Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Hwang Byeok, Leader of the Tiger Hunt Unit under the Western Sky Society.
He was trembling in the greatest terror of his life.
It had been an ordinary day like any other. An assassination order had come down from the upper echelons, and the target was merely a worthless applicant of the Martial Alliance.
Though he had been disgruntled that the entire Tiger Hunt Unit was mobilized against such a mere punk, he had thought he would stop by a gambling den after a long time since the job would end that quickly.
However, the assassination target they actually confronted was a man who far exceeded their expectations. The Martial Alliance instructor, whom they had considered an obstacle to the mission, did not do a single thing instead.
Hwang Byeok stared at the dark iron staff with trembling eyes.
Thickly smeared with the blood and flesh of his subordinates, that iron staff was hovering around the head of his sole remaining subordinate.
The subordinate was only shedding endless tears like a person who had already lost his mind.
The monstrous man who had reduced the entire Tiger Hunt Unit to this state looked down with utterly dry eyes and spoke.
“The words I want to hear from you.”
Hwang Byeok cursed wildly inside.
He was not a mind reader, so how on earth could he know that?
Struggling to overcome his fear, Hwang Byeok spoke.
“G-Great Hero. If you ask me what you are curious about, I will answer anything. Please…”
Cheon Woo-jin, who had been staring blandly at Hwang Byeok, raised the Crescent Moon Staff high.
Hwang Byeok’s subordinate squeezed his eyes shut. The sight of his comrades’ heads ruthlessly bursting apart from that iron staff earlier was still vivid before his eyes.
The very moment the Crescent Moon Staff fell.
“I-I will speak!”
“…”
The Crescent Moon Staff stopped just before crushing the black-clothed man’s head.
Hwang Byeok breathed a sigh of relief at that sight. It was an extraordinarily heavy iron staff at a glance. Yet, was he not handling it as though it were a slender wooden stick? Just from that sight alone, he could tell that the other party’s martial prowess was in an entirely different league from theirs.
Cheon Woo-jin slightly curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Speak.”
“In truth, we received word in advance that the mission unit of the Martial Alliance applicants would pass through here.”
Zhuge Rin’s brow furrowed.
“You touched them even while knowing it was an event of the Martial Alliance?”
However, Hwang Byeok continued speaking while looking only at Cheon Woo-jin, as if a mere Martial Alliance instructor did not even enter his sight. In order to survive.
“The target was a young martial artist named Cheon Woo-jin. His characteristics were that he used a dark staff and a white fan, and though I heard his martial prowess was high compared to his age, I never knew it would be to this extent.”
“And so.”
Cheon Woo-jin looked down at him.
The story he wanted had not come out in the slightest yet.
Facing that fathomless gaze, Hwang Byeok hastily poured out his words.
“I do not know who the client is. It is the truth. The only information I know is…”
Hwang Byeok hesitated for a moment.
After all, speaking of internal affairs was somewhat reluctant. However, his hesitation did not last long. What could be more terrifying right now than having his head burst apart by that iron staff?
“Originally, Great Hero’s mission target was the Slaughter Unit. They are bastards who pick only villages without martial artists or government troops to rape and kidnap women and slaughter men. We are the Tiger Hunt Unit, an assassin organization under the same Western Sky Society.”
Cheon Woo-jin nodded.
The bastards even knew the mission he had received.
In other words, it meant information had leaked from inside the Martial Alliance.
After pouring out everything he knew, Hwang Byeok looked at Cheon Woo-jin with eyes mixed with fear and hope.
“I see.”
As Cheon Woo-jin formed a mysterious smile, Hwang Byeok felt relieved inside.
And…
Thump!
The head of the sole remaining subordinate burst helplessly.
Hwang Byeok’s mind went completely blank in an instant.
He had told everything he knew. Yet his one remaining subordinate had died. He was not in despair because he cherished his subordinate. It was because the next turn was his very own.
The Crescent Moon Staff soon moved right before Hwang Byeok’s eyes.
As he stared at that rugged, solid-looking iron staff, the front of Hwang Byeok’s trousers slowly grew wet.
Song Yi-yeon, who was standing beside them, spoke.
“Young Hero Cheon, this person pissed himself.”
“…You do not need to bother telling me that.”
“No, it is just that Young Hero is so terrifying that I feel like I will piss myself soon, too.”
“…”
Cheon Woo-jin looked at Song Yi-yeon with an exasperated expression.
Hwang Byeok, who was watching the two of them, was the one who felt as though he would go crazy. The appearance before his eyes right now was undeniably that of young rising stars.
Such a brat held his lifeline and was casually shaking it. Furthermore, because his actions could not be predicted, fear rushed in wildly that he might swing that iron staff at any moment to strike him to death.
Taking his eyes off Song Yi-yeon, Cheon Woo-jin looked down at Hwang Byeok with cold eyes once more.
“One chance left.”
Hwang Byeok felt nauseous inside. Even though he had told everything he knew, it seemed there was no answer that this monstrous bastard wanted.
“E-Ev…”
“What?”
“I told you everything, you son of a bitch!”
