Chapter 9 …
They felt reassured.
The bandits, who had always fallen asleep trembling with unease, were delighted at the thought that they could finally sleep soundly starting tonight.
Watching his men look so pleased, Ma Chang-hu briefly let a smile slip before turning to ask the leader of Myeongak Stronghold:
“Nothing new yet, right?”
“No. We searched in every direction, but they say he vanished like a ghost without leaving a trace.”
“Then it might be someone working alone.”
“What? One person is using three completely different types of martial arts?”
“He deliberately left false traces to confuse us. Fire arts? Anyone can set something on fire. Ice? Easy to bring from somewhere. The real technique he used was Thunder Arts.”
But… didn’t the bodies freeze to death?
Not wanting to challenge the man’s mood, the leader simply laughed awkwardly and agreed with him.
“As expected of you.”
Ma Chang-hu drank without the slightest hint of tension.
Gulp—
“Thunder Arts… that’s not something you see often. I’d like to meet him.”
He wiped the alcohol dripping from his beard with his fingers, popped a bite of food into his mouth, wiped his clothes, then continued:
“Did you have any dealings with the stronghold that got hit?”
“The leader of Hoaak Stronghold was a friend of mine.”
“Yeah? Did you go see the place?”
“Yes.”
“How was it? Looked like multiple attackers?”
“No. There were no signs of that.”
“See? Just as I thought. That bastard is probably a newcomer to the martial world.”
“A newcomer?”
“Yeah. He wants real combat experience, but he can’t just pick a random person to fight. So he targeted bandits.”
“A newcomer can be this strong?”
“Among those who used Thunder Arts… who was the strongest?”
“There was Heavenly Thunder God-Lord (천뢰신군).”
Ma Chang-hu suddenly clapped his hands.
“That’s it! He’s the successor of Heavenly Thunder God-Lord!”
“What?”
“The God-Lord excelled at Thunder Arts, but he was also unmatched in magic! Fire and ice—those must have been magic arts!”
“Oh! Amazing!”
It actually sounded plausible.
“If he’s the successor of Heavenly Thunder God-Lord, his martial arts must be extremely advanced.”
“Indeed. That explains everything. You really are incredible.”
The leader rubbed his palms together proudly, and Ma Chang-hu grinned smugly.
“Hmph! I’m this good. Now write everything I said and send it to the headquarters.”
“Yes! I’ll pick someone with good handwriting to write it up well.”
“Hahaha! Right!”
Feeling good, Ma Chang-hu kept chugging his liquor.
When the sun hadn’t even set yet, the two large jars of alcohol were nearly empty—
Ding ding ding ding—!
The emergency bell rang loudly.
“What?”
“S-Sir, it seems an enemy has arrived!”
At the word enemy, Ma Chang-hu’s eyes turned cold, the drunkenness evaporating from his body.
Leaving behind only the smell of alcohol in the room, he grabbed his favorite spears and stepped outside.
What he saw was shocking—bandits already collapsed on the ground, twitching.
Ma Chang-hu’s brow furrowed as he searched for the culprit.
And then… there stood something unbelievable.
“…a child?”
A child—clearly a child—was walking in leisurely, while the bandits stared at him in sheer terror.
That brat!
Ma Chang-hu kicked off the ground, flying forward in an instant, and launched a merciless attack.
Two spears were already in his hands, thrown straight toward the child.
Swish—!
The spears cut through the air with a chilling sound—
Thud!
But right before hitting the child, both spears bounced off something invisible.
“Protective Qi?”
No. It felt different.
Whatever it was, he just had to pierce through it.
Papapang—!
The remaining three spears shot upward, spinning violently before flying toward the child.
At the same time, the spear on the ground snapped back into Ma Chang-hu’s hand as he poured inner strength into its tip.
Crackle—
Once again, the three spinning spears smashed against the invisible barrier. Ma Chang-hu gritted his teeth and thrust his final spear with all his might.
“Demon-Piercing Leap!”
Baaaang—!
A beam of concentrated light shot toward the child.
Riiip—
The invisible barrier was shredded apart, and the strike hit the child directly.
“Got him! I got him!”
He clenched his fist in triumph—
—and then saw something impossible.
The child, hit head-on by Demon-Piercing Leap, stood there perfectly unharmed… simply thinking about something.
What?
Was this a dream?
Didn’t the barrier mean he had a weak body?
The strike that tore through the barrier should have been lethal, yet he stood there in deep thought.
“W-What is that?!”
An illusion? Some kind of sorcery?
Boom—!
Ma Chang-hu’s true energy exploded, shaking the ground, lifting the fallen spears into the air.
He flew toward them and retrieved all five, then charged the child again.
He stabbed the child’s abdomen.
Then the neck.
