Chapter 15

The first strike came from Jeong Yeo-gwang.

Jeong Yeo-gwang was different from the other rookie warriors of the Flying Swallow Manor.

Originally a third-rate martial arts warrior, he had fought countless battles to reach this position.

He was a man who knew the importance of being first.

Swish!

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s blade aimed for Yeon Mujin’s throat.

His sword had neither flourish nor finesse.

It was a plain technique from a third-rate clan, but Jeong Yeo-gwang fought with everything he had.

Quick battle, quick decision.

Jeong Yeo-gwang had no intention of prolonging the duel.

“What an idiot!” Wang Ga-hwa spat.

She had ordered them to stall as long as possible so the poison would spread, but Jeong Yeo-gwang acted exactly the opposite.

‘Jeong Yeo-gwang, you refuse the toast and drink from the punishment cup instead!’

Grrr!

The large fan in Wang Ga-hwa’s hand crumpled.

‘I should report to the Sixth Young Master and dispose of Jeong Yeo-gwang. We don’t need someone who disobeys orders on our side. How dare he defy me?’

Clang!

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s first strike was stopped by Yeon Mujin’s sword.

That was when it began.

Jeong Yeo-gwang flowed into his next technique.

Enduring Sword Technique.

That was the name of the sword style he had learned.

Moderately offensive and defensive, it wasn’t remarkable for a third-rate sect; its defining feature was a relentless, unbroken assault.

Every time his blade sliced the air, the edge tore through it with a chilling hiss.

Ching! Ching! Ching!

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s blade kept striking at Yeon Mujin.

Bukgung Yoon, watching the duel, was flustered.

Even to her eyes, the clash on the duel stage looked precarious.

“Lady Wang, didn’t you say this would be a light duel?”

“My lady, don’t worry. They’re both skilled warriors, that’s all. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Kkrrk!

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s blade slid down along Yeon Mujin’s sword and was stopped by the hilt guard.

Had he been an inch slower, his finger might have been cut off in that precarious moment.

‘This supposed to be a light duel?’

No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t.

Wasn’t it obvious just from their expressions?

Jeong Yeo-gwang launched a fierce assault without pausing, and Yeon Mujin grimaced as he parried.

Bukgung Yoon watched Yeon Mujin closely. He was cold with sweat and in pain.

“Is Guard Yeon struggling?”

“My lady. Please don’t intervene and just stay still. Why are you interfering when you know nothing?”

Bukgung Yoon choked on Wang Ga-hwa’s words.

“Ah!”

People gasped.

When Yeon Mujin knocked aside Jeong Yeo-gwang’s sword, Jeong Yeo-gwang stepped back two paces.

Then he corrected his stance.

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s martial arts skill exceeded the level of the third-rate martial arts sect that had taught him the Enduring Sword technique.

As a person, Jeong Yeo-gwang was petty, but his sword was not.

“It’s the ‘Water Flows Continuously’ of the Enduring Sword technique.”

Jeong Yeo-gwang announced the name of the technique to Yeon Mujin.

It was the courtesy of formal dueling to declare what attack would follow.

And then his linked blade strikes followed!

Water Flows Continuously maintains momentum and unleashes progressively stronger attacks.

Yeon Mujin parried with minimal movement, yet each clash drained more color from his face.

The warriors of the guard unit watching murmured.

“Why is Yeon Mujin more passive than usual?”

The Yeon Mujin they knew would rush in like a fighting dog and tear into an opponent.

Standing like a stone Buddha and merely receiving blows did not suit his temperament.

“It’s the poison,” Yang Gwan-wol muttered softly.

“That guy can’t fight properly because he’s suppressing the poison. Yet Guard Head Jeong is using the poisoning to press the attack, not giving Yeon Mujin a chance to steady his qi and blood—he’s pushing him relentlessly.”

In truth, it was the exact opposite.

Finishing the duel before the poison spread was Jeong Yeo-gwang’s last pride as a warrior.

When Wang Ga-hwa told him to poison Yeon Mujin, he couldn’t refuse.

When the Sixth Young Master offered him the post of Head of the Guards at Flying Swallow Manor, he couldn’t refuse.

Even knowing that cup was poison and this seat was poisoned, he couldn’t say no.

Because as a man, Jeong Yeo-gwang was petty.

So Jeong Yeo-gwang gave his all in this fight.

So that no one would notice how small a man he truly was.

A petty man hates being petty.

Yang Gwan-wol looked at the determined Jeong Yeo-gwang and the pale Yeon Mujin and said:

“I cannot tolerate such cowardice. We’ll stop this immediately.”

When Yang Gwan-wol began to move, the warriors following him fell in behind.

A group of warriors from the guard unit walked toward Bukgung Yoon.

At that moment, a person stepped in front of them.

It was Wang Ga-hwa.

“Step aside, Lady Wang.”

“Arrogant brutes, this is Flying Swallow Manor’s event—where do you think you’re going?”

The warriors collectively knitted their brows.

They were Bukgung Yoon’s direct guards, not subordinates of the Mistress.

The only person who could scold and command them was Bukgung Yoon alone.

…or the two of them including Yeon Mujin.

“I came with a request for the young lady.”

“Tell me.”

At Wang Ga-hwa’s reply, Seo Nak-il stepped forward excitedly.

“What right does a mere house mistress have to block the guards?!”

“What? A mere house mistress?” Wang Ga-hwa snapped.

But this time it was different.

After repeated duels with Yeon Mujin, the warriors had come to resemble him.

“Lady Wang, you’re not even the manor lord—who do you think you’re scolding!”

