Bandit Subjugation -1
While Ho Cheon-an was sweeping the dust of the inn courtyard with his entire body in pure delight, Yeo Il-ye was observing the mountain stronghold from the very spot where she had first discovered Ho Cheon-an and Black Cat.
They’re back.
It seemed a fair amount of liquor had still remained in the stronghold. Even bandits, apparently, could not simply enjoy their drink during an emergency. Yeo Il-ye fixed her gaze on the two men seated in the places of honor.
“Huff… huff… You… huff!”
“You actually managed to follow me all the way up here?”
“Why the hell are there suddenly so many people at the inn? And what’s the Poison Doctor doing there?”
Jeon Hu-dam collapsed in a heap beside Yeo Il-ye.
“There were circumstances.”
“Damn it… Would it kill you to just tell me?”
Jeon Hu-dam grumbled, thinking of the two women—Black Cat and Yeo Il-ye.
From his perspective, nothing made sense. He had gone down the mountain to contact the Wolbok Hall in search of Mak Yeo-bu, chief of the Gaewang Stronghold, only to receive sudden orders to wait at the inn with a set of documents. When he arrived, the Poison Doctor, Ho Cheon-an, and Black Cat had suddenly appeared. After handing the documents over to Black Cat, Jeon Hu-dam had no choice but to chase after Yeo Il-ye up the mountain.
Wasn’t the whole point of the operation to keep the Hall Master and Yeo Il-ye apart?
He had thought his mission was to lure Yeo Il-ye to Hyeongwi Mountain so she would not cross paths with Black Cat. Yet somehow the two women were now traveling together. Black Cat had merely sent a sound transmission telling him to proceed with the original objective and had offered no further explanation.
“What’s the name of the one who looks like the deputy chief? He seems strong.”
“The Blood-Remnant Blade, Gi Gyeong-chan. Word is he recently reached the Super-Peak Realm himself.”
Jeon Hu-dam took a swig from the water skin at his waist before continuing.
“So first we slip into the stronghold through a gap and find the Seven Treasures Jade Belt. Once we have that…”
“The Poison Doctor has agreed to cooperate.”
“Oh…? As expected of one of the Diancang Sect’s Ten Later Heroes. The Poison Doctor himself will subjugate the stronghold for us?”
“Subjugate? No. He said that if I bring Mak Yeo-bu to him, he will open the man’s mouth for me.”
“Wait…”
Jeon Hu-dam felt his mind go blank. How was anyone supposed to drag a Super-Peak expert out of a stronghold that housed two Super-Peak masters and a hundred bandits—without even killing him?
“Talk sense for once! I know it’s taboo to discuss a martial artist’s realm, but let’s be realistic! He’s early Super-Peak, isn’t he? Even if you’re a disciple of Diancang, facing two Super-Peak experts in their own backyard is…”
“We’ll know once we see the result.”
Yeo Il-ye’s quiet confidence left Jeon Hu-dam speechless.
“We’re heading back. Prepare tonight and go in at dawn.”
“Hold on a second—”
Whoosh!
Watching Yeo Il-ye flutter lightly down the steep slope, Jeon Hu-dam finally realized the truth.
He would have to descend the mountain he had just climbed with such difficulty, then race all the way back to the inn.
“Damn it…”
Yeo Il-ye returned just as Ho Cheon-an was spitting with excitement while boasting about having reached First-rate.
“Ah, there you are!”
At first the party had listened with genuine pleasure—It’s been ages since his realm rose; of course he’s thrilled—but after more than an hour of the same story they were ready to die.
Even Black Cat and the Poison Doctor, who had congratulated him so enthusiastically at the beginning, had been staring at the floor by the time Yeo Il-ye walked in.
To Ho Cheon-an it was seven years of pent-up frustration finally released. To everyone else, First-rate was a minor milestone they had passed long ago.
The Poison Doctor brightened the moment Yeo Il-ye appeared.
“I intend to depart at dawn.”
“Mm… Will you be all right alone?”
“I can handle it.”
“Very well. If that is your will, I shall respect it. In that case… I should prepare for when you bring the man back. You! Stop resting and get up!”
“Aaaargh! Can’t a man rest at night?!”
“There’s still a mountain of work! Rest is something you earn after the work is finished!”
“If you’ve got the strength to drag me around, just do it yourself!”
Watching Mak-i being hauled away, Black Cat turned to Ho Cheon-an.
“Do you really think Yeo Il-ye can handle the Gaewang Stronghold by herself?”
Ho Cheon-an gave a crooked smile.
“If you’re that curious, why not follow her and see?”
“Hmm…”
The suggestion tempted her.
If Yeo Il-ye obtained a lead for her revenge, a bloody storm would sweep through Sichuan. Black Cat had calculated that Yeo Il-ye would lose in that storm.
