Chapter 39
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Ah... Damn it
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Seok Yang-ho's eyes turned bloodshot.
The Seok Family retainers were dying one after another, yet there was nothing he could do.
He was barely managing to fend off the enemies right in front of him.
'Foolish... I was the fool who got our blood kin killed.'
He hadn't even imagined the enemies' martial arts could be this powerful.
The Jo Family of Henan was a great house rivaling the Five Great Families, so he thought their skills wouldn't fall short.
But that had been his own arrogance and delusion.
Because of the family head's arrogance and delusion, the entire clan was on the brink of annihilation. If he died and went to the afterlife, how could he face his retainers with any dignity?
"Retreat!"
"Family Head! You must retreat!"
Namgung Hye and Zhuge Ji's shouts shook Seok Yang-ho, who was gripped by intense emotion.
If they retreated, could he save his retainers?
Even if they did retreat, where could they go?
"To the riverbank!"
As if reading Seok Yang-ho's worries, Zhuge Ji's voice rang out again.
'Even if we retreat to the riverbank, where do we go after that?'
But he couldn't let any more retainers be sacrificed like this.
"Retreat!"
Clang clang clang!
Seok Yang-ho fiercely parried the enemy's sword and leaped backward.
With several retainers already dead and morale broken, the Seok Family fighters who had been clashing with the foes began pulling back swiftly.
"Pursue them!"
Jo Family Head Jo Sang-i took the lead in chasing after the fleeing Seok Family retainers.
Kekeke...
Am-sa watched the Seok retainers scaling the walls and the Jo retainers hot on their heels, letting out a sinister chuckle.
With even their home abandoned, where could those fools possibly flee?
Death was all that awaited them.
"Wonyeong lost his life to Namgung Hye's sword."
When the man in gray martial robes reported, Am-sa scanned the subordinates left behind.
Three were unscathed, but the fourth had a gash on his shoulder, blood flowing freely.
"You idiots. You couldn't even handle mere retainers from the Five Great Families?"
"Forgive us."
"Capture Zhuge Ji and Namgung Hye alive, no matter what."
"Understood."
After sending his subordinates ahead, Am-sa exited the Seok residence through the main gate.
If Namgung Hye and Zhuge Ji fled to the river, there would be no more escape routes left.
"Foolish fools, clinging to outdated notions of justice and chivalry, dooming your clans to utter humiliation."
"Ah... Damn it."
He prayed desperately that it wouldn't be so.
He hoped the Seok Family retainers would repel the Jo Family ambush and that, come morning, the household servants would return with smiles.
But there, charging out of the darkness, were the Seok Family retainers, with Seok Yang-ho, Namgung Hye, and retainers from the Zhuge and Namgung Families holding off the pursuers from behind as they retreated.
Of the five Zhuge Family retainers, only three remained.
"Bro. What do we do?"
Gwang-u stamped his feet anxiously, staring only at my face.
"What do you mean, what? You idiot."
"You're just gonna sit there and watch? We have to save them, right, bro?"
Gwang-u, who had been pacing in frustration, bolted outside the moment Seok Su-a drew her sword.
Seok Su-a, about to draw her own sword and charge out, stared in shock at Gwang-u's retreating back.
"Hey, you idiot!"
I yelled after him, but Gwang-u didn't even glance back.
It was over.
Everything was finished now.
I'd tried so hard to live apart from the martial world, but that fool had ruined it all.
"Damn it."
I slowly followed the idiot out the main gate.
Gwang-u, who had dashed out first, charged straight at the enemies.
Thud! Thwack! Clang! ...
With lightning-fast movements and punches, enemies' heads exploded, and even sword blades shattered and flew apart.
Namgung Hye, Seok Yang-ho, and the Zhuge and Namgung retainers—who had been retreating while blocking the pursuit—stared in stunned amazement.
The Jo Family retainers were equally dumbfounded.
The massive monster that had suddenly burst in was smashing through everything in its path.
"Die!"
Unable to endure it any longer, one Jo retainer charged at the hulking brute with ferocious momentum.
His strike, poised to cleave the giant in two, sliced through empty air.
Thud! Crack!
Gwang-u pulverized the man's face, deflected the sword thrusting at his neck, and snapped the enemy's throat in an instant.
Thump. Thump.
The man with the shattered head and the one with the broken neck crumpled to the ground together.
Ignoring the already dead, Gwang-u launched himself at another foe.
In his wake, like a whirlwind's devastation, only enemy corpses remained.
Jo Sang-i, the Jo Family head arriving late, halted in shock amid the scattered retainer corpses.
"Wha... What the hell is this?"
As Jo Sang-i recoiled in alarm, something enormous came crashing down on him.
He nimbly stepped aside, slicing through the massive shadow descending from above in a flash.
But in the next instant, a twisted, massive face with flashing blue eyes and a pot-lid-sized fist appeared before him.
Jo Sang-i recoiled in terror, swinging his sword wildly as he retreated.
The massive shadow vanished from sight, only for an indescribable impact to slam into his abdomen.
Gahk!
Staggering, Jo Sang-i looked down at his gut.
But his head wouldn't lower—instead, it jerked upward toward the pale dawn sky.
Crack...
Gwang-u, having slaughtered the Jo Family head and retainers, eyed the approaching gray shadows ahead while heaving ragged breaths.
Huff... Hoo...
