Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 225

Mountain Keeper.

The ancient goblin who had his name stolen.

He was an existence who had lived for an age long enough to be called eternity.

Mountain Keeper told me that I didn’t know him well, but I actually knew a lot about Mountain Keeper.

Mountain Keeper was written about in the Black Night Records, and there are plenty of related legends left in the main family.

And what those records commonly conveyed was that he disturbed the North and liked fighting and chaos.

‘But what about the current Mountain Keeper?’

You try to avoid fighting and find it annoying.

You pass over me like a snake, even if I act presumptuously.

Are the Mountain Keeper of that time and the Mountain Keeper of now the same?

Kwaaaang!

The ground turned over and the air shook at Mountain Keeper’s clubbing.

Mountain Keeper walked towards me, making a nasal sound with an indifferent expression.

“Why are you trying to fight me? Is this really training?”

Mountain Keeper’s voice was very clear even in the midst of the raging storm.

“It’s training.”

Kwaaang!

I used the Heavenly Net of Understanding [a technique to perceive and manipulate the surrounding environment] to defend against all the wind rushing towards me with the weapons floating in the air.

And I grasped the texture of the wind with my magic eyes.

Whoosh!

I threw Gyeongcheon, which I had grabbed, through the rushing gusts of wind.

“Oh no!”

Mountain Keeper hurriedly bounced backwards.

‘That was the wrong choice, Mountain Keeper.’

When facing Gyeongcheon, you had to block it no matter what, not avoid it.

Soo-oong! Hwaaak!

Gyeongcheon, which had been flying in a straight line, changed direction in the air and shot towards Mountain Keeper as it was.

“Oh no! Hey, you!”

White and black light flew, bursting the grayish storm mixed with stone powder like a balloon.

One of Gyeongcheon’s abilities.

Once thrown, Gyeongcheon ‘always’ hits the opponent.

Kwaaaang!

A tremendous explosion occurred, and Mountain Keeper was pushed back, scraping the ground for the first time.

Tuwhack!

And, clearing away the momentarily calmed winds, I rushed towards Mountain Keeper again.

‘Oh dear, I’m going to die!’

Mountain Keeper gritted his teeth, holding his throbbing abdomen.

The momentum is incredibly fierce.

If it weren’t for the lack of murderous intent, anyone would think we were in a life-or-death battle.

Mountain Keeper jumped back, clutching his aching abdomen, and shouted.

“You! You said it was a sparring match! What are you doing now!”

“It is a sparring match.”

The moment Lee Cheol stretched out his empty hand into the air, the group of equipment there circled around like a flock of migratory birds and struck Mountain Keeper.

Bang! Bang! Kwaang!

Mountain Keeper hurriedly bounced off the explosion and shouted.

“Is this really a sparring match? Is it really a sparring match!”

“I’m telling you it is. Don’t tell me you can’t handle this much?”

Mountain Keeper frowned.

As expected, he’s a chip off the old block of Soong Mooi [referring to Lee Cheol’s family known for their martial prowess]. What kind of sparring is this?

‘Ugh, really. Anyway, I need to finish this quickly and have a drink…….’

Mountain Keeper bounced back, deflecting the weapons Lee Cheol had scattered.

But at that moment, Lee Cheol rushed in and swung his sword.

“……!”

Mountain Keeper’s eyes widened.

The trajectory of that sword was clearly aimed at his neck.

Kwaang!

Mountain Keeper burst the wind right in front of his Adam’s apple and bounced backwards.

However, he could not defend against the full power of the sword.

The hem of his hiking suit fluttered as his chest was cut open by the sword that had been pushed away from his Adam’s apple.

It’s quite a nasty sword strike.

If it were Lee Cheol’s level, he could have recovered the aura imbued in the sword, but he deliberately maintained it to create an aftereffect in the attack.

“What kind of sparring is this, you punk! If you get hit wrong, you’ll cross the River of Three Crossings [a metaphor for death]!”

Mountain Keeper shouted, tearing off his hiking suit.

I raised a few weapons that had fallen due to Mountain Keeper’s defense back into the air and said.

“Isn’t sparring originally something where you can get seriously hurt if you’re not careful?”

“What, you punk? Hey, there’s a limit to everything!”

“Well, it seems Mountain Keeper was weaker than I thought. I didn’t know you’d whine this much.”

“……What?”

Mountain Keeper’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“It’s a little different from the Mountain Keeper I heard about from Elder Ryeo. Well, Elder Ryeo wouldn’t know about Mountain Keeper after you lost to the founder…….”

“You’re running your mouth just because you have one.”

Mountain Keeper’s eyes widened.

“Just because I treated you kindly, do you think I’m really your friend? I’ve been watching your grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather!”

