Chapter 142: Cleanup-3
Chapter 142: Cleanup-3
Seonwoo Jung, who had been listening to Seonwoo Jin's explanation, suddenly spoke with a worried expression.
'The Ha Clan's forces are strong, so I am concerned. Even if it is a surprise attack, if we fight them, our own losses will surely be great.'
At Seonwoo Jung's worried words, Seonwoo Jin grinned and reassured him.
'Do not worry, Father. By the time Father leads the martial artists there, the main gate of the Ha Clan estate will already be open. Father need only enter through the open gate.'
'Hmm?'
Seonwoo Jung wore a puzzled expression, not understanding what he meant.
But Seonwoo Jin merely showed a confident smile.
***
The moment Seonwoo Jung, who had mustered all of the first, second, third, and fourth units of the Swift Response Force, stormed the Ha Clan estate alongside the martial artists of the Dan family estate was roughly half a shichen after the time Seonwoo Jung had returned to the Seonwoo Clan.
It was nothing short of a lightning-fast blitz.
On the other hand, the Ha Clan, believing that Baekho Ildae and I Dae would bring good news, was in a state of complete unpreparedness for their assault.
Moreover, for some reason, even the gate guards had been killed and the gate left open just before their arrival. The martial artists of the Ha Clan had to face their attack from within the estate without receiving any warning whatsoever.
Puhwaaak!
"Kuaaaak!"
"E-enemy! Uwaaak!"
"How could enemies be here! Keuaaak!"
Slaughtering the first Ha Clan warriors he encountered in the inner courtyard in an instant, Seonwoo Jung shouted.
"Slay only those who block the path! We are going straight to kill Ha Gu-yang!"
"Yes! Understood!"
Their advance was like a gale even within the Ha Clan estate.
The Ha Clan warriors clustered here and there tried somehow to stop them, but mere ordinary warriors could not possibly block the charge of over three hundred armed troops led by two peak-level masters.
They were merely grains of sand swept away by an onrushing wave.
Meanwhile, Ha Gu-yang, the family head of the Ha Clan, was gathered with his family eating breakfast when he received word of the Seonwoo Clan's surprise attack.
Upon hearing the news, he was so shocked that he spat out the water he was drinking.
"Puuuup! Wh-what did you say?! What happened with the Seonwoo Clan?!"
"The martial artists led by Seonwoo Clan Head Seonwoo Jung are currently passing the training grounds near the main gate and heading this way!"
Ha Gu-yang could not believe those words at all.
"What nonsense is that?! How can he be coming here?! And what were the perimeter guards doing for them to have already passed the training grounds?!"
At that, his subordinate cried out as if wailing.
"I do not know! Even though our warriors try to stop them, they cannot hold back those who have peak-level masters at their vanguard!"
"As for peak-level masters, do we not have them as well?! Quickly, tell the First Daeju and the Second Daeju...!"
But Ha Gu-yang, who had been shouting, could soon realize it.
That the peak-level masters, the Daejus of Baekho Ildae and I Dae, were not currently at the estate...
And what it meant that Seonwoo Jung had now come here.
Ha Gu-yang urgently shouted again.
"Th-then, where are the Great Elder and the Second Elder?!"
The Great Elder Mo Sun-do and the Second Elder Cheo Yong-gu were the peak-level masters remaining at the Ha Clan estate alongside Ha Gu-yang himself.
So if they stepped forward, they would surely be able to fend off the Seonwoo Clan's peak-level masters, of whom there could only be two.
But the subordinate could not give a proper answer to that question either.
"I-I do not know! Neither of them has been seen since morning!"
At that, the enraged Ha Gu-yang shouted, his face flushed bright red.
"What do you mean by that?! Immediately bring them...!"
It was at that moment.
Kwaaaaang!
At the great crashing sound that came from somewhere, Ha Gu-yang and his subordinate lost their words.
For that sound was unmistakably the noise of the main hall's doors being shattered.
