Chapter 143: Cleanup-4
Chapter 143: Cleanup-4
That was the moment.
Mo Sun-do, who had been smiling in satisfaction at his own refined blade strike, suddenly saw his expression stiffen.
It was because he realized that what had torn apart along with the tree was not a person, but only black clothing.
And in that instant, throwing weapons flew at him again from behind.
Hwiririririk!
From behind the tree behind him, secret marks were spinning in from all directions.
Confirming the throwing weapons, Mo Sun-do shouted in an enraged voice.
"With this pathetic—!"
Tititititing!
To Mo Sun-do, who had now broken through the wall, deflecting throwing weapons of this level was not difficult at all.
Having simply knocked them away, Mo Sun-do immediately launched himself and sent another blade strike at the tree from which they had flown.
Kwaaaaaang!
The tree trunk exploded and scattered once more.
But behind that tree as well, Gyeon-jung's figure was nowhere to be seen.
Unable to locate Gyeon-jung, Mo Sun-do frowned and glanced upward.
That was because the tree he had severed at the base was, as it happened, falling slowly toward his own head.
"Hmph!"
A tree falling this slowly was no threat whatsoever.
So Mo Sun-do, who had been about to simply move his body to avoid it, suddenly thought of something.
And he sent a blade strike at the falling tree.
He thought the bastard might be behind it.
"Hup!"
Kwaaaaaang!
But even after pulverizing the tree that had been falling over his head, Gyeon-jung's figure was still nowhere to be seen.
Only the shattered upper half of the tree was falling behind his head.
Kuuuung!
The moment the upper half of the tree struck the ground and broken branches and stone fragments scattered in all directions—
Gyeon-jung suddenly emerged as if rising from among the leaves, and together with the bouncing stones, he naturally lunged toward Mo Sun-do's rear.
It was an ambush that struck perfectly through his guard.
Shwiiik!
But Mo Sun-do, who had broken through the wall, was no easy opponent either.
The instant he felt the back of his neck go cold, he turned his body and swung his blade.
Buaaaaang!
A powerful blade strike slashed diagonally down at Gyeon-jung.
Teoteong!
But Gyeon-jung, as if having already anticipated it, received it with his dagger cloaked in blade energy.
Mo Sun-do's powerful blade strike was barely skidding off along the dagger.
And this time, Gyeon-jung did not retreat backward either.
Shwiiiiik!
Gyeon-jung scattered throwing weapons from his left hand and pressed forward again.
Throwing weapons scattered from inside the range of the great blade itself.
"Khuk!"
Mo Sun-do was flustered.
It was far too close.
"Grk!"
He twisted his wrist with all his might.
As he pulled the great blade in and shielded his body with the blade face, the flying daggers that had been shooting in straight lines struck the blade face and bounced off.
Tititititing!
The spinning secret marks were also grazing past the great blade.
It was incredible improvisation.
But Gyeon-jung's attack was not over.
The next moment, he had closed into the inner range of the great blade itself and swung his dagger.
Shwiiiiik!
In that instant, Gyeon-jung's arm split into five or six afterimages.
The dagger, moving at the speed of a ray of light, was slashing at Mo Sun-do from all directions.
Moreover, the distance was so close that attacking with the great blade was impossible.
"Yiik!"
Clenching his teeth, Mo Sun-do moved his great blade this way and that, trying somehow to catch Gyeon-jung's dagger with the blade face.
Tititititing!
And then he immediately kicked off the ground and opened distance.
Just one step—if only he could open enough distance to swing the great blade, that bastard could never be his match.
"Hap!"
And shoving Gyeon-jung back with the blade face as he retreated, Mo Sun-do finally succeeded in opening that single step of distance.
'Done!'
At last, a bright smile bloomed on his face.
Now it was finally time to feed his refined blade strike to the bastard who had revealed himself.
"Farewell!"
Mo Sun-do's two hands clenched the hilt fiercely, and his arm muscles swelled as if about to burst in preparation to swing the blade.
That moment.
Puhuk!
"Khuk?!"
