Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 76

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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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Jegal Woon was running headlong through the darkness.
Being chased by someone was hardly a new experience. As a commander of the Murim Alliance, brushes with talented assassins from every faction were routine hazards of the position.
But this situation was different—entirely different.
He wasn’t fleeing from some petty cutthroat, but from Hwang Hae-yeom and his band, masters who ranked among the Nine Swordsmen—a tier that placed them firmly in the realm of the hundred greatest fighters alive.
“Yeon, are you hurt?”
“Father! Don’t worry about me—keep your eyes ahead!”
Jegal Yeon’s cry rang sharp above the chaos at her father’s question.
Jegal Yeon could think of nothing but escape. There was no room in her mind for anything else.
The Jegal Clan had never been known for exceptional martial prowess. For a father and daughter like them, this moment represented a crisis that would define the rest of their lives.
“This bastard—!”
Hwang Hae-yeom was a man who had earned his name as a rogue warrior, one of the Nine Swordsmen.
He stood apart from faction and court alike, drawing his blade only for his own profit—a mercenary pure and simple.
And there was blood between him and the Jegal Clan. Deep blood.
It had begun years ago, when Jegal Woon first took the rank of commander and was purging rogue warriors who had turned to crime. Hwang Hae-yeom’s own brother had fallen to Jegal Woon’s sword that day.
But Jegal Woon had never expected to meet him here, in this forsaken place.
“Did you truly believe you could do this and walk away unscathed?” Jegal Woon shouted as he ran.
His voice carried the weight of authority even now, even in flight.
Though he had resigned from his post, his years as commander of the Murim Alliance still clung to him like armor. If Hwang Hae-yeom killed him, he would be declared a Murim Public Enemy on the instant.
Every force at the Murim Alliance’s disposal would move to take his life, and he would never set foot in the Central Plains again.
“Ha! Once you and that woman are dead, who will know who struck the blow?” Hwang Hae-yeom’s laugh was cruel, certain.
To him, two defenseless members of the powerless Jegal Clan were nothing—less than nothing. Killing them would be no more difficult than chewing cold porridge.
And there was no risk of consequences.
‘You worms are beneath my notice. I already have the Moyong Clan’s guarantee.’
Hwang Hae-yeom’s grin widened into something feral.
Five hundred pieces of gold. That was the price agreed upon for Jegal Woon’s death.
With such wealth, he could live like a lord anywhere in the realm. And beyond that—he would finally have his vengeance for his brother. Two birds with one stone.
So Hwang Hae-yeom had accepted the contract without hesitation.
His eyes narrowed to slits. Gripping his saber with renewed ferocity, he swept it forward with brutal force.
Shriek—!
The blade screamed through the air, clean and terrible, as if it meant to cleave Jegal Woon in two.
There was no earthly way for Jegal Woon to evade something moving at such speed.
“Father!”
In that instant, Jegal Yeon flung out her leg and kicked her father clear.
Crack—!
As Jegal Woon’s body tumbled diagonally away, the Saber Qi scraped past him with a sound like tearing silk.
“Nngh—”
Though the blade had missed his vital points, Jegal Woon collapsed to his knees, biting back a cry of agony.
The saber had only grazed his ribs, but the pain was exquisite, almost beyond bearing.
The small sword still trembling in his grip, Jegal Woon took a shuddering breath and clenched his teeth.
If they fled again, Hwang Hae-yeom would inevitably run them down.
Cornered, with no path forward, Jegal Woon saw only one choice: to stand and fight, even if it meant staking his life.
He spun on his heel and drew his small sword in a sharp arc.
Clang—!
His blade met the saber of the black-clad assassin head-on, repulsed it, and drove deep.
Though the Jegal Clan was known as the weakest in martial arts among the Eight Great Families, they were no match for a common thug’s swordplay.
Clang-clang-clang—!
His blade flashed bright in rapid succession, striking the opponent’s steel aside again and again, gradually forcing him back.
