Chapter 102: Punishment -03
It was a sudden ambush, but the situation was not bad.
Beyond merely buying time, the Third-Rate Assassins and Second-Rate Assassins displayed abilities beyond their own limits.
Even as they were dying, they detonated the Smoke Bombs and Poison Bombs they had been holding all at once.
Thanks to that, the Dark Moon Sect Leader was able to conceal himself more easily.
Sssssk!
Moreover, it greatly aided the Special-Grade Assassins who were approaching.
The optimal conditions for a covert assassination had been established.
“How is it that not a single inch strays from expectations?”
Fwoooosh!
At that moment, a massive blaze erupted from one side.
Seo Jo-woon unleashed Extreme Yang Energy.
True to their opposing natures, the Extreme Yang Energy pouring from Seo Jo-woon’s twin palms completely evaporated the Poisonous Smoke.
Buuuuung!
On top of that, a fierce wind joined in.
Seonwu Bang, Jeong I-ryong, and Moyong Cheok each generated sword wind and fist wind, sweeping away the smoke from the Smoke Bombs and the Poisonous Smoke all at once.
‘Th-those bastards?!’
As a result, not only Beopmu and the Eight Protectors, but even Ban Hojin’s group were fully revealed.
And the assassins charging in as well.
Consequently, the Third-Rate Assassins and Second-Rate Assassins were annihilated in an instant.
Paaat!
However, the deaths of the lower-ranked assassins were not meaningless.
Because of their sacrifice, the First-Rate Assassins were able to approach safely.
Of course, that did not mean the attack succeeded.
Pu-pu-pu-puk!
Had it been night, it would have been sufficiently threatening, but unfortunately, the sun now hung high in the sky.
No matter how exceptional one’s Concealment Technique was, there were limits in broad daylight.
Beopmu and the Eight Protectors did not miss that point.
‘Why are they perfectly fine despite the Poisonous Smoke?’
Watching the First-Rate Assassins being mercilessly cut down just like the Second-Rate and Third-Rate Assassins, the Dark Moon Sect Leader screamed inwardly.
It was understandable that the Smoke Bombs did not work.
But the Poison Bombs were another matter.
Poison was what allowed even common peasants to hunt martial artists, yet none of the enemies showed any sign of being poisoned, causing the Dark Moon Sect Leader’s pupils to shake violently.
Thud! Thud!
Meanwhile, the number of his subordinates was rapidly decreasing.
Beopmu and the Eight Protectors alone were despair-inducing, but with Seo Jo-woon, Seonwu Bang, Moyong Cheok, and Jeong I-ryong joining in, their momentum was tremendous.
No one could so much as graze them, let alone approach them.
And yet Ban Hojin, who could be called the true cause of this entire situation, had not even stepped forward.
‘……We’ve lost.’
Confirming Ban Hojin standing arrogantly with his arms crossed instead of participating in the battle, the Dark Moon Sect Leader made a swift judgment.
Though the Special-Grade Assassins remained, considering Guwol’s case, victory could not be guaranteed.
Moreover, the current environment was far too unfavorable for the Dark Moon Sect.
Had it been night, things would have been different, but what mattered was not hypotheticals, but the present.
‘I’ll withdraw for now. If I still have the Special-Grade Assassins, I can rise again. And I can take revenge.’
The Dark Moon Sect Leader thought coldly.
It was painfully bitter to abandon all his foundations and flee, but survival came first.
Revenge was only possible if one remained alive, so he chose to take two steps back in order to advance one step later.
Instead, he intended to repay this debt twofold in the future.
Everyone, retrea……!
“Where do you think you’re running?”
The moment he made his decision, the Dark Moon Sect Leader sent a Voice Transmission to the nine remaining Special-Grade Assassins.
No—he tried to.
But under Ban Hojin’s gaze, he could not finish his words.
Though he was clearly concealed, Ban Hojin was looking directly at him.
“It seems the Special-Grade Assassins haven’t come out yet.”
“You’re trying to escape with only your core forces? That won’t do!”
At Ban Hojin’s words, Seo Jo-woon and Seonwu Bang scattered in different directions.
Simultaneously, Moyong Cheok and Jeong I-ryong moved as well.
Each took a direction to block any escape.
