“First strike, certain victory.”
In the world of the underworld, this phrase was considered an iron law of victory.
Most back alley thugs were not experts from the Nine Sects and One Union or the martial arts families but rely second or third-rate warriors who had co together, so their skills were limited.
For these thugs, when a fight broke out, the easiest way to win was to draw their sword first and incapacitate the opponent with one blow, or to ambush them unexpectedly from behind.
Of course, there were certainly those against whom drawing your sword first wouldn’t work. In those cases, you had no choice but to grovel and beg for rcy in the most cowardly manner.
But what if it seed like the expert might draw their sword even if you begged?
“Charge at them!”
It all ca back to the principle of first strike, certain victory.
At the command of the Cheongsapa gang leader, the warriors began to rush towards the Heavenly Death Star, closing in on her from all sides.
Just one stab was enough.
She might seem strong, but after all, she was just a woman. Among the thirty or so encroaching swords, if even one pierced her body, there would be no need to watch any further. The rushing thugs all shared this thought.
The dozens of swords converging around the Heavenly Death Star resembled iron flower petals, blades ready to cut down the stan that was the Heavenly Death Star.
Success.
As they saw the swords stabbing from all directions, the thugs sensed victory. But before the blades could reach her, she disappeared.
“Where did she go?”
“Up?”
“There’s nothing there!”
They were certain they were stabbing at a single person, but she had vanished. If she had jumped, she should be in the air, yet even those who looked up couldn’t spot her.
“Argh!”
“Down! Damn!”
One warrior looked down. The woman, montarily obscured by the swords, was now in plain sight.
She was lying low, barely touching the ground with one ankle, deftly dodging the swords.
She rotated her weapon around her ankle like the hands of a clock, and as she had declared, she began to reap the ankles of her foes.
“Argh!”
“Ahhhh!”
“My ankle!”
The Cheongsapa warriors, taken by surprise, hastily retreated to avoid having their ankles sliced, but more than half were already writhing on the ground, clutching their wounds.
For an opening assault, the number of casualties was alarmingly high.
“Form the Hapgakjin! Spread out the Hapgakjin!”
An officer among the Cheongsapa ranks yelled.
Hapgakjin—a tactic designed for a weaker majority to overco a powerful minority.
Upon hearing the command, a handful of the Cheongsapa warriors who possessed so martial arts skills quickly gathered to arrange the Hapgakjin formation.
‘This will secure our victory.’
Naturally, this Hapgakjin was not as formidable or mystical as those employed by the prestigious orthodox sects.
It was a Hapgakjin acquired by plying a martial arts master with costly drinks and won in a tavern.
Regardless of their struggles to coordinate and wield their swords in unison, these back-alley thugs lacked a fundantal understanding of teamwork.
Yet, it was this very formation that had once succeeded in killing a martial artist who, oblivious to their skill, had attempted to extort them and ended up in a dispute.
“Oh, here they co!”
“Don’t panic!”
“Don’t ss this up! Stick to the practice! Stay in formation!”
Despite the urgency, the Cheongsapa warriors managed to assemble into an effective Hapgakjin.
Having deployed the formation, the warriors pointed their swords towards her in a flawless array from top to bottom, bottom to top, right to left, without impeding one another.
If perford correctly, there should have been no one in Chilgok County who could withstand their Hapgakjin, or so the Cheongsapa leaders believed.
“Argh!”
“My foot! My foot!”
But their hope was swiftly shattered.
The ankles of the Cheongsapa warriors, who had deployed their Hapgakjin to counter the Heavenly Death Star’s onslaught, were swiftly severed.
“Damn it. We’re dood.”
The leader of the Cheongsapa thought to himself as he watched his subordinates writhing on the ground.
What kind of disaster has befallen this shanty town? Why call it a shanty town? Wasn’t it a refuge for those with no one to turn to, constantly worried about their next al?
Here, even if people were extorted, they had no one to complain to, no one to seek help from. The shanty town was a place where one could extort money safely—though annoyingly—like picking up fallen grains.
Why has such a formidable expert erged in such a place?
“Run away!”
“We can’t beat her!”
“We can’t win! Get out of here!”
“Idiots.”
The Cheongsapa leader sneered as he observed his subordinates finally realizing the situation and trying to flee.
The adversary was not just any expert. She was an incomprehensibly strong master with skills that were beyond assessnt.
In brawls among thugs, it was not uncommon for fingers or arms to be severed by accident. But this master was only severing the parts she intended to.
This ant she was an expert surpassing the level of the Cheongsapa, which was made up of neighborhood bullies and third-rate fighters. Running away from such an expert?
