Black Path Sacred Being, Black Flame Dragon (3)
Sangmunbang.
I looked at the nameplate and said, "Hey, can't you even read? That's 'Sang', not 'Hang.'"
"Ugh!"
The giant swung his fist at me, but his underlings blocked him. Then one of them whispered, "Hold it in just a bit. We've come this far. If we all gang up on him inside..."
Kid, I can hear everything.
Couldn't they even gauge the difference in our internal energy?
Well, I hadn't exactly expected anything else from this situation. In cases like this, it was better to just kick up a fuss and barge right in.
I kicked the door open with confidence.
With a hearty boom, it should've exploded inward and caused chaos inside... but.
Crack.
"......"
The door was made of such thin plywood that only the spot I kicked splintered, and my foot got stuck right in.
"You bastards... no, forget it."
I gathered energy in both palms and fired it off. Finally, the sound I'd been hoping for rang out.
Kaboom!
The door shattered into pieces that scattered everywhere. Seriously, what cheap wood did they use? Sawdust flew all over the place.
And then, as expected, the shouts came from inside.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Do you know where you are?!"
"How dare you barge into Sangmunbang!"
This place must be full of idiots with low IQs. They couldn't even get their own sect's name right.
The black path thugs, gripping their weapons with murderous intent, spotted the giant and furrowed their brows.
"Huh? Sal-gwon? Sal-gwon! What the hell is going on?!"
"Gaha, Bangju-nim, buleowa!"
"What? What the fuck is that retard saying?!"
"Gaha! Bangju-nim, buleoo!"
"That fucking retard..."
In the end, one of the underlings stepped forward to report.
"Dangju-nim! The Bangju-nim, the Bangju-nim needs to come...!"
"What?"
"Jin Sowoon... I mean, the Black Flame Dragon! The Black Flame Dragon!"
"Black Flame Dragon? The Black Path Sacred Being, Black Flame Dragon?"
"Yes!"
The moment my epithet came up, the surroundings fell deathly silent in an instant. My fame must really be something.
After a brief silence, the black path thug exploded in rage.
"You fucking retards get your asses kicked by some punk kid and now you're calling for the Bangju-nim?!"
Judging by the long scar on his mouth, he'd probably paid for running it too much.
I eyed the black path thugs approaching with weapons drawn and murderous auras, then asked the giant, "Hey, your name Sal-gwon?"
"That..."
"What a shitty name."
"......I'll definitely kill you."
I dodged the axe swing aimed to split my head and drove my fist into his gut.
Bam!
With a roar, the black path thug shot off like a cannonball and crashed into the wall.
Next, I grabbed the spear tip thrusting at my heart, yanked him in with a twist, and tripped him.
"Gahk!"
The axe coming for my neck was next. These guys didn't even bother standardizing their weapons.
Thwack!
"Hiiik!"
The thug freaked out as I caught the axe blade with my hand. I snatched it away, gripped the handle mid-air, and smashed it down on his head.
"N-no!"
This bastard had no hesitation splitting someone else's skull, but now? Total double standard.
Still, I'm a true hero who doesn't kill lightly. I spun the axe haft and just fixed his head position.
Thud!
Hm... maybe a bit too rough?
The black path thug collapsed, blood streaming from his head. Well, at least now he'd read his sect's name right when he woke up.
Next up, a guy charging with a sword... Huh? Why the fuck was he holding a Huashan sword?
These guys were insane.
"You... need some serious education."
"Die, you fucker!"
I fired the Flying Dragon Claw to bind his hand and yank him in, then kicked his body down. Inspecting the sword I'd taken, it was definitely a Huashan sect blade.
"What a fucking moron. Hey, asshole, carry that around and you'll get caught by Huashan and die."
For his sake, I grabbed the blade and snapped it in half. His pupils shook violently.
Still hadn't grasped the situation, huh?
"Hey, I just saved your life."
"Wh...at."
"You should at least say thanks first?"
"Th-thanks..."
"Don't need it, asshole!"
I punched him flying; his body smashed through the building door and inside.
I looked at my fist anew.
'I'm pretty damn strong, huh?'
After dealing with nothing but inhuman monsters lately, my standards for strength had gotten way too high.
