The Descent of the Asura
Jin Yu-seong glared at the traitor, Mun Hong-dan, and spat out his words.
"Your uncle must be weeping in the underworld. The Posa Sect ends with your generation."
"Pfft! Don't worry about that at all, Chief. Besides, my late uncle would have wanted me to live a wealthy life. The Posa Sect? They can tear down the sign for all I care. I'll just make sure to set a nice memorial table for my uncle every year."
"I brought a beast with me, not a human. I have nothing more to say."
"Hehe, consider it your karma for having dog eyes, Chief."
Information asymmetry.
That was what had brought such overwhelming damage to the Jinseong Escort Agency.
'This escort mission fails here.'
Jin Yu-seong finally closed his eyes.
He had to admit it now.
He had been too greedy.
The request offered by the Namgung Clan was sweet, but he was not qualified to reap its fruits.
How could someone who couldn't even judge a person's character hope to achieve great things?
"Ho-pyeong. Do not look back. Just listen."
"Yes, Father."
Fortunately, his eldest son had survived.
Though his second and third sons had lost their lives in the chaotic battle.
At least he had someone to leave his legacy to.
He must not be greedy anymore.
Jin Yu-seong parted his lips slightly to send a telepathic message while slowly circulating his internal energy.
"I will create an opportunity, so escape. Namgung Min, the Heaven-Shattering Sword—he has already agreed. Escape together."
Jin Ho-pyeong, the eldest son of the Jinseong Escort Agency, grimaced slightly.
"I cannot do that. How can I escape alone and leave you behind, Father? I would rather create the opportunity myself. You must escape with Great Warrior Namgung Min."
"With your current physical condition, it is impossible. Do not be stubborn."
"But..."
"This is an order from the family head."
At his father's final words, Jin Ho-pyeong bit his lower lip.
He knew exactly what kind of resolve his father held to say such things.
Thus, despite his entire body trembling violently, he nodded.
"...I obey the family head's command."
"Thank you."
As Jin Yu-seong finished his telepathic message and channeled his fully gathered internal energy into his sword, Maeng Ryeo, who was sneering in front of him, pointed his scythe forward and spoke.
"Have you finished your last words? See how merciful I am?"
"...Thank you for giving me time."
"Don't mention it. You're both going to die here anyway. I just wanted to let you paint a nice final picture."
"We shall see about that."
The escort mission was no longer the goal.
In any case, the mission had ended here in the middle of this river.
All that remained was to save as many people as possible.
BOOM!
Just then, an unknown explosion echoed from a considerable distance.
Come to think of it, the arrival of the Gyoryong Fort, the most threatening force, was being delayed.
Were the rogue mercenaries performing beyond expectations?
Still, could they really do this much? Jin Yu-seong cast a glance toward the distance.
Far away, on the flagship of the Gyoryong Fort, the Dragon King of Nata, there was a massive uproar for some reason.
Even from this distance, the entire vessel could be seen rocking violently.
Although the exact reason could not be determined from here, it seemed the Gyoryong Fort was struggling significantly just to deal with a few rogue mercenaries.
"We should finish this before our Fort Leader arrives. If our backer joins us directly, he'll surely nag us to death," Maeng Ryeo said playfully to Jin Yu-seong.
The response came from Sun Hong-dan, who was standing beside him.
"Indeed, my father's personality isn't very pleasant."
"Ah! Right. I forgot you were here and badmouthed the Fort Leader. That was a big mistake on my part. Please understand."
"It is fine. My father is quite generous when it comes to these matters."
Maeng Ryeo nodded at Sun Hong-dan's words.
"Hehe, indeed. As long as money isn't involved, he's an endlessly generous man."
"Haha, I certainly cannot deny that my father has the temperament of a miser. Still, he strictly keeps his word once a deal is struck, so you can rest assured."
"If I couldn't even trust that, we wouldn't be working together."
Maeng Ryeo and Sun Hong-dan chatted to ease the tension without looking back, though they felt a lingering unease about the commotion occurring behind them on the Gyoryong Fort's ship.
