Chapter 54
“Damn it, I got hit…”
It is difficult to defend against an attack the moment one leaps into the air.
This was partly because Dokgoyeong timed his moment well, but also because Dongryong made a basic emotional mistake.
Dongryong, too…, this was his first time fighting a life-or-death battle against a Master of Dokgoyeong’s caliber.
Chwachwachwachwa-!
Dokgoyeong unleashed his Sword Art upon Dongryong.
It was not child’s play like before, but the Advanced Martial Art of the Dokgo Noble Family, which contained his true earnestness.
Dokjon Sword Art Third Stance Flowing Cloud Hundred Snakes.
Chwaaaak-!
The Sword Qi erupting from Dokgoyeong’s Sword bent like tentacles and headed toward Dongryong.
At this, Dongryong tried to counter and shatter it with his Saber Qi like before, but…
Kwajik.
No matter how much of a tiger one was, it was impossible to face a hundred venomous snakes without taking any injuries.
Dokgoyeong’s Sword Qi squeezed through Dongryong’s openings and left wounds.
“Ugh…”
And with an opponent falling from the air with injuries…
Seogeok-.
…there was no way Dokgoyeong would miss.
Feeling a familiar sensation in his hand, he slashed Dongryong just like that.
Teolsseok-.
With his abdomen slashed, Dongryong dropped his Saber and collapsed to the floor, and Dokgoyeong smiled in satisfaction as he watched the sight.
“Hehehe…”
And Jeokyeom was watching, right in front of that sight.
“Deputy Leader-!!”
Jeokyeom was not skilled in Lightness Skill, so he could not close the distance with Dongryong and could only reach a close distance.
Of course, all of this was the situation Dokgoyeong wanted, but Jeokyeom blamed himself as he watched Dongryong collapse.
And Dokgoyeong enjoyed watching that sight leisurely.
“What was your name again…? Ah…! Was your name Jeokyeom because of that red hair? I often see you in this kind of state.”
“You…, son of a bitch…”
Every time he heard Dokgoyeong’s voice, Jeokyeom felt like a thousand fires were burning inside him, but he did not act rashly like before and slowly assessed the situation.
Losing his reason and getting agitated right now would be exactly what the guy wanted.
“Look at this guy!”
Dokgoyeong smiled as he looked at Jeokyeom, who he thought would charge in like a wild boar again but didn’t. For some reason, looking at that face made him feel like his sadistic hobbies were acting up.
“You were hard to forget for a long time. Ha! It’s funny even when I think about it again. In the several hundred years of the Dokgo Noble Family’s history, it was the first time guys wearing Official clothes stormed into the Main Family. What did you say back then? Did you say you weren’t the Imperial Army but a Bandit Group? Ahaha-! You ended up becoming a Bandit, so I guess you kept your word-!”
“You bastard…”
“A bunch of you came swarming in back then too, and I slashed quite a lot of you, didn’t I?”
“…!”
The veins on the back of Jeokyeom’s hand bulged at Dokgoyeong’s snake-like tongue.
“Did you think something would happen just because bugs like you attacked in a swarm? No, nothing changes. Not last time, and not this time.”
Tuk.
Dokgoyeong lightly kicked the fallen Dongryong with his foot as if mocking him and continued speaking.
“But why did you do such an ignorant thing again… Ah, did you say the village folks I killed for amusement before were your family?”
Amusement.
That worthless-sounding word tore at Jeokyeom’s chest so painfully.
“I felt sorry about that time too. I don’t usually do that, but… My heart was beating so painfully back then that I just couldn’t control my Killing Intent.”
“…”
“Ah, I shouldn’t be saying sorry. Thank you, because I had quite a lot of fun back then thanks to those guys.”
“…”
“Your lowly lives were sufficiently valuable.”
Huung-.
As soon as Dokgoyeong’s words ended, Jeokyeom raised his axe high with trembling hands.
What word could describe his expression right now?
Asura.
Yes, an Asura.
Right now, Jeokyeom’s expression looked like an Asura born to kill Dokgoyeong.
An Asura who thought of nothing else but tearing Dokgoyeong to death.
“Yes, come.”
Rejoicing at that face as if he had received a reward, Dokgoyeong shouted even louder.
“You piled up all their corpses and you are still alive! At this point, isn’t it your fault that everyone around you dies? Even at this moment, many will die because of you!”
“…Eee-!”
“Yes, come!”
It would bring much greater joy to kill that guy filled with anger.
Dokgoyeong wickedly flapped his tongue while secretly taking an Initial Stance behind his back. If Jeokyeom got agitated and charged, he planned to subdue him immediately and kill him painfully.
