Book 26 Chapter 16

Trigger! Stone Crusher (石塊壓殺關)!

-I'll crush you!

In the center of the great hall, surrounded by dozens of warriors, Bi Ryuyeon and the West Sea King Rakbio faced each other.

"Not yet. I am not defeated yet."

Rakvio glared at Bi Ryuyeon, his eyes full of intensity, but his nerves were still sensitive enough to be rattled by a mere glare.

"Uh-oh, so what did I just lose?"

Bi Ryuyeon sulks and reminds him of his earlier defeat.

"Hmph, that was just a joke. Child's play."

"Ho-ho, kids these days live to play, huh?"

"Kids these days don't understand the value of life."

Then Bi Ryuyeon raised her head slightly and stared into Rakvio's face and said something.

"I think so, for sure."

The meaning of his gesture was clear. You're the one who doesn't realize that life is worthless. Rockvio's angular face flushed red again.

"Let's see if you're still that giggly after a while, doo. See."

"We'll see, no one's scared."

"Yeah? But it's different this time, in this Stone Crusher!"

"I'm busy here, too, so let's get to the point."

"Okay. See that little square on the floor over there?"

"I'm not an ornament like some people. They're all eighty-one squares. Are you going to play checkers?"

He muttered in a low voice that he was better at trivia than Go, but it didn't reach Rakvio's ears.

"Go, huh, do you really think you're going to be able to compete for real power with that little bit of brain labor?"

"So?"

Rakvio exclaimed with a smug grin.

"Thirty-one."

Then one of the samurai standing on the wall on either side cut the line.

Goo-goo-goo!

Weddings!

At that moment, a stone pillar hanging from the ceiling above Bi Ryuyeon's head fell at a terrifying speed. No one was safe from being crushed by that heavy stone pillar.

Boom!

The room vibrated as if there had been an earthquake.

"Ryuyeon!"

Hyo-ryong shouted in an urgent voice.

"That's a lot of guts, not moving a muscle."

Rockio's expression hardened slightly. The stone statue from a moment ago had been dropped into the compartment next to the one where Bi Ryuyeon was standing. The chain had been adjusted to its length, and it stood tall like a pillar, unbroken.

"Oh no. Why, do you want to see me panic and run away?"

"Boom."

It turns out I was right. He was a human being whose emotions showed on his face.

"Well, enough with the jokes. As you can see, there are eighty-one squares here. The rules are simple: once each player says one of the numbers from one to eighty-one, they get to drop an extra one, but only once per turn, and the person who has already dropped a stone can't drop another until their opponent does. How's that for simple?"

It was a simple but very dangerous rule.

This time, you're really playing for your life.

"If you're scared, feel free to surrender."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Digging her fingers into her earlobes, she replied.

"Okay, in that state, I wouldn't blame you if you died."

"Unfortunately, I'm a sickly little immortal, so I'll never have anything to blame you for, so why don't you just blame yourself?"

With a bit of sarcasm in her voice, Bi Ryuyeon smiled broadly.

"Good. Let's see how long you can tease that slick tongue of yours. And one more rule."

He pulled a small hourglass from his bosom and said, with a stern look, "I'm sorry.

"You must call 'number' before the sand in this hourglass runs out. If you fail to do so, you will be recognized as a coward and lose immediately."

If you hesitated to drop it because you were afraid of where it might fall, you were immediately defeated.

"Wait. I'll prove you a coward in no time, and then it will be clear that justice is on my side."

Hearing that, Bi Ryuyeon giggled.

"Well, that would be about as hard as proving the existence of God, but it's good to try to do the impossible."

At that, Rakvio exclaimed, one thick eyebrow waggling.

"Then we begin this turn! I give up the offense."

Despite her nonchalance, the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against her. He didn't think the stones would fall in the order of one, two, three, and four. They were probably distributed irregularly, which meant that right now he couldn't tell which one would land in which space. But Rakvio would know. He hadn't conceded the opening for nothing; it was a sign of his confidence. Aside from Rakvio's attack, Bi Ryuyeon would always have to worry about another attack overhead.

