Chapter 155
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Divine Might (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Impatient.
I wanted to storm in right now and lop off every last one of their heads. That way, I could use them as insurance for the future. He was the type who wouldn't let it slide if he found out we'd dragged our feet.
But like everything else, there was a proper order to things.
I had to lay out the cause and effect clearly, build a righteous justification. If I launched a night raid without warning, all the reputation I'd built up would pop like a bubble.
'Damn it, what the hell do you want from me!'
My brother would say this:
-'Do well.'
The process didn't matter.
The results justified the process and secured my safety. My current achievements were more than enough to leave a mark on the martial world, but they held little real meaning. Evaluations were always relative. No matter how impressive I was, if my brother outshone me even more, my standing would inevitably suffer.
"Vice Sect Leader."
"……!"
Lost deep in thought, Muho didn't respond right away.
Crimson Tiger Squad Leader Yu Wi-gang called out to him again.
"Vice Sect Leader."
"Ah, what is it?"
"It's Gushan Hall's True Person Squad."
Out of habit.
"Chop off their heads…… First, let's get the story out of them."
"……Understood!"
Chop off their heads?
Yu Wi-gang figured he must have misheard. Knowing the Vice Sect Leader's conduct as the very model of propriety, he was convinced the man wouldn't resort to such crude language.
'Not even the Protector.'
Even after Mujin reformed and became a Protector, Yu Wi-gang believed old habits didn't vanish overnight. He was still homework that needed watching.
'Gotta watch my words.'
Muho pretended not to notice Yu Wi-gang's inner shock.
Even if he'd heard it, he'd have to deny it. If even a sliver of the polished image his brother had crafted for him came undone, life would get messy. And lately, things were getting blurry. He couldn't tell anymore if this was his everyday personality or his true nature.
Maybe those packaged years were the ones pulling the strings on his personality.
'Was I always like this?'
It was more accurate to say his personality had shifted after his brother steeled his resolve and started doling out beatings disguised as training. Looking back, the blood from his father and brother ran true enough.
This was hypocrisy and pretense in its own right.
'Don't rush it.'
Muho had publicized the kidnapping attempt across Cheongyang, spreading the rumors far and wide. At the same time, he'd secured evidence—along with witnesses—that Gushan Hall had repeatedly crossed into Pine Tiger Sect territory to plunder merchants' goods.
Thud thud thud!
True Person Squad Leader Ga Yu-rak led his men right up to the line. He declared Gushan Hall Leader's stance at the border like it was an official notice.
"Our Hall Leader expresses his regrets over Pine Tiger Sect's baseless and excessive accusations. Should you continue to pressure us over this, we shall resolve it according to the laws of the martial world."
Far from repenting their crimes, Gushan Hall's brazen attitude ignited the Crimson Tiger Squad's fury. The evidence was plain as day, and they'd even been given time to apologize. If they were going to stab them in the back like this, they deserved a fitting price.
Muho's face darkened—he'd been waiting for this. They were testing the patience of a man backed into a corner.
"Not admitting it, huh?"
"Staging your little drama and not even ashamed. Parading around as the righteous while pulling filthy tricks…… Urk!"
It was a single streak of lightning plunging into an abyss of light.
Muho seized the space right in front of the yapping Ga Yu-rak, yanked him up by the collar, and slammed him into the dirt.
He sure loved a good slam—blood was thicker than water.
Boom!
As the world turned upside down for Ga Yu-rak and he thrashed to get up, Muho smashed an elbow into the back of his neck.
Crack!
The nape housed vital points like Brain Tiger and Thousand Autumns. A solid hit meant death; bad luck could turn you into an idiot.
Gurgle!
Fortunate to cling to life, Ga Yu-rak foamed at the mouth and passed out.
Whoa!
Everyone stared in stunned disbelief at the sudden carnage. They'd clashed with Kang Muho several times before, but never like this—never so brutally straightforward.
Yet they swallowed hard at Muho's unrestrained display of force, his true colors laid bare. The True Person Squad hadn't even managed a response while their leader lay unconscious.
Damn it!
Finally snapping to, Vice Squad Leader Seol Yeop raged at Muho's sneak attack.
"You think you'll walk away unscathed from this?! We won't stand by idly!"
Muho's patience had snapped—he wasn't even listening. There were circumstances demanding he wrap this up fast. If anything, this was convenient.
"Crimson Tiger Leader, beat them down…… suppress them."
"……Yes, Vice Sect Leader."
