Love Ballad of the Tyrant King

Chapter 56: Jaseung, Shows His Skills

Dan Woobin, Mujin, and Ma Young-gi came out to the market streets.

They were out to choose a wedding gift for Lee Jaseung. Dan Woobin and Mujin had differing opinions.

“A sword would be good. He’s always carrying around daggers, so let’s buy him a sword he can carry around as a disguise.”

Mujin just wanted to buy something quickly and be done with it, while Dan Woobin wanted to find a decent gift no matter what.

“There are swords everywhere back at the Alliance. And there are tons of swords worth more than what we pooled together.”

“We’re just buying it for the meaning. By that logic, there’s nothing the Alliance doesn’t already have, you know?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Ma Young-gi seized the opportunity and quickly interjected.

“Let’s sing a congratulatory song.”

“Shut up!”

“Stop!”

Ma Young-gi’s ambush was met with fierce opposition and quickly failed.

Dan Woobin looked at the martial robe hanging in a clothing shop and spoke.

“Should we buy him a martial robe?”

“You mean the thing that’s going to get dirtied, torn, and thrown away?”

“Yeah, maybe not then.”

The three began walking again.

“By the way, we’re being tailed.”

At Mujin’s words, Ma Young-gi nodded. He had also noticed they were being followed.

Dan Woobin answered while pretending to browse a nearby street stall.

“I was informed just a little while ago.”

The bodyguards from the Three-Eyed Pavilion who escorted Dan Woobin had noticed the tail and already reported it.

“Who are they?”

“They’re from the Righteous Chivalrous Sword Clan.”

“Why are they spying?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Hae Ryang rose to the Lord position, and there’s no way they’d just sit and watch Lord Baek’s wedding unfold. But their real target is our Lord, not us, so we don’t need to worry. The Captain of the Guard Hall has already been notified.”

Mujin nodded as he replied.

“If you fall into the swamp of love, you can’t get out.”

Dan Woobin replied mockingly,

“What crime did love commit? And what did the swamp ever do wrong? It’s the fault of the fool who chose the swamp over the open sea where he could’ve swum freely. Why are you laughing like that?”

“Because you’re being cute.”

“Me? Why?”

“You’re giving a lecture about love in front of me.”

Dan Woobin’s face turned slightly red.

“It’s not a matter of experience, it’s a matter of sincerity.”

“Hehe.”

At Mujin’s mocking laughter, Dan Woobin finally admitted,

“Fine, I dared try to do a sword dance in front of a Sword King. Satisfied?”

“Hahaha.”

Mujin laughed loudly. From a distance, it just looked like a natural conversation filled with laughter.

Just then, a message was transmitted to Dan Woobin. He relayed the contents to Mujin.

“The bastard finally caused trouble.”

Mujin and Ma Young-gi immediately understood what that meant. Hae Ryang had sent someone to harm Lee Jaseung.

Mujin spoke with a sharp gaze.

“This is when the swamp of love becomes the swamp of death.”

Ma Young-gi suddenly spoke.

“Shouldn’t we go help?”

Mujin grinned as he replied.

“Help who? The enemy?”

Meanwhile, Dan Woobin clutched his head in frustration.

“Agh! What should we buy for the gift?”

* * *

Thirty masked men blocked the path of Lee Jaseung, who had been taking a walk.

They were assassins from the Red Dragon Army led by Gwan Eok.

This was the first time since this organization was formed that such a large number had been deployed at once. That made them feel both overconfident and tense.

Sensing he was being tailed, Lee Jaseung had deliberately changed his route to a forested area devoid of people. Once he was completely alone, they revealed themselves.

Mook Young sent a silent message.

— Confirmed they’re Hae Ryang’s men. What should we do?

— I’ll take care of it.

— Understood.

Lee Jaseung smiled coldly as he thought of Hae Ryang.

Hae Ryang was behaving in exactly the way he expected.

Reckless, impulsive, and cruel.

Even if he adored Baek Seolyoung, to go so far as to send people to kill him.

If left unchecked, Hae Ryang would either become a notorious tyrant or be killed by his own men.

Meanwhile, Gwan Eok, who was observing Lee Jaseung, found something unexpected.

‘He feels different from what I saw in the martial arts tournament.’

Gwan Eok had watched the final match in person. He thought Lee Jaseung was formidable, but something felt different now. Though he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Still, even with thirty elite masked men blocking his way, Lee Jaseung appeared completely calm.

