Chapter 34. Because I Decided So.

The presence of the Black Cat Gang Leader, feared by the dregs of the Black Cat Gang, and my own presence, after barging in without warning and proposing a life-and-death duel, were in a state where neither could be said to surpass the other. No—if anything, the more their eyes went to that gruesome corpse, the larger my presence became.

Now, those who wanted to live would restrain themselves of their own accord.

The Black Cat Gang Leader also realized from the atmosphere that this was a moment he had to resolve himself.

“Waiter, your attack is quite flashy.”

Suddenly, the Black Cat Gang Leader’s gaze turned toward the wall.

A belated crack rang out, and the wall that had received the axe began to split as if lightning were spreading through it.

So Gunpyeong approached me and asked in a courteous tone.

“Sect Master, do you use sabers as well?”

“Why? I’ve learned plenty besides palm arts, finger arts, kicking arts, saber arts, sword arts, spear arts, and scythe work.”

So Gunpyeong held out the Yaraedo, which he cherished like a lover.

“Mm, use my Yaraedo for now. The Gang Leader’s blade is extremely sharp too.”

At the unexpected offer, I glanced at So Gunpyeong’s expression. This was the same fellow who had been fidgeting and beside himself when I said I wanted to take a look at his saber, yet now he was offering to lend me his own weapon first……

I could have simply thanked him, but I deliberately replied like a twisted man.

“It should be better than a kitchen knife. Hand it over.”

So Gunpyeong, while passing me the Yaraedo, furtively glared at me.

“What?”

“Nothing. It is a blade better than a kitchen knife, so handle it well.”

As I drew the Yaraedo, I heard So Gunpyeong and his subordinates talking behind me.

“What does he mean by better than a kitchen knife?”

“Shut up.”

“Why are you getting angry…… I only asked because I was curious.”

“There is such a thing.”

“All right.”

I spoke to the Black Cat Gang Leader, who looked as though he was racking his brains.

“A new blade has arrived, so let’s begin.”

Before the Black Cat Gang Leader could play any petty tricks, I poured saber wind toward him.

* * *

Saber wind is a technique more suited to breaking an opponent’s balance or hindering their movement in the middle of an exchange than to delivering a final blow. For that reason, it is right to deal with such saber wind decisively. If one does not respond properly, the initiative will continue to be stolen.

The officers instinctively dodged left and right to avoid being swept up in the saber wind, while the Black Cat Gang Leader, facing the blade gale head-on, drew the pitch-black straight saber at his waist and split the saber wind apart.

In that interval, I closed the distance from where the chair stood to the platform in a single leap and charged while thrusting my blade toward the Black Cat Gang Leader’s abdomen.

Clang!

As the Black Cat Gang Leader struck away the Yaraedo driving in on a straight line, the two of us clashed in earnest.

For an instant, he and I examined each other’s eyes.

Many emotions can dwell in a person’s gaze, but the only thing he and I had in common was that no fear could be seen in our eyes.

The eyes of those who have killed many opponents are generally like this.

The fight between the Black Cat Gang Leader and me, which had begun on the stairs, continued as it moved to the center of the spacious outer courtyard.

The straight saber and the Yaraedo had already clashed over thirty times, and the information I gained in the process was neatly organized in my head.

The Black Cat Gang Leader was the type who used precise saber arts, focused on defense while placing importance on counterattacks, and, in the midst of executing his saber arts, deliberately revealed small mistakes to insidiously lay traps.

In contrast, I do not decide the flow of an exchange or the way I will fight in advance. I grasp the opponent’s psychology and the strengths of their martial arts, then respond accordingly. This is the essence of the Fighting Cock, the next stage after the Flame Realm; even if my cultivation of the mental method had not yet risen, the insights I had already realized were a separate matter.

After crossing blades with him……

Compared to the Gang Leader, my saber arts were faster and more precise, and even the internal energy I had built upon the foundation of the Heavenly Jade was far deeper. To sum it up, this was a fight with no possibility of defeat.

Even so, for various reasons, I engraved the Black Cat Gang Leader’s saber arts into my memory.

Because I had to glimpse the martial learning of the Great Rakshasa who had taught him those saber arts.

In addition, I had a separate reason to learn the Black Cat Gang Leader’s saber arts in their entirety.

