When the Specter Revives (2)
Gal Sa-Ryang thought this was the end.
He knew better than anyone what kind of people the Mad Blood Painless Army were. If there were three or four of them, perhaps it might be different, but their number was around thirty.
Byeok Ri-Dan would not be able to win even if he fought normally, and on top of that, there was Gal Sa-Ryang himself, whom he had to protect.
“So this is how it ends.”
He was not afraid of dying. But it was far too regrettable to die without taking revenge for Cheon Ha-Jin. He had intended to finish his revenge, laugh loudly toward the sky, and leave the Jianghu. Even if he died, he had planned to die stylishly alone.
“I am sorry. Because of me, even you will die.”
I could feel that Gal Sa-Ryang was sincerely sorry.
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“What was it?”
“I said that when danger came, you should trust me.”
“I remember.”
“That time is now.”
Gal Sa-Ryang made an expression as if he could not understand, then soon nodded and said,
“Yes, I will trust you.”
That is how it should be. Who are you standing beside, making such a despairing face? Even if there were not thirty of them but three thousand, you should not make that kind of face beside me.
In any case, the main objective of this fight was to protect Gal Sa-Ryang safely.
Shiiik! Shiiik!
Two men who had exchanged glances charged from the left and right.
Dodging the attack from the left, I quickly swung my sword. Drawing a sword line without a single unnecessary movement, the Asura King Sword cut the opponent’s neck. At the exact moment the sword cut through the neck bone, my body was already rotating in the opposite direction. The sword, having achieved its first purpose, flew again in the opposite direction.
Shik!
Just as cleanly as the motion that had cut the neck earlier, I severed the neck of the man on the other side. Two heads fell one after another and rolled across the ground.
I stopped a head rolling on the ground with my foot. I nudged another head and likewise rolled it to one side, stopping it there. Then I pushed a stone beside it with my foot and moved it to another place.
Not only Gal Sa-Ryang, but even the bastards watching looked at me with puzzled expressions, wondering what I was doing. They would never know that the heads were serving the role of stones.
This time, I took out daggers from inside my clothes.
Shik! Shik! Shik! Shik! Shik! Shik!
Thud! Thud! Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!
The daggers did not fly toward the bastards. They flew and embedded themselves in the ground around Gal Sa-Ryang. Gal Sa-Ryang was surprised, and the enemies were surprised as well.
The moment the heads, the stone, and the daggers all took their fixed positions.
Sssssss.
It seemed as if fog was forming, and in an instant, Gal Sa-Ryang’s figure disappeared.
-Do not move from that spot. It is a formation that hides your body for a very short time. Because I am still inexperienced, it probably will not last even half a gak.
That was the sound transmission I sent to Gal Sa-Ryang at the final moment.
This formation was precisely one I had learned from the Ghost Gate Evasion Treatise. I had properly memorized one formation that could be used immediately in an emergency, and I used it now.
It was my first time using it in actual battle, and it was truly fascinating. In any case, the Demonic Cult bastards’ formation arts were truly incredible.
Since I had used it with still-clumsy skill, it could be undone sooner than expected, so I had to hurry.
Elegance and refinement were unnecessary in this fight. I had to eliminate the enemies accurately and quickly.
Because Gal Sa-Ryang was watching from inside the formation, and because someone might also be watching from far away, I could not use the Soul-Chasing Asura Sword Art.
I used the White Moon Sword Art, my family’s unique Martial Art. Since I had already achieved great completion in it, and because I was the one using it, the White Moon Sword Art was more than enough.
Dodging the attack of the man charging from the front, I lightly cut his neck.
Even at their comrade’s death, they felt no fear at all. If they had been ordinary martial artists, the sight would have made them freeze stiff in horror.
They were beings who charged in without dying immediately even if their hearts were pierced. Even if their hearts were pierced, they would only die after quite some time. The only way to kill them immediately was to cut off their heads.
When the comrade who had charged earlier died, they rushed in from all directions at once.
The person I dealt with first was the man in front. Before the incoming attack could arrive, I charged toward the man directly ahead one step faster.
Shik!
After lightly cutting his neck, I hid behind his body as his head flew off. Attacks flew toward the corpse.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Using that corpse as a shield, I pushed forward and launched myself.
Shiiik! Slash!
This time, the neck of the man behind flew off. I changed shields and rushed toward another man together with the corpse.
