Chapter 12 (4)
Chapter 12 (4)
"Where do you think you're going!"
"You can't lay a single finger on the Young Lady!"
The warriors rushed toward Muhee, but the female warriors guarding her didn't just stand by; they drew their soft swords and charged.
Kakakakang! Chachaeng!
In an instant, the courtyard turned into a chaotic mess, and a melee began.
The female warriors of the Sura Blood Palace, who were just as furious as Muhee at the traffickers' gleeful admission of assaulting the woman named Bang, swung their soft swords viciously and poured an offensive upon the warriors.
However,
Kakang!
"Eek!"
"Hahat! How dare a mere girl try to attack me!"
The skills of the Human Trafficking Ring's warriors were unexpectedly high.
They were first-class experts who could have easily gained fame without doing this kind of work, and some were even on the verge of reaching the peak level with just a little more effort.
That was why Muhee was furious.
To think that people with this much power and skill were doing nothing more than kidnapping women to assault and sell them!
"Yosu!"
"Yes, Young Lady!"
As Muhee called the name of the female warrior who was struggling to block the enemy's offensive, Yosu swung her soft sword and charged forward straightforwardly.
"Chahaat!"
Yosu let out a battle cry and swung her soft sword to attack the warrior in front of her.
From the moment she abandoned the flexibility of the soft sword and charged in straightforwardly, it was as good as giving up her own advantage.
The warrior easily blocked the weightless soft sword and attempted a counterattack.
Shwirik-!
If it hadn't been for the whip that appeared from behind Yosu's head.
Chwaaak!
"Guaaaah!"
The tip of the whip, crafted like a blade, circled around Yosu's head like a living animal and slashed the warrior's eyes.
The warrior, having received an unexpected attack, clutched his eyes in agony, and,
Seuseok!
Seizing that opening, Yosu swung her soft sword and slashed diagonally across him.
"Kuheok!"
A stream of blood erupted from his chest as the warrior collapsed.
It was a serious injury, enough that even if he barely survived and returned to the fight, he wouldn't be of any use.
Having dealt with the enemy in front of her, Yosu went to help the other comrades.
And as the attacks continued, with the guards protecting them and the whip launching surprise attacks on the enemies, the warriors of the Human Trafficking Ring were driven into a defensive position.
While the tactics were sound, it was also because Muhee, despite being in her 20s, was a peak-level expert, and a high-ranking one at that.
It was the result of growing up under a mother who insisted on raising her daughter to be stronger than any man, consuming all sorts of medicinal herbs, and undergoing training and asceticism that made her want to vomit blood.
Peoeok!
Suddenly, hearing a dull thud from behind her, Muhee hurriedly turned around, only to discover a man wearing stealth gear collapsing with an arrow embedded in his temple.
'How can this be! There was an enemy behind me, and I didn't even sense it!?'
Even more surprising was that someone had fired an arrow to protect her.
As Muhee turned her gaze, gauging the approximate location through the arrow's trajectory, she saw a man with a familiar face holding a bow on the roof.
'That man?'
He was a bit far away, but she remembered him clearly.
The man who had been eating leisurely without being scared even after seeing them.
"Front!"
As the man said one word toward her, she hurriedly realized her situation and swung her whip to help the guards.
"Argh! Elder! Please help us!"
"We can't hold out any longer!"
The warriors of the Human Trafficking Ring, who had been waiting for the stealth expert to attack Muhee from behind, hurriedly requested help from inside the building when things went wrong.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. To think you're struggling against mere girls."
"Wut!?"
"Ugh!"
As the old master, who had been quietly watching the situation from inside, revealed himself, the warriors of the Sura Blood Palace and Muhee felt pressure from his aura.
Although he had high-quality clothes and an appearance that looked like he had aged gracefully, his aura was overwhelmingly superior to theirs.
'This aura is... Super-Peak...!'
Muhee could feel it because she had engaged in numerous sparring matches with Super-Peak experts to train herself.
The old master in front of her was a Super-Peak expert.
Perhaps to a normal person's mindset, one might think, 'You could have just stepped out with your subordinates earlier and handled this quickly and conveniently,' but because he was such an expert, he was slow to move.
Generally, martial artists are a species that seems like the personification of pride, and among them, old, cunning martial artists consider it a disgrace to even cross hands with those who are not on their level.
That was why he had been reluctant to cross hands with Muhee and her group, who were weaker than him, and hadn't revealed himself until his subordinates begged for help.
Naturally, from a modern perspective, it's irrational.
The problem is that, for the most part, cunning old masters are like this, differing only slightly depending on whether they are Righteous or Evil Faction, and they take it for granted.
"First, I should deal with the noisy flies."
