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“Ugh, ah… aaah…”

“Hah, hah, hah!! This is great…!!”

“Kyaaaah!”

The pirate officers had laid out the captured women and were having their way with them. They were trying every position imaginable, with moans of pain and pleasure echoing through the chamber. There was no consideration for the women; it was clear the torment outweighed any enjoyment. Ten pirate officers were rotating through just six women, turning the entire scene into something truly horrific.

“Aah!”

They were even going hard on a pregnant woman, blood oozing from her injuries. It was a clear violation of her dignity. Some of the men were even pulling the women’s hair while assaulting them in brutal positions.

“Haha!”

“This is fun.”

The leaders of the Blood Blade Group were sitting back, sipping fine liquor, and cackling like it was some sort of comedy show. Having committed so many evils, it seemed they preferred watching such spectacles rather than participating themselves. Maybe being a fisherman had dulled their appetites for women.

Hmm… Looks like there’s no need to hesitate any longer.

I felt that Vice Commander Ahn Hyeon was truly a righteous man. Those scoundrels were deserving of the Lingchi punishment.

I quickly utilized the Golden Lamp technique and moved right behind the leaders of the Blood Blade Group.

“Ugh…”

Swish!

With a single slash, I neatly severed the heads of three Blood Blade leaders from their bodies. Even if they were fishermen, they would die when their necks were cut; I confirmed that last time. With the ambush and my swift swordplay, they couldn’t even muster a defense.

“Huh…?”

The pirates froze, eyeballs bulging and staring in confusion. I seized the instant, sprinting towards the unarmed pirates and started my massacre.

Slash!

Thud!

“Kyaaaaah!!”

An explosion of blood painted the walls as the screams echoed endlessly. As the pirates’ upper and lower halves separated, it was a gruesome spectacle of body parts. I hardly swung my sword three times, yet eight out of ten had already become one with my blade. The remaining two knelt, tears streaming down their faces as they begged for mercy.

“Heeek, heeek.”

“Please spare us, please…”

I coldly gazed down at them.

“Have you ever spared anyone who begged for their lives?”

“……”

Swish!

As my sword swept, two more heads soared into the air. I was astounded that those two couldn’t answer my question. That meant they clearly knew they had never shown mercy. Truly, they were the embodiment of pure evil.

I looked down at the women lying amidst the pool of blood and said, “The Blood Blade leader has been taken care of. Now, I’ll get rid of the rest, so hurry up and get dressed.”

The women, filled with fear, trembled as they asked, “Wh-who are you?”

“You’ll find out later.”

As I stepped out of the room, the women hurriedly dressed. Once they were all clothed, I asked, “Are there any other women in the pirates’ lair?”

One woman who understood my intent answered, “No… They bring women to the prison to assault them. Only the Blood Blade leader can summon them to his quarters.”

“I see. Stay here then.”

“Yes…”

I moved towards the prisoner camp of Pirate Island. There, the sight of women being assaulted was rampant. I began slashing down every pirate I could see to clean up the mess.

Swish!

“Gah!”

“P-please spare me…”

As for those pleading for their lives, I dealt with them even more brutally. Anyone who tried to escape or fight met the same fate. How dare you beg for your life?

After blinding their eyes and slicing off their noses, I slowly split open their abdomens to let them die a painful death. There were about twenty pirates inside the camp, and I didn’t leave a single one alive. Many prisoners were on the brink of death due to torture, so I freed them one by one.

Once all the prisoners were released, they wept and shouted in unison, “Ah, our benefactor!!”

“Thank you… thank you…”

After receiving their thanks briefly, I looked for Seo Mun-hye. Seo Mun-hye, in her previous state, was sitting there listlessly like a fool with her white hair. When I approached her, the women hugged her tightly as if to protect her. I waved my hand, saying, “I know the situation. I plan to lift her great law, so don’t worry.”

“Ah…”

I couldn’t help but admire the loyalty of the women. I could easily kill them at this moment, yet they were risking their lives to protect a girl like a younger sister. They were a world apart from the trash that were the pirates.

After dealing with the Blood Blade leaders and officials, I made sure everything was sealed tight to prevent any news from leaking out before slaughtering the pirates. For the next half a moment, I was able to lift the overwhelming great law on Seo Mun-hye without any worries.

