Chapter 103

Chapter 103: To Move Forward Without Regret (3)

Dam Ho's eyes were pitch-black. And they were silent.

The moment killing intent seeped into those eyes of absolute stillness, they transformed into a violent tempest.

Now was precisely that moment.

"Hah!"

Oh Gun-gi, witnessing the incredible sight of the killing intent in Dam Ho's eyes becoming a tempest, drew a sharp breath.

Tap!

Dam Ho deployed the Charging Step.

His target was Namgung Chang.

The man was still alive, still breathing.

He would sever his life force without fail.

That determination radiated from Dam Ho along with his aura.

"Madman!"

Oh Gun-gi, shocked by Dam Ho's onslaught, drew his sword and slashed.

Regardless of the reason, he could not allow Namgung Chang to die at Dam Ho's hands here.

Setting aside his personal relationship with the man, Namgung Chang was a crucial figure who had to play a central role in establishing the Martial Alliance.

Oh Gun-gi unleashed the Hainan Sect's secret sword technique, the Sea Dragon Slaying Sword.

Crack!

Dam Ho's fist and Oh Gun-gi's sword clashed.

"Guh!"

A stifled groan escaped through Oh Gun-gi's lips. Though they had merely collided fist against sword, his entire body had resonated as though struck head-on by a massive boulder.

What shocked Oh Gun-gi most of all was that Dam Ho's fist, which had met his blade, remained completely unscathed.

'How can human flesh…?'

But there was no leisure to ponder the reason. Dam Ho's follow-up attack was already flying toward him.

Oh Gun-gi hastily deployed the third form of the Sea Dragon Slaying Sword—Crimps Cloud Severing Soul.

Whoosh!

In that instant, a sword energy resembling crimson twilight erupted and swept toward Dam Ho.

Oh Gun-gi believed that this single move, while unable to wound Dam Ho, would at least force him to retreat. But Dam Ho's response surpassed his imagination.

Rather than dodging, Dam Ho lunged inward, closing the distance. At this rate, Oh Gun-gi's sword would strike Dam Ho's shoulder directly.

"Hah!"

Cho Yeon-woon clenched his fists involuntarily. Even to his eyes, Dam Ho appeared to be in danger.

But in that instant, something incredible happened.

Ting!

The sword that touched Dam Ho's shoulder deflected diagonally away. The Golden Hook technique had been deployed.

Oh Gun-gi's eyes went wide at the sight of his own sword being repelled.

This was no ordinary blade—it was a sword imbued with sword energy. Its cutting power and sharpness surpassed even the most renowned swords under heaven.

Dam Ho had deflected such a sword with his bare body. For Oh Gun-gi, who did not know the martial art called the Golden Hook, this was only natural to find shocking.

Dam Ho, having deflected Oh Gun-gi's sword, drove into his chest.

Dam Ho's eyes met Oh Gun-gi's. The distance between them was a mere chi—close enough to feel each other's breath.

Oh Gun-gi smelled a briny scent on Dam Ho's breath.

The deathly breath that only beasts, which lived by preying upon the living, could exude.

Grip!

Dam Ho's hands seized Oh Gun-gi's throat.

Oh Gun-gi twisted his body, trying to shake off Dam Ho's grip, but it was no use. Dam Ho's powerful arms clamped around his neck like iron pincers.

"Guh!"

Oh Gun-gi's mouth opened involuntarily.

In that instant, Oh Gun-gi's body was yanked into the air. Dam Ho had executed a Heaven and Earth throw.

Their positions reversed, and Oh Gun-gi was driven violently toward the ground.

Countless martial artists had been helpless against the Heaven and Earth throw. But Oh Gun-gi proved himself to be a warrior of an entirely different caliber—reversing his grip on the sword, he thrust it toward Dam Ho's side.

Swoosh!

Oh Gun-gi believed this would be enough to make Dam Ho release his grip. But Dam Ho was no ordinary martial artist. He was an existence that defied all conventional understanding.

Dam Ho twisted his body slightly to the side. Oh Gun-gi's sword grazed past his flank.

An excruciating agony screamed through his mind. But without a flicker of change in his expression, Dam Ho drove Oh Gun-gi into the ground.

Boom!

"Guh!"

