Martial Arts Are Just Martial Arts

I placed Gongson Han’s longsword on the table, studied the Righteous Sword Gate Master’s gaze, and sat down across from him.

Even after we took our seats, neither of us spoke for quite some time.

I merely waved away the filthy smoke the Righteous Sword Gate Master occasionally blew in my direction.

The awkward silence dragged on……until the Righteous Sword Gate Master finally opened his mouth.

“I hear you took down the Sword Hero Gate Master. Congratulations. It seems our Sect Master of the Sword Name Gate was quite the martial artist after all.”
“…….”

It seemed the Righteous Sword Gate Master had come here to deal with me after already learning the whole story.

He really was a sharp-minded praying mantis bastard. The complete opposite of a certain stupid bear bastard who had already gone to the afterlife.

If he was this cunning and quick-witted, there was a good chance he’d already prepared some kind of trap or scheme.

The Righteous Sword Gate Master tapped the table with a hollow expression, then roughly scratched his forehead as though irritated.

“But here’s the problem……when you killed my junior brother, you also disrupted our business. We used to split the tribute payments with the Sword Hero Gate, and now we’re stuck paying the whole amount ourselves. It’s put us in quite a difficult position.”
“Is that so?”

From the sound of it, the Sword Hero Gate wasn’t the only one paying tribute to the Black Serpent Gate. The Righteous Sword Gate was doing the same.

The Sword Hero Gate Master and Righteous Sword Gate Master had probably paid the Black Serpent Gate Master money in exchange for learning some pathetic garbage martial arts.

The Righteous Sword Gate Master grinned wide enough to show his canines and casually uttered a vicious threat.

“I won’t hold you responsible for what happened to my junior brother. However, you should help ease our burden. Pay us a certain amount in tribute for the time being, and neither you nor the Sword Name Gate will be touched. You have my word.”

So this bastard hadn’t come to avenge the Sword Hero Gate Master at all. He was simply obsessed with money.

‘What a fucking mess. The principles of the Kangho have really fallen this far.’

The Righteous Sword Gate Master twitched his expression like a seasoned merchant, took a drag from his tobacco, exhaled, and pressed me for an answer.

“Well? What will you do? The choice is yours.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“That’s your choice, but…….”

The Righteous Sword Gate Master’s wrist moved in a blur toward the table. In the next instant, a long, heavy saber was embedded in the tabletop, still gripped in his hand.

“…….”

When I stared at the saber, the Righteous Sword Gate Master launched into a worthless little threat.

“You’ll end up seeing something unpleasant. Did killing my junior brother make you think all of Yongmyeong County was beneath you? I’d rather not make this bloody, but if that’s your choice, I’ll respect it.”
“Hahaha.”

Was there a less frightening threat in the entire world?

For some reason, it reminded me of the Demonic Gentleman telling me to hand over the Demon Wail Sword and leave. Compared to that, though, this wasn’t threatening in the slightest. It was downright laughable.

When I ignored his demand and just kept laughing, the Righteous Sword Gate Master’s expression darkened as he glared at me in displeasure.

“Sect Master, my patience is quite limited.”
“Is that so?”
“I’d prefer to hear a wise answer, if possible.”

Instead of answering, I took hold of the longsword Gongson Han had lent me and examined it closely.

It wasn’t particularly well made. Just an ordinary iron sword you could find almost anywhere. But that didn’t matter.

I’d already passed the point where I needed to care about weapon quality when dealing with a pathetic bastard like the Righteous Sword Gate Master.

I slowly drew the longsword. The moment its gleaming silver blade entered my vision, satisfaction and killing intent surged through me at the same time.

Was it because it had been so long since I’d drawn a real blade? A smile spread across my face for no reason.

I snickered like a lunatic while looking at the sword, then let the smile fade and spoke with my eyes fixed on the blade.

“……From this moment on.”
“…….”

I finished drawing the sword and completed my sentence.

“If you surrender, I’ll only cut off your arms and legs and let you leave quietly. The choice is yours. But my patience is quite limited too, so choose quickly.”

Maybe he didn’t want to choose. Or maybe he simply didn’t want to surrender.

I’d given him a rather merciful option, yet the only response I received was a gaze filled with fighting spirit and killing intent. I didn’t let the moment pass.

The moment I recognized it as the signal that battle had begun and gripped my longsword, the Righteous Sword Gate Master thrust out both palms, shattered the table, and used the recoil to launch himself far backward.

‘What a load of bullshit.’

The instant the Righteous Sword Gate Master retreated, I couldn’t help letting out a hollow laugh.

