Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 8

Nine Dragons Chronicle (8)

“Kuaaaaak!”

Among the Great Plains bandits, some have established bases, while others are nomadic.

Those with fixed bases are generally larger bandit groups with significant power in the Great Plains.

The Blood Wolf Grand Bandit Clan absorbed these smaller groups, one by one, creating a massive force that rivaled even the great tribes of the Great Plains.

Then, they were ambushed by the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, a special forces unit from the Central Plains. However, having received prior intelligence, they instead set a trap and defeated the squad.

The Fierce Tiger Death Squad lived up to its reputation.

Even when surrounded, they decimated numerous bandit groups, and some members even managed to break through the encirclement.

Although the Blood Wolf Grand Bandit Clan suffered considerable losses, their reputation soared simply by nearly annihilating the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, a unit feared by frontier forces and originating from the Central Plains.

The bandit groups under the Blood Wolf Grand Bandit Clan, operating under its banner, plundered the tribes of the Great Plains to enrich themselves.

However, in the aftermath of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad attack, a major upheaval began to occur in the Great Plains bandit world after half a month.

Unbelievable events unfolded as bandit groups were systematically attacked and annihilated overnight.

Within a month of the battle with the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, four bandit groups had been wiped out.

The Red Scarf Bandit Clan, a group under the Blood Wolf Grand Bandit Clan, operated in the Hoteok region of the Great Plains. One night, they were suddenly attacked and began to suffer heavy losses.

“It’s him!”

As screams echoed through their encampment, the bandits, recognizing the individual who had been attacking and annihilating bandit groups, shouted warnings and scrambled to action.

As the bandits armed themselves and emerged from their tents, they saw a man fighting their comrades.

It was Hwa-Rin.

Hwa-Rin had not yet completed his mission, and was systematically eliminating bandit groups in the Great Plains to achieve it.

The bandits formed a wide encirclement to prevent Hwa-Rin from escaping, but Hwa-Rin showed no intention of fleeing, instead cutting down the bandits one by one.

Cheeeeeng!

Hwa-Rin’s sword clashed with a bandit’s blade, the two weapons locking together as if magnetized.

“Heo-ut!”

Hwa-Rin guided the bandit’s blade downward with his own, then sliced through him.

It was a technique called ‘Moonlight Falling Petals,’ evoking the image of flower petals falling in the moonlight.

The bandit stared at Hwa-Rin, disbelief etched in his eyes as death approached, but Hwa-Rin had already moved on.

As Hwa-Rin moved, he left countless afterimages, plunging into the midst of the bandits and wielding his sword.

“Keoeok!”

Blood bloomed in the wake of Hwa-Rin’s passage.

It was the Illusory Movement, a unique footwork of the Gonggong Sect, which had been destroyed by the Demonic Cult long ago. Hwa-Rin enhanced this with Demonic Cult sorcery, layering illusion upon illusion, creating a presence that seemed both unreal and undeniably deadly, dominating the battlefield.

Hwa-Rin drew three throwing knives from his waist with his left hand and hurled them at the encircling enemies.

Whirrrrr!

The throwing knives, wreathed in flames, streaked towards the bandits.

Puh-uh-uhng!

The throwing knives exploded as they neared the bandits, the flames spreading in all directions, engulfing them.

“Kuaaak!”

As the fire consumed them, the bandits screamed and thrashed, rolling on the ground, but the inextinguishable flames brought agonizing pain and death.

A blue aura enveloped the sword of a bandit who approached Hwa-Rin, protecting the blade with internal energy [qi] and enhancing its cutting power.

This was Sword Energy, an advanced swordsmanship technique that only super-masters—those who could freely manipulate internal energy beyond the level of a first-rate master—could perform.

Among the Red Scarf Bandit Clan, there were many such super-masters, and the leader of the Red Scarf Bandit Clan was an absolute master, surpassing even the super-master level.

Cheeeeeng!

Hwa-Rin also had to protect his sword with Sword Energy to block the incoming blade.

As they exchanged blows, another warrior joined the fray, and the two attacked Hwa-Rin with coordinated swordsmanship.

