Blood Tears of the Nightmare
“Did you just see that?”
“I’m not the only one who missed it, right? Nobody saw it, right?”
On the raised platform, every last person in the once-raucous VIP seats froze in collective shock.
“What in the world was that? This was never part of the plan Unwol Jiju announced beforehand.”
Hwangbo Cheon-jung, patriarch of the Hwangbo Clan who had arrived late, frowned as he patted his massive frame and protruding belly.
“Ah, th-that is… we don’t really…”
His subordinates could only stammer and flounder, unable to give their master a straight answer.
Even a great family fell short of the Nine Sects and One Gang, yet it was still a force rooted in the martial world that revered strength. Even ordinary scholars among them had trained in martial arts to a level that outstripped most third-rate fighters. That was precisely why the sight of a single man slipping into the arena in the blink of an eye—completely beyond their notice—left them even more stunned.
A martial artist of the Hwangbo Clan stammered as he turned frantically to Jegal Sea beside him.
“D-did a man like that even exist in Shaanxi?”
“You didn’t know? In Shaanxi, men like him are as common as dirt underfoot.”
Jegal Sea shot back primly. The man could only gape at her, mouth hanging open.
In the midst of everyone’s shock, only Jegal Sea and Eun Seollyeong wore the same expressions they had from the start.
Jegal Sea bit her lip hard and muttered,
“What the hell is that idiot doing all of a sudden…”
“….”
Eun Seollyeong’s silver eyes narrowed. She gazed at Moyong Bi.
Jegal Sea quickly stepped to her side and said,
“Eun Seollyeong, if the atmosphere gets even a little too heated… can you step in and stop him?”
“No.”
At the firm reply, Jegal Sea looked up at her. Eun Seollyeong looked down and spoke in a low voice.
“I’m sorry, Jegal Sea. I cannot stop him.”
“What?! How does that make any sense? You can’t stop him? Why on earth not?”
Eun Seollyeong let out a short sigh. Slowly, she continued in measured words.
“In ordinary times he is indecisive. Pathetic. Inadequate. His pride is absurdly strong, his mind is full of useless thoughts, and he frets over things that haven’t even happened. His actions are full of holes, and his everyday behavior is as pathetic as it gets. But.”
She looked far across the arena at Moyong Bi, who was slowly walking out while carrying a man soaked in blood. Moyong Bi’s eyes blazed a crimson so fierce it seemed they might burst—as if they had been that color since the day he was born.
“…But every once in a very long while. If that man ever, even once, sets his mind on doing something…”
Those crimson eyes were exactly the same as when he had stood alone against the massive dam in Inhyeon Gorge.
“Regardless of the level of his martial arts, no one in this world will break his will unless they kill him first. Yes… that is to say…”
Jegal Sea stared blankly at Eun Seollyeong. The Guardian of Mount Hua, the Specter of the Battlefield, whispered softly,
“From the Orthodox, Unorthodox, Demonic, and Blood factions alike—whether it is the Martial Alliance Leader or the Blood Demon himself—no matter who it may be. He is that kind of man.”
I laid the blood-soaked Gang Ilbi down at the edge of the arena. The blood-drenched headband slipped from his unconscious head. I seized it.
“….”
I folded it neatly. Even as both my hands became smeared with blood, I paid it no mind. I set the folded band beside Gang Ilbi.
In the distance I saw a physician running toward us. I rose and walked toward Lee Eultak. We stood face to face.
“Who the hell are you?”
Lee Eultak muttered in a tense voice.
“How did you just do that? How did you slip between us in that instant?”
I did not look at him. My gaze fixed on the tall, fair-skinned man behind him—the true root of this entire disaster.
“My name is Biryu.”
“….”
So Cheonpa regarded me in silence.
“Fourth-grade field dispatch investigator of the Blood Death Sect. But before that, I was once the disciple of Gang Ilbi, fourteenth leader of the Dangsa Sect, to whom fate had bound me.”
I spoke in a rough, grating voice thick with the metallic stench of blood, as if forcing the words out.
“As his worthless disciple, just as he took up the challenge of the tenant farmers’ duel, I too will take up my master’s duel and continue it. Any problem with that?”
“…Lord So Cheonpa?”
Lee Eultak looked to his superior, waiting for a decision.
“…An assassin brat who knows nothing but ambushes, forgetting his place and crashing a martial artists’ feast.”
So Cheonpa’s smiling eyes began to color with quiet fury.
“Lee Eultak.”
“Yes, Lord So Cheonpa.”
So Cheonpa’s voice cracked like frost.
“Show him his place.”
Lee Eultak nodded. I turned my back and walked to one side of the arena. I raised both hands. They held nothing. Instead, my palms were soaked through with the crimson blood Gang Ilbi had shed only moments before.
“Long ago. Long ago, my master used to forbid me from cursing and raging whenever my temper flared, and he told me this.”
I lifted my hands. Slowly I brought one blood-soaked palm beneath my eye and drew it down across my cheek.
“It is not that your anger is wrong. Nor am I telling you to suppress and castrate every rage from now on.”