Makes sense—the Murim Academy students were all final weapons meticulously raised by their sects.
My standards rising was natural.
Black path thugs who'd have terrified my past life self now felt like kids.
I stared at my hand for a moment, then asked the scarred-lip black path thug, "Hey, don't I kinda look like a hero?"
"......What the fuck are you babbling about, you psycho!"
Quick sword, huh? But slow.
Thud!
One kick sent Scar-lip flying.
"Arrrgh! I'll kill you!"
Not a single unified martial art or weapon among them. Even random street warriors would have more cohesion.
And these punks just had raw grit—they kept popping back up no matter how many hits.
'Anyone properly trained would've realized the martial arts gap by now.'
But no problem.
"Urk!"
I blocked Sal-gwon's finally moving fist, grabbed his collar, and said, "I'm from the Small Justice Squad, after all."
"Huh?"
Slammed his head down.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Keeps getting up? Simple solution.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Beat him till he can't.
"Grrrk."
Sal-gwon spat out blood mixed with a few corn kernels. No more meat for him anytime soon. Poor guy. Tsk.
I caught my breath with abdominal breathing and bellowed, "Come on, you fuckers! Come at me!"
Guys who live by grit don't stop until they realize the opponent's a psycho.
So, I had to show them just how nicely crazy I was.
I smashed heads, snapped legs, twisted and ripped arms—raging freely through them.
By the time all the black path grunts were down...
"......Wh-what the hell is going on here?!"
The Sangmunbang Bangju appeared.
"Jin... Sowoon? Black Flame Dragon Jin Sowoon!"
"Yeah."
The Sangmunbang Bangju couldn't contain his fury at the scene before him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
His killing intent made my skin prickle like needles.
"Big bro, let's cut off his limbs first, then talk."
"Sounds good. Big bro! These black path scum get cocky the moment they hear a name, thinking the world is theirs."
"Gotta teach punks like that how scary the world really is...!"
The men lined up beside him exuded killing intent in sync with the Bangju. Among all the Sangmunbang elders I'd seen, this was the most refined aura.
'Hm, the Bangju's... Dangju level. His brothers... Daju level?'
As I gauged their levels, the Bangju ground his teeth.
"Cut off his arms and legs one by one and present them. Leave the tongue—I need to hear why."
"Yes!"
At the Bangju's command, four men moved simultaneously. They sealed off all directions, forming an array—not their first time.
'Four Directions Iron Lock Formation.'
A basic sword formation, but the most effective for multiple against one.
"You... strutted around a lot in the Four Black Alliances, huh?"
"We'll fix that attitude today."
"Though you won't hold a sword again, of course."
"Haaah!"
But it wasn't very effective.
Sword formations rely on mutual trust. You have to be ready to give your life for the guy next to you.
But.
'Sloppy.'
Their formation was leagues below what the gold-silver-bronze kids could pull off, in skill and resolve.
Thud! Bam! Bam!
I smeared the face of the front-rusher with Cartoon Invincible Fist, then kicked at the sword-slinger.
By now, someone should've intercepted my kick for him—but they lacked that resolve. It was just an efficient beatdown array.
Thud! Bam-bam!
I struck his solar plexus, snapped his sword hand, and headbutted his teeth out.
This one wouldn't eat meat like Sal-gwon either. Shame.
"Gahk!"
Grabbed his collar as he fell and smashed my forehead into his again. He'd relaxed after losing teeth, but nose-crushing pain flipped his eyes back.
I turned to the rest.
"W-wait!"
"Wait my ass!"
I charged the nearest, snapped his shin, then punched his face—nose gone. Breathe through your mouth from now on, buddy.
Tripped him, then kicked his head to knock him out.
Last one left.
I slowly turned.
"Hiiik! C-crazy bastard!"
Finally, they certified it.
Hey, if you just run, I'll feel slighted.
Whirr!
The Flying Dragon Claw shot out, snagging his clothes. With a metallic clank, he flew toward me like he was sucked in.
The moment he reached me.
Thud!
Punched his face; he spun twice in the air before crashing. I'd dismantled the Four Directions Iron Lock Formation in seconds, then flashed a bright smile at the Sangmunbang Bangju.
