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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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I was finally able to beat some useful information out of the guy.
The current leader of the Dark Earth Gang was a guy named Yeon Mi-pyeong, whose skill was supposedly around second-rate martial artist level. He apparently valued loyalty, but was also incredibly cruel, and it was through this charisma that he brought together the lowliest of the black path and formed the Dark Earth Gang. It seemed that was all over now.
It seemed many had deserted after we killed four of the Dark Earth Gang members this time, thinking they’d been attacked by a master.
So now, including the leader, only six remained.
And one of them was this bastard.
“What about Oh Su-man?”
“H-He’s completely wrecked! We’re worried we needlessly drew in a master…!”
Their forces were already depleted, and now one was finished.
Good news.
“So there are only four actual fighters. Hey, Jaemison. Aren’t we lucky? It looks like we just need to kill four.”
“Fewer than expected… Heh heh. We are lucky.”
And earlier, I saw some guys going in and out of the warehouse. If you include those who left, doesn’t that mean that besides Yeon Mi-pyeong and Oh Su-man, there’s practically no one inside right now?
“Jaemison. I think we can do it now. There were the guys who left earlier too. Now’s the perfect time to strike.”
“It seems we can settle this grudge quickly… Ah, but I have one question.”
Jaemison said, looking down.
“Anything, Master!”
“Now that I think about it, this is Oh Su-man’s grudge… Why is the Dark Earth Gang taking care of it? I mean, why is the gang as a whole settling a mere underling’s grudge?”
“Ah, that’s…”
The guy explained timidly.
“That… Y-Yeon Mi-pyeong, that bastard, he wanted to show off his loyalty, and also! To capture the target alive and execute him cruelly, th-that’s what he said!”
“Huh.”
It wasn’t a proper explanation, but I could get the gist of it.
In other words, his plan was to resolve a gang member’s grudge at the gang level to inspire loyalty and devotion, then publicly and cruelly execute me as a performance to solidify his image as a fearsome leader.
If gang members not only remain loyal to the organization but also fear their leader, the organization would undoubtedly become very strong.
Yeon Mi-pyeong was seemingly planning to strengthen the Dark Earth Gang this way.
It was a decent plan, and I could tell that Yeon Mi-pyeong was a competent black path thug who knew how to scheme.
Thud!
“Ugh…!”
I finished off the Dark Earth Gang lackey, having served his purpose.
No mercy once war begins.
I felt a pang of something heavy in my heart, like I’d been killing people too easily lately, but if I don’t do this, I’m the one who dies. For me to live. And for Jaemison and me to survive in this place, Yeon Mi-pyeong, the leader of the Dark Earth Gang, absolutely had to die.
“Let’s go, Jaemison.”
“Just a moment… I’m going to buy some tools.”
“Tools?”
“Kek… Wouldn’t it be a sure win if we started by setting fire to the warehouse?”
Jaemison smiled slyly.
“Great idea! You’re a true genius! You’re like Zhuge Liang!”
“Heh heh, stop with the ridiculous flattery.”
Arson, huh? Quite brilliant.
We immediately headed to the nearby shopping district and bought the necessary items for arson. It was a shame to spend the money, but we’d probably find something if we raided their base. Though black path thugs are usually broke, their bosses usually have something.
And so, we headed back to the Dark Earth Gang’s headquarters.
“…”
Even a rotten fish has some bones, as they say, and there was one guy guarding the entrance. I communicated with Jaemi-son through sign language and took a wider route, positioning myself a bit away from the left side of the warehouse. Jaemison took a position on the right side.
We planned to attack simultaneously upon my signal.
“…”
I saw Jaemison peeking his head out from his side.
The operation began as he raised his fist.
Swish.
Casually.
Pretending nothing was amiss, I approached the guy guarding the warehouse.
“Hm? What?”
The moment he recognized me,
Whoosh!
I broke into a run. As I sprinted, the guy panicked and tried to draw his weapon, yelling something, but at that moment,
Thud!
Jaemison’s strange weapon pierced the guy’s lower back.
“Gah…!”
I immediately swung my sword, taking the guy’s head. It wasn’t a clean cut. With his carotid artery severed, the guy collapsed, gushing blood from his neck.
A truly stealthy assassination.
The guy would never know who killed him.
Not only that, but immediately after killing the guy, Jaemison set up the fire-starting tools in front of the warehouse and used a fire starter to ignite them. His skill was so proficient it was almost like he was telling some Firebat loser to get lost, truly impressive. Did this guy play with fire as a kid?
Whoosh!
A small flame flickered to life.
“Huff, huff!”
I fanned the flames with my hand, and Jaemison blew on them with his mouth, nurturing the embers.
“Done.”
We killed the gatekeeper and set fire to the entrance. Preparations were complete.
Yeon Mi-pyeong would soon jump out in surprise, and we just had to kill him then.
Thump-thump!
It was literally boss hunting time. My heart raced. But the ambush was successful, and I had Jaemison, a reliable partner, by my side.
There was nothing to fear. With our combined strength, black path scum like this was nothing.
I immediately signaled Jaemison with sign language to wait on either side of the entrance, and as we took our positions,
“God damn it! What the! Why’s there a fire!”
An irritated voice erupted from inside the warehouse as the door swung open forcefully. Fighting spirit and rage surged within me. This bastard had tried to kill me, for his own damn selfish reasons!
Gritting my teeth, I confirmed the target.
Bald with sharp features.
This was Yeon Mi-pyeong, the leader of the Dark Earth Gang!
“Graaaaah!”
“Hah!”
