The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

Tang Il-yeong was staring somewhere with a dazed face.

Swish—

At the end of his gaze, Namgung Il and the man were engaged in a fierce battle.

No, to be precise, only the man was fierce.

Namgung Il was leisurely avoiding the twin swords that the man was swinging, as if he were playing a game.

'What... on earth is going on?'

Was the enemy he had been facing until now really that weak?

Seeing this sight now, Tang Il-yeong couldn't help but have such a thought.

'...That's not it.'

It wasn't that the man was weak, but that Namgung Il was strong.

In fact, not only him, but also Jegal Myeong had been seriously injured by the man's sword strike.

Although both of them had been careless to some extent, even considering that, the man's skills were by no means at a third-rate level.

"Who are you giving advice to?"

Tang Il-yeong could now clearly understand why Namgung Il had said that to him.

How insignificant his warning must have sounded to someone who was dealing with the man as if he were a child.

Even if Namgung Il had reprimanded him for giving advice, seeing that sight now, he had nothing to say.

'But why isn't he finishing it?'

Even in his eyes, there had already been several opportunities to surely end the fight.

But far from counterattacking, Namgung Il, who was only blocking or avoiding the attacks.

Since it was clearly felt from his actions that he was deliberately not settling the match, Tang Il-yeong couldn't help but have such a question.

Swish—

As Tang Il-yeong had thought, Namgung Il was deliberately not ending the fight.

No, to be precise, he was continuously looking for an opportunity to subdue the opponent without killing him.

'Why is this brat so full of energy, like a freshly caught fish?'

In a life-and-death duel, killing the opponent is a surprisingly easy task.

Because it is literally a life-and-death duel, each and every move leads to a fatal blow.

On the contrary, in such a duel, subduing the opponent without injury was much more difficult than killing him.

Swish— Swish—.

So Namgung Il was continuously waiting for the man's stamina to run out.

Because if his stamina ran out, his movements would become dull, and then there would be more openings to subdue him.

Of course, this was a very dangerous act that could never be performed without the confidence that one could block all of the opponent's attacks.

"..."

Namgung Il, of course, had the confidence that he could block all of the man's attacks.

A confidence that came from experience, not a groundless one.

The Blood Bear Twin Swords that the man was currently performing was a swordsmanship that Namgung Il had faced so many times that he had grasped even the detailed parts of the moves.

'It seems he has no other moves besides the Blood Bear Twin Swords.'

The Blood Bear Twin Swords was one of the martial arts that any member of the Blood Dragon Cult could easily come across.

In other words, a very basic martial art that only the lowest-ranking members of the cult learn.

If you only consider the power, it was a very outstanding one compared to other martial arts of the orthodox faction, but in other words, that was all there was to it.

A tyrannical martial art created with the sole intention of killing the enemy without thinking about the consequences. It was a characteristic that most of the martial arts of the Blood Dragon Cult had.

"..."

Therefore, a person who was facing the martial arts of the Blood Dragon Cult for the first time would be flustered.

Since almost all the moves were rushing in with the determination of a mutual destruction, especially martial artists who had no real battle experience and had only done arranged spars were likely to be defeated even if there was a difference in skill.

That was one of the biggest reasons why there were so many sacrifices on the side of the orthodox faction during the Righteous-Demonic War.

"Grrr...!"

Even at this moment, the man was grinding his teeth like a beast and swinging his sword.

Of course, Namgung Il was leisurely avoiding all the attacks, but he was by no means being careless.

Because he had seen countless brats who had been ridiculously defeated due to that one moment of carelessness in the past.

Confidence and carelessness were a paper-thin difference.

'This bastard... why isn't he getting hit!'

As Namgung Il continued to perfectly block the attacks, the man could not help but become anxious.

Where on earth did this brat come from, and why did he see through all of his swordsmanship?

Since the man could not figure out the reason no matter how much he thought, he was getting more and more annoyed and excited.

"...?"

Just then, Namgung Il could confirm the change that had occurred in the man.

The man's two eyes, which had become bloodshot at some point.

Although it was a sight that would make others feel fear, Namgung Il nodded his head inwardly, seeing that.

'Yes. Now I see the end.'

The two bloodshot eyes. Namgung Il did not know exactly what the reason was.

However, most of the members of the Blood Dragon Cult had shown that kind of change, and each time, their physical abilities had risen sharply compared to usual.

Although it seemed to be a characteristic of the internal energy cultivation method that the cult members had learned, according to his guess... the important thing was that if they entered that state, their physical abilities would temporarily rise, but after that, they would be exhausted.

Swoosh—

If he just blocked that attack, the brat would fall on his own.

Since Namgung Il also knew that, he was holding his sword more carefully than before.

"Come on."

Namgung Il, who said so as if to provoke.

As if that had lit the fuse, the man kicked off the ground and rushed in.

Phat—

There was certainly a difference in speed from before.

But no matter how fast he had become, the man's swordsmanship itself had not changed.

On top of that, if he had even predicted that it would be like this in advance... it was not that difficult to respond.

Swish—

The man jumped into the air, crossed his twin swords, and swung them down from above.

Namgung Il, who blocked by raising his sword in a high stance and lightly deflected the attack.

The man immediately twisted his body like a bull and rushed at Namgung Il again.

Clang—!

A rough metallic sound echoed continuously in the forest.

Although the man's attacks seemed to be getting fiercer, Namgung Il calmly blocked the attacks and was counting in his heart.

'Three, two... one.'

It was then.

The movement of the man, who had been pouring out attacks like a cart racing down a downhill road until now, suddenly became noticeably dull.

