Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 73

Avoiding Baek Cheol-soo’s surprise attack, I gripped Mujin [a shape-shifting weapon] tightly.

“Director Jeong, you son of a bitch. I showed you grace by saving your daughter, and you dare betray me?”

Baek Cheol-soo glared at Jeong Jin-soo, who stood beside me.

“Heh, you… You changed your face with some kind of sorcery, didn’t you? No wonder your voice sounded like a little brat.”

Then, he alternated his gaze between Jeong Jin-soo and me, grinding his teeth.

He seemed to have guessed how the current situation had unfolded.

‘He figured it out with just this much?’

He was indeed not an easy opponent.

He had gotten close to the truth just by looking at our current appearances.

“Die!”

Baek Cheol-soo kicked off the ground again.

Whoosh!

It was a surprise attack, but I had already anticipated it with my sixth sense.

I dodged it by lightly leaping to the side.

“So, you’re not a complete pushover, huh? Let’s hear your name. Who the hell are you?”

“I am Lee Cheol of the Soongmoo Lee family.”

Baek Cheol-soo blinked for a moment, then burst into laughter as if he was dumbfounded.

“Hahaha! So, I was being played by a bastard who hasn’t even lost his baby fat? Hahaha!”

Suddenly, Baek Cheol-soo stopped laughing.

“A hothouse flower… Just because you were born with the right bloodline, you don’t know how scary the world is?”

Baek Cheol-soo taunted, tossing a dagger in the air and catching it.

I chuckled at his words.

‘Soongmoo Lee family is a hothouse? And I’m a flower?’

If the Soongmoo Lee family was a hothouse, the world would have already ended several times over.

Well, there’s no way he would know the inner workings of the main family.

“Stop flapping your gums and come at me.”

“Hehehe, you cheeky brat! Looks like I’ll be doing some butchering again today!”

Whoosh!

Baek Cheol-soo kicked off the ground and charged at me.

I shoved Jeong Jin-soo aside along with the case and swung Mujin.

Clang!

The collision of auras.

I thought I could easily block it, but an immense pressure crushed my entire body.

I am Level 5, and Baek Cheol-soo is also Level 5.

But even at the same rank, there is a clear difference in mastery.

Baek Cheol-soo had trained magic and martial arts in a proper martial arts school, and he had honed his skills through countless real battles over a long period.

The difference in martial prowess was obvious.

Furthermore, he had something that was advantageous compared to Lee Cheol: a fully developed physique.

Lee Cheol’s body was not yet fully grown, but Baek Cheol-soo’s body was complete.

‘But!’

I have never fought someone weaker than me.

And I have fought and won against opponents stronger than me every time.

Clink!

Mujin instantly transformed into a longsword, deflecting Baek Cheol-soo’s dagger.

“Damn it, a weapon that changes shape at will! So it wasn’t Baekjeol [likely a person’s name], you bastard, Jeong Jin-soo….”

Baek Cheol-soo glared at Jeong Jin-soo, growling as Mujin suddenly changed shape.

‘He’s losing focus during the fight?’

I didn’t miss the opportunity and kicked off the ground.

Swoosh!

As I lunged into his space and swung Mujin, Baek Cheol-soo’s collar was torn apart.

“You insolent bastard!”

Enraged, Baek Cheol-soo’s dagger was launched.

His movements were incredibly agile for someone who was supposedly just the head of a gang of wanderers.

‘It’s tough. But….’

Whoosh!

The Magic Eye [a special ability] reads the path.

The sixth sense detects the opponent’s movements.

The strong bones of the Soongmoo Lee family boasted durability that didn’t falter even against Baek Cheol-soo’s large frame.

In the first place, I had fought and won against my sixth sister, who was several times faster than Baek Cheol-soo.

Clang! Crackle!

Each time Mujin and the dagger collided, the remnants of aura exploded, and the building shook as if screaming.

I leaped outside, creating distance.

Baek Cheol-soo chased after me, roaring.

It was clear at a glance that Baek Cheol-soo was on the offensive.

