novelraw Chapter 176 : Taking the First Strike (2)
Chapter 176 : Taking the First Strike (2)
Chapter 176: Taking the First Strike (2)
‘This crazy bastard really…!’
At Gong Taemun’s declaration, Ho Daewon failed to hide his confusion.
The reason the two of them had gathered here in the first place.
It was precisely because of the matter Gong Taemun had just spoken of.
Execution by marriage ties.
Having finished speaking, Gong Taemun abruptly rose from his seat.
“I’ve said what I needed to say, so I’ll be taking my leave.”
“H-Hold on! Isn’t that a bit too sudden, no matter how urgent it is?”
“You don’t need to worry. I won’t leak anything about your plans.”
“No, that’s not what I’m trying to talk about, is it! Wait—just wait a moment!”
Ho Daewon stepped in front of Gong Taemun, blocking his path.
At that instant, Gong Taemun’s gaze gleamed far more ferociously than before.
“You know very well that if you keep pestering me here, no pleasant words will come out of my mouth, don’t you?”
“……!”
Until now, Gong Taemun had maintained at least a minimum level of decorum, but he was now openly revealing his hostility.
He was not trying to intimidate him. Gong Taemun truly harbored ill feelings toward Ho Daewon.
A cold glint briefly passed through Ho Daewon’s eyes before disappearing.
‘Tch, so he really does know.’
Still, without letting it show on his face, Ho Daewon kept up his jovial smile and spoke lightly.
“Come now, we haven’t even properly talked yet since meeting. If you leave like this already, I’ll be quite hurt. We should at least clear up the small misunderstandings that have piled up between the Guiyeom Society and the Martial Exalt Union.”
“Misunderstanding? You mean the part where you bribed the previous Union Leader and secretly dragged the union members into a war?”
As if finding it utterly contemptible, Gong Taemun twisted the corner of his mouth.
That was precisely the point that enraged him.
Just two days prior, Gong Taemun had not been the Union Leader of the Martial Exalt Union.
The previous leader, having fallen for Ho Daewon’s honeyed words and bribes, had declared war against the Tang Clan.
Gong Taemun, who vehemently opposed it, had risen up, cut off the Union Leader’s head, and ascended overnight as the next Union Leader.
After that, Gong Taemun informed the heads of the other Six Pillars that he would not participate in the war against the Tang Clan, and then made his way here to warn Ho Daewon.
‘Tsk. Do Je-uk… he was just perfect to use.’
Do Je-uk, the former Union Leader, was a man completely at odds with the laws of the Martial Exalt Union.
Though he had inherited the position from his father, a so-called tiger of a man, he was truly the worst kind of good-for-nothing.
But the Gong Taemun standing before him now was the Martial Exalt Union itself.
—As long as you do not provoke us, we will not provoke you.
—But those who dare lay a hand on us will only be forgiven with their heads severed.
The Gong Taemun glaring at him now with will-o’-the-wisp-like eyes looked like a gatekeeper of hell.
“Then go on and explain it. Why did you buy him off and force us into the war?”
“Oh my, ‘buy him off’ is such a harsh choice of words. The owner of the Iga Trading Company made a very appealing proposal, so I merely passed along the suggestion and, while I was at it, handed over a small gift.”
“Lies. You intended to put us at the front and use us as arrow fodder.”
“……!”
Ho Daewon flinched.
Because those words were uncomfortably close to the truth.
—The Martial Exalt Union must participate. Otherwise, there would be no reason for you and me to join hands.
Lee Jamyeong had absolutely wanted the Martial Exalt Union’s participation.
And it was a condition worth demanding.
The average martial attainment of the warriors belonging to the Martial Exalt Union, including Gong Taemun, far exceeded that of the other Six Pillars’ forces.
The only reason they had not grown larger than the others was the difference in manpower.
They did not pursue an elite-only doctrine, but since they constantly engaged in life-and-death martial wagers, they had no choice but to remain few in number.
“Hah, you’re damn expensive.”
At that moment, Ho Daewon finally threw off his mask.
