“You came?”

Mo Yonggun’s brows twitched.

Je Gal Munho continued in an even voice.

“There was something I needed to say to you in private, so I had no choice but to ask you to come all the way here. I ask for your understanding.”

“And what is this about?”

It seemed the feelings from their earlier clash had not fully cooled.

He was showing a more candid side than expected. Since the two of them had already spoken openly about how they viewed each other, there was no need for him to hide his discomfort.

Je Gal Munho pointed at one of the doors.

“There is a favor I would like to ask of Clan Lord Mo Yong.”

“A favor?”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes flashed.

He expanded his sensory perception.

“...”

The corners of his mouth slowly lifted.

“Well now.”

Mo Yonggun shook his head.

“You seem to have forced things rather far for someone who’s supposed to be a strategist.”

Je Gal Munho gave a bitter smile.

“When it concerns the affairs of the Martial Alliance, what room is there to talk about overreaching?”

“That is gratifying to hear. But you do realize, don’t you? If the other Service Lords hear of this, you’ll be severely rebuked.”

“One person already knows.”

“One person?”

“That’s right.”

Mo Yonggun’s expression turned strange.

“Surely you don’t mean Clan Lord Yeon? No matter how much he trusts you, he’s the sort who’ll say no when something is wrong. If he knew about this, he would have informed the Service Lords at once.”

“I know that as well. Which is why I did not tell Clan Lord Yeon.”

“Heh. Few people work together as well as the two of you. Then who, I wonder, did you tell?”

“Would you care to guess?”

Je Gal Munho maintained that calm expression to the end.

Mo Yonggun stared at him for a moment, then smacked his lips.

“Surely not... Venerable Gonggong?”

“That’s correct.”

“Exceptionally bold.”

“The water has already been spilled. If confusion is going to descend at once, then the only thing left is to tell the most influential of the Service Lords and try to contain the backlash.”

He really was no easy man.

It was impressive because Mo Yonggun knew that this judgment had not been made for Je Gal Munho himself, but for everyone else.

And because of that, it was bitter too.

If he’d been the type who could bend the knee for his own sake, I’d have made that fine head of his mine long ago.

Unfortunately, even when he used sudden, aggressive methods like this, Je Gal Munho was still acting for the sake of the Martial Alliance.

It was not bad.

No, a strategist ought to be exactly that way.

It was simply a pity.

If Je Gal Munho had worked under him, there would have been no need for him to lie low as quietly as he did now.

It can’t be helped.

Those who barked for themselves were easy to handle.

But those who bowed their heads for others would inevitably become troublesome sooner or later.

Je Gal Munho was, through and through, the latter kind of man.

“Well, either way, this means we’ve avoided the worst.”

Mo Yonggun shrugged.

“So then, what is it you want this man to do once he goes in there?”

“I’ve shaken loose most of what I can. But there are a few pieces of information—some of the most important ones—that he refuses to give up.”

“That is an interesting thing to hear. After going this far, it seems you still chose to waste a bit of mercy.”

“It isn’t as if I can torture him.”

“If it’s necessary, you should.”

“It isn’t necessary. That is why I called for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re good at this sort of thing, aren’t you? Threatening and intimidating people until they tell you what you want.”

It was a fairly sharp strike.

Mo Yonggun smirked.

“So you want me to take it from here?”

“You’re the man who once gave such profound instruction to this lacking strategist. I trust you will prove different in all the ways that matter.”

“It sounds to me as if you intend to stain my hands too. Trying to take out insurance, are you?”

“Do not misunderstand me. Clan Lord Mo Yong has no value as insurance.”

Mo Yonggun clicked his tongue.

“That is rather insulting to the pride.”

“So what will you do? Will you go in? Or would you rather leave it to us, even if it takes somewhat longer?”

Mo Yonggun gazed at Je Gal Munho for a moment, then bared a savage smile.

“When there’s already a professional present, there’s no need for the strategist to wear himself out.”

Je Gal Munho smiled back.

“I’ll give you a quarter hour.”

CLANK!

The door opened.

