Chapter 52. Connection (2)

The spear qi, which could be called the symbol of a peak master.

Laughter flowed out on its own.

Yes.

The past few days had been too peaceful.

On the way to Heavenly Sun Village, there were no Black Thugs or mountain bandits who could be called masters.

How could I not be delighted to meet an enemy who might be helpful for my training after so long?

The enemy's thoughts seemed a little different, though.

“You're laughing?”

The man who had been smiling slyly frowned.

“How dare you laugh after seeing the spear qi of this Blood Shadow Ghost Spear elder. I wonder if you're a fool who can't recognize spear qi, or a madman. Let's find out.”

The man still pointed his spear at me and gave an order to his subordinates.

“Don't kill him, we need to find out who's backing him. However, you just need to keep him alive, so it doesn't matter if you cut off an arm or a leg.”

A peculiar word was mixed in.

Backing, what did that mean?

But I soon lost interest.

I could find out after killing a few of them and torturing them.

The men in black who jumped out of the bushes. Eleven of them, who seemed to have been sent by the Black Market, surrounded us from all sides and approached.

And at the moment the distance narrowed to some extent.

When one of the men in black let out a shout, several of them charged at once.

“Attack!!”

Through my wide-open eyes, I could see several strands of trajectories embroidered in the air.

I twisted my upper body minimally to avoid the blade flying towards my shoulder, and was about to take a step diagonally and thrust my sword towards the enemy in the front left.

But the moment I took a step, a new trajectory appeared.

A trajectory that grazed past the side of the enemy I was aiming for and pierced straight through my thigh.

Phat!

Right after I hastily stepped on the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps and took a step to the right.

Swish!

A sharp spearhead pierced through the place where I had been.

It was the spear of that peak master who called himself Blood Shadow Ghost Spear or something.

“Hoh.”

The man had an interested expression.

At the same time, he once again aimed for the gap between the men in black and thrust his spear.

This time, his spear was imbued with blood-red spear qi.

It was an attack that was burdensome to clash with directly. Meanwhile, from the side, a man in black was swinging his sword.

I swung my sword to parry the man in black's sword and unfolded the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps.

Slice.

I managed to avoid the spear by a hair's breadth, but the hem of my clothes at my side was cut off.

Clang! Clang!!

The sound of metal clashing rang out continuously from behind.

It was the sound of Nam Geon getting beaten up diligently.

“Indeed, they said you've achieved Blade and Sword Immunity. It seems it wasn't just a rumor.”

The Blood Shadow Ghost Spear, who muttered that, stepped on a footwork and moved his position as if to get out of my sight.

It wasn't easy to follow his movements because the men in black positioned on all sides were taking turns swinging their swords or blades.

It would be a different story if the men in black were complete amateurs, but all eleven of them had skills that could be called first-rate.

But whether the opponent was a peak master or eleven first-rate masters, they would die if they were stabbed with a knife all the same.

After watching the movements of the men in black for a moment through the trajectories visible in the air.

Slice!

At the cost of my forearm being lightly cut by the blade swung from the right, I succeeded in piercing the neck of one of the men in black in front of me.

Right after that. A chilling slicing sound came from behind.

Slice!

It wasn't the sound of Nam Geon finishing off a man in black. If it was a sound made by Nam Geon's Mother's Affection Sword, it would have been a crushing sound.

“O-older brother!”

Sohyang calls for Nam Geon with a pale face.

A faint stream of blood was flowing from Nam Geon's side.

It was a wound caused by the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear's spear qi.

“I-it's okay. I, I can endure this much.”

“B-but……. B-because of me.”

It seemed his side was cut by the spearmaster's surprise attack that aimed for an opening while he was trying to protect Sohyang.

I glanced over and fortunately, the wound wasn't deep enough to damage his internal organs.

It seemed he had managed to avoid a serious injury by twisting his body at the last moment.

After that, their movements changed slightly.

While they were launching a coordinated attack on us, they would swing their weapons at Sohyang in between.

Naturally, my and Nam Geon's movements were bound to be restricted.

Curses were about to spew out on their own.

It wasn't because of their cowardice.

It was natural for trash to fight like trash. I wasn't stupid enough to complain about something like this.