“So you’re showing your true colors at last.”
“Hmph, if the Martial Exalt Union smashes the Tang Clan anyway and takes a slice of Sichuan, wouldn’t that be good for everyone? Why pretend to be so noble!”
At Ho Daewon’s words, Gong Taemun spoke while looking at him as though he were garbage.
“We have no need for their land. If they don’t provoke us, we won’t provoke them. That is the law of the Martial Exalt Union.”
“Then are you saying you don’t even need the Tang Clan’s martial arts?”
“How would some looted martial arts, between people who don’t even discuss their own true ultimate techniques with one another, ever help a martial artist grow?”
“Heh heh, what a righteous hero you’ve become. Truly a great hero.”
Sssaaa—!
Ho Daewon now openly unleashed killing intent toward Gong Taemun.
He had originally arranged this meeting to persuade Gong Taemun and the Martial Exalt Union, but seeing how things were going, he realized it was utterly impossible.
‘Fine. As long as these guys are out, I can just spend money and recruit high-grade wanderers. Once the war starts, the Iga Trading Company won’t be able to pull out just because these guys are missing anyway.’
Gong Taemun brushed past Ho Daewon and walked toward the door.
“Do as you please. But remember this—Guiyeom Society never forgets the vermin who cause it losses.”
“As if the Guiyeom Society could ever threaten us—”
“Hmm, this is an unexpected situation.”
“……!!!”
Both men jolted and turned toward the source of the voice.
A shadow of an unidentified person had appeared on the door.
‘When did he—?!’
‘I couldn’t even sense his inner power…!’
Cha-chaeng!
The two men, who had been arguing until just now, simultaneously drew their respective weapons.
A presence that had concealed its strength and approached to point-blank range could not possibly harbor good intentions.
Sssheeek—!
Along with the sound of air being torn apart.
Gong Taemun’s decisive slash, made famous as the Six-Soul Blade, and Ho Daewon’s Ghost-Killing Spear shot forward.
Kwaaaang—!
As the blade and spear, wrapped in terrifying force, flew toward a single point, both doors were instantly shattered to pieces, fragments scattering all around.
Yet the two men furrowed their brows.
There was not a single drop of blood on either of their weapons.
As they unconsciously swallowed and stared ahead.
“My, what a rather excessive welcome.”
Sewoon was standing there, looking at the two of them with a fresh, easy smile.
“Who the hell are you!”
Feeling the extraordinary inner power emanating from the opponent, Ho Daewon shouted as if in a fit.
In contrast, Gong Taemun said nothing and simply stared intently at the other man.
‘…Black threads wrapped around his wrists. But how did that man end up here?’
Gong Taemun had been guessing the opponent’s identity.
At the moment when the emotion that surfaced in his eyes shifted from wariness to curiosity.
Sewoon’s gaze, which had been facing him, also subtly moved over to Ho Daewon.
“If I said he was the very person you’ve been yapping about all this time, would you understand?”
“……!”
Ho Daewon’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“Blood-Thread Tyrant……? Y-you, how did you come to Guizhou?!”
“Well, thanks to having a good friend.”
“What does that even—?”
At Sewoon’s casually spoken words, delivered with a shrug, a sharp pain throbbed through Ho Daewon’s head.
He simply could not understand this situation at all.
‘Damn it! Judging by the way he’s talking, it seems he heard everything up to now……. There’s no way out!’
If there were additional reinforcements, he would have to flee no matter what.
While Ho Daewon rapidly turned his head to map out an escape route, he also decided to gauge the opponent’s strength.
“For the great figure of Sichuan’s murim to come all the way to Guizhou, what business could it be?”
“I heard there were Six Pawns daring enough to target our clan, so I came to capture them all.”
“……!”
At Sewoon’s nonchalant words, Ho Daewon was struck dumb.
Six Pawns meant the Six Pillars, and the meaning of capturing them all was—
“Well then, as of today, Guizhou falls under the control of our Tang Clan.”
“!!”
Sewoon spelled it out.
After parting ways with Crown Prince Juyudo, Sewoon divided his forces into three groups.