Tukwaaaaang!
"!!"
As the old master waved his hand in the direction of Jincheon, who held the bow, the place where he had been standing exploded, and a part of the roof disappeared as if it had been annihilated.
'A master of palm techniques!'
To think he could unleash a palm wind strong enough to destroy a part of the roof from that distance!
What was even more surprising was that despite being an old master of this level, his face was unknown.
If he were an old master of this level of palm technique, his appearance should be known, yet no matter how she looked, he was a stranger.
Having dealt with the annoying archer first, the old master smiled at Muhee and her group.
"Don't worry. I'll knock you out so you don't die, as much as possible."
The old master approached Muhee's group, chuckling as if he were out for a stroll.
"You can't lay a single finger on the Young Lady!"
"Haa!"
"Die, you old monster!"
Muhee's guards launched an offensive, surrounding the old master on three sides.
However, the old master did not erase his chuckling smile.
Although they flew in from three sides, waving their soft swords flexibly at different angles,
"Hehehe, you are full of energy. You will make very good material."
The old master moved his arms at an invisible speed and lightly deflected the guards' soft swords.
'The word "material" came up again.'
Muhee began to feel a sense of foreboding at their behavior of constantly saying "material."
But she had no time to think about that now.
Peopeopung!
"Keuheok!"
"Argh!"
"Young... Lady..."
Before she could even seize an opening to swing her whip, the old master had subdued all the guards with his palm techniques.
As the guards were knocked away by the palm techniques, Muhee gritted her teeth and swung her whip, channeling her energy into it.
The moment the old master waved his hand to deflect it,
Shwirik! Deopseok!
The whip changed its trajectory and coiled tightly around the old master's wrist.
"Haaaat!!"
"Hmm?"
At the same time, as she channeled internal energy into the whip and increased the force, a groan escaped the old master's lips.
"How dare you!"
Peoeong!
The old master released his internal energy as if exploding it on the arm where the whip was coiled, causing the whip to tear.
However, the reality of the whip, which had looked like a leather whip, was a steel whip made of hard Heukcheolgwang covered in leather.
As the leather tore, the steel whip revealed itself and began to tighten even more strongly around the old master's arm.
At the same time, Muhee took out a cloth from her inner sleeve and flew above the old master's head.
"Die, you old monster!"
The cloth, imbued with internal energy, lashed out with the intent to split the old master's head, causing the old master's relaxed face to distort completely.
Gooooooo--!
"Ugh!?"
The old master released and exploded a tremendous amount of energy.
Surprised by that aura, Muhee stiffened involuntarily at the sight of the old master radiating killing intent toward her.
Although she had received training in the Sura Blood Palace to get used to killing intent, the killing intent the old master was displaying was on a different level from the killing intent she had received in training, so she froze for a moment.
Those exposed to strong killing intent have their movements stiffen and dull for a moment, and Muhee had done just that.
Peoeong!
"Kyaaaak!"
In the end, having created an opening, she was hit by the old master's palm technique and knocked away.
"Cough! Cough!"
Fortunately, she didn't suffer serious internal injuries, but having lost her weapon, she lost her will to fight.
She had learned some hand-to-hand combat, but she realized it was at a level that wouldn't work against an expert of a higher rank than herself.
"You are very full of vigor. With that kind of strength, you will make very good material."
The old man smiled as if he were pleased and approached to suppress Muhee's martial arts.
"Ah..."
Even a fool knew that if you became the "material" they spoke of, you couldn't return alive in one piece.
The moment Muhee, who had fallen into despair, shed tears while feeling the fear of death because she instinctively felt that fact,
Swik swik swik!
"Hmm!?"
Suddenly, three arrows began to fly in succession from somewhere.
The old master naturally waved his hand to deflect the arrows, but,
Shwiririk! Shwirik!
The arrows moved like snakes, dodging his hands here and there, and flew toward the old master's torso.
"Kat!!"
Kwaaang!
Feeling a sense of urgency, the old master was able to knock down the arrows with a burst of energy along with a battle cry.
"Who is it!"
The old master's eyes widened as he turned his gaze to the direction the arrows had flown.
"You, you are?"
He couldn't help but be surprised to see the young archer, whom he thought he had dealt with by unleashing his palm technique just a moment ago, crouching on the wall.
"Why? Did you think I died from that palm technique? Jannen! I couldn't die even if I wanted to from such a crappy palm technique!"
The young archer, Jincheon, giggled and attached the modifier "crappy" to the old master's palm technique.
He didn't know how he had survived, or how a young punk like him used such mysterious archery, but one thing was certain: the old master was engulfed in tremendous annoyance at the sight of Jincheon.