CH 294

Slice...!

The start was quite simple. Chopping up a ninja in half as he rushed toward Kang Jin-Ho was an extremely simple matter, after all. So much so that even the person doing the chopping, Kang Jin-Ho, thought it was way too simple to be 'normal.'

However, what happened afterward was the real start. Kang Jin-Ho's expression stiffened after noticing another shadow emerging from behind the ninja rushing toward him at full tilt. It seemed that another ninja had been hiding behind his colleague, who had deliberately exposed his presence to act as a distraction.

Barely audible noises of air splitting apart echoed, followed by fine-hair-like silver needles flying toward Kang Jin-Ho's face.

"...Hmm." Kang Jin-Ho swung Crimson Destiny and easily deflected the needles, only to notice several lengthy iron skewers shooting up from below his feet. In response, he used his trusty movement technique to take two steps back, then thrust Azuremourne deep into the floor.

Craaaack!

The sound of concrete shattering was quickly accompanied by a pool of blood rising up from the floor. It was such a bizarre sight, and a pool of blood had even formed there.

Kang Jin-Ho scanned the ninjas with an unreadable expression. Zhongyuan's assassins specializing in stealth and infiltration would have never attacked their target in this fashion. Those who practiced the ways of stealth knew fighting a martial artist head-on would be akin to committing suicide. Didn't they master stealth techniques and assassination methods precisely because they weren’t strong enough to confront an expert face-to-face?

As such, Kang Jin-Ho wondered why that ninja tried to attack him head-on just now, but...

'...Resorting to vulgar methods, huh.'

A sneer slowly formed on Kang Jin-Ho's lips. He wasn't the type to get angry at how his opponents threw away the lives of their colleagues for a chance to attack. In reality, what dismayed him right now was the vulgar and cheap method these ninjas had resorted to using. Did these fools really think they could fight him using such tactics, even though they were only good for stalling time?

That was a mistake. A big, big mistake, indeed. If one made a mistake in judgment in a battle where lives hung in the balance... There could be only one consequence—death!

And Kang Jin-Ho was here to teach them that valuable lesson…

“You're all struggling unsightly like little rats.” Kang Jin-Ho leisurely raised his Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne. “Allow me to teach you why bastards like yourselves will have no choice but to hide in the shadows if this were in Zhongyuan.”

After making that declaration, Kang Jin-Ho slowly pulled Crimson Destiny back before striking rapidly with a powerful slash.

Paaaaaaaahng!!!

The shockwave that not only scythed the air but tore right through it followed one beat after the sword's movement. And then... eerie silence descended in the mansion's hallway.

Tumble...

Shortly afterward, something fell to the floor and broke the silence. And that was just the beginning…

Tumble, tumble...

One after another, more things tumbled to the floor like falling raindrops. And then...

Splaaaaash!

Bang Jin-Hun shuddered nastily at the familiar noise hitting his eardrums.

'Bloody hell... No matter how many times I hear that, I just can't get used to it!'

The noise was something Bang Jin-Hun had never gotten the chance to hear in the past, so why did he have to hear it so often lately? The noise in question was, of course, the sound of blood spewing out from a cleanly-dismembered human body. A noise no ordinary people would get to hear unless they somehow stumbled into the world of martial arts! And it all happened thanks to a single sword strike.

Indeed, only one swing of a sword caused this—just one swing was all it took—and the ninjas at the front of the pack were cleanly sliced in half. However, the culprit of this carnage, Kang Jin-Ho, was making a dissatisfied face while moving the hand gripping Crimson Destiny.

'Looks like my current hands aren't used to wielding swords.'

Something like this wouldn't have happened in the past. Kang Jin-Ho would have cleaved his enemies much cleaner. This matter had nothing to do with his attainment in martial arts, though. The matter of how one could intimately wield a blade was a slightly different issue from the pool of one's internal energy or the realm of their cultivation, after all.

'This makes sense, though...'

When analyzing it in-depth, Kang Jin-Ho's failure to wield swords as proficiently as his previous self wasn’t all that surprising. Well, this body was physically different from his past one, after all.

Kang Jin-Ho's ego was still the same as when he was Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor, but his physical body was different. And no, this issue was more complicated than if the two bodies were perfect copies of each other. Starting from the lengths of the arms to the legs, everything about the two bodies was different.

To a martial artist, this was an unexpected and serious problem since even the tiniest differences could birth a massive variation.

