Chapter 53
“Dokgoyeong-!!”
Jeokyeom leaped at Dokgoyeong, unleashing a full burst of fighting spirit. His massive build and the fast speed that didn’t match it was notable.
And the sight of him charging with a heavily sharpened axe was truly terrifying, but…
‘Damn it.’
To those who had reached a certain level of martial prowess like Dongryong, it was merely a monotonous and crude attack.
Dongryong immediately looked at Dokgoyeong’s face. From the faint smile on his face, he could tell that Dokgoyeong was thinking the same thing.
“Jeokyeom! Stop!!”
Dongryong belatedly drew his Saber and chased after Jeokyeom, but the already excited Jeokyeom had reached Dokgoyeong’s immediate vicinity.
Whoosh-!
Jeokyeom swung his axe at Dokgoyeong with fierce momentum.
However…
Swish-.
Given the blatantly obvious path of the attack, Dokgoyeong briefly stepped back to dodge before drawing his Sword.
Striking After the Opponent.
The Dokgo Noble Family’s Swordsmanship was a Swift Sword that simultaneously stabbed at the opponent’s vital points.
It was optimized for deflecting the opponent’s attack and thrusting a counterattack into the opening.
He could see the vital points starkly exposed in Jeokyeom’s posture after a single swing of the axe, even at this moment.
‘…It’s a bit of a waste, but should I send one guy off first?’
Thinking so, Dokgoyeong unfolded his Sword Art.
Seven Forms of the Humble Snake.
Ssssh-.
Like a snake baring its fangs, the lethal moves poured straight onto Jeokyeom’s body.
Slash-.
“Heup…!”
Having his thigh slashed first, Jeokyeom only then realized his mistake, but the next Ultimate Techniques were already flying toward his vital points.
He twisted his body belatedly and raised his axe to block, but the Dokgo Noble Family’s wicked Sword Formula altered its trajectory as if mocking him.
‘No…’
At that moment…
CRASH-!
A fierce Saber Wind flew in between them and shattered all of Dokgoyeong’s Sword Qi. Fortunately, Dongryong had intervened and blocked it before the Sword Qi slashed Jeokyeom’s vitals.
“Jeokyeom! Are you okay?”
“M-my thigh was slashed, but it’s not a problem. However,…”
Jeokyeom gritted his teeth as he looked at Dongryong’s shoulder.
“…I apologize. I lost my reason and caused trouble for the Deputy Leader…”
Perhaps the shattered Sword Qi had flowed toward Dongryong, as blood was running down his shoulder.
“This much is nothing. Anyway, is that guy perhaps…?”
“…Yes, he’s the guy I mentioned before.”
Dongryong waved his hand a few times at the self-blaming Jeokyeom and stepped forward.
In front of him, Dokgoyeong was looking at Dongryong with a slightly surprised expression.
“Hmm… your Internal Energy shouldn’t be deeper than mine, since I’ve been taking elixirs since childhood… One must counter the Seven Forms of the Humble Snake with just Saber Wind…”
Even though he hadn’t swung with his full power, Dongryong had blocked it lightly, so Dokgoyeong couldn’t help but be surprised.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was scared.
Thump.
The emotion Dokgoyeong felt right now was a competitive spirit.
The Jianghu had been far too peaceful lately. The Murim Alliance’s role was to mediate disputes in the Jianghu and suppress larger conflicts.
But had there been anything resembling a dispute since Dokgoyeong joined the Murim Alliance?
At most, it was the troublemaking of Unorthodox Faction riffraff, petty factional squabbles among Small and Medium Sects, or at best, small-scale skirmishes occurring at the Border with the Demonic Cult.
That was all.
There were many monsters stronger than Dokgoyeong himself, but he only engaged in arranged Sparring Matches with them, never life-or-death battles.
But now…
“Haa…”
He had finally met that kind of enemy.
His heart was pounding and his hands were itching.
It felt as if his body was screaming to hurry up and kill the guy.
Feeling himself drenched in sweat from the excitement, Dokgoyeong aimed his Sword at Dongryong.
“Yes… I want to hurry up and cut off your neck.”
“…”
Dongryong looked at that sight meaningfully.
And then…
“Your body must be heating up too. Let’s hurry up and start…”
“Wait.”
…He raised his hand to stop Dokgoyeong and said something to Jeokyeom behind him.
“…Yes? Ah, yes. Understood.”
Hearing something from Dongryong, Jeokyeom nodded and then…
Swish-.
…He rested his axe on his shoulder and stood right next to Dongryong.
Looking in confusion at that sight, Dokgoyeong asked.
“…What are you doing?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m going to fight together with Jeokyeom.”
“What…?”
So he was saying they were going to face him with a Joint Attack instead of one-on-one…?
Whether the opponent was stronger or weaker, facing a single opponent with multiple people was something condemned in the murim.
“It seems you have no pride or honor.”
Dokgoyeong, who had lived his whole life as a Righteous Faction member who lived and died by honor, was momentarily bewildered by this, but Dongryong spoke as if he were proud.
“Do honor and pride feed you?”
“…What?”
“Our Leader always said: Even if opponents feel like their skills are similar, make sure to face them with multiple people if possible.”
“…”
Leaving Dokgoyeong’s blank expression behind, Dongryong infused his voice with Internal Energy and shouted loudly to the surroundings.
“Listen up, everyone! From now on, form random groups with the person next to you and annihilate the enemy with Joint Attacks! No matter what happens, don’t even think about fighting one-on-one!”