Seo Mun-hye slowly regained her senses and looked around.

“Where is this…?”

I explained the situation to her. She wept, expressing her gratitude and hugging the women beside her.

“Huh… I’m sorry, sisters…”

“Why are you apologizing…?”

Seo Mun-hye and the women embraced and cried together. Despite being in a dazed state, she must have understood what had happened. I waited for her emotions to stabilize before pulling out a sword from the wooden armor and handing it to her. Then I said, “Now, let’s get rid of all of them.”

With a fierce glint in her eyes, Seo Mun-hye responded with spirit, “Yes!”

Then, together with Seo Mun-hye, we slaughtered every pirate on the island. There were hundreds of pirates, but they were no match for us. That was because I had reached peak expertise, and Seo Mun-hye was a formidable sword master who had made it to the fourth round in the Dark Realm Martial Arts Tournament. Like a tiger jumping into a flock of sheep, we shredded the pirates with sword qi and flames.

About half a moment later, Seo Mun-hye and I stood amidst a sea of corpses in the pirate lair.

“Grah!”

“Looks like it’s almost cleaned up.”

I said to Seo Mun-hye, who was digging a knife into a pirate’s eye. She then sliced the pirate into three pieces and turned to me, smiling.

“Young heroine, thank you so much for your enormous grace.”

“Killing just them isn’t enough, you see.”

“Then?”

“I’ve kept a few alive so that the people can vent their anger.”

I deliberately brought ten captured pirates I had left alive back to the prisoner camp. They were quite skilled and surely were the pirate officials. I tossed the ten pirate officials to the people.

“Now, do as you wish.”

The pirate officials were already incapacitated, utterly unable to move. The crowd, fueled by rage, advanced toward them with weapons drawn. The pirates screamed in terror.

“Aaaah!”

“P-please spare me!”

“Hey!! Save me!! I’ll give you the famous blade, Muramasa!”

I could tell the pirate was boasting about having the Muramasa. So, I smirked and replied, “Sorry. I know exactly where it is.”

“……!!”

In the next moment, the people rushed in like a pack of wolves and began to hack the pirates to pieces.

Those without weapons bit into their flesh or hit them with fists. As the prisoners surrounded them, the pirates disappeared from sight, and moments later, when the crowd stepped back, barely any corpses remained.

Having deemed the situation sufficiently under control, I said, “Let’s prepare to leave.”

First, I treated the injured with medical techniques, then investigated the identities of the people one by one. It was disheartening to see that many more survived compared to last time when I had come with the naval forces. Even if time had passed, it shouldn’t have been such a large number; during that time, people had been dying like dogs on this pirate island.

I then gathered the infamous Muramasa and confirmed the location of the gold and silver treasures hidden in the pirate island’s secret location. However, since I intended to store the prisoners in my wooden armor, I decided to leave the treasures here for now.

Then, I approached the strong-willed woman I had negotiated with last time.

“I’ve heard that you’re like a matriarch of the women.”

“I’m not that important…”

“The child you cared for is Seo Mun-hye, the daughter of the Shadowless Gate, a top hero of the Central Plains Martial World. How about discussing her future?”

She was taken aback, her eyes widened, and tears streamed down her face.

“Thank you… truly, thank you. How could I repay this grace…”

Once the situation was settled, I gathered everyone into my wooden armor. The interior was spacious enough, with around a hundred compartments, so the prisoners wouldn’t feel cramped at all. After I placed them in the wooden armor, I used the Golden Lamp technique to move again.

Swish!

This time, I found myself at the dwelling of Old Man Hwa in Gaegyeong. Old Man Hwa was reading a book and, upon seeing me suddenly appear before him, he was taken aback and flustered.

“W-who are you? A sorcerer?”

“I am from the Hua clan’s branch family. I’ve come to help.”

Then I pulled out the gold bars from the box I had been carrying. Upon seeing the gold bars, Old Man Hwa’s eyes widened, and I subsequently showed him the Hua’s 108 Needles and Huatuo’s Five Animals Play to prove my lineage to the Hua clan.

Then, I begged, “There are unfortunate captives currently held by pirates. Please help them.”

Old Man Hwa looked at me with the expression of “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Where are they?”

“Right here.”

