Chapter 122: Jaseung, Imposes a Restriction

Whoosh!

Dodging the incoming strike, Lee Jaseung snatched his opponent’s wrist. The instant he tried to twist it—

Papapapapapam!

Wrath’s other elbow shot in for Lee Jaseung’s face in a rapid chain.

Lee Jaseung released the wrist and slipped back.

The attack was far faster and stronger than he’d expected. On top of that, the target had been his face, so relying on protective Qi felt risky.

Protective Qi didn’t shield your whole body with equal strength. It worked in proportions similar to your usual condition.

Arms, chest, and legs were sturdy, while the face, head, and groin were relatively vulnerable.

As expected, he was strong.

Anyone fooled by that heavy, clumsy charge would’ve had their head knocked off by that last strike.

Wrath himself was startled. He stared down at his wrist, eyes wide, wider still.

He couldn’t believe his blow had missed and his wrist had been caught. Worse, the wrist he thought had been grabbed lightly throbbed like it had been nearly torn off.

Wrath gave a crooked grin. The smile was so awkward it looked grotesque.

“I’m truly delighted. That you’re this strong.”

Wrath rushed in again.

Even without using Limitless Steps, Lee Jaseung moved faster.

Thud! Tap! Smack!

His fists slammed into Wrath’s chest in quick succession.

Wrath’s figure reeled as he stumbled back.

Lee Jaseung felt a heavy ache in his knuckles. It was the first time his fists had hurt in a situation where he was the one landing the hits.

It felt exactly like fighting a hunk of iron. Not just iron, but something like unbreakable millennium coldsteel, hard to the point of seeming eternal.

Swiiiish!

Ripping through the air, Wrath’s fist streaked in fast.

It was so sudden that Lee Jaseung almost let the blow through.

Sliding back, he drew his Asura.

Wrath barked at once.

“Don’t use that kind of thing in a sacred fight!”

Lee Jaseung gave a thin smile.

“That’s a selfish line, isn’t it?”

Wrath’s face, already flushed red, looked about to burst.

Swoosh!

The incoming punches were so fast it was hard to believe they were fists. Lee Jaseung evaded them by a hair.

When he slipped the fourth strike, his chance came.

Shing!

A long line opened on Wrath’s arm.

Lee Jaseung was shocked. He’d cut him fairly deep, yet not a single drop of blood came out.

“My hide is thick.”

“I’ll peel it all off then.”

Wrath’s expression twisted.

“Don’t use such low-class words!”

“Your face isn’t all that noble either.”

Needled by the taunt, Wrath barreled in, fists whipping at a ferocious speed.

Swish! Swoosh!

Even a graze from the now-faster strikes packed enough force to shatter bones.

Shing! Swish!

Asura slashed his arms and waist. Again, only the skin split, with no blood. Dozens of exchanges flashed by in an instant, yet Wrath didn’t so much as brush the hem of Lee Jaseung’s robe.

Panting as if winded, Wrath asked,

“Hey, why are you so strong?”

Lee Jaseung answered coldly.

“You’re just weak.”

He was deliberately needling and provoking him.

Wrath’s face turned furious red. He took the bait so easily it made Lee Jaseung almost feel sorry.

Wrath scowled.

“I won’t hold back from now on.”

He drove his fists like a madman.

Thud! Crash! Thud!

Blasts of condensed force erupted from his punches in a chain.

Rock shattered and the ground flipped. The surroundings turned to a wasteland in a heartbeat.

Ssssss.

When the thick smoke settled, Wrath’s eyes widened.

Lee Jaseung stood right in front of his nose. The price for failing to notice him coming this close was steep.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Asura stabbed his chest in rapid succession. This time blood geysered from Wrath’s body.

Staggering back, Wrath toppled over.

Lee Jaseung spoke in a cold tone.

“You don’t throw around big techniques like that.”

He’d won more easily than he’d thought. He hadn’t expected the man to be so easily baited into anger.

He’d misjudged him. He’d felt much stronger than this.

Lee Jaseung glanced at the crow. As before, it perched there watching.

Right as he was about to say something to those eyes, his face hardened.

Slowly, he turned his head and looked behind him. His widened eyes grew wider still. The Wrath, whom he thought was dead, had risen.

Wrath’s appearance had changed. With the blood that had spurted out, it was like the air had been let out of him.

The hulking physique had become lean. Even his features had changed. Gone was the earlier stiffness and awkwardness. In its place stood something like a cold-eyed assassin.

“That hurt huh? You bastard, I’ll smear you into this gutter.”

His voice and manner were different too. He swore like a wastrel who’d been cursing from childhood, the words fitting his mouth as if made for it.

Now Lee Jaseung understood why Wrath had seemed so awkward before. He had been bound by a seal. This was his true self.

If he suffered a set amount of injury or anger, his seal would be unlocked.

That glare, exhaling cold fury, was the real one.

A thick vein bulged on Wrath’s forehead. The vein formed a single character.

Wrath.

Lee Jaseung let out a dry little laugh.

‘He’s an opponent I shouldn’t have made angry.’

At his composure, Wrath exploded.

“You brat, I’ll smash your skull now.”

A steel-blue aura welled off his body. It was rage.

For the first time, Lee Jaseung witnessed it. Rage alone coalescing into Qi, taking the shape of a single art and surging out.

Shweeeeek.

Wrath rushed in at a terrifying speed.

