Chapter 296: Snatching (1)

'...Nitoryu?'

Only then did Takahira Shingo notice that Kang Jin-Ho carried two swords.

For one, Takahira Shingo's mind was too preoccupied to notice it until now. And in Japan, one of the two swords a warrior carried was meant to serve as a backup in emergencies.

Going through an endless series of anarchy and constant battles during the Warring States period had taught the Japanese warriors to grab their secondary weapon or snatch away their opponent’s weapon if their primary weapon broke in combat. To them, such actions were second nature.

But to think this damn Korean brat would perform Nitoryu...!

Kang Jin-Ho was wielding two swords, not two katanas, so it was technically not Nitoryu—Two Flowing Sabers—but Two Flowing Swords instead.

In any case, Nitoryu was not a technique some random nobody could use. Historically speaking, almost no one managed to gain fame and recognition while wielding two weapons at once.

Even Miyamoto Musashi, the pride of Japan and the master swordsman who had perfected the Nitoryu technique, almost never used this technique according to the written history. Apparently, he had gained enlightenment of Nitoryu toward the twilight of his life, but his completed teachings did not survive to the modern era.

This was a good indicator of how difficult it was to use two swords simultaneously. Trying to manipulate one's arms in two different ways during a hectic fight was already incredibly difficult to pull off. Moreover, there was also the issue of reduced strength while wielding a sword one-handed.

Even so, Kang Jin-Ho still wanted to use Nitoryu?

“Are you looking down on me?” Takahira Shingo growled angrily. Unfortunately for him and his intensity, though...

“Sure, go ahead and yap all you want. But...” Kang Jin-Ho groaned before shaking his head while tapping the ends of his swords on the floor. “Would it kill you to remember that I don't understand a word you're saying?

Geez.

It seems that the Japanese bastards here have a tendency to talk too much, don't they?”

Of course, Kang Jin-Ho still could get a rough idea of what the shinobi was saying despite his complaints.

“You stinking Chosenjin...!”

Paaaaahng!

The loud noise of the air being torn apart until it exploded resounded as Kang Jin-Ho's sword flew past Takahira Shingo's face.

Drop...

An intense burning pain came from Takahira Shingo's ear.

"

Hmm.

Even I can understand that part," said Kang Jin-Ho as he glanced at Lee Jung-Geol. "Did you find this bastard from an antique shop or something? It has been ages since Joseon became the Republic of Korea, so why is this idiot still talking about Chosenjin this and Chosenjin that?"

Lee Jung-Geol couldn't say anything and kept his mouth firmly shut.

"If you were serious about stopping me, you should've found someone living in the present, not the past," Kang Jin-Ho tutted in reproval, then took another look at Takahira Shingo. From the anachronistic kimono and the traditional topknot hairstyle, Kang Jin-Ho could tell how much this Japanese man revered his country's past and still tried to live it out.

“...These Japanese idiots tend to have weird tastes, don't they?” Kang Jin-Ho muttered, even though he couldn't help but wonder if this was really the issue of crooked tastes.

Anyways, if this idiot was ignorant of the present, then it was Kang Jin-Ho's job to teach him. Through pain, of course!

Takahira Shingo didn't understand any of Kang Jin-Ho's snarky remarks. However, he still learned something vital just then.

'One slip-up, and I'll die!'

What happened just now was... If the sword strike that cut off his ear were aimed at his throat instead, he would have instantly died without being able to put up any meaningful resistance. Even if Takahira Shingo's agitation lowered his guard and misled his sight, a sword strike of such a caliber was not something a rank amateur could perform.

Takahira Shingo had already acknowledged his enemy's strength. However, it seemed Kang Jin-Ho's power even exceeded Shingo's estimation. By an incredible amount, too!

Takahira Shingo tried to say something else. “You Cho—”

But then, Kang Jin-Ho shook his head first in a gesture that said, ‘

No need to waste your breath here

.’

“Stop running your mouth.”

At the same time, Kang Jin-Ho's sword started moving again.

'Huh?'

And Takahira Shingo sensed something was quite weird just then. The world around him was... slowing down?

Initially, Takahira Shingo thought Kang Jin-Ho's sword was slower than he anticipated. However, he didn't need long to notice the irregularity in this situation. Even a slow-moving sword should accelerate much faster as it closed in on the target. However, Kang Jin-Ho's sword grew slower and slower as it reached Takahiro Shingo's position.

