Urban Vagabond: Reload

Unlike how confidently I’d raised my middle finger to provoke him, inside my head I coldly assessed the situation.

‘At best, we buy time.’

My opponent was an Eight Great Sects sect leader who had learned Demonic Void Art.

Even if you only learned third-rate Demonic Void Art you could easily buy on the black market, if you were willing to endure the side effects, you could unleash several times your strength for a moment.

So if an orthodox top expert learned Demonic Void Art while risking the honor he’d built his entire life?

“We have to fight assuming, at minimum, that he’s decided to kill us even if it means dying himself.”

As I muttered while watching the flame giant closing the distance at a terrifying speed, Shin Kangheon and Bu Yeonha, to my left and right, nodded with tense faces.

FWOOOOSH—!

A massive fist wrapped in flames flew in, scorching the very air as it came. The heat was so fearsome it felt like my face would blister already.

“It’s coming.”

“Just hold out a little!”

“Until the Martial Alliance Leader gets here!”

Behind the flame giant, I could see Yeo Pilgeuk chasing at an insane speed. The moment he spotted the three of us, he shouted as if in a fit.

“Don’t face him! He’s not someone you can handle—!”

But the three young fighters didn’t retreat. Gripping our weapons tight, we swung at the same time as if we’d made a promise.

KABOOOOOM!

Even though the impact was split and dispersed among the three of us, we were blown back in a single technique. We dropped to our knees, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

“Cough!”

We were already carrying no small amount of internal injuries from sparring with the Martial Alliance Leader.

Blocking an attack like that without taking damage was impossible to begin with, even at full condition.

“Hehehehe, you arrogant brats with your heads stuck in the sky, I’ll burn every last one of you, die regretting it in horrible pain.”

The flame giant raised its fist high into the air again.

The second one would be truly dangerous. A violent alarm screamed through my instincts—if we didn’t dodge, we might die.

But none of the three stepped back.

It wasn’t because we had some grand reason.

‘If we let him go now, won’t he commit another horrific crime?’

‘We have the pride of first-rate experts.’

‘If we block just one more time, the Martial Alliance Leader will reach us.’

Orthodox martial artists do not compromise with injustice.

It was a spirit they’d been taught since they were young, a temperament they’d been born with, and a mindset they’d learned by watching someone and taking it to heart.

Without needing to say it, the three of us reached the same decision.

“URAAAH! SHIN KANGHEON THE FIREMAN—!”

With a meaningless battle cry, Shin Kangheon stepped one pace ahead of the other two.

The moment I realized what he was thinking, I grabbed Bu Yeonha by the shoulder and signaled her with my eyes to get behind Shin Kangheon.

‘He’s going to block it alone?’

The thought flashed through me, but Bu Yeonha went along with our judgment. A split-second mistake could lead to death, but she decided to trust the skill she’d seen with her own eyes.

SSSSSSSS—!

A dreadful heat poured off the descending fist. Timing it, Shin Kangheon raised the flat of his saber to shield his body and then lunged straight into the fist.

“AAAAAARGH! NOW!”

At Shin Kangheon’s signal, Bu Yeonha and I, who had been following behind, split left and right at the same time.

SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!

Two swords cut into the flame giant’s wrist at once. In that instant, the fire dimmed, and the raging energy scattered for a brief moment.

But from inside the flame giant, Jang Jinmyeong’s voice dripped with mockery.

“Pathetic, so this is all you’ve got and you dared rush me? I’ll teach you what worm-like things you are, believing in your paltry talent and running wild, burn to ash in flames like karmic fire!”

HOOOOO—

The moment before the flame giant’s enormous breath, chest swollen to the limit, was about to pour down on the three of us—

“Yap yap, you’re noisy—!”

BOOOOM!

A fist dyed gold punched a huge hole through the flame giant’s side.

Shoving the flame giant away, Yeo Pilgeuk shouted at the three young fighters who were half-dead.

“You fools! Didn’t I tell you to get out of the way?!”

At the same time, the flame giant’s waist that had been swaying split in two, and its flames weakened drastically.

SHAAAASH!

To the Martial Alliance Leader’s side, Azure Sky Sword Elder Na Ilcheon dropped down with his sword in hand.

With the old swordsman’s momentum added—his blade aura pouring out with a chilling edge—the flame giant flinched.

“Grandfather!”

“Stay back.”

Na Ilcheon let out a small sigh at the sight of his granddaughter, her face covered in soot. Then he turned his head and looked at Jang Jinmyeong.