Yu Wi-gang chalked it up to another mishearing. With one sudden mess piling on another, his ears had to be going bad.
"Crimson Tiger Squad, suppress the enemy."
"Yes, Leader!"
Yu Wi-gang led the Crimson Tiger Squad in attacking the True Person Squad.
Clang clang clang!
The clash between Crimson Tiger and True Person Squad was anticlimactic.
Last time, inexperience had dragged it out, but now the skill gap was glaring. The True Person Squad crumpled without lasting even a few exchanges.
'They had something up their sleeves.'
Even after the humiliation last time, the True Person Squad had shown up heads held high. That alone proved they had ulterior motives.
And sure enough, it wasn't just them. Multiple auras were converging from nearby.
"Crush their dantians…… destroy them."
"Pardon?"
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Yes, Vice Sect Leader."
Even Yu Wi-gang was taken aback by Muho's resolve.
He was furious over the foiled kidnapping of his nephew, sure—but for any martial artist, the dantian was as good as their life. Destroying it was tantamount to killing them.
"……What are you…… stop…… Aaaagh!"
Snapping back to consciousness, Ga Yu-rak panicked at Muho's order to shatter his dantian. This was beyond anything he'd anticipated. His mission was simply to provoke Pine Tiger Sect into drawing steel first. He'd planned to stoke just enough anger for some friction and call it there. Dantian destruction was never on the table.
Shudder!
The sword pierced his dantian. He flailed desperately to preserve even a scrap of qi, but it was pointless. Already subdued, he was defenseless.
Drained of inner power, Ga Yu-rak glared at Muho with bloodshot eyes and spat curses.
"……You bastard! You're finished now!"
"Three times is plenty."
Not once, but he'd spared his life three times now. With firm resolve, Muho pulled his sword free.
Chill!
Only then did Ga Yu-rak grasp his dire straits. He'd never imagined it, but that unimaginable fate might claim him after all. Powerless or not, he didn't want to die.
"……Wait!"
Those were Ga Yu-rak's last words.
Thud!
A line of blood etched across his nape, and his head slid free, rolling across the ground. At Ga Yu-rak's pathetic end, the True Person Squad—poised to resist—froze solid.
Gasp!
No one had dreamed that Pine Tiger Sect's famously impartial Vice Sect Leader would slay Ga Yu-rak without a moment's hesitation.
Whoa!
Yu Wi-gang and the Crimson Tiger Squad were just as shocked. By pure martial skill, he was the sect's top swordsman, but he lacked real-world experience. The decisiveness of his unhesitating blade sent shivers straight to their cores.
"Don't drop your guard! Combat readiness—now."
"Yes, Vice Sect Leader."
The moment Muho shouted, presences rippled in from all sides. They were closing in to encircle them. The flawless coordination would've been impossible without prior waiting.
Thud thud thud!
Gushan Hall charged in, kicking up clouds of dust. They'd brought their full strength—at least five hundred strong. Ten times the Crimson Tiger Squad's numbers.
"No……!"
The Gushan warriors arriving at the site gulped in shock.
The entire True Person Squad lay bleeding and collapsed, their leader's head rolling on the ground.
Grit!
Stunned by the scene that defied all expectations, Gushan Hall Leader Mok Jin-san ground his teeth.
'How?'
He'd instructed the True Person Squad Leader to provoke Pine Tiger Sect, then swoop in with full force the moment they made a move and capture their Vice Sect Leader. But this massacre far exceeded predictions. He'd sent their strongest elites as a precaution, yet every last one had their dantians shattered and broken.
"You did this!"
"And if I did."
"Out of your mind—must really want to die!"
"Should've skipped the dirty tricks."
"Riding your flimsy fame, running your mouth! Everything that follows is on you!"
Killing intent straight out of Cheongyang's demonic paths poured from Mok Jin-san.
The plan had worked after a fashion, but the damage had gone too far. And this green kid with scant world experience was provoking him without fear. Fail to punish him, and face would be lost. Since ancient times, the unorthodox backed their legitimacy with raw power.
"Kill them all!"
Wipe out the Crimson Tiger Squad, capture Kang Muho, and pin the provocation on Pine Tiger Sect. He'd see if the brat kept making demands with his son dying in front of him.
Mok Ak-jin, his spirits renewed, burned with battle lust. Their numerical edge fueled his confidence.
"Father, leave this to me."
"Teach that thunderbolt froglet the world's terror."
