Chapter 47
Chapter 47
"Damn...!"
The site had turned into a slaughterhouse in an instant. Watching it unfold, Gu Jeong-hyeok felt his insides twist in agony. The ambush plan he'd spent nearly three weeks preparing. All the artificial bodies and weapons he'd invested in up to now—gone in a single moment.
Salban-gae? Where the hell had these lunatics come from?
"No, I can't let it weaken!"
Gritting his teeth until they ground audibly, Gu Jeong-hyeok glared at the sword thugs locked in combat. He was starting to think contacting these street rats had been a mistake from the get-go.
'I need to hide first. Then...! Wait for the next chance...!'
He'd just barely pulled his thoughts together and turned to flee when—
Clang!
A metallic ring echoed, followed by a dull impact slamming into his shoulder.
"...!"
Gu Jeong-hyeok whipped his gaze around.
"Where do you think you're slinking off to alone?"
Min Jeong-hwan bared his teeth, thrusting his changpo sword forward. The sight twisted Gu Jeong-hyeok's already foul mood even further.
"You filthy sword thug, who the hell gave you permission to swing at me?"
Kwahhhng!
Nothing had gone right from the start. The trackers sent by his clan were closing in by the second, the target Kim Chang-un was nowhere to be seen, and now that he'd scraped together these sword thugs out of desperation, these noble-killing maniacs had barged in to ruin everything. He'd been wandering Hanseong for weeks without a trace of that damn Kim Chang-un—the one key to proving his innocence back at the clan.
He'd finally tracked down the bastard's hideout. He'd found his last shot at returning home and clearing his name...
"Why do scum like you keep getting in my way?!"
Keeeen!
The power units in every joint glowed red-hot, on the verge of shattering. With the base body's low stability and output limits released, it was a recipe for disaster.
"Shit, this psycho...!"
Min Jeong-hwan's perpetually smug face finally cracked with panic. He tried to dodge, but he was a beat too slow. The devastating strike—enough to pulverize a body just from the swing—closed in on him.
"I'll kill you...!"
In his rage-blinded fury, Gu Jeong-hyeok lunged to smash Min Jeong-hwan's face—when—
Kaaaaang!
An iron arrow streaked in out of nowhere, batting away his arm just inches from its mark. Speed and power rivaling a tank shell. Gu Jeong-hyeok's eyes widened as his gaze snapped toward the arrow's origin.
"I'm Gwanjung."
A boy stood there. Alone amid the horde of sword thugs, gazing leisurely their way. The bow in his hand sent fresh rage boiling through Gu Jeong-hyeok.
"Kim Chang-un...!"
The very bastard responsible for his predicament. Amid the chaotic melee, his eyes fixed unerringly on Gu Jeong-hyeok.
"Didn't I tell you not to show your face again? You and I, we're done with each other. Right?"
"Don't spout nonsense. I know you toyed with the main house and dragged things to this point."
"Me? That's rich."
The boy snorted.
"Was it my fault Jo Seong-hwan treated people like toys for fun? Was it me when Pungyang Jo Clan secretly researched monsters to beat Andong Kim Clan? Did I set up a monster lab right in the heart of Hanseong and feed people to live ones?"
Gu Jeong-hyeok had no retort to the merciless barrage.
"It was all you lot. You twisted yourselves trying to crush Andong Kim Clan and force out aura that wouldn't come. Am I wrong?"
Gu Jeong-hyeok's face twisted—he didn't want to hear more. But Kim Chang-un seemed to enjoy the sight, pressing on.
"I just dragged what you were doing into the light. Pungyang Jo Clan's downfall? You brought it on yourselves."
"No. This is Andong Kim Clan's conspiracy."
Gu Jeong-hyeok spat the words definitively.
"Monopolizing the court's main system, wielding the Capital Guard like your playthings, lording over the other clans—that arrogance! Pungyang Jo Clan moved to stop your rampage!"
Lost in his own rhetoric, his voice rose higher.
"Joseon isn't Andong Kim Clan's kingdom—it's the yangban's! We who defended the nation from monsters, saved it from traitor Lee Chi-eon's grasp! That's why...!"
But his words faltered as he caught Kim Chang-un's expression.
"...What's so funny?"
"Why? Keep going. Entertain me some more."
Chang-un was grinning. Like he couldn't hold back the laughter at how ridiculous he found his own spiel.
"What's so damn amusing?"
"It's hilarious. A mongrel without a drop of noble blood, yapping like he's one of the family."
Chang-un smirked disdainfully, one corner of his mouth curling.
"Spent your life as a servant, and now you've forgotten you're rootless peasant scum?"
