For the Sayoon Corps, it was a dreamlike experience, but for me, it was reality.
I couldn’t just stand there like a fool.
“Right? That could’ve been dangerous.”
“Feel free to speak comfortably~.”
The Sayoon I knew was different from the current one.
Having sharpened herself through countless trials and tribulations, she emanated a cold chill resembling a finely honed blade, filled with hatred for the world and soaked in a chilling atmosphere.
And now, this girl was just beginning to realize the warmth of the world.
Though her appearance and disposition had changed, to me—and to us—Sayoon was still Sayoon.
That’s why I could return her gentle smile with my own.
“Yeah. But why did you wander into that alley?”
“Uh, well…”
Sayoon smiled awkwardly as she explained her situation.
Today was the day to sell herbs and medicinal plants gathered from Hongseong Mountain in the village. So, she had come down to sell her goods and was getting ready to head back when Yoohee asked her to wait for a moment.
But then she saw me enter the alley and felt some danger from within, so she came in.
“I am a disciple of Hongseongmun. We never turn a blind eye to those in peril.”
As I watched her puff out her small chest proudly, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
The Sayoon we knew was like that too.
Though she lost much, she never lost the spirit of Hongseong.
“That’s impressive.”
“Hehe. What are you saying? Then I will…”
“Brother! That girl is the one!!”
Suddenly, a mob rushed out from the alley. They all appeared to be mere street thugs who hadn’t learned martial arts, but one man stepping out from behind them was different.
He was a thin man casually twirling his dagger by its hilt, something about him was sharper.
“So, you’re a disciple of Hongseongmun.”
“I am Sayoon, disciple of Hongseongmun. And who might you be?”
I could see Sayoon’s throat subtly swallow; she was undoubtedly nervous.
It was only natural. The man in front of her was a fighter far superior to the likes of Yoo Jang-cheol.
One of the enemies that appeared in the middle of the first act, unlike the scrap behind him, he had proper martial arts skills.
Even though Sayoon had little practical experience and hadn’t mastered Hongseong Divine Art, she was still a martial artist.
She could easily gauge the difference in strength between herself and her opponent.
That’s why she was tightening her grip on the wooden sword.
Yeah, that made sense.
Winning against that man wouldn’t be easy for Sayoon, who had only learned the basics of Hongseong Divine Art.
“Hwa-rang Gak-jun.”
Hwa-rang (獪狼) Gak-jun.
A mercenary who sells his mastery, one of the white-fur mercenaries. He belonged to the Iron Blood Clan, dispatched to take out Sayoon, the last survivor of Hongseongmun, as commissioned.
His martial arts relied on a dagger to relentlessly target an opponent’s weaknesses.
It was a dagger technique as sharp as a wolf’s fangs, known as the Wolf Fang Sword Technique (狼牙劍).
With her tense demeanor, Sayoon scanned the surroundings. Perhaps sensing the ominous atmosphere, the villagers began to glance around and move one by one.
Some might be trying to call the guards, others checking their own safety.
And some might be calling for Hongseongmun’s help.
But as the saying goes, the law is far, but fists are close; there was no immediate way to avoid Gak-jun’s revealing sharp fangs.
There was no way to escape right now.
“If you hand him over, I will retreat.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Huh… You all stay out of this. This is a very legitimate duel.”
Experience really shows. If I were to gang up here, Gak-jun would become an enemy of Hongseong. But since it’s a duel and not an ambush, it’s a different story. Anyway, Hongseong is a righteous sect, and they won’t openly issue a kill order based on the results of a duel.
Gak-jun, with his eyes closed for a moment, let out a deep sigh. And the moment his eyes opened…
“I’ll let you know just how much a wolf’s bite hurts with my own body.”
With those words, Gak-jun charged like an arrow.
In the corridor, true to his nickname, “Cunning Wolf,” Gak-jun was a notorious martial artist known for his cunning tactics. In other words, most of his techniques were very effective in battles.
For example.
—Breakthrough!!
