Chapter 111: Division of Roles
A late night.
Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, Seomun Ak, and Jang Gwang walked side by side, pushing through the bushes.
Pang, pang—!
Seomun Ak’s fists burst through the branches blocking their way, clearing a path forward.
After walking for some time like that, Seomun Ak raised a reasonable question.
“If someone has to clear the path, shouldn’t it be you sword users instead of me, a fist-user?”
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom nodded at the same time.
Seomun Ak’s question was indeed valid. However, there was one thing he hadn’t quite grasped.
Seo Yu-gyeom replied in a firm tone.
“That’s the usual logic. But in our current setup with clearly divided roles, I believe it’s only right that you clear the path.”
“Divided roles? Since when?”
“It was decided earlier.”
Seomun Ak made an incredulous face.
They weren’t just heading out to take care of some local unorthodox faction, but were on the way to assault the main stronghold of the Shui Band.
If roles had been assigned, wasn’t it only proper to inform him as well?
“What’s my role then?”
“A very important one.”
“So what is it?”
“Path clearing, lookout, and carrying stuff.”
“……”
Seomun Ak was momentarily speechless.
Was there even a reason to bring him along at this rate?
“Then what are your roles?”
As if the roles had truly been assigned, Seo Yu-gyeom responded without a shred of hesitation.
“Anyway, our goal isn’t a full sweep of the Shui Band. We just need to quietly slit the throat of that so-called Chief Escort Captain or whatever. Right?”
“……Yeah.”
The root of all the problems was the madness of that Chief Escort Captain.
The man had fallen into qi deviation, killed his subordinates, and was now carrying out bizarre acts despite their pleas.
In short, if they dealt with the ringleader, the rest could squabble among themselves for all it mattered—there would be no more attempts to snatch the child or loiter around the inn.
“Obviously, Jin Seong-un and I will assassinate him. Jang Gwang will go in first and lure away some guards who might interfere.”
Jang Gwang would create an opening.
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom would use that gap to eliminate the Chief Escort Captain.
During that time, Seomun Ak would clear the path, stand watch, and carry any items they needed to bring back.
“Clear as day, isn’t it?”
Seomun Ak’s face soured. It was clear to anyone he was thoroughly displeased.
However, the roles were actually quite rational, leaving him with little room for argument.
Seomun Ak said,
“Then why’d you even bring me along?”
“We’re letting you rack up accomplishments for free.”
“Oh.”
Now that he thought about it, they had a point.
Seomun Ak’s mood immediately lifted. It showed plainly on his face.
“Simple-minded guy.”
Seo Yu-gyeom muttered, and Seomun Ak ignored him with ease. That was just how the two of them were.
Listening silently with a conflicted heart, Jang Gwang suddenly opened his mouth.
“But about that plan.”
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom looked toward him.
Jang Gwang spoke with a hint of a sigh.
“It only works if you two can actually defeat the Chief Escort Captain, doesn’t it? Even if it’s a surprise attack…”
“If we can’t, we just run.”
Seo Yu-gyeom replied bluntly.
Jin Seong-un nodded beside him in agreement.
Try the ambush, and if it fails, they flee. That was all.
Jang Gwang’s thoughts grew even more tangled.
“That man is a Peak-level Master. And though he suffers from madness, that may have only made him stronger.”
“Probably.”
Seo Yu-gyeom nodded calmly.
So what? His eyes said it all as he looked at Jang Gwang.
Of course, Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom could’ve listed off the formidable foes they’d fought so far to reassure Jang Gwang.
But there was a simple reason why they didn’t.
‘A little tension might keep him alive.’
If the Chief Escort Captain’s martial prowess turned out to be greater than expected and things went sideways…
Then they’d have a better chance of escaping if he remained cautious and on edge, rather than complacent.
For that reason, the two intentionally let Jang Gwang stew in his growing anxiety.
“We’re almost there. Let’s take a boat from here. I’ll steer.”
Jang Gwang suddenly spotted a small ferry and spoke up.
Seo Yu-gyeom replied,
“Must be the river bandit in you. You make stealing someone’s boat look so natural.”
