Chapter 1203. Punishment (3)

Chapter 1203. Punishment (3)

“What?!”

Tsukikage yelped out without even realizing it.

One mistake all assassins were forbidden from making was losing their calm.

No matter how shocking the situation unfolding before their eyes was, an assassin was not permitted to lose their cool and get agitated.

...And Tsukikage had broken that rule.

Of course, he couldn’t be blamed for his mistake. He had a very good reason for getting shocked, after all!

There was an explosion.

No, more than one; shadows fitted with plastic explosives blew up in the center of the Tsukihas!

The amount of explosives used could turn a building into dust if they exploded strategically. Specially crafted bombs that cost more than gold of the same weight blew up and transformed all nearby Tsukihas into lumps of meat.

Tsukikage’s eyes grew bloodshot. He gritted his teeth to the breaking point, while his fists clenched all on their own.

‘What the hell is that monster?!’

All martial arts fundamentally had something called ‘inclination’.

What did that mean?

Tsukikage could stealthily assassinate anyone. He was confident about no target escaping his grasp alive as long as this world had shadows and darkness in every corner.

However, if that notion was flipped around, it would mean he was at a clear disadvantage in a well-lit area, unable to unleash his full potential.

This was the special nature of the martial arts he had mastered. And this story applied to other martial artists, too.

The next most famous martial artist in the Korean Martial Assembly was Vator. In his case, his physical strength and toughness had no equal in this world. Anyone with half a brain would acknowledge his incredible power, including Tsukikage.

No one could surpass Vator in physical strength and toughness, that much was certain.

Such a thing was only possible thanks to Vator’s innate physical talent and the unique nature of the martial path he had been pursuing. The price he paid for such power was giving up on dexterity and suppleness.

Losing one’s flexibility in return for pure raw strength was rather obvious. It was impossible to have everything, after all.

If you earned something, you’d lose something else in return. That was how the world worked.

Deciding which one to prioritize was easily one of the most important choices a martial artist would make in their life.

‘Yes, that’s supposed to be common sense!’

Common sense that was absolute and inviolable!

Yet here was Kang Jin-Ho, ruthlessly trampling on what Tsukikage accepted as common sense in martial arts.

No one could deny that Kang Jin-Ho was powerful. But ‘power’ was supposed to have different types.

Kang Jin-Ho was powerful because he possessed incomparable aggressiveness and destructive strength. Each of his sword strikes contained seemingly enough power to crush a large mountain.

In front of such overwhelming power, a frail human body stood no chance of survival.

That was exactly why Tsukikage targeted Kang Jin-Ho’s ‘heaviness’. A man who poured out such heavy, crushing attacks was bound to lack dexterity and speed, after all!

However, Kang Jin-Ho changed how he fought after figuring out what Tsukikage was doing.

Instead of sweeping everyone away with his raging demonic qi, he switched his tactic and began pouncing on his enemies at an incredible speed before retreating just as swiftly.

Was that possible? No, it should’ve been utterly impossible! How one fights shouldn’t be that easy to switch in the middle of a battle.

Martial arts were like weapons with fixed functions. Archers could only fight effectively by shooting arrows. Swordsmen wielding shortswords must rely on techniques suited for such weapons.

Imagine an archer closing the distance while waving their arrows around. Or a swordsman with a shortsword creating distance. Neither made any sense.

Vator had no choice but to rely on his physical strength to fight. Tsukikage had no choice but to rely on his swiftness and stealthiness.

However, Kang Jin-Ho changed his combat style because he felt like it.

‘You monster...!’

This shouldn’t be possible!

An archer shouldn’t be able to fight a swordsman wielding a greatsword in his enemy’s combat style! But Kang Jin-Ho transformed the greatsword in his hand to a rapier in an instant!

And the Tsukihas had to bear the result of this switch with their bodies.

“

Kkuwaaaahk

!”

Blurry something swished past, only for severed arms and legs to fall and tumble. The Japanese warriors collapsed to the ground and whimpering in pain could only see the back of Kang Jin-Ho some distance away.

