Chapter 72: 72

Swordmaster Healer – Episode 72

TL: Boko

Editor: Ren

Chapter 24: Trouble (2)

“What did you say? Did I hear wrong…? My hearing hasn’t been the best lately, so I hear bullshit sometimes. I think you said ‘apologize while I’m still talking nicely’. Did I hear wrong?”

Kyu Tae touched his ears with exaggerated motions. Sung Joon saw that and opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“You heard right.”

“You, do you know who I am?”

“Aren’t you the S-rank Hunter, Cha Kyu Tae?”

“You know that, yet you’re acting like this? I’m lost for words…”

He shook his head and swept his long front bangs up.

Even the nation couldn’t mess with S-rank Hunters. Yet Sung Joon had nonetheless asked him to apologize, even though he wasn’t an S-rank Hunter; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Kyu Tae saw it as Sung Joon trying to protect his honor in front of all the onlookers.  

“You should’ve just ended it by taking the money…”

“The number of Hunters that died from starting an argument with Cha Kyu Tae is in the double digits…”

S-rank Hunters were able to topple the nation as well as take on the Bosses in the large-scale Raids. Moreover, Korea lacked S-rank Hunters and these S-rank Hunters essentially weren’t restricted by the law.

“Seeing as how you’re trying to defend your honor even while knowing who I am, you must be at least an A-rank… Just stop… I can kill you in one second,” warned Kyu Tae.

“While I’m still talking, just apologize and go,” Sung Joon said.

Sung Joon leaked his highly restrained killing intent lightly. The onlookers felt a chill in the air, as if the air itself were freezing. However, Kyu Tae didn’t even make a slight movement.

Rather, he just smirked and sneered.

“So you’ve killed some people before, huh…?”

Kyu Tae’s eyes changed frighteningly. There weren’t many who could naturally control their killing intent. Sung Joon’s killing intent was thick, yet Kyu Tae was still belittling him.

“Don’t be so excited.”

“Do all S-rank Hunters talk this much?”

Kyu Tae bit his lip lightly at Sung Joon’s provocation. However, he didn’t draw his weapon first. It seemed like he would induce him into self-defense. Kyu Tae didn’t seem to want to cause a large commotion and so he needed a justification, but unfortunately, Sung Joon was an expert in self-defense.

Sung Joon just smirked slightly and ‘ignored’ his provocation. He looked at him with an unpleasant, belittling gaze.

That made Kyu Tae’s blood boil.

“What are you going to do if I don’t talk it out?” asked Sung Joon.

“You, I can make you crawl back home if I wanted.”

“Hey. Why don’t you try it?”

Ultimately, Kyu Tae’s hand moved first. It seemed he at least had some sense, since he didn’t use the weapon strapped to his waist, but instead used his fist.

It appeared as if he had simply swung his fist, but there was enough force behind it to shatter a normal person’s skull.

‘He’s fast…!’

Befitting an S-rank Hunter, it was so fast that even Sung Joon had difficulty avoiding it. However, due to his ample combat experience, he became aware of Kyu Tae’s attack in a split second.

Sung Joon realized that avoiding it was impossible, so he drew his mana and transcended his synchronization rate.

Rishubalt informed him, “Your synchronization rate is at 28%!”

Sung Joon, who had now reached a synchronization rate of 28%, avoided Kyu Tae’s fist. It was just a difference of 1%, but he felt that his reaction speed had sped up considerably.

“What is this…!”

Kyu Tae was taken aback.

He hadn’t put his full strength into that attack. However, he had intended to kill Sung Joon with that fist, but he hadn’t expected him to so easily avoid the attack.

‘I’m slower than him if I fight him head on…!’

Sung Joon calmly compared his combat abilities with Kyu Tae’s.

Although Kyu Tae was relatively low ranked amongst the S-rank Hunters in Korea, he was at least still much faster than Sung Joon.