That final jab snapped the last thread of Gu Jeong-hyeok's sanity.
Pshk!
Sensing its master's fury, the injector on his back pumped awakening agents into his system. Reason vanished; his artificial body roared to max output. Agonizing pain wracked him, but he didn't care. If he could just pulverize that loathsome face—Kim Chang-un—he'd do worse without a second thought!
"Graaaah!"
Roaring like a beast, he kicked off the ground toward Chang-un. Speed like firing a shell. A normal human without implants couldn't even react in time.
"I'll kill you!"
He closed the gap in a flash, hand outstretched for Chang-un—almost there. His monstrously warped hands glowed red-hot, ready to tear the boy apart—when—
Thud!
A heavy impact halted him inches away. Seo Tae-woong, Chang-un's bodyguard, blocked the charge with both hands. The reactors on his shoulders spun wildly, channeling terrifying power through his frame.
"A mere servant like you—how dare you show your face to me."
"You... Seo Tae-woong...!"
His hands couldn't reach. But he'd anticipated the bodyguard. As he clenched his fist, a mechanical whir sounded, and a grenade launcher popped from the back of his hand. Meant to check armored foes without scratching them. But for killing an implant-free Kim Chang-un, it was more than enough.
'I win.'
Without hesitation, he fired the grenade at Chang-un—and—
Slash!
A sharp metallic screech rang out as his right arm—the one with the launcher—severed clean from shoulder to tip.
"...Huh?"
Next came black smoke and Kim Moo-young materializing from thin air. Gu Jeong-hyeok couldn't process it.
'What the hell is that bodyguard? Where'd he come from?'
But that wasn't the point. Slicing through a Grade 1+ artificial body in one strike? Only one possibility.
"AuraUser...?"
Gu Jeong-hyeok's mind reeled. An Aura User bodyguard? No record in court files or the Andong Kim Clan database he'd hacked. Hiding a powerhouse like that from his own clan, building this much force under their noses?
"What the hell are you plotting...!"
"Shut up and say hi."
As Gu Jeong-hyeok spat in outrage, Chang-un muttered with a grin.
"This is the guy who sent your young master to hell."
"Y-You bastard...!"
Slash!
Knowing the full story changed nothing. Moo-young's blade sheared off both legs, and Gu Jeong-hyeok's implant-riddled body crumpled limply.
"A noble house mutt prancing around like yangban—funnier the more I see it."
Chang-un extended a hand; one of the Salban-gae thugs handed him a pistol. Cheap street fare, the kind that killed most alleyway peasants.
"Kim... Chang-un...!"
"Yeah, well. I'm no one to talk."
With a click, he chambered a round and aimed at Gu Jeong-hyeok's ashen face. Chang-un twisted his lips in mock pity.
"In my past life, I was hundreds of times more pathetic."
Bang!
A sharp crack, and Gu Jeong-hyeok's life ended.
His employer's corpse hit the ground limp. With their tormentor dead, the remaining Cheongwoo Association sword thugs dropped their weapons and surrendered.
"Moo-young might get caught on camera. Recording gear?"
"Salban-gae handled it. They deliberately shot out the cameras during the first shootout... Clean work."
"Nice. My eye for talent's not bad, huh?"
The Salban-gae thugs bowed, sheathing their blades. Chang-un passed them, eyeing the kneeling Cheongwoo Association thugs.
"What do you plan to do with them?"
"Good question. What should we do?"
To Min Jeong-hwan's query at his side, Chang-un replied lightly.
"Truth is, I didn't plan to come all the way here myself."
"...!"
"I figured the new Salban-gae pals would clean up the riffraff, roughly kill Gu Jeong-hyeok... and the leftover sword thugs would be useful."
Recruit the ones who surrendered smartly. That was the extent of it.
He muttered as he stepped forward—then:
"But y'know."
His tone flipped in an instant. Devoid of any emotion. Not demonic like Gu Jeong-hyeok's, but the Cheongwoo thugs couldn't meet his eyes.
Chilling malice. Their young lord stared down with more fury than their dead employer.
"You just now... what'd you call our orphanage?"
"...!"
The thugs' faces drained to gray.
"Even rootless mutts shouldn't touch kids."
In a flat voice, Chang-un turned away without pause.
"Kill them. Every last one."
The Salban-gae men drew their changpo swords anew. Nothing but the rasp of blades in the dead silence. Soon screams of mercy and regret filled the air, but no one listened. The sword thugs huddled in the abandoned factory, trembling in terror on the floor—and
Thud!
With the heavy iron door slamming shut, the warehouse fell utterly silent.