Was it because the strike itself was weak? Of course not!

Only a few seconds ago, didn't Kang Jin-Ho strike snatch away his ear? Considering the speed demonstrated earlier, this slowness couldn't be explained unless Kang Jin-Ho was messing with him.

'...What the hell?'

Takahira Shingo finally sensed critical danger when he sensed his body had become slower as well. He wanted to dodge the strike with room to spare, but his body was not moving as quickly as his brain willed.

It seemed that... the entire world had indeed slowed down somehow. Takahira Shingo realized that, at this rate, his head would go flying off by that slow-moving sword! He summoned all the power he could muster in his body and twisted himself out of the way.

Snick...!

Kang Jin-Ho's sword barely missed Shingo's neck by a hair's breadth. Despite the narrow miss, the skin on his neck still split apart, and the muscle fibers underneath were mercilessly sliced open. Even the formless sword aura alone boasted such incredible cutting power!

However, the analysis of his wound would have to wait.

'I've won...!'

Takahiro Shingo instinctively sensed his impending victory.

A martial artist would experience this state at least once in their life. When one's focus was heightened to the extreme or when they stepped into the realm of enlightenment, a human being would enter a different 'world'. Time would slow down while all colors would bleed out from the surroundings. Only the necessary things would be processed by their overclocked brain.

The martial artists of the bygone era called this the state of enlightenment martial trance. The side and after-effects of such a state were nothing to scoff at, but a martial artist in this state could exhibit strength several times greater than their usual self. Then again, how could they not? When the world had slowed down to a crawl while their thought process had accelerated even faster?

To Takahira Shingo, the pain from the neck wound felt like pleasure. Behold! Look how slow Kang Jin-Ho was as he swung his sword! He was so slow that even a fly could rest on the blade he was holding!

All Takahira Shingo had to do now was dodge that strike, then thrust his katana at the enemy to wipe out that insolent smirk. With that, he would get revenge and console the souls of his departed subordinates.

So, he just had to evade this strike, and then—

However, Kang Jin-Ho's other sword started flying in from the opposite side.

'Hmm...

'

Takahira Shingo narrowed his eyes. The position of the second sword was simply... exquisite, even from his point of view. Although he could either dodge or block that, a counterattack was now out of the question.

'Hmm. If I'm careless, I might lose here.'

No, wait. He should acknowledge what needed to be acknowledged. This Joseon bastard was stronger than him. If he hadn't entered the state of martial trance, he would have never discovered the second strike and lost his head right afterward. After all, this second attack had accurately aimed for the blindspot created while assuming the stance to dodge the first attack.

Such a killing strike couldn't be cooked up unless the sword's wielder had killed countless people before. For now, Takahira Shingo shouldn't worry about just where a bastard like this youth had shown up from.

Although it was shocking to learn that a powerful martial artist like him had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Shingo was wise enough to understand that he must focus on dodging the attacks first.

Time was fair to everyone, even to Takahira Shingo. His thought process speeding up did not mean his body did the same, after all! Being able to react just a millisecond sooner was a massive advantage that could make up for the severe difference in strength. Still, losing concentration even for one second would result in him getting sliced up despite reading the trajectory of the attacks!

Takahira Shingo bent backward and successfully dodged the second sword. He gritted his teeth as the sword flew right past his nose. Now was the time to counterattack!

Unfortunately for him, he still didn't get that chance. Just before any counterattack could be performed, Kang Jin-Ho withdrew his sword, only to accurately thrust it back toward Takahira Shingo's throat, which had been left wide open while he was dodging backward.

But how could this be? Takahira Shingo couldn't understand it. Wasn't he experiencing a state of martial trance right now? And Kang Jin-Ho's swords were moving slowly enough for a fly to relax on them! So, how! The only thing he could do right now was dodge and nothing else, but why?! He should be using his accelerated thought process to utterly humiliate this Chosenjin, and even that wouldn't be enough to sate his fury, so why—

“Mm...?”

The sound coming out of Takahira Shingo's mouth sounded weirdly elongated as if it was made by a stretched cassette tape. But then, his eyes shot open wide.

Slow enough for a fly to relax? On that blade?

Takahira Shingo sensed a great disharmony and confusion settle inside his mind while looking at the sword closing in toward his throat. It was... fast?

