Resolving the Conflict 6
Wi Ryong-cham thrashed desperately and tried to flee, but as he had already said, the strength and the weakness of assassin martial arts were one and the same: if the first form failed to finish the enemy, the danger that followed was far too great.
Crack, crack, crack!
With a sound so terrifying it could make one’s skin crawl, the sword gang unleashed by the peak master, Golden Prince Seok Geum-ryong, came crashing down on Wi Ryong-cham.
“......!!”
With the premonition that every bone in his body was shattering, a vicious sword wound that could never be healed truly took root across his upper body.
It was a mercy that his entire upper torso had not been blown away.
“Kuh-heh!”
Wi Ryong-cham coughed up blood like a madman and staggered backward.
Honestly, it was a mercy that he did not simply faint on the spot.
“Good heavens!”
“That young master, Seok Geum-ryong, actually defeated the leader of Salui-dang at such a young age!”
“Killing Swift Sword Wi Ryong-cham is one of the most troublesome types even among peak experts... and yet he was defeated so easily by someone barely in his mid-teens!”
The group that followed Seok Geum-ryong was no longer surprised by a result that had become all too familiar, but the female experts of the Nine Yin Association, including Yin-Extending Sword Cho So-yeon, were different.
To be frank, aside from someone like Cho So-yeon, very few of them truly understood Seok Geum-ryong’s worth.
He had made a fair name for himself at the Hebei exchange gathering, but they had thought that was no more than a display of skill among still-unripe youngsters.
But now, what was this?
Shuddering violently, the Nine Yin Witch Song Nan-hyang, leader of the Nine Yin Association and another peak expert, was trembling all over.
To be honest, even I wasn’t confident I could defeat Wi Ryong-cham one-on-one with ease.
That was because Song Nan-hyang’s martial arts were not well matched against Wi Ryong-cham’s assassin techniques, and because her physical condition had not been good of late.
Yet Seok Geum-ryong, regardless of compatibility or anything else, had simply crushed the master of assassin martial arts, Wi Ryong-cham, who had displayed the very essence of his craft through sheer talent and martial skill.
“Magnificent, Young Master Seok!”
Especially Cho So-yeon, who admired Seok Geum-ryong, gazed at him with eyes flushed a delicate red.
He was handsome enough to stand among the finest in the martial world even by appearance alone, and now that he had proven his martial prowess and become a hero who saved the Nine Yin Association, how could she not be moved?
“Hoo.”
By contrast, after bringing Wi Ryong-cham down, Seok Geum-ryong took a moment to steady his breathing and kept watch in case any of the Salui-dang assassins burst out from the shadows.
That was lucky.
That was Seok Geum-ryong’s honest thought after defeating the Killing Swift Sword Wi Ryong-cham.
In truth, the difference in martial skill between Seok Geum-ryong and Wi Ryong-cham was almost negligible.
No, in terms of realm alone, Wi Ryong-cham was at the middle stage of the Peak Realm, so if anything he was slightly above Seok Geum-ryong.
The reason I won so easily came down to two things.
Some might say it was because of the difference in quality between Seok Geum-ryong’s Calming Sword and the sword in Wi Ryong-cham’s hand, but that was nonsense.
No matter how great the difference in quality between two swords, it was rare for a blade to be shattered so miserably.
The fact that it had been reduced to splinters meant only one thing: Wi Ryong-cham had let down his guard badly while holding that sword.
In truth, Wi Ryong-cham had regarded Seok Geum-ryong not as a peak expert, but at best as someone at the super first-class level, and even then merely as a wealthy young master still too young and inexperienced to matter.
Once the mindset going into battle was that rotten, how could the sword not break?
His heart had shaken before he had even properly taken up his blade, and in that opening, Seok Geum-ryong’s overwhelming internal force, together with the absolute perfection of the Calming Sword, had smashed it apart.
From the moment the sword broke, Wi Ryong-cham’s miserable defeat had already become a foregone disaster.
“Th-the leader!”
“Quickly, save the leader!”
