Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon’s faction, known as the ‘First Thirty Percent,’ had been revealed. At a distance of forty paces, one of the Yeon Clan elders, who had rushed in late, staggered into view. His ragged breathing and flushed red face were clear signs of the desperate haste with which he had run. Despite his urgent arrival, the other Yeon Clan elders were unable to hide their shock.
“It is a disaster,” they exclaimed. “Why does it have to be the Grand Young Master’s faction, now of all times?”
“The Treasury Vice Director has been arrested and dragged away. The Head of the Court of Judiciary and the Head of the Inspectorate Bureau will undoubtedly wash their hands of us.” Even gulping down cold water couldn’t alleviate the suffocating tightness in their chests, a feeling akin to severe indigestion. “Furthermore, now that the Grand Young Master has established such a formidable power base within the Council of Elders, there’s no room for us to maneuver within the council’s jurisdiction.”
Loosening their collars brought no relief; it felt as if an invisible noose was tightening around their throats.
“We are truly besieged on all sides.”
With the Grand Young Master’s faction having made such a shocking entrance, the other Yeon Clan elders had no spare attention to give the latecomer.
—“I merely breathed a little courage into you all.”
—“No, Grand Young Master!”
The amicable atmosphere displayed by the Grand Young Master’s faction across the hall was so blatant that it felt like a deliberate taunt. The Yeon Clan elders’ faces were etched with fury.
“Such an unsightly display,” one elder grumbled.
“Those who barely qualify as elders are acting like absolute fools,” another exclaimed.
“Anyone would think they’d met the Founder Patriarch himself,” a third added.
“There should be a limit to such fawning. Have they no shame?”
One of the elders clicked his tongue loudly, trying to be heard over the commotion.
But then, a voice interrupted him.
“And when thirty percent of invalid votes were gathered like that…!”
“The ten percent of personnel the Grand Young Master had secured through ‘political deals’ saw a chance of victory…!”
“And in the subsequent re-vote, they added another ten percent of invalid votes…!”
The elders of the Grand Young Master’s faction pretended not to hear a thing.
“Dammit,” one of them muttered.
Even cursing their twisted luck was a luxury afforded only to those who had a sliver of composure left. Bloodshot eyes bulged, someone chewed their fingernails until they bled, and another shook their leg so violently that the table trembled.
Tsk.
One of the Yeon Clan elders, observing this, couldn’t help but click his tongue. Even among the Yeon Clan elders, these individuals were the most deeply and blatantly involved with the Treasury Vice Director. They were the ones who would be directly affected by the fallout of this affair. Given their predicament, their erratic behavior was not entirely surprising.
“It’s regrettable that things have turned out this way, but…”
As the bloodshot eyes of the elders turned towards him one by one, he averted his gaze and continued, “We’ve done our best to help as much as we could. So, in the investigation that will follow, we kindly request that you take care to ensure that we are not harmed.”
‘We’ and ‘you.’
The moment things went wrong, he drew a blatant line between them.
“……!”
Betrayed by their allies, the abandoned Yeon Clan elders glared, their entire bodies trembling with rage.
“We understand how you feel, but…”
“Understanding is one thing; what must be said is another…”
Other Yeon Clan elders chimed in, following the lead of the first who had drawn the line.
“We cannot allow the entire Yeon Clan to fall because of this incident, can we?”
“It is time for each to find their own way to survive.”
“The clan members outside the Council of Elders will have surely reached the same conclusion.”
And so, while avoiding eye contact, they said what they had to say.
“…You bastards!” One of the abandoned elders shot to his feet.
“Why get angry at us?” An elder who had been averting his gaze suddenly turned back with a sharp glare. “If you were in our position, would you not have done exactly the same?”
“…”
Anger surged uncontrollably, but the words struck too true, leaving him speechless. Or perhaps, being rendered speechless only fueled his rage further.
“Still, the Treasury Vice Director… he won’t open his mouth easily, thinking of his family.”
“Don’t think of this as the end.”
“We will do whatever we can to help you, where possible.”
Giving the disease and then the medicine? But in this situation, they had to grasp at even a rotten rope.
“…I ask of you—“ Just as he swallowed his humiliation and prepared to bow his head—
“It is already too late.”
—the Yeon Clan elders turned to the source of the voice.
“Didn’t I say there was a disaster?” The latecomer, who had made such a fuss upon arrival, slumped into a chair, drained of all strength. “The arrested Treasury Vice Director had a secret ledger. And the Court of Judiciary has already secured it.”
The last, rotten rope, had snapped.
—“The result of the third vote on the no-confidence motion against the Director of the Sword Clan Treasury. Twenty votes in favor of no-confidence. Ten invalid votes. Eighty votes against. Therefore…!”
From afar came the voice of Elder Hwang Mok, presiding over the meeting.
—“Therefore, the no-confidence motion against the Treasury Director is finally rejected…!”
Along with the voice announcing the result, “I heard the Grand Young Master’s hand was in that as well. It’s unfortunate, but…” the voice of the latecomer elder overlapped with the announcement. “…You are finished.”
In that instant, the string of reason also snapped.
***
Thirty paces.
It wasn’t uncommon for someone who suffered a painful defeat in the Council of Elders to emit a peculiar scream. Consequently, the realization that an impossible act of violence was unfolding arrived too late.
“You bastard—!”
By the time they noticed, one of the Yeon Clan elders had already closed the distance to the Grand Young Master to thirty paces.
“…!”
It wasn’t clear who reacted first.
“Grand Young Master…!”
The Sword That Crushes Mountains, hardened and forged on the battlefield, was wielded by Elder Yeom. Reflexively, he gathered his internal energy and lunged forward to intercept the Yeon Clan elder’s path to the Grand Young Master.
