Chapter 948 - The Sparring Demon
Among the crowd watching the two men spar were many members of the minority tribes surrounding Elder Bear.
One of them was left utterly speechless.
His name was Badukbeom.
He was a fierce, ambitious leader who had been quietly expanding his territory while Elder Bear was preoccupied with trade and holding back the Demonic Realm Silence.
'Give me enough time, and I can take down Black Wing, too.'
Driven by that ambition, he had relentlessly honed his skills through training that bordered on actual combat.
He had taken the disparate, loosely affiliated tribes and forged them into a true, unified force.
His father had united twelve minority tribes through blood ties and alliances, building them into a settlement the size of a city.
Now, Badukbeom, having truly unified them, planned to rally even more tribes and expand their scale to that of a nation.
How?
By taking down Elder Bear by force.
After that, he would crush Black Wing, monopolize trade with the continent, and claim everything for himself.
With the amassed resources and grain, he would raise and train an unstoppable army of warriors.
He would unify the entire West under his banner, and then, he would set his sights on the continent.
The plan was sound.
But as the saying goes, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
Badukbeom's plan was no different.
Even combined, his forces were less than half the size of Elder Bear, but he was the Chief of Twelve Tribes.
He had seen his fair share of the world.
Yet right now, he was experiencing the greatest shock of his entire life.
It felt as if someone had smashed him over the head with an iron mace.
The moment he took that metaphorical hit, his grand plan crumbled. It collapsed faster than a sandcastle in the tide.
He was genuinely curious.
'Are those two really human?'
Did the Divine Generals get bored and descend to earth just to play around?
When looking up from the bottom of a well, the sky appears perfectly round.
But once you climb out, you realize the sky isn't round at all.
It stretches endlessly beyond the limits of your perception, revealing something called a horizon.
And that horizon exists in a place you could never reach, even if you ran toward it for the rest of your life.
Badukbeom couldn't even properly track the movements of the two men with his eyes.
And this was despite growing up hearing he was a once-in-a-generation genius within his tribe.
He couldn't even follow their clash visually.
They were monsters.
Monsters in the truest sense of the word.
Compared to those two, the demonic beasts of the wasteland were nothing more than toothless, senile Vellopters.
A suffocating gloom seized his mind and settled over his heart.
The sky was clear, and a warm breeze mingled with the crisp air, but his heart was filled with dark, churning storm clouds.
It was the moment frustration and despair threw their arms around his shoulders.
"Still feeling ambitious?"
Black Wing asked from beside him.
Badukbeom jumped in surprise, though he was careful not to let it show on his face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you know exactly what. I'm asking if you still want to unify the West by force," Black Wing asked again.
Did the Chief of Great Wing, Black Wing, or Ayul not know of his existence?
Every leader in Elder Bear, including Hira, kept a close eye on the exceptional warriors of the surrounding tribes.
After all, they were the pillars who would lead the West in the future.
Furthermore, Badukbeom was considered one of the men most suited to eventually take on the mantle of Chief of Great Wing in the new era.
However, they worried that his 'vessel' was too small, and despite that small vessel, his ambition was far too vast.
He was a talented man, but a frustrating one.
Still, his talent and skill were genuine, so they had kept a close watch on him.
What he needed most was someone to show him that there is always a sky above the sky.
'But I'm not strong enough to be that sky.'
Black Wing knew his own limits, which was why he had been waiting for Rem.
But if you break someone's ambition with overwhelming force, does their spirit break as well?
If a man breaks that easily, it would be difficult to entrust the Western tribes to him in the future.
Therefore, he had to break himself and pick himself back up.
aOf course, there was a way to avoid worrying about all of this entirely.
'It would be great if Rem came back and took charge of the West, but...'
Black Wing knew Rem just as well as Ayul did.
He wouldn't come back.
Even if he did, he wasn't the type of man to be tied down by a title like 'Exceptional Chief'.
Regardless, Black Wing wanted Badukbeom to acknowledge reality, accept it, and overcome it himself.
It would be more accurate to say he wanted him to become that kind of man.
A man who, even when storm clouds named frustration and despair rolled in, possessed the faith to realize that the sun would eventually rise again.
That was the kind of leader Black Wing hoped he would be.
'Even if you fall, get back up.'
That was the greatest lesson Black Wing had felt and learned while watching Enkrid.
'I heard he used to be nothing more than a common soldier?'
And he had heard his skills were so pathetic he would constantly close his eyes and roll around in the dirt.
It was a truly unbelievable story.
Never mind eradicating a Demonic Realm; just looking at what he had accomplished in the West previously made it sound absurd.
But Rem had verified it, and Enkrid himself had acknowledged it.
Black Wing had respected him before, but after hearing that story, his reverence for Enkrid had skyrocketed.
Therefore, his prayers were directed not toward the gods, but toward a man.
'Please, Savior. Share a piece of that unyielding spirit with this man right now.'
