Monopolizing Fortunes (218)
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Monopolizing Fortunes (218)
Could such a young woman possess martial arts like that? One thing was certain: she was not one of the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven. Which only deepened the mystery.
"Why do you think she isn't?"
"Because no one under Prince Yeongun has lightness art as outstanding as yours."
"You seem to know a great deal about Prince Yeongun."
"Isn't grasping who needs to be killed the basics?"
"You talk like an assassin."
"Today, I am one."
"And tomorrow?"
"You'll never know."
"And if I insist on knowing?"
"Is there any need to stake your life just to learn my identity? From the look of it, you're here for the same purpose as I am."
Do Tong-dal did not bother denying it.
"The enemy of my enemy isn't necessarily an ally. They could turn out to be an even greater enemy, couldn't they?"
Shing—.
The masked figure drew a sword. The chill emanating from the blade felt thicker than when they had killed Prince Yeongun.
"I'll grant that your lightness art is exceptional. But is your martial arts as well?"
Do Tong-dal gazed steadily into the masked figure's stark black-and-white eyes. The will to kill was plain in the sword, yet no killing intent showed in those eyes.
"Why did you kill Prince Yeongun?"
At Do Tong-dal's question, the lower part of the mask twitched in a sneer.
"Now you want to talk?"
"Once the fighting starts, I doubt I'll get another chance to ask."
"I can answer that much. I couldn't stand by and watch someone who was plotting to start a war by joining hands with the northern barbarians."
"So you killed Prince Yeongun to prevent a war?"
"I did what I could. What happens now is up to the emperor. We'll see how capable he is."
The masked figure's eyes spoke the truth.
"If you did such a righteous thing, you could reveal your identity."
"Reveal yours first, and I'll consider it."
Do Tong-dal grinned.
"Even if I reveal mine, you don't seem to have any intention of taking off that mask."
"You're quick. Let's stop wasting time. We each go our own way, or one of us dies here."
Do Tong-dal drew the Makya Blade as well.
"I'm not the type to endure curiosity."
"You don't know that curiosity brings disaster. Now I see you're no wise man."
"If I were wise, I'd be lounging in a pleasure house right now, patting my full belly. Now that I think about it, I do feel wronged."
The masked figure seemed to have no desire to exchange further words with Do Tong-dal. From the sword held upright at their center, a resonant hum—! rang out.
"You're going all out from the start without even testing me?"
"It's time for my late-night snack."
The masked figure kicked off the ground. The distance of ten jang vanished in the blink of an eye, and a sword brimming with the clear intent to split Do Tong-dal vertically came down toward his crown.
Do Tong-dal raised his internal energy to the eighth level and blocked the sword.
Clang!
The sound, like two ten-thousand-geun lumps of iron colliding, set his ears ringing. Do Tong-dal was startled by the heavy sword force transmitted through his arm.
Had Do Tong-dal let his guard down even a little, he would have ended up in the foolish situation of having his own head split by his own blade.
Do Tong-dal was not the only one surprised. Judging by the masked figure's eyes, she was also quite taken aback.
Do Tong-dal tilted the Makya Blade to the left, pushed the sword away, and began his attack. He discarded the thought that the masked figure was inferior to him.
Confidence and arrogance may seem similar, but the difference between them is as vast as that between a body and its shadow.
Dismissing the masked figure here was not the same as dismissing some street thug. Do Tong-dal was not so foolish as to stake his life on such arrogance.
When he raised his internal energy to the tenth level, a blade aura appeared along the Makya Blade. Sword aura and blade aura generally take on a blue hue.
That is because the nature of weapon steel is cold. But Do Tong-dal's blade aura was red, like the deepest sunset glow in the world.
The red blade aura radiating from the faintly crimson Makya Blade was bright enough to push back the surrounding darkness.
The masked figure blocked the horizontally swinging Makya Blade with her sword and leaped backward. Her surprise at the red blade aura and the power contained in the blade was unmistakable.
"Who are you?"