Until now, Kang Jin-Ho’s monstrous power made the Japanese shiver in dread. But now? He was like an unstoppable specter.

Worse still...!

Bang!

A shadow emerged from the darkness, only to get punted away by Kang Jin-Ho’s ferocious kick.

It was impossible to jump into the open, confirm whether they were next to Kang Jin-Ho, then press the bomb switch. That was because the moment the shadows jumped into the air, their wrists would get severed.

If they wanted to injure Kang Jin-Ho, the shadows must set the explosives off as soon as they emerged into the open without worrying about the consequences.

Unfortunately for them, however, the ones paying the price for their actions weren’t Kang Jin-Ho, but their fellow Japanese warriors.

KA-BOOOOOM!

The victims getting swept up in gigantic explosions scattered into the surroundings as bits of mangled flesh.

Kang Jin-Ho accurately kicked all the shadows jumping out toward the other Tsukihas.

Some Tsukihas had already learned from experience and started throwing themselves away to dodge, but those with their limbs severed were still stuck in a state of panic and couldn’t respond to the incoming shadows.

The outcome of their inability to respond should be easy enough to imagine.

Those who flung themselves out of the way still enjoyed a chance to get buried whole in this foreign land. However, those who failed forever lost their chance to get a grave for themselves.

Those with vaporized corpses couldn’t get buried, after all!

“

Uwaaaaahk

!”

Shadows jumped up one after the other and tried to pounce on Kang Jin-Ho. The way they leaped out was reminiscent of phantoms rising from the graveyard. Unfortunately for them, Kang Jin-Ho was faster than they were.

BOOM! KA-BOOM! BANG!

A series of explosions went off in the air. Having confirmed that accurately targeting Kang Jin-Ho was no longer possible, the shadows chose instead to trigger their bombs even before closing the distance.

Their idea was to land at least some amount of impact, even if hurting Kang Jin-Ho outright was impossible.

However, Kang Jin-Ho still easily evaded all those explosions.

KABOOOOOM!

The last explosion went off, leaving the surroundings in an eerie silence.

“

Huff

,

huff

!

Wheeze

!”

Only the heavy breathing spread in this silent space like some kind of song.

Shock, terror, agitation, and unbridled fear filled the eyes of the Japanese staring at Kang Jin-Ho.

On the other hand, no such emotions could be spied on Kang Jin-Ho’s face. With swords in his hands lazily resting against the ground, the way Kang Jin-Ho stood there gave no indication that he had been fighting until a few seconds ago.

Not even something as elemental as agitation, exhilaration, or even guilt born out of cutting a living person down could be sensed from him.

His stillness crushed down on the souls of the Japanese warriors.

Clomp!

A loud footstep shocked the crowd out of their reverie. That sound was deliberate.

These people, only a second away from mentally breaking down, responded viscerally to the person making that noise. Their gazes hurriedly shifted to Tsukikage.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

While feeling all those gazes on him, Tsukikage slowly stepped forward.

He didn’t know what to say. And it wasn’t as if he had something important to say here, either.

Even so, he still deliberately made a loud noise because a warning bell rang loudly in his head. If he did nothing and let this standoff continue on for another five seconds, everyone would be too scared to do anything!

Tsukikage’s judgment was right on the money.

A drowning man needed something,

anything

, to cling to. Even if that was bits of straw. And Tsukikage served as that straw for these warriors.

In the current situation, it looked like all hope was lost. However, it might change if Tsukikage joined the battle.

This situation was so despair-inducing that these warriors were ready to believe in such a baseless hope.

Tsukikage knew this, and that was why he raised his dagger and pointed at Kang Jin-Ho.

“Are you afraid to die?”

His voice was dripping with killing intent.

Tsukikage wasn’t addressing Kang Jin-Ho. No, his target this time was every single terrified Japanese warrior.

“Yes, I’m also scared.”

Tsukikage suddenly tore the cloth mask off his face. With that, a middle-aged man’s face full of scars was revealed to the world. One of his eyes had no iris as if it was damaged beyond salvage. Even his other eye had a lengthy scar running across its eyelid.

