The Vajra Flower Does Not Break

The moment I stepped out of the prison, a stench so thick it nearly choked me slammed into my face. The metallic reek of blood mixed with the acrid stink of unwashed sweat, and the revolting body odor rolling off dozens of filthy men.

"She's out!"

Roughly a hundred and fifty heads. Every last bandit holed up in the mountain fortress seemed to have crawled out; the courtyard in front of the prison was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with a sea of dark figures.

"Hah… ugh…!!!"

Until the shadow fell across the prison doorway, their eyes had glittered with murderous intent. The instant my face was clearly lit by the torchlight, those same eyes flooded with sticky, filthy lust.

"It's… it's a woman…!!!"

"A beauty! An absolute stunner!"

A hundred pairs of male eyes poured over me at once. Lewd gazes that seemed to lick every inch of the body beneath my clothes, accompanied by vulgar taunts that bored straight into my ears.

"Hehehe! Look at that waist. Bet I could wrap one hand around it. Tonight I'm gonna twist her until she snaps."

"Call the order! If we strip her and string her up, we could fuck her for three days and nights straight and still have plenty left!"

"The bitch walked into this place herself—what luck! Tonight's a festival, boys, a damn festival!"

"And those tits and that ass? Plump and juicy. Wonder if she'll scream when I grab them hard?"

"Hey slut, forget running. Just spread ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those legs. I'll treat you real nice."

"Ugh…."

Listening to filth that made sewage seem clean, I felt bile rise in my throat without meaning to. I'd rather risk my life in a blade fight than become the object of these pigs' lust. Their depravity felt far more unbearable than any death match against that blood-soaked madman.

Disgusting bastards.

I narrowed my eyes and wrapped a barrier of Clear Heart around my ears.

They think numbers will save them.

A hundred and fifty, now closer to two hundred as more poured in. But their lower stances were sloppy at a glance, their breathing scattered and wild. Not even one in ten had learned any proper third-rate martial arts. If I felt like it, I could slaughter them all by myself.

"Make way! Acting Chief is coming through!"

At someone's shout, the black wave of bandits split neatly to both sides.

Thud. Thud.

Heavy footsteps announced a massive brute wrapped in bearskin, easily the size of a house. The moment I saw the enormous axe strapped to his back, memories from my previous life surged up again.

Deputy Chief of Cheonmok Heokpungchae, and current Acting Chief, Seung-pyo.

He froze when he saw me, then bared his yellow teeth and licked his lips.

"Well now. That crazy killer bastard suddenly ran off to the prison, so I came to see what the fuss was about… and here the finest goods just rolled in on her own two feet. Today's luck is outstanding, huh?"

His sticky gaze crawled over my entire body before he let out a low chuckle and slowly licked his lips again.

"If I catch you and sell you as a slave to one of the big shots in the Black Path, our boys won't have to risk their necks for months to earn what I'll pocket sitting right here."

"Heh."

His words weren't even worth answering. I curled one corner of my mouth in a cold sneer.

"Huh? Look at this bitch. Has she lost her damn mind, or is she just insane?"

Seung-pyo clicked his tongue and laughed mockingly.

"Well, doesn't matter if she's crazy. With a face like that, she'll fetch any price. Even if she's mute or an idiot, plenty of buyers will line up."

He was already smiling with satisfaction, as if he'd captured me, when he suddenly tilted his head and looked around.

"By the way, where did that killer bastard go? With his temper, there's no way he'd leave a woman like you alive and untouched."

"Hmm, that guy?"

I curled my blood-crusted lips into a smirk and jerked my thumb toward the darkness behind me.

"I killed him. He's probably falling straight into the deepest hell right about now."

"…What?"

The instant I finished speaking, Seung-pyo furrowed his thick brows and blinked several times in a daze.

"Even a passing dog would laugh its ass off. You're telling me a little bitch like you killed that monster?"

