MAF 08

Episode 8:

The Labyrinth’s Blade (5)

Aware of the crisis, he steeled himself to accept some damage. But just before stepping forward, Laban grabbed Rayoshi’s and Zoltan’s shoulders.

“Laban… no, you can’t go now.”
Laban was stronger than expected. It was true that the mission was proceeding more smoothly than initially anticipated.

However, that didn’t mean he could be placed before an enemy of unknown strength. Even if Laban were exceptionally strong, as a soldier of the Barazrat family, Rayoshi could not allow it.

Thus, Rayoshi tried to dissuade Laban. But the moment their eyes met, he flinched in surprise.

It was an expression deeper and darker than any he had seen before. Unbelievably different from the curious, smiling, and chattering person of just moments ago.

“First, step back and steady your breathing. You’ve been caught in its flow.”

“Tch!”

The orc had retreated just beyond engagement distance and was laughing. A fierce desire to crush that face welled up in Rayoshi’s heart.

“Laban… I cannot let you step forward. We know its number now. Zoltan and I are sufficient.”

“Right. I’ll show you my true power now!”

“You should have done that before it ate someone’s limb. It’s my turn now, so pull yourself together first.”
It wasn’t a situation where they could afford to bicker. The orc, observing the scene, suddenly attacked.

As Rayoshi hurriedly raised his sword, Laban stepped forward one pace ahead.

The moment the two clashed, Laban extended his hand and twisted his wrist. With swords locked, Laban swung the orc.

Literally with a flick of his hand, he pushed the orc’s sword aside.

Through that opened defense, as Laban aimed for the orc’s neck, the orc pulled its arm and drove its shoulder forward, shoving Laban back.

The distance was too close. He couldn’t accelerate his sword sufficiently.

Laban sidestepped half a pace and pushed the orc’s upper body. A simple move, but enough to disrupt its force and break its balance.

The orc threw itself back, almost tumbling, to escape Laban’s reach. Laban raised his sword, guarding his front as he faced the orc.

“If you’re that worried, finish healing quickly and come help.”
It happened in an instant. Rayoshi couldn’t say anything more. The orc charged, swords seemed to clash, and then the orc was flung far away.

‘Miraculous swordsmanship! A general education level? It is I who received the general education. Laban’s skill approaches that of an exceptional knight!’
A warrior’s true ability only emerges when faced with a worthy opponent.

Rayoshi shuddered at Laban’s exquisite swordsmanship, incomparable to when he faced surface-layer orcs.

Laban and the orc stared each other down, advancing half a step each. One step forward. At the boundary where only a single step remained between them, Laban stopped.

They stared, unmoving. They weren’t reading each other’s moves or vying for dominance.

They had both sensed the other as an entity that shouldn’t exist here and halted.

‘Undoubtedly, demonic arts. Moreover, the Heavenly Demon’s Wave-Treading Art. How in the world is such a vicious demonic art being practiced here, and by a monster no less?’
Each time his internal energy circulated through his meridians, it reacted with a prickling sensation. Demonic energy tried to invade his body, and Laban’s internal energy rebelled.

The demonic aura dominated the psyche of those nearby. Those exposed felt chills or mild spasms; the faint-hearted might even lose consciousness.

Rayoshi’s feeling that his body was slower than intended was due to this aura. Zoltan, too, though unaware, found his magic slightly less potent than usual.

Pure internal energy could negate its effects, but Laban was the only one here who knew internal energy techniques. Or rather, he should have been the only one.

The orc also sensed the firm, pure internal energy within Laban’s dantian.

Approximately two seconds. The time it took for the two beings to correctly perceive each other’s situation.

The orc turned its body, drew its sword back, and aimed at Laban. Its empty left hand stretched straight, pointing at Laban with only the index and middle fingers extended. A Taoist sword-finger gesture.

“Insolent!”

Laban raised his sword as if to deliver a mighty downward strike. Seizing the momentary gap as the sword moved, the orc thrust.

But Laban didn’t raise his sword overhead. Instead, with the sword he was lifting, he struck the orc’s blade aside.

