Chapter 214

The Five Kings Under Heaven.

Five monsters who ruled the Central Plains.

They were strong—absurdly so—but beyond raw force, the title referred to those whose honor and fame stood towering. If they moved, the forces behind them would move with them, and a war could break out if things went wrong.

So people weighed their power, their renown, and their strength, and granted them the moniker of “king.”

And among them,

there was a man called the Silk King.

The Clan Head of the Murong Clan—one of the Five Great Clans—and the man who sat upon the seat of the Silk King.

Murong Hyeok of the Murong Clan answered his daughter’s question.

“Hard to say.”

It was an ambiguous answer, but Murong Hyeok’s eyes as he said it were solemn and heavy.

Snow-white clothes, and skin to match. A gaze cold—cold enough to make everyone around him mind themselves without even realizing it.

He was a figure with a truly overwhelming presence.

“Hm.”

He propped his chin on his hand and stared fixedly at the tournament stage.

And then—

CLANG—!

CLANG-CLANG—!!!

Along with a numbing vibration, the sound began to roll in.

A Namgung Clan genius wearing Thunder Armor—the Thunder Dragon—kept pouring out offense without a single pause.

And Bang Sungyeon, his opponent, was too busy catching the Namgung Clan’s sword over and over. Swords collided, and only harsh noise rang out.

On top of that—

“...He’s getting pushed back, isn’t he?”

“No matter how you look at it, the Thunder Dragon’s level seems higher.”

The spectators narrowed their eyes as they watched. Something about the state of things felt strange. Ever since the match began, the Thunder Dragon had been relentless, but Bang Sungyeon hadn’t been able to answer in kind.

He was busy blocking the repeated attacks and couldn’t even counterattack. Even people who didn’t know much about fighting could tell Bang Sungyeon was being driven back.

Disappointed reactions were starting to pop up here and there—

“Does it look that way to you too, Father?”

The figure in a veil—Murong Yeongsun, the woman called Liaoning’s Greatest Beauty—looked at her father, the Silk King, and asked again.

“Mm.”

Hearing her, the Silk King kept his gaze locked on the tournament stage.

CLANG—!

CLANG-CLANG—!!

Just from the sound and the movements, you could tell. He was already losing in strength. He couldn’t receive the blade cleanly and kept getting shoved back, and the gap in inner power was severe.

The moment he tried to take it head-on, his sword force would shatter, and Bang Sungyeon would either lose his grip or get blown back—something bound to happen.

In other words, it meant the difference in realm was extreme, but—

“Hard to say.”

Again, the Silk King’s response was the same.

An ambiguous answer, despite what looked obvious.

Hearing it, Murong Yeongsun didn’t feel frustrated—she smiled instead.

Hard to say, huh.

Not bad. The fact that her razor-edged father reacted like that was, if anything, a good sign.

“....”

Whether he noticed his daughter’s attitude or not, the Silk King didn’t shift his gaze even a ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) little. He watched nothing but the match.

And among everything there, he watched only Bang Sungyeon, struggling—only that bastard—

—and then,

he smiled calmly.

It was a face with a clearly chilling air to it.

*****

RUMBLE—!!!

Thunder roared. Lightning kept howling across a clear sky. The sword force Namgung Cheon gave off was like that, and the armor he wore shone brighter than anyone else’s.

The Namgung Clan’s signature art and secret art.

The Vaulted Sky Unhindered Sword and the King’s Sword Forms.

And, thanks to their distinctive internal art, the thunder energy he emitted—wrapped around his body as Thunder Armor.

The Namgung Clan’s unique energy was stamped into Namgung Cheon’s body as it was.

SHHSHH-SHIK—!!!

RUMBLE—!!!

Speed piled onto his swift sword. As if the fact he was wrapped in thunder energy showed through, his sword strikes were unbelievably fast.

The thunderclap only came after the sword had already moved—meaning Namgung Cheon’s blade was that fast.

RUMBLE—!!!