Then three, four… As more Red Scarf Bandit Clan bandits joined, they naturally formed a sword formation, trapping Hwa-Rin. He had to endure the pressure of their combined energy while fighting.

Nevertheless, Hwa-Rin seemed unfazed, repelling their attacks and counterattacking, breaking the sword formation from within.

“He’s using strange sorcery.”

The bandit, witnessing Hwa-Rin imbue his sword with not only Sword Energy but also the energies of fire, ice, water, lightning, and the yin and yang and the five elements, concluded that he was using sorcery, not martial arts.

After knocking away the bandit’s sword, Hwa-Rin thrust his open palm towards the enemy’s face.

With a ‘Puh-uh-uhng!’ sound, the bandit’s head snapped back violently, and he tumbled to the ground, colliding with his comrades. His neck was broken by the powerful air pressure, and he died instantly.

Hwa-Rin vanished from that spot and reappeared a short distance away, wielding his sword.

“It’s Body Swap!”

A bandit who witnessed Hwa-Rin’s movement shouted in surprise, but his cry was cut short.

Hwa-Rin’s sword sliced through his waist, causing him to kneel. Hwa-Rin spun the sword in his hand, gripped it in reverse, and slashed his neck.

Hwa-Rin did not rush. He intended to leave no member of the Red Scarf Bandit Clan alive, silently cutting down the bandits.

“Kuaaak!”

As Hwa-Rin felled another bandit, a powerful energy tore through the air, ripping even the space itself with its ferocity.

Hwa-Rin used Body Swap to evade the attack and employed Illusory Movement, leaving afterimages as he moved away from the bandits.

Kuaaaang!

A massive explosion erupted where Hwa-Rin had been standing, creating a wide and deep crater as if struck by a cannonball.

Hwa-Rin turned to see a man wearing clothes made of red wolf skin and wielding a red battle-axe in each hand walking slowly towards him.

Hwa-Rin seemed to recognize the man, never taking his eyes off him.

Twin Red Axes, Tai-Dan!

The leader of the Red Scarf Bandit Clan and one of the hundred great warriors of the Great Plains, known as an absolute master, but in reality, a transcendent master. Hundreds were said to have fallen to his battle-axes, making him a formidable warrior.

As he revealed himself, the bandits of the Red Scarf Bandit Clan cleared a path for him to approach Hwa-Rin. He confidently walked forward, stood face to face with Hwa-Rin, and asked.

“Are you a remnant of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad?”

The bandit groups of the Great Plains believed they had defeated the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, hence the question.

Hwa-Rin did not answer Tai-Dan’s question but instead moved directly towards him.

“Does that mean we skip the questions and go straight to killing each other?”

As Hwa-Rin swung his sword, Tai-Dan blocked it with one axe and swung the other.

The axe, imbued with energy, had a wider effective range than its physical size, and Hwa-Rin took this into account, retreating further.

Tai-Dan took a large step forward and hurled the axe in his right hand at Hwa-Rin.

Shweeeeik!

The axe whistled through the air. Hwa-Rin dodged it by turning his head, and as he was about to close in on Tai-Dan, he sensed a powerful, murderous energy behind him and used Body Swap to step aside.

The axe that had flown past his face circled back, targeting Hwa-Rin’s back.

Tai-Dan looked at Hwa-Rin, who had dodged the axe, with a hint of disappointment, then immediately charged forward, swinging the axes in both hands.

His attacks seemed wild, but it was the twin-axe technique that had earned him his place among the hundred great masters of the Great Plains.

Hwa-Rin blocked the axes and began to analyze Tai-Dan’s twin-axe technique.

It was a tyrannical and powerful martial art with overwhelming force.

For a time, Hwa-Rin seemed to be pushed back by Tai-Dan’s twin-axe technique, but as Hwa-Rin channeled his internal energy and switched from defense to offense, the situation reversed instantly.

“Eueuk!”

As Tai-Dan was suddenly forced back, the faces of the Red Scarf Bandit Clan bandits changed.

Having grasped the essence of Tai-Dan’s twin-axe technique, Hwa-Rin easily drove him back. The martial arts knowledge he had gleaned from imperial court reports proved invaluable.