None of Salui-dang’s people had expected their leader to be crushed so utterly by a boy in his mid-teens.
So they stood frozen like ice, then only belatedly regained their senses and rushed into action.
“As if I’d let you!”
“Protect the young master!”
“Our Nine Yin Association can’t keep relying on others any longer!”
“We must protect the hero of the Nine Yin Association, Young Master Seok Geum-ryong!”
It was not as though Moon Spirit Swordswoman Im So-gun and Shadowless One Shin Dan-woo would stand by and watch Seok Geum-ryong be ambushed.
On top of that, even the heroines of the Nine Yin Association who had received immense help from Seok Geum-ryong could not remain still.
And so the Nine Yin Association and the cooperative force from Bukcheon-won of Seokga Manor came crashing together in one place, fighting the Salui-dang assassins who charged in.
“Back up, Leader!”
The members of Salui-dang also sensed that if their leader, Wi Ryong-cham, were captured or defeated, all their plans would go up in smoke.
So they did everything they could to get him to the rear.
“Hah... huff...”
Wi Ryong-cham himself no longer clung to pride.
Pride was something one could indulge in only when one had enough breathing room to survive it.
He was on the verge of death after Seok Geum-ryong’s single sword strike and counterattack, so there was no pride left to cling to, and no pride left to lose.
What a madman. What a damn monster.
That was as close as Wi Ryong-cham came to praise as he quietly slipped backward.
There was another reason he was retreating with all his might.
He drew a red pill from his robes and swallowed it. It was an emergency recovery pill that martial artists took when they suffered severe injuries.
The reason Wi Ryong-cham took it was that the deep slash across his upper body was making it difficult to move.
Since I reached the level of a top-class assassin, has there ever been a time I failed and came away this badly injured?
It had already been more than ten years since Wi Ryong-cham reached the rank of special-grade assassin.
In all those ten years, he had never once failed at an assassination, and in direct one-on-one confrontations he had brought down every swordsman who stood before him.
Except for one single person.
Golden Prince Seok Geum-ryong.
Perhaps because he had taken the pill and restored some strength, just enough to get through the immediate crisis?
Damn it! Damn it all!
The fact that he had been bitterly defeated by a mere teenage boy struck him with brutal clarity, and that realization made the wound in his heart ache even more.
More than anything, what enraged him most was that not only had he failed to seize the Nine Yin Association, but his second plan as well, taking Seok Geum-ryong hostage and fleeing to another region, had also turned to ash.
Now only one choice remained.
“Members of Salui-dang! Survive by any means necessary!”
Killing Swift Sword Wi Ryong-cham threw his weapon to the ground, leaving only the hilt in his hand, and shouted.
The way they scattered in order to survive was, by coincidence, very much like the scene when the Nine Yin Association’s vanguard had been defeated, which only made it look more pathetic.
As long as I survive! If even my subordinates and I survive, then I can still scheme for the future.
Clinging to that single conviction, Wi Ryong-cham also threw himself into a desperate escape.
One small stroke of luck was that the clash with Seok Geum-ryong had been brief. Though he had sustained a serious injury, his stamina and internal force remained comparatively intact.
-Assassin Shadow Concealment Art!
As befitted a superb special-grade assassin, Wi Ryong-cham unleashed extraordinary light-footwork that both concealed his entire body and shot him forward at terrifying speed.
It was a little unfair to the others, but if his subordinates could distract the enemy’s eyes while he used this excellent Assassin Shadow Concealment Art to escape, then he could still avoid the worst possible outcome.
Just you wait, Nine Yin Association. Just you wait, Seok Geum-ryong.
Only when he was certain his escape had crossed the ridge and was nearly complete did Wi Ryong-cham casually glance back and hurl a curse toward the Nine Yin Association and Seok Geum-ryong.
If he thought about it, it had been his own actions that attacked the Nine Yin Association first, his own actions that sent the written provocation to Seok Geum-ryong first, but villains only ever watch other people’s actions and never look back at their own.
Was it because he was relieved to have escaped?
