Found It.

The Red Flame Unit’s men mounted their horses and galloped off as soon as they disembarked from the boats.

And when they saw the Putuo Sect’s disciples in the distance, they let out exclamations.

“Wow. They might be nuns, but learning martial arts really makes a difference.”

They were different from the nuns they had seen until now.

Their movements were swift and their bodies well-trained.

“Hey, don’t kill them.”

“I know that.”

Up to that point, their faces were full of confidence.

But there was something they had not considered.

Their horses could not run properly on the sand.

The Putuo Sect’s disciples, however, were all used to sand.

Their figures swept in over the Red Flame Unit’s men.

“Show no mercy in your strikes!”

“You bitches!”

Swords flashed on all sides.

The Putuo Sect’s swordsmanship had grown by cutting down pirates.

Because of that, their swords were not like the blades of orthodox Buddhists.

They were ferocious and sharp.

They resembled the pirates’ own brutality.

Blood sprayed on all sides, most of it belonging to the Red Flame Unit.

However, the Putuo Sect could not relax either.

More boats were arriving.

They had to whittle down the enemy’s numbers before they all made landfall.

The faces of the Red Flame Unit men who took the Putuo Sect disciples’ swords twisted.

“The skill of these bitches is…”

One of the Red Flame Unit men was driven back under the assault of a middle-aged sword disciple.

“What are you idiots doing?”

A massive saber flashed.

“Kreuk!”

The sword disciple’s arm was cut off and her sword fell to the ground.

A horse’s forehoof came down and crushed the severed arm.

“Did you come here to pick up pretty girls? Why are you trying to fight them properly? Take off their arms and legs.”

“But the middle-aged ones are strong…”

At one subordinate’s words, Wild Gale Blade clicked his tongue.

Then he pulled on his horse’s reins.

Wild Gale Blade bounded over the sand.

He charged straight at the sword disciple and swung his saber.

As befitted the nickname Wild Gale, his saber advanced without hesitation.

Two sword disciples moved in to meet him, but it was useless.

“Kkayak!”

“Euk!”

The sword disciples were driven backward.

One disciple hurriedly adjusted her stance to counterattack, but the horse reared and lifted its forelegs.

Sand splashed into her face and confusion flashed in her eyes.

At that moment.

The saber sliced off her arm.

“Sago!”

Wild Gale Blade did not stop there and kicked the disciple whose arm had been severed.

“These women only have strong martial arts. They have no real combat experience. And…”

A horse lifted its head toward the sword of a charging disciple.

The sword wavered.

The flat of the saber smacked the sword disciple’s cheek.

“You call yourselves Buddhists so you will not kill the horses?”

As he spoke, Wild Gale Blade’s lips curled up. The eyes of the Red Flame Unit men who saw him shone.

If you wanted to kill a commander, you had to shoot his horse first.

It was a simple principle.

Leaving the horse alone and aiming for the commander on top was much harder.

The sword disciple whose cheek had been struck glared at Wild Gale Blade.

But Wild Gale Blade enjoyed that look.

And Wild Gale Blade’s words spread quickly. They were not righteous orthodox martial artists.

They did not hesitate to exploit their enemy’s weaknesses.

The Red Flame Unit men began to push forward with their horses first.

On top of that, the horses were gradually getting used to the sand.

“Hyat!”

After that, the tide of battle changed.

The Red Flame Unit men crossed the field in all directions. Just as the horses had not been used to sand at first, the Putuo Sect disciples were not used to mounted combat.

Not to mention, even among them, those with real battle experience were few.

Blood and screams poured out.

Unlike before, this time they came from the Putuo Sect’s disciples.

Wild Gale Blade surveyed the battlefield with a satisfied expression, then his eyes gleamed.

There was one figure that stood out on the battlefield.

A beautiful face, and in contrast to it, violent hands.

It was Yeon-gyeong.

Even though she had just killed one of his subordinates, a smile played on Wild Gale Blade’s lips.

Seeing two of his men approaching her, Wild Gale Blade pulled his reins.

“Out of the way. That bitch is my prey!”

Wild Gale Blade galloped swiftly across the sand.

At the sight, Yeon-gyeong’s fine brows knit.

But the Red Flame Unit men immediately stepped back.

Just as Wild Gale Blade was about to reach Yeon-gyeong.

