He Wouldn’t Die Easily (2)
'This is bad.'
A look of anxiety flickered across Dang Soso’s face.
"Eek!"
At once, throwing knives flew from her hand.
Whoosh!
Like streaks of light, the knives shot through the air and drove into the Maninbang fighters who were attacking Mount Hua’s disciples.
While the Maninbang warriors were at the height of their momentum and least expecting it, the knives kept coming from blind spots, one after another.
"Ghk!"
"Haa!"
Baek Cheon-generation disciple Baek Hyeon, who had managed to slash down an opponent only by swinging his sword while his stance was already collapsing, instinctively looked back at Dang Soso.
"Th-thank you…"
"Don’t look back!"
"R-right!"
"Take the knives out and throw them behind us! Hurry!"
"Got it!"
Dang Soso clenched her teeth.
'This is no good.'
At a glance, the battle was already looking grim.
The only reason they were still holding on was because the sect leader, the elders, and the White Plum Hall Leader were blocking the front.
But the Maninbang warriors who had been leaving room for the central clash were now slowly closing the encirclement.
Clang!
The throwing knives in her hand scraped against each other with a metallic sound.
'I thought I’d never have to use these again.'
When she had abandoned the identity of a daughter of the Dang Family and chosen to become a disciple of Mount Hua, she had put away the throwing knives she had carried all her life and taken up the sword.
She was now a disciple of Mount Hua, so she had to use Mount Hua’s martial arts. She had even sworn she would never use hidden weapons again.
But this was no time to worry about something like that.
She was clever, and because of that, she understood better than anyone else.
At least in this moment, she was more valuable as a Dang Family member who could use hidden weapons and medicine than as a swordswoman.
There were more than enough people who could replace her as a swordswoman.
If she had not been at the rear, reading the battle and helping her senior brothers with throwing knives whenever she could, there would already have been many casualties.
'This is bad.'
From the start, their overall strength was no match for the enemy.
What they could rely on was only the difference in organization—the difference between those maniacs fighting however they pleased, as if they weren’t even a single unit, and Mount Hua, fighting shoulder to shoulder. That was all.
But even that had limits.
Besides—
Dang Soso’s gaze shifted slightly, and she bit down hard on her lip.
The sect leader’s robe, soaked in blood, stabbed painfully into her eyes.
'Sect Leader!'
It hurt so much it felt like her heart was being torn apart.
Even with his entire body drenched in blood, the sect leader stood firm and fought Yado.
But it was only a desperate struggle to keep standing; there was no chance of victory to be seen.
Un Geom was the same. So was Hyun Sang.
'This can’t go on.'
With her lips tightly pressed together, Dang Soso spun her mind furiously.
And then, at that moment—
"Aaaagh!"
A sharp scream pierced her ears.
She snapped her head around, and her face went pale. A scream tore from her throat.
A Mount Hua disciple had been injured, and a blade was hurtling toward his neck with terrifying speed.
"No!"
Three throwing knives shot from Dang Soso’s hands with astonishing speed.
Clang! Clang!
Two of the knives were knocked aside by the enemy’s blade, but the last one drove straight into his heart.
Dang Soso’s eyes wavered violently.
'D-dead…'
Thud.
The man struck by the knife spasmed once or twice and then collapsed where he stood.
Murder.
It was her first kill.
"I… I…"
Shaking as if she had been doused in ice water, she raised one hand and slapped herself across the face.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Once was not enough; she struck herself again and again.
Soon her cheek was crimson and swollen. Blood leaked from her split lip.
"Soso!"
"Don’t look back!"
"…"
She wiped away the blood running down her face with vicious, rough strokes of her sleeve and lifted her eyes, now sharp with a murderous edge.
'Don’t act like a useless idiot, Dang Soso.'
She could be shocked and trembling later.
If she lost her footing now and someone else died because of it, she would never forgive herself for the rest of her life.
"Those who are wounded, fall back! Hurry!"
"Understood!"
Those who had been cut down by the enemy’s swords were flung toward the rear in an instant. Their places were filled by those who had not yet been injured.