Mo Sun-do could not help but be horrified by the thing that had embedded itself deep into his back in that instant.
He had heard nothing at all, yet a throwing weapon had flown and lodged itself there.
'How?!'
In that instant, the memory of the throwing weapons Gyeon-jung had just scattered at close range surfaced in Mo Sun-do's mind.
Flying daggers shot in straight lines and spinning throwing stars.
And then he suddenly realized.
'The secret marks he threw this time—there was no sound!'
The secret marks thrown earlier had certainly made a racket when spinning, but the ones thrown this time had produced no sound at all.
Those secret marks must have spun back around and lodged into his back.
In the end, those earlier ones had not been deflected by him—they had been thrown for that purpose from the start....
And the instant he realized it, Gyeon-jung's dagger bore down on Mo Sun-do.
Shwaaaak!
The dagger was even faster than before, splitting into eight afterimages.
"Kheuuup!"
Mo Sun-do moved his great blade again, trying somehow to block it.
But his hand, having already had the vital point in his back struck, was steadily losing strength.
Tititititing!
And finally.
Chuhwak!
"Kheok!"
Gyeon-jung's dagger, which had been continuously blocked, finally succeeded in severing the tendon in Mo Sun-do's shoulder.
With that, the strength drained from his arm, and in the end, Mo Sun-do could not block Gyeon-jung's blade as it came to slash his throat.
Shyaaak!
Pshishishishik!
Blood erupted sharply from Mo Sun-do's throat where Gyeon-jung's dagger had grazed across it.
It was the end.
Within his fading consciousness, Mo Sun-do collapsed, looking at the sky with resentful eyes.
'At last, barely....'
Kuhung!
"Haa, haa, haa!"
Gyeon-jung, who had been drawing ragged breaths, suddenly turned to look behind him.
There, he could see that Seonwoo Jin and Jeok Ma-hyeok had already released their concealment arts and were watching him.
Seonwoo Jin smiled lightly and spoke.
"You worked hard."
At this, Gyeon-jung gave a faint smile.
It was the first smile he had shown Seonwoo Jin.
Then Seonwoo Jin abruptly asked Jeok Ma-hyeok, who was beside him.
"Ma-hyeok, do you also want to try fighting a peak-level master one-on-one like Gyeon-jung?"
At this, Jeok Ma-hyeok smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
"I'd rather not...."
Seonwoo Jin inwardly thought that was a relief.
That was because there was still much to do before his father Seonwoo Jung stormed in.
The remaining peak-level master, Second Elder Cheo Yong-gu, also had to be dealt with, and he planned to take out the commanders of the other White Tiger squads in advance as well.
And he also had to open the main gate of the Ha clan just before Seonwoo Jung arrived.
If Jeok Ma-hyeok had also said he wanted to fight one-on-one, it seemed time would have been short, so it was fortunate he did not.
As expected, Jeok Ma-hyeok was a good subordinate.
"Alright, then let's move quickly again."
"Yes, young master!"
"Understood."
Even before the Seonwoo family's troops had stormed in, the Ha clan was already crumbling.
But for the family head Ha Gu-yang, he could not perceive that fact at all.
***
Ha Gu-yang, family head of the Ha clan, grabbed his beloved blade and leaped down to the first floor of the main hall.
Within his chest, fury like molten lava was boiling up maddeningly.
'That bastard Seonwoo Jung dares to attack me—I will never let him leave alive!'
It seemed he had somehow made it this far with a surprise attack, but now the commanders and elders of each White Tiger squad would be gathering with their subordinates.
So once they all gathered, the rabble of the Seonwoo family could not possibly pose any threat.
With that thought, Ha Gu-yang, having leaped down, could see Seonwoo Jung, the elder of the Seonwoo family, and the commanders entering after having shattered the main gate.
It seemed that he, too, had pushed into the main hall leading only his masters.
Ha Gu-yang quickly scanned the surroundings.
Right now, the only ones who could oppose the Seonwoo family martial artists were himself and a few ordinary warriors who had been guarding the main hall.
Apparently, it was taking time for the elders to gather.
