The face of Gal Yong, leader of the 18 River Families of the Yangtze River, was frozen in an expression of shock.
It would not be surprising for him to swear right now.
It was only natural. The strength of these three brothers, and the pirates of the Yangtze River, had united in one attack, only for it to be cut down and stopped.
Actually, if they hadn’t made a unified effort, it would be impossible for them to match me individually.
-Hahah, the little one is trying to use his head.
The Blood Demon Sword sounded excited. He seemed to be adapting more and more of Short Sword’s habits.
As Blood Demon Sword said, since he was the leader, Gal Yong was watching over the other pirates on the ships.
But this must fluster him.
The fact that they would fight me three-to-one was already quite embarrassing since they were the leaders. They also thought that the Air Sword was the extent of my attacks, but everything that everyone here saw was all on my end.
I could see he was trying to overcome the situation, but that was impossible.
The Justice Faction would have treated them like gentlemen, but they were Evil fighting against Evil.
They would give in if I treated them appropriately. I just needed to push them a bit more to make sure of it.
As I took a step forward, he shouted.
“Wait….”
Wait for what?
Pat!
I pushed my foot forward and went straight for Gal Yong.
“Tsk!”
The distance between us was reduced in a second, and Gal Yong looked truly shocked as he raised these claws.
He looked like a tiger swinging his front paws ferociously. In response, I simply moved my upper body to dodge them all.
Indeed, his movements were incomparably faster than the others.
“YOUUUU!”
Chachachacha!
He tried to push me back for three seconds and then changed his technique when it didn’t work. He tried to create space to use his technique. Since he was aiming lower…
Pak!
“Euk!”
I kicked the leg of this man who was constantly moving since he looked like he was about to fall.
He managed to keep his balance and lean backward.
‘A gap!’
The opening caught my attention in an instant. With my index finger, I pierced the blood point on his elbow.
Tap!
“Kuak!”
His left arm forcefully moved up, and I immediately kicked him in the chest.
Letting out a grunt, I sent him back at least 10 paces.
Chahhhhh!
“Kuak!”
Gal Yong coughed up a handful of blood, likely because my direct kick to his chest had caused some internal injuries.
Since he was also in a state where a blood point was sealed, Gal Yong could not recover quickly. He moved desperately, perhaps because he realized I was stronger than he expected.
“H-hyung!”
“Damn it!”
His two brothers groaned at the sight of this.
They wanted to run to Gal Yong at once, but the Blood Demon Sword and True Evil Sword were blocking their path.
‘The innate qi consumption has increased.’
The number of swords I was using had increased, not to mention the type of sword, so my innate qi was being drained.
However, as the swords were also using martial arts, the consumption rate increased further.
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to maintain it for more than 30 minutes.
When using multiple swords, it seems like I should avoid letting them move freely.
“Haa…”
Gal Yong wiped away the blood dripping down from his mouth. He then glared at me, turned around, and rushed somewhere.
He moved to where Gal Ho was, the second of the three brothers.
He was aiming for the rear of the Blood Demon Sword that was blocking Gal Ho.
Swish!
-Huh! How dare he!
The Blood Demon Sword flew up to avoid Gal Yong’s claws. It was not an exaggeration to say that swords could see in all directions, unlike us humans.
Anyways, should I tell him to focus on where the man was?
“Now is the time! Ho!”
At that moment, Gal Yong and Gal Ho jumped to Gal Yung. It seemed that they were trying to move to one place.
They must have judged that beating me one-on-one was impossible, so it was the correct choice.
But I wasn’t going to just stand and watch.
‘Blood Demon Sword, come back.’
-Do not give me orders.
Look at how arrogantly he acted every time I called for him. Even though he said those words, he came back obediently.
I grabbed Blood Demon Sword and thrust him into the ship’s deck.
‘Blood Conquering Sword Power.’
The 7th form of the Blood Conquering Sword Power.
This was the technique I had used when I fought against the Wicked Moon Sword in the Yangtze River.
That time, I had gone beyond my body’s limits to use, but what about now, since I have crossed the wall?
Chachachacha!
At that moment, a crimson flame rose up from the deck around the sword like a wave.
The three brothers watched this as the deck began to break and scatter around.
“What is…”
“Brothers!”
“Shut up and block it!”
The three brothers stopped and hurriedly used a technique where each of them focused on defense.
The force was strong enough to be called rain, but…
Papapat!
“Euk!”
“W-what strength is!”
The moment they released their technique and collided with the blood waves, their bodies were swept away and blown back simultaneously.
If they asked how powerful it was, then all three of them would easily be thrown off the ship. The brothers, Gal Yung and Gal Ho, were sent to separate sides of the ship. The youngest, Gal Yung, was thrown off the ship in a northeastern direction.
Bang! Kwak!
In particular, Gal Ho broke the ship’s mast as he crashed into it.
The other pirates watched this from the ships around us, visibly shocked.
“A… a monster.”
“Is that a sword technique?”
“The leaders aren’t even a match.”
I could hear their muttering.
Was this enough to prove my overpowering strength?
Kukuku!
It was then that the ship began to rise violently and buckle. The upper deck had split into two due to my attack. The inside of the deck was probably a mess due to the technique I used. The ship was unlikely to remain standing any longer.
The ship, failing to maintain its center due to so many holes, began to sink slowly.
I should just move ships, but then someone shouted.
“Shoot! Do not let the monster come over here!”
“Shoot all the arrows!”
The pirates seemed to be all in agreement as they aimed their bows at me and shot flaming arrows.
