Chapter 137 – Net of Heaven and Earth (5)

Barrier Magic

It was the magic that acted as a lock when secretly entering through the back path of the Dragon’s Lair, magic Sun-woo obtained as a skill by reading the magic circle’s memory.

This magic was often used as a lock or as traps blocking passages.

However, this magic’s original purpose was separate.

The moment Sun-woo raised barrier magic to 2nd Circle, the proper usage method came to mind.

It was spatial isolation.

Physically separating the space created by the barrier from other space.

In the center of the barrier covering the magic circle in dome form was Ma Sun-gwak.

“What is this!”

Surprised by the shining patterns covering the surroundings, Ma Sun-gwak poured the strong qi gathered in both hands toward the front barrier.

However, the Dark Bullets he shot disappeared right there when hitting the barrier.

The barrier sent the Dark Bullets flying between the gap of world and world.

But for Ma Sun-gwak who couldn’t understand this principle, there was no difference from the Dark Bullets hitting the barrier and being annihilated.

“I can do it. I can do it. I’ll eliminate it.”

When the Dark Bullets hit the barrier and disappeared, Ma Sun-gwak began shooting Dark Bullets in all directions.

The barrier violently shook from the Dark Bullets wildly pouring toward north, south, east, west, even the sky.

While Ma Sun-gwak frantically poured out Dark Bullets, Sun-woo outside the barrier quietly entered inside the barrier.

Even though barrier magic was powerful magic that separated space, Sun-woo’s level was only 2nd Class. Naturally it couldn’t withstand many shocks.

The barrier already receiving attacks was shaking, making it clear it would crumble if receiving shocks a few more times.

Moreover, barrier magic was magic that immediately disappeared if the magic circle on the floor was erased.

Even though it was dragon’s barrier magic, the master of mana, Sun-woo’s class itself was low.

Of course the opponent had to notice that weakness, but if left alone he would soon notice.

***

When Sun-woo entered inside the barrier, Ma Sun-gwak’s rigidly hardened expression brightened cheerfully. It was the expression of meeting a lost lover.

In fact, Ma Sun-gwak felt fear for the first time after rising to super absolute level.

He couldn’t smash through the barrier even with Dark Bullets, his specialty.

He had never once experienced sorcery where unknown patterns shone in all directions blocking all attacks.

‘Damn bastard. What kind of sorcery did he use?’

Anyone in the martial world would experience this for the first time though.

However, seeing the young punk enter inside this formation, it was clearly a formation where exiting and entering was possible.

He just needed to capture the young punk who entered inside now and make him spit out the formation’s secrets.

‘Just a little more.’

Sun-woo made a slightly apologetic expression seeing Ma Sun-gwak smiling at him.

The opponent’s thoughts were obvious even if not a mental ability user. His thoughts of capturing himself and getting outside were clearly showing on his face.

Of course Sun-woo had no intention of being captured.

The reason Sun-woo entered inside the barrier wasn’t just because of the weak barrier described first.

Sun-woo invoked fire magic on the hand holding his sword, covering the sword glowing red with flames.

When the sword was covered with flames, the red light flowing on the sword brightened brilliantly and simultaneously the flames surrounding the sword blazed several times stronger.

‘Ah!’

Even Sun-woo who used the magic was slightly surprised by the heat far hotter than expected, but the sword becoming stronger couldn’t be bad.

Sun-woo rushed at Ma Sun-gwak holding the burning sword, and Ma Sun-gwak looked at Sun-woo rushing over while calmly taking defensive posture.

‘What sorcery are you trying to use again.’

Again a young punk attacking using absurd sorcery.

Seeing endlessly emerging sorcery, Ma Sun-gwak decided to acknowledge Sun-woo as an equal warrior.

Clearly this young man wasn’t super absolute.

However, including the sorcery whose limits couldn’t be known?

He could sufficiently judge him as a skill level equal to himself.

Eventually, Ma Sun-gwak changed his combat method to methods supposing fighting with other super absolute masters.

Unlike what was known, his strongest martial art wasn’t Dark Bullets.

Dark Bullets were merely means to simply handle small fry.

Rather his true value was the body close to Adamantine Indestructibility that blades couldn’t penetrate.

‘The fight is only beginning now. Tsk! Young punk.’

Of course he ended up wounded by Sun-woo’s sword in the fight moments ago, but that happened because he distributed internal energy focusing on attacks.

If he properly focused internal energy on defense, he could sufficiently block it.

‘Go as far as you can go.’

Ma Sun-gwak pushed thoughts about other righteous faction people who were surely still fleeing to one side, planning to concentrate everything on the fight with Sun-woo.

His such change immediately changed the fight’s aspect.

As Ma Sun-gwak expected, Sun-woo’s sword couldn’t make even a slight scratch on his arm, and the flames undulating on the sword couldn’t burn his skin either.

Only, his upper clothes and hair, plus eyebrows and all body hair ended up burning.

‘Just how hard is it?’

Looking at Ma Sun-gwak sneering, Sun-woo kept swinging his sword.

‘Sneer. Until you can laugh.’

The brilliant flames blazed even more. Now blue-appearing flames brightly illuminated both faces and Sun-woo rather became drenched in sweat from that heat.

However, Ma Sun-gwak calmly maintained defense. His forte was strong body and stamina.

Unlike Sun-woo already sweating like rain, he showed no signs of sweating.

The moment offense and defense continued like that, Ma Sun-gwak could feel his breathing became very rapid.

After becoming a master, he could endure several minutes with one breath.

