Chapter 148. Embers (3)

Perhaps it was because of my expression, or perhaps it was because of the bandits around me. The Nine Dragons Fortress Leader’s face crumpled quite spectacularly.

After seeming to contemplate for a moment, the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader sighed and opened his mouth.

“Third Leader. Why did you have to collude with outsiders.”

“Wh, what do you mean, Fortress Leader. I, I colluded with outsiders?”

Hwangbo Ak rambled on as if he were shocked.

To provoke him, I also chimed in.

“Hwangbo Ak! Speak honestly! Why did you betray the Fortress Leader and the brothers!!”

“I have never betrayed them!!”

Hwangbo Ak shouted as if he were being wrongly accused. In response, I also shouted like a moron.

“What! Then are you saying the Fortress Leader is lying!!”

“Th, that’s…….”

Hwangbo Ak was definitely a moron.

Even in this situation, he couldn’t bring himself to say that the Fortress Leader was lying.

Instead, as if he had found a compromise on his own, he quickly shouted.

“Fortress Leader! You are being deceived by Mrs. Jo!! Th, that vile woman is framing me!”

At Hwangbo Ak’s shout, the surrounding bandits looked back and forth between the leader and Hwangbo Ak.

By now, most of the people here had noticed.

How this situation was unfolding.

Before the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader could reply, I shouted first.

“You bastard Hwangbo Ak!! It was obviously the Fortress Leader’s decision!! How dare you treat the Fortress Leader like a moron who is manipulated by a woman’s words!!”

Once again, the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader’s expression crumpled.

Regardless, I shouted at the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader.

“I will cut down that bastard who dared to insult the Fortress Leader right now!!”

Before the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader could reply, I unfolded my movement arts and charged at Hwangbo Ak.

Hwangbo Ak swung his iron fist at me with a face full of anger.

Sparks flew as our weapons clashed.

Slice!

Occasionally, additional wounds would appear on his body.

Each time, he would shout.

Not at me, but at the Fortress Leader.

“Fortress Leader!! I am innocent!!”

“I have never once tried to betray you, Fortress Leader!!”

I didn’t know whether to curse him as an idiot or praise him for his loyalty.

To be calling out for the Fortress Leader even in this situation.

Frustrated, I swung the Master’s Blade at him and sent a Sound Transmission.

Slice!

– Don’t you get it yet? The Fortress Leader has abandoned you.

The gaze of the guy, who had been looking only at the Fortress Leader regardless of his accumulating wounds, finally turned towards me.

– Are you just going to die like this? If you run away, won’t I have to at least pretend to miss you?

Soon, confusion filled his expression.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding, I added another word.

– No one will believe you even if you start spouting nonsense about me sending a Sound Transmission. Look around you.

Only then did he look around.

Bandits filled the area in all directions. The ones he had always claimed were his brothers.

Not a single one of them was defending Hwangbo Ak.

“Ah…….”

With a gasp, dejection filled his face.

But that was for a fleeting moment.

His face instantly flushed red.

Dejection disappeared, and rage filled its place.

As expected.

This guy was destined to be betrayed by the Fortress Leader in his original future.

And even then, this guy had succeeded in escaping the Nine Dragons Fortress alone.

It meant he wasn’t the kind of guy who would die in despair.

With his eyes bloodshot, Hwangbo Ak let out a furious roar.

“What have I done for the fortress!! How can there not be a single person who sides with me!!!”

At this, the surrounding bandits looked away, watching their reactions.

“Eeeek!!”

The enraged Hwangbo Ak gritted his teeth.

As if he had come to his senses, I charged at him again and swung the Master’s Blade.

Hwangbo Ak quickly met it with his iron fist.

Clang!!

As if pushed back by a repulsive force, he was sent flying backward.

The bandits over there made startled expressions.

Some of them, blinded by the prospect of merit, even tried to attack Hwangbo Ak.

“How dare you attack me!!!”

Hwangbo Ak shouted and brandished his iron fists wildly.

