Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Reward (2)
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In the end, at Dan Un's suggestion, we ended up spending the night with Escort Chief Oh and the escorts of the Silver Dragon Hall.
If this were a modern-day inn, the owner would have charged extra per person, but this was a tavern in the martial world.
Instead, he was all smiles, happy to have more mouths to feed, and brought us food.
After we finished our meal, the night grew late.
I was standing guard outside the annex, preparing for a possible ambush.
I considered just running off on my own, but it wasn't that simple.
If I left first and the rest of the group was attacked, I could be branded a spy.
Thanks to that, I ended up pulling an all-nighter under the brilliant moonlight, looking quite pathetic.
'Ugh, it's cold.'
Perhaps because we were at the foot of the mountain, the late autumn wind felt chillingly cold.
I wished I could start a campfire, but the innkeeper had cleaned so thoroughly that there wasn't a single fallen leaf to be found, let alone any wood.
'I should at least walk around.'
As I wandered for a moment, the cart carrying the cargo caught my eye.
Whatever it was hiding, the cart was covered with a thick cloth.
'What in the world could it be...'
If trouble starts, this will be the cause.
As I stared at it, I sensed a presence behind me.
“Not sleeping? What are you doing up?”
It was Escort Chief Oh of the Silver Dragon Hall.
“I couldn't sleep, so I was just admiring the moon.”
“I see. But why were you loitering near the cargo?”
Because I'm suspicious of you, sir.
“...Haha, it just caught my eye, so I was taking a quick look.”
At my answer, Escort Chief Oh narrowed his eyes.
He seemed to be looking for any signs that the cloth covering the cart had been disturbed.
“The contents of the cargo are confidential. So don't be too curious.”
“I'm well aware of the rules regarding cargo, so don't you worry.”
“Understood.”
To pass off their crisis onto us with such brazenness.
'I'll have to tell the kids not to hang out with the Silver Dragon Hall.'
The next day.
“Let's depart.”
We headed for Sopa Mountain with Escort Chief Oh's group.
If we walk diligently, we should be able to cross the mountain by afternoon.
The problem was.
Nothing had happened at the tavern, the prime hotspot for incidents in the martial world.
That meant only one thing.
There was a high chance they were waiting for us somewhere.
I considered suggesting we go around the mountain instead, but soon shook my head.
'No. That would only be a temporary solution.'
Having sorted my thoughts, I discreetly sent Dan Un a mental message.
[Brother Dan, there might be an ambush.]
For a moment, a strange light flickered in Dan Un's eyes as a message came back, as if he already knew.
[I know.]
[...You knew and still suggested we travel together?]
[A member of the Nine Dragons Fortress is in trouble. Isn't it only natural to help?]
Isn't he being a bit too meddlesome?
[...Are you really a madman?]
Twitch.
Unable to hold back, I cursed at him, and Dan Un's eyebrow twitched. He seemed to have taken offense.
But I felt the same way.
The sudden surge of anger almost made me challenge him to a duel to the death.
'Whew, calm down.'
It's not like I could win if we fought.
In any case, as we crossed the mountain, Dan Un, the Silver Dragon Hall escorts, and I proceeded cautiously, never letting our guard down.
When climbing rocks, we extended our senses to check our surroundings.
When passing through areas surrounded by trees, they raised shields that looked like turtle shells.
They were the Ironwood Shields, said to be used only by the Silver Dragon Hall.
Thanks to this, it took us a full half-day to cross Sopa Mountain, a journey that should have taken only a few hours.
A sense of exhaustion naturally set in.
It was inevitable, as we had focused all our senses on crossing the mountain, expecting something to happen.
Even so, the Silver Dragon Hall escorts never let their guard down.
They knew from long experience that the moment they relaxed was the moment an ambush would strike.
Another hour passed like this.
By the time we descended the mountain and reached the plains.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
The sound of something cutting through the air, barely audible unless one concentrated, reached us.
“Shields up!”
As soon as Escort Chief Oh's voice rang out, three escorts with shields leaped forward.
Thud.
The force was so powerful that the iron arrows embedded themselves deep into the Ironwood Shields.
Dan Un, who had already leaped from his horse, took silent steps. It was the Shadow Fragrance Step.
Slice!
Dan Un flew like lightning and swung his sword, producing a chilling sound.
“Form a defensive square!”
At Escort Chief Oh's command, the escorts surrounded the cart, holding shields and short spears.
Chk.