“Argh!”
“Oof!”
As expected, those who attempted to escape had their ankles sliced and were thrown back to their starting point.
“Brother, shouldn’t we be running away?”
“Let’s escape while these guys are dying!”
So of the Cheongsapa subordinates, who had been with the leader from the beginning, huddled close to him.
“Turning our backs will an death, you fools.”
In truth, the leader of the Cheongsapa had realized from the mont the woman appeared that the only way out of this predicant was to either dispose of her body or have their own bodies removed.
“What should we do then!”
“Damn. Just when I thought we could finally live like regular people.”
“Shut up. Hey, do we have any li powder?”
The Cheongsapa leader inquired of his subordinate about the availability of a secret weapon to use in the crisis.
“We do, but it might not be effective against an expert like her.”
“Isn’t an expert also human? I’ll lead the charge. Everyone, attack together. When the li powder bursts in front of her eyes, she’ll close them. That’s our chance to attack. It’s our only way out.”
Li powder could cause blindness if it entered the eyes in large quantities. It had not been used before because other Cheongsapa warriors were around, but now the ti had co to use this secret weapon.
“Damn. She’s seen us!”
The subordinate’s exclamation made the leader look at the Heavenly Death Star.
She was severing the ankles of his crawling subordinates while keeping her gaze on the still-standing leader.
“Damn. This doesn’t look good.”
It felt like he could wet himself. Just eting her gaze made his legs feel weak.
Getting close ant death.
Simply under the gaze of the Heavenly Death Star, all the still-standing Cheongsapa warriors instinctively stepped back.
They had been the predators of the shanty town monts ago, but now they felt like herbivores before a tiger.
The Heavenly Death Star slowly advanced toward them, blade in hand.
“Bro, bro, I trust only in the Cheongsapa.”
“Just do your job.”
The Cheongsapa leader spoke calmly in front of his subordinates, feigning composure.
That’s right. Don’t panic. This wasn’t the first ti they had faced a life-or-death situation. This Cheongsapado has always saved them. The leader clutched his Cheongsapado, steeling himself for the confrontation with the Heavenly Death Star.
“Let’s go!”
With his cry, the leader lunged forward to lead the charge. His movent served as the signal for the remaining subordinates, who surged toward the Heavenly Death Star with renewed vigor.
But the leader’s charge was a ruse.
As his subordinates rushed forward, the Cheongsapa leader halted.
“Damn it!”
The subordinates realized they had been deceived into becoming sacrificial pawns by their leader, but it was too late to alter their path; they were now within striking distance of the Heavenly Death Star.
“Oof!”
“Agh!”
“Damn you! Take this!”
As one of his subordinates had his ankle severed, he threw the reserved li powder directly into her eyes. She seed montarily taken aback by the unexpected attack and stepped back.
‘This is my chance!’
He had risen from a third-rate warrior to a second-rate one, and then beca the feared leader of the underworld in Chilgok County.
This ascent was all thanks to the Cheongsapa leader’s secret techniques, which was now aid at the neck of the Heavenly Death Star. Even an expert could be compromised by li powder. He was convinced he would survive yet again.
But he was wrong.
The Heavenly Death Star wasn’t truly flustered. She chanically stepped back and twirled her body, creating a whirlwind-like motion that dispersed the li powder, then swung her sword with the montum of her rotation.
“Huh?”
Why was he lying on the ground? The leader was perplexed by his suddenly altered perspective. He attempted to grab his Cheongsapado and stand.
The Cheongsapado was nowhere to be found. In horror, the leader frantically searched for his beloved sword, which now lay in two pieces a few steps away.
It was a sword forged from expensive steel by a renowned blacksmith, his dependable companion for over a decade, now bisected.
“Ha ha ha.”
A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
His Cheongsapado had been cleaved without his sensing the strike, and his ankles were severed. Was such a feat even possible?
Beyond the pain, he was astounded. Just how formidable was she?
A mantis trying to halt a chariot’s wheel.
He had seen himself as a predator, hunting down weaklings like a mantis, but to her, was the entire Cheongsapa nothing but insects?
“Damn. I wanted to live until I was decrepit with age. Seems I’ll be eting my mother soon.”
The leader recalled his mother, who had tearfully warned him that a life of cri would shorten his days. He had wished to prove her wrong, especially after he had taken over a tavern in Chilgok County.
His mother had passed away after a life of hardship, and now he was about to prove her right.
He heard footsteps approaching.
Resigned to his fate, the Cheongsapa leader closed his eyes to accept what was coming.
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