Chapter 293
— Bloodstorm Clan!
The thunderous shout from behind made Hyeolpung Daedo, the leader of the Bloodstorm Clan, flinch and turn around.
The voice echoed through the entire area—deep, resonant, and charged with an internal energy unlike any master he had ever encountered before.
But his surprise was brief. As he spotted Seolpung and Sun Woojin’s positions, a sly grin spread across his face.
He muttered under his breath,
“Fools. These so-called masters always think that just because their martial arts are strong, they can do anything. But they never realize they’re like moths flying straight into the fire.”
Then, he barked orders to his men.
“Turn the horses around! The prey has come to us willingly!”
At his command, the bandits erupted into wild laughter and changed direction.
“Ha ha ha! If they’ve come looking for death, we’ll give it to them!”
“If we kill those two, can we finally go after those women from earlier?!”
“Let’s finish this quickly and get some rest!”
They curved their charge and surged forward, their speed increasing.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The ground trembled beneath the thunderous charge of over a thousand bandits, like a war machine barreling forward.
But Seolpung and Sun Woojin simply stepped forward calmly, as if the enemy didn’t even exist.
Their leisurely pace was almost mocking.
From the boat, Dong Sowoon stomped her feet anxiously and shouted,
“No! They shouldn’t be doing that! They need to stick close to the riverbank and block the charge! If they keep moving forward like that…!”
But the others watching remained unfazed.
Yeon Taejin, still touching the back of his head where a slight wound bled, said,
“Just watch. Now that those two are out there, there’s no need to block the charge. Ouch! Damn, my head still aches!”
Jin So-eun didn’t even bother looking their way. Instead, she gently spoke to a dejected Jung Chil.
“Senior Jung, deciding to fight them was a group decision. You don’t need to worry about it.”
She believed Jung Chil’s downcast mood stemmed from guilt over their injuries—both hers and Yeon Taejin’s—since they had fought following his advice.
And she was right.
Jung Chil replied with a heavy sigh,
“No need to sugarcoat it. I know well that my rashness caused you all to get hurt. Our youngest’s words were never wrong… I just acted recklessly again, and look what happened to you.”
“Come on, it couldn’t be helped. Even Sun Woojin didn’t give us any instructions on what to do if the enemy wasn’t lured out. And if we thought it was wrong, we would have stopped it. We agreed because we believed in your judgment, Senior Jung.”
Yeon Taejin chimed in,
“What’s this? You’re down because of that? Don’t be so timid. So-eun and I are warriors—we can get hurt or even die in battle. If you’re weak and got hurt, that’s on you. Don’t apologize for it, Senior Jung. It doesn’t suit you. Honestly, we all made a bad call earlier. We should’ve listened to our smart Sun Woojin. From now on, let’s make sure to follow his lead.”
With both Jin So-eun and Yeon Taejin comforting him, Jung Chil’s expression brightened a little.
“You’re right. I should’ve listened to the youngest more carefully. If I ever try to ignore him again, you all have my permission to stop me—even if it means hitting me.”
Yeon Taejin’s eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Oh, really?”
Just then, Dong Sowoon, still watching the battlefield with worry, suddenly shouted loudly,
“Ahhh! Wh-what is that?!”
Everyone turned their gaze back to the battlefield.
Above the charging bandits loomed a massive pair of black wings—far larger than the violet phoenix wings they had seen earlier.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Watching the bandits charge at terrifying speed, Sun Woojin spoke first to Seolpung,
“Should I go first, hyung?”
Seolpung smiled faintly and nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Sun Woojin stepped forward a few paces, took a deep breath, and then leapt into the air.
Swish!
His jump was so light it seemed weightless.
Like a bird soaring, Sun Woojin ascended, swinging his Mukrang Sword wide as if spreading wings toward the sky.
“Hah!”
Whoosh!
At that moment, a black sword aura unfurled from his blade like a dark curtain, stretching outward.
It was as if night had suddenly swallowed the daylight—a terrifying, ominous sight.
Mukrang Sword Technique, First Move: Flight.
The black sword aura expanded into enormous wings, covering the sky above.
They were sinister black wings, like those that might adorn the back of a demon king descending from hell.
The grotesque spectacle sent several charging bandits into panic, their screams piercing the air.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Wh-what is that?!”
“Mon-monster!”
Hyeolpung Daedo, the clan leader, shouted to rally his men.
“Don’t be afraid! It’s just an illusion technique! Nothing but a trick…!”
But then, the black wings suddenly began to crumble and shatter.
The fragments quickly transformed into a torrential downpour of sword energy, raining down upon the ground.
Sssshhhhh!
“W-what is this?!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Whoosh!
“Gahhh!”
“P-please, spare me!”
The Mukrang Sword Technique’s first move, Flight, which bombards enemies with sword energy rather than mere sword aura, wasn’t especially threatening to masters above the supreme level.
