The original Dokgorin in the story possesses various martial arts, but among them, the most unique is the mental technique called Yeongok Simgyeol, personally devised by Dokwang Tang Hochang.
Yeongok Simgyeol is a martial art that mimics the ecology of spiritual beings, where most of the spiritual entities in nature change their basic constitution based on their surrounding environment or the food they continuously consume.
Observing this, Tang Hochang hypothesized that if humans continuously ingested poison, like the spiritual beings, they would develop a tolerance to it and even create organs that produce poison. The completed form of that hypothesis is the martial art Yeongok Simgyeol.
In her childhood, the original Dokgorin learned Yeongok Simgyeol from Tang Hochang and successfully became a perfect poison user, but now Dokgorin has turned into a walking radioactive substance by consuming uranium instead of poison.
According to her, it seems that during the first round, I shared my knowledge about natural uranium and radiation with her, resulting in this situation, but to be honest, when I first heard it, I thought I was some sort of lunatic back in the first round.
Even so, could one really make someone they want to save continuously ingest radioactive uranium?
If she had failed in gambling, Dokgorin would have likely died beforehand from heavy metal poisoning, not from radiation exposure.
It’s only lucky that she’s still alive.
The biggest issue here is that uranium is continuously generated in Dokgorin’s body. Even if she develops a tolerance, those around her remain at high risk of radiation exposure.
I knew that from the first round, so I advised her to use regular poisons in everyday life instead of uranium and even wore clothes made of lead just in case.
It was shocking to learn that the lead robe she gifted me was not actually for training but to reduce radiation exposure.
Dokgorin said that if Yeongok Simgyeol reaches a peak, she can control the amount of radiation emitted externally by herself, so it seems I’ll have to continue wearing the lead robe until then.
If I’m going to die helping her with her revenge, that’s one thing, but I certainly prefer not to die from radiation exposure.
*
Dokgorin gazed at Namgoong Ruby standing before her, pondering.
‘There isn’t a single gap to be seen.’
Considering her current level, that was truly remarkable.
A peak master.
The highest point reachable by those with average talents.
However, before her regression, she had experienced a higher state known as the ‘Hwa Gyeong’ and could easily step into the realm of the peak master just by retracing the path she had followed based on that memory.
Given that it had only been about three years since she began learning martial arts, her progress was absurdly high, but Dokgorin was trying to guess the reason for it.
‘Teaching Chilbongi has been helpful.’
In fact, Chilbongi was the first person she taught martial arts to.
For someone like Dokgorin, who could be categorized as a genius, the perspective of Chilbongi, an ordinary person, was refreshing. As she taught him martial arts, she had to reflect on the things she had previously overlooked, naturally enhancing her skills.
Yet, even so, Namgoong Ruby before her was at a level that matched her own.
It was truly awe-inspiring.
“Heh, I never expected to fight like this,” Namgoong Ruby said with excitement.
Normally suppressing her feelings behind a sunny smile, Dokgorin knew her true nature.
Sword Demon.
A woman who lived and died by the sword.
In the future, she would become known as the Sword King, occupying a place among the ten greatest masters in the world.
Considering that, it wasn’t surprising that Namgoong Ruby might be the only woman in the entire martial world who could rival her.
Clang—
She drew two curved blades from her waist and asked, “I’ve been curious for a while, what do you find appealing about me that made you want to be friends?”
While she herself recognized the truth, Dokgorin was not the most agreeable person as a friend.
She generally maintained a cold distance from others and put up walls unless someone piqued her interest.
Yet still, Namgoong Ruby persistently approached her, wanting to be friends.
In response to Dokgorin’s question, Namgoong Ruby smiled brightly and replied, “I thought you were oddly similar to me.”
“…Me?”
“You seem to reject others on the outside, but deep down, you need affection more than anyone else.”
Saying that, Namgoong Ruby drew her weapon, the Bicheon Sword, from her back.
“If I win this fight, will you be my friend?”
Hearing her undeterred words even in this situation, Dokgorin couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Alright. If you really beat me.”
“Then I have no choice but to go all out from the start.”
At that moment, a vivid blue light gleamed on the blade of Namgoong Ruby’s massive Bicheon Sword.
