I Somehow Became the Leader of the Black Faction - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: I’m Sorry (3)

How Did I Become the Leader of the Black Path Alliance?

Chapter 8

I’m Sorry (3)

Goodwill can sometimes return as malice.

It’s a common tale.

The story my grandfather had kept hidden for so long was similar.

He had been a chivalrous warrior who roamed the martial world.

He had executed countless villains and saved many people.

Of course, some of the villains had repented their wrongs and become new people.

And some of those he helped had even shown a brazen attitude.

But.

Even Grandfather couldn’t have foreseen this.

[ The child of the family I saved… killed your parents. In the end… it’s as if I killed your parents. ]

How was I supposed to process this devastating sentence?

Grandfather’s goodwill had returned as the malice that snatched away my family.

For Grandfather, it was as if he had lost his own child.

That pain.

How could I even begin to imagine it?

How pitiful his grandson must have seemed to him, losing his parents overnight. How sorry he must have felt.

How could he have endured such guilt?

Seo Woo-jin trembled all over, but he forced himself to keep reading the letter.

The family his grandfather had saved was soon annihilated. Yet, the son of that very family mistakenly believed his grandfather was the one behind the massacre. He built up his strength and took his revenge by killing his grandfather’s son and daughter-in-law. It was as if he wanted to inflict the same agony of losing one’s family.

By some stroke of luck—or misfortune—Woo-jin had been elsewhere at the time and escaped the slaughter.

[ Afterward, I entrusted you to my friend and pursued him. Even I, who had striven to live as a paragon of virtue all my life, could not bear the pain of losing my family… ]

The letter recounted that he finally confronted the man. But in the end, his grandfather could not bring himself to kill him. Instead, he was gravely wounded and forced to flee.

The man, too, was severely injured, but he had shouted at his grandfather as he escaped.

[ Next, you will be the one to face them! ]

Those words had forced Grandfather into hiding. They had become the catalyst for his desperate obsession with survival.

Drip. Drip.

Tears, tracing a path down his cheek, fell one by one from his chin onto the letter.

How could he even describe this emotion?

He was consumed by an infinite sadness and an endless, surging rage. He wanted to drop the letter right then and there, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t ignore the guilt, regret, and despair his grandfather had felt.

After reading to the very end, Seo Woo-jin stopped crying.

He walked to the wall and held the letter to the torch, watching it burn.

Grandfather…

His grandfather’s final wish had been simple:

Just forget it all.

Forget the grudges, forget the sorrow, and please, live your own life.

That was his last wish.

“I’m sorry. But you know I never listen to you, Grandfather.”

A faint smile touched Seo Woo-jin’s lips.

He could almost hear his grandfather’s booming voice scolding him already.

Seo Woo-jin grabbed his two swords and turned around.

Just then—

Rumble!

A tremor shook the ground.

Woo-jin looked up, his face impassive. He sensed a hidden, murderous intent.

They found me?

No.

They had found this place, but it wasn’t the Four Black Dragons.

The aura they radiated was stickier and more foul.

Woo-jin silently took a few steps back.

A moment later—

Thud. Thud.

A dozen men in black landed on the ground.

They noticed him belatedly and exchanged glances. Then, they openly revealed their hostility.

Yet, for some reason, Woo-jin seemed completely spaced out.

Did he look frightened? The enemies charged without hesitation.

Your sword will cut no one. And no one will fear your sword.

These were the words his grandfather had spoken when passing down the sword.

It had been disappointing.

It sounded as if he were saying his talent was lacking.

But that is because no one can see inside you. While your enemies gaze only at your insignificant exterior, a great storm will be brewing within.

True Qi erupted from his Dantian, swirling and churning.

It was a violent movement that could easily damage one’s Meridians, but he had trained for it since childhood and felt no hesitation.

The rapidly spinning True Qi expanded, forming a vortex that soon became a massive storm.

[ I’ll say it again. No one will fear your sword. And… no one will be able to stand straight before you. ]

The storm-like True Qi began to coat the blade.

The sword itself showed no outward change.

But contained within was a storm capable of destroying everything.

Swish!

He took a single step diagonally forward.

The sword of the enemy in the frontmost position vainly sliced through empty air.

Thud!

At the same moment, he drew his sword, striking the enemy’s abdomen as he passed.

A heavy impact echoed.

The sword Seo Woo-jin had drawn was the one his grandfather had promised to give him.

The blade was dull.

That was why it hadn’t cut him.

The enemy was momentarily stunned by the sudden strike, but he soon sneered and turned away.

Just as he was about to thrust his sword again—

“Keh, cough! Hack!”

The man’s mask grew sodden with blood.

His pupils shook violently, then rolled back into his head.

