Chapter 73: Two Suspicious People
What the hell? Why is he wearing a mask...?
Martial artists entered the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament to make a name for themselves.
There was no reason to hide one's face behind a mask like that.
More importantly... what was that huge cheer just now?
I turned my head and checked the masked man's opponent.
A heavily built man stood across from him, wielding two large sabers.
Just from the aura he gave off...
it was obvious he was strong.
“Whoa! That's Gwak Mungi, the Twin Sabers of Henan!”
“You mean that Gwak Mungi who supposedly dominated the Henan region with his twin sabers?”
“That masked guy got unlucky. Imagine meeting someone like him in the preliminaries.”
Apparently, the cheering had been for Gwak Mungi, not the masked man.
Gwak Mungi gripped his twin sabers and looked the masked man up and down.
Then he twisted his lips into a sneer.
“What kind of bastard hides his face like that?”
He raised one saber.
“Why don't you show me what that face of yours looks like?”
The masked man didn't respond to the provocation.
He simply held a sword in his right hand and silently stared at Gwak Mungi.
That seemed to irritate Gwak Mungi even more.
“What?”
“No mouth under that mask?”
He grinned.
“Fine. I'll take it off for you myself.”
The moment those rough words left his mouth...
the referee signaled the start of the match.
BOOM!
The instant the match began...
Gwak Mungi launched himself forward.
In the next moment...
both sabers swept toward either side of the masked man's face.
Fast.
It was already too late to dodge.
Everyone probably expected the match to end in an instant.
But...
CLANG! CLANG!
The sound of metal colliding rang out.
Both of Gwak Mungi's sabers stopped at the same time.
It was as if they had struck an invisible wall.
“...What?”
Gwak Mungi's eyes widened.
The confidence from moments earlier vanished.
Only confusion remained.
He immediately pulled back his sabers and retreated several steps.
The masked man simply let him.
He slowly lowered the tip of his sword.
His relaxed posture made it seem as though blocking Gwak Mungi's twin sabers had been nothing worth mentioning.
Only then did the audience erupt.
“D-Did you see that?!”
“He stopped both of Gwak Mungi's sabers in one move!”
“His sword was so fast I could barely even see it!”
The crowd murmured excitedly.
Gwak Mungi's face twisted as he listened.
He seemed to understand exactly what that single exchange had meant.
“...You blocked both my sabers in one move?”
His voice came out hoarse.
He was clearly shaken.
The masked man, on the other hand...
didn't move at all.
He simply stared back.
Gwak Mungi drew in a deep breath and lowered his stance again.
“Fine.”
He growled.
“I'll show you why my twin sabers are called the best in Henan.”
Like a beast lunging for prey...
Gwak Mungi rushed forward.
The distance vanished in an instant.
His arms swung wide.
SHWAAAAK!
The two saber blades came in along different paths.
The first slash descended from above, aimed at splitting the masked man's head.
The second immediately followed horizontally, trying to cut him in half at the waist.
A perfect chained assault with no visible opening.
“It's Twin Saber Chain Slash!”
Someone in the audience shouted.
Gwak Mungi's lips curled upward.
He looked certain of victory.
Then...
the masked man's sword flashed.
CLANG! CLANG!
Metallic impacts thundered across the platform once again.
Even louder than before.
Gwak Mungi's twin sabers were knocked upward.
And in the next instant...
tiny cracks began appearing across both blades.
Crack.
Crack-crack.
Cr-cr-crack!
Both sabers split in half.
The broken blades crashed onto the ground.
CLANG! CLATTER!
“...!?”
Gwak Mungi froze.
Only the handles and short remains of the blades trembled in his hands.
Tap.
The masked man's sword tip stopped directly in front of Gwak Mungi's throat.
For a moment...
the entire arena fell completely silent.
Then the referee broke the silence.
“Winner, Nameless!”
The arena exploded again.
“Who the hell is that swordsman?!”
“Nameless? What's his identity?”
“How did he break the Twin Sabers of Henan's weapons in a single move?!”
The crowd's excited voices poured out without pause.
I quietly stared at the masked swordsman.
He's strong.
That last move had been flawless.
Sharper and stronger than any sword I'd seen so far in this tournament.
Where did someone like that come from?
Then...
“Ho.”
A familiar voice came from beside me.
“There's an interesting one.”
I turned.
It was Jin Gwangung.
Tang Soyeon was standing beside him.
I had been so focused on the match that I hadn't even noticed them approaching.
Jin Gwangung chuckled.
“Kekeke.”
“You'd better hope you meet that one as late as possible.”
He grinned.
“Otherwise, you might get smashed out early just like Yu Gwangcheol did back in the day.”
Then he stroked his beard.
“Nameless, huh...”
“Wonder what kind of bastard he is.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Hiding both his name and face definitely makes him look suspicious.”
Tang Soyeon added,
“Someone with that level of skill should already be famous.”
She studied the masked man.
“Hm...”
“I'm curious who he really is.”
While we were talking...
the masked man stepped down from the platform.
I expected him to quietly disappear into the crowd.
After all...
he had hidden both his name and face.
It was only natural to assume he'd avoid attention.
But...
he suddenly started walking toward us.
More precisely...
toward me.
He stopped several steps away.
The eyes visible above his mask curved slightly.
“Kunlun's Young Hero.”
He called my title.
His voice was much younger than I'd expected.
Almost the same age as mine.