The problem was that I wasn't used to this kind of fight. To fighting while protecting someone.

It was because the me before regression always traveled alone.

Even after I started traveling with Sohyang, I had only faced weak opponents, so I hadn't recognized that there was such a problem.

That was right.

The reason I was angry was not because of their cowardly methods.

It was anger at myself for not having prepared, even though I knew full well that the trash would come out cowardly.

But I couldn't just get angry like an idiot and die.

If I hadn't prepared, I just had to start preparing one by one from now on.

First, I decided to take care of Sohyang, who must have been surprised by the sudden situation.

“Junior Sister!!”

“Ye-yes, Senior Brother.”

“We will win anyway!! So watch carefully! Watching is also a part of training!”

I had no talent for comforting someone.

So, this was the best encouragement I could give.

Yes. It was a crisis she would have to face at some point anyway if she was going to be involved in Jianghu.

It would be a good experience for Junior Sister.

“How dare this brat look away!”

A man in black glares and swings his blade.

At the same time, a piece of trash was thrusting his blade towards Sohyang from the right.

I sharply twisted my body and thrust my sword towards the right.

Two slicing sounds rang out at the same time.

Slice!

The sound of my sword piercing the neck of the Black Thug who was aiming for Sohyang.

Slice!

And, the sound of a blade grazing past my back.

A smile naturally forms at the burning pain I feel on my back.

“Hehehe. Yes. I just need to kill them one by one.”

If I just focus on protecting Sohyang, I'll run out of strength and die.

I just had to be prepared to take a few stabs, avoid the vital points, and kill them.

Just in time, Nam Geon also succeeded in crushing a man in black to death with his Mother's Affection Sword.

Slice.

Crack!

While his forearm was cut by the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear's spear.

It seemed that fellow had also changed his strategy to sacrificing flesh to take the bone, just like me.

Ah, come to think of it, that was the only way that guy knew how to fight in the first place.

Nam Geon, who had crushed one man in black, endured the pain and shouted loudly.

“We, we fight well! Hyang, don't worry!”

I nodded my head on its own.

I glanced at the remaining eight men in black and the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear behind them and said.

“Well, let's see who dies first.”

After that, a bloody battle continued.

The men in black periodically swung their weapons, aiming for Sohyang.

In the process of protecting Sohyang, the wounds on my and Nam Geon's bodies increased.

But I no longer focused solely on defense.

Slice!

While another wound appeared on my forearm.

Crack!

I finally succeeded in piercing the heart of one of the men in black.

“Eight.”

As I counted the remaining enemies and grinned, the men in black around me flinched.

Whether their pride was hurt by that fact, they belatedly contorted their faces and charged again.

“How dare a brat laugh at us?”

“I'll rip you to shreds!!”

The smile on my lips deepened.

It wasn't because it was the life-and-death struggle I had longed for.

I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous they looked.

“I don't think that's something for guys who are making a big fuss in a group just to catch one brat to say, is it?”

As expected, trash was strict with others and endlessly lenient with themselves.

After dodging or parrying the swords and blades swung by things less than insects for a moment.

The girl's shout came from behind.

It wasn't a scream for help from a girl in crisis.

“Older brother!! Your eyes!!”

A shout with unexpected content.

Soon, the sound of metal rang out.

Clang!

Nam Geon suddenly offered his thanks.

“Th-thank you, Hyang!”

It seemed a Black Thug had avoided the Blade and Sword Immunity and aimed for Nam Geon's eyes.

What was surprising was that Sohyang had noticed it and warned Nam Geon.

I had told Sohyang to watch the fight, but I hadn't said it expecting something like this.

I wondered if a true genius was on a different level.

It had only been about ten days since she started learning martial arts.

She was a girl who couldn't join this fight because of her pitifully weak body and internal energy, but it seemed her eyes and insight were keeping up with the flow of the battle.

“I guess I don't have to worry about what's behind me.”

My mind felt much more at ease.

I swung my sword towards the trajectory I saw.

Clang!!

Sparks flew from the clashing sword, and the trajectory of the blade aiming for my forearm was deflected to the side.

A sword art that utilized the subtlety of yielding. It was a technique made possible thanks to the method of using my eyes that I realized during the duel with the former Azure Sword Sect's Leader.

