Chapter 84
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Peng Ga-ho's Defeat
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Claaang!
The shock riding along his blade forced Peng Ga-ho to stagger back.
“Urk!”
Peng Ga-ho, whose massive frame boasted a body larger than most grown men even without his greatsword.
His build wasn't exactly suited for ambushes, but leading the Bi-hyeong Squad proved his skill and accomplishments.
How many in the world could push back such a man with sheer strength alone?
Neither side had revealed their true martial arts yet, but Peng Ga-ho was the one cornered, leaving him utterly astonished.
“Not a swordsman, but a blade master.”
Seo Mun-ha smirked with intrigue, straightening his longsword.
“……”
Peng Ga-ho held his silence.
'He figured it out? From just that?'
But inside, ripples of unprecedented turmoil spread.
They'd only clashed blades two or three times.
No matter how sharp his mind, it was impossible from that alone.
Even innate talent or exceptional senses wouldn't allow it—and certainly not this quickly.
His discerning eye stemmed from experience.
Grind.
Peng Ga-ho gnashed his teeth like a furious beast.
He was no slouch in experience either, and once more, the two men collided.
Booom!
They exchanged techniques, probing each other's power.
This was no tactical battle of gaining advantage and controlling distance.
Wham!
Like wild beasts, it was a brutally simple exchange of blows.
Thud, pa-pa-pak!
Seo Mun-ha met him blow for blow without flinching.
“Mindless hacking isn't true heavy swordsmanship.”
Bit by bit, he chipped away at the domineering sword momentum, ultimately dismantling his opponent's forms entirely.
Pahng!
Heavy swords weren't inherently weak to endless variations, but Peng Ga-ho couldn't keep up with Seo Mun-ha's erratic sword paths.
It was like wearing clothes that didn't fit.
Seo Mun-ha parried every bit of Peng Ga-ho's sword intent without a single moment of peril.
With simple movements, he sealed off the greatsword's actions, rendering its massive size unable to unleash even a fraction of its power.
'I've wielded the blade my whole life.'
Peng Ga-ho's pride was wounded. The opponent's dismissive attitude and that relaxed expression grated on him.
'Is this brat really that exceptional?'
The shock must have been profound, as he posed the question to himself.
'More than me?'
He acknowledged this wasn't some ordinary junior.
Someone who commanded underlings rather than subordinates, with a position that seemed more than superficial.
“You'd do better to unleash your proper blade arts.”
But compared to Peng Ga-ho himself—a collateral branch scion of a prestigious clan who had overcome all manner of hardships—this kid was still green.
“Stubborn fool.”
“Nonsense!”
With a shout, Peng Ga-ho clung to that conviction.
The unease he'd felt until now wasn't an illusion, but he ultimately ignored his instincts.
Roaring alarms blared in his mind like mad; denying his foe over and over, he unleashed his sword forms while bellowing to drown them out.
Wooong.
The greatsword, refusing to accept this, emitted a bizarre sword cry, akin to a beast's howl.
'He's asking for it.'
Far from placating him, Seo Mun-ha felt his nerves fray.
He hadn't intended to go all out against an enemy still hiding his hand, especially since the situation wasn't that dire.
Chaeng!
He thrust his sword calmly.
Chaeng!
Blocking the familiar trajectory effortlessly, a flick of his wrist sent the longsword batting the greatsword away repeatedly.
All too simply.
It was merely a matter of speed; anyone could tell from watching those wild swings that the sword didn't suit his hand.
'Thirteen pretenders mimicking swordsmen.'
Seo Mun-ha scanned the battlefield, gradually uncovering Peng Ga-ho's hidden cards.
'And the rest aren't professional assassins either.'
To Peng Ga-ho's turbid eyes, this was nothing short of infuriating skill.
“Everything you do pisses me off!”
Chaeng—!
Seo Mun-ha smacked the blade aside and extended his arm fully.
Swoosh.
He was a step faster than Peng Ga-ho steadying his stance.
Flinch.
For a moment, the greatsword wielder froze like stone.
Never mind the awkward half-step forward; the longsword's tip hovering at his throat made his breath catch.
“Yang Jeong.”
But Seo Mun-ha was already looking away.
Yang Jeong, catching his breath briefly, nodded.
After all their time together, it was unspoken understanding.
Circle around from ten paces below and draw their attention.
Specific orders followed, and he targeted the vulnerabilities of what seemed like a hulking three-headed, six-armed giant despite its size.
Unlike their identical appearances, these intruders weren't a single entity.
Split into two groups, they slowly revealed their traits amid the unexpected resistance from the Hyuncheon Squad, naturally dividing into "us" and "them" despite mismatched goals.
In a more chaotic battlefield, they might collapse on their own—that was the judgment.
Whoooosh!
A chilling wind sliced past Seo Mun-ha's head.
Ducking slightly, he twisted his upper body to evade the next two strikes.
Oho Danmun-do, Baekjung Do-gan.
The Hebei Peng Clan's famed technique, laced with a feint, spewed fire from the tip of the faded greatsword.
'……Both mid and low stances are feints.'
The blatant movements left no room for counters.
Even the other masked figures would gasp at the prowess as Peng Ga-ho began showcasing the true might of the Peng name.
'No way?!'
Yet the most shocked was Peng Ga-ho himself.
Ssshiik—!
In that split second.
Facing the two arcs converging as one, Seo Mun-ha swung down his raised arm.
'With the scabbard?!'
The ordinary scabbard at his waist was utterly unremarkable.
Kuung!
Peng Ga-ho's greatsword slammed into the ground.
Suddenly planting his foot on that broad base, Seo Mun-ha leaped high.
The third warrior sensed the crisis first.
“S-Stop!”
A Peng Clan warrior watching the two shouted urgently.
“We're from the Peng Clan—!”