Naturally, they directed the peak experts who had accompanied them to complete the encirclement.
Creeeeak—
As the wooden deck warped and groaned, a perfect encirclement consisting entirely of peak experts was formed along the railing of the Jinseong Escort Agency's flagship.
Of course, the encirclement was not just on the deck.
Thud, thud—
A signal indicating that the underwater encirclement was complete echoed from beneath the ship.
Though the members of the Jinseong Escort Agency did not know it, because the pirates had secured victory through overwhelming numbers, the remaining forces had completely surrounded the flagship from below with ramming boats, wrapping it in two layers.
'You can never escape.'
Looking at Jin Yu-seong, who was burning with a thread of useless hope, Maeng Ryeo could not hide his internal mockery.
In truth, this was his wicked hobby.
Intentionally offering a sliver of hope, only to savor the despair-filled expression of his opponent when that hope was ultimately crushed.
'This time will be no different.'
Jin Yu-seong was a well-known figure in the Giyang County area.
Since he was hunting such a big fish, wasn't it worth enjoying?
He seemed to be trying to get his son out somehow.
'As if that's possible.'
The difference in power was already more than double.
Jin Yu-seong knew this fact all too well.
Therefore, he had to create a single, golden opportunity to turn the tide.
Sheath—
He returned his unsheathed sword to its scabbard, leaned forward slightly, and spoke.
"Do you know that whether a man lives or dies is up to heaven?"
"Oh? What an amusing thing to say. According to your logic, Chief, I must be your heaven. Since I am the one who decides whether you live or die here."
The endless mockery continued.
The traitor Mun Hong-dan also chimed in from the side.
"I am envious, Lord Maeng Ryeo. How does it feel to rise in status so suddenly?"
"Becoming heaven? It feels quite good, indeed."
Maeng Ryeo replied triumphantly, tilting his chin up, and Mun Hong-dan let out a smirk.
Meanwhile, Jin Yu-seong spoke again.
"You would do well to cultivate the habit of thinking the opposite."
'Of course, that is if you manage to survive and leave this place.'
Swallowing his next words, Jin Yu-seong crouched even lower.
He bent so low that his left shoulder almost touched the deck. Seeing this bizarre preparatory stance and the leg muscles bulging as if they were about to burst, the relaxed smile on Maeng Ryeo's face gradually began to stiffen.
'Tsk, the old man must have a hidden trump card.'
Just as Maeng Ryeo began to think things might get troublesome, Jin Yu-seong completed the stance for the Jin family's ultimate secret technique, the single-strike kill: the Lightning-Shattering Single Strike. He prepared to unleash his compressed muscles and internal energy all at once.
But at that moment, the atmosphere on the deck, which had been burning with tension, shifted strangely in an instant.
"Hmm?"
Standing behind Jin Yu-seong's left, quietly keeping the pirates in check, was the expert of the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Min, the Heaven-Shattering Sword, let out a puzzled groan as he turned his gaze toward something.
It wasn't just the Heaven-Shattering Sword.
Except for Maeng Ryeo, who had to face Jin Yu-seong directly, almost every expert on the deck simultaneously looked up at a certain point in the sky.
"...What is that?"
As one of the pirates forming the encirclement muttered, something that had been floating playfully from the distant sky suddenly came to a screeching halt in midair and plummeted at rapid speed.
At the same time, it expanded its size at an incredible rate.
And then...
"D-Dodge!"
"Everyone, get to the other ship!"
"Damn it, too late!"
CRASH!
Onto the deck, a black monkey as massive as a house crashed down.
Simultaneously, the entire flagship sank heavily into the river as if it were about to submerge, before surging high into the air along with the river water a moment later.
"W-What on earth is that..."
Gong Jeol-gang stared with wide eyes at the Jinseong Escort Agency's flagship a short distance away.
The Great Black Star, the secret puppet of Cheonsa Prison.
Its form had now been altered to a shocking degree.
"Six arms and three heads?"
Wasn't that the very image of an Asura?
And how could he have modified the appearance of an already completed puppet?
In such a short amount of time?
