Chapter 83. The Beggar (5)

Although So Honggae was enraged upon realizing Choi Cheol’s atrocities, he did not lose his reason.

“Subdue all of them alive!!”

It was not just because ‘as a member of the Righteous Path, one must not kill people.’

“We must find out where that man got the sinister cursed object and exactly who is involved before we can pass judgment!”

At his shout, the members of the Beggar’s Gang actively engaged in battle.

If before they were just reluctantly fighting, swept up by Jin Yuseong, the situation had now changed.

Meanwhile.

Ignoring the Choi Manor martial artist thrusting a spear into his side from behind, Nam Geon scratched his head with a troubled look.

Clang!

“W-What?”

The Jin Yuseong he knew was a man who would kill any villain on sight.

But even to Nam Geon, So Honggae’s words sounded plausible.

“W-What should I do? Sh-Should I keep them alive?”

Baek Hyang, who was by Nam Geon’s side, eased his worries.

“Senior Brother is probably also thinking about interrogation, big brother. So it would be better to subdue them alive.”

“Right! B-Bro sometimes interrogates bad guys, d-doesn’t kill them. F-For now, keep them alive.”

Having organized his thoughts, Nam Geon began to move in earnest.

A Choi Manor martial artist had been sticking to his side like a mosquito, swinging his spear.

“It tickles.”

Not teasing, but saying it sincerely, Nam Geon grabbed the spear shaft swung by the martial artist with his bare hands.

Unable to withstand Nam Geon’s grip, the spear shaft broke.

Crack.

“……”

A shadow fell over the martial artist who was staring at the broken spear with a look of despair.

The martial artist, who had come to his senses late, raised his eyes.

Something like a pot lid was approaching his face.

Nam Geon’s fist.

Thump!

No, it was a flick.

If he had struck with all his might, the martial artist’s head would have exploded, so this could be considered a form of strength control.

Right after the martial artist fainted with a huge lump on his head, Nam Geon took a step to find his next prey.

The beggars of the Beggar’s Gang, the martial artists of Choi Manor, the commoners who had come to watch and were now fleeing in surprise.

Even in the narrow confines of Choi Manor, where many people were entangled, Nam Geon’s exceptionally large build could not help but stand out.

And next to Nam Geon was a presence that made his build stand out even more.

It was Baek Hyang.

Although her body had grown somewhat after spending eight months on Mount Heng, she was still no match for a robust adult man.

Her petite frame naturally caught the eye, especially in the sense that she looked easy to handle.

A few of the Choi Manor martial artists approached her, targeting her seemingly delicate form.

“Haat!”

A spear blade flew from the side with a shout.

Baek Hyang, who had already turned her head, stared at the spear blade with an indifferent expression.

For some reason.

Even though it was her first real battle, the movement of the spear felt endlessly slow to her eyes.

It was not that she had a special eye like Jin Yuseong.

Although it was her first real battle, it was because of what she had seen so far.

The many life-and-death struggles she had witnessed while with Jin Yuseong and Nam Geon.

Compared to the fighting styles she had seen then, the spear technique of that Choi Manor martial artist felt like child’s play.

Sluggish movements, a style that clearly revealed where he was aiming, a wavering spear tip.

Baek Hyang calmly took a step in accordance with the principles of the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps.

Whoosh!!

The spear blade grazed past her head.

Fwoosh.

Taking another step, she had already closed in on the Choi Manor martial artist.

Thwack!

Her scabbard, propelled by the momentum of her two steps, struck the solar plexus of the Choi Manor martial artist.

“Gack……”

While the martial artist collapsed, clutching his solar plexus, she had already taken a step to the side.

Whoosh!

A spear blade flying from behind passed through the spot where she had been standing.

As Baek Hyang rotated with a fluid motion, she saw the surprised faces of the Choi Manor martial artists.

At that moment, two Choi Manor martial artists thrust their spears at her simultaneously from the left and right.

What she had to do naturally came to her mind.

As soon as the thought occurred, her body moved.