Thud!

His single blow sent Lee Jaseung skidding back through the air.

Lee Jaseung kneaded his wrist. The throbbing seemed to say,

You’re being pushed despite one hundred and eighty years worth of Qi.

His eyes sharpened.

Who on earth had created a monster like this?

Once again, he felt how fearsome the organization behind this must be.

Boom! Kwooooom!

Wrath dove in and slammed straight down. The space where Lee Jaseung had been standing split open with a long crack. The power and speed were beyond imagination.

As he slipped aside, Lee Jaseung cut his arm with Asura.

This time it didn’t even split the skin. Not so much as a scratch.

Unlocking the seal had made him stronger.

The rage aura rippling over Wrath’s body was functioning as protective Qi.

It looked like dark arts, but it wasn’t.

Even so, Lee Jaseung didn’t lift his restriction.

One hundred and eighty years worth, without close-combat technique and without Limitless Steps.

‘For the likes of you, this much is enough.’

This time he lunged first.

Swish!

Asura carved the air, needle-sharp.

Wrath slipped the fast attack on instinct, and answered with a powerful counter.

Shweeeeeeeek!

Thump!

Lee Jaseung bounced away again. Fortunately, he twisted his body and bled off the impact.

“You little maggot, you dodge well!”

A cold smile touched Lee Jaseung’s lips.

Wrath glared.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Do I look like I’m smiling now?”

The faint curve remained in Lee Jaseung’s mouth. But he wasn’t smiling. He was angry.

Rage for rage.

It wasn’t merely that he was angry because he’d been pushed back. That alone was infuriating, but the root of his fury ran like this.

His current state was similar to his martial level before his fortuitous encounter, roughly around when he rose to Black Way Alliance Leader.

Yet here he was, being pushed by a mere single fighter sent by the power behind all this.

If he couldn’t easily kill even one of these, what business did he have trying to unify the world?

That was what enraged him. He didn’t quell the feeling. He instead let it blaze.

His rage erupted like a live volcano.

Rage for rage, the method and momentum he found in this fight with Wrath.

Ticking Asura lightly, he called to Wrath.

“Foul-mouthed idiot who only knows how to throw a tantrum, get over here.”

“I’ll peel your skin and toss you into a barrel of salt!”

“I already said I’d be doing the peeling. Forgot already?”

“Shut up! You little bastard! I’ll grind you to dust!”

Wrath hurtled in trailing killing intent.

Lee Jaseung didn’t evade. He drove in.

Rage crashed against rage.

Shwick shwick shwick shwick shwick!

Papapapapam!

Dagger and fist tore the air. The evasion and the blows came so fast they couldn’t be tracked with the eye.

…Thirty moves, forty, fifty.

In a blink, they traded a hundred or so exchanges. It was dragon and tiger clashing, their skill dead even.

But the outcome of this fight didn’t hinge on who attacked or defended faster or harder.

It hinged on whose rage was greater.

Originally, Wrath’s rage was larger. He was the embodiment of rage, grown by rage.

But there was one difference.

His rage had grown stale with habit, rage for the sake of greater force.

Lee Jaseung’s rage was fresh. And it was sincere.

Swoosh!

At the instant his rage swallowed Wrath’s, Asura sliced straight through the air.

Swish.

Flesh tore with a whisper, and silence followed.

“Gughh.”

A low groan slipped from Wrath’s mouth. He clutched his throat.

More than half of it had been severed. Blood leaked between his fingers. The aura of rage coiling around his body unraveled and began to vanish.

“…No… way…”

Lee Jaseung stepped in and spoke softly.

“I have one question. Can you hear what we say over here through that crow?”

“What?”

“I was curious.”

At the unexpected question, Wrath’s face went blank. Then it warped in hideous frustration. At the last moment, to be asked something like that.

Lee Jaseung smiled coldly.

“Yes. I figured dying angry suited you.”

Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!

Asura stabbed his heart again and again. With the rage aura already scattered, each thrust sank into the hilt.

Wrath spewed blood from his heart and collapsed.

Lee Jaseung looked down at him for a brief moment. He half wondered if he’d pop back up by breaking another seal, but Wrath was truly dead.

He turned his head.

Sure enough, the crow perched in the distance.

As before, he felt a presence peering through the crow’s eyes.

He was satisfied with this fight.

He had fought with all his might under self-imposed restriction, so that the unknown watcher would take it that way. There had been no acting or trickery in the exchange.

They would take this as Lee Jaseung’s true level.

He had cleanly hidden the fact that he was stronger.

This time he didn’t destroy the crow. He simply raised a hand in a wave.

Flutter.

The crow lifted and winged away into the sky, vanishing far off.

Flash.

In the next instant, Lee Jaseung’s figure disappeared from that spot as well.

Since the fight had gone well, he tried one more thing. Using Limitless Steps, he kicked after the crow at a terrifying speed.

There was a reason why he hadn’t killed it. With Limitless Steps’ lightness skill, he felt confident he could tail the bird.

A quarter-hour later, Lee Jaseung stood wearing a grave expression.

He had succeeded in tracking the crow. Had it flown farther, even with five hundred and forty years worth of Qi, he would’ve lost it eventually.

But the crow didn’t go very far.

It flew straight into the place he was now staring at with that serious face.

The place rising before him was the Murim Alliance.

The one who had been watching him was right there… inside the Murim Alliance.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep