<strong>Chapter 96: Ancient Constetion (7)</strong>


    “The ck Lion, Lee Woohyuk…”


    The man with a long sword scar on his right eye looked out the window and clicked his tongue.


    Where his eyes headed to was the scene of one young man relentlessly pushing back hundreds of demon beasts.


    Booom!—


    The sound of explosions was so loud that it could even be heard at the top floor of a skyscraper.


    Hundreds of demon beasts were torn apart every time Lee Woohyuk swung his sword.


    “I didn’t imagine that the ck Lion woulde here.”


    Park Gunwoo looked down at Lee Woohyuk with a heated gaze.


    He exhaled a breath full of excitement while lovingly stroking the spear equipped on his back.


    ‘I want to try fighting him.’


    He wondered if the ck Lion’s sword would work against his spear and wanted to jump down right that instant to confirm it himself.


    Owoong! Owooong!—


    “Ahh, it looks like you want to fight, as well.”


    Park Gunwoo grasped the spear on his back and talked in an affable voice as if speaking to his lover.


    “Hold on a little longer. You’ll soon be able to taste blood to your heart’s content.”


    Putting on a faint smile, he patted the shaking de of the spear.


    ‘It isn’t time yet.”


    The blood of the martial artist in his veins boiled up explosively, but he couldn’t ruin their perfected ns by fighting with Lee Woohyuk.


    Rustle—


    He carefully took out a ck drinking ss from his pocket.


    “Attack while avoiding him as much as possible.”


    The energy of the ck Stars within the ck drinking ss fluctuated as he handed down orders in a low voice.


    The energy that had at first seemed to overflow from the drinking ss had decreased to under half before he knew it.


    “Tch. It won’tst much longer at this rate.”


    Park Gunwoo clicked his tongue and put the drinking ss back into his pocket.


    He slowly smirked as he looked down at the battlefield where a fierce battle was taking ce.


    ‘Well, we’ve already aplished our goal.’


    The main point of their n was not to kill Lee Woohyuk and other Awakeners but to ‘sacrifice’ the unawakened who were unable to be selected by the celestials.


    With that in mind, more than enough unawakened had lost their lives due to the incident.


    “Fufu. Don’t feel so bad. This is all a sacrifice needed to erect the almighty will of the ck Stars into the world.”


    Park Gunwoo looked down at the corpses which were the aftermath of their actions and smiled.


    After looking out the window for a while, he turned around without hesitation.


    ‘I should start to head back.’


    It would be troublesome if he hung around longer and ended up standing out to the eyes of the ck Lion.


    “Hehe. There’s no way that guy will be able to reach this ce, anyways.”


    There was currently a crack that led to the Demon Realm underneath the skyscraper he was in. With an endless amount of demon beasts pouring out for as long as it was maintained, not even Lee Woohyuk would be able to break through and arrive at the top floor.


    “No matter how savage a tiger is, it’s not like they have wings.”


    With a cold grin on his face, he looked at Lee Woohyuk fighting persistently.


    There were still around 20 minutes left until the crack leading to the Demon Realm would close.


    No one being able to reach that ce for at least that amount of time was inevita—


    <strong>“I’M FLYING! I’M FUCKING FLYINGGGG!!!”</strong>


    “Huh? What’s that sound?”


    As Park Gunwoo turned his head in the direction of where the noise wasing from—


    Shatter!!!—


    —the windowpletely shattered as a young man rolled into the building.


    —A young man with curly ck hair and meek eyes that didn’t match his fiercely shining pupils.


    “…The Lightning Wolf?”


    “Goddamn, I thought I was going to die.”


    Ohjin brushed off the shattered pieces of ss on his body and got up from the spot.


    He looked around and smirked once he discovered Park Gunwoo.


    “Are you the bastard who’s controlling the demon beasts?’


    “…How did you get here?”


    Park Gunwoo looked at Ohjin with a confused expression.


    The ce where he had set up camp was on the 50th floor of the building, which was located over 200 meters off the ground.


    But being able to ‘jump’ up that height?


    “You… what method did you use?”


    “We hit a home run.”


    “…?”


    “What, you don’t know what home run means?”


