Breaking Through the Gates
Dokgo Seol-ran stood alone in Woo-gang's quarters, her hands clenched tightly in anxious anticipation.
Woo-gang's fury, the overwhelming aura radiating from him—it all far surpassed the incident with the corpse not long ago.
Back then, as Woo-gang himself had said, he'd held back to avoid harming the Murim Alliance warriors.
But now was different.
He harbored ill feelings toward the Murim Alliance and was consumed by rage.
Boom!
An explosion echoed from afar.
She could even feel the ground tremble faintly beneath her feet.
This whole mess had clearly stemmed from Sa Ma-gang's—and the Murim Alliance's—mistake, but all she could think was that she hoped it would end without anyone from Woo-gang's side or the Alliance getting hurt or killed.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The earth shook violently once more.
Dokgo Seol-ran squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her hands even tighter.
Then, as if she'd made up her mind about something, she stepped out of the quarters.
It was a veritable gale-force storm.
Woo-gang's strides as he burst through the encircling Murim Alliance warriors showed not a hint of hesitation.
The Alliance pulled out every trick to grab at his ankles, but it was all for naught.
Whoosh!
Woo-gang swept his spear horizontally toward the front.
It wasn't mere intimidation—this strike carried clear intent to cleave.
The Murim Alliance warriors swiftly pulled back, retreating beyond his attack range.
Seizing the gap, Woo-gang pressed forward a bit more, and the attacks aimed at his rear from others fell flat once again.
Woo-gang's movements were so swift and his momentum so fierce that the Alliance warriors ramped up their attack tempo and speed.
Yet they failed time and again to seize him.
Part of it was his sheer agility, but more than that, his movements were so unpredictable and erratic that they couldn't pin him down.
Swish!
Woo-gang's feet never stopped moving.
Chu Pung Gu Hwan Bo unfolded flawlessly, shrugging off the Alliance warriors' pressure yet again.
Though his exchanges with them were sharp and hostile, tainted by anger and betrayal, Woo-gang inwardly marveled at the footwork's power once more.
Chu Pung Gu Hwan Bo wasn't just about raw speed.
Wind-Chasing Nine Illusions Step.
What mattered in its name wasn't "wind-chasing," but "nine illusions."
It could be interpreted as nine changes or nine shifts, but the true essence of "nine illusions" lay in countless variations.
Just as no wind ever flows uniformly, chasing the wind demanded movements that shifted endlessly and unpredictably.
That principle embodied in footwork was Chu Pung Gu Hwan Bo.
He hadn't fully grasped it during training, but unleashing it in real combat against a multitude made its might hit home.
No matter how formidable Woo-gang's prowess, the fact that hundreds of warriors couldn't track one man proved it.
Screeeeech!
Woo-gang's spear spat flames.
The footwork's myriad shifts amplified the power of his Hong Yeom Cheon Ui Chang.
Like a blaze swelling atop the wind, devouring countless warriors, Woo-gang's spear consumed them.
The main gate came into Woo-gang's view.
Last time, Dokgo Yeong-mu's intervention had forced him to halt here, but not now.
His strength still surged, and fewer blocked his path than before.
Roar!
Was it because his goal loomed so close?
The flames from Woo-gang's spear blazed fiercer.
As if warning them not to approach any further.
Scorching heat billowed outward, keeping even those who'd clung to him desperately at bay.
The Flame King's arts, once so reassuring from allies, now felt sharper and more perilous than any spear.
Whoosh!
With a gust of wind, Woo-gang slowed his pace.
He, who had crisscrossed the area leaving afterimages, came to a natural, effortless halt.
For a moment, the Murim Alliance warriors stood frozen in confusion.
Normally, they'd assume exhaustion had stopped him, but facing his undiminished aura made that impossible.
And so, they couldn't charge at the stationary Woo-gang.
"Hoo…"
Woo-gang took a small, deep breath.
The reason for his pause was simple.
With the main gate so near, he'd gather his power for a single, decisive breakthrough.
A stop to build momentum.
Evidence lay in the immense force condensing around his body and spear.
The Alliance warriors' faces paled further.
They sensed it too.
If they couldn't block this, it was over.
And the shock of a mere youth—barely a late-stage novice by age—still unleashing such power rocked them.
If his disciple was this strong, what of the Flame King himself?
The term Cheonoe-cheon naturally sprang to mind.
That thought chained into dread of the mysterious force that had driven even the earth-shaking Flame King to disappearance.
Such stray thoughts vanished from the Alliance warriors in an instant.
Woo-gang, having amassed his power, began to move.
Thud!
He took one forceful step forward.
Unlike his prior light, nimble gait, this step carried a heavy, grounded weight.
Even one stride brimmed with tremendous power.
Whoosh!
