The sight before me as I opened the old door of the warehouse was something indescribably horrific.
People.
More specifically, naked children, exposed in the dark.
Their bodies were in shambles. Bruises covered every inch, and wounds lurked everywhere.
However, the most shocking sight was yet to come.
…
All of them were strapped to some kind of chair, with their arms and legs stretched above their heads, like chickens being led to slaughter.
It didn’t take long to understand the purpose. My forehead grew cold with dread.
Crrrrk…
My teeth ground together, letting out a stream of barely-controlled anger. Despite the need to maintain composure, my breathing was getting heavier.
“Ungh…”
Not only young girls but boys too, their baby fat not yet fully gone, were tied up in identical positions.
Even as I entered, they only briefly glanced at me with lifeless eyes before bowing their heads again, devoid of any energy to scream.
Imagination painted the scenes that must have occurred here, vividly forming pictures in my mind.
Crack! Crash!
My left hand, unable to contain the anger, clenched into a fist, pulverizing the already shattered skull of the guard, reducing even the walnut inside to pieces.
Sticky brain matter slid down my hand.
“…Ah.”
First, I must calm down.
The priority is to save the children. No matter how furious I get, I must prioritize the children over slaughtering beasts, or even beasts dressed as humans.
A fleeting memory of my past relationship with Blood Demon clouded my senses. But she is no longer my concern. There’s no way I’d let her find me dismembered and violated again.
As I approached the nearest girl, ready to untie her bindings…
…
Her lifeless eyes stared at me, devoid of even a shred of hope.
Is she seeing me as no different from those beasts? This isn’t unreasonable. This is an animal’s den, after all.
I thought I could simply set them free, but now…
“Un… uh weo…”
Her mouth opened, revealing no proper teeth—either all pulled out or smashed. Instead, her mouth bore only ugly scars.
I knew the unspeakable reason behind this.
Tuck.
Even after untying the sturdy rope, the girl did not move, not even a finger. Quietly, she whispered:
“Un… e… uh weo…”
The same phrase repeated twice.
Could it be…
I mimed cutting my throat with a finger. Strangely, her eyes flickered with the slightest hint of expectation.
“Shit.”
Curses spilled out uncontrollably. Lately, I find myself swearing more and more. It’s not a good sign, but the world seems to be heading downhill, making it impossible to control.
“Un… we… uh weo…”
By the third repetition, there was no mistaking it. The girl was asking me to kill her.
The girl, toyed with by beasts, had lost her will to live. She was telling me that death was her only salvation.
Trembling hands approached her delicate neck, so small and fragile. The bite marks and bruises there only made my sanity waver.
Her insides were torn apart. Even if I freed her, it was questionable whether she would survive for more than three months.
If I gave her my rejuvenating elixir, she would definitely live, but…
“Un… weo…”
If her spirit was already dead, what good would reviving her body do?
I wanted to divide this elixir dozens of times and give it to all the children here, but…
“Life is suffering, and death is a blessing…”
An old epiphany suddenly surfaced, overwhelming me.
Of course, this is my personal enlightenment. There are countless people who find joy in life, unlike myself.
If they too, if they had endured injuries irreparable by any means, if even breathing or imagining the future brought them pain…
If this was truly the case…
-Tch, damn bastards.
…
-Hurry up and finish it. We’ve got beasts to deal with.
No, I mustn’t think like this.
Having such thoughts, embracing such enlightenment, is enough for me alone. These children should not be carrying such burdens.
They’re younger than even Namgung Su-a. Is it really possible that these young ones have already lost hope in life?
Though reluctant to accept…
“Uh… uh weo…”
This is all they want now.
Crunch.
Shiver.
A spasm coursed through the girl’s porcelain neck. The brief glimmer of hope that sparked in her had vanished in an instant.
I barely pressed it—just the right pressure to hit a bleeding point where no pain was felt. Her journey would be peaceful.
…
Standing up after severing the girl’s breath, I found all the children watching me with expectant eyes, their chins slightly raised and their gazes faintly smiling. Understanding the meaning hidden within those gazes, my chest tightened.
Seeing her death, they thought: ‘Finally, someone has come to end our painful lives.’ They believed.
With a heavy heart, I stood up and approached each one of them one by one…
*
“Excuse me? What did you say? Blood scent?”
