Chapter 75. Paitan
Thud-thud.
The sound of muscle fibers and capillaries being severed was crisp. Immediately after, blood poured out along the artery and scattered over the Wanderer's Sword. The dark-red Wanderer's Sword became even darker and even redder.
"Kkeuaaagh!"
The braided-hair North Ghost screamed. The confidence he had just moments ago could no longer be found.
Slash.
Dong Bong-su's right arm moved again. This time, the braided-hair North Ghost's remaining arm fell to the ground. The braided-hair North Ghost screamed again.
Now, if he just cut off the neck, it would be over. But Dong Bong-su did not kill the braided-hair North Ghost. He merely grabbed the braided hair of the North Ghost who was rolling on the ground crying, and dragged him, moving at high speed toward the enemy camp.
At that sight, the noisy murmuring of the North Ghosts that had filled the air just moments ago stopped. Instead, the killing intent emanating from them grew even thicker.
An intensity of sinister energy from 476 enemies, strong enough that any ordinary martial artist would find it hard to endure. Dong Bong-su endured it without making much of it and kept running forward.
He approached until he was about seventy meters away from the enemies.
Then he cut off the braided-hair North Ghost's ear. A blatant act of provocation.
With one hand, Dong Bong-su still held onto the braided-hair North Ghost's hair, and with the other hand he raised the severed ear high above his head.
"That bastard!"
"Kill that son of a bitch!"
At that, the North Ghosts went berserk and rushed forward without exception.
Their leader, who was standing among them, did not even have time to stop them. No, it seemed he had no intention of stopping them at all, as he himself took the lead and flew toward Dong Bong-su.
But Dong Bong-su had no intention from the beginning of fighting all of them alone.
Pop!
He began to flee backward, dragging the braided-hair North Ghost. Activating the skill [Lightness Skill] to the maximum, his running speed was tremendous. Even though the North Ghosts' movement techniques—especially that of their leader—had reached a remarkable level, it was difficult for them to properly keep up with Dong Bong-su.
Even so, the North Ghosts did not stop and continued to chase Dong Bong-su.
As dusk fell and the grassland became quite dark, a 1 vs. 476 pursuit unfolded.
Uaaaaaah!
"Kill that bastard!"
"Charge!"
"Tear them all to pieces!"
The enemies' rage-filled shouts poured out as if to overturn the entire grassland.
At the same time, the killing intent they were releasing gradually expanded in range and soon reached even the mercenaries. Because of that, some mercenaries forgot Dong Bong-su's order and opened their eyes.
In their eyes, they saw Dong Bong-su dragging a lump of bloody flesh and running this way.
Naturally, they also noticed the frenzied North Ghosts following behind him.
"Th… that…!"
"D-damn it…!"
Among the mercenaries who opened their eyes, some cursed and staggered backward, while others wet themselves and collapsed onto the ground. That was how terrifying the North Ghosts' killing intent and momentum were.
However, the majority still trusted Dong Bong-su and kept their eyes closed, and even among those who had opened their eyes, most merely tightened their grip on their swords and prepared to run out, rather than retreating or collapsing.
Because they had seen Dong Bong-su's eyes. An expressionless gaze of "nothingness," from which it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. In this situation, nothing inspired as much "infinite" trust as that.
One hundred steps… fifty steps… thirty steps…
The distance between Dong Bong-su and the mercenaries rapidly shrank. Accordingly, the distance between the North Ghosts and the mercenaries was also closing in at an alarming speed.
Then, at a certain moment.
Once again, a voice—whether it was the Ear Ghost's "Six-Union Sound Transmission" or "Radiant Wisdom Mind Speech," no one could tell—pierced into the mercenaries' minds.
[Close your eyes.]
The instant that voice was engraved into their minds!
Dong Bong-su thrust his sword down into what seemed to be the head of the lump of flesh he was holding.
Hwaaahk!
An indescribable radiance burst out in all directions from around Dong Bong-su's body. It was the flash announcing Lv. 30.
Since the sun had already completely set and it was evening, its power was dozens or even hundreds of times stronger than an ordinary flashbang. The level-up flash immediately spread at the speed of light across the dry wasteland.
"Ugh! Wh-what is it!?"
"Aaagh!"
The flash granted momentary blindness to everyone who had their eyes open—especially the North Ghosts whose eyes were gleaming with the madness of battle…
[Begin the massacre.]
"Kill them!"
"Grind those filthy North Ghost bastards to dust and drink their blood!"
"Attack!"
To the mercenaries who had their eyes closed, it became the signal to attack.
Uaaaaaah!
Now the mercenaries, too, let out a tremendous roar and charged forward.
Thud! Bam-bam-bam!
"Kkeuaaagh!"
"Die, all of you, you bastards!"
"U-uaagh!"
Because the place where Dong Bong-su leveled up was located almost exactly in the middle between the North Ghosts and the mercenaries, the North Ghosts' losses were even greater. Most of the North Ghosts failed to avoid the rays of light that spread out like a fan.