“Are you the leader of these fiends?”

“…!”

A flash shot across his vision.

Blood splashed in midair.

However, the only thing that fell was the horse Wild Gale Blade was riding.

Teokseok.

The horse collapsed without even managing a scream.

“Unit Leader!”

Wild Gale Blade stopped the subordinates who tried to rush over in a panic.

It was a different reaction from when his other comrades had been injured.

Having dropped to the ground, Wild Gale Blade slowly straightened up.

He had avoided the attack by abandoning his horse.

And in front of him now stood an old nun.

“Master!”

“Leave this place to me.”

“Yes.”

At the nun’s words, Yeon-gyeong withdrew.

Wild Gale Blade only smacked his lips as he watched her go.

His instincts were whispering to him.

If he moved carelessly, he would end up like the horse.

An overwhelming presence.

There was no way he could afford to take his eyes off someone like this.

“…So you are the Sword Queen.”

The Sword Queen did not reply.

But there was no one else on this island who possessed such a field of energy.

Wild Gale Blade licked his lips.

And the Sword Queen watched him with indifferent eyes.

Seeing those eyes, Wild Gale Blade’s lips curled upward.

“You are no monk. You are a butcher.”

The Sword Queen’s eyes were not the eyes of one who walked the Buddhist path.

They were the eyes of a swordswoman whose trade was killing.

Wild Gale Blade found it hard to believe that someone on a secluded island could possess eyes like that.

‘So the Sword Queen’s reputation was not a lie.’

He did not know if she was from the last generation or the one before that.

But she had more than enough skill to inherit that title.

Feeling a tension he had not felt in a long time, Wild Gale Blade licked his lips.

But Wild Gale Blade was not one to avoid a fight.

His saber shot toward the Sword Queen.

The saber tore through the air.

The Sword Queen’s sword came out a beat later.

But when Wild Gale Blade saw the sword aiming for his neck, he stepped back.

‘Fast.’

It was fast enough that even Wild Gale Blade almost lost track of it.

Biting his lip, Wild Gale Blade swung his saber in a horizontal arc.

But the Sword Queen did not block the saber.

Instead, her sword aimed for Wild Gale Blade’s shoulder.

A lightning-fast sword.

The Sword Queen’s sword resembled the sword arts of the Diancang Sect.

Sword demons who would hurl their own bodies forward if that was what it took to pierce their foe.

Yet Wild Gale Blade did not evade either.

‘Fine, let us see who wins.’

At that moment the Sword Queen’s sword changed.

Was she retreating?

That was only his misconception.

Great Compassion Thousand-Hands Sword.

White Hands Caress the World.

His saber was knocked aside and blood sprayed from his shoulder.

Wild Gale Blade’s eyes widened as he staggered back.

‘It was not a mere speed sword technique.’

No, it was fast enough to be called a speed sword.

For a moment, her hand seemed to split into many.

It was an illusory sword that pursued pure speed.

Watching Wild Gale Blade retreat, the Sword Queen half-opened her eyes.

“Originally, the Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara saves the world with a thousand hands.”

She held the sword out in one hand and formed a mudra with the other, joining her palms.

“Yet in that world there is no need for fiends such as you.”

She slowly raised her sword in a circle.

It created the illusion of the sword splitting into many.

The Thousand-Hands-and-Thousand-Eyes Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.

One of the Seven Avalokiteshvaras.

At that sight Wild Gale Blade let out a low groan.

With this he could be certain.

The Sword Queen before his eyes had surpassed the wall of humans.

She was a Peak-level martial artist.

He could feel her overwhelming presence.

Then.

“So that is why you told us to follow along.”

“To think such a master would be in a backwater like this instead of one of the Nine Great Sects.”

Two old men suddenly appeared.

One was long and thin like a bamboo stalk, while the other was short like a dwarf but thick-bodied.

They were a bizarre-looking pair.

Unlike the Sword Queen, Wild Gale Blade recognized who they were.

“The Tall-and-Short Twin Guests.”

Seven-Foot Freak and Short-Trunk Man.

They were former-generation masters whose names were widely known.

“What brings you two here?”

“Why else?”

“Some overbearing parents asked us to look after the kids.”

At the insult of being treated like a child, Wild Gale Blade furrowed his brow, but he did not bother to argue.

