The Unyielding Blade of Vengeance
A month had passed since their outing.
It was an ordinary day, yet to Dan Hyunwoo it was a precious part of his daily life.
Today was no different.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Moyong Sehui, broom in hand, had volunteered to resume her duties as a guest resident now that her body had fully recovered.
Her sweeping technique had improved considerably, as had her cooking skills.
And her drinking, too.
At night, she often shared drinks with Dan Hyunwoo and Hwa Yuhwa.
Sometimes, when the alcohol hit her, she would stare at Dan Hyunwoo with piercing intensity.
As if searching for something.
“Here’s your tea.”
Hwa Yuhwa brought teacups out to the wooden veranda.
She called out to Moyong Sehui as well.
“Sehui, come join us.”
“Just let me finish this last bit.”
She unleashed the Geon Gon Pa Seom Geom—the Moyong clan’s signature sword technique—through her broom, flicking away every speck of dust in one clean motion.
“By the way, why do you make me sweep the yard while practicing the Geon Gon Pa Seom Geom?”
Moyong Sehui asked once she had taken a seat.
Dan Hyunwoo offered no reply.
Instead, Hwa Yuhwa gave an answer that sounded like a Zen riddle.
“Because you’re one of our household’s children now, of course.”
“I understand it less and less every day.”
Sweeping while performing the Geon Gon Pa Seom Geom.
Whenever the broom touched a fallen leaf, it scattered into pieces.
Thanks to that, a task that should have taken one mealtime now stretched into a full hour.
Moyong Sehui was wondering what on earth this was supposed to accomplish when she took a sip of tea.
“Hm?”
Something was suddenly thrust before her eyes.
It was wrapped in silk from the Danhwa Silk Shop. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize it.
A single sword.
Moyong Sehui unwrapped the silk.
Her expression hardened instantly.
This sword…
It’s the Small River Heaven’s Reach, one of the Hundred Great Famous Swords of the Central Plains that Heugam possessed!
The very blade that had shattered her own Seom Dan Gyeon Seol.
Moyong Sehui looked up.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“……”
Dan Hyunwoo remained silent.
Once again, the answer came from Hwa Yuhwa.
“Because you’re one of our household’s children now, of course.”
These people are really…
They just kept giving her cryptic answers.
Still, wouldn’t selling this fetch somewhere between one thousand and two thousand gold taels? And they were just handing it over?
Moyong Sehui lifted her head and looked at the pair.
Dan Hyunwoo spoke.
“Use it.”
Then he resumed drinking his tea.
As if that was all he had to say.
What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? Moyong Sehui decided to bow her head for now.
“You saved my life and now you’re even giving me a sword… I will definitely repay this kindness.”
Swoosh.
Once again, Dan Hyunwoo reached out and ruffled her hair.
It was something he did so often now that she was getting used to it, but her hair ended up a mess every single day.
She lifted her disheveled head.
“……?”
But unlike a moment ago, both Dan Hyunwoo and Hwa Yuhwa wore stiff expressions.
Their gazes were fixed on the main gate, and the slight tremor in their eyes was unmistakable—enough to make it terrifying.
Knock! Knock!
The sound of someone pounding on the door made Moyong Sehui flinch.
What was this tension all about?
“We aren’t expecting anyone. Who could it be? That damn magistrate again?”
Yu Sucheon headed toward the main gate.
Then he stopped in his tracks.
Why are they acting like that?
That damn human, Dan Hyunwoo.
There was a change in his usually indifferent face.
And in Hwa Yuhwa as well.
Dan Hyunwoo reached out to stop Yu Sucheon from opening the door.
“It’s my guest.”
Dan Hyunwoo walked to the main gate and opened it.
Huk?! What the hell is this?
Yu Sucheon swallowed dryly at the sight of the man standing outside.
Nearly seven cheok tall—about two meters ten centimeters.
Broad, powerful shoulders.
Sharp eyes that made no attempt to hide his mastery.
Where the hell did this guy crawl out from?
But what shocked him even more than the man’s physique was the massive blade strapped to his back.
Roughly eight cheok long—about two meters forty centimeters.
It wasn’t a weapon a human should wield.
That thing could practically be called a mystical armament.
