Chapter 102
Myeong Sa-ung, the young warrior of Nagajang, simply couldn’t believe what was unfolding before his eyes.
Just moments ago, the morning had been as ordinary as any other—peaceful and uneventful. But in the blink of an eye, it had turned into a scene straight out of hell.
Shhhk!
“Gyaaah!”
Puhuk!
“Ughhh!”
A slender, monstrous figure had smashed through the main gate of Nagajang and was now tearing through Myeong Sa-ung’s seniors, friends, and juniors right in front of him.
His comrades screamed and scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives.
At first, some had tried to rush the creature, but now, no one dared.
The overwhelming difference in martial skill was simply too great; there was nothing they could do.
Puhk!
“Ughhh!”
Another comrade, running for his life, was impaled through the back by the beast-like attacker’s claw.
Myeong Sa-ung watched in slow motion as his friend collapsed, the sound of air escaping his lungs fading away.
‘Brother Jang.’
He was the thirty-year-old senior who found joy in coming home early every day to play with his three-year-old son.
He used to boast about quitting drinking for the sake of his beloved child, whom he adored more than anything.
And now, that brother would never see his son again.
Myeong Sa-ung lay on the ground, squinting fiercely at the monster, grinding his teeth.
‘I will never forgive you!’
He had fallen initially because the corpse of a fallen comrade, struck down by the creature, had been flung into him.
But as he rolled on the ground with the body, he realized the monster had passed over him and was now attacking another comrade.
Apparently, it had mistaken him for dead.
Well, considering how many people it had slaughtered, it was understandable it couldn’t keep track of everyone.
So at first, Myeong Sa-ung planned to play dead, quietly waiting for the monster to move on.
After all, life was precious.
But that thought didn’t last long.
“Gyaaah!”
“Please, spare me! Aaaah!”
Around him, his comrades were dying in gruesome ways.
Watching that, a fiery rage surged up inside Myeong Sa-ung.
A fury so intense it swallowed even his fear of death.
He couldn’t let the monster go.
He wanted revenge.
Even if it meant risking his life.
So he waited, hoping the creature would come close.
And that it would turn its back.
To strike from behind.
To plunge his blade into its back.
That was the one, desperate wish he held in his heart at this moment.
‘Come on. Just once. Please, just once.’
And then, finally, the opportunity came.
The monster lunged at a comrade trying to escape beside Myeong Sa-ung.
Shhhk!
“Gyaaah!”
He saw the comrade’s back split open, blood spraying out.
And the monster’s back, where its claw was buried.
Myeong Sa-ung’s eyes flashed.
Now was the moment.
Hup!
He sprang up silently and stabbed his sword into the monster’s back.
Shiiik!
‘Die!’
The monster didn’t even turn around as the blade touched its back.
It hadn’t noticed him.
‘Got it!’
Myeong Sa-ung silently cheered, thinking the monster was helpless now.
But then—
Jjing!
His sword bounced off the monster’s back.
“Ugh?!”
The clang of metal against what felt like iron, and the searing pain in his hand made Myeong Sa-ung stare in shock.
The monster slowly turned its head to look at him.
Through its wild hair, its eyes glowed a blood-red.
“You… bastard!”
Myeong Sa-ung gritted his teeth and plunged his sword again with all his might.
But—
Jjing!
“Ugh!”
The result was no different.
The blade couldn’t pierce the monster’s chest and was deflected once more.
Grrrrr!
The monster growled like a beast and swung its clawed hand toward Myeong Sa-ung.
It was the same claw that had torn through his comrade moments ago.
Watching the blood-soaked hand swing at him, Myeong Sa-ung felt despair wash over him.
‘This is the end.’
Then—
Kwahaaang!
With a tremendous roar, the monster suddenly vanished from Myeong Sa-ung’s sight.
And in the next instant, a distant wall collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Kwarrrrung!
“…?”
Myeong Sa-ung blinked in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
He could only guess that something had slammed into the monster, sending it flying into the wall.
But accepting that the thing that hit the monster was a person was harder to believe.
Standing before him was a man.