“……”
Jang Gwang fell silent for a moment.
Then Seo Yu-gyeom chuckled and said,
“Let’s run. We need to be back before sunrise.”
With that, Seo Yu-gyeom dashed ahead.
Jin Seong-un quietly followed after.
Seomun Ak grumbled, “If they were gonna run, why the hell did they make me clear the way?” and took off after them.
Jang Gwang watched the three as they disappeared into the distance, let out a deep sigh, and activated his movement arts. At this point, he had no other choice.
The sky is always darkest just before dawn. And so it was now at Yigong Stronghold.
In a dark and silent place, Jang Gwang stood face to face with a man.
Chusa-un, Vice Stronghold Leader of the Yangtze River Eighteen Strongholds, and the sub-leader of Yigong Stronghold.
“Huh, didn’t expect you to come knocking on your own. Where’s the child?”
The Vice Stronghold Leader asked, looking both puzzled and amused.
Jang Gwang calmly met his eyes before answering.
“The child is well hidden. How’s the Chief Escort Captain’s madness?”
“Hey now. Is this really the time for us to be chatting like this? The kids we sent to Yichang haven’t come back. Did you kill them?”
“You sent them to kill me, and now you want to make an issue out of me killing them?”
The two locked eyes for a brief moment.
Then the Vice Stronghold Leader gave a slight nod, and his subordinates began subtly cutting off Jang Gwang’s escape routes.
Jang Gwang looked at the scene and scoffed.
“If I die, you’ll never find the child.”
The Vice Stronghold Leader furrowed his brow deeply.
“Were you always like this?”
“People change when they go through certain things.”
Everyone likely knew what that “certain thing” was without needing to say it. After decades of loyalty, Jang Gwang had spoken just a single candid word to the Chief Escort Captain and had been beaten to near death.
Had the subordinates not urgently intervened, the Chief Escort Captain would surely have killed Jang Gwang.
The Vice Stronghold Leader clicked his tongue softly.
“Don’t do this. This really isn’t like you. Why don’t we try to find a way for all of us to walk away okay?”
“Is there such a way?”
“You must’ve come here risking your life because you had something to say. Fine, speak now. What is it that you really want?”
Jang Gwang nodded.
He had dragged out the time long enough.
“Obviously, money. Bring out the cash. Come with me as is and retrieve the child. And to the Chief Escort Captain…”
“You’ll say you died. He won’t believe it, but you’ll insist you were already torn to shreds and dumped in the Yangtze River. That’s what you’re after, right?”
Jang Gwang nodded again.
The Vice Stronghold Leader let out a sigh and began to walk, speaking as he moved.
“Money, huh. Time really changes people. Fine. Wait here. I’ll sneak into the storage shed without the Chief Escort Captain noticing.”
A short while passed.
When he returned, the Vice Stronghold Leader had brought a money pouch full of silver and gold.
Jang Gwang boarded a small ferry with the Vice Stronghold Leader and his subordinates, rowing away from the Shui Band.
There was only one reason for doing all this.
The Chief Escort Captain had always been a lazy man who slept a lot. And lately, with his madness worsening, his head must’ve been pounding even more.
It was the Vice Stronghold Leader who stood watch at his side while he slept.
Now, Jang Gwang had taken the Vice Stronghold Leader and his closest subordinates far away.
When Yigong Stronghold had become nothing more than a tiny dot in the distance—
– “En–enemy!”
A shout echoed from Yigong Stronghold.
In that moment, the Vice Stronghold Leader and his men sprang to their feet.
Just as they all turned their gaze back toward the stronghold—
Sshk–!
Jang Gwang slashed a man’s throat.
He blasted internal energy at the two beside him and hurled them into the river.
At the same time, the Vice Stronghold Leader swung his broadsword and twisted his stance.
Whooong–!
The massive broadsword tore heavily through the air.
Jang Gwang barely dodged it.
The ferry was small, and the two men were large. There wasn’t much room to evade blades.
The Vice Stronghold Leader glared at Jang Gwang and spoke.
“You dare…!”
“I told you. People change.”
