A Man Who Draws His Sword Should Aim for the Neck, at Least! (5)
The sharp, ripping sound of their feet kicking off the ground was so light it could have been silk brushing past.
That meant their bodies were featherlight and their qinggong had already reached a high level. Even that one sound was enough to reveal the depth of their skill.
Hyun Sang and Un Geom both stiffened at the same time.
They didn’t know how the situation had turned this way, but one thing was clear: those men did not mean Mount Hua any good.
Different.
They were on an entirely different level from the bandits they had fought so far.
Setting aside the immense pressure radiating from their presence, the feeling in their energy was unmistakably alien.
“They’re coming!”
Without so much as a common battle cry, the blood-robed men surged forward, then sprang high over the heads of the bandits.
CRUNCH!
“Grrk!”
As they mercilessly stamped down on the bandits’ heads to accelerate, their speed nearly doubled.
But what drew the Mount Hua disciples’ eyes more than the blood-robed men flying toward them were the bandits whose necks were twisted as they crumpled to the ground.
“Our comrades…?”
“These insane bastards!”
Rage surged through the Mount Hua disciples, bloodshot fury filling their eyes.
“You—!”
But before they could vent that anger, the blood-robed men’s swords came flying toward the shoulders of the Mount Hua disciples, who had formed a line shoulder to shoulder.
In answer, they all swung their swords at once, unleashing a massive gale in every direction. It was as if a storm of inner energy tore through everything nearby.
Clang!
At the center of that storm of wind pressure, plum blossom swords and narrow swords collided with tremendous force.
“Kuh!”
The Mount Hua disciples grimaced at the impact, as though their wrists might snap. The weight behind those blades was on a completely different level from anything the bandits had wielded.
This was the first time they had felt such heaviness, and a groan escaped them despite themselves, but the blood-robed men did not lose even a shred of composure. If anything, they grinned eerily and pressed their swords down harder.
Gwak Hoe’s face twisted little by little. The inner energy crushing down on his sword made his whole body ache.
But before his mind could even think of reason or logic, he was already following Mount Hua’s teachings.
You do not meet force with force.
Just as his sword began to loosen, ready to slip his opponent’s blade aside—
Kkkkrrrk!
The paper-thin narrow sword, as if it had been waiting for this exact moment, climbed along Gwak Hoe’s blade like a living snake.
What?
It was a grotesque movement, like a viper striking at prey. The narrow sword bit into the wrist that held Gwak Hoe’s sword, slashing downward as if it intended to tear through bone.
Slice!
The upper part of his wrist split open by half an inch, and bright red blood gushed out.
“Ngh!”
Clang!
Grinding his teeth, Gwak Hoe swung his sword hard and batted away the narrow sword darting for his face.
Throb. Throb.
The pain in his wrist made the hair on his body stand on end.
They were strong.
Just one exchange was enough to drive that fact deep into his bones. Their swords were terrifyingly sharp, overwhelmingly strong.
And the killing intent they radiated? Just facing it made his whole body tingle and his heart shrink.
This is real combat!
A life-or-death battle, where he risked his own life to take his opponent’s.
The instant he truly felt that, the sword in his hand grew twice as heavy, and his vision—once broad enough to take in the entire battlefield—began to narrow drastically. It was as if he were fighting submerged in deep water.
“Haah!”
The blood-robed men did not even give Gwak Hoe a chance to recover his composure. Before he could steady himself, they unleashed a chilling killing intent and swung their swords like venomous serpents.
Clang! Clang!
Tens of sword shadows came flying down to engulf Gwak Hoe’s entire body. It looked like dozens of poisonous snakes lunging at once.
Stay calm!
Gwak Hoe’s sword flashed as he moved at great speed, parrying the incoming sword shadows one by one. But every clash slowed his blade a little more, and soon his sword began to fall behind the speed of the narrow sword.
Slice!
“Kuh!”
The narrow sword brushed past his side.