    ‘Is he a Hanwha Eagles fan?’*


    “Anyways, we’re not in the kind of rtionship to peacefully ask each other questions, are we?”


    When there was no way either of them would obediently reply, asking questions was a waste of time.


    Click—


    Ohjin took out the steel rod in his belt and turned it into the shape of a spear.


    “Let’s share a carefree questioning time after we fight each other.”


    “…You’re overflowing with confidence.”


    “Then did you expect me to start off by saying ‘Oh, shit! I’m screwed’?”


    Unless he had no ns to fight in the first ce, it was better to erase any thoughts of being defeated from inside his head.


    ‘And.’


    He hadn’t gone to that spot without doing the calctions in advance.


    ‘It’s manageable.’


    Ohjin had risen to 5-Star after defeating Arshad Khan; even the stigma of Lyra had be a step stronger with the fourth awakening of the ck Heaven.


    He was confident that he wouldn’t lose that easily, even if it was a Temr ranked higher than Arshad Khan.


    ‘Vega would have stopped me using whatever means she could if he was an opponent I couldn’t handle.’


    However, Vega had only said that she had ‘found’ them. Never had she said that he mustn’t go there nor to run away immediately. If a North Star hadn’t said anything along those lines despite detecting him while enduring the Commandment’s Restriction…


    ‘It means he’s an opponent I can defeat.’


    And in addition, he had thought up a ‘hidden trump card’.


    ‘…Though I’m not sure if it’ll work in reality.’


    It didn’t matter that much if the hidden card he thought up waspletely ineffective.


    ‘If it doesn’t work out, I can just run away to Lee Woohyuk.’


    Ohjin wasn’t reluctant to run away.


    —It was more idiotic to have a fight to the death with an opponent he couldn’t handle.


    “Then let’s stop the chit-chat and get things started.”


    Ohjin raised his spear at Park Gunwoo.


    “A spear? Come to think of it… I did hear that the Lightning Wolf also uses a spear.”


    Park Gunwoo grinned and spun the spear in his grasp.


    —A short spear that wasn’t even two meters long.


    Different from Ohjin’s, it was a spear specialized in stabbing.


    * * *


    “Now then, let’s see just how great the skill of a North Star’s apostle is!”


    Without any movements in advance, Park Gunwoo’s body shot forward like a ray of light.


    aang!!—


    “Argh!”


    Ohjin quickly backed off and fended off the spear.


    His body was pushed back with the clear sound of metal.


    “This is only the beginning!”


    Park Gunwoo’s sharp stabs rushed in.


    ck feathers were created near the spear and shot towards Ohjin every time the spear was thrusted forward.


    ng! --ng!!—


    Spear strikes rained down.


    —Each and every ck feather aimed at Ohjin as if they were spears as well.


    “Ugh!”


    Ohjin barely blocked the attacks and groaned.


    ‘As expected, he’s disgustingly strong.’


    The opponent’s skill was definitely higher than Arshad Khan’s.


    At minimum, he was someone at the 8-Star rank.


    Thump, thump—


    Was it because it had been a while since he fought with someone strong?


    The thrilling sense of anxiety he couldn’t feel after the fight with Arshad Khan ran down his spine and spread out.


    “Did you spout those arrogant words with only this much skill?!”


    Park Gunwoo continuously pushed back Ohjin as if he was certain of victory.


    ng! ng! aang!—


    Ohjin narrowly blocked the overwhelming spear strikes that rushed in and continued thinking.


    ‘Should I use Exceed?’


    Unlike a 1~2-Star difference, it was hard to narrow the difference in specs that fundamentally existed between a 5-Star and 8-Star without using Exceed.


    ‘No, not yet.’


    It wasn’t easy to take on attacks while being much behind on both strength and speed, but…


    ‘I’m still… able to hang on.’


    —The Spearmanship of Pyxis obtained through Lee Shinhyuk’s memories.


    Using the spearmanship that could move freely in all directions, he was barely neutralizing the overwhelming difference.


    “…Indeed. Your spearmanship ismendable.”


    Park Gunwoo looked at Ohjin with admiration but soon smirked wickedly.