“I know.”
Seo Mun-ha unleashed a flood of pure energy without hesitation.
Mountain Shattering Heavenly Spirit Sword, Water Section.
Shhhik!
The finely scattered sword paths claimed five directions in Phantom Demon's Ghastly Laugh.
The newly mastered supreme art mercilessly pierced Peng Ga-ho's body.
“You haven't made many enemies in this life yet.”
Seo Mun-ha landed lightly and added flatly.
“In this lifetime.”
Peng Ga-ho's body rapidly lost vitality, slowly crumpling and collapsing.
“Y-You bastard!”
While the warrior raged, Seo Mun-ha surveyed the battlefield with commanding presence.
In the brief silence of bewilderment, he issued the order.
“Kill them all.”
The bloodbath continued.
“Grrrk.”
Foam bubbled from mouths as bowstrings pulled tauter than before.
“Argh!”
Unlike the masked men's undisguised panic, the Hyuncheon Squad members grew more warrior-like amid the grueling fight.
Perfectly coordinating in key spots, they formed a proper sword formation—their greatest weapon against the thugs.
'Insane…….'
The lone one-eyed man gaped in a daze.
“Huff, huff.”
Um Pung, facing him, panted heavily.
He'd done well enough against a Three Realms expert, but Seo Mun-ha, showing no intent to join, murmured.
“Trying orthodox methods against someone faster and stronger than you—it's no wonder you're stuck on the defensive.”
“Young master?”
He could solve it alone, as always.
“It's not the Five Inscriptions' swift swords.”
But he bore the hassle.
Anything handed over by others lost value, after all.
“Ah……”
Um Pung's eyes gleamed.
The Seo Mun Clan's Five Inscriptions Twelve Divine Arts, which he centered his training on.
If he'd acquired just three more swift swords from the latter half of the twelve, he wouldn't have been pushed this far by the one-eyed mask—even today, he'd never resented that the prized art wasn't a dynamic technique more bitterly.
'No……that's not it.'
But he was missing a crucial blind spot.
'Maybe I've been subconsciously undervaluing it because it's not an ascending art.'
His confident ultimate moves were fine.
He couldn't deny orthodox methods as a hundred-path warrior, but sometimes, one had to adapt to the opponent.
“Falling Flower's principle is variation.”
At Seo Mun-ha's advice, Um Pung shifted his stance.
Among his arts, Falling Flower Sword was the sharpest phantom blade.
From Yongcheon to Gokwon, then from Gokwon to Taechung.
Following the calm voice, Um Pung crouched and kicked off the ground fiercely.
Skip the first form; start from the second.
Meanwhile, stones skipped across the ground toward the reckless foes' feet.
Thud. Thud.
Dull thumps accompanied it.
Thwack!
Seo Mun-ha occasionally scattered energy waves while assessing the field, and the strangling foes slipped away unnoticed.
'What the hell is happening?'
Masked men crumbled one by one amid the stunned squad members.
'Is the captain protecting us?'
Numerical superiority flipped, tilting victory their way.
Unlike the squad's guesses, it was more teaching than guarding—and no better environment for honing real combat sense.
Provided they survived intact, of course.
Thud. Thud.
They weren't unscathed. Still, all survived.
Walking the blade's edge, in their first real battle where such ragtag groups died most.
“Heh heh heh……”
A hollow laugh escaped at the unbelievable outcome.
The one-eyed man, once leader of the Black Response Agency's Wu-gum Squad, knelt rigidly upright.
Drip.
Fresh blood oozed from a new head wound.
The scar over his eye looked like bloody tears, his twisted face that of a madman.
“Is this the result of all that boasting? Useless lot.”
“……If you can't change the outcome with your own hands, no one can.”
Um Pung, matching him evenly, muttered low.
It wasn't fair conditions, but holding his own against the once-unapproachable foe was dazzling progress.
“The Seo Mun Clan has more talent than expected.”
The man barely straightened his legs, sneering.
“The battle's decided. Still want to keep going?”
“Your naivety is a flaw.”
Gathering his remaining energy, the man charged swiftly.
A Black Response Agency supreme art, never meant to see daylight again.
Swish.
The gray longsword wove smoothly through the air—not toward Seo Mun-ha, but at Um Pung before him.
'Why go this far…….'
Um Pung frowned and countered.
The man's sword, once elegant, now turned grotesquely ugly.
Um Pung dismissed it as pointless thrashing, but the man stayed true to his mission.
Claaang—!
Unlike the Peng Clan, their target was the entire Seo Mun Clan, including Seo Mun-ha.
What they'd overlooked was the captain's transcendent prowess beyond expectations—and the squad members pulling their weight.
To dent their full strength even a little, the man pressed on.
“Ugh……”
Um Pung faltered, grimacing.
Against the man's hidden thirty percent power burst, he was already at his limit.
“Die!”
The sharp tip aimed for Um Pung's chest.
Ssshiik!
His arm, smug with triumph, stabbed straight in deep—then kept going in the frozen moment.
'……What?'
As his body drove endlessly forward, he suddenly realized one spot was empty.
“A-Argh?!”
The arm that should have been there solidly.
Splurt!
Time sped up again, blood gushing from his flung-back shoulder.
Splat!
Seo Mun-ha appeared abruptly and shook off his blade.
“You'll need to fix that habit of letting your guard down.”
He added coldly.
“Y-You!”
The man retreated spraying blood, then switched stances.
“Hahaha, you lot are done for anyway……!”
“Just die.”
Seo Mun-ha swung his sword curtly.
“No more useless talk.”
A clean strike, unlike before.
This time, not a drop of blood stained Seo Mun-ha's blade.
Before the rolling man's eyes dimmed, he personally answered that lingering doubt.
“I've already learned everything worth knowing.”