Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Resolve is Firm (1)
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With his bellow, a massive device emerged at the bow of the Black Ship.
It resembled a gigantic ballista.
"It'll punch a hole through the target ship to connect them, so be careful!!"
The captain recognized it and shouted.
Paying no heed, Dok-an-ryong laughed wildly.
"Uahaha!! Fire!!"
A enormous iron harpoon suspended by iron chains flew toward them.
Hwan-gyu swiftly swung his sword at it.
And Gu Hwan-gae extended his hand as well.
-Chaeaeaeang!!
The harpoon, struck by sword qi and fist wind, veered off course and plunged into the river.
That was the moment.
Dang Yu-wol's hand moved.
"Ugh?!"
A hidden weapon shot forth at the speed of light.
Careless, Dok-an-ryong hurriedly swung his longsword.
-Chaeaeaeang!!!
The clash between the hidden weapon and longsword rang out loudly.
Dok-an-ryong was startled by the force.
'Damn...!!'
This level of power was comparable to peak realm experts.
'It just looks like an ordinary flying dagger...?'
Not even a Sacheon Tang Clan secret weapon, but something common anywhere in murim.
To infuse such power into something like that.
'Damn it. I should've demanded more money.'
His teeth ground together at how stronger the target was than expected.
The moment he tried to brace his feet, Dang Yu-wol's hand moved again.
"Watch out!! Hidden weapons...!!"
-Peueueok!!
Two objects flew in like beams of light.
One was a pouch, the other a flying dagger.
The pouch burst open in midair.
White powder rapidly spread from within.
"Poison!!"
Dok-an-ryong gritted his teeth and hastily covered his face with his sleeve.
He had already heard information on Dang Yu-wol.
He had taken antidote pills sold by the Healing Immortal Sect in preparation.
But Tang Clan poisons were not to be taken lightly.
"Take the antidote pills!"
"Don't breathe!!"
At his command, his subordinates hurriedly covered their faces to avoid inhaling the powder.
-Peueok!! Peueok!!
More pouches flew in and burst.
They held their mouths and noses, enduring until the enemy stopped using poison.
'The bastard must have confirmed we aren't poisoned. As expected of the Healing Immortal Sect's antidotes.'
As Dang Yu-wol paused, he smirked.
Expensive, but worth it.
Lowering his sleeve with a grin, he gripped his longsword and aimed it at Dang Yu-wol.
"Hahaha!! The Sacheon Tang Clan is finished now."
"......"
"With the Healing Immortal Sect's antidote pills, your poisons won't have much effect! Lads!! Fire again!!"
Dang Yu-wol smiled faintly at Dok-an-ryong, who shouted while laughing maniacally.
Then he pointed behind him.
"Seems your subordinates disagree."
"What?!"
Dok-an-ryong whipped his head around.
And paled in horror.
"What the hell?!"
All his subordinates had collapsed to the deck, trembling as if paralyzed.
Clear symptoms of poisoning.
"We definitely took the Healing Immortal Sect's antidote pills!! And we didn't inhale or ingest that powder!!"
Dang Yu-wol's poisons could be absorbed through the skin.
Unaware of that, he tensed and turned back.
"You bastard!!"
"Time to pay for rampaging like a madman, blind to heaven and earth?!"
Hwan-gyu and Gu Hwan-gae, who had closed in unnoticed, were targeting him.
Super peak expert and late peak expert.
No matter that it was on a rocking ship, facing them both was impossible.
"Kuaak!! You cowardly bastards!! And you call yourselves orthodox faction?!"
"What do you expect from beggars?"
"For the extermination of demons and evil, even shame must be endured."
His hands and feet grew chaotic against the two experts, who showed no shame in their pincer attack.
That wasn't all tormenting him.
'Damn it! That guy!!'
Flying daggers kept coming from the other ship.
The danger wasn't just their extraordinary power.
'That bastard...!!'
The openings in Hwan-gyu's Four-Style Swordsmanship.
The gaps in Gu Hwan-gae's White Gale Divine Fist.
He was throwing daggers precisely to cover every single flaw.
'As if he perfectly understands both martial arts!!'
"Ugh?!"
He nearly lost his remaining eye to a flying dagger.
His heart trembled.
'At this rate, I'm done for...!!'
Hwan-gyu's sword and Gu Hwan-gae's hands were dismantling his defenses completely.
Dok-an-ryong gritted his teeth.
'No choice. Retreat now.'
He hastily fell back and reached into his bosom.
In his hand was a smoke bomb.
"What's this?!"
"The bastard's trying to escape?!"
-Peuok!!
"Keuok!!"
A hidden weapon struck his chest.