The Seonwoo Clan's martial artists had already arrived at the main hall.
***
About two ke before Seonwoo Jung and the Seonwoo Clan's martial artists raided the Ha Clan estate, the Ha Clan's Great Elder, Tyrant Blade Mo Sun-do, was performing his morning training at his personal training grounds.
As a peak-level entry martial artist who had fully amassed seventy years of internal energy, he had lately been receiving a strange sensation whenever he swung his blade.
A tingling sensation, as if something was just on the verge of being pierced.
He had been thinking that this feeling might be a sign of breaking through the seventy-year wall of internal energy and advancing to the next stage.
And that thought had put him in a state of rapture.
'Finally, finally!'
It had already been well over ten years since he had ascended to the realm of peak-level.
So, it was a state where, after nearly a decade, he had finally found a clue to progress.
For him, it could only be exciting.
Thus, he had been completely absorbed in the joy of training for the first time in a long while.
"Hooop!"
Chaaaaak!
Despite being over sixty years of age, Mo Sun-do, who possessed a large and solid frame, vividly embroidered the empty air with his great blade.
The blue blade energy cloaking his dao also emitted a fairly vivid light for someone at the peak-level entry.
But it was still lacking.
'Just a little, just a little more!'
It felt as if just a little more would do it.
It seemed that with just a tiny bit more, he would be able to tear apart this frustrating shell that imprisoned him.
But for days, that invisible shell had stubbornly refused to reveal its true substance.
"Uhaaaaap!"
It was while he was desperately swinging his blade to burst through that tingling sensation.
Suddenly, something that should not have been there entered his sight.
"Hmm?!"
What entered his eyes was a single masked man in black robes.
As if he had been there since he did not know when, the masked man in black stood with his arms crossed, watching his training from the side.
'An assassin?!'
His first thought was that.
But there was something slightly strange to think so.
Why had an assassin not attacked him, merely watching until he was noticed?
The moment he did not perceive his presence would have been the perfect opportunity to strike.
'Does that mean he is not an assassin? Then what is he?'
Mo Sun-do first aimed his blade at him and demanded.
"What sort of fellow are you?!"
At that, the masked man in black, Gyeon-jung, uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth, as if he had been waiting for this very moment—the instant Mo Sun-do recognized him.
"Mo Sun-do, I have come to kill you. Please, do your best."
"...What?"
Mo Sun-do frowned at his words.
If he came to kill him, he did seem to be an assassin, but what kind of assassin told the opponent to prepare and tried to fight head-on like that?
He could only be a strange fellow.
'Could he be a duelist unwilling to reveal his identity?'
That seemed sufficiently possible as well.
For in the martial world, there were quite a few firebrands who pursued only victory and defeat.
But whatever he was, it did not matter.
After all, he would be a corpse in a moment.
Mo Sun-do laughed fiercely and took his stance.
"To challenge me, of all times... how unfortunate."
Then, in the next instant, Gyeon-jung began to move wordlessly.
He moved ghost-like and elusive, and in a flash, had closed in to overwhelm him.
Seuseusuk!
Startled by the covert and swift movement, Mo Sun-do's eyes twitched.
It was a remarkable movement technique.
But he soon snorted and let out a battle cry.
"It's all the same in the end! Haaap!"
His great blade, imbued with blue blade energy, slashed diagonally towards Gyeon-jung, who had entered his domain.
A powerful and swift strike, as if he would even cleave a mountain. A forceful blade strike befitting his alias, the Tyrant Blade.
Syuuuak!
At that, Gyeon-jung's form retreated backward with movement as if possessing no inertia at all.
It was truly a movement like watching a ghost.
Having been advancing forward, in a single instant, he had pulled back and swiftly slipped out of Mo Sun-do's domain.
Yet, even though his own strike had gone awry, Mo Sun-do's grin did not fade.
Rather, his smile deepened as he began to advance towards Gyeon-jung.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Swaaaak!
As Mo Sun-do's blade carved through the air in succession, it looked as though layers of waves were surging forward.
