The Beast Leader's Relentless Grip
The bandit leader swallowed dryly.
Arrows that had been streaking toward the Huajin people froze in mid-air.
An expert. No, an expert so astonishing that it defied imagination!
The man named Dokbiiro quickly scanned his surroundings, the same thought striking him simultaneously.
And there it was—a figure standing right in front of Cheolsan, its back visible.
“The elder of Hwangsan School, Dokbiiro, pays his respects….”
“Whoever has graced us with a visit, kindly reveal your name….”
“We never imagined we’d run into someone who’s mastered the Hundred and Eight Flowing Blood Art right here.”
Before Dokbiiro could finish speaking, the man slowly lowered his body and locked eyes with Cheolsan.
“Why does a body of the Demonic Cult that should have vanished a hundred years ago exist on you?”
“Krrrurrr.”
“According to my masters, it’s so incomplete that maintaining sanity is impossible. Yet you manage to hold onto reason?”
“Kraaaaa!”
Cheolsan roared in desperation, but he couldn’t lift his body.
As if something heavy was crushing him.
“It seems you’re not in a state to answer. Then I’ll just have to find out for myself.”
The man began to touch Cheolsan’s body from head to toe.
Watching the scene, Dokbiiro glanced at his fellow elders.
—What should we do, hyung?
—Let’s observe for now. We don’t know which school this expert belongs to.
The man turned with a satisfied smile, as if he had heard every word.
He couldn’t have been more than in his late twenties.
Looking far too young, the man addressed Dokbiiro.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’ve managed some adjustments. The flow of your blood is remarkably calm for someone like you. Isn’t that right, boys?”
“W-what are you talking about?”
While the main nose and mouth looked flustered, the older man named Joosuhyeop asked in a calm tone.
“Hmm… We are elders of Hwangsan School. Reveal your identity.”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? Everyone figures it out at once.”
“I ask again! Reveal your identity!”
“If you don’t answer this time, we’ll assume you’re disrespecting our Hwangsan School!”
“Even though you don’t rank in the Nine Major Schools, you’re making such a big fuss.”
Dokbiiro’s face twisted into an ugly grimace from the open contempt.
“You’re partnering with the authorities these days, right? How do you even manage to eat and live after such sloppy work?”
“How dare you insult our Hwangsan School!”
“Don’t get angry. You wear beast-skin clothes and speak in a sloppy tone—anyone can tell you’re bandits. I’m only giving you a friendly warning.”
“Eek!”
“It’s not like I don’t understand. My own appearance doesn’t look like a bandit at all. Right, boys?”
Before the man’s words had even finished, a group of bandits suddenly appeared behind the Huajin people.
Around fifty men stood there, each gripping various weapons.
“Our leader is the most handsome man under heaven!”
“I’ve told you countless times. He looks just like a young master from a noble family.”
“Songok and Bansaen won’t stand a chance against our leader!”
The men who looked like bandits all started showering compliments nonstop.
“Kids, what are you overdoing it like that for? Okay! Since the mood’s great, let’s clear this out and talk properly.”
Before the leader’s words could finish, the arrows that had been hanging in the air dropped limply to the ground with a soft thud.
Tuk tuk tuk!
Dokbiiro’s body jolted.
Only after confirming that the man who had stopped the arrows was the leader right in front of him.
Just how high a realm must one reach to achieve something like this?
And how could someone with such martial prowess remain unknown all this time?
Everything felt incomprehensible.
Just as Dokbiiro wore a bewildered expression, the leader spoke.
“By the way, why did you bring this guy?”
“We didn’t have any specific plan in mind.”
“We believed he was the remaining remnant of the Demonic Cult and came to conduct a fair investigation….”
“Our stories don’t match.”
Dokbiiro let out a reluctant sound.
But before he could finish, Joosuhyeop stepped forward to speak for the group.