“Come! You plague-like bastard who kills everyone around you!”
Just as he delivered the final blow with his tongue, Jeokyeom, unable to hold back any longer, was about to surge his body forward…!
“Ah, seriously, fuck. You talk like shit.”
…a youthful voice from behind suddenly interjected into the current situation.
At this, Dokgoyeong turned around and saw the young man who was earlier called Youngest brushing off his body and getting up.
Youngest glared at Dokgoyeong with sharp eyes and shouted at Jeokyeom.
“Jeokyeom Ajae! Don’t get agitated and snap out of it! Ahjeossi, you’re a more rational person than you think!”
And then…
Seureung-.
“…And lift your axe. I will take Dongryong Hyungnim’s share. Let’s do a Joint Attack.”
…he raised his Sword and aimed it at Dokgoyeong’s neck.
“What? Ahaha-!”
At Youngest’s appearance and words, Dokgoyeong burst into a mocking laugh and turned his body.
A young man who looked to be just around twenty at a glance was present.
Dokgoyeong’s age was already at the tail end of being a Rising Star. He was somewhat of an elder with numerous juniors.
From his perspective, the childish bravado of a young Bandit who wasn’t even from a Noble Family or the Nine Great Sects couldn’t help but be truly ridiculous.
At this, Dokgoyeong tried to provoke the guy with a relaxed face as well, but…
“Haha, sure. You come too. I will…”
“…”
“…!”
…the moment he made eye contact with Youngest.
“What is this…?”
He couldn’t help but flinch at an unknown chill.
He didn’t particularly feel a fierce Aura or deep Internal Strength. There wasn’t any special emotion dwelling in his pupils either.
But why…
“Why…?”
…was his body tensing up?
It might be nothing, but Dokgoyeong knew it was best not to ignore the signals his body gave at times like this.
So Dokgoyeong also raised his Sword, focusing more on the guy in front than Jeokyeom behind him.
Youngest looked at Dokgoyeong, held his Sword straight up, and opened his mouth.
“Jeokyeom Ajae. We’ve never coordinated together, so let’s start when I count to three.”
“…What?”
Dokgoyeong was momentarily severely shaken by the words Youngest uttered.
‘The enemy is right in front of them, but he’s openly giving a signal?’
Dokgoyeong was momentarily confused before shaking his head.
“No, this is a shallow psychological trick.”
It was a situation where anyone could predict Dokgoyeong’s superiority. There was no way the guys didn’t know that if they openly signaled and came in like that, they would all be swept away by Dokgoyeong’s Sword.
‘He said he’d count to three, but he definitely plans to attack on one or two.’
Thinking so, Dokgoyeong focused all his senses on the opponent in front of him. As an outstanding Martial Artist, he was confident he could react even if the opponent suddenly struck as long as he focused his senses.
Soon, as promised, Youngest’s signal began…
“One!”
In that short time, Dokgoyeong maximized his senses and prepared to swing his Sword immediately.
And…
“Two!!”
…the moment it became two.
Teok.
…as expected, the movement came before three. But the problem was…
“…Huh?”
…that the reaction came from an unexpected place.
Feeling doubtful, Dokgoyeong lowered his head and saw a bloodied Dongryong grabbing his ankle.
“You… how…!”
He had definitely slashed the guy’s vitals.
He had felt that familiar sensation directly with his own hands, so how…!
At that moment, Dokgoyeong saw bronze skin beyond the guy’s torn clothes.
“Ah.”
The Hebei Peng Family’s Self-Defense Technique, Tiger Blood Golden Body.
Because the Tiger Blood Golden Body was an Inherited Martial Art only permitted to be learned by the blood relatives of the Hebei Peng Family, he hadn’t anticipated it at all.
Looking at Dokgoyeong with such a confused expression, Dongryong grinned with his bloodied face and then…
“The things you say are so fucking shitty that I came back from Hell.”
Wajik-.
After leaving those words, he bit Dokgoyeong’s ankle just like that.
“Kkeuaaaaaa-!!”
Udeudeuk-.
The bite force containing Internal Energy tore off the flesh of Dokgoyeong’s ankle just like that.
At that moment when Dokgoyeong tried to pull his foot away in unimaginable pain…
Seureung-.
…Youngest leaped with his Sword raised.
It was a clean and sharp Sword, although the Internal Energy was not deep. Dokgoyeong had to receive Youngest’s Sword in a situation where his body’s balance was broken because of Dongryong.
Chaeaeng-!
He barely managed to receive it, but the problem was that excessive force went into his already unbalanced body because he reacted hastily.