No, it was slow—no! It was fast!

The sword strike was excruciatingly slow for an attack performed by an expert, but it wasn't so slow that a fly could settle down on it. Which was not the impression Takahira Shingo had gotten earlier. If he compared it to something... Yes, it would be as slow as a young child trying to swing a stick.

Did that mean Takahira Shingo's martial trance had come undone? When he checked, his body was still moving in the same slowness as before. In that case, what?

'...Is it getting faster?'

Only Kang Jin-Ho's sword? In a world where everything had slowed down, only Kang Jin-Ho's weapons were gradually regaining their previous speed? That shouldn't be possible—such a thing should be impossible—no matter what!

Unless Kang Jin-Ho existed in a different time and space, something like that shouldn't happen!

In that case, there could be only one explanation.

'He's getting faster!'

Kang Jin-Ho was swinging his swords several times faster than when he first initiated his attack. He was moving so fast that only his swords seemed to have regained their original speeds within this endlessly slowed-down world.

What could have happened if Takahira Shingo hadn't entered the state of martial trance? Could he have tracked the sword movements with his naked eyes?

Goosebumps quickly broke out all over his body. Now wasn't the time to worry about that. No, he had to focus his entire being and dodge the incoming attacks somehow!

At that precise moment, Kang Jin-Ho's swords finally regained their original speed.

Stab!

Takahira Shingo's eyes shot wide open. No one could dodge a sword strike moving at its original speed when everything else in the world had slowed down to a crawl. His eyes could see the deadly sword closing in, but his body couldn't keep up with his brain's command to dodge.

Kang Jin-Ho's sword stabbed into Takahira Shingo's shoulder before pulling back. Then, another strike quickly followed. This strike cut Takahira Shingo's leg. The third strike chopped his arm off, then the fourth pierced right through his abdomen.

Takahira Shingo could sense it all. He sensed the sword penetrating his flesh, slicing through his internal organs, then the blood flowing backward in his organs to shoot up out of his throat...

He could sense everything agonizingly slowly and vividly as well.

'Kekekeke...'

Takahira Shingo could only chuckle. An opportunity, was it? No, this was heaven's punishment.

Now that everything seemed deathly slow, everything also felt far too vivid to his heightened senses. The sensation of a sharp blade splitting his flesh open and the horrible pain shooting up from his wound...!

What tormented him the most, however, wasn't his wound. No, it was the cruel fact that he couldn't evade the thing his eyes managed to track. If he weren’t in the state of martial trance, the pain would have been over in an instant, but now... he had to suffer from the intense, slow and horrifying sensation and pain.

'Hah. Hahaha...'

Takahira Shingo could also see something else all too clearly. He could see that... smile. As the blood splattered everywhere after his body was sliced open and his limbs chopped off...!

Takahira Shingo could clearly see Kang Jin-Ho's smiling face. A face that resembled a devil gleefully laughing away at the sight of blood!

'At least I won't feel short-changed, then.'

Takahira Shingo instinctively realized the truth just then. This Chosenjin... no, this fearsome martial artist would one day change the world.

Once ‘Gumi,’ Shingo’s organization, learned about his demise tonight, it would dispatch a fact-finding team to Korea. That would eventually balloon into a clash between Korea and Japan.

It didn’t matter who would emerge victorious. Only the bloodshed and the deaths of countless many would bring an end to that clash. Knowing this, Takahira Shingo didn't feel aggrieved about his demise tonight.

He saw the sword lazily flying in toward his throat and could only chuckle hollowly. Unlike the previous attacks responsible for chopping him apart, this final sword strike was unimaginably slow.

'...He's the devil!'

So demons actually existed in this world. Not pretend evil, but genuine evil. They

really

did exist in the world. Realizing this too late was Takahira Shingo's final mistake—his checkmate.

As he sensed Kang Jin-Ho's sword slowly cut through his neck flesh, sever the muscles, and tear through his arteries... Takahira Shingo nobly tried to close his eyes. “The Great Japan Empire—”

“Shut up!”

Before he could finish his last will and testament, Takahira Shingo's head flew off into the air. And it landed with a wet thud on the floor even before his eyes could close.

“Seriously…” Kang Jin-Ho muttered in irritation while shaking the blood off of his sword. “He just didn't know when to quit yapping, did he?”