Chapter : 28
“W-What!”
The lord of the Seokpung Hyupguk, taken aback, watched as Seok Jin-ho smashed the mountain stronghold’s gate and barged inside.
He had expected a fight, of course, but he never thought they would storm in so recklessly, so he was flustered.
Yet Baek Sang-geon and Paeng Na-yeon, following Seok Jin-ho at the front, seemed to smile as if it were perfectly natural.
“You don’t need to worry, Lord,” Baek Sang-geon said calmly.
“Do you think anyone could stay calm in this situation?” the lord replied.
“Strictly speaking, this doesn’t disadvantage us, does it?”
“That’s not the point. Don’t you see Jin-ho leading the charge?”
The lord of Seokpung Hyupguk shouted, his face drained of color.
Seok Jin-ho wasn’t a relative, but he was like a nephew in the lord’s eyes. Yet instead of worry, Seok Deok-wol’s words carried a sense of expectation, prompting an angry outburst.
“He’s truly fine. Jin-ho is stronger than I am.”
“W-What?”
The lord’s eyes went wide.
He was shocked at such an unbelievable statement.
And soon, the words spread to the headmen and foot soldiers alike.
Of course, few took Seok Deok-wol’s words at face value.
Boom! Bang!
But their doubts didn’t last long.
Seok Jin-ho, strolling calmly, sent the heads of the charging bandits flying.
“Huh…”
“No way…”
The sight of him casually severing bandits’ heads left not only the foot soldiers but also the headmen gaping.
These were not ordinary bandits—they belonged to the notorious Nokrim 18 Clan.
Yet they fell like leaves in the wind under Seok Jin-ho’s hands.
Thud. Drop.
The bandits, surging with murderous intent, were utterly annihilated.
Before they could swing their weapons, a single strike ended their lives.
“Die!”
Still, the bandits of Heuk-o Chae hesitated not a bit in charging.
There were only three of them, and the one leading was barely a kid with a bloodied forehead, yet they swung their weapons without hesitation.
Not a single one achieved their objective.
Snap.
Seok Jin-ho effortlessly dodged a flying polearm and jabbed one bandit in the forehead with his finger.
And that was it.
The bandit crumpled instantly, and Seok Jin-ho hurled himself at the others.
Thud thud thud!
Seok Jin-ho, in full unstoppable force, fulfilled his role as vanguard perfectly.
Paeng Na-yeon’s gaze grew dazed at the sight of him crushing everything in his path.
“This cat isn’t an ordinary cat,” she murmured.
Baek Sang-geon, however, was amazed by something else.
He chuckled at the sight of Heuk-hwi clinging to Seok Jin-ho’s shoulder.
“Heuk-hwi isn’t an ordinary cat either.”
“Die, you woman!”
Paeng Na-yeon drew the giant sword she carried on her back.
Soon, a reckless bandit charging at her was cleaved vertically in two.
“Just as Seok Jin-ho said, I don’t think I need to step in myself,” she remarked.
Even at a glance, the number of bandits pouring from the inner stronghold seemed close to a hundred.
Yet Baek Sang-geon showed no intention of stepping forward.
He knew full well that the strikes of Seok Jin-ho in front would overwhelm all incoming bandits.
Pfft pfft pfft!
As proof, Seok Jin-ho never struck more than once per bandit.
Whether of average or elite skill, everyone fell with a single hit.
With precise, efficient movements, he slaughtered the bandits cleanly.
“C-Crazy…!”
“Where did someone like this come from?!”
As nearly half of their comrades were cut down instantly, the charging bandits hesitated.
They realized charging forward meant certain death.
Fear settled heavily in both their minds and bodies.
“…!”
“Huh!”
Even the Seokpung Hyupguk side was equally shocked.
Everyone except Seok Deok-wol watched Seok Jin-ho’s back in astonishment.
Those who had been subtly mocking or gossiping from behind paled.
Their mistakes were glaringly clear.
Hic!
Some even hiccupped in fright.
The reaction from the foot soldiers—first and second rank—was severe.
“What are you doing? Not coming?”
Shiver!
Meanwhile, Seok Jin-ho, finally enjoying real combat after a long time, smiled slyly.
He felt a pleasant shiver across his body and wanted to keep fighting.
No matter how realistically one sparred, sparring was never the same as a real battle.
“Getting scared over this? How did you even join the Nokrim 18 Clan? You’ve got no guts at all.”
Seeing the bandits flinch without daring to attack, Seok Jin-ho frowned in displeasure.
He was just getting warmed up, and their hesitation ruined his momentum.
Yet that only made the bandits more horrified.
They realized once again that this was not a battle, but a one-sided massacre.
“If you want to stop, bring your boss. The big shot.”
“You idiots!”
“Kek!”
Before Seok Jin-ho even finished speaking mockingly, a huge roar erupted from behind, and blood spurted.
The big boss of Heuk-o Chae appeared, crushing one terrified subordinate’s head with sheer strength.
Thud thud thud thud!
A towering figure, nearly eight feet tall, wielded a massive axe and stomped forward, shaking the ground slightly.
At once, the Heuk-o Chae bandits parted to make way.
“Hmm.”
But Seok Jin-ho’s gaze was not on him, but on a black-masked figure following behind.