One thunderclap, three strikes.

Namgung Cheon was bringing his talent and strengths out in full.

Faster than anyone.

But not so it was only fast.

He drove his body with near-perfect control and pressed his opponent without mercy.

Everyone watching could see this clearly. This fight was tilted in Namgung Cheon’s favor.

But—

What is this?

The more Namgung Cheon swung, the more something began to feel off.

CLANG—!

His sword was blocked. That was fine. If it was blocked, he just had to keep breaking through.

He trusted his speed.

And his sword was strong.

CLANG—!

CLANG—!

So he kept swinging. A blade wrapped in thunder energy was never fragile.

Like lightning that never stopped falling—fast and clean.

And precise.

Namgung Cheon kept thrusting, hunting for openings, but—

CLANG—!

Again.

CLANG—!

...Again.

The more he attacked, the narrower his eyes became.

Why isn’t it going in?

No matter how many times he poured out offense, it wouldn’t land. How many swings had it been?

He didn’t know. With speed like this, the count had to be huge.

Not once.

Not a single time. No—there was one. Exactly once, at the very start, it felt like he’d delivered a meaningful shock.

After that, not even once.

After the first strike, Namgung Cheon’s sword simply didn’t get through to Bang Sungyeon.

“Ghk!”

CLANG—!

A stifled groan rang out as a blade bounced away. The groan wasn’t Namgung Cheon’s.

It was Bang Sungyeon’s.

Every time he blocked, his face twisted like he was in pain.

He couldn’t endure the weight. He wasn’t receiving the force cleanly, and the instability was obvious; his arm was nearing its limit, trembling more and more—

...So how is he enduring it?

That tremble, that instability—exactly the same as the beginning.

But—

He keeps blocking.

In the end, he blocked it. Countless strikes were still being beaten away.

CLANG—!

Another sword knocked aside.

CRACKLE—!

Thunder energy scattered into sparks. Watching that, Namgung Cheon abruptly widened the distance.

“....”

TUK.

He flicked the sword in his hand.

CRACKLE.

The hardened qi on the blade loosened slightly. Keeping his Thunder Armor, Namgung Cheon stared at Bang Sungyeon.

“What is this?”

He couldn’t understand, so he asked.

Bang Sungyeon, breathing like he was exhausted, reacted.

“...Huh?”

“...I don’t understand. How is this happening?”

“What is...?”

“How are you blocking everything?”

How was Bang Sungyeon blocking all those strikes?

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand. So he asked.

“...I don’t think you’re pretending to be weak. Even so, I don’t get it. This is separate from whether you can see my sword. How are you able to keep blocking it?”

“You’re asking that in the middle of this?”

Maybe it was ridiculous—asking that in the middle of a match—because Bang Sungyeon let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Ah, I’m the kind of man who needs answers before I move on... Hahaha. If you won’t tell me, that’s fine.”

He could just go back in.

That was what the Thunder Dragon thought as he was about to raise his sword force again—

“It’s nothing special.”

Bang Sungyeon spoke.

“You just have to know ahead of time.”

“...Mm?”

Know ahead of time? Namgung Cheon narrowed his eyes. What did that mean?

His questions only grew, and as if he’d been waiting for that, Bang Sungyeon continued.

“It’s true that I can see it, but I figured seeing it alone wouldn’t be enough to block you. So I studied a bit.”

“...Studied?”

“Yeah. It’s really nothing.”

Hoooo.

Bang Sungyeon let out a deep breath and shook out his sword.

For an instant, the brilliant light faded away as if by magic.

“I watched you fight a little. I studied while watching. And after that... I started to get it.”

“...What?”

What was he saying? He studied by watching him fight?

What kind of insane—

When did he even watch—

“...!”

Mid-thought, Namgung Cheon’s eyes widened.

Don’t tell me.

“...You mean the second preliminaries?”

That day they’d thrown all the junior generation onto the mountain and made them fight.

The day Bang Sungyeon watched while Namgung Cheon fought.