Probably the one who had just collided with the monster and sent it crashing.
Myeong Sa-ung couldn’t understand.
How could a person fly through the air at such speed?
How could someone survive such a reckless body slam unscathed?
And when the man landed and turned to look at him, his face was so handsome it could have belonged to a noble scion from a famous family.
He smiled brightly, as if shining with light, and spoke.
“Brave. And lucky, too. You have the potential to become much stronger.”
“…Huh?”
Myeong Sa-ung stared blankly at him.
But before he could say anything, the monster that had been slammed into the wall got back up and charged like a beast.
Grrrrr!
Myeong Sa-ung was horrified.
How could someone so heavily slammed get up and attack again without a scratch?
But that wasn’t the important part now.
“Watch out!”
Myeong Sa-ung shouted urgently.
The handsome noble hadn’t even noticed the monster charging at him.
If this continued, he’d be caught off guard.
But then, to Myeong Sa-ung’s shock, the noble didn’t even turn his head.
As if he already knew, he charged straight at the monster like a cannonball.
In the next moment, the noble and the monster collided midair.
Kwahaaang!
The sound was unlike anything two humans colliding could make.
And the result was just as unbelievable.
The monster, which had been rampaging as if it could wipe out all of Nagajang alone, was sent flying, unable to defend against the noble’s body slam.
It crashed into the wall again, shattering it.
Kwarrrrung!
The impact was so violent it seemed the monster’s bones might have been pulverized.
But the noble didn’t hesitate.
He charged at the monster again.
Even Myeong Sa-ung, who prided himself on his sharp reflexes, saw the noble’s movement as a streak of light.
Shuaaaak!
“Haah!”
Then, in the next instant, Myeong Sa-ung was stunned once more as he saw the noble’s sword flash at a speed too fast to follow.
It wasn’t just that the noble, who had been recklessly ramming the monster, was actually a swordsman.
The sword emitted a vivid lavender glow.
Myeong Sa-ung muttered in a daze.
“…Sword Qi?”
That had to be the legendary Sword Qi he’d only heard about.
This noble was an unparalleled master, someone Myeong Sa-ung had never seen in his life.
And yet, he looked no older than Myeong Sa-ung himself.
Myeong Sa-ung watched in awe as the noble’s sword Qi poured out like a dazzling meteor shower.
Amidst the swirling mist of sword energy, the lavender streaks rained down on the monster pinned against the wall.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
Was this what it looked like when lightning struck in the heart of a typhoon?
The sight was overwhelming.
Myeong Sa-ung knew he would never forget this moment.
He let out a deep, involuntary sigh.
“Haah…”
Seven Steps of the Four-Color Sword Technique.
Black Heaven Sword Rain.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
I unleashed eighty years’ worth of internal energy, reinforced with sword Qi, bombarding the monster relentlessly.
But still, its skin wouldn’t break.
After a moment, the monster swung its arm to grab me, so I leapt back.
“Tch, I wanted to try something like Seolpung Jo-jang’s technique.”
It seemed I wasn’t yet at the level to smash through like Jo-jang.
Grrrrr!
The monster rose and charged like a beast.
It must have been a martial artist who used finger techniques in life, judging by its claw-like fingers.
Its speed rivaled a master’s, its skin impervious even to sword Qi, and it charged boldly without any defense.
It was definitely a tough opponent for a swordsman.
No matter how much sword Qi I struck it with, it was useless.
But if it hit me once, I’d be fatally wounded.
Avoiding was my only option.
That was the frustrating reality.
Of course, that was if I were an ordinary swordsman.
“Hmph!”
I scoffed and met the monster’s swinging claw with a punch.
Pah!
As the hand of the guy I punched snapped back, I used the momentum to spin my body and delivered a brutal headbutt.
BAM!
CRASH!
He flew back, slamming into the wall again.
A sly grin spread across my face.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m no ordinary swordsman. I’m a close-combat fighter who’s mastered external martial arts and hand-to-hand combat.”
Breaking him might be a stretch, but beating him senseless? That was nothing.
“Grrrrr!”