This, too, was all part of the plan.

* * *

When his saber arts had become perfectly familiar to my eyes, I slowly raised the internal energy I was infusing into my blade.

Then the complexion of the Black Cat Gang Leader, who had held up fairly well until now, gradually turned pale.

It seemed he had only just realized that I had been fighting without drawing out even half of my internal energy.

I could understand his panic.

There is a certain limit to the internal energy that martial artists under the age of twenty-five can accumulate.

Most of those who reach the end of that limit are only the chief disciples of prestigious orthodox sects, successors of great clans, or young martial artists who have obtained rare fortuitous encounters. Aside from them, one can roughly estimate the depth of a person’s internal energy by considering their age and background.

The Black Cat Gang Leader had been looking at me through that sort of lens……

But the internal energy he sensed from the blade clashing against his was steadily growing, so of course he had no choice but to panic.

How could this bastard have anticipated and dealt with a fortuitous encounter like the Heavenly Jade?

I loosened my stiff expression and let a sneer form.

“……Gang Leader, you’re too late.”

Too late to run.

And too late to realize my true strength—that was what I meant, and because the Black Cat Gang Leader had death right before his eyes, he immediately understood. However, because of that mask, I could not confirm whether his complexion changed.

It seemed masks certainly had their advantages.

In the meantime, his movements grew increasingly violent, like a beast trying to escape a hunter. Whether a martial artist or a wild beast, when cornered psychologically, they are bound to struggle in this manner. As I watched that ugly spectacle, I returned his own words to him exactly.

“From now on, if I tell you to lick, can you lick; if I tell you to attack, can you attack; and if I tell you to bark, can you bark? Under me, of course.”

Scraping together and using even the internal energy scattered through his body, the Black Cat Gang Leader had no strength left to answer.

“…….”

“No answer. It’s hard, isn’t it? You said that was the black path.”

Even while mocking him, I swung my blade while cutting off his escape routes. The Gang Leader’s footwork had been subtly shifting one step at a time, and I could see his intent to seize an opportunity and flee fiercely.

Since I had grown accustomed to his footwork and saber arts, it was not difficult to read such thoughts.

When I swung my blade as if sealing off the Black Cat Gang Leader’s movements, the sharp-eyed So Gunpyeong cut in with words.

“Gang Leader, you told me to die if I was defeated, so what is this disgraceful behavior? Surely you are not trying to flee……?”

At So Gunpyeong’s words, the Black Cat Gang Leader’s composure collapsed completely. He swung his straight saber in a large motion and poured out saber qi in succession ahead of him, then commanded his subordinates in a rough tone, his breath caught in his throat.

“Attack!”

The moment the officers wavered at the Black Cat Gang Leader’s order, So Gunpyeong quickly intervened.

“Everyone, restrain yourselves. It was clearly said to be one-on-one, so if you intend to interfere, I will have no choice but to step in as well. If you ignore the order and stay still, I will mediate so that all of you keep your lives. If you are still uneasy, then just look at the corpse split apart by the axe. As the Haomun Sect Master said, that corpse is the result of a surprise attack.”

The officers who heard So Gunpyeong’s warning turned their eyes to the corpse that had been split apart in a gruesome mess.

“…….”

It was, all over again, a horrific corpse.

As if warning those still alive not to die like it had, the corpse spoke with its entire ruined body.

When a man is driven into a corner, it is only natural for him to grasp even at straws. The Black Rabbit Gang Leader knocked away the Yaraedo, then hastily retreated and spoke to me.

“Sect Leader… wait…!”

In my eyes, because his breathing had fallen out of rhythm while he was talking, I could see three or four openings in the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s guard. It was also rather amusing that his way of addressing me had somehow changed from waiter to sect leader.

‘This little whelp….’

Giving him no time to rest, I pressed after him, wrapped Yeomgye around the Yaraedo, and struck away the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s blade. An unpleasant sound that battered the eardrums rang out, and the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s face twisted. Blood was already streaming from his grip, though I could not tell when it had been torn open.

Driven into a corner, the Black Rabbit Gang Leader, consumed by spite, gripped his straight saber with both hands and poured all his internal energy into a single slash, unleashing saber qi.

Sweeeeeeeeng!

His intent was far too obvious.

