## Chapter 201 – The Unprincipled (無道)
ㅡWhoosh!
A technique to sever the opponent’s upper body, the “Bust Splitter.” The slash, imbued with that unbelievable power, tore through the air. Truly skilled. As expected, they twisted their body to evade even in that moment.
“Haa… haa…”
But the cost was high.
They had used a bizarre step that almost transcended the laws of physics. Such techniques invariably consume mana. Considering they blocked my blade with a kick, they must possess a decent amount of mana.
Mana, an energy containing omnipotence.
The power to evade a decisive blow in a moment of crisis.
They consumed that power?
ㅡClang.
Certain of victory, I sheathed my sword.
If I were to slash at such a weakened opponent, it would result in a murder. They’ve depleted their mana, so I can settle this with martial arts.
“To sheathe your sword! Are you looking down on me!”
“Yeah, you scrub! I only need the Impling Fist to deal with the likes of you!”
“You son of a bitch!”
ㅡPapat!
“De—oooooot!!!”
Like a windmill, I spun my fists, scattering the Impling Fist’s forms. Now, I just need to play around a bit and finish them off with a strong hit.
“Th, that ridiculous technique!”
The blonde, feeling ignored, gasped for breath and assumed a stance. Determined eyes, an unwavering conviction. Good! That’s the look of a martial artist! If you’re a martial artist, show me some grit!
“Ha! Ridiculous technique, you say!”
Of course, I don’t intend to fight with such a crazy technique. It’s just a simple feint to lower their guard. I’ll immediately switch the spinning fists to a killing move. A murderous punch with lethal power!
ㅡPapat!
Fierce strikes!
“Kuhk!”
She blocked my punch with her footwork and was thrown backward. Unlike before, her momentum was greatly diminished. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before I win!
“Answer me! Are you a master-level instructor from the Martial Artist Guild!”
I shouted, pointing my finger.
If I can defeat a master-level instructor from the Martial Artist Guild with the Impling Fist, it would be sufficient revenge. Those damn martial artists! I am a man who never forgets old grudges!
I recall the memory of being ganged up on by martial artists and getting utterly wrecked, and the memory of Serka, who despised my personality and tried to ruin my promotion match.
And I overlay the image of my comrades who fought alongside me and fell.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeek!!!!”
Unbearable rage erupted!
You goddamn bastards!!!!!!!!!!!
I had to win, if only for the sake of avenging my guild members!
“Dieeeeeeeeee!!!!”
One must pour out all their strength when the enemy is weakened!
I unleashed a barrage of attacks with the ferocity of a bull!
“Kuhk!”
Nevertheless, she countered with kicks. Hard kicks from boots that had been trained. Each time they flew at me, I had to defend with my gauntlets, and each time, my hands resonated.
The power itself is considerable.
But it’s not an attack that can pierce through steel plates.
As much as she attacks, I too, drive in my attacks.
“In the name of a low-ranking instructor of the Martial Artist Guild, I will never be defeated!!!”
So, she was an instructor after all.
That means my fist and kick skills are on par with a low-ranking instructor from the Martial Artist Guild. Feeling a sense of pride, I distanced myself from her as she roared and charged in.
ㅡThwack!
ㅡPapat!
ㅡThud!
ㅡBoong-boong!
Our punches and kicks, fists and feet, clashed. The battle was not easily decided. Because she fought desperately. Naturally, she must have her pride as a martial artist. She can’t accept being beaten by a swordsman using fist techniques.
But the equipment difference is absolute.
Her weakened attacks were ineffective against me, who was wearing armor, and it was too easy to inflict damage on her, who relied on her boots for all offense and defense.
“…Kahk!”
At least change your uniform to something with better defense!
“I’ll show you the end!!!”
Finally, a decisive opening appeared. In the slowed time, I saw her eyes widen. If I were to drive a Heavenly Demon Shattering Palm into her abdomen—
ㅡThen.
