I Need to Make Sure (2)
Faaaat!
Blood surged from the gaping wound in his chest. Before the hot spray had even finished splashing to the floor, that monster slammed into the collapsing body and hurled it backward. Then, soaked in the spray of blood, it swung its sword again.
The faces of the Cheol-mo-bang swordsmen were already drenched in terror.
Faaaat!
Something pale flashed before their eyes, and a sharp pain suddenly seared at their throats. One man, grabbing his neck on instinct, felt something hot welling up from within it and fought desperately to keep hold of his fading consciousness.
Strength drained from his body in an instant, and everything in front of him went white. In the blink of an eye, he was already smashed down onto the ground, and all he could see was the dark-red earth and the black-robed swordsman striding over it.
“Kuheh... kuhk...”
Even as consciousness slipped far away, instinct still moved his hand. Trembling, he pressed at the acupoints around his throat, the hand that had been clamped there so tightly it had gone white.
“Kkeugh...”
Pressing his points just in time, he managed to stop the bleeding and lay there gasping. If he hadn’t done that, the moment he lost consciousness, his life would have been gone with it.
His jaw trembled uncontrollably. In that instant, he had brushed the threshold of the underworld. No, in truth, he still hadn’t entirely escaped it.
Shaking, he turned his head to the side. Through eyes blurred by tears, he caught sight of the swordsman’s back as it danced through the air, sword flashing and scattering blood in all directions.
That was the last thing he saw before consciousness was severed.
Thwack!
“……”
The sword thrust in from below drove cleanly into his side.
The Cheol-mo-bang disciple stared with wide-open eyes at the blade that had pierced straight through his waist.
Blood poured from his body, ran along the sword, and stained even the hand gripping it red.
“You...!”
He looked as though he had something to say, but his body could no longer obey him.
Thud.
As he lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, the sword was naturally pulled free. Chung Myung flicked the blood from his blade once and lifted his head.
Blood from his soaked bangs dripped down in heavy drops.
“Move.”
“……”
“Or everyone dies. Move.”
As Chung Myung took a step forward, those blocking his path glanced at one another and stumbled back. Their terror-stricken eyes raced restlessly, hunting for some way out.
We’re supposed to stop that?
That lunatic?
They, too, had seen many battlefields, but that bastard’s sword was unlike any martial art they knew.
This wasn’t something you could simply call stronger and be done with it.
They had never once seen swordplay so ruthless, so merciless. A sword that had once crashed down like Mount Tai to crush men beneath it now turned into a viper, biting for the throat; it flowed like water and then sliced clean into the chest.
How in the world were they supposed to fight something like that?
Someone finally managed to force out, the words barely more than a groan.
“N-no...!”
“We’re going to die...”
Just as the fear spreading through them was about to turn into screams—
“Aaaagh!”
A dreadful cry rang out from behind them.
Those who turned instinctively saw the red spearhead of a spear bursting through the chest of a man in Cheol-mo-bang garb.
“Anyone who tries to run dies by my hand anyway.”
Fwip.
Pulling the spear from the back he had pierced, Beon Song swept his crazed gaze over everyone there.
“There’s only one enemy! Just one! If you grab his arms and legs and keep jamming your blades in, there’s no way you can’t get him! Fight!”
Chung Myung’s eyes locked onto Beon Song. The corner of his mouth twisted slightly.
“Only your mouth’s alive, huh?”
“...What?”
“If you’re that confident, then come out yourself. Don’t hide behind your men and run your mouth like some hotshot.”
“……”
“And...”
Chung Myung asked with a cold sneer,
“Who said there was only one?”
It happened then.
As if a light breeze had passed, a black figure shot through the air and crashed into the midst of the panicked men.
“Huh!”
Spears flew up reflexively, but the figure that had leapt in twisted gracefully through the air to avoid them, then instead slid down along the spears themselves.
At the same time—
Swish.
With a sound like fabric brushing against the air, a pure white blade sliced through the sky.
Slash! Slash!
Exactly where Chung Myung had aimed.