    “However, the spearmanship you’re disying is nothing but a fake that has no soul in the end.”


    “Soul? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”


    “What is a ‘spear’ to you?”


    “I think of it as a weapon that cannot use aura.”


    “What? What are you talking about?”


    “Sword aura sounds fine, but spear aura sounds a bit inappropriate, doesn’t it?”


    T/N: The word for ‘Spear Aura’ in Korean has the same spelling as prostitute.


    “…”


    Park Gunwoo looked at Ohjin with an astonished expression.


    “Looking at the nonsense you’re speaking… I can see why I can’t feel any soul in your spearmanship.”


    He stroked the spear grasped in his hand like it was the most precious thing in the world.


    “Bastards like you only think of spears as simple tools for ughter.”


    “Then what else is it?”


    Park Gunwoo extended out his spear with sunken eyes.


    He gathered up his feet with systemic movements, rotated his spear, and mmed it on the ground.


    “The spear is a principle that pierces through all things in the universe(森羅萬象). It is the horizon that divides what is true(実) and what is false(虛).”


    “Pardon?”


    “Possessing both natures of fluidity(流) and solidity(強), the ways of yin and yang(太極)—”


    “Lightning Charge.”


    Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!—


    “Kughhhhhhk!!!”


    Park Gunwoo’s body was violently sent flying back as he was hit by the exploding lightning.


    “What the fuck are you talking about?”


    ‘The horizon that divides what is true and false? Yin and yang?’


    “A spear is just a weapon that was made to stab and tear, dumbass.”


    Even if you talked about how it was a principle or whatever all day long, at the end of the day, it was a weapon used to kill humans.


    “Use the time spouting nonsense to practice swinging your spear one more time.”


    Fwoong!—


    Ohjin coldly swung down his spear engulfed in Lightning mes.


    aaaaaaang!!!—


    “Kugh!!!”


    Park Gunwoo urgently raised his spear and narrowly blocked the attack.


    “Y-Y-You bastard, you dare…!”


    Was it because he thought his belief in spears was being ridiculed? Park Gunwoo grasped his spear with a boiling face.


    “Then why don’t you try taking me down with pure spearmanship!!”


    “Pure spearmanship?”


    “That’s right! Let’spete without using our stigmas!”


    Park Guneoo aimed the point of his spear at Ohjin and shouted out gantly.


    “With neither of us using our stigmas…”


    Ohjin nodded his head.


    “Very well. Let’spete fair and square with just our spearmanship.”


    “I shall prove to you that you are wrong.”


    Park Gunwoo moved his spear with elegant movements.


    The blood of the martial artist engraved on his soul boiled up.


    “A spear… isn’t merely a tool.”


    The one and only thing that protected him in a world where monsters run amok wasn’t family, friends, or his lover.


    Just one spear…


    That one spear had led him to the ck Stars.


    “The spear is a part of my body.”


    One with the spear (身槍合一).


    The realm one could reach at the peak of spearmanship.


    He had already achieved that realm a long time ago.


    “Come at me.”


    Park Gunwoo aimed his spear at Ohjin.


    —A stance that seemed to be like one drawn on a manual.


    Despite not using his stigma, the pressure he emitted was powerful enough to be suffocating.


    “I’m starting.”


    Refusing to yield to the suffocating pressure, Ohjin raised his spear.


    In order for a sh of pure spearmanship without the use of a stigma—


    <strong>“Exceed.”</strong>


    Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!—


    The stigma of Lyra radiantly zed up as blue lightning coiled around Ohjin’s entire body.


    “Huh? Wh-What are you doing?”


    “What does it fucking look like?”


    “I lied.”


    T/N: ‘Hanwha Eagles fan’ is making fun of how that baseball team isn’t ying well.


    *For Paid Readers*: Changed ‘Stigma of the Owl Neb’ to ‘Stigma of Noctua’, ‘Owl Faction’ to ‘Noctua Faction’, ‘Stigma of Leeches’ to ‘Stigma of Hirudo’ to be more astronomically (and story-wise) urate. The other word for Romani has also been changed to Romani. It is what the raws said but more research should have been done on my part. Sorry. s have been updated.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constetions