Traitor
It should have been time by now...
Won Seo-gang pressed himself tight against the wall beside the back door of the Mad Destruction Hall and waited for his chance.
Even if Bok Ha-gyu had run off toward the fire at the Five Phoenix Hall, in the end he would still come here.
It would also be fine if the Mad Destruction Leader led his men out to intercept Bok Ha-gyu.
No matter how things played out, once only a minimal guard remained in the Mad Destruction Hall, he had to rush in and hook Pan Ho-yang before the bastard could slip away again.
If he dragged his feet even a little, that rotten traitor would run for it with his tail between his legs.
That filthy traitorous bastard. He wasn't getting away twice...
Won Seo-gang clenched his fist and sharpened every nerve in his body.
A short while later, the disturbance he had been waiting for finally erupted from the front of the hall.
"Bok Ha-gyu! You bastard! Die!"
With Im Ja-gyeon's roar, the battle on both sides began.
The clash of blades. Screams and shouts, curses spat with murderous fury. The dull thud of hard strikes...
Won Seo-gang quietly took up position at the back door. After exchanging a look with Hwang Gang-ju, he kicked the door in and went inside.
The interior of the Mad Destruction Hall was in chaos. Still, it was not so loud that they couldn't hear a door being smashed open.
"Who goes there? Gahh!"
He cut down the black-clad fighter who had shouted and pushed deeper inside, then stopped. Three more black-clad men had drawn their blades and barred the way.
"Get out of the way. If you don't want to die."
Won Seo-gang raised his bloodied sword and threatened them.
The black-clad men did not budge.
Even after one of their own had been killed in an instant before their eyes, they did not run or retreat. They were well-trained, no doubt about it.
Even the squad leaders had some skill, for a back-alley gang from a rural town.
It had been the right call to gather men and wait for a chance instead of crossing the Black Night Gang's wall alone.
"Kill him!"
The black-clad men charged with their blades raised.
"Hwang Daehyeop. Let's begin."
"Agreed!"
Hwang Gang-ju stepped forward and swung his massive saber in a wide arc.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Kuheuk!"
"Don't give ground! Surround him!"
Won Seo-gang lowered his sword and rushed down the opposite corridor.
While Hwang Gang-ju handled the small fry, he would find Pan Ho-yang. That had been the plan from the start.
Where the hell was that bastard hiding...
He had no idea how the hall was laid out inside, so he would have to search every room.
He opened the rooms lined along both sides of the corridor one by one. A black-clad man hiding inside lunged out with a blade the moment he saw him.
Having been on guard, Won Seo-gang parried immediately and drove his sword into the man's throat.
When he reached the end of the hall and came back, the three black-clad men had already become corpses lying in a heap.
Hwang Gang-ju, who had performed better than expected, was rummaging through the dead men's money pouches.
When their eyes met, Hwang Gang-ju gave an awkward smile and offered an explanation.
"These will be given to people who've suffered at the hands of the black-clads, or to those whose livelihoods are at risk."
"...As expected, Hwang Daehyeop."
There was no need to ask or answer anything else.
Killing and taking what you wanted was something any martial artist did. Hoyeongeom was probably doing something similar in the Five Phoenix Hall right now.
For a man who was no greenhorn, Hwang Gang-ju's embarrassment over something like this was stranger than anything.
He remembered the first time he'd met him.
He had gone to see him after hearing that he was fairly well known as a chivalrous hero, only to find him living in a shabby shack, worn down by despair while caring for his family.
His family was in terrible shape. Hwang Gang-ju himself seemed only half alive.
Won Seo-gang had found himself at a loss over how to persuade him.
When he spoke of heroic deeds and punishing the black-clads, Hwang Gang-ju had not responded at all.
On the contrary, he had looked at him with a gaze full of disillusioned resentment, which had been rather awkward.
Only when Won Seo-gang offered ten taels of silver up front did his expression finally change. Compared with then, he looked much brighter now.
"I'm going upstairs. Hwang Daehyeop, please strike from the front."
"Understood."
Hwang Gang-ju said nothing more and headed for the main entrance on the first floor with his saber in hand. Watching his back, Won Seo-gang felt a pang of regret.
He would surely be a huge help if they moved together...
But it was too dangerous. If he so much as overheard the conversation between Won Seo-gang and Pan Ho-yang, things would become a mess.
Won Seo-gang put the thought aside and sprinted up the stairs like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"W-what the hell?"
Outside, chaos was raging, and several black-clad men who had been hiding away and only now were crawling out drew their blades.
