Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: The Boss Gave the Order
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"Rest assured, we're just ordinary bandits-54"
‘Damn it, I got done in….’
It’s hard to defend against an attack when you’ve leaped into the air to launch your own.
This was partly because Dugok Young had timed it perfectly, but also because Dongryong had let his emotions get the better of him, committing a basic mistake.
Dongryong, too… this was his first time clashing swords for life and death against a master of Dugok Young’s caliber.
Shoooaaa-!
Dugok Young unleashed his swordsmanship upon such a Dongryong.
Not child’s play like before, but the advanced technique of the Dugok Clan, infused with his true intent.
Solitary Supreme Sword Technique, third form: Flowing Clouds Hundred Serpents.
Shaaaack-!
Sword energy erupted from Dugok Young’s blade, writhing like tentacles as it surged toward Dongryong.
Dongryong tried to counter it with his ki as before, attempting to shatter it….
Crunch.
Even a tiger can’t emerge unscathed from battling a hundred venomous serpents.
Dugok Young’s sword energy slipped through Dongryong’s opening, leaving a wound.
“Urk….”
And then, against an opponent plummeting from the air with that injury….
Slash-.
…Dugok Young wasn’t about to miss.
He felt the familiar sensation in his hand as he cleaved Dongryong clean through.
Thud-.
Dongryong, slashed across the abdomen, lost his grip on his blade and collapsed to the ground. Dugok Young watched with a satisfied smile.
“Heh heh….”
And right there in front of that scene was Red Flame.
“Deputy Boss-!!”
Red Flame wasn’t skilled in lightness skill, so he hadn’t caught up to Dongryong until now, arriving only just as he reached arm’s length.
Of course, this was all the exact situation Dugok Young had wanted, but Red Flame berated himself at the sight of Dongryong falling.
Dugok Young savored it leisurely, watching him.
“What was your name again…? Ah…! Red Flame, from that red fur of yours? We meet like this often, don’t we.”
“You… bastard….”
Every word from Dugok Young made Red Flame’s insides boil like a thousand fires, but unlike before, he didn’t act rashly. He slowly assessed the situation.
Losing his reason and getting heated up now was exactly what this guy wanted.
‘Look at this punk?’
Dugok Young smiled, seeing Red Flame not charging in like a wild boar again. For some reason, that face stirred his sadistic hobbies.
“I couldn’t forget you for a long time. Ha! It’s still hilarious thinking back. In the Dugok Clan’s centuries of history, convicts in prison garb storming the main house? That was a first. What did you say back then? That you weren’t imperial troops but a bandit rabble? Ahahaha-! And now you’ve become bandits, so you kept your word!”
“You….”
“Back then, a bunch of you came charging in, and I cut down a ton of you, didn’t I?”
“……!”
Dugok Young’s snake-like tongue made veins bulge on the back of Red Flame’s hands.
“Did you think a swarm of vermin like you could do anything? No, nothing changes. Not last time, not this time.”
Thud.
Dugok Young kicked the fallen Dongryong lightly, as if mocking him, and continued.
“But why’d you pull that stupid stunt…? Ah, right, before that—the villagers I killed for fun were your families, yeah?”
For fun.
That worthless-sounding word tore into Red Flame’s heart with excruciating pain.
“I felt kinda bad about it back then. Not usually like me…. My heart was pounding so painfully, I couldn’t hold back my killing intent.”
“…….”
“Ah, not ‘sorry,’ huh. Thanks. Those guys gave me a good time back then.”
“…….”
“Your lowly lives were worth plenty.”
Whoooosh-.
As soon as Dugok Young finished speaking, Red Flame raised his axe high with trembling hands.
What word could describe his expression now?
Asura.
Yes, Asura.
Red Flame’s face looked just like an Asura born solely to kill Dugok Young.
An Asura thinking of nothing but tearing Dugok Young apart.
‘Yeah, come on.’
Dugok Young felt a thrill like he’d been rewarded, shouting louder at that face.