However, Sung Joon still had his combat experience from his past, as his synchronization rate had reached 28%. Combat experience was an important element that would influence one’s combat abilities in a real fight.

No matter how fast or strong someone was, if they didn’t have enough experience, they wouldn’t be able to properly display their abilities on the battlefield. Conversely, if one’s physical abilities were lacking, but they have ample combat experience, they could exhibit superb combat abilities in the field.

‘I have more combat experience than you…!’

Sung Joon rushed in and grabbed his right wrist, which Kyu Tae had been unable to withdraw.

Kyu Tae also had ample PvP experience, but unfortunately, Sung Joon had been a veteran at killing people in the past.

‘This is the end.’

That’s what he had thought the instant he had grabbed Kyu Tae’s wrist. Sung Joon strengthened his grip.

‘I’m going to break his wrist…!’

Kyu Tae felt the considerable pressure applied to his wrist and sensed danger, so he aimed his index finger at Sung Joon’s neck.

“…!”

Sung Joon felt the flow of mana at his fingertip. Letting go of Kyu Tae’s wrist, he threw himself to the side. With tremendous speed, a magic bullet shot out and lightly grazed Sung Joon.

Thud.

Behind him, the parked car’s bonnet now looked as if it had been crushed by a hammer. Sung Joon felt intensely anxious.

Its casting speed was much faster than chantless magic whilst also being far more deadly.

“W-what is this… What’s going on?”

“It looks like Cha Kyu Tae shot a magic bullet.”

“But that Hunter dodged it?”

The onlookers were making a commotion. Sung Joon’s and Kyu Tae’s movements were so quick that even the witnessing Hunters couldn’t thoroughly grasp the situation.

Still, there was one thing they were sure of: Kyu Tae had attacked first, so Sung Joon could fight back, as it had become ‘self-defense’.

“Transform.”

Kyu Tae bit his lip lightly and recited the activation words. The bracelet on his wrist became a small short sword.

‘I have to kill him.’

It hadn’t gone as planned, so he had no choice but to kill Sung Joon.  

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Sung Joon had acted in ‘self-defense’, but Kyu Tae was an S-rank Hunter, so he trusted in his rank. The nation, as well as the Bureau would come and find him, but he was certain that they wouldn’t enforce the law.

“I trust that you know what I’m going to say from this point on.”

Sung Joon drew his sword without hesitation. The sword gleamed with blue aura and Sung Joon opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“From this point on, it’s self-defense.”

His voice was filled with a icy killing intent.

“Shut up!”

Kyu Tae assumed an offensive stance and released his killing intent.

“Ugh!”

“I-it’s killing intent!”

As soon as Kyu Tae released his killing intent at full strength, a few of the Hunters, unable to resist it, weakly collapsed onto the ground.

It was the overwhelming effect of releasing his killing intent. However, he had been aiming for Sung Joon; yet, he hadn’t been affected in the least.

“It didn’t work, huh? How many people have you killed?!”

“A lot.”

Sung Joon grasped his sword and tidied his stance. He looked at him with a cold gaze and then opened his mouth.

“This is real killing intent,” he said.

Sung Joon released all his killing intent.

“Argh!”

It was for just a split second, but Kyu Tae’s offensive stance crumpled. He immediately got a hold of himself and resumed his stance, but he was shocked that his opponent’s killing intent was superior.

Sung Joon had attempted to rush in when Kyu Tae’s stance had faltered, but he couldn’t, since Kyu Tae had resumed his stance quicker than he had expected.

The two Hunters remained motionless, staring wordlessly at each other for one minute so that they could observe the other.

“Why aren’t they fighting? Are they waiting for the police…?”

“Don’t say such stupid things. I heard that if you make a single mistake in this kind of situation, you immediately die.”

“No matter how good that vestment-wearing Hunter is, he’s at best an A-rank Hunter, but the S-rank Hunter, Cha Kyu Tae can’t overpower him?”