A vivid red line, like a tear of blood, was painted clearly over my mask beneath the eye.
“Nor am I telling you to speak gently like a gentleman and never curse. All I ask is that you never become a dog that barks noisily…”
I dipped my hand again and drew it beneath the other eye.
“In ordinary times, act like quiet darkness, like a shadow that always keeps its silence.”
I dragged the line downward. In the darkness, a single face took shape, weeping tears of blood from both eyes.
“But if, even after this training, there ever comes a day when you must truly spit curses in passion or pierce the darkness with your rage…”
From within that darkness I slowly raised eyes blazing crimson.
“Then declare that you will become the worst nightmare your opponent has ever known—until they beg you to kill them instead.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Don’t worry. I already know you’re nothing more than a tool.”
I spoke in a hoarse, ruined voice.
“You’re nothing but the herald that announces the beginning of the execution.”
Lee Eultak’s eyes bloodshot as he charged.
“You fucking dog, spouting bullshit—!”
—Flutter.
I was already right in front of his nose.
“Huh?”
—Thud.
It was an ordinary strike. My fingers flashed like lightning and struck near his vocal cords.
“Ghk…?”
Lee Eultak panicked when no sound came out.
—Thud.
A short fist drove into his solar plexus. His breath stopped for an instant.
—Thud.
A chopping fist slammed into his left side. The sound of ribs cracking rang out and his movements froze for a moment.
—Crunch.
Both collarbones shattered under knife-hand strikes, and Lee Eultak’s arms dropped like a broken puppet’s.
His eyes flew wide. With his upper body completely exposed, he stood before me. Slowly, simply, lightly, I began driving fists into that open torso.
—Thud… thud….
Once, twice, three times. As if practicing straight punches, I started planting fists into his body.
—Thud… thud… thud-thud… thud-thud-thud….
It almost looked like play. It was no different from striking a wooden dummy that simply stood there. Each individual blow did not carry enough destructive force to shatter him outright. Yet like a weak laundry paddle steadily beating clothes, the intensity gradually rose as I hammered every part of Lee Eultak’s body.
“Kh… khh…!”
Lee Eultak’s face turned beet red. He tried to cough up blood.
—Tap-tap-tap!
I struck both sides of his Adam’s apple at once; his esophagus unlocked and he could not even vomit.
His legs threatened to give way under the shock.
—Tap-tap-tap!
Rapid chopping kicks struck his knees, preventing them from buckling.
—Thud, thud, thud.
Seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy-four….
“Sa… save….”
Lee Eultak’s eyes bloodshot and began to fill with terror.
—Thud-thud…!
The speed kept increasing.
—Thudthudthudthudthudthud…!
Dust began to rise. Fists pounded every inch of him. Lee Eultak’s shoulders convulsed wildly as if in a seizure.
—Sway.
His feet stumbled backward; he was about to fall.
—Crack!
My heel crushed the top of his foot, pinning the retreating foot to the ground.
“Aagh!”
Blood vessels stood out in Lee Eultak’s eyes.
—Tap!
Lightning-fast pressure points struck the jaw muscles he was about to use to bite his tongue, paralyzing them.
“Grrk….”
His eyes threatened to roll back.
—Pabat!
My fingers stimulated the points on either side of his head. The eyes that had been rolling returned, vivid and clear once more.
“Ju… just….”
Unable to scream even once, Lee Eultak was being smashed apart as if he were being butchered.
“Kill… me….”
Foaming blood at the mouth, Lee Eultak wept tears of blood from both eyes.
So Jeongmun shot to his feet with a scream of pure horror.
“This is impossible!”
Most of the spectators still had no idea what they were witnessing.
“What am I even looking at right now?”
“In a fight between martial artists—not even involving ordinary people—this kind of overwhelming…!”
Only the tiny handful of people with truly profound martial arts, those who could see through the situation, rose one by one with eyes that looked ready to burst.
“Wh-who in the world is that man?!”
Those who finally grasped just how absurd the one-sided battle unfolding before them truly was were so overwhelmed they could not even form proper words.
—Thud.
A stream of crimson blood poured from Lee Eultak’s nose. Foam filled his mouth; the whites of his eyes, unable to endure the hellish agony raw, had ruptured completely and turned red. Yet the bones of his face remained intact.
—Thuuud…!
Only after a full gak had passed did Lee Eultak finally collapse backward, crushed beyond the point of functioning as a martial artist—or even as a human being.
—….
Everyone sank into a silence like hell itself.
“….”
So Cheonpa’s face became a perfect blank mask. All composure had vanished from it. Beside him, the playful smile disappeared from the massive So Jeongmun as well.
“Ah… ah… damn it. This ghost….”
Lee Eultak lay in a heap of bloody pulp, gasping as if his last breath might leave him at any moment, yet no one even glanced at him. On the arena I looked only at So Cheonpa and So Jeongmun, and they did not avert their eyes either.
“You don’t plan on ending it here, do you?”
My flipped, hoarse voice rang across the arena.
