Duck

“Hwiik, Hwiik, Hwiriririk.”

A clear whistle rang out over the battlefield.

‘Is he trying to use sound arts?’

She had once heard that masters of the sound arts could stir an opponent’s qi and blood with nothing but a whistle.

Naturally, the Sword Queen and the Tall-and-Short Twin Guests turned their gazes behind them.

Wild Gale Blade stood there with his saber in hand.

As their three gazes converged on him, he gave a crooked grin.

Soon Short-Trunk Man’s face twisted.

“You mad bastard. You think this is the time to start whistling a tune?”

Seven-Foot Freak did not speak, but his look was much the same as Short-Trunk Man’s.

At their reaction, Wild Gale Blade opened his mouth.

“I did it because I am having fun.”

With that, he whistled a few more times.

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

But unlike them, the Sword Queen was watching Wild Gale Blade intently.

The battlefield she was seeing was not limited to this place alone.

‘Your head is in a mess, is it not?’

Wild Gale Blade raised his saber.

The thought of what would soon unfold made him grin with delight.

As Wild Gale Blade hurled himself toward the Sword Queen, her train of thought could no longer continue.

Axes, chain-sickle blades, and sabers stabbed in from all directions.

Their attacks flew in all at once.

Each one carried killing intent.

Normally it would be hard enough to handle even one of them.

They clearly held the advantage in numbers, yet it was they who were being pushed back.

‘Damn. It feels like we are the ones being hit with a joint assault here.’

Even as he fought, he found it absurd.

White Hands Caress the World.

It truly felt as if she had many hands.

Yet she was not caressing the world the way the technique name implied.

Every stroke of her sword was filled with killing intent.

A vicious killing sword.

And the cracks began to show quickly.

Chaeng!

The iron chain of the chain-sickle shattered beneath her sword.

Because of that, the chain-sickle that had been flying through the air could not return to its master.

“…!”

Seven-Foot Freak hurriedly swung the other chain-sickle in his opposite hand, but their formation could not help but weaken compared to before.

The reason the Tall-and-Short Twin Guests preferred light weapons was so that the two of them could fight with the effect of four.

Four weapons.

In a way, their aim was similar to that of the Sword Queen’s blade.

Yet the Sword Queen’s sword did not increase in number, it only appeared that way through its swift and dazzling movements.

Naturally, they could not compare to her.

The martial arts the Sword Queen displayed in her hand could only be called divine and peerless.

Because of that, losing even one hand tipped the scales that had barely been kept in balance.

Pak!

“Kuuk!”

As Short-Trunk Man staggered back with a sword stuck in his belly, sparks flew in Seven-Foot Freak’s eyes.

“My brother!”

“Brother!”

Short-Trunk Man hurriedly tried to stop him, but Seven-Foot Freak was already hurling himself at the Sword Queen.

He swung his long arm.

The Sword Queen watched that sight with cold eyes.

Soon her sword moved.

A gentle curve.

He blocked with the chain-sickle, yet the Sword Queen’s blade was slicing through the sickle’s edge.

“…!”

Seven-Foot Freak’s eyes trembled.

But it was too late to dodge.

No, by the time he saw it with his eyes, it was already over.

What entered Seven-Foot Freak’s eyes was nothing but an afterimage.

His wrist floated up into the air.

But the Sword Queen’s sword did not end there.

In the blink of an eye a fresh line of steel was aiming for his neck.

“Brother!”

Short-Trunk Man sprinted forward.

To Short-Trunk Man it felt as if time were flowing slowly.

The Realm of Slow and Fast.

It was a sensation one could feel only in the most extreme situations.

It was also the stage just before reaching the realm of selflessness.

For a martial artist it was a moment akin to a miraculous opportunity.

In that brief instant, Short-Trunk Man felt that his own realm had advanced one step further.

As he ran, he glanced to the side.

Wild Gale Blade had not moved for some time now.

Wild Gale Blade only kept smirking.

The sight made Short-Trunk Man’s anger surge.

He could not understand it.

If they went down, Wild Gale Blade’s turn would be next.

There was no way he could face the Sword Queen alone.

At that moment Wild Gale Blade’s eyes flashed.