Instead, he let out a short laugh.

“So the rumor that the Alliance is secretly keeping dogs was true. No, that is wrong. They did not raise you, they just put you on leashes.”

This time it was the Tall-and-Short Twin Guests whose faces twisted.

Masters who had disappeared from the Kangho.

There had once been rumors that some of them had submitted to the Evil Heaven Alliance and retired.

But it had been dismissed as nonsense.

Because quite a few of those rumors involved famous figures.

Yet the truth of those rumors stood right before his eyes.

Seven-Foot Freak let his arm hang down.

A long scythe-shaped weapon.

A chain-sickle blade.

It was not a weapon commonly seen in the martial world.

At that, Wild Gale Blade shook his head.

“If you are here to help, you should do your job. Unless you came to tussle with me instead.”

At Wild Gale Blade’s retort, Seven-Foot Freak’s grip tightened, but Short-Trunk Man opened his mouth.

“Brother.”

“…”

Seven-Foot Freak shot Short-Trunk Man a glance, then drew back his chain-sickle.

“Fine. Things are roughly under control, so let us do this. As you can see, she is no ordinary woman.”

The Tall-and-Short Twin Guests looked back at the Sword Queen.

They had no qualms about three of them taking on one person.

They had intended to use joint attacks from the start. The two of them were masters of combined assault to begin with.

Wild Gale Blade was also far removed from any notion of fair and square.

Short-Trunk Man also took two axes from his waist.

The axes were as short as his body.

The Sword Queen still watched the three of them without emotion.

Wild Gale Blade hurled himself toward the Sword Queen.

That was the signal for the Tall-and-Short Twin Guests to level their weapons as well.

---

Chwareureuk.

The chain-sickle attached to the iron chain flew toward the Sword Queen.

Tang!

The moment it was knocked aside, Short-Trunk Man swung his axe.

Right after that, Wild Gale Blade’s blade came crashing in.

The Tall-and-Short Twin Guests inwardly marveled to see Wild Gale Blade matching the rhythm of their combined attacks.

Joint attacks were not better just because more people joined in.

For experts, in particular, harmony was crucial.

If their timing was off, they would only get in each other’s way.

Yet Wild Gale Blade was keeping pace with attacks they had been honing together for a lifetime.

He too was used to combined attacks. Not all unorthodox sect martial artists were used to that.

In fact, there were more one-track martial artists.

Because they lived as they pleased, they were called unorthodox.

There was no way such people could match their rhythm with others.

Wild Gale Blade’s identity as a bandit chief was stronger than his identity as a martial artist.

‘So the branch chief did not call him for nothing.’

Besides his ability to lead a bandit troop, he was useful in many ways.

But they had no leisure to stand around admiring him.

Pat!

A sword sliced across in front of their faces.

If they had been a little slower, their necks would have been pierced.

‘So this is the Sword Queen.’

They too had heard the rumors about the Sword Queen, but he had not imagined it would be to this extent.

She was not pushed back even against their three-way joint assault.

If anything, she held the advantage.

As time passed she did not tire, she only grew faster.

As if her body had only just warmed up.

‘A monster of a woman.’

Considering her age, she was no different from martial artists of his own generation.

It was the previous Sword Queen who was known in the martial world.

He found it hard to believe a master like this had been holed up nameless on an island.

The breathing of Short-Trunk Man, the older of the Tall-and-Short Twin Guests, began to grow rough.

---

Wild Gale Blade’s arms and legs were growing unsteady as well.

On top of that, his wounds were opening little by little every time he moved.

Yet he did not give up.

He kept waiting for an opening. Because of that, he could read the impatience flickering in the Sword Queen’s eyes.

Why?

It was the Sword Queen who was winning.

The twisted faces of the Tall-and-Short Twin Guests were proof of that.

Moreover, the momentum of her sword was only growing stronger.

There was no reason for the Sword Queen to be uneasy.

Wild Gale Blade realized that the Sword Queen was not looking at them.

‘…She is taking her eyes off us while fighting us?’

He did not think that in a literal sense.

The senses of a master who had surpassed the peak were different from those of ordinary people.

Yet the three of them were not opponents who could simply be ignored.

Just then, a scream reached his ears.

Wild Gale Blade realized what the Sword Queen was concerned about.

‘Found it.’