Moonlit Duel (5)
Under the bright, full moon, a middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed hat was tilling the field.
A stout man approached him. It was the same man who had been at the underground meeting not long ago. The man working the field was none other than the Dark Merchant.
“What are you doing out here at this hour?”
“These weeds grow so fast, you’d understand if you tried farming yourself.”
“Still, isn’t it a bit much to be doing this in the dead of night?”
“Work doesn’t care if it’s day or night.”
The stout man knew well that the Dark Merchant turned to farming whenever he was troubled.
“Is it because of that Sung guy?”
The Dark Merchant didn’t respond.
“We should’ve dealt with him first. Things always get complicated when a schemer gets involved.”
The Dark Merchant paused, looking up.
“And if we get rid of him? Who will take his place? You?”
The stout man waved his hands dismissively.
“Why are you dragging me into this all of a sudden?”
“Then who do you suggest?”
“We’ll find someone.”
“There’s no one as capable as Sung.”
The stout man squatted down to help pull weeds.
“Still haven’t found that runaway Cheon guy, have you?”
“No.”
“This whole mess, Sung betrayed us.”
The Dark Merchant continued pulling weeds diligently.
“I know.”
“Ah, the things people do for money.”
The stout man groaned as he stood up, his heavy frame protesting.
“Oh, my back. I can’t do this. Why hoard all that money? Hire someone to pull these weeds. You’ll end up pulling every weed in the world at this rate.”
The Dark Merchant chuckled but kept working.
“Come on, let’s go have some fun. A drink with some pretty ladies might help you figure out what to do with him. You need some excitement at your age.”
The stout man was about to leave, assuming the Dark Merchant wouldn’t join him.
“Let’s go together.”
The stout man was taken aback. The Dark Merchant had never suggested going out together in such a situation.
“Why the change of heart? I thought you said work was your rest?”
“You fool, I like having fun too. Like you said, I need some new excitement.”
The stout man’s expression turned serious. Though he often joked and laughed, his serious demeanor was chilling. His bulk hid his true nature.
“Is it that bad?”
The Dark Merchant nodded silently.
“Something feels off.”
“Whenever you get that feeling, something serious always happens. This isn’t just about Sung, is it?”
The Dark Merchant nodded again.
“Damn it! We’re in for a storm.”
The Dark Merchant dusted off his hands and began to walk slowly.
The stout man, returning to his usual grin, followed him.
“Even so, we always find a solution. The pretty ladies will have the answers. Ha ha.”
＊ ＊ ＊
The sounds of fighting outside had ceased.
Sung Wangbo opened the door and stepped out of the carriage.
The bodies of his guards lay scattered around. There were a few enemy bodies among them, but they were few.
A dozen masked men stood in front of him.
Sung Wangbo addressed the man standing in the center of the masked group.
“I didn’t expect it to be you.”
The man, recognizing Sung Wangbo’s acknowledgment, removed his mask.
It was Joo Cheolryong. The temptation of the Demon Lord was something to ponder deeply.
But a single command from Cheon Soseon was not something to question.
Especially since he had sensed Joo Cheolryong’s wavering, betrayal was no longer an option.
He had regretted it several times on his way here.
‘I should have heroically refused the Demon Lord’s offer.’
But it was too late. He would have to make up for it with even greater loyalty.
Joo Cheolryong approached Sung Wangbo slowly.
“Situations change, don’t they?”
“Do you know who’s backing me?”
“Who?”
Joo Cheolryong didn’t know about the Dark Merchant. Though he could guess there was a significant financial backer besides himself.
But he knew nothing about the Dark Merchant.
“If you kill me, you’ll eventually die because of it.”
“Maybe. But if I don’t kill you today, I’ll die tomorrow.”
Joo Cheolryong spoke frankly.
“Cheon Soseon came personally.”
He wasn’t offering mercy by revealing who wanted Sung Wangbo dead.
He was trying to ease his conscience, making excuses that he had no choice.
“I see.”
Sung Wangbo nodded. Given that he had tried to kill Cheon Soseon and his grandfather, it was an expected outcome.
Yet, he found it surprising. Knowing Cheon Soseon’s character, he would have come personally if he intended to kill him. They might have exchanged a few last words.
Joo Cheolryong instructed his men.
“Send him off peacefully.”
“Yes.”
The masked men weren’t from the Guangyue Sect. They couldn’t bring martial artists from the Martial Alliance to kill the head of the Central Merchants’ Union. These were assassins Joo Cheolryong had personally trained, used for targets that shouldn’t be killed.
One man approached confidently. Since Sung Wangbo didn’t know martial arts, one man was enough.
The man drew his sword as he neared.
Sung Wangbo squeezed his eyes shut.
Swish!
Thud!
Despite the sound of wind and flesh tearing, nothing happened, and Sung Wangbo opened his eyes in surprise.
The man who had been about to strike him staggered, trying to pull out the dagger lodged in his neck, before collapsing forward.
All eyes turned to where the dagger had come from. Sung Wangbo’s gaze followed.
A man was walking slowly toward them from about twenty paces away.
“Did you betray Cheon Haejin because the situation changed?”
Mentioning Cheon Haejin made Joo Cheolryong’s expression turn cold. Meanwhile, relief washed over Sung Wangbo’s face.
The person who had thrown the dagger to save Sung Wangbo was me. Sung Wangbo knew well how formidable my martial arts were. He was probably thanking the heavens right now.
Joo Cheolryong, exuding a murderous aura, asked, “Who are you to mention him?”
Him? Not even calling him the leader? Treating him so dismissively, as if he were already dead.
