Ch.224Episode 42. The Correctness of Education (3)

‘The attack just now was similar to Yeonhwa Slash.’

Yujin, who was watching from a step away, noticed how Yeonhwa Dragon had left wounds on Yeonmu Hee.

‘He left sword energy while clashing blades.’

Yeonhwa Slash was also a technique that left sword energy.

It was a technique that worked because the caster’s movement was faster than the speed of the flying sword energy, but Yeonhwa Dragon executed it effortlessly.

‘I suppose when the essence of swordsmanship is similar, the techniques must be similar as well.’

Yujin realized that Yeonhwa Dragon was still a level above Yeonmu Hee.

But as always, battles had their variables.

Clang! Clang!

Each time the swords collided, the air exploded with intense friction sounds.

‘Figure it out. Figure it out! I need to understand how he’s attacking!’

Yeonmu Hee endured with gritted teeth as the cuts on her body gradually increased. But as the pain became more intense, her movements became hesitant and defensive.

Sensing that Yeonmu Hee was gradually losing momentum, Yeonhwa Dragon drew a large arc with his sword.

Clang!

“Ugh…!”

Though she managed to block Yeonhwa Dragon’s fierce strike, Yeonmu Hee had no choice but to give him distance.

And as if he had been waiting for this, Yeonhwa Dragon sheathed his sword and took a stance.

“Sword Flower Style—”

Tap!

Yeonmu Hee regained her balance and immediately pushed off the ground to advance. But Yeonhwa Dragon’s sword strike was faster than her attempt to close the distance.

“—’Charging Slash’!”

She faced his technique head-on—a strike delivered while drawing the sword, followed by a thrust—and swung her own sword in response.

“Lotus Style— ‘Double Stream Cut’!”

Clang!

She deflected the incoming sword energy and blocked the tip of Yeonhwa Dragon’s sword aimed at her vital point.

Clang—!

“Hmph!”

Thud!

“Gah!”

Though Yeonmu Hee blocked the Charging Slash, she couldn’t avoid the kick to her abdomen. She coughed several times before readjusting her sword.

Despite the throbbing pain, she never took her eyes off Yeonhwa Dragon.

“Is that all? Is that how confidently you said you would kill me?”

“Of course not. I haven’t even used half the techniques Instructor Yujin taught me.”

‘The greater the distance, the more disadvantageous it is for me. I can also use techniques that project sword energy, but the Lotus Style is most powerful in direct clashes.’

Just as she thought, Yeonhwa Dragon was indeed struggling with Yeonmu Hee’s fierce attacks. He was deliberately keeping his distance to avoid getting caught in her momentum.

“I’ll end this trivial sparring now.”

Shiiing!

He pushed the bridge of his nose with his thumb.

“Sword Flower Style— ‘Chaos Slash’.”

A flawless barrage of red sword energy rained down on Yeonmu Hee. Yujin thought that if she couldn’t block this attack, she would be cut to pieces and die.

He kept his lightning ready and watched her response with a tense expression.

“Haaah…!”

After taking a deep breath, Yeonmu Hee charged straight into the countless blades of energy. Her steps were confident, and her posture remained unwavering as she ran.

“Lotus Style—”

Red energy surged around Yeonmu Hee’s sword. The sword energy that had been lingering on the blade’s surface expanded further.

“‘Red Lotus Slash’.”

Clang!

She deflected the sword energy aimed at her neck.

Clang!

She deflected the sword energy targeting her side.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

She deflected all sword energy aimed at her vital points.

With elegant movements, she deflected the numerous blades of energy, creating red trajectories that formed the shape of a flower before they could fade.

And breaking through the sword energy as she advanced, she suddenly had Yeonhwa Dragon within her attack range.

‘She deflected all of them…?!’

“Hah!”

Yeonmu Hee’s thrust grazed Yeonhwa Dragon’s side. She failed to deliver a fatal blow because he quickly reacted by twisting his body.

However, even though it was just a graze, it must have been quite deep, as his uniform gradually turned red.

“Ugh!”

“Not yet!”

Yeonmu Hee didn’t miss the momentary opening created as he hastily twisted his body. She used her shifting center of gravity to knee him in the chest.

Thud!

“Gah!”

As he grimaced and staggered, Yeonmu Hee landed and immediately charged at him.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Faced with her fierce attacks, Yeonhwa Dragon couldn’t help but be somewhat overwhelmed, yet he still accurately received her attacks—or more precisely, deflected them.

“That attack was quite sharp, but resorting to a melee again shows a lack of learning ability.”

Slash!

Once again, Yeonmu Hee felt the pain of her flesh being torn. But this time, she clearly saw where the attack was coming from.

‘I see. The sword energy changes its trajectory a beat later. In that case, I just need to deflect that energy too!’

“Lotus Style— ‘Red Flower Mist’.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Even Yeonhwa Dragon flinched as much faster and more intense strikes poured down.