'What the hell are these grub-like bastards doing?!'
Though rage erupted inside him, Ha Gu-yang for now forced himself to smile as if nothing was wrong and addressed Seonwoo Jung.
That was because he needed to buy some time first.
"Son-in-law, what on earth is this nonsense so early in the morning? Have you planned some kind of surprise event?"
At this, Seonwoo Jung replied expressionlessly.
"Since you sent assassins at the crack of dawn, I came straight away. It seemed you were in quite a hurry. In that case... I should send you off in a hurry as well."
Ha Gu-yang's eyes flinched for a moment.
As he suspected, Baekho Ildae and I Dae had apparently failed.
'You worthless bastards!'
But outwardly, he could show no such sign.
Ha Gu-yang burst into a hearty laugh and spoke.
"What? Kuhahahaha! What in the world are you talking about? Have you perhaps been dreaming? Why on earth would I send assassins to my own daughter's husband? For whatever reason?"
But Seonwoo Jung answered nonchalantly, as if it were only natural.
"Of course, it's because you wanted the Seonwoo family. With it looking like the successor would go to a child other than Hyeok, you must have grown impatient, is that not so? And you wouldn't have wanted it snatched away by the Jegal clan either."
These words could not have struck more precisely at the heart of the matter.
Ha Gu-yang tried to force a smile and refute those words.
"Kuhahaha! What kind of nonsensical...."
But Seonwoo Jung gave him no more time. He raised his sword and aimed it at Ha Gu-yang, speaking.
"I think this conversation has gone on long enough now, father-in-law."
And he shouted to the elders and commanders.
"Martial artists of the Seonwoo family, hear me!"
"Yes, family head!"
At this, Ha Gu-yang grew urgent.
Fighting those men right now would be the end.
"Execute that malignant foe at on—!"
"Wait!"
He cut off Seonwoo Jung's words and shouted urgently.
"Martial artist to martial artist! Family head to family head—let us settle this in single combat, Seonwoo Jung! If you too call yourself a martial artist, surely you won't hide behind your subordinates like a coward?!"
Seonwoo Jung had not said it expecting the man to agree.
It was merely a ploy to buy time however he could.
But unbelievably, upon hearing those words, Seonwoo Jung let out a faint chuckle and murmured.
"One-on-one... that wouldn't be so bad either."
"...What?"
At Seonwoo Jung's answer, Ha Gu-yang was instead the one flustered.
In this situation, was the fool actually accepting a one-on-one duel? And that too, Seonwoo Jung, who was only at the initial stage of the peak level?
Ha Gu-yang's martial prowess had long since surpassed seventy years of internal energy and solidly filled eighty years.
So even if Seonwoo Jung had recently broken through the wall of seventy years of internal energy, he would still be unpolished. There was no way he could be a match for him.
But if the opponent was going to act like a fool, there was certainly no need to stop him.
Letting out a silent cheer in his heart, Ha Gu-yang beamed brightly and encouraged Seonwoo Jung.
"Oh ho! As expected of Seonwoo Jung! Dignified as befits the head of the Seonwoo family! Yes, a martial artist must prove his martial prowess through one-on-one combat! Is that not the true posture of a martial artist?! Now, come in quickly!"
Of course, his inner thoughts were quite different.
'You idiot, I'll just buy time until our elders and commanders arrive. After that, you're finished!'
But Seonwoo Jung did not rush at him.
Instead, he merely smiled faintly as he spoke.
"You are quite impatient. I never said that I would be the one fighting, though."
At those words, Ha Gu-yang's expression twisted sharply.
Someone other than Seonwoo Jung would fight him?
The strongest master of the Seonwoo family was surely Seonwoo Jung, was he not?
Suddenly it flashed through his mind that Seonwoo Jung had made remarks suggesting the family would be subordinated to the Jegal clan.
'Could it be a master of the Jegal clan?'
With eyes full of suspicion, Ha Gu-yang questioned Seonwoo Jung.
"Then... who is it you say will face me? Surely you don't mean to drag in an outsider not of the Seonwoo family to fight?"
