I approached the man who appeared to be the leader of the pirates.

“What kind of confidence brought you here to harass our Lord of Haomun? Did that cult bastard send you?”

The pirate captain charged at me without a word, unleashing a sword technique I had never seen before.

I swung my twin maces wrapped in frost.

In an instant, he used a swift blade technique to slash through the air in a cross-shaped pattern, thrusting his sword right in front of my face.

It was a reckless and aggressive attack, but a foolish one.

He’d charged at me while cloaked in ice energy.

As I stepped back, the captain slashed with his empty hand. A blade shot out from his sleeve.

I drew my wooden sword, deflecting both the dagger and his main weapon.

Up to this point, he was an enemy—but I had to admit, it was a good attack. Still, I didn’t get the impression that he was a true master. He simply exuded thick killing intent and moved well enough to stand out among the pirate crowd.

I responded by unleashing my quick sword technique.

I didn’t care about form or power—only speed.

The captain’s swordplay was laced with desperation.

I’d fought like that in my past life, so I knew that if I mirrored it, his limits would quickly show. If there’s a significant gap in skill, that kind of flailing is useless.

I injected ice energy into my blade to halt his frenzy, then flame energy to push him back, before charging in and landing six or seven precise thrusts. His movements were clearly slowing.

He managed to deflect three of my stabs with swift bladework, but couldn’t keep up with the rest. My sword pierced his neck, chest, and shoulder.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Each thrust carried internal energy focused on the neck points.

As his belated scream burst forth, I cut it off with my sword.

Splat!

Blood, which began as a thin red line, spread across his body like ink before he collapsed.

I looked over at the Lecher.

Still wrapped in a white whirlwind, he was unleashing ferocious power like a madman.

“He’s getting excited. Idiot. Who knows how many more enemies there are.”

I decided to steal some credit for the Lecher’s rampage.

“Well done, Lord of Haomun.”

It felt awkward praising myself out loud. Still, the Lecher responded to my words.

“Shut up!”

Leaving him to fight alone, I went to support the Drunk, who was handling a group of enemies.

Near the dock, the dim lighting gave my attacks the advantage of surprise. I moved through the chaos, slicing through arms, forearms, shoulders, and hands holding weapons. Having adjusted to the captain’s speed, my movements were now even faster, and I couldn’t stop.

If you don’t kill but sever limbs, you get the bonus of screams.

Simple effect.

The enemy’s morale dropped.

But strangely, no one surrendered.

Was it because we were so few? Or did they have something to fall back on?

Not knowing the reason, I kept slicing arms and moving swiftly.

There were so many of them that killing each one was exhausting. Cries of pain from the dock were now reaching the marketplace.

When more than a hundred pirates had been killed or wounded...

It seemed fear had finally spread—soldiers began dropping their weapons and running.

But the Sword Demon and the Drunk, both veterans of war, slaughtered the fleeing ones even more cruelly.

Now we weren’t just four men—they had become four men no enemy could handle.

These pirates probably never imagined such a hellscape would unfold at the dock.

At some point, dozens of weapons clattered to the ground, and the survivors dropped to their knees like a crashing wave.

They were all panting heavily, wearing expressions of utter dread.

Only then did the Sword Demon and the Drunk stop fighting.

The Lecher, still caught up in his rage, smashed three or four more before realizing the quiet and halting his assault.

The Sword Demon said to his disciple, “Mongrang.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Fight ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) with more composure. You got too carried away.”

“Understood.”

In about half an hour, we had massacred a hundred men. I wiped the blood from my sword and sheathed it.

The Sword Demon looked over the captives and said coldly, “It’s best to kill them all.”

I spoke to the kneeling enemies.

“Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the Number One will be spared. If no one gives a proper answer by the count of ten, you all die. One, two, three, nine, ten.”

“Lord!”

“What?”

“Will you really spare us?!”

His tone was panicked—he was just blurting things out.

“Where is the Number One?”

The man who had shouted suddenly burst out laughing like a lunatic.