The running leg suddenly stopped. Seizing the moment when Sayoon flinched at the sudden shift in his attack timing, he kicked the ground.
As dust flew up with his breakthrough, he aimed to sink a sharp dagger into Sayoon’s shoulder while she squinted against the rising dust.
She barely managed to dodge backward, but with that one move, the momentum shifted toward Gak-jun.
“That’s cowardly!”
“In a fight, where’s the cowardice?”
That’s a valid point. Winning is the only thing that counts. After all, winning!
—BANG!!
I threw a rock at Gak-jun. A big and fresh one.
While he deflected it, Sayoon quickly regained her stance.
Is it really cowardly to interfere in a one-on-one duel?
What’s cowardly in a fight?!
“…Yu Wol, you can stay out of it. After all, you’re coming with us… You bastard! Do you really want to die?!”
The guy who dodged the thrown rock just by turning his head exploded with rage.
Goodness! The one farting is the one getting angry!
What’s with this guy, trying to kidnap someone in broad daylight and making all this noise?!
It was absurd, but I learned one thing from it. Since he’s not attacking me after all this, it means he wants to capture me alive.
The reason? Probably because of my possessions.
Well, that’s good then. Looks like I won’t die at least.
Gak-jun bared his teeth at my sneer. Then slyly glanced back, signaling to his lackeys.
“You little bastard.”
“Today, I’m going to break your bones.”
What…? You… little pipsqueaks…!!
Break them all apart!
Three big guys rushed at me, laughing, and I threw a rock at the first guy who charged.
—SPLAT!
“……”
What are you staring at?
If they can’t properly learn martial arts, a few rocks will easily take them down.
I’m from a country where we enjoyed the traditional game ‘Stone Fighting’!
I threw the rock in my hand again; two dodged it, but that was exactly what I had aimed for.
—SPLAAAAT!!
“Oof…!!”
The guy flinching to dodge the rock exposed himself, and that resulted in a situation where his wife, or girlfriend, or, you know, the one who makes him cry at night, was very unhappy!
Holding his groin and foaming at the mouth, I stepped on the head of the guy who fell and aimed my dagger at the now-flustered one.
Stepping on the fallen, I raised my dagger toward the flustered guy.
-CRACK!!
A hidden pebble hits him. I looked down at the guys bleeding from their heads and smirked.
“Do you think I’ve never dealt with scum like you before?”
I laughed at the dopey ones who couldn’t even answer, then suddenly turned my gaze to the main event that just began.
“Huh!”
“Haah!!”
Sayoon was surprisingly calm and fighting well. Of course, she couldn’t beat Gak-jun, though.
As the dagger and wooden sword clashed, I expected her to be overpowered, but Sayoon wasn’t getting crushed by the adult-strength Gak-jun, despite her young age.
“Ugh… Truly a Hongseong.”
After swinging her dagger a few more times, Gak-jun finally took a few steps back, allowing Sayoon to take a deep breath and lower her wooden sword.
-THWACK!!
Was this just a warm-up until now? Gak-jun’s movements got faster.
Head, head, head, neck, chest.
One of the sword techniques, Oyeonggyeok, shot out like flowing water, aiming for Sayoon.
But that wasn’t going to faze Sayoon.
She lightly twisted her head twice, blocking the third attack with her finger guard on her left arm before swinging her weapon to knock the dagger away.
The final strike aimed at her chest was dodged by stepping back, disarming Oyeonggyeok as Sayoon’s wooden sword poked Gak-jun’s shoulder.
Gak-jun, who gained nothing but a loss, gritted his teeth while Sayoon glared at him, beads of sweat dripping down her face.
Her hand gripping the wooden sword trembled. Was it the pressure of real combat, or the anxiety of possibly getting badly hurt with just one failure?
Or maybe the burden of protecting someone she had just met today, thinking that if she lost, I might be dragged away? She was running out of steam.
And of course, experienced Gak-jun wasn’t going to miss that.
-THOOM!!