It was a choice of words meant to block the Jegal clan's intervention.
But Seonwoo Jung smiled faintly again as he answered.
"That wouldn't be impossible either, but no. Fortunately for you, Father-in-law, he is a man of the Seonwoo family. He is my son, right behind Father-in-law."
Behind?
Startled by those words, Ha Gu-yang whipped his head around to look behind him.
And there, before the stairs he had just descended, a handsome young man stood with a fresh smile, as if he had appeared from nowhere.
It was Seonwoo Jin.
But Seonwoo Jin, having lost weight, was a face Ha Gu-yang had never seen before.
He frowned and demanded.
"...You?"
Seonwoo Jin smiled brightly and clasped his fists in greeting to him.
"It has been a long time. I am Seonwoo Jin, the third son of the Seonwoo family."
"Seonwoo Jin?"
Even hearing the name, Ha Gu-yang could not instantly recall that he was the third son of the Seonwoo family.
But as he racked his brain for a moment, Ha Gu-yang's face gradually began to fill with astonishment.
"No way?! You, the one who was that pig-like...?"
At his words, Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly and nodded.
Then Ha Gu-yang spoke with an expression that seemed to hold admiration.
"Oh ho, impressive! To think you became such a handsome man just by losing weight! But... isn't your greed excessive? You lost some weight, and now you intend to face me one-on-one?"
Seonwoo Jin grinned and nodded.
"That is correct. And... no matter how long you stall, the ones you are waiting for will not be coming."
"...What?"
Ha Gu-yang, who had been buying time however he could, felt his face harden at Seonwoo Jin's words, which had struck the heart of the matter.
Toward him, Seonwoo Jin began to slowly emanate his momentum.
"They are all no longer people of this world."
"Wha, what?! You bastard...!"
Ha Gu-yang was now horrified by the momentum Seonwoo Jin had begun to release.
From the body of a man still only in his twenties, a blade-sharp momentum he had never felt in his life was surging forth.
The momentum was so incredibly powerful that it made his very skin sting.
"Th-this can't be!"
Seonwoo Jin grasped Mukrang's hilt and spoke.
"I am the junior here, so it would be acceptable for me to make the first move, would it not?"
"N-no!"
Ha Gu-yang desperately tried to say something more.
But Seonwoo Jin did not intend to let him.
Seureureung!
Mukrang's blade revealed its white radiance.
And finally, from Mukrang, now fully drawn, a burst of pale violet sword qi erupted outward in an instant.
Hwaaaaak!
Ha Gu-yang was horrified.
Seeing the man's sword qi, its level was by no means below his own.
At the very least, his equal, no, it might even be higher.
"Here I come!"
First Form of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords.
Divine Eagle Flight.
Before Ha Gu-yang's eyes, a brilliant set of pale violet wings unfurled.
It was the technique of Divine Eagle Flight he knew so well, yet it was the most splendid and massive wings he had ever seen.
"You cur! How dare you!"
Ha Gu-yang ground his teeth and swung his blade.
Since he knew it was an illusion sword anyway, there was nothing to fear.
Syuhaak!
But the movement that followed was something he had never seen before.
The pale violet wings, as if truly alive, wheeled about and slipped past his blade.
"Wha, what?!"
And then the wings shattered, and sword light like feathers began to rain down.
It was the Second Form of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords that he also knew well, Divine Eagle Spreading Wings.
"Keuk!"
Ha Gu-yang twisted his wrist, whirling his blade to defend against the pouring sword light.
Hwiririririk!
He already knew that most of these would be illusion swords, but they were far too vivid to dare ignore.
Sasasasak!
The illusion swords that touched his blade vanished like snow melting.
But Ha Gu-yang stumbled backward, disoriented.
If it followed the pattern he knew, the next technique coming would likely be Divine Eagle Descending River. The true sword hidden among those illusion swords would plunge down like a beam of light.
He was utterly terrified of that.
Seonwoo Jin and Ha Gu-yang were both using around eighty years of internal energy.
But Seonwoo Jin's sword, tempered through countless desperate battles, and Ha Gu-yang's blade, wielded while living fat and comfortable in the Ha clan, could not be the same.