Mo Yonggun stepped through it and saw several physicians bound tightly to chairs.

And in the middle of them sat Hagok.

“Oh?”

Mo Yonggun smiled.

“I never expected we would meet again like this, Physician Ha.”

Hagok shouted.

“Clan Lord Mo Yong?! What is the meaning of this?! You’re dragging away innocent physicians at random?!”

“Innocent... Well now. That depends on the investigation, does it not?”

“Investigation? By what authority does the Martial Alliance think it can—!”

BANG! 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Mo Yonggun slammed the door shut.

Startled, Hagok snapped his mouth shut.

“We have the right.”

ZIIIIING. ZIIIIIIING.

Blue-white lightning connected the spaces between Mo Yonggun’s fingers in a net.

His face went blank.

“The right not to be toyed with by pathetic physicians like you.”

“And the right to crush ants like you underfoot.”

Hagok’s face drained into terror.

Still smiling, Mo Yonggun seized Hagok by the throat with that hand full of crackling lightning.

“So many secrets, are there?”

BZZZZZT!

*****

PUHWAAAAK!

Blood gushed from the severed wrist.

SHHK.

After sweeping away the enemies swarming toward Yeon Hojeong with breathtaking swordsmanship and movements that had reached the level of divine skill, Yeon Jipyeong landed lightly on the ground.

“Jipyeong! You—?”

Yeon Jipyeong smiled. Maybe it was the moonlight, but his face looked unusually pale. Even so, his features—far more mature than before—struck Yeon Hojeong with tremendous force.

And that was not all.

Mookbi too recognized at once that the young man was Yeon Jipyeong.

“Jipyeong!”

At that very moment, Yeon Hojeong swung Mad Dragon.

THUD!

One attacker’s torso split in half under the monstrous blow. It was an assassin who had been covertly aiming for Yeon Jipyeong.

Yeon Hojeong shouted.

“Greetings later! We kill these bastards first!”

“Yes, Brother!”

The moment was urgent beyond words, but the instant Yeon Hojeong heard Yeon Jipyeong’s voice, he could not help but smile.

You’ve grown up.

Not just in ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ appearance.

Even his voice was completely different from three years ago.

Lower now. Calmer. It was the sort of voice that inspired trust just by being heard. The trace of youth was still there, but now he truly felt like a solid, dependable young man.

And his skill as well.

PABABABAK!

It was astonishing.

It was one thing that he had appeared by vaulting high into the sky and slicing off the enemies’ wrists the moment he arrived.

But even now, Yeon Jipyeong was unleashing killing moves without the slightest hesitation.

THRUST! SLASH! BAM-BAM-BAM!

Yeon Jipyeong’s swordsmanship was not flashy.

Nor was it especially measured, and it did not link together with the flowing natural continuity of Mo Yong-woo’s blade.

And yet it was shockingly effective.

It was not that his sword force itself was especially overwhelming. Rather, he was manifesting a practical way of the sword that took lives with the smallest possible expenditure of strength and motion.

So you made your resolve.

Yeon Hojeong did not know just how brutal Yeon Jipyeong’s training had been over the last three years, nor even whether he had ever truly faced real combat.

But there was one thing he did know.

Yeon Jipyeong’s nature had not changed. Whether he had seen real combat or not, his younger brother was not someone naturally suited to killing.

And yet that very younger brother was now gritting his teeth and cutting enemies down.

Because there was someone more precious to him than his own nature and beliefs.

Because his brother was here, Yeon Jipyeong no longer hesitated to use killing moves.

Yeon Hojeong gripped Mad Dragon with both hands and swung his arms with terrifying force.

FLASH!

The axe traced a half-moon arc, and enemy bodies split cleanly into upper and lower halves.

BANG! THUD! KWAAAAANG!

Was he invigorated by his younger brother’s arrival?

Or had it made him even more urgent?

Yeon Hojeong’s martial art was now producing a different kind of power altogether. With the Flood Dragon Chain wrapped around his upper body, he used nothing but Mad Dragon to beat his enemies to death, and the speed and destructive force of it made it seem as though even the waters of the Yangtze might overturn.

