Turbulent Times Create Heroes. (3)

Yu Seol also knew well.

The true culprits who had turned the once-peaceful Sea Dragon Island into a hellscape.

One of the masterminds who caused the residents’ suffering stood right before her.

So she had no intention whatsoever of showing mercy.

Standing tall before the rock, Yu Seol began to count.

“One.”

“……”

Only tranquil silence returned. As expected, there was no reaction.

“Two.”

“……”

Still not coming out? Yu Seol’s brow tightened.

The tip of the Dragon Flower Spear trembled and gave a keening note.

Screeeech-!

“I clearly gave you a chance.”

The target was a golden-masked warrior hiding in the bushes behind the rock.

He had been the first to crawl out of the barrier and could be considered a heavyweight.

Just as she was about to shout three.

For a moment, Yu Seol’s pupils widened.

“……?”

The huge rock split open left and right with a sharp crack.

Something slipped through the gap.

Whiiirrr-!

What shot at her like a bolt of lightning was a chain with a heavy weight attached.

If it had struck an average master, they’d have been impaled and killed before they understood what happened.

But you couldn’t fool the Profound Realm’s dynamic vision that easily.

Without blinking, Yu Seol twisted her torso and let the weight slide along her chest.

Wham-!

An ambush, a surprise attack, and a bizarre weapon.

Yu Seol felt irritated by her opponent’s craftiness.

‘Cowardly ambushing me?’

The weight that had shot past her returned and struck again.

And to make matters worse, someone else emerged from a crack in the front rock.

A movement that closed like lightning, robes snapping.

It was clearly the Supreme realm. Not an ordinary one at that.

Ta-at-!

The man who suddenly closed the distance to stand right in front of her thrust out his left hand without warning.

With attacks coming from both front and back, dodging would have been the sensible choice.

But Yu Seol had no intention of yielding an inch.

She slid the Dragon Flower Spear behind her shoulder and thrust her free hand forward to meet the attack.

The chain from behind hit first.

Clack-!

The sound of the Dragon Flower Spear redirecting the chain.

Just as the two palms were about to clash in midair, a fierce gust of wind wrapped around Yu Seol’s arm.

Whoooosh-!!

It was a Yu-family Heaven-and-Earth Palm technique, the seventh form called Moving Flowers — Traversing Wind, used to fling an opponent away.

Its force was on an entirely different level from when Yu Jinsan used it.

With a tremendous roar, the golden warrior’s feet scraped the ground as he was hurled back dozens of paces.

Rumble-!

“Ugh!”

His eyes behind the mask shone with bewilderment.

He seemed shocked by martial strength far greater than he’d expected.

But there was no time to stand stunned. Even now, Yu Seol was striding toward him.

He desperately swung the chain to keep her at bay.

The chain, with its blunt weight, whipped through the air in a dizzying arc.

Whirrrk-! Whirrrrik-!!

A dazzling barrage with nowhere to hide.

Yet it couldn’t so much as graze Yu Seol’s collar.

She moved so fast the evasion was invisible.

Even then, Yu Seol pressed forward.

“W-who on earth are you!?”

It was a clumsy, desperate cry.

At that moment, Yu Seol gave him a mischievous smile.

It was impossibly innocent, and the sight gave the golden-masked warrior goosebumps.

At the same instant the Dragon Flower Spear snatched his chain and began to wind around it.

Grrrk-!!

After a moment, the two were locked in a tug-of-war over their weapons.

The golden-masked man strained, but the chain clutched in both hands wouldn’t budge.

His feet dug into the sand.

“Grrrk!”

Meanwhile Yu Seol pulled the spear with one hand.

Only the tendons in her arm stood out; her face remained unchanged.

From the start she had been completely composed.

“You look similar to that dark-faced man I saw before.”

“……?”

Yu Seol remembered clearly.

The underground plaza of the mansion in Ho County, the Chamber of Atonement where an evil demon had been kept.

She meant the strange monk from Tianzhu who’d been locked there.

His weapon took a different form from this one, but there were many similarities.

And that peculiar halting voice.

But Yu Seol didn’t care about his identity right now.

“Our grandpa would be pleased to take you away, that’s for sure.”

Finishing her words, Yu Seol gripped the Dragon Flower Spear with both hands and gave a sharp tug.

The golden warrior’s hold on the chain tore apart in an instant.

He couldn’t withstand the unimaginable strength and lost his weapon.

“Ugh!”

Regret filled his eyes behind the golden mask.

“I shouldn’t have come here alone.”

He was certainly thinking that.

But even with a comrade, could he have won? He couldn’t be sure.

The difference in realms was like heaven and earth.

Before Yu Seol’s might he was utterly powerless, sinking into despair.

Sssssk-!!

To make matters worse, the golden warrior lost track of Yu Seol’s movements.

Her dazzling footwork scrambled his vision beyond the naked eye’s ability to follow.

“……?”

A chill ran down his spine as he urgently emitted a powerful aura from his whole body.

The circular aura, red-tinged, resembled the murim world’s counter-aura but was different — a higher-level technique.

