Chapter 135 : Chapter 135

Chapter 135. Restoration (3)

I asked the blacksmith.

“How long will the repairs take?”

“One full day should be enough.”

“Does that mean it will be finished tomorrow?”

“Look at the state of the sword. Even one day is fast.”

After a moment of thought, I shook my head.

“I will have it repaired after I kill Sura Blood Blade.”

“……What is the reason?”

“While you are repairing the sword, won’t that man continue to torment innocent people? How can I just stand by and watch?”

“……”

For some reason, this time even the daughter behind the man began to look at me strangely.

Fortunately, the blacksmith seemed to understand and belatedly nodded.

“Indeed, if he were to suddenly show up while I’m repairing it, you would have to fight empty-handed.”

Saying so, the blacksmith returned inside the forge, then came back with several swords.

“Choose one that fits your hand and take it. I will lend it to you until this sword is repaired.”

I thought about refusing, but since I was only borrowing it for a short time, I decided to accept.

After swinging the few swords the blacksmith had offered me several times, I chose the one most similar to the Restoring Name Sword and clasped my hands in a salute to the blacksmith.

“Thank you. I will return after killing Sura Blood Blade with this sword.”

“For the sake of returning that sword, please be sure to come back alive.”

It could have sounded calculating, but it felt like the blacksmith’s own way of cheering me on.

Soon after, as if remembering something, the blacksmith let out a faint exclamation and said.

“Ah. Come to think of it, we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet. I am Great Jade Yeo.”

“My surname is Jin, and my name is Yuseong.”

After the introductions, something came to my mind, and I asked.

“What kind of place is that Cheonsu Gang that Sura Blood Blade went to?”

The answer that came back was concise.

“They are Underworld bastards who have made their nest here.”

“Are they similar to Sura Blood Blade?”

“They are.”

I had worried that those Cheonsu Gang members might also be being threatened by Sura Blood Blade, but there was no need for that anymore.

“I will go and clean them all up along with Sura Blood Blade.”

“Clean up……?”

Ignoring the daughter’s voice muttering in confusion, we left the forge.

After moving for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, we arrived near a manor with a plaque that read ‘Cheonsu Gang.’

Two men who appeared to be gatekeepers spotted us, frowned, and asked.

“Who are you bastards!?”

Since I already had the information I needed, there was no reason to converse with trash.

I launched myself using my movement art, lunged in, and cut down the gatekeepers.

Swish!

Nam Geon, who followed behind, swung the Mother’s Affection Sword with a shout.

“Haat!”

The gate of the Cheonsu Gang literally exploded.

BOOM!!

As soon as we stepped inside the Cheonsu Gang, Underworld bastards popped out from all over.

“Wh-where did you bastards come from!”

“Do you have any idea where you are!”

Such a cliché shout.

“Where is Sura Blood Blade?”

At my question, the men began to exchange glances.

Since there was no need to be polite and resolve this through conversation, I charged at them.

Swish!

After my companions and I took care of a few of them, a shout erupted from the back.

“Get out of the way!!”

Soon, a middle-aged man hastily appeared.

“Who are you to dare attack our Cheonsu Gang!”

I asked him.

“Where is Sura Blood Blade?”

The one who answered my question was not him.

From behind him, another middle-aged man appeared and said.

“Tsk. Just when things were about to get fun.”

What could he have been enjoying?

Well, it probably wasn’t anything important.

The middle-aged man who had been talking to me turned his head and said to that man.

“Those men are looking for you, Lord Wi.”

The man called Lord Wi made an annoyed expression.

“Hehehe. Gang Leader. It almost sounds like you’re ordering me to clean up these vermin, doesn’t it?”

“Th-there’s no way! I-I was just telling you in case you knew them, my lord.”

It was an absurd sight.

Judging by the title ‘Gang Leader,’ that man must be the head of this Cheonsu Gang.

Yet the man called Gang Leader was busy brown-nosing and watching his every move.

But thanks to that, I had an idea of who this man called Lord Wi was.

“So you are Sura Blood Blade.”

“Hehehe. You must be some prodigies from a righteous sect who’ve lost your nerve after hearing of my great name. So, where are you from?”

He was subtly asking about my affiliation.

It was obvious what he was up to.

“Why? Are you scared to touch us if we’re from a renowned sect?”

He was a man who, despite gaining infamy as an unorthodox master, would in the future even hold a Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony and leave.

It wasn't just because his skills were outstanding.

He acted like an unorthodox master who feared nothing, but he never touched those who were truly dangerous.

He was a typical petty person who only acted tough in front of the weak.

“If you’re curious about my sect, why don’t you try killing me and find out, coward.”

I thought his eyes would flip, but surprisingly, he just smiled sinisterly.

“Hehehehe. Judging by the way you talk, you don’t seem to be from a righteous sect. Alright. Let’s see you die today.”

As expected of a man who lived by his wits, he was quick on the uptake.

Instead of rushing at me alone, he turned his head and looked at the Cheonsu Gang Leader.

“What are you doing?”

“Yes?”

When the Cheonsu Gang Leader gave a foolish response, Sura Blood Blade clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. What? Are you hoping to gain something from this fight?”

“Ah! O-of course not!”

The startled Cheonsu Gang Leader hastily gave an order to his subordinates.

“Attack!!”

But the Underworld bastards of the Cheonsu Gang did not rush in easily.

It was because they had already seen several of them die and fall.

But that was only for a moment.

“Heoeo. It seems you’re more scared of that little brat than of me.”

As Sura Blood Blade sighed and opened his mouth, the men all rushed in at once.