The bodies of the bandits struck by his iron fists exploded.

I shouted and chased after Hwangbo Ak.

“Where are you going!!”

Occasionally, as if by mistake, cutting down the bandits who blocked the way was a bonus.

Slice!

“Aack!”

“Why, why us too!?”

After shouting and getting entangled with Hwangbo Ak again for a while.

Suddenly, a greatsword flew from behind Hwangbo Ak.

Just before that greatsword cut off Hwangbo Ak’s neck, I unfolded the Moonlight Coiling Sword and managed to deflect it.

While I was blocking that greatsword, Hwangbo Ak seemed to take it as an opportunity and quickly flew backward.

The Vice-Fortress Leader, Yeom Hwaek, who had swung the greatsword at Hwangbo Ak, shouted at me.

“What is the meaning of this!!”

I also shouted confidently.

“The traitor Hwangbo Ak is my prize!! Even if you are the Vice-Fortress Leader, I cannot yield on this matter!!”

I was going to continue my act as a moron whose eyes had gone crazy for merit.

A strange three-way battle began.

Although there was the common target of Hwangbo Ak, my weapon and the Vice-Fortress Leader’s weapon clashed more often.

Clang!

Still, as befitting a Vice-Fortress Leader, he was a formidable expert.

The Vice-Fortress Leader, Yeom Hwaek, had mastered a powerful blade art that suited his greatsword.

In terms of pure power, it felt even stronger than Hyeok Ilso’s Heavenly Wind Sword Art.

But the flow of his forms was quite simple, so it wasn’t difficult to deflect with the Moonlight Coiling Sword.

Clang!

After blocking a few more times like that, the Vice-Fortress Leader’s face turned bright red.

“You bastard!!”

Of course, Hwangbo Ak’s face was also bright red.

“Foster uncle! No, Vice-Fortress Leader!! How can even you try to kill me!!!”

He was trembling with a sense of betrayal.

As the second and third in command of the fortress, and an outsider like me, got entangled, the surrounding bandits retreated far away to avoid getting involved.

At that moment, the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader, who was watching the fight from behind, shouted.

“Vice-Fortress Leader!! Step back!!”

“But, Fortress Leader!!”

The Vice-Fortress Leader took a step back and looked at the Fortress Leader.

Their eyes met.

The Vice-Fortress Leader’s gaze flickered towards me.

It was obvious. What kind of story they would exchange through Sound Transmission.

He would be promising to give me a chance to kill him later.

Since I had caused a ruckus and gotten on the Fortress Leader’s nerves several times today, it was obvious that he was planning to kill me soon.

While the two pieces of trash were exchanging Sound Transmissions, the incredibly oblivious Hwangbo Ak shouted again.

“Fortress Leader!! Are you truly abandoning this Hwangbo Ak!! All because of that damn woman!!”

No. Maybe he was rather quick-witted.

At his shout, the bandits’ expressions changed in various ways.

Some sneered at the abandoned Hwangbo Ak, while others were anxious about being abandoned themselves someday.

In the midst of all this, there was not a single person who pitied Hwangbo Ak. It was an attitude befitting of trash.

Realizing that the atmosphere among the bandits was not good, the Fortress Leader frowned and shouted.

“Silence, you traitor!! What are you doing, Jin Yuseong! Kill that bastard right now!”

“Vice-Fortress Leader! Don’t interfere anymore!”

As I shouted that and rushed at Hwangbo Ak, the Vice-Fortress Leader snorted.

“Hmph. Fine. Go ahead and punish the traitor at your leisure.”

It seemed he had more or less finished his conversation with the Fortress Leader.

“Uahahaha! You are truly magnanimous, Vice-Fortress Leader! Just trust me and wait!”

I shouted like a moron and swung the Master’s Blade at Hwangbo Ak.

Clang!

Hwangbo Ak acted as if he were barely withstanding my assault and was continuously pushed back.

Each time, scratches accumulated on his body.