At the masked figure's question, Do Tong-dal let out a small laugh.
"Someone once told me. That curiosity brings disaster."
"Insolent!"
The character of the sword changed. At first, she had tried to crush him with force, but this next attack was as unpredictable as a butterfly flitting among a flower garden.
When he deflected an attack aimed at his chest, the next already sought his throat; when he dodged, it immediately stabbed at his shoulder.
It was a dazzling sword art unlike any Do Tong-dal had ever experienced. It differed from Hwangmi Dal's domineering sword art and the Namgung Clan's heavy yet sharp style.
One thing was certain: the masked figure was strong enough to make things difficult for Do Tong-dal.
In the current martial world, the foremost female master was known to be the sect leader of the Emei Sect, but he could confidently say the masked figure before him was stronger.
Of course, that did not mean she was stronger than Do Tong-dal. He had merely been flustered by the dazzling techniques he was experiencing for the first time; once one ke had passed, even that brilliance became familiar.
The masked figure, who had been pouring out relentless attacks, gradually shifted to the defensive. The Makya Blade Do Tong-dal wielded carried a monstrous strength she could hardly withstand.
The masked figure retreated, trying somehow to reverse the tide, but even switching her sword art from Change to Speed, and from Speed to Darkness, she could not pierce Do Tong-dal's solid wall.
Clang—!
At some point, the masked figure's sword, which had been blocking the Makya Blade, shattered into pieces. Do Tong-dal thought the sword had held out quite long against the Makya Blade, while for the masked figure, it was an unforeseen misfortune.
A shard of the broken sword grazed the masked figure's cheek. It was not a deep wound, but it was enough to draw blood.
In the moment she flinched from her broken sword, the Makya Sword came to rest beside the masked figure's neck. What made her start in surprise was the heat radiating from the Makya Sword.
Coldness she could understand, but heat from a blade?
Tssss—!
A few strands of hair that had escaped the mask burned in the Makya Blade's heat, giving off a scorched smell.
"Now I think I can at least see your face?"
"You...... who are you?"
The masked figure could not believe her defeat. She had believed she could easily put even the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven beneath her feet, yet she had been defeated so futilely by a young man whose identity she did not even know.
"The one with a blade at their throat reveals themselves first."
Do Tong-dal's Makya Blade moved slightly. Slash! The masked figure's mask was cut into four pieces, revealing her face.
She was a beauty who would make anyone, regardless of gender, turn back for a second look.
Even to Do Tong-dal's eyes, accustomed to three—or was it four(?)—wives who were all beauties, the woman was lovely. Of course, it was merely an objective assessment; he was not so intoxicated by her face.
Having grown used to Ha Su-ran's beauty, to Do Tong-dal a beautiful woman was simply a pleasing face.
"You look about twenty-eight."
At Do Tong-dal's words, the woman bristled.
"Who's that old! I'm twenty-three!"
He had seen that much from the start. He had deliberately guessed far higher because he wanted to know her exact age. Judging by this reaction, women had just as simple a side as men.
"Martial arts like that at twenty-three. How is it that a master like you is unknown in the martial world?"
"Hmph! You may be able to hold a blade to my throat, but you won't get a single word out of me."
"You mean you'll keep your mouth shut even if it kills you?"
"Of course!"
The woman's face showed a resolute will not to back down. Do Tong-dal had no intention of killing her, either.
But neither did he intend to simply bury his curiosity. She had mastered martial arts that seemed to surpass the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven at twenty-three, yet such a person was unknown in the martial world.
"There's probably a senior brother or sister besides you?"
"What would you do if you knew?"
"So there is. How many? One? Two?"
One.
"Having a senior brother means you also have a master. You obviously won't tell me who your master is. Is your master famous in the martial world? Hm. So they're completely unknown."
"Wh-what are you muttering to yourself!"
The woman could only be dumbfounded. She had given no answer at all, yet Do Tong-dal had gleaned the facts from questions alone, leaving her utterly speechless.