It was clear to anyone: “I’m suspicious,” so naturally, attention went there.
Baek Sang-geon and Paeng Na-yeon also followed his gaze.
“Huh!”
The Heuk-o Chae leader, barely dressed, reddened and stepped out, momentarily widening his eyes.
The sight of a stunningly beautiful woman holding a giant sword froze him in place.
Meanwhile, the beast lying low began to stir.
Just looking at her was enough to excite it.
“Miss.”
“I’m not looking. Not interested.”
Baek Sang-geon subtly positioned himself in front of Paeng Na-yeon.
Even in life, seeing beautiful things is rare enough; there’s no need to see filthy or ugly things unnecessarily.
Contrary to his worries, Paeng Na-yeon remained indifferent.
Having seen severed limbs and countless corpses, a man’s body held no special appeal.
“Well, looks like a pumpkin came rolling in. Unexpected harvest.”
“That’s just you thinking that.”
“Hmm?”
The black-masked Heuk-o Chae leader, drooling over Paeng Na-yeon barely hidden behind Baek Sang-geon, turned his head at the oddly displeasing voice.
Then, the protagonist who terrified his subordinates caught his eye.
“Stop daydreaming and come quickly. Let’s finish this fast.”
Hehe! Hahaha!
Seeing Seok Jin-ho treat him like a post-meal exercise, the Heuk-o Chae leader laughed uproariously.
A young kid spouting nonsense like that was simply amusing.
But even as the Heuk-o Chae leader openly mocked him, Seok Jin-ho remained unfazed.
He merely smiled faintly, finding it cute, and stomped the ground.
“Ugh!”
The leader, who had been laughing and leaning back, flinched.
A chilling aura swept over him, cold enough to crawl down his spine.
And it was obvious what this meant:
‘This kid… makes me feel threatened?’
The instinctive, clear-cut intuition made the Heuk-o Chae leader scowl.
It made no sense.
He was the one who had taken a weak bandit group from Heuk-o Mountain and made them part of the elite Nokrim 18 Clan.
Yet he felt threatened by this child? Ridiculous.
“I’ll split those two and take the woman!”
Ignoring his instincts, he swung his great weapon with all his might.
As usual, he intended to halve the kid and the middle-aged giant, then claim the stunningly beautiful woman.
Bang!
But his plan failed from the start.
The kid he assumed would be instantly cleaved easily dodged his strike.
“Impressive. Even though your eyes are useless… did careful movement keep you alive until now?”
“You damn bastard…!”
The Heuk-o Chae leader, much bigger than Baek Sang-geon, bared his yellow teeth and glared at Seok Jin-ho as if ready to devour him.
But his words didn’t finish.
Thud!
Seok Jin-ho’s kick shattered the weapon the leader was partially holding on the ground.
Only the handle remained, and the leader’s eyes widened further.
At once, an alarm rang in his mind:
“C-Crazy!”
But he couldn’t think further.
Seok Jin-ho’s hand had already grabbed his face.
Bang!
His head smashed into the ground.
Seok Jin-ho pressed him down ruthlessly.
“Chae… Joo!”
“Huff!”
The bandits who had hoped for the leader to intervene went pale.
They never expected their trusted Heuk-o Chae leader to be thrown to the ground in an instant.
“Never be careless. Right?”
“AAAAAH!”
The easily subdued Heuk-o Chae leader screamed.
The force of the energy from Seok Jin-ho’s hand tore through his blood vessels.
Severe pain shot through his body, leaving him stunned.
“Well, it’s easy for me to finish it, but… a shame. I wanted a proper fight after a long time.”
Seok Jin-ho licked his lips.
Despite the leader’s notorious reputation for over a decade, he was just a fool relying on his size.
He had resisted, yes—but only because he was unlucky to face Seok Jin-ho.
“Hey, you there.”
“Eeeek!”
Seok Jin-ho released the Heuk-o Chae leader, now sprawled out like an electrified frog, and spoke softly.
He called the black-masked figure who had been trying to escape.
But the figure did not stop.
Judging the tide had turned, the black-masked figure fled without looking back.
‘I must escape and report to the higher-ups!’
Survival was vital, but so was assessing the situation.
With Heuk-o Chae defeated, countermeasures were necessary.
The figure recalled Seokpung Hyupguk’s face, seen just before fleeing.
‘Where did they get such a monstrous master? And what’s up with the Ha-buk Paeng family?’
The black-masked figure gritted their teeth.
Their mind raced with thoughts, but the priority was escape.
Ping!
The problem was Seok Jin-ho wouldn’t allow it.
Just as they felt a burn behind their shin, their body collapsed forward.
Before they could even react, balance was lost.
“Where do you think you’re running?”
“Hrrgh!”
A chilling voice came from behind, and the figure scrambled to rise.
But their right foot, pierced by the wind of Seok Jin-ho’s strike, wouldn’t obey.
Thump!
“You’ve got a lot of people wanting to see you. So, why not have a proper chat? No games.”
Seok Jin-ho grabbed the fleeing figure’s neck and pressed both cheeks, immobilizing them.
He also ensured they couldn’t speak or move their tongue freely.
“Ahahaha, you’re really thorough.”
“When we do something, we do it properly.”
Baek Sang-geon, following behind, shook his head in disbelief.