Such a person felt breathless like when he was a child not knowing martial arts, running around the training ground dozens of times without rest.

“Huff, huff, why am I breathless?”

He looked at the burning sword, but the sword was merely emitting heat.

No traces of poison spraying anywhere were visible, and ordinary poisons didn’t even work on him who was immune to a hundred poisons.

His breathing grew increasingly rougher, and now his movements started becoming slightly slower.

He felt tired all over his body, everything felt bothersome, sleepy, like being drunk.

The world started spinning round and round little by little.

“Th-this isn’t poison, what sorcery is this?”

At Ma Sun-gwak’s question while shaking his head and stammering, Sun-woo instead of answering swung his sword even more vigorously.

Ma Sun-gwak definitely seemed abnormal. Moving internal energy didn’t seem smooth either.

Sun-woo’s sword that couldn’t wound his skin began cutting the skin again.

Moreover, his skin suffered burns from the sword’s heat.

The Adamantine Indestructibility achieved through internal energy collapsed when he became unable to gather internal energy.

‘N-no. If I stay like this I might die.’

Ma Sun-gwak began forcibly moving his disobedient body. His appearance instinctively blocking Sun-woo’s sword with one hand while moving step by step looked pitiful.

Such a person barely arrived before the barrier, but regrettably he wasn’t in a state to break the barrier.

“You damn young punk.”

He pounded the barrier several times then eventually collapsed on the floor losing consciousness.

Sun-woo looked at him collapsed from behind then raised his sword and forcefully thrust it toward his back.

Ssshhhk

Thud

Though it was a body with scattered internal energy, Sun-woo’s sword barely penetrated and could eventually cut his heart.

Ma Sun-gwak’s breath stopped.

The Demon Cult’s super absolute master lost his life at Sun-woo’s hands who was still absolute level.

When Sun-woo confirmed Scorpion Emperor Ma Sun-gwak died, he hastily released the barrier spread around.

When the barrier broke, wind rushed in from surroundings, and Sun-woo gasped for the breath he had been holding.

“Neither sorcery nor poison. Just carbon monoxide poisoning from incomplete combustion.”

Sun-woo’s barrier was a barrier severing space from space.

Therefore even atmosphere was severed.

Inside the barrier made as a dome became a sealed area with no air circulation with outside at all.

For ordinary people it was a space where they had no choice but to die from oxygen deficiency after some time passed, but Sun-woo and Ma Sun-gwak were masters who could hold their breath for long times.

Mere lack of air was useless.

So Sun-woo started burning the internal oxygen by lighting fire with fire magic.

During fighting, the flames continuously burned the internal oxygen.

If forcibly combusted even in situations about to extinguish from oxygen deficiency, carbon monoxide was produced instead of carbon dioxide.

Ma Sun-gwak had immunity to various poisons, but had absolutely no preparation against carbon monoxide.

“Still, was I lucky.”

Even for Sun-woo, it was an operation he had no confidence would succeed.

Until now he made various operations using his skills succeed, but this opponent was a troublesome opponent in many ways.

For him who thought super absolute masters were only fancy swordsmanship or qi energy bullets, and flying weapons, he completely didn’t expect an enemy who extremely strengthened his body.

The carbon monoxide poisoning operation was the last operation among various operations barely thought up, and fortunately that operation worked.

If this operation also didn’t work, Sun-woo planned to quickly flee.

Sun-woo stood beside Ma Sun-gwak’s corpse looking at the low mountain behind.

Unlike this place that escaped the contaminated area, turbid light still fully covered the low mountain.

Sun-woo glanced up at the sky then muttered small.

“It seems there’s a guy inside there with ability to create contaminated areas. It’s awkward to catch him without a mission… Since I caught the dangerous super absolute master too, shall I gradually finish escort duties and receive rewards.”

Around when Sun-woo’s soliloquy scattered blown by wind, a voice reached Sun-woo’s ears.

[Additional mission according to sudden situation. The contamination source’s location inside the contaminated area cannot be confirmed. Visit the contaminated area and confirm the contamination source or contaminated reason.]

‘Right.’

When the voice ended, Sun-woo smiled small. Finally it seemed like transactions were being established rather than one-sided relationships.

Though the road ahead was still far, stepping through stages like this, clearly the day would come when he could know even Summoner’s identity.

“Then first I must finish the mission right?”

Sun-woo looking at the low mountain instead of moving toward the low mountain turned his head and shouted loudly toward a large tree standing far away.

“You received the mission right? Let’s go together?”

When Sun-woo’s shout was heard, Nanseol hesitantly walked out from behind the tree.

At her appearance seeming a bit awkward, Sun-woo smiled inside then beckoned to her.

Only then did Nanseol approach with normal appearance, but her face was slightly reddened.

She moved together with other people at Sun-woo’s words to go first.

However, from worry about Sun-woo, she left escort duty and ran back to this place.

Regrettably(?), as Sun-woo defeated the super absolute master without her help, her deviation became meaningless, but at Sun-woo’s words that followed, all Nanseol’s regret disappeared.

“Thank you so much for coming to help. Knowing you came to help gave me strength.”

Even Sun-woo speaking scratched his head seeming a bit embarrassed, and Nanseol’s face reddened even more.

Nanseol found her own appearance standing at this spot now very unfamiliar and strange.

Though she was always someone who prioritized missions, only this time she couldn’t just pass by a companion’s crisis.

‘Right, I came to help a companion. Companion, right.’

Shortly after, Nanseol ran toward the low mountain chasing Sun-woo’s back while inwardly repeating the word companion over and over again.