Like a small butterfly's wings creating a typhoon in a distant land, the bell that Pilu rang on the verge of life and death turned into a thunderous toll that covered the stronghold.

That's how criminals are.

Since they are always on the run, they are quick to react to even small changes. Is it a survival instinct cultivated to an animalistic level, knowing that they will be caught if they are not?

The water bandits, who had woken up, began to pour out from all over the stronghold.

Although they had just woken up and were dressed in a way that exposed their upper bodies, as befits water bandits who live on the water, they were properly armed.

"What? What is it?"

Torches were raised all around, and the entire Gunsan Stronghold became bright.

The assassins, who had not expected the bell to ring and the water bandits to move so quickly, were unable to hide and revealed themselves under the bright lights.

"Huh?"

"It's an enemy! An attack!"

Swords were pointed.

As the pointed swords glittered not only in the moonlight but also in the torchlight, Kyusu's face contorted.

Assassins always had to be secretive. They should have achieved their goal without anyone knowing they had come and disappeared without a trace.

But who would have thought that the water bandit in the watchtower, who was thought to be dead, would ring the alarm bell?

It was too late to be secretive.

When their identity was revealed, there was only one thing to do.

First, escape.

"Scatter and cross the stockade!"

"Yes!"

The judgment was quick, and the assassins who received the order simultaneously fled in different directions.

"Stop them! Stop them!"

Although the water bandits surrounded them, blocking their escape route, they were no match.

Swish! Puk! Pu-puk!

"Kuaaak!"

Screams echoed from all over every time a sword was swung and a hidden weapon was thrown.

The assassins who had jumped into the water bandits' encirclement mercilessly took their lives.

Four places in total. Kyusu was by far the fastest, and the three assistant assassins were no less.

Just as they were about to lose the attackers with their eyes wide open.

Kaaang!

With a rough metallic sound, the assassin, Jeongrang, was pushed back with a grimaced face.

"The punks who go around climbing walls at night..."

The one who blocked Jeongrang's path was a giant with a blue robe and twin axes in both hands.

"What are the Blue Water Brigade doing! Block their escape route!"

At the booming shout, the elite warriors of the Gunsan Stronghold's Blue Water Brigade, dressed in blue, rushed to the assassins' escape route.

Kkang! Kka-kkang!

The situation began to change drastically from before.

The warriors of the Blue Water Brigade, who were several times more skilled than the ordinary water bandits, clung to each assassin, three or four at a time.

Pyut! Pyu-pyut!

But that didn't mean the Blue Water Brigade was unilaterally pushing them back.

The Blue Water Brigade warriors were also helpless against the flying needles that the assassins threw as they retreated.

"Damn hidden weapons! Shield unit, take the lead! Neutralize their hidden weapons!"

"Yes!"

The giant with the twin axes was quick to judge.

The rattan shields were shields woven from rattan. Although their strength was not outstanding, they were tough enough to block the flying needles.

The hidden weapons lost their effectiveness, and as the Blue Water Brigade pressed on, the assassins began to be pushed further and further into the center of the stronghold.

"We've cornered them! Widen the distance! Archers, shoot them!"

As the shield bearers stopped, the assassins became trapped in the center.

Tung! Tu-tung!

Then dozens of arrows flew towards the assassins without rest.

Bba-gak! Bba-ga-gak!

The assassins could no longer be aggressive.

They were busy forming a '品' formation and blocking the arrows.

"Water bandits of all things..."

Kyusu, who was trapped with the assistant assassins, gritted his teeth and his eyes flashed fiercely.

This can't go on. While they were blocking the arrows, the water bandits' encirclement was piling up layer by layer. If they left it any longer, they would be caught.

He had to open a path somehow. If he failed to escape, he would have no choice but to make the second choice.

Suicide...

Kyusu gritted his teeth.

Never mind the assistant assassins who had come with him, but for him, a Special Class of the Jinkagu, to be unable to escape the encirclement created by mere water bandits and have to commit suicide?

He had to find a way somehow.