But if Yeo Il-ye truly was strong enough to take an entire stronghold alone?
The board would look completely different from the one Black Cat had envisioned.
Maybe I should watch.
Black Cat decided she would tail Yeo Il-ye at dawn.
Yeo Il-ye stared at the tightly shut gate of the stronghold. After last night’s banquet, not a single soul stood on the watchtowers.
It was hardly surprising.
Who would climb a treacherous mountain in the dead of night just to raid a bandit nest?
In a single bound she cleared the wall. The bandits had gone to the trouble of sharpening wooden stakes, yet to a Super-Peak expert who had mastered a superior movement art, the wall was nothing more than a convenient perch. She stood atop it at leisure and surveyed the compound.
If the chief is anywhere, it will be there.
A hundred bandits needed many buildings, yet one stood out at once—larger and more ornate than the rest. A stuffed beast’s head hung from a pole, a clumsy imitation of a guardian deity.
Creeeak…
She pushed the door open and stepped into a reception hall. Her brow furrowed. Two steps higher sat a seat of honor that looked suspiciously like a throne, draped with a tiger skin.
“Even a bandit wants to put on airs of authority, it seems.”
Her clear voice rang through the building.
“Heh heh heh… So you noticed.”
Mak Yeo-bu abandoned his hiding place in the corner and rose. Six feet tall, shoulders twice as broad as an ordinary man’s, and a massive axe to match.
“Did you really think you could fool me? The moment that stiff old man released my men and kindly ‘warned’ me, the whole thing reeked.”
“Yet you did not run.”
“Hahahaha! Why would I? The Poison Doctor is someone to be wary of, true—but a girl like you? I can handle you easily enough.”
Mak Yeo-bu smiled lecherously as he looked her over.
“You’re quite the beauty. Perhaps I should examine every inch of you on my bed and learn exactly what grudge you hold against this old man.”
Slippery snake.
Even while facing Mak Yeo-bu, Yeo Il-ye kept her senses fixed on the doorway. A faint presence was approaching from outside. Anyone who could hide their aura this well had to be the other Super-Peak expert—the Blood-Remnant Blade, Gi Gyeong-chan.
At the very moment Yeo Il-ye was being surrounded by Super-Peak masters from both sides—
“Hmm.”
Black Cat sat high in a tree with a clear view of the stronghold, frowning.
Have I walked into Senior’s scheme…?
The situation was turning strange. Even against two Super-Peak experts, Yeo Il-ye could win if she took them one at a time. Right now, however, she was caught between them front and rear.
No matter that Gi Gyeong-chan had only just entered the realm, the formation was overwhelmingly against her.
Tch… So in the end I have to save her if she gets into trouble.
Ho Cheon-an already knew she had followed. If Yeo Il-ye died or was captured under those circumstances, could Black Cat simply stroll back as if nothing had happened? Of course not.
The moment she chose to follow, she had become obligated to help. Black Cat glared at the building and silently cursed Ho Cheon-an.
While she watched with open displeasure, Gi Gyeong-chan stopped and gripped his greatsword with both hands. A wooden door meant nothing to a Super-Peak expert—it was paper.
And that paper exploded.
No—one entire wall of Mak Yeo-bu’s quarters, the heart of the stronghold, detonated outward.
KUUUUUNG!
“…Good heavens.”
Black Cat murmured without realizing it.
Thud-thud-thud!
“Kh!”
Caught in the flying debris of wall and door, Gi Gyeong-chan barely threw himself clear.
KUUUUUNG!!
A sudden gale swept away wood dust and wreckage in an instant. Gi Gyeong-chan took one step back, thinking: this was no ordinary wind. This was… internal energy.
“What… in the world…”
His face went deathly pale.
[You waste your time with petty tricks.]
Yeo Il-ye’s Six Harmonies Resonance rolled across the compound. Bandits who had only just woken scrambled out with weapons in hand.
What they saw was Mak Yeo-bu’s quarters with one wall blown to pieces… and Yeo Il-ye, her entire body wreathed in Gang Qi.
The Blood-Remnant Blade Gi Gyeong-chan met her eyes and felt his whole body freeze solid with terror.
I cannot… fight her!
His gaze flicked to his own blade. He poured every scrap of energy into a Blade Gang, yet it barely coated the steel. Born a bandit, Gi Gyeong-chan’s internal energy was shallow. Luck had carried him into Super-Peak, but his reserves remained pitiful.
How many times greater was her energy? Three times? Five? Perhaps more. To cloak her entire body in Gang Qi… Gi Gyeong-chan had never imagined such a thing was even possible.
The woman before him was no longer human. She was a storm of pure qi, a tempest that looked ready to scour the world clean.
“You bastards, what are you standing around for?! The enemy is just one woman! All of you—!”