Gong Jeol-gang stared at Ilyang with a gaze full of endless questions, but the person in question did not seem particularly pleased.
"Hmm, its cognitive ability is much lower than expected. Its reaction speed is slow, and its output is lacking. It seems the core is simply too old... Or did its ego survive this long precisely because it was stupid? How ironic. There are many parts that will need fixing over time."
Watching him mutter to himself, a myriad of thoughts rushed through Gong Jeol-gang's mind.
Though he couldn't fully comprehend the words, it was clear that this monstrous brat had indeed done something to the Great Black Star.
It was utterly absurd.
To modify the secret puppet of Cheonsa Prison at his own whim.
In the first place, deciphering the secret spell formulas of a puppet was not something just anyone could do.
Even if one managed to open the secret formulas, actually interfering with them was a matter of an entirely different dimension.
'And he actually succeeded.'
To alter a puppet's form so freely, one could not even begin to fathom how many changes had to be made to the complex spell formulas within.
If he were to tell the other elders of the sect about this, they would surely slap him across the face and tell him to stop lying.
After all, it was a sight that even Gong Jeol-gang, who was witnessing it with his own eyes, could hardly believe.
It was only natural that the pupils of Gong Jeol-gang, who was considered a master of puppet crafting even within Cheonsa Prison, shook as if hit by an earthquake.
"Looks like it's over," Ilyang muttered, turning to look at the pirates cowering behind him.
His gaze landed on a rather slender pirate standing near the mast, and he spoke.
"You. Let's go over there."
"Pardon?"
The designated pirate raised his head with a bewildered expression.
"I said, let's go over there. Raise the anchor and steer the ship."
"Uh... well... that is..."
The pirate singled out by Ilyang was Ho Sam, the Ghost-Cloud Wanderer. He was a man who held a decent amount of sway among the pirates of the Gyoryong Fort.
He was bewildered as to how this devilish brat had accurately singled him out, and even more stunned by the way the boy naturally gave him orders with a flick of his chin.
'Does he know me?'
He shouldn't be that famous.
Ho Sam scratched the back of his head with a dumbfounded look.
The situation was changing far too quickly for a mere first-class expert like him to comprehend.
And his sluggish response was more than enough to make Ilyang raise an eyebrow.
"Why? Aren't you the boss here now?"
"Uh... yes... that is correct."
He was indeed the captain now.
Since the Fort Leader was dead, and the vice-leader and other high-ranking experts were not present, by order of hierarchy, he was indeed the captain of the Dragon King of Nata.
"If you don't want to steer the ship, just say so. It looks like there are plenty of others here who would love to."
As Ilyang looked around, Ho Sam finally snapped out of his daze.
His opponent was the monster who had slain the Fort Leader.
Since Ho Sam's life motto was 'always listen to the strong,' he made the quickest decision of his life.
"I will escort you safely at once!"
Ho Sam urged his still-dazed subordinates to steer the ship toward the Jinseong Escort Agency's flagship.
Though the Dragon King of Nata was a massive vessel, Ho Sam's sailing skills were superb.
Without any significant tremors, he brought the ship flush against the side of the Jinseong Escort Agency's flagship in an instant.
Up close, the flagship of the Jinseong Escort Agency was a scene of pure devastation.
The massive black monkey had practically smashed half of the deck to pieces.
Aside from that, holes littered the upper deck, and because the ship had been half-submerged before abruptly resurfacing, all sorts of water weeds and mud covered the deck.
'At least they have some wits about them.'
Standing at the bow of the Dragon King of Nata, Ilyang let out a chuckle.
Just moments ago, the pirates and escorts had been clashing with their lives on the line.
Yet now, they had stopped fighting as if by magic.
Drenched in river water, they were all busy rolling their eyes, trying to grasp the situation.
At that moment, Ilyang spoke.
"Greetings, Chief. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, I took the liberty of intervening. Are you alright?"
As Ilyang spoke from the bow of the Dragon King of Nata as if he were merely out for a pleasant stroll, Jin Yu-seong's face, which had been filled with confusion until then, brightened in an instant as if he had just met his savior.