"One!"

Bi Ryuyeon, who had been conceding the initiative, cried out.

Then a stone statue fell from the sky, not from the first of those eighty-one squares, but directly overhead.

"Of course!

Bi Ryuyeon quickly pulled back to avoid the stone pellet. The numbers were random after all. Without missing a beat, Rockvio called out.

"Twenty-three!"

Then, in the path of the backward dodging Bi Ryuyeon, a stone weights fell with a terrifying sound, "Shae-ae-ye!

"Chit."

Bi Ryuyeon clicked her tongue and jerked to the right. As if waiting for that moment, the armored Rakvio charged at her at breakneck speed.

金剛反彈神功

Charge (突擊) tricks

Explosion (爆裂疾走)

Shhhhhhh!

Still running, Rakvio's body accelerated once more, his momentum like a chariot of steel rolling across a battlefield.

"Ick."

Bi Ryuyeon unleashed the Phoenix Dance Divine Technique and once again quickly changed direction.

Quack!

Rakvio's torso collided with the stone statue as he ran, a horrible sound echoing through the air.

"Heh. Blah, blah, blah, blah… any technique that doesn't allow you to get your hands dirty is only going to hurt you. Isn't that what they call self-inflicted wounds?"

But it wasn't his body that shattered, it was the stone pillar. The stone pillar, which was taller than a man, could not withstand the blow to his torso and shattered. On the other hand, his armored body was unscathed. Rakvio never wielded a sword or spear; his body, as hard as diamond, was his greatest weapon.

Without bothering to brush the dust off his clothes, Rakvio turned and looked toward Bi Ryuyeon, his eyes reminiscent of those of a beast that stalks its prey.

"Hmph, who says selfish?"

"……."

It was the first time I had ever seen such an ignorant attack. His body was harder than I thought.

"Well, well, well, I guess we can't let our guard down."

In her current state, it would be difficult for even a Bi Ryuyeon to survive that attack.

"How do we do that, first of all, with that clunky armor that pops when you touch it?

Without that, we couldn't guarantee victory.

'Okay, now what do I do…….'

The hourglass flipped up and down several times, but the game was not won. In return, stone pillars rose up all over the great hall. But neither Bi Ryuyeon nor Rakbio had suffered much damage yet. Rakvio knew where all the stones were, and with her quick reflexes, she was able to block the heavy stones and Rakvio's harder, more intimidating blows. A few times, she managed to land a blow on Rakvio's body, but each time, that part of her armor bounced back, nearly taking her own life. Luckily, her quick reflexes and the phoenix's swift movements allowed her to dodge it, but dodging didn't solve anything.

"How long are you going to run away from it?"

As Bi Ryuyeon, who looked like she was about to collapse, dodged and weaved her way through the dishes, Rakvio began to get annoyed.

"Are you a coward who can't even handle a head-to-head fight?"

He tries to provoke the big man, but his opponent is Bi Ryuyeon. There was no way such a clumsy taunt would work against the provocateur.

"Oh, so you're just a simple-minded ignoramus who can't play anything but head-to-head?"

She knew how to get under her opponent's skin.

"What, you're going to insult me?"

The reaction was quick. Bi Ryuyeon looked stunned,

"Huh? How did you know? Wow, I thought you were pretty dumb, but you're surprisingly perceptive, so you're not a complete idiot."

It's an exclamation point.

"this…… this……."

He was so upset that he could barely speak. He tried to give it back and got it back.

"I'll shut him up!"

Frustrated, Rakvio tried again, this time with a wild body kick, but Bi Ryuyeon dodged it again, this time to the side.

"I've heard that a hundred times now, but what am I supposed to do about it, because I don't know a single person who's ever been successful."

Now it was just a bunch of boring stuff. I wanted him to say something more original.

"Forty-four!"

Rakvio called out a number again, and a stone pillar fell at a terrifying speed over Bi Ryuyeon's head. However, Bi Ryuyeon's speed was faster than expected, and the stone coincidentally landed between Lakbio and Bi Ryuyeon. In an instant, she was hidden from view by the stone.