“Brother!”

KRAK!

Without even looking back, Yeon Hojeong whipped out a kick and blew off an enemy’s head.

“Don’t worry about me! Hesitate for a second and you’ll die!”

“Y-Yes!”

“Don’t try to track everything with your eyes! Use all five senses! If you use them properly, you can read the flow of the air and predict the enemy’s attack lines!”

“Yes!”

Even in the middle of battle, Yeon Jipyeong absorbed Yeon Hojeong’s instruction at once.

FLASH!

The sharp sword spirit flowing through his ordinary longsword created extreme cutting power and overflowing sword force, completely sealing off the enemy’s advance.

His sword had changed.

From a killing blade into a defensive sword that perfectly blocked enemy attacks.

It was the result of sharpening all five senses to their utmost. There were too many attacks coming from all around, too many of them precise. His body recognized that it was more important to block them first than to kill every enemy one by one.

And watching Yeon Jipyeong like that, Yeon Hojeong shouted in delight.

“That’s it exactly!”

KWAAAAANG!

Launching himself high into the air in an instant with Blood-Wing Sweeping Heaven, Yeon Hojeong swung Mad Dragon at the attackers trying to break through Yeon Jipyeong’s defensive line.

KWAAAAANG!

With an explosive roar, more than a dozen black-clad figures were hurled in all directions.

Yeon Hojeong shouted.

“Mookbi!”

THUD! BAM-BAM-BAM! THUD!

The black-clad figures who had survived the shockwave from Mad Dragon did not even make it to the ground before their heads were pierced through.

Mookbi had entered the fight.

With Yeon Jipyeong’s defense and Yeon Hojeong’s offense combining to throw the enemy into total confusion, it was no longer wiser to conserve stamina. Pressing the enemy down all at once was now the better tactic by far.

Her ability to read exactly when to strike and withdraw stood out vividly. It was the moment Mookbi’s combat sense proved that it had truly entered the realm of mastery.

Yeon Hojeong shouted again.

“Commander Mo Yong! Take Gangryang and Gi Uhui and circle back! Jipyeong! Stick to the rear of the group and block every attack that comes in! And Mookbi!”

PAAAAAK!

Closing the distance in an instant, Mookbi appeared behind Yeon Hojeong and drew the string of the Red Lotus Bow.

Without even turning around, Yeon Hojeong asked,

“How’s your heart?”

“It’s pounding like crazy! Why does this kind of thing keep happening whenever I’m with you, Yeon Hojeong?!”

“Hey, damn it, how is this my fault?! And we were expecting something at this level!”

“Next time you take a mission like this, do it alone!”

“You’re the one who followed me, brat!”

TRRRRING!

Yeon Hojeong unwound part of the Flood Dragon Chain from around his upper body and wrapped it around his left fist, then drove his left punch forward with all his might.

KWAAAAANG!

With the chain wrapped around it like a gauntlet, Yeon Hojeong’s fist itself was a killing weapon. The enemy struck by that punch flew backward and only stopped after bowling over more than a dozen black-clad figures.

Yeon Hojeong shouted.

“Jipyeong’s here, so put your life on the line one more time!”

“I was already planning to!”

There was now one more master on their side.

Until this moment, Yeon Hojeong had been trying to exterminate all the enemies by force, one hand short as he was. But now that the reliable swordsman Yeon Jipyeong had joined them, it was only logical to trust his allies, sweep away every enemy in sight, and regroup later.

Yeon Hojeong thought of Yeon Jipyeong.

That dependable gaze. That calmer swordsmanship. That heart which no longer wavered.

I can trust him. The Jipyeong he is now.

Splash! Splash!

Mookbi shouted.

“They’re fleeing into the river!”

“They’re trying to circle around! Good! We take them as they are!”

Yeon Hojeong’s Mad Dragon swung like lightning, and Mookbi’s Red Lotus Bow spat arrows at terrifying speed.

PUH-PUH-POONG!

The surface of the Yangtze exploded upward.

The next morning,

the waters of the eastward-flowing Yangtze wore the murkiest shade they had shown all year.