CLS-Chapter 255

Chapter 255

The brothers who had stepped onto the sparring platform looked at each other.

A little time passed as they gazed at each other without saying a word, but none of the spectators rushed them. They could fully understand how deeply moving it must be for the brothers themselves to meet and compete against each other in the tournament.

‘Though it seems like some people don’t feel that way…’

Unlike Wei San-ho’s face, which showed various emotions crossing it, Wei Yan-ho just looked thoroughly annoyed.

Someone might think Wei Yan-ho was looking down on Wei San-ho, but those who knew Wei Yan-ho could all easily guess what he was thinking right now.

‘This is just bothersome.’

It wasn’t that competing with Wei San-ho was bothersome, but Wei Yan-ho disliked the very fact that he had to go up on the sparring platform to have a match.

“How long has it been since we’ve crossed swords like this?”

“Umm…”

Wei Yan-ho thought for a moment, then immediately grimaced.

“I think it was the day before we left home?”

“It’s been a long time indeed. Five years have already passed.”

“What do you mean long?”

Wei Yan-ho pouted his lips.

Had that fellow been possessed by the ghost of someone who died from being unable to fight?

Ever since before, whenever he saw Wei Yan-ho, he would always make a fuss about bringing wooden swords to spar.

‘Come to think of it, he was always like that.’

The person who never gave up on Wei Yan-ho until the very end, when even his mother had given up and Wei Jeong-han had half given up, was none other than Wei San-ho.

Wei Jeong-han had hoped that Wei Yan-ho would at least act like a proper person, but Wei San-ho was someone who never abandoned the thought that Wei Yan-ho would someday surpass him.

‘How fascinating.’

What did Wei San-ho see in him?

He had consistently hoped for something that neither father nor mother wished for.

To anyone who knew Wei Yan-ho at that time, Wei San-ho’s demands would have seemed no different from training a turtle to fly through the sky.

“You look happy?”

“…Do I look that way?”

“Yes.”

Wei San-ho nodded.

“You saw correctly.”

“We’re about to draw swords against each other as brothers, and you say I saw correctly!”

Wei San-ho smiled broadly.

“Seeing that you’re pleased about it, I suppose I’m not quite normal either.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded.

“That’s true. You’re my brother, but you’re not normal.”

“What does it matter?”

Seureureureu.

A sword was drawn from Wei San-ho’s scabbard. Wei Yan-ho trembled as he watched the scene.

‘This is no joke, really.’

Just by drawing his sword, Wei San-ho was emanating an aura as if he himself had become a famous blade. He wasn’t releasing energy to threaten Wei Yan-ho. Just by drawing his sword, a blade-like aura naturally flowed out.

The saying about the unity of divine sword and wielder wasn’t there for nothing.

A swordsman who had swung his sword again and again until he felt the sword was part of himself would inevitably come to resemble the sword by half. This wasn’t a realm that could be seen merely through the depth of internal energy or the level of martial arts. The key was how deeply one understood the sword.

Wei Yan-ho looked at Wei San-ho quietly and narrowed his eyes.

Wei San-ho wouldn’t be the strongest among those he had met so far. Close by, there were Taiji Sword Immortal and Plum Blossom Sword Venerable, and going back a bit, there were Quan Ji and Moon Yu-hwan.

But Wei San-ho had something they didn’t have.

‘He’s really murderous.’

If they felt like massive ten-thousand-geun boulders, Wei San-ho was like a sharply honed razor blade.

How strange this was.

To receive such a feeling from Wei San-ho, who was evaluated by others as a gentleman and whose nature wasn’t particularly fastidious. They say that a swordsman who has reached the extreme gives the feeling of being cut just by looking at them, and Wei San-ho was exactly that type.

Of course, that didn’t mean Wei Yan-ho couldn’t handle him.

Speaking of swords, Wei Yan-ho had crossed blades for five years with Baek Mu-han, who should undoubtedly be called the greatest of all time. No matter how much Wei San-ho could be called the greatest of all time for his age, hadn’t Wei Yan-ho been fighting against the real greatest of all time?

So the outcome was already as good as decided.

‘Just close my eyes and swing three times, and it’ll be over.’

Wei Yan-ho made that decision.

“Yeon-ho.”

“Yeah?”

Wei San-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Since that day, you haven’t once given your all against me. Am I right?”

“…”

Wei Yan-ho didn’t answer.

Wei Yan-ho knew which day Wei San-ho was referring to.

“Since then, I have made constant efforts. Even while searching for you, I never once rested from training.”

“I know.”

So that’s how he became this strong.

“Do I now have the qualifications to receive your full power?”

Wei Yan-ho grimaced.

“That was just luck.”

“Luck…”

Wei San-ho smiled broadly.

A childish real sword duel.

There was a time when Wei San-ho and Wei Yan-ho, still young, had once fought with real swords just once. The intention was to awaken the young brother to the dangers of the world he would have to live in, making him strive harder.

The complacent thought that there wouldn’t be any particular problem with young Wei Yan-ho holding a real sword created disaster.

That day, Wei San-ho collapsed before Wei Yan-ho’s sword, and a wound that would never heal was left on his chest.

Wei Yan-ho was the victor, and Wei San-ho was the defeated. But the one who was truly wounded was Wei Yan-ho.

‘That day ruined everything.’

Wei San-ho looked at Wei Yan-ho with a hardened expression.

Wei Yan-ho, who had experienced his brother nearly dying by his sword, threw down his sword and locked himself in his room. Wei Yan-ho, who had already shown signs of laziness, completely gave up training after that day.