In a moment, the injured began pouring out of the wooden armor. Old Man Hwa was left speechless, staring in disbelief as he witnessed this miraculous event.

“W-well, I can help, but what exactly are…?”

“A good item.”

“Oh, it appears to be a good item indeed…”

“And please allow me to meet Clan Leader Jeong Cheol-wook.”

Thanks to Old Man Hwa’s introduction, I was able to meet Clan Leader Jeong Cheol-wook, who looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Are you a night goblin? You’ve managed to sneak in here without alerting my guardian warriors…”

“I apologize for my rudeness. However, circumstances are as follows…”

I told Clan Leader Jeong about the pirate island’s attack and the plight of the prisoners. Showing him the Goryeo prisoners pulled from the wooden armor, Jeong Cheol-wook was taken aback.

He stammered, “T-this is amazing! Are there really people inside that wooden armor?”

“Yes.”

“H-haha… I see. I’ll help them.”

“Thank you.”

Clan Leader Jeong added, his eyes gleaming with greed. Even someone in power like him was coveting that wooden armor.

“By the way, would you be willing to sell me that wooden armor?”

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of selling it, even if you offer the price of a castle.”

“Even if I’m a Duke?”

“Of course not.”

When I answered resolutely, he let out a sigh.

“Fine. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Thank you.”

If Clan Leader Jeong had hardened his heart, he could have easily refused to help if I didn’t give the wooden armor. But since he wasn’t that malicious, he chose not to pursue it. I had come to him knowing the true nature he displayed while I served as his guardian warrior for many years.

“This should be enough for you to convey your loyalties.”

“Th-thank you.”

Once the affairs of Goryeo were mostly settled, I gifted Old Man Hwa one more gold bar as a token of appreciation and, this time, utilized the Golden Lamp technique to return in front of the Shadowless Gate.

As I arrived, exhausted, I took a moment to sit on a tree stump and rest.

“Ugh… I’m tired…”

Despite my immense internal power, I felt mentally drained.

It seemed I had done too much in just a day. The sun had already set, plunging the world into darkness.

As I perched on the stump, the gatekeeper warriors of the Shadowless Gate approached me with astonished expressions.

“Hey there, kid! What trick did you pull? How did you just appear out of nowhere?”

I said nothing and opened the wooden armor, letting Seo Mun-hye step out. She materialized instantly, looking around in bewilderment, seemingly recognizing that this was her home, the Shadowless Gate.

Her eyes sparkled with admiration as she gazed at me.

“Your grace is truly magnificent…”

Upon seeing Seo Mun-hye, the gatekeeper warriors were struck with awe and fell to their knees.

“Young Master!”

“……?”

Seo Mun-hye looked bewildered, having suddenly returned from the pirate island to her hometown. However, she quickly regained her composure and firmly ordered the gatekeepers, “Don’t act recklessly. This young hero is my savior!”

“Understood!”

Maintaining the grace of the daughter of the foremost sect, Seo Mun-hye asked, “Is my father inside?”

“Yes. The Sect Leader is in the meditation chamber.”

“Got it.”

I then continued to pull the women out from the wooden armor. The convenience of this item was that I could extract objects based on my thoughts. If I had categorized things in my mind, they’d pop out following that classification. Of course, they had no means of resistance from inside.

“Eek.”

While the gatekeepers were astonished a second time, it seemed like the story had already spread. Most of the women had resolved to lead a second life in the Shadowless Gate, while a few appeared eager to return home. As I returned the escapees to the wooden armor, I remarked, “Seo Mun-hye, are you going to take care of them?”

“Yes, I will.”

“That’s good.”

A short while later, I entered the Shadowless Gate with Seo Mun-hye and the women. They began bathing and purifying their bodies, and I too soaked my bloodied body in the tub. Although the Shadowless Gate didn’t seem large from the outside, it was evidently a wealthy sect, with its separate rooms being extremely luxurious.

It feels like it’s been ages since I last bathed.

After we finished washing up, we were able to meet the leader of the Shadowless Gate, the Sword Demon, in the reception room. Upon hearing Seo Mun-hye recount the events, the Sword Demon slowly nodded.

“I see…”

I anticipated what the Sword Demon would say next.

“Then, go marry her.”

I shot back without hesitation, “I refuse.”

“……”

 

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