“You’ve got a pile of all their corpses, and you’re still alive! Doesn’t that mean all the people around you dying is your fault? Even now, people are dying because of you-!”
“…Youuu-!”
‘Yeah, come on-!’
Killing that rage-filled punk—how much greater thrill would that bring?
Dugok Young flicked his tongue lewdly while secretly assuming a horse stance behind his back. If Red Flame charged in a frenzy, he’d subdue him instantly and make him die in agony.
“Come on-! You plague of a bastard who kills everyone around you-!”
With that final tongue-lashing, the moment Red Flame could no longer hold back and surged forward…!
“Ah, for fuck’s sake. What a load of bullshit.”
…A youthful voice suddenly intruded from behind, cutting into the moment.
Dugok Young turned to see the young man called the youngest earlier, dusting himself off as he stood.
The youngest glared at Dugok Young with sharp eyes and yelled to Red Flame.
“Red Flame bro! Don’t get heated, snap out of it! This uncle’s more rational than he looks!”
And then….
Shing-.
“…And put that axe down. I’ll handle Deputy Dongryong’s share. Let’s team up.”
…He raised his sword, aiming at Dugok Young’s throat.
“What? Ahaha-!”
Dugok Young burst into laughter at the youngest’s appearance and words, turning toward him.
At a glance, the young man looked barely into his thirties.
Dugok Young himself was nearing the end of late-peak realm. A senior with countless juniors under him.
From his perspective, the impudence of a young bandit—not even from a sect or old faction—was utterly laughable.
Dugok Young wore a relaxed expression, about to taunt him too….
“Haha, yeah. You come too. I’ll….”
“…….”
“…!”
…But the moment he met the youngest’s eyes.
‘What the…?’
An inexplicable chill made his body flinch.
No fierce aura or deep inner power emanated from him. No special emotion in his eyes.
So why….
‘Why…?’
…Was his body tensing up?
It might be nothing, but Dugok Young knew better than to ignore his body’s signals in moments like this.
So he prioritized the kid in front over Red Flame behind, raising his sword.
The youngest, seeing this, held his sword horizontally and spoke.
“Red Flame bro. We’ve never synced up as a duo, so I’ll count to three and we go.”
‘…What?’
Dugok Young’s heart wavered violently at the youngest’s words.
‘Announcing a signal right in front of the enemy?’
Dugok Young felt a moment of confusion before shaking his head.
‘No, cheap psychological trick.’
Anyone could see the situation favored him. They had to know charging in with an open signal would get them all cut down by his sword.
‘He says three, but he’ll probably attack on one or two.’
Dugok Young focused all his senses on the foe before him. As a skilled warrior, he was confident he could react even to a sudden strike.
Soon, as promised, the youngest’s signal began….
“One!”
Dugok Young maximized his senses in that brief moment, ready to swing his sword.
And…
“Two!!”
…The moment it hit two.
Grab.
…The movement came before three, as expected. But the problem was….
“…Huh?”
…The reaction came from an unexpected direction.
Dugok Young looked down in confusion to see the bloodied Dongryong gripping his ankle.
“You… how…!”
He’d clearly slashed the vital spot.
He’d felt that familiar sensation with his own hand—how…!
In that instant, Dugok Young spotted bronze skin beneath the torn clothes.
‘Ah.’
The Hebei Peng Clan’s protective art, Tiger Blood Golden Body.
Since it was a hereditary technique taught only to Peng blood relatives, he hadn’t even considered it.
Dongryong grinned through his blood-smeared face at Dugok Young’s bewildered expression….
“Your bullshit pissed me off so much, I came back from hell.”
Crunch-.
With those words, he bit down on Dugok Young’s ankle.
“Gaaaaahhh-!!”
Crack-.
The bite infused with inner power tore the flesh from Dugok Young’s ankle.
As Dugok Young tried to yank his foot free from the unimaginable pain….
Shing-.
…The youngest leaped forward with his sword.