No matter how strong the fledgling, they outnumbered him ten to one. Factoring in hidden forces, he'd be rolling in the dirt pathetically soon enough.
Let him regret his choices amid the corpses.
Clang clang clang!
Numerical superiority bred momentum. Gushan exploited their numbers to press the Crimson Tiger Squad.
Whoom!
The Crimson Tiger Squad brimmed with confidence from past victories, but this was their first fight with such a lopsided numerical gap. Worse, Gushan charged with killing intent billowing. They couldn't help shrinking back on instinct.
What they needed in that moment was conviction.
The certainty of victory.
And the one they needed to show it to was clear. Wars might call for strategists and virtuous generals, but battles demanded the brave and the fierce.
Scree!
Muho broke from the Crimson Tiger Squad and charged straight at Mok Jin-san.
Blocking his path were the previously defeated Poison Eagle Demon Sword Yoo Tae-jin, Land Blood Slaughter Gal Cheon, and Small Hall Leader Mok Ak-jin. Layers of warriors formed an encirclement.
"Arrogant punk—no fear!"
"Rip you apart slow and painful!"
"Carve the price of your impudence into your bones!"
Muho barreled toward the blockers without pause. One Step One Flash—his speed ramped up with every footfall.
Screee!
In an instant, Muho's form turned to a ray of light. He unleashed azure-white sword qi next. The synergy of speed and trajectory was blinding. It was as if the enemies were offering their necks to his blade—no stroke wasted.
Slash, slice!
The path Muho carved became a river of blood. With each swing, three or four heads went rolling.
Gasp!
In the blink of an eye, he was upon Yoo Tae-jin, Gal Cheon, and Mok Ak-jin. Their plan to wear him down with underlings fell apart. Far from winded, he'd cleared the path in a single breath.
"Die!"
Muho had plunged alone into the enemy's heart.
Mok Ak-jin, Yoo Tae-jin, and Gal Cheon drew their blades, radiating ferocious killing intent.
Muho's charge was reckless, but the sword paths he'd shown were formidable. He hadn't hidden his full power from the start, lopping off the underlings' heads in a flash.
Whirl!
From left and right, hitting blind spots.
They seized positions to disrupt Muho's trajectories. Yoo Tae-jin waited for his chance to unleash Poison Eagle Death Sword's pinpoint strike; Gal Cheon prepped Land Dragon Blood Slaughter's Six Blood Waves.
Slink!
Mok Ak-jin circled behind and launched Gushan Blood Fiend Blade's Dead Mountain Blood Sea.
Boom!
Until now, Muho had paced himself to their movements—but now he cut loose. Hidden inner power surged through his meridians, accelerating his body to the max. In a heartbeat, he left afterimages, stretching like a line connecting scattered points.
Shuuuaaang!
In Muho's accelerated vision, reality slowed. Their movements sharpened into clarity. Lines of life and death etched themselves plain.
Muho thrust, slashed, and swung without mercy.
Pook, slice, thud!
Like a gale-force blast sweeping through.
Those caught in the storm couldn't even betray their final moments, dyeing the surroundings in horror.
Pop!
Yoo Tae-jin, mid-swing, sprouted a red dot between his brows. Gal Cheon, spraying blood qi, lost both arms as his throat parted.
Roll roll roll!
Their heads detached from torsos, floated briefly, then hit the ground and tumbled ingloriously.
Thump!
Headless bodies crumpled. Severed heads rolled on, oblivious and smug in their ignorance.
Silence fell in that instant.
Even the Gushan warriors who'd been swinging their weapons with murderous fervor couldn't shut their mouths at the scene.
Heuk!
It took time to process reality.
Gushan Hall only confronted the horror after two breaths. Some still refused to believe it.
'What…… is this?'
Mok Jin-san stared blankly at his son's head rolling on the ground.
Scree!
While everyone reeled in shock, Muho tore through the ranks. He focused a different aura on the opponent now facing him.
Twitch!
Hidden among the Gushan warriors.
A burly man's sword brow twisted sharply. The kid had clocked him. Decent instincts for a backwater sect. But he'd picked the wrong foe.
'Time to learn you're just a frog in a well!'
Shadow of the Black Dragon.
Secret Sword.
He drew from the Phantom Sword Style: Phantom Demon Shadow Sword. Extreme speed fused with endlessly shifting paths created countless illusions.
Its pinnacle: Phantom Sword Hell.
It became a Life-Death Duel of single strokes.
