I looked at Gu Yang-cheol with a smile.

Even now, his expression kept changing.
He looked confused, like he couldn’t believe what was happening.
Anyone would feel that way.
He probably thought they had perfectly hidden themselves.

Gu Yang-cheol rubbed his eyes tiredly and forced a fake smile, clearly trying to buy time and read the situation.
He looked at me and asked a question, pretending to be calm.

It was laughable.
Especially for someone like me who remembered how he had stabbed my commander before.

“Aren’t you the youngest son of the Jin family? What are you doing here?”

“Stop pretending, Gu Yang-cheol. You’re not stupid enough to not understand what’s going on.”

“…!”

“Hong Guhyeon is already waiting for you in the afterlife. I’m sure he has a lot to say to you. Why not go and listen?”

As soon as I mentioned Hong Guhyeon, Gu Yang-cheol’s eyes changed.
That fake look on his face disappeared, replaced by the same mocking smile he had the day he stabbed my commander.

He finally dropped the act.

“Don’t tell me… You knew everything and set this up?”

“There was no other way to catch you.”

“Ha… You got me. I should’ve noticed something was off when Hong Guhyeon didn’t show up.”

“In war, deceiving your enemy is the most important thing. If you can’t do that, you’ll lose.”

“Haha, that’s true. I guess we’ve lost.”

Gu Yang-cheol laughed and shook his head.

Snap!

He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the remaining members of the 10th unit of the Shadow Killers rushed toward him. Even the ones who were down stood back up, and in a blink, the full unit was gathered again.

Their presence was completely different now—sharp eyes and fierce energy.
They showed no fear, like this situation was nothing and they could easily break through.

“You may not know this, but we’ve been through situations like this too many times to count. You think we’ll get weak just because we’re tired?”

“Let’s find out.”

“In fact, judging from today, it looks like we’ll need your head too, Young Master.”

“Funny. Hong Guhyeon said the same thing… But now, he’s dead.”

“Don’t compare us to that old man!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

He was confident—and he had reason to be.
The Shadow Killers were trained to survive death itself.
They were mentally tough enough to survive this.

But so were we.

“Capture isn’t necessary. Kill them all.”

[“Yes, sir!”]

Their confident voices echoed across the mountain.

There was no way these guys were getting out alive. I was sure of it.

The warriors with me weren’t the very best of the Jin family, but they had trained with me for days in brutal drills.
Besides, this mountain was basically our backyard.
Three or four times a year, our warriors came here for training.

We had the terrain advantage.

There was no way they would escape.

“You bastards—!”

Suddenly, Jang Chuhyung, standing next to me, rushed forward.
He wasn’t especially fast or slow—just enough speed that a skilled fighter could avoid him.

But not those still disoriented from the earlier explosions and smoke.

He threw a wild punch.

Thud!

“Gahh!”

Jang Chuhyung’s natural strength was monstrous.
He had just started learning internal energy techniques, but his physical power made up for it, making his punches devastating.

The man he hit folded over like a shrimp, unable to even breathe.

Then Chuhyung threw another punch.

Crunch!

I smiled as I watched.

Even if he’s a bit rough… it’s fine.
Even if he gets hit… it’s fine.

Because Jang Chuhyung had one powerful strike that could turn the whole situation around.

At the same time, our warriors used formation tactics to confuse the enemy, opening gaps for powerful strikes.

When brute strength hits just right… bodies break.

One enemy flew across the ground, crashing into the floor.

That must’ve shocked the Shadow Killers.

After fighting all night, facing one ridiculous situation after another, even they were starting to wear down.

Sure enough, Gu Yang-cheol’s face didn’t look good.
He looked around and gathered energy in his sword.

At the same time, I gave a signal with my eyes to one of our top warriors—Gu Gunbaek.

The strongest among our current forces.

He saw my signal and shouted:

“Move back!”

The formation suddenly scattered.

Our warriors flew in every direction just in time for Gu Yang-cheol’s powerful sword strike to sweep across the space they had just vacated.

“What?!”

He was shocked.
His timing was perfect.
But we dodged it flawlessly.

It wasn’t just luck—it was skill.

Gu Yang-cheol stared at me, his eyes trembling.

I smiled back.

“Yeah… I’ve seen that sword technique of yours way too many times.”