It was the day he’d battled nearly twenty people.

That day...?

If he watched any fights, it could only have been then.

But Namgung Cheon couldn’t believe it.

“That’s nonsense.”

Even if he’d fought a lot of people, what could someone possibly understand just from watching that?

“Most of those bouts were only a moment, and back then I didn’t even—”

He hadn’t even used Thunder Armor then, and his speed and power were different.

And yet Bang Sungyeon claimed he’d analyzed everything and could predict him?

“Don’t exaggerate—at least keep it within reason.”

This was just him being mocked. Namgung Cheon realized it and let his displeasure leak out.

“Believe it or don’t. I don’t care.”

Bang Sungyeon didn’t so much as blink at him.

“If you don’t believe me, that only makes things easier for me.”

TUK. TUK.

He lightly moved the sword and shook out his body.

“Are you coming again?”

“....”

Instead of answering, Namgung Cheon raised his sword force again.

Was that really true?

He didn’t know. If he didn’t know, then he could confirm it.

RUMBLE—!!

Thunder roared, and Namgung Cheon shot toward Bang Sungyeon.

He thrust his sword, aiming to split his chest—

“Upper left.”

CLANG—!

“...!”

Blocked. Same as before. The difference was that Bang Sungyeon said it out loud as he blocked.

Huh?

Namgung Cheon’s eyes widened, but he didn’t stop moving.

Then—

“One step forward, attack from the right—no, a feint. The real one is the leg.”

GRAB—!

Dodging the blade, Bang Sungyeon used his other hand to block Namgung Cheon’s footwork. Then he rotated his body and slipped the next strike too.

What the hell?

Namgung Cheon’s pupils shook.

After that, Bang Sungyeon kept talking—while blocking every single attack.

It was the same as before. A repeated pattern of barely surviving. And the strain was identical.

This bastard...

Was it real?

Did he really predict all his movements from those fights in the second preliminaries? How could that even be possible?

He couldn’t understand. By Namgung Cheon’s common sense, it couldn’t exist.

But—

He’s really doing it.

Reality was forcing him to acknowledge it.

Even if he lacked strength, if he could predict the motion in advance, that’s how he could keep blocking.

This is ridiculous.

It was impossible. How could something like this be real?

Feints or straight-line attacks—everything was blocked.

A chill ran up Namgung Cheon’s back at the sight of Bang Sungyeon.

Little Sword Saint.

It wasn’t what he’d expected at all, but if what Bang Sungyeon said was true, then either way, he was a monster.

He had no idea what he’d seen in that short span.

Was it habit? Did he find something inside repeated motions?

Whatever it was, it didn’t change the fact Bang Sungyeon had grasped it.

Ha.

Namgung Cheon laughed.

“You’re a fucking lunatic.”

And he said it out loud.

RUMBLE—!!!

He poured more force into his Thunder Armor.

His sword force swelled even larger.

He’d recognized Bang Sungyeon’s trait.

So what now?

Honestly, he could keep pressing like this and still be fine.

In the end, his strength and energy were greater. If he kept going, he could win.

But—

With something like that...

Could he be satisfied?

No.

Namgung Cheon shook his head inside.

If he wanted that kind of win, he wouldn’t have started this match in the first place.

So what did he do?

What do you think?

If he could be predicted, then he just needed to act outside that prediction.

Namgung Cheon’s mind spun. His movements were read in an instant.

So he would finish reading his own habits first—one by one.

Namgung Cheon was a genius. Even in this short moment, he could do it.

Just like the Black-Grand Saber did.

So, the Thunder Dragon was about to correct his habits and try a new line of attack—

“Yeah.”

Bang Sungyeon spoke.

“I figured you would.”

“What?”

Namgung Cheon reacted to the words.

CLANG—!

“...!!”

His sword bounced away.

Namgung Cheon’s sword.

The moment his offense was completely sealed—

“I believed you were a genius.”

Bang Sungyeon spoke, like he’d expected this all along.