Oh Gun-gi, driven headfirst into the earth, let out a stifled groan.

He had managed to avoid the full force of the Heaven and Earth throw, striking the ground with his shoulder rather than his head by a narrow margin. Had Dam Ho not sustained that wound to his side, it would not have ended so lightly.

His blood ran cold.

It was not merely because his shoulder felt as though it had been shattered.

It was because he was seeing a martial artist like Dam Ho for the first time.

It was not simply because his martial arts were powerful. There were plenty of powerful martial artists in the world.

But he had never once seen a man as terrifyingly tenacious and blindly relentless as Dam Ho.

Once Dam Ho decided on his objective, he would stop at nothing. And he never looked back.

Meticulous calculations did not exist in his mind.

He moved solely for one clear objective.

To kill the one he had designated as his enemy.

Namgung Chang had been designated as Dam Ho's enemy.

That the man had the massive backing of the Namgung Family did not factor into Dam Ho's thinking. He did not consider how difficult his life would become if he killed Namgung Chang.

He was a man composed entirely of pure killing intent.

'Madman!'

Dam Ho leaped over the fallen Oh Gun-gi and charged toward Namgung Chang. Oh Gun-gi hastily rose, trying to stop Dam Ho, but it was already too late.

Swoosh!

With a speed impossible to believe of a man with a limp, Dam Ho surged forward. More than a dozen surviving members of the Golden Sword Squad stood in his path.

As Dam Ho closed the distance with terrifying speed, his savage aura overwhelming, despair washed over the faces of the Golden Sword Squad warriors.

They had never imagined that a martial artist like Dam Ho could exist.

The name of the Namgung Family, which under normal circumstances would have served as an impenetrable shield, had never before felt so hollow.

Dam Ho's black eyes were terrifying.

When those utterly savage black eyes turned toward them, their hearts felt as though they might plummet to the ground.

They prayed that those eyes would not turn toward them—but they knew better than anyone how futile such a wish was.

The eldest of the Golden Sword Squad warriors shouted.

"We must protect the Elder! Block him with your lives!"

"Yes!"

They answered out of habit, but a sudden thought crossed their minds.

'How?'

Boom!

As if to prove their doubt, one of the warriors before them was sent flying as a spray of blood.

The sight of their comrades' blood scattering in every direction—why did it look so beautiful?

Boom!

But when another thunderous sound rang out and another comrade was reduced to a bloody ruin, the beautiful sight became a terror that descended upon them.

"Aaaargh!"

"Sa-save us!"

Screams and cries erupted from every direction.

It was a wretched sight, utterly unbefitting the Golden Sword Squad's reputation as the handpicked elite of the Namgung Family.

"I… impossible!"

Namgung Chang's face crumpled.

A beast from hell was running rampant. And the ones dying at the beast's hands were none other than the proud warriors of the Namgung Family.

He could not even breathe in the face of this hellish sight, which he had never once imagined.

"Hah! Hah!"

He gasped for breath.

His breath was constricted. His face had turned deathly white.

Boom!

In that instant, a thunderous sound unlike any before erupted, and four more Golden Sword Squad members were crushed beyond recognition and sent flying in every direction.

Now, nothing stood between Dam Ho and Namgung Chang.

Namgung Chang felt cold.

He shuddered, as though standing naked in the middle of a snowy wasteland.

Dam Ho was charging toward him.

Eyes burning with killing intent.

Black robe fluttering in the wind.

All of it was terrifying.

'Is this the end?'

He felt hollow.

It was unjust to think that he must die like this without ever unfolding the grand dream he had harbored in his heart. But there was nothing he could do.

If he had known that Dam Ho—the man his nephew had made into an enemy—was such a terrifying existence, he would never have provoked him. But it was too late for regrets.

Dam Ho's figure expanded rapidly before his eyes. Then, suddenly, two familiar silhouettes appeared before him.

"Stop this, friend."

"Please stop."

Crack!

Cho Yeon-woon and Hae So-wol had taken the blow in Namgung Chang's stead.

"Guh!"

"Hmm!"

The ones emitting stifled groans were Cho Yeon-woon and Hae So-wol. They had blocked Dam Ho's strike on Namgung Chang's behalf.

