Editors: Ytho, LaidBackGuy
“… Would that be okay?”
Jang Deuksu looked a little reluctant. It was the same for Chwigeol. It didn’t sit right with him either. Whatever the reason, it was never right to do such a thing.
“It is impossible for just the three of us to stop Wijihoyeon.”
“I know. But…”
“We failed. Someone has to get out alive to report it.”
Chwigeol’s voice was low. There was a mixture of shame and reproach in it, but he could not completely hide the hint of a selfish desire to live.
“I can’t let Baek Sogo die. I also cannot die. For… For the Wandering sect.”
He knew that it was only an excuse. In the end, he was just running away because he was afraid of dying. Chwigeol glanced at Crimson Elder’s corpse lying on the ground. Even the cruelest of people would beg him before they died, saying that they didn’t want to die.
He didn’t want to die. They were all the same. After all, they only had one life.
“How about you?”
“I.. don’t want to die. I am ashamed but I still want to live.”
“What’s the point of trying to save face after coming this far?”
Jang muttered with a dejected voice. His remark was met with a dry smile from Chwigeol. Jang Deuksu reached into his sleeves and took out a scroll that had been rolled up inside.
“Our luck was good.”
It was the scroll that was on Crimson Elder. Seeing the flesh smeared on it, it seemed like she had acquired it by killing one of the dungeon’s Doppelgangers. He analyzed the magic engraved on the scroll using Baek Sogo’s artifacts.
‘Escape from the dungeon.’
If used, the engraved magic would enable them to escape from the dungeon immediately, and the number of people that could use it together was three. Crimson Elder didn’t know what magic was inscribed on the scroll before dying.
“I’m sure Baek Sogo will resent you for that…”
“I will take responsibility.”
Replied Chwigeol. He sat with his back against the wall and looked at Baek Sogo lying down in front. He would have had to go to rescue Lee Sungmin with Baek Sogo, but Chwigeol took Baek Sogo by surprise and knocked her unconscious.
‘If anyone, please resent me.’
He sincerely thought, recalling Lee Sungmin, whom he met briefly. However, he still unsealed the scroll.
[Please specify the names of people using it.]
Replying to the voice in his head, Chwigeol said the names of Jang Deuksu and Baek Sogo.
* * *
It hurt.
When he felt the pain, Lee Sungmin was already rolling down the floor. He couldn’t afford to analyze what kind of attack it was. Heoju yelled inside Lee Sungmin’s mind.
[Be alert! The attacks keep coming!]
Lee Sungmin immediately straightened up. The Doppelganger lifted its foot and hit the floor. The floor of flesh shook like a wave, and a huge force hit Lee Sungmin. Lee Sungmin clenched his teeth and jumped out of the way.
Kwaaaang!
The attack destroyed the place he had been standing in just a moment ago.
[What do we do? Uh, what should I do?]
Rubia fretted nervously. He did not know. Lee Sungmin hurriedly swung the spear.
Kkwaang!
The force of the Doppelganger’s attack hit Lee Sungmin’s spear. His left wrist that was holding the spear twisted and throbbed, making his arm go numb.
‘My hand… !’
The energy didn’t circulate. He pressed on against his body’s will. He held the centre of the spear in his right hand and turned the spear once. Spear intent and Spearhead, the two hit the Doppelganger one after another.
The Doppelganger’s face was indifferent. It was incomparable to the original, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a monster. Not using the Black Dragon meant that Doppelganger, or rather, Wijihoyeon saw him as an opponent. In other words, it meant the Doppelganger had been simply playing with him until now, and only now saw him as an enemy now and planned on sincerely eliminating him.
It was a terrible misfortune for Lee Sungmin. His attacks were easily blocked by the Doppelganger. The Doppelganger, with a black Defense Aura surrounding its body, looked like the reincarnation of a demon that would destroy everything in its path even if it was not Wijihoyeon.
The outstretched hand looked big. It shook its wrist slightly, creating several afterimages. Side? Front? Huh? Where did it go?
[From the center, ten steps to the right, seven steps to the left… ]
Heoju said quickly, but it was still too slow. The Doppelganger’s attack was too fast to understand and respond to after listening. Rather than intercepting the attacks one by one, he turned the spear to block the whole, and as a result it was too late. Lee Sungmin flew backwards, vomiting blood.
[What a hassle.]
Heoju grumbled.
“What to do… What to do … If you die here, I won’t be able to see my master…”
Rubia muttered inside his consciousness.
