The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 47

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – 47

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace 47

Divination (2)

“Are you sure it’s okay to send Yoo Seong-woo alone? The alarm just went off, saying it’s an Abyss equivalent to Class 1.”

Seo Yeon-jung, who had evacuated to a nearby shelter with the others, said while looking at her smartphone.

She never imagined that such a large Abyss would appear in Hongdae, so she contacted Yoo Ji-woo to let him know that Yoo Seong-woo had entered the Abyss.

“He’ll be fine. He’ll be back soon with the Abyss’s core in his hand.”

“If you say so, Yoo-wol…”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and the most useless worry in the world is worrying about that guy.”

Nox said with a carefree smile at Seo Yeon-jung’s worried words.

Worrying about Yoo Seong-woo is a waste of brainpower.

However, Seo Yeon-jung had never seen Yoo Seong-woo fight directly, so she couldn’t completely shake off her worries.

She knew a little about his strength from Yoo Ji-woo, but as far as she knew, there was no one who could single-handedly take on a Class 1 Abyss.

Yoo-wol, sensing her apprehension, spoke again reassuringly.

“He’ll really be fine.”

* * *

The place Yoo Seong-woo reached after cutting through the forest was a calm lake nestled in the woods.

Not just any lake, but a lake of blood. A truly terrible place.

The source of the overwhelming metallic scent was right there.

“What a sight.”

He expected some blood in the lake, but the lake itself was entirely blood.

How many lives would have to be taken to fill a lake with blood like this?

Yoo Seong-woo frowned as he gazed at the serene, crimson lake.

The middle of the lake began to bubble, and something slowly rose to the surface.

Blood splashed everywhere, creating ripples as it took the form of a human.

But it wasn’t someone he could reason with.

“Are you also an Ascender?”

“……”

No answer came.

The monster made of blood, now vaguely humanoid, raised its hand and clenched it into a fist.

Then, a sword of blood materialized in the monster’s hand.

It was a sword that looked exactly like his Ilsaeng [his signature sword], as if it had copied Yoo Seong-woo’s own weapon.

“……Ho.”

Seeing that, Yoo Seong-woo returned Ilsaeng to his inventory and summoned Igye [another weapon in his arsenal].

In response, the monster returned its imitation of Ilsaeng and formed twin swords identical to Igye.

“Then how about this?”

Yoo Seong-woo summoned Ilsaeng again and bit the handle with his mouth.

It was a three-sword style reminiscent of a certain manga.

The monster mimicked the appearance by extruding a sword from its own mouth.

It was an enemy that perfectly mirrored his actions.

Yoo Seong-woo returned Igye and held only Ilsaeng in his hand.

“……Blood Doppelganger, huh.”

There were similar creatures in Igye’s records.

A monster called a Doppelganger that imitates the opponent’s fighting style.

As a higher species of the amorphous, slimy slime, the Blood Doppelganger is a more advanced version of the standard Doppelganger.

It clumsily takes human form and mimics the enemy’s attack patterns.

If it only imitated, it wouldn’t be much of a problem, but the Blood Doppelganger doesn’t stop there.

In addition to copying combat techniques, it uses its unique, fluid body to attack outside the range of normal perception, which is what makes it so dangerous.

‘The number of people who died to that bastard was terrifying.’

But what set this one apart from the Blood Doppelgangers he knew was its size.

Typical Blood Doppelgangers are only about the size of a small puddle.

But this one’s size was that of the entire lake.

The energy radiating evenly throughout the lake confirmed it.

“This isn’t a guy I can handle easily.”

Imitating the opponent’s skills was already difficult enough, but the fact that this entire lake was trying to consume him made him sigh.

Should he turn around and go back?

He couldn’t do that. If he did, the creature might become enraged at his perceived hesitation and massacre anyone who entered later, corrupting the entire forest.

“Besides, there’s no turning back now…”

He had to defeat this thing here, now.

Before things escalated further.

Yoo Seong-woo, having made his decision, held Ilsaeng in one hand and lowered his stance.

The Blood Doppelganger mirrored his stance.

In the next instant, Yoo Seong-woo and the Blood Doppelganger vanished, colliding at the edge of the lake.

Kugugugu-

A powerful shockwave erupted from their clash, cracking the ground.

The blood lake surged like a tidal wave, threatening to flood the surrounding land.

Yoo Seong-woo took a step forward and stomped down hard, anchoring himself and halting the advancing wave.

Yoo Seong-woo, leaping back, clicked his tongue at the sensation in his hand.

‘A head-on fight would be difficult.’

He could tell from that single exchange.

The immense mass of the entire lake was transmitted directly through the sword.

With the entire lake as its body, it felt like being crushed by overwhelming water pressure.

He couldn’t withstand that kind of force directly.

Yoo Seong-woo pushed off the ground again and charged forward.

The Blood Doppelganger mirrored his speed and stance.

They collided again.

The moment Yoo Seong-woo’s sword met the Blood Doppelganger’s, he altered the trajectory, redirecting the force.

However, the creature followed his subtle movements, mirroring his redirection.

A bizarre dance ensued, each canceling out the other’s power.

‘The speed of imitation is insane.’

It was far faster than any Blood Doppelganger he’d encountered before.

Usually, there was a slight delay in its response, but this time, there was almost none.

However, in a fight between swordsmen of their caliber, victory hinges on the smallest of margins.

