The Worthless Worms
When the pursuing death sentence was uttered so casually, Chaeju's face took on a slightly bewildered hue. It seemed he was growing suspicious of our group's true purpose in seeking out the uncountable number of Evil Sect masters whose existence couldn't even be confirmed. To dispel Chaeju's doubts, I added a single remark.
"···Is that the truth?"
"What reason would I have to lie here of all places?"
"Uh, um···."
Chaeju began to stammer slightly. Watching his hesitant, wavering attitude, I let out a short sigh and spoke to him.
"Just tell me which direction the Evil Sect masters who attacked your mountain stronghold fled in."
"···Understood."
Swish—
At those words, Chaeju's finger immediately pointed toward a specific direction. Turning my gaze that way, I couldn't help but let out an exclamation of awe.
'It's completely covered in red pines.'
The entire peak was blanketed in Korean pine trees. After observing the slope of the mountain for a moment, I asked another question.
"What's the name of this peak?"
"It's called Thundercloud Peak."
"Hmm···."
Separated from my senior brother and Yoo Seong-ho, I was searching near Thundercloud Peak when I slightly furrowed my brow. It was more hopeless than I'd expected.
'We split up to cover more ground and save time, but··· at this rate, it'll take days, not just one.'
Maybe I should have brought Chaeju along after all. That thought had just crossed my mind when—
Swish—
"···Hm?"
Sensing a presence from somewhere, I narrowed my eyes with interest and turned my gaze in that direction. In that direction, a figure was swiftly darting past.
'Jackpot.'
Feeling like I'd hit the lottery, I broke into a faint smile and immediately sprang toward that direction.
Whoosh—
Using that tremendous recoil to leap upward, I finally spotted two men preparing to camp in that area.
"W-what the hell?!"
"What is this···?"
From the looks of it, they were trying to start a campfire before it got too dark. It seemed they had almost no experience with camping, as they were clearly struggling.
I stared silently at the two men for a moment before asking nonchalantly.
"Who are you?"
"···Shouldn't you reveal your identity first?"
The somewhat slender man answered first. He gave off a distinctly gaunt impression, which would make him easy to remember. So I replied as if I'd understood.
"Then would it be alright if I just call you Skinny from now on?"
"······."
Upon hearing that, the gaunt man glanced sideways at the fat man beside him with a dumbfounded look before letting out a sigh. Then he spoke.
"···Call me Blood Wolf."
"I see. And the one next to you?"
"I'm Lightning Blade, Bu Myeong."
After hearing Blood Wolf and Lightning Blade introduce themselves, I swallowed once with a hum and thought,
'Of all people, it's the ones the Jongnam Sect is looking for.'
This was getting a bit complicated. If I killed these two right now—people who had earned the grudge of the Jongnam Sect—I wondered what kind of earful I'd get from the Jongnam elders.
While I was pondering this for a moment, the fat man named Bu Myeong, who was openly displaying his jiggling flesh, furrowed his brow deeply and asked me.
"So, just who the hell are you? We've already given our names first. You're not thinking of not telling us, are you?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"···What?"
Bu Myeong asked back, looking flustered. To his words, I simply declared boldly.
"I have no name to give to worms."
"You crazy bastard···!"
"Just die."
Slash—
The gaunt man, Blood Wolf, who had been standing beside Bu Myeong, immediately swung his straight sword at me. I slightly tilted my neck to let the Sword Light clinging to the blade's tip flow past harmlessly.
Swish—
Blood Wolf was now exposing his openings completely, yet he continued swinging his sword wildly without even understanding what had just happened.
"Kgh···! This bastard!"
Blood Wolf ground his teeth and continued his assault.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
I watched the Sword Qi that barely grazed my ear and shoulder from the corner of my eye and thought,
'This guy is sloppy too. It's the same gap as when I faced Yi Tae-ryang's gang before.'
It was so slow it made me want to sigh. From my perspective, feeling that firsthand, I was simply contemplating how to subdue the brazenly standing Blood Wolf and Lightning Blade in one fell swoop.
That was the moment.
"I'll join in too!"
"Mm."
Bu Myeong, who had been watching from a distance as Blood Wolf drove me into a corner with his sword swings, naturally began his cooperative attack. The curved blade of Lightning Blade Bu Myeong, thrusting toward my throat, boasted clear swiftness. If the opponent didn't defend with full concentration, it was a ferocious attack powerful enough to fell even a Peak master.