The black-clad assassin struggled to keep pace with Jegal Woon’s suddenly accelerated swordwork, retreating step by step, desperately trying to open distance.
But Jegal Woon gave him no mercy. He drove forward into his opponent’s guard and delivered a single, decisive stroke.
Rip—!
“Choke—!”
In the same instant Jegal Woon’s blade opened the assassin’s throat, he dropped into a crouch.
His motion seemed strange—there was no visible threat coming at his head.
But the other black-clad figure behind him froze in shock.
A small sword was hurtling toward him at terrible speed from where Jegal Yeon stood at Jegal Woon’s back.
Thud—!
“Argh—!”
The blade that had pierced the opponent’s chest was withdrawn and pulled back the instant Jegal Yeon extended her hand.
There was no way a woman barely in her twenties could employ the Air Retrieval Technique.
In truth, she had bored a tiny hole into the pommel of her sword, threaded an invisible string through it, and simply pulled.
Hwang Hae-yeom watched Jegal Yeon with measured interest.
‘So this is Jegal Yeon, the Jegal Clan’s hidden blade?’
Jegal Yeon largely kept herself out of sight. But rumor held that she was an even greater genius than Jegal Woon, and her martial prowess rivaled Namgung So-hye’s.
Of course, since few had witnessed it firsthand, most dismissed such talk as mere fantasy.
Yet Hwang Hae-yeom, having seen even a single technique from her, found himself viewing Jegal Yeon as a considerable threat.
‘Before she fully blooms… I must crush her where she stands.’
Tap-tap-tap!
Hwang Hae-yeom charged forward.
As if the lives of his dying men were worthless, he simply stared ahead and rushed on, his saber cutting through the air in a mighty arc.
Slow though it was, the strike carried the very essence of Saber Technique distilled into one ferocious blow.
Bang!
“Ugh?!”
Jegal Yeon started violently and stumbled backward.
The ground shattered, and dirt erupted in a cloud.
Buffeted across her whole body by the shower of fragments, she whipped her head around with practiced speed.
Whoosh!
Hwang Hae-yeom’s saber sliced past her throat, missing by inches.
In that instant.
Clang!
Jegal Woon’s blade intercepted Hwang Hae-yeom’s saber.
Yet Jegal Woon’s sword could not easily force back Hwang Hae-yeom’s weighty weapon.
Hwang Hae-yeom drove Jegal Woon’s blade aside with sheer force, opening a gap, then pivoted and swung downward with brutal violence.
Crack!
“Agh!”
“Father!”
Jegal Woon clutched his bloodied chest and collapsed to the ground.
Hwang Hae-yeom descended again, his saber looking ready to carve through Jegal Woon’s entire body without resistance.
“So even the Murim Alliance’s Commander falls so easily! Haha!”
Hwang Hae-yeom burst into loud laughter.
But his intent would not be fulfilled.
A Hidden Blade shot from Jegal Yeon’s sleeve.
If it had been mere Hidden Projectile Art, Hwang Hae-yeom would not have spared it a glance, but what flew at him now looked genuinely dangerous.
Clang!
Hwang Hae-yeom twisted his blade’s trajectory and swatted the projectile away.
Though it was only a small Hidden Projectile, the impact felt far different—and he noticed poison coating the very tip of the blade.
‘The Dang Clan’s Hidden Projectile Art?’
It was unmistakably the Dang Clan’s Hidden Projectile Art.
‘So the Dang Clan and the Jegal Clan’s friendship runs deep enough that they share martial techniques?’
Hwang Hae-yeom studied Jegal Yeon with renewed appraisal.
A woman capable of wielding the Hidden Projectile Art.
But that was all.
Hwang Hae-yeom hurled himself toward her rear.
As he’d suspected, Jegal Yeon was far more troublesome than Jegal Woon.
He decided it would be best to eliminate her first.
Whoooosh!
“Aaagh!”
“Yeon!”
