Chapter 120
Namgung Un's expression turned utterly dumbfounded.
Having experienced the fierce battle with assassins before, he knew all too well how terrifying forest combat could be.
Piiii!
Just then, a flare shot up from below—the signal flare Heuk-pyo had launched.
"You must have realized from your previous experience," Bu Eun-seol said in a low voice, gazing at the forest.
"That in a place like this, you don't rely on martial techniques. You disrupt their flow and fight by instinct."
"Of course."
Namgung Un, who had been tense, took a deep breath at Bu Eun-seol's words and nodded.
"Thankfully, it's not the middle of the night!"
Swish, swish, swish—
Behind them, the Human Sword Unit and the Wanderer Corps, who had been waiting in reserve, came charging through the forest, shaking the trees.
The full-scale battle between the Valley of Dark Death assassins and the wanderers had finally begun.
"Wanderer Corps! Forward!"
Mun Gwang, standing at the forefront of the battle line, shouted in a solemn voice.
He was a seasoned master with extensive experience in the martial world.
Anticipating the chaos of forest combat, he had held the Human Sword Unit back and deployed the Wanderer Corps—who had more experience in mountain warfare—to the front lines.
Whizz, whizz, whizz!
As hidden weapons rained from the trees, the wanderers deftly used the terrain to evade or raised their weapons to counterattack.
Watching them, Namgung Un let out an impressed sigh.
"I see. Even the terrain can be an advantage for me."
While he was still marveling, Bu Eun-seol shot forward.
Whoosh!
He moved through the terrain even more skillfully than the wanderers who had rushed ahead first.
CRASH! BOOM!
Then, with pinpoint accuracy, he located an assassin's hiding spot and unleashed a single fist.
The assassins of the Valley of Dark Death were veterans of forest combat, yet none could withstand Bu Eun-seol's strike.
What kind of fist technique carries such crushing weight?
Namgung Un, following behind Bu Eun-seol, gaped.
The seemingly effortless punch shattered boulders and trees in an instant.
"Attack from above!"
As Bu Eun-seol tore through the battlefield, the assassins changed tactics.
They climbed the trees to evade his attacks while raining down hidden weapons.
Swish!
Bu Eun-seol deftly dodged the barrage of projectiles and stretched out both arms.
Then, sharp throwing knives shot from between his hands. With each flash of cold steel, hidden assassins dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Seeing their comrades falling like rain from the trees, the remaining assassins lost their will to fight and began descending.
Elder Brother Seol isn't using the sword on his back?
Namgung Un was also a master of the sword.
Though Bu Eun-seol kept alternating between fist techniques and hidden weapons, his right hand remained poised to draw the blade at any moment.
Just from his stance, Namgung Un could tell—Bu Eun-seol was a monstrously skilled swordsman.
"That bastard—!"
As the tide of battle turned against them due to Bu Eun-seol's rampage, the assassins' leader pointed at him and roared.
"Take him down first!"
In truth, the combat strength of the Wanderer Corps and the assassins had been evenly matched.
But as Bu Eun-seol cut through the assassins like wheat, the battle tilted in an instant.
Wasn't he just a high-level wanderer?
Even Mun Gwang, locked in fierce combat with the assassins, could sense it.
Bu Eun-seol's martial prowess far surpassed that of a mere high-level wanderer. And what he was showing now wasn't even his full strength.
We got lucky.
Mun Gwang inwardly sighed in relief.
Had Bu Eun-seol and his group not been here, the raid on the Bear Family Mountain Villa would have ended in certain failure.
"Seol—Seol-Elder Brother! Slow down a little!"
Namgung Un, struggling to keep up while supporting him, was on the verge of collapsing.
"We've pushed too deep! The enemies are converging on us!"
"Perfect opportunity."
Bu Eun-seol smiled coldly.
"It's the ideal chance to gain real combat experience. Watch closely."
Bu Eun-seol accelerated his movement technique even further, shooting forward like an arrow.
His motions were ruthlessly efficient, shifting seamlessly in response to enemy attacks. These were no rigid martial forms.
