Resurrection Chapter 117 - Anyway, Seo Heesoo Doesn’t Know

The rampant vengeful spirits were torn apart all at once, and the mortal ground was neutralized. Seizing the opportunity while Yaksha’s abilities were nerfed, Ryu Jinju charged forward. The two swords in her hands, as slender as switches, made an eardrum-shattering sound as they whipped around Yaksha’s entire body.

Standing behind Yaksha, I saw Ryu Jinju, who was in front of him, flinch and stop her movements. Her face was deathly pale. I realized why. Yaksha’s flesh should have been torn apart and blood should have burst forth, but even Ryu Jinju’s all-out strike had no effect.

As if to prove that he was invulnerable to blades, Yaksha appeared to have taken no damage at all. Ryu Jinju seemed dumbfounded by this fact, but I didn’t hesitate. I gripped the hilt of the magic sword embedded in the floor.

The heat surging from the magic sword grew hotter and hotter, melting away all the ice chains. When I pulled it from the floor, the magic sword’s characteristic jet-black aura bloomed like a cloud.

Without even thinking to roll up my sleeves, I pressed my forearm against the blackish-purple blade. The blade, which tore through the fabric of my clothes like paper, made contact with my skin.

“Ugh…”

At the sensation of my flesh being sliced open, I let out a low groan. As hot blood flowed, the Offering was made.

An aura, indistinct as smoke, surged up like a stream of water and covered the blade. The jet-black aura turned into a dazzling light, and I gripped the hilt of Lævateinn, which was squirming as if it were alive, with all my might.

I didn’t know a damn thing about swordsmanship, but it was different when I was making an Offering. Lævateinn, which had served countless masters across time and space, had all of their sword techniques engraved within it. Lævateinn, momentarily awakened after receiving the offering of blood, flawlessly recreated those sword techniques through my body.

Feeling something that could be called the will of the sword, I turned my body around. In the rear, Yaksha was snatching Ryu Jinju’s chin and lifting her up high.

“Kyaaak!”

Ryu Jinju flailed like a fish caught in the air. I rushed toward them before Yaksha could drive her mad by forcing a malevolent spirit into her.

Fortunately, Imae’s debuff seemed to still be in effect. Even though I charged at Yaksha, the aura surging from Lævateinn didn’t weaken in the slightest.

With a fluid motion that didn’t feel like my own, I thrust the sword toward Yaksha’s shoulder. At that, Yaksha’s eyes flashed, and he swung Ryu Jinju in front of my sword as if she were a shield.

I nearly stabbed Ryu Jinju instead of Yaksha with Lævateinn, but the will of the sword did not permit such a mistake. I skillfully twisted my wrist, and the blade bent like a snake to match. Lævateinn grazed past Ryu Jinju by a hair’s breadth and pierced the hand of Yaksha that was gripping her chin.

“Keuk!”

If Yaksha had kept holding onto Ryu Jinju, I could have severed his wrist. Perhaps sensing a bad premonition, Yaksha let go of Ryu Jinju, tossing her toward me, and stepped back, gripping his trishula with both hands.

I ground my molars with a grind.

Most people thought that the power of the trishula came from its performance as a weapon with a will of its own, an Ego Weapon. After all, the spear flew freely through the air following Yaksha’s will, piercing his enemies. But a weapon is just a weapon, and it displays its true power only when held in someone’s hands.

There were no openings in Yaksha’s form as he held the trishula and aimed it at me. Yaksha was conscious of his physical weaknesses and rarely engaged in close-quarters combat. However, that didn’t mean his skills were anything to scoff at.

From what I had observed while being held captive by him, Yaksha was quite a hard worker. Then again, it would have been difficult to maintain such a cringeworthy concept without considerable effort. He never neglected his training day after day and seemed to have a deep knowledge of spearmanship. Now that he was in Shin Lion’s body, his physical abilities were greatly enhanced, so I couldn’t be careless, even with the Offering.

We stared at each other for a moment, our respective weapons held before us. Yaksha twisted his lips and made a remark that was truly painful for me.

“You carry around a sword like that and call me a concept freak?”

I should have laughed it off, but my face turned bright red. Lævateinn, glittering as it emitted light, looked for all the world like a legendary weapon that would be traded for a huge sum of money in an RPG game. When Yaksha, whom I had been mocking as a concept freak, pointed that out, a deep sense of reality hit me. Seizing that opening, Yaksha charged at me like a thunderbolt.

KABOOOM!

When I hurriedly raised Lævateinn to block his attack, it wasn’t the sound of cold weapons clashing that rang out, but the sound of a bomb exploding. My hand tingled so much that my elbow trembled, and if I hadn’t been in the state of Offering, I would have definitely dropped the sword.

