Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Let us turn back the clock—an hour earlier.
After sending Jang Sam-tae away, Dan Woo-hyun remained motionless in place, surveying the faces around him. He studied each wary expression, forcibly suppressing the killing intent that surged within him.
Had he wished, sweeping aside the rabble before him would have been trivial—but mere venting served no purpose.
If one began something, one had to pull it up by the roots.
So he had no intention of simply letting them go.
“You’ve studied Martial Arts systematically—I can see the traces. For underlings of a Dark Merchant, you move remarkably well. Where do you come from?”
Gasp!
The casual words Dan Woo-hyun uttered gripped the minds of the men and shook them violently. Their consciousness reeled, the sensation of dizziness overwhelming them.
The eyes of their comrades fixed upon him already dulled with despair.
And Dan Woo-hyun had struck precisely where it hurt.
A chill swept over them in an instant, the color draining from their faces.
The Author seemed to read everything.
“What… what are you saying…?”
“It appears there are those backing the Dark Merchant. The fact that you won’t answer shows your resolve is admirable, truly.”
Dan Woo-hyun spoke with contempt, moving his hand.
Thud!
In an instant, one of the men standing motionless was hurled backward and slammed into a tree.
An attack of a different order of magnitude shattered every bone in his body—struck by an invisible blow, the man crumpled where he fell.
He drew breath still, yet could not move a single finger.
Every bone in his body had been broken.
He would never lift a blade again, and living as a human being seemed impossible.
Ugh…!
“I ask again: who are you?”
A thousand years had passed, yet certain things remained unchanged. The shadows were one of them. Any major Dark Merchant was certain to have some organization watching his back.
Few targets became prey for power as easily as Dark Merchants did.
Likely, the order to capture Jang Sam-tae had come from them as well. The Dark Merchant’s death would have dealt them substantial losses.
“I… it seems I should speak…?”
“So there is something, then.”
Ungh!
Dan Woo-hyun smirked.
To be driven this far and still refuse to talk suggested the man wielded considerable influence.
Perhaps it was time to make his tongue a little looser.
Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes gleamed like a beast before its prey, and he clenched his fists.

***

Magistrate Hong Won-chang led his officers forward.
He’d heard that martial artists were fighting in the marketplace—he had to stop the brawl before innocent people were hurt.
The moment he arrived at the scene, he saw it.
“Gasp?!”
Some twenty figures crawled across the ground.
Not a single one among them was unscathed.
Drenched in blood, they lay groaning, unable to move. As the officers standing watch recoiled in shock, Hong Won-chang spotted the source of this carnage.
“Wha…?!”
Why was the Author here?
A man whose mere gaze made the legs go weak.
Hong Won-chang held back his officers and steeled himself. He took a long breath, then forced a smile.
“Heh… hehe, gr-great one, what brings you to this place…?”
The officers who witnessed this gasped.
Who was Hong Won-chang? Thanks to his recent string of successes and the rising prestige they brought, he was all but the supreme power in Honam—second only to the Royal Court itself.
He had captured Jang Baek-san and recovered the Royal Court’s Buddhist Statue, earning the trust of both the throne and the court. He might even be summoned to the capital soon to stand at the center of power.
Yet here he stood, abasing himself like a beggar.
“Tell me—do you know who the Author is?”
One officer, knowing nothing, quietly asked a comrade who had stood silent. These were men who had learned who Dan Woo-hyun was during the affair of the Buddhist Statue.
They turned their heads away without a word.
There are times when you must know something yet pretend you don’t.
This was one of them.
Say the wrong word and the magistrate would beat you to death.
It was then that Dan Woo-hyun pointed to the trash scattered about and opened his mouth.
“Men who attempted kidnapping and murder. Remnants of the Dark Merchant faction, I’m told.”
“These men, sir? What are you all doing? Bind them at once!”
“Yes!”
He didn’t even bother to verify whether it was true or false. In a situation like this, even a lie had to become truth.
For Hong Won-chang, who stood to gain favor with Dan Woo-hyun, the question of truth or falsehood was irrelevant.
“Heh heh heh, I beseech you to leave these men in my hands…”
“Very well. But tell me—do you know of an organization called the Black Saber Society?”
“Hmm… the Black Saber Society? Ah!”
It was a name he’d heard before.
The Black Saber Society was one of countless organizations in Jungwon.
A den of vagrants and criminals, he’d heard—but one whose members possessed considerable martial skill.
For their countless crimes, they were a headache not only to the Martial Alliance but to the imperial court itself.
Yet because they operated with such secrecy and their trails were so difficult to follow, they had been all but neglected for decades.
There were even rumors that Jang Baek-san’s dominance over the Honam region was connected to the Black Saber Society itself.
So how could the name of such an organization fall from Dan Woo-hyun’s lips?
“Could it be…?”
“These men and the dead Dark Merchant are pawns of the Black Saber Society.”
“What?!”
If that were true, it was far more than he’d hoped for.
It was an opportunity to build achievements grand enough to warrant a summons to the capital itself. Hong Won-chang swallowed hard and gazed at Dan Woo-hyun.
“At Hyung-san, there is said to be a Honam branch of theirs.”
One might argue that striking at a mere branch accomplishes little, but given that no one had ever managed to find that branch in all this time, this information was worth its weight in gold.
Yet there was a problem. They were martial artists trained in the arts, but Hong Won-chang and his constables were nothing more than petty officials.
No matter how many soldiers he deployed, if even one martial artist could fell a dozen men, there would be no solution.
So he glanced sideways at Dan Woo-hyun.
“Since I have cause to settle certain scores with them… would you lend me your hand?”
“Thank you! Thank you, great hero!”
Hong Won-chang bowed repeatedly, his courtesy unmeasured.
He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.
It seemed the day of his summons to the capital was drawing near indeed.