“Yeees-!”
“…And don’t die!”
Swish-.
Having finished speaking, Dongryong adjusted his grip on his Saber.
And then…
“Let’s go, Jeokyeom.”
“Yes, Deputy Leader.”
…He rushed at Dokgoyeong together with Jeokyeom.
* * *
He had encountered weaklings coming at him simultaneously with a Joint Attack before.
The weak had to do whatever it took to survive. A Joint Attack increased their chances of survival.
However, Dokgoyeong swore.
He had never experienced Martial Artists who had reached a certain level plotting a Joint Attack.
Such people took pride in their own Martial Power and considered it cowardly.
But why…
CLANG-!
Why was the guy in front of him acting so shamelessly despite possessing such skill?
CLAAANG-!
“Keuh-!”
While he was thinking that, Dokgoyeong and Dongryong’s blades clashed against each other. Because Dongryong’s Saber had fierce momentum, Dokgoyeong initially had to take a step back, but…
Screeech-.
Soon after, Dokgoyeong’s Sword, which had deeper Internal Energy, gained the upper hand. However…
Whoosh-!
Jeokyeom’s axe flew over Dokgoyeong’s head, so he couldn’t continue his current momentum.
Again.
Whenever Dokgoyeong was about to ride the momentum to some extent, Jeokyeom swung his axe and cut off the flow.
Jeokyeom’s attacks were crude and monotonous, making them easy to dodge, but they were truly useful for breaking the rhythm like this.
Therefore, from the perspective of Dokgoyeong, who had to seize the flow using his Swift Sword and strike in one breath, it couldn’t help but be truly frustrating.
It was a situation where the number of enemies was greater than the number of allies. He could see that his Subordinates were also struggling, pushed back by Human Wave Tactics.
And above all, the problem was…
“…It’s not fun.”
Since he was unable to connect the flow and unable to cut flesh and blood, it was no fun at all.
His heart was already pounding as hard as it could, but the guys wouldn’t clash with him as much as Dokgoyeong wanted. Furthermore…
“Take this!!”
CRASH-!!
That Bandit King bastard’s Saber.
At first, he thought it belonged entirely to the Hebei Peng Family. However… it was somewhat different. It was as if another heterogeneous Martial Art was mixed into the Hebei Peng Family’s Saber Art.
Rather, a Martial Art more ferocious and of an Overbearing Style than that of the Hebei Peng Family was mixed in, making its momentum far too fierce.
So it had a bad matchup with the Dokgo Noble Family’s Sword Art, which rapidly thrusting with a Swift Sword.
“Huu…”
Feeling frustrated by this, Dokgoyeong looked at the two people in front of him.
The sight of them assisting each other and holding out solidly with a Saber and an axe made him so angry.
‘These Bandit bastards are so ridiculous…’
He truly didn’t like those lowly guys making such resolute expressions. He wanted to distort those expressions.
At that moment…
“…”
…Other Bandit bastards caught Dokgoyeong’s eye.
They were full of openings as each of them was dealing with their own opponent. At this moment… a good idea came to him.
The opponents were the Unorthodox Faction. Not only was there no need for him to fight them fairly, but weren’t the opponents also acting cowardly?
If so…
Rather than continuing to drag out this boring fight, wouldn’t it be better to satisfy his current Killing Intent by slashing even the weak ones?
It would be even better if he could draw out the guy’s openings that way.
“Right… if you’re hungry, you shouldn’t be picky.”
“What does that…”
It was the moment Dongryong was momentarily distracted by Dokgoyeong’s sudden muttering.
Paat-!
Turning around just like that, Dokgoyeong leaped toward the other bandits.
“Everyone, watch out…!”
Dongryong followed and shouted at this, but…
Slash-!
“Keuaaak-!”
Meanwhile, Dokgoyeong’s Sword was already lodged in the back of another Subordinate.
“This son of a bitch…!”
As Dongryong chased after him quickly, his posture wavered for a moment. Jeokyeom, whose Lightness Skill was slow, couldn’t easily follow, above all because the battlefield had widened.
‘Ah… so this is how I should do it.’
Seeing that sight, Dokgoyeong realized what he needed to do.
And to put his thoughts into practice, he rapidly darted all over the place and slashed down the bandits.
Slash-!
“Aaaak-!”
“Keueuk-!”
Dokgoyeong, who used a nimble Sword Art, had a much greater advantage in terms of speed than Dongryong, who used a heavy Saber Art.
Because of this, Dongryong couldn’t stop the guy from running wild and slashing his Subordinates.
Eventually, the moment came when Dokgoyeong leaped again and tried to stab another Bandit’s back.
“Youngest!”
“Uh…!”
CLANG-!!!
…Whether he reacted after hearing Dongryong’s voice or his reaction speed was fast to begin with, Dokgoyeong’s Sword was blocked for the first time.
The Youngest barely managed to block Dokgoyeong’s suddenly appearing Sword, but…
“Eek…”
Screeech-.
Youngest’s Sword quickly began to be pushed back. It was a sight that looked as if Youngest would fall victim to Dokgoyeong’s Sword at any moment.
At this moment, Dongryong concentrated more Internal Energy into his feet and leaped to pounce on Dokgoyeong’s back…!
Thwack, spin.
As if he had been waiting for it, Dokgoyeong kicked Youngest in the abdomen to knock him down and turned around toward Dongryong.
“Finally caught you.”