“Just… Shut up.”
Lee Sungmin refocused while breathing. His legs were tingling.
[You ungrateful bastard. If I hadn’t blocked that attack for you, you would have been blown away just then.]
Indeed. He thought it was surprising how he managed to hold on, given the brutality of that attack.
‘Why did you do it then?’
[If you die here, I’ll be in trouble too. I can’t drag out your bloody remains. And there is something I want to ask you.]
Heoju replied. Lee Sungmin stood up while staggering. Doppelganger blinked as if startled by him.
[So much time has passed. But that woman you sent back is not coming back.]
‘I know.’
He was not a fool. He knew that he had sent Baek Sogo to bring Chwigeol and Jang Deuksu, but she had not yet returned. He knew that a lot of time had passed. He knew that nobody would come for him even if he waited any longer.
Did Baek Sogo betray him? That thought… he didn’t want to think of that even if it was true.
[Aren’t you resentful? Don’t you regret it? If you hadn’t come here, you wouldn’t have to die on behalf of that bitch. I honestly don’t understand. Didn’t you already die once?]
He didn’t even have a moment to gather his thoughts. The Doppelganger attacked again. He stretched out his right hand. Palm or fist? Or maybe, the edge of his palm? He fortified it with Spear force. Lee Sungmin rotated the spear in his right hand.
(T/N: ‘edge of his palm’ is like the same movement used in taekwondo or karate to split bricks or break a board)
Kagagagak!
Their respective forces clashed against each other. It was Lee Sungmin who was pushed back. He changed his form without supporting his inclined body. At the same time, he rotated the spear using Skill Stealing from bottom to top.
It did not work. The Doppelganger moved away, perfectly escaping Lee Sungmin’s range of attack.
[Since you’ve experienced it, you should know it well. How sudden and futile death is. You don’t think you’ll be able to go back again this time as well?]
‘Of course not.’
He answered and ran immediately, moving into the footwork of the Two-step Calamitous End. As the Spear force exploded, he performed the Nine Dragon Spirit move of the Nine Heavenly Spears technique. The edge of the spear force swept across the front, carrying a clear killing intent.
The Black Dragon, it had been using as a defense, was put down. The Doppelganger went forward without any defense. It had only used its right hand. The Doppelganger mimicking Wijihoyeon was at such a level. It acknowledged him and took off the Black Dragon. However, it did not use a cow-hunting knife to catch a mere chicken. Only the right hand moved.
[Tell me. Are you regretting it? Do you resent that wench?]
‘I-‘
He spat out. His Nine Dragon Spirit attack was dissolved by the Doppelganger. The Doppelganger leapt onto the scattered shards of his Spear force.
‘I do not regret it, nor do I resent her. In the first place… If I hadn’t met her, I would have died eight years ago.’
He had entered Mush’s mountain recklessly. With excessive confidence in himself, that he could do it all alone. Had Baek Sogo not helped him back then, he would have died on the mountain.
‘I was saved by Baek Sogo. While staying with her, I thought I wouldn’t let her die. That’s why I came here and chose to stay back.’
[Have you fallen for the bitch?]
‘That’s bullshit.’
[Hahaha!]
Heoju laughed out loud merrily. Rubia was still fretfully muttering, and the Doppelganger’s attacks were raining down fiercely.
[How touching. I can’t let you die, so let me help you a little.]
Heoju offered proudly. Lee Sungmin didn’t pay him any attention. The situation was bad. Wijihoyeon’s Doppelganger had begun to use her martial arts in earnest, Wijihoyeon had turned into a monster far beyond Lee Sungmin’s capabilities. After 9 years of separation. Was this how far she had gone in 9 years? Lee Sungmin smiled.
‘Even if you use up all your life force, you wouldn’t be an opponent for it. It’s probably too late to run away. Shall we run forward?’
[You can’t run away from that kind of an opponent.]
‘It’s hard to win. I must have told you already. I don’t want to die.’
[You don’t have to die.]
Heoju laughed out loud. Flames rose from the armor that covered Lee Sungmin’s body. Lee Sungmin was surprised and took a few steps back unconsciously.
[It’s easy to draw strength if you have a medium!]
Heoju said with a smile. The flames from the armor surrounded Lee Sungmin’s body, but he did not feel any heat from it.
‘You… What are you doing?’
[Hahaha! You’re speaking informally to me even though I didn’t give you my permission. Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m a little fond of you.]
