Book 2: Chapter 383
Lukas wasn’t the only one surprised by his impulsive approach.
Naturally, the two elders that were about to fight him were more surprised than he was.
It was the red robed old man that returned to his senses first. He squinted his eyes as he observed his opponent.
There were strange beings with a distinctly foreign aura, who wore clothes similar to those of monks, those who used all kinds of sorcery and other magical spells and wielded canes and staves with large gems embedded in them.
They were called… Wizards.
He was certain.
The man in front of him was a Wizard.
Despite not holding a weapon, the flames that coated both of his hands were the best proof of that fact.
And that was what made the current situation even harder to understand.
‘Would a Wizard voluntarily reduce the distance like this?’
‘Something so foolish…’
The elders laughed inwardly at Lukas’ judgement, but their outward reactions were different. Instead, they began to shuffle backward, widening the distance slightly.
That was not the reaction that Lukas expected.
In any case, thanks to their voluntary retreat, he had a bit more leeway. Lukas’ eyes turned to Pale.
She was still standing in the same spot, twirling her hair around her finger as she watched the situation with an interesting expression on her face. When their eyes met, she smiled like an idiot.
Clearly, she didn’t have any intention of joining the fight.
That was too bad. Pale’s power was something even Lukas hadn’t gained a full grasp of. It would have been great if she could help him with even one elder.
…Nevertheless, it didn’t really matter.
He looked around. He realised just how disadvantageous the terrain was.
It was an underground cave. A closed off, narrow s.p.a.ce.
If he were to recklessly use magic, he himself would suffer from it. The key to the Wizards’ fighting style was to maintain distance, and in such a narrow, straight place, the difficulty of the fight would increase several times.
Not to mention he had to be considerate of the woman who was still unconscious and Lee Jong-hak who was in poor physical condition.
Nevertheless, those series of problems were not a major obstacle for Lukas.
Srrng-
When the distance between them narrowed a bit more, the sound of swords being drawn was heard.
The red robed and blue robed elders were ready to start the fight.
At first glance, it might seem like they were just retreating, but they had moved with strange shifting steps and before he knew it, they were standing on both sides of Lukas, their swords at the ready.
Suddenly, Lukas stopped walking.
“…”
One step.
If he had taken one more step, he would have entered the elders’ most comfortable rhythm and exposed an opening. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he almost stepped towards death with his own two feet.
This distance was perfect.
Fwoosh!
At the same time, the flames that flickered on Lukas’ hands shot towards the elders.
Taht, the figures of the two elders disappeared. Their swords, which they had been holding openly, seemed to become undetectable flashes as they pierced the flames. In an instant, the intangible element disappeared silently as if it evaporated.
Their advance did not stop because of Lukas’ first attack. Rather, it was only beginning.
The two elders clearly kicked off at the same time, but it was the elder on the left that reached him first.
In other words, it was the blue robed elder.
He hadn’t arrived first because he was faster or closer. Instead, it was simply because the red robed elder deliberately slowed down in order to sync their attacks.
When the blue robed elder was only one step away…
Fwoosh!
Lukas saw plum blossoms in full bloom.
It felt like the dark cave had become brighter. Then he felt a tingling sensation all over his body. It felt like he was pressuring him with his aura.
‘He’s at a level close to Master.’
He was impressed by his opponent’s achievements, but the progression of the blue robed elder’s mastery was about to come to an end.
Fwoosh!
The plum blossoms fluttered and covered most of his vision. It was a beautiful sight, but now was not the time to admire it. Lukas could feel the dozens of blades fluttering around him.
It was a sword technique that mixed truths and falsehoods while bewitching the opponent.
In other words, it was a phantom sword.
Lukas’ eyes glinted coldly and his fingers shot into the air.
Motion magic. A spell was triggered by his simple gesture, and the ground stretched like rubber before soon shooting up like a sharp spear.
“What?”
The blue robed elder uttered a cry of shock. He wasn’t surprised that spears of earth rose up from the ground. It was the same even for the fact that they were able to pierce through his sword technique.
No, the truly surprising thing was what happened next.
A total of fifteen spears, large and small, rose up from the ground.
It was the same number of blades hidden in the blue robed elder’s sword technique.
‘Did he immediately see through my phantom sword?’
It was unbelievable.