As if he had been waiting for it, Wild Gale Blade stepped in.

Only then did a sound reach Short-Trunk Man’s ears.

‘A horse?’

At that moment a small shadow came flying in from the side.

The Sword Queen’s blade, which had been about to swing reflexively, halted.

At the same time Wild Gale Blade’s saber flashed.

It all happened in a single instant.

And the time that had frozen began to move again.

“Kuuk!”

“Mm!”

With short groans, blood spurted up in two directions.

“Brother!”

Short-Trunk Man caught the collapsing Seven-Foot Freak.

Blood was flowing from his neck, yet death could be avoided.

He hurriedly pressed his acupoints and stopped the bleeding.

As he did so, he turned his head.

The only reason Seven-Foot Freak had survived was because at the last moment the Sword Queen had changed the direction of her blade.

The reason was right before his eyes.

“Ho. You blocked in that tiny instant? You are quite something.”

Wild Gale Blade flicked his saber.

Blood spattered onto the ground, and the Sword Queen stared at him with a fearsome gaze.

It was different from before.

In her arms lay a nun.

“I am sorry, Sajeo.”

“…Ji Samae, save your strength.”

The old nun’s eyes slowly closed.

It was already impossible for her to live. Both the nun and the Sword Queen knew that well.

The Sword Queen rose to her feet.

Her flank had been soaked red.

The saber had been swung as if to cut through both of them, and she had not been able to block it completely.

“Tsk. Only once, in the end?”

Clicking his tongue, Wild Gale Blade looked at the nun lying there and gasping for breath.

The wound ran deep into her belly.

“…You truly are a fiend.”

The Sword Queen spoke the words calmly.

Yet Wild Gale Blade could feel that she was angry.

A chill ran down his spine.

It was because a terrible killing intent was coiling around him.

Murderous intent surged in eyes that had been indifferent until now.

But Wild Gale Blade did not care.

If anything, he savored the way it wrapped around his whole body.

Because.

“Since that one is no longer useful, I just need to take out a new meat shield.”

He gave a soft whistle.

But this time it was different from before.

In answer, whistles began to rise from all around.

Dududududu.

Before they knew it, horses were circling around them.

People hung from ropes and were dragged along. A few tried to run to endure it, but it was not enough.

They were the sword disciples of lower rank.

Those who had been fighting noticed the situation and tried to help the sword disciples, but other men from the Red Flame Unit blocked their way.

It was hard to break through them to rescue the tied-up disciples.

Only then did the Sword Queen’s eyes begin to tremble.

At that sight Wild Gale Blade licked his lips.

There were plenty of replacements. That was why Wild Gale Blade could enjoy the Sword Queen’s murderous intent.

“Now, let us try this again.”

Watching Wild Gale Blade laugh as if he were having fun, a deep furrow formed between the Sword Queen’s brows.

---

Short-Trunk Man laid Seven-Foot Freak down and stopped the bleeding in his own belly as well.

Unlike Seven-Foot Freak, he could still fight.

Then he took his place at Wild Gale Blade’s side.

“If you had something like that, you should have told me.”

If he had, Short-Trunk Man would not have overextended himself and Seven-Foot Freak would still be fine.

But Wild Gale Blade looked back at him as if wondering what he was talking about.

“If I had, the Sword Queen would have known too. I had not intended to discard them like that at first.”

Wild Gale Blade smacked his lips as if he truly regretted it.

His expression held genuine feeling.

Yet no matter how much he liked nuns, there was no way he valued them above his own life.

Short-Trunk Man ground his teeth. It infuriated him, but he could not deny it.

“If you want to save your brother over there…”

“I know.”

Short-Trunk Man snapped back.

They had to bring down the Sword Queen. If time passed, even Seven-Foot Freak’s life might be in danger.

Short-Trunk Man tightened his grip on the weapons in both hands.

One was an axe, the other was the chain-sickle that had been knocked away.

With the short axe blades it would be hard to cut down the sword disciples and the Sword Queen together.

There was no need to ask whether he could handle it.

The two of them had matched each other’s rhythm for a long time.

They knew each other’s weapons better than anyone.