In the darkness, over the river,
The two men glared at each other with killing intent and simultaneously swung their broadswords.
From the Chief Escort Captain’s quarters, a grotesque roar burst forth.
“Graaaagh!”
A massive man let out a beast-like scream as he staggered back endlessly.
A small dagger was embedded in his shoulder.
Seo Yu-gyeom looked at his Heaven-Slaying Dagger flying off into the distance and said,
“Hey, you should give that back.”
He smacked his lips in disappointment.
He had aimed to pierce the throat in one strike, but the man’s sensitivity to energy had been sharper than expected.
The Chief Escort Captain, Jeong Won-gyo.
Pulling out the dagger embedded in his shoulder, he glared fiercely at the two young men who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Who the hell do you think you are barging in here!”
Jin Seong-un observed him with calm eyes.
His eyelids were swollen red, and the blood vessels in his eyes were bulging and crimson.
The veins on his neck had turned a grotesque purplish hue, like they were rotting.
‘The madness is real.’
Jin Seong-un nodded and charged lightly.
Flames coiled around the steel sword in his hand.
Jin Seong-un’s swinging sword clashed head-on with the Chief Escort Captain’s axe.
CLAAANG—!
Red and blue energy waves exploded outward, shattering the surroundings.
Nearby bandits raised their arms and backed away in haste.
Even Jin Seong-un’s wrist throbbed from the impact.
Just as Jang Gwang had worried, the enemy was quite strong. In terms of raw strength alone, he might have been the strongest martial artist Jin Seong-un had encountered so far.
“Be careful not to get caught.”
Jin Seong-un said quietly, and Seo Yu-gyeom nodded. From his view as well, getting grabbed by one of those massive hands would be the end.
The two rushed in at once.
There was no need to discuss tactics. They lived, ate, and moved as one every day.
Jin Seong-un’s sword moved.
The Chief Escort Captain turned the axe blade sideways to block. A deafening boom and surge of energy erupted, but his brute strength was so overwhelming there were no signs of collapse.
Moreover, the madness seemed to have dulled his sense of pain. Even with energy erupting right in front of him, his cold eyes stared directly at Jin Seong-un’s face.
Seo Yu-gyeom dashed in through the gap.
The man hurled the dagger he had pulled out toward Seo Yu-gyeom. It was a fierce and powerful throw, but—
Clack, Seo Yu-gyeom caught it mid-air and said,
“Thanks.”
He then suddenly dropped low, as if sinking into the ground.
The Chief Escort Captain quickly swung his axe. But because of his enormous size, defending his lower body seemed difficult.
Just before the axe could reach Seo Yu-gyeom, Jin Seong-un released a burst of internal energy.
BOOM—!
The axe, struck by the force, barely missed Seo Yu-gyeom and slammed into the ground.
Through the heavy crash, Seo Yu-gyeom’s Heaven-Slaying Dagger moved swiftly and silently.
Stab, stab—!
It plunged directly into the Chief Escort Captain’s thigh.
Blood poured out from the man’s leg.
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom weren’t about to let this chance slip. As they pressed the attack, the Chief Escort Captain was driven further and further back.
“What… what are you doing! Kill them now!”
The Chief Escort Captain shouted desperately.
The bandits, who had been stunned by Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom’s martial prowess, began to move frantically.
There were over a hundred bandits in Yigong Stronghold. If they all charged in, even top-level masters would struggle.
Then—
– “F–fire!”
– “Over here too—fire!”
Shouts erupted from outside.
Suddenly, fires had broken out all over Yigong Stronghold.
Naturally, it was Seomun Ak’s doing.
Thanks to him, the bandits were thrown into chaos and panic.
Of course, their top priority should’ve been to assist the Chief Escort Captain. But the sudden outbreak of flames gave them an excuse.
‘Ah, I really was going to help, but the fire broke out… Someone has to put it out, right?’
That kind of justification.
They knew full well that if they joined the fight, death was nearly certain.
These were not elite-trained warriors. If someone had shouted commands and taken charge, perhaps they would have regained their senses…
Unfortunately, the one person who could’ve filled that role—the Vice Stronghold Leader—wasn’t here.