He must have known full well that the 'monster's' martial prowess far surpassed his own, because Seung-pyo snorted in derision.

"You don't believe me?"

"Then come confirm it with your own body. Whether I'm bluffing… or telling the truth."

"Kahahaha! What a feisty little bitch!"

Seung-pyo clutched his belly and roared with laughter that shook the heavens.

"You're gonna face all these numbers with just one sword? Boys, grab that bitch! Cut her tendons so she can't resist and—"

"That's enough."

A cold voice flowed out from the pitch-black darkness.

Step. Step.

A staggering gait.

Clothes torn in countless places, soaked with blood and clinging to her skin.

She looked like she might collapse at any moment, yet the fierce light burning in her eyes through the tangled hair proved she was very much alive. The woman walked straight toward us.

"…Chief Jeong!!"

The moment the blood-soaked woman, Jeong So-yun, appeared, the noisy murmurs of the bandits filling the courtyard died instantly. Hundreds of wavering gazes locked onto her wretched state and the venomous glint still burning in her eyes.

Even in her broken condition, the instinctive pressure radiating from Jeong So-yun's eyes overwhelmed the bandits. They clamped their mouths shut and stared at her in stunned silence.

Limp.

Dragging her leg, she came to a stop beside me, fists clenched tight.

"The kid?"

"…I hid her at the cave entrance. Somewhere safe."

"You should've just run away together. It was the perfect chance."

"Don't be ridiculous."

She bared her teeth and glared at the bandits before her—and at Seung-pyo.

"I saw every last one of these bastards heading toward the prison where you were. I'm not so cowardly that I'd abandon the person who saved me and run away with my tail between my legs."

"…"

My lips pressed into a tight line.

The day Cheon-yeo Geom-gak collapsed. Her final image—swinging bloodied fists to the very end, refusing to leave my side—overlapped perfectly with the sight of Jeong So-yun standing firm beside me despite her swaying body.

That's right. That's the kind of woman you are. Stubborn to the point of foolishness.

Something heavy stirred in my chest. I gave her a bittersweet yet genuinely glad smile and adjusted my grip on the sword hilt.

"Well, well, who do we have here?"

Seung-pyo narrowed his eyes and let out a mocking laugh.

"If it isn't my dear niece. How in the world did you crawl out of that iron cage in that state? Did you dig a tunnel like a rat?"

"…"

"Ah, whatever. We'll just catch you again. Instead of quietly running away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with that rag of a body, you've inherited your father's useless bravado."

Despite his blatant mockery, Jeong So-yun didn't reply. She simply stared ahead with dead eyes. Instead of words, she tossed something she'd been clutching tightly in her bloodied hand at Seung-pyo's feet.

Thud. Clack.

What rolled across the ground with a dull sound was an old, worn black wooden plaque, polished smooth from years of handling.

"…!"

The instant he saw the object on the ground, Seung-pyo's eyes bulged as if they would pop out.

"The… the Green Forest Token?!"

"That's right."

Jeong So-yun growled in a voice that seemed to boil with blood.

"Acting Chief of Heokpungchae, Seung-pyo. This is a life-or-death duel. If you win, the token is yours… along with my life."

"Puhahahahaha!!!"

Seung-pyo burst into roaring laughter and sneered at Jeong So-yun.

"You stupid bitch. You handed over your only lifeline—the Green Forest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Token—with your own two hands. You've dug your own grave. And what? A life-or-death duel? What a fucking joke. Kehehehe!!"

His eyes glittered with greed as they scanned the token. He continued with an incredulous expression.

"You think I'd be crazy enough to bother with something that annoying? It's much easier, faster, and more profitable to capture you sluts alive and sell you to a brothel."

With that, Seung-pyo raised his hand toward the surrounding bandits without mercy.

"Boys! Capture those bitches! If they resist, cut their tendons and drag them to me on their knees!"