If I dodged, the saber qi would fly toward So Gunpyeong and the others behind me. With this final blow, he meant either to kill me or, failing that, to tear So Gunpyeong’s group apart.

Having never intended to dodge in the first place, I raised the Yaraedo toward the incoming saber qi, wrapped it in Yeomhwahyang, and drew it straight down.

The grotesquely shaped saber qi, difficult to even name, collided with the blazing stream of flame.

If our strengths had been equal, the shockwave produced by the clash of saber qi would have spread outward in a circle…

But the Yeomhwahyang I released tore through the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s saber qi, and with only the remaining aftershock, sent his body flying into the wall.

Wrapped in scorching saber qi that burned into his skin, the Black Rabbit Gang Leader struck the wall with his arms spread wide in the shape of the character 大, then spat blood from his mouth.

“Kuhack….”

The Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s body was half-buried in the wall. The blood he had spat dripped down beneath his mask.

Whether his bones here and there had been crushed when he suffered internal injuries and smashed into the wall, the Black Rabbit Gang Leader could not pull himself free, as if he were a figure painted upon it.

So Gunpyeong and his group would be pleased by this result.

And the men who had restrained themselves at So Gunpyeong’s words must have been sighing in relief…

But to me, this was only the natural outcome, so the joy of victory was not particularly great.

I looked around at the martial artists of the Black Rabbit Gang who had watched the duel and announced the result.

“Victory goes to the waiter.”

From the standpoint of the black path, it was a truly undignified declaration of victory.

But victory or whatever the hell else, the thing I had come to the Black Rabbit Gang to do had not even begun yet.

“So Gunpyeong.”

So Gunpyeong looked into my eyes, then used respectful speech for the first time.

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“So you were a man who earned his keep with his mouth. You saved quite a few with that three-inch tongue of yours.”

“Because you gave me warning in advance, I was able to save my comrades. Thank you, Sect Leader.”

I shook my blade back and forth at the Black Rabbit Gang officers, who had suddenly become mute, and said,

“I left quite a lot of strength in reserve, taking into account the possibility that you lot might rush me too. What will you do? I am a man who respects a man’s desire for revenge. If any of you are deeply aggrieved by your gang leader’s defeat, step forward now. With a reverent heart, I shall open wide the road for you to ascend to heaven together with your leader. In exchange, this time I will go all out. Your saber arts are surely not even worth watching.”

Those with sharp eyes would have realized from the result that I had not used my full strength in the process of killing the Black Rabbit Gang Leader.

“…….”

I scratched my chin and said,

“Come now, is there no one who wants to blather that today is a fine day to die and ascend to heaven after your gang leader? It is not every day that worthless men of the black path get to challenge a splendid waiter, so do try to muster some courage.”

Even after I gently scraped at their pride, no one stepped forward. Seeing the faces of some officers turn bright red, I laughed.

“What a shame. That was your last chance to come at the waiter.”

While none of them understood what I had just said, I walked over to the nearly dead Black Rabbit Gang Leader and looked down at him. A faint breath still remained in him.

I reached out, grabbed the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s mask, and pulled it off. His face looked as if he would die at any moment. Only then did he barely convey this meaning with the shape of his mouth.

“Spare… me….”

“You want me to spare you? Unexpected. If you are willing to live the rest of your life as a waiter in Ilyang County, I will spare you. Instead, I will cripple your martial arts. You will boil noodles, clear tables, and mop floors, and you may unexpectedly be beaten to death by a person of the martial world, but the martial world is originally that kind of place, so you should steel your heart before you begin. I will permit no other life. If you have the courage to live as a waiter….”

While the Black Rabbit Gang Leader was listening to me, his breath ceased.

“…I suppose you do not.”

Truthfully, I had not intended to make him do it anyway. As I said before, I have not the slightest sympathy for monkeys who learned martial arts killing one another.

“It is difficult to be a waiter once you are dead. Did you think just anyone could be a waiter? Honestly….”

Holding the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s mask in my hand, I turned around and glared at the men who had all shut their mouths. Since so few had died, the foundation had been laid rather well. I brought the rabbit mask, stained with the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s blood, to my face and said,

“From this moment on, I am the Black Rabbit Gang Leader.”

Wearing the Black Rabbit Gang Leader’s mask, I declared,

“Whether you want it or not. I have decided it so.”