Black Wing silently prayed to the hero who had saved his life and this land as he looked at Badukbeom.
Badukbeom's face had turned pale, but he quickly recovered his complexion and answered.
"If I say I don't know what you're talking about, does that make me look like an idiot?"
After speaking, Badukbeom snapped his mouth shut and sank into thought.
The deep gloom was still plastered across his face.
He's going to need more time, Black Wing thought, patting him on the shoulder.
"Stick around even after the festival is over."
"For what?"
Just because he needed time, did that mean he should be given all the time he wanted?
Not a chance.
There are always shortcuts.
Black Wing was a man who lived by the Western mindset.
Here, there are many Maji—moments in which you absolutely cannot miss your timing.
If your skill is lacking, you fill the gap with sheer willpower.
If your ability falls short, you get the job done even if it costs you an arm and a leg.
That is what it means to be a Western warrior.
If you stop hunting because you 'aren't ready,' your wife and children starve.
In a world like that, who gives you time to 'prepare'?
Such bullshit didn't exist in the West.
"You have a chance to train with the man who won today. Several Western warriors are already gathering around him. You should experience it yourself. There's a lot to learn."
He meant it sincerely.
He himself had recently learned just how agonizing getting beaten to a pulp could be.
"Age is just an excuse and a justification."
If you tried to emphasize that you were a veteran warrior, that was the response you got.
"The supposed 'best' warrior of those tribes crumbles this easily? Is this the extent of the Western spirit? Hmph, I see."
He would relentlessly launch psychological attacks like that, too.
When you finally dragged yourself back up, your pride thoroughly scraped raw, he would smile and raise his sword again.
"Ah, I see you still have some strength left."
And then he would beat you to a pulp all over again.
It felt like a 'Sparring Demon' was spawned by Silence instead of a Purple Demonic Human?
Black Wing had actually suffered nightmares about it.
Ironically, Ayul hadn't dreamt at all, and Hira—now the Elder Shaman—was constantly beaming, claiming she was only having auspicious dreams lately.
'It'll be good for him.'
Black Wing made his judgment.
He absolutely, positively wasn't doing this just because he felt it was unfair that he was the only one who suffered.
The Savior, that bastard Enkrid's training, was truly on a level that would make a demon shake its head in disbelief.
It really wasn't just petty revenge.
"Make sure you stay. It's a great opportunity."
Black Wing's words carried the weight of a shamanic spell.
Sincerity sometimes serves as a far more potent spell than actual magic.
Badukbeom found himself unable to refuse.
'He's really going to personally oversee my training?'
His mind was reeling.
Was that even possible?
Wasn't he a potential enemy?
He was genuinely confused.
His head was spinning.
He needed undeniable facts.
And to get them, he just had to experience it himself.
What if it was a trap?
'Why would they bother setting a trap?'
If either of those two men walked into his tribe right now and slaughtered twenty of his best warriors—including himself—it would be over.
They wouldn't even need to fight seriously.
Even without those two, he had been desperately gathering strength precisely because he couldn't defeat Elder Bear on his own.
A knight is a walking calamity.
In Western terms, a Hero is a calamity.
When an ordinary person encounters a calamity, it is only natural for their mind to be shaken.
And just like that, Badukbeom was completely swept up by Black Wing's words.
BOOM!
CLANG!
After a few more deafening explosions, the man hailed as the greatest genius the West had ever produced spoke.
"Seriously, what the hell did you do in there?"
His voice was laced with astonishment.
Outwardly, he looked composed, but internally, he was anything but.
Rem had lost yet again.
Of course, Badukbeom couldn't tell who won or lost just by watching.
The opponent—the man who supposedly offered personal training—retrieved his sword and answered.
"Just did what I always do."
What does 'what I always do' mean?
Badukbeom was a man overflowing with ambition.
That ambition applied equally to the realm of training and self-improvement.
Since things had already reached this point, a burning desire to learn even a single thing from that man boiled up inside him.
"The Savior!"
The spar officially ended with the shouts of those who had bet their Kronas.
"The Sparring Demon!"
Someone blurted out a piece of nonsense, but it was quickly drowned out by the other cheers and vanished.
"The Demonic Realm Slayer!"
"The Hero of the End of the War!"
"Knight Enkrid!"
The cheers were so deafening they seemed ready to tear the sky apart.
"Husband!"
Amidst the chaos, a child's voice rang out incredibly sharp and clear, though naturally, it too was swallowed by the roaring crowd.
"Ayul, you traitor!"
Rem's shout—directed not at Enkrid, but at his wife who had bet all her Kronas on Enkrid—did not get lost in the noise.
After all, he had laced his voice with shamanic power.
Of course, Ayul feigned ignorance and looked away.
She scooped up her coin pouch and quickly slipped out of the crowd.
"Drink up! Drink up!"
Someone's ecstatic shout followed.
And so, dawn broke the next morning.
Badukbeom was a man who prided himself on starting his training early in the morning.