Pu-pu-pu-pung!
The assassins continuously detonated Smoke Bombs and Poison Bombs to block vision, but it was useless.
They had already studied the Poison Bombs beforehand and taken antidotes, and just in case, they all carried Poison-Resisting Beads.
And even beyond those two measures, there were many ways to block Poisonous Smoke.
Hwoooong!
The four of them simultaneously generated sword wind and palm wind.
Using the wind, they sent the Poisonous Smoke and smoke soaring into the sky.
Step. Step.
Through the clearing haze, Ban Hojin walked.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he approached the place where the Dark Moon Sect Leader was hiding.
Swiik!
Toward Ban Hojin, who was approaching the Dark Moon Sect Leader in a state no different from being defenseless, one of the Special-Grade Assassins—August—plunged a dagger into his back.
Like a ghost, he appeared behind Ban Hojin and stabbed with a dagger heavily coated in poison.
‘Got him!’
At the sight of the blade piercing straight through his back, joy bloomed at the corners of August’s mouth beneath his mask.
No matter how great a master one was, if a hole was pierced through the back, death was the same for all.
Moreover, the spot he had aimed for was near the heart, so if it was pierced through, it meant instant death without question.
Yet the eyes of August, filled with triumph, trembled greatly in the next instant.
Srrrk.
The body of Ban Hojin before him scattered like mist.
At the same time, he belatedly realized there had been no sensation in his strike.
Overjoyed at the thought that his attack had succeeded, he had missed the most important thing.
Grab.
And so August did not notice.
Ban Hojin approaching from behind him.
The price for that was merciless.
Kwaaang!
Grabbing August by the back of the neck, Ban Hojin slammed him down as he was.
Driving him viciously into the ground, August’s lower body was crushed.
His waist bent grotesquely as August spat out bright red blood.
Avoid him!
The moment he witnessed that sight, the Dark Moon Sect Leader issued a command that was like a scream.
Seeing August being overwhelmed without even a chance to resist, the Dark Moon Sect Leader understood.
At least for now, Ban Hojin could not be brought down.
“I’m sorry, but the only place you can go is the herworld.”
Using the Special-Grade Assassins scattering in all directions as bait, Ban Hojin kept his eyes fixed on the Dark Moon Sect Leader fleeing without even looking back and kicked off the ground.
His figure stretched out like taffy.
It was Body-Drawn Shadow at its peak.
The Dark Moon Sect Leader’s Lightness Skill was fast and stealthy, but purely in terms of speed, Ban Hojin was several levels above.
“Hup!”
And the Dark Moon Sect Leader felt that as well.
Even without looking, he knew Ban Hojin had closed to within arm’s reach.
He was desperately curious how Ban Hojin had pinpointed his location, but escaping safely took priority above all else.
Thus, the Dark Moon Sect Leader clenched his teeth and sent all the energy from his Dantian to his Yongcheon Acupoint.
Paaang!
His figure shot forward like a coiled spring released.
Now that he had been discovered, he made a choice between two options.
He focused on speed rather than concealment.
Tuk.
But unfortunately, his desperate attempt to flee failed.
Even unleashing his Lightness Skill with all his strength, he could not shake Ban Hojin off.
Sssaeek!
Feeling a chilling sensation at his shoulder, the Dark Moon Sect Leader reflexively swung his opposite arm wide.
As befitted the master of the Dark Moon Sect, he did not submit quietly.
Moreover, since the attack was rising from below, to Ban Hojin it appeared as though a dagger had suddenly sprouted upward out of nowhere.
Shiaaat!
And that was not the end of the Dark Moon Sect Leader’s attack.
Anticipating that the reverse-gripped dagger would slice through empty air, he half-rotated his body and swung another dagger.
As someone well-versed in Dual Swordsmanship, the trajectories drawn by his daggers were vicious.
With a slight time difference between them, they aimed for Ban Hojin’s heart and Dantian.
“So you really are called the Dark Moon Sect Leader for a reason?”
Though he did not have eyes on the back of his head, Ban Hojin let out a faint chuckle as he watched the two daggers precisely burrow toward his Dantian and heart.
In that brief moment when a hand had touched his shoulder, the Dark Moon Sect Leader had grasped his position and launched a counterattack.
