The Annihilation Of A Clan (2)

“Phew.”

Jin-hyeon steadied his breathing and checked his body.

‘Not bad.’

He was in far better condition than expected. Ha Gye-gun’s palm force had grazed his left shoulder, but it only felt a little stiff. There was no problem with his muscles or bones.

Because he had tried to decide the fight in a short decisive battle, he had spent some stamina. But considering the opponents he had faced, he was so fine it felt almost excessive.

‘What a joke.’

When he first faced them, he had thought he might break something somewhere.

That was how badly they failed to make use of the essence of group combat. It meant that even among masters of the same level, the battle Jin-hyeon saw and the battle they saw were worlds apart.

If anything, it would have become a more chaotic melee if the Crimson Blood Hands had joined in. They had done enough just by taking down the initial scouts with poisoned needles.

Peong! Peopeong!

It seemed things had properly begun on Second Street as well. He could hear palm force exploding and poison pellets and hidden weapons pouring out.

Seogeok! Seogeok!

The sound of something being cut apart was utterly vicious.

He knew without seeing it. Han Cheol-sang had joined the fight.

‘I can leave that side to him for now.’

Jin-hyeon approached the surviving pugilists.

They had only survived. More than half of them were bleeding heavily. In that state, it would be hard for them to even touch the hem of Jin-hyeon’s clothes.

Jin-hyeon pointed at the ground with his chin.

“Kneel.”

“…”

“Or die if you wish.”

Jin-hyeon raised the Indestructible Sword without hesitation.

The pugilists glanced at one another, then slowly knelt. There was not a single word. Then again, what words would defeated soldiers need?

“You can come out now.”

At Jin-hyeon’s words, the Crimson Blood Hands hiding in the courtesan house quickly sprang out.

Even while running over, their footsteps were unusually quiet. They had received proper training, at least.

“Clear the bodies, knock these men unconscious, and throw them into ‘that place.’”

Pabababak!

As soon as he gave the order, they moved in perfect order. They did not even need to exchange words. Perhaps they had received some brief separate training after being subdued by Oh Gyeong, because their movements were much quicker.

Jin-hyeon shouted toward the top floor of the courtesan house.

“It’s over.”

Then Oh Gyeong stuck his head out the window.

“Can we keep drinking?”

Ok Jin and Do Il-gang were there. In Do Il-gang’s case, he had come as Ok Jin’s escort just in case.

Jin-hyeon gave a small laugh.

“I’d like that, but I don’t much like my people getting hurt.”

Oh Gyeong frowned.

“I really came here to be treated as a guest.”

“Once this is over, stay as long as you want, even for years. Steward Han will cook for you at every meal.”

“Well, now.”

Oh Gyeong clicked his tongue and immediately jumped out the window.

It was a height where an ordinary person would have broken every bone in their body and hovered at death’s door, yet his landing was incredibly soft. It didn’t even make a sound.

“So, where should I go for you?”

“Anywhere will do.”

“Still, this fight belongs to the Patriarch. You’d be disappointed if we snatched the tasty parts.”

Oh Gyeong pointed beyond Second Street with his chin.

“They should be struggling over there where a few killing formations are laid. I’ll finish up that much.”

“Thank you. I will never forget your help today.”

“Well, it’ll also serve as training for those deficient fools who inherited my true teachings, so it isn’t a complete loss.”

Oh Gyeong smiled and climbed onto the building.

Jin-hyeon had no idea where that old body was hiding such skill. If only his lightness art was considered, he was not lacking even compared to the greatest masters from the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader’s era.

Paaak.

Jin-hyeon climbed to the top floor of the courtesan house in one go with the Calling Wind, Flying Horse Art and looked at Ok Jin.

Ok Jin, who had been silently drinking, rose from his seat.

“Patriarch.”

Now it was not Second Young Master, but Patriarch.

Jin-hyeon gave a bitter smile.

“You must have been anxious. Thank you for enduring it.”

“No. Truly, no. What did I even do? If anything…”

Ok Jin could not continue.

