Absolute Sword Sense

Chapter 217: Yangtze River's Blood Lord (4)

“If your head is cut off, you will die. Aren’t you being overconfident with your ability to recover?”

‘…!!’

The scarred man’s eyes shook. Beyond the immediate agitation in his eyes, his gaze was as if he was dealing with something completely unknown.

People would often feel fear when dealing with an unknown enemy.

Through his reaction, I could conclude at least one thing.

‘As expected, this one also has the ability to recover.’

Some of the warriors in this organization related to the golden-eyed man seemed to possess recovery abilities that went beyond normal humans. These people wouldn’t die even if they lost blood or lost body parts, something usually fatal to humans.

Perhaps that was why they all seemed to be full of confidence.

“… You, what are you?”

Hearing this, I smiled.

“So Wonhwi.”

“Are you saying that…”

Before he could finish, a muffled sound came from around us.

“W-what is this?”

“What just happened?”

Those who looked the most shocked and confused were the people from the escort services, the Beggars Union, and disciples from the Southern Edge Sect.

Well, it should be a surprise for them.

They returned to their senses and found more than half the masked men dead, after all.

“How did so many of them….”

“L-Look there! Air Sword!”

“Warrior So!”

They cheered as they saw Iron Sword and Short Sword flying as they attacked the masked men. On the other hand, those of the masked men who survived were also shocked.

From their perspective, they had blinked once, and half their comrades were now dead.

“How can this…”

“H-How did this?”

I simply used a form of Suggestion on everyone aboard the ship using the Illusion Eye technique. Most of my allies and enemies were caught in it.

Those in a perfect state, such as mentally-strong warriors, would not be caught by it. However, since the battle has dragged on for quite a bit, exhaustion was likely due to having set in.

Even Do Wook, sect leader of the Southern Edge sect, had been caught in it due to his injuries.

He looked visibly flustered as the scarred man shouted.

“Grab this man’s swords!”

“B-But how?”

“Just catch them!”

His orders changed nothing. Most of his men were already terrified after seeing how their colleagues died in the blink of an eye.

It felt like they were just crying ghosts. Perhaps that was why they were in a hurry to escape the two swords flying around the ship.

“Now is our chance! Let us defend Warrior So and help defend the ship!”

Cho Seong-won, that quick-witted man, shouted to the people onboard, and our warriors cheered as they came to a realization.

“Right! Let us defend the ship!”

“Defeat those enemies!”

“Follow Warrior So!”

The atmosphere onboard the ship changed in an instant. It had been hard to imagine survival aboard this ship just moments ago.

However, everyone now was clearly filled with fighting spirit as the number of enemies had been reduced.

“You…”

The scarred man could not hide his anger as he noticed the change.

I looked at him and said,

“I will give you a chance too. If you hand over the information and surrender, your life will be spared.”

Hearing this, the scarred man’s expression changed.

The man raised his internal qi and shouted.

“Spare my life? Ha! How dare you look down on me, boy!”

Srng!

He then stopped clashing with me and widened the distance as he shouted an order to the masked men around him.

“Blow the whistle!”

Hearing this, some of the masked men looked shocked.

“There are allies on board!”

“Do as I say!”

“Ugh!”

The masked men looked shocked as they took out a small whistle.

‘Stop them!’

-Ok.

Hearing my order, Short Sword and Iron Sword diverted their path and aimed for the masked men carrying whistles.

“How dare you!”

However, my two swords were blocked by the scarred man’s prevention.

No matter how shocked he had been, he still reacted quite swiftly.

Woooong!!!

Meanwhile, the whistle made an echoing sound. What the hell were they trying to do? Why did they mention allies?

At that moment, I heard the sound of something flying.

Looking up, I saw a large crossbow firing from the cliff. What it fired was not an arrow but a rock.

‘This!’

I jumped up and knocked it away.

Srng!

However, the moment the stone made contact with my sword, it shattered the blade due to the amount of force behind it.

It was difficult to deal with that kind of force with a normal sword.

Swish!

My ears rang once more as another rain of arrows flew in.