Slice!

Whenever he and I moved, the bandits in the vicinity would invariably flee to avoid getting involved.

After exchanging a few more blows like that, we had moved quite far from where we had first started fighting.

Naturally, the distance from the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader had also widened to some extent.

I stealthily turned my head and looked around.

My companions had also cleverly moved to the outskirts.

After confirming, I once again swung the Master’s Blade at Hwangbo Ak and sent a Sound Transmission.

– There is only one layer of the encirclement behind you. Flee in that direction.

Hwangbo Ak nodded very slightly.

And he let his body fly back, propelled by the force of my swinging Master’s Blade.

With a movement that did not suit his huge build, Hwangbo Ak rotated once in the air and then ran towards the encirclement.

“Stop right there!!”

I also pretended to chase him.

Hwangbo Ak ran towards the bandits without looking back.

“H, heeik!?”

The startled bandits in that direction tried to flee in a hurry, but Hwangbo Ak’s speed was much faster.

The bodies of the bandits exploded under Hwangbo Ak’s iron fist.

Crack!

Only then did I succeed in catching up to him and swung the Master’s Blade.

Not at Hwangbo Ak, but at the surrounding bandits.

Slice!

Cutting sounds repeatedly burst out in the air, and blood splattered.

As I took action, my companions, who had retreated to the rear, also launched a surprise attack on the surrounding bandits.

In an instant, a huge escape route opened up.

“Wh, what is this?”

As if they had not expected this, the foolish bandits were all staring at us with dazed expressions.

I wanted to kill them all, but since an opportunity would come soon anyway.

By now, Hwangbo Ak was fleeing at full speed, and I was also moving my feet diligently, pretending to chase him.

“What are you all doing!! Chase them!!”

The powerful roar of the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader, who had belatedly come to his senses, could be heard from far away.

I turned my head and shouted at the bandits.

“Don’t you get it yet, you morons!! The Fortress Leader framed and abandoned Hwangbo Ak!! You are next! If you stay here, you will be abandoned and killed by the Fortress Leader someday!!”

As soon as my shout ended, the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader’s roar burst out again.

“How dare this dog-like bastard deceive me!!”

The guy was quickly unfolding his movement arts while holding his twin axes.

But the distance was not closing.

“Get out of the way right now!! ”

Because of the bandits gathered all around, he would often have to stop while running with his movement arts.

“Damn it!!”

The guy shouted and then used Controlling Qi to Soar, rising into the air.

Soon, he brandished his huge twin axes repeatedly in the air, and a massive amount of energy shot through the air.

It was an amazing amount of internal energy and martial arts.

Although there was a distance of at least several dozen zhang, it was enough to fly across that gap.

But no one was foolish enough to be hit by an attack that came from such a distance. At least not among my companions.

Some dodged by stepping with their footwork, and Nam Geon protected his companions with his body.

“Ge, get behind me!!”

The body of the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader, who was performing a wild dance in the air and firing off axe Qi, plummeted back to the ground.

“Chase those bastards right now!!”

“What are you doing, get out of the way!”

With the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader’s shouts from behind as encouragement, we moved our legs like crazy. Chasing after Hwangbo Ak.

A guy who roamed the entire Nine Dragons Mountain as if it were his own backyard. A guy who even picked up a spiritual herb.

A guy like that would surely know a way to shake off pursuit and escape.

Because he had done so in his original future.

***

“Hah. Hah.”

My companions were all panting heavily.

Even though they had lived a life steeped in training every day, they all looked exhausted.

But there was no major problem.

Thanks to running to their limits, they were able to shake off the pursuit.

And Hwangbo Ak, who had guided us to a safe place, was currently.

“Damn it…….”

He was muttering curses to himself with a complicated expression.

“Because of that damn woman, Jo Ryeong…….”

I approached the guy who was spouting such foolishness.

“Is that thing on your head just for headbutting?”

Hwangbo Ak, who was muttering curses with his head bowed, lifted his head.

