Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Neither Favors Nor Grudges Are Forgotten (3)
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Something struck the ground, then dragged across it.
The sound had a very steady rhythm, drawing people's attention without them even realizing it.
As the noise grew closer, their focus reached a fever pitch. Eyes turned bloodshot, shoulders twitched with spasms.
It wasn't just those trapped in the pen—the bandits and Dong Ja-chu reacted the same way. The sound gnawed at their nerves from the roots.
Scratch! Scratch!
Like ants devouring wood, it eroded their nerves and amplified their unease.
Thud! Scraaape! Thud! Scraaape!
Only when the sound sharpened did Dong Ja-chu realize it was footsteps.
Someone finally emerged from the darkness.
He stamped his right foot, dragged his left, approaching step by step. His shoulder dipped slightly with each drag of the left.
Dong Ja-chu noticed the limp. Normally, he'd have sneered and severed the neck in one stroke. He never forgave anyone who startled him, even for a moment—his nature was that cruel.
But not now.
Thud!
The moment he saw the man, his heart plummeted like a stone.
A chill raced up his spine, sweat poured like rain. Thick veins bulged like worms on his clenched fists.
His teeth ground so hard blood trickled between them, yet Dong Ja-chu felt no pain as he stared at the man rippling out of the darkness.
At last, the man's stark white face pierced the gloom. Clad in black robes blending with the shadows, it seemed to float in midair.
A black horse followed like living darkness behind him, but no one there noticed.
The man's presence overwhelmed, intense beyond measure. No one could tear their eyes away, not for an instant.
Drip!
Sweat streamed endlessly down the bandits' faces.
They scarcely dared breathe, gazing at the figure emerging from the dark.
'Who the hell is that guy?'
Their minds blanked, pure white. His presence transcended their wildest imagination.
The man paused, scanning the surroundings.
His eyes gleamed eerily in the dark.
Shudder!
Those catching his gaze shivered uncontrollably, like fish on a cutting board.
His eyes settled on Dong Ja-chu—or rather, on Bang Jin-bo clutched in his arms.
The sword in Bang Jin-bo's hand, Dong Ja-chu's grip on that hand, the blade at Yeom Pyeong's throat.
The man grasped the situation at a glance, nodding faintly as he furrowed his brow.
In that instant, Dong Ja-chu and the bandits felt suffocating pressure tighten around them.
The man beckoned to Bang Jin-bo.
Bang Jin-bo stared blankly. His expression mirrored the others'. Yet somehow, he sensed familiarity from the stranger, despite never having seen the face before.
"Come here."
The man's mouth opened for the first time.
Hearing the voice, Bang Jin-bo knew who it was.
"Brother!"
The man who'd ridden with him in the carriage.
His true face hidden by disheveled hair, but that voice—he remembered it clearly.
The one from the darkness was Dam Ho.
Dam Ho spoke again.
"Come here."
His gravelly, rough voice snapped Dong Ja-chu alert. He yanked Bang Jin-bo tighter into his embrace. Instinct screamed to use the boy as a shield.
Sword to Bang Jin-bo's throat, he bellowed.
"You... who the hell..."
Boom!
Thunder crashed from the darkness, swallowing his voice.
Bandits and merchants clutched their ears, staggering from the blast.
Riiiing!
Tinnitus rang in their skulls.
Objects doubled, tripled in vision; legs buckled.
As the ringing faded and sight cleared, the bandits' faces twisted in horror.
"B-Boss?"
"Urk!"
They slammed foreheads to the dirt, vomiting. Those in the pen did the same.
"Ugh!"
Groans escaped lips.
"How?"
Dong Ja-chu, who'd held Bang Jin-bo hostage, had no upper body. Only legs remained, ownerless.
In its place loomed Dam Ho's fist. One Surge Fist Strike had blasted Dong Ja-chu's torso away.
First time unleashing martial arts on a human.
Even Dam Ho hadn't expected a single punch to obliterate a man's upper half.
Before him stood Dong Ja-chu's limbless lower half and bewildered Bang Jin-bo.
Dam Ho pulled Bang Jin-bo's head to his chest, muttering.
"Humans... are weak."
In the dark, he'd battered boulders and bedrock endlessly.
Assuming them human, he'd honed his arts on unyieldingly tough matter.
His fists, bloodied without cease, condensed killing intent and霸力 beyond human flesh.
The gruesome result lay before him.
Dam Ho shielded Bang Jin-bo's eyes from the sight, holding him close.
No thrill at killing with his hands. Once, guilt would have crushed him, but now it felt like someone else's affair.
Dam Ho shrugged it off. Twelve years in darkness weren't wasted.
"Ugh! Who the hell are you?"
Jo Bok, regaining wits late, shouted.
His boss Dong Ja-chu's torso had flown off right before him. Too surreal to accept—like a nightmare.