Dang Soso clenched her teeth and sprinkled styptic powder over a torn wound.
'Don’t cry.'
Tears kept threatening to spill.
Senior brothers and sisters she had laughed with, trained with, and cursed Chung Myung with behind his back were falling helplessly before the enemy’s blades.
Thankfully, no one had died yet, but at a glance, there were plenty with serious injuries.
'No one is dying! Not a single one! I won’t let them!'
With lightning-fast hands, she stitched up the wound and reached into her robes with blood-soaked fingers, pulling out a Honwon Dan. The sect leader had entrusted it to her before the battle began.
- I’m counting on you, Soso. Please…
She didn’t need to hear the rest to know what it was.
He was asking her to let no one die.
That absurd, almost blind request—Dang Soso had accepted it.
"No one dies! Not one of you! If you die, I’ll kill you myself!"
She screamed almost hysterically, only to see another Mount Hua disciple collapse in her vision.
'Ah…'
"Hold the formation! Don’t be thrown off by the enemy’s attacks! Put your backs together and trust your senior brothers and sisters! Then all you need to handle is the enemy in front of you!"
Someone shouted from somewhere.
At those words, the Mount Hua disciples tightened their formation again, closing the gaps between them and pouring out a renewed assault.
"The wounded! Quickly!"
"Got it!"
As she pushed a piece of Honwon Dan into the mouth of an unconscious disciple, Dang Soso kept glancing westward without realizing it.
'Senior brother.'
Senior Brother Chung Myung.
Please come quickly. Please.
"You seem worried."
"…"
Life-Snatching Short Spear sneered at Un Geom.
The cold swordsman who stood in his way was the very model of a swordsman—utterly composed, utterly cold. Even the sword he wielded was exquisitely precise.
But—
'Crude.'
Every time a scream rang out behind him, a twitch of hesitation was clearly visible.
Maybe he had trained enough to be considered a decent swordsman, but this bastard wasn’t used to a battle like this.
He was pretending otherwise, but wasn’t it obvious he was losing his head over what was happening behind him?
"Heh. How considerate of you."
Life-Snatching Short Spear mocked him, tilting his famed weapon slightly.
"I didn’t think there’d be a swordsman of this caliber left in ruined Mount Hua. But that just means you’re no more than a guard dog protecting the house."
"…"
As if refusing to dignify the provocation with a response, Un Geom lowered his stance and shifted his weight down.
But Life-Snatching Short Spear knew exactly how to deal with men like him.
"You want to take me down quickly so you can go help, don’t you?"
"…"
"Heh. Fine. Then come at me."
"You didn’t even need to say it!"
Un Geom stepped forward and charged like lightning.
"That’s exactly what I intend to do!"
His sword swept through the air like a mirage, then came falling like a meteor toward Life-Snatching Short Spear’s lower body.
'Blocked!'
At this man’s level, that strike had to be blocked. But the moment the bastard crossed his short spears, he would let the force slip past and—
That was when it happened.
Life-Snatching Short Spear looked at the sword flying toward him and let out a strange smile. Then, all at once, he thrust one of his short spears forward.
'What?'
Un Geom’s eyes flew open wide.
Of course, if it had simply been a direct thrust, he would not have been unable to dodge it. But this short spear wasn’t aimed at him.
It was aimed beside him, precisely at…
'No!'
Un Geom hurriedly changed the trajectory of his sword. The sudden twist of his internal energy shook his dantian and sent his qi surging backward, but without the slightest hesitation his sword passed him by and blocked the short spear aimed at the disciples.
Clang!
The moment his sword intercepted the short spear, another spear in Life-Snatching Short Spear’s left hand pierced Un Geom’s thigh at a speed the eye could barely follow.
Crack.
The sound of flesh being pierced and muscle being torn rang out clearly.
Thud.
Un Geom retreated several steps, his face drained of color, and stared at Life-Snatching Short Spear.
There was already a hole in his thigh large enough to fit a child’s fist.