Then I looked again toward Gu Gunbaek, who quickly reformed the formation.
Jang Chuhyung charged in again, throwing punches.

The enemy tried to block, dodge, and create distance.
But caught inside the formation, escape wasn’t easy.

They were getting more and more tired.
Their mental strength would eventually run out.
Same for us, though.
If we used the same tactics over and over, they’d adapt.

Even a tiny mistake could break the formation.

Sure enough, Gu Yang-cheol made his move.

Inside the tightly packed formation, he dodged attacks with ease and targeted Chuhyung’s opening.

“Ack?!”

Slash!

A sword so fast it was like lightning.

Chuhyung couldn’t react fast enough and got slashed across the chest.

Thankfully, he instinctively stepped back just a little.
Otherwise, the sword would’ve cut through his bones and organs.

“Almost died…”

Chuhyung looked at the blood on his chest and stuck out his tongue, then gave me a thumbs-up.

“That guy’s body is way too tough…”

I shook my head.

I had predicted Gu Yang-cheol would attack directly. I had made preparations.
But when it actually happened, I still didn’t respond fast enough.

I was distracted.

CLANG!

Suddenly, more sounds of clashing swords erupted everywhere.

It felt like a full-scale battlefield.

The Shadow Killers were clearly exhausted, but still fighting back through sheer willpower.

But the tide of the battle had clearly turned in our favor.

Several of their members had already fallen.
Their numbers were shrinking, and their exhaustion was increasing.

At this rate, the only one who could turn things around was Gu Yang-cheol.

He looked quickly around, searching for a way out.

He had two options:

• Jump into the fight and show overwhelming strength.
• Or take out the enemy leader.

His eyes locked onto me.

He smirked.

I looked back at him.

I smirked too.

At that moment, he dashed forward like lightning.

“Young Master?!”

“Tch!”

Gu Gunbaek and Chuhyung tried to stop him, but their swords missed, and their hands caught only air.

Gu Yang-cheol was suddenly right in front of me.

He smiled wide and slashed.

The blade cut through the air with a loud whoosh—

But I had already drawn my sword.

CLANG!

“!?”

The force of the clash pushed me back.
My body couldn’t fully absorb the shock.

But Gu Yang-cheol was the one more surprised.

He didn’t expect me to block it.

He slashed again.

CLANG! CLANG!

This time, our swords stayed locked, pushing against each other.

The sound of grinding metal filled the air as I felt myself slowly pushed back.

Then he shouted:

“You’re going to die today!”

“You’ve said that before.”

“What…?”

“But last time, it wasn’t me who lost his head—it was you.”

Gu Yang-cheol looked confused.
He had no memory of what I was talking about.

I gave him a faint smile.

“And today will be the same.”

At my words, he slashed again.

A predictable move.

I tilted my head slightly, and the sword missed.
But he was a skilled swordsman—it didn’t end there.

He changed his sword path mid-strike.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Sword energy flew in all directions.

Fast and precise.
He was trying to crush me with overwhelming pressure.

But…

I had seen this before.

Not once or twice, but hundreds of times.

I dodged smoothly and swung my sword with minimal effort and energy.

CLANG!

I deflected the strike aimed at my vital points.

Gu Yang-cheol’s eyes changed again.

He could sense something was off.

He quickly closed the distance again.

I moved calmly, blocking his flashing sword like flowing water.

CLANG!

Our swords clashed again, and I used his force to redirect the attack away.

“Gah?!”

He stumbled back, thrown off balance.

Then my inner energy surged.

“I’ll kill you!”

“You’ve been saying that from the start. No need to repeat it.”

“Tch!”

He unleashed his strongest technique.

FLASH!

Dozens of sword slashes rained down in an instant.

A deadly sword storm.

This was the skill that made him leader of the 10th unit of the Shadow Killers despite his young age.

No wonder he was smiling—he thought he had landed a perfect blow.

But I gripped my sword and drew out the energy I had been holding back, resisting the poison inside me.

I watched carefully and tracked every path of the attack.

Then, slowly, I moved my sword.

“Young Master! Look out—!”

“Gasp!”

I blocked and deflected every sword strike!

CLANG! CLANGCLANGCLANG!

BOOMBOOMBOOM—!!