Of course, he also knew the weakness of his phantom sword.
It was a sword that was vulnerable to prolonged combat. The longer a battle went on, the more accurately his opponent would be able to discern the truths hidden in his sword.
The better the person’s eyesight, the shorter that duration would be. However, he still had strengths that could make up for those shortcomings.
First Stage, Thirty Moves.
During the first thirty sword moves, the blue robed elder’s sword technique was able to demonstrate overwhelming power. He couldn’t help it that his technique lost power over time, but in exchange, he specialised in ending battles quickly.
Among his techniques, the one he was most confident in was the one he used first, Dancing Plum Blossoms.
In fact, the probability that the blue robed elder could injure his opponent with Dancing Plum Blossoms was over 90%.
…10 percent.
In other words, only once in ten battles would there be a time when he was unable to inflict a fatal wound. However, this was the first time his technique had been discovered and destroyed so easily.
Unlike the shocked elder, it wasn’t that surprising for Lukas.
This wasn’t because he was special.
It was because Lukas was an Absolute. (TL: Former)
From the very beginning, Absolutes were beings that were the furthest from delusions and deceit. This was because they had utmost confidence in themselves and strong wills. The eyesight they gained as a result could not be fooled by any tricks.
He was a Fallen Absolute. But just because he had lost his external power didn’t mean he had lost his eyesight.
At the very least, Lukas’ eyesight hadn’t fallen to the point where he could not distinguish the truths in his opponent’s sword technique.
Crack crack crack!
Like a monster moving underground, the floor rose sharply towards the blue robed elder. The blue robed elder stepped back, sweeping his sword at the ground which rushed towards him like thorns.
At the same time, the red robed elder attacked.
Swoosh!
A sword cut through the air, its blade coated with sword ki.
Lukas felt that an improvised barrier would not be able to stop this attack. Shuk, so he used Blink to widen the distance slightly. However, short distance teleportation was not enough to serve as a breather.
The red robed elder continued to swing his sword at the same speed as before. Lukas had appeared about ten steps away from him, but he could feel a cool sensation on one side of his chest.
His premonition soon became a reality.
Thick, powerful sword ki shot out of the red robed elder’s sword.
‘A long ranged attack.’
In the blink of an eye, the red robed elder swung his sword five times. As a result, five thick sword slashes shot towards Lukas.
If he wanted to use Blink to avoid this attack, he would only be able to go backwards. But the blue robed elder was behind him. If he were to step back recklessly, the chances of him being hit by his sword would increase dramatically.
The best option would be to stay in place. But as mentioned before, it would be impossible with a barrier.
‘Absolute?’
Lukas shook his head as the thought pa.s.sed through his mind.
Certainly, if he used the power of 9 stars, the battle would be over in an instant, but the consumption would be too high. These two were not the full power of Flower Mountain*. In fact, they were probably just a small portion of it. (*: Sei reminded that ‘Mount Hua’ is a thing. Would you guys prefer if I changed it to that instead of ‘Flower Mountain’.)
Therefore, he still had to preserve his power.
‘7 star spells or lower.’
If possible, he should only use that level of spell to defeat these two elders.
“Lava Blast.”
Fwoom!
With a soft mutter, red lava erupted in front of Lukas. The five sword slashes, which had almost reached him, disappeared as if they had been burned in an instant.
That wasn’t the end.
Like a rampaging beast opening its mouth, the Lava Blast tried to swallow the red robed elder.
The red robed elder held his sword in front of him with both hands with a stiff face.
Immediately after, the sword ki coating his sword soared.
Clang!
Then he slashed it down. A storm swept through the area. It was not just wind generated by his swing.
He had controlled the flow of air with the tip of his sword. Hooooh- A strange sound filled the cave. It was a phenomenon caused by the sudden shift in the air currents.
It wasn’t just the air currents that the red robed elder controlled. The Lava Blast, a great spell that filled the hallway, was attracted to the tip of his sword before being directed away.
‘Soft.’
Lukas realised the true meaning of the swordsmanship being used by the red robed elder.
One thing he noticed was that the two techniques of the two elders were fundamentally the same. Lukas guessed correctly.
Twenty Four Hand Plum Blossom Sword Technique(二十四手梅花劍法).