“Jinmyeong. I’m asking you. Don’t do this.”

The flame giant’s momentum had weakened somewhat, but he knew Jang Jinmyeong inside hadn’t taken any real damage.

‘A terrifying Demonic Void Art. It looks like he forced the power of a not-ordinary anomaly into his body, and even without being able to properly control that energy, it’s still this much.’

The sect leaders of Golden Glory Gate and Supreme Pole Sword Gate also aimed their weapons from behind Jang Jinmyeong.

“Sect leader! Calm yourself first.”

“If there’s a misunderstanding, you should resolve it through conversation. This way will only make your position worse!”

FWOOOOSH—!

Conversation didn’t work. The flame giant grew even larger, its height now nearing well over ten meters.

From where its two eyes should be, dark red flames blazed.

“You old men are ganging up to persecute me, it was always like this, an alliance of the Eight Great Sects? Give it to the dogs, in the end martial artists grow strong by devouring each other, the Cult was right, survival of the fittest, the strong eat the weak, in the end the one who survives is me, if I just make the Golden Winged Bird’s flames completely mine then you’ll all become ash—!”

“I can’t even understand what he’s babbling.”

“Looks like Demonic Void Art has spread to his marrow.”

“Since conversation won’t work, suppress him first.”

The Martial Alliance Leader and three Eight Great Sects sect leaders.

It was a containment net so powerful that even if Jang Jinmyeong had learned Demonic Void Art, they could declare with certainty that he couldn’t escape.

But Jang Jinmyeong, having learned Demonic Void Art while harboring fury, flared up as if he would burn the entire world to the ground.

KRAAAAAAAAH!

When the flame giant roared toward the sky, a massive breath poured from its mouth like magma exploding.

The breath shot up through the roof of the Martial Alliance Grand Training Ground, scattered across the sky, and began falling over the entire city as a rain of fire.

Martial artists who had only been watching, unable to dare interfere in the battle of top experts, stared up at that scene and muttered.

“This is insane....”

“Is he trying to set the city on fire?”

Facing the disaster-like phenomenon made from the Golden Winged Bird’s flame, Yeo Pilgeuk was the first to shoot into the sky and unleash a lion’s roar.

“I command every martial artist who hears my voice! Suppress the flames and protect civilians as the top priority!”

His gold-dyed fists swung like a storm, snuffing out the falling fire.

But the radius where the fire was falling was far too wide for Yeo Pilgeuk to handle alone.

WHIIIISH!

Azure Sky Sword Elder Na Ilcheon also shot into the air and whipped his sword in a huge arc. The fire that entered his blade aura was erased in one sweep.

“Erase it before it reaches the ground!”

“Those who can’t use blade aura, go outside and protect civilians!”

The Eight Great Sects sect leaders, the Martial Alliance members, even the injured young fighters—everyone scattered to put out the falling fire and save civilians.

Struggling to get up, I supported Shin Kangheon—whose skin was burned past blistering, nearly charred—and moved him to a safe place.

“Hey, you lunatic, are you okay?”

“I’m okay.... I’m used to my body burning, more or less....”

“Seeing you crack jokes, you’re fine.”

After tossing Shin Kangheon—now little more than rags—under a building that could shield us from the fire, I turned my head.

“Kahahahahahaha! It’s burning so well! Turn everything into ash! Let it all burn—!”

Jang Jinmyeong, laughing up at the sky, was smashing through one outer wall of the Martial Alliance and getting farther away.

The Martial Alliance Leader and the Eight Great Sects sect leaders couldn’t chase Jang Jinmyeong while they were stopping the rain of fire.

And I didn’t even consider chasing Jang Jinmyeong alone.

Instead—

‘He definitely said “Golden Winged Bird” earlier, didn’t he?’

Because of the countless experiences from my last life, I didn’t ignore even words that sounded like a madman babbling nonsense.

*****

A massive manhunt order was issued for Sun and Moon Gate sect leader Jang Jinmyeong.

The shocking incident of a man who had been an Eight Great Sects sect leader starting a fire in the middle of the city.

As a national-scale arrest operation unfolded, the most impatient people were the Eight Great Sects sect leaders.

“Form pursuit teams immediately!”

“Mobilize every last elite we have!”

“More than anyone else, we have to catch Jang Jinmyeong first!”

At the front gates of the Eight Great Sects, massive protests erupted—something that would have been unthinkable in the past.