The terrifying words from Hong Ryun startled the bandits.
Regardless, having already sensed the blood scent, Hong Ryun was trying to wake up Jin Gayoung.
“Hey, kid. Aren’t you gonna wake up?”
Hong Ryun grabbed and shook the shoulders of Jin Gayoung, who was still lost in dreams.
“Hmm… Ju, just a little more…”
Jin Gayoung mumbled in a half-asleep state.
Snap!
“Ouch!”
No matter how good the sleep, physical pain couldn’t be ignored. Jin Gayoung instinctively grabbed her forehead, rising slowly after being hit by Hong Ryun.
“Wait, why did you hit me… uh, eh? Was I sleeping?”
“Yes, you were sleeping. And you slept soundly.”
“No! To lose even my alcohol tolerance…!”
“Hahaha, kid. You’re still a hundred years away from matching me. The privilege of drinking with Lord Wensu belongs to me alone.”
“Absolutely not! Let’s do it again next time! This round doesn’t count!”
“Failure doesn’t get to declare it invalid.”
Mocking Jin Gayoung’s protests, Hong Ryun beckoned Jade Flower, signaling her to prepare for departure.
Having attained the highest level of martial sensitivity, Jade Flower had detected something slightly later than Hong Ryun and was already in a high state of alert.
It was the same for Lim Joon.
‘It’s true, I faintly sense a blood scent. Who could it be? Is there someone causing chaos in the main hall? Was it White Blade Wanderer from just a while ago?’
Snap.
Lim Joon quickly reached inside his robes, grasping the dagger, ready to respond at a moment’s notice.
At that moment, the banquet hall doors swung open. Simultaneously, a blood scent much stronger than what they’d just sensed flooded the air. The foreheads of the bandits began to sweat profusely.
Walking through the opened door was a man painted red. A man who, until his departure, was dressed in white.
With a mixture of confusion and anger, Lim Joon shouted.
“White Blade Wanderer! What are you doing here!”
The words did not reach the man’s ears.
With a ferocious gaze, the man entered the hall.
“White Blade Wanderer! What is this appearance? If you don’t explain immediately, even I can’t guarantee what might happen!”
Shing!
The previously idle bandits swiftly drew their weapons. Sharp metal reflected the light from the torches.
The man in blood ignored the arsenal and continued forward without hesitation.
A bandit’s head found itself gripped in his hand. Attempting to resist, the bandit swung his club, but the man’s body was impenetrably solid.
Chuck! Chuck!
Internal energy reinforcing armor? The body itself becoming an impenetrable defense? Or something beyond even those?
“Your life…,”
The man’s eyes glazed over, vacant and devoid of purpose.
The man closed his eyes and silently delved into the bandit’s pitiful life.
“Escaped from farming due to the harsh laws of the government… joined the bandits… hmph.”
With a soft click of the tongue, the man tightened his grip. The bandit’s head began to deform slowly before exploding with a wet crunch.
Drip…
A viscous substance—meat, tissue, or liquid, indistinguishable—ran down the man’s hand. After committing such an effortless murder, the man muttered sarcastically to himself.
“Does the environment truly change a person?”
Within any man, good and evil coexist. Even the bandit he just killed once had a hopeful childhood with loving parents. Despite his foolishness, he was a man who never abandoned diligence or hard work.
But after joining the Black Forest Gang, a savage world like a new continent greeted him. Surrounded by a society that deemed such behavior normal, he became like the other bandits, eventually completing his life as one.
Thud.
Thud.
The man released the dead bandit’s body and turned his cold gaze towards the remaining ones. They were left incapable of even twitching a finger, immobilized like insects pierced by icicles.
A sharp, suffocating atmosphere weighed on the room. Of all those present, only the blood-soaked man and Hong Ryun moved without hesitation.
Even Jade Flower, who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, and Lim Joon, were frozen in place. Witnessing the immediate brutality of a head exploding mere moments ago further paralyzed them.
“May I lock the door for you, Sir?”
“…Please.”
Clang!
“Should I immobilize all the bandits here?”
“…Please.”
Pah-pah-pah!
The previously mysterious woman who had only been drinking, Hong Ryun, blurred into motion before stopping.
The bodies of the bandits stiffened completely, not from tension but from an external force.
‘…!’
