Monster Without Killing Intent
"Tch, what the hell is this bitch now?"
The pirates flinched involuntarily. It was a reflexive reaction after suffering a brutal massacre at the hands of veiled women. But soon, they realized it.
There wasn't the slightest aura of a master from their opponent.
Her gait lacked any sharpness, and her frail body seemed like it would bend like a reed at any moment. She was even holding her sword in a completely bizarre manner—blade up, flat side down.
"Pfft, haha! What? She's holding the sword upside down?"
Laughter burst from the pirate's mouth. As martial artists themselves, they couldn't help but scoff.
Anyway, that settled it.
"She's nothing special. Ignore her and kill the bitch!"
"Ha, fuck. Even this wench looks down on us like we're dog shit? If we had time, I'd grind her to pieces."
"No time, so just kill her quick!"
"Got it. Dieeeee!"
The pirate in front swung his blade with ferocious momentum—a vertical slash aimed from her head down to her crotch, intending to split her in two. He meant to leave the most wretched, humiliating chunks of corpse possible.
However.
That fierce slash missed in the most pathetic way. With a single motion.
Swish.
Yu Seol-young's form shifted in a strangely languid movement, and the pirate's blade struck the deck uselessly.
Irritation twisted the pirate's face.
"Damn it! You dare dodge?"
He tried to reset his stance for another attack. But.
"Cervical vertebra."
Yu Seol-young's sword flat moved first.
Thwack!Crack!
"Guh, guaaack!"
The pirate screamed in agony as his body crumpled to the deck.
Thud!
"Guh, guh?!"
He couldn't move a single finger or toe, only writhing like a worm. His cervical vertebrae had been shattered, leaving him completely paralyzed from the neck down.
Now, he would never walk again—couldn't even crawl, and he'd soil himself without help for the rest of his life. A hell worse than death. The worst kind of cripple.
"K-Kill her! Kill her now!"
"Swarm her and finish it!"
The pirates charged with murderous intent. Yu Seol-young's body looked perilously fragile, as if it would be sliced apart any second.
But every time.
Swish.Swish.
She evaded every blade with infuriatingly feeble, eerie movements.
And then.
"Cervical vertebra."
Thud!Crack!
"Gaaah!"
"Cervical vertebra."
Thwack!Crack!
"Aaaagh!"
Without fail, she smashed another pirate's cervical vertebrae. The number of pirates writhing on the deck like maggots, fully paralyzed, grew.
The murmur of "cervical vertebra" now sounded like pure terror. Dread settled thickly on the pirates' faces.
"H-Huh?!"
"Why, why won't it hit! Why?!"
"Cervical vertebra."
"Kuhack!"
"Cervical vertebra."
"Uwaaagh!"
Pirates who had advanced boldly toward her now hesitated, backing away. Their faces pale as ghosts. The infamous Haesabang pirates were utterly terrified.
The funny part? She hadn't killed a single one.
They knew what shattered cervical vertebrae meant: a lifetime unable to twitch a limb, incontinent as an animal, living worse than a dog or pig until death.
"K-Kill us!"
"Kill?"
"Just kill us! You vicious bitch!"
"Why?"
Her expression was one of genuine incomprehension.
"……."
The pirates were speechless.
"Ugh…… H-How can such a cruel monster exist……."
Their faces turned ashen. Now, they could understand the words spoken of her in life.
—A monster without killing intent.
Her sword flat was more terrifying than any blade.
Meanwhile.
"……I-Is it really okay to smash like that with the sword flat?"
Even Jang Il, who usually sized up women dismissively, looked queasy this time. Bang So-un wore the same expression.
"No way…… Swords aren't made for bludgeoning. Hitting like that with the thin flat turns it into a club—it'll break."
"It's fine, though?"
"Yeah……."
"……."
"……."
"Why not just kill them? Why not use the edge?"
"Beats me."
"……."
"……."
"Isn't this way worse than death?"
"Infinitely more miserable."
"……."
"……."
"Young master."
"What?"
"Thanks for not joining in. Almost ended up shitting myself uncontrollably."
"Told you. Gave me the fucking creeps."
"Your insight is as sharp as ever……."
"Survival instinct."