The ambush commenced.
“Wh-What?!”
Jaemison and I kicked off the ground simultaneously and lunged towards Yeon Mi-pyeong with our weapons drawn. Yeon Mi-pyeong, startled, drew his sword, but he seemed unsure of what to do.
Well, I would be too.
If I suddenly found a fire outside and was then ambushed from both sides by crazy murderous bastards, even a trained master would find the situation tricky. What could a mere black path scum do?
“Shit!”
Yeon Mi-pyeong cursed loudly and swung his sword at Jaemison’s strange weapon.
Jaemison, of course, used the unique form of his weapon to catch Yeon Mi-pyeong’s sword.
That was the end.
“Die, leader of the Dark Earth Gang!”
“Noooooo!”
There was no need to even use the Great Flow Sword Technique.
Just pure force.
I thrust my sword toward the defenseless man’s back. Purple sparks flew from the blade of my Sky Thunder Sword. It felt a little nostalgic to see them again, but I didn’t have time to think about that now.
I was too busy killing people.
Thwack!
“Gahk!”
Yeon Mi-pyeong received his unavoidable death sentence.
My Sky Thunder Sword pierced through his stomach.
After confirming that, I pulled out the sword. He couldn’t do anything. He just collapsed, clutching his stomach. He couldn’t even put up a final struggle or leave any last words. All he could do was bleed profusely from his pierced body.
“Mi-pyeong, it’s me. Kim Geun-hyeop, your target. You dared to try and target us… You’ll pay for that sin with your life.”
“Cr-Crazy… Cough, to ambush me like this… Ugh.”
His words were brief.
Yeon Mi-pyeong, the leader of the Dark Earth Gang, died just like that.
“It’s over.”
“Not yet… Check inside.”
“Right. Let’s put out the fire first.”
The fire wasn’t that big. The fire-starting tools we hurriedly bought were nothing special. The scale of the rising flames was limited.
However, it was enough to ignite this modest hell.
Tap, tap, tap!
We promptly started tap-dancing on the fire to put it out, but then we gave up and tossed Yeon Mi-pyeong’s corpse on it to try and extinguish it. Dong Zhuo… illuminated the entire festival with his own fat. I hoped Yeon Mi-pyeong could do the same.
With that wish, we entered the warehouse.
“Ugh… What the…”
Inside, we found Oh Su-man, completely wrecked, crawling on the ground.
A welcome friend.
The culprit who started all this.
“Nice to see you, Su-man. It’s Geun-hyeop. How have you been?”
“Wh-What?! Y-You!”
L”I killed Mi-pyeong… It’s time for you to follow him. Let’s go. The guys are waiting. Mi-pyeong is waiting for you in hell.”
“You son of a bitch!”
In his final moments, Oh Su-man displayed an unbelievable amount of fighting spirit. But it was all for naught. He could do nothing with his limbs shattered.
I unleashed the Great Flow Sword Technique.
The fiercely swirling flow transformed into a sharp sword strike that plunged into Oh Su-man’s head. I couldn’t completely cleave it in two, but that was enough to kill a man.
It was also enough to sever this damned grudge.
“Whew.”
The final kill.
A sense of exhaustion washed over me.
Everything felt like a dream.
“It’s truly over.”
There were gang members outside, but seeing their headquarters and leader destroyed, they would surely abandon their organization and flee.
“Ah… This is the end.”
“Let’s collect the spoils of war, Jaemison.”
“Kek… The most exciting part.”
Jaemison stood guard while I quickly searched the warehouse. All I found was a little cash and some weapons. A meager reward for killing. Still, I pocketed everything and went outside.
“Let’s check this bastard too.”
I immediately searched Yeon Mi-pyeong’s body.
“Oh!”
This guy had more money than I thought!
He had several small silver ingots on him!
“Heh heh, I guess as the leader of a black path gang, he had a decent stash.”
“Hey, Jaemison. Let’s split this exactly fifty-fifty.”
“Kek… That’s why I like you.”
We took their weapons, but honestly, nothing caught my eye as the owner of the Sky Thunder Sword. I could probably sell them to a blacksmith for 100 mun.
Having finished up, we casually left the murder scene.
Lowly black path thugs killing each other was so commonplace that it wasn’t even news. Even internet gossip mongers ignored it. New thugs would simply take their place, and no one would remember the defunct Dark Earth Gang.
Just another story.
The conclusion of a cheap grudge.
“With this, one grudge is settled…”
Jaemison said, looking up at the sky with his arms crossed.
“Indeed.”
“But Geun-hyeop… don’t let your guard down. Grudges in the martial world are endless.”
“Endless?”
“We’re already caught in the vortex of grudges.”
The vortex of grudges.
“Unexpected connections… like friends, brothers, family, or acquaintances of those Dark Earth Gang scum. They might come looking for revenge.”
“Ah.”
“We killed everyone here to prevent future trouble… but you never know. Someone might find out about us somewhere and try to get revenge. Plus, those who ran away earlier and those who were outside might have similar thoughts.”
“…Then what should we do?”
Jaemison’s gaze pierced me.
“We just live.”
His shining eyes were visible through his shaggy, almost visual novel protagonist-like hair.
“Living with grudges until the day we die. That’s what it means to be a martial artist.”
Jaemison, saying that, honestly looked pretty damn cool.
That day, I was captivated by Jaemison’s martial philosophy and shared drinks with him, solidifying our friendship. Only today did I truly become a martial artist.
A being who lives entwined with grudges until their dying breath.
That is a martial artist.
I will walk proudly within that vortex of grudges.
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