Sword energy manifested visibly, something that should ordinarily be invisible.
And that was one of the signature techniques that only peak masters could perform.
Seeing this, Dokgorin slowly pulled up her internal energy.
As a result, her hair began to shine with a radiant fluorescent light, triggered by the Cherenkov effect.
Responding to that, a blue light also gathered at the tip of her curved blade.
“Indeed, you have comparable skills to mine,” Dokgorin said.
Namgoong Ruby flashed a fierce smile.
Her usual gentle expression transformed into that of a predator, as fierce as a leopard stalking its prey.
In contrast, Dokgorin resembled a venomous snake or poisonous spider, ready to strike against its foe.
The sight of the two, truly matching in intensity, left the spectators around them holding their breath in tension.
At last,
“I’m coming!”
Namgoong Ruby’s shout signaled the beginning of their battle.
*
When people think of the greatest sword schools in the world, they usually think of the Musang or Hwasan factions, but when it comes to the greatest sword families, the first that comes to mind is the Namgoong family.
The Dokgo family was also famous for swordsmanship, but inevitably had to play second fiddle to the Namgoong family, the leading family of the five great families.
Standing before Dokgorin in battle was Namgoong Ruby, who was like a precious gemstone honed over many years in such a prestigious clan.
An overwhelming display of swordsmanship.
She wielded a sword as heavy as herself, showcasing what it means to be a true heavy sword master.
Boom! Boom!
Every time the massive blade cut through the air, it produced a threatening, whistling sound.
Dokgorin either narrowly dodged or barely deflected it with her two curved blades, but both are peak masters, so if they landed a hit, it would surely be fatal for one another. Unfortunately, the fundamental difference in reach was impossible to overcome.
The fact was, whereas Namgoong Ruby wielded a sword nearly 5 feet long, Dokgorin’s main weapon, the curved blade, measured only about 1 foot.
Designed with a throwing purpose in mind from the start, she needed to maintain a distance for it to be used effectively, but having already seen her combat prowess, Namgoong Ruby didn’t allow her to create distance.
“Persistent!”
Finally, unable to bear it, Dokgorin shouted in an irritated voice, to which Namgoong Ruby responded with a playful smile.
“Persistence is my strong suit!”
Clang!!
Seizing a fleeting moment, Dokgorin swung her sword, but Namgoong Ruby easily blocked her attack with her huge sword acting as a shield.
The Bicheon Sword, a prized possession of the Namgoong family, was a weapon that embodied both offense and defense.
It was solid, and that solidity possessed characteristics found nowhere else.
After several meaningless exchanges of blows, realizing that she couldn’t remove her opponent with conventional methods, Dokgorin leaped into the air.
The onlookers gasped.
“Air stepping?!”
It was indeed astonishing because Dokgorin was suspended in midair without falling.
However, Namgoong Ruby, a peak master like her, quickly perceived the secret.
“You’re stepping on a platform in the air.”
Dokgorin readily admitted the accusation.
“Exactly. You’re quite sharp.”
“I have keener eyes than others.”
Namgoong Ruby said this with a grin and then leaped into the air as well.
“Is this how it’s done?”
Despite it being her first time attempting this, Namgoong Ruby skillfully mimicked Dokgorin’s actions.
Though she hadn’t mastered it to the level of just using air to walk, she seemed to be at least at the state of a novice swordsman—seeing her perform so easily stirred a bit of self-doubt in Dokgorin as a martial artist.
‘Is this what it means to be a genius?’
But Namgoong Ruby didn’t realize that up there, the platform was practically Dokgorin’s hunting ground.
“You’re doing well. But I doubt you can manage this as well.”
As she said that, Dokgorin lightly leaned into the weight of her body standing on the platform.
In that instant, her body slightly sank and then quickly shot upward using the elastic force of the string.
“!”
Clang!!
Namgoong Ruby dodged Dokgorin’s attack by a hair’s breadth.
However, perhaps due to the unsteady footing, unlike when on the ground, she seemed unable to absorb the full impact.
Watching this, Dokgorin smiled faintly.
“I’ll break that confidence of yours.”
The way Dokgorin said this honestly made her resemble a villain.
