Na Manor (5)

Maeng Saung, a young warrior of Na Manor, could not believe the reality unfolding before his eyes.

The morning had been completely ordinary until just moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a scene from hell.

Slash!

“Aaaaaagh!”

Stab!

“Guaaagh!”

A slender, bizarre man who had smashed through Na Manor’s front gate was tearing apart, piercing, and crushing Maeng Saung’s seniors, friends, and juniors before his eyes.

His companions were all screaming as they scattered and fled in every direction.

At first, some of them had charged at the creature, but no one did so anymore.

The difference in martial prowess was so overwhelming that there was simply nothing they could do.

Stab!

“Gasp!”

Another fleeing companion had his back pierced clean through by the creature’s knife-hand as it launched itself like a wild beast.

His companion collapsed with a wheezing sound, and Maeng Saung saw the sight as though it were happening in slow motion.

‘Brother Jang.’

He was a thirty-year-old senior who said the greatest joy in his life was returning home early every day to play with his three-year-old son.

He often boasted that he had even quit drinking for the son he treasured more than his own eyes….

Now, he would never see his son again.

Lying on the ground, Maeng Saung narrowed his eyes at the creature and ground his teeth.

‘You bastard. I will never forgive you!’

Maeng Saung had initially fallen because the corpse of a companion the creature had struck dead flew into him.

However, after rolling across the ground with the corpse, Maeng Saung realized that the creature had passed over him and attacked another companion.

It had apparently mistaken him for dead.

Considering how many people it was slaughtering, perhaps it was only natural that it could not remember them all.

At first, he had intended to remain still and pretend to be dead until the creature went elsewhere.

His life was precious, after all.

However, that thought did not last long.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“Save me! Aaaaaagh!”

His companions were dying gruesome deaths all around him.

As Maeng Saung watched, fiery rage surged within his heart.

It was a fury so great that it devoured even his fear of death.

He could not allow the creature to leave like this.

He wanted revenge.

Even if he had to risk his life.

Thus, Maeng Saung was now waiting for the creature to approach him.

And to show him its back.

He would ambush it from behind and drive his sword into its back.

At this moment, that had become Maeng Saung’s single, desperate wish in life.

‘Come on. Just once. Please, give me one chance.’

A short while later, the opportunity he had been waiting for finally arrived.

The creature, which had been darting from place to place, happened to pounce on a companion trying to flee past Maeng Saung.

Slash!

“Aaaagh!”

Maeng Saung saw his companion’s back split open beneath the creature’s claw technique, blood spraying outward.

He also saw the creature’s back as it buried its knife-hand into him.

Maeng Saung’s eyes flashed.

Now was the moment.

“Hup!”

Maeng Saung sprang to his feet, charged without making a sound, and thrust his sword toward the creature’s back.

Whoosh!

‘Die!’

The creature did not turn around even as the sword reached its back. It seemed not to have noticed Maeng Saung’s presence.

‘Got you!’

Just as Maeng Saung inwardly cheered, believing the creature could no longer escape—

Clang!

His sword struck the bizarre man’s back and bounced away.

“Ugh?!”

The sword vibrated as though it had stabbed an iron plate, and pain tore through his grip. Maeng Saung stared at the creature in bewilderment.

It slowly turned its head toward him.

A blood-red glow streamed from its eyes through its disheveled hair.

“Y-you damned bastard!”

Maeng Saung clenched his teeth.

Then he thrust his sword again with all his strength.

However—

Clang!

“Ugh!”

The result was no different from before.

The sword failed to pierce the creature’s chest and bounced away.

“Grrrrrr!”

The creature growled like a beast, raised its hand toward Maeng Saung, and swung it.

It was the same claw-hand strike that had torn apart his companion moments earlier.

Watching the creature’s blood-soaked hand sweep toward him, Maeng Saung could only despair.

‘This is the end.’

It was then.

Booooom!

With an enormous roar, the creature suddenly vanished from before Maeng Saung’s eyes.

The next moment, a distant section of wall collapsed.

Rumble!

“…?”

Maeng Saung merely blinked at the incomprehensible situation.

He could not understand what had happened.

Only after seeing the creature stir and rise from the shattered wall did he barely deduce that something had flown in, slammed into it, and sent it hurtling into the wall.

However….

Accepting that the “something” had been a person was not easy.

A man was standing before him.

He was apparently the person who had just rammed the creature and sent it flying.

Maeng Saung simply could not understand.

How could a person fly in at such speed, and how could he remain unharmed after crashing into the creature so recklessly with his own body?