But Baek Cheol-soo couldn’t let his guard down.

‘To think a mere kid is doing this!’

It felt like he was facing a giant boulder.

He could accept that his magic power was similar to his, as he had increased it with elixirs acquired through smuggling, and the kid was from a prestigious family.

But the depth of his martial arts was so profound that he couldn’t believe he was just a child.

He dodged or blocked the unconventional attacks that utilized the characteristics of the dagger without taking any damage.

“Hmph!”

Clink!

And if there was even a slight opening, he would strike without fail.

“Ugh!”

He barely twisted his waist to avoid it.

But again, his clothes were torn. If he had been even a moment late, the sword would have pierced his skin.

‘Damn it!’

Basic skills that were so solid they were like an iron fortress.

Moreover, with the added variable of a weapon that changed shape from time to time, it felt like he was fighting not one, but three or four people.

‘I was going to take down this brat and Jeong Jin-soo and get out of here!’

In fact, Baek Cheol-soo had some connection with the Nine Dragons Guild.

If he ran away now, he might be able to save his life somehow, but Baek Cheol-soo was determined to take these two down with him before he went.

‘I’ll finish you off quickly! You won’t be able to dodge this!’

Thwack!

Baek Cheol-soo kicked the ground with a kick infused with aura.

Pieces of paved asphalt shot towards Lee Cheol’s eyes like sand.

“Tsk!”

Lee Cheol blocked them, but Baek Cheol-soo’s true aim was next.

While Lee Cheol’s vision was obscured, the dagger hidden in Baek Cheol-soo’s left sleeve revealed itself.

Flash!

Mission Order 1, Hidden Forest Tiger Strike.

The strike that had cut off his master’s head long ago, and the finishing blow that had taken the necks of arrogant wanderers during his life in the underworld!

Whoosh!

The two daggers came stabbing like scissors.

And.

‘Fast!’

A far more powerful and swift strike than anything he had seen so far!

Even though he was seeing it with the Magic Eye, he couldn’t avoid it.

“Ugh!”

He managed to block the dagger coming from the right with all his might.

And he twisted his shoulder outwards as much as possible to deflect the dagger coming from the left.

Clink!

But he couldn’t dodge everything.

The wound on his shoulder split open, and his posture faltered greatly.

‘Now’s the time!’

Baek Cheol-soo’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

Now was the perfect opportunity to cut off this cheeky brat’s breath.

‘Die!’

Baek Cheol-soo gathered all his aura and kicked off the ground.

The aura, drawn up even at the risk of internal injuries, sparked like flames.

The power that erupted from his bulging muscles was infused into the two daggers.

There was no escape.

The head and the heart.

He might be able to block one of them with that bizarre weapon, but he couldn’t do more than that with his posture broken.

‘Die!’

Lee Cheol’s life was as good as over.

But Baek Cheol-soo didn’t know.

That eyes that read everything with the Magic Eye could not be fooled by such shallow tricks as throwing dirt.

Even as his posture crumbled, a new weapon was being grasped in my hand.

“……!”

Heukya [another weapon].

A blade as black as if it had devoured darkness revealed itself.

Baek Cheol-soo’s eyes widened as if they would tear upon witnessing Heukya.

Baek Cheol-soo desperately tried to retract his outstretched right hand.

However, Mujin, which had instantly transformed into the form of a whip, wrapped around Baek Cheol-soo’s wrist.

The moment the left dagger grazed his temple, cutting his hair.

Jeong Jin-soo screamed without realizing it, but I smiled with satisfaction and swung Heukya.

Mujin Style One, Exorcism.

The ultimate technique of the decisive battle drew a diagonal line from Baek Cheol-soo’s shoulder to his abdomen.

“Cough, ugh, huh?”

Slash!

Baek Cheol-soo’s front was stained with blood, accompanied by a chilling sound.

“Kugh! Keoeogh!”

The man screamed and collapsed.

It was an attack that split his ribcage and cut through his organs.

He didn’t die instantly because he had drawn up his magic power, but it was definitely a fatal wound.

