Chapter 53 : A Glimmer of Hope (3)

All movement stopped.

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins and the strong men who had followed the man stopped fighting and looked at the person who had fallen to the ground.

A man was lying there.

The man who had seemed invincible was lying there, bleeding profusely.

A blade was stuck in the man’s head. A blade that had suddenly fallen from the sky had struck his head.

What on earth had happened?

Everyone thought the same thing. Since the only thing they could see in front of them was a corpse struck by a blade, they could only be bewildered.

The three strong men immediately looked around.

A top master had appeared. And a very strong opponent, strong enough to kill the man in a single stroke.

But no matter how much they looked around, they couldn’t see a master, let alone a person’s shadow.

If a person had died, someone had to be there. A blade couldn’t just fall from the sky, could it? But no matter how much they looked around, there was no one. There was no one, but only a blade had fallen and had killed a martial artist who was close to being absolutely invincible in an instant.

The strong men stopped their attacks.

They could not move carelessly in a situation where their leader had died.

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins also did not move.

The strong men were hungry fierce beasts. Even if the Drunken Flower Garden assassins executed a joint attack formation, they could only barely maintain the current state. So, unless they moved, the Drunken Flower Garden would not move either.

They slowly looked around.

There must be a person who had thrown the blade.

‘That blade!’

Mongseol recognized the iron blade stuck in the man’s head at a glance.

It was Ah Geol’s half iron blade.

How could she not recognize the half iron blade that Ah Sam had made himself and had given to Ah Geol?

Ah Geol had always carried the half iron blade.

‘It’s him!’

As Ah Geol’s image flashed through her mind, a feeling of gladness welled up.

But there was something strange.

Ah Geol’s blade was the Heaven and Earth Cutting Sword that split heaven and earth. It was not a flying sword that threw the blade. Although he could kill the man with a flying sword, he would have to accumulate considerable study to do so.

Only a master who had professionally trained in the flying sword could do what he had just done.

The half iron blade that Ah Geol possessed was suitable for the Heaven and Earth Cutting Sword, but it was unsuitable for a flying sword.

He had killed a top master by executing an unfamiliar martial art with an unsuitable weapon?

This could only happen if Ah Geol was two or three times stronger than the man, but was Ah Geol that strong?

But this question also soon disappeared.

She was so glad that Ah Geol had come that a feeling of gladness welled up. The despair, fear, and anxiety disappeared as if they were a lie.

A person appeared.

He had shot up from the ground. No, he had fallen from the sky. It was a place where there had been no one until just a moment ago, but suddenly he was standing there. As naturally as if he had been there from the beginning.

Who was he?

He did not look like a martial artist.

First of all, his outward appearance was not like a martial artist. He did not have the strong muscles of a martial artist. Even if he was not a muscular man, a martial artist would show a sharpness, but he did not show any threat.

Even his gaze was bland.

There was no killing intent or fighting spirit in his eyes. It was not the gaze of a weak person, but it was not the gaze of a strong person either. It was so plain and calm that no emotion could be read.

The impression at a glance was ordinary.

He was a common man that could be seen anywhere.

Thud! Thud!

He walked.

His gait was also not like a martial artist. He walked as naturally as a young man from the countryside going to work in the fields. His entire body was in a defenseless state, so he looked like an opponent who could be knocked down at any time.

He was a person who did not need to be wary of.

But there was something strange.

How could she not have known until such an ordinary person had come close?

Even though she was in the middle of a fight, it was strange that she had only just realized that someone had appeared.

Who are you? Where did you appear from? Where did you come from?

One person, two people… they began to look at him.

When another person looked at someone, there were also people who only then felt that something was strange and turned their heads.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He walked calmly, not caring about the gazes of the many people, and stood next to the Drunken Flower Garden assassin.

He held out his hand.

Then another strange thing happened.

The Drunken Flower Garden assassin, as if she had lost her mind, inadvertently handed over the sword she was holding.

This was something that could not happen.

For a martial artist, and a fighting assassin at that, to hand over their weapon to another… was no different from handing over their own life to a stranger.

The man had not opened his mouth and asked for the sword. He was not someone she had known from before. He was a stranger she had seen for the first time now. He was a person who looked extremely ordinary.

When such a person extended his hand, the Drunken Flower Garden assassin had handed over the sword as if possessed by a ghost.

Whirik! Whik!

The man swung the sword in the air.

He checked the weight of the sword. He adjusted the position so that the sword would be held tightly in his hand. He also checked the thickness of the hilt, and the sharpness of the sword. He grasped all of this with a single swing.

The man gripped the sword tightly.

The weapon adjustment was over.

Thud! Thud!

He walked towards the strong man who was surrounded by the Drunken Flower Garden assassins.

The strong man suddenly came to his senses and raised his blade.

“Who are you! Who are you… uh!”

The strong man shouted and then hurriedly lowered his body. And he quickly extended his blade.

The stranger had already floated up into the air.

He had shot up very quickly… but it was so natural that the thought of it being fast did not even arise. But like the moon in the night sky, he only knew that he was in the air.

The strong man instinctively realized that it was dangerous. So he had extended his blade.

Kaang! Peok!

The sword struck down, ignoring the blade.

The blade was split in half. At the same time, the strong man’s head was cut off helplessly.

“Hmph!”

Mongseol smirked.

When she realized that the person who had appeared was Ah Geol, the tension that had been on edge disappeared as if it had melted away.

She had clearly seen how Ah Geol had cut down the strong man.

It was not the blade she had seen in the stable.