Hwang Hae-yeom’s saber bit deep into Jegal Yeon’s back.
Fortunately, the wound was not severe.
She had twisted her body at the last instant, evading a critical strike, and rather than submit, she immediately reached out and hurled another Hidden Projectile.
“Ugh!”
Hwang Hae-yeom moved.
Twisting, he barely managed to dodge the projectile Jegal Yeon had thrown.
With poison on it, even a glancing strike would have dealt considerable harm.
“A pity.”
“Ngh…!”
“Yeon! Are you all right?”
Hwang Hae-yeom smiled with a low chuckle as he stepped toward the fallen father and daughter.
Jegal Yeon appeared to have no hidden cards left to play, and Jegal Woon could barely move properly—which meant Hwang Hae-yeom had nothing to fear.
Whisper-whisper—!
In that moment, the remaining black-clad fighters gathered at Hwang Hae-yeom’s side.
They positioned themselves to block any escape route, their hands gripping their blades tight, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
Hwang Hae-yeom stepped closer still, his voice booming.
“Truly magnificent. I could never have imagined the Jegal Clan produced warriors of such caliber—ha! But now, it ends.”
Hwang Hae-yeom raised his saber.
When killing, one must not hesitate. Especially in a moment like this—no mercy, no delay.
This was the iron rule Hwang Hae-yeom had lived by as a martial artist.
There was nothing to doubt.
The Moyong Clan would handle the rest.
Just as Hwang Hae-yeom, grinning wickedly, brought his blade down—
Crack—!
Bang-bang-bang—!
A fist came hurtling from nowhere, slamming across his face.
Despite his massive frame, Hwang Hae-yeom flew backward, smashing through countless trees before crashing down more than a dozen zhang away.
In the distance, Hwang Hae-yeom lay sprawled on the ground, his whole body trembling.
“How noisy.”
Rustle-rustle—
An unfamiliar voice rang out, but no one could turn their head to look.
None of them had yet grasped what had just happened before their eyes.
“M-my lord, that looked an awful lot like venting your anger…….”
“It wasn’t.”
…….
The figures emerging from the brush were Dan Woo-hyun and Kwon Mu-jin.
Dan Woo-hyun wiped blood from his hand with a scowl, while Kwon Mu-jin, following behind, offered an awkward smile.
In Kwon Mu-jin’s honest assessment, that had absolutely been venting.
Dan Woo-hyun had unleashed the fury he’d felt at Geum Wang-su upon these strangers—there was no denying it.
“Wh-what are you—you bastard……!”
Bang-bang-crash!
The moment the black-clad fighters regained their senses and opened their mouths in shock, Dan Woo-hyun’s fist came whistling through the air, slamming into their faces.
In quick succession, he swept through their ranks like a storm, and the black-clad fighters went flying in all directions, crumpling where they fell.
“Ah…….”
“Gasp……!”
Jegal Woon and Jegal Yeon stared at the sight, unable to close their mouths.
Not only had he laid out Hwang Hae-yeom with a single strike, he’d subdued all the black-clad fighters in one breath.
Where in the world had this man come from?
While they were still reeling from the shock, Dan Woo-hyun’s voice came low and measured.
“You two…….”
“Y-yes……?”
“Do you know where a man named Geum Wang-su is?”
“We…… we don’t know…….”
Jegal Yeon shook her head in confusion, and Dan Woo-hyun’s brow furrowed.
In the more than ten days since leaving the estate and coming down to Honam, he’d found no trace of Geum Wang-su.
Grind—!
Dan Woo-hyun clenched his teeth as he looked at Kwon Mu-jin.
Kwon Mu-jin had said, ‘If that looks like Jegal Woon, once we save him, we should be able to find out where Geum Wang-su is’—but it seemed they knew nothing, not even his whereabouts.
He’d wasted time for nothing.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-yes, right away!”
Dan Woo-hyun’s anger would not easily subside.
Kwon Mu-jin felt as though he were walking the edge of a blade.

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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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