Are they saying that they wouldn’t fall so easily?
Well, it doesn’t matter.
‘Blood Demon Sword. True Evil Sword. Make a hole in the ship.’
-Interesting.
-Hehehe! Nice.
The moment I said this, the two swords became excited as they rushed to the ships to our right and rear.
“T-the sword is flying to the ship!”
“Stop! Stop it now!”
The pirates were surprised as Blood Demon Sword and True Evil Sword flew to their ships and attempted to catch them.
They were using arrows and nets. How could they catch two flying swords?
Swish! Puak!
The swords soared into the sky and pierced into the deck of the ships.
“They went into the ship!”
“Go down and stop them!”
Rumble!
“Kuak!”
“T-the ship….”
Their ships gradually rocked violently before the pirates jumped down.
They didn’t know, but I could share the swords’ visions.
They could have just made a small hole so that the ships would sink normally, but the two of them had burst through instead.
“The ship is filling up with water!”
“It will sink!”
Being on a ship in the middle of the Yangtze River had given me a better advantage than those who had outnumbered me.
The two swords moved for a second round, sinking the two ships.
“T-the ship is sinking! Go and jump!”
“Get to the ship next to us!”
Seeing their predicament, the pirates tried to cross over to the other ships.
It was chaos.
The fear was palpable.
Pak!
The two swords that had pierced through those decks immediately flew to the other ships. It sounded like they were having fun as they flew low over the river to pierce straight through the hulls.
“The sword is coming here!”
“Stop! Stop it!”
Seeing their impending arrival, the pirates shouted loudly at each other. Seeing a sword flying to their ship must fill them with fear.
They were like grim reapers.
At that moment.
“Stop! Stop!”
A loud scream pierced through the air.
It was Gal Yong.
His face was pale due to his internal wounds, and he walked to the deck and shouted at me.
“I lost! Blood Sect leader, we lost, so please!”
It was a declaration of surrender.
There was urgency in his voice. It seemed that he was hasty as he thought that I could sink all their ships if needed.
“Leader!”
“How can this be?!”
The pirates tried to stop him, but their words were ignored.
“Then you want to lose all the ships here?!”
Hearing this, the pirates that tried to stop him fell silent. Just as their leader said, this was the right decision.
Since there was no more voice of dissent…
‘Stop.’
-Already? That’s unfortunate.
-It ended without any blood being spilled.
They regretted the lack of death, as expected of swords with their nature.
When the two swords returned to me, I could see relief on the pirates’ faces. All of them looked like they had aged ten years.
Meanwhile, it seemed like the ship I was on would soon sink.
I jumped over to a ship on the other side, where Gal Yong was standing.
Gal Yong looked exhausted.
“If you don’t understand it yet, I can do more.”
Hearing this, he shook his head and said.
“… you really make me speechless. I heard that the Blood Demons of the previous generations were monsters, but you seem like the worst one.”
To be compared to the former Blood Demons.
Should I take this as a compliment?
I was grateful once more for this ability.
Among the abilities I had received, this was surely the best one to intimidate my enemies.
“You will obey me now, right?”
He bit his lip at my question, probably because it hurt his pride.
As long as he admitted his defeat, there was just one answer. I looked down at him and said arrogantly.
“Kneel.”
“Haaa…”
Gal Yong, who looked displeased at this, sighed as if he had given up everything and knelt.
He then asked me.
“Are you trying to unite Evil Faction again?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t deny it.
“…. Then, do you mean our river families would be the first to step into the magnificent stage?”
I could understand what he meant by his question. In the middle of all this, taking care of these kinds of things was first on the list.
Now that I had beaten them enough, it was time to give them a carrot.
I smiled and said,
“As the first person to come to us, you will be treated accordingly and won’t be disappointed.”
Pak!
Hearing this, Gal Yong gathered his hands and shouted.
“The 18 River Families of the Yangtze River hereby swear our allegiance to the Blood Demon, leader of the Evil Faction.”
The first step to unifying the Evil Faction was finally made.
Since I didn’t have much time, I decided that I would meet with the 18 River Families later to discuss the plan and send them away.
They had wanted to take all of the goods on the ship, but I sent them back with only half.
That much should do.
During this, Gal Yong handed over the batting stick as if giving me a prize.
It was no different than giving it to me because it was useless.
It was likely because they were concerned that the Beggars Union would desperately try to capture them if they had it.
‘The profit is huge.’
It wasn’t enough to just get the 18 River Families of the Yangtze River; I also dealt with the leader of the Beggars Union.
This way, pushing Cho Seong-won further in his position would only be natural.
The only regrettable thing was that the bat techniques were lost since it was a skill that only the leader of the Beggars Union would know.
-How long do we have to stay here?
Short Sword asked me.
I had left her on the mast of the ship along with Iron Sword, but I still had more work to do.
-More?
Should I say I had another role?
-…!?
The sailors on the escort ship began to wake up.
They were shocked as they woke up as the pirates around them had vanished.
However, they could hear the sound of weapons clashing. One of the sailors then shouted.
“Look up there!”
“Look who is fighting.”
Two forms smaller than fingernails were fighting in the dark sky above them.
“What is that?”
“Who is that?”
All of the lights on the ship were gone, so they could only see dimly. Judging by the clashing of the weapons, it was a fierce fight.
A shout could then be heard.
“Blood Demon. Let us end this here!”
One of the warriors who heard this voice opened their eyes wide.
“W-warrior So! It looks like Warrior So is fighting the Blood Demon!”