Because it spread the energy thinly over a wide area, it was only truly effective as an illusion to those seeing it for the first time. If someone was determined to block it, they could.
But that was only true for masters of the highest caliber.
For the bandits, who relied more on the power of their mounts and sheer numbers than skill, Flight was a nightmare.
Like a hellish rainstorm of death.
As the sword energy rained down, bandits and horses unable to defend themselves were shredded, collapsing in heaps.
It was a scene soaked in blood and carnage, like a rain of hell itself.
Whoosh!
“Arrgh!”
“Ahhh!”
“M-mother!”
Hyeolpung Daedo swung his great sword with all his might, managing to block some of the sword energy.
But fewer than ten of those caught in the downpour could do the same.
Hyeolpung Daedo looked around in despair.
Just one technique.
One single move had cut down over a hundred bandits and their mounts around him.
More were left alive, writhing in agony, than those who had died instantly—a far more horrifying sight.
“Ugh…”
“P-please… spare me…”
“My stomach… my stomach…!”
“My arm!”
But after a moment, Hyeolpung Daedo gritted his teeth and shouted again,
“He can’t use that move repeatedly! Charge! Charge! We have to strike before he can use it again!”
His words made sense.
If he could unleash such an absurd technique multiple times, it would be unfair.
There were still about nine hundred bandits left.
Hearing their leader’s rallying cry, the bandits gritted their teeth and pushed their mounts to speed up.
They had to kill him before he could use that move again.
If they could close the distance, they might have a chance.
“Charge! Charge!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
But Sun Woojin smiled faintly and murmured,
“Hmm, I can still use it. Shall I do it one more time?”
Seolpung stepped forward and said,
“If Jin handles everything alone, I’d feel too embarrassed. This time, I’ll take a turn.”
With that, long silver claws—the fierce tiger’s talons—emerged from Seolpung’s hands for the first time in a while.
Sun Woojin crossed his arms and smiled.
Seolpung didn’t know any wide-range techniques like Sun Woojin’s.
The Beast Fist, a specialty of the Sa-wang family, and the Jeonlun Bakdo he learned from Sun Woojin were both close-range grappling arts.
So, like Yeon Taejin said, Seolpung’s compatibility with the bandits wasn’t great.
But that was only when there was a significant difference in skill.
Seolpung and the bandits were not at a level where such compatibility mattered.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
“You bastard! Die…!”
Swoosh!
Four streaks of light suddenly cut through the air.
A bandit swinging an iron staff at Seolpung was torn apart along with his horse, blood spurting from four claw marks.
They were the red claw marks left by Seolpung’s fierce tiger talons.
But the bandit never realized what had happened before he died.
“Hah!”
Swoosh!
“W-what…!”
Swoosh!
“Ugh! Aah!”
Swoosh!
The space where Seolpung stood became a death zone no one could pass.
Every bandit who tried was shredded before they could react.
None of them even sensed Seolpung’s movements, nor understood how they died.
Swoosh!
Whoooosh!
“Aaaahhh!”
“S-somebody help! Aaaargh!”
Like being sucked into the very maw of hell, every bandit caught in the raging wind was torn apart, shredded to pieces.
At last, the eyes of the desperate bandits charging forward filled with pure terror.
“Ughhh!”
“Th-this can’t be!”
There was no way anyone could stand against that.
What good would it do if they numbered a thousand, or ten thousand?
They’d all be ripped apart without so much as a chance to fight back.
“No, no! I can’t take this anymore!”
“Run! Let’s get out of here!”
“Please, spare me!”
“Ahhh!”
Half of the charging bandits were crushed to bits, and the rest finally gave up their assault on the wind, turning their horses around.
They were trying to flee.
But as they turned, their eyes caught sight of Seon Woo-jin standing calmly ahead, slowly raising his Mukrang Sword.
He had already anticipated their escape route and was waiting for them.
A faint smile curved his lips as he murmured,
“No. You’re not going anywhere alive.”
With that, he leapt into the air, and from his sword erupted massive black wings.
Once again, he unleashed the ‘Flight’ technique of the Mukrang Sword style.
Whoooosh!
The bandits stared up in horror at the black wings unfurling above them.
Then, the deadly rain began to pour down once more.
A rain of death and slaughter…
Shaaaarrrrk!
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Please, have mercy!”
“Ughhh!”
With Seon Woo-jin in front and the raging wind behind, there was no escape for the bandits.
Both masters of their deadly arts, none could break free.
All that remained was to wait, paralyzed by fear, for death to claim them.
The leader of the Bloodwind Clan, Bloodwind Daedo, sat frozen, unable to move his horse, his eyes vacant as he witnessed the carnage.
Seon Woo-jin approached slowly, raining death upon the bandits, and caught Daedo’s gaze with a faint smile.
His eyes now glowed with a golden light.
At the sight of those eyes, Daedo and every surviving bandit were filled with an unbearable, paralyzing terror.