Reaper of the Drifting Moon novel - Chapter 562

Chapter 562

Shiiing!

The devastating strikes of the Heavenly Wolf Blood Fang Sword were unleashed one after the other.

The strikes, as lethal and savage as a wolf’s fang, aimed for Pyo Wol’s entire body. Yet, Pyo Wol either parried every attack with his twin daggers or evaded them with slight movements.

King Gujin had long been a formidable martial artist, respected enough to be counted among the Eight Constellations.

Avoiding the attacks of such a person at close range was not something that could be achieved by martial arts prowess alone.

A super-sensory ability to anticipate the opponent’s moves and an unshakable mindset that never lost its composure in any situation were required.

Both of these traits were hard to master, and not many martial artists in Kangho possessed both.

One of them was Pyo Wol.

Having survived countless battlefields, he had a resolute heart that could even accept his death in peace.

His super-sense, honed since his days in the underground cave, transcended human limitations.

The muscles near King Gujin’s right shoulder moved slightly.

Based on the resulting changes in the direction of the elbow and the position of the fingers holding the sword, he predicted the opponent’s movements in advance.

Based on these predicted movements, he sought a counter strategy.

All this was made possible by the Black Lightning.

All human physical reactions are based on brain activity, and Black Lightning stimulates this brain activity, maximizing physical response speed.

This leads to a state of counteracting where you move later than your opponent, but manage to control them – a concept known as the ‘late comer control’.

However, when his mastery was lower, he could not dare to use the late comer control against an absolute expert like King Gujin.

The movements of experts who have reached the absolute limit are too irregular and fast to an intimidating extent. But leaping over several hurdles, Pyo Wol’s nerves had surpassed human limits and evolved to the extreme.

His body reacts first, based on the information he unconsciously receives from his eyes and senses.

Clang!

The unavoidable attacks were parried by swinging the daggers, and all the rest were dodged.

The sequence of dodging, deflecting, and counter attacking flowed as naturally as a stream of water.

King Gujin doubted his eyes.

The incredible skill of Pyo Wol, displaying such incredible technique against himself, seemed like a mirage.

“What sorcery is this?”

Pyo Wol thrust and swung his daggers so close he could feel his breath.

The length of a sword would have given him an advantage, but at such close range it was difficult to use its full power.

In addition, the overlapping paths of his twin swords hindered his movements. At this point, it was no better than wielding a single sword.

King Gujin sheathed his sword, Golden Emperor, and unleashed his palm technique

A formidable internal energy emitted from his wide-open palm.

Boom!

With the sound of bursting air, his body was thrown backward.

He tried to create some distance to unleash his sword attack again. But he failed to achieve his goal.

Thump!

Suddenly, his body stopped in mid-air before being pulled back towards Pyo Wol.

Looking at his ankle, a faint silver thread was wrapped around it.

Unbeknownst to him, Pyo Wol had secured his ankle with the soul reaping thread.

King Gujin twisted his body in the air and cut the silver thread around his ankle with his sword.

Although he regained his freedom, he inadvertently allowed Pyo Wol to approach him again.

Pyo Wol advanced, writhing like a snake.

It was the Snake Steps.

Pyo Wol tucked one of his daggers into his belt and launched a punch. It was the Jade Shatter technique, a technique that concentrated all power into a single point.

Bam!

With a deafening sound, King Gujin was thrown backward.

He had once again manifested his internal energy to block the Jade Shatter technique.

A look of bewilderment was clearly visible on King Gujin’s face.

Pyo Wol’s martial prowess had surpassed his expectations.

He had fought Pyo Wol before and knew his level of martial arts. So he could only judge Pyo Wol’s abilities based on his past memories.

Although Pyo Wol was known in Kangho by the nickname ‘Reaper’, in his memories he was still stuck in the past.

This discrepancy put King Gujin on the back foot.

Swoosh!