It was like watching a single flood dragon swimming freely, cleaving through the currents.
"Your hiding spots are painfully obvious."
Moving like a ghost, Bu Eun-seol lashed out with a single fist toward the assassins concealed beneath the rocks.
BOOM!
With every fist that descended, the earth trembled, and blood and flesh erupted into the air.
Each time Bu Eun-seol uncovered a hidden assassin, he poured his Fist Energy downward like a crushing force—as if boulders were plummeting from the sky to flatten them.
"What kind of fist technique is this?!"
The Fist Demon's Fist Art was fundamentally different from the countless other fist techniques scattered throughout the murim.
The Fist Energy unleashed from his fists didn't just extend—it cascaded freely in all directions, making it impossible for even seasoned Masters to block.
"We can't face him head-on! Conceal yourselves and deploy your secret arts!"
Realizing they stood no chance against Bu Eun-seol, the assassins resorted to concealment techniques and assassination arts.
But Bu Eun-seol, who had spread the senses of the Way of the Beast in all directions, was their natural predator.
No matter where they hid or what they tried, they were trapped within the palm of his hand.
"Pathetic, for assassins."
Having experienced the Killing Law of the Ultimate Assassin Pavilion on Hell Island, Bu Eun-seol found the secret arts and concealment techniques of Shadow Death Valley's assassins laughably childish.
"That bastard is the Grim Reaper."
Assassins who cut down people as easily as eating rice were normally fearless.
But the sight of Bu Eun-seol pinpointing their hiding spots like the Grim Reaper himself was utterly terrifying.
And wasn't this supposed to be their territory?
"The forest we turned into our last bastion is now strangling us instead."
The assassins of Shadow Death Valley had transformed the interior of Bear Family Mountain Villa into a forest—a death trap.
Even if someone breached the Boundary Formation at the entrance, blocking the escape routes would leave them with nowhere to run.
But now, with the tide of battle turning and enemies sealing the exits, they were the rats trapped in a jar.
"That damn bastard."
Black Slaughter, the First Killing Ghost of Shadow Death Valley, gritted his teeth as he commanded his assassins from the villa's most concealed spot.
Everything they had prepared had collapsed because of Bu Eun-seol's sudden appearance.
"I'll kill him. No matter what, that pale bastard using that fist technique has to die."
RUMBLE—
The ground near Black Slaughter caved in slightly before his body seemed to be sucked into the earth, vanishing without a trace.
He had activated the Shadow Spirit Hundred Kills Earth Escape Art—one of Shadow Death Valley's assassin secret arts.
The Earth Escape Art allowed free movement underground, but mastering it was notoriously difficult.
Black Slaughter was the only assassin in Shadow Death Valley who had succeeded.
RUMBLE—
Slithering silently beneath Bu Eun-seol's feet, Black Slaughter raised a small tube-like object just above the surface.
It was the Rotten Corpse Needle Tube—prepared specifically to assassinate high-level experts from the Heaven-Shaking Gate.
'A waste to use it on this bastard, but...'
Just as he pressed his lips to the tube, preparing to unleash the Rotten Corpse Needle at Bu Eun-seol—
"There you are."
Bu Eun-seol looked down at the ground and smiled coldly.
"I've been waiting for you."
When assassins fought in large numbers rather than alone, the most crucial element was their commander.
Without strict leadership, their strong individualistic tendencies would reduce them to nothing more than a rabble.
That was why, in mass combat, the commander remained hidden, directing the battle from the shadows.
"This damn ghost of a man!"
The moment Black Slaughter realized he'd been detected, he tried to activate the Earth Escape Art—
But Bu Eun-seol was faster.
THUD!
With a low reverberation, Bu Eun-seol's fist slammed into the ground—
Pssshh—
A sound like air escaping followed, and the earth beneath darkened with seeping crimson.
With that single punch, Black Kill had been buried in the dirt and killed.
"Kneel. Now."
By then, the Wanderer Corps and the Human Sword Corps had surrounded the remaining assassins.
Assassins were much like the military's martial artists—once their commander was killed, the battle ended swiftly. They were trained to follow orders, not to think.
