Chapter 41 – I’m Confident Too, You Know

Chapter 41 – I'm Confident Too, You Know

Swish!

San-ho threw three flying daggers.

They were made by hammering and tempering them multiple times in the unquenchable red furnace.

Swoosh!

An unbelievable speed, as if shot by folding space. The flying daggers, rotating and generating a whirlpool so that their trajectory could not be predicted, arrived right in front of the second brother.

“Ugh…!”

At the attack that flew in in an instant, he hurriedly raised his poison claws to block it, but.

Crack!

Along with a bizarre sound, the poison claws that had blocked the flying daggers began to bend and break.

One, and then another.

Crack! Crack!

A strange sound of rupture, hard to believe it was coming from a part of a human body.

San-ho was currently breaking the White Bone Poison Claws, which pierced skulls and cut bones, one by one.

“……?!”

The situation where the poison claws wrapped in internal energy in midair bent and shattered before the attack could even reach repeated itself.

“You bastard!!!”

Geom-hoe, who shouted like thunder, poured out even faster sword strikes to prevent him from attacking.

The swiftest of swift swords.

Sword strikes raging from all directions like a whirlwind. It was a coordinated attack complementing each other.

The sensation of the air splitting aimed coldly at the back of San-ho's neck.

Swish!

In that instant, San-ho bent his waist backward sharply, evading the blade of his sword.

Snip. Leaving behind only a precarious space the width of a sheet of paper. Instead of San-ho's neck, the tips of his hair were cut off.

Swoosh!

San-ho shot a flying dagger upward at the same time as lowering his body.

Clang! Clang! Crack!

The sounds echoing through Ghost Sword Valley represented the situation here.

A close battle that hovered at the threshold of death continued. Wherever the sword strikes that could not be fully blocked reached, bright red blood splattered.

“Phew……”

San-ho, who was dealing with both of them at the same time, breathed heavily as if he was gradually getting tired.

A dizzying situation where missing the attacks rushing from the front and back would instantly send his head flying.

The second brother of the Sa-han gritted his teeth and glared at San-ho.

‘Damn it, for the poison to act this slowly!’

Surely, his back, which was torn and tattered by the poison claws, must have already been poisoned. But how was that fellow still moving his body? It was utterly incomprehensible.

Just once more.

‘…It only needs to graze him once more.’

The Blood-Rotting Poison, which would rapidly rot the area from the point of contact and inflict terrible pain. Until now, no one had ever survived after being wounded by a poison claw coated with deadly poison.

I will surely tear that bastard, who caused my younger brothers' deaths, to death with my own hands. A chilling malice also welled up in his eyes.

The second brother wrapped his internal energy more densely around his poison claws.

The dark red energy that bloomed grew increasingly vivid.

Swish!

With the muscles of his entire body pulled taut, his figure kicked off the ground and shot straight forward.

Riiip!

The poison claws, firmly coated in internal energy, finally tore through San-ho's forearm, and red drops of blood splattered along with the sound of flesh tearing.

As San-ho frowned at the pain spreading in an instant, the second brother of the Sa-han shouted.

“I will watch closely as your body rots away. Since it is a poison without an antidote, it is useless to regret it!”

“……Ouch.”

San-ho squinted one eye.

“The more you thrash about, the faster the poison will spread……”

At that moment, the second brother of the Sa-han stopped in his tracks. His unfinished words scattered into the air.

“……What is this…”

The energy of poison gradually staining from the fingertips where his poison claws were severed.

At that sight, the second brother's eyes were filled with confusion.

The one poisoned was not that fellow, but himself.

“Poison…?”

A person who used poison did not get poisoned by the poison they used. This was because they used the poison after either taking an antidote in advance or already having a tolerance built up. Of course, the same was true for himself. However, this was, no matter who looked at it, the form of poison spreading.

If so, where did this poison come from?

A body staining as if ink were spreading, and dark veins bulging out clearly.

While he hesitated, the poison that climbed up his arm spread to his chest in an instant.

“Cough…… Cough…!”

And then, intense pain surged like a tidal wave.

Gush.