"Hmm···."
"······!"
However, no matter how strong the power, if the openings were so obvious that it couldn't even hit the target—
Even the most powerful attack could be easily read.
Swish—
I caught the blade strike surging from my blind spot by simply overlapping two fingers.
"W-what the hell is this···?!"
"He caught Lightning Blade's strike with just his fingertips···!"
Blood Wolf shouted from a few steps away, his voice filled with shock. His words grated on my nerves a little, so I slightly frowned and flicked the finger on my opposite hand.
Thwong—
The internal energy loaded into my index finger instantly converted into a qi wave and shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
'It's what they call the Finger Flick Technique, I suppose.'
A faint smile rose to my lips. The panic from Lightning Blade and Blood Wolf was coming through loud and clear. In that situation, the qi wave flicked by the Finger Flick Technique struck Blood Wolf's shoulder dead on.
Boom—!
A thunderous roar echoed, spreading so loudly it seemed to shake the entire ground. Blood Wolf's scream rang out as well.
"K-Kwaaaagh—! My shoulder···!"
It looked like it had been dislocated. Blood Wolf was swallowing his groans in pain. Bu Myeong, who had been glancing at Blood Wolf's miserable state from the side, finally released the curved blade that had been caught in my grasp.
Swish—
"···Hm?"
"Kgh! We'll settle this later!"
Tatata—
Having shouted that, Lightning Blade abandoned his beloved weapon and began to flee. Watching such a shameless escape from Lightning Blade, Blood Wolf—who was writhing in agony—let out a hollow laugh as if he'd lost his mind. And I felt exactly the same way.
'Is that guy's head empty? If he had any sense at all, he'd know I wouldn't just let him go like that.'
It was so brazen that instead of staring blankly at the scene, I nearly sighed. Anyway, at that moment, I snapped Lightning Blade's curved blade using only the pressure from two fingers.
Crack—!
With a burst of breaking sound, I once again launched the Finger Flick Technique with my right hand.
Thwong!
The qi wave that flew out this time pierced straight through Lightning Blade Bu Myeong's calf.
"Ugh···!"
"Where do you think you're running? Are you bragging about how stupid you are?"
"Krrgh!"
Bu Myeong's groan rang out once more. In that way, both Lightning Blade and Blood Wolf had their momentum completely broken by a single strike from me.
In that situation, I reached out first toward the hair of Blood Wolf, whose shoulder had been pierced. Grab—
With his hair seized like that, Blood Wolf, now in a complete mess, shouted at me.
"L-let go of this!"
"If you keep yapping, I'll kill you right here."
"······."
"If you want to die on this spot without even leaving a last word, go ahead and keep running that pierced mouth of yours anytime."
When I made that chilling declaration, Blood Wolf clamped his mouth shut tightly. Looking down at his reaction, I let out a short sigh.
Step. Step.
Dragging him along by the hair like that, I continued moving until—
"K-Keugh!"
"If you want to die right away too, keep talking."
"······."
Grab—
This time I seized the throat of Lightning Blade Bu Myeong, who was sprawled on the ground, and moved locations. Heading toward a more secluded area, I finally found a suitable spot and dropped both Blood Wolf and Lightning Blade, who were still clutched in my hands.
Thud—
"What the hell are you—?!"
Tap—
I struck the acupoint on Blood Wolf's throat as he tried to open his mouth in protest. His eyes widened in shock, and he soon began staring at me with fearful eyes. Leaving Blood Wolf abandoned in the corner, I turned my steps toward Lightning Blade, who was still writhing on the ground.
"Y-you bastard—! Do you really think you'll get away with doing this to us—?!"
"···Do you two have some kind of backing or something?"
"Kgh! Don't you know that behind us stands the Heavenly Dragon Elder?!"
"And who might that be?"
When I asked with apparent interest, Lightning Blade's eyes bulged as he shouted.
"The Heavenly Dragon Elder is a Peak master who boasts martial prowess among the very best even within the Evil and Demonic paths! To touch us without even knowing such a person···!"
"······."
After hearing Lightning Blade's triumphant shout, I muttered with a pitiful tone.
"In the end, no matter what, you're bastards who deserve to die anyway..."