So Cheonpa bit his lip and muttered,
“This bastard… I don’t know where you’ve been playing, but you’ve got some skill, is that it?”
“Be careful, Lord So Cheonpa.”
So Jeongmun stepped forward one pace and spoke.
“If I may be so bold, it is true that Lee Eultak’s skill was lacking. But he was by no means so pathetic that he would be toyed with one-sidedly like a cat playing with a mouse—struck at will and even having his pressure points sealed.”
“I know. I know better than anyone.”
So Cheonpa spat the words as if chewing them. He stared at me as though trying to bore holes through me.
“And that bastard shows no intention of withdrawing after finishing Lee Eultak either.”
I drew a deep breath. I took my eyes off them and looked around the entire gathering. Everyone was staring at me. No longer was there any mockery on their faces. The courtesans who had been pouring wine, the high officials who had been greedily tearing at meat and arguing—every last one of them was looking at me.
Toward them I slowly raised both hands, dyed scarlet with blood.
—Clasp.
I performed a formal fist-and-palm salute and spoke.
“To the exalted personages present here, as lofty as the stars in the sky, and for the sake of your enjoyment on this joyous day, this lowly assassin of no famous bloodline and no great origin—nothing more than a worm—Biryu, who was also once the disciple of Gang Ilbi of the Dangsa Sect, offers a single word.”
In a voice that burned like hell itself I spat each word as if chewing it.
“The purpose of this duel was publicly declared: if one defeats Sub-manager Lee Eultak and Manager So Jeongmun, one may request any wish of Unwol Jiju, and the representative of Unwol Jiju must grant it without fail.”
I turned left and right, displaying the blood-stained salute once more, and spoke clearly and deliberately.
“As everyone has just witnessed, I have fairly and squarely defeated Sub-manager Lee Eultak. Therefore, as the price for that, I shall now state my wish to So Cheonpa, representative of Unwol Jiju. Of course, as an uninvited guest who suddenly intruded, and as one who knows the ways of the martial world, I will by no means demand an unreasonable wish. Moreover—”
Even through the dark-red mask, a blood-tinged smile of the eyes shone brightly as I continued.
“—that wish is also one that will further heighten the excitement of this gathering.”
“You fucking dog—!”
“What is this wish of yours?”
Just as So Cheonpa was about to shout, another voice cut across and interrupted. It belonged to the plump, pot-bellied patriarch of the Hwangbo Clan seated in the VIP section—Hwangbo Cheon-jung. He looked at me with clear displeasure. From the high platform, past his fat brows and sagging cheeks, he made no effort to hide his discomfort as he glanced back and forth between me and So Cheonpa.
I looked at So Cheonpa. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me. Burning that face into my memory, I shouted toward the crowd.
“I request a one-versus-five duel that includes Manager So Jeongmun. One versus five.”
“…!”
Every eye flew wide.
The patriarch of the Hwangbo Clan, who was also the real financial backer of Unwol Jiju, asked,
“If my ears are not mistaken, you are now requesting as your wish not a one-on-one with Manager So Jeongmun of Unwol Jiju, but a duel against five martial artists of Unwol Jiju including him. Is that correct?”
“It is. However, since the difficulty has been raised, if I win this as well, then the condition I state next must be granted without any excuse whatsoever, in accordance with a man’s word being heavier than gold and the ways of the martial world.”
The Hwangbo patriarch tilted his head.
“Condition?”
Sparks flying from my eyes, I swept my gaze over the entire assembly and shouted to them all.
“If I win the one-versus-five that includes Manager So Jeongmun, then regardless of reason, reduce the tenant rents of all the tenant farmers belonging to Unwol Jiju’s fields by half or more!”
“Wh-what?!”
So Cheonpa foamed at the mouth and raged.
“For a mere one-versus-five you’re talking about what—!”
“And furthermore, if I win a one-versus-ten!”
I cut So Cheonpa off and roared.
“…What? One versus ten?”
So Cheonpa muttered blankly. The crowd began to murmur.
“He’s saying he’ll face ten martial artists alone… not even ordinary people?”
“Impossible. It’s just bluster. So Jeongmun isn’t an ordinary martial artist either.”
Toward that murmuring crowd I shouted without the slightest hesitation.
“Remit all the farmers’ tenant rents for three years or more!”
“W-wait—”
So Cheonpa tried to speak in a panic. I cut him off cleanly and continued.
“And furthermore, if I win a one-versus-fifteen!!”
Not even the sound of swallowing could be heard in the assembly now.
“Manager So Jeongmun must kneel and apologize for the discourtesy he showed my master and the common people. And finally, if I win a one-versus-twenty!”
“What—!”
Everyone was thunderstruck.
“Then you, So Cheonpa, representative of Unwol Jiju, will personally smash your forehead to the ground right here and gladly apologize for the insults you heaped upon every man who fell in this place—men who only wished to live as heads of their households and as men!”
Toward them all I clenched my teeth and roared.
“That shall be the very proof that righteousness and chivalry still live in this martial world!!!”