He was such a blunt man, but he treated Jin-hyeon like his own child.

That was why his throat choked up. He had seen the Second Young Master become cruel inside the Merchant House, but at the time, he had forced himself to understand it as something born of revenge.

But now?

He could tell without seeing it. Even after drinking that much alcohol, the smell of blood drifted all the way up here.

‘The Second Young Master I knew is gone now.’

Even so, Jin-hyeon was Jin-hyeon. He was the same person with the same face.

It was just painful that the kind and cheerful young man from before was now walking on the blade of the Kangho, where one wrong step meant death.

Jin-hyeon could see through Ok Jin’s heart at a glance.

He had not needed to come, but he had insisted on being here with them. As the smiths’ representative, he had insisted that he had to see Jin-hyeon’s fight.

In truth, he had not been able to watch because he feared Jin-hyeon might die, but in the end, his actions were no different from the heart of a parent thinking of their child. Even without blood ties, he was family.

‘We’ll need many conversations from now on.’

Jin-hyeon said to Do Il-gang.

“Il-gang, stay here and guard Master Ok. The Crimson Blood Hands will return after dealing with the bodies.”

“Understood, Patriarch.”

“Good. Keep at it.”

As Jin-hyeon turned, Do Il-gang quickly spoke.

“Patriarch!”

“Hm?”

“Please take care of yourself.”

Jin-hyeon gave a small laugh.

“That’s what you should say to the damned bastards who dragged themselves all the way here.”

Ju Byeong could not believe the sight before his eyes.

Puhwaaaak!

Blood was spraying in every direction.

Had there always been this much blood in the human body? Even Ju Byeong, who had lived in the ruthless Kangho past the age of forty, had never seen a fight this drenched in blood.

Peopeopeong!

The movements of the Divine Palm Squad members climbing up the walls while unleashing fast, sharp palm force were still restrained and perfect.

But their opponent was too strong.

Flash! Flash!

Two strands of saber qi stretched left and right like whips, and seven squad members fell as their waists were severed.

In that instant, Ju Byeong felt a powerful urge to vomit.

He had seen corpses cut into pieces and corpses sprawled with organs spilling out more than once, but the corpses of the squad members killed by that saber wielder’s blade were truly so horrific that they were difficult to look at with the naked eye.

Limbs flying off and organs spilling from sliced-open bellies were ordinary here.

His mad saberwork did not seem that fast, yet it cut through everything around it as it passed, leaving countless bloody lines across the bodies of the dead squad members.

Even corpses that were already dead received one or two more cuts. He was not leaving them deliberately. The wide-ranging chained saber strikes he swung as he advanced carved wounds into them on their own.

‘Th-This makes no sense!’

Peoooong!

Even the heavy palm force used by the large squad members was cut apart and shattered by those sharp saber strikes.

No attack was of any use. Even if they wanted to aim for an opening, they were crushed by saber strikes as densely packed as they were wide in range.

‘Could it be demonic arts?’

He couldn’t sense demonic qi.

But his blade work was beyond savage. It was horrific. Even while swinging so densely, the moment this side showed an opening, he changed forms and cut through a vital point, and every time someone was cut, blood surged like a fountain.

It was a battlefield so terrifying one could believe hell had opened in the human world.

Even the vaunted Divine Palm Squad members could no longer attack and faltered.

More than half of their comrades had already been hacked to death, and most of them were also poisoned.

Ju Byeong said in a gloomy voice.

“So it was an assassin organization.”

Chwaak!

Han Cheol-sang spoke as he shook the blood off his blade.

“Wrong.”

“Then what are those bastards?!”

Where Ju Byeong pointed, around twenty Crimson Blood Hands were standing with their arms crossed.

It was the entrance to Second Street where the Divine Palm Squad had entered. The moment they stepped in, poison pellets and hidden weapons flew, and at the same time, Han Cheol-sang charged in and caused this many casualties in an instant.

Han Cheol-sang gave a small laugh.