On top of that, old monsters of their level would never fail to prepare for a situation like this.

Surviving in this brutal Kangho meant they had come through that many battlefields.

And Short-Trunk Man knew it would not take very long.

The tip of the Sword Queen’s blade, pointed at the two of them, was trembling.

A minute quiver.

It was at a level an ordinary martial artist would hardly notice.

Yet to their eyes it was perfectly clear.

It meant that the Sword Queen’s heart was in turmoil.

Just then a sword disciple came flying by, bound with ropes.

“I will avenge you, Brother.”

Short-Trunk Man let out a savage roar and charged.

From the way he looked, it seemed as if Seven-Foot Freak had already died.

That was how deep the bond between them ran.

‘I heard they were not real brothers.’

For Wild Gale Blade, who had no family, it was a sight he could not understand.

He gave a little shrug and settled into his stance.

Now it was time to counterattack.

---

‘Master.’

Watching the scene from afar, Yeon-gyeong bit down hard on her lip.

But there was nothing she could do.

“This girl may be young, but she’s pretty good.”

“Hey, be careful. Did you not see how the unit leader took a liking to her earlier?”

Three men were blocking Yeon-gyeong’s way.

They licked their lips as they looked at her.

“Right, we need to handle her carefully. That way we will get our turn too.”

At their lust-filled gazes, Yeon-gyeong’s brows quivered.

She wanted to knock them down right this moment and go save her martial aunts, her senior sister, and her junior sisters.

Yet as if they knew that, they only kept her in check.

“Kkyak.”

In the distance she could see a junior sister being dragged away.

And every time one of them fell, the Sword Queen’s wounds increased.

She could not bring herself to cut down her seniors and juniors.

At that moment, one of the martial aunts swinging her sword shouted out.

“All of you. If you are captured, take your own lives. If you live, you will be nothing but their playthings.”

At her words, the gazes of the sword disciples changed.

She was right. On top of that, they could not be the ones to drag the Sword Queen down.

“Ryeong.”

And there was one who acted first.

One sword disciple, who had been dragged by a rope tied to her leg, drove her sword into her own neck.

With the Sword Queen’s cry, the disciple collapsed.

That was someone she had eaten breakfast with that very morning.

Emboldened by her example, the others too raised their swords.

Yet.

“Cut off their arms.”

Wild Gale Blade’s shout rang out.

And even before he shouted, there were already men cutting off arms as if they had expected it.

Blood sprayed everywhere at their perfectly coordinated movements.

“Just take the arms. They will not die right away even if they bite through their tongues.”

At the sight, Yeon-gyeong squeezed her eyes shut.

They truly were fiends.

They only wore human skin. They were not human.

The tide of battle had already turned.

Those who were left could no longer stand against them.

“Heh. You should not let your attention wander.”

With that sudden voice she felt something wrap around her arm.

By the time she reacted in surprise, it was already too late.

A rope had coiled around her arm.

Her body was yanked forward.

‘No.’

In that split second, Yeon-gyeong moved at once.

She could not afford to become a burden to the others here.

She had to act before she lost the use of her arms.

‘Master, this unworthy disciple will go on ahead.’

Hwirik.

Her sword moved.

However.

“I don’t think so!”

With a jolt, her arm flew back.

“Keuk.”

A saber had struck her arm.

Her sword clattered to the ground.

“Careful. What will you do if you break her?”

“It cannot be helped.”

Two Red Flame Unit men had appeared at her side before she knew it.

They had come up in an instant on horseback.

From the moment Yeon-gyeong’s arm had been caught in the rope, they had been acting according to plan.

This was not the first time they had done such a thing.

She swung a fist at the Red Flame Unit man approaching her.

“Whoa there. She still has plenty of fight.”

Her fist never reached him.

The moment she moved, the rope yanked tight.

Yeon-gyeong’s body was dragged backward.

In that time another rope coiled around her neck.

Her breath cut off with a choke.

It was over.

She sensed what was coming and fell into despair.

Then, as if to foreshadow her future, the surroundings grew dark.

Had storm clouds rolled in?

“Duck.”

Only when she heard the familiar voice did Yeon-gyeong realize that it was not clouds but a shadow.