“How the hell would we know that? Hahaha!”

I walked over, grabbed his hair, and looked into his face. His eyes were filled with despair, rage, fear, and defiance all at once.

I asked, “What do you know, then? Why do you live like this?”

The man replied in banmal, “If I knew that, you think I’d be living like this?”

“Fair point.”

Apparently, up close, they could tell who the real Lord of Haomun was.

“Go play pirate in the afterlife. Can’t say if there are ships there.”

“Wait—”

I wrapped Tenfold Battle Energy around the hand gripping his hair and gave it a jolt.

“GAAAAAAAH!”

I had infused brain energy on purpose, so his scream echoed across the night sky before cutting off abruptly. A chunk of his singed hair scattered in the air. I blew on my palm.

“Noisy bastard. Another one mocking me? Trading mockery for your life? Bold mindset. Dumbass.”

The pirates who’d assumed the Lecher was the Lord of Haomun were now looking at me from all directions.

I met every gaze head-on.

“Oh, right. Yeah. It’s me. I’m the one.”

At that moment, a deep horn sounded from across the dark river. The heavy boooooo of the horn repeated as larger ships than the first dozen approached.

I couldn’t see well, so it looked like the darkness itself was rippling across the water.

A voice laced with internal energy rang out from the bow.

“...Is the Lord of Haomun at the dock?”

The surrendered pirates answered, “He’s here!”

“Well done.”

The expert aboard the large ship asked again, “Have the ones who came to kill the Lord of Haomun arrived as well?”

This time, a voice from behind us responded.

“We just arrived.”

Enemies began surrounding us slowly, using the market’s light behind them to form a siege.

They must’ve been the unidentified Jianghu people Dan Hyuksan had mentioned.

The eyes of the previously surrendered pirates regained their light. It seemed the hope of surviving sparked at the thought that they might be spared.

Rather than focus on the enemy, I looked at the expressions of the Four Great Villains.

“......”

Scattered across the battlefield, they all met my gaze and smiled.

That smile was mutual—an unspoken reflection of our shared thoughts. None of us had expected this to go smoothly or according to plan. We’d come to Dongho with the intent to kill every enemy we faced.

I looked around and said, “They sure came in droves.”

The ones from the market didn’t have the pirate feel—they probably weren’t under the Number One. But with the light behind them, it was impossible to tell which faction they belonged to.

With the enemies multiplying, I stood amidst the kneeling captives and introduced myself.

“Everyone, I am the Lord of Haomun.”

I raised my hand on purpose to make my position clear.

Despite the courtesy, there was no reaction. Instead, the pirates on the ships and the leader of the newcomers ignored me and spoke amongst themselves.

“Unload the ships. Attacking together will be best.”

“Let’s do that.”

I looked around the kneeling captives, then pulled a signal flare from my sleeve and yanked the string. With a hissing sound, it shot into the air and exploded with a pop into a firework against the dark sky.

Maybe it was made by a master craftsman.

As I imagined its sparkle, it looked like a sword illuminating the night sky.

A voice rang out from one of the large ships.

“Martial Alliance.”

I drew my sword and looked at the Four Great Villains.

“Well rested?”

The three of them nodded silently. I met eyes with the Sword Demon and said,

“Let’s kill them.”

At once, the Sword Demon and I moved to butcher the surrendered men. They would only rise and fight again once the net closed in. A beat later, the Drunk and the Lecher realized what was happening and began slaughtering the remaining captives as well.

This was a matter of kill or be killed. I had no room for mercy, nor any desire for it. I slew the pirates around me as they came into view, keeping an eye on both the landing enemies and the ones advancing from the market.

Even amid this, the Number One of the Evil Path hadn’t shown himself—and I had to admit, I was impressed.

While killing another nearby bastard, I suddenly came face-to-face with someone from the market group.

“......”

A familiar voice came from the darkness.

“Lord, how have you been? You look well. It’s good to see.”

I turned and cut down a man trying to escape, then replied,

“Scholar Chu Myeong, you’ve arrived?”