“Rocks incoming!”

Hearing my shout, the warriors fighting the masked men hurriedly swung their swords to stop it.

Chachacang!

Suddenly, the whole facet of the battle changed once more. How could they block these when their martial arts could not exert a stronger force?

Puak!

“Kuak!”

A ridiculously absurd tactic.

Neither rocks nor arrows cared who they hit, which meant that even their own allies suffered from this attack. However, the masked people continued to attack us even under these conditions.

It was becoming an ugly melee.

‘Then…’

As I landed on the ship, I summoned Iron Sword and Short Sword back. The distance was further, so they weren’t sure they could reach it, but I think I needed to send them to the cliff to stop this deadly shower.

‘Iron Sword. Short Sword. Those ones on the cliff….’

But before I could finish my request, the projectiles stopped.

The masked people were visibly shocked as they were unsure of what was happening. Suddenly, screams came from the cliff.

“Kuak!”

“Ack!”

The masked men shooting at us were being attacked from elsewhere.

I wondered what was happening to them, but I then saw someone cutting down the enemies.

“Wind Wave King!”

“Warrior Hyuk is alive!”

The people from our side roared loudly in joy. I was momentarily shocked as I hadn’t seen him, but he was now appearing to cut down the enemies there.

-Amazing!

Short Sword said this in excitement. Thanks to his intervention, the enemies who had been atop the cliffs were no longer able to fire at us.

“Wind Wave King! That man!”

The scarred man was also shocked. He must have tried something, but it didn’t work.

As a result of the Wind Wave King’s appearance, the tide of battle turned again.

Chuk!

I grabbed Iron Sword’s sheath as he returned to me.

“It is a pity that things aren’t going your way.”

Hearing my sarcastic remark, the man’s face became red.

He seemed quite upset. Even so, he was a warrior who had reached the realm of superhumans.

I could not be careless since he was someone of that level.

“Huh!”

Pat!

Suddenly, the scarred man jumped.

I raised my internal qi and readied myself as he could be aiming for anyone.

But that wasn’t all he did.

‘Uh?’

I had wondered what he would do, but the man simply spun and launched sword qi at the ropes connected to the ship.

Chachachak!

The ropes were cut, and the ship rocked.

Kiiiik!

“T-the ship is moving!”

The ship that had been anchored by the wind began to move to the side into the rough currents after the ropes were cut.

I think I knew why he did this. It seemed like he didn’t want the Wind Wave King to join us. The enemy was no fool, after all.

Pat!

I rushed at him as I could not continue to leave him alone anymore.

Puak!

A part of the deck was sliced open due to a sword landing on its center.

“Stop.”

He yelled at me.

Did he think his tricks would work?

I released the Loach Shaped Sword and rushed at the man as he called out to me.

“You’d better stop before I take the ship down!”

I was about to fully unleash the technique but chose to stop. If this scarred man was determined, destroying the ship would not take much time.

How strong was a ship made of wood?

I shouted at him.

“Do you think I will let that happen?”

“Huh! Even if you try to stop me, can you really stop me if I am determined?”

Was this how he was going to act? He would take the ship down just because he was cornered?

However, disregarding his threats, he was someone who could do anything when pushed to a disadvantage.

At that moment, the man pointed his hand and said,

“See that?”

He was pointing towards the black-sailed ship on the right side. The ship on the left had already blown up.

There was no guarantee that the other one would not. He then pulled out a whistle.

“All I need to do is blow this, and the ship will explode on my signal.”

‘…!!’

Everyone who was fighting became startled and stopped. The man laughed and said.

“Now you are judging the situation properly.”

He had prepared so much and seemed determined as well. I shouted at him.

“Did you not think I would head there and destroy the ship before that?”

Hearing this, a sense of relief appeared on the faces of the worried warriors. However, the man then shouted back.

“Do you not think I would simply capsize the ship and kill everyone in the meantime?”

‘…!!’

Everyone’s expressions changed again.

He wasn’t bluffing. The moment I left this ship, he could kill them all.

The man smiled and then said,

“But I have the pride of a warrior.”