[It’s been a while since I get to wipe out some assassins.]
[Palace Lord! Just trust me! I’ve been honing my jiangshi arts every single day for this moment!]
First, the combat unit led by Moomyeong and Umun Tak headed out to eliminate the main headquarters of Killing Tower, Guizhou’s foremost assassin sect, and the fanatical Rakshasa Sect.
[I couldn’t suppress my anger every time I heard rumors of the Wind Spirit Group’s atrocities against the common folk in Guizhou, so this worked out well. I’ll deal with them quickly and head to Young Master Tang.]
[Don’t worry. Tiger-Pacifying Stronghold will be erased today.]
The combat units led by Hayoung and Tang Serin respectively departed to eliminate the Wind Spirit Group, an affiliated clan of Heaven-Piercing Gang, and Tiger-Pacifying Stronghold, a faction of the Green Forest bandits.
‘We have to make use of the advantage of having slipped into Guizhou unnoticed.’
Swift and decisive.
Sewoon’s plan was simple and clear.
The reason Sewoon, unlike usual, was launching such annihilating waves of attacks was singular.
It was because nearly all of the unorthodox forces entrenched in Guizhou were irredeemable fiends beyond salvation.
However, among them, there was only one place.
He wanted to see and verify Sungmu Union for himself.
‘As expected of the Six-Soul Blade Emperor (六魂刀帝). You haven’t changed.’
Just as Sewoon observed Gong Taemun, who was looking at him with peculiarly colored eyes, the gaze was mutual.
As the war with the Blood Cult intensified, even within the unorthodox camp there emerged those who took up their swords to protect the common folk.
They did not shout lofty causes like the White Path, but merely sought to protect the people they lived alongside.
Among the unorthodox forces that belonged to the Anti-Blood Alliance, one corner of the powerful Three Strong was Sungmu Union.
And their union leader, as well as one of the future Ten Great Experts Under Heaven, was none other than the Six-Soul Blade Emperor, Gong Taemun.
Step.
At that moment, Sewoon took a single step forward.
Ho Daewon flinched unconsciously and retreated backward.
“Well, judging by things, it seems Sungmu Union intended to stay out of the war. So I’ll put that aside for now—.”
Sewoon’s eyes, fixed on Ho Daewon, gleamed with icy sharpness.
“Ghost-Killing Spear. You’re the only one I need to deal with.”
“……!”
Ho Daewon ground his teeth.
Only then did he realize with certainty that Sewoon had absolutely no intention of sparing his life.
‘It’s fine. As long as I get out of here, I’ve deployed plenty of subordinates for any contingency.’
Anticipating Gong Taemun’s intervention, he had stationed troops nearby.
Armed with all manner of vicious hidden weapons and deadly poisons, if they all converged, it should be possible to eliminate this one man.
After drawing the escape route in his mind one last time, Ho Daewon put on a façade of calm and spoke.
“……You’re arrogant beyond measure.
To charge alone into enemy territory.”
“Arrogant? Hardly. Just to catch a mere crippled chicken , would a butcher’s knife really need to make the trip himse—”
‘Die—!!’
Screeech!
Shwaaah!
Before Sewoon could even finish speaking, Ho Daewon launched a surprise attack.
His immense inner power, having reached the early stage of the Transformation Realm, vividly gathered at the spear’s tip.
It was an utterly despicable strike.
The attack flew toward Sewoon’s neck with lethal intent.
Whoosh!
But astonishingly, it was a feint.
Having shot his spear like an arrow, Ho Daewon immediately abandoned his main weapon and hurled himself through the half-open window like a flash of lightning.
An opening more disgraceful than a Lazy Donkey Roll.
‘Got it!’
It looked as though he had succeeded.
But—
Screech!
“Where do you think you’re running off to.”
“……!!”
Sewoon, who had anticipated everything, seized the man by the nape of his neck.
Then, as Sewoon slammed the suspended body straight into the ground—
Kwaaang!
Kwaang—!
With a thunderous roar, the floor collapsed entirely, smashing through the lower levels in succession.