“A hundred years ago, the Central Plains suffered a massive calamity due to the Demonic Cult. Countless sects were wiped out by their sinister laws and martial arts. This man has mastered the remaining essence of that cult. Specifically, the Hundred and Eight Flowing Blood Art—the most destructive martial art in the martial world.”
“So you captured him to extract information?”
“Wrong. We only planned to hand him over to the Martial Alliance.”
“Whether that’s true or not doesn’t matter. You’re all coming with us too.”
Dokbiiro asked with a puzzled expression.
“What does that mean?”
“Where are you taking us?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Our fortress.”
“W-why our place?”
“As I said earlier, we are martial artists of the Hwangsan School.”
“So what?”
The leader answered casually.
“If you touch us, the authorities won’t just stand by.”
“When have we ever stood by? We’ve been charging in every single day to exterminate you.”
“No matter how strong you are, you can’t possibly take on both the Hwangsan School and the authorities….”
Pishuk!
Before Dokbiiro could finish, a faint sound rang out and he fell silent.
At the same time, shock filled his eyes.
“Kids, you talk too much.”
The leader had already paralyzed Dokbiiro and turned his head to look at the bandits.
“Clean this up. I have some things to discuss with this guy.”
“Yes, Leader!”
Before the reply finished, the bandits scattered in all directions.
Then they swung the weapons still in their hands toward the surviving government troops.
“S-stop them!”
“R-retreat!”
The bandits moved with lightning speed and agility, wiping out the government troops in the blink of an eye.
All the while, the leader once again faced Cheolsan.
“What should I do with you?”
“Krrurrr.”
“If you were just a madman, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you. But with even a tiny shred of self-awareness left… I can’t just kill you.”
Just as the leader was deep in thought, voices came from behind.
“Please spare Cheolsan! We beg you!”
“He hasn’t done anything wrong. He was only forced to learn the wrong thing because of his crazy father.”
“He’s incredibly kind as long as he doesn’t use martial arts. Please show him mercy!”
The Huajin people, who had been watching silently, knelt and bowed their heads while shouting.
“You want to spare this guy after knowing what the Hundred and Eight Flowing Blood Art is?”
“We know. It’s the martial art that pushed the Central Plains to the brink of collapse.”
“Do you even know how it transforms when its power deepens?”
“We heard it turns the user into a mindless killer who slaughters day and night once sanity is lost.”
“The targets of that slaughter could very well be you.”
“May I relay a message left by the father of the man who died from illness?”
After nodding, the oldest-looking elder continued.
“He left a message saying the Hundred and Eight Flowing Blood Art had been adjusted and that the boy’s innocence and purity would prevent him from turning into a madman easily. So please….”
“Do you know? The reason his mind is crumbling is because you interfered with him under the pretense of adjusting an impossible skill. The madness of the Hundred and Eight Flowing Blood Art cannot be overcome by mere purity.”
Even with that, the old man’s expression didn’t change.
“So you don’t care?”
“The only family this boy has left… are us.”
“So you were going to leave him behind and run away?”
Bitterness spread across the faces of the old man and the Huajin people.
We had no choice. If we wanted to survive, Cheolsan would have had to give up his body completely.
No one among them tried to make excuses.
The leader smiled and threw another question at the old man.
“Looking at your speech, you don’t seem like a serf or slave. What kind of work were you doing before?”
“I handled some iron.”
“Where?”
“…I was part of a martial family in Shaanxi.”
“Hmm, really?”
The leader scanned Cheolsan and the Huajin people as if thinking hard, then nodded vigorously.
“Good! You’re staying alive.”
“Thank you!”
“We are grateful for your broad-mindedness!”
“We’re truly grateful!”
The Huajin people kept bowing their heads as the leader’s voice echoed in their ears.
“In exchange, this guy is coming with me. And all of you too.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“If we leave this guy as he is, he’ll turn into a monster in no time.”
“What?”
“In return for sparing him, you all have to come with us. Of course, I’m not forcing you. I promise there won’t be any harm even if you refuse.”