Fear soon caused him to lose his reason.
Hwang Byeok spat out curses filled with spite. He mainly hurled curses that he would curse his family and comrades even after death, yet Cheon Woo-jin did not bat an eyelid.
“Is that the end? A villain who does not know the value of an opportunity.”
Having said that, Cheon Woo-jin raised the Crescent Moon Staff high.
It was at that moment.
Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze felt incongruous with this situation. As Hwang Byeok stared blankly at it, his head suddenly cooled down. Facing that icy gaze, he realized.
This was not an opponent with whom begging for his life or pleading would work.
In other words, it meant that rather than toying with him before killing him, there was truly an answer he wanted.
In an instant, the iron staff that had struck and killed all his subordinates entered Hwang Byeok’s sight. A dark, rugged-looking iron staff with a faint yet deep luster.
‘Could it be…?’
Hwang Byeok blinked.
Come to think of it, that monstrous fellow had recognized the Tiger Hunt Dark Flash. That combined strike formation had been taught directly by the person whom their leader, the Western Sky Society Leader, served, who was also one of the foremost villains of the era.
According to what he heard, that person was said to be a colossal evil incomparable to the Western Sky Society Leader, and none other than one of the disciples of the Dark Emperor.
In this desperate situation, Hwang Byeok felt that he was a lucky man.
Because when he had entered the Western Sky Society as a newcomer in his youth, he had once heard about Black Elder in passing from a superior.
‘That person’s senior martial brother…’
He was a colossal evil who had all the prominent villains of the era as his junior martial brothers, but a master who had suddenly disappeared one day.
Hwang Byeok looked at Cheon Woo-jin. Come to think of it, that gaze was also richly imbued with that of a villain.
Only then did he realize.
‘He returned from old age to youth.’
A slight misunderstanding had arisen. However, it was the best deduction Hwang Byeok could make. He believed that Black Elder, who had returned from old age to youth, was standing before him.
Hwang Byeok immediately kowtowed to the ground.
“I-I dared not recognize the eminent master. I serve Senior’s junior martial brother…”
Tap.
The Crescent Moon Staff was lightly placed atop the back of his prostrated head. The chilly sensation unique to metal sent chills running down his spine.
“Lead the way.”
“Pardon?”
Hwang Byeok asked back without even being able to raise his head.
Cheon Woo-jin spoke as he tapped the back of his head with the Crescent Moon Staff.
“The Slaughter Unit that goes around raiding small villages. Lead the way to where they are.”
Even while trembling, Hwang Byeok asked back once more because he could not understand.
“W-Why…”
“Because killing all of them is my mission.”
Hwang Byeok gasped.
Why on earth would Black Elder’s mission be to kill the mere Slaughter Unit? Could it be that the Western Sky Society Leader made an enemy of Black Elder?
If that was the case…
Hwang Byeok resolved that if only he could return alive, he would leave the Western Sky Society. Because in the world of villains, that was what Black Elder’s existence was.
However, Zhuge Rin and Song Yi-yeon wore bewildered expressions.
‘He plans to carry out the mission of the Martial Alliance in the midst of this?’
‘He looks completely normal on the outside, though…’
One had to look closely to see he was a madman.
One had to watch for a long time to get goosebumps.
That was how Cheon Woo-jin appeared in the eyes of the two.
Whether that was so or not, Cheon Woo-jin retrieved the Crescent Moon Staff and swung it through the air. The blood, flesh, and the like were lightly shaken off in the fierce wind. Soon slinging the staff across his back again, Cheon Woo-jin spoke.
“I intend to follow this fellow to wipe out the Slaughter Unit or whatever it is, and then head straight for the Western Sky Society as well. Therefore, all of you should return. It would be best to report that I am dead.”
“Why is that?”
At Song Yi-yeon’s question, Cheon Woo-jin replied nonchalantly.
“Only if I am dead will the person who commissioned these bastards be relieved and let down their guard.”
Song Yi-yeon nodded with a serious face.
He had already noticed that information had leaked from within as well.
“Wait a moment. What do you mean by that? Naturally, we must report to the higher-ups and investigate at the level of the Martial Alliance. And do you even know how large an organization the Western Sky Society is?”
Zhuge Rin was also a martial artist of the Martial Alliance.
She was well aware of all the prominent unorthodox groups of the era.
Of course, she did not know that the true master of the Western Sky Society was an even greater villain, unlike what was revealed on the surface.
Cheon Woo-jin had already anticipated Zhuge Rin’s objection.
It was a natural reaction because she was a martial artist of the Martial Alliance.
Cheon Woo-jin spoke in a monotonous tone.
“What if the Alliance investigates and fails to find them?”
“Pardon?”
“I would have to live while receiving threats of assassination again, so does the Vice Squad Leader have the confidence to take responsibility then?”
“…”
Zhuge Rin shut her mouth.
She had temporarily forgotten thanks to Cheon Woo-jin’s tremendous martial prowess, but in any case, this was a situation where an enemy targeting him existed within the Martial Alliance.
Cheon Woo-jin’s words continued.