Rather, because all the North Ghosts had been focusing on Dong Bong-su due to his provocation, most of them were now covering their eyes with their hands and swinging their weapons at random.
The plan had succeeded perfectly. Dong Bong-su had already predicted that he would level up if he killed just one more North Ghost. His level gauge had already been nearly full. Even after killing several hundred ordinary soldiers in this hunt, he had not leveled up. But the North Ghosts were different. They were martial artists. He did not need many of them. He had already expected that just one would be enough. And even if one was not enough to trigger a level-up, that was fine. Then he would kill two or three. If that still was not enough, he would just kill more.
Slash. Thud. Slice. Thud.
Dong Bong-su began to move again. Now, instead of running away, he leaped straight into the midst of the North Ghosts.
Each time the black-red Wanderer's Sword moved without a sound, a headless corpse increased by one.
[ … 7, 8, 9, 10 … ]
[The player has succeeded in a 10-hit Chain Slash, all stats have increased by 10%.]
It did not take long for the skill [Chain Slash Lv.2] to activate.
300, 299… 300, 299… 300…
The five-minute duration of Chain Slash kept being refreshed along with the enemies' deaths. At this rate, the effect of Chain Slash would probably never disappear before the battle ended.
After some time, when the brightness subsided, the enemies were finally able to open their eyes again and come to their senses, but by then the number of North Ghosts had been reduced by half. The only reason this many could survive at all was because they were North Ghosts. If they had been ordinary soldiers, all of them would have been slaughtered in just these few seconds. But in the end, their fate would be the same as that of the nomad soldiers who had fallen in the previous battle.
Because Dong Bong-su's Chain Slash timer was still pointing at 300 seconds.
Sssshk. Thud-thud.
A storm of blood rose and chunks of flesh flew.
Within it, Dong Bong-su felt that he was alive.
Once again, he realized his own identity.
Was it enjoyable? The corner of his mouth was twisted up in a strange way. His sword ceaselessly roamed among the enemies. Then, at a certain moment—
Clang!
Someone blocked his sword. It was the first time this had happened in this hunt.
Dong Bong-su's lips split into a straight line, and his white teeth gleamed in the darkness.
Finally, a proper carnivore!
"Uaaagh!"
"Die! Die, you bastards!"
"Urraaah!"
Clang! Slice! Thud!
The sounds and sights of the battlefield—mixed with all kinds of shouts and noises—faded from Dong Bong-su's ears and vision.
Even though his pupils had dilated in the night, his eyes were focused on only one thing.
The man who had blocked his [Great Mountain Pressing the Summit]. Like the other North Ghosts, he had a braided hairstyle with only the back hair left long, but the difference between him and the others was that he was emitting killing intent as fierce as that of all the other North Ghosts combined.
Dong Bong-su's Wanderer's Sword and the man's blade were locked against each other in midair. Dong Bong-su's sword was coming down from above, while the man's blade was raised vertically to block it. In short, they were crossing in the shape of a cross (十).
Dong Bong-su's emotionless eyes and the man's bloodshot eyes, reddened by killing intent, met fiercely between the crossed sword and blade.
"Are you the Ear Ghost?"
The man, Paitan, the North Ghost Group leader, said. Dong Bong-su put force into his hand, pushed Paitan back, and replied.
"That's what they call me."
Using the momentum of pushing Paitan back, Dong Bong-su leaped backward and swung his sword, cleanly cutting off the neck of one North Ghost who was charging at him.
Slice.
He shook off the blood from his sword and walked toward Paitan again. Paitan stared at him and said.
"What exactly was the martial art you used earlier?"
"Is it important?"
"Heh heh heh… Well, since we're all about to die, what does something like that even matter?"
Pop.
Paitan hurled his body toward Dong Bong-su, who was walking toward him. The momentum was so great that it created a powerful wind pressure around them. Receiving that momentum head-on, Dong Bong-su felt as if typhoons were pressing down on him from all sides.
'Sword Unity!?'
It was a realm he was encountering for the first time, but he could tell. Paitan's momentum was so tremendous and so completely united with his blade that anyone, not just Dong Bong-su, could easily notice it.
Dong Bong-su immediately activated the skill [Circulating Energy and Performing the Technique]. In an instant, a powerful energy burst out from Dong Bong-su's body, and his attack power and defense each increased by 90%.
In that state, he charged straight at Paitan.
Kakang!
Their blades collided in midair, and a tremendous crashing sound echoed across the battlefield.
Perhaps Dong Bong-su's strength was a bit lacking, as he was knocked back three meters.
"Kuh, kehehe."
Was he in pain? Or was he laughing?
A strange sound leaked from Dong Bong-su's mouth.
From the previous clash, the hand gripping the sword had been torn by about 0.3 cm, and perhaps he had also suffered light internal injuries, as a thin line of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. A burning pain spread through his chest and hand.
And so—
Dong Bong-su laughed.
Why? Because it was fun to fight. No, because it was fun to kill!
"Kehehe."
Paitan laughed back and once again flew toward Dong Bong-su.
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