His body collapsed.

He was dead.

[ The Remnant Heart Sword Art is no flashy martial art like the others. It was created solely to destroy an enemy from within. To destroy even their malice… ]

The Remnant Heart Sword Art.

A martial art that infiltrates the enemy’s interior with True Qi to strike their Meridians.

Since the technique was based on Penetrating Force, Seo Woo-jin had amplified its destructive power by initiating the rotation from within his own body.

“Haaah…”

A faint sigh escaped Seo Woo-jin’s lips, carrying a wisp of hot steam.

His gaze swept over the remaining enemies.

The foes had halted their assault, momentarily stunned by the sudden counterattack. But they quickly recovered from their confusion.

Some charged again, while others vanished into the shadows.

The ones in front are bait. The ones hiding are the real threat.

It was a transparently obvious tactic, yet an inexperienced warrior would have been thrown into chaos.

But Seo Woo-jin remained utterly calm.

Swish!

He swung his sword in a wide arc, parrying the blades that descended upon him from all sides.

Clang!

K-K-K-K-Clang!

Shring!

The enemies’ swords all shattered.

Seo Woo-jin spun around, unleashing a burst of palm force with his left hand.

Fwoosh!

Swish! Swish! Sssshhh!

K-k-k-k-k!

The shattered sword fragments, propelled by the palm force, scattered in all directions. Most of them embedded themselves into the enemies who had been standing in the front, but some flew into the darkness.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Clang!

“Kugh!”

Seo Woo-jin didn’t stop. He launched himself forward.

The enemies nearby weren’t an immediate threat. Though they had survived, they needed time to recover from the sudden attack.

He used that opening to dash past them and into the darkness.

They hadn’t suffered fatal wounds, but they were undoubtedly shaken.

And in such a state, Seo Woo-jin was closing in fast.

Swoosh!

Shink! Shink! Shink!

The targeted man swung his sword wildly.

The others launched hidden weapons.

Seo Woo-jin lowered his stance and glided past his enemies.

“……!!”

He could feel their panic radiating off them.

It was no wonder.

Swish!

The moment the enemy’s sword sliced through empty air—

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

—he became a living pincushion for the hidden weapons thrown by his comrades.

He died instantly, unable to even scream.

Only now do I understand.

Why Grandfather taught me such an unflashy martial art.

He must have intended for it to lure the enemy into lowering their guard.

He wanted his grandson to escape danger more easily.

Truly…

What a foolish and contradictory man.

And that is why…

That one-sided, obsessive love… it feels even more real now.

Seo Woo-jin kicked off the ground again.

His sword movements were simple, yet his enemies failed to react.

They had to become cold corpses.

“Haa… haa…”

The truth he had learned.

The grief and anger it had brought.

Thanks to that, I can move more calmly and coolly than usual.

But even so, this was Seo Woo-jin’s first real battle where his life was on the line.

He didn’t even know what his enemies were.

They were foes who showed nothing but unconditional hostility.

Wielding his sword against such bastards consumed more mental energy than he had expected.

Seo Woo-jin steadied his breathing and looked down at the sword in his hand.

Grandfather…

The black dragon pattern etched along the blade stood out with singular clarity.

He deliberately left the edge unsharpened. To withstand the True Qi of the Remnant Heart Sword Art.

A razor-sharp edge would only compromise the sword’s durability. It would never have endured Seo Woo-jin’s extraordinary True Qi for long.

Instead, the blade was left blunt, forged for the strength to withstand his power.

Seo Woo-jin gazed at the sword, his eyes brimming with sorrow. The anguish his grandfather must have felt while preparing this weapon for him was heart-wrenching.

He shook his head violently and sheathed the sword.

He had to face the Four Black Dragons first.

Seo Woo-jin’s feet turned upward once more.

CRAAAASH!

Ice shards filled the air, blanketing the surroundings. The area within a thirty-foot radius of him seemed to belong to another world. Frost clung to the tips of leaves, and the ground was covered in a white, frigid chill.

“M-Monster…”

The voice trembled with terror.

Yu Geon-woo, the very monster being spoken of, turned his frigid gaze toward the sound.

“Sigh…”

Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of thin ice breaking under his footsteps echoed.

The assassin snapped to his senses. Just as he was about to bite down on the poison pill hidden in his molar—

Grab!

“Kuh!”

Yu Geon-woo’s hand clamped down on the assassin’s jaw in an instant. He forced the man’s mouth open and pried the poison pill out.

“Your tricks are all the same.”

Though his tone was languid, the killing intent it held struck a chord of pure terror.

Thud!

Yu Geon-woo slammed the assassin to the ground and slowly spoke.

“I’ll ask out of courtesy, though I already have a good idea of how you’ll respond.”