It was only a graze, and the wound itself was shallow enough to ignore. But what mattered was not the depth of the cut—it was the fact that his sword could no longer keep up with the enemy’s speed.
Whoosh!
And then another beam-like streak of sword energy broke through his defense and drove into his flesh. It pierced his shoulder and shoved into his chest.
Thud! Thud!
The attack wasn’t especially deadly, weakened as it was by the effort needed to break through the power spilling from the plum blossom sword, and by the narrow sword’s thin, slippery nature. Even so, a wound was still a wound.
As the injuries slowly accumulated, Gwak Hoe’s sword began to grow duller and duller.
“Aaaagh!”
He screamed like a man having a seizure and thrust his sword out. Sword shadows burst brilliantly with the full force of his inner energy and filled the entire front.
But then—
Kkkkrrrk!
The blood-stained narrow sword pierced straight through that wall of sword light. Then it flew directly toward Gwak Hoe’s heart.
Gwak Hoe’s eyes flew wide open.
Clang!
At that very moment, a plum blossom sword came flying in from the side and knocked the narrow sword away.
“Get a grip!”
Only then did Gwak Hoe’s senses belatedly return. He bit down hard on his lower lip.
If the senior disciple beside him hadn’t helped, that narrow sword would already be lodged in his heart.
His fingertips trembled faintly.
No matter how firm his resolve, he could not remain calm when death had just brushed past his nose.
He was not the only one being driven back.
“Agh!”
“Damn it, these bastards are strong!”
“Hold the line! Don’t retreat!”
The tide of battle had turned.
The blood-robed men were astonishingly skilled, nothing like the bandits they had faced until now.
And with their numbers reaching fifty, the situation was anything but favorable.
Thud!
Stamping the ground hard, the blood-robed men leapt upward, and red sword qi burst from the tips of their blades like spears.
“Kuh!”
Those sword energies rained down, aimed solely at the Mount Hua disciples’ vital points. Blood spurted here and there, and the sound of clenched teeth echoed across the battlefield.
Just where did these bastards come from…?
“Hahahahahahahahahaha!”
Before the Mount Hua disciples, who had unknowingly begun to shrink back, burst Go Hong’s thunderous laughter.
As though his laughter were a signal, the blood-robed men charging forward abruptly suppressed their momentum and stopped in place. Naturally, every eye turned to Go Hong, who was laughing wildly.
Looking at the Mount Hua disciples and Im So-byeong standing between them, Go Hong sneered openly.
“When things were going your way, the world must’ve looked pretty damn easy, huh?”
“…”
“So you figured you could wipe out the Dae-byeol Bandit Band whenever you wanted, you rat?”
Im So-byeong’s expression hardened at the mockery.
“That’s why the Green Forest King’s seat was too much for scum like you. Your arrogance is what choked your own neck. You idiot rat! Hahahahahahaha!”
Go Hong’s laughter was so loud it shook the entire mountain fort. The Mount Hua disciples ground their teeth and glared at him.
But unexpectedly, it was the blood-robed men who reacted before they did.
“You seem awfully pleased with yourself.”
“Should we say he’s acting like a bandit, then?”
At their reaction, Baek Cheon’s eyes turned cold in an instant.
Bandit?
They were calling their own leader a bandit? Were these people not Go Hong’s subordinates?
No. Right. These guys aren’t from the Green Forest.
Im So-byeong’s response only deepened that certainty.
“Just who the hell did you bring in, you worthless piece of shit!”
Im So-byeong shouted, killing intent pouring off him. His bloodshot eyes and clenched fists showed just how furious he was.
“Isn’t it all the same?”
“You…!”
His teeth grated loudly.
He had brought Mount Hua in because he was certain Mount Hua would never try to devour the entire Green Forest. But the people Go Hong had brought in now gave off an unmistakably dangerous scent.
There was no way men like this would help Go Hong and then quietly disappear. They would surely turn him into a puppet or cut him down when the time was right. Then they’d seize the Green Forest and play with it as they pleased.