“You goddamn bastards!!!! What the hell are you doing in front of my guild!!!!!!!”
ㅡKwang!
Like a meteor striking the ground,
A black mass of light fell before us!
“Ueoeeoeok!!!”
“Kyaaaaak!!!”
The impact sent me and the blonde flying, rolling across the ground. At the same time, the earth shook, and dust billowed. What is this? This tremendous voice? It echoed so loudly that I couldn’t even guess who it was!
“Why are you guys doing this without the landlord, you goddamn bastards!!!”
The owner of the voice was Karin. She was checking her surroundings, scattering blazing eyes while shrouded in an ominous purple aura!
“O, oh! Guild Master!”
“Hmm? What? You were here too?”
As I called out, the purple aura disappeared.
She approached and checked her feet.
The man in the uniform was foaming at the mouth and rolling his eyes back.
“What the hell is this scene! Explain!”
Karin grabbed my collar, shook me, and shouted. “Gueoeeoeok!!!” A force that felt like my neck would snap off! Feeling a threat to my life, I immediately explained the situation.
“Th, that! That woman, no, that bastard did it!”
“What?”
Where I pointed, there was a blonde woman struggling to get up. Clutching her shoulder, she glared at me and Karin.
“Those guys suddenly barged in and joined forces with our guild members who were lying here to repel them!”
“Really?”
“Everything I said is true! The martial artist bastards attacked!”
“Is that so?”
Karin, letting go of me, walked towards the blonde. I, having regained my composure, stood up and stretched, checking my physical condition. I felt like I had a bruise on my forearm, but there was nothing wrong with my body itself.
Because all my vital points were protected by my equipment.
“Ugh…”
First, I had to take care of the injured swordsman guild members. While Karin was approaching the blonde and talking to her, I kicked the martial artists and helped each of the guild members up, moving them inside.
“Are you okay? Are you conscious?”
“Kkeueueu… Wh, what happened to the martial artists?”
“We repelled them all! Even the master-level instructor! So, rest assured! It’s our victory!”
“K, kekeke… Is that so… Then I can rest easy…”
As if his strength had run out, the bald man closed his eyes.
ㅡSnore. He must have fallen asleep out of relief.
Unlike the wrecked martial artists, thankfully, no one was seriously injured. I moved all ten people inside. I sorted the injured and classified those who were conscious and unconscious.
“Can you stand?”
“Ugh… It’s a bit difficult.”
Those who were conscious smiled weakly even while collapsed and extended their fists. I smiled and bumped fists with them. Comrades, brothers in arms. Now, we have become true guild members in the truest sense…!
“We have won!”
“Oh, oh!”
Then, we should move the injured to the relief monastery… First, I asked for their understanding and went to Karin.
Karin was kneeling the blonde instructor down and listening to her story.
“Hey, hey. You goddamn come here. It’s a bit different from what you said?”
“Different? That can’t be.”
Looking at the blonde with a questioning gaze, she shouted fiercely.
“H, how can you say such a thing without changing your expression! Didn’t you smash our kids first!”
“What the hell are you talking about? Guild Master! This bastard is talking nonsense! I did nothing wrong! Hey, hey! How can a guild instructor lie?! Huh!”
“You unprincipled fellow! You will pay the price for your lies!”
“This is so unreasonable!”
As expected, there was no way to have a conversation with martial artist bastards whose brains were made of muscle. I hate myself for even trying to see them as equal individuals for a moment. Karin was angry and demanded that she tell the truth quickly.
I explained today’s events to her as objectively as possible.
“So, as soon as you found a martial artist girl with a personal grudge, you beat her up, and then you beat up the martial artist bastards who retaliated, and that escalated so much that all the martial artists who were wandering around came chasing after you, and the result is this?”
“As expected, Guild Master! You understand quickly!”
Karin, after listening to my explanation, pondered for a moment and said.