“Well, I’m sure he will.”

“Isn’t he just doing that because he’s terrified?”

The onlookers provoked Kyu Tae. Ultimately, he made the first move. He swung his aura-clad short sword and aimed for Sung Joon.

‘I have to go all out from the start…!’

Sung Joon’s eyes gleamed sharply. He utilized his high-speed movement to move to Kyu Tae’s side. Kyu Tae aimed and shot his mana bullet in the direction of the presence he could sense.

Thud!

Sung Joon avoided it and Kyu Tae’s mana bullet struck the blameless ground. It left a large indentation in the ground, forming a crater.

“Damn it!”

He had rarely been unable to ‘overpower’ the Hunters he had faced thus far, aside from Sung Joon, so Kyu Tae cursed, exposing his restlessness.

‘I have no choice but to use that…!’

Kyu Tae decided to use the technique that he had been saving. He drew a dagger from his waist and threw it at Sung Joon.

The dagger was just meant to hold Sung Joon back, and divide his attention, but Sung Joon too easily avoided it and swung his sword. At the end of the battle, Sung Joon’s sword slashed Kyu Tae’s neck.

No, he thought he had slashed it, but Kyu Tae’s bloodied body melted away like a mirage.

“Afterimage!”

He felt a presence behind him. Sung Joon hurriedly turned his body and responded, but Kyu Tae had already pierced his thigh with his short sword.

He would mix in an afterimage and confuse his opponent while using his stealth to quickly get behind his opponent. This was Kyu Tae’s secret technique; an ambush from the shadows.

“Ugh!”

Rather than unreasonably aim for a vital point that Sung Joon had quickly guarded, he aimed to limit Sung Joon’s movement; it was as if his skill was relaying to Sung Joon that he was no normal person.  

Sung Joon immediately counterattacked, but with especially agile movements, Kyu Tae withdrew his short sword first and defended himself.

And thus, the fierce battle resumed once more.

“Ha!”

Sung Joon let out a short battle cry and forcefully struck Kyu Tae’s short sword. By the time he had withdrawn his sword, Sung Joon had already used his high-speed movement to widen the distance.

‘He used his high-speed movement even though his thigh is injured?’

It wasn’t impossible, but it would be painful and the injury would worsen, so it would be difficult without a strong will.

The bleeding had worsened, so a puddle of blood had formed beneath Sung Joon. When Kyu Tae saw that, he sneered.

“See, you’re bleeding so much.”

“Heal.”

There was no reason to respond. Sung Joon simply cast his ‘Heal’. A flash of white light enveloped his wound and Kyu Tae, as well as the onlookers, were astonished.

“H-he was a Healer?”

“This doesn’t make any sense…”

Everyone looked on in disbelief. A Healer’s physical abilities couldn’t match up to an S-rank Combat Hunter’s.  

“Is he by chance an SS-rank Hunter? Then it’d be possible, wouldn’t it?”

“Are you an idiot? Korea doesn’t have any SS-rank Hunters! America or Russia have those!”

“Look at that, his healing power seems considerable. His bleeding has already completely stopped.”

The onlookers were creating a commotion.

Sung Joon opened his mouth.

“I’ve grasped all your sword techniques. Now, it’s my turn.”

His past was the Empire’s greatest knight, the Sword Saint Roukel. He still couldn’t say that his synchronization rate was high, but he was at the level that he could precisely grasp Kyu Tae’s swordsmanship, just by crossing blades with him a few times.

In cases like Kyu Tae’s, where the opponent used an irregular swordsmanship that mixed in several feints, it would take a while before he grasped their swordsmanship.

“I don’t need your apology anymore.”

Sung Joon disappeared. Kyu Tae quickly turned his body to where he sensed the presence and raised his short sword.

It was a perfect defensive stance. There were no openings and Kyu Tae sported a confident expression. However, that soon turned to despair.

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