‘At this rate, it’s total annihilation.’

As Gwak Cheon shuddered and looked at the battlefield with cold sweat running down his face—

Whoosh!

Before he knew it, a dwarf assassin popped out from among the Saber Tyrant Sect members and struck at his spine with a hand axe.

“Ugh!”

Regaining his senses, Gwak Cheon quickly blocked the hand axe.

Clang!

Gwak Cheon’s eyes widened as sparks flew in the air and he blocked the attack. Not only was the force contained in the hand axe beyond imagination, but a streak of internal energy shook his meridians.

“Dwarf Assassin… the Yin Death Valley Master?”

Gwak Cheon recognized at a glance that the assassin holding the hand axe was Dwarf Assassin, the Master of Yin Death Valley.

“Hehehe, your skills are terrible!”

Spinning the hand axe leisurely, Dwarf Assassin burst into sinister laughter.

“Just die now!”

Whoosh!

Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, Dwarf Assassin swung his hand axe to split Gwak Cheon’s skull.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Gwak Cheon raised his sword to block the attacks continuously, but unable to handle the overwhelming force contained in the hand axe, he was forced to retreat repeatedly.

‘To think an assassin has such high true martial arts.’

Despair rose in Gwak Cheon’s eyes.

Assassins specialized in surprise attacks are generally weak in frontal confrontations. But Dwarf Assassin was outstanding not only in secret assassination techniques but also in true martial arts, to an unmanageable degree.

Strike!

In the meantime, discovering an opening, Dwarf Assassin’s hand axe sliced through Gwak Cheon’s shoulder blade. Blood sprayed up with a burning pain in his shoulder.

“Not a chance!”

Regaining his senses, Gwak Cheon gritted his teeth and deployed his sword art. If even he fell to Dwarf Assassin, the tide of battle would collapse uncontrollably.

“Aaaargh!”

In the meantime, the disciples of the Thunder Heaven Sect around him were falling one by one.

Quickly scanning the surroundings, Gwak Cheon gritted his teeth. They had already yielded more than half of the Thunder Heaven Sect’s front yard. Furthermore, the Earth Sword Squad was establishing a final defensive line protecting their own Sect Leader, Wang In-hwa, who was in seclusion due to injuries.

‘It’s hard to hold out any longer.’

Since the battle line had already collapsed, the best method would be to join forces with the Earth Sword Squad at the rear and resist.

“Retreat!”

At Gwak Cheon’s shout, the disciples of the Thunder Heaven Sect began to pull back as if they had been waiting for it. Fear was etched on every one of their blood-soaked faces as they retreated.

“It’s over.”

Watching the scene from afar, the Saber Tyrant Sect Leader, Gwan Dok-gun, wore a sinister smile.

The Heaven Sword Squad, the greatest force of the Thunder Heaven Sect, was retreating. Although a few skilled masters of the Thunder Heaven Sect were stepping forward amidst the chaos, the tide had already turned.

“It was truly a long fight.”

Gwan Dok-gun soliloquized like a sigh. It had been over ten years since he confronted the Thunder Heaven Sect to seize the hegemony of Xiangyang. Originally, from the perspective of the Saber Tyrant Sect, they could not win against the Thunder Heaven Sect, which had been rooted in Xiangyang for generations.

‘Heaven helped us.’

Gwan Dok-gun glanced at the masked man standing beside him. He was unfamiliar with the man’s identity or name. A few months ago, the man had suddenly appeared before him and offered to help him win the power struggle with the Thunder Heaven Sect. Initially, Gwan Dok-gun had burst into hollow laughter. However, when the masked man presented him with a bill of exchange for a million taels and instructed him to purchase the assassins of Yin Death Valley in bulk, Gwan Dok-gun was forced to quickly alter his expression.

—What do you want from me?

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Knowing this too well, Gwan Dok-gun couldn’t help but be wary even seeing the million-tael bill. But the masked man merely threw out a short phrase.

—Will you do it, or not?

Gwan Dok-gun tilted his head and asked.

—Do you have a grudge against the Thunder Heaven Sect?

Instead of answering, the masked man said something unrelated.