"What are you punks doing! Their hands are not idle! Stack the shields in layers, and archers, shoot more arrows!"

"Yes!"

The giant with the twin axes shouted at the top of his lungs.

And Kyusu's eyes, looking at him, overflowed with killing intent.

The path... is that punk.

The head that controls the battlefield.

"Jeongrang!"

"Yes!"

"I will break through! Cover me!"

"...Pardon?"

Before Jeongrang could ask again, Kyusu threw his body with all his might.

Pa-ang!

The direction was towards the giant with the twin axes.

"Dammit! Nuang, Wicheok, Opil! Concentrate your hidden weapons on Lord Kyusu!"

"Okay!"

The moment Kyusu threw his body, the assistant assassins concentrated their hidden weapons in one direction.

Puk! Pu-puk!

Since they had maintained only the minimum defense, arrows were embedded in various parts of their bodies.

But the assassins, who had been trained as if brainwashed, did not care about the wounds on their bodies and focused only on protecting Kyusu.

"Hoh? He's a quick-witted punk."

A little away from the fierce battlefield.

Nam Gwangro, who had come out at the commotion, wore a strange expression with his arms crossed.

"Hmm, it seems he's aiming for Lee Gon."

"Hmm."

Seong Ilgwang, who was beside him, said as if he had noticed Kyusu's aim.

The giant with the twin axes, Lee Gon.

He was the leader of the Blue Water Brigade and the strongest master of the Gunsan Stronghold, excluding the chief and the deputy chief.

"To aim for the head to break through the path. It's not a bad choice."

Although Seong Ilgwang commented calmly, Nam Gwangro's face was full of displeasure.

The current situation.

The assassins were trapped in an encirclement. As Seong Ilgwang said, attacking Lee Gon to break through the path was a strategically very good choice.

But if it was like that... what about the remaining four assassins?

Wasn't the distance to the assassin punk who was trying to break through the path too far?

If that punk neutralized Lee Gon, he could immediately break through the encirclement and escape, but the remaining assassins...

"Heh! What a damn punk. He's going to use his subordinates as sacrifices?"

"Pardon?"

"If he wanted to escape together, he should have gone together in a wedge formation."

"...Huh? That's right. What a damn bastard."

Seong Ilgwang wears a bewildered expression.

The Unorthodox Faction. People called them a group that gathered and scattered according to profit.

They separated and met according to profit, gathered and then scattered again.

But this was just a sound made by those who didn't know to disparage the Unorthodox Faction. Especially for those called water bandits.

Mountain bandits or water bandits. Unlike other forces, they had a unique system.

That is, brothers. Everyone was a brother bound by righteousness.

Of course, there was no way there was no corruption, and it was their daily routine to line their own pockets.

Hadn't Nam Gwangro himself secretly created a hidden fund?

But he was proud that he had never secretly taken the money earned from official business without his brothers knowing.

They must share the money earned through hardship together.

That was the principle that all water bandits had to keep.

So, for them, betraying a brother was a huge crime. The punishment was also carried out most heavily.

But in front of them, the leader was trying to abandon his subordinate and leave? So openly?

There was no punk who deserved to be torn to pieces more than that.

"Chief, shall I step in?"

"No."

"Then are you going to leave it to Lee Gon? That bastard looks pretty strong..."

"I'm going to step in."

"Pardon? You, yourself?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to kill them all?"

"Depending on the situation."

Nam Gwangro clenches and unclenches his fist and steps towards the battlefield.

"Hmm, what a strange day. For the chief to step in himself."

Seong Ilgwang tilts his head.

Well, anyway, he could put his worries aside.

Since the chief had stepped in... the situation was as good as over.

Kwa-a-ang!

In the meantime, Kyusu cut down the rattan shield bearers and rushed towards Lee Gon.

"Well, look at this punk."

Lee Gon, who had noticed that Kyusu was aiming for him, grins and grips his twin axes tightly.

"Fine, I'll deal with you myself! You damn assassin punk! Blue Water Brigade, all of you, fall back!"

Lee Gon, who had shouted forcefully, spread his arms wide and swung his twin axes towards Kyusu.