Jin Gayoung’s eyes widened. Although she hadn’t been included in Hong Ryun’s targets, she was deeply shocked by the overwhelming martial prowess displayed before her.
I-Hyung Hwan-Wee!
‘So, this is the secret technique only grandmasters can use…!’
She couldn’t even perceive the motion. This was concrete evidence of the immense gap between Hong Ryun and herself.
She thought Hong Ryun was merely a proud woman, but who would have thought she was at this level of absolute mastery? With such martial prowess, it was impossible for her reputation not to spread through the martial world. Jin Gayoung became truly curious about Hong Ryun’s nickname.
“White Blade Wanderer! Lady Hong!”
Out of all the bandits, only one avoided the point strikes: Green Forest Vice Chief Lim Joon. He narrowly managed to deflect Hong Ryun’s attack with his dagger. If not for his status as a grandmaster, he wouldn’t have even detected Hong Ryun’s strikes.
‘What in the world is happening now…! What kind of martial prowess does this woman possess! No, more importantly, the presence emanating from White Blade Wanderer is far beyond expectation!’
Lim Joon had intended to probe White Blade Wanderer’s martial arts skills during the drinking session. Though it failed due to an unnaturally concealed energy.
‘Suddenly, why are this man and the woman acting like this? Did I do something wrong to him? Did he see something he wasn’t supposed to while saying he would use the restroom? Damn, it couldn’t be that he saw those ‘children,’ could it? No matter how forgiving they might be, it’s hard to imagine a righteous martial artist tolerating that kind of thing…!’
For whatever reason, White Blade Wanderer was clearly now an enemy showing hostility. Lim Joon instinctively clutched the dagger in his robes.
‘Should I fight? Without knowing the reason? Also, can I even win against either White Blade Wanderer or this woman? Neither of their presences is ordinary!’
While Lim Joon’s mind raced over the unexpected predicament,
the man, Byul Rak, was swiftly reviewing the lives of the immobilized bandits. Though normally impossible with ordinary mental strength, by draining every ounce of his spirit after the scene he had just witnessed, it was no problem for him.
“…Beasts.”
The man turned to look at the bandits and threw his fist into seemingly empty air. Slowly, powerfully.
Crack!
“Aaaaahhh!!”
Screams erupted immediately, but no disaster recedes with mere screams. An inexplicable man-made calamity descended upon the bandits’ skulls.
Bandits’ heads across the banquet hall began bursting one after another. Red blood and yellow brains splattered everywhere, staining the green tent symbolizing the green forest into crimson.
Jade Flower had already fled to a corner with the bewildered Jin Gayoung. Though having a glimpse of Enlightenment at the Heavenly Spring during her journey, she was reading the general flow of energy and somewhat anticipated what was to come.
Even so, she still doubted whether reality would match her prediction.
‘What… What is happening? What did he do that I couldn’t even see?’
“Ah, our good sir truly has neat ways. Is there anything else you need help with?”
“…No, I’ll handle this guy. This is…”
‘…a matter of respect for the children I freed by my own hand. I’ll shred his soul so thoroughly that they won’t meet in the afterlife.’
Lim Joon, crouched, pumped strength into his legs, ready to flee at any moment.
The thunderous footsteps approached him.
If I let this opportunity slip, I’ll probably end up like those subordinates before me. Though it was mere intuition, no other future seemed possible.
‘Grrr! Shall I fight with all my might?’
Anyway, failing guarantees only death. Rising, Lim Joon extended his hidden dagger straight forward. His goal was the exact center of Byul Rak’s chest.
“Ho-Ah-Bi-San!”
Byul Rak did not block the attack. He didn’t even adopt a defensive stance.
Seeing his lack of response, Lim Joon believed this man had overestimated his power out of arrogance.
The ultimate dagger technique of Tiger Fanged Wind, personally taught by one of the top experts under heaven, Green Forest Divine Venerable, surged forward like wind through the mountains. Lim Joon’s dagger pierced, encased in a razor-sharp aura, straight into Byul Rak’s chest.
Clang!
“!”
What followed was an unexpected sound of metal scraping against silk.
Crack!
In a speed too fast to react to, Byul Rak snatched Lim Joon’s neck. An endless river of murderous intent cascaded onto Lim Joon like a waterfall.
