The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 206

Chapter 206
A sword once bestowed upon the Kang family founder, Peak Sword, by a god before he was a god...
Tier-wise, Iyarugt could be classified as a divine sword. However, that mattered little to Jae-Hyeok—whether divine or ordinary, he wielded Iyarugt because it was the heritage of his Kang family, the sword once cherished by Peak Sword himself.
Even so, to have been worthy of Peak Sword, Iyarugt had to have been forged and reforged over a long period to suit him. Whenever Jae-Hyeok used Peak Sword’s techniques, Iyarugt seemed to resonate with his will, making each sword form feel as natural as breathing.
Hell Sword is no different.
In Jae-Hyeok's field of view, hundreds of phantom blades floated in the air. Some were larger than a person, while others were smaller than a palm. Some were double-edged blades; some, single-edged. Others were wavy, and still others appeared completely bizarre and misshapen.
But all of them were familiar to Jae-Hyeok.
They were the swords he’d wielded while training in his family’s techniques.
The Kang family’s martial arts pursued perfection. But was it really necessary to train to the point of harmony with every bladed weapon? This question had pestered Jae-Hyeok in childhood. But now, the answer was laid bare:
After Peak Sword, the Kang family’s martial arts were all meant to prepare the next inheritor of Iyarugt—in a manner, it could be said that the Kang family’s martial arts were designed personally for Jae-Hyeok.
Hundreds of phantom blades let out a cacophony of sword cries as, one after another, they flew into Iyarugt.
The more Iyarugt absorbed, the more tyrannical its sword energy became.
Soon, the crimson blade erupted with a blood-red, lightning-charged sword aura, so dense and powerful that it lit up the entire stadium.
“Ugh!”
“R-run away!”
The VIPs seated close to the stage scattered in a panic. A moment ago, when the huge golden hand had appeared in the sky, the VIPs treated it as a distant spectacle. Although they were awed, they weren’t particularly afraid. But now, the VIPs were scattering in all directions. Even through the protective dome, they could feel Jae-Hyeok’s sword energy cutting into them.
Is this reality?
The confusion of the VIPs reached its peak.
Jae-Hyeok had only awakened four months ago, yet now he was standing on the stage on a national stage and contesting the president of the Association head-on.
Even throughout history, such a growth rate was unheard of.
He must’ve signed a contract with a demon.
Some people even had such doubts.
Swordsmanship capable of overwhelming an S-class player? That could be explained. He was the son of the Yaksha, after all—he’d likely endured abuse from a young age and honed his skills under brutal training.
The physical ability to trade blows with the president of the Association? They could still rationalize it by saying that he was using the temporary buffs granted via Skills or items.
However, Jae-Hyeok’s sword energy was different.
Such overwhelming energy could only mean he possessed a Magic stat on the level of an S-class player. After all, Skills that amplified the Magic stat were extremely rare, and the increase was insignificant compared to those received by other stats.
Could it be that he has already reached close to level 100?
If Jae-Hyeok had really reached such a level, the most likely cause was that he’d traded his soul to a rare, high-ranking demon.
“You dare to stand against me?” Ji Cheon-Myeong shouted. His expression was distorted with rage, and his shout shook the stadium. And there was resentment in his voice. Anyone who didn’t know better would mistakenly think that Jae-Hyeok was a villain who’d harmed his family, not the other way around.
“This shameless guy!”
Butler Hwang had been praying for Jae-Hyeok with clasped hands, but after hearing Ji Cheon-Myeong’s words, the remainder of his prayer was caught behind gritted teeth.
Ji Cheon-Myeong was the one who’d led the fall of the Kang family; there had been a time when Jae-Hyeok, much younger than he was now, trembled at the mere mention of his name. And that sight, the sight of little Jae-Hyeok trembling, was etched in scars on Butler Hwang’s heart.
Now, that very same Ji Cheon-Myeong dared to cry out in righteous anger?
Butler Hwang couldn’t stand it.
Please...
High in the air, Ji Cheon-Myeong glared down at Jae-Hyeok as the huge golden hand crashed toward Jae-Hyeok.
Master, please...
On the ground, Jae-Hyeok had a peaceful expression, his blazing sword held loosely in his hand. Perhaps in that moment, the two of them seemed to have reversed positions—but the truth was completely different. From eight years until now, the amount of sadness and anger that Jae-Hyeok had suppressed could never be fathomed by Ji Cheon-Myeong. No matter how Ji Cheon-Myeong roared, he couldn’t reproduce the depth of Jae-Hyeok’s pain.