Gwan Eok sneered and said coldly,

“You seem confident just because you won a martial arts competition. But this is a fight to the death, not a friendly match.”

Gwan Eok had full confidence. The Red Dragon Army members he brought were personally trained for years by Hae Cheon-in.

Each one was capable of assassinating a top-tier expert alone. And now he had brought thirty of them.

Under normal circumstances, they would have investigated more and waited for a sure opportunity to strike.

But the order had been to kill as soon as possible, leaving no time for subtlety. They decided to crush him with overwhelming force.

It also helped that Gwan Eok wanted to finish the task before Hae Ryang could change his mind, so he could become vice Lord sooner.

Gwan Eok revealed his killing intent and spoke.

“I have no personal grudge against you.”

Lee Jaseung chuckled and replied.

“Why bother saying something like that when you’re here to kill me? Does it ease your conscience?”

Struck in his weak spot, Gwan Eok’s face twisted in anger.

“You bastard! I was going to give you a kind painless death.”

Lee Jaseung spoke coldly.

“Don’t bother. I’m not planning to die anyway.”

He summoned the inner Qi of extreme Yin. It was the first time he used it in actual combat.

The cold energy swirled around him, freezing the bodies of the men around him. The oppressive chill crawled up their spines, and everyone tensed up.

After shrinking their bodies with the cold aura, Lee Jaseung then summoned the inner Qi of extreme Yang. He decided to test the new close-combat technique.

Externally, he still radiated extreme Yin, but internally, he drew upon extreme Yang.

Unnerved by the creeping chill, Gwan Eok shouted irritably.

“Kill him!”

But the first to move was Lee Jaseung.

In a flash, he dashed straight at Gwan Eok.

A gasp escaped Gwan Eok’s lips. He tried to scream but stopped.

Swoosh.

Lee Jaseung’s figure drove into Gwan Eok’s chest. The men nearby lunged with their swords.

Lee Jaseung quickly pulled Gwan Eok in and rolled across the ground with him. The Red Dragon Army paused their blades for fear of hurting Gwan Eok.

Slaaaash!

Lee Jaseung’s figure leaped at a man in the rear. Gwan Eok, who had briefly served as a shield, had already been subdued through his pressure points. He was in shock at how easily he had been taken down.

Pow!

Lee Jaseung’s fist sent one man flying backward. Another man swung his sword.

Wham! Thud!

Lee Jaseung grabbed his wrist and threw him down hard like a judo throw.

The men watching were startled. Again, it had been too easy.

But what truly shocked them came next.

They expected the fallen man to get up because the throw had looked light.

But he didn’t rise. He was already dead, lying coldly on the ground as a corpse. So was the man who had been hit with the punch earlier.

The attackers became more cautious. Their opponent was far more skilled than they had anticipated.

Lee Jaseung smiled with satisfaction. The technique he had just used was the physical martial art he had learned from the iron case.

This was the first impression after he used it.

‘Incredible!’

Even without that martial art, he could have displayed great power.

But the feeling of this one was different.

He sensed endless potential. In that moment of grabbing and slamming the opponent, the technique itself felt like it was whispering to him.

‘You need a stronger opponent.’

And yet, the technique showed restraint. It used only enough force to match the opponent, no more and no less.

The thrill of using a top-tier martial art made Lee Jaseung grin.

To the enemy, that smile looked devilish.

“Attack!”

The masked men lunged from all sides.

Lee Jaseung dodged one sword, grabbed the attacker’s wrist, and swapped positions with him.

Swish!

The attacker was skewered by his comrade’s blade.

Crack!

Lee Jaseung’s hand chopped another attacker’s neck.

Shing! Swish! Swish!

Blades flew from every direction.

But Lee Jaseung moved lightly, evading them with ease. From the attackers’ perspective, it felt like their thoughts had been stolen.

They had believed their coordinated attack would be impossible to dodge!

But that was only their thoughts and there were openings.

Like a master demonstrating flaws to a student, Lee Jaseung showed them where their weaknesses lay through action.

They realized their vulnerabilities clearly. But the problem was, Lee Jaseung was not their teacher. By the time they understood their flaws, they were already dead.

In the blink of an eye, seven more men had fallen.

With Gwan Eok and the two from earlier, that made ten down.

Twenty remained, but no one thought of that number as plenty. Only twenty remained.

They realized that a straight fight offered no chance of victory. As unbelievable as it was, it was reality.

One masked man gave a signal to the others.

They all pulled something from their sleeves. It looked like small beads, but these were poison-repelling beads.

