Sometimes, things happen in life that you just can’t explain.
Like right now.
“Where are you going? Got somewhere to be?”
“……!”
For a brief moment, time seemed to stop in the middle of its headlong rush.
The Seven Miao Tigers, who had been rampaging like beasts despite wounds all over their bodies; the Bai warriors, who now filled the underground prison’s corridors; and Yayul Mok—all stood frozen like statues, staring blankly at the person who had emerged from beyond the thick darkness.
How?
It was the question on everyone’s mind. He couldn’t be here. He wasn’t supposed to be here.
But while everyone inside the underground prison wore the expression of someone who had seen a ghost, only Yayul Mok, whose shoulder was caught in his powerful grip, realized that this unbelievable situation was real.
He had to ask.
“…Why are you coming out of there?”
Yayul Mok’s eyes were vacant, his voice dazed. The answer he got was remarkably short.
“I just came out.”
“……?”
“I was locked up in there, right? So that’s where I came out of.”
“……!”
What the fuck is he talking about?
Yayul Mok and everyone else were thinking the same thing.
So what the hell? We’re asking how the bastard who was supposed to be locked in the underground prison crawled out.
He hadn’t simply been locked in a cell, either. They’d heard he had iron balls weighing more than ten thousand geun1 hanging off him like jewelry, and that his internal energy had been sealed.
And the bars on every side of his cell had meteorite iron mixed into them. The prison had been built for that one monster alone.
So how?
It made no sense.
The Bai warriors instinctively suspected a traitor on the inside. Yayul Mok and the Seven Miao Tigers wondered if their information had been wrong. And he took a casual step forward.
Step.
His footfall broke the silence.
The man emerged from the dark corridor into the flickering torchlight. Jin Taekyung frowned.
“Ugh, that’s bright. Hey, you.”
At Jin Taekyung’s pointed finger, the Bai warrior holding his torch high asked with a vacant expression,
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“Wh-why?”
“Why do you think, you clueless bastard? My eyes hurt. Put your arm down. What are you doing, giving a presentation? Crossing the street without your parents?”
“No, sir.”
The Bai warrior answered blankly, though he had no idea what Jin Taekyung meant. Somehow, answering felt like the thing to do. So did addressing him politely.
“Look at this bastard, still crossing on green. I’ll give you three seconds to lower your arm. If the light turns red before you do, you’re dead. Three.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“To hell with sorry. Put your arm down. Two.”
“Yes, sir.”
Whoosh!
The Bai warrior hastily lowered his arm. The already faint torchlight dimmed further, and Jin Taekyung nodded in satisfaction.
“Hmm. Much better. Good job.”
“It was nothing…”
The Bai warrior felt an odd swell of pride at the praise. Then he stopped.
Huh?
Wait. This wasn’t right.
As realization struck, an unfamiliar sound whipped past his ear.
Thwack! Thud.
Sizzle.
He crumpled, and his torch fell into a puddle. The Bai captain who had struck his foolish subordinate across the jaw without hesitation growled.
“You idiot.”
His icy voice snapped the Bai warriors out of their daze. They had watched the whole exchange unfold as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
What the hell?
It was like waking from a deep sleep. All at once, they understood: impossible as it seemed, this was real, and the battle wasn’t over.
And…
“Now he’s even putting out the fire for us. How thoughtful.”
They had to subdue the monster who had escaped his restraints.
The realization came like a bolt of lightning. The shout that followed was thunder.
“Attack!”
The shout, filled with powerful internal energy, shook the underground prison.
At the same time as he ordered the attack, the captain of the Bai warriors was the first to leap forward. He kicked off the wall and shot toward Jin Taekyung.
Tap-tap—whoosh!
He was fast enough to rival a Peak master from a major sect.
The Seven Miao Tigers recovered half a beat too late. They tried to intercept him, but weapons came at them from every direction.
Swish-swish-swish—clang!
Wonhu, the eldest of the Seven Miao Tigers, blocked the attacks and shouted, “Hurry! Give him the antidote—!”
Clang!
The clash cut off his cry. Seeing Yayul Mok reach hurriedly inside his robes, the Bai captain knew.
Just as I thought. Not yet.
Jin Taekyung.
He did not know how that young monster from the Central Plains had escaped the underground prison, but there was no doubt that the boy had not yet released the seal on his internal energy.
Then I can do this.
Even a Supreme Peak master was little more than an unusually capable ordinary man without his internal energy. The martial arts Jin Taekyung had learned and the principles he had mastered hadn’t vanished, of course. But unarmed, he could hardly hope to face a swordsman who had reached the Peak realm long ago.
I’ll capture him myself.
The prospect of earning a feat no one else could match, together with his certainty of victory, made the captain feel lighter than ever. The sword in his hand blazed with dazzling light.
Ssssss!
Sword Energy surged along the sharp blade. Yayul Mok glanced back instinctively, and the captain saw his eyes tremble.