Slightly shallower, but a little more precise, the swordswoman cut through the vital points of the surrounding Cheol-mo-bang disciples all at once and let her sword fall.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Almost at the same moment, the nearby Cheol-mo-bang men dropped like rotten sheaves of straw.
“Haa.”
Yu I-seol let out a short breath and calmly surveyed the area. Taking in the shocked faces of the Cheol-mo-bang disciples, she lightly crossed her feet, then vanished as though sinking out of sight. The next instant, she reappeared right in front of the terrified men.
Faaaat!
Her blade pierced shoulders and split thighs. Every time she moved in near silence, quick as light itself, screams erupted from all around.
“Aaaagh!”
In an instant, cracks began to spread through the formation.
And she wasn’t the only one who had leapt in.
“Haaaah!”
Jo Gul charged forward fiercely, scattering plum blossoms through the air. The Plum Blossom Sword Qi that bloomed in a heartbeat crashed down upon the tightly packed Cheol-mo-bang disciples.
Yoon Jong’s shout drilled into Jo Gul’s ears.
“Don’t swing your sword recklessly! We are not murderers!”
“I made it softer, didn’t I!”
With his face twisted, Yoon Jong rushed in and swept through the Cheol-mo-bang men.
I have to do this!
If they let it go on even a little longer like this, that damn bastard might truly start slaughtering people without mercy. Up until now no one had died to a single strike, but if things escalated, who knew what could happen?
“Soso!”
“Yes, Sahyung!”
Dang Soso leaped up behind Yoon Jong and sent silver needles flying forward. The sharp needles mercilessly bored into the bodies of the men preparing to receive the sword attacks.
“Aagh!”
“W-what is this!”
“Kkeugh!”
And Yoon Jong did not miss the opening. The sword he had always wielded so firmly and straightforwardly now cut through the Cheol-mo-bang men with a sharper edge than usual.
With attacks raining down from every direction in an instant, the wavering Cheol-mo-bang disciples were thrown into confusion and didn’t know what to do.
Just as Chung Myung tightened his grip on his sword to finish it—
“Go.”
At the voice close by, Chung Myung turned around blankly.
Baek Cheon had come up beside him at some point and now stood right behind him.
“We’ll handle this.”
“……”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but there must be a reason you’re rushing like that. Go. But...”
Baek Cheon stared straight through Chung Myung as he said it.
“You’re better off being just a little obnoxious. Don’t go getting all serious for no reason—go and knock them flat properly.”
Chung Myung, who had been silently staring at him, twitched the corner of his mouth.
“...Well, look at you.”
“I’ve always been like this.”
“Ha...”
Chung Myung shook his head and let out a deep breath.
“I’ll be back.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t go crying if you get hit by a blind sword.”
“Am I you?”
“Tch.”
Chung Myung lifted his body slightly from the ground. At once, Baek Cheon, as if this were the most natural thing in the world, extended his sword and placed it beneath Chung Myung’s feet.
“Taah!”
And the instant Chung Myung thrust out his foot, Baek Cheon struck upward with all his strength.
The recoil launched Chung Myung clean over the men blocking his way and dropped him onto the head of Red Spear Flash Beon Song.
Chung Myung’s eyes flared blue as he brought his sword down hard on Beon Song’s head. Beon Song, startled out of his wits, raised his spear to block the Black Burial Sword.
Kwaaaang!
The horrifying shockwave ripped through the area.
At the sight of someone who had vaulted over their heads colliding with their leader in an instant, the Cheol-mo-bang disciples gasped and stared that way. Then a low voice rang in their ears.
“Hey.”
When they snapped their heads around, they saw Baek Cheon clearly, slowly raising his sword.
“No need to feel disappointed. I’m not exactly easy to deal with either.”
Baek Cheon, glancing briefly at Chung Myung, planted his stance.
“Kkheugh!”
The hand gripping the spear was trembling violently.
His wrist must already have been broken, because agony of monstrous proportions crashed through him. The toes of the foot bracing his body felt as if they would snap at any moment.
His face was twisted into a ruinous grimace, and bloodshot veins stood out in his eyes.