The orc had no time to be surprised. Laban didn’t stop at deflecting; he turned both wrists, moving the blade tip from top to bottom, then bottom to top.

“Kak!”

It was instantaneous. Laban’s sword struck the orc’s wrist. Meanwhile, the orc’s sword was too far to reach Laban’s head.

‘Ox Plunges into Stone!’
A technique that neutralizes a thrust while simultaneously crushing the opponent’s wrist. Defense and attack occurred in a single motion.

The sharp blade bit into the orc’s wrist. Gnashing its teeth, the orc wrenched its arm free.

Unlike the orc, Laban lacked the bad habit of toying with his opponent when he had the chance. He pursued the retreating orc and slashed down powerfully.

The orc switched its sword to its uninjured hand and barely blocked Laban’s attack.

But a defense focused solely on blocking is eventually pierced. A third attack rode over the orc’s guard and stabbed towards its neck.

“Gruk!”

The moment the blade tip touched the orc’s neck, Laban felt strong repulsive force. He exerted more strength to break through, but the blade couldn’t advance an inch.

Instead, the moment Laban drew close, the orc lifted its foot and kicked.

Laban also raised his foot to block with his knee, but the difference in weight pushed him back.

‘Body Protection Hard Energy? Judging by the repulsion, its internal energy approaches the level of a Jiazi master.’
When internal energy cultivation reaches a certain realm, energy alone can harm others. Weapons imbued with such energy can cut steel like twigs and are nearly unbreakable.

Laban had also learned this art, but his accumulated energy was insufficient to employ it recklessly.

‘The situation is unfavorable. It’s regrettable I couldn’t neutralize it in the first exchange.’
To prevent the enemy from noticing this weakness, Laban launched an aggressive offensive.

As Laban charged again, the orc infused its sword with energy and swung. A careless clash risked having his head lopped off along with his blade!

Laban thinly spread his own energy over his blade, pushing the attack away. As its own sword was deflected, the orc ground its teeth and retreated.

One who loses momentum becomes disadvantaged even on the defensive. Laban pressed his attack relentlessly.

Laban continued his assault without revealing urgency. However, he couldn’t conceal the lack of power in his sword energy.

The difference in their internal energy was nearly fourfold. Each time their swords clashed, his limbs ached and his dantian throbbed.

From this slight discrepancy, the orc discerned its superiority. The creature, which had been scowling intensely, grinned widely again.

“Hup!”

The orc stopped retreating and instead advanced. Laban’s sword struck its forearm but was blocked by the Body Protection Hard Energy.

‘It seems breaking through that Body Protection Hard Energy will be troublesome.’
Offense and defense reversed. The orc attacked, disregarding defense entirely.

Such foolish attacks, at best, lead to mutual injury, and at worst, to death. But the combination of Body Protection Hard Energy and sword energy more than compensated for its lack of skill.

‘Very well. Keep rampaging like that.’
While blocking the enemy’s attacks, Laban accurately struck its vital points.

There was no immediate effect.

Energized, the orc grew even wilder, abandoning even the basics or forms of swordsmanship, simply swinging its sword wildly.

Against armor, he could target gaps. But Body Protection Hard Energy had no gaps. It could even block a thrust to the eye socket with the eyeball itself.

After several cycles of defense and counterattack, Laban was cornered. He frantically moved his hands and feet, barely maintaining his defense.

Rayoshi fidgeted as if ready to leap out any moment. Zoltan also secretly drew a magic circle, prepared to fire a spell.

“Not yet!”

It wasn’t a battle cry. Laban warned the two not to intervene as he swung his sword.

Laban wasn’t being pushed back without a plan. He showed a low stance to induce the enemy’s fierce assault, and even while retreating, he maintained steady attacks.

The enemy’s attacks were crude enough to be called foolish, so deflecting and slashing wasn’t difficult.

Body Protection Hard Energy used internal energy as its source. Protecting flesh and blood from attacks consumed energy.

Twenty exchanges passed. Instead of continuing its charge, the orc took a step back to reset its stance.