***

Hyung-san.
Yang Hyuk-sang, master of the Honam branch of the Black Saber Society, was in an uncommonly foul mood. The Dark Merchant he’d been protecting behind the scenes had been caught like a fool by some mere magistrate, and everything had fallen apart.
He had to report it to his superiors, but to do so and save face, blood payment was necessary.
So he’d given the order to capture him.
That last man to deal with the Dark Merchant.
But why wouldn’t this unease leave him? He knew it wouldn’t be easy to find that man—a month had passed without even a trace.
Yet just moments ago, a carrier pigeon had arrived.
They’d found him, it said.
Since the man was nothing but a common thief, they should have brought him in long ago.
But with no word yet of his capture and no return, Yang Hyuk-sang paced alone in growing dread.
“What in blazes is happening? Why no word?”
“Surely… they’ll be here soon, won’t they?”
“Headquarters is already in chaos! Think of the money and time we’ve sunk into that Dark Merchant! I’d throttle that thief myself and call it a mercy!”
“Have no fear, sir. It wasn’t just anyone who went after him—it was our finest. Unless that thief is a Supreme Master, there’s no room for error.”
“Tch…”
The branch master clicked his tongue irritably and dropped into his seat.
Nothing had gone right lately. It hadn’t been long since Jang Baek-san, whom he’d been backing, had been caught—and now the Dark Merchant had made an equally absurd mess of things.
Something felt wrong. Everything seemed to be unraveling, and not for the better.
That was when it happened.
Bang! Bang!
A tremendous sound suddenly erupted.
At that noise, which shook heaven and earth, Yang Hyuk-sang jolted to his feet in alarm.
As his eyes widened and he looked to his subordinates, they all wore bewildered expressions, equally at a loss.
“Go check it out!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
He couldn’t find a single subordinate worth his trust. These fools couldn’t even read a situation properly, and he was clicking his tongue in frustration at his own wretched circumstances when—
one of the men who’d gone out rushed back in, wild-eyed.
“What is it?”
“S-sir! It’s terrible! There are c-constables and some kind of m-monster!”
“What?”
“C-constables and a monster are—!”
“What nonsense are you spouting, you lunatic!”
“Constables and a monster are coming!”
“That’s what you just said—what does that even mean?”
Bang! Bang!
The successive crashes were no joke. Mad as it sounded, he was beginning to wonder if an actual monster wasn’t charging straight toward them.
But what place was this, after all?
A branch of the Black Saber Society.
No one had ever breached it before, and the masters guarding it from within were first-class martial artists—there was nothing to fear.
Yang Hyuk-sang’s scowl deepened as he strode outside.
Bang! Bang!
Still the deafening sounds continued.
Screams and groans mixed with them, but Yang Hyuk-sang was certain those cries belonged to the enemy.
Unless the Martial Alliance sent an elite unit, there was no way his people could lose.
The moment he stepped out into the open with easy confidence—
“Wha—what in the—?!”
His eyes saw it all.
The estate appeared ordinary enough on the surface, but it was built atop multiple layers of barrier formations.
Few would dare attempt entry, and fewer still would survive if they did.
Yet the compound walls had crumbled into rubble, and over a hundred subordinates lay scattered across the grounds.
And at the center of it all stood a single man.
A wave of his hand sent two or three flying, and when he stamped his foot the earth cracked open, swallowing his enemies whole.
First-class martial artists looked like children’s play before him.
“Wh-what…what is this…?”
“Master! You must flee!”
“You fool! Don’t shout so loudly!”
The moment the warning reached his ears, the man turned—and so did the constables standing behind him—their gazes locking onto Yang Hyuk-sang.
Dozens of eyes burned with the intent to capture.
“Great Hero! There he is! He’s the real culprit!”
“I know.”
Crack!
Dan Woo-hyun moved his hand with casual grace. The Black Saber Society’s swordsmen, who had been creeping forward in concealment, exploded outward like burst melons and crashed to the ground.
Thump-thump-thump…
The constables and Hong Won-chang, already familiar with Dan Woo-hyun’s power, watched with delight, while those witnessing it for the first time stood frozen, trembling before the overwhelming force.
“Who…who are you, really…?”
“If you want to run, try it. I’ve grown rather fond of the hunt lately. All because of some thief…”
Dan Woo-hyun smiled faintly as he spoke, but no one heard him.
The killing intent woven into his words anchored every listener in place, rendering them immobile.
In the end, all resistance crumbled.
Sensing this, Dan Woo-hyun spoke once more.
“Kneel.”
Thud!
His voice—absolute, weighted with power—echoed with desolation.
Perhaps a dozen could still move freely; the rest of the hundred or so were now crippled, destined never to live like humans again.
And that single command pierced bone and stabbed straight through to the heart.
Yang Hyuk-sang, trembling violently, found himself lowering his head and falling to his knees before he even realized it. Cold sweat drenched his entire body. The primal warning against defiance—against the Author—he accepted with numb clarity.
Once everyone knelt and cast down their weapons, Dan Woo-hyun steadied his breathing and commanded:
“Bind them.”
A farcical sight: the constables now obeyed Dan Woo-hyun’s word above the magistrate’s own.
They moved swiftly to bind the fallen.
Dan Woo-hyun stepped past those on their knees and walked deeper inside. Neither Yang Hyuk-sang nor anyone else dared block his path.
“It would be nice if there were things worth some money.”
Dan Woo-hyun began to search the compound methodically, hunting for anything of value.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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