Moreover, after landing, the man turned and revealed a face so handsome that he looked like the noble young master of some famous clan.

He smiled brilliantly at Maeng Saung and spoke.

“You’re brave. Fairly lucky too. You have plenty of room to become stronger.”

“…Pardon?”

As Maeng Saung stared at him blankly, the creature that had been embedded in the wall rose and charged again like a wild beast.

“Grrrrrr!”

Maeng Saung was horrified.

How could someone who had been smashed into a wall with such force immediately stand and attack as though nothing had happened?

However, that was not what mattered now.

“Look out!”

Maeng Saung shouted urgently.

The handsome young master was still looking toward him and had not even seen the creature approaching.

At this rate, he would be struck helplessly.

However, the next moment, Maeng Saung was left astonished.

Without even turning his head, the noble-looking young man charged toward the approaching creature like a cannonball, as though he had known it was there all along.

The young master and the creature collided in midair once again.

Boooom!

It was impossible to believe such a sound could come from two human bodies colliding.

The result was equally unbelievable.

The creature that had rampaged so overwhelmingly it seemed capable of annihilating Na Manor alone was unable to withstand the young master’s body slam. It was sent flying helplessly once again and crashed through the wall.

Rumble!

The impact was so violent that its bones should have been pulverized.

However, the young master apparently did not think so.

He immediately charged toward the creature again.

Even to Maeng Saung, who prided himself on having the best dynamic vision among Na Manor’s warriors, the charge was so fast that it appeared merely as a streak of light.

Swoooosh!

“Haaaaap!”

The next moment, Maeng Saung was shocked yet again when he saw a sword shoot from the young master’s hand at an invisible speed.

It was not simply because he had discovered that the young master, who had only been using crude body slams, was actually a swordsman.

A pale violet radiance extended clearly from the young master’s sword.

Maeng Saung muttered with a dazed expression.

“…Sword Aura?”

That was presumably the legendary Sword Aura he had only ever heard about.

That noble young master was a pinnacle master, the kind Maeng Saung had never seen once in his entire life.

Even though he appeared to be around the same age.

Maeng Saung stared in a trance at the dazzling meteor shower of Sword Aura pouring from the young master’s hand.

Amid a haze of sword energy, a meteor shower of pale violet Sword Aura rained down like a downpour, bombarding the creature embedded in the wall.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!

Would lightning striking repeatedly within a typhoon look like this?

The sight was overwhelmingly magnificent.

Maeng Saung felt certain that he would never forget it for the rest of his life.

Without realizing it, he released a deep sigh.

“Haaa.”

Seventh Form of the Four-One Sword Method.

Black Heaven Sword Rain.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!

After reaching eighty years of internal energy, I battered the creature as though bombarding it with my strengthened Sword Aura.

However, as expected, I could not pierce its skin.

A short while later, the creature, which did not even have a scratch, swung its arm to seize me, so I lightly leaped backward.

“Tsk. I wanted to do it like Captain Seol Pung.”

It seemed that at my current level, smashing it apart like the captain had was still impossible.

“Grrrrrr!”

The creature rose and immediately pounced like a beast.

It seemed to have used claw techniques while alive, as its fingers were held like talons.

Its speed rivaled that of a pinnacle master, its skin could not be pierced even by Sword Aura, and it charged fearlessly while completely disregarding defense.

It was undoubtedly an extremely difficult opponent for swordsmen.

No matter how many times it was struck by Sword Aura, nothing happened to it, whereas a single blow from it would inflict a fatal wound.

The fact that evasion was the only available option made it exceedingly troublesome.

Of course, that would have been true if I were an ordinary swordsman.

“Hmph!”

I snorted and smashed my fist against the creature’s incoming fingers.

Boom!

When its hand was knocked aside by my fist, I used the momentum of its swinging arm to spin and kick its head.

Bam!

Boooom!

The creature was sent flying into the wall once again.

I grinned as I thought.

‘Sorry, but I’m no ordinary swordsman. I’m a close-combat swordsman trained in external arts and hand-to-hand combat.’

I might not be able to smash it apart, but beating it one-sidedly was no difficult task.

“Grrrrrr!”

The creature immediately rose and charged again.

However, my body slam, launched with Bursting Advance Steps, reached it first.

Boooom!

Crash!

The creature was sent flying once again, this time completely breaking through the wall and tumbling outside Na Manor.

I followed it out of Na Manor.

“Now that I’ve driven you outside, shall I start slicing you apart properly?”