"There must be a reason you learned martial arts of that caliber. What you want is......."
Do Tong-dal could not finish his question. Something sharp came flying at him from the left.
Do Tong-dal bent his waist backward and swung the Makya Blade.
Clatter-clang!
Dozens of hidden weapons flashed past his eyes, and some struck the Makya Blade and scattered in all directions.
"Senior Sister! Run!"
"Junior Brother!"
The one who had suddenly appeared and thrown hidden weapons at Do Tong-dal was a man around the woman's age.
The man, with his fair skin and gentle eyes, continuously hurled feather-like hidden weapons he pulled from his waist.
Each one carried enough force to pierce even protective qi, so they could not be ignored.
While Do Tong-dal deflected the hidden weapons, the woman flung herself backward, and with a poong! a white smoke billowed up.
The smoke was thicker than the mountain darkness and instantly concealed the two figures.
Ziiing—!
The sharp ringing produced by the exploding smoke bomb disrupted Do Tong-dal's hearing, preventing him from tracking the two by their presence.
Do Tong-dal first chased in the direction the woman had flung herself. Only after running twenty jang did he escape the smoke's area of effect.
The sharp sound from the exploding smoke bomb had not been very loud, but it left a ringing in Do Tong-dal's ears for a long time. He had to rely on sight alone, but the two had already vanished from view.
Do Tong-dal did not bother to pursue them. Even if he caught up, there was no guarantee he could win against the two of them.
After staring for a long while in the direction the woman had disappeared, Do Tong-dal soon turned his steps toward the northern checkpoint.
The appearance of these two unidentified senior and junior disciples was more troublesome than Prince Yeongun's death.
It was a nuisance, but Prince Yeongun had been destined to die by Do Tong-dal's hand anyway. So his death brought no particular joy.
On the other hand, the appearance of two unidentified peak-level masters was not welcome news.
There was no guarantee that the two were not the hidden force that had manipulated the Revenge Society, and they could also become new enemies.
Considering the masked figure's martial arts, her so-called master might even be stronger than Do Tong-dal.
'Troublesome. No clues and no time. Whether enemy or ally, we'll meet again eventually.'
No matter how wide the world was, if they were as extraordinary as those two, they were bound to cross paths someday.
'I hope they're not enemies.'
* * *
The master's pupils, whiter than the whites of the eyes, stared fixedly at Jo Hui-jin. The master's gaze, which pierced the essence of things rather than their surface, always made Jo Hui-jin shrink like this.
After a long silence, the master asked.
"Was Prince Yeongun someone we had to kill?"
"Not exactly, but I believe the essence is the same."
"The essence is the same......."
"Isn't the ultimate goal of our World Peace Society to protect the peace and stability of the world? Prince Yeongun was a man who tried to start a war by joining hands with the northern barbarians. What in the world harms peace and stability more than war?"
"Then let me ask you. Can our World Peace Society eliminate all the chaos in the world?"
"That...... is impossible. But......."
"Did you kill only Prince Yeongun?"
"Collateral killing was unavoidable."
"Did all those soldiers who died by your hand deserve death?"
"I don't know."
"If you took the lives of the innocent to kill Prince Yeongun, is that truly righteous?"
Jo Hui-jin could only lower her head.
"The people you killed under the pretext of protecting the peace and stability of the world. Who judged their sins?"
"Prince Yeongun's crimes were too clear, weren't they?"
"Who gave you the right to pass judgment?"
Jo Hui-jin hesitated before answering.
"No one gave it to me."
"You simply judged and acted as you pleased because you could. You dealt with those you deemed evil, drunk on your own power. If you continue killing people that way, in the end, the power you possess will devour you."
A long sigh escaped the master.
"I told you not to be arrogant in your strength, but to train and train again. The reason our World Peace Society has clearly defined who must be killed is so that we do not become monsters who throw the world into chaos. If you decide on your own who deserves death and carry out punishment, you will ultimately become a monster who throws the world into chaos."
* * *