Their sharpness was nearly as different as heaven and earth.
"Heo-eo!"
"How can this be...?"
The retainers of the Seonwoo family watched the scene of Ha Gu-yang, a master of eighty years of internal energy, being miserably driven back in stunned silence.
And by Seonwoo Jin, of all people, who had been called the shame of the Seonwoo family.
Except for Great Elder Heo Jin-guk and Divine Eagle Squad Commander Dam Mu-ho, who already knew of Seonwoo Jin's martial prowess, the others could not believe the sight before their eyes.
Second Elder Seo Tong-seong muttered vacantly.
"Am I... dreaming right now?"
That was the common sentiment shared by everyone present.
Third Form of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords.
Divine Eagle Descending River.
Syuhaak!
Amidst the falling illusion swords, a single true sword plunged down like a beam of light.
It was the very technique Ha Gu-yang had been dreading.
Chwaak!
"Keukeuk!"
Ha Gu-yang, Seonwoo Jin's sword having strongly grazed his side and passed by, felt relief even amidst the pain.
It felt as if it was only thanks to his prior preparation.
But as Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly and unfurled the next technique, he could no longer sustain that thought.
Fourth Form, Divine Eagle Turbulent Flight.
Fifth Form, Form is Emptiness.
Sixth Form, Divine Bird Embraces the Bear.
As the techniques repeated, Ha Gu-yang's face grew increasingly pale.
It was because he came to realize that Seonwoo Jin had not been unable to kill him a moment ago.
Shaaaak!
"Keuk!"
Every time he thought he could never possibly withstand the man's sword strike, the blade would deviate ever so slightly.
Now Ha Gu-yang could clearly understand the man's intention.
'He's... using me to demonstrate the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords?!'
And the people of the Seonwoo family realized this as well.
They now stood speechless, vacantly watching only Seonwoo Jin's sword.
The Seonwoo Thirteen Swords they had always seen had never looked so new.
The Seonwoo Thirteen Swords had long been called the representative illusion sword art of Guizhou Castle.
Yet in truth, it had been evaluated as merely a first-rate sword art, not a peak-level one, incomparable to the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families.
But the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords that Seonwoo Jin was showing now was not that.
Seonwoo Jin was demonstrating with his own body that they simply had not been able to wield it properly until now, and that the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords itself was, without a doubt, a peak-level sword art that would not be outmatched even by the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects.
On the faces of Family Head Seonwoo Jung and Great Elder Heo Jin-guk, deep expressions of emotion arose.
Every single sword, every single technique that Seonwoo Jin was displaying was so profoundly moving.
Meanwhile, Seonwoo Jin's blade finally began to unfurl the last technique they knew, the Thirteenth Form, Illusion Sword Realm.
Sswoaaaaaa!
Dozens, hundreds of sword mirages surrounded Ha Gu-yang as if besieging him.
Then Ha Gu-yang, already as if his soul had left him, screamed in a fit of desperation.
"Hmph! This measly Illusion Sword Realm! Did you think I wouldn't know they are all illusions?!"
It was that moment.
The hundreds of sword mirages encircling Ha Gu-yang suddenly became corporeal entities and cascaded down upon him.
Fifteenth Form of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords.
Emptiness is Form.
Pupupupupuk!
Hundreds of sword mirages impaled Ha Gu-yang's entire body.
He looked as if he had become a hedgehog.
Now, no words could leak from Ha Gu-yang's gaping mouth.
His breath simply ceased with a death scream.
"Kkeok!"
Puhwaak!
With Ha Gu-yang spraying blood from his entire body like a fountain behind him, Seonwoo Jin slowly sheathed Mukrang, not a single drop of blood staining it, and walked toward Seonwoo Jung.
Seonwoo Jung had been watching him with a face full of emotion, then rushed forward and embraced him fiercely.
It was an impossibly warm embrace.
"You've worked hard. You've worked so hard, Jin-ah."
The sound of his father's impassioned voice could not have been more pleasant.