Yu Seol had faced this before.

Wasn’t it the martial art the strange Tianzhu monk used?

Countering a technique she already knew was easy.

Kaboom-!!

Yu Seol’s fist tore through the red aura and struck inward.

At the same time, the wind pressure from her punch slammed into the monk’s side.

Crack-!!!

“Gah!”

His eyes bulged as if his ribs had been crushed.

With such a severe injury, he could no longer withstand further attacks.

Then the Dragon Flower Spear fell like lightning and smashed his ankle mercilessly.

Snap-!

The golden warrior collapsed onto his backside, utterly pathetic.

Yu Seol’s small hand closed on his throat.

Tug-!

She could end him with just a little pressure.

He seemed to give up resisting, stunned that he’d fallen so easily.

But she had never intended to kill him.

“I told you to come out before I counted to three, right? Put strength in your neck.”

Yu Seol planted the Dragon Flower Spear in the ground and raised her right hand high.

Then she brought her fist down onto his head with all her might.

Kraaaa-!!!

The golden-masked head thudded into the sand.

She hit him so hard his face was buried in the beach.

He lay face-down in disgrace, not even twitching.

Yu Seol confirmed he was still breathing and grabbed the chain.

As she began to bind him, he suddenly looked up as if he’d remembered something.

“Oh, right!”

On the cliff above the shoreline,

the resistance’s elite warriors watched with mouths agape. All of them looked terrified.

Catching their eyes, Yu Seol signaled with a single gesture.

After a beat, thirty warriors gripping ropes sprang up at once.

Ta-at-! Tat-!

A few enemies still stood frozen, but fear had paralyzed them.

All that remained was to finish them off and seize the supplies.

The resistance fighters who had come to the surface began to charge.

Leading them was Im Pyeong-il, the most skilled among them.

“Slaughter them all!”

The resistance’s underground headquarters.

Yu Jinsan sat across from his officers in the operations room.

The atmosphere was completely different from before they had entered the training hall.

Everyone’s faces were relaxed.

Moreover, they looked noticeably fuller, as if they’d been eating their fill.

“Now you all look like people again.”

Il Kwang laughed at Yu Jinsan’s jest.

“Puhaha! It’s great we can eat without worry now. Look at all the supplies piled in the passage—spices, meat, all sorts of things.”

Il Kwang, with his hefty build, ate about five times more than an ordinary person.

Rations had been woefully insufficient, and they always had to forage to fill their bellies.

But from now on that wouldn’t be necessary. They could eat real food, not just anything to survive on.

Perhaps for that reason, Il Kwang seemed the most thrilled.

“It’s truly wonderful that everyone can eat their fill.”

“Ahem! This is all thanks to the Yin Monster warrior. It seems this wretched cave life won’t last much longer.”

He was already celebrating as if the island had been liberated.

It was encouraging, but not a reason to be careless.

Crucially, the biggest problem loomed right in front of them.

“Still, it’s a bit early to raise a toast. From the current situation, Jeon Sa-ryong will appear before long.”

“Hmm. No need to worry. Yang Monster Warrior knows best, doesn’t she? I’ll stake my neck on the fact that the Yin Monster warrior will win.”

Il Kwang seemed thoroughly smitten with Yu Seol’s martial skill.

Yu Jinsan didn’t argue. He had never imagined his invincible granddaughter losing.

The problem was their subordinates.

“But I don’t think Jeon Sa-ryong will act alone. How many absolute masters do you think are under their command?”

“Hmm. Recently the ambush team led by the Yin Monster warrior has reduced many numbers; it seems they’ve captured at least Blue Mask. The problem is the golden warriors wearing golden masks.”

They were the ones Il Kwang had mentioned seeing when he raided inside the barrier.

They only knew by reputation that each possessed tremendous martial skill, but little else.

“How many did the captain see?”

“When I fled from there in the past, I saw four in total. Whether there were more…”

Even Il Kwang couldn’t be sure.

Yu Jinsan clasped his hands and fell into thought.

If Jeon Sa-ryong appeared with only one or two people, there would be no problem.

But what if he brought all the golden warriors? The worst-case scenario left a bad feeling.

‘If it comes down to it, Il Kwang and I can each handle one. But the rest will cling to Seol with Jeon Sa-ryong.’

If that happened, they couldn’t guarantee the outcome.

They needed a way to minimize variables. But how?

“Hmm……”

No clever idea came to mind.

While they pondered,

suddenly cheers rang out from somewhere in the central passage.

“The ambush team has returned!”

“Waaaaah!!”

Yu Jinsan leapt from his seat.

It seemed his granddaughter had come back.

He could tell from the warriors’ shouts.

“The Yin Monster warrior did it again!”

“But who did they capture?”

Il Kwang, curious, rose as well.

As they hurried to meet the ambush team, they heard Yu Seol’s voice.

“Hey? The one with the golden mask was Jeon Sa-ryong’s subordinate.”

They’d captured a golden warrior? Il Kwang and Yu Jinsan flinched and exchanged a look.

Then they ran toward the voice at a single bound.