The moment the man dodged to the left, my sword passed through his neck with perfect accuracy.
Slice!
From the beginning, I had not simply shoved the corpse forward at random. It was a rush that anticipated he would dodge that way.
I narrowly avoided the sword flying from the left. The reward was great in proportion to the danger I had taken.
Shiiik! Slice!
The head of the man who had launched the attack fell to the ground. Before it hit the earth, I kicked it with my foot.
At the same time, I rushed along with it as it flew. The two men standing there were flustered by the unexpected method of attack.
Shik! Shiiik!
My sword split both sides in succession, and when I landed on the ground, the two men’s necks were cut and they collapsed as they were.
Fear could be felt from the faces of the remaining ones. Normally, because they could not feel pain, most of them did not feel fear.
The emotion they felt now was not fear because their comrades had died.
It was fear that their bodies instinctively felt because the method of killing was too exquisite.
The opponent’s fear was soon my chance of victory, and I did not miss it.
Swiftly and calmly, without letting my guard down, I faced the enemies.
Each time the Asura King Sword left a sharp sword line in the air, one more corpse was added.
The men at the back all took out hidden weapons at once.
At that exact moment, the Asura King Sword released the sword qi it had been holding back.
Shiiiiiik!
A single line of sword qi swept through them and cut their necks at the same time. Accurately cutting off several heads with a single line of sword qi was by no means easy.
I faced the bastards with optimal movement.
Their movements grew even duller. Normally, they should have gone mad at the smell of blood, but they were trembling in fear.
Suddenly, I remembered the past. When I fought them in the past, even though I had more internal energy than now, their reaction had not been like this.
At that time, I had fought by sweeping them away recklessly with the Soul-Chasing Asura Sword Art. Even though more people had died at once, they had not been this afraid.
Had my skill increased? Or had my method of fighting changed? I could not know which it was, but they were more afraid of me.
Shiiiiiik.
Slash!
The last man’s neck fell.
My gaze sank low as I withdrew my sword. Looking at the thirty headless corpses, I once again truly felt that the bastards had revived them.
Because it was me, I faced them without being surprised, but ordinary martial artists would have difficulty dealing with them. I did not know how many there were, but calamity-like things had been created.
Fortunately, the formation was still maintained.
“Whew.”
A sigh of relief came out. It may have seemed like an easy fight, but it had consumed a great deal of mental energy. That was because I had been paying great attention, not knowing when the formation might break.
As I stood there and circulated my true qi through one cycle while waiting for a short time, there was a change in the formation.
Sssssss.
It seemed as if fog rose, and then the formation was released.
Gal Sa-Ryang stood there exactly as he had at first. From inside the formation, he had watched everything as I fought. He was probably very surprised.
“You were an even greater expert than I thought.”
“Yes, I am.”
I admitted it obediently.
“I have already achieved great completion in my family’s unique Martial Art, the White Moon Sword Art. I am probably the first at my age. And I have not told even my parents this fact.”
“Why did you hide it? It is a matter of glory for your family.”
“I grew up hearing this from childhood. That if one wanted to survive for a long time in the Jianghu, one had to hide one’s strength.”
“When did you learn formations?”
“I only learned the basics, enough to use in urgent moments. I believed that study would also help me survive longer in the Jianghu.”
Gal Sa-Ryang quietly looked at me and realized one fact.
“You did not enter the Hall of Justice to become a strategist.”
“Yes. That is correct. I was a martial artist from the beginning, and I will remain a martial artist in the future. I am sorry to say this, but the reason I entered the Hall of Justice was as part of my learning. I thought a smart sword would survive longer.”
Gal Sa-Ryang silently stared at me. His gaze was not greatly displeased or suspicious.
I had never said from the beginning that I did not know Martial Arts. I had already openly shown Martial Arts before him several times. I was simply stronger than he had thought.
Rather, Gal Sa-Ryang was pleased. Putting everything else aside, there was one decisive fact.
“Thanks to you, I lived. I truly thank you.”
Once again, I had saved his life.
“Now, let us depart.”
“Let us. I am worried whether the Alliance Lord is safe.”
Together with him, I searched the village, found two horses, and quickly left the village.
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Fortunately, Ma Bong-Gi and the group were safe.
They had been waiting for us about ten li away.
“Why were you so late? I almost went to look for you.”
“We were attacked.”
“Attacked?”
