CH 475

That old saying about a creature freezing up, unable to move, when a predator was nearby? Vincent didn't believe it. He never did.

It didn't make much logical sense to him. If one's natural enemy or a predator was nearby, shouldn't it try to run away as quickly as possible? Why would it remain rooted on the spot?

Vincent guessed that armchair experts who didn't know anything but still wanted to run their mouths off were originally responsible for coming up with that nonsense. But... Tonight, he got to learn that his guess had been wrong.

He couldn't move from the spot, after all! As if plaster and glue had been liberally used to solidify his entire body, Vincent's muscles and joints refused to heed his brain's commands. He didn't even need to guess who the culprit for this situation was.

The one responsible for turning Vincent and everyone else here into statues, Kang Jin-Ho, puffed on his cigarette again. Its tip crackled and hissed as he leisurely puffed at it.

Funnily enough, that small cigarette light seemed bright enough to illuminate the surroundings. At least, it was enough to illuminate Kang Jin-Ho's face to everyone here.

“I've already noticed some idiots were targeting me. Sensing the presence of people circling around me isn't that difficult, after all. Even so...” Kang Jin-Ho slowly muttered.

Sizzle...

Was it because this place was enveloped in silence? Despite the winds and waves generating enough noise to fill the world around them, the Chevaliers and the Japanese oh-so clearly heard Kang Jin-Ho's cigarette burning away.

While leisurely smoking away, Kang Jin-Ho scanned the crowd before his eyes. The ones just beyond the scope of his view retreated slightly further away without even realizing they did.

“Honestly, I didn't expect this many,” Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs in a chilling grin. Just in time, the moon peeked out of the cloud cover to cast its light on Kang Jin-Ho's face. His fangs were as pure-white as fangs could possibly get, but the air they oozed was bone-chilling and deadly.

“How amusing...” Kang Jin-Ho muttered again as gray cigarette smoke lazily wafted out of his mouth. His gaze drifted toward Vincent next. “It's amusing to think so many have shown up to kill me, but... They began fighting each other for some reason.”

What a weird feeling this was. Kang Jin-Ho didn't feel murderous anger or hatred toward these people. In that case, how should he describe it? It'd be like... A tiger picked up the smell of an intruder wandering into its territory and went to investigate it, only to discover the scene of a litter of day-old puppies play-fighting each other? Something like that?

Kang Jin-Ho tossed the spent cigarette butt on the ground and stubbed it out before mouthing a fresh cigarette.

Click...

The tip of the cigarette started burning again.

That was when Vincent sobered up slightly and realized something was weird. 'Why... did Kang Jin-Ho show himself?'

Wasn't this strange timing? Kang Jin-Ho shouldn't have walked out of where he was hiding. If he was a man with a functioning brain, he should've remained hidden and observed the ensuing spectacle. After all, this situation was the same as the Chevaliers and Nanahoshi-gumi volunteering to reduce their forces without Kang Jin-Ho lifting a finger!

So, why... Why did Kang Jin-Ho appear now to stop this situation from progressing even further? Was it because he was an idiot? Or thoughtless?

'...Of course not!'

Even a three-year-old kid would've been smart enough to figure that out. If Kang Jin-Ho was really dumber than a little kid, he couldn't have united the South Korean martial society even with the power to rock the heaven and earth. In that case...

Kang Jin-Ho must've had a good reason to show up now. And Saito and Oizumi seemed to have realized that as well.

Oizumi squeezed his fists and forced his lips to move. “You... Are you Kang Jin-Ho?”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “Speaking in Korean, huh... I guess you've been preparing yourselves.”

Cold sweat began trickling down Oizumi Shunsuke's forehead. The pressure that had been ruthlessly crushing him with inexplicable force for a while now began to recede little by little, allowing him to squeeze out a question just now.

With the pressure weakening, Oizumi's rational mind began functioning again. And two things began flustering him immediately.

First of all, why were they under such immense pressure until now? Of course, Oizumi knew that Kang Jin-Ho was strong. After all, Kang Jin-Ho was responsible for butchering Nanahoshi-gumi's shinobis dispatched to Korea. Someone like that couldn't be a weakling. Even so... What constituted 'strong' was left up to subjective interpretation, no?