The Dong Ja-chu he knew wasn't weak. A weakling couldn't lead the Blood Wolf Brigade.
Dong Ja-chu wouldn't die so pathetically.
Dam Ho's gaze turned to Jo Bok. Jo Bok shuddered like struck by lightning.
Dam Ho's mouth opened, phlegm-thick voice rumbling.
"And who might you be?"
"I-I'm Jo Bok, vice leader of the Blood Wolf Brigade."
"Blood Wolf Brigade?"
Dam Ho eyed the encircling bandits. All bore fierce faces, proud of their brutal lives.
Yet terror gleamed undisguised in eyes fixed on him.
"Yeah! We're the Blood Wolf Brigade. Back off now, and we'll forgive you. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise?"
"We'll kill you gruesomely."
"And?"
"We'll tear you apart..."
"So why haven't you?"
Dam Ho's flat, emotionless tone chilled despite its calm.
Unseen dread gripped Jo Bok. He screamed.
"K-Kill him!"
Instinct told him Dam Ho was no ordinary man.
His words ignited them. Bandits, quaking from nameless fear, charged Dam Ho as one.
"Raaah!"
"Kill him!"
Excitement to drown fear.
They howled madly, lunging. They knew: kill him or die.
Over a hundred bandits rushed. Terrifying sight, yet Dam Ho's face unchanged.
He glanced skyward briefly.
Starless night.
Boom!
"Aaagh!"
Thunder boomed; a scream followed. Crimson sprayed the black sky.
Booms echoed relentlessly. Each felled a bandit, blood bursting.
One punch crushed a life.
"Ah!"
Caged like beasts, eyes bulged.
Humans didn't die so easily. Yet Dam Ho disproved it effortlessly.
The mighty bandits shattered like glass.
"Uwaaagh!"
"Mercy!"
Terrorized bandits wailed.
Merchants' worldview crumbled.
Over two-thirds of bandits slain in moments. Blood rivers soaked the earth.
"Y-You devil!"
Jo Bok gaped at Dam Ho, legs trembling.
Dam Ho limped, true. But in combat, no trace.
Jo Bok deemed the gait a feint, to lure carelessness.
Never imagined such a being.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
Subordinates still dying.
One-sided slaughter. No survivors if it continued.
"S-Stop!"
Jo Bok bellowed hoarsely.
Dam Ho halted, eyed him. Tears streaking, Jo Bok pleaded.
"Forgive us! Enough already? We've paid plenty. More punishment's too cruel for our mistakes."
"Cruel?"
"Yeah! Too cruel. I don't know your tie to the kid, but this massacre's overkill."
"Is it?"
Dam Ho tilted his head; Jo Bok glimpsed hope. He knelt hastily.
"Please forgive us. I'm begging."
Dam Ho's gaze grew icier.
"Forgiveness isn't begged from me."
"Then?"
"From that child."
Dam Ho pointed at Bang Jin-bo.
Jo Bok scrambled to Bang Jin-bo, knelt.
"Kid, spare us. We were wrong."
"T-That's..."
"We'll do anything. Any reward—just please..."
Jo Bok wept before Bang Jin-bo.
In hostage-taking? Impossible. He'd seen Dong Ja-chu's fate.
Bang Jin-bo floundered.
Kind-hearted by nature, he'd never envisioned this.
'W-What do I do?'
Mind blanked. Then father's face surfaced—struggling to protect him.
Bang Jin-bo clamped his mouth shut.
No vengeance demanded, no mercy granted.
Jo Bok pitied the sight.
"So earnestly begging—forgive us! You fat bastard!"
"......"
Bang Jin-bo kept lips sealed.
Jo Bok shrieked again.
"You damned fat bastard! Can't you see a man begging? How can you call yourself hu—Gurk!"
Crunch!
Jo Bok's body lifted skyward. Dam Ho gripped his nape.
Whispering for Jo Bok alone.
"Forgiveness isn't demanded by perps like you."
"Hngh!"
"It's given from victims' hearts, like that child and the caged."
Dam Ho eyed Bang Jin-bo and the penned. Their gazes fixed on him.
"They won't forgive you."
"S-Spare me! Please!"
"Did you spare them? When they begged so desperately?"
Jo Bok realized no mercy coming. Enraged, he roared.
"You ghost bastard! Do your worst. But your end won't be pretty. Know who's behind us? They won't let you live. Wrong man to mess with. They're coming soon."
Dam Ho's lips curved faintly. A smile.
"Looking forward to it."
"You?"
Crunch!
Dam Ho's fist plunged into Jo Bok's gut, through to the back.
Jo Bok stared at his belly in disbelief.
"Guhhh!"
"Too chatty."
Dam Ho withdrew his arm. Jo Bok collapsed emptily.
Face-down, gasping like beached fish, breaths slowed, faded.
Dam Ho's eyes turned to surviving bandits.
Death's shadow cloaked their faces.