The deflected man in black's blade collides with another man in black's sword that was flying in from the side.

Soon, while the sound of metal rang out.

Clang!!

I quickly twisted my body and thrust my sword to the left.

A blade was flying in from there as well.

It was too late to completely dodge and counterattack.

I didn't expect that in the first place.

With the mindset that it was enough as long as I didn't die, I minimally twisted my upper body and thrust my sword.

Slice.

Crack!!

While my shoulder was cut by the man in black's blade, my sword pierced his throat.

“Seven.”

A sound of something being crushed comes from behind.

Crack!!

I knew without looking.

It was Nam Geon's work.

“Six.”

While I was counting, Sohyang's shout came.

“Your side!!”

Slice!

Following that, a sound of something being cut burst out, and Nam Geon's voice, clenching his teeth, was heard.

“I-it's okay. I, I can endure this much.”

Glancing over, a wound had appeared on Nam Geon's forearm.

It seemed he was cut by the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear's spear qi as a price for killing one of them.

I thought it was thanks to Sohyang's shout that he was cut on the forearm instead of the side.

At that moment. The Blood Shadow Ghost Spear shouted with a displeased expression.

“It doesn't matter if you kill them, so fight properly! Once you kill one, it will be easy to subdue the other one anyway!”

Soon, a change occurred in the movements of the men in black.

Until now, they had only aimed for places that wouldn't be fatal if pierced, like arms, legs, or sides. But now, they began to swing their weapons, blatantly aiming for vital points.

Naturally, that target included Sohyang.

The wounds piling up on my body naturally increased.

There were only six left, but neither I nor Nam Geon was in a normal state.

But I had no intention of giving up.

“Even if I die, I have to clean up all the trash before I go. Of course.”

Right after I muttered that and dodged the sword of a man in black aiming for my neck.

A sudden shout came from the side.

“You scoundrels~!! Tormenting children in broad daylight like this!!”

At the same time, a man unfolded his movement art and charged towards the man in black.

With the man's sudden entry into the battle, a crack appeared in the movements of the men in black.

“Haat!”

The man swung his sword at one of the men in black without hesitation, and the man in black's posture, caught by surprise, crumbled.

The man pressed the man in black whose posture had crumbled, and the gazes of the men in black were momentarily directed towards that man.

It was a brief moment, but in a real battle, a guy who misses that moment would have nothing to say even if he died.

I swung my sword without hesitation towards the man in black on the right who had been looking away.

“Foolish bastard.”

Slice!

The man in black's neck is cut off, and blood splatters.

Beyond the red vision, the scene of the man cutting down the man in black he had first attacked came into view.

I threw myself, unfolding my movement art at full power.

It was because the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear was about to thrust his spear towards the man who had suddenly joined the battle.

“Tsk.”

Whether he noticed me charging, the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear who had been aiming for the man turned his body and thrust his spear at me.

As soon as the trajectory was embroidered in the air, the spear flew at a tremendous speed.

Thanks to quickly twisting my upper body as soon as I saw the trajectory, I was able to dodge it by a graze.

After successfully capturing the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear's attention, I let out a shout.

“Nam Geon! I'll take this one, you protect Junior Sister!”

If there was no peak master, it was unlikely that Nam Geon would die or be seriously injured.

The problem was that it would be difficult for Nam Geon to protect Sohyang alone, but now there were only three men in black left. Moreover, with the man who had suddenly intervened, there would be no major problem.

A spear flew at my head in a surprise attack.

Swish.

The spearhead passed by with a graze. The flesh in front of my cheekbone was lightly cut, and blood flowed down my cheek.

“Do you think a brat like you can face me alone?”

At the Blood Shadow Ghost Spear's words, laughter flowed out on its own.

“Hehehe.”

It was difficult to concentrate fully on the sword because I had to protect Sohyang.

“I don't think that's something a coward who was hiding behind his subordinates should say, is it?”

But now, I just had to focus on killing that cowardly peak master.

Moreover, thanks to shedding a moderate amount of blood, my head felt refreshed.

That fact was quite delightful.

“Come on, coward. Try to push me back. I said, try to lead me there!”

Because while killing trash, I might be able to see that slow world again.

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