“I heard the news. Wasn’t hard to find you.”

I nodded. “How’s your arm?”

“Thanks for asking. Just a little stiff. And don’t call me comrade. You and I don’t share the same path.”

“That’s disappointing. If you could just shed a bit of that narrow-mindedness, we’re all successors of Xing Jia’s teachings. Though I admit, Legalism doesn’t suit me.”

The Legalist faction’s numbers continued to grow, their presence blotting out the market’s light. Why did the moon have to be so stingy tonight?

It was going to be a tough fight.

But for the ones about to die, it would be just as hard.

I left the new wave of pirates to the other three and began walking alone toward the Legalist forces.

“Sorry about the Blind Scholar. Judging by how fixated you are, you must’ve been close—either martial brothers or real ones.”

Scholar Chu Myeong’s voice came from somewhere.

“Save your apologies until we meet in person.”

“Still, aren’t you supposed to be a scholar? You want a duel? Or planning to gang up on me?”

He chuckled.

That’s when I finally pinpointed Chu Myeong’s location. He was preparing Heaven-Piercing Sun-Moon Radiance. The problem was that he moved fast enough to counter instantly. I decided to weave between the surrendered men and ready my own Sun-Moon Radiance.

But before I could act, a voice laced with internal energy rose from behind the Legalist forces.

“...Why are there so many troops?”

“We’re not sure.”

“Isn’t it far more than reported?”

“Seems all the unidentified Jianghu people were the Lord’s enemies.”

“Impressive.”

The moment I heard the voice, I felt strange.

Emotions are weird. Even though they’re mine, I can’t control them at will.

It was absurd, yet somewhere inside, I felt heavy.

It was hard to put into words.

Some of the Legalist soldiers turned to check behind them. The reinforcements arriving from the marketplace weren’t many.

A siege within a siege—our allies lay just beyond the enemy ranks.

We had surrounded each other.

Scholar Chu Myeong’s voice echoed,

“...Guests, give it your all. Great rewards await if the Lord dies.”

Laughter rippled from various directions.

Then another voice came from behind the Legalist troops.

“What’s this about? Am I that forgettable?”

“It’s dark, sir.”

“That so? Light it up.”

Our support soldiers, scattered in formation, began lighting torches one by one. The surroundings gradually brightened.

I had no choice but to first greet the man who had arrived as the commander of Dongho’s Special Task Force.

“Commander, you’re here.”

Keeping Scholar Chu Myeong in the center, I had a casual exchange with my supporter. The commander replied,

“Lord.”

“Yes.”

“This is our second time fighting together. I’ll try a bit harder this time.”

He wasn’t someone easy to joke with, so finding the right words was hard.

“Senior, if you get hurt, I’ll be blamed.”

The commander laughed heartily.

“Such disrespect!”

I laughed too.

“If you’re ready, let’s go.”

“Let’s.”

As soon as the commander moved, I gripped my wooden sword and charged toward the Legalist ranks.

The moment I cut down the first enemy in front, a thunderous explosion sounded behind me. Dark-clad fighters went flying through the air. The voices of the Alliance members echoed around us, calm and composed. They were relaying intel and emphasizing the importance of guarding one another.

I cut through the Legalist formation alone.

Somehow, I felt like a moth flying toward the firelight of the marketplace.

I couldn’t even see the faces of the ones I was killing.

Only their rare martial skill could be felt through their blades.

Many elite fighters were mixed in, but the more I swung my sword, the more courage and spirit boiled within me.

Who the hell am I...

...to deserve this kind of help?

But perhaps, from the perspective of the Martial Alliance, this was just something natural.

Moments later, I broke through the Legalist formation and met eyes with a man from the Martial Alliance. Like a tiger under the moonlight, he was slicing down enemies with a single stroke.

He asked, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“Keep your breathing steady. There are many enemies.”

“Got it.”

I stayed close but kept the right distance as we cut through the Legalist troops together.

Nearby, the commander of the Special Task Force, Im Sobaek, was swinging his sword.