Using that empowered foot as a pivot, Woo-gang shot forward.
Like a massive tiger pouncing on prey, his momentum felt impossible to resist.
Especially those in his path half-willingly, half-instinctively abandoned resistance.
They dodged his charge without thinking.
Murim Alliance warriors were those who never retreated, no matter the foe.
In that sense, their actions fell short.
But conversely, it showed Woo-gang's aura had broken the will of those who'd joined the Alliance with iron resolve and rigorous training.
Slash!
Woo-gang slid to a halt.
All the Murim Alliance warriors who'd blocked him were now behind his back.
'I've broken through.'
At last, he'd pierced the gauntlet of countless Alliance warriors to reach the main gate.
Even without Cheonwi Dan or Hyang-hun-dan intervening, this was monumental.
Woo-gang stood with his back to them, gazing at the gate.
There, one person stood impassively.
Dokgo Seol-ran.
She held no weapon.
A clear signal she wouldn't block his path.
With the gate at her back, Dokgo Seol-ran silently regarded Woo-gang, who had carved his way here.
Her gaze mixed emotions hard to pinpoint.
Woo-gang met her eyes squarely for a moment.
Step.
Then he resumed walking.
The distance between them shrank bit by bit, her eyes tracking his slow advance.
Finally, they were arm's reach apart.
Step, step.
Woo-gang didn't stop.
His gaze slid past her, and soon his body brushed indifferently by.
Dokgo Seol-ran's frame trembled faintly.
She felt she should say something, but her lips and feet wouldn't move.
As she hesitated, Woo-gang had already passed beyond the Murim Alliance's main gate.
The vast, open landscape, hidden before by the high, thick walls, unfolded before him.
Woo-gang stared at it blankly for a moment, then took another step.
As Woo-gang gradually receded from the Alliance, Dokgo Seol-ran finally bowed her head.
"He just left the Murim Alliance."
Dokgo Yeong-mu nodded as if he'd expected the Cheonwi Danju's report.
"In the end… it comes to this."
Dokgo Yeong-mu murmured softly.
Perhaps Woo-gang had been someone who couldn't be bound to the Murim Alliance from the start.
Like the Flame King in the past.
And like his own father, the Sword King.
It was a tragedy born of greed, trying to cage one meant to roam free.
"Any injuries or fatalities?"
"No deaths. But quite a few with varying injuries. We're tallying them now."
"Have Cheonwi Dan handle the count directly. Sa Ma-gang's not in his right mind at the moment."
"Understood."
The Cheonwi Danju bowed briefly in response.
As Dokgo Yeong-mu said, Sa Ma-gang was far from sane.
It was the first such incident since entering the Murim Alliance.
Nary a single plan of his had ever failed before.
People called him a genius without hesitation, and his track record had earned their unshakeable trust.
Now, that genius had tasted failure for the first time.
Though he knew the cause lay with himself, the shock dwarfed any he'd felt in his life.
Sa Ma-gang sat there, dazed and lost.
No thoughts of "self-inflicted" crossed his mind.
In fact, no thoughts arose at all—his head felt utterly empty.
Cheopun Danju arrived late.
He too had tried to block Woo-gang and looked pale, as if internally injured.
Yet he'd come to Sa Ma-gang before seeking treatment.
Facing Sa Ma-gang's unprecedented state, Cheopun Danju couldn't utter a word.
And Sa Ma-gang said nothing, just sat there.
An suffocating silence stretched on as the two shared the space in that state for a long while.
Woo-gang had left the Murim Alliance.
Han Seo-yeon and the Bing Palace warriors—who'd directly sparked the incident—remained within.
They knew they should leave, but amid the chaos, they waited for things to settle before moving.
Han Seo-yeon heard the news that Woo-gang had shaken off countless foes and escaped the Alliance.
Her reaction was subdued.
The explosions ringing throughout the Murim Alliance.
The quakes shaking the ground, the overwhelming aura felt even from afar.
No need to see or hear it firsthand—she knew whose it was.
As a master herself, she'd expected Woo-gang to break free unscathed.
"Prepare to leave as well. No point or reason to stay longer. From now on, we'll investigate on our own."
"Understood. We'll hurry the preparations."
Han Seo-yeon nodded at her subordinate's reply, then thought of Woo-gang.
'This much?'
Even from a distance, his prowess had shocked her deeply.
It surpassed the level she'd imagined by two or three—no, far more—stages.
She recalled his words at the sparring's end, when he'd withdrawn his power: that she'd have been gravely injured otherwise.
'It might not have stopped at injury.'
Had Woo-gang unleashed his full might in that final strike, it likely wouldn't have ended with mere grave wounds.
Crunch.
Han Seo-yeon clenched her fist until it hurt.
As a warrior, frustration burned within her.