Maintaining Body Protection Hard Energy and sword energy while also enduring Laban’s attacks had consumed a significant amount of its internal energy.

Laban, already at a disadvantage in energy capacity, was also severely depleted. With the orc superior in total power, taking the same rest period would disadvantage Laban.

Therefore, maintaining this stalemate was absurd. Now, with the enemy retreated, was precisely the counterattack opportunity.

‘Show me that final hidden move of yours!’
Offense and defense reversed once more. Under Laban’s attack, the orc’s already vicious face contorted as it swung its sword.

The moment their swords locked, Laban felt the orc’s internal energy circulating along a familiar path.

‘The Southern Palace Clan’s Great Circulation Art? You intend to operate the demonic energy accumulated through the Wave-Treading Art using that method?’
Normal energy circulation methods guide internal energy up the body’s central meridian, past the Baihui point at the crown, and back down.

However, with demonic arts, if the demonic energy travels past the nape to the head, one loses reason and goes berserk. Worse, it could be fatal.

There was no time to be astonished that it performed such a near-suicidal act unscathed. The orc’s internal energy was already cycling through designated meridians, imbuing its blade with new power.

‘The Imperial Sword Form: Heaven-Pressing Cloud Descends! So that’s your trump card.’
The sword’s trajectory was nothing more than an ordinary downward slash. But the erupted energy bound Laban, disrupting his internal energy flow.

Simultaneously, the deployed energy technique neutralized defense. Simple, yet difficult to counter. Hence, the Emperor’s Sword!

“Ha!”

Laban let out a sharp exhalation, short and strong. Then, he swung his sword mightily.

“That sword is not fit for you to wield!”

A crimson light erupted from the center of Laban’s body. It was a power entirely different from the internal energy accumulated in his dantian.

The blood-red light soon transformed into a deep vermilion, like flames. It pushed back the energy the orc poured forth and enveloped Laban’s body.

Simultaneously, Laban deflected the orc’s sword. The orc was pushed back along with its blade.

Unlike the faint, barely visible energy force, the power emanating from Laban was vividly clear to others. It looked as if Laban moved within flames.

The orc wasn’t the only one with a hidden card.

There’s an adage in the martial world: “Reveal only 30% of your true strength.” Laban, true to this saying, had also concealed his trump card.

The power the orc hid exceeded Laban’s expectations, but Laban’s true strength surpassed even such an orc.

“Is that the Berserker’s Aura we’ve only heard of in rumors?”

“Uh, but didn’t the rumors say it was white like snow? Is that its original color?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only heard tales too…”

Rayoshi was bewildered seeing the power enveloping Laban. Who would have thought he was hiding such strength?

Zoltan was skeptical about the power differing from rumors, but knowing little details and having heard things from the family, he also assumed it was the Berserker’s power.

With its trump card neutralized, the orc was greatly alarmed and swung its sword even more wildly. But the sword energy of the Imperial Sword Form dispersed, and its blade couldn’t reach Laban.

“I shall now employ the Three Expedients of the Vajra,

Making my body like the Vajra, my mind like the wind-wheel.”
Laban recited the invocation of the Demon-Subduing Mantra as he deflected the orc’s sword and advanced.

Despite the name suggesting the subjugation of demons, the mantra itself did not harm the orc, a monster. Instead, with each recitation, the light enveloping Laban flashed more vividly and intensely.

The orc retreated to distance itself from Laban. One step, two steps—its footwork soon became frantic, as if ready to flee immediately.

“From my mouth, I pour forth the light of the mantra’s syllables,

Burning the body you have accumulated through ignorance.”
The vermilion energy swirling around Laban converged violently towards his center. The orc released its Body Protection Hard Energy, focusing all remaining energy into its sword for a final clash.

Swords collided, and bright vermilion light scattered in all directions. The orc’s sword shattered.

Laban’s blade plunged into the orc’s shoulder, splitting all obstructing bones and cleaving the heart before finally stopping.

There was no death rattle. The orc stood for a moment, then crumpled to the ground.