The martial art that Hwa-Rin used to subdue Tai-Dan’s twin-axe technique was not particularly advanced.

It was the Three Talents Swordplay, now considered a third-rate martial art, though its past glory was unknown. Yet, he was using it to subdue Tai-Dan.

Of course, this was possible due to Hwa-Rin’s martial arts prowess and powerful internal energy, but it was still a remarkable feat to overcome Tai-Dan’s twin-axe technique with the Three Talents Swordplay.

As Hwa-Rin’s sword descended, Tai-Dan’s right arm was severed from his shoulder.

He recklessly switched from defense to offense, leaving an opening, and Hwa-Rin seized the opportunity, cleaving off Tai-Dan’s arm with the force of Mount Tai Pressing Down.

“Kuaaak!”

As his arm fell, spraying blood, a scream erupted from his mouth. Hwa-Rin twisted the descending sword and slashed diagonally upward, cutting across Tai-Dan’s chest.

Hwa-Rin’s sword did not stop there, tearing off his left arm from his shoulder before he retreated.

Tai-Dan, now armless, knelt, staring at the deep gash across his chest.

“I… to you…”

He glared at Hwa-Rin, unable to accept his defeat, then collapsed forward.

Hwa-Rin looked down at the dead Tai-Dan for a moment before turning his gaze to the bandits.

The bandits, witnessing the death of their leader, Tai-Dan, hesitated briefly but chose flight over fighting Hwa-Rin.

It was unreasonable to expect loyalty from bandits, and they knew it was better to avoid the Dragon Fist Wind [Hwa-Rin’s destructive power] than to face it head-on.

As the bandits fled, Hwa-Rin watched them go. With the leader, the core of the bandit group, dead, the Red Scarf Bandit Clan was effectively destroyed.

It mattered little if they joined other bandit groups. Hwa-Rin’s purpose, or rather… the purpose of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, was to prevent the Blood Wolf Grand Bandit Clan from growing to the point of threatening the Central Plains. Eliminating the key masters was sufficient.

With the bandits gone, Hwa-Rin entered their camp and gathered the treasures, food, and livestock they had plundered, placing them in one location.

Hwa-Rin made a dot in the air with his finger, and a black dot appeared, gradually expanding.

When the black dot had grown to a certain size, Hwa-Rin threw the treasures and food into it.

It was a space pocket created by sorcery, a dimension capable of storing an infinite amount of items.

The advantage was its limitless storage capacity, but the disadvantage was that it would vanish, along with its contents, if the caster died.

After storing the treasures and food in the space pocket, he gathered the sheep, cows, and pigs and left the camp.

He was able to manage so many livestock alone because of his internal energy.

The livestock followed the horse Hwa-Rin was riding in a neat line, none straying.

Hwa-Rin led them to Seoto, located south of Hoteok. Seoto was a settlement where several tribes had gathered to form a city in the Great Plains, attracting traders from the Central Plains and the Western Regions.

Hwa-Rin sold the livestock plundered from the Red Scarf Bandit Clan to the tribesmen and exchanged them for money.

Hwa-Rin took the money and went to the Continental Battlefield, a branch of the Continental Merchant Group, and entrusted the money, receiving a bill in return.

The Continental Battlefield was a merchant group operated by the Continental Merchant Group, the leading merchant organization in the Central Plains. With a bill confirming the deposit, the money could be retrieved anywhere in the Central Plains.

Hwa-Rin looked at the bill he had received and smiled awkwardly.

Hwa-Rin left the Continental Battlefield and stopped by an inn to satisfy his hunger.

He suddenly felt a little absurd, finishing a bloody battle and then eating at an inn as if nothing had happened.

“Should I just desert like this?”

Hwa-Rin looked up at the sky.

The face of Squad Leader Danri Hyuk-Gwang, who had asked him to take care of his younger siblings, flashed in his mind.

His expression seemed to warn him of the consequences of desertion: being hunted by military officers. He should complete his five years of service, retire honorably, and then find his younger siblings and care for them. ‘Don’t worry, rest easy there,’ he imagined Danri Hyuk-Gwang saying.