The martial arts techniques of the Flower Mountain all had the same underlying basis. In addition, the specific characteristics of the sword technique depended on the user.
When used by the blue robed elder, it became a phantom sword that confused his enemies.
And when used by the red robed elder, he unleashed a series of sword slashes. Or, it became a sword that softly cut through an enemy’s strong attacks.
Boom!
The ground shook.
The Lava Blast, which had been pulled in by the red robed elder, was directed into a hole the elder had created.
The direction had changed, but the power had not dissipated.
The violent explosion that occurred shortly after shook the underground cave. Krrr… Pieces of stone fell from the ceiling like rain.
“…you’re strong.”
The red robed elder muttered.
Unlike his soft sword technique, the red robed elder’s eyes were practically blazing. A violence that didn’t match his n.o.ble and elegant swordsmanship seemed to flicker within them.
“The lava you just summoned shook the entire prison.”
He continued to talk in a gentle voice.
“So?”
“…this prison is quite st.u.r.dy, but that impact clearly exceeded its durability. It won’t be long before its foundation begins to collapse.”
The foundation was collapsing.
It went without saying what the consequences of such a thing would be for this underground cave.
Lukas asked.
“Do you intend to die together?”
“That wouldn’t be a bad outcome. Because you… are stronger than us.”
The red robed elder acknowledged this fact after their few exchanges. Until now, their engagements hadn’t been largely bia.s.sed to one side.
However, they could understand one thing.
That Lukas was hiding his power.
Perhaps the strength he had revealed was only around 30% at best. And yet, this monster was able to gain the upper hand against two elders.
‘In that case, then our mission also changes.’
In the first place, the mission they had was to capture or eliminate the intruders.
If that was not possible then the next best option would be to do exactly what Lukas mentioned. However, even that seemed difficult to do.
In that case, there were only two options left.
To cause even the slightest bit of damage, or to make him use more energy.
To make it easier for the Senior Disciple to fight him later.
Krrr…
The falling stone fragments and the shaking cave walls.
They were no different from the screams of the cave. Even at that moment, the sinking of the foundation continued to accelerate.
Lukas also felt the change in their mindset. The arrogance in their expressions had faded. Their will to fight had also changed.
Basically, they intended to take the defensive instead of the offensive, but if his response faltered for even a moment, they would not hesitate to rush in at the risk of their lives. Just to leave an injury of some kind on Lukas.
This was going to become a real ha.s.sle.
“…”
The corners of Lukas’ lips rose.
* * *
Lee Jong-hak watched the fight unfolding before him.
He knew how strong the elders of Flower Mountain were individually. When they attacked together, the difficulty rose to an unimaginable level.
Naturally blocking and counter attacking.
The martial arts ability that Lukas was displaying. It was definitely amazing. To the extent where he couldn’t help but feel admiration.
‘However…’
He was weakened.
Even Lee Jong-hak could tell that much. He couldn’t feel the same aura and pressure of an Absolute that he’d felt every time he faced him in the past.
What was the reason? Did it have something to do with the strange feeling he’d had during their short conversation.
“My friend fights well, doesn’t he?”
Lee Jong-hak turned his head at the sudden voice.
A blue haired woman was standing there. She continued with a grin.
“I like fighting as well.”
“…”
“An overwhelming fight is not worth watching or doing. Fighting is always rough and ugly, but above all else, the more equal it is, the funner it is. Don’t you agree?”
Lee Jong-hak didn’t answer.
He didn’t know why, but every time she talked, he felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness.
However, he didn’t show his discomfort. After all, the other was his benefactor.
He’d seen the jerky Pale had taken out.
Regardless of whether it was a trade with Lukas or not, she had handed over such a valuable item.
“You know. There is something I want to ask you, Oppa.”
“…”
“Answer me. I know you can talk now.”
Pale chuckled.
It was true. Lee Jong-hak’s tongue had already regenerated. It was possible because of this world.
Lee Jong-hak opened his mouth and spoke in a slurred manner.
“What is it?”
“I want to talk to the person behind you.”
Behind?
Lee Jong-hak looked behind him. Naturally, there was nothing there. Just a dank cave wall.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t pretend to be innocent.”
Pale’s smile deepened even more.
“I’m saying I want to talk to the Lightning G.o.d.”
Lee Jong-hak’s expression hardened.