Oh Dae-san, the peak expert of the Silver Dragon Hall known as the Bear-Tiger Spear, also stood guard in front of the cart with the same armament.
His aura screamed that he would instantly pierce to death anyone who approached.
It was then. A formidable presence appeared from the right.
Swoosh! Crash.
A weight the size of a child's fist flew in and shattered an escort's shield.
'A meteor hammer?'
An uncommon weapon.
Moreover, there was only one place in the world with martial arts capable of producing such power with a meteor hammer.
'It's the Southern Heaven Palace!'
The Southern Heaven Palace, the headquarters of the Southern Barbarian martial world and a mid-tier power in the martial arts community.
Swoosh!
The meteor hammer flew again, this time aiming for the escort's head.
“Hup!”
Thwack.
I instinctively used the War King Step and stood before him.
Crack.
My wrist throbbed after deflecting the meteor hammer.
'I can't give him any distance.'
I unleashed the War King Step again and shot forward like a thunderbolt.
Thump.
As I reached the opponent's side, the martial artist turned to look at me with a surprised expression.
A common, unremarkable face.
But even such a face could not hide the killing intent radiating from his eyes.
“Die!”
The enemy swung a dagger at a terrifying speed.
I instinctively unleashed the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
Papat.
Hands and wrists, fists and daggers, clashed at high speed.
'Now!'
I landed a light version of the Explosive Death Force on the enemy's dagger.
Boom!
“Keuk!”
As the dagger exploded, the enemy retreated.
Blood streamed from one of his eyes, perhaps from a blade fragment.
“...Damn bastard!”
I had gained the upper hand far too easily.
Considering the matchup between a ranged fighter like him and a melee fighter like me, the result was hard to understand.
As I pondered the reason, I soon reached a conclusion.
'Could it be?'
It wasn't that the opponent was weak.
I had gotten stronger.
The mantra of the War King Arts came to mind: the more you move, the stronger you become; the more you fight, the stronger you become.
In other words, the War King Arts had grown through my recent battles.
'Wait, am I... actually strong?'
I unleashed the War King Step with determination.
I could definitely feel that I had gotten a little faster.
Swoosh!
Against the meteor hammer flying with ferocious power, I unleashed the Explosive Death Force, which swept through the surroundings.
“Eek!”
Sensing his life was in danger, the man tried to flee, but.
“You came all this way. Wouldn't it be a shame to just leave?”
He couldn't match the speed of the War King Step.
Slice!
I leisurely fired the Ultimate Death Force at his back.
Plop.
The man's body split in two, and blood soaked the ground.
Behind him, I saw the Silver Dragon Hall escorts defending the cart against nearly twenty enemies.
A battle of three against twenty.
Worse, their opponents were also first-class martial artists like themselves.
It was a situation where they could have been slaughtered in an instant, but the escorts never retreated.
Instead, they completely blocked the enemies' approach with their sturdy Ironwood Shields and demonic spear skills.
Martial arts meant for protection.
That was the foundation of the Silver Dragon Hall.
'They'll be fine over there.'
In the end, the outcome must be decided by the experts.
Having made up my mind, I threw myself toward the old man Oh Dae-san was fighting.
Clang!
The old man, who was retrieving his saber after it was blocked by Oh Dae-san's shield, turned in alarm.
To block the imminent Explosive Death Force, the old man swung his great saber horizontally.
Kwaaang!
As their energies clashed, an explosion erupted in mid-air.
“Hup!”
Oh Dae-san's short spear shot out at an invisible speed.
“Eek!”
The old man twisted his upper body, narrowly avoiding the spear tip.
I immediately unleashed a barrage of the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
My hands and feet struck the old man's upper and lower body indiscriminately.
“Keum.”
Hearing the old man's groan, Oh Dae-san twisted his lips into a smirk.
It felt as if he had been waiting for this very moment.
It was clearly the perfect timing for a finishing move.
I used the War King Step and immediately got out of the way.
The old man also seemed to sense something was wrong and tried to retreat, but.
Oh Dae-san's spear was faster.
The peerless spear technique that had allowed the Silver Star Escort Agency, the predecessor of the Silver Dragon Hall, to become the greatest escort agency in the world.
The Silver River Spear, Meteor Shower.
The spear tip filled with a silver aura as it shot forward.
The panicked old man summoned his saber energy and tried to split the spear vertically, but.
Vwooom.
A resonant hum erupted as the spear pierced through the saber.
And.
Thud.
The old man, half of his head blown away, collapsed without even closing his eyes.
And at that moment.