The best of Nanahoshi-gumi's combat force was on this island. However, the best in this case didn't mean every warrior affiliated with the same group was participating. In a battle between high-level experts, junior warriors who didn't meet the standard would only prove to be hindrances instead.

Oizumi Shunsuke considered all these points while assembling this particular combat force. As such, he was confident that this group was in another realm of strength compared to the riff-raff Kang Jin-Ho slaughtered in the past.

No matter how strong Kang Jin-Ho was, he shouldn't be able to boast his strength in front of a combat force this powerful. Besides, this size of a combat force wasn't even necessary if their opponent was confirmed to be only Kang Jin-Ho and no one else. Oizumi was convinced that either he or Saito alone would be enough to chop Kang Jin-Ho's head off.

'In that case, why... Why are we under such immense pressure!'

The instincts of a martial artist were screaming at Oizumi. They screamed at him that something had gone terribly wrong.

The second thing causing chaos in Oizumi's mind was... How relaxed Kang Jin-Ho was. Despite facing so many enemies, Kang Jin-Ho's expression or demeanor carried not even a hint of nervousness. No, forget nervousness, he seemed amused by this situation instead!

To be as relaxed as he was in this kind of situation? That should've been impossible!

“...Is it a trap?” Oizumi grimly muttered.

That was the only conclusion he could make. No one would remain calm in this kind of situation... Unless the situation itself wasn't what it seemed on the surface. If Kang Jin-Ho wasn't alone or possessed a way to easily deal with his enemies, it'd make sense for him to be that relaxed.

Oizumi reflexively looked behind him.

'...There's no one?'

He focused his vision as much as possible but couldn't spot ships trying to sneak closer to the island. He briefly thought that the enemies could have landed on the other side of the island but quickly shook his head to reject that idea.

It was so quiet that the noise of a cigarette burning could be heard. So, hiding the noisy boat engines in the silent ocean of the night would've been practically impossible. Kang Jin-Ho's allies could be lurking on the island already, but South Korea's martial artists shouldn't be good enough to escape Oizumi's senses. No matter how much Oizumi sharpened his senses, he couldn't pick up any human-like presence nearby.

In that case, what made Kang Jin-Ho so confident like this?

“...Maybe that duffel bag?” Oizumi's eyes locked on the large duffel bag slung over Kang Jin-Ho's back. If there was a secret weapon, it had to be inside that bag. Otherwise, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn't have bothered to carry that around...

“Oh, this?” Kang Jin-Ho smirked at Oizumi before raising the bag in the air... Then unzipping it.

Tumble...!

Gravity did its thing and forced the bag's contents to tumble out.

Oizumi's expression grew hollow as he scanned the contents. “Did you really come here to fish...?”

He should be forgiven for thinking that way since the items were literally daily necessities like instant rice, ramen, and bottles of drinking water. Nothing else besides those.

Oizumi was worried that the bag might contain firearms or worse, explosives, but his expectation had grandly missed its mark.

Kang Jin-Ho nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “I was told I shouldn't forget to eat something during my stay here. Although it's kind of bothersome, I'm already doing as told, so might as well.”

Oizumi couldn't understand what Kang Jin-Ho was trying to say here. And that only stoked the flames of anger in his head. “Just what the hell are you...!”

That was when Saito suddenly raised his voice. “Oizumi...!”

“...Yes, sir!” Oizumi gasped and loudly replied. Saito's voice seemed to have woken him up.

“Keep your cool, Oizumi.”

“...Sir,” Oizumi quietly replied. A warrior like him must stay vigilant and not get sucked into the enemy's pace. Having failed to do that just now, Oizumi could only grimace in humiliation.

'I've been a fool...!'

Was it important whether Kang Jin-Ho had made prior arrangements or not? Of course it wasn't.

No, what really mattered to Nanahoshi-gumi was that... Kang Jin-Ho must die here. And the clan had made ample preparations for that goal. Their combat force should be enough to kill the bastard regardless of whatever interference the Koreans might have cooked up.

So, why was Oizumi losing his cool like this?

“Fuu-woo...!” Oizumi sucked in a deep breath, then raised his head to glare at Kang Jin-Ho. While studying the Korean's expressionless, unreadable face, Oizumi snarkily muttered. “You are going to die here tonight, anyway. Nothing will change that. Before we proceed, however... I want to ask you something.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently waited for the Japanese's question, his head slightly cocked to the side.