... Please grant your strength to your son... to the new head of the Kang family. Master, I hope you are watching over this place.
Butler Hwang prayed to the sleeping Yaksha. If not him, Butler Hwang didn’t know who else to pray to, and it was a natural duty for the previous family head to look after the current family head.
That’s right.
Butler Hwang recognized Jae-Hyeok as the new family head.
The boy had endured eight years of hardship alone and was now pointing his sword at the enemy of all Kangs.
How could Butler Hwang remain unmoved? How could Bulter Hwang not know that Jae-Hyeok’s time as family head had come?
“Die!” Ji Cheon-Myeong shouted.
He activated a Skill, and a ripple passed across the mana connecting Ji Cheon-Myeong to the descending golden palm, which then copied his Skill and transformed into a dragon.
Whatever you do is meaningless. You will die. Below the level of National Treasures, I, Ji Cheon-Myeong, am the strongest!
The dragon’s snout rocketed toward Jae-Hyeok with earth-shaking might. But what happened next, Ji Cheon-Myeong couldn’t have predicted.
Jae-Hyeok shifted his stance, and crimson threads of sword energy spread through the air like a spider web. There were thousands of threads—each as fine as a hair, each radiating a tyrannical energy that shredded everything in its vicinity.
A sword barrier?
His giant dragon, an augmented form of his Buddha’s Palm maximizing power, should’ve reduced half of the stadium to ruins. That’s what Ji Cheon-Myeong expected. But on contact with Jae-Hyeok’s crimson web, the dragon’s snout seemed to dissolve. Before the rest of the dragon could follow suit, a string of explosions propagated up its length; as it happened, the explosive nature of Ji Cheon-Myeong’s mana had only hastened the dismantling of his own Skill.
“Yooooou!”
A swordsman using an AOE Skill? The absurdity of it made Ji Cheon-Myeong even angrier, but now was no time for words—he shot toward Jae-Hyeok at his fastest speed. Golden mana burned like flames around Ji Cheon-Myeong’s arm, taking the vague shape of a dragon: it was the same Skill that he’d copied onto his Buddha’s Palm earlier. He intended to use his body to break through Jae-Hyeok’s sword barrier. Then, he’d personally deliver this dragon fist to Jae-Hyeok’s teeth.
If only Ji Cheon-Myeong knew that Jae-Hyeok had yet to activate his Skill...
By the time Ji Cheon-Myeong broke through the crimson web, he was bleeding freely from dozens of fresh wounds, but he only had eyes for Jae-Hyeok.
“You have a bad attitude,” Jae-Hyeok said.
Ji Cheon-Myeong growled and closed the distance to Jae-Hyeok in a blink—only to suddenly tremble.
Jae-Hyeok’s sword, raised high over his head, shifted.
Everything changed in that moment. The world, once dyed a brilliant gold, regained its original color. The energy surging in Ji Cheon-Myeong’s dantian disappeared. And it felt as if a mountain had settled on his shoulders.
Baaaang!
“......!”
Ji Cheon-Myeong’s eyes rolled back, and he coughed up blood.
He couldn’t even scream.
Wh... at...!
Amid the pain of his skin burning, his muscles tearing, and his bones splintering, Ji Cheon-Myeong belatedly grasped the situation.
Sword... pressure?
The pressure focused at the tip of Jae-Hyeok’s sword crushed everything in its path—it blew out the mana around Ji Cheon-Myeong’s arm and collapsed the ground in a large circumference, before also forcing Ji Cheon-Myeong to his knees.
By the time Ji Cheon-Myeong had come to his senses, he was kneeling in the center of a crater reminiscent of the surface of the moon, brought to his knees by a brat of the Kang family.
“Ah!
Ahhhhhh!”
It was a humiliation worse than kissing the ground before the Thunder Emperor. Ji Cheon-Myeong clenched his jaw so tightly that his muscles swelled, and he immediately struggled to get up.
However, Jae-Hyeok’s sword was still descending.
“Fall into the abyss.”
A sword that contained the crystallization of the Kang family’s martial principles, and perhaps even the resonant power of Iyargut’s will, drawn out by Peak Sword’s ultimate technique...
It fell like divine judgement, irresistible and unescapable.
“Noooooooo!”
Trapped under Jae-Hyeok’s mountainous sword pressure, Ji Cheon-Myeong could only stare dumbly at his coming end.