'I better train more seriously from now on.'

Kang Jin-Ho had been using his physical body to fight instead of relying on swords, so he didn't sense much of a difference until now. However, the disharmony immediately presented itself as soon as he performed a powerful sword strike.

What if he ran into a strong expert without realizing this potentially-fatal weakness beforehand? Kang Jin-Ho could only grimace after imagining that possibility.

'Well, well. Should I thank these ninjas for this revelation, then?'

An unreadable smile floated up on Kang Jin-Ho's lips as he fixed his gaze in front.

***

“Euh... Euh...!”

Being a part of the hidden world meant one would get to witness many unsavory and ugly things. Horrifying spectacles ordinary people might get to see only once in their lifetimes were like a daily occurrence to those lurking in the shadows. It was their fate.

Especially for ninjas who existed for the purpose of ending people's lives—such ugly scenes had already become a familiar sight to them.

...At least, that was what Ogata Satoshi believed. Up until a few moments ago, that was.

To him, death was something he had no choice but to live together with warily. Unfortunately, humans were bound to encounter a situation during their lives that breached the territory of the surreal. And Ogata Satoshi was facing one such situation right now.

Blood... So much blood!!

Blood from Satoshi's colleagues had dyed everything red, from the walls to the floor. And this incredible carnage was the result of a single sword swing!

All Kang Jin-Ho did was swing his Crimson Destiny once sideways. But that was enough to cut through everything in front of him. Whether it was the empty air, people or the walls...! Nothing was spared.

The dark line clearly visible despite the copious blood running down the walls was the only proof Satoshi needed to figure out how sharp that sword strike was. And then...

The aftermath of that strike was profound. Those who got their heads cut off or chests cleaved in half without understanding what happened were the lucky ones. They died without getting the chance to feel any pain, after all! However, the majority wasn’t as lucky.

What about those who were ducking lower, only for the top half of their skulls to get sliced apart? Or those whose legs were severed because they were in mid-air when the sword strike was executed? They could only writhe and tumble around on the ground in pain, unable to greet a quick death. They couldn't even moan in pain, either. The intense, unforgiving training they had gone through prevented them from screaming even in this kind of situation.

However...

Satoshi forced his trembling legs and managed to stand back up. He then pulled out a dozen or so hidden daggers from the inner pockets of his clothes before throwing them rapidly.

Pwhoooosh!

The sharp whistles of his weapons punching through the air accompanied the scenes of the blades accurately hitting their targets.

Stab, stab...!

The daggers pierced deep into the throats of Satoshi's colleagues, who were moaning in pain. They were already beyond salvation anyway. In that case, it was up to Satoshi to lessen their pain somehow.

Satoshi saw his colleagues briefly raise their hands just before drawing their last breaths. They were expressing their gratitude as they died, an act a shinobi was forbidden from carrying out. Indeed, a shinobi wasn’t allowed to take care of their colleagues when the target was still standing before them. They were also not allowed to send signals to a colleague who hadn't completed their assignment yet. Either way, Satoshi and his colleagues had failed as shinobis.

However, Satoshi didn't regret anything. He expressed his rage by glaring murderously at Kang Jin-Ho.

"殺してやる!"

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged at Satoshi's hatred-filled glare. “Hmm? What did he say?”

Bang Jin-Hun observing the situation behind Kang Jin-Ho offered his services. “He said, he’s going to kill you.”

“Kekeke.” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled. “Interesting.”

It was also laughable, at least to Kang Jin-Ho. Those arrogant fools believing in their pathetic abilities and wanting to lord over others would react in one of two ways when it was their time to face the cruel reality—either they would shiver pathetically in terror or in rage.

“This is what it means to... aim for someone's life,” Kang Jin-Ho sneered derisively. “You should have been prepared to die at any given moment. What's the matter? Did you really think you'd remain unscathed forever?”

Kang Jin-Ho lightly shook the sword around to get rid of the blood on the blade, then leisurely walked toward the remaining ninjas.

“Well, if you didn't know, allow me to teach you.”

Satoshi saw the grin etched on Kang Jin-Ho's face and goosebumps almost immediately broke out on his skin.

***

“Mm...” Lee Jung-Geol kept staring at the doorway with naked anxiety.

A Japanese man standing behind stared at him, and the former was unable to hide how much he found Lee Jung-Geol pathetic and feeble.

'Is this all he amounts to?'