Wei San-ho made effort after effort to bring Wei Yan-ho out again, but Wei Yan-ho never came out of his room again.

“I couldn’t handle you and ended up breaking your potential.”

“It’s not like that, really!”

Wei Yan-ho showed his irritation.

“I was originally lazy, and after that day, I just thought it would be fine not to train particularly hard.”

“…I see.”

Wei San-ho smiled broadly.

“Geez, you don’t believe what people say.”

“It doesn’t matter either way. I’m just happy that the day has come when I can compete with you again like this.”

A petty feeling quietly raised its head inside Wei Yan-ho.

‘Happy?’

Making others happy didn’t suit Wei Yan-ho. Even if that person was his brother.

“Happy?”

“Of course.”

Wei San-ho laughed as if he were truly delighted.

“Ah, you’re happy?”

Wei Yan-ho drew his sword.

Seureureureu!

His White Sword was drawn from its scabbard, emitting a dazzling light.

“As you know, brother, I have a bit of a bad personality.”

“Who says such things?”

“I do.”

Wei Yan-ho glared at Wei San-ho with bulging eyes.

“I can’t stand it when others are enjoying themselves.”

“Hehehehe.”

Wei San-ho raised his sword.

Though it was a situation where brothers were competing with swords, why was this so enjoyable?

“Now, there’s no need for more words, right?”

“No. Just one more thing is needed.”

Wei San-ho looked at Wei Yan-ho with questioning eyes.

Then Wei Yan-ho raised his sword with a chwaak and declared:

“…What?”

Wei San-ho, doubting his own ears, asked again, and Wei Yan-ho repeated loudly and clearly:

“I surrender.”

“…”

The crowd became as quiet as mice.

***

“…Huh?”

Sa-ga looked on with a face as if he had lost everything, but Guangqushen instead snorted.

“Then what were you expecting?”

“It’s not that I was particularly expecting anything…”

“People who expect something from Wei Yan-ho always meet the same ending.”

Sa-ga said as if dejected.

“So in the end, Wei San-ho moved up?”

“That’s right.”

“But something’s strange.”

“What?”

When Guangqushen slightly raised his head, Sa-ga tilted his head.

“According to what you said, wasn’t the Mount Hua Tournament a very large martial arts competition? And it was also the place where Wei Yan-ho first revealed himself to the martial world. It’s strange that such a tournament, where such people gathered and such people first showed themselves, isn’t better known to later generations.”

Guangqushen shrugged his shoulders.

“Haven’t you considered that it was because the Mount Hua Blood Incident happened afterward?”

“Even though there was the Mount Hua Blood Incident, isn’t Wei Yan-ho’s appearance more significant than the Mount Hua Blood Incident? It was the occasion when Radiant Martial Lord first showed himself to the world, but all I knew before was that ‘there was a small martial arts tournament at Mount Hua.’ Logically speaking…”

“It should have been better known?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Guangqushen looked at Sa-ga with a mischievous face, then nodded.

“Right, you’re correct. Originally, people should have talked more about the Mount Hua martial arts tournament. At the time, it was quite a well-known tournament along with the Mount Hua Blood Incident.”

“Then why did it disappear from memory? Perhaps…”

“Hmm, it’s not like that…”

Sa-ga could tell what he was trying to say. He was probably wondering if there had been attempts at concealment at the martial world level.

“What would we do to try to keep such a tournament from being known? It’s not like that… People refrained from mentioning it.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s no point in talking about it since it’s not such a good thing. And…”

Guangqushen chuckled and said:

“Actually, something bigger happened right afterward, so the winner of that tournament and such became irrelevant.”

Sa-ga frowned.

“The Mount Hua Blood Incident, I also…”

“It’s not the Mount Hua Blood Incident.”

“Then?”

Guangqushen lay down with a heueung and used his arm as a pillow.

“Maybe you were right after all. There were indeed forces that desperately needed to erase that tournament from history. And since Wei Yan-ho stopped showing himself in the martial world, there probably weren’t any who wanted to make enemies of them. I wasn’t interested so I didn’t know well, but maybe they’ve been concealing the facts. There were probably those who refrained from mentioning it because they didn’t want to get unnecessarily involved.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Eh, so…”

Guangqushen grinned.

“You seem to have forgotten.”

“Pardon?”

“Wei Yan-ho is always someone who brings trouble out of nowhere. Don’t you know that?”

“Of course I know that.”

Sa-ga had never forgotten. Just from what he had heard so far was enough. Incidents and accidents never ceased around Wei Yan-ho.

“You know it, so why can’t you think of it?”

“Pardon?”

Guangqushen giggled.

“When Wei Yan-ho cast aside the martial competition just to make himself comfortable, there’s no way nothing would happen, right? Naturally, something more bothersome and annoying had to occur for it to be normal. He was already close by at that time.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Dark King Dang Cheon-gun.”

Sa-ga’s eyes trembled slightly.

“Ah, the Dark King?”

“Yeah.”

Guangqushen said matter-of-factly.

“If he had known Dang Cheon-gun was coming, it would have been better to just have the match. Even Dang Cheon-gun couldn’t pick a fight with a junior participating in a tournament. But Wei Yan-ho was already eliminated. So he couldn’t escape from his clutches. It was like trying to remove a lump and getting another one attached.”

Guangqushen continued with a giggle:

“Wei Yan-ho at that time knew nothing about it.”