The North Sea Martial Warrior - Chapter 08

========== 8. RAID OF THE ICE BLOOD GROUP ==========

Clang! Crash!

The mirrors screamed.

Every time Airak took a step, the Ice Mirrors couldn’t withstand it and shattered.

“I see it.”

Taikan opened his eyes.

The path of the wind opened once again.

“Now, the game of hide-and-seek is over.”

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Three arrows flew simultaneously and embedded themselves into the backs of the fleeing assassins.

“Urgh!”

“Ah, refreshing!”

Harku burst into wild laughter and charged.

Blood splattered every time his twin blades sliced through the air. An assassin who offered no chance of luck, cutting off breaths perfectly.

“Come out, all of you! I’ll kill you all!”

Half a quarter-hour.

In that short time, twenty of the twenty-three assassins had fallen. Only three remained. And the Binghyeoldan leader, Han-a.

“This… this can’t be.”

Han-a was trembling.

Traps, bombs, the mirror maze—nothing worked.

“How… how could this happen….”

He had heard the legend of the Martial Warrior long ago, but… he never imagined the gap would be this immense.

“Leader-nim! You must flee!” a surviving assassin shouted.

“The retreat is blocked! The back is blocked by an avalanche…”

“The front is blocked too! Those bastards!”

“Shut up!” Han-a screamed.

“I said shut up! Let me think!”

But there was no time to think.

Thud. Thud.

Footsteps were approaching.

Airak… He walked with his arms crossed. Through the middle of the blood-splattered battlefield, as indifferently as if he were watching someone else’s business.

“It’s… it’s him.”

Han-a’s eyes rolled back.

When fear reaches its peak, it turns into madness.

“If I just kill him, it’s over! Just him!”

“Leader-nim!”

“Move!” Han-a drew his sword.

Blue sword energy erupted from the tip of his blade.

“Die!”

Han-a charged toward Airak.

A fatal strike. A swift sword aimed at the neck. A sword that had perfectly executed hundreds of assassinations as the leader of the Binghyeoldan.

But Airak did not stop. He didn’t dodge, nor did he block. He simply walked.

Swish!

Han-a’s sword touched Airak’s nape. Or so he thought.

Claaang!

The moment the blade touched Airak’s skin, it froze white and shattered like glass.

“Huh…?”

Han-a stared blankly at the sword hilt remaining in his hand.

“I don’t understand….”

His voice trembled.

“This sword contains all my internal energy. It’s a masterwork blade that cuts through rock like tofu. And yet… I clearly struck his neck…?”

Swoosh.

Airak walked past Han-a.

He didn’t even glance at him.

“D-don’t ignore me!” Han-a screamed.

“Don’t ignore me! I am the Binghyeoldan leader! I’m one of the top experts in the Northern Sea!”

“…….”

Airak did not answer.

He just kept walking.

“Answer me! I said answer me! Why won’t you even look at me!”

Han-a tried to stab Airak’s back with the remaining hilt. But his body wouldn’t move.

“…Why.”

His voice cracked.

“Why is my body….”

Cold energy.

The moment Airak brushed past him, the absolute cold that had infiltrated his body froze his blood vessels. His heart was hardening. He couldn’t breathe.

“Urgh… ugh….”

Han-a fell to his knees.

Airak’s retreating back entered his field of vision.

“Why… why won’t you kill me….”

Han-a sobbed.

“Just kill me instead… I hate this humiliation….”

“Know your place.”

A deep voice came from behind him.

It was Garkan.

With a blood-stained mace slung over his shoulder, he was looking down at Han-a as if he were a bug.

“Do you know why the Chief-nim ignores you?”

“…….”

“Because you aren’t even worth killing.”

Han-a’s eyes widened.

“W-what?”

“The Chief-nim doesn’t lift a finger against small fry like you. It’s a waste to even swing a blade.”

“S-small fry?”

