That's Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 40
Infiltration (4)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

‘…What is this?’

The middle-aged man with a scholarly air.

Sa Gong-chan, the leader of the Heavenly Radiance Squad, one of the fifteen combat units of Paecheon Fortress, and known as the Autumn Wind Sword among martial artists, was dumbfounded by the scene unfolding before him.

Even with his more than twenty years of experience in the murim, he couldn’t comprehend what he had just witnessed.

‘What just happened?’

Sa Gong-chan retraced his memories to understand.

Since the ‘plan’ had progressed faster than expected, he had decided to eliminate those who were no longer useful before the main operation began.

A prime example was Jo Un-chil, the owner of this gambling house.

A greedy man who had become a loyal dog for a while, blinded by the immense reward Sa Gong-chan had offered.

Of course, Sa Gong-chan had never intended to keep his promise to such a lowly person from the beginning.

He had planned to silence him when the time came, and today was that day.

But then, a masked man suddenly appeared.

When the man spouted nonsense about being a temporary gentleman on the beam, he was wary, wondering what was going on.

The man’s attitude was too calm and composed for an ordinary thief.

However, hearing him ramble about a corpse giving him an assassination request, he realized he had been mistaken.

‘He’s a madman.’

Leaving the masked man to his subordinates, Sa Gong-chan turned his attention back to Jo Un-chil.

He wanted to finish the task that had been delayed because of the lunatic.

“Kugh, gurgling…”

But then, the sound of someone choking stopped him in his tracks.

“What…?”

The sight that greeted him when he turned his head was unbelievable, even though he was seeing it with his own eyes.

The five elite warriors he had personally trained and selected were being toyed with by a single man.

The man moved with inhuman speed, dodging the warriors’ attacks and delivering fatal blows.

The warriors had only exchanged a single blow.

Four out of the five had died after just one exchange.

“P-Please…! Spare me…!”

The warrior who had luckily survived until the end was shamelessly begging for his life in terror.

But the masked man swiftly beheaded him.

The masked man had killed all the warriors he had brought to the gambling house in an instant.

As his gaze turned towards him, Sa Gong-chan couldn’t help but flinch.

“Now you’re the only one left.”

His tone was nonchalant, as if he were simply saying that there was one side dish left during a meal.

It was even more chilling because he was so calm.

“…You bastard, who are you?”

“If I was going to tell you that, I wouldn’t have bothered with the mask, would I?”

The masked man approached step by step.

Sa Gong-chan, in response, stepped back.

Jo Un-chil and his subordinates, who had been trembling in fear before him just moments ago, were now looking at him with strange expressions.

‘Damn it…!’

Sa Gong-chan grimaced, feeling humiliated by their gazes.

‘How dare they look at me like that…! Do they even know who I am!’

He was Sa Gong-chan, the Autumn Wind Sword, the leader of the Heavenly Radiance Squad of Paecheon Fortress, the largest martial arts faction in the murim.

He wasn’t someone these lowly insects could look down upon!

The anger boiling within Sa Gong-chan fueled his recklessness.

He stopped backing away and drew his sword with a grim expression.

Shing!

He pointed the sword, gripped in both hands, at the masked man.

The masked man stopped in his tracks, stared at Sa Gong-chan’s sword, and then expertly adjusted his grip.

‘As expected, that “gentleman on the beam” nonsense was just a bluff.’

The opponent was a skilled martial artist.

Certain of this, Sa Gong-chan spoke.

“Who sent you?”

“…Huh? What are you talking about?”

The masked man tilted his head, seemingly confused by his question.

Sa Gong-chan gritted his teeth and shouted,

“Don’t play dumb! I don’t know how you found out, but you’re here to kill me while I’m separated from my men, aren’t you!?”

This was his conclusion after desperately trying to figure out the masked man’s identity.

That “gentleman on the beam” nonsense from earlier must have been just a trick to lower his guard. This guy was definitely sent by someone to kill him.

And he had a guess as to who that someone was.

“Is it the Namgung family? To think they were hiding such a move while acting so foolishly all this time…!”

In Sa Gong-chan’s mind, the masked man had become a secret weapon that the Namgung family had been cultivating in secret.

“…What nonsense are you talking about?”

The masked man looked dumbfounded at his words, but Sa Gong-chan, already lost in his own thoughts, didn’t hear him.

‘I need to inform them about this guy. The plan could be ruined if I’m not careful…!’

He had to endure this momentary humiliation for the sake of achieving his greater cause.

