Chapter 134: Way of Mourning Part 5 (1/2)
by fnovelpia
Since the battle had resumed, Sunhwa had never gotten close to the Tangsu.
‘Clashing directly with that sword is dangerous.’
Thinking rationally, she wasn’t even allowed to cross swords with the Tangsu.
The sharpness of his blade, his sheer strength, the difference in technique—
In every aspect, she fell short of him.
Yet, the battle continued because she held an overwhelming advantage in range.
‘His legs.’
Her scabbard gleamed as she drew her sword, aiming for the Tangsu’s ankle.
While he blocked the attack, she swiftly retracted her blade and widened the distance once more.
Fighting alone, dangerously yet steadily, she remained composed in her confrontation against him.
The Tangsu, who was pursuing her, attempted to agitate her sense of urgency.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I doubt your brother has much time left.”
She didn’t respond.
Since the beginning of the fight, she had maintained a perfectly expressionless face, swinging her sword in silence.
‘She’s calm.’
For someone facing the man who had cut down her brother, she was eerily composed.
As the Tangsu began to sense something odd about that, she suddenly spoke.
“You know, I once wanted to be a hero.”
The Tangsu barely had time to be surprised by her sudden confession before deciding to ignore it, continuing his assault.
Sunhwa kept her distance while continuing to speak.
“I never wanted to kill people with my sword. I wanted to protect them.”
“At first, I just wanted to protect my family. Then I got greedy—I wanted to protect all of Joseon’s peace.”
“But when I thought about it, the military was corrupt and far from my ideals. So I decided to become part of the Geomgye—the righteous swordsmen.”
“I was naïve. Looking back, what I did was closer to being a murderer than a righteous thief.”
Unable to listen any longer, the Tangsu finally spoke.
“So now you’re denying your past?”
“No. I don’t deny it, and I don’t regret it either. Honestly, how many people in Joseon get to pursue the path they truly want and achieve their ideals?”
“Then why are you bringing this up now?”
“My resolve.”
“???”
“To be honest, I’m scared. I’m scared you’ll kill me. And I’m scared Sunwoo will die. But even more than that, I felt I needed to say, out loud, why I have to stop you.”
No longer alternating between drawing and sheathing her sword, she now faced the Tangsu in a direct standoff.
Gripping her sword with both hands, she took a classic stance and declared, “I may not be a hero, but for this moment, at least, I can pretend to be one.”
“Tch. All that talk, and for what…”
“And one more thing—you’re mistaken about something.”
“?”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
“!!!”
At that moment, the Tangsu felt a murderous intent creeping up his spine.
He turned his head.
From behind him, Sunwoo had silently risen, blood pouring from his abdomen as he swung his sword at the Tangsu.
“Hngh!”
Fighting through the pain, Sunwoo let out a fierce cry as he struck.
Time slowed for the Tangsu.
Sunwoo’s blade was just about to reach him.
Too late to block.
But the Tangsu still had a card left to play.
“Not bad.”
The Tangsu sacrificed his right arm to intercept Sunwoo’s sword.
A grotesque arm, sprouting metallic spikes like a hedgehog.
Sunwoo’s sword cleaved through it—
And passed clean through the Tangsu’s wrist.
“!?”
The Tangsu’s eyes widened in shock.
His instincts kicked in, analyzing the situation.
And then, he saw Sunwoo—still lying in the same spot, raising his middle finger at him.
‘An illusion!’
Once again, he sensed the killing intent from behind.
This time, he didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
But his right arm had already moved to block Sunwoo’s illusion.
It was too late to retract it for defense.
He swung his left-hand sword.
‘Blocking will be tough.’
His blade wasn’t reinforced like a special cursed sword.
If he tried to parry her strike, his own weapon would shatter, and he would be cut down.
Instead, he chose speed—if he couldn’t block her attack, he would land his own strike first.
Recovering swiftly from his shock, the Tangsu swung his left-hand sword.
And once again—his blade passed through Sunhwa’s hologram.
‘Damn it!’
He had been deceived twice.
Once by Sunwoo’s illusion.
Once by Sunhwa’s illusion.
‘Then where’s the real one…? Above!’
His gaze shot upward.
Sunhwa was descending toward him, her sword poised to split his body in two.
‘Damn it!’
The Tangsu tried to use his left-hand sword to block the strike.
His weapon would break, but it would buy enough time to reposition his right arm.