It was a ferocious strike delivered with what seemed like full power, but his attack did not end with just one blow.
Uncharacteristically for a heavy great blade, a smooth and powerful chain of strikes flowed seamlessly like water.
In an instant, Mo Sun-do had pulled Gyeon-jung back into his domain, and this time his great blade, charged with full force, slashed diagonally as if to cleave Gyeon-jung in two.
"It's over!"
Chyuhaak!
At that, Gyeon-jung, unable to evade the blade by merely stepping backward, raised his own dagger, no longer than his forearm, to block it.
Seeing this, Mo Sun-do let out a scoff.
A pitiful forearm-length dagger that couldn't even compare to his great blade—and worse, trying to defend against a great blade layered with sword qi using such a thing was nothing short of reckless.
Kwaaaaang!
But in the next moment, Mo Sun-do finally wiped the smile from his face and stared at his opponent with astonished eyes.
The deep crimson blade energy surging from his opponent's dagger had withstood Mo Sun-do's great blade.
"He was peak-level?"
As Mo Sun-do muttered with a look of surprise, Gyeon-jung swiftly retreated backward to put distance between them.
He had barely managed to defend, but if he continued to take consecutive attacks, he felt it would be difficult to withstand them.
Then, Jeok Ma-hyeok, who had been watching from concealment, asked Seonwoo Jin through telepathic transmission.
- Skill aside, the weapon matchup seems unfavorable. Brother Gyeon's dagger looks like it will struggle to handle that great blade. Shouldn't we help him, Gongja?
To his question, Seonwoo Jin, also hidden, answered with a smile.
- Why would I interfere now and get resented for it? And Gyeon-jung hasn't given it his all yet.
The Gyeon-jung whom Seonwoo Jin had observed was a martial arts fanatic and competitor to the very marrow of his bones.
From what he had heard in passing, hadn't Gyeon-jung said that the reason he entered the Sichuan Assassination Gate was because he couldn't learn proper martial arts anywhere else and sought them out himself?
When it came to passion for martial arts and competition, he was a man whose fire burned hotter than anyone Seonwoo Jin knew.
Because of that, he had been obsessively immersing himself in the Heavenly Killing Secret Technique that Seonwoo Jin had taught him all this time.
And then, so naturally and swiftly, he had ascended to the peak-level realm.
'Well, even before he reached peak-level, he could have chewed up and spat out most masters at the initial stage of peak. With internal energy and advanced martial arts backing him now, it'd actually be stranger if he hadn't reached peak-level.'
Ever since arriving in Guizhou, that same Gyeon-jung had been expressing to Seonwoo Jin his desire to face a strong opponent in a direct confrontation.
No matter what task he was given, he had never once asked a question, yet he had persistently demanded just this one thing over and over.
So today, Seonwoo Jin had given him the opportunity to fight one-on-one against a truly seasoned master at the initial stage of peak-level—Mo Sun-do.
But the results thus far did not seem very favorable.
"Haaaap!"
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Mo Sun-do's powerful blade strikes, as if splitting mountains, flowed forth like water.
Since no opening could be seen in that chain of strikes, Gyeon-jung, lacking in both weapon length and destructive power, had no choice but to retreat.
That was actually a very poor response.
Though he was managing to deflect somehow with outstanding movement technique, it was no easy task to backstep away from Mo Sun-do, who was charging head-on.
Moreover, judging by the vivid blue blade energy, Mo Sun-do clearly appeared to hold the upper hand in skill as well.
Just by looking at that blade energy and movement, Seonwoo Jin could gauge what realm Mo Sun-do was currently at.
'He's one step away from breaking the seventy-year wall. If things go well, he might even break it thanks to this fight with Gyeon-jung.'
If left as things were, it looked like he might immediately lose the subordinate he had worked so hard to obtain.
And so Seonwoo Jin, who had been agonizing over whether to intervene, ultimately had no choice but to abandon that thought after seeing the look in Gyeon-jung's eyes.