The Doppelganger ran. Its powerful moves pierced through Lee Sungmin’s Nine Dragon Spirit and crushed his Two-step Calamitous End. A huge wave of force hit Lee Sungmin, and the flames blazed upward all around him before he had a chance to respond.
[Look! This is what a real monster looks like!]
Heoju roared out with a proud voice.
Kkwaaaang!
Their powers collided. The Doppelganger’s force disappeared as if it hadn’t existed in the first place. The flames charged ahead without being pushed back. The Doppelganger hurriedly raised both hands. Blood-red spheres took form between its palms placed in front of its chest and flew forward as if they’d been thrown.
Ahhhhhhh!
Space itself shook as the two different forces collided. Lee Sungmin staggered and stepped back.
‘What the hell… !’
[You dimwit! It is part of my power. If you fight alone, you’ll die at the hands of that half-baked goods!]
‘Are you helping me… ?’
[Yes! I can’t let you die! But this is not very efficient. I’ll lend you my strength. So, use it as you please.]
Just as he said that. The rising flames scattered and penetrated into Lee Sungmin’s body. At that moment, he understood. That time, what he saw in the sleeping forest was not a simple flame. It wasn’t the flames that pushed back Wijihoyeon’s attacks just now. It was the huge power supplied by Heoju.
(T/N: it’s actually still the Doppelganger. Lee Sungmin shifted to thinking of the Doppelganger as Wijihoyeon’s avatar instead ever since it got real with him)
[Here’s the thing. Usually, a human being would not be able to handle it. But you can handle it. Your heart looks more like it belongs to a ghost than a human.]
Heoju’s powers invaded his body, and his heart swallowed it up. Lee Sungmin panted breathlessly. His exhaustion and struggles all disappeared. The throbbing pain went away. The broken ribs and wrists? They moved perfectly again.
As it entered his heart, Lee Sungmin understood the nature of this power. It was neither martial arts nor magic. It was a simple and savage force that could only bring destruction, a foreign and unusual force that normal humans could not handle. The abilities and inner forces that normally couldn’t coexist, now existed in the body of Lee Sungmin. The forces entangled but did not mix. It flowed inside his body alongside those forces, like oil and water. Lee Sungmin felt like his meridians were being torn apart.
[Endure!]
Heoju shouted out. The Doppelganger ran. He rose from a plaything to an enemy and now a rival. The Doppelganger began to expand its power. It split itself into 5 identical clones and attacked him from all sides. Each of them was as powerful as the original. Lee Sungmin clenched his jaw and moved the spear.
Lightning Strike.
The new lightning attack, which was unleashed with a mixture of inner force and martial arts, could not be compared to one he previously used. The clones were destroyed amidst a series of explosions. Among them, the main body escaped through a gap.
[Behind you!]
Heoju announced the location. But Lee Sungmin was already aware of it. His senses had sharpened greatly. Lee Sungmin turned his body around while suppressing a pained sound. He couldn’t swing the spear. The blast he had just unleashed had used up a tremendous amount of power, and Lee Sungmin’s arms couldn’t handle the power after performing the move and his bones were shattered.
However, Lee Sungmin knew that it was not a big deal. The shattered arm was already fixing itself rapidly. But there was another problem. The Doppelganger had moved behind his back, and was aiming both fists at his chest.
Shadowless. Lee Sungmin’s body disappeared from the spot. He was propelled forward before he could even blink. Lee Sungmin controlled himself, surprised at the alarming speed. One step, followed by another. Two-step Calamitous End. He unleashed his Spear force, now carrying a mixture of inner force and martial arts. The Doppelganger hurriedly raised its hands in defense against the attack coming at it from the side. However, it could not resist the attack completely. The Doppelganger’s body was pushed back.
In the meantime, Lee Sungmin’s bones had fully healed. He swallowed his breath and started performing the Nine Heavenly Spears technique.
Lightning Annihilation of the Nine Heavenly Spears techniques.
The attack exploded soundlessly with unimaginable speed. It was close to the ideal attack that killed Ghost Blade, the same attack Lee Sungmin desperately tried to recreate to the level he had seen in his subconscious. In the world of his subconscious, he had done it over and over again, but he had been unable to redo it with his body when he returned to reality.
But not now. His body that was assisted by Heoju’s power made it possible to move further, and unveil Lightning Annihilation with extreme speed.
What he aimed for was the chest.
Lee Sungmin’s spear pierced through the center of the Doppelganger’s chest.
TLDR: plot armour strikes back