Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 23



Only Noblemtl

23. The Vagabond

The melody of battle echoes through the forest on the second floor of the labyrinth.

“Keeek!!”

A giant, raccoon-like monster roared.

Dozens of legs moving in unison.

Its strong teeth, strong enough to chew through trees, rushed towards Hyunseong’s arm bone.

He came closer, closing the distance in the blink of an eye,

Phew!

Hyunseong’s sword pierced the guy’s head and stuck into the ground.

“Keeeeeeeeeek!”

“Your voice is so loud.”

A guy who screams in pain.

Hyunseong swung his sword as if he didn’t have time to wait for the guy to die.

Bam!

A giant civet that is split open from head to tail.

Hyunseong, who had caught the last guy, sat down leisurely on a nearby rock.

and,

Kak!

“Keeeeeek!!”

“Keruk!”

He watched quietly as his disciple fought a giant raccoon.

Brin was having quite a hard time breaking through the black raccoon’s tough outer shell.

Thanks to that, while you’re catching more than ten of them, you’re only dealing with one.

‘I can’t help it.’

Because Brin hasn’t yet been able to channel his inner energy into his sword.

To that end, I had to use my body more actively, but that wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

‘The only good thing is that it’s possible with magic power.’

It’s not perfect, though.

The reason why it was possible with magical power but not with internal energy was simple.

That’s proof that you’re not familiar with the internal energy.

‘Because they are different mountains.’

Just because you’ve climbed this mountain, doesn’t mean you can know what the hiking routes are like on other mountains?

However, the faster you climb the mountain, the faster you climb.

That’s why I told Brin to only use his internal energy in battle for the time being.

If you fight while keeping your word, you will soon be able to create sword energy with your internal energy.

“hmm…”

I stared quietly at the sword in my hand.

The sword energy created through internal energy was gently woven into the body of his sword.

A smooth, uncluttered sword.

He tried to add black energy to it with his magic power.

Then,

Sssss.

It seemed as if my internal energy and magical power were mixed, but the sword energy surrounding the sword body was completely scattered.

My internal energy and magical power were acting separately.

No, it would have been better if they had played separately like water and oil.

They were eating each other up and not even functioning properly.

It would be better to use one force rather than two at the same time.

‘but…’

Hyunseong knows.

That the two sources of power, internal energy and magical power, are the same.

So, what this means is that these two forces can be mixed together.

If you can’t do it, it’s because you lack self-realization.

While Hyunseong was wondering how to mix his magic and internal energy, Brin, who had just finished the battle, approached him with a weary look on his face.

“Okay, I got you.”

“Can I not eat that?”

What Hyunseong was pointing to was the corpse of a fox caught by his disciple.

Brin looked at the body and shook his head.

“That thing is poisonous, so it’s dangerous.”

“Oh really?”

Somehow I thought the raccoon was a bit weak for a creature that came out on the second floor, but I didn’t know it had a special ability called poison.

He had no way of knowing since he was only a bone and could not communicate.

I didn’t even allow the guy to attack in the first place.

“It seems like you’ve become quite adept at handling internal energy.”

“Keruk.”

Even though he couldn’t form a sword, his proficiency in sending his internal energy to the necessary places seemed to have increased significantly.

Brin seemed to be thinking deeply about something, then opened his mouth.

“But then a problem occurred.”

“What’s going on?”

“The sword…”

Brin trails off and holds out his sword.

I could tell right away what the problem was by looking at the sword.

The black tooth that the disciple held out was out.

‘I guess there’s nothing we can do about it.’

It was only natural, since the environment was not one that could be properly managed in the first place and battles were fought frequently.

I can’t even use my sword, and I just fought a monster with a hard outer shell.

It’s stranger that the teeth don’t fall out.

“Besides, it wasn’t a good sword either.”

I just picked up a suitable sword from among those sold in the Labyrinth City.

Although I was doing the bare minimum of maintenance, I was amazed at how well it had held up until now.

In this state, it wouldn’t be strange if it broke at any time during a fight.

“What should I do?”

“hmm…”

Hyunseong stroked his chin and became lost in thought.

The first thought that came to mind was to get new weapons for the lizardmen.

Even though their weapons are crude, they’re better than a sword with all its teeth missing.

or not,

‘You get it from the awakened ones.’

Since the Awakened ones paid attention to their equipment, there was a high probability that they would have good swords.

Of course, it was necessary to have a prerequisite that we meet at least once, either way.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a lizardman, and I haven’t encountered an Awakened person since I entered the second floor.

“Let me just walk around the area… okay?”

Hyunseong blurted out a question while speaking.

A strange sound was mixed with the humid wind blowing through the dense forest.

The familiar sound of weapons clashing.

Looking at the explosion-like sound mixed in, it seems like skills may also be being used.

‘Good timing.’

It was a time when a new weapon was needed.

You can sneak it in during the chaos of battle.

Whatever it is, it will be a better sword than the one Brin is using now.

‘The former Heavenly Horse is stealing? That’s out of the question.’

In the old days, whether or not I was fighting, I would have just shown up and asked to borrow a sword.

Of course, there will be a bit of a conversation needed since the other side won’t just say “Okay, I understand” and hand it over.

‘It’s dirty and deadly, so it needs to evolve quickly.’

With that thought in mind, I led Brin through the bushes and headed towards the direction of the sound.

A sound that becomes more intense as it gets closer.

‘There are quite a few?’

It seemed like there was quite a fierce fight going on.

When we arrived at the place, an unexpected sight was unfolding.

I thought it was a fight between the Awakened and monsters, but it was a fight between the Awakened.

“but.”