—I hear the Thunder Heaven Sect Leader Wang In-hwa is in seclusion due to old internal injuries relapsing? Now would be the right time to strike the Thunder Heaven Sect.

Gwan Dok-gun couldn’t understand at all.

What is the identity of this masked man? Why does he want the defeat of the Thunder Heaven Sect? Where did he get all that money…

As countless thoughts tailed one another, Gwan Dok-gun could only stand there with a blank expression.

—If you don’t want to, forget it.

As the masked man moved to take the bill, Gwan Dok-gun snapped to his senses. Opportunities must be seized when they exist. That was his philosophy of life.

—Do you truly desire nothing else?

—Nothing.

At that answer, Gwan Dok-gun picked up the bill without hesitation. And with the aid of Yin Death Valley, he launched a massive invasion of the Thunder Heaven Sect.

“Now I just need to deal with all those rats, and it’s over.”

Gwan Dok-gun smiled broadly and looked at the masked man.

“Thanks to my benefactor, my lifelong wish is coming true.”

Just as he was about to say a few more friendly words—

—Aaaargh!

Suddenly, desperate screams rang out in succession from the rear ranks of the Saber Tyrant Sect.

“What is happening?”

At Gwan Dok-gun’s question, a subordinate beside him spoke urgently.

“The Human Sword Squad has returned!”

“What?”

Gwan Dok-gun hurriedly examined the situation at the rear. There, warriors wearing the attire of the Thunder Heaven Sect and wandering vagrant were attacking the Saber Tyrant Sect members.

It was indeed the Human Sword Squad and the wandering vagrant squad led by Mun Gwang that had arrived.

“How could they arrive here?”

Gwan Dok-gun blinked with an expression of disbelief.

He had seen with his own two eyes that the assassins of Yin Death Valley installed powerful formations and traps at Bear Clan’s Mountain Villa to deal with the Human Sword Squad. And those formations and traps were at a level absolutely unbreakable by the skills of the Human Sword Squad or wandering vagrant.

Yet they returned unscathed?

“Do not let a single one escape alive!”

Under Mun Gwang’s command, the Human Sword Squad and wandering vagrant squad began to cut down the Saber Tyrant Sect members. Having achieved a great victory against the assassins at Bear Clan’s Mountain Villa, their morale was also at its peak.

Furthermore, the Saber Tyrant Sect members had just relaxed, thinking they had breached the Thunder Heaven Sect’s defensive line. Because of this, suddenly attacked from the rear, they were unable to regain their senses.

“Hall Master Mun!”

Discovering Mun Gwang commanding the battle at the rear, Gwak Cheon shouted loudly to his subordinates.

“Help the Human Sword Squad!”

—Waaaaah!

With a great shout, fierce combat resumed instantly.

“These bastards!”

Watching the scene, Gwan Dok-gun burst out in fiery rage.

If he pushed just a little more, he could take the head of the Thunder Heaven Sect Leader and make them submit completely. But with the appearance of the Human Sword Squad and wandering vagrant squad, which he had not expected at all, the war situation spiraled into unpredictability again.

“Break through a retreat path!”

As the battle lines of the Saber Tyrant Sect members were pushed back, the assassins began to struggle desperately. They were even unhesitatingly sacrificing their allies, the Saber Tyrant Sect, to protect their own lives.

“These human butchers?”

Seeing the assassins use dying corpses as shields, the wandering vagrant fighting at the front of the wandering vagrant squad poured out curses.

“If you bastards are human, don’t touch the dead!”

But the assassins of Yin Death Valley used the corpses repeatedly, regardless of whether he shouted or not.

“They are stronger. Than the assassins at Bear Clan’s Mountain Villa.”

At the words of Black Leopard, who was circling the battlefield throwing hidden weapons, Namgung Woon’s eyes flashed.

“So these guys are the real main force!”

Swish, swish, swish!

In the meantime, the assassins of Yin Death Valley changed their tactics. They were trying to create a retreat path by killing not only the disciples of the Thunder Heaven Sect but even the figures of the Saber Tyrant Sect.