Even if Korea was the dead last of all minor martial arts nations in the world, a martial artist in a leadership position should at least exude a minimum level of dignity and commanding presence.

In all honesty, the Japanese man, Takahira Shingo, didn't expect to see a heroic fighting spirit from Lee Jung-Geol, the kind that would allow him to laugh out loud even as his head went flying. But at the very least, shouldn't the so-called Assembly Master not fidget and scurry about like an anxious rat?!

In that regard, Lee Jung-Geol was definitely a feeble little man. And it was rather obvious to Takahira Shingo that the Korean Martial Assembly following this man as their leader was also a feeble little organization.

Takahira Shingo tutted lowly, “Please calm down, Mister Lee.”

“Of course...”

Takahira Shingo shook his head at Lee Jung-Geol’s timidness displayed before his eyes.

'Just why is he so nervous and unsettled like a puppy that wants to go to the toilet?'

Hadn’t Takahira Shingo fulfilled his side of the deal by bringing a more-than-enough combat force? Ten shinobis would have been enough to conquer a district in Korea without breaking a sweat—that was what he said to reassure Lee Jung-Geol. However, the old man sobbed and begged pathetically for more, so Takahira Shingo crossed the ocean with over twenty shinobis.

With that much firepower, not even the entirety of the Korean Martial Assembly would remain safe. Despite all this, Lee Jung-Geol was still nervous?

'Hmm... Is the Demon King showing up here tonight or something?'

Someone like that obviously didn't exist in Korea. And if such an individual did exist, everyone would have known about them. In spite of the Korean martial artists' collective weakness, both China and Japan had recognized the peninsula's importance as a buffer zone between them, and they had never been careless in collecting information until now.

“You... You should not underestimate him!” Lee Jung-Geol gasped and stared at Shingo while making a cramped face.

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“Mm?”

“I know what you think about me. I must look like a spineless coward to you.”

Takahira Shingo could only look away in sheepishness. Shinobis like him were never good at the art of conversation, to begin with, so when someone came out so directly like this at them, they would be lost for words.

Lee Jung-Geol continued. “I'm well aware of your strength. I can even confidently declare that no one in Korea knows better about your skills than me.”

“...Probably.”

"Even then, I'm still like this, suffering from anxiety. Why do you think that is?" Lee Jung-Geol asked, his face progressively getting paler as he spoke. "This man, he's a different monster from what you're thinking of. You must not use the standards of Korean martial artists to judge him. He is... He...!"

“We have already taken that into account, Mister Lee. You said our target is a returner, did you not? Obviously, we cannot estimate him using the current world's standards,” Takahira Shingo scowled deeply and tutted loudly. “Even so, our force is more than sufficient. Do not underestimate my subordinates, please. Even I will have trouble trying to face them all at once.”

Unfortunately, Lee Jung-Geol still looked nervous even after all that reassurance.

“Tsk...” Takahira Shingo tutted again and continued. “You cannot even imagine the actual truth anyway. You don't know how much training my subordinates received throughout their lifetime. You only master martial arts as a hobby and use it only when necessary, so you'd never understand shinobis who must train with their lives on the line.”

Takahira Shingo's contempt of Lee Jung-Geol was clearly evident in his voice.

"Those with shinobi training have basically half-given up on their humanity by now. They won't scream in pain even if their limbs get severed in front of their eyes. Since time immemorial, we, the people of Japan, revered the ways of martial arts. As such, we acknowledge and respect the shinobis. Think about what that means. We’re not like you lot who—"

Takahira Shingo was about to say more jeering words, but his mouth clamped shut. He could hear strange noises coming from outside the room.

'...What was that?'

The mansion's hallway was filled to the brim with Takahira Shingo's subordinates. If anyone dared to intrude, they would be royally beaten up by the former’s subordinates. Which meant no one should be able to get close to this room. If that wasn’t the case, then Takahira Shingo's subordinates had to be approaching the room, but how come they were carelessly making noises while failing to hide their presence on top of that, too?

Something like that was impossible with his subordinates. In that case, what was the origin of the noise clearly audible in Takahira Shingo's sharp ears? This... skin-crawling noise seemed like a mixture of sobbing, painful moaning, and despair-filled panting gradually fading away—just where did it come from?

The noise was slowly getting close to the doorway.

Takahira Shingo sucked in his breathing and glared at the door.

Creaaak...

And then, the doorway slowly, oh-so-slowly, opened.