The moment his order fell, bandits wielding all sorts of weapons began advancing with wild eyes. One particularly lecherous thug who had been drooling while staring at my face gave Seung-pyo a sly smile.

"Hehe, Acting Chief! If we catch that black-haired bitch, can we have a little taste?"

Seung-pyo smirked and nodded.

"Of course. Just don't touch her face. It'll lower her value."

"Waaaaah—!!!"

The instant he gave permission, more than ten bandits, blinded by lust and greed, charged forward with monstrous howls.

"Hehehe! Come here, girl. Let me taste that soft flesh of yours!"

The moment the ones in front swung their weapons at me like drooling beasts—

"Idiotic fools."

"Huh?"

The ten charging bandits froze simultaneously, as if they'd all agreed on it beforehand. Their outstretched hands, stepping feet, and greedy expressions—every part of them suddenly locked in place.

Exactly one breath after that eerie stillness—

Crack! Clang!

The axe blades and sword edges they'd raised shattered into pieces and rained down onto the ground.

"What the—"

The bewildered bandits' eyes turned to their broken weapons, and at the same time—

Splaaaaash—!!!

Ten bright red fountains of blood erupted from their bodies, filling the air with crimson mist.

Thud. Thump!

Ten lumps of meat that died without even screaming. Their bodies had been sliced cleanly in half; from the severed cross-sections, the foul stench of spilled organs wafted out.

"S-stop, stop!! You idiots!!!!!"

The bandits rushing up from behind froze in their tracks, swallowing their screams at the scene of slaughter that had unfolded in an instant.

"What the hell was that…?!"

"The… the people… got cut in half…."

The faces that had been flushed with lust only moments ago turned deathly pale.

I flicked the blade through the air, scattering sticky droplets of blood, and at the same time proudly raised crimson sword energy along its edge.

"What are you waiting for? Weren't you going to violate me?"

With a thick sneer and blatant killing intent directed at them, the small fry's legs gave out and they collapsed where they stood. A few even wet their pants.

Seung-pyo's face had turned ashen and was twitching violently.

"S-sword energy…? Don't tell me you're a peak expert?"

His shoulders jerked. The pupils staring at the burning tip of my sword trembled as if struck by an earthquake.

"Ugh, wait, just wait a second…!"

His gaze darted around like a cockroach searching for an escape. It finally stopped on Jeong So-yun, who stood bloodied at my side.

"H-hey! You mentioned a life-or-death duel, right?! Now that I think about it, refusing the request of the former chief would be terribly rude, wouldn't it!"

Seung-pyo pulled the axe from his back with an exaggerated show of boldness and stepped forward.

"Fine! If you want it that badly, I'll accept your challenge!"

"Hah. The nerve of this guy is endless."

I clicked my tongue at his shamelessness but turned to look at Jeong So-yun.

"So-yun."

"…"

Her face was pale, her fingertips trembling. Yet she stepped forward without hesitation, glaring at Seung-pyo with fierce eyes despite her unsteady gait.

Step. Step.

As she walked forward, she took a deep breath, then turned her head slightly toward me. With a resolute expression, she spoke.

"…Just one favor. Keep those bastards from interfering. If anyone tries to jump into the fight—"

"Don't worry."

I cut her off cleanly and let out a soft chuckle.

"I'll take care of everything behind you. So go wild as much as you want."

"…Alright."

Jeong So-yun gave a faint smile and stepped in front of Seung-pyo, who gripped the massive axe handle.

I strolled casually to stand crookedly in front of the terrified crowd of bandits.

Ssssh.

With the tip of my sword dangling toward the ground, I met each of their eyes one by one and twisted my lips into a smirk.

"You heard her, right?"

A chilling killing intent pressed down on the entire gathering.

"Watching is free. However, if any of you bastards try to interfere between those two…."

I raised the sword overflowing with murderous aura and pointed it at their throats.

"I'll cut your heads off right then and there."