“Pride?”

“Let’s duel.”

“… what is this?”

He nodded at me and pointed to the ship with the black sails.

“I will see the end of this fight.”

This was clearly a trap to finish things off.

“Young lord! Do not listen to him!”

Sima Young shouted.

“Do not fall for his words.”

The Beggars Union and the Southern Edge Sect also shouted at me to ensure I did not fall for his tricks.

This was one of the strengths of the Justice Faction.

At times like these, we stand together as one.

But if I refused his suggestion, this ship would either sink or become a graveyard.

The scarred man then asked me.

“So what do you say, person of the Justice Faction? No, one who will become part of the Eight Great Warriors?”

He was provoking me, but such things had no effect on me.

My first priority was to ensure my survival as well as the survival of my people.

Then…

“Fine. Let us do this. If you win in this one-on-one duel, I will give you the information you want.”

“What information?”

“I swear, on my honor, I will tell you everything.”

“Name, identity, anything?”

Hearing this, the man snorted and grabbed at the scar. He then peeled off the skin.

I didn’t think it was a face mask because of the scar. Yet, I could see a pale face underneath the mask’s torn skin.

At that moment, Do Wook shouted.

“Ghost- Ghost Killing Fist Demon!”

‘….!!’

That name made everyone fall silent.

Me included.

-Who is it?

‘Four Great Evils.’

-Four Great Evils?

The Ghost Killing Fist Demon, Jang Mun-ryang.

He was one of the Four Great Evils, notorious for having killed hundreds of civilians and Murim people in Fujian Province over five days using two fist techniques.

His reputation was built on the brutal killing of his enemies with his fists and then the stacking of their corpses in the mountains. None could follow his tenacity for cruelty.

‘… to recruit even one of the Four Great Evils.’

I thought that this man was quite unusual.

He had been quite humble until now.

It wasn’t enough that I met the Wind Wave King on my way to meet the Eighteen River Families of the Yangtze River, but I also ended up fighting against one of the Four Great Evils.

“If you know who I am, then there is no need for further discussion. I will crush you with my fists.”

The man manifested his intent to fight.

It seemed that he wanted to duel properly with me. I guess what he showed until now wasn’t his full ability.

Everyone was staring at me, wondering how I would handle this. If the opponent was one of the Four Great Evils, then his level would be completely different. They were clearly concerned.

The ship was getting closer.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded my head.

“Young lord!”

“Have you lost it!”

Both Sima Young and Song Jwa-baek shouted at me.

Was it strange that I wasn’t worried while going against someone with that level of skill?

“Leave it to me.”

I pointed to him with a nod and then looked at the black sails that approached.

The man smiled.

“You are someone with guts. Follow me.”

Pat!

As the ships rocked from side to side, he jumped between them as if to show off his footwork.

I did the same and followed him onto the deck of the black-sailed ship. As I reached it, the masked men tried to surround me, but I fell back with one gesture from him.

“I don’t know how much you know about us, but let me hit you directly in that mouth.”

Pat!

He placed the blade on the deck and put on a glove made of silver as he grinned.

“You will regret taking a fist from this body.”

He was definitely different from before.

When he clenched his fist and took a proper stance, I could feel an intimidating aura, and I clenched my sword.

I glanced at the ship that was moving away with the currents, and the man smiled.

“You will never get back to that ship.”

Hearing this, I smiled and said.

“No. I will.”

“What?”

I then jumped up and flew away with Iron Sword in my hand. As I used the Air Sword Flight technique, he shouted at me as he suddenly understood my intentions and rushed to me.

“How dare you!”

Either way, I flew away, and he shouted angrily as I floated above the ship.

“How dare you try to escape!”

I opened the sheath and took out the True Evil Sword.

At that moment, I used True Evil Sword along with Short Sword and launched them at the ship.

Both swords pierced the ship’s deck and penetrated through.

“What happens when iron and iron collide?”

Jang Mun-ryong’s eyes widened.

“You… no…”

At that moment, a red light shone from the ship, followed by a loud roar.

Kwaaangggg!!!