Quack!

Rakvio turned his rocky shoulders to the front, destroying the stone statue instantly. Still, the power of his charge was terrifying.

"No!"

However, Bi Ryuyeon, who should have been behind the broken stone statue, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell……."

Rakvio couldn't finish the sentence. Bi Ryuyeon's new model had suddenly appeared like a mirage to his right.

Flying Thunderbolt (飛雷門) Poisoned Door (独門身法)

Phoenix Dance Righteousness (奧義)

Chapter 3: Hiding Shadows

Thunderstorm (落雷影)

It was a technique that used the appearance of hiding behind an object to steal an opponent's consciousness and then penetrate the blind spot. It was a technique made possible by the speed of the phoenix.

The normally aggressive and one-track-minded Rakvio was completely stabbed in the consciousness by Bi Ryuyeon. He turned to counterattack, but it was too late. However, Rakvio was confident in his absolute defense, the Kang Shun Armor and the Diamond Shotgun.

'Now, go ahead and hit it. No matter how many hits you land, they'll all come back to you!

Flying Sword Misunderstanding

Chapters in a Single Point of Focus

Thunderclap (雷閃一矢)

Pow!

He stepped forward, and his fist shot straight for Rakvio's center. The blow pierced through Rakvio's body like an electric shock. Rakvio's charge was instantly halted. His fist was outstretched, touching Rakvio's armor, and……

Quack!

There was a loud explosion.

"……?"

Through the explosion, she remained standing. It wasn't the armor plates in front of her that exploded, but the ones behind her.

"Boom!"

Rakvio groaned at the unexpected impact. The seemingly unassailable tower of steel shook for a moment, but did not fall to its knees.

"Uh, how?!"

"That armor, I think I know what it's made of, and you're wearing something pretty ignorant and dangerous, and yet you're able to wear it and be safe. I'm impressed."

"You know the secret of this steelhead?"

'"When I saw the dragon get beaten up earlier, I was a little curious, like, 'What's that white stuff that's attached to that deck that fell off?'

"……!"

Rockvio's expression hardened for a moment.

"That was gunpowder, wasn't it?"

"Fire, gunpowder?!"

Hyo-ryong, who had been watching anxiously, exclaimed in surprise, and Bi Ryuyeon, who calls herself Ms. Kindness, kindly explained.

"Yes, it was a specially formulated gunpowder ball, designed to explode upon a certain amount of impact, and the force of the explosion would offset the enemy's blows."

The reason it didn't explode when he smashed it was because he hit it with his unusually thick shoulder. That was the only part of the body that didn't explode upon impact.

"But if something like that explodes right next to you, you won't be safe no matter how much armor you have on, will you?"

Even if the armor was made of Manlian shin steel, the body inside would still take the brunt of the explosion. It was an impact that a naked human could not withstand.

"I've been wondering about that too, but maybe they've trained their bodies to take the impact without a scratch by practicing special external kung fu. What do you think, am I wrong?"

If you have a rebuttal, go for it.

"Amazing, you're the first person to realize the secret of this steelhead so quickly. But even that wouldn't have stopped you, would it?"

It meant there was something more. A technique that penetrated the nature of this strong armor.

"A stab in the back. A thunderbolt stroke."

It was the same martial art that Bi Ryuyeon had shown earlier, a martial art that broke through Kang Shun's defense and landed a direct hit on him.

I had never heard of martial arts before.

"It's a blow that concentrates the force of the blow on a single point, like the eye of a needle, like that."

Pow!

He threw his fist at the rock he'd kicked with his foot with the speed of a thunderbolt, but the rock remained unscathed by the quick, frightening blow.

"……?"

I toss it to Rakvio, who shakes his head.

"What is this?"

"You can see well if you have the right eyeballs, and if you don't, you're blind."

Reluctantly, he examined the stone and was surprised to find a tiny hole, like a needle's eye, piercing through the center of the stone.

"This is……!"

