Chapter 49: Chapter 49
“Y-you insane bastard…?!”
Dong-tak cursed in horror. A serious breach of military hierarchy, but in war, rank didn’t matter.
What mattered now wasn’t that.
Mao had blocked the spike-studded iron mace.
With his forehead.
No. Precisely, with his left palm held flat in front of it.
“Ah…”
Blood streamed from the palm pierced by spikes, drenching his face. Never having been hit in the head this hard in his life, Dong-tak saw double, then triple.
One more hit and his skull would crack entirely.
But,
“Y-you little…?!”
Mao grinned broadly and gripped the iron mace with his massive hand, as if to crush it.
‘W-what kind of grip strength…’
Dong-tak panicked and tried to yank the mace free. Impossible. And then Mao whispered like a ghost.
“Keep your eyes wide open and endure. And when they can’t respond… that’s when you drive it home. Know what we call this?”
“Call what, you madman! Let go right now!”
“Counterattack. We call it counterattack. And…”
“What?”
“A quarter-shi has passed, you pig bastard!”
VWOOM!
Internal energy surged from his dantian. His fist blazed white.
Dong-tak’s eyes dilated with terror.
“N-no…!”
Mao’s original technique.
Counterattack More-the-Better Fist. Emission.
THUD!
“KRAAAAGH-!”
The fist buried itself into Dong-tak’s thick belly. Flesh rippled violently, caved inward like a struck bell, and then he flew backward like a streak of light, straight through the building behind him.
KWAANG!
The pig smashed through the building and vanished into the distance.
“When you meet Cheol-yeong and Jang-deuk… apologize first. Go to hell, you pig bastard.”
Slaughterhouse rank four, Dong-tak.
His end.
“Ah.”
Thud. Mao collapsed where he stood. Not a speck of internal energy remained. His head swam. The mace spikes were still embedded in his hand.
In a word, his body was at its worst.
“Idiot! Why did you jump in? Were you trying to die?”
And the boy who had slumped down back-to-back with him.
Maeng Hwi was no better. With daggers buried in his side and thigh, having unleashed the still-immature Great Shattering Spear Technique, his body was ruined.
If today’s events reached Third Elder Maeng Cheol-yong’s ears… the thought alone was horrifying.
But more infuriating than that was this idiot.
“Ah…?”
Seventh Young Master Mao, eyes already glazed over.
He’d come to save him, hoping to score points with Adjutant Jang. Only to have the idiot rescue him instead. What was the point?
“What. Brat. I thought you were going to die, so I came.”
“So, you idiot!”
Huh? Mao blinked twice.
“Which is it? Was it good or bad.”
“That’s…!”
Maeng Hwi worked his jaw, then snapped it shut. That idiot Seventh Young Master Mao, drenched in blood. Charging in without calculation to save him. It struck a nerve he didn’t know he had.
Maeng Hwi whipped his head aside and grumbled pointlessly.
“Your face is disgusting. Turn away. Covered in blood. What are you, a ghost?”
“What, you little brat?”
“You’re the younger one, not me.”
“Wow, shit! This bastard repays kindness with spite?”
“More like repaying spite with kindness.”
“You know that and you do it?!”
What was he even saying, idiot. Maeng Hwi snorted and turned away. Mao huffed repeatedly, then eventually smirked and spoke.
“Honestly, you were impressed, right? My hidden secret technique was so incredible it shook you to the core. Were you trembling? Hahaha!”
“Y-yes, I was impressed. How can you use every last drop of internal energy? That such a thing is even possible was surprising. Because you’re so overwhelmingly ignorant.”
“Th-that’s… it’s still incomplete!”
“That’s something to brag about, idiot. You’ll never complete it. Don’t go around showing it off. Supreme realm, my ass.”
Grrah! Mao roared in frustration. Maeng Hwi dropped the humor and lifted his head to survey the front.
The remaining assassins hovered uncertainly, watching their every move. Roughly twenty left.
Maeng Hwi whispered softly enough that they couldn’t hear.
“Hey, Mao. I’ve got good news and bad news.”
“…What?”
“Good news is, those bastards are completely terrified. Their leader’s dead, so they’re in chaos.”
“Hmm.”
“And the bad news is… I don’t have the strength to lift my spear. The paralytic poison has spread everywhere. If they throw even a single dagger, it’s only a matter of time before I die.”
Gulp. Maeng Hwi’s underdeveloped Adam’s apple bobbed. A situation as precarious as standing on a blade’s edge.
He spoke again.
“The only thing left to trust is you. Well? Can you hold them off?”
“…”
“Hey, why aren’t you answering? Hey!”
Maeng Hwi nudged his back with an elbow. Mao toppled over. Maeng Hwi’s eyes bulged.
“Hey, you crazy bastard! You can’t pass out here!”
At Maeng Hwi’s cry, the assassins tilted their heads, sensing the shift. Their wavering eyes turned predatory. Their trembling legs lowered into stances as they crept closer.
Truly surrounded on all sides.
Just as despair flooded Maeng Hwi’s eyes.
“Get those bastards-!”
“WAAAAAAH-!”
Suddenly, thunderous cheers erupted from every direction. THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD- The ground trembled.
Both Maeng Hwi and the assassins looked around in bewilderment.