Glancing at the stairs leading down to the lower floor, Sa Gong-chan gritted his teeth.

***

“……”

I stared at the middle-aged man, who was making things up as he went along, with an incredulous look.

Was there anything he said that was actually true?

…No, wait? Wasn’t he sent by the Namgung family? He did come from the Namgung family, after all.

I shook my head, wondering why I was even thinking about that.

“Stop with the nonsense. Are you going to fight or not? If not, just offer your neck quietly.”

“……”

The middle-aged man didn’t answer my question and kept glancing to the side.

I followed his gaze and saw the stairs leading down.

This guy… don’t tell me?

As I expected, the middle-aged man suddenly started running towards the stairs.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

Was he really running away like that? Didn’t he just bravely draw his sword?

As I watched his retreating figure with amusement, I channeled my internal energy through the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of my feet, dashed forward, and kicked him in the back.

“Kyagh…!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The middle-aged man, who had been sent sprawling to the floor, looked up at me, blocking the stairs, and broke out in a cold sweat.

Then, he slowly opened his mouth as if to say something.

“I-I…”

“Just shut up and die.”

I cut him off, charged towards him, and swung my sword.

He flinched and then desperately raised his sword to block my attack.

Clang!

“You despicable…!”

“That’s not something someone trying to run away should be saying!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

I unleashed a flurry of attacks.

The middle-aged man barely managed to block my relentless sword strikes as he retreated.

“Hmm?”

For someone who tried to run away, he was doing a decent job of countering my sword.

He was definitely more skilled than that Dark Heaven Squad deputy leader.

What was this guy’s rank in Paecheon Fortress? Could he be a squad leader?

…Nah, no way.

Would a squad leader have nothing better to do than to personally handle such dirty work?

Lost in thought, I swung my sword with more force.

Clang!

The middle-aged man’s sword was deflected with an even louder metallic clang.

I kicked him hard in the chest, which was now wide open.

“Kyagh!?”

The middle-aged man was sent flying backward, rolling pathetically on the floor.

Thanks to his enthusiastic rolling on the blood-soaked floor, his neat attire was quickly dirtied.

Perhaps angered by his ruined appearance, the middle-aged man roared with a flushed face,

“You bastard! How dare you humiliate me like this!”

Humiliated by being kicked after killing all these people for such a ridiculous reason?

I didn’t want to hear any more of his nonsense.

I approached the middle-aged man, who was still struggling to get up, and swung my sword down.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man desperately raised his sword to block.

“Kugh…!”

A sharp metallic clang mixed with the middle-aged man’s groan.

His face was contorted with effort as he barely managed to hold up his sword.

I looked at his face, briefly lifted my sword, and then struck down again with even more force.

Imbued with the essence of heavy swordsmanship, like a hammer striking an anvil.

Bang!

“Kyaaagh!?”

The force of the blow was incomparable to the previous one.

Unable to withstand it, the middle-aged man’s sword broke, and mine pierced his left collarbone.

He let out a scream of pain but still seemed to be trying to resist. However, with the sword embedded in his shoulder, he couldn’t put any strength into his left arm. There was no way he could withstand it.

I circulated my internal energy through both arms and pressed down on the sword with even more force.

The sword gradually dug deeper into his shoulder.

Soon, his cry of surrender erupted.

“Stop, stop!”

Of course, I didn’t stop.

This wasn’t a spar or a duel; there was no reason for me to stop just because he told me to.

“Kugh, keeuh…!”

The blade dug deeper.

His face, flushed with pain, trembled, and the fear of death slowly crept into his bloodshot eyes.

And the words that came out of his mouth in that state were, how should I put it, too cliché.

“I-If you kill me, you won’t be safe either. Pae-Paecheon Fortress will chase you to the ends of the earth…”

“The Dark Heaven Squad’s deputy leader said something similar. Do they teach you guys to say that?”

“…What?”

The middle-aged man looked momentarily dazed at my words.

I didn’t miss that opening and struck down with my sword with all my might.

Crack!

“Gahk–!?”

The sword pierced his heart in an instant.

The middle-aged man, still with a dazed expression, coughed up blood, looked back and forth between the sword in his chest and my face, his mouth opening and closing, then finally rolled his eyes back.

He died and collapsed limply on the wooden floor.

I stared down at him for a moment, then carelessly tossed the sword aside.

Clang, clatter!

Ignoring the sharp metallic sound, I returned to the woman who had been unjustly killed.

Her eyes were still open, as if filled with resentment.

I crouched beside her and gently closed her eyes, when I felt someone approaching.