At the pain of his insides being crushed, the second brother vomited a handful of red blood clots from his throat.

“Ugh…!! Wh-What is the meaning of this…!”

Watching that scene, San-ho spat out the blood pooled in his mouth and grinned.

“Why? Did you think you were the only one who could do this?”

“……!!!”

It was a chillingly calm voice. In the eyes of the second brother, who could not hide his shock, a hint of despair briefly appeared.

Just at what point…

Why does poison not work on this fellow? Just when did I……

An illusion-like doubt arose in his mind.

However, death did not wait for him.

The dark poison rapidly climbed up the back of his neck as if trying to devour him. Meanwhile, the blood vessels in his eyes burst, and fresh blood flowed down like tears.

He was dying.

The second brother, instantly consumed by the poison, barely managed to stretch out his hand toward Geom-hoe.

“Cough……! Br-Brother, br………”

But he could not reach.

As he collapsed to the ground, the last thing he saw was San-ho's emotionless eyes.

Neither the anger he had felt at first.

Nor the lingering murderous intent.

A quiet gaze that just stared at him silently, as if nothing remained.

Thud.

Along with the sound of grass being crushed, the second brother's body slammed onto the ground.

It was complete darkness.

San-ho, not sparing a look at the worthless thing, turned his head.

“…………”

At the horrific, continuous deaths of his younger brothers, Geom-hoe stood still in silence.

And he realized.

An orthodox martial artist who used poison and threw flying daggers.

Why had he not thought of it sooner?

“…Are you a warrior of the Tang Clan?”

“What do you want to know for? You're going to die anyway.”

San-ho returned Geom-hoe's words right back to him.

“……”

He was someone who had rolled around the Jianghu for a long time.

It meant that he could instantly distinguish between someone who could kill a person in earnest and someone who could not. Without a doubt, that fellow had the eyes of someone who had never killed a person before. His pupils, which shook when he learned the full story of the incident, proved it.

However.

The orthodox greenhorn who had walked into the tiger's den on his own feet no longer existed.

A chill ran down his spine.

A fresh murderous intent, completely different from the beginning.

He was certain. That the person he was facing had become completely different from the start.

Grit.

Anger that crossed the threshold actually turned cold. Having lost all three of his younger brothers in an instant, he adjusted his grip on his sword. In his life, he had never felt such intense yet quiet anger.

Hummmm.

The sword, into which he poured all his internal energy, vibrated in his hand. But he did not stop. More. A little more. The sword began to shake as if it would break.

Red blood trickled down from between his tightly gritted teeth.

More. More. More!

Hum! A rough sword cry rang out, and internal energy surged fiercely on the sword as if about to explode. The opponent was someone who used poison and threw hidden weapons. There was no benefit in dragging it out.

‘I will finish it at once with internal energy.’

No matter how high his martial arts were, he was still a young child. Compared to himself, who had lived a long life, it was natural that the kid's internal energy would be lacking.

Hummmm!

The sword, into which he pushed all the internal energy in his dantian, made a wailing sound, and.

Geom-hoe's coldly frozen pupils shot toward San-ho. They were like the eyes of a beast shining under the moonlight.

One strike. With this attack, he would cut off that fellow's breath.

Swoooosh!

A sound of tearing air as if it would cleave even space.

The sword, laden with an immense amount of internal energy, rushed toward San-ho, bearing a formidable sword energy. The internal energy was so powerful that it possessed a momentum capable of splitting a mountain just by making contact.

Finally, the moment the sword, filled with terrible murderous intent, came striking down upon San-ho's head.

Clang!!

What was heard instead of a scream was the sound of swords clashing.

“……?!”

Boom!

As two equally powerful forces clashed, a shock so great erupted that Geom-hoe's and San-ho's bodies were pushed back in an instant. Dust and leaves swirled frantically in the surroundings.

“………What is this.”

He was someone confident in a contest of internal energy.

It was natural. Even if the opponent was not such a child, Geom-hoe's current internal energy was large enough to slice up most martial artists. If so, how should this current situation be explained?

‘No, this makes no sense. There must be some mistake…'

“If you've decided on a contest of internal energy,”

San-ho's voice cut off his thoughts.