“…”

“Who’s behind this?”

The assassin remained silent.

Though he had failed to kill himself, he seemed fully aware of his mission.

Yu Geon-woo’s lips curved into a satisfied smile.

Swish! Slash!

A single, effortless stroke of the sword severed the assassin’s arm.

“Ggh… Gaaah…!”

The assassin finally let out a groan of agony.

Yu Geon-woo’s expression remained cold as he asked again.

“Who’s behind this?”

The assassin’s pupils trembled violently.

Anyone could see he was consumed with terror.

Yet, he kept his mouth shut.

As if there were a reason he absolutely had to.

“Fine. Then just die.”

Shik! Sogeok!

Yu Geon-woo severed the assassin’s neck without a hint of regret. He shook the blood off his sword before sheathing it.

“Hah. What a bunch of trash.”

This was the Murim Alliance’s golden age. In a world that championed the White Path, assassin organizations were bound to shrink. This meant that assassins trained to throw away their lives so readily were rare.

“Someone must have gone to great lengths to train them…”

A few names immediately came to mind, but he wasn’t certain.

Yu Geon-woo stripped the assassins of their martial robes and examined their bodies, but found nothing unusual.

Except for one thing.

“A Red Crescent, huh?”

A tattoo etched into the wrist.

It was a mark he had never seen before.

Yu Geon-woo let out a soft sigh and pushed himself to his feet. He turned his gaze toward the thatched cottage. He already knew some of the assassins had headed that way.

Their real target must have been the Young Alliance Leader all along.

“Well, he probably escaped safely.”

Seo Woo-jin had vanished long before they arrived, so the assassins wouldn’t have been able to catch up easily. Yu Geon-woo was certain of this, knowing Seo Woo-jin’s mastery of Lightfoot.

He shook his head and turned to leave.

But then—

KABOOM!

The thatched cottage collapsed with a deafening roar.

Yu Geon-woo spun around. He assumed the assassins had resorted to explosives after failing to find Seo Woo-jin.

But the figure that emerged from the dust was the last person he expected to see.

“You… Young Alliance Leader?”

Seo Woo-jin stumbled out of the debris, his face smeared with soot.

“Cough, cough! Pant… What the hell is going on? Some bastards suddenly pointed swords at me… Pant… I barely managed to escape.”

“Wh-what do you mean…?”

Seo Woo-jin caught his breath and wiped away the cold sweat.

“There was a warehouse underground. They must have let their guard down because I was alone. So I shook them off and collapsed the warehouse. I just didn’t expect the whole house to come down with it…”

Yu Geon-woo couldn’t bring himself to speak. He didn’t know how much of Seo Woo-jin’s story to believe.

Seo Woo-jin, however, remained completely unfazed.

“Should we head back for now? I’m worried about the other areas.”

Yu Geon-woo could only nod reluctantly.

“Yes, yes. Let’s do that.”

And so, the two quickly descended the mountain—leaving only the cold corpses behind.

As feared, White Cloud Village had also been attacked.

Fortunately, thanks to the Four Black Dragons’ swift action, no villagers were harmed.

Bae Seok-jin borrowed a cart and loaded all the bodies onto it. He then returned to the mountain and burned them along with the corpses already there. The martial uniforms they wore could be used as evidence, so the bodies had to be disposed of completely.

Though they didn’t show it, the Four Black Dragons seemed surprised by Seo Woo-jin’s return. Yet, without any explanation, he and the Four Black Dragons departed for Hangzhou.

Unlike their arrival, they hired a carriage for the return journey. Moreover, Seo Woo-jin was no longer assigned to keep watch. They were treating him with even greater deference as the Young Alliance Leader than before.

Rattle, rattle.

Thump!

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

Inside the carriage, Seo Woo-jin gazed out the window.

The sunset glow was as red as blood.

“…”

Someone had once said that revenge only begets more revenge.

That forgiveness was a more worthy act than vengeance.

Once, he had found that idea quite compelling.

But not anymore.

Now, revenge was his driving force. It diluted his sorrow and fueled his ambition.

Seo Woo-jin recalled the final words of the letter.

[ …It seems ‘he’ was a victim of a rift. Even after I hid away here with you, I continued to investigate ‘him.’ Only recently have I discovered who was behind the rift, manipulating ‘him’ from the shadows. The Black Path Alliance. They were the ones pulling his strings. ]

A cold, desolate light flashed in Seo Woo-jin’s eyes.

If I strike half-heartedly, I’ll only bring a greater disaster upon myself.

On the journey back, unlike when he had departed, he had to constantly suppress the murderous intent that kept surging within him.

He did so by recalling the words Song Bi-ryeong had spoken to him.