the Black Wolf Crew, which had been regarded as a medal, had disappeared.
His muscular body, which was always taut like a bowstring, began to dry out.
“What have you done to me!”
Even the voice shouting like that was etched. The skin that had been tanned by the scorching sun of Matan also turned into a pale flesh.
On the other hand, the guy who was spouting unlucky things in front of his eyes seemed to have grown rapidly as if he had just received what Marlon had lost.
The body that had been trained for years, the voice that had grown thick from shouting out loud through training, the calluses on the knuckles that looked like stone chips, and even Urix.
It all went over to the opponent who was in his own form.
Now he was in the form of a 16-year-old and the other person was in the form of a mercenary prince. I was stunned.
“Now even a hundred of you won’t be able to defeat me.”
In an instant, the position changed.
Marlon just gulped as he looked at his opponent staring down at him imposingly.
‘Calm down Marlon. This is a trick. It’s probably Ariel’s favorite illusion magic! Even if I changed into a sixteen-year-old figure, my strength will remain the same.’
Hmm! Marlon raised his aura as he regained his senses. It was supposed to be surrounded by a thick aura that should add cutting power and rigidity to the level of a famous sword to an old wooden sword.
However, what wrapped around the wooden sword was an aura of heat. It shimmers faintly as if it will turn off at any moment.
Marlon had to admit that this reality was no trick or illusion magic. Even the senses that the body pours out aura cannot be faked.
‘At that time, everyone in the Black Wolves praised him for using a sword aura when he was sixteen.
In any case, if he had really become young, the other person would have really taken on the role of the mercenary prince Ja Malone.
But it was a strange thing.
When I first guessed that the other person was on the same level as my younger self, I was still scared for some reason.
Conversely, thinking that I was weak and the opponent was infinitely strong made me feel calmer.
“Ha yes. I don’t know what the heck he did, but I know your shit is thick. What are you doing? Come on.”
“Is it desperation?”
“No, it is true that I have become weaker and younger, but it is also true that you are not real. The real cannot shrink in front of the fake.”
“Let’s see if you can say that after some body parts are gone.”
Speak once and for all.
Marlon had no choice but to swallow what he was about to answer. The opponent started attacking. It was the quicksword that Marlon mainly used.
Kang! Kakak!
They had only crossed swords twice, but Marlon felt the pain of breaking all the bones in his hands. The gap between the fishing village of Ferol and the mercenary prince Malone was far.
Blood flowed from his palms. It was difficult to hold the sword as the torn skin interlocked with the handle of the wooden sword.
“Ouch! It hurts terribly!”
“It was just a warning.”
“You couldn’t cut it. Don’t be out of shape, because I haven’t lost all the skills I learned when I was younger.”
Even though the body was young, the memory was still there. In other words, the ability to understand the sword was the same as the meaning.
“You are revealing yourself again.
Is there no learning effect?”
“No, it’s a matter of pride. There’s no reason why I can’t be confident when I’m fighting with myself.”
After saying that it was not worth answering, the opponent’s attack began again.
Marlon took the stance of perfectly dodging the attack rather than parrying it like the first time. Since he was using his own swordsmanship, it was not impossible to avoid even if his physical abilities were deteriorating.
‘It’s a strange feeling for me to see my swordsmanship.’
It was a completely different feeling than when I practiced facing a large mirror.
And his own swordsmanship, which he had seen in person, had many gaps. I felt uncomfortable because there were so many gaps that I could have successfully counterattacked at any time if my physical abilities were the same.
‘You said my swordsmanship was so poor? It can’t be.’
But what he was using was definitely his swordsmanship.
Of course, it would be difficult to find flaws in this swordsmanship by general standards, even by the highest level of warriors.
The moment he avoided five more attacks, Marlon suddenly realized why his swordsmanship had so many gaps.
‘I’m using a sword like when I was carrying out a mercenary corps request.
The square is a swordsmanship when you have faith that other members will protect you.’
And it was also the swordsman Marlon used most habitually.
Humans instinctively pursue the ‘most comfortable’ state in most situations. It was definitely the moment when Malone was driven to an extreme situation to use a swordsmanship specialized in one-on-one combat.
A warrior the size of Marlon would hardly be cornered into such a situation, and he would be able to slash fairly strong enemies with a comfortable swordsmanship.
‘In other words, he’s dealing with me right now and doesn’t feel the slightest threat. That’s the only possibility to kill him.’
But just because he used the most comfortable swordsmanship didn’t mean he was weaker than himself. Also, Malone did not have the physical ability to aim for an opening immediately.
If so, I needed a technique to complement my physical ability. And there was only one skill that could be said to push Malone beyond his limits.
‘Can I kill a knight with this body…?’
shhh! Sheep!
His Euryx spread as thin as a knitting needle and grazed Marlon’s face.
It didn’t actually become thinner, but it caused an optical illusion that the stabbing continued that fast.
The attack was getting faster.
On the other hand, Marlon’s stamina was rapidly depleting, and now, every time a flash of light occurred in front of his eyes, there were scratches all over his body.
‘He won’t kill me with a single knife. They will try to subdue and then humiliate. If that’s the case, you’ll probably dig in quickly after a quick lunge and use the pommel. In an instant, holding the sword in reverse.’
Because I usually do that when I’m overpowering my opponent.
Reading is over. As long as the opponent
was ‘himself’, he could read 10 or 100 ahead. Marlon chose the moment he used Pommel as the winning point.
However, the key was whether he could actually use his young body to kill a knight.
no i could
Even if he had neglected most of the time, he had never taught him swordsmanship as directly as Duran did.
Hugo was his boss and mentor. And what he always emphasized to Marlon.
– Carry out your will. overwhelming will.
Fit!
As he stabbed Yurix, he quickly gripped his sword in reverse. Marlon didn’t miss the subtle friction that occurred the moment his palm turned the urix.
The next moment, Malone unleashed a knight kill.
The unfinished decisive battle he devised to kill the knights was in the form of a rampage.
A wild dance that becomes a ray of light and slashes everything it touches while rampaging.
Even with this young body, Marlon was able to start killing knights perfectly.
But that was all. My moo did not continue and ended with a single blow. Because the wooden sword had already neatly cut through the opponent’s head and shattered.
Also, Malone also got his right shoulder and ear cut off when he swung it instead of Pommel at the last moment.
And that wasn’t all.
Killing a knight is a skill that is burdensome for Malone to perform even with a proper body. Since it was unfolded in a young body, most of the bones could not stand it and were broken. The twisted ribs stabbed his lungs, making it difficult to breathe.
Roaring…
Marlon died when he saw that the fire, which had been distant like a mirage, came close to him.
‘It’s dead. Well, I didn’t expect to be alive even after using it with this body. Anyway, winning is good.
Oh, why did I die so horribly? It just exploded…
And Marlon was staring at his body on the floor in a spirited state.
Because I had often heard stories about the underworld and spirits from Yuma Rakir, it didn’t feel too strange.
It’s just that his story ends here.
It was just a pity that I couldn’t say goodbye to anyone I loved.
[How does it feel to experience death?]
It was the voice of the flame.
[Oh, I’m surprised. What? Fireworks? Are you a fireman?]
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