When Pyo Wol flicked his fingers, an incredibly fine soul reaping thread targeted King Gujin’s vital points. However, King Gujin, a supreme expert, had the senses to detect even the slightest movement of the thin silver thread.

“Impossible, you brat!”

He shouted and swung his sword in a panic.

The soul reaping thread severed, disappearing into thin air.

But Pyo Wol, without batting an eye, drew out the threaded serpent qi.

The serpent thread qi, a condensed form of qi, was on a different level of power from the soul-reaping thread.

King Gujin quickly sensed the danger of the threaded serpent qi.

Whooosh!

The sword aura flourished from his fury.

“Heavenly Wolf Tears the Sky!”

King Gujin unfolded his supreme sword technique using the sword aura.

It was on a completely different scale from his previous attacks.

Just as its name, Heavenly Wolf Tears the Sky, suggests, the technique ripped apart the space where Pyo Wol had been standing just moments ago.

It was as if that particular area had been erased from the world, leaving a void.

Just as an empty space is refilled according to the laws of nature, the area damaged by Heavenly Wolf Tears the Sky was restored to its original state. If there had been a person inside, they would have disappeared without a trace.

Fortunately, Pyo Wol was able to dodge the Heavenly Wolf Tears the Sky with Snake Steps.

King Gujin chased after Pyo Wol like a madman.

“Uuhaahaa!”

He laughed maniacally and kept launching his sword techniques.

He looked like a madman.

A madman with formidable martial arts skills spelled nothing but disaster for the world.

But even under such pressure, Pyo Wol didn’t change his expression.

King Gujin was undoubtedly a supreme master.

He was the owner of mighty martial arts that could overwhelm the world.

His character was rough, and he had a wild, wolf-like sense, making him the worst opponent.

If one were to get swept up by King Gujin’s momentum and lose their cool, it would be hard to demonstrate their true skills.

But Pyo Wol was different.

His heart, honed from the underground cave, was not easily swayed by such momentum.

A single candle can illuminate the darkness.

To brighten the deep darkness, a single candlelight is enough,

‘To overcome the darkness before me, all I need is a single unwavering heart.’

This was the mindset Pyo Wol carried with him, honed in the underground cave.

Shwoosh!

Pyo Wol charged straight at King Gujin.

The sight of him wielding a dagger in one hand and the Threaded Serpent Qi in the other was truly terrifying. However, King Gujin cheered.

‘How dare you confront me directly, you must have lost your mind.’

No matter how strong Pyo Wol’s martial arts were, he was fundamentally an assassin at heart.

The martial arts of an assassin might have the power of a single shot, but it wouldn’t work against an absolute master like him.

“Chyaaa!”

King Gujin let out a wild scream and swung his sword.

The Heavenly Wolf Claws the Sky, with its ominous connotation of the claw of a celestial wolf tearing apart the heavens.

With terrifying might, the sword aura extended to a staggering ten feet, slashing through Pyo Wol.

Crack!

The tremendously powerful sword aura sliced through Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol couldn’t dodge it, perhaps not expecting the sword aura to suddenly extend so far.

Grinding his teeth, he concentrated his internal energy into his dagger, blocking King Gujin’s sword aura.

‘It’s over.’

A gleam of ecstasy flickered in King Gujin’s eyes.

Pyo Wol’s dagger too, was backed by powerful internal energy.

One can counter internal energy with another, but the magnitude varied with the weapon used.

Of course, the power of a small dagger was vastly different from the aura of a broadsword.

Crash!

King Gujin’s sword aura crushed Pyo Wol’s dagger and stabbed into his flank.

“Hahaha!”

He couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

King Gujin’s laughter bore an uncanny resemblance to a wolf’s howl.

Pyo Wol, who had been a formidable opponent, now lay defeated before his eyes.

The exhilaration of defeating a formidable foe was indescribable and electrifying.

This was it.

This was the pleasure that kept him tethered to Kangho.

He was always the victor.

Only those who have experienced the thrill of roaring in victory can truly understand it.