Hoo-oong!

The axe, which made a wind sound that felt as heavy as its huge size, came down on Kyusu's head.

Hwi-rik!

But Kyusu, who had twisted his body to avoid it, dug into the gap of the twin axes and thrust his sword into Lee Gon's vital point.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Kaa-a-ang!

Was he the Blue Water Brigade Master for nothing?

He retrieved the swung axe and blocked the sword, and then spun it forcefully like a windmill.

Although it looked heavy, since his strength was that of a strongman, the axe rotated so fast that it created several trajectories at once.

Tteo-eong!

"Keuk!"

Kyusu's face contorted as if the force contained in the axe was considerable.

Damn water bandit punk.

To think that even though he had blocked it with his internal energy, the shock was like this. It was truly a tremendous force. In the meantime, although he had made several wounds on his body, the punk didn't seem to care and added speed to the swinging axe.

A few moves, a few dozen moves?

He could kill him.

But escape was a matter of time. What if the Gunsan chief intervened while he was delayed?

"I guess I have no choice."

Kyusu, who had glanced at the assistant assassins left in the encirclement, gritted his teeth.

His subordinates?

They wouldn't be captured.

Because they were punks who had been brainwashed to commit suicide the moment they thought there was no hope.

"Haap!"

Kyusu thrust his sword forcefully towards Lee Gon, exploding his internal energy at once.

Jjeo-eo-eong!

The moment he blocked the sword with the side of his axe, Lee Gon's body was pushed back and his face contorted.

Th-this... his center was broken.

Kka-deu-deuk.

Just as he was about to straighten his body, Kyusu stepped on Lee Gon's axe and threw his body.

"Th-that punk?"

Lee Gon's face contorted even more as he confirmed that the direction was towards the stockade.

But it was too late to catch him.

The punk who had jumped on the axe was in an instant at the stockade... huh?

In Lee Gon's eyes, an object shimmering like a heat haze was seen on the stockade in the direction Kyusu had thrown his body.

The one who was already standing on the stockade.

"Chief... sir?"

Lee Gon's head tilted, and killing intent overflowed in the eyes of the fleeing Kyusu.

"Get out of the way! You punk!"

A medicine bottle is held in Kyusu's hand, which had reached his waist.

Hwa-ak!

Nam Gwangro's expression turns cold at the powder that was sprinkled in front of his eyes in an instant.

"After the hidden weapon, is it poison?"

A short impression.

And then.

Ku-reu-reu-reung!

With a sound like thunder, a tremendous momentum erupts from Nam Gwangro's body.

U-ji-ji-jik!

The stockade shakes violently as if it would collapse, unable to withstand the energy.

Cha-reu-reu-reu!

A strong wave is created on the water near the stockade.

It was natural that the sprinkled poison was scattered in all directions by the wind pressure created by the wave of energy and became useless.

"Did you think you could escape from me with such a shabby trick?"

"...!"

The eyes that looked down on Kyusu calmly, the wide-open hand.

Swallow Net, Suppressing Hand.

The moment he lowered the hand he had lightly raised.

Ku-u-ung!

"Keok!"

Kyusu's body plunged towards the floor as if an invisible hammer had struck it forcefully.

Peok!

"Keok!"

Kyusu's painful scream, who had been slammed into the ground, burst out.

Kung!

Nam Gwangro landed next to Kyusu with a colder gaze than ever before.

Just one move.

The title of Special Class, which was given to the most outstanding assassin in the Jinkagu, was of no help.

"Kkeu-euu..."

Although he barely overcame the shock and tried to raise his body.

Kwajik!

He went limp at the foot of Nam Gwangro, who had stepped on him.

"People say, a mere water bandit. But... I am the Lord of the Xiang River, Nam Gwangro. You damn assassin punk."

The Lord of the Xiang River, Nam Gwangro.

Although he had a light personality and was often swayed by Baekta, who held his weakness, he was a monster who proudly occupied a place among the Eighteen Strongholds of the Yangtze River.

(End of Chapter)