“You bastards are so damned rotten that we took pity and decided to help.”

In that instant, Ju Byeong felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

The fact that he could smile so calmly amid a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood meant he was not normal. It was behavior that naturally made the words demonic man come to mind.

Even so, Ju Byeong did not let Han Cheol-sang’s words slip by.

“We?”

“You don’t need to know more.”

Han Cheol-sang’s eyes sank coldly.

As he pointed his blade at Ju Byeong, violent killing intent burst from his body again.

“You’re all going to die anyway, so what use is knowing? If you’re that curious, grab King Yama’s robe and ask him.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Flash!

Blood spread out in the shape of a lotus.

Kicking off with terrifying speed, Han Cheol-sang appeared above Ju Byeong’s head in one breath.

“How did you know?”

Peoooong!

Ju Byeong fell to his knees under the merciless saber strike. He burst out palm force with all his strength, but it was crushed in one blow, and the pressure even broke his legs.

Han Cheol-sang placed his foot on Ju Byeong’s shoulder.

“I did hear that I was crazy quite a bit in the past.”

“Eek!”

Peok!

Han Cheol-sang looked utterly at ease as he cut off Ju Byeong’s head as if beheading him.

“Cough!”

“You, you bastard!”

The Divine Palm Squad members scattered in every direction charged in with strange cries. But their poisoning had worsened, so both their speed and postures were utterly sloppy.

“Shall we finish this?”

A quarter-hour later.

The Divine Palm Squad that had infiltrated Second Street was wiped out to the last man.

“Phew.”

Han Cheol-sang breathed out lightly and sheathed his saber, then suddenly looked around the street.

“…Damn it.”

The street had become a bloody mess. Severed limbs, chunks of flesh. It was truly a sight that made even him sigh.

Han Cheol-sang felt bitter.

‘My realm in Life-Snatching Saber has risen.’

It was a saber art that became more brutal and bloodier the higher its realm rose. Even so, it boasted extreme efficiency, so it did not consume much internal energy either.

Heaven-Shattering Saber was no different. Heaven-Shattering Saber, which smashed opponents with mountain-heavy momentum, would also burst human bodies apart indiscriminately as its realm rose.

The Life-Snatching Demon Lord, and the Blood-Saber Demon Lord.

He felt he understood why they had been called Demon Lords.

‘This was why I deliberately kept even farther away from martial arts.’

Han Cheol-sang looked at the Crimson Blood Hands.

“I’ll have to trouble you with this.”

At that moment, one of the Crimson Blood Hands opened his mouth.

“Are you telling us to clean all this up?”

The street had become such a mess that even an assassin, who ordinarily would not exchange a single word with others, finally opened his mouth.

Furthermore, Han Cheol-sang’s martial arts must have left that strong an impression. In a good way or a bad one.

Han Cheol-sang blinked.

“Old Master Oh said so, didn’t he? He told me to make you do anything. He said any task would become a form of training.”

“…”

“Well, if not, leave it. I’ll clean it up.”

Han Cheol-sang climbed onto a building.

One of the Crimson Blood Hands asked again.

“Where are you going?”

Han Cheol-sang looked down at the Crimson Blood Hand who had spoken, as if he were looking at a strange person.

“I’m going to deal with the others. If your business is done too, go to Old Master Oh.”

Paak!

Han Cheol-sang shot toward Fourth Street in one breath and disappeared from the Crimson Blood Hands’ sight.

“…”

After a brief silence, someone sighed.

“Terrifying martial arts.”

“I never want to face him.”

Even though they were assassins, they had been tense enough for their shoulders and legs to stiffen. That was how fierce the battle had been.

One of the Crimson Blood Hands said in a deflated voice.

“Let’s hurry and clean this up.”

At that time.

The Blue Fist Unit forces moving covertly through the forest were caught in various killing formations and lost half their number. When Oh Gyeong appeared afterward, the rest fell to his hidden weapons and poison, dying futile deaths.

The Crimson Blood Hands had more corpses to clean up.