She drew up the small amount of internal energy she had accumulated on Mount Heng.

She took a step towards the spearman on the right and swung her sword.

Her scabbard and the spear flying from the right collided.

Screee!

Instead of a sharp metallic clang, a chilling sound of scraping metal erupted.

The trajectory of the spear flying from the right was strangely distorted.

Soon, it overlapped with the trajectory of the spear flying from the left, and they collided with each other.

Clang!

In that interval, Baek Hyang, who had taken another step, sent her scabbard flying towards the spearman’s neck.

Thwack!

Even though it was her first real battle, she moved freely.

Perhaps because of her small frame, she looked like a single butterfly.

While the large and small pair, a man and a woman, were active all over the place.

Dang Sopyeong was also swinging his sword here and there, exchanging blows with the Choi Manor martial artists.

‘Damn it.’

He had recently started training in poison arts in earnest. He had even brought poison with him in preparation for battle.

But there were too many people.

It did not mean he was short on poison.

The problem was that it was a chaotic battle.

‘I can’t let my allies get caught in the crossfire.’

He thought he could understand why Jin Yuseong had started building resistance to poison in advance.

If poison were to be spread on the battlefield in such a chaotic situation, it would be sheer pandemonium.

‘I need to find a way to use poison even in a chaotic battle.’

As he was thinking this, a spear blade flew in from the side.

Clang!

Dang Sopyeong, who had barely blocked the spear, winced.

‘I’ll worry about it later.’

For now, ending this fight was the priority.

***

Choi Cheol, his eyes bloodshot as if they would burst, thrust his spear at me.

“I’ll kill you!!!”

A sinister black energy was surging violently from his spear.

Also, on his neck and arms, and other parts of his body not covered by clothing, veins were bulging as if they would burst.

The spear flew in at a speed incomparable to before.

CLANG!!

Right after I barely managed to block it by coating the Restoring Name Sword with sword ki, my brow furrowed on its own.

Unable to withstand the force of the spear, the Restoring Name Sword screamed.

My muscles ached from Choi Cheol’s monstrous strength transmitted through the sword.

In terms of strength alone, he seemed to surpass Nam Geon.

It meant that clashing with him head-on was no different from suicide.

Even blocking was dangerous, as the sword could break while defending against that spear.

Instead of rashly swinging my sword at him, I focused on evasion first.

But evasion was not entirely easy either.

After his momentum suddenly changed, the speed at which he swung his spear also became much faster. He was a cut above even the First Killing of Sichuan, Jang Ik.

Swish.

My clothes were pierced by the spear, and the spear that I narrowly dodged grazed my skin.

Was it because of that eerie feeling?

My second eye opened wide.

Thanks to that, I could see the energy flowing through his body.

It was utterly bizarre.

An immense amount of internal energy was writhing, centered on his dantian.

If other people’s internal energy looked like skeins of thread, Choi Cheol’s looked like black tentacles rampaging about.

While watching that scene and dodging the spear with minimal movement, a thought occurred to me.

Fwoosh!

I boldly threw myself to the right, towards one of the Choi Manor martial artists who had surrounded me.

Choi Cheol’s expression, as he was swinging his spear at me, crumpled.

The spear, which had been flying at an incredible speed, hastily changed its trajectory.

But it could not completely change its trajectory.

CRACK!!

“Kuaaaargh!”

The Choi Manor martial artist, whose arm was not just pierced but severed by Choi Cheol’s spear, screamed.

“Damn it!!”

Choi Cheol, veins popping on his face as if it would explode, thrust his spear at me again.

Each time, I threw myself towards a nearby Choi Manor martial artist.

Watching Choi Cheol hastily retract his spear to avoid stabbing his allies while chasing me, a laugh escaped me.

“Hehehehe.”

It was hard to suppress my laughter because of the black tentacles rampaging inside him.

It looked as if it was not him controlling the internal energy, but the black tentacles swinging him around, like a puppet.

Choi Cheol let out a furious roar.

“This Lord will deal with this one! You all take care of the rest of the small fry!!”