Rakvio could not help but be amazed: his specialty was crushing his enemies with sheer force, and such an elaborate trick was impossible to imitate. Rakvio was both impressed and dumbfounded.

"To casually reveal his martial arts secrets is either ballsy or stupid."

"Hey, if you can see it and mimic it, feel free to mimic it. Can you do it? I can't stop you if you can, and I can't stop you if you can't mimic it, so there's no harm in showing it to you. In fact, I want you to see it and admit defeat right away. Do you understand?"

"……."

Rockvio understood, but was not convinced.

"Surely a sharp, concentrated blow like that wouldn't cause a sturgeon to react, or is one enough?"

In between, the words "because you have a bad hair day?" were omitted.

"Boom!"

Surely his specially formulated 'reactive explosives' would react to a blow like a rock, but not to a needle prick. But no fool would dare to poke a needle into this hard armor. The armor was strong enough to block most sword thrusts. I hadn't expected such technology to exist.

"That's the story, then, so you admit defeat?"

There were still many battles ahead for Bi Ryuyeon. The less he fought, the better for him. But Rakvio was not such a shrewd man.

"But defeat is not in my dictionary. I will never surrender!"

With an incredibly loud yell that echoed throughout the room, Rakvio charged.

金剛反彈神功

Iron Armor (鐵甲戰術)

Secrets

Iron Ball Shaker (鐵球震天地)

Kurrrrrrr!

Rakvio's iron-armored body transformed into a giant iron ball as he charged at Bi Ryuyeon. He stopped circling his body and added the power of rotation to increase his destructive power.

"Ick. Human ball rolling is not my hobby."

It was a very unusual technique, as if the caster couldn't avoid motion sickness, but it wasn't fast enough to be unavoidable.

"Watch out for motion sickness∼!"

With a playful remark, Bi Ryuyeon easily dodged the attack. It was a straightforward attack, almost too straightforward. However, it was spinning at a furious pace, making it difficult for even her to land a hit. The target needed to be somewhat stationary in order to gather the force of the blow into a single point. It wasn't impossible to deliver an electroshock in this state, but it wasn't likely to have much effect. And that wasn't the only thing Rakvio was trying to do.

"Explosive cup (爆裂殘)!"

Along with Rakvio's shout, a tremendous booming sound rang out, and the entirety of Rakvio's armor exploded, sending shards of armor flying in all directions like a torrential rain. It was a terrifying power, and the downpour of shards was difficult for even the most insignificant of beasts to dodge.

Non-Lightning Sword Solitary Unsinking Technique

Phoenix Dance (鳳凰舞) Secret Extreme Righteousness (秘傳極上奧義)

Wu Zhongge (Rainy Day) Fire Clothes (不霑衣)

Bi Ryuyeon urgently unleashed one of her phoenix sword techniques. A terrifying pain shot through every nerve in her body. It was as if his entire body was being torn apart into eight pieces. In fact, this Wu Zhongjie Fire Point was an extraordinary skill among the phoenix martial arts, so it wasn't a skill that could be used with a martial dragon ring on each foot. However, with one martial dragon ring already untied, Bi Ryuyeon couldn't afford to untie another martial dragon ring.

"Kaaaahhhhhhh!"

Enduring the pain that felt like her entire body was being torn apart, Bi Ryuyeon cast the Supreme Righteousness. If she didn't use it, she would die. Then it was better to die trying to unfold the aura.

"I'm going to die!"

Unsteadily swaying, Bi Ryuyeon's body turned transparent and she dodged through the rain of flying debris as if it were stretching. It was now a race to see who would exhaust their energy first.

Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack!

A torrential downpour of steel tore apart the stone pillars that were scattered everywhere.

A moment later, there was silence as a merciless downpour of steel swept around them.

Grrrr!

In the midst of the silence, a new version of Bi Ryuyeon appeared. It looked like a collection of scattered afterimages coming together in one place. Due to the tremendous speed of his travel, his new form appeared to stretch, scatter, and sometimes disappear.