What the—did he come to slice up Dan Hyunwoo? If so, does that mean I’m finally free?
This is no joke. Even though he’s hiding his inner energy, my skin feels like it’s being pricked. That guy wouldn’t be easy even for Dan Hyunwoo.
It felt like his skin might tear at any moment.
What would happen if that inner energy exploded outward? The taut tension made him keep swallowing dryly.
The man was staring straight at Dan Hyunwoo alone.
Without the slightest tremor.
He spoke.
“I have come to avenge what happened ten years ago at the Northern Heaven Great War.”
“……Let’s change locations.”
“If that is your final wish before you die.”
Dan Hyunwoo began walking somewhere.
The man—Cho Geuk—silently, wordlessly followed behind him.
Hwa Yuhwa, Moyong Sehui, and Yu Sucheon went with them.
This was clearly no ordinary person.
To come boldly to someone else’s home and declare revenge.
Dan Hyunwoo didn’t go far.
A large clearing thick with vegetation.
It was a place overgrown with weeds up to the knees, a spot no one ever approached.
It was almost as if he had prepared the location in advance for a day like this.
Cho Geuk glanced at Dan Hyunwoo for a moment.
He looked exactly the same as ten years ago, as if time had forgotten him.
His appearance, his indifferent eyes—everything.
And that piercing killing intent that allowed no room for carelessness.
Just like that day, at that moment.
It had to be this way.
He had to remain unchanged and just as strong as back then.
He must not beg for his life simply because he had grown weaker.
He had to stay strong forever. Only by breaking that lofty pride—rather than merely bending it—could his grudge be resolved.
Cho Geuk bit his lip and unwrapped the cloth covering his blade.
Srrrng.
Jangcheon Daedo.
The moment the blue-tinged, chillingly sharp edge was revealed, Yu Sucheon sucked in a sharp breath.
Five chi thick.
An enormous weapon that had to weigh over two hundred geun—roughly one hundred twenty kilograms.
Cho Geuk lifted the Jangcheon Daedo.
“Ten years ago, I told you that you would regret it.”
“……I remember.”
“Kukukuk!”
Cho Geuk burst into wild laughter.
He would remember. Because to keep those words from ten years ago, he had crossed countless lines of death and endured until now.
Kwaaaang—!
Cho Geuk stepped forward.
Crack—!
An unbelievable roar rang out as the ground split apart.
And then.
Kuuuung—!
Forgetting his massive size, his body shot forward like an arrow. He brought the great blade crashing down toward Dan Hyunwoo.
Clang—!
Yu Sucheon wore a horrified expression.
What kind of absurd inner energy was that!
But Cho Geuk’s own eyes narrowed in the opposite reaction.
He’s blocking this, Dan Hyunwoo… Good. At least give me that much.
Dan Hyunwoo had blocked his great blade far too lightly.
However, Cho Geuk himself had only used half of his inner energy so far.
Tadadak—!
Cho Geuk stepped through a footwork pattern and spun once in midair.
The moment his feet touched the ground again!
Kwaaaang—!
“Huk!”
Shock filled the eyes of both Yu Sucheon and Moyong Sehui.
All the weeds within a one-jang radius around his foot were flattened and blown away.
Insane! Just stepping through footwork creates that much destructive power.
Every place he stepped produced a thunderous roar.
Weeds that had grown to knee height were shredded to pieces in the air.
Clang—!
Cho Geuk’s great blade clashed with Dan Hyunwoo’s sword once more.
The impact created a violent gale.
Moyong Sehui staggered from the sudden wind.
Kwaang—! Clang—!
An exchange of blows too fast to follow unfolded.
Every time their weapons met, Cho Geuk’s inner energy surged more fiercely and grew stronger.
Suddenly, the corners of Cho Geuk’s mouth rose.
As arrogant as ever. But…!
The Jangcheon Daedo moved even faster.
The blade that should have already reached its limit now drew its arcs even more powerfully, yet lighter than before.
Hwa Yuhwa watched Cho Geuk with a slightly surprised expression.
His skill is incredible. At that age, to have reached such a realm. A true martial genius.
But her surprise did not end there.
The astonishment on Hwa Yuhwa’s face quickly turned somewhat irritated.