“You crazy lunatic…!”
And one other.
The Little Giant.
That name was no empty title.
Standing on the podium in the center of the hall, the Head of the Council of Elders, his anger piercing the heavens, raised both hands with a roar, instantly drawing up his internal energy.
Twenty paces.
“…”
Even among the elders devoid of internal energy, only those fortunate enough to gaze toward the center grasped the situation in that split second.
“Keuk…!”
The abrupt surge of forcibly drawing up internal energy caused a backlash, resulting in the blood vessels throughout Elder Yeom’s body bulging like earthworms. The pressure also caused the capillaries in his eyes to burst. Despite the searing pain that ravaged his body, he instinctively reached for his back.
But this was the Council of Elders.
His beloved giant sword was not on his back. Instead, he immediately clenched his fist, large as a pot lid.
“Haaap-!”
“DIEEEEEEE—!”
Remaining distance: Ten paces.
A storm-like wave of energy erupted from the central podium.
“Whoa-!”
Elder Hwang Mok and others standing near the podium were swept off their feet by the blast.
Flash.
The Head of the Council of Elders, having amassed an immense amount of energy in both palms, had already ascended into the air. “If the speed of energy gathering falls short, I shall compensate by maintaining a distance…!” Instead of charging at the attacking Yeon Clan elder, the Head of the Council of Elders hurled himself toward Yeon So-hyeon, skillfully blocking his path and buying precious time to gather his power.
“BATTLE CRY!”
His sleeves exploded into shreds, fluttering in the air, and blue lightning trailed from his eyes.
Ultimate Technique. Twin Thunders of the Moving Wheels. Supreme Achievement – Phoenix Selecting Strike.
And,
Elder Yeom’s eyes widened with fierce determination, and he managed to concentrate his entire body’s qi into his fist in just half a breath.
Sword That Crushes Mountains – Exclusive Martial Art. Superweight Fist Form. Mountain-Shattering Force.
“…Hukk!”
“…Keuk!”
Stone tiles cracked and split in all directions around him, and nearby elders fell to their knees under the pressure, heavy as Mount Tai.
“Guaaaaaaah—!”
Mutual Destruction.
Burning even his origin essence energy to launch a suicidal attack, the distance between the Yeon Clan elder and the Grand Young Master was.
Now,
Only Five paces.
I will never be too late! Now!
The concentration of the two martial artists, having pushed their internal energy to the absolute limit, reached the wall of time where everything seemed to flow slowly. In that moment,
“…”
“…”
There was someone leisurely passing by them. His movement was like a Great Peng Bird soaring indifferently through the azure sky, unconcerned with the salmon struggling against the rough waterfalls below.
Grand Young Master?!
Within that time-slowed realm, where everything seemed to pause, the figure of Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon moved alone, as if unbound by any constraints, swiftly overtaking them.
And,
In that very instant, the eyes of the Head of the Council of Elders and Elder Yeom widened in shock as Yeon So-hyeon’s toe lightly touched down on the ground.
Thud.
It sounded like a gentle tap. Centered on that lightly placed toe, without a single roar or even a speck of dust rising, the marble floor of the Grand Assembly Hall swirled and sank.
That Quaking Foot is—?!
The Head of the Council of Elders and Elder Yeom recognized that infinitely distinctive stomp instantly.
The Great Supreme Retired Patriarch’s?!
And,
As Yeon So-hyeon’s body surged with internal energy from the stomp, the two masters’ eyes reflexively scanned the source of that energy: His hand.
That is—?!
A fist clenched as if gripping a sword, but with only the index and middle fingers extended straight, like a blade.
—Sword Finger Technique!
Originally, the Sword Finger Technique, whether it’s part of swordsmanship, was merely a supplementary means to the main weapon, the sword. However, in this very moment, Yeon So-hyeon’s Sword Finger Technique was as if a sealed treasure sword had been drawn. Its sharp aura, seemed to slice through the very air with keen precision. For that single moment, everyone present, as if possessed by sorcery, fixed their gaze solely on the Grand Young Master’s Sword Finger Technique.
But,
No one in the Grand Assembly Hall,
No warrior,
Not even those with the keenest eyesight,
Could capture the moment Yeon So-hyeon’s Sword Finger Technique moved.
“Ah…!”
A gasp of instinctive regret, impossible to pinpoint or explain, escaped someone’s lips. As everyone, entranced by that gasp, snapped back to reality, a deafening Puhwak-! echoed through the air. The body of the charging Yeon Clan elder was cleanly bisected left and right in mid-air. Carried by his own momentum, the two halves swept past Yeon So-hyeon on either side, crumpling and crashing to the ground in a gruesome heap of gore.
“……!”
Belatedly.
Amidst the blood of the Yeon Clan elder spraying into the air like a fine mist. Equally belatedly, from the mouths of those who recognized the martial art, the identity of that single sword strike leaked out like a groan.
“…That is the Great Supreme Retired Patriarch’s Renowned Ultimate Technique.”
“Life-Severing…!”
Whether born with the innate talent for martial arts or not, who among those who had ascended to the rank of elder in the Luoyang Sword Clan could fail to recognize that strike?
“Hoo…”
Amidst the shock where a thousand emotions crossed, Yeon So-hyeon calmed his breath with a long exhalation.
Crack, cra-crack.
Only then. From the trace of Yeon So-hyeon’s stomp, a fissure raced across the floor, scraped up the far wall, and reached the high ceiling of the Grand Assembly Hall. Thud-thud. Even as dust and debris fell from the crack in the ceiling, no one dared to open their mouths.