Won Seo-gang did not stop. He drove his sword into their legs and torsos as he pleased, then swept around the landing without slowing.
Like a venomous snake, his blade traced a dazzling path; the black-clad men had no way to defend themselves as they spat blood and collapsed up the stairs.
There were only a few rooms on the second floor. He searched them quickly, then went up to the third. Pan Ho-yang was nowhere to be seen. His impatience began to rise.
By the time he passed the fourth floor and reached the final fifth floor, his anxiety had reached its peak.
Had he already fled?
He wasn't even a man of the Black Night Gang, just a parasite eating their rice as a guest. Once he saw something was wrong, it was only natural for him to run.
The thought that he might lose him again sent a distant wave of dizziness through Won Seo-gang.
He drew a deep breath. Filling it with the boiling resentment and rage inside him, he shouted as if tearing out his own throat.
"Pan Ho-yang!!!"
The three letters of that name, seared into bone, thundered through the empty corridor.
A door halfway down the hall suddenly opened with a snap.
The middle-aged man who came out with a sword on his hip recognized Won Seo-gang and turned ashen with shock. His drooping eyes and plump cheeks twitched violently.
"So you were here?"
Won Seo-gang laughed brightly, his whole body trembling with surging exultation.
Pan Ho-yang's face went dead white, and he bolted toward the other end of the corridor.
"You're not getting away this time!"
Won Seo-gang gave chase at once. The distance between them closed fast. There were no more black-clads left to bar his way.
At the end of the corridor, Pan Ho-yang opened a window and leaped out without hesitation.
Won Seo-gang's eyes widened at the unexpected boldness.
There was no way someone could fall from the fifth floor to the ground and come away unharmed. Breaking an arm or a leg or two was one thing. But he could not accept a smashed skull and instant death.
He hurried to the window frame and looked out.
Pan Ho-yang had not fallen to the ground. He was running along the roof of the warehouse attached to the side of the hall.
The distance to the roof was barely a chang.
Won Seo-gang let out a breath of relief. Right. That bastard couldn't be allowed to die so easily. He sheathed his sword, stepped onto the frame without delay, and sprang out.
Thud!
He bent his knees and absorbed the impact with his lower body, landing safely on the roof.
The tiles beneath his feet shattered with a loud crash under his weight.
Even though he must have heard it, Pan Ho-yang did not look back. He knew stopping meant being caught, and so he ran for his life.
Won Seo-gang kicked off the roof and pursued him.
The traitor's life was allowed to last only until tonight.
I'll catch him. I'll kill him no matter what.
*
Hwang Gang-ju tapped one side of his thick chest with his hand. That awkward sensation stirred a mess of feelings in him all over again.
Every time he rummaged through the black-clad men's money pouches, there was at least one silver tael or promissory note inside.
"The bad ones live better than the rest of us..."
There was no way that money had been earned through honest sweat. It was blood and tears wrung from decent people in the name of protection fees, stall fees, and tribute money.
With that in his arms, he felt as if he were accepting tribute from these men himself. It left him unpleasantly sour, as though he had become one of the same gang.
Hwang Gang-ju shook his head hard and threw off the useless thoughts.
This wasn't just money.
It was medicine for his son. Rice for his wife and children. The price of the blankets his family would sleep under this winter.
And for the people wronged by the black-clads, for orphans and old folks... for all those who scraped out each day in hardship, it was a meal, or a bundle of firewood to warm their frozen bodies.
When he was strutting around under the banner of a so-called chivalrous hero, drunk on praise and admiring eyes, he had not understood that.
Chivalry was not only about beating villains down in a flashy display.
When his beloved home was taken from him and his family was driven out to a shack fit only for beasts, Hwang Gang-ju had resolved to set aside empty fame.
Looking back, there had been many times he'd been dazzled by sweet words of praise and used as a free fixer or hired blade.
No matter how he thought about it, that was not the life of a chivalrous man. Things would be different from now on.
That didn't mean he had abandoned the heart of a chivalrous hero, though.
He would provide for his family, help those in trouble, and only draw his blade carefully when it was truly necessary. His first priority was family.
Outside the hall, Bok Ha-gyu and Im Ja-gyeon were locked in a fierce duel.
Even the underlings were hacking at one another with murderous ferocity, killing and being killed.
The leaders were evenly matched, but in terms of subordinates, Im Ja-gyeon's side held the upper hand.
Most of the black-clads who had been cut down or driven back were on Bok Ha-gyu's side. If they were going to strike together, now was the right time.
Hwang Gang-ju lowered his body and slipped quietly out of the hall.