It lacked deep inner power but was clean and sharp. Dugok Young had to block it while off-balance from Dongryong.
Clang-!
He barely managed, but the problem was reacting hastily had overexerted his already unbalanced body.
Dugok Young no longer had the leeway for further action.
And in that state….
Shhh-.
“…!”
…He had to face Red Flame’s axe, brimming with killing intent, defenseless.
“Urk, damn….”
Realizing too late, Dugok Young tried to turn around.
Whoooosh-!
But it was already too late.
As he turned, a massive axe shadow loomed over Dugok Young’s face.
Craaaash-!
**
“Gaaaaah-! Aaaahhh-!”
He was alive.
More precisely, he was somehow still alive.
Even defenseless, Dugok Young’s superhuman reflexes had let him evade a fatal wound.
But he couldn’t dodge everything. Proof: his right shoulder hung limp, blood streaming down.
Flesh torn from his ankle, severe shoulder injury.
No more movement was possible.
To make matters worse, blood-soaked Red Flame approached the fallen man.
“Urgh….”
For the first time then, Dugok Young felt fear toward someone weaker than him.
Perhaps that’s why.
Despite his prideful life, he spat out pathetic words in a last desperate struggle.
“You-!! I’m Dugok Young, second son of the great Dugok Clan-! You think my family will let this slide if you kill me now!!”
“…….”
“I’m also a leader in the Murim Alliance! The Murim Alliance? You think they’ll sit still! If I die, the Dugok Clan! The Murim Alliance! They’ll send a subjugation force immediately and raze this place-!”
“…….”
The words needed no further hearing, but surprisingly, they worked on Red Flame. He actually halted the axe he’d been about to swing.
Truth be told, he’d tried not to care, but Red Flame had taken all of Dugok Young’s words to heart.
‘You’ve got a pile of all their corpses, and you’re still alive! Doesn’t that mean all the people around you dying is your fault? Even now, people are dying because of you-!’
‘Come on-! You plague of a bastard who kills everyone around you-!’
Whether truly his fault or not, many around him had died.
Red Flame glanced at Dongryong still biting Dugok Young’s leg on the ground, the youngest refusing to drop his sword as he tried to stand again, Bang Sam badly wounded after resisting to the end, and Bongchun still fighting the Murim Alliance warriors.
They’d started as ill-fated encounters, but now he knew too well they were good people.
‘If I kill Dugok Young now for personal grudge….’
If, as the guy said, the Dugok Clan and Murim Alliance subjugation force razed this place….
‘Wouldn’t I be burdening those around me again?’
Foolish as it was, that’s how Red Flame thought.
And that thought reflected in his action….
Shhh-.
His axe slowly lowered.
Dugok Young’s face brightened a bit, sensing Red Flame’s detachment, when….
“Hey, you retarded fuck-!”
“…!”
A sudden voice made Red Flame turn.
“…Boss?”
The man Red Flame now naturally called Boss stood there.
Looking like he’d rushed over, he yelled at Red Flame with a frustrated expression.
“What kinda bandit has so many damn thoughts and worries in his head! Just-!”
Just?
“Forget the consequences and do what you want-! You brainless idiot!”
“……!”
Do what you want.
Just one phrase, but it made Red Flame’s eyes flash open. It felt like a layer of chains around his body had shattered.
Red Flame blanked out for a moment, then…
Swoosh-.
“Boss-! Then I’ll kill this motherfucker-!!”
…Grinned brightly and raised his axe.
“W-Wait a sec….”
Dugok Young paled again, trying to backpedal, but….
“Grrr!”
…Dongryong clung to his ankle like a hunting dog.
“Gaaah-! You mangy mutt-! Aaaah-!”
As Dugok Young writhed in pain, the axe shadow loomed once more.
And as it descended…
“Urgh-!”
Dugok Young dodged again with superhuman senses, but….
Crack-!
“Aaaaahhhh-!”
…He couldn’t save his right arm from being severed.
Dugok Young’s scream, piercing the heavens, echoed through the mountains.