This would be the sharpest, most powerful strike of his life. He was sure of it.
Now!
Ssshhhiiing!
The motion was flawless. A perfect draw.
Sword Energy burst from the blade, cutting through the darkness toward both men. The captain cried out in triumph.
“Got—!”
Slice!
His Sword Energy cut through empty air.
What?
The captain blinked.
They were gone. Nothing remained where his Sword Energy had passed—not Yayul Mok, not Jin Taekyung. Both had vanished like apparitions.
How?
The next moment, an answer came to the question he had asked only in his mind.
“Oh. You were just thinking how, weren’t you?”
“……!”
The voice came from behind him.
Goose bumps climbed the captain’s spine as he spun, his sword following through a motion ingrained by years of practice.
Whoosh!
Once again, his sword cut through the air.
No. It almost did.
Grgrgrk.
The tip trembled faintly. Another question surfaced in his suddenly empty mind.
What… is this?
The blade, brimming with Sword Energy, had stopped before an unarmed palm.
No. He hasn’t even blocked it with his hand.
Barely one chi2 separated the trembling blade from the palm. In that gap, an invisible force pushed his sword back.
Slowly, but powerfully.
Grgrgrk.
With eyes trembling as fiercely as his sword, the captain squeezed out his voice.
“S-Seizing an Object Through Empty Space?”
The carefully polished blade glinted in the darkness. Beyond it, white teeth showed in a slight grin.
“Seizing an Object Through Empty Space? Well, it’s similar.”
“H-how? Your internal energy was sealed—”
“I said similar. I didn’t say it was the same thing.”
What?
“Don’t try to understand. You couldn’t even if you tried.”
It was a cruel truth. Even if the captain devoted the rest of his life to martial arts, he would never reach the threshold of the Middle Dantian.
“Wh-what is this…?”
That was a realm the captain, who had devoted his entire life to martial arts, could not understand. Unfortunately, Jin Taekyung was not the sort of kind person who would patiently tutor a dunce.
“Get lost.”
“……!”
At the moment the captain’s wide eyes reflected Jin Taekyung’s fist, wrapped tightly in chains—
Bam!
Pain unlike anything he had ever known exploded through his abdomen and swept over his body.
“Guh-heok!”
It was a punch so powerful that Jin Taekyung had to have recovered his internal energy.
But the captain was only human—a little more capable than most. He had no hope of withstanding a blow driven by strength and speed far beyond human limits.
Whoosh!
He could feel his body hurtling backward, hear the air shriek around it. His consciousness faded beneath the pain.
That insane… monster.
That was his final thought.
The captain’s already unconscious body grazed past the Seven Miao Tigers, who were still fighting desperately, then crashed like a cannonball into the Bai warriors filling the underground prison’s corridor.
Boom! Crack!
“Argh!”
“Wh-what was that?”
The underground prison descended into chaos. The Bai warriors realized what had struck them and stared, openmouthed.
“C-Captain?”
“But how…?”
The murmurs died almost as quickly as they had begun. There was only one person here who could have defeated the captain—a high-ranking Bai warrior, a Peak master, and the strongest among them.
“J-Jin Taekyung.”
The name slipped from someone’s lips. Every eye turned in the same direction.
Splash. Clatter.
A man walked through a puddle of filthy water, the chains severed from his iron balls dangling from both hands.
“Yeah, that’s me. Someone call?”
In complete contrast to the dark atmosphere of the underground prison, the smile around Jin Taekyung’s lips was as bright as sunlight.
Like a predator spotting prey.
No. Like a Fiend.
“Anyone want the shit beaten out of them with a chain? Hands?”
“……!”
“……!”
The Bai warriors froze as a chill ran through them. But not all of them stayed frozen.
“Attack him!”
“We outnumber them! Push forward!”
Swish-swish-swish!
A dozen or so figures sprang off the walls and charged. They were squad captains, each a Peak master. Though none was as strong as their fallen captain, the Bai warriors felt their courage return.
Or almost did.
Whoooosh!
A chain hurtled toward the charging men with a heavy rush of air.
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
The chain swept through the dozen or so squad captains charging forward, knocking them away all at once.
Boom! Crash-crash-crash!
The underground prison shook. Everyone swallowed as they watched a thick cloud of dust rise. Then a low voice reached them.
“Is it summer already? Why are there so many damn flies…”
“……!”
“……!”
“Anyway. Who’s next? Hands?”
No one stepped forward this time.
The Bai warriors stared at the man standing before them like the Grim Reaper, then retreated as though by agreement.
But…
Boom. Boom.
An ominous sound rose from the stairs behind them, snuffing out even the faintest hope of escape.
“Oh, right. Forgot to tell you.”
Jin Taekyung grinned and pointed toward the stairs.
“Something big’s coming.”
The next moment, the Bai warriors heard a chilling roar.
“Taishan. Hungryyyyyyyyy!”
It was the roar of a starving beast.
No—of Taishan.
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