“You did a damn good job?”
“Right?”
As expected, I could communicate with Karin.
Her expression turned sharp as she looked back at the blonde instructor.
“Hey, Instructor. So, my disciple is saying this, but it’s a bit different from what you explained earlier? What you explained was that he just went crazy and beat up all the martial artists on his own.”
“…Th, that is.”
The blonde flinched at those words.
In my opinion, these bastards didn’t grasp the facts or anything, they just heard that their friends had been beaten up and blindly chased after us.
Well, even if they had grasped the facts, they would have chased after us regardless of nationality if their kids had been beaten up.
Anyway, it’s not a problem that can be blamed on me.
Karin added in a rapid tone.
“My disciple and that girl had a personal grudge, and getting beaten up for intervening is something you can’t complain about, right? Of course, as fellow guild members, you can come as a group to retaliate. But to say that this is our fault? That’s not right. Should we talk to your guild master about this? What do you think?”
“…Kuhk.”
“What’s your name, Instructor?”
The blonde instructor, terrified by Karin’s scolding, revealed her name and stood up. “…M, Mariel, I am called.” A voice lacking confidence. She must have realized that she had made things worse by moving too rashly, even in her own mind.
You guys were too rash.
“I’ll let you go for now, so take your friends who are sprawled out here and go back. If you think of anything to say, come back formally with your guild master later. Either way, you guys are the ones who barged into our guild and made a mess, right? I’m letting you off because you got your asses kicked. Otherwise, you would have all died by my hand.”
Mariel, her face pale at Karin’s words, which were little more than threats, began to single-handedly take care of the fallen martial artists in a stiff posture.
At this moment, I felt a true bond with Karin!
She took my side to protect me, her disciple and guild member!
“Hey, hey. You did a damn good job. Stand tall. Let’s go inside and talk more…”
ㅡTap tap tap.
Just as Karin grabbed my shoulder and was about to enter the guild building, the sound of footsteps was heard. The ones who appeared were the City Guards, wearing light armor.
There were a total of three. Two squad members wearing helmets and holding spears, and one squad leader wearing a beret.
The squad leader, after quickly surveying the surroundings, approached and said.
“Good work, Swordswoman Guild Master. Have you been well? We received a report that an incident had occurred… What is this? Did you have a brawl or something?”
He spoke in a tone that suggested that he was very familiar with this kind of thing, as if it was nothing special. It’s such a rough neighborhood that brawls happen often. Karin, too, crossed her arms and replied as if it was nothing.
“No, it’s just that our kids and those guys over there had a bit of an argument.”
“An argument, you say? Hmm, a bit of a violent argument, I see?”
“They just can’t agree on anything. Those bastards’ brains have been hardened for a day or two.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
The squad leader gave some instructions to the squad members.
He told them to check if there were any fatalities, but even I didn’t think there were any. The martial artists who had already regained consciousness were helping the injured with the blonde instructor.
After listening to their accounts of the incident, he came to a conclusion.
“Well, it seems that there are no fatalities, and the Guild Master has testified to that, so we will handle it as such and return. However, I would like to ask you to be a little gentler when arguing next time. Then, please continue your hard work.”
“Okay. Goodbye.”
As expected, Karin’s authority was considerable.
This chaotic situation was resolved with a single word from Karin.
The City Guards left, and Mariel was still taking care of the martial artists. They were all badly injured, so they would have to spend some money on treatment.
Serves them right.
I feel so relieved.
How long has it been since I’ve resolved a grudge like this?
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
I took Karin’s hand and entered the guild. As soon as we entered, the injured swordsmen welcomed us. We celebrated our victory and deepened our camaraderie. Following Karin’s instructions, we helped our injured guild members and admitted them to the relief monastery.
Karin, who was in a very good mood after screwing over the martial artists, paid for all the treatment costs. As expected of the Guild Master, she takes good care of us.
It was a very good day!