The blade she had seen, the blade art that had cut down the Living Sword Sect disciples with a chopper, was the Heaven and Earth Cutting Blade that split heaven and earth in an instant.

The sword art that Ah Geol was using now was also similar to the Heaven and Earth Cutting Blade. But something was slightly off. If you asked what it was, she had nothing to say, but she could say that it was different.

‘Thank you. For coming.’

She sat down on the ground with a smile on her lips. And she sat in a cross-legged position.

Her true energy was quite unstable.

The upper palace true energy should have been almost imperceptible, as if it were flowing and not flowing, but it was wriggling like a rapid current.

She closed her eyes and calmed her mind.

“Hoo!”

She took a long breath in and out. She raised her true energy and let it flow through her four limbs and hundred vessels. And she concentrated it again on her upper palace. She proceeded slowly, very slowly.

Energy Circulation and Breath Regulation!

If someone were to see what she was doing now, they would be so surprised that they would be frightened.

Energy circulation and breath regulation in the middle of a fight? Was she in her right mind?

Of course, she knew that the internal injury she had received from the man was very serious. And that she could not use her sword in a state of internal injury.

But, while practicing energy circulation and breath regulation, her entire body was exposed in a defenseless state.

So, when you had to practice energy circulation and breath regulation in the wild, a colleague or an acquaintance would stand guard. There was no case like Mongseol’s, where she practiced energy circulation without even setting up a guard.

Did Mongseol not know such a thing?

At other times, she would never practice energy circulation. But it was different now. Her mind was very at ease. It wasn’t just energy circulation, she felt that she could even stretch out her two legs and go to sleep.

Ah Geol was there.

There was no one who could do anything to her now.

If someone were to harm her, it would be a situation where Ah Geol had died or was so seriously injured that he could not move.

As long as Ah Geol was moving, she was safe.

She trusted Ah Geol that much.

It wasn’t that she had built up a romantic relationship with Ah Geol. There was nothing that could be called love or affection. But wasn’t she his fiancée, in name? Although it was only in name.

Ah Geol had known from the beginning that she was his fiancée.

When she had entered the stable to escape the Living Sword Sect disciples, he had already known. No, he would have known from the moment the assassination of Gangjo had been decided. He might have known even before that.

He had known everything and had pretended not to.

A bad guy!

In any case… Ah Geol would not let her die.

She believed it for sure.

‘Hooo!’

Mongseol completely forgot the fight happening around her and sank into her inner self.

* * *

Sasat! Sasasatat!

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins moved busily.

They broke the Five Elements Formation. And they moved far away and formed a large circular formation.

A stranger had intervened in the fight.

The fight between the Drunken Flower Garden assassins and the strong men had changed to a fight between the strong men and the stranger.

A spacious enough space was created for the two strong men and the man, three people, to fight. They would fight, and it was expected that the two strong men would be defeated.

But they did not let down their guard either.

The strong men also knew that they were no match for the man. Their superior, who had been much stronger than them, had died in a single stroke, and their colleague had been killed without being able to block even one move.

Even if the two of them attacked together, there was no chance of winning.

If so, they could also think of escaping.

It was much easier to break through the Drunken Flower Garden assassins than to face the man.

Of course, now it had become difficult to face the Drunken Flower Garden assassins as well. The number of people each strong man had to face was eight, and the man was also chasing them.

If they intended to break through the encirclement, they had to break through in an instant.

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins also thought of this. So they had deliberately even formed a large circular formation and had solidified their defense.

Now, the choice was passed to the strong men.

Will you break through the encirclement and escape, or will you fight an absurdly strong person?

“This… I never dreamed that today would be my death anniversary. If I had known it would be like this, I would have sown my seeds long ago. There has to be someone to set up the memorial service table, right?”

“Kikik! A guy like us, we don’t even know where or what we’ll be doing when we die, so what’s with the memorial service table?”

The strong men readjusted their grip on their blades.

‘They’re going to fight!’

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins read the strong men’s minds.

If it were them, they would rather break through a possible place, even if it was difficult, than fight a man as strong as an iron wall. Honestly, with the strong men’s martial arts, escape was not entirely impossible.

And yet, the strong men chose to fight.

It meant that what was waiting for them after breaking through the encirclement and escaping was less interesting than dying here.

An assassin who had failed in an assassination was not welcomed even if they returned to the main garden.

First, they would be dragged to the punishment hall, and they would have to be investigated to see if it was a matter that could be forgiven.

If this investigation was very harsh, they would choose death rather than returning. In fact, the majority of assassins in the central plains had the thought that failure in an assassination was death.

The strong men were also like that.

Where on earth had these people come from? It was unlikely that the Sacred Sword Sect or the Living Sword Sect had raised such scoundrels… they must have come from a very vicious unorthodox sect, or a demonic sect.

“Chaat!”

“Chat!”

The strong men launched their bodies at the same time.

In that instant, the stranger threw his sword at the two men.

As if throwing a swastika shuriken, he held the hilt with two fingers and threw it as if flicking it.

Hwirureureung!

The sword spun fiercely and stirred the air.

“Uh! Ak!”

“Kuk!”

The two strong men let out a scream at the same time and fell.

One of them was hit by the flying sword. The sword that had flown while spinning had cut through his abdomen.

The strong man had tried to dodge, but the revolving sword was too fast.

The other one had died at the man’s hands.

The man who had come close in an instant had snatched the revolving sword and had cut his chest.

It was a dazzlingly fast movement technique.

“Ah!”

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins opened their mouths wide without realizing it.

(End of Chapter)