Intending to arrive early and wait, he headed toward the location Black Wing had mentioned.
It was just as the sun was beginning to rise.
Any other warrior would still be dead to the world in sleep.
Even the most diligent warriors would likely rest today, considering yesterday was a day of heavy eating and drinking.
But hadn't Black Wing sought him out and repeated it endlessly?
Come to the training grounds in the morning.
You must come.
Make absolutely sure you come.
His tone had been so obsessive he sounded like a man possessed by an evil spirit.
And so, Badukbeom arrived.
'Already?'
There, he saw a man who had clearly already finished his morning muscle conditioning, along with a group of Elder Bear warriors.
They were a group of warriors who, if encountered on a battlefield, would be formidable opponents.
Every single one of them had their mouths clamped tightly shut.
Yet, their eyes were shining brighter than ever before.
They were all exhibiting their survival instincts pushed to the absolute limit, but Badukbeom couldn't possibly know that.
"A new recruit? Ah, Black Wing mentioned someone was coming today. He asked me to give you the special treatment, not the standard warrior package. Well then, shall we start with a run?"
Saying so, Enkrid led the group out of the city and toward the hills.
Well, it was the start of a training regimen that consisted of running and getting beaten until they were hovering right on the edge of death.
If you get hit enough, your skills improve.
That was a lesson Enkrid had learned with his own body.
Furthermore, he didn't just strike randomly; every blow was a calculated strike exploiting the openings the opponent naturally left unguarded.
If they learned to defend just three of those targeted areas, their overall skill would skyrocket.
Enkrid had calculated it all and was simply taking the most efficient path.
Of course, for those on the receiving end of the 'Sparring Demon,' it was an entirely different story.
"Aaagh!"
Badukbeom's scream caught the warm spring breeze and echoed far and wide.
"It was a trap!"
He eventually screamed that out, but it was a completely normal reaction.
Hadn't everyone else spouted nonsense a few times as well?
The other Western warriors had been repeatedly visiting their dead grandfathers for days now.
***
The border between the desert and the plains was a dry, barren wasteland.
A subtle, vibrant life force now drifted over it.
It was the change brought about by the collapse of the Demonic Realm Silence.
"Just looking at it makes me happy," Rem said from atop his Vellopter.
Enkrid nodded.
It wasn't a bad sight to his eyes, either.
For Rem, how joyful must it be?
"Incoming."
Dunbakel suddenly spoke up from beside them.
The three of them had just headed out to hunt down some monsters causing trouble nearby.
Since they were sticking around for a while to train the warriors and monitor the situation, they fully intended to use that time efficiently.
"A Black Bird, you said?" Enkrid muttered.
Rem picked up the explanation.
"To be precise, it's a One-Eyed Crow that got massive. It absorbed the influence of Silence and mutated into a real headache."
The monster known as the One-Eyed Crow didn't have any special abilities.
Instead, it was incredibly cunning; it strictly avoided opponents stronger than itself and only preyed on the weak.
Normally, it was a monster barely larger than a human head that swooped down to gouge out eyeballs.
But right now, the bastard's body was easily three times the size of Rem.
It had become a unique variant worthy of its own name.
That was why they called it the Black Bird.
The moment the bastard spotted the three of them from afar, it began to circle.
It flapped its wings violently and abruptly changed direction.
"It's running. I smell fear."
After fighting in Silence, Dunbakel had achieved something bizarre.
She could now read emotions from the scents exuded by monsters.
Of course, this was strictly limited to instinct-driven demonic beasts and monsters with simple behavioral patterns, but it was still an incredible feat.
"Hoo."
Rem exhaled a sharp breath and summoned a Divine General into both of his hands.
A 'Descent' resides in the body; an 'Incarnation' resides in the weapon.
'Wrathful Bird, Wrathful Bird.'
What exactly was a Divine General?
Was it truly a living entity?
No.
It was a cluster of power formed through shamanic arts.
Rem knew this.
Therefore, summoning two Divine Generals simultaneously was possible.
And Rem did exactly that.
He summoned the Wrathful Bird into both his body and his axe.
Spirit Weapons were, by their very nature, designed to house Incarnations.
'Sky-Flinger.'
He summoned a third Divine General.
The Divine Generals residing within his Spirit Weapon overlapped.
They didn't clash.
The man wielding them clearly divided their roles.
Rem hurled his Spirit Weapon—his axe—straight into the air.
Screeeeech—!
A sound similar to the cry of an eagle ripped through the sky as the axe, now spinning like a deadly disk, tore through the empty air.
Boom—!
As the air exploded along the trajectory of the flying disk, a circular shockwave became visible to the naked eye.
And as Enkrid watched, his eyes shone with an unprecedented, brilliant blue light.
It was as if he were observing every single minute change Rem was making in real-time.
Outwardly, it should have looked like nothing more than swirling shamanic power, but to Enkrid, it was different.
'I can see it.'
***
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