The Japanese warriors gulped nervously after seeing that scarred face. Was it because those scars were too horrifying to look at? Of course not.

A shinobi revealing his face meant he had resolved himself to die today. Just like how a samurai discarded his sword sheath, Tsukikage announced his decision to die with his actions.

“I’m scared of returning alive like a pitiful bastard. I’m scared of others accusing me of being less courageous than those who died here. Scared of them accusing me of being disloyal! Nothing is more shameful to a warrior than those fears, wouldn’t you say?”

“...!”

All the trembling eyes powerfully quaked as if a thunderclap had struck them. What appeared in these people’s expressions next were shame and determination.

Even those who were subconsciously backing away began shifting their center of balance forward, as if to say they had resolved themselves.

“Do not suffer the humiliation of walking out of here alive! A noble death is what a warrior should strive for! By dying here today, I shall prove the depth of my loyalty to my

gumi

and to the Great Japan Empire!”

Kang Jin-Ho silently observed Tsukikage. He couldn’t understand anything the Japanese said. The interpreter stopped translating some time ago, after all.

However, he didn’t have to understand the words to understand their meanings.

That Japanese was probably saying all the cliched words. And that roused utter disgust in Kang Jin-Ho.

What a laughable thing this was. These Japanese were the invaders.

Kang Jin-Ho never provoked them. Indeed, it was the Japanese that came looking for a fight first. The Martial Assembly and Kang Jin-Ho merely responded to the threat, that was all.

Yet these bastards ran their mouths off as if they were in an incredibly noble struggle for peace or something.

How laughable was that? However, it didn’t matter at the end of the day.

‘You provoked me first.’

In that case, Kang Jin-Ho should simply respond appropriately.

There could be only one way to respond to enemies targeting him. He always relied on that method, and that wouldn’t change in the future, either.

Step!

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly took a step forward.

That slight movement triggered every Japanese warrior filling up the large sports field.

Tsukikage roared, “Kill him! If we don’t kill him, glory and honor will never be ours! Your deaths will become the cornerstone of our vast and mighty empire! Die, and become legends!”

“

Uwaaaaaah

!”

“

Oooh

,

ooooooh

!”

The warriors began charging at Kang Jin-Ho like madmen with scant regard for consequences.

This time was different. Not only Tsukihas, but even the ordinary elite warriors of Shinichi-kai encircling the battlefield poured their souls out and charged in to kill Kang Jin-Ho!

Anyone watching this spectacle would’ve instinctively understood that their charge could not be stopped. Their assault would not end unless Kang Jin-Ho died, or they were annihilated down to the last man.

Kang Jin-Ho stared at the warriors charging in like furious tsunami waves and bared his fangs in a toothy smirk.

For some reason... He could feel he was alive at this very moment.

‘I guess getting angry at them is a laughable notion in itself.’

Pondering hows and whys of a fight was laughable, wasn’t it? Since when did Kang Jin-Ho start caring about such things? Honestly speaking, that Tsukikage should be better qualified to be ‘human’ than Kang Jin-Ho, anyway.

It was impossible for any of the Japanese warriors here to have murdered more people than Kang Jin-Ho, after all!

If Kang Jin-Ho’s victims witnessed this spectacle, who would they have cheered on? Kang Jin-Ho? Of course not.

So, he should get rid of such useless thoughts from his mind, and...!

“...And simply kill. Or be killed.”

Kill, until one side was completely destroyed! That was the most primal form of combat.

Kang Jin-Ho let go of himself to the killing intent. His eyes instantly turned blood-red, and demonic qi gushed out from his body.

Fighting this many enemies meant demonic qi was absolutely necessary. He had to give up his defense to some degree.

Kang Jin-Ho’s entire figure was enveloped in demonic qi. His crimson eyes emitted a cold, frightening glare, while billowing demonic qi flapped angrily like a pair of wings from his shoulders.

A wounded tiger and starving wild dogs targeted each other’s throats and began the final battle.