Its attacks were not particularly threatening, but that did not mean I could afford to take my time.

One creature was manageable, but if the other two arrived as I had heard, the situation would become very different.

Thus, I had to deal with this one somehow before the others came.

And I did not believe it was impossible.

Captain Seol Pung had previously battered an Iron Fiend apart using only his bare fists.

In my previous life, the Sword Aura of supreme masters had also been capable of cutting through Iron Fiends.

In other words, my sword simply could not do it yet. If it became sharper than it was now, it could cut an Iron Fiend as well.

“Huuuu!”

After taking a deep breath, I lowered my upper body and assumed a sword-drawing stance.

Then I waited for the creature to charge again.

Of all the swords I had seen, Captain Sa Gun-il’s Four-One Sword Method had been the fastest, but Brother Hwa Yeong-bin’s Red-Rain Sword Art had been the sharpest.

Specifically, the Red-Rain Sword Art technique Sword Severing the Setting Sun, which had pierced the Protective Body Qi of the Masked Demon Lord Sa Won-yang.

I was now attempting to reproduce the sensation of Sword Severing the Setting Sun.

I closed my eyes and recalled Brother Hwa’s sword in my mind.

That astonishing slash that seemed to split a red sunset apart in an instant….

I also recited the sword principle that Black Wolf had taught me.

[—The blade enters and cuts where an opening exists, merely following the natural state of things.]

“Grrrrrr!”

The creature charged toward me as I stood with my eyes closed.

The distance between us rapidly narrowed.

Four jang, three jang, two jang, one jang.

Now!

Swoosh!

In that instant, my sword drew a pale violet semicircle across the world.

A semicircle overlapping the creature’s neck.

Scrrrape!

Along with a metallic grinding sound, a stifling sensation lingered briefly at my fingertips, as though I were cutting thick leather with a small knife.

Without hesitation, I immediately launched myself with Bursting Advance Steps and rammed into the creature.

Booom!

The creature flew away again and crashed into the ground.

When it immediately rose once more, it appeared completely unharmed.

‘Did it fail?’

However, my sharp eyes soon caught sight of it.

A thin red line resembling a shallow scratch had been drawn across its neck.

My Sword Aura had succeeded in inflicting a small wound on its skin.

Of course, it was nothing more than a tiny scratch.

However, I decided to view it positively.

“Good. I only need to slash it about a hundred more times!”

After cracking my neck, I assumed the sword-drawing stance again.

No matter how long it took, I intended to cut off the creature’s head.

It was then.

Suddenly sensing movement, I snapped my head to the side and saw someone else approaching.

A disheveled woman wearing tattered martial robes.

Another Iron Fiend.

A hollow voice escaped me naturally.

“Damn it.”

It seemed I would not be able to relax and focus solely on cutting down one creature.

At that moment, a question suddenly occurred to me.

‘But why is it approaching from the side? If they came north from the south, it should have arrived from the front like the first one. Did they scatter and then regroup? Then where is the last one?’

Unfortunately, I had no time to consider the question properly.

The creatures attacked simultaneously from two directions.

“Grrrrrr!”

“Tsk!”

It seemed the Iron Fiends’ intelligence had developed enough for them to coordinate their timing and launch joint attacks.

The second round was beginning.

At the same time, Na Seoyu was carrying the Lord of Na Manor on a stretcher made from a thin blanket and two thick bamboo poles, moving him with Physician Yang’s assistance as carefully as possible.

She was worried about Seonu Jin, but her priority now was moving her father somewhere safe.

Moreover, since the screams had stopped after Seonu Jin headed toward the front gate, it fortunately seemed that he was not yet in immediate danger.

Na Manor’s rear gate stood wide open, apparently because someone had already escaped through it.

As Na Seoyu carefully passed through while holding the stretcher, she spoke.

“If we continue north from here, we will reach Cheon Manor. I should ask them to shelter Father there. I do not need to tell you what you must do once we arrive, do I, Physician Yang?”

“O-of course not. I will attend to the Manor Lord with the greatest care and continue treating him.”

Just as Na Seoyu was speaking with Physician Yang, she suddenly felt an eerie sensation brush across the back of her neck and turned her head to the side.

There, she discovered a man.

A large man with disheveled hair and tattered martial robes….

Through the gaps in his unkempt hair, Na Seoyu clearly saw a vivid crimson glow streaming from his eyes.

Na Seoyu froze and muttered with a stunned expression.

“…An Iron Fiend?”