"It's over."
Heuk-pyo, standing behind Bu Eun-seol, murmured under his breath. Namgung Un sheathed his sword and surveyed the Bear Family Mountain Villa.
The Wanderers and the Human Sword Corps hadn't escaped unscathed, but thanks to Bu Eun-seol's group, their losses were minimal.
"You have my gratitude."
Mun Gwang strode toward them, his voice firm.
"This victory is yours."
"Commander!"
A lithe young man rushed up from the rear, urgency in his steps.
"Disaster strikes!"
"What disaster?"
"While we were fighting here, the Blade Tyrant Gate led the remaining assassins of the Valley of Dark Death in an assault on our main sect!"
"The main sect?!"
Mun Gwang's eyes sharpened with alarm.
The Heaven-Shaking Gate's greatest combat strength lay in its three banners—Heaven, Earth, and Human. But with him and the Human Sword Corps absent, there was no way they could repel the Blade Tyrant Gate's forces.
"All forces—!"
Mun Gwang barked the order, his expression strained.
"Return to the main sect at once!"
The Heaven-Shaking Gate
Originally, this place had been a small martial arts school that taught the Heaven-Shaking Sword Art in the Sangyang region, its roots deep and enduring.
But as the martial artists trained here rose to prominence—serving in escort bureaus, constabularies, and beyond—the sect's influence grew.
From a humble school, it became a mid-sized faction in the martial world. And as its power expanded, the Blade Tyrant Gate—a group that had long profited from smuggling along the region's borders—found itself cornered.
Though the Heaven-Shaking Gate walked the line between orthodox and unorthodox, its foundation was still a martial arts school. Most of its disciples followed the righteous path, inevitably clashing with the Blade Tyrant Gate at every turn.
"Let's settle this—who truly rules Sangyang?"
Thus began the struggle for dominance between the two sects.
And now, it was reaching its climax.
The moment Mun Gwang and the Human Sword Corps left to deal with the Valley of Dark Death's assassins at Mount Hamchwi, the Blade Tyrant Gate seized the opportunity—launching a full-scale invasion.
"RAAAAAGH!"
With furious battle cries, the Blade Tyrant Gate's masters flooded into the Heaven-Shaking Gate's grounds, blades flashing as they cut down everything in their path.
Each swing of their jagged swords sent Heaven-Shaking disciples collapsing with screams of agony.
"Tch."
Gwak Cheon, leader of the Heaven Sword Unit, gritted his teeth as he cleaved through the enemy vanguard.
By all rights, the Heaven-Shaking Gate's combat strength slightly surpassed the Blade Tyrant Gate's. There was no way such a sudden assault should have succeeded.
But now, the Human Sword Corps—one of the sect's three pillars—was missing.
Worse, the Blade Tyrant Gate had filled its ranks with assassins from the Valley of Dark Death, who now wreaked havoc with relentless ambushes and disruptions. The tide of battle was turning against them.
'They hired the entire Valley of Dark Death.'
He had assumed the Blade Tyrant Gate had only contracted a few assassins for the Mount Hamchwi ambush.
But no—they had bought out the entire organization, executing a diversionary operation.
'Our intelligence was compromised.'
The Blade Tyrant Gate had launched its invasion the moment the Human Sword Corps left for Mount Hamchwi with the hired wanderers.
In the end, the Heaven-Shaking Gate had been outplayed—both in wealth and information.
'How did a bunch of smugglers suddenly amass this kind of funding?'
Hiring the Valley of Dark Death in its entirety would have cost nearly a million silver taels.
But how could the Blade Tyrant Gate—a faction perpetually strapped for funds—afford such an expense? Gwak Cheon couldn't fathom the answer.
"ARGH—!"
Screams of Heaven-Shaking disciples continued to erupt across the battlefield.
In a chaotic melee, momentum was everything.
With the assassins weaving through the fray like shadows, even the Blade Tyrant Gate's weaker martial artists were overwhelming the sect's disciples.
A leaden despair tightened around Gwak Cheon's nape.
There was no way to turn this battle around.