The broad-faced Mae-gi and the Black Dragon Faction. And the villagers who’d descended from the rooftops. Hundreds strong, surging from all sides like an army.
Wolha Village’s counterattack.
“Drop those weapons right now!”
At Mae-gi’s bellow, the assassins, completely stripped of fighting spirit, CLANG! dropped their blades and sank to their knees.
They had come too far to revive their broken morale.
“Hah, haha…”
Total victory. Maeng Hwi let out a hollow laugh, finally releasing the tension in his shoulders and slumping. That had been far too close.
“Excuse me… You’re the Sixth Young Master, aren’t you? Are you alright?”
The broad-faced Mae-gi approached carefully. Maeng Hwi stared at him with eyes carrying countless emotions, then lowered his mask and nodded.
“How did you know? And how did all of you know to gather here?”
“Well… Big Brother Jang told us in advance.”
“Big Brother Jang? You mean Adjutant Jang?”
“Yes.”
Mae-gi scratched the back of his head and fell into recollection.
‘If you don’t fight, you can’t protect the village. And swinging a blade isn’t the only way to fight. Standing beside someone is also courage. It’s fighting together.’
Those were the words Jang I-seo had spoken when he came to them. Honestly, Mae-gi had wondered what good it would do. But now he understood a little.
“Where is Adjutant Jang now?”
Maeng Hwi asked with a furrowed brow.
Jang I-seo had also asked him, the one who insisted on staying in Wolha Village, to keep watch over Mao. To help when things got dangerous.
But the man himself was nowhere to be seen. He’d caused all this, so he certainly hadn’t fled.
“Not sure about that… Maybe he went to Chiseonru?”
Mae-gi shook his head, genuinely clueless.
Chiseonru… That was possible.
More than anything, Maeng Hwi wanted this long night to end.
And then.
“S-Sixth Young Master!”
Thud. Maeng Hwi lay down beside Mao and fell into a deep sleep.
Like affectionate brothers.
* * *
– Moonlight Lake, Chiseonru, Fourth Floor.
Color Moon Geum Hwa-bin studied the figure descending the stairs with expectant eyes.
Because this person was the most important sacrificial offering of tonight’s feast.
Seventh Young Master’s Adjutant, Jang I-seo.
The moment to face him.
“You’re…?”
But when the figure reached the bottom of the stairs, Color Moon’s expression wasn’t a satisfied smile. It was a twisted face full of confusion.
Naturally.
“It’s a woman!”
The person who descended wasn’t a man, but a woman in a white robe. No matter how much she bound her chest with bandages and wore a white mask, Color Moon wasn’t so stupid she couldn’t tell male from female.
Definitely a woman. One who carried a sword in a jade scabbard, held respectfully with both hands.
‘The adjutant was a woman?’
Impossible. But what puzzled her most came next.
Clk. Chwi Hong-ran, who looked like she’d never held a razor in her life, accepted the sword.
“What game is this?”
“Whatever you expected, whoever you waited for. It won’t go as you think.”
“What? Are you saying a wine-selling bitch like you intends to face me?”
Color Moon burst into incredulous laughter. Who was she? Did this woman mistake her for a fellow tavern girl?
How troublesome. Did she not know who she was dealing with? Slaughterhouse rank three. Had Sa Do-cheol, that beast, given her that seat for free?
Absolutely not. She was there because she was that strong.
Dong-tak, Yo Do-sun, Mak-gwi. As long as it wasn’t the Sa brothers, she could tear them all apart herself.
“But. A young bitch like you daring to challenge me? Hohohoho!”
How could she not laugh? Color Moon shook her head and exhaled a long breath of amusement.
“Fine. How entertaining. I was getting bored, and our junior just saved the day. So I should give a reward. What should it be? Carve your face first? Pluck your eyes first?”
FWISH! Color Moon flicked her blade and approached with light steps. Chwi Hong-ran signaled her subordinates to fall back and stepped forward to meet her.
“You don’t listen. I told you. It won’t go as you think.”
“Ah, right? Did you learn a blade dance in front of your patron?”
Ta-ta-ta-ta! Color Moon’s skirt fluttered as she charged with a blade in both hands at fierce speed. SHRING! Chwi Hong-ran drew her sword and met her in an elegant stance.
A diagonal upward slash from the right. CLANG! A spinning horizontal ankle strike. CLANG! A low lunge, springing upward with a thrust aimed at the throat.
FWISH!
Color Moon’s skill was as genuine as her arrogance.
But,
“How foolish.”
With an impassive face, Chwi Hong-ran twisted her body to evade even this, then drove a palm strike into Color Moon’s chest.
THUD!
Color Moon skidded back five paces. Blood trickled from her lips. Her face contorted in horror.
“H-how…”
Internal injury. A single palm strike had caused internal injury. Which meant… she had trained in martial arts!
“Why would you assume I’m weaker than you?”
Shff, shff. Chwi Hong-ran advanced. Color Moon’s eyes began to storm.
“This makes no sense… How can a backwater wine-selling bitch…”
“This is the Demonic Cult.”
“What?”
“I’m saying you’re not the only one who has trained in martial arts.”
VWOOM!
Chwi Hong-ran’s robes fluttered. A qi sharper than any blade wind surged forth.
Color Moon’s face gradually turned ashen.