“You would have only seen our ancestors’ childhoods.”

“How dare you! You little brat!”

Thump!

Mountain Keeper slammed his front paw down.

The Cheonwi Mountain shook in an instant.

A ghostly aura was flowing from Mountain Keeper’s blazing eyes.

“So, now that you’ve gotten a little stronger, you want to fight back? Good. I’ll break that high nose of yours.”

“Good. Let’s do it properly. I can’t possibly tarnish the honor of the guardian spirit who is ‘serving’ the family with a simple sparring match.”

“A guy who will only float his mouth when he falls into the water!”

Mountain Keeper clenched his club tightly.

Kwaaaang!

In an instant, the storm started raging again.

* * *

Mountain Keeper didn’t like this whole situation.

Lee Cheol, who had been presumptuous but at least kept a minimum of courtesy, had crossed the line, and he wanted to quickly return to his territory and have a drink, but he had to grit his teeth and continue the fight.

If Lee Cheol was even a little weaker, he would have easily subdued him, but the guy was even strong enough for him to acknowledge.

‘Presumptuous. How did I become so weak that I’m being ignored by a guy who’s barely lived over twenty years?’

And what he didn’t like most was himself.

Kwaaaang!

Mountain Keeper cleared away the wind he had created and exchanged blows with Lee Cheol, who had arrived right in front of him.

The sword is swung right in front of his nose, and he dodges it with magic and swings his club.

Lee Cheol dodges the club by tilting his head or bending his waist, and summons black weapons from the air to continue the attack.

“I heard you were the strongest of the goblins, but was that also a thing of the distant past? Elder Ryeo was more powerful.”

“Shut up!”

Kwaaaang! Puh-uh-ung!

Mountain Keeper faced Lee Cheol and recalled the distant past.

Memories of times when even skilled warriors could not overcome the wind he created.

Only Lee Hyul-hyeon had overcome that wind.

But Lee Cheol was now clearing away the wind he had created so easily and swinging his sword.

The wind splits, the texture is torn, the magic is dispelled, and the battle continues.

Battle. Yes, this was a battle.

The situation had long since passed what could be called a sparring match.

‘What on earth do you want to do?’

Mountain Keeper gritted his teeth.

Was Lee Cheol originally this kind of person?

Did he misjudge people?

Or did he really provoke him for a real sparring match?

‘Why on earth.’

Mountain Keeper couldn’t understand.

Lee Cheol, who was attacking him with all his might, and himself, who was being pushed back by this incredibly young guy.

Kwaaaang!

Another explosion erupted.

With a cracking sound, something was heard breaking from Lee Cheol’s body.

Even he couldn’t avoid getting hurt.

But he keeps running.

“How long are you going to keep thinking about other things like that?”

At that moment, Lee Cheol approached again, cutting through the wind surrounding Mountain Keeper with Black Night.

“Do it properly. Mountain Keeper.”

“Properly? Did you just say properly?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since when have you been living so leisurely?”

Mountain Keeper felt pure anger for the first time in a long time.

He felt the blood rushing to his head, and the trivial thoughts that had been floating in his head were all dyed white.

“Okay, good. I’ll crush you. You presumptuous bastard.”

Weeeeeeeeee!

The wind that had been gathered there distorted, spewing out an ominous noise, the moment Mountain Keeper gripped the goblin club with both hands.

And as if peeling the skin of a fruit, the wind flowing on the surface of the club unraveled strand by strand and scattered around.

Kuuuuuuuu.

The ground was overturned by the wind flowing from the club alone.

Clods of dirt and rocks all soared up, and the weapons floating in the air by the Heavenly Net were bounced off.

The true form of the goblin club was revealed to the world.

And, Mountain Keeper…… felt a very strange feeling.

‘How long has it been since I took this out?’

And, Lee Cheol approaches, cutting through the even stronger wind.

Kwaang! Kwaaang!

The sword and the wind collide.

Lee Cheol’s movements are slowed by the high-pressure wind, and conversely, Mountain Keeper’s movements are sped up.

Nevertheless, Lee Cheol followed Mountain Keeper’s magic and martial arts without concern.

The more he exchanged attacks with Lee Cheol, the more Mountain Keeper felt a strange feeling along with the rising anger.

It’s like reminiscing about the distant past.

Over Lee Cheol’s face, countless bloodlines of the previous Soong Mooi family passed by.

Following Lee Tae-shin, the previous, the previous, countless bloodlines of the Soong Mooi family he had met over the ages…….

Those countless faces began to flash through his mind.

Kwaang! Kwaaaang!

Explosion after explosion.

Mountain Keeper himself was feeling a sense of going back to the past.