Just holding one in your mouth could protect you from poison. Depending on the quality, they ranged from thousands of silver coins to as rare and expensive as luminous pearls.

They pulled out poison bombs as well. When detonated, they would release poisonous gas like smoke, a powerful and certain method.

But poison-repelling beads had limited effectiveness, so they had to kill the target and escape the gas within that time. It was usually used as a last resort.

Lee Jaseung spoke with a grin.

“Going for dirty tricks now? That’s fine by me.”

He too pulled out a poison-repelling bead. The masked men were surprised to see that he had one.

Even more shocking, Lee Jaseung’s bead was of the highest quality. The best among the best.

Such beads were priceless and nearly impossible to obtain.

But Lee Jaseung had received his from the Dark Path Lord, so it made sense.

Seeing that, the masked men looked hopeless. Better-quality beads allowed a person to fight longer and more comfortably in poisonous smoke.

The men spat out their beads and put away the poison bombs. If they used poison now, they would be at a disadvantage.

Lee Jaseung also put his bead away.

One of the masked men asked in a gloomy voice,

“What are you?”

They had initially thought they were just taking down a martial tournament champion with a coordinated ambush.

But that wasn’t the case. No ordinary expert would carry a bead of such outrageous quality. Their target smelled more of blood than they did.

Instead of answering, Lee Jaseung made an unexpected proposal.

“If you surrender, I’ll take you in.”

The men were startled. They had never imagined Lee Jaseung would make such an offer.

“You’ve lived your lives as disposable tools anyways. Become mine from now on. At the very least, I’ll treat you better than they did. I promise.”

Everyone was stunned for a moment. Ten of their comrades were already dead. Lee Jaseung had proven his strength. If he wanted to kill them all, he could. There was no reason for him to lie.

Now their only choice was whether to die loyally or survive by surrendering.

One man suddenly shouted.

“Don’t talk nonsense…”

Swoosh! Thud!

He collapsed. A throwing dagger from Lee Jaseung had pierced his neck.

A heavy silence followed. No one there believed they could have dodged that attack.

Then Gwan Eok, still lying on the ground, screamed,

“Betrayal means death! Kill that bastard right now!”

Ironically, if that’s what he wanted, he should have kept his mouth shut. But in his panic that he might be killed, he shouted out loud.

The masked men frowned. They had been raised by Hae Cheon-in.

Now that he was gone, they resented having to serve that punk Hae Ryang. And then this unknown Gwan Eok suddenly appeared and tried to act as their leader, which made them secretly furious.

They had only followed his orders because he carried Hae Cheon-in’s Red Dragon Seal.

Gwan Eok shouted again.

“You bastards! Attack him now!”

That became the signal. One man threw down his sword and bowed his head. In things like these, it was always hard to become the first person to step up.

Once he surrendered, others followed, tossing their weapons and lowering their heads one by one.

They had always been blades in the shadows. Now that their master was dead, they didn’t want to die meaninglessly.

Two men remained, still holding their weapons in an awkward stance.

The next moment,

Slash! Slash!

They collapsed, blood spurting from their necks. Everyone was startled. Lee Jaseung hadn’t moved an inch.

The ones who struck them down without mercy were Mook Young, who had been hidden nearby. With his skills, eliminating two men who had lost their focus was simple.

The remaining men felt relief and renewed awe.

Not only was Lee Jaseung powerful, but by his side, he had someone this skilled who was more than capable of killing all of them without leaving a single trace.

“I pledge my loyalty.”

Following one man’s vow, the others shouted theirs in unison.

Lee Jaseung knew that once men like these made up their minds, their loyalty ran deeper than ordinary warriors.

“I too will keep my promise.”

Moved by his sincerity, the men were deeply stirred.

“Fall back and await orders.”

“Understood.”

They were touched once again. Lee Jaseung wasn’t binding them or threatening them but letting them go freely. He knew better than anyone how to handle men like them.

Some required harsh discipline. Others, a winning heart. These were the latter.

The men leapt away together and vanished from sight.

Now left alone, Gwan Eok’s face was filled with terror.

Lee Jaseung looked down at him coldly and asked,

“Do you know why I kept a useless man like you alive?”

Gwan Eok asked in fear,

“Why?”

Lee Jaseung grinned.

“You’ll find out soon.”

He struck Gwan Eok’s pressure point. Gwan Eok passed out on the spot.

Then Lee Jaseung quietly said to Mook Young, still hidden in the air.

“Carry out the plan!”