The doors of the main hall opened wide on both sides, and more than a dozen martial artists armed with swords rushed toward me.

Had this been planned from the start? The Righteous Sword Gate Master, flying backward from the force of his palm strike, slipped into the gaps among his charging subordinates and vanished from sight.

“Some Sect Master you are…….”

Gongson Han’s description had been accurate. He really was the cunning, quick-thinking type.

When the hell had he prepared a trap like this?

‘What an impressive bastard. Makes me want to tear him apart.’

And this happened to be the kind of person I hated most.

For now, I gripped my longsword and stepped back, knocking aside and evading the chaotic sword strikes of the courage-filled martial artists charging at me like a herd of wild boars.

‘Damn it.’

My face twisted on its own.

The attacks of pathetic bastards like these weren’t frightening, but watching this nicely furnished main hall get smashed to hell was.

I could always just destroy everything……but it was a little ridiculous that I was holding back because I didn’t want the expensive decorations ruined.

‘Do you know how much all that costs? You goddamned bastards.’

This was why you had to secure the battlefield before a fight.

If I had attacked the Righteous Sword Gate first……if I’d faced the Demonic Gentleman on open plains instead of mountainous terrain……if I’d simply driven the Demon Wail Sword into the Cult Leader from the beginning…….

People always repeated the same mistakes, and regret always came too late.

I continued evading the men’s attacks with smooth footwork……then, the moment they overextended themselves, I slipped through the opening, spun once, and swept my sword horizontally.

“Kraaaaaagh!”

The backs of the men struck by my sword split open in straight lines, long sprays of blood bursting out alongside their horrific screams.

As expected, they were pathetic enough that even fighting this many at once posed little threat.

Before they could react, I cut across their necks several times with my sword. Far more blood sprayed out than before, but there were no more screams.

As the thoughtless men who had rushed me collapsed to the floor……only around five remained. I gave those five no time to think and charged straight into them with a fierce assault.

There was no martial artist in this town capable of stopping the attacks of someone who had reached the Iron Sword realm.

One man desperately blocked my heavy, forceful sword until he reached his limit. I didn’t miss the opening and split his head open with my blade.

Next, I immediately used my footwork to close in on the remaining men, striking every opening they revealed with the principles of the Iron Sword.

I moved without pause until the surroundings suddenly fell silent. When I looked around……every enemy who had charged me like a lunatic was already drenched in blood, either slumped on the floor or lying motionless.

I wiped a hand across my blood-covered face and looked toward the direction the Righteous Sword Gate Master had flown.

Surprisingly, the Righteous Sword Gate Master had not fled and was still there. But confusion, rage, and bloodlust were already tangled together across his face in a complicated expression.

‘Of course he looks like that. Goddamned bastard.’

He’d probably planned to have his subordinates kill me, then step in afterward and take whatever was left. Of course he’d be flustered now that all his men were dead and he was alone.

I pointed my bloodstained sword at the Righteous Sword Gate Master’s face and berated him to my heart’s content.

“……Righteous Sword Gate Master. What the hell was that? If you had a problem with me, you should’ve fought me directly in a one-on-one life-and-death duel. You’re the Sect Master of an entire sect, yet you send your disciples to their deaths just to save your own skin?”
“…….”

Even now, the bastard kept puffing away at his tobacco. Had he caught some disease that would kill him if he went even a moment without smoke in his mouth?

Apparently not. Just as I was about to open my mouth again because he wasn’t answering, the Righteous Sword Gate Master suddenly threw the tobacco to the floor, drew the longsword at his waist, and charged at me.

Kwaaaaaang!

He wasn’t fast enough to make reacting difficult, but he was reasonably quick. Perhaps calling the Sword Hero Gate Master his junior brother hadn’t been empty talk after all.

In other words, he was more skilled than the Sword Hero Gate Master, who had done nothing but charge around like an idiot. This man at least knew how to use the martial arts he had learned.

His sword art itself wasn’t particularly profound, but he still unleashed a respectable variety of techniques and methods as he began trying to carve me apart.

At times, his attacks even came with variations mixed in.

For example, instead of a sword strike, a right palm might suddenly come at me. And if all his techniques seemed blocked, he would alter the direction and range and unleash a new sword attack.

‘He knows what he’s doing, at least.’

But that was as far as it went. Against someone who had already stepped into the Iron Sword realm, every one of his attacks and movements was far too crude and sloppy.

He probably wasn’t especially gifted to begin with, nor had he learned some extraordinary martial art, so in a way it was only natural.

I knew just how miserable the end could be for second-rate martial artists who misunderstood what it meant to become strong through martial arts.