The Eight Great Sects disciples, who had always carried themselves proudly, couldn’t walk around outside in martial robes anymore because of the hostile stares.

“How long are civilians supposed to tiptoe around martial artists?! We can’t live like this—we’re terrified!”

We can’t live like this! We can’t live like this!

“The Eight Great Sects are responsible—bring back the murderer Jang Jinmyeong!”

Bring him back! Bring him back!

“Government, pass a special law to monitor the great sects!”

Pass it! Pass it!

As public sentiment toward the Eight Great Sects grew uglier by the day, there were even rumors that the legislation proposed by Martial Alliance Leader Yeo Pilgeuk would be passed in the National Assembly at record speed.

For the Eight Great Sects, every day was time that made their blood run dry.

Among ordinary people, a sentiment formed that the Eight Great Sects were all in on it and were deliberately not catching him, and that Korea should bring in world-famous martial-artist crime experts.

But even after several days passed, Jang Jinmyeong was still on the run, slipping past the net.

“Hot... it’s too hot....”

Jang Jinmyeong wandered aimlessly through some unknown mountains.

His clothes were burned and torn, and his whole body was covered in scabbed wounds.

It was impossible to count how many people he’d burned while shaking off pursuit.

His body kept getting hotter, and his consciousness grew dim. The self he had was being eaten away by the Golden Winged Bird’s power he’d forced into captivity.

“...Still, if I just complete my martial art, if I just make the Golden Winged Bird’s flame completely mine....”

But Jang Jinmyeong smiled. The more he accepted the anomaly and burned his enemies, the stronger he felt. His body getting hotter must be nothing more than a trivial side effect.

“It’ll be complete soon. Just a little more and the Golden Winged Bird’s flame will be mine! The ultimate flame I’ve pursued my whole life...!”

To do that, he planned to leave Korea for now.

Fortunately, the world was vast, and there were many countries that needed a high-level martial artist.

Especially if he went to a country at war, he could sell his power for a steep price.

If you had strength, you could live like a king for the rest of your life—or actually become a king.

“Heh. That wouldn’t be bad either. With the martial art that’ll be complete soon, I’ll end the war and reign as that country’s martial god.... Heh.... Urgh....”

Unable to endure the heat, Jang Jinmyeong tore off his ragged top with a rip. Even then the heat didn’t subside, and he forced back a groan of pain.

Swaaaaa—

At that moment, Jang Jinmyeong’s expression hardened at a sudden cold wind.

When he turned around, a familiar, hateful face stared at him with eyes he’d never seen before.

“You’ll never get that chance.”

The Glacier Priestess Hyun Eunha stood there. A midwinter knife-wind was whipping around her.

Jang Jinmyeong, frozen in place, twisted his face like an evil spirit.

“...Did you come to help me, thinking of old affection?”

“No. I came alone to erase Sun and Moon Gate’s shame with my own hands.”

“So you came because you want to die.”

No more conversation was needed.

Flames wrapped around Jang Jinmyeong’s entire body as he charged in, transforming into a flame giant, while the Glacier Priestess, wrapped in a pure-white wind like armor, swung both palms and met him head-on.

FWOOOOSH—!

CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE—!

The highest experts of blazing-yang martial arts and ice martial arts collided, staking their lives.

*****

“Ugh, it’s vicious.”

Hwang Suksu shivered as if chilled to the bone. He was watching the two top experts’ fight from afar through binoculars.

“Tsk. We’re a step late. So she’s trying to tie off Sun and Moon Gate’s karma with her own hands.... But I don’t know if she can handle it alone.”

Choi Geon was watching with his arms crossed, without binoculars.

Because he wore a yaksha mask, his expression couldn’t be seen, but dissatisfaction seeped through his voice.

“Then aren’t we fighting? I came with a trump card to stop those flames!”

Shin Kangheon spoke with his face still pitch-black from being charred days ago. But no one answered him.

SKREEE!

Cradled in Kim Bokja’s arms, the baby Golden Winged Bird cried anxiously. It was the chief contributor who had sensed its dead mother’s presence and guided them here.

Rubbing its back gently, Kim Bokja looked to the side.

“What are you going to do? Are we just going to watch like this?”

Not only Kim Bokja—everyone was waiting for one person’s answer.

With the crew members’ eyes on me, I shrugged.

“Because it looks dangerous right now, we watch. If it looks like their strength is starting to drop, then we ambush them.”

At the crew leader’s words, everyone nodded without complaint.