“K-kill them!!”

Sura Blood Blade, who had given the order as if he were the gang leader, just stood by with his arms crossed, watching.

It seemed he intended to observe our martial arts by using those Underworld bastards.

As I watched that scene, my anger flared.

Come to think of it, that man was fated to live a comfortable life from now on.

Though he was scheduled to be killed by the Lust Demon in the future, that was more than a decade away.

The things he did to the lord of the Confucian Manor, no, the head of the Pung’un Merchant Group, and the way he threatened the blacksmith at Yeo’s Forge.

Just seeing the fear in the eyes of the commoners in this area made it obvious what kind of things that man had been doing.

For such a man to live in luxury for over a decade and even hold a Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony.

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed King Yama had accidentally left his name out of the book of the dead.

In that case, this time, I would have to correct King Yama’s mistake.

“I’ll send you to hell!”

Ignoring the Underworld riffraff closing in from all sides, I used my movement art, looking only at him.

BOOM!!

The ground exploded, and my body soared into the air.

“Clean up the rest of the trash!”

After giving the order to my companions, I ran straight for Sura Blood Blade, stepping on the heads and shoulders of the Underworld bastards blocking my path.

The distance closed in an instant.

“Heh.”

Sura Blood Blade, who had let out a dry laugh, uncrossed his arms.

In an instant, his left hand gripped the scabbard, and his right hand gripped the handle of the blade.

With a Sword Drawing Art so fast it was hard to follow with the eyes, a crescent-shaped blade qi formed in the air.

Swoooosh.

The blade qi, accompanied by the sound of tearing air, flew toward my neck. I, too, swung my sword to block it.

Clang!

While my body was falling, Sura Blood Blade rushed at me with the Bow Body Ejection Shadow technique.

The first eye, which had opened at some point, saw a single trajectory embroidered in the air as his blade flew in with the speed of a sunbeam.

Since it was difficult to move my body freely in the air, I swung my sword to meet that trajectory.

A clear metallic sound rang out, and the energies coiled around the sword and blade intertwined.

CLANG!!

As I got closer, the smell of alcohol and a woman’s powder wafted from him.

I had an idea of what he meant earlier by ‘just when things were about to get fun.’

Soon after, the man, who had quickly recovered his blade, swung a second strike.

It felt rather cumbersome to block without my feet on the ground.

Swish!

The fabric of my forearm was finally cut, and a faint spray of blood flew out.

But it was only a graze. Now that I was on the ground, I used my footwork to dodge his blade and thrust my sword.

Each other’s sword and blade cut through the other’s clothes.

Swish.

And he took a step back and snorted.

“You little brat, you seem to have learned a thing or two.”

“Let’s see if you can still run that mouth of yours in front of King Yama.”

“Heh. A man who won’t listen to reason.”

He corrected his posture and then swung his blade in succession.

After several exchanges of dodging with footwork or blocking by meeting it with my sword, I had an idea of why his alias was Sura Blood Blade.

His blade art was focused on speed and illusion.

The continuous slashes that flew in left afterimages in the air.

And because of those afterimages, it looked as if a monster with six arms was swinging a blade.

A blade art that mixed the principles of speed and illusion.

In fact, speed and illusion were not a very good combination.

After all, speed was all about how fast one was.

It was better to swing the blade straight than to mix in feints.

But his blade art filled the gap between speed and illusion in a peculiar way.

The six arms and blades that looked like illusions or afterimages.

One of them suddenly flew toward my neck.

To be precise, it wasn't an afterimage, but his blade qi hidden between the afterimages.

Swoooosh!

As I bent my neck to dodge, this time his blade flew toward my heart.

Clang!

When I blocked even that by swinging my sword, a change finally appeared on his face.

“Heoeo. It seems you’ve heard about my blade art from somewhere.”

I snorted at his guess.

“You mean this?”

This time, I launched an offensive against him in reverse.

I unleashed One Sun, Ten Thousand Lights, wrapping my sword in sword silk, and then poured out a series of concise strikes.

And between those attacks, I stealthily mixed in and shot out Azure Heaven’s Hidden Smile.

At that, he twisted his upper body with a startled face.

Swish!

His chest was cut, and blood flowed out.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a serious injury. It was just a shallow cut on the outer skin.

He shouted with an angry face.

“How dare this bastard try to steal my martial art!”

He was a madman, no doubt.

He seemed to think it was a divine art that only he could have come up with.

He was spouting such nonsense about a martial art created at least five hundred years before him.

But that didn’t mean he was a complete fool.

“Haaat!”

Unlike before when he was acting relaxed, he now swung his blade with a shout.

As expected, six afterimages were drawn in the air, but the result that followed was a little different.

One of the six afterimages was the blade he was actually swinging, and swoooosh!, two or three streams of blade qi stealthily flew in, aiming for my vital points.

It was truly a cumbersome technique.

It would have been easier to deal with if all six were real, but some were real and some were fake.

From the perspective of the one on the receiving end, it was a blade art that would make one’s eyes dizzy.

That is, if it weren’t me.

Whoosh.

I dodged the blade qi flying from between the afterimages by minimally twisting my body or using footwork.

Clang!

And I always deflected or parried the blade he swung himself with my sword.

Thanks to the second eye being open, I could see clearly.

Which of the six afterimages was real, and which was fake.

In addition to the trajectory embroidered in the air, I could clearly see the energy from his body gathering toward the blade, so there was no way I could be fooled by the afterimages.

“Hehehehehe. It seems King Yama really wants me to bring you to him.”