If that happened, the Green Forest was truly finished.
Who the hell are they?
Go Hong was foolish, yes. But he was not a man who trusted others easily. How many people in the world could completely ensnare someone like that?
“Just who are you…?”
“That’s enough.”
Go Hong waved a hand dismissively.
“No need to talk to a dead man. Dragging this out won’t change the result!”
“…”
“This mountain will become your grave. What are you waiting for? Kill them all!”
The blood-robed men glanced at Go Hong and smiled thinly. There was no loyal reply, no rough chorus of agreement—only killing intent, as if to say they would obey that one command. They began pressuring the Mount Hua disciples again.
The blood-robed men’s narrow swords spat red sword energy.
Under that surging killing intent, the bandits of the Dae-byeol Band also let madness fill their eyes and tightened the noose around Mount Hua with savage force.
The Mount Hua disciples let out groans despite themselves.
“Elder.”
“Mm!”
At Un Geom’s call, Hyun Sang nodded.
We cannot let them outmatch us in momentum!
There was no need to explain how important morale was on the battlefield. They had to somehow revive the spirit that had been broken.
But how?
“Hahahahaha!”
Before Hyun Sang could even gather his thoughts, the blood-robed men in front charged straight at the Mount Hua disciples.
“Stop them!”
“Hold the line!”
The Mount Hua disciples clenched their teeth and prepared to meet the attack.
And then—
Whoooosh!
A piercing sonic boom tore through the air. Someone soared over their heads like a bolt of lightning and plunged into the midst of the blood-robed men.
The two blood-robed men at the front widened their eyes and scanned their surroundings, but all they could see was the back of the person who had already passed them by.
Scrape.
A blood-stained sword dragged lightly across the ground. Everyone’s gaze turned to that sword.
Blood.
The one holding the sword was completely untouched, not a single drop of blood on him. Then where had that blood come from?
No way…
Thud.
The head of the man who had turned to look rolled onto the ground. His remaining body swayed for a moment, then lost its balance and toppled over.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of the headless corpses hitting the ground brought the battlefield to a dead stop. Those who had seemed ready to plunge into combat moments ago could not even bring themselves to speak. They just stared at the lone man standing there.
Scrape.
The man’s sword dragged across the ground once more, as if to draw all eyes to himself.
“You’re not even worth much…”
The calm voice.
It was an impossibly steady tone for someone who had just cleanly severed two men’s heads.
Chung Myung slowly looked over the Mount Hua disciples.
Every disciple under that gaze bit down hard on their lips.
He hadn’t said much. He hadn’t even glared at them in anger. He had only looked.
And yet the Mount Hua disciples felt a stern rebuke in that emotionless stare: You were frightened by something like this?
“You…!”
Then the blood-robed man closest to Chung Myung ground his teeth and charged like lightning.
“Dieeeee!”
At the same moment, Chung Myung’s cold gaze moved.
The glance was fast, and the sword was faster. The blade flashed like a bolt of lightning, slamming into the incoming narrow sword and knocking it away.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In an instant, the blossoming sword stabbed repeatedly into the blood-robed man’s upper body. In the blink of an eye, more than ten wounds opened across his chest, and bright red blood poured from his mouth like a waterfall.
“Kuh… uh…”
Whoosh!
With the final movement of the sword, the blood-robed man’s severed head flew into the air.
Swish.
Chung Myung flicked the blood from his sword as if nothing had happened and twisted his lips.
“…”
The blood-robed men held their breath.
The smell of blood hung thick in the air.
The blood scent coming from that man was far denser than what they had felt from anyone else. It was suffocating.
“I don’t know where you lot came from… but—”
A deep, viscous killing intent seeped from Chung Myung’s eyes.
“—you’re going to regret coming here with every bone in your body.”
Chung Myung bared his white teeth and hurled himself at the blood-robed men like a wolf sighting prey.