Rumble. Kwaaaang.
With a sound like a mortar shell exploding, Dan Un's sword fell, and the enemy he was fighting vanished without a trace.
The Blue Cloud Red River Sword had been unleashed.
With their leaders all dead, the attacking enemies began to flee.
But Dan Un wasn't one to just stand by and watch.
Slice!
Like a lion leaping into a flock of sheep, his sword tore through the enemies' bodies.
Then, Oh Dae-san and the escorts also charged forward to annihilate the enemy.
As for me... well, I was too lazy, so I just leaned against the cart and watched.
I was already dead tired; I didn't think there was any need for me to join in.
A one-sided slaughter.
In martial arts novels, the righteous faction guys sometimes spare fleeing enemies.
I really don't know why these guys are like this.
'Am I the only one who's been dropped into some weird version of the martial world?'
Like how the same game can have an easy mode and a hard mode.
As I was waiting with these useless thoughts, I felt something strange.
'But escorts chasing enemies and leaving the cargo behind...'
That doesn't make any sense!
I explosively expanded my senses. Not content with that, I poured all my internal energy into spreading them in all directions.
I simultaneously sensed dozens of objects.
I'd heard it somewhere before.
The Southern Heaven Palace's iron arrow unit is called the Hundred-Zhang Killers because they can hit targets from over three kilometers away.
“...!!”
Just as I thought.
Shhhk.
A sound of cutting through the air, almost inaudible, as if by some trick.
But in my vision, I could see dozens of iron arrows flying toward me.
The problem was.
'I can't dodge this!'
I had spotted them too late.
In the end, there was only one way.
To knock them all down.
As soon as I made up my mind, I enveloped both my hands in internal energy.
Tatatatang!
I unleashed the Three Yang Hands, the fastest technique I knew, and frantically deflected the iron arrows, but.
I missed the last one, hidden behind another arrow.
“Ugh!!”
Thwack.
A heavy impact.
But the iron arrow didn't pierce my body.
The Dragon Scale Armor I received from the Young Master had protected me.
'What is this?!'
To think that the item I thought was cheap turned out to be a rare item!
I'd saved my life by trying it on just in case.
I wanted to take off the Dragon Scale Armor and examine it right away, but there was no time for that.
Dealing with those guys as quickly as possible was the priority.
As I charged forward using the War King Step, the enemies' iron arrows instantly focused on me.
If I hadn't known the performance of the Dragon Scale Armor, I would have struggled to advance while deflecting the arrows, but not now.
Clang-clang-clang-clang.
Their iron arrows could never pierce the Dragon Scale Armor.
And.
Thump.
Nearly a hundred zhang away, the Hundred-Zhang Killers were gathered.
As I reached close range, the one who looked like their leader released an arrow aimed at my head.
Swoosh. Snatch.
I used the Three Yang Hands to catch the iron arrow and plunged into their midst.
“Hello.”
It was the beginning of a one-sided slaughter.
* * *
“I apologize, Squad Leader Jin.”
“For a moment, I don't know what came over me, I was seized by the impulse to kill the enemies...”
“We are truly ashamed.”
After the battle, the Silver Dragon Hall escorts and Escort Chief Oh came over and bowed their heads.
It was because I had been put in danger when they left their positions.
“Haha, it's alright. The cargo is safe, isn't it?”
“I'm truly grateful that you think so.”
Because I am generous.
“By the way, isn't it a relief that the cargo is unharmed?”
“It's nothing short of a miracle. We were this close to a major disaster.”
“It truly is a relief. That the cargo, and the cargo, and the cargo, is safe.”
“......”
“What do you think, escorts who abandoned the cargo? Seeing as it's so perfectly safe.”
Moved by my humble attitude, Escort Chief Oh sidled up and whispered.
“Ahem, I will reward you handsomely when I return.”
“As I understand it, the Silver Dragon Hall rewards benefactors who help with an escort mission with one-tenth of the cargo's value. I wonder how much that will be.”
“Hmm, well, if you consider it to have value, it does, but if you don't, it has none at all...”
“Haha, Escort Chief Oh, your sense of humor has improved. How can you say it has no value when a human life is the most valuable thing in the world?”
“H-How did you...?”
Escort Chief Oh was greatly flustered by my statement.
And.
Creak.
From inside the cart, a small boy appeared.
“See? I told you they'd fall for it. And how many times did I explain that you lose your reason if you smell the Soul-Frenzy Powder, yet you still fell for it... Are you guys really from the Silver Dragon Hall?”