The more he fought, the more he felt like his past self was coming to mind.

Mountain Keeper soon realized the reason.

‘That sword.’

Black Night.

Because of that jet-black sword that seems to swallow all the light.

Every time the shock of that sword brushed against him, those forgotten old memories and emotions were revived.

Swish!

Black Night brushed past his arm.

Along with a pain like being electrocuted, Mountain Keeper recalled a memory from the distant past.

The fighting goblin of Mirenae Village.

Himself in the days when he broke away from the island and roamed the Korean Peninsula, despite the dissuasion of Elder Seop’s triplets, who were called the Three Gods at the time.

“Ha.”

Mountain Keeper let out a hollow laugh.

He recalled himself at that time and looked at his current self.

Why had he been doing things so leisurely?

Mountain Keeper frowned and tightly gripped the opened goblin club.

Jjeo-jeo-jeok!

Cracks were drawn in the barrier constructed with spirit veins in the face of the raging, strong wind.

Regardless.

As if he didn’t care, Mountain Keeper pulled the club, which had become the wind itself, all the way back to swing it with all his might.

“You asked for it first, so you can’t be upset even if you die, right?”

“Can you even kill me?”

“Hahaha! You damn bastard!”

Mountain Keeper’s eyes were bloodshot, and the club was swung as it was.

The next moment, the positions of the sky and the earth changed.

Kwaaaang!

No, it wasn’t really changed.

Everything on the ground soared into the sky, and the barrier that had been isolating the surroundings was caught in a whirlwind of wind and gathered together.

‘You’re finally doing it properly.’

It should have been like this from the start.

Unless Mountain Keeper gives it his all, there’s no point in doing this sparring match.

I took a step forward.

Finally, Mountain Keeper started wielding his power properly without looking back.

Now the problem was cutting down Mountain Keeper’s attack, which had become serious.

“Hoo-oo…….”

I took a long breath and opened my eyes wide.

As if performing a religious ritual, I maintained my concentration even in the raging storm and took a stance.

Cut.

I repeated to myself like the spells of shamans.

Win.

I imagined.

The ideal version of myself inside me.

And I pulled that figure out in an instant.

Koo-doo-doo-deuk-!

I feel like the world is distorted.

A conviction that I can cut anything and win anything fills my mind.

And I saw the line.

In this moment when all the power in the world is visualized and unfolded, I read a slender path extending towards the storm that Mountain Keeper had created.

And I brought the Black Night, which I was gripping with both hands, onto that path.

Seo-geok……!

Along that path, Black Night followed as if being pulled.

A very simple strike, striking down from above the head.

There was no explosion of aura, loud noise, or unusual phenomenon like when unfolding a secret technique or secret skill.

However.

Pa-seu-seut!

The wind shattered without noise.

The wind, which had been swallowing everything and raging wildly, was collapsing at once, leaving only a gentle breeze.

“……!”

Mountain Keeper stared at the sight in astonishment.

He had shown the true form of the club, which he had only unleashed twice during the Great War, but it was all scattered by a single sword.

Mountain Keeper knew what that was.

The realm that Lee Cheol had been training in.

Mind Sword.

Hoo-doo-doo-deuk!

Everything that had soared into the sky on the whirlwind poured down like rain.

“Ha!”

Mountain Keeper burst into laughter.

His power had collapsed.

The opponent was a distant child who had not lived even a hundredth of his life.

‘But…… I’m getting excited!’

He should be feeling a sense of defeat and be angry, but Mountain Keeper instead felt a sense of relief, and something that had been sleeping in the corner of his head was surging up.

It was not the Mountain Keeper, but the emotions of when he was a carefree goblin who had been causing trouble here and there when he was called a fighting maniac.

Woo-jik!

Mountain Keeper felt something inside him breaking.

It felt like his essence was changing.

Accordingly, the power gathered in the goblin club also seethed more violently.

Not as the Mountain Keeper who manages balance and cultivates the mountain, but the awareness of himself as a goblin who loved blood and fighting was growing stronger.

“Okay. Good. You’ve gotten a little stronger at fighting, huh?”

Mountain Keeper sneered and placed the club on his shoulder.

At the same time, Mountain Keeper felt a very old covenant that had been formed deep within him shaking.

“The sparring match is ultimately my victory.”

Lee Cheol speaks.

Mountain Keeper snorted.

“You’re acting like you’ve already won when it’s not even over yet.”

“Didn’t I actually win?”

“In my eyes, you only look like you’re tattered after using the Mind Sword?”

“Well, Mountain Keeper himself is all torn up with his clothes all ripped.”

“Hey, you’re wearing clothes made by that mannish goblin.”

“If you’re upset, Mountain Keeper, wear something similar.”