Just because a monster appeared, people wouldn’t suddenly join forces to destroy it and conquer the labyrinth.

Whether they compete with each other, are jealous or envious.

There are bound to be people who will try to beat others to get one more thing.

‘Rather, there are probably many guys who commit crimes using the labyrinth.’

Since there was little fear of being caught, the labyrinth was the perfect place for human malice to show itself.

Hyunseong observed the battle situation.

The side being ambushed or attacked was surrounded by dozens of people.

The attacked side was laden with luggage, as if they were some kind of upper class.

“Isn’t there a bit of resistance?”

“You bumbling punks… Are you attacking us because you know we’re the White Tiger Guild?”

“Huh, the White Tiger Guild?!”

“If you just go now, you’ll be fine.”

The man, who thought the threat was working, immediately opened his mouth. The man who looked like a bandit leader smiled and opened his mouth.

“He says it’s good because I pretend to be scared.”

“You don’t think that kind of threat will work on us, do you? Just kill them here and keep their mouths shut.”

“We have no idea that you guys are part of the White Tiger Guild.”

“What kind of people are in the Baekho Guild? You don’t know them?”

“No, I’ve never heard of it.”

“These kids…”

The man gritted his teeth as the hobos giggled and joked among themselves.

They were called vagabonds and were the Awakened who committed all kinds of crimes in the labyrinth.

They were the ones who lived in the labyrinth, preying on other Awakened people.

“If you give up, I’ll kill you cleanly.”

Murder and destruction, that was the basic modus operandi of the vagabonds.

Because I didn’t know there might be repercussions if I let him live.

“Actually, we didn’t want to do this either~”

“We became so violent because we wanted revenge on them for letting us live.”

“That’s what I’m saying. If we get robbed, we can just say we stepped in shit and move on.”

“Hey, so does that mean we’re shit?”

“Oh, then should we make it a natural disaster?”

The Baekho Guild Awakened members who were attacked by the following conversation could not help but be dumbfounded.

Isn’t it like saying that it’s the victim’s fault after committing a crime?

Hyunseong, who had been watching the situation, nodded and clenched his teeth.

“Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve seen this kind of trash.”

Is there some kind of law for conserving waste?

At that moment, his disciple’s voice was heard from the side.

“What are you going to do?”

“Hmm… Well, can I help you out?”

Hyunseong, who was stroking his chin, lightly clicked his teeth.

It wasn’t particularly because I was overflowing with a sense of chivalry or anything like that.

Even when I was in the martial arts world, I wasn’t the type to take care of things like that.

The reason he decided to get involved in the battle was simple.

‘The bum leader’s sword looks the most useful.’

I don’t know where he stole it or if it was just looted like this, but it looked too good to match his black theme.

If I get that, I won’t have to worry about the sword for a while.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

‘They’re weaker than I thought.’

Even if the leader of the vagabonds had the peerless sword, if he was an absurdly strong Awakened person, Hyeonseong would have given up on him cleanly.

However, the skills of the vagabonds, including the guy, were poor, so they decided to join the war.

‘Because I have to fight a fight I have a chance of winning.’

The iron rule that helped him survive his long life in the martial arts world.

If there was a chance of winning, even if it meant hitting a rock with an egg, I jumped in.

On the contrary, he thoroughly avoided the foolish act of rushing into a battle where he had no chance of winning.

“Confidence and recklessness are different.”

It was important to make that distinction.

Brin, who had been listening to his own words, seemed to be thinking deeply about something and then opened his mouth.

“Then what do you do in a situation where you have no choice but to fight?”

“Then what else can we do? We have to fight.”

Hyunseong answers with a shrug of his shoulders.

Just as life doesn’t always go as planned, I’ve had my share of those moments, too.

When fighting the previous Heavenly Demon, to be honest, there was no chance of winning.

However, it is a situation where you have no choice but to fight.

At that time, I went into battle prepared to die.

And then, miraculously, he defeated the Heavenly Horse.

It would have been impossible if I hadn’t come to an epiphany while fighting.

‘It was a bit of a shame back then.’

If he had time to organize the ecstatic realization of that time, wouldn’t he have reached a higher level?

As he was licking his lips and pulling out his sword, his disciple caught his eye.

Hyunseong, who was quietly looking at his sword…

“Here, take it.”

“Keruk?!”

He handed the sword he had to Brin.

Brin urgently takes the sword.

“What is this…?”

“Your sword is at a level where it wouldn’t be strange if it broke during a fight. Use that.”

His own sword was in much better condition than Brin’s sword.

At least it won’t break in this battle.

“Then, Master…”

“Who cares about whom?”

“Huh?!”

Hyunseong hits Brin on the head with a hammer.

It’s been a million years since I’ve worried about myself.

Just because you don’t use a sword doesn’t mean your skills will go anywhere.

“Even if we fight with bare hands, I can knock down several times more people than you, Inma. Want to bet on who can knock down more people?”

“Didn’t you just say that? Only fight fights where you have a chance of winning.”

“Haha, our disciple is learning quickly. Then what if I say it’s okay for him to use his magic power and skills in this battle?”

“… If you were to bet, what would you bet on?”

Brin with a puzzled expression.

Did he think that he could win if he had everything he had, while his master didn’t have a sword?

Hyunseong clacked his jaw as if he had been caught.

“If you win, I’ll teach you more about the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique.”

Since Brin had only learned a few basic skills, Hyunseong’s offer felt even sweeter.

“If you lose, you’ll just be doing more basic training. Whatever happens, it won’t harm you. What do you think?”

“… Let’s do it!”

Hyunseong looked at his disciple who was confusing confidence and arrogance and clicked his teeth in amusement.