The ground beneath their feet had caved in, leaving deep furrows.

Cho Yeon-woon's face was contorted, and Hae So-wol wore an expression of strain as well.

The impact of blocking Dam Ho's blow had left their shoulders stiff and their chests churning.

Each had used their secret techniques to redirect the force, yet it had still been this severe. The mere thought of having taken the blow directly from Dam Ho's fist made their blood run cold.

With the two of them intervening, Dam Ho's eyes blazed even more fiercely.

"Will you stop me?"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm yourself, friend."

Cho Yeon-woon hastily raised his hands to restrain Dam Ho. But Dam Ho's savage glare would not easily subside. Cho Yeon-woon felt his blood chill.

It was a fierce look that seemed to say: unless you give me a satisfactory reason, I will not spare even you.

The late-arriving Oh Gun-gi stood shoulder to shoulder with the other two.

Three renowned masters of the Murim had joined forces to stop Dam Ho. Such was his overwhelming presence.

Hae So-wol, enduring the oppressive pressure, spoke.

"Young Master Dam… I understand your anger, but perhaps this is enough?"

"Why should I do that?"

"Grandmaster Namgung is a man who has great deeds to accomplish."

"That has nothing to do with me."

Dam Ho's voice was as cold as it could possibly be. The north wind of the Northern Sea could not have felt colder.

Hae So-wol shuddered for a moment.

Dam Ho took a step forward. An immense pressure was felt. The very presence of the man called Dam Ho was overwhelming her.

'What on earth…?'

He appeared to be only five or six years her senior at most. But the aura emanating from Dam Ho was absolutely not something one could attribute to a mere peer.

If this was the case, he would be in no way inferior to Neung Cheon-wol, the Grandmaster of the Hainan Sect.

'Perhaps…'

Hae So-wol swallowed the rest of her thought.

She was too afraid even to imagine it.

No words seemed to reach Dam Ho. But neither could she simply withdraw.

She had to prevent the worst-case scenario: Namgung Chang dying at Dam Ho's hands.

Cho Yeon-woon stepped forward.

"Friend."

"……"

Cho Yeon-woon's soft voice rang in Dam Ho's ear.

Dam Ho looked at Cho Yeon-woon in silence. Then Cho Yeon-woon managed a bitter smile.

"Grandmaster Namgung is a man the world still needs. He must not die yet."

"……"

"But if you still think of me as a friend, then stand down this once. This is the first and last favor I ask of you as a friend."

"Brother!"

This time, even Bang Jin-bo stepped forward.

Bang Jin-bo was shaking his head. This was a situation that had arisen because of him. But he did not want things to escalate any further.

"Brother, please!"

Oh Gun-gi, Hae So-wol, and on top of that Cho Yeon-woon and Bang Jin-bo—all stood in Dam Ho's path.

The anxious gazes fixed upon him. The complex emotions reflected in their eyes held Dam Ho's feet in place.

Dam Ho moved past them toward Namgung Chang.

Cho Yeon-woon started to reach out, but stopped. Bang Jin-bo had caught his hand.

Turning his head, he saw Bang Jin-bo quietly shaking his head.

Dam Ho crouched down before Namgung Chang. Their eyes met at close range.

"I want you to never give up."

"What?"

"Keep coming at me. Again and again. Keep coming at me relentlessly. Because I will kill every last one of you."

"Ngh!"

"As I do, eventually I will be able to kill every living soul of the Namgung Family."

Namgung Chang felt his mind go entirely blank.

Dam Ho's words carried weight. Listening to them, it felt as though what he said would inevitably come to pass.

His hands and feet trembled like an aspen's.

Namgung Chang could not bring himself to meet Dam Ho's gaze. He lowered his head, averting his eyes.

Oh Gun-gi, watching from behind, shook his head.

'That is psychological murder.'

It was not only by severing one's breath that a person could be killed.

Destroying the will, shattering the mind—this too was a form of killing.

From Namgung Chang's mouth came a sound of breathing that defied description. His legs gave out, and he collapsed where he stood.

Dam Ho rose, leaving Namgung Chang where he had fallen.

The seat of Namgung Chang's trousers was wet. No one needed to be told what that meant.

Everyone turned their heads away, averting their eyes from Namgung Chang.