“That’s right. You’re just an ant that gets stepped on while passing by. You don’t even register in the Chief-nim’s eyes.”

Han-a’s face twisted.

He had spent his whole life honing his killing skills in the darkness of the Northern Sea. He had killed hundreds to become the Binghyeoldan leader. There was no one in the Northern Sea who didn’t know his name. And yet… an ant?

“Lies….”

“Lies? You saw it earlier. Did the Chief-nim even look at you once?”

“…….”

“He didn’t even blink when your sword touched him. Do you know why?”

Garkan grabbed Han-a’s hair and lifted his head.

“Because you aren’t the Chief-nim’s ‘enemy’. You’re just a bothersome bug.”

“I… I am….”

Tears streamed from Han-a’s eyes.

It was humiliation. A humiliation worse than death.

“I am the Binghyeoldan leader…. There isn’t a soul in the Northern Sea who doesn’t know me….”

“So?”

Taikan approached.

“Outside the Northern Sea, no one knows you. You’re just a frog in a well.”

“Hyung-nim, he’s not even a frog. He’s just a tadpole.”

Harku chuckled.

“A tadpole that thought it was a dragon, flailing about until it gets stepped on and dies.”

“S-spare me….”

Han-a’s lips trembled.

“Spare me… please…. I’ll do anything….”

“What did you say to our brothers earlier?”

Harku asked.

His body was covered in blood, but his eyes were smiling coldly.

“‘I’ll make you comfortable soon,’ was it?”

“That… that was….”

“You also said you’d dry us to death slowly, right? By cutting off our limbs one by one? Heh heh! Actually… it’s not even fun talking to a guy like you. Let’s finish this quickly.”

“No! Spare m—”

Whoosh…! Thwack!

The mace sliced through the air. And the sound of a watermelon breaking rang out.

Han-a’s head vanished without a trace.

Binghyeoldan annihilated.

Those who were called the worst assassin group in the Northern Sea vanished without a trace under the claws of the wolves.

“Tch. How boring.”

Harku kicked Han-a’s corpse.

“Hey, this beggar leader doesn’t even have money?”

Arko grumbled while searching the corpse.

“Why are you so poor for an assassin?”

“Stop it,” Garkan said.

“The Chief-nim is waiting.”

The four wolves followed behind Airak.

The end of the valley.

Airak was standing there.

His gaze was directed not toward the south, but toward the northern sky.

The direction where the Ice Palace was.

“Chief-nim.”

Garkan approached.

“It is finished.”

“…….”

“Chief-nim?”

“I know,” Airak said in a low voice.

“They must be watching, right?”

“Karani… do you mean the Ice Palace Lord-nim?”

“No. The rat.”

Taikan furrowed his brows.

“Is the person who sent the Binghyeoldan the rat?”

Harku asked.

“Obviously. The Ice Mirror is a secret technique of the Ice Palace. It shouldn’t have been leaked to the outside. Whoever it is, to be able to leak the Ice Mirror… Hmph!”

Arko snorted.

Airak’s lips twisted.

“The clues have increased. Someone who can let an enemy into the Ice Palace Lord’s quarters, someone who can access the Ice Mirror, someone who moved the Binghyeoldan in the Northern Sea. With this much… I can catch them.”

“Shall we hunt them down?”

Garkan said, his eyes gleaming.

“Not yet. Wait, because they will reveal their true colors soon. I’m not sure… what the purpose of killing Karani was. I’ll probably find out soon. And… catching the rat can be done later.”

Airak lifted his head.

The wind blew. Following the wind, Airak’s voice rang out in the air.

“Everyone will see.”

It was a low voice, but the resonance was heavy, as if it would cover the entire Northern Sea.

“How the dogs that tried to bite me died. And that they are next in line.”

Airak turned around.

“Let’s go,” Airak said briefly.

“The ones who killed Karani are over there.”

The wind blew.

Airak looked up at the southern sky.