‘She’s even blocking the sword energy that enters the blind spot a beat later. Excellent dynamic vision and superior athletic ability. If Yujin cultivated this… I must acknowledge him as an educator. However.’

“You’re still far from defeating me!”

Clang!

Yeonhwa Dragon shouted as he deflected Yeonmu Hee’s disrupted sword trajectory. Since she was swinging multiple times at high speed, not every trajectory could be perfect.

Yeonmu Hee hesitated at the strike that instantly cut off her momentum, but she immediately charged again.

“Lotus Style— ‘Flowing Heaven’.”

“Sword Flower Style— ‘Falling Heaven’.”

Yeonhwa Dragon countered Yeonmu Hee’s upward strike with a downward one.

Clang!

But it was Yeonhwa Dragon who was pushed back.

Both of them twisted their waists with full force, using the recoil.

“Lotus Style— ‘Rotating Wheel’.”

“Sword Flower Style— ‘Rotating Strike’.”

Clang!

The swords aimed at each other’s sides ended up clashing blade to blade.

Watching their duel, Yujin thought it was like watching doppelgangers fight.

Indeed, their swordsmanship was remarkably similar.

Naturally, the Lotus Style was derived from the Sword Flower Style.

But being derived didn’t necessarily mean the offshoot couldn’t defeat the original.

With each clash of swords, Yeonmu Hee was gaining the upper hand. Even Yeonhwa Dragon was somewhat flustered by her momentum.

And as that momentum grew stronger, Yeonmu Hee began to feel confident that she could defeat Yeonhwa Dragon.

‘This time I can cut him!’

Clang!

Finally, after deflecting Yeonhwa Dragon’s sword, Yeonmu Hee swung her sword toward his neck.

But her sword didn’t reach him. Yeonhwa Dragon, who had been receiving her attacks until now, created distance by doing a backflip.

Whoosh!

Seeing Yeonmu Hee’s sword cut through the air, Yeonhwa Dragon channeled power into the sword he was holding. His sword was already sheathed.

“…!”

“Sword Flower Style— ‘Chaos Slash’!”

Faced with another barrage of countless sword energies, Yeonmu Hee had no time to use a technique. Though she belatedly swung her sword to block the energy, it was impossible to block everything.

Thud.

For the first time, Yeonmu Hee’s sword, which had always been pointed upward, was planted into the ground. She had to support herself with the sword; otherwise, she felt she would fall to her knees.

“Urgh…”

Yeonmu Hee barely suppressed a groan as she bled.

“Oh? Did you manage to protect all your vital points in that instant?”

‘Damn it. I misjudged…!’

She berated herself for getting too excited at the thought of defeating Yeonhwa Dragon, whom she had always aspired to surpass.

“Ugh.”

She tried to stop the blood flowing from her side with her hand, but it was impossible to stem the flow from such a large wound with one hand.

“Haa…! Haa…!”

Just breathing caused her uniform to become increasingly stained with red. Her arms and legs were losing strength.

“Yeonhwa!!”

Jin Subin called out to her desperately from the stands, but with the extreme pain and heavy bleeding, she had no energy to spare for others.

‘What should I do? What should I do? My vision is getting blurry… Is it from losing too much blood? Or from the pain?’

Seeing her enter a state of panic, Yeonhwa Dragon sensed that the duel was over.

“Yeonmu Hee!”

Just as her head was about to drop, she heard the voice of someone she could never forget. Slowly turning her head, Yujin came into her view.

Yujin was standing with his arms crossed, looking at her calmly. As if it were just an ordinary sparring session.

“Don’t exaggerate. You can still do more.”

“Yujin…”

“You’re not thinking of giving up over something like that, are you? I never taught you that way.”

At Yujin’s words, Yeonmu Hee’s eyes widened.

‘Does Yujin still think I can win…?’

She bit her lower lip and shook her head vigorously. She realized that now was not the time to wallow in self-pity.

“…I haven’t lost yet.”

Yeonmu Hee replied curtly, then pulled her sword from the ground and took a stance. With Yujin believing in her, she didn’t want to give up.

“What do you think you can do in that battered state?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to defeat you.”

“If you move vigorously in your current condition, you’ll lose a lot of blood and might die from excessive bleeding. It would be better to at least apply emergency treatment with a potion.”

“Since when did you start worrying about me? Never mind, just pick up your sword.”

Though she said this, the truth was that she had no leeway. She needed to draw him into a melee to have any chance of winning, but her current physical condition made that impossible.

So Yeonmu Hee decided to stake everything on her next attack.

“I see. If that’s how you want it, I’ll help you let go of your regrets.”

Rumble—!

Yeonmu Hee flinched at the aura, which was on a completely different level from before. Yeonhwa Dragon placed his hand on his sword.

“Here I come.”

In response, Yeonmu Hee adjusted her sword, as if steeling her resolve.

“Sword Flower Style— ‘Annihilation Slash’.”