A thin stream of blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Because I could see the tentacles rampaging inside him, I could roughly grasp the situation.

It seemed he had accumulated internal injuries in the process of recklessly changing his trajectory to protect his allies.

As the Choi Manor martial artists retreated one by one at Choi Cheol’s shout, Choi Cheol looked at me with a confident face.

“You slippery eel. Try running away again.”

A snort escaped me on its own.

“With that kind of pathetic spear technique?”

It was not a taunt, but the truth.

After his momentum changed, Choi Cheol’s strength and speed had both increased overwhelmingly.

But compared to the terrifying energy writhing in his body, Choi Cheol’s skill in handling the spear was severely lacking.

I could tell even without the trajectories visible to my eye. The tip of his spear was shaking violently.

Not only had he not yet reached Spear Unification, but he was also shaking even more because he could not control the rapidly increased internal energy.

It felt like I was fighting a child who was just strong.

Like Nam Geon before he learned martial arts.

I slapped my own cheek with my left hand.

“My apologies, Nam Geon.”

To compare such trash to Nam Geon.

“H-Huh? Did you call me, bro?”

Ignoring Nam Geon’s reply from behind, I closed in on Choi Cheol.

As expected of a spearman, Choi Cheol retreated as much as I advanced, maintaining the distance, and thrust his spear.

My brow furrowed slightly.

“Troublesome.”

It was not because of the immense energy surging from the spear.

The problem was that I had to subdue him alive.

I had many things to ask this man. After discovering the sinister cursed object this trash was using, a few possibilities had come to mind.

So, I had been suppressing my killing intent as much as possible from the start.

Because of this man, countless people had become beggars and were living on the streets.

Every time the miserable sight of the beggars I saw in the beggar village came to mind, I felt like I would go crazy with the desire to kill this man right away.

I wanted to subdue him as quickly as possible and torture him. I wanted to get the necessary information and then cut off his head.

How could I subdue this damn trash as quickly as possible?

Was it because I had been training for the past few days?

A certain technique naturally came to mind.

– My disciple. Have you ever seen the dark moon in the blue sky?

The second form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword.

I drew up the internal energy from my dantian.

A vast amount of internal energy, exceeding a Gapja, rushed through the meridians of my entire body.

But it did not gather towards the tip of my sword.

It just continued to circulate internally and grow in size, as if I were executing the first form, Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven.

In the first place, the second form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword was a technique linked to the first form, Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven.

– Everyone is bound to witness that scene by chance at least once. But no one realizes that the dark moon has risen until they discover its faint smile.

While circulating my internal energy, I moved around, dodging Choi Cheol’s spear.

Was it because of the experience of using Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven in the life-and-death battle with the First Killing of Sichuan, Jang Ik? Or was it because I had been training diligently since then?

The energy that had been repeatedly circulating internally had now grown to its limit.

I pushed the enormous energy, which was about to go berserk, into both hands at once.

A waterfall of energy poured down my hands and rushed towards the sword.

Soon, a sword ki emitting a brilliant light swirled around the Restoring Name Sword.

I executed Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven and swung my sword to meet Choi Cheol’s spear.

CLANG!!

A harsh metallic sound erupted.

Was it because even with the power of Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven, a direct confrontation was difficult?

The Restoring Name Sword let out a sword cry, and my entire body’s muscles screamed from the rebound force transmitted through the sword.

But it did not matter.

– Remember. Though the night is dark, everyone knows that the moon is in the sky.

In any case, Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven was just a stepping stone.

– If you truly want to hide something, you need not darkness, but light.

While being pushed back a step as if losing the power struggle.

Swish!

Choi Cheol’s fingers, which were gripping the spear shaft, were severed along with a spray of blood.

[ The second form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword: Azure Heaven’s Hidden Smile ]

A technique that deceives the opponent’s eyes with a brilliant sword ki, then secretly sends out a faint, whitish sword ki.

“Kuaaaargh!!”

As if the excruciating pain of his severed fingers had belatedly set in, Choi Cheol let out a pain-filled scream.

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