“You son of a biiiitch……”

Baek Cheol-soo endured the pain and cursed.

But I had no intention of listening to the last words of such a third-rate thug.

Swoosh!

I immediately cut off Baek Cheol-soo’s head.

It was the moment when Baek Cheol-soo, the butcher who would later make a name for himself in the Korean underworld, died.

Whew-.

I exhaled the breath that had filled my lungs.

Stagger!

My body swayed as if I had suffered internal injuries to my legs.

I leaned on Heukya and Mujin like a cane to support my body.

“A-Are you alright?”

Jeong Jin-soo, who had been watching the battle from a distance, rushed over to support me.

I roughly nodded and looked at Baek Cheol-soo’s head, which was rolling and stuck in the ground.

‘Is this my first murder in this life?’

But I didn’t feel much emotion.

I had already experienced it in my previous life, and I hadn’t lived an ordinary life enough to feel anything from such an event.

I shook off my thoughts with just a sigh.

“……”

Jeong Jin-soo stared straight at Baek Cheol-soo’s beheaded corpse.

It was the moment when the infamous villain who had ruined his life was retiring.

Nausea rose from the pool of blood and the smell of blood that filled the floor, but Jeong Jin-soo took in the death with his own eyes and looked back at Lee Cheol.

‘He’s only 15 years old. He’s not even that much older than my daughter….’

He was strong.

He didn’t know much about the strength of warriors, but he knew that Baek Cheol-soo was not just some mediocre thug.

Jeong Jin-soo saw Lee Cheol in a new light.

Because of the difference in height, he always seemed to be looking down on him, but for some reason, he felt much bigger than himself.

“Thank you.”

Before he knew it, Jeong Jin-soo was uttering those words.

Lee Cheol waved his hand.

“It’s unnecessary. I did it because I had something to gain anyway.”

“Then from now on… what should I do?”

“It’s good to be motivated, but first, finish this matter. And then you have to take care of your daughter. Our deal starts from there.”

Jeong Jin-soo’s eyes lit up.

He felt that this young boy in front of him was just a person who lived by the sword, but he was fundamentally different from Baek Cheol-soo.

A premonition close to certainty.

If his daughter is healed and Lee Cheol contacts him again.

He sincerely thought that he would become this boy’s hands and feet.

Thwack! Bang!

Around that time, the black market became even more chaotic.

It was the sound of the White Bone Clan starting their last stand, and it was a signal that it was time for Lee Cheol to get out.

“Can you get out in that state? You mustn’t reveal yourself.”

I silently nodded at Jeong Jin-soo’s words.

It wouldn’t be easy to get out with the Gold Sword Squad surrounding the area.

If my identity is revealed in the process, things will get troublesome later.

The fact that I was involved in this matter itself wouldn’t be a problem, but the fact that I somehow dragged in my seventh brother would be problematic.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get out as soon as I see the opportunity.”

The Gold Sword Squad’s abilities are great.

However, I am prepared to deceive their eyes with Stealth Art and Iron Skin [techniques].

Moreover, this is not a vast open field or a dangerous area.

It was a safe zone with many buildings, even though it was a dilapidated slum.

There was a way to get out somehow.

“……There’s an underground passage. It’s where the sewage flows, but it’s big enough for one person to pass through. I’ll guide you. Follow me.”

Jeong Jin-soo got up from his seat.

I looked at Jeong Jin-soo for a moment.

‘Has he made up his mind?’

Jeong Jin-soo’s eyes had changed.

He probably knew that there was no turning back, and he was planning to faithfully fulfill his promise.

But it wasn’t just because he couldn’t help it, but because there was sincerity in it.

I smiled slightly.

As much as this stone tablet in my hand.

I had gained a great harvest by obtaining Jeong Jin-soo, the brilliant mind who was even called Seolgeom [a title or nickname] in the history of my previous life.

“Then I’ll ask for your help.”

I followed behind Jeong Jin-soo.

Thus, Lee Cheol’s figure disappeared from the black market.