The leader of the Korean Players Association and a superhuman on the verge of experiencing the thunder tribulation now screamed in an ugly manner, forgetting all sense of dignity.
The blade tore through his protective magic barrier like paper, and in that moment, Jae-Hyeok realized his declaration to make Ji Cheon-Myeong fall into an abyss.
The Kang family’s nemesis lost all his dignity in the truest sense.
You erased and distorted Father’s legacy, and you discredited and disgraced my family. I won’t let you die.
Iyarugt swept down.
"
Kuaaaack
!"
Ji Cheon-Myeong clutched the stump of his right shoulder, screaming and shaking, his arm no more.
The pain of his severed flesh and bones was the least of it. The Kang family’s sword energy destroyed Ji Cheon-Myeong from within.
The mana circuits at the sight of his wound were badly frayed, and violent sword energy spread through his body, damaging his dantian, robbing him of a portion of the mana he’d spent a lifetime building.
“
Ack!
Wait! J-just wait! Something... Something is wrong...!”
Ji Cheon-Myeong flailed his remaining arm in desperation.
Please. Don’t get close to me anymore.
It seemed like he was completely mentally broken.
He was still on his knees, unaware that Hell Sword had ended with that strike and that the sword pressure weighing down the area had been lifted.
“Someone like you...”
Was this really the monster who’d destroyed the two-hundred-year history of the Kang family and tormented him?
Jae-Hyeok’s patience reached its limit. He forgot his duty as an aristocrat, and his suppressed emotions broke free.
“Ah...”
The stands fell silent.
The boy on the screen looked as if he was crying, but not; His face was a collage of so many different emotions that it was impossible to distinguish which.
“You... Insignificant scum. Pay for the rest of your sins in hell.”
The insult only brought Jae-Hyeok minor relief. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t fix his father, wouldn’t erase the last eight years of struggle. Still, even if revenge was hollow, it wasn’t without its sweetness.
In the first place, this is all just part of the process.
A new beginning was waiting for him. To obtain the elixir for his father, to restore his family’s honor, and to become the strongest in the world so that no one dared to cross his Kang family again—all of these pushed Jae-Hyeok onward. He would not rest. Ji Cheon-Myeong was just the beginning.
Jae-Hyeok pointed the tip of Iyarugt at Ji Cheon-Myeong’s throat.
“Enough!”
At that moment, Ji Cheon-Myeong’s secretary broke onto the stage. According to Jin Seo-Yeon, this person was ranked among the top three powerhouses of the Association, meaning he was a master on the same level as Ji Cheon-Myeong, the president of the Association.
Clang!
“Cough!”
Jae-Hyeok staggered back. He was already weakened after using Hell Sword, and having been immersed in dealing with Ji Cheon-Myeong, he was caught off guard by the sudden attack.
“You severed the president’s arm and even aimed a sword at his throat!”
From the way the secretary spoke, he didn’t seem like a mere employee. The man seemed genuinely furious that Ji Cheon-Myeong had been almost killed.
Is their relationship similar to the one between me and Butler Hwang?
Jae-Hyeok felt a bit nervous, but he leaned forward and prepared to attack.
“Cough!”
Suddenly, the secretary coughed up blood.
A hand sprouted from his chest.
Ji Cheon-Myeong spoke then.
“I’m... insignificant?”
Using his secretary’s heart as a handhold, Ji Cheon-Myeong climbed to his feet. Then, a pillar of light fell upon his body.
It was the light of a level up.
Ji Cheon-Myeong had killed his secretary, his closest confidant, someone who had been loyal to him all his life—and Ji Cheon-Myeong had done it all to save himself.
He shouted, “You were just lucky to be born in the Kang family! Do you think others are born talented? You think you have the right to call me insignificant? I spent my entire life working hard to reach where I am today.”
Thunder rumbled in the cloudless sky, foreboding the coming tribulation. There were only two outcomes now: either he would die or he would transcend.
“Damn Kang bastard! I, Ji Cheon-Myeong, South Korea’s next National Treasure, will devour yo—” The bolt of tribulation lightning fell, and it caused Ji Cheon-Myeong’s eyes to widen in shock.
“W-what?”
His tribulation lightning... at the last moment, it bent toward Jae-Hyeok.
“What did you do?!”
“......”
Jae-Hyeok stood there unfazed, treating Ji Cheon-Myeong like a barking dog.
At some point, a pair of white gauntlets had appeared on his hands.