Ch.44Chapter 44 – Inflection Point (3)

“My name is Namgung Su-hyeon! It’s an honor to fight against a disciple of the Ice Dragon who’s rumored to be so strong!”

“…This one’s not a fake.”

Looking at the black-haired man who bowed with clasped hands at the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament finals, Bi-wol snorted.

She had witnessed someone pretending to be from the Namgung Family to trick her before. Looking around, this person was clearly different from the illusion she had seen in the incubus’s dream.

“Fake…? You must have seen someone impersonating me.”

“I did.”

Sling—

As Bi-wol drew her sword from its scabbard, she felt confident. This was a weapon gifted to her directly by her master, Bing-yeon.

“That’s a fine sword. Even at a glance, I can tell how much care went into selecting it!”

The blade was completely black, just like Bi-wol’s hair. Seeing it, Namgung Su-hyeon’s eyes flashed with interest in the sword she held.

“Hehe, you have a better eye than I expected?”

Bi-wol couldn’t lower her smile as she watched Namgung Su-hyeon’s undisguised surprise.

This sword was a gift given to her directly by her master, Bing-yeon. She could still vividly remember his face as he awkwardly hid the sword behind his back, not knowing how to present it to her.

A man who seemed innocent and naive, as if he knew nothing about women his entire life. Someone she adored so much that she wanted to color him completely with her own hues.

“This was given to me as a gift from my master.”

“How could a child from a family famous for swordsmanship not have an eye for swords!”

Namgung Su-hyeon gulped as he observed Bi-wol. From her sword stance alone, he could see she was an incredibly powerful fighter.

His opponent was a disciple of the Ice Dragon, famous for the battle between righteousness and evil. She was from an unorthodox sect acknowledged by the Infinite Sword Emperor, his family’s great elder. He’d even heard that this person had saved him from being kidnapped when he was young.

‘Can I win against such a person’s disciple?’

Moreover, rumors said that Bi-wol had possessed the Heavenly Martial Body since childhood, showing tremendous talent in martial arts.

It would be stranger not to be interested in such an extraordinary person who hadn’t shown her face in martial arts tournaments before suddenly appearing this year.

‘I’ll definitely lose. But…’

Despite knowing he would lose, Namgung Su-hyeon drew his sword, feeling a strange competitive spirit and pride burning within him.

“I, Namgung Su-hyeon, youngest of the Namgung Family! I swear on this sword to give a battle with no regrets!”

It was respect and courtesy toward his opponent. Age and face didn’t matter when asking for guidance from someone more skilled than oneself.

“I like your fighting spirit. Your hands tremble slightly, but your eyes and feet show no retreat.”

Bi-wol smiled slightly at Namgung Su-hyeon’s solemn expression. She had thought that children from prestigious families would all be undisciplined ruffians who hadn’t received proper family education.

“…I won’t fight you twice. So come at me properly.”

“Understood!”

Seeing such a proper successor made her feel relieved that Bing-yeon could step down from his position as sect master without any problems.

‘If there are many people like this child, there shouldn’t be any problem if my master leaves the martial arts world and builds a family with me…’

In a remote, quiet countryside village where no one knew her identity, a disciple’s infatuation with her master—deceiving the master and destroying the ancestors—wouldn’t be an obstacle.

She could leave annoying matters like peace in the martial arts world to good people like him, while she lived happily with Bing-yeon.

‘If it’s a son, I’ll name him Bing Bi-wol, and if it’s a daughter, Bing Bi-yeon.’

Bi-wol was already thinking of names for their future children, derived from her and her master’s names.

***

While Bing-yeon was thinking of ways to defeat the other participants in the finals, there was someone else devising similar strategies.

“Our opponent in the finals is from the Tang Clan of Sichuan, famous for poison techniques and hidden weapons. You might easily become complacent thinking they’ll have no effect on you since you’ve mastered the Diamond Invulnerability, but…”

Bing-seol-hwa placed black stones on the Go board as she spoke. She began placing stones one by one as if directly foreseeing the battle situation.

Tok, tok—

With clear, crisp sounds, the white stones on the Go board were already surrounding the black ones.

“Poisons won’t penetrate my body anyway, so what’s the danger?”

“Poisons inhaled through breathing will affect you unless you’ve mastered immunity to all poisons.”

Bing-seol-hwa nodded at Kim Hyul’s question. She realized that since the opponent knew he had mastered Diamond Invulnerability from their previous fight, they would adopt different tactics.