“Furthermore, the person this man serves seems to be an acquaintance of my master. I heard that a disciple inheriting his master’s karma is not an unusual thing in the martial world.”
“That is true, but…”
“Then this is moving not as an applicant, but as the disciple of an eccentric. The Vice Squad Leader has no justification to stop me. If you intend to stop me as the official in charge, I will give up on the examination.”
Zhuge Rin let out a sigh.
Every single word was correct, and there was nothing to refute even with her brilliant intellect.
“Then I will go with you.”
“Eh?”
Cheon Woo-jin made a strange sound. It was because he had not expected that Zhuge Rin would say she would follow along.
Zhuge Rin spoke.
“In any case, Young Hero Cheon is under my charge. The same goes for all the rising stars here. Until the matter is finished, I must take responsibility.”
Facing her resolute gaze, Cheon Woo-jin shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, if that puts your mind at ease.”
After nodding his head, Cheon Woo-jin spoke to Song Yi-yeon.
“Then Young Hero Song should take the rest of the applicants and return to the Alliance as the representative. You can just report that I died and the Vice Squad Leader is secretly pursuing them.”
Song Yi-yeon and the other rising stars also accepted.
In a situation where they were indebted to Cheon Woo-jin for their lives anyway, there was no way but to follow his words.
Cheon Woo-jin inflicted shallow wounds all over their bodies with the Crane Feather Fan so they would not invite suspicion after returning to the Martial Alliance.
The movements were so delicate that even as the skin split finely and blood flowed, there was no pain whatsoever.
They realized once more that Cheon Woo-jin’s martial prowess was a fathomless realm to them.
Lastly, Cheon Woo-jin inflicted wounds across Song Yi-yeon’s body and slightly tore his excessively neat clothes.
When the Crane Feather Fan suddenly aimed toward Song Yi-yeon’s face.
“W-Wait!”
“…?”
“This is my treasure. Let us make more wounds deeper and elsewhere instead.”
Cheon Woo-jin was dumbfounded. To think that a martial artist would fear getting a scar on his face so much.
“Your face is too clean.”
At that, Song Yi-yeon smeared the blood and dirt from the black-clothed men thickly across his face and spoke.
“Would this be enough?”
“…That will do.”
Just as Song Yi-yeon found Cheon Woo-jin fascinating, Cheon Woo-jin also thought that the more he saw Song Yi-yeon, the stranger a person he was.
* * *
After the rising stars departed for the Martial Alliance first like that.
Hwang Byeok, who had only been watching their expressions all along, overheard their conversation and suddenly spoke.
“By the way… were you not Senior?”
Through the conversation, he had realized that Cheon Woo-jin was not Black Elder. Cheon Woo-jin spoke dryly to Hwang Byeok.
“I am that person’s disciple.”
“No… then you are not an expert who returned from old age to youth?”
Hwang Byeok fell into deep thought.
Thinking this bastard was Black Elder, he had told him everything. But if he was a green young martial artist just as he appeared on the outside…
This bastard might somehow be able to wipe out even the Slaughter Unit. But would he have a chance of victory against that person, the disciple of the Dark Emperor?
If this bastard was killed by that person, what came next was…
Hwang Byeok’s head became utterly chaotic.
“Then where is Senior…?”
“He left for somewhere far away. Very far away.”
Hwang Byeok squeezed his eyes shut.
He did not know whether he had truly gone on a journey far away or dropped dead. However, if Black Elder’s influence did not reach here, with high probability, this bastard would be killed by that person.
“Do you know who you are going to meet right now?”
Hwang Byeok asked cautiously.
Cheon Woo-jin chuckled at that sight.
Because there was already a man he expected.
“Shura Demon Lord.”
“…Huh?”
Zhuge Rin wore a blank expression.
She also knew of Shura Demon Lord.
It was because he was a second-grade public enemy of the martial world, a level that required the deployment of at least three or more combat squads of the Martial Alliance.
“So that means. You said you would go alone even while knowing it was Shura Demon Lord. Ah, I see. And I said I would follow that. Hahaha…”
Zhuge Rin muttered to herself while letting out a hollow laugh like a person who had lost her mind.
Watching this, Cheon Woo-jin internally concluded that she was also an odd person along with Song Yi-yeon, and spoke.
“You may return if you are scared. However, seeing that Master called Shura Demon Lord a ‘frail bastard’, you probably do not need to worry that much. He did not specifically warn me about that person either.”
Zhuge Rin asked with a serious face.
“By any chance, are you the disciple of Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon?”
“No.”
“Then the disciple of the Black Overlord Castle Lord?”
The Black Overlord Castle was a group called the pinnacle of the unorthodox path in the present era.
Cheon Woo-jin chuckled as he recalled the Black Overlord Castle Lord whom he had briefly seen in his childhood.
“Neither.”
“Then why are you laughing…?”
“A funny thought suddenly came to mind.”
It was because the Black Overlord Castle Lord, who had been beaten by Master Black Elder from morning to night, and again from the next morning to night, and even shared a meal before leaving, was a very amusing person.
At least to Cheon Woo-jin, that was so.