"Should I come to you? Or you come here? Oh, no running away."
The Sangmunbang Bangju was a veteran of the black path murim.
For twenty years, he'd roamed the murim with his four brothers, tired of sleeping rough and scraping by on scraps. They'd banded together to form a sect.
With the Four Black Alliances formed to oppose the Murim Alliance, he no longer feared one-sided purges. He planned to spend his remaining days building Sangmunbang.
But.
'This psycho... what the fuck is this shit...'
The Sangmunbang he'd painstakingly built was smashed to pieces in a single day.
By a punk barely past twenty.
Gulp.
Blazing rage surged inside, but he suppressed it hard. Twenty years surviving murim's instincts screamed warning.
'Different level.'
Not just martial arts—the real issue was this guy's mental state.
'Different level... madman.'
Not some hypocrite come for righteous revenge. Those would've drawn steel immediately, and his elders' heads would've rolled.
This one hid his rage, toying with them to vent.
A sense honed by decades in black path murim, seeing every type.
'......A real psycho.'
Curious why he'd come here making a fuss.
"......Why?"
"Huh?"
"I'm asking why you're doing this!"
"Hm... wouldn't it be better to talk after fighting?"
The Bangju's eye twitched at the cocky finger-waggling pose. But don't provoke the psycho further.
He swallowed his fury again and asked, "I want the full story."
"Full story... alright. I was eating at the inn with my merchant group folks when..."
After hearing it, the Bangju couldn't help furrowing his brow.
"All this over a measly ten nyang of silver?"
"......A measly. Ten. Nyang. Of. Silver?"
The psycho's throat clicked. Unblinking eyes bored into him.
Seeing that mad glint, the Bangju was convinced.
'That rumor was true?'
The tale of this madman as the joint heir of black path murim's absolute masters. He'd dismissed it as bar talk...
But now he knew. Officially posing as a white path disciple, but definitely their joint heir.
The madman's voice returned.
"A. Measly. Ten. Nyang. Of. Silver."
Realization hit; strength drained from his body. Those impressive skills now terrified him.
If he truly was those black path masters' heir...
'I can't win...!'
As the mad—no, joint heir—closed in, the Bangju backed up and fell over without realizing.
"W-wait! Wait! M-mistake!"
"Mistake?! You did that as a 'mistake'?"
"W-we're in the same boat, aren't we, friend! If the Black Flame Dragon does this to us, it's just making the hypocrites happy!"
Suddenly—did it work? Worried he'd kill them all for exposing his secret.
Pessimism filled his head.
Then, Jin Sowoon's mad-glinting eyes returned to normal.
"Hm... right, we're friends?"
Did... it work?
The Bangju nodded frantically at Jin Sowoon's question.
"Y-yeah! We're friends!"
"Right, right. Friends. So isn't extorting a friend's money bad?"
"W-we'll return it! Everything!"
"But it left a scar in my heart."
Fuck, you psycho! What about my kids' scars...!
He barely swallowed the words rising to his throat.
If the black path masters had secretly raised this heir and infiltrated the white path...
Touching Tae-eul Gate's Great Heaven Merchant Group meant disrupting their grand plan.
Clearly his fault.
"W-we'll return three times what we took."
"Good. Oh, and about future business."
"The Great Heaven Merchant Group run by Tae-eul Gate? We'll never take protection money again."
"Hm, not quite."
The Bangju broke into cold sweat at Jin Sowoon's headshake. No clue what this psycho wanted.
"It's a merchant group run by a friend—shouldn't you watch over it, protect it from other bastards?"
"Pr-protect?"
"Yeah."
"......Without protection money?"
"Of course! Fuck, aren't we friends?"
Felt like the Black Flame Dragon's hand on his nape tightened. The Bangju forced a grin, swallowing a pained groan.
"Of, of course. From now on, whenever the Great Heaven Merchant Group passes through, we'll voluntarily escort them!"
"Good, good. Perfect. I'll trust you then. Take care from now on."
Watching Jin Sowoon smile innocently and offer his hand, the Bangju thought:
As expected of a black path joint heir—he's inherited all their lunacy.