Then the heart.
Then the head.
Then the crown point.
None of the attacks pierced.
Spears that could pierce stone like tofu could not penetrate the body of a mere human child.
He pushed with all his strength, but nothing went in—not even a little.
What… what was this?
A nightmare?
Was he trapped in sorcery?
At that moment, the child looked at him.
He heard the boy mutter something:
“Stellar Aura Bright, Five Qi Respond, Soul Shadow Revealed, True Rank Distinguished…”
Magic?
Then the child spoke:
“You’re at the Flame Realm, Four-Star stage. A magic shield can’t block a Flame-Realm attack. Good to know.”
What…?
“H-How do you know my cultivation level?!”
“It’s an incantation that reveals the opponent’s level.”
“A magic technique?”
“Something like that.”
“And my attacks didn’t work because of magic?!”
“No, it’s because my body is tough.”
That child—was Jeok Wui-gang.
“Tough? You blocked my Golden-Killing Demon Spear Technique with toughness alone? Don’t lie! This is sorcery!”
“Think whatever you want. More importantly… you reek of killing intent. Just how many people have you murdered?”
A red murderous aura wrapped around Ma Chang-hu.
That was not something one gained by killing a few people.
Jeok Wui-gang’s eyes turned cold.
As Ma Chang-hu opened his mouth to speak—
Pwak—!
His upper body flew off, his lower half collapsing slowly.
Thud—
With one strike, Jeok Wui-gang finished Ma Chang-hu, then looked around.
The surviving bandits trembled in terror.
The child who killed the cruelest of the Eight Green Forest Monsters, the Night-Soul Demon, with a single blow…
…was now looking at them.
Jeok Wui-gang shook his head.
“Not a single one of you deserves to live.”
He intended to clean this place thoroughly.
“Qi Entrenched Within Veins, Soul Locked, Body Frozen—Motion Forbidden.”
A spell that stopped all movement.
As soon as the incantation ended, every bandit froze in place.
“W-What? I—I can’t move!”
“Did someone pressure-point us?!”
“Who? Who did this to all of us at once?!”
“He pressure-pointed all these people in an instant?!”
Panic spread.
Jeok Wui-gang reached toward the sky and chanted:
“Heaven’s Mandate Returns, Meteor Core Forms, Fire Falls from Heaven, World-Ending Decree.”
An Eight-Ring Incantation—summoning meteors.
The sky turned red.
From behind the clouds, burning meteors descended.
Mountains collapsed. The earth burned.
That day, Myeongak Stronghold vanished from the world.
Rumble—
The ground shook, causing startled people to rush outside.
A hot wind swept past.
Far away, a red glow illuminated the sky.
“Where is that?”
“That’s where Myeongak Stronghold is.”
“Myeongak?”
“Yes!”
“Damn it! The bastard showed up there!”
An old man grabbed his sword and dashed toward the stronghold.
Seven others followed—seven of the Eight Green Forest Monsters, excluding the already-dead Ma Chang-hu.
The closer they got, the more suffocating the heat became.
“What is this…”
Where the stronghold once stood was a massive crater with three still-glowing meteors embedded inside.
“Meteors…”
“Wasn’t there a report of another stronghold wiped out by meteors?”
“Yes. Lord Rimju dismissed it as a natural disaster.”
“Is this a natural disaster too? Just coincidence?”
“Two incidents? Not a coincidence.”
“So our enemy can drop meteors?”
“Do you really think that’s possible? A human controlling meteors?”
“We’re looking at them right now.”
Silence fell.
Then Jin Mujuk, the Bloodless Guest, quietly spoke:
“They’re too small to be natural meteors. It’s more likely someone used illusion magic, then detonated extremely powerful explosives.”
The others nodded. That was the only explanation that made sense.
A human calling down meteors at will? Impossible.
“So someone made explosives powerful enough to erase an entire stronghold?”
“There is one man who could.”
They looked at one another and shouted at the same time—
“Thunder-Mad Lord ?”
“Yes. The lunatic of the martial world who could handle every explosive known to man. He could create something like this.”
“But why attack our Green Forest?”
“The Thunder-Mad Lord disappeared fifteen years ago.”
“Maybe someone here provoked him while he was in hiding?”
“He isn’t working alone. Other strongholds had traces of more than just explosives.”
“Then someone is targeting the Green Forest on purpose?”
“It’s possible. I don’t think it’s just one person.”
As they stood there, faces grave, someone spoke:
“This place looks like this… meaning Night-Soul Demon is dead.”
“The Thunder-Mad Lord never trained martial arts. Night-Soul Demon wouldn’t lose to him.”
“Then someone else killed him, and Thunder-Mad Lord blew up this place afterward?”
“Highly likely.”
“It makes sense…”