Black Cat realized Yeo Il-ye was not even using the Six Harmonies Resonance technique. This was simply raw internal energy flooding from her entire body, amplifying her voice as a side effect.
This is insane…
Black Cat clicked her tongue. Now she understood why Ho Cheon-an and the Poison Doctor had been so calm. The sheer volume of energy one person was controlling defied imagination.
“Chaaah!”
The instant Yeo Il-ye’s gaze shifted toward Mak Yeo-bu, Gi Gyeong-chan wrung every drop of energy from his body, formed Blade Gang, and charged. Using the technique of the Bow-Body Flying Shadow, he shot forward like an arrow and thrust.
A single strike worthy of Super-Peak!
It carried enough force to shatter a boulder several times the size of a man, yet Gi Gyeong-chan felt as though he were stabbing into a typhoon.
Pressure.
With every step closer, his shoulders grew heavier and his blade trembled. It was like thrusting underwater—resistance clung to his entire body.
He saw Mak Yeo-bu raise that enormous axe and charge from the opposite side. The Gang Qi on the axe was far clearer than his own. Despair at Yeo Il-ye’s crushing pressure warred with a sudden spark of hope.
In the end she had only one sword. Both his blade and Mak Yeo-bu’s axe were wrapped in Gang Qi the same way.
Yes, her energy was monstrous—she could even form Protective Gang Qi over her whole body! But conventional wisdom held that Protective Gang Qi could never perfectly stop weapon-borne Gang Qi.
Even if the defender’s Protective Gang Qi was superior, an attack carrying Gang Qi still contained the full physical force of a Super-Peak martial artist swinging a weapon. Even if the Gang Qi itself was not pierced, the impact would crush the body beneath.
If either of us can just land a hit…!
Gang Qi could slice rock like soft tofu. One touch was enough for victory!
Which side…?
Gi Gyeong-chan felt Yeo Il-ye’s sword move toward Mak Yeo-bu. A dense, brilliant Sword Gang that looked like a constellation of stars rose to meet the descending path of the great axe.
He knew the decisive moment had arrived.
The higher the level of the duel, the more often a single exchange decided everything.
Those of lower realm could not even use their full strength properly. They believed they were pouring everything into one ultimate strike, yet in truth they could neither deliver a true finishing blow nor empty their entire power in a single motion.
To pour one’s complete strength into one technique was itself a lofty realm of martial study.
Therefore Gi Gyeong-chan gathered every shred of concentration, kicked off the ground, and thrust. He smiled inwardly. Perhaps it was the edge of life and death, or the survival instinct awakened by the monster before him, but the thrust that left his hands was picture-perfect.
In the slowed world of extreme focus, Gi Gyeong-chan saw…
Yeo Il-ye staring straight at him with razor-sharp eyes.
And the scabbard gripped in her left hand.
Snap.
The belt that had held the scabbard firmly at her waist parted without resistance under her strength. The scabbard shot forward, its own Sword Gang meeting Gi Gyeong-chan’s thrust head-on.
Of all things, he chose a thrust.
The result would have been the same either way. Yeo Il-ye thought as much as she drove the scabbard forward.
Diancang’s thrust was the finest under heaven—a sword that could shoot down the sun itself. Both Gi Gyeong-chan’s and Mak Yeo-bu’s eyes went wide as the scabbard flew.
Sword and scabbard. The Sword Gang blazing on both sides burned like twin suns. Only then did the two men understand her intent.
Left and right—full power on both. Even divided, her energy was more than enough.
So she would face both at once.
Crack!
The moment Yeo Il-ye’s scabbard met Gi Gyeong-chan’s greatsword, a fissure raced across the blade. Though it was only a scabbard, her Gang Qi blazed like the sun and shone like a star cluster, while Gi Gyeong-chan’s barely managed to hold form.
Which side would be overpowered had already been decided.
KWA-AAAANG!!
Gang Qi collided with Gang Qi. Caught in the explosion of pure energy, Gi Gyeong-chan was driven into the ground as fast as he had charged, fragments of his shattered sword raining around him.
“You bitch!”
Mak Yeo-bu roared and brought his axe down. Yeo Il-ye’s sword shifted into a defensive form for an instant.
KUUUUUNG!!
The instant axe and sword met, a great concentric ring of force erupted; wood chips and dirt exploded outward in every direction. The shock was that violent. Bandits flung up their arms and stumbled back.
Shhhrrrk!!
Yeo Il-ye murmured lightly as she examined her body, which had been driven back more than ten paces. The bandits swallowed dryly. Their deputy chief lay half-buried in the earth with a shattered blade, coughing up blood from severe internal injuries.
The chief’s attack had connected to some degree, yet she had only been pushed back lightly. The typhoon of internal energy still raged, and the sword that hummed with blazing Gang Qi remained completely intact.
“You bastards! Attack! Create an opening or none of us will live!”