And in those eyes was Chung Myung’s face, brutally pressing down on his spear.
It was strange.
There was no other word for it. His face was like that of a beast on the hunt. But there was one difference between the monster before him and an actual beast: beasts never smiled while they hunted.
“Since you didn’t come...”
Chung Myung spoke as he lightly pressed the sword down. Then, with the recoil, he lifted his body into the air again just a little.
At the same time, his feet stomped down on the spear twice in succession.
“I came to you.”
Thump!
Beon Song’s arm, already taut with force, was forcibly bent inward, pinning the spear close to his body.
Whirl!
In that instant, Chung Myung spun once in the air and both his feet kicked mercilessly at the spear shaft pressed against Beon Song’s chest.
Thunk!
With a heavy boom, Beon Song was hurled backward into the pillar of the main hall.
Crack! Craaack!
The enormous pillar, thicker than a person’s body, snapped in an instant, and Beon Song’s body was smashed deep into the hall.
Rumble.
The front part of the hall, its pillar blown apart, collapsed, and roof tiles and timber came pouring down like a waterfall. Chung Myung, now on the ground, let his sword hang at his side and walked toward the crumbling building.
Step. Step.
His strides halted as he approached the cloud of dust.
“...Come out.”
“Kkheu...”
Boom!
Like a boar struck by a spear, Beon Song kicked through the rubble of the collapsed hall and burst forward. Then he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Y-you bastard! I’ll kill you!”
But Chung Myung’s eyes had never been on Beon Song in the first place. Looking past him, toward the hall that had barely managed to keep its shape, Chung Myung said again,
“I said come out.”
“Hmm.”
A moment later, a low voice drifted from inside the hall.
“I suppose one has to call this living up to the name.”
“So the rumor that even the Hegemon was impressed may be true.”
“But...”
“You are arrogant.”
Two men walked out from the half-collapsed hall and stood on either side of Beon Song, looking at Chung Myung.
“Maninbang?”
At Chung Myung’s question, the two men nodded at the same time.
“This is perfect. I had something to say to your damn boss, too.”
Chung Myung raised his sword and pointed it at the two of them.
“If I send your heads over, that should get the message across well enough.”
“Hahahat.”
The man who had shaken his head smiled faintly.
“Looks like you’ll die here...”
“Don’t either of you move!”
Just then, Beon Song abruptly shouted, cutting the man off.
“I’ll kill that rat myself! Th-that damn bastard dares break my wrist?”
“Boss.”
“I’ll rip out his mouth! That bastard!”
“Boss...”
“I’ll flay his skin and use it for a drinking cup! You damned son of a bitch!! Aaaagh!”
Faaaaang!
In an instant, Beon Song’s neck spun around.
It was a truly bizarre sight.
How could a human neck turn completely around and then return to its place? Not only that, Beon Song’s neck had not turned once but twice in a furious whirl before finally finding its way back.
Beon Song’s head, with his tongue lolling out above the wrung-out twist of his neck like a handkerchief being squeezed dry, swayed slightly before hanging limply to one side.
“Tch. This is why rabble are useless.”
Thud.
The man who had casually glanced at the falling Beon Song brushed his hand off lightly.
“...If you kill him, who exactly do you expect to collect the reward from?”
“The rest of them will pay up on their own. And besides... the reward is hardly the issue right now.”
“Can’t say you’re wrong.”
The two men slowly advanced toward Chung Myung.
“If you want to catch a big fish, you’ve got to give up the small fry.”
“A two-on-one?”
“We’ll make sure of it.”
As the two of them approached while talking casually to one another, Chung Myung lifted a hand. Then he used his fingertips to tug slightly at the stiff corner of his mouth.
The odd gesture made the two men tilt their heads.
“What does that mean?”
“Ah, nothing much. Someone told me it’d be better if I were a little obnoxious.”
“……”
“So brace yourselves. I’m about to be a hell of a lot more obnoxious than usual. Especially...”
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed with killing intent.
“For you Maninbang bastards.”
There was no need for more words. The three of them charged at one another with ferocious speed.