The man also seemed to have noticed the change that had occurred in his body, and his expression changed, but at that time, it was already too late to deal with it.

Swish—

Namgung Il, who had only been defending until now, dug into the man's chest for the first time.

At the same time, his left hand, which had been pulled back.

Namgung Il thrust his left hand towards the man's abdomen with a clean movement.

"...!"

The man's figure was thrown back with a tremendous momentum.

His movement, which had stopped only after breaking a few trees.

The twin swords he had been holding in both hands had disappeared, as if he had lost them while flying, and the man was leaning against a tree, spitting out blood from his mouth.

"Ah..."

Seeing that, Tang Il-yeong's mouth could not be closed.

Although the man's momentum had suddenly changed and the situation had seemed to have tilted in that direction, to think that Namgung Il's side was still superior even to that.

Seeing this result now, Tang Il-yeong had no choice but to think so.

'Namgung Il... what on earth is that brat?'

Why was a brat like this in the Vermilion Bird Class?

Not only him, but his skills seemed to be not at all inferior compared to the other first-years of the Azure Dragon Class.

Not only that? Tang Il-yeong was even more surprised by his calmness, which allowed him to fully display his skills without being flustered in a real battle situation like this.

"..."

Among the four classes that existed in the Flying Dragon Academy, Tang Il-yeong had thought that the Azure Dragon Class was the most outstanding.

Wouldn't that be the same for not only Tang Il-yeong, but also for other people?

But to think that that might be wrong, such a thought arose in a corner of Tang Il-yeong's mind.

Swoosh—

Namgung Il stood up straight and slowly sheathed his sword.

And Namgung Il, who was walking towards the fallen man over there.

Seeing that, Tang Il-yeong came to his senses and shouted.

"N-Namgung Il!"

"...?"

"Be careful! That brat might still have some strength left. So make sure to check for sure and..."

"Are you giving advice again?"

"...Huh?"

"Do you also give advice when you're playing Go?"

Namgung Il said bluntly.

Tang Il-yeong, who was just staring blankly at him.

How on earth had he been branded as a brat who only gives advice when playing Go... Tang Il-yeong was slightly unfair about that.

"That's not it..."

Tang Il-yeong immediately said as if he were unfair, but Namgung Il was already walking far away.

Namgung Il, who had arrived in front of the drooping man.

Bending his upper body slightly, Namgung Il pushed aside the man's upper garment.

"..."

The tattoo he had first seen on the man's chest was revealed.

Even if he pushed the clothes a little more, the tattoo was all of the dragon's tail and the back part of its body.

'As expected, he was a low-ranking member.'

The lower the rank of a member of the Blood Dragon Cult, the more they can only draw a part of the complete mark.

The higher the rank, the more the mark gradually takes on the form of a complete dragon, and in the end, only when one reaches the Blood Demon does the mark become complete.

"..."

At this point, it was safe to say that he was a low-ranking member.

Although he had thought so roughly by looking at his skills, after checking the mark, Namgung Il could be sure of that.

'It doesn't matter if he's a low-ranking member.'

For now, it was most important to find out why on earth this brat had appeared here.

The reason why he had gone to the trouble of keeping the brat alive for a long time.

The fact that a remnant of the Blood Dragon Cult had appeared in the middle of the Central Plains, and on the property of the Flying Dragon Academy, was quite concerning to Namgung Il.

'I don't think the Blood Dragon Cult can do anything now...'

It was safe to say that the Blood Dragon Cult had ended from the moment the Blood Demon had died.

Of course, the surviving remnants might be plotting something, but as long as the Blood Demon was gone, it would be at a level that the Martial Arts Alliance could handle sufficiently.

"Hey."

"..."

"How long are you going to sleep? Get up."

Namgung Il said and patted the man's cheek.

"Ugh..."

Then the man, who slowly opened his eyes with a groan.

As soon as he realized that Namgung Il was in front of him, the man swung his fist.

Swoosh—

Namgung Il dodged the man's fist by pulling his head back slightly.

The missed fist landed on the floor, and as if that were its last strength, the man could no longer move.

"Don't waste your energy when you're tired."

"...Kill me."

"Alright. But let me ask you one thing before that."

"..."

"What business does the Blood Dragon Cult have here?"

As Namgung Il said that, the man's two eyes shook slightly.

How did he know that he was from the Blood Dragon Cult?

Such a question was felt in the man's trembling pupils.

"You... who on earth are you?"

"..."

"Not only did you see through my swordsmanship, but how did you even know that I was from the Blood Dragon Cult..."

"You should have won if you were curious about that."

"..."

A hollow laugh escaped from the man's mouth.

As he had said, the right to ask questions was, after all, with the winner.

The man was once again made to realize that he had been defeated by Namgung Il.

"...The Blood Dragon Cult will rise again."

"...?"

The man said suddenly, swallowing the smile on his lips.

If you just think about it, it sounds like the nonsense that a member of the Blood Dragon Cult would utter just before he dies... but for some reason, Namgung Il could not just let those words slide.

"What is that..."

It was then.

As a strong killing intent was suddenly felt from this side, Namgung Il swallowed his words and hurriedly stepped back.

Swish—

A sharp sword qi passed in front of his eyes.

A moment later, the tree the man had been leaning against was neatly cut and fell helplessly, and a line of blood appeared on the man's neck, which was on the same line as the point where the tree had been cut.

Drip—

The man's head, which fell with the tree as blood gushed out.

Namgung Il turned his head in the direction where the sword qi had flown from just now.

"..."

A person standing with a sword surrounded by a blue sword qi. Cha Yul-ryeong was glaring this way with a cold gaze.

(End of Chapter)