At Mak Yeo-bu’s urging the bandits exchanged glances…
and took one step backward.
Watching them, Yeo Il-ye spoke calmly.
Exactly so. Could the bandits look kindly on Mak Yeo-bu after he had turned tail in front of the Poison Doctor? They had accepted his return only because the jianghu ran on strength. To continue their banditry they needed a Super-Peak chief; they had no choice but to welcome him back.
Yeo Il-ye recalled the conversation she had held with Ho Cheon-an on the day they planned this operation.
‘Do you intend to settle scores with the bandits as well?’
‘It is not even clear yet whether Mak Yeo-bu is my enemy. I have no intention of transferring my grudge to the rest of them.’
‘Then leave the deputy chief alive. You will not need to worry about the others.’
‘After a month of being left to rot under the Poison Doctor’s threat, what loyalty do those bandits still feel toward Mak Yeo-bu? They simply need a backer and a center for their pack so they can keep plundering. A deputy chief of that level would make an acceptable substitute.’
‘If you still dislike letting them go, just track them down again after you take Mak Yeo-bu.’
At her blatant muttering the bandits’ eyes met.
“Y-you bitch…! Don’t be fooled! Do you think that woman will spare any of you?!”
Sensing their choice, Mak Yeo-bu raised his voice.
“She’ll kill every last one of you! She plans to pick us off one by one! Don’t fall for it!”
He shouted until the veins stood out on his neck and spit flew, yet the bandits’ movements were already open. Even if every man charged, the only result would be a dog’s death. The chief might survive; the moths who threw themselves into the flame almost certainly would not.
In that situation, who would step forward for a chief who had been gone a full month? The bandits carefully lifted the Blood-Remnant Blade Gi Gyeong-chan and began withdrawing from the stronghold in a single mass.
Mak Yeo-bu tried to lash out, but every time he moved Yeo Il-ye’s sword pointed at him, forcing him to retreat empty-handed.
It did not take long for the last bandit to leave and silence to settle over the stronghold.
“Good. Now it is just the two of us.”
Yeo Il-ye looked into Mak Yeo-bu’s hate-filled eyes and asked quietly. The Poison Doctor would open the man’s mouth thoroughly once she delivered him, yet she wanted to hear a fragment of the truth from his own lips first.
“That Seven Treasures Jade Belt you claim to possess… did you steal it from the Yeo Family Mountain Villa?”
“You…!”
Mak Yeo-bu’s eyes flew wide. He looked her over carefully… then burst into laughter.
“Keh… keh-keh-keh… Keh-keh…! So you’re the little bitch who survived the Yeo Family Villa and crawled into Diancang! Hahaha… hahaha! Yes, I did it! I burned that villa, looted it, and killed everyone!”
Yeo Il-ye wordlessly raised her sword. Even then Mak Yeo-bu did not stop laughing.
“I should have been more thorough back then! I should have killed every last rat in the grain bin and burned them all! But I was too busy carting off the treasure and got careless about finishing the people… and now that karma comes back to bite me…! Eu-hahaha… eu-hahahahaha!”
“…You were careless about killing people, you say.”
Yeo Il-ye let out a hollow laugh. That vast villa. More than a hundred family members had all died, and only she had survived…
“I am glad I asked the Poison Doctor for his cooperation.”
Mak Yeo-bu felt his laughter die. For the first time, killing intent bloomed in Yeo Il-ye’s calm, cold eyes.
Killing intent refined to absolute cold. Ordinary killing intent burned hot, born of blazing hatred. Yeo Il-ye’s, however, was as chill as a naked blade.
Because the fire of hatred that fueled her vengeance had been refined into metal.
“After I extract every scrap of information from your mouth, I will beg the Poison Doctor—whatever the price—to let you taste the torments of hell. How about a poison that melts your organs over ten days? Or perhaps worms that eat your flesh for a hundred days.”
Fwoosh!
Sword Gang blazed up her blade.
“Of course, before that you will first taste the sword I have honed.”
Yeo Il-ye assumed her ready stance.
The martial art she had polished from childhood until this very day for the sole purpose of facing her enemy.
Even when blisters rose on her palms and burst until blood ran, she had never stopped training. That hatred, following the maxim that extremes reverse and fire forges cold steel, had turned from flame into iron—yet one thing had never changed.
The sword art itself, built by burning that hatred as fuel.
“Truly a pity.”
“Uwaaaaaah! You think I’ll go down easy?!”
Mak Yeo-bu charged, swinging his axe in every direction. Yeo Il-ye watched his desperate flailing with calm eyes and spoke.
“I would have liked to show you clearly. But for the likes of you to chase, Diancang’s sword is simply too fast.”
First Hand, Initial Chord
A flash of light raced forward.
And the two hands that gripped the great axe went flying through empty air.