His eyes, a mixture of anger and disappointment, glistened fiercely.

Of course, I didn’t care about his glare.

“It’s not because of Jo Ryeong. The Nine Dragons Fortress Leader never trusted you in the first place.”

“Now I see it’s because of you!! You drove a wedge between me and my foster father…….”

I was sick of listening to his nonsense, so I just slapped him across the face.

Thwack!

“You stupid bastard. You’ve been through that and still haven’t come to your senses. Was there a single one among your so-called foster father, foster uncle, and sworn brothers who took your side?”

The guy, who was about to stand up due to his foul temper, froze.

“Mountain brothers? Magnanimous spirit? Cut the crap. You guys are just bandits. Dirty thieves who just rob and kill innocent passersby. That’s all.”

Hwangbo Ak’s mouth twitched.

If he still defended the bandits here, I was prepared to cut his throat without hesitation.

But fortunately or unfortunately, he just sighed.

“Hah. Damn it…….”

After ruffling his shaggy hair for a while as if to vent his anger, Hwangbo Ak asked in a slightly calmer tone.

“But, why did you help me? No, before that, why did you suddenly come to kill me? No. You came to kill me but then saved me. No, what is this…….”

Perhaps because he was a moron, he couldn’t seem to organize his thoughts.

So I explained the situation briefly.

“This afternoon, the Fortress Leader called me separately. The Jo Ryeong you’re so eager to kill was there too.”

I told him the story of my conversation with the Fortress Leader and Jo Ryeong, and then added.

“I figured it out as soon as I heard it. Killing the hound after the hunt.”

“What’s killing the hound after the hunt?”

“…….”

I suddenly felt a headache coming on. As I remained silent for a moment, Senior Sister Baek Hyang stepped forward and explained what ‘killing the hound after the hunt’ meant.

Hwangbo Ak, who heard Senior Sister Baek Hyang’s explanation, thrashed about like a madman.

“How can he so easily discard a loyal subject who has devoted his entire life!! What a piece of trash!!”

I couldn’t tell if he was excited because it sounded like his own story, or if he was excited without even realizing it was his own story.

I couldn’t fathom the thoughts of that moron.

A thought just occurred to me.

What if this moron had been picked up not by someone like the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader, but by someone like Brother Sama?

It was truly lamentable that he had been picked up by trash and had become the same kind of trash by blindly following trash.

“Hah. Anyway, the Fortress Leader discarded you. The reason is obvious. Your growth must have been grating on his nerves. He must have thought that if he kept you around, you would one day devour him.”

“No! I never dreamed of doing such a thing!”

“I’m not talking about you. I’m saying that the Fortress Leader’s capacity is only that much. Then again, it’s not like a man with great capacity would be a bandit.”

“…….”

Hwangbo Ak remained silent for a moment before asking me again.

“Th, then why didn’t you just come to me secretly and tell me that story? Why did you go through all that trouble to save me?”

A snort escaped me.

“Would you have believed me if I had told you? You’re still spouting nonsense about it being Jo Ryeong’s fault even after being so blatantly betrayed?”

“Ah…….”

The guy, who let out a faint exclamation of admiration, suddenly assumed a serious expression and clasped his hands in a fist salute towards us.

“You risked your lives to save this Hwangbo! I am truly moved, Brother Jin! I will repay this debt even if it costs me my life!”

It wasn’t really to save this guy.

It just seemed that doing it this way was better for turning the Nine Dragons Fortress into a mess.

Of course, I had no intention of ending it at this.

“Then start repaying that debt now.”

“How shall I repay it?”

“You must get revenge on the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader, shouldn’t you?”

“Ah…….”

Hesitation filled his eyes.

The future course of events seemed to depend on his decision.

Whether to spare him or kill him.

How to finish off the Nine Dragons Fortress.

Of course, only the method would change. Even if this guy refused, I intended to deal with the Nine Dragons Fortress.

Because I had already fanned the embers enough.

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