Suddenly, a promise from thirty years ago came to mind.

‘What will you do when your training is over?’

‘…I don’t know.’

‘Let’s go see the Frozen Sea together. When the sun sets, the ice turns red, and it’s really pretty.’

He hadn’t been able to go. Not even once, in the end.

Airak closed his eyes and opened them.

The red things were not the ice, but only the corpses scattered at his feet.

At the same time, somewhere in the Ice Palace, a deep secret chamber.

Clang!

A teacup fell to the floor.

Vice Palace Lord Mukara’s hands were trembling.

“You are next.”

Airak’s voice seemed to ring through the secret chamber. It was too vivid to be an auditory hallucination… It felt as if his killing intent had traveled thousands of li to strike her eardrums directly.

“Ah… ahhh….”

Mukara stepped back, then her legs gave out and she collapsed.

“The Binghyeoldan… the Binghyeoldan, so easily….”

She wrapped her hands around her own neck.

The spot where Han-a had been standing a while ago felt cold, as if it had been slashed by a blade.

“He’s a monster… a Martial Warrior… that guy isn’t human….”

Fear. It was pure fear. To collapse an assassin group that had dominated the Northern Sea like scarecrows. And that was after sweeping away all sorts of rabble attacking for the bounty.

“He’s vicious…”

Her teeth chattered.

The power of the Northern Sea won’t work. Even the Binghyeoldan was annihilated in half a quarter-hour.

“There were twenty-three of the Binghyeoldan…. The strongest assassins in the Northern Sea…. But half a quarter-hour? Does that make sense? Does that even make sense!”

She slammed the table.

The back of her hand tore and bled. But Mukara didn’t feel it.

“I have to stop him… somehow….”

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. At the same time, her eyes flashed.

In an instant, her trembling hand stopped.

“…Yes. There is still a way.”

Mukara slowly stood up.

Her gaze changed. Fear receded, and cold calculation returned.

‘I admit the Martial Warrior is strong. But even the strong have weaknesses.’

She lifted the curtain on one side of the secret chamber.

‘If force doesn’t work, use your head. That’s how I’ve lived for thirty years.’

Three ice nameplates emitted a cold light.

‘Fighting head-on is something only fools do. A real victory is ending it before the opponent even notices.’

“The Three Ice Beasts,” she muttered coldly.

“The Snowfield Demon Bear. The Polar Night Ghost Wolf. The Frozen Land Ice Tiger. The true monsters of the Northern Sea.”

Her hand picked up the nameplates. She attached the picked-up nameplates to the ankles of carrier pigeons.

Cold light filled the secret chamber.

“Go. Announce the appearance of the Martial Warrior.”

As the order was given, the carrier pigeons soared into the air.

There was no need to tell them to kill the Martial Warrior. If she just conveyed the fact that the Martial Warrior had appeared, they would step up and kill him themselves. Because they were the ones who could crush the Martial Warrior.

Three carrier pigeons flew through the window into the northern night sky.

“If that still doesn’t work….”

She approached the desk.

Her hand holding the brush was still trembling. But the writing was clear.

– The Northern Sea Martial Warrior is alive. The Martial Warrior is the greatest warrior of the Northern Sea, produced by the Airak tribe, and the Airak tribe is… … heading to the Central Plains. Stop them. By any means necessary.

She sent off the last, fourth carrier pigeon.

Watching the bird disappear into the darkness outside the window, Mukara’s lips twisted.

“With the three beasts of the Northern Sea and the experts of the Central Plains…. If you can win even after they all attack, then you must be a god.”

But she didn’t know.

That what she had brought in was the seed of an even greater catastrophe. And the fact that the catastrophe would eventually swallow even her.

The wind blew.

A wind mixed with the smell of blood was blowing toward the Central Plains.

The wolf’s teeth were already bared. And now, the beasts of the Northern Sea had also opened their eyes.

The hunt was becoming even greater.