Taken aback by the unexpected backlash, Wang Ga-hwa flinched and stepped back.

Yang Gwan-wol even placed his hand on his sword and spoke.

“I am a guard for Lady Bukgung. It’s my duty to protect her from any threat. Who dares block the guards’ path? Step aside at once or I’ll cut you down.”

No matter how bold Wang Ga-hwa was, she had no stomach to defy a drawn blade.

“What is the matter?”

Just then, Bukgung Yoon stepped forward.

Wang Ga-hwa glared at the warriors and, feigning reluctance, stepped back one pace.

“My lady, you must stop the duel immediately.”

“Why?”

“Guard Yeon has been poisoned.”

“What did you say?”

“There was poison in the feast food he ate. It seems to be a cleverly prepared compound poison. This duel was prepared as a trap to ensnare Guard Yeon.”

Bukgung Yoon looked at Wang Ga-hwa; she didn’t need anyone to tell her.

Wang Ga-hwa waved her broken large fan as if she knew nothing.

Bukgung Yoon, who was expected to immediately stop the duel, hesitated surprisingly and bought time.

Yang Gwan-wol found Bukgung Yoon’s attitude exasperating.

“My lady, we don’t have time for this…”

“Does Guard Yeon know?”

“Pardon?”

“Did Guard Yeon go up without knowing he was poisoned?”

“…Perhaps—he seems to know. No, he does know. Yes.”

“And yet he still entered the duel?”

“Yes.”

Bukgung Yoon watched Yeon Mujin continue a grueling exchange on the duel stage.

Her worry was not unfounded. It was certainly Wang Ga-hwa’s doing.

If that’s the case.

“The duel will continue.”

“Pardon?”

The warriors frowned, while Wang Ga-hwa, conversely, flashed a smile.

“My lady, why!”

“Do you all trust Guard Yeon?”

“What?”

Bukgung Yoon did not know what kind of man Yeon Mujin was.

But there was one thing she did know: his intention.

• He planned to make me the family lord.

No one had ever said such words in front of her before.

So.

“Let’s trust him. I mean, trust Guard Yeon’s skill.”

Ah—the poison’s going to kill me.

Wang Ga-hwa, that venomous woman—she prepared something as nasty as she is.

It’s so bad Jeong Yeo-gwang’s blade looks like it’s splitting into three.

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s attack cadence isn’t that refined, so there’s a ten percent chance it’s the poison I swallowed.

I shouldn’t have been brave and eaten it—damn that ten percent.

Anyway, I thought as I knocked aside his blade.

I’ve reached the highest heights—past and present—in the art of beating people with bare hands.

How to beat someone painfully; how to beat loudly without causing injury; how to make it hurt later even if it doesn’t now; how to beat until they fall ill—I’ve mastered it all.

I know ten thousand ways to beat a person.

But my swordsmanship couldn’t compare to my hand-to-hand techniques.

Because the only sword style I know is just one.

Namely, the Killing Sword.

If you draw the sword, you must kill.

Kill or be killed. There is nothing else in there.

At least my murim world was like that.

Chaecheng!

Non-warriors might not understand, but…

Once you cross blades, you can tell what kind of murim world the opponent comes from.

Which martial tradition he belongs to.

My sword has always lived in a world of killing and being killed.

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s murim world was small.

“Jeong Yeo-gwang.”

“…?”

Your heart’s vessel is smaller than the vessel of your talent.

If you’re going to be cowardly, you should be cowardly to the end.

I summed those two thoughts up in one word and told him so.

I was in pain, so it was hard to say more than that.

“You bastard.”

“…”

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s expression hardened—his Water Flows Continuously had been clumsy, full of hesitation.

I raised my sword high and severed his technique.

“Since you named yours, I’ll name mine—it’s the Three Calamities Sword Technique.”

“…What?”

“Don’t get it wrong—it’s not the Three Talents Sword, it’s the Three Calamities Sword. It’s the only style I’ve learned.”

When I was wandering, I granted an old man’s last wish and received this technique from him.

Was that old man’s wish to embrace a courtesan one last time before he died?

What a filthy old man.

The old man was eccentric, and the technique he taught was even stranger.

After I mastered the Three Calamities Sword, I felt no need to learn any other sword style.

As its name suggests, the Three Calamities Sword consists of three loud, brash techniques.

Heavenly Thunder, Yin Fire, and Raging Wind.

And this is—

“Three Calamities Sword Technique, Heavenly Thunder.”

When I raised the sword, everyone’s gaze converged on me.

From that scrap of a sword that wouldn’t fetch a penny if sold, a brilliant white light bloomed.

I didn’t want to use it—it’s embarrassing with everyone watching.

“I’m not feeling great, so I’ll finish this quickly.”

“What nonsense…”

I took a steady stance.

It’s the classic top posture of the Three Calamities Sword Technique.

If the top posture emphasizes force, Heavenly Thunder emphasizes speed.

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s face stiffened as he sensed it.

“Wait a minute, you!”

“What do you mean, ‘you’?!”

The Heavenly Thunder strike descended toward Jeong Yeo-gwang’s head.

He desperately raised his sword, but it was futile.

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s sword was cut in two along with his neck.

Clatter!

The sound of the halved sword rolling across the duel stage was mournful.

Soon followed the sound of flesh thudding onto the floor.

Thud.

Jeong Yeo-gwang’s head, eyes wide open, rolled across the duel stage.

“Kyaaa!”

“Waaaah!”

Didn’t I tell you? I’ve never learned any sword that wasn’t the Killing Sword.