He scrambled to his feet and charged at me again.
But my body shot forward first with a powerful shoulder ram.
CRASH!
CRUMBLE!
He bounced off, crashing through the wall and tumbling outside the compound.
I followed him out without hesitation.
“Alright, now that I’ve pushed you outside, let’s take this slow and steady.”
His attacks weren’t all that threatening, but I couldn’t afford to get cocky. If, as I’d heard, two more of those things showed up, this fight would be a whole different story.
I had to take this one down before the others arrived.
And I believed it was possible.
Last time, Chief Seolpung had smashed a Cheolgwi barehanded.
In my past life, the supreme masters’ sword techniques could cut through Cheolgwi.
So it was just a matter of sharpening my own sword skills. If I got better, I could slice through these things too.
“Alright.”
I took a deep breath, lowered my stance, and readied my sword.
Then I waited for him to charge again.
The fastest sword technique I’d ever seen was Chief Sagunil’s Sairil Sword Style, but the sharpest was Brother Hwayoungbin’s Jeokha Sword Style.
Specifically, the move called “Sword Slash of the Falling Sun” that pierced through So Myeonmagun Sa Wonyang’s defensive energy.
I was trying to recreate that very feeling.
Closing my eyes, I pictured Brother Hwa’s sword.
That incredible strike that seemed to split the crimson sunset in an instant…
I murmured the sword technique’s guiding phrase that Mukrang had taught me:
[“Strike where there’s a gap; the sword follows what is already there.”]
“Grrrrr!”
He charged at my closed eyes.
In a flash, the distance between us shrank.
Four steps: three, two, one.
Now!
SWISH!
My sword traced a violet arc through the air.
It overlapped with his neck.
ZZZZT!
The screech of metal against metal rang out, like a small blade slicing thick leather, a dull resistance lingering at my fingertips.
Without hesitation, I lunged forward with a shoulder ram.
THUD!
He flew back, crashing to the ground.
But when he got up immediately, he looked as unscathed as ever.
“Did I fail?”
But my sharp eyes caught it.
A faint red scratch traced across his neck.
My sword had managed to draw a small cut on his skin.
It was just a tiny scratch, but I chose to see it as a good sign.
“Alright, just a hundred more of those and I’m done!”
I cracked my neck and took up my stance again.
No matter how long it took, I was determined to cut through his neck.
Then, suddenly, I sensed movement.
I whipped my head to the side—and saw someone else approaching.
A wild-haired woman in tattered clothes.
Another Cheolgwi.
A bitter sigh escaped me.
“Damn it.”
Looks like I couldn’t just focus on one and swing my sword freely.
And then a question popped into my mind.
“Why are they coming from the side? If they came up from the south, like the first one, they’d have charged head-on. Did they scatter and regroup? Then where’s the last one?”
But I didn’t have time to ponder.
They attacked simultaneously from two directions.
“Grrrrr!”
“Ch!”
Apparently, these Cheolgwi were smart enough to coordinate their attacks.
The second round was about to begin.
At the same time, Naseoyu was carefully carrying the clan chief on a stretcher made from a thin blanket and two thick bamboo poles, working with Medic Yang to move him cautiously.
I was worried about Sun Woojin, but right now, getting my father to safety was the priority.
Besides, after Sun Woojin went toward the main gate, I hadn’t heard any screams, so hopefully, things weren’t too dire yet.
The back gate of the compound was wide open, as if whoever left first hadn’t bothered to close it.
Carrying the stretcher, Naseoyu carefully stepped through the gate.
“If we go further north from here, we’ll reach Cheongajang. We should take Father there. Medic Yang, you know what to do once we get there, right?”
“Of course. I’ll take great care of the clan chief and treat him properly.”
As Naseoyu spoke with Medic Yang, a sudden chill ran down her neck.
She turned her head sharply to the side.
There, she spotted a man.
A large man in tattered clothes, his hair wild and unkempt.
And through the tangled mess of hair, a vivid red glow shone clearly from his eyes.
Frozen in place, Naseoyu whispered in disbelief,
“…Cheolgwi?”