The House of the Kidnappers
Haru and Teraden had almost reached the hideout of the kidnappers.
“Huu… Huwk…!”
The messenger, who had been completely cleaned out by Teraden, finally made his way back to the hideout.
As soon as he arrived, he immediately asked his companions for the boss’s location.
“Where is the boss?”
“Same old story, you know. He’s still inside drinking and gambling with the vice-boss. But seriously, is there some bad place or something? Why the hell are you all sweating like that? Hey?!”
Before his partner could finish speaking, the messenger hurried inside toward the area where the boss was.
“Boss-!!”
“What? Why the panic?”
The messenger ran over in one stride and raised his voice. The face of the man called the boss, who had been half-asleep, suddenly furrowed deeply.
“Here.”
“E, yes?”
“As soon as you get back, hand over the money right away, you idiot. No more excuses.”
“Ah, yes, yes! The gold coin is right here.”
Before the messenger could pull the pouch from his pocket, the man sitting opposite the boss snatched it away with a greedy grin.
The man flipped the pouch upside down and poured the gold coins into his palm, then slowly counted them.
“…Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. You brought the exact amount. Hah! Brother, just like we bet before, this whole pile is mine, right?”
“Tsk, hey.”
“Yes, yes! Boss!”
“Did you secretly pocket anything?”
“Ah, no! Nothing like that.”
“Scram.”
At the messenger’s answer, the boss, Il, clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
But the messenger didn’t leave. He stood frozen nearby, sweating, and fidgeted.
“Ah, Boss. I have something I must urgently report to you….”
“What is it now?”
“It’s….”
But listen. If I go back and tell them what happened here, you’ll chase me to the ends of hell and pay at least twenty times more, right?
Recalling Teraden’s threat, the messenger gulped down his saliva and, carefully leaning close to Il’s ear, whispered in a somewhat embellished version of the events that had unfolded at the Sun Dangju Manor.
“Huh? Really? Such a thing happened?”
“Yes, it did.”
“Hmmm, the boys really have some brains.”
After hearing the whisper, Il sobered up, the alcohol burning off.
“No, Brother, what exactly did you hear that made you react like this?”
“The old Sun Dangju seemed to have brought some usable people this time.”
“What of it? Nothing worth worrying about. Why so tense?”
“Dark, short black hair and martial skills way beyond his years… Is something coming to mind? Don’t tell me it’s that clan?”
The vice-boss, seeing Il’s careful demeanor, waved his hand in front of his face and let out a mocking laugh.
“Huahaha! What unnecessary worry, Brother. That won’t happen.”
“…I suppose not. You’ll take some of the boys and go to where that Sun Dangju is. Kill them all and bring back anything valuable. We were planning to raid soon anyway.”
“Understood. Hup!”
At Il’s words, the vice-boss pushed himself up from his seat with effort.
“Before we leave, hand all the slaves over to the Dongwang Kingdom.”
“What will you do while I’m gone, Brother?”
“Probably a raid tonight, so we’ll welcome them grandly.”
Il’s face twisted into a sinister smile as he chuckled.
* * *
Whoooosh—!
Teraden opened the door and as he stepped forward one careful step at a time, the light aura wrapping around his body grew sharper and more oppressive with every movement.
“W-Who… Who is that?!”
The guards at the entrance were stunned by the sudden appearance of Teraden. They stood there helpless, unable to do anything, but they pulled out their weapons and began shouting threats from a distance.
Whether they meant it or not, Teraden scoffed at the weak threats and held out his hand. A Hwigwang aura began to condense around him.
Even in the short time it took, the Hwigwang had grown far larger than the half-moon weapon it had shattered in one blow at the Seven Stars’ ruins.
“Wait. What the hell are you trying to do…?”
“Come here-!!”
The distance was already too great for my voice to reach him.
Teraden had already closed in on the fence. Without a second to hesitate, he hurled the Hwigwang upward with both hands.
The glowing sphere left his hands shot forward with terrifying speed, roaring toward the fence.
BOOM—!!
The fence exploded on impact, sending wooden debris flying in all directions like shrapnel.
More than that, screams erupted from the side buildings almost at the same moment the light flashed.
The Hwigwang that had smashed the fence didn’t stop there—it leveled the buildings beyond it as well.
Thud. Thud-thud.
Wood fragments floating in the air rained down like debris from the explosion.
“Ugh…”
Teraden, startled by the falling debris, turned toward me with a troubled expression.
“Everything’s destroyed… I didn’t expect it to be this bad. What now?”
“Sigh.”
After wiping his face, he slipped out from the undergrowth and approached me.
After checking the reaction on the other side, seeing no movement, Teraden’s face grew even more displeased.
“This is weird. I expected them to rush out and start yelling, but it’s completely silent?”
“It’s suspicious. Even with all this noise, no response from inside.”