Not the crude throwing stars he'd used before, but a meticulously crafted flying dagger.
"...Tang Clan flying dagger...!! Kkuluk!!"
The throwing daggers once used only by Tang Clan elites.
He'd heard they weren't made anymore, yet this guy had one.
All his intel was wrong.
'Damn... but not fatal.'
Good thing he wore leather armor beneath his clothes.
The moment Dok-an-ryong, having avoided a lethal wound, tried to throw the smoke bomb—
-He'll escape like this.
'Can't let that happen.'
Light poured from Dang Yu-wol's hand.
Not one beam, but dozens.
Like flower petals filling the sky, impossible to dodge.
Thus, Dok-an-ryong couldn't evade a single one.
"Kuaak!!"
With a horrific scream, Dok-an-ryong collapsed.
Sharp flying daggers pierced his body everywhere.
"You... that just now."
Hwan-gyu was merely surprised, but Gu Hwan-gae's jaw dropped.
And rightly so—that strike.
The legendary hidden weapon technique.
It resembled the Man-cheon-hwa-u.
"He didn't die, so we'll bind him."
For someone who felled a peak expert in one blow, his tone was remarkably calm.
"Kill me."
Acupoint-sealed and bound, Dok-an-ryong growled through gritted teeth.
Looking down at him, Dang Yu-wol turned to the captain.
"What happens if we capture the ringleader?"
"Send him to the authorities? Normally, they'd drag him north to serve as a slave soldier."
"I see."
"Plus, Dok-an-ryong's killed officials before, so there's a hefty bounty, dead or alive."
"So, no need to keep Dok-an-ryong alive, then?"
"Pardon? Yes. That's right? Catching peak experts alive is tough anyway."
That's why they accept just the head as proof.
The captain shared his common knowledge.
"I see."
"What? You didn't even know that?"
No matter how much he'd regressed, he wouldn't know things he hadn't experienced.
Would someone who endured decades in the Blood Cult have gone bounty hunting?
Dang Yu-wol smirked at Gu Hwan-gae's snide remark and approached Dok-an-ryong.
"You cowardly shit. Using poison in a duel, trash...!!"
"Who said to target me alone?"
"Tch! Think I'll talk!? Kill me!!"
Dang Yu-wol glanced at his captured subordinates and nodded.
"Yeah."
"What?"
"No reason to keep you alive."
Dang Yu-wol plunged the Black Viper Sword straight into his throat.
"Ggueok...."
Not a moment's hesitation—a mechanical, swift motion.
"Uh. Um. Little brother..."
"Hey. That... what do we say."
Had he not truly believed he'd be killed?
In Dok-an-ryong's remaining eye, disbelief flickered before slowly fading.
"No..."
"K-Killing the boss like that...?"
Those who saw him slain so casually were at a loss for words.
"Now."
All eyes on the ship fixed on him.
But he casually aimed the Black Viper Sword at Dok-an-ryong's subordinates.
"Anyone want to talk? First come, first served—one survivor."
The bound men's eyes darted frantically.
Killing defenseless people naturally brings hesitation.
No matter how much they were unorthodox faction.
"M-Master."
"Is this okay?"
"Sigh. I'm worried too."
Knowing this, Yi-kyeong and Yi-yul watched Dang Yu-wol with concern.
'Killing defenseless people like that is something only those who see human life as worthless can do...'
"Elder Brother Cheong suffered for days after his first kill."
"What if Brother Dang struggles after killing?"
Gu Hwan-gae snorted at their reactions.
He recalled the day he first met Dang Yu-wol.
'The guy who killed ten and immediately went after more—what hesitation?'
And that was just the start.
He'd already killed plenty dismantling the Sacheon Merchant Alliance.
"That kid's fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
'Young, but ruthless.'
"Stepping into murim means resolving to kill."
"Resolve...?"
"Yeah. Easy to say, hard to do."
Gu Hwan-gae glanced at Dang Yu-wol.
As expected, he was conducting the interrogation unfazed.
"That kid's handling it well."
'The only worry would be losing himself to the thrill of killing... but not him.'
Gu Hwan-gae stated firmly.
But Hwan-gyu's concern lingered.
"Even if Little Brother is a genius, he's not even twenty yet."
"So?"
"A young head of a prestigious orthodox clan seeing blood like it's nothing... feels off."
"Does it?"
"Yes. And the Tang Clan handles poison."
Hwan-gyu was serious.
What if the Tang Clan young head disregarded the weight of life?
Horrifying to imagine.
"Worst case, it could spark a bloodbath in murim."
"Then you talk to him."
'Though I doubt it'll sway the kid.'