With a swift thrust, accompanied by the grace of a wolf, the dagger in his right hand gleamed with light.
It was a powerful attack that only top-tier martial artists could unleash.
Gak-jun might not be a master who can freely unleash sword energy, but even so, the gray aura he managed to infuse into his dagger was thanks to the borrowed strength of a technique.
In other words, Gak-jun was about to use the strongest technique he had.
And I, with more knowledge and experience in this world than Gak-jun, wasn’t about to miss that.
“It’s the Double Fangs Strike!!! Don’t block it, dodge!!”
The wooden sword raised to block the dagger aimed at his head froze. Sayoon quickly retreated, and just as the dagger carrying the blade energy aimed for her head grazed the air, a sharp spear almost pierced her side.
That was close.
-THWACK!!
If the pebble I threw hadn’t hit Gak-jun’s back, slowing down his attack speed, it wouldn’t have been close; it would have actually hit.
“Ugh!! You bastard!!”
“Wow, you’re really concerned about me from over there. Impressive.”
Enraged at his failed secret strike, Gak-jun unleashed a cry of frustration, and that created a tiny opening.
Sayoon didn’t let that opening slip away.
The descending sword shot into the air. As the wind-like strike aimed for Gak-jun’s chin, he tilted his head away. The grazing sword plunged down to chase, and just as he barely twisted his body to avoid it…
In an instant.
– BWAHAHA!!
Sayoon’s left hand connected with Gak-jun’s abdomen. At the same time, the sound of leather bursting echoed.
The final stage to master during the first part of Hongseong Divine Art.
It was the Star-Breaking Palm (파성장).
“Ugh… h-how…”
Blood trickled down from the corner of Gak-jun’s mouth in disbelief. I was shocked too.
Wait, what? How?
You only learn the Star-Breaking Palm after finishing the chapter through an event and getting a hidden secret technique.
She’s already mastered it before we even started the chapter?
“Hah… hah…”
While I was confused about the absurdity of the situation, Sayoon was panting, retracting her hand.
Gak-jun, on his knees spitting blood from the surprise strike, eventually collapsed. Sayoon looked down at him, her face pale from the pressure of using too much internal energy on the technique.
There lay Gak-jun, who had probably burst a few organs and might as well be dead, motionless without a single twitch.
Sayoon, now sitting with her pale face, finally regained consciousness.
It was clear at a glance who won this fight.
“Hah… hah…”
The tension of the first real battle.
The burden of using the Star-Breaking Palm.
Various other concerns seemed to weigh on Sayoon’s shoulders.
I approached her, raising my hand.
“I’ll support you, so please focus on your breath.”
“I’m… fine. I…”
Looks like she doesn’t fully trust me yet, even after I helped her.
Then, it happened.
“Sayoon!!”
A sharp scream rang out. Rushing towards us were two girls, their voices tinged with worry and tension.
They were beautiful girls, dressed in the same Hongseong Clan uniform as Sayoon.
“What is going on here!!”
Maybe because they were allowed to carry real swords, their movements were elegant and swift compared to Sayoon’s.
One of the girls quickly moved behind Sayoon, assessing her condition, then turned to glare at me coldly.
“You need to explain what happened.”
Explain, huh?
I smiled at the two lovely girls, sharp as finely honed blades.
“I can give you all the explanations later, but right now, that’s not the urgent matter. It looks like she has overextended herself using the technique. Let’s prioritize fixing that. I think it’s best if you help her first.”
“Oh. Yes, exactly. Focus on your breathing first! I’ll assist you!”
“Yes…”
She weakly responded before settling into a meditative position, trying to relieve the burden on her.
Well, it was an unexpected event but a good one.
And I even got to confirm Sayoon’s skills.
But seriously, even for a first battle, getting so worn out from one use of the Star-Breaking Palm?
I nodded, alternating my gaze between Sayoon and the two other girls.
Thanks to this sudden event, I decided what needed to be done next.
I had to boost Sayoon’s internal energy.
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