As the master and servant chatted idly, saved by the sword summit thanks to her intervention, the pirates were already routed. At an absurdly swift pace.
"Cervical vertebra."
"N-Nooooo!"
Thwack!Craaack!
"Gaaaaah!"
The last pirate collapsed onto the deck, crippled. Only then did Yu Seol-young sheathe her sword.
Her gaze turned toward the civilians. Sizing up whether to assist. But she didn't move. No need, she must have judged.
And rightly so—the battle's outcome was already decided. The three Jeolhwadae members were there. Even the two Haenam Sect disciples provided some help.
The Haesabang pirates who had boarded the ship were on the brink of annihilation.
"Grrrrrr……."
Po Dong-young, the second-in-command of Haesabang, trembled uncontrollably with rage.
An unexpected master's appearance. That damned woman's intervention had foiled his plan to use the civilians as hostages and turn the tide.
Retreat meekly? Unthinkable. This was the sea—their domain. Withdrawing here was tantamount to a humiliating surrender.
Better to die fighting. No, he wouldn't die. This was the sea.
And combat wasn't just about blades.
Naval warfare. The true battle of Haesabang remained.
"The sea is our domain! Ours!"
Po Dong-young bellowed like a lion at his subordinates.
"Ramming prow! Use the ramming prow to sink their ship!"
A ramming prow. Something no ordinary merchant ship would have. But his lieutenant's vessel did—built as a dedicated warship, massive and reinforced.
"Yes, Second Commander!"
"We'll punch a massive hole in their ship with the prow right away!"
His men's voices brimmed with morale. They knew: no matter the master, once their ship sank and they hit the water, they'd be mere meals.
That was why they feared no experts at sea.
"Chaaarge!"
With Po Dong-young's roar, the lieutenant's ship surged forward fiercely.
"Haha, total victory."
"Indeed, senior brother."
The Haenam Sect warriors, drunk on triumph despite doing next to nothing, reveled. Like foxes praising themselves after tigers hunted.
The Jeolhwadae members eyed them pitifully. Veils hid their expressions, though.
Then.
"Wha?! O-Over there!"
"A ship—a huge one coming!"
"Gasp?! It's ramming us?!"
The civilians, spotting it, paled and fidgeted. The massive lieutenant's ship cleaved the waves with menacing speed.
"C-Captain! Maneuver quick—dodge it! Hurry!"
"Q-Quick, hurry up!"
They urged the captain desperately. But his face was corpse-gray.
"T-Too late! Can't dodge that! No way!"
Despair swept the deck in an instant.
"Y-Young master! D-Do something!"
"……If they pay a fat ransom, they'll let us go unharmed, right?"
"W-We killed too many of those bastards for that!"
"Oh, right?"
"Snap out of it, young master!"
"In the next life, we'll conquer the martial world for sure."
"No last words!"
"What a shame. So many female peak experts left to fuck."
"Stop the last words!"
"Fuck what?"
"……."
"……."
Yu Seol-young's sudden voice snapped Bang So-un and Jang Il's mouths shut. They exchanged frantic glances.
……She didn't hear, right?
……Probably not?
……Saved.
……We just survived survival.
The close-knit pair communicated volumes with eyes alone.
Bang So-un spoke up.
"……Before I die, I want to eat persimmons from the tree I planted at home."
"Why die?"
Flick.
Bang So-un pointed like it was obvious—at the charging lieutenant's ship. Barreling like a wild boar.
"That? I was gonna stop it anyway."
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Bang So-un and Jang Il's eyes widened in unison. A human stopping that brute beast?
Made no sense.
……they thought. That's when.
"Told you. Trash like pirates running rampant is an eyesore."
Yu Seol-young moved fast for the first time. She flashed to the railing and leaped into the sea.
Th, this madwoman!
"What are you doing?!"
Bang So-un gasped.
"No, this is too much!"
Jang Il wailed.
But suddenly, their eyes bulged. Not just them—everyone gaped, jaws unhinging.
They saw it.
Yu Seol-young treading the waves without sinking, gliding effortlessly as if on flat land.
"L-Lily Pad Crossing Water?!"
That day, the people looked to the heavens.