When he reappeared, Bi Ryuyeon's face was extremely pale and his forehead was beaded with cold sweat. He was in excruciating pain, but he didn't show it. But it was clear that he was in no condition to take a swing at Ravio, who was only a few steps away. It was time to take care of himself first.

Rakvio remained motionless, his body curled up in a ball about a foot away from Biyou. At first, she wondered if he was dead, but there was no sign of life. It was as if all the explosives on his body had been detonated at once, and it was rather strange that he hadn't been killed after using the ignorant technique of the explosive goblet.

After a moment, the round iron ball twitched and began to move slightly, and soon a large man, reminiscent of a pylon, stood up. His complexion was a bit gray and dead, but surprisingly, he didn't seem to have taken much of a hit. Seeing this, Bi Ryuyeon chuckled softly.

"I was hoping he'd just stay stunned for as long as possible, but I guess that didn't happen."

If I had known this, I would have curled up into a ball and punched her while she was still. She concentrated on restoring her body to some degree. For a moment, the two stood there, glaring at each other, unable to make any immediate movements.

"Sum!"

A moment later, the rest of his armor fell off, along with Rakvio's willpower. His coppery upper body was now completely bare, with only a pair of cloth pants underneath.

"Hmmm, so when you say you've stripped yourself of your armor, you mean you're surrendering?"

She asked, just in case. For him, the armor was both a shield and a spear. But as expected, Rakvio shook his head.

"No, this is the real part. I'm going to teach you the horrors of the Diamond Bantan Shinkong!"

With Rakvio's declaration, his coppery skin slowly turned to a bronze color reminiscent of iron. His muscles, hard as iron, exuded a beastly strength.

Bump, bump, bump, bump!

Bi Ryuyeon screamed at the sight of the kinetic movement of the hard, copper-colored muscles.

"Ewww! No, wait, I'm not really into naked men, what do you think you're doing?"

As if she'd seen something she shouldn't have, Bi Ryuyeon turned her head. Why do these people who claim to be the real deal keep ripping off their clothes? They don't seem to have the slightest regard for the inconvenience they cause to others. Apparently, they're fascinated with their own hard, bulging muscles-or, as the slang would have it, jockstraps-but it's an illusion. The abnormally bulging, veined, and bulging muscles are just a pollution to the onlooker. A man's bursting muscles and a woman's body so skinny and bony that you could barely feel her bones would destroy the harmony and balance of the world. Too much of anything is not good. Therefore, the trembling of his muscles was a kind of torture to Bi Ryuyeon.

"What are you doing, I'm just……."

Rakvio was the one who was embarrassed by Biyou's hysterical reaction. I couldn't understand why she was so sensitive about something so insignificant.

"Why don't you put on some of our clothes, you cowardly little attack……."

"Moo, moo, what are you talking about? That's mean! Besides, I didn't attack you. Now, come on, come on. Don't play around."

Rakvio bellowed.

Kidding, of course, she wasn't kidding. She wanted to get that ugly thing out of her sight as soon as possible. Besides, now that she didn't have her Kangshun armor, it meant she could beat him up without regard to where she hit him.

Redundancy of the Three Strikes Law (三伏狗打拳法) (中伏)

Rakvio's newest creation burst into his arms. Rakvio was caught off guard and didn't move.

Pavabat!

Bi Ryuyeon's fists pounded on the defenseless Rakbio's upper body. And……

Bam!

Ryuyeon was surprised when she unleashed a triple punch. The fist that struck Rakvio's upper body bounced back with such speed.

The recoil caused Bi Ryuyeon to hastily retreat from the field before she could fully cast the skill. It was also a measure to reduce her reactionary force.

"This is……."

Bi Ryuyeon looked back and forth between her fist and Rakvio's upper body.

How do I describe this sensation? I had struck a muscle that seemed to be as hard as stone, and it felt as if I had struck an overly resilient rubber, a rubber so resilient that it actually hurt the person who struck it. A malicious grin formed on Rakvio's face.

"Do you see, this is the true form of a golden half-round steel."

This was his definition, his "power," which he had acquired through bloody practice.