The eyes of Gyeon-jung, who seemed about to be struck by Mo Sun-do's blade at any moment, were still blazing brilliantly.
Usually, he behaved like an emotionless, inanimate object, yet now, when he was being pushed back relentlessly and looked as though he might die at any second, his eyes held an expression of greater enjoyment than ever before.
Seeing that, Seonwoo Jin simply could not bring himself to offer help.
In the end, Seonwoo Jin let out a hollow laugh, gave up on interfering in the fight, and opted to send a telepathic transmission instead.
- Gyeon-jung, wasn't it your wish to fight a peak-level master while giving it your all? Was the best you can do—out of all the many things you've mastered—to fight your opponent using only blade techniques?
At that, he caught sight of Gyeon-jung's expression, which had been frantically dodging Mo Sun-do's blade, stiffening slightly.
To him, Seonwoo Jin drove the point home like a wedge.
- A direct confrontation means fighting with your full strength while mutually aware of each other, not an ambush. You're already in a head-on fight with your opponent, and you're saying you'll fight without using your hidden weapons techniques or stealth techniques? Are you planning to go easy on him?
It was at that very moment.
Mo Sun-do, who had been focused on the duel, suddenly had his expression brighten radiantly.
His blade energy, in that same instant, extended sharper and longer than before.
Hwaaaak!
Mo Sun-do had finally broken through the seventy-year wall of internal energy.
"At last! U-hahahahahaha!"
Bursting into hearty laughter, he lunged at Gyeon-jung with movements that had become even faster.
It was the most powerful and swift blade strike he had shown so far.
It seemed as though Gyeon-jung's body would be split apart at any moment.
Chyuhaak!
Gyeon-jung's eyes widened enormously.
He realized instantly.
This was a strike he could not possibly evade.
At that, Gyeon-jung gritted his teeth and halted his movement.
He had given up on dodging Mo Sun-do's blade strike.
Then he flung both hands outward toward him.
Shwiiik! Hwiriririk!
Hidden weapons.
Over a dozen hidden weapons were shooting toward Mo Sun-do at close range.
"Uk?!"
Mo Sun-do's eyes twitched.
If he brought his blade down like this, the bastard would be finished, but then he himself would also take damage.
Now that he had barely broken through the wall, he could not afford such a risk.
"Haaaap!"
Mo Sun-do, who was bringing his blade down, twisted his wrist as he was and caught the hidden weapons flying at him head-on with the flat of his blade.
He also managed to deflect the hidden weapons curving in from the sides.
Ting-ting-ting-ting-ting!
In that interval, Gyeon-jung flung his body into the thick undergrowth of trees. It appeared he was attempting to flee.
"Where do you think you're running?!"
Roaring thunderously, Mo Sun-do hurled his body forward and launched a blade strike at the trees Gyeon-jung had hidden himself among.
Kwaaaaaaang!
With a single blade strike, three trees shattered and scattered explosively all at once.
It was tremendous destructive power.
And amid the scattering fragments of the trees, Mo Sun-do caught sight of a black collar disappearing behind a tree right in front of the wall.
His lips curled into a savage grin.
"Got you, you rat!"
Mo Sun-do hurled himself forward again and unleashed his blade art toward that tree.
Since the wall was behind it, there would be nowhere left to run.
"U-hahaaaap!"
It was a blade strike delivered with full power, as if determined not to miss this time.
Storm-like blade strikes poured down upon the tree.
A ferocious blade assault swept through the space, as if to utterly shatter everything within reach of his blade.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The result was astonishing.
Everything within the area his blade touched, including the tree, burst apart as if exploding.
Splintered fragments of wood flew in all directions.
Amid those fragments, shredded pieces of black cloth could also be seen scattering.
It appeared they had been completely pulverized by Mo Sun-do's blade strike.
But seeing that sight, Seonwoo Jin let out a quiet scoff.
'See? When you give it your best, you do well, don't you?'