The person called the Poison Dragon from the Tang Clan of Sichuan had, in the original story’s final part, attempted to use a formless poison—a toxin with no shape, color, smell, or taste.

A poison created solely to kill the Heavenly Demon, Bi-wol, though it was never actually used.

“At first, hold your breath while fighting. You need to be careful from the moment you enter the arena.”

Creating a poison that travels through air would be easy enough to teach to disciples.

Bing-seol-hwa, who knew this fact as well as the original author, explained countermeasures to Kim Hyul, but he shook his head in disagreement.

“That’s not a good approach. If the opponent focuses on defense or turns it into a war of attrition by constantly evading, you’ll naturally end up breathing.”

The opponent would have anticipated breath-holding tactics. Even if they were just late-stage disciples, they were still the pride of each prestigious family.

Like the cliché in new martial arts novels, there might be some who grew up like ruffians, but none strong enough to send to such a martial arts tournament.

After all, a single strike from someone who has swung a sword a million times with dull talent is more fearsome than someone with heaven-given talent but no dedication to the sword.

“Then, how about covering your nose and mouth with cloth? If we wet it, it could block the poison to some extent.”

“That won’t work. If we do that, the opponent might switch tactics instead of using poison. I think it’s better to lure them out.”

At that moment, Sieg-hardt raised his hand to express a dissenting opinion.

Normally, as master and disciple, it would be better not to disagree with Bing-seol-hwa’s suggestions, but the original story’s protagonists strangely displayed an attitude of reluctance to follow her opinions.

“I think it’s safer if we show vulnerability to poison in the first round, and then have Kang Si-woo and me win.”

There was a lack of proper justification. The protagonists, once filled with vengeful spirit, had lost their reason to face the final bosses due to Bing-yeon’s activities.

“Our goal is ultimately the finals, isn’t it? To create an opportunity to fight that man called Bing-yeon…”

“That’s true.”

Bing-seol-hwa sighed deeply. The discomfort of not being able to properly control her own body was immense.

Not only was she under constant surveillance by the Outer God Shub-Niggurath, but her former lover Han Do-hyeon was trying to instill hatred in her to make him want to kill her.

‘Did Do-hyeon understand my true feelings?’

Seol-hwa bit her lower lip hard as she thought. The periods when she maintained consciousness were becoming shorter. It felt as if she was disappearing from within her own body.

For Yoo Seol-hwa, there was something she hated more than dying in this world.

Having experienced death once, there was a time when she thought ending her life would finish everything.

‘I miss you…’

The fact that she could never meet her lover Han Do-hyeon again hurt her even more.

The cold sensation that seemed to penetrate her bones, the lukewarm feeling of blood mixed with pain—even more than the approach of death itself.

But she had no freedom to express this aloud or even think about it. The only part of her body she was allowed to move freely was her left eye.

‘…Was it pointless to be revived?’

Yoo Seol-hwa had accepted the Outer God Shub-Niggurath’s proposal out of her own selfish desire. There was no way to restore herself after being crushed beyond recognition.

She didn’t care if she became mere entertainment. Even if she became a toy for the Outer God, she just wanted to meet him once more.

Despite frequently experiencing unconsciousness, Seol-hwa’s spirit was struggling not to break.

“I feel like I could defeat anyone right now. Why don’t we just kill Azazel?”

At that moment, Kang Si-woo spoke up while showing his smartphone.

Unlike a few days ago, Seol-hwa realized something was wrong when she saw him displaying murderous intent toward Azazel.

“What? Why suddenly like that?”

“The situation has changed now. Did you forget after giving me power?”

Kang Si-woo’s mind was now filled with the thought that if he couldn’t have something, he would destroy it.

“If I can’t kill her, it would be good to cripple her.”

He gritted his teeth as he recalled Azazel laughing at him alongside the white-haired man, Bing-yeon.

To Kang Si-woo, Azazel was just a common game character. A virtual person whose leash he could hold and shake.

The fact that he was disrespected by such a trivial existence was why he couldn’t contain his anger.

“Do you really think that’s the right approach?”

“I’m against it. I’ll win all my matches so your turn never comes.”

Shocked by his statement, Kim Hyul and Sieg-hardt expressed their opposition and blocked Kang Si-woo.

They couldn’t kill innocent people even if their families, lovers, or friends were held hostage.

All the protagonists written by Han Do-hyeon were now acting differently from the original story.

“……”

Seeing this, Seol-hwa hung her head in disappointment.

It felt like watching teenage sons who wouldn’t listen to their mother.