Noticing his plan, Sunhwa smirked slightly.
She twisted her body midair—
The rising morning sun struck the Tangsu’s eyes directly.
Tricked three times.
By now, there was no frustration—only admiration.
‘When did she grow this strong…?’
Meanwhile, Sunhwa stayed vigilant, wary of any last-ditch counterattack.
She positioned herself at a range beyond his reach and prepared her final strike.
The Tangsu, now blind, slowly closed his eyes and released his grip on his sword.
“It’s over.”
Sunhwa quietly murmured to her master, slightly bowing her head in respect as her scabbard gleamed.
“Void Severance.”
Slice.
The Tangsu’s head soared through the air.
Clang.
A moment later, his left-hand sword fell to the ground.
Even before his severed head touched the earth, his lips parted slightly.
“That sword is yours now.”
For the final time, Sunhwa bowed to him.
The Tangsu’s voice never spoke again.
***
The morning sun rose.
Amidst the ruins of the shattered palace, the fallen traitor’s face looked utterly peaceful.
Having taken his head, Sunhwa rushed to her brother.
“Sunwoo! Are you okay?!”
He weakly shook his head.
Instead of speaking, he sent her a message through their linked signal device.
[Call an ambulance.]
“I already did.”
She quickly examined his condition.
Fortunately, no major arteries, nerves, or internal organs were damaged.
“It’s just your abdominal wall. You’ve lost a lot of blood, but you won’t die.”
‘That’s supposed to be reassuring?’
Sunwoo’s gaze at her was practically screaming in protest.
She gave him a wry smile and pressed a piece of fabric against his wound.
Infection was a concern, but if she didn’t stop his insides from spilling out, he’d be meeting the afterlife before infection even had a chance.
“Hold on. Just a little—”
Right then, a frantic signal came from Sunwoo.
[Sis, move!]
The moment she saw it, she grabbed her brother and rolled aside.
A blade struck where they had just been.
Barely dodging the attack, she looked back.
A dark afterimage shimmered where the sword had passed.
She turned to see who had wielded the blade.
The Tangsu’s headless body stood, sword in hand, twitching unnaturally.
‘A jiangshi…?’
That was the only term that came to mind.
In the West, they might call it a Dullahan.
But even that didn’t fully describe what she was witnessing.
***
Creak.
The Tangsu’s right arm—now covered in grotesque eyes—turned toward her.
Then, mouths sprouting all over his arm began speaking in different voices.
[The sun… is too bright.]
[Agh, I can’t sleep with all this light!]
The old man’s voice faded into a child’s whiny complaint.
[Raise your swords.]
[Now that I have arrived—]
[Let us become the blades that even gods shall fear!]
Their voices merged into an eerie, inhuman wail.
[Swords!] [Cut!] [Devour!] [Sanctify in blood!]
The sentences soon lost all human coherence.
“What the hell…?”
Sunhwa raised her blade, startled.
“What do I even call that…?”
Sunwoo’s signal came through.
[Wriggler.]
A snort of laughter escaped her.
And so, the creature was named Wriggler.
She set Sunwoo down a safe distance away.
“Sunwoo, can you crawl to safety? Help is coming soon.”
He barely nodded.
He started moving away from the scene little by little, sweating profusely.
Praising her younger brother’s formidable mental fortitude, she focused on the wriggler.
‘Void Slash.’
It started with her signature technique—Iaido.
The wriggler, seemingly not inheriting its master’s swordsmanship, failed to react and was cut down.
However, the outcome was entirely different from when she fought the master.
‘It’s regenerating?’
Unlike the master, the moment it was cut, a black liquid filled the wound, sealing it.
Even the depth of the cut wasn’t very deep.
‘What the hell is that?’
She had neither seen nor fought anything like it before.
If she had to compare, it was akin to the dungeon monsters she had heard about from her comrades.
‘Dungeon transformation?’
The term surfaced in her mind, but even that failed to fully explain the situation.
The only thing she knew for sure was that her Iaido wouldn’t be enough to defeat this wriggler.
She gripped the katana the master had left behind with her other hand.
‘It’s been a while.’
Originally, her swordsmanship was the same as the master’s.
A tachi for defense and a katana for offense.
She knew how to wield both.
However, she had only used a tachi to handle her family’s magical inscriptions, though her fundamental swordsmanship had always been closer to this style.
Recalling the familiar sensation, she squared off against the wriggler.
And so, the dance of swords began.
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