The moonlight was bright, but everyone was too consumed by the fighting to notice his presence.
He easily worked his way around to the rear of the Mad Destruction Hall fighters.
But when it came time to strike from behind, he hesitated on instinct, thinking it cowardly.
Hwang Gang-ju gave a bitter smile at the sight of himself still clinging to some tiny scrap of reputation.
If he wanted to take on the many by himself, there was no helping it. Besides, these were black-clads who would use any means available.
No one would call this cowardly.
Hwang Gang-ju adjusted his grip on the saber and attacked their rear.
"Aaagh!"
"What the hell?"
"Ambush from behind!"
The Mad Destruction Gang members, caught off guard, recoiled in alarm. Bok Ha-gyu's men, already locked with them, did not miss the chance and thrust their blades in like lightning.
Attacked from both sides, one edge of their formation was broken through in an instant.
As three of his men spat blood and fell, sparks flashed in Im Ja-gyeon's eyes. He swung his sword wide to create distance from Bok Ha-gyu and quickly assessed the situation.
His eyes landed on the bastard of a man who was running wild, cutting down his men at will.
"You damn sons of bitches..."
Grinding his teeth, Im Ja-gyeon charged at Hwang Gang-ju, but Bok Ha-gyu lunged from an angle with a long thrust.
Im Ja-gyeon hurriedly leaned back and swatted it aside with his sword.
It was a nimble, predatorlike reaction, but his feet had stopped moving, and he could not withstand the torrent of consecutive sword strikes that followed.
"Kuuh..."
Im Ja-gyeon staggered back, his shoulder slashed deeply. By then another one of his men had been killed, and the balance of power turned instantly.
"Don't stop! Push them back!"
Bok Ha-gyu bellowed and unleashed a ferocious barrage of sword strikes as if he meant to cut their windpipes out.
*
There were people everywhere around the fire consuming the Five Phoenix Hall.
Not only the members of the hall, but even the servants had been dragged out to throw sand and water on the flames.
Thanks to that, the fire had still not climbed even to the waist of the building.
Where Bok Ha-gyu had gone with his men, the clash of metal and the cries of the wounded were rising. They had clearly launched a direct ambush on the Mad Destruction Hall.
Won Seo-gang and Hwang Gang-ju must already have begun their pincer attack as well.
The inside of the Black Night Gang headquarters was a hell of fire and fighting, but the Dragon Hall alone remained calm.
There were only a little over ten of Bok Ha-gyu's men guarding the front of the hall.
All of them wore stiff, frozen expressions and stared toward the burning Five Phoenix Hall and the Mad Destruction Hall, which was swallowed in darkness.
After a long while, a group of martial artists came running this way. From the fire behind them, they were men from the Five Phoenix Hall.
"Who are those men?"
"The Five Phoenix Leader."
"Seon Do-mu?"
"That's right."
"What are you all going to do?"
Without taking their eyes off the approaching enemy, Bok Ha-gyu's men answered.
"We'll protect the gang leader."
The other nine did not turn their heads either.
They really had some loyalty in them, not at all like typical black-clads. I had no intention of doing that, nor any reason to. I went into the hall and watched from the window.
"Stop! This is the gang leader's residence! Come any closer and we'll cut you down!"
Standing before the Dragon Hall, Seon Do-mu roared.
"Bok Ha-gyu! Where the hell are you, you bastard? You even set fire to my hall? You fucking bastard!"
"The leader is out."
"Out, my ass. He's gone after Im Ja-gyeon, hasn't he? I'm not falling for such a childish diversion."
Seon Do-mu glared at the black-clad men guarding the Dragon Hall with eyes blazing with killing intent.
He had expected to be pinned down here while they put out the fire, but it was surprising how quickly they moved. It seemed he'd grasped their scheme from hearing the sounds of fighting in the Mad Destruction Hall.
Judging from the fact that he struck at the Dragon Hall expecting it to be empty, he had more brains than I would have thought.
"Are these the only ones left?"
When no one answered, a sneer crept across Seon Do-mu's dark face.
"Good. Once I become gang leader, there'll be no reason for me to stay in the Five Phoenix Hall anyway. I might as well become the master of the Dragon Hall tonight."
"You dare betray the gang leader's grace and turn traitor against our own gang?"
"Hah. What kind of gang leader is a cripple who can't even lift a pair of chopsticks?"
Seon Do-mu drew his great saber and pointed it at the Dragon Hall.
"Take me the head of Jeok Chu-yeong."
"Yes, sir!"
The men behind him all drew their blades and charged.