“Exactly. Normally, they’d come swarming out cursing and getting ready to fight. Did they raid the nearby village instead? It’s too quiet.”
“It’s convenient we won’t have to waste time and energy, but this… feels off.”
“Why? You think they have some kind of trap?”
Teraden turned his eyes toward me, the only part of his face visible.
“Trapped in this mountain valley, these thieves can only resort to kidnapping and blackmail. There’s no way.”
“Better not be complacent. Let’s find them fast and get out. If they left their posts for something else, fine, but if they sensed us coming and headed toward Maru or set up an ambush around here, we’re in trouble.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s go in.”
Teraden nodded toward the dark smoke rising from inside.
“Okay.”
We nodded in agreement, and Teraden strode ahead into the devastated ruins with his head held high.
“Come here!”
Teraden’s shout echoed across the valley.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The only sound was the sparks from the explosion, and no one answered.
“This reception is really cold. Is this really it?”
Teraden clicked his tongue and scanned the surroundings. One by one, the thieves began to emerge from hiding.
Thanks to the blast, they all looked dazed and disoriented.
“You dare…! To do something like this!!”
CRACK—! Thud.
The thief who spotted us drew his weapon, glaring, but it only took one smack from Teraden’s ear before he collapsed like a broken doll.
“…”
“What are you doing? Let’s go.”
Using the unconscious thieves as makeshift restraints, we hurried toward the building the messenger had described.
Inside the building, several thieves burst out from the darkness, eyes wide.
“W-What is going on…!”
“You—!! Who are you people…!!”
CRACK! CRACK—!
“Is this some kind of scare tactic? Why are you all coming out yelling the second you see us?”
Teraden knocked the emerging thieves flat without mercy and continued deeper inside. Soon, a thick iron door appeared before us.
They’ve only locked them in without anyone getting close.
“Looks like this is it. No time—let’s break it.”
After exchanging a glance with Teraden, we didn’t wait and smashed the relatively weak door latch.
CLANG! CRASH—!
Quickly kicking the door open, we entered to find one woman, who bore a striking resemblance to the tall Sun Dangju, fast asleep.
“Whoa, she really is the Sun Dangju’s daughter. You made it. Hey! Wake up! Security!”
Teraden shook the woman hard, but she didn’t stir at all.
“Could it be…?”
The worst scenario I imagined didn’t even form words.
However, Teraden’s finger touched the corner of her nose, and he calmly checked.
“No, she’s just sleeping deeply. She’s really at peace. How deep was her sleep that she didn’t wake up even in this situation… Let’s just wake her up and go.”
It was the exact moment Teraden tried to gently help the Sun Dangju’s daughter, who was still soundly asleep.
“You bastards—!!”
Tadadadad!
Footsteps approaching from outside told us someone had noticed the commotion.
“Damn, why do they keep coming out one or two at a time? Come all at once! I’m getting annoyed.”
Teraden scratched his head irritably.
“I’ll handle the fire here. You take this one.”
“Wait! Hey! No way!”
Leaving Teraden yelling behind me, I stepped out the open door.
Outside, thieves who had come close drew their swords and swung wildly.
Narrow, elongated space.
The opponent: multiple armed men.
At this range, we were outmatched. We were unarmed, and someone we had to protect behind us made escape impossible.
Despite the absolute disadvantage, for some reason, they didn’t seem particularly threatening.
SWOOSH!
I lightly dodged the sword swing that spun back toward me in place.
“Ugh!”
The counterattack hit my wrist. The man grimaced in pain and dropped his sword.
I didn’t miss the opening, leaped forward, and kicked him flying with a front kick.
“You bastard!!”
A man behind me rushed in without hesitation. I dodged the thrust and dove into his embrace, slamming my palm into his chin.
“Nngh….”
As his strength left him and his knees began to buckle, I swept his calf to prevent him from falling, launching him into the air.
“Huuwp!”
BOOM!!
I punched the abdomen of the floating man with full force. He flew backward, colliding with the other remaining men against the wall and losing consciousness.
“Hmm, not bad.”
“Hey! Come on over! You’re done!!”
By the time I had neutralized everyone outside, Teraden suddenly yelled from inside.
“Teraden? What’s wrong? What happened?”
“It’s way too heavy. If I lift it alone, my spine will shatter. This guy looks like at least five hundred pounds!”
“Is there no Ineung among yours that can change the opponent’s mass?”
“If there was, I would have used it already! Wait, do I even have any? I stole a lot… No, none.”
“There’s no other choice. We’ll just take turns carrying.”
“…Hey, if we get out, switch with me. Don’t forget.”
“I got it.”
After firmly accepting Teraden’s promise, I scanned the surroundings and slowly exited the building.
“…”
Thud.
Finally, after leaving the building entirely, I had to stop in front of the scene before me.