“Isn’t it common knowledge in the martial world that you betrayed Cheon Haejin?”
Joo Cheolryong’s face hardened further. That was his sore spot.
“What do you know to be running your mouth?”
“Yes, I didn’t know enough about you.”
“What?”
He would never understand the source of my bitterness.
At Joo Cheolryong’s signal, his men leaped into action.
As expected of those personally trained by Joo Cheolryong, their movements were exceptional. Even from their first move, it was clear they were well-versed in coordinated attacks.
Like wings unfurling and folding, they surrounded me from all sides and charged simultaneously.
“Ah!”
Even Sung Wangbo, who knew little of martial arts, gasped in shock. It was that threatening.
Though they seemed to charge in unison, to my eyes, each attack was distinct. Their speeds varied, their targets differed, and naturally, their skills felt different.
I lunged toward the fastest of them.
A decisive move to seize the initiative.
Swish!
A line was drawn. Everything within that line was severed.
Clang.
The sword the man thrust shattered as the Suramyeongwang Sword sliced through his neck.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed into the air as the man tumbled to the ground.
My sword showed no mercy. The Suramyeongwang Sword moved even faster and more precisely toward the next man.
The second man charged, his sword aimed at my torso.
The Suramyeongwang Sword started later but quickly caught up to his speed.
Swish, swish.
The two swords crossed paths. But the outcome was worlds apart. One sword cut through air, the other through flesh.
Splurt.
“Argh!”
With a scream, the man collapsed forward, and I leaped over his back.
Swish! Thud!
In that momentum, I pierced the neck of the man charging from behind and, landing on the ground, swung my sword left and right, cutting down the men attacking from both sides.
Swish! Slash! Swish! Slash!
In an instant, three men fell, blood spraying.
The speed difference was beyond their ability to handle.
By the time they realized my sword was coming, it was already embedded in their bodies.
Meanwhile, swords aimed at my back, waist, and heart from three directions.
I leaped into the air, lying flat in midair.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three swords narrowly missed me. Though I dodged in an instant, I clearly saw their shocked expressions. The man on the right, closest and most surprised, was my first target.
Whirl.
I spun in midair, extending my body. It was a distance that should have been impossible to reach, but my movement defied logic.
Thud.
The Suramyungwang Sword pierced through the man’s neck.
Swish! Swish!
At the same moment, two daggers sliced through the air with a sharp, whistling sound.
I had thrown them the instant my feet touched the ground. Of the two men charging at me from behind, one failed to dodge, while the other barely managed to deflect the dagger with his sword.
But my blade was relentless. It swiftly severed his neck, sending his head rolling next to the man who had already fallen with a dagger in his face.
Whoosh!
Splat!
The last two men were swept away by the force of my sword, meeting their end. Whether they acted on orders from Joo Cheol-ryong or their own misguided judgment, they had abandoned me to attack Seong Wang-bo.
“Aaah!”
Seong Wang-bo screamed again, startled by the thought that the sword’s force might reach him too.
Yet, despite the two men being cut down right before his eyes, not a single breeze touched him. It was a precision strike, as exact as a mathematician’s calculation, targeting only the enemy.
Joo Cheol-ryong was in shock. Though the explanation is lengthy, all of this happened in an instant. Before he could even process it, his subordinates lay dead.
“This kind of skill is…”
He stopped himself from saying he’d never seen anything like it. A memory surfaced—of the one who had once betrayed him, the one who had left an indelible mark on his heart.
Yes, Cheon Hwa-jin fought like this. It was that overwhelming martial prowess and presence that had kept him from ever revealing his ambitions.
I didn’t prolong the fight.
Swoosh.
The Suramyungwang Sword rose into the air, slowly pointing towards Joo Cheol-ryong.
He gripped his sword, ready to unleash his most powerful technique, but his eyes widened in disbelief. His strength drained away.
“Could it be?”
Flash!
A beam of light appeared between us.
An unstoppable, absolute technique.
The Igi Eogeom technique had been unleashed.
Thud!
The beam left a gaping hole where Joo Cheol-ryong’s heart had been. The Suramyungwang Sword traced a wide arc before returning to me, calm and steady.
Splat.
I flicked the blood off the blade.
Though there was a sense of melancholy for a former subordinate, I felt no guilt. As the leader of the Gwangwol faction within the Murim Alliance, his collusion with external forces was a grave crime deserving of severe punishment.
I had used the Igi Eogeom, the most formidable technique, to demonstrate my prowess to Seong Wang-bo. To use him and bring him to my side, he needed to trust in my strength.
Seong Wang-bo’s mouth hung open in astonishment.
“Are you alright?”
“Thanks to you, I am. But that technique just now, was it the Igi Eogeom?”
“Yes, it was.”
“My goodness! To witness the Igi Eogeom in my lifetime!”
There’s a vast difference between knowing something in theory and witnessing it firsthand. Martial arts belong to the category where this difference is most pronounced.
Now, Seong Wang-bo understood my strength clearly and unmistakably.
“But how did you know to save me?”
“Joo Cheol-ryong was under my surveillance. I received a report that he intended to kill you, so I came immediately.”
“Why did you save me?”
“Our deal isn’t finished yet, is it? Even if you die, you should at least pay the balance first.”
Seong Wang-bo chuckled at the unexpected remark, but his expression soon hardened as he glanced at the bodies around him, contemplating his situation.
I spoke to him.
“Consider saving you this time as a reward for sealing a significant deal. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
As I turned to leave, Seong Wang-bo spoke softly.
“Let’s have a talk.”