……!
Cho Geuk’s inner energy had surpassed what she thought was his limit and was now releasing an even stronger force.
Kwaaaaaang—!
Now, every step he took flattened and scattered weeds across a two-jang radius.
He looked like he stood at the center of a typhoon.
“Ugh!”
Moyong Sehui let out a groan against the fierce wind.
This man’s martial arts were at a level where even three Heugams would be cut in half with a single stroke.
Cold sweat dripped from her hands.
Young Master Dan…
She bit her lip without realizing it.
It looked like Dan Hyunwoo was being pushed back.
The skill to wield that ridiculously large blade with complete freedom.
An overwhelming physique that stood a full head taller than the already tall Dan Hyunwoo.
It was like watching a child fight an adult.
If the fight dragged on like this, he would continue to be overwhelmed and eventually lose…
But at that moment.
Unexpectedly, Cho Geuk stopped his wild laughter.
Why…
Dan Hyunwoo’s arrogant face remained utterly indifferent.
As if he felt nothing at all, like he was simply looking at a pebble on the roadside.
Even though Cho Geuk had lived with such desperation, using every possible means to reach this place.
He was still the same.
That lofty face of his, too.
He couldn’t even leave a single scratch, and he couldn’t break that expression either.
And then.
Damn it!
A sudden sense of crisis washed over him.
His body bent like a bow as he twisted backward.
What on earth was this feeling he had never experienced even on the battlefield?
Tadadat—!
Cho Geuk quickly retreated.
It felt as if his feet had sunk into a swamp and were being dragged down.
……!
He realized the feeling had been accurate.
Dan Hyunwoo was following him like a shadow as he retreated.
Completely overwhelming Cho Geuk’s own speed.
Clang—! Clang—!
“Kugh!”
The great blade screamed.
As if it would snap at any moment.
At that moment, Dan Hyunwoo’s eyes seemed to ask a question.
Is this your limit?
Damn it!
It was.
Every time Cho Geuk increased the power of his inner energy, every time the speed of his blade increased, Dan Hyunwoo had simply matched him.
From the very beginning, he had never been pushed back.
And now that Cho Geuk himself had reached his limit.
Clang—!
A hollow gaze turned toward the empty sky.
“……!”
The Jangcheon Daedo flew away.
Leaving Cho Geuk’s hands.
After spinning dozens of times, the Jangcheon Daedo slammed into the ground with a heavy thud.
And before he knew it.
Dan Hyunwoo’s sword was already resting against Cho Geuk’s throat.
Cold sweat trickled down his jawline, flowing along the blade.
Defeat.
A complete and utter loss.
Just like his father ten years ago.
Inner energy, speed, swordsmanship—he had lost in every category.
His pride crumbled like dry leaves.
For ten years he had gripped the great blade until his palms peeled, and on battlefields where he had cut down thousands, he had trained and refined himself without rest.
Yet he couldn’t even penetrate a single inch.
Cho Geuk dropped to his knees.
“Kill me.”
“……”
Silence was Dan Hyunwoo’s only reply.
Cho Geuk lifted his head and looked at Dan Hyunwoo.
He had the right.
Just as Cho Geuk himself had mercilessly cut the throats of defeated enemies on the battlefield, this man had the right to kill him.
But Dan Hyunwoo sheathed his sword and spoke in a low voice.
“Go back home.”
Cho Geuk shouted.
“You will regret this. I will not give up on my revenge.”
He spat the words while biting his lip.
Yet Dan Hyunwoo’s eyes remained indifferent and calm.
Why was he abandoning the victor’s right and sparing someone who would surely return to kill him?
However, Dan Hyunwoo quietly turned and walked away without a word.
Just like when they had parted ten years ago.
That receding back.
A person who seemed unreachable no matter how far one stretched their hand.
He was still so very far away.
Cho Geuk slowly rose to his feet.
And toward Dan Hyunwoo’s broad back as it grew distant, he bowed his head deeply.
A silent greeting.
He remained that way for a long time.
When Cho Geuk finally raised his head, he turned and began walking.
In the opposite direction from Dan Hyunwoo.
Leaving the Jangcheon Daedo embedded in the ground.