And Yoo Seong-woo knew the key to defeating a Blood Doppelganger.

‘They don’t have eyes.’

So how did it perceive and mimic his movements?

The answer was that it didn’t see with its eyes, but analyzed the reverberations of magic power it scattered in all directions.

‘Imitation’ captured the magic flowing from the opponent, or the subtle electrical signals in their muscles, and replicated them.

It created similar muscles within its own body, copied the electrical signals, and mirrored the movements.

Many had died before uncovering this secret.

Yoo Seong-woo, standing on the shoulders of those who came before, had found the solution.

The solution was to manipulate the electrical signals in his muscles and the flow of his magic power.

It was a trick that any skilled practitioner could employ, using feints to mislead the creature’s movements.

Of course, depending on how he manipulated the electrical signals, the Blood Doppelganger’s arm might suddenly sprout five arms, but…

Yoo Seong-woo was a seasoned veteran.

‘Shall I test the waters a bit?’

He swung his sword from the upper right to the lower left, manipulating his electrical signals.

He even mimicked the subtle flow of magic power that naturally accompanied the movement, completely deceiving the creature.

Yoo Seong-woo’s sword swung diagonally, but the Blood Doppelganger perceived a horizontal slash aimed at its upper body, reacting a split second too late.

As a result, the Blood Doppelganger’s sword passed harmlessly over Yoo Seong-woo’s head, while his sword cleaved the creature’s exposed chest in two.

Blood gushed from the wound.

Or rather, lake water.

The severed pieces tried to rejoin the Blood Doppelganger’s body, but instead, they fell away.

The effect of Ilsaeng, which cut through anything, was undeniable.

Doppelgangers were essentially slimes, making them resistant to physical attacks, but Ilsaeng was different.

However, trying to kill the creature this way would take all night.

“Hoo.”

Yoo Seong-woo, taking a short breath, swung his sword again.

Dozens of strikes per second.

He combined the manipulation of electrical signals and the flow of magic power to create a deceptive flurry of attacks.

The Blood Doppelganger, still unable to recognize the ‘feint’, perceived a single strike and countered with a downward slash.

Yoo Seong-woo sidestepped the attack and retaliated with a merciless slash.

Chunks of the Blood Doppelganger’s fluid mass splattered in all directions.

“Hoo.”

Yoo Seong-woo, pausing to catch his breath, retreated again and set up another feint.

The Blood Doppelganger, compelled to mirror his actions, made a useless gesture in place.

Soon, as if realizing it was being unilaterally attacked, it stirred the lake water.

The blood water surged, forming sharp spikes that rained down upon him.

Yoo Seong-woo swung Ilsaeng to deflect the attacks.

‘If it were a normal-sized creature, it would have died from this much damage, but its size is keeping it alive.’

Slime-type monsters die when they lose most of their mass.

If this were a normal Blood Doppelganger, it would have been dead three times over.

‘Then I have to destroy the core.’

The core was the central point of the Abyss.

With something this large, there had to be a ‘core’ at its center.

And based on the energy he sensed, it had to be at the bottom of the lake, carefully concealed.

His extensive experience made it obvious without even looking.

Yoo Seong-woo, enduring the rain of blood, approached the lake and swung his sword upwards, as if scooping water.

Not forgetting to manipulate his electrical signals, he tricked the Blood Doppelganger into another futile gesture, then flipped the lake upside down.

Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the lake split, revealing the bottom for a fleeting moment.

Yoo Seong-woo seized the opportunity and pinpointed the location of the core.

‘I saw it.’

A flashing red stone.

It was undoubtedly the Blood Doppelganger’s core.

Furthermore, the countless skeletons littering the lakebed were an added bonus.

Whether it indiscriminately consumed animals and humans, the sheer number was staggering.

“The devil isn’t me, it’s this kind of guy…”

I’ve never eaten a person.

I’ve never killed without a reason.

I received an apology, but I suddenly got angry when I thought about it.

Yoo Seong-woo decided to vent his anger on the Blood Doppelganger.

“Die, you bastard!”

He unleashed the pent-up frustration in his voice and swung Ilsaeng.

Despite the vulgar words, Ilsaeng drew an elegant arc, cleaving through the Blood Doppelganger’s lake as it tried to close.

To protect its core, the creature summoned waves several times, attempting to overwhelm Yoo Seong-woo.

“You son of a bitch…”

Yoo Seong-woo, spitting out profanities, unleashed a series of stabs with Ilsaeng.

The waves of blood were pierced by his relentless attacks, losing their form.

As the same pattern repeated, the fight intensified, and the roaring grew louder.

The area surrounding the lake was completely devastated, not a single spot untouched.

But in the end, Yoo Seong-woo emerged victorious.

After several attempts, he finally plunged into the ground near the lake, reached the center, and seized the core in his hand.

The moment he shattered the core with his energy, the Blood Doppelganger’s form dissolved.

The Blood Doppelganger, which had become the lake itself, made of sentient blood, was no more.

Yoo Seong-woo, swimming out of the lake, removed his blood-soaked shirt, ran a hand through his hair, and took a deep breath.

He didn’t have many wounds, but he felt incredibly dirty.

To have swum in blood…

“I wonder if this smell will ever go away.”

The stench of blood was overpowering.

He kept sniffing, convinced that the smell would linger no matter how many times he showered.

“Who are you!”

A voice echoed from the forest.