Muho didn't back down. He hurled himself into the sword phantoms.
Shwaaaaang!
Their forms pierced and passed, landing opposite: Secret Sword and Muho. The illusions faded; his blade was sheared halfway.
Whirl, boom boom boom!
Muho didn't stop. He fanned out lightning sword qi like a peacock's tail, severing the panicked Gushan warriors' breaths. Each curve dropped heads.
Crack, crack!
Meanwhile, Secret Sword—who'd advanced step by wary step—dropped to his knees. Despair gripped him as life ebbed. An absurd end for him.
"Impossible…… Me, in one exchange……."
He'd come at Gushan Hall's request but hadn't taken it seriously. Gushan was a minor faction next to Black Dragon Fortress; Pine Tiger Sect an unheard-of nobody.
Yet he'd yielded his life in one sword. Even dying, he couldn't fathom that pinnacle of speed.
Crackle, spurt!
A vivid red line slashed diagonally from right shoulder to left waist. Blood erupted in a fountain.
Splat!
Secret Sword—one of Black Dragon Fortress's five hidden blades—couldn't even close his eyes as he face-planted. His last sight: his subordinates' heads rolling.
'No need to call it out.'
Before drawing his sword, Muho had sensed auras unlike any ordinary Gushan warrior. Disguised as rank-and-file, they couldn't fool his recently honed senses.
That was why he hadn't gone all-out even against Gushan Hall's small leaders and elders. He'd closed in naturally during their complacency and slain them like any other footsoldier.
In truth, no one had properly witnessed their deaths. They just looked like they'd dropped dead effortlessly, without landing a single blow.
He'd pegged their identities.
No way Gushan Leader was stupid enough to flaunt outside help openly.
'Black Dragon Fortress.'
Timeline-wise, it lined up before the kidnapping attempt on Miju. They'd dragged things out until the fortress dispatched help, then counterattacked.
All the more unforgivable. Gushan Hall showed no remorse to the end, even using it as a pretext to target Pine Tiger Sect. Mercy was a luxury they didn't deserve.
'Brother wouldn't have hesitated either.'
Muho's sword intent chilled the air around him. Far too overwhelming to overwhelm with mere numbers.
The momentum flipped in a heartbeat. Crimson Tiger Squad seized the opening. Confident in their Vice Sect Leader's swordsmanship, they no longer shrank from the numbers and unleashed their own blades.
Tang, slash!
Riding the wave, Crimson Tiger Squad bared their fangs like starving tigers. Blood-soaked, they tore into Gushan Hall relentlessly.
Shudder!
Mok Jin-san's eyes—brimming with certainty of total victory—filled with disbelief. He faced an impossible reality. His son's death was one thing, but he'd never dreamed Black Dragon's Secret Sword would fall so absurdly.
Step, step!
The culprit behind it all was walking toward Mok Jin-san. He'd slit his son's throat, then cleaned up Secret Sword and the rest amid the confusion.
"You've gone and ruined my grand scheme!"
"Wouldn't have happened without the greed. So the blame falls on you, Gushan Hall Leader."
Muho flung Mok Jin-san's own words from their arrival right back at him.
"Shut your mouth! You, at least—I'll kill you for sure!"
"Greed gone too far…… Hm?"
Sensing a sudden wrongness, Muho cranked Evolution Art to its peak and vaulted the distance. A faint tremor of life and death. His instincts prickled at the anomaly, driving him forward.
Pine Tiger Five Swords, fifth form: Pine Tiger Rules the World!
Dense lines of sword gang erupted from the blade's tip, spreading like a net to blanket the space.
Shwaaaaak!
Where the sword wind raged, no anger, no madness, no traces remained. Had Crimson Tiger and Gushan not been locked in battle, a second hush of deathly silence would've fallen.
'What was that?'
Muho mulled the source of that final unease. Gushan Leader's power topped out at elder level, maybe a notch higher. That's why he'd prioritized killing the dispatched outsiders. Yet a shiver had struck from toes to scalp in that instant.
'Dragging it out could've been dangerous.'
With the variables neutralized ahead of time, the scales had tipped.
The Crimson Tiger-Gushan clash would wrap soon too. Even with a total victory and zero casualties, Muho let out a heavy sigh.
'Doesn't feel like it's over.'
The spar with his brother had sharpened him. He felt a grave threat from the old self his brother had forged. An anxiety that he might never break free.
'It's done—no issues now. Right, has to be.'
Evidence disposal and cleanup were non-negotiable.