“Seok Geum-ryong! No matter what happens, I will make sure that you alone......”
The instant he was about to spit out a stream of vicious curses toward the Seok Geum-ryong now far behind him and beyond thought’s reach!
-Heaven-Returning Golden Needle Technique!
Without the slightest hesitation, Seok Geum-ryong hurled the Heaven-Returning Golden Needle Technique at the foolish Wi Ryong-cham.
Even without that, his inner force had already reached the Peak Realm, and in fact was not inferior even when measured against masters of the Ascension Realm, so the technique had already surpassed the level of Yeo Gwang-rae, the Golden Needle Venerable who had taught it to him.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Golden rain poured down like a sudden storm, and Wi Ryong-cham was thrown into a panic.
But only for a moment.
Slither, slip!
True to his reputation as a superb assassin, he displayed remarkable mobility and barely managed to evade every golden needle.
Because the distance was so great, the power had inevitably weakened, and that result favored Wi Ryong-cham.
“Hahaha! I dodged it......”
He had barely dodged Seok Geum-ryong’s decisive hidden-weapon technique and was about to mock him to his heart’s content when...
-Shadowless Movement Technique!
There was one thing Wi Ryong-cham had overlooked.
The Heaven-Returning Golden Needle Technique had been nothing but bait.
Sweet bait meant to lull him into relief and briefly bind his feet.
Then what was the true purpose?
While Wi Ryong-cham was still at ease, Seok Geum-ryong was throwing himself forward with all his might, unleashing the Shadowless Movement Technique.
“Gah!”
When Wi Ryong-cham saw Seok Geum-ryong closing in at a speed several times greater than his own, he blanched again and this time ran like a madman without even looking back.
No matter how fast Seok Geum-ryong’s light-footwork was, it was difficult to close the gap against Wi Ryong-cham.
Wi Ryong-cham was an exceptional master of movement techniques as well.
Smirk.
When Seok Geum-ryong still could not catch him, Wi Ryong-cham was just about to relax again with a so-called, “Of course,” when...
Fushushushuk!
Something pierced the back of the head of Wi Ryong-cham, who was fleeing at full speed without ever looking behind him.
“Huh? W-what?”
Still racing forward like a madman, Wi Ryong-cham felt something go straight through the back of his head, and his whole body lurched.
The expression on his face was superbly befuddled, as though he still could not understand why this was happening.
Drip, drip, drip.
Feeling a waterfall of blood sliding down in an unreal stream, he reached back toward the back of his head.
To his astonishment, a smooth short dagger, about the length of a child’s wrist, had been driven straight into the back of his skull and was still trembling violently there.
It was proof that Seok Geum-ryong’s profound internal force had been poured into it without reserve.
“Fool. Both the needle technique and the movement technique that seemed like a pursuit were all bait.”
Seok Geum-ryong smiled brightly as he spoke, having finally caught the big fish he wanted on his bait.
His true goal had not been to chase him down in light-footwork.
It had been to make him relax with the golden needles, trick him into thinking his throwing techniques were spent, and then use the sharp short dagger forged from the bones of the Thousand-Year Python to kill him.
How simple it was, and yet how terrifying a scheme and trap it truly was.
“Y-you... you......”
With the dagger piercing the back of his head, and with the back of his neck and his entire back now soaked red in fresh blood, Wi Ryong-cham tried to force his collapsing lower body upright, but his body no longer listened to the words of the dead.
“Leader of Salui-dang, Wi Ryong-cham. You were far too rude to the stone that rolled into your path, trying to bully the one that was already set in place.”
Seok Geum-ryong told the dying Wi Ryong-cham the first reason he had been brought to such a miserable defeat and death.
If he had been a little more respectful toward Seok Geum-ryong and Bukcheon-won, or at the very least had not sent that written provocation, none of this would have happened.
“Still, if you had set up a base in the Hebei martial world, you wouldn’t have lasted even one generation, let alone ten years... so don’t blame me too much.”
With that, Seok Geum-ryong quietly pressed his palms together in a respectful salute.