However, a nimble counterattack did not guarantee success.
Whoosh!
The two daggers, swung with a time gap between them, sliced futilely through empty air.
By retreating exactly half a step, Ban Hojin easily avoided the Dark Moon Sect Leader’s attack.
Having moved only the necessary distance, Ban Hojin extended his hand the instant the two daggers brushed past.
He did not execute any particular move—he simply aimed to grab the man by the collar.
“Hmph!”
But the Dark Moon Sect Leader was no easy opponent.
Though he had ultimately been caught up to, his Lightness Skill was not inferior.
It was only that Ban Hojin’s movements had exceeded expectations.
And victory was not decided solely by the superiority of martial arts.
Pung!
Evading Ban Hojin’s grasp by the width of a sheet of paper, the Dark Moon Sect Leader used a Smoke Bomb.
With a flick of his sleeve, he detonated the Smoke Bomb he had hidden.
“Another Smoke Bomb?”
As he used yet another Smoke Bomb that had already failed several times, Ban Hojin sneered.
If it had succeeded, that would be one thing—but both Poison Bombs and Smoke Bombs had failed every single time so far.
Yet he detonated another Smoke Bomb, and Ban Hojin found it absurd.
At that moment, however, a faint sound struck Ban Hojin’s eardrum.
“Playing dirty tricks.”
“Click!”
Through the thick smoke, a needle-thin, short Concealed Weapon shot forward stealthily.
After blocking vision with the Smoke Bomb, the Dark Moon Sect Leader had fired a poisoned needle he had kept under his tongue.
It was a hidden trump card of sorts, but when Ban Hojin flicked it away with a Wind Blade, the Dark Moon Sect Leader turned and fled once more.
This time, he detonated special Smoke Bombs of his own making in all directions.
Shuhahat!
And this time, an interferer appeared as well.
As the Dark Moon Sect Leader fell into danger, one of the Special-Grade Assassins—May—used Earth-Travel Technique to approach beneath Ban Hojin’s feet and launched a surprise attack.
Since the blazing sunlight made Concealment Technique difficult to use, he had instead traveled underground to approach.
“You people really are consistent.”
Crack!
Perhaps acknowledging the gap in skill, whether lower-ranked or Special-Grade, every weapon they used was coated in poison.
They sought to offset the disparity with poison.
But unfortunately, Ban Hojin had detected May’s presence long ago.
So he lightly avoided May’s dagger that shot upward like lightning and then stamped down on the top of his head with the sole of his foot.
Thud!
Leaving his footprint on May’s solid skull, Ban Hojin turned his head.
The dense gray smoke still filled the surroundings, but it was not enough to obscure Ban Hojin’s vision.
As if to prove it, he drew his sword while watching the Dark Moon Sect Leader fleeing with his tail tucked between his legs.
Then he slowly drew the blade from left to right.
Shhk.
It was an utterly ordinary sword without even a trace of Sword Energy infused into it, yet the result was astonishing.
The Dark Moon Sect Leader’s two legs, as he fled with all his heart and soul, were cleanly severed.
Even from the cut knees, not a drop of blood flowed.
“Kuaaagh!”
Instead, the Dark Moon Sect Leader’s scream echoed everywhere.
The absence of bleeding did not mean the absence of pain.
Yet even more astonishing was that, despite groaning in agony, the Dark Moon Sect Leader began crawling using his two arms.
As though he wished to put as much distance as possible between himself and Ban Hojin, he clenched his teeth and moved his arms without pause.
Ssk.
But that movement did not last long.
As if to say that if he fled with his arms, those arms would be removed as well, Ban Hojin severed both arms from the shoulders.
Limbs were not necessary for speaking, so Ban Hojin acted decisively.
Kwaaang! Bang!
Unlike this side, which had been mostly settled, fierce exchanges were still taking place elsewhere.
Beopmu and the Eight Protectors still had room to spare, but Seonwu Bang and the younger ones did not.
At the beginning, they had pressed the Dark Moon Sect by taking advantage of the element of surprise, but as the number of attackers steadily increased, the four of them could not help but grow weary.
Even four were not immune to human-wave tactics.
“You think we’ll collapse like this?”
“Chaaah!”
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