“…I'm also confident in that.”

As he raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, drops of blood formed on his torn lips.

The fiendish fellow was smiling like a child.

“Aaaargh!!”

Finally, a wild roar burst from Geom-hoe's mouth.

A dark red light reflected on his sword as his eyes bulged.

“You punk!!!”

Letting out a thunderous shout, Geom-hoe surged upward. Let's see if you can block even this! The tip of the sword, shot forward like a bee, reached the vicinity of San-ho's neck.

But in that split second, had not San-ho, who was clearly in front of his eyes, vanished in an instant?

“……?!”

The moment Geom-hoe quickly executed footwork to pull his body back.

Stab!

The blade of his third brother's sword came into Geom-hoe's view.

‘What… is this……’

The blade, dripping with red blood, was piercing through his dantian.

Geom-hoe, the strength draining from his limbs, grabbed the blade with trembling arms. San-ho, who had taken his back with unbelievable speed, had plunged the sword in from behind his back.

“Just…”

Am I dreaming right now?

He felt his internal energy dispersing and let out a bizarre groan.

“Ugh…!!”

Squelch.

When San-ho pulled out the sword that pierced his body at once, drops of blood poured like rain on every blade of grass.

As if the ground were soaring into the sky, even Geom-hoe, the last one remaining, collapsed to the floor.

All four brothers of the Sa-han had lost their lives to a mere young child. The number of martial artists who had died by their hands over the years would easily reach several hundred. Even during the few years they spent settled in Ghost Sword Valley, had they not slaughtered dozens of martial world people?

But for it to end in such a way. When they had finally obtained what they had been desperately searching for……

It was an unbelievable reality.

Yet there was also no choice but to believe it.

For the terrible pain encroaching on his body was felt so vividly.

“No…… U-Ugh…!”

Face down on the ground, he crawled on the floor, clawing at the dirt and grass.

It was a pathetic sight, but there was no time to think of such things. I must live. I have to live. Since only that thought filled his head. Fixing his gaze on the entrance of the cave a short distance away, Geom-hoe gritted his teeth.

‘I did not endure in this place for a death like this, I…!'

Dragging his body, he stretched out his arm forward little by little. Wherever his body passed, red blood trailed like a path.

Just a little further. Just a little more……

Thud.

But he could not reach. San-ho placed the sword on Geom-hoe's back and asked.

“……Where are you going?”

“Ugh… No. I can't… die here.”

“Ha……”

San-ho frowned and looked at the place where Geom-hoe's gaze was directed. It was a small cave located between the canyon and bizarre rock formations.

A place that would be difficult to find even if one knew the exact location, unless they had lived in this village their entire life.

San-ho muttered softly as if realizing something.

They had built a hut in front of the cave and even set up an Illusion Array. On top of that, they committed murders under the guise of tiger attacks. Surely, what they had found was in there.

‘…Just what on earth did they hide there?’

It was just as San-ho was about to move his steps toward the cave entrance.

Geom-hoe's voice, wailing like a beast, caught his ankles.

“What would… pigs of prestigious families like you know, just what! Born with everything… believing that the achievements obtained while keeping the rules like that, ugh… are entirely of your own ability!”

“……”

“Do you think… ugh, that life is fair to everyone? No! A life that cannot escape misfortune… no matter how hard one tries! There is no way someone like you would know. Someone like you…! How dare you block… my path!”

A scream containing anger, resentment, and terrible despair.

“Ah……”

San-ho let out a sigh mixed with annoyance.

“So what do you want me to do? Feel sorry for you or something?”

He added strength to the blade resting on his back.

It was a very small force, but it was enough to cut off the breath of one whose dantian was pierced and who had not a single speck of internal energy remaining.

“……Don't make excuses. Since my life would have been more intense, not less.”

A person who had escaped from all common sense and rules he had known. San-ho's low, sunken voice was the last sound he heard in the world.

‘If only there was a little more time… it was almost done……’

His intense desire for life kept him from closing his eyes, and.

His eyes, stained with lingering regret, were directed toward the cave entrance even after his breath had ceased.