Yaksha pressed me without giving me a moment to breathe, and I was busy just defending myself. But his offensive did not last long. With Imae’s debuff showing its power, the force of Lævateinn with the Offering was fierce and powerful.

Knowing that Yaksha was being pushed back bit by bit, I used all my strength to turn the tables. As I launched an attack without giving him a moment to breathe, the situation turned into one where Yaksha was scrambling to block it.

Perhaps angered by this, Yaksha shouted.

“Kim Yitae! Do you want to die!”

Yaksha’s eyes were burning with killing intent, but it was nothing to be surprised about. I already knew, but I pretended to be shocked on purpose to distract Yaksha.

“After doing all that to me, you’re going to kill me now? Are you serious?”

“You think I can’t do it.”

Yaksha growled as if to say “just you wait,” but his energy momentarily subsided. I—or more accurately, Lævateinn—did not miss that opening.

CLAAANG!

Lævateinn struck Yaksha’s shoulder, but even Lævateinn couldn’t inflict any injury on Yaksha’s iron-like body. Lævateinn’s blade struck Yaksha’s shoulder precisely, but it couldn’t pierce it and seemed to bounce off.

But I didn’t give up. Lævateinn is no ordinary sword. It was a divine object of the Golden Emperor, and the Golden Emperor was also a dragon. Lævateinn possessed the power to pierce even a dragon’s scales.

The blade that reached Yaksha couldn’t pierce his skin and let off sparks, but another blade shot out from the blade, just like a ghost. Lævateinn, though different in form from the trishula, also possessed the performance of an Ego Weapon. It wasn’t a simple aura, but a Sword Soul (劍魂) that separated from the blade and burrowed straight into Yaksha’s body.

“Heok.”

The Sword Soul cut from Yaksha’s shoulder down to his side before exiting and abruptly disappearing. Yaksha swallowed a groan and staggered. The Sword Soul couldn’t inflict physical damage, but his soul must have been greatly damaged. Since Yaksha was a necromancer, the damage was sure to be even greater.

Confirming the effect, I raised Lævateinn again. When I thrusted its tip straight forward, Yaksha reflexively raised his hand and grabbed the blade. He gripped the sharp blade as if it were some kind of club, but the Sword Soul once again passed through his body.

“Keuaak!”

Yaksha let out a pain-filled groan. I twisted Lævateinn upwards, intending to completely shatter his soul. At that, countless spirits poured in from the surroundings and encircled me.

WOOOOOO!

Just as my vision was darkening, for a moment, the back of my head felt cold. I whipped my head around to look. Just then, someone bumped into my back.

It was Imae. He stood blocking my back and extended his hands forward.

KRA-KRAKOOM!

From the fingertips of Imae’s outstretched hands, pillar-like mounds of earth continuously shot up. Shattering them all, the trishula that Yaksha had sent flying at some point flew in with terrifying force.

Normally, it would have been an attack that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, but Imae had drastically reduced the trishula’s speed. Nevertheless, the trishula ultimately broke through all of Imae’s defenses and flew in, aiming precisely for my head. Yaksha intended to kill me, just as he had threatened.

Unable to completely neutralize the trishula, Imae blocked my path with his body. I almost screamed, reminded of Min Gongchan who had taken an attack for me. But Imae wasn’t the Archmage for nothing. Layers of gleaming defensive barriers appeared in front of him. He succeeded in blocking the trishula in the end.

The trishula’s trajectory was distorted as it hit the defensive barrier. It grazed past both me and Yaksha by a narrow margin. Turning my gaze in that direction, I saw Yaksha’s face contorted horribly. He had beautifully drawn features, but it was meaningless with such an expression.

The trishula, which I thought had been deflected, made a wide turn and flew in again. Imae scattered magic in all directions and blocked the attack.

Taking advantage of the time Imae was buying, I put a great deal of strength into my arms to sever Yaksha’s soul with Lævateinn. Likewise, Yaksha, who was also gripping Lævateinn’s blade, was doing his best to suppress the Sword Soul.

In the brief stalemate, our distance was very close. Making untimely eye contact, Yaksha twisted his lips upwards.

“If you don’t want to die, give up now. Seo Heesoo won’t know anyway.”

My brow twitched. I tried not to be swayed by his words, but the memories engraved on my body made it impossible.

“He doesn’t know anything about how you beg, or what you crave.”

Unable to hold back, I bared my teeth.

“Shut up.”

“I doubt that pain was the only thing I gave you, was it?”

“I told you to shut up!”

“Aren’t you missing it by now? Something a guy like Seo Heesoo could never give you…”

“Aaaargh!”

I couldn’t wait for Yaksha to finish his words. Even though I knew full well I was falling for his provocation, I threw a punch at Yaksha’s blabbering jaw. Yaksha’s jaw snapped to the side, but he did not miss the opening.