“Demon-men attacked us.”
At the word demon-men, everyone was startled.
“Yes. In the process, the martial artists protecting us died.”
Ma Bong-Gi said in relief,
“It is fortunate that we broke through as we did.”
He meant the fact that his carriage had broken through. No one said anything, but they all made bitter expressions. His words were right. Naturally, the Alliance Lord’s carriage had to break through.
But in this situation, what he should have said was a word of mourning for the two dead martial artists. Were they not people who had stepped forward to protect him?
Ma Bong-Gi ordered Im Jung-Tae,
“Ask the Alliance for help.”
“Yes, I will send an emergency letter.”
A Fierce Tiger Corps martial artist released a messenger hawk. Because it was one released in an emergency situation, it was truly well trained, but even so, there was no way to know whether that messenger hawk would safely deliver the news.
Ma Bong-Gi asked Gal Sa-Ryang,
“What should we do now?”
“We cannot know whether this attack is connected to the person we are supposed to meet.”
Whether it was a trap by the hidden figure, or whether the Demonic Cult had appeared in this region.
“What if it is connected?”
“Then we have fallen into great difficulty. If not, then we must go immediately and receive their help. The decision is yours, Alliance Lord.”
After thinking for a moment, Ma Bong-Gi asked Gal Sa-Ryang,
“What do you think?”
“If this meeting itself was their trap from the beginning, then I believe there is already no road back. In that case, considering the possibility that this may not be their doing, I think it is better to go to the promised place. The road ahead is one day, while the road back will take more than four or five days no matter how fast we ride.”
Gal Sa-Ryang thought this matter was likely their trap. And yet he spoke this way because, for some reason, he felt that they had to go there.
“Hmm.”
Ma Bong-Gi’s expression distorted. He was thinking only of his own life. The effect the appearance of the Demonic Cult would have on the Jianghu was nowhere in his head.
“I will follow your will.”
A middle-aged woman wearing a black long robe was sitting at a table and drinking tea.
She had a generous-looking face and figure. If she wore a dishcloth and apron, her appearance would perfectly suit kitchen work.
Her long robe was black, without any decoration or patterns drawn on it. The martial robes beneath it were also entirely black. Her shoes were black, and the iron disc at her waist was black as well.
She was Black Stone of the mysterious organization.
Along with White Stone, the man in the spacious room, she was one of the organization’s most important figures.
One subordinate entered and prostrated himself. He, too, was wearing black martial robes.
“Ma Bong-Gi passed through that place as planned.”
“Did you kill Gal Sa-Ryang?”
The target from the beginning had been Gal Sa-Ryang. Letting the first carriage go and catching the second carriage had not been a coincidence.
“No, we failed.”
“You failed?”
“All of the Mad Blood Painless Army were killed.”
The corner of the woman’s eye trembled slightly. She put down the teacup she had been holding and asked again,
“Did Ma Bong-Gi turn back?”
“Because all the deployed ones were killed, we cannot know the inner details, but that is what we judge happened.”
It was a situation where there was no other reason to think of.
“Did you not place a separate watcher?”
“We never expected they would be annihilated.”
She did not grow angry about that part. She herself had never expected such a result either.
“That is unlike Ma Bong-Gi.”
“There is one thing that comes to mind.”
“What is it?”
“There was a guess that Gal Sa-Ryang was responsible for Elder Go’s death. Perhaps that guess may be correct.”
“So Ma Bong-Gi saved Gal Sa-Ryang?”
“Yes.”
Indeed, recently Gal Sa-Ryang had been producing unexpected results.
“In any case, we lost thirty Painless ones? What a waste.”
Creating even one member of the Mad Blood Painless Army required an enormous amount of money. More precisely, the money was needed for the great method that turned them into the Mad Blood Painless state. The expensive materials were one thing, but it also required a year of time.
“We must regard it as a sacrifice for the great undertaking.”
If it had been another matter, such a sacrifice would have been a serious problem, but this matter was grand enough to be called a great undertaking.
“And the targets?”
“They are said to still be heading toward Namhyeon Escort Agency.”
“In any case, things did go according to plan.”
“That is correct.”
“Proceed with the next stage.”
“Yes, understood.”
The subordinate man quickly disappeared from the place.
The first button had been fastened wrong.
But it was fine.
Because this garment was not one that needed to be worn after fastening every button to the last.
It would end when the second button was fastened.
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