The Black Beast's Defeat
Strangely, today my luck is good...
A woman born with the bloodline of the south. She bears the name Kali, and in a world that discriminates against her solely because of her appearance, she has carved out a path for herself to survive.
That path began in her childhood, when she accidentally picked up a dagger and, in a single stroke, slaughtered the bandits who had tried to rape her. Despite wielding the blade on pure instinct, the bandits fell like fallen leaves. Immediately after, the men who had approached her moments earlier—looking like grotesque beasts—dropped to their knees like frightened puppies, begging for their lives.
Watching their desperate pleas, the orphan girl Kali had been wandering the back alleys of learned how to survive. She learned what she must pursue. Power. A strong, unassailable force. With that, there would be nothing to fear in this world, and every soul would kneel before her.
Following this simple rule, she honed her innate talent alone and grew at an astonishing pace. She swept through the renowned masters of Qinghai, earning the reputation of a tiger among wolves. Though countless warriors—those who had heard her name and believed they could test her strength—challenged her, none of them were more than stepping stones for her. From first-class experts who could project internal energy through weapons to peak masters who had opened their middle dantian and manifested sword qi, they all attacked with overwhelming momentum. Yet in the end, they always fell to her, either injured and retreating or begging for mercy.
She had always emerged victorious in battle. But her life took an unexpected turn one day when she met an unforeseen individual.
Before Kali, who was stirring the Murim world of Qinghai, appeared a man who introduced himself as the leader of the Kunlun Sect. He proposed that she cease her disturbances and, if she won, grant her the position of leader of Kunlun Sect. Though she had no interest in the Kunlun leader, she could not refuse a fight with an arrogant strong man.
The confrontation between these two great figures in the Qinghai Murim world was legendary. And the result was Kali's defeat by the narrowest of margins.
For the first time in her life, she experienced defeat at the hands of another. Yet despite this failure, instead of breaking, it only burned her desire for power even hotter. The fact that she had never won a victory she had taken for granted filled her with a profound thirst. To secure the victory she had failed to grasp by a hair's breadth, she felt the need to train herself even more intensely. As a result, Kali moved to Gansu—a place where she no longer needed to worry about Kunlun's gaze—and devoted herself entirely to training there.
The training was not the self-cultivation on the wall she had done before, but the art of slaying living enemies in front of her and claiming their lives. She went to the Black Mountain bandits who knew her fame in this region and offered them an alliance. In exchange for becoming their secret weapon, she gained a stage where she could engage skilled warriors in life-or-death combat.
The result was the completion of...
A martial art that did not rely on restrained power but exploded with full force to sever the opponent's breath. Heuk-su Geom. Concentrating all internal energy at the tip of the dagger she favored as a weapon, she could cut off an opponent's breath in a single, precise strike. Adding the sharpness of killing to her existing martial arts had made her incomparably stronger than before.
Finally reaching the realm she had desired, she began to consider the rematch with the Kunlun Sect leader she had never forgotten for even a moment, while organizing her mind. She approached this confrontation as if it were merely light warm-up for him, with a light heart.
However, at this very moment, Kali was tasting the feeling as if all the efforts she had made over the past few years—or, rather, the entirety of her life—had been completely denied and crushed.
A man suddenly appeared before her. He easily dispelled the attack that had never disappointed him until now.
What have I done so far...?
It was like an ignorant child swinging a stick and encountering a thief wielding an iron sword. Overwhelmed by the extreme despair this brought, Kali felt an indescribable terror and dropped the dagger she had never let go during the fight.
And...
“Ugh... Aaaaaaaa!!!”
Kali began screaming and fleeing. At this moment, no pride or self-esteem as a warrior remained in her mind. The only emotion she felt was to escape that terrifying monster at all costs. Thinking only of that, she used her legs that could move faster than the wind to flee with all her strength.
*
Hyangbi and her escorts, who had killed every remaining bandit without leaving a single one. Although most bandits lost their fighting spirit and began begging for mercy after the southern dancer disappeared, we showed no mercy and cut off their breaths. It may seem cruel, but looking at the inside, it wasn't. These people here were literally bandits—those who stole the lives and wealth of innocent people and lived off it. They were all condemned to death anyway if taken to the authorities. Moreover, in this world of Murim, which was not modern, there was no reason to take them to the authorities, so it was no problem to take their lives here. Even the escorts and caravan members who had died in the battle meant there was no room to speak of mercy.
After cleaning up most of the bandits, our gaze turned to the last remaining bandit leader.
“...Why... why can't we eat this chunk of meat... For some reason, today my luck is good...”
The leader muttering while lost in thought with his subordinates all dead. Seeing him, one of the escorts cut off his neck decisively.
With the situation completely over, Hyangbi stood in front of me. Seeing her with her face painted, eyes sparkling with expectation, I, as always, reached into my sleeve and gently stroked her head.
“Yes, yes, you really worked hard, Hyangbi.”
“...Thank you.”
Although the voice was flat, her face flushed with joy.
After that short time of usual praise, Hyangbi asked me with a bit of doubt.
“Um... but Master... Oppa... Why did you spare that woman? If we leave her behind, she might become a problem, right?”
“If it's that woman, you're talking about Heuk-su, right?”
“Huh? You know who that woman is?”
Hyangbi showed a slightly surprised expression at my words. Seeing her, I started telling her the small facts I hadn't mentioned during the provocation.
“Of course, it's a pretty famous guy in this Gansu region? There was only one Hwagyeong master in the vicinity anyway.”
“Ah... yes... But then, wouldn't it be better to capture her or cut off her breath? If she reveals our identities by her doing.”
“That point, you don't have to worry about it. After all, where that guy goes in this situation is obvious.”
“What does that mean...”
Hyangbi still looking puzzled by my words. Seeing her, I smiled and thought about what would happen next.
This should be just right as a gift with a letter.
*
Sichuan Dang Family. One of the famous families that has governed the Sichuan region for generations and is one of the pillars of the Murim Alliance. And at this moment, all the major figures in this Sichuan Dang Family were gathered in one place, expressing intense emotions.
“This is impossible! How much sacrifice did our Dang Family make in the war with the Heavenly Demon last time, and the Murim Alliance is only giving this kind of treatment?”
The distribution of merits after this time's war with the Heavenly Demon and extermination of the Demon Cult. There, the Murim Alliance divided the stolen goods and wealth from the Demon Cult to the sects and families that contributed, along with rewards, through which the families and sects that had suffered damage in the war with the Demon Cult could somewhat make up for their losses.
However, in the list of distribution of merits related to wealth that is essential to soothe the situation beyond simple honor, the Sichuan Dang Family was classified as the second merit rather than the first, unlike other famous sects. And this fact naturally caused a great dissatisfaction for the Sichuan Dang Family, which had suffered enormous damage in the war with the Heavenly Demon and whose contributions were never small.
“Have you protested to the Murim Alliance?”
“It was useless. We complained that our damage was regrettable, but because our contributions were not as great as in other regions, we couldn't help it.”
“Is that a valid excuse?”
“Contributions are not great! What kind of nonsense is that!”
“Even though the sect leader made a great contribution by beheading the Heavenly Demon's head, he came out like this. This is something that cannot be tolerated.”
As the conversation went on, the atmosphere became more intense rather than calming. However, at this moment, looking at them, the young sect leader who bears the responsibility of leading them. In the mind of the lonely Dang Miryeong, there were stories that had nothing to do with the situation in front of her.
It's all my fault... I shouldn't have let the two great heroes leave at that time... I should have at least stayed behind and found the great hero somehow.