The leeway to do anything more from now on disappeared from Dokgoyeong’s body.
And such a Dokgoyeong…
Saa-.
“…!”
…had to face Jeokyeom’s axe full of Killing Intent in a defenseless state.
“Keu-euk, dam…”
Dokgoyeong belatedly noticed this fact and tried to turn around immediately.
Huung-!
It was already too late.
The shadow of a massive axe was cast over the face of Dokgoyeong, who had turned around.
Jjeo-eong-!
* * *
“Keuaaaaak-! Aaaaaaak-!”
He was alive.
To be exact, he was barely alive.
Even in that defenseless state, Dokgoyeong showed outstanding reaction speed and avoided a fatal injury.
However, he couldn’t avoid the entire blow. As proof, his shoulder was currently drooping limply, dripping with blood.
His ankle had its flesh bitten off, and his shoulder had suffered a severe injury.
Any further movement was impossible.
To make matters worse, Jeokyeom, covered in blood all over his body, was approaching him as he lay collapsed.
“Ugh…”
At that moment, Dokgoyeong felt fear toward someone weaker than himself for the first time.
Was that why?
He was someone who lived on his pride, but as a final desperate struggle, he spat out ugly words.
“You bastard-!! I am Dokgoyeong, the Second Son of the Great Dokgo Noble Family-! Do you think our Family will stay still if you kill me now?!”
“…”
“I am also a Squad Leader of the Murim Alliance! What about the Murim Alliance? Do you think the Murim Alliance will stay still! If I die, the Dokgo Noble Family and the Murim Alliance will immediately send an Extermination Squad and scorch this place to the ground!”
“…”
They were words not even worth listening to anymore, but surprisingly, this worked well on Jeokyeom. Upon hearing Dokgoyeong’s words, Jeokyeom actually immediately stopped the axe he was about to swing.
In truth, although he tried not to care, Jeokyeom had taken all the words Dokgoyeong said to heart.
‘You piled up all their corpses and you are still alive! At this point, isn’t it your fault that everyone around you dies? Even at this moment, many will die because of you!’
“Come! You plague-like bastard who kills everyone around you!”
Whether it was actually because of Jeokyeom or not, many people who had been by his side had died.
Jeokyeom looked at Dongryong, who was still collapsed on the floor biting Dokgoyeong’s leg, Youngest, who was trying to get up again without letting go of his Sword, Bangsam, who was heavily injured after resisting to the end, and Bongchun, who was still fighting the Murim Alliance martial artists.
They had started off on bad terms at first, but he now knows all too well that they are not bad people.
“If I kill Dokgoyeong now because of a personal grudge…”
If the Extermination Squads of the Dokgo Noble Family and the Murim Alliance really scorch this place to the ground like the guy said…
‘Wouldn’t I be causing trouble for the people around me again?’
…It was very foolish, but Jeokyeom ended up thinking that way.
And that thought was projected into his actions…
Seureureu-.
Jeokyeom’s axe slowly went down.
It was the moment Jeokyeom resigned himself, and Dokgoyeong’s expression brightened a little upon catching this.
“Hey, you retarded bastard!”
“…!”
At the voice he suddenly heard, Jeokyeom turned his head and saw…
“…Leader?”
The man whom Jeokyeom now naturally called Leader was standing there.
Looking as if he had hurried, he shouted at Jeokyeom with a frustrated expression.
“What kind of Bandit bastard has so many thoughts and worries in his head! Just-!”
Just?
“Don’t think about the aftermath and do whatever the Hell you want - ! You idiotic bastard!”
“…!”
Do whatever you want.
It was just a single phrase, but with that, Jeokyeom felt as if his eyes had been snapped open. He felt as if a layer of chains covering his body had been peeled off.
At this, Jeokyeom remained blank for a moment and then…
Seu-euk-.
“Leader! Then I will kill this son of a bitch!!”
…he smiled brightly and raised his axe.
“W-Wait…”
At this, Dokgoyeong made a pale expression again and tried to step back, but…
“Ang!”
…he couldn’t because of Dongryong, who was biting and hanging onto his ankle like a hunting dog.
“Keu-ak-! This dog-like bastard-! Aaaaaak-!”
The shadow of the axe was cast again over Dokgoyeong, who was writhing in pain.
And the moment it came down…
“Ugh-!”
Dokgoyeong once again displayed superhuman senses and dodged, but…
Peoseok-!
“Euaaaaaaak-!”
…he couldn’t stop his right arm from being chopped off just like that.
Dokgoyeong’s scream, which seemed to reach the sky, echoed through the mountains.