With every breath he took, dark red blood gushed out without end.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Life-Snatching Short Spear licked the blood from the blade of the spear that had pierced Un Geom’s thigh.
"What a disgusting taste."
"…"
"And you’re stupid too. You should’ve understood that if you could injure me in exchange for one disciple’s death, that would still be a gain. Kkkk."
"You bastard…"
If Un Geom had not blocked the attack aimed at the disciples, he might have been able to cut off one of this bastard’s legs.
But at the cost of that, the force unleashed from the spear would definitely have killed someone.
The disciples here still lacked the skill to stop an attack like that.
"Dealing with guys like you isn’t all that hard."
"…Don’t you have even the slightest pride as a martial artist?"
"This is a matter of efficiency."
Life-Snatching Short Spear grinned widely.
"Even if we fought straight up, you wouldn’t be my match. I’d win ninety-nine times out of a hundred. But…"
Son Wol lifted the weapon in his hand and angled it to the side.
"If there’s a way for me to win a hundred out of a hundred times, why the hell should I fight honestly? If you don’t want to be played with, then just stand there and watch your disciples die. Hahahaha!"
The short spear spinning violently in his hand shot again toward Mount Hua’s disciples.
'This crazy bastard!'
Un Geom’s eyes were bloodshot.
The trajectory of that bastard’s spear clearly included his own subordinates as well. If he let it fly like that, the subordinates with their backs turned would be in even greater danger.
But there wasn’t the slightest hesitation in Life-Snatching Short Spear’s hand. He intended to pierce through both his own men and Mount Hua’s disciples in one go.
"Haaap!"
Fwaaaat!
The short spear spinning in Life-Snatching Short Spear’s hand shot out like lightning.
"No!"
Un Geom had no time to think. He threw himself forward and blocked it.
Kagagagagak!
The short spear bored into the face of his sword, which he had reinforced with a massive surge of internal energy. Spinning furiously as though it meant to drill through the blade, the short spear showered sparks in every direction.
Crack, crack.
Un Geom clenched his teeth as pain surged through his wrist as if it were breaking.
Blocking a short spear that was driven in with such concentrated force was by no means easy. Especially when his stance wasn’t even perfect.
In an instant, a fierce blue light flared in Life-Snatching Short Spear’s eyes.
"Idiot!"
With the other short spear still in his hand, he struck the end of the spear he had already launched.
Clang!
Empowered by the additional force, the short spear sent Un Geom’s sword flying and then drove straight into his right shoulder blade.
Fwaaaat!
As the spinning spear shredded flesh, it sprayed everywhere. The rain of blood and the sight of bone being crushed were truly chilling.
"…"
Un Geom slowly turned his head and looked at the short spear that had pierced straight through his shoulder.
His bone had been broken, his flesh torn away, and yet his arm still hung from his body by sheer force of will, not quite severed.
"You…"
That was when Life-Snatching Short Spear’s mocking voice slid into Un Geom’s ear.
"You’re going to die because of your disciples."
Crack.
The short spear, which had briefly stopped spinning, began to whirl again and drove even deeper into Un Geom’s shoulder.
Puuuusssh!
Blood splashed out once more, and Un Geom’s arm, ripped nearly free, shot up into the air.
"Uncle-master!!!"
"Hall Leader! Aaaah!"
"N-no way!!!!"
And that scene was branded clearly into the eyes of Mount Hua’s disciples.
The sight of his right arm flying through the air, and of Un Geom being hurled backward, unable to withstand the shock.
Thud.
Even severed, the arm still did not let go of the sword, and it fell to the ground like a discarded object.
The arm that had spent a lifetime teaching Mount Hua’s disciples the sword.
The arm that, as the White Plum Hall Leader, had demonstrated sword techniques countless times.
That arm had been torn from Un Geom’s body.
At the shocking sight, the Mount Hua disciples wailed.
"Uncle-master! Aaaaargh, damn it!"
"I’ll kill you! That bastard! I’ll definitely kill him!"
Dang Soso, sitting there with despair filling her eyes, unconsciously brought her hands together before her chest.
'Please!'
Please, hurry.
Please.