The Righteous Sword Gate Master and Sword Hero Gate Master were especially foolish, thinking they could become strong simply by throwing enough money at someone.

Truthfully, obtaining a good martial art wasn’t all that important when it came to becoming strong. Martial arts were just martial arts.

If there was something that truly mattered, it was the mindset with which one approached them.

In that sense, neither the Righteous Sword Gate Master nor the Sword Hero Gate Master deserved to become strong. They had exploited and tormented the weak just to learn some martial art…….

How could idiots like these ever become mighty figures who commanded the world? In a word, impossible.

I forcefully knocked aside the sword strike of the misguided martial artist, slipped into the opening that appeared for an instant, and drove a palm strike into his solar plexus.

The sound of bones crushing came first. Then the Righteous Sword Gate Master flew backward like he’d been blasted away and slammed into a wall, dark-red blood spilling from his mouth.

‘Pathetic bastard.’

I’d infused a moderate amount of internal energy into the strike, and apparently it had caused internal injuries.

After being stuck motionless in the shattered wall for a moment, the Righteous Sword Gate Master quickly recovered, gripped his longsword again, and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

His eyes were stained red and blood dripped steadily from his mouth, to the point where I couldn’t tell whether the bastard was a human or some blood-sucking ghost.

I deliberately let my sword hang toward the floor and slowly approached him. Where had all that fighting spirit and killing intent from earlier gone?

The Righteous Sword Gate Master, whose face had gone deathly pale, thrust his sword again and charged at me.

But once again, the attack was hopeless. His level was already low, and with his mind shaken by internal injuries, the meaningless strikes came one after another like desperate flailing.

I casually flicked out my arm and knocked aside the Righteous Sword Gate Master’s attacks as though swatting insects.

Twice, three times, four, five……after I mercilessly knocked aside every sword strike that resembled an insect’s final struggle before death, the Righteous Sword Gate Master stopped attacking.

I drove my sword through the neck of the Righteous Sword Gate Master, who had lost all will to fight and fallen into resignation, then kicked off the ground and pinned him to the wall.

With the sword piercing his neck and embedded in the wall, the Righteous Sword Gate Master was left hanging there in a wretched state, little different from a dried fish.

The once-clean floor, walls, and ceiling were now soaked with blood sprayed everywhere during the melee.

Even as blood poured from his mouth and throat and his breathing weakened, the Righteous Sword Gate Master continued glaring at me and muttering something.

“How did you…….”

I crossed my arms and answered coldly.

“You want to know how I became this strong?”
“…….”
“What does that matter now? You’re about to head to the afterlife anyway.”

The Righteous Sword Gate Master’s words trailed off amid wheezing breaths.

“Spare…….”

Swoosh!

But without hesitation, I pulled the sword from his neck. Dark-red blood poured out once more, soaking the floor and quickly forming a pool.

Then, onto that crimson pool, the Righteous Sword Gate Master collapsed lifelessly, his breath already gone.

Splash!

Blood splashed across my face as the Righteous Sword Gate Master fell. Truthfully, I’d never had much intention of sparing either him or the Sword Hero Gate Master.

According to what So Geum-ho had told me, they had already committed far too many unforgivable crimes.

Both the Sword Hero Gate Master and Righteous Sword Gate Master had begged me to spare them before they died.

In a way, those pleas may as well have been the final pleas of all the powerless people who had died unjustly at their hands.

Why were these fucking bastards endlessly servile before the strong, yet so brazen and shameless when tormenting the weak?

A thought suddenly occurred to me. These bastards weren’t all that different from the utterly ruthless Demonic Path.

Just as the frail, sickly Dokgo Mu-jin and the Sword Demon who had once been a slave of the Demon Cult had ultimately occupied the same position.

In the Kangho, my enemies were not merely the Demon Cult, but every villain who treated the lives of the weak as worthless and took them without hesitation.

“…….”

Whatever else happened, one thing was clear. I had been this way before, and in this life too, I would become the enemy of villains.

That single fact, at least, made my true nature perfectly clear.

In this life as well, I am the enemy of the Demon Cult……no, the enemy of villains.

I picked up the tobacco that had now become a keepsake of the Righteous Sword Gate Master and placed it between my lips.

Smoking something another man had already used didn’t feel particularly pleasant, but I didn’t care enough to stop, so I repeatedly drew in smoke and exhaled it.

Left alone in the blood-soaked main hall, I dropped into a chair and continued smoking.

My exhausted breaths became murky smoke and drifted endlessly through the air……as though quietly consoling the souls of the countless wraiths who had died in vain.