“Both of you, step back.”

Watching the scene, Bu Eunseol stepped forward and extended a punch.

Goooooo.

With the sound of air from all directions being sucked into one place, the assassins traversing the battlefield were turned into bloody pulp and blown away.

“What kind of fist art is that?”

The assassins hiding among the Saber Tyrant Sect members stepped backward with terrified expressions. Because the range of fist power Bu Eunseol poured out was so wide that no matter how they tried to escape, they could not dodge it.

“That bastard!”

As Bu Eunseol slaughtered the assassins, the Yin Death Valley Master Dwarf Assassin, kicking off the shoulder of a Saber Tyrant Sect member and soaring up, revealed himself again.

“I’ll have to kill you first to open a retreat path.”

As Dwarf Assassin appeared, Bu Eunseol spoke to Namgung Woon behind him.

“Deal with him.”

“Me?”

Bu Eunseol nodded with an extremely serious expression.

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

A frontal confrontation in broad daylight with an assassin who possessed not only secret assassination techniques but also high-level martial arts. Even masters who had roamed the Gangho for decades found it hard to experience such a thing. If he could survive this fight, he would gain immeasurable benefits.

‘I see.’

Namgung Woon realized.

The battle with Dwarf Assassin. This was a gift Bu Eunseol was giving him.

“Alright!”

Namgung Woon ran forward and unleashed the Azure Heavens Soaring Swallow Sword toward Dwarf Assassin without hesitation. As sword stances fast as light wrapped around all directions, Dwarf Assassin opened his eyes wide.

“Namgung Clan?”

Realizing the young man before him was a figure of the Namgung Clan, Dwarf Assassin wore a leisurely smile instead.

“Hehehe. So it was a young master of a noble family.”

Deflecting Namgung Woon’s sword stances one by one with his hand axe, he wore a confident smile.

“You should know that martial arts and killing are different.”

It was no exaggeration to say that figures from prestigious families lived their whole lives being served by others. And such an environment only heightened their vigor in youth, making them all look down on the Murim and maintain arrogant personalities.

“I’ll take your head quickly.”

Dwarf Assassin was confident. No matter how outstanding Namgung Woon’s martial arts were, he could not beat Dwarf Assassin, who was worn and torn in battle.

“……?”

But after ten exchanges, Dwarf Assassin’s eyes gradually filled with absurdity.

The reason unskilled assassins could seize victory against Orthodox masters was simple. Because they used despicable and dirty methods that the Orthodox never used.

But Namgung Woon was the opposite.

To dodge hidden weapons, he stuck his butt out and flew backward, or rolled madly on the ground to avoid killing moves. When cornered, didn’t he even pick up dirt from the ground to throw and spit in close combat?

Dwarf Assassin opened his mouth in disbelief.

‘This bastard… is a figure of the Namgung Clan?’

The Namgung Clan, called the renowned family of the sword, was famous for its strict internal laws. Yet a direct descendant was boldly using methods that even assassins would shake their heads at?

‘But his sword art is certain.’

The sword art pouring out before his eyes was definitely the Azure Heavens Soaring Swallow Sword, which only direct descendants of the Namgung Clan could learn.

Just as Dwarf Assassin, losing his focus, barely dodged the Azure Heavens Soaring Swallow Sword—

Ptui!

Approaching quickly, Namgung Woon suddenly spat phlegm. And very unluckily, some of that byproduct touched Dwarf Assassin’s cheek.

“…….”

Veins popped out on Dwarf Assassin’s forehead as he wiped the phlegm with his sleeve.

“The Namgung Clan is doomed! To produce a prodigy of debauchery like you!”

It was an insult that would make a descendant of a noble family roll their eyes back in rage, but Namgung Woon did not get excited and laughed loudly instead.

“For an assassin, you are stupid. To only now realize my identity.”

At that, Dwarf Assassin, having a guess, flashed his eyes.

“Are you Namgung Woon, the prodigy of debauchery of the Namgung Clan?”

Deflecting Dwarf Assassin’s attack, Namgung Woon laughed leisurely.

“If you know, stretch out your neck now.”