“I am King Gujin! The king of wolves, King Gujin! I am the true martial artist. Hahaha!”

King Gujin shouted with joy.

The entire vast field of reeds swayed loudly at his voice, charged with tremendous internal energy.

The reed leaves that had fallen due to the intensity of the battle soared into the air and twirled about.

As he basked in the euphoria of victory, King Gujin was struck by a strange sight.

The body of Pyo Wol, whom he thought he had slashed in half, had disappeared without a trace.

“What?”

His mind was jolted awake, as if doused with cold water.

Only then did he realize that he had felt nothing when he had sliced through Pyo Wol. His senses had been dulled by excessive excitement.

A chill ran down his spine at that moment.

He didn’t need to see to know.

Pyo Wol, who had deceived his vision with an illusion, stood behind him.

Pyo Wol had used the demonic shadow exchange to trick King Gujin’s eyes, and repositioned behind him.

“Shlick!”

“Argh!”

King Gujin screamed loudly at the fiery pain in his left shoulder.

His intact left arm was severed and fell to the ground. A huge fountain of blood erupted from his shoulder.

King Gujin stared at his empty left shoulder, his eyes wide.

Pyo Wol had cut off his left arm with the soul reaping thread.

In the blink of an eye, he had become an armless cripple, his eyes filled with a mixture of terror and fury.

“Damn you!”

King Gujin struck Pyo Wol with the Gongpo.

Pyo Wol took a step back before lunging at King Gujin.

Even though King Gujin had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, he couldn’t immediately adjust to the loss of an arm.

The loss of an arm disrupted his overall balance, and the pain naturally delayed his response.

With this delayed response, he was no match for Pyo Wol.

Thud!

Pyo Wol deeply embedded his dagger into King Gujin’s belly.

“Gah!”

Despite his groan,King Gujin swung his Heavenly Wolf Blood Fang Sword, but Pyo Wol had already jumped back.

Blood welling in his eyes, King Gujin glared at Pyo Wol, his lips clenched in bitter determination. It looked as though blood would gush from his eyes at any moment.

The saving grace was his abdominal muscles tensing at the moment of the strike, mitigating the blood loss. If not for that, he would’ve been rendered motionless as soon as the dagger struck him.

“shit all!”

King Gujin turned his body, then launched his Qigong skill.

He chose to flee.

Pyo Wol hadn’t expected King Gujin, the Wolf King, to retreat in such a cowardly manner again.

He had fled once before. At that time, there was the unexpected factor of the One-Sword Master, which made the choice somewhat excusable.

But now it was clear that King.Gujin was a coward, ready to flee at the first sign of mortal danger

The vanity and futility of one’s reputation in Kangho were made evident by observing King Gujin.

A man’s true nature is often revealed when he is on the brink of death.

It was clear that King Gujin had never encountered such a crisis before.

When death’s door finally opened before him, he threw away his honour and dignity and chose to run.

‘To think Noh Tae-tae perished at the hands of such a disgraceful man.’

Even though Noh Tae-tae’s days were numbered, the fact that she died at the hands of someone as despicable as King Gujin infuriated him.

Noh Tae-tae did not deserve to die by the hands of a man like King Gujin.

She deserved a far more dignified rest.

That’s why Pyo Wol couldn’t forgive King Gujin.

A peaceful death was too good for him.

He too needed to feel the terror of death that the martial artists of the Je-won merchant group had felt.

Pop!

Pyo Wol used his Qigong to chase King Gujin.

He leapt onto the reeds and unleashed the skill ‘Grasshopper Leap’.

In the distance, he could see King Gujin’s back running through the reeds.

Having lost an arm and with a dagger in his belly, King Gujin couldn’t reach his full speed.

He was bleeding so much that he ran very slowly.

Catching him was only a matter of time.

That’s when it happened.

“Hee hee!”

Suddenly, a child’s laughter erupted from ahead of King Gujin.

Swish!

Then came a gruesome cutting sound. King Gujin’s head was cleanly cut off as he ran.