Catching his breath, Gwang-u raised his blood-smeared fists.
Right then, the pale dawn sky split in two.
Or at least, that's how it appeared to Gwang-u.
The black line that cleaved the dawn sky vertically bisected Gwang-u's entire body.
The split dawn sky seamlessly rejoined as if nothing had happened.
Tsk...
Am-sa clicked his tongue and swung his sword through the air.
The hulking Gwang-u materialized before him.
His clothes hung in tatters, split down the middle, a thin line of blood tracing his chest.
"You... You're dead, you bastard."
Grinding his teeth, Gwang-u lunged at the enemy right in front of him.
"Gwang-u!"
I shouted his name, and Gwang-u, mid-charge, leaped back.
"Let me kill him, bro!"
"You gonna fight like that?"
Gwang-u's clothes weren't just split at the chest.
His pants were half-severed too, exposing the grotesque thing underneath.
"Wha... When did this...?"
Flustered, Gwang-u hurriedly covered his lower body with both hands.
I stepped forward in place of the fool.
Gwang-u might be an idiot, but I didn't think he'd lose to the middle-aged man before us.
He'd only taken a slight hit from the sudden ambush.
Kekeke...
"I'm curious about your identities."
The middle-aged man asked with a sinister chuckle.
"Hunters. Good at catching beasts."
"Quite the mouth on you. Let's see if your skills match your tongue."
Killing intent sharp enough to flay flesh poured from the man's drawn sword, spreading everywhere.
Since descending from the mountains, had I faced anyone this strong?
Yes.
The Black Moon Gate lord and the Red Death Gate lord.
But they were assassins skilled in stealth and ambushes.
'No dragging this out. Finish him in one go.'
I charged at the middle-aged man, extending my right hand backward.
Shing.
A sword rolling on the ground flew into my grasp.
In that instant, the man's sword slashed diagonally across my body.
I dropped low to evade, grazing his waist as I passed.
Slice.
The sensation in my hand confirmed I'd cut his abdomen.
Slash.
Rising, I severed the enemy's throat and hurled the sword at the gray shadows.
Thud!
The blade pierced a gray-clad man's chest.
"Bro! Those bastards are running!"
Gwang-u, tying his split pants, yelled and pursued the surviving gray-robed men.
Thud! Thwack!
The enemies scattering in three directions had their heads exploded by Gwang-u's fists.
Now, only one gray-robed man remained alive among the foes.
"Capture him alive!"
Thud!
But even he had his head smashed by a rock Gwang-u threw and toppled forward.
Whew.
I'd hoped to capture one to learn the middle-aged man's identity, but sighed deeply and turned away.
But I couldn't go home.
Zhuge Ji, Namgung Hye, Seok Yang-ho, and the Seok retainers were all staring at me and Gwang-u.
None of them spoke first.
"So that's why my sister told me to flee here."
Zhuge Ji just nodded silently.
The giant man named Gwang-u rampaged everywhere, smashing every living thing in sight.
It was a sight beyond awe—inspiring sheer terror.
She already knew he was strong from seeing it before, but today he surpassed that by far.
In the end, the giant slaughtered all the enemies and waited for the gray foes that followed.
That's when the man named Go Un-san stepped forward.
"You gonna fight like that?"
Zhuge Ji hadn't even noticed Gwang-u's pants were split, exposing his manhood, until she heard Go Un-san's voice.
"Hunters. Good at catching beasts."
The moment she heard that, Zhuge Ji and Namgung Hye gasped in admiration.
Ahh...
How fitting a response.
They truly were hunters, skilled at catching beasts.
And by likening the enemies to beasts, he'd humiliated them with a single phrase.
Ahh...
Once more, gasps escaped Zhuge Ji and Namgung Hye.
The sight of a sword on the ground flying through the air into the man's hand drew involuntary admiration.
The middle-aged man radiating murderous aura had his belly split and throat severed in one breath.
And that man now turned toward them.
She didn't know what to say.
Everyone stood silent, staring at the two hunters.
"I've never felt so betrayed by my sister. If you'd been honest from the start, I would've kept your secret."
"Sorry, little sister Hye."
Namgung Hye was the first to step toward the men.
Why would such mighty warriors hide away as wild men?
'The Seven Stars? No, perhaps on par with the Five Heavenly Kings.'
In the martial world, absolute masters called the Seven Stars eliminated scourges and demons plaguing the land.
Above them, the Five Heavenly Kings—martial gods—oversaw the world.
As Namgung Hye approached Un-san and Gwang-u first, Zhuge Ji and Seok Yang-ho followed.
"Um... Please keep this incident a secret."
Namgung Hye barely suppressed a laugh at Un-san's awkward, anxious demeanor.
Damn it, they'd blown things way out of proportion.
It was unavoidable, but thinking of the future made everything look bleak.
Still, they'd endure as long as they could.
"Um... Please keep this incident a secret."
My words must have sounded odd, because Namgung Hye clamped her mouth shut.
"Why... why should we?"
"We don't want our names spread in the martial world. If word of this gets out, we'll leave this place."
I stated my resolve firmly.
Namgung Hye and Zhuge Ji just stared at my face silently.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you. I don't know how to repay this grace."
Seok Yang-ho bowed so low his nose nearly touched the ground.
He was crying now.
"No need. We only repelled intruders who invaded our home. There's no cause for thanks."