The Huajin people swallowed hard and looked toward the oldest man standing at the front.
As if they were entrusting their fate to him.
Did the old man sense that gaze?
He slowly raised his bowed upper body and met the leader’s eyes.
The leader returned the gaze with an enigmatic smile.
After staring at each other for a while,
the old man lowered his upper body again and spoke.
“We will follow.”
“What should I call you?”
“Please call me Jang Old Man.”
“I am the leader of Jinryong Chae, Jin Chen. Let’s get along well from now on.”
Jin Chen—er, Jin Chen—smiled faintly and raised his voice.
“Everyone! Once everything’s sorted, let’s head out! Bring these two old guys along too.”
“Yes, Leader!”
“Since our family has grown, let’s hunt on the way. We’ll need a lot of meat.”
“I’ll catch anything I see.”
Jin Chen nodded vigorously at the bandits’ reply.
“Alright! Let’s go!”
With those words, he grabbed Cheolsan’s collar and lifted him up in one swift motion.
Then, looking at him with the same beast-like growl, he said,
“I’ll give you a name like the others. Muscular. From now on, your name is Muscular.”
“Kraaaaa!”
“You don’t like it? Too bad. I named you that, so there. Hahahaha.”
Jin Chen burst into clear laughter and took a large step forward. Then the Huajin people and bandits followed behind him.
***
Inside a vast valley completely surrounded by rocky mountains.
Beautiful houses built of stone and wood were packed closely together.
One sound echoed constantly through that space.
Clang! Kyaang! Clang!
The sound of a hammer coming from the massive forge in the center of the valley.
Whrrrrrrrr!
Inside the enormous forge filled with intense heat in the huge furnace, countless dwarves moved busily.
Among the dwarves, the red-bearded dwarf wandered around shouting.
“Hurry up, everyone! We have to finish all the goods we need to trade for the wind arrows by today!”
“Understood, Chief!”
The dwarf called Chief never stopped directing work inside the forge.
“Bring over more iron ore over there quickly!”
“The arrowhead work is too slow! Send more people over to help!”
The louder his shouts grew, the faster the work became.
Suddenly, a dwarf approached the Chief who was tirelessly scolding his tribe members.
“Chief, Grombal-nim has arrived.”
“You came earlier than I expected. Let’s go see him.”
The Chief walked straight out of the forge and headed toward the only entrance of the village on the western side of the valley.
The Chief stopped after a few steps.
He had spotted ten carriages racing toward him from the front.
Hiiiing!
The carriages stopped right in front of the Chief.
At the same time, the dwarf with reddish-brown beard—Grombal—stepped down from the carriage.
“Hehe, why did you come out to greet us? We were going to be there soon.”
“I came to check because I was worried you might have drunk too much on the way here.”
“There’s no way that’s true. Last year, because of it, I had to stay in the study for a week, stabbing my sword like crazy just to calm down.”
Grombal shivered at the mere thought.
The Chief chuckled. “What about the goods?”
“After checking, I see Benjamin brought more than double what he usually does. It seems he considers this his last transaction.”
“What a shame. He was the most reliable human we had.”
“Don’t feel too bad. Because our grandson Lucius is taking over the trade from now on.”
“Lucius….”
Before the Chief could finish, Grombal quickly added,
“Don’t worry. I’ll make him as sharp as my grandfather.”
“Don’t trust too easily. Human lives are short. That’s why bigger ambitions can make you throw away loyalty and trust without a second thought.”
“Do you think I’m still a kid who’s not even a hundred years old? I’m not being lectured.”
“It’s not lecturing. I just think you trust humans too much.”
“So you came to build homes for humans? I heard you made them wonderfully.”
“That wasn’t for the humans. It was because the Lord of the Gold Dragon asked me to….”
The Chief couldn’t continue.
Swaaaa!
Because an unknown sound was coming from the place where the carriages had stopped.
The Chief and Grombal both hardened their expressions and quickly turned around.
“What the heck is that?!”