“Your attitude. To explain your attitude as someone who has given up on living... It doesn't make sense to me. You're far too full of bravado for that. So, what did you prepare? If you have prepared something, I advise you to bring it out now.”

“Prepare, is it?”

“That's right,” Oizumi nodded slowly.

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly broke out into a bright grin as if... As if he was a little kid. “Prepare, prepare... Yes, I did prepare something.”

He tossed the cigarette away and strolled back toward the forest.

“...?” Oizumi narrowed his eyes but didn't try to stop Kang Jin-Ho.

Escaping from here was impossible, after all. Unless Kang Jin-Ho was a total idiot, he wouldn't waste his energy trying to flee from here.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Kang Jin-Ho looked behind one of the trees, then picked up a couple of items from there. Those were two slick, lengthy...

“...Swords?”

A creepy smirk formed on Kang Jin-Ho's face as he held a sword in each hand. “I was told that the ship's captain might freak out if I climbed aboard with these two items. So, I told him to leave it here ahead of time. I have to say, though... It took me a while to find them in this place.”

Oizumi's expression hardened instantly. This revelation confirmed that Kang Jin-Ho had indeed laid out a trap for his pursuers on this island. However, the truth of the trap was... this? To fight against all these men with nothing but two measly swords?

“...Insane bastard!” Oizumi muttered quietly under his breath. Only a lunatic would choose to do this! 'No, wait. This can't be it.'

Oizumi was convinced that there had to be something else, a real trap waiting to be sprung. For instance, mines installed on the ground; if Kang Jin-Ho and his men had enough time to prepare, they could've had...

Kang Jin-Ho tutted loudly. “Looks like you're still mistaken about something here.”

When Kang Jin-Ho said that, everyone suddenly realized something. Whether it was Oizumi, Vincent, or even Saito... They all realized that the creeping chill and terror from a few moments ago weren't products of their imaginations.

The chilling aura gushing out from the man before their eyes, Kang Jin-Ho...! That had been the true source of that immense pressure all along! How could they tell?

Because the exact same pressure had begun crushing down on them again right now!

Shu-ru-ru-rung...

The sounds of the swords being unsheathed echoed in the air. Kang Jin-Ho unsheathed both weapons and slowly made his way back toward the waiting group. The immense aura gushing out of him ruthlessly crushed down on them.

“I had only one reason for bringing you all together in this place. There is no escape here, you see?” Kang Jin-Ho cackled eerily, not a hint of bluff or bravado in Kang Jin-Ho's demeanor.

Oizumi finally realized his thoughts had been wrong. He tried to say something, only for...

Swish...!

Kang Jin-Ho casually swiped at the empty air. His movement was smooth, and relaxed. The tip of the sword leisurely caressed across the air as if its owner wanted to perform a dance routine.

'What was that?'

Oizumi initially thought Kang Jin-Ho was trying to threaten them. However, that sword movement was far too slow to be considered threatening. As a matter of fact, the arc the sword drew in the air seemed... rather pretty to behold. Kang Jin-Ho's movements were far closer to a sword dance than anything else, and Oizumi...

Slice!

Oizumi's mind, arrested by the beautiful arcs of the sword, was abruptly yanked back to reality by soft, fleshy noise coming from behind him. At the same time...!

Splatter... Splash!

Something warm and wet was falling on top of his head. It also... smelled acrid.

'...Blood?'

Oizumi dazedly looked behind him. One of Nanahoshi-gumi's shinobis should be standing there, but... The shinobi meant to guard Oizumi's rear was missing his head.

Tumble...

There was no need to search for his severed head, though, as it had landed with a wet splat on the ground near Oizumi's feet.

The still-warm blood leaked out of the severed neck and soaked Oizumi's pants.

“...Ah!”

Oizumi's brain said he must do something. Respond somehow! However, his body refused to heed his will. It didn't budge an inch. Totally paralyzed and rejected his control!

All he could do was just stand there and watch as Kang Jin-Ho leisurely strolled toward them while lightly dusting his swords.

The moon slowly hid behind the clouds again. As if it didn't want to witness the slaughter about to happen on this island.

Once the moon completely hid itself away to invite the darkness back into the world, a truly soul-chilling grin floated up on Kang Jin-Ho's face. And then... He pounced forward at his prey.

The dance of blood and mayhem had begun.