Chapter 5

Chapter 5

At the appearance of Iron Soul Captain Yeom Baek, the air in the alley grew as heavy as a lump of lead.

Do Gyeol tapped the corner of his mouth with his feather fan, wearing a strange expression, while Yu Seol-ah immediately lowered her head and showed proper courtesy.

Yeom Baek walked over with heavy steps and stopped right in front of Dokgo Jin.

With the enormous iron spear on his back, he gave off such pressure that it seemed not like a human being, but a massive fortress wall was moving.

Had it been an ordinary person, they would have shrunk back without realizing it and lowered their head, but it was far from enough to affect Dokgo Jin.

When Dokgo Jin calmly met his eyes, Yeom Baek seemed to like that about him and smiled faintly.

“Now that I think about it, we have not even exchanged names yet. I am Yeom Baek, Captain of the Iron Soul Unit of the Northern Heaven Alliance.”

At those words, a strange light appeared in Dokgo Jin’s eyes.

‘Iron Soul Captain. He was a bigger figure than I expected.’

He was one of the major experts of the Northern Heaven Alliance whom Dokgo Jin had learned about through Wi Geum-seong’s information.

At Yeom Baek’s gaze, which seemed to be asking his name, Dokgo Jin opened his mouth indifferently.

“I am Dokgo Jin.”

Even though this was their first meeting, and even though he stood before a Captain of the Northern Heaven Alliance, he was not intimidated in the slightest.

Had he been an ordinary martial artist, he would have been startled and bowed at the waist.

‘He is confident. Is it confidence in his skill?’

However, one thing bothered him.

“Did you say ‘Dokgo’?”

Yeom Baek’s eyes narrowed.

“Surely you are not from the annihilated Dokgo Family of Gansu?”

It was a question that struck the mark.

However, Dokgo Jin laughed softly without blinking an eye.

“That cannot be. The surname Dokgo is not the exclusive property of that family, is it?”

“……That is not wrong.”

“If one goes far enough back to distant ancestors, perhaps there may be a connection. Is that important?”

At Dokgo Jin’s calm answer, Yeom Baek nodded and withdrew his suspicion.

‘True. There is no way anyone survived that hellish slaughter.’

There had been a rumor that the Eldest Young Master of the Dokgo Family had barely escaped, but the accepted theory was that he had been torn apart and killed by the pursuit party.

There was no way the young man before him was the ill-fated person at the center of that story.

“Good, Dokgo Jin. For an expert like you to be unknown, you must be a newcomer to the martial world who has only just stepped into gangho.”

“Something like that.”

“A man who has learned martial arts should naturally have the ambition to make his name known under heaven.”

“…….”

“Our alliance will soon pacify the Four Hegemons of the Central Plains and place the martial world under our new order. If you wish……”

Yeom Baek’s eyes flashed.

“You may take part in that great undertaking.”

Do Gyeol could not hold back and cut in.

“May I take that statement from the Iron Soul Captain as a declaration of war?”

“Feel free. When were we ever on good terms?”

Do Gyeol smiled softly.

“As expected of the Iron Soul Captain. Such a grand spirit.”

Yeom Baek’s gaze turned cold.

“If you interrupt one more time, I will smash that repulsive face of yours.”

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Though he acted relaxed, Do Gyeol closed his mouth. Yeom Baek’s martial force was burdensome even for him.

Yeom Baek’s gaze turned back to Dokgo Jin.

“Come to our alliance. Let us rebuild the order of the realm together.”

It was an offer that would have stirred the heart of a passionate young man.

But before that weighty offer could fully settle, a cold sneer flew in from the darkness.

“Still talking as if you can grasp drifting clouds, Yeom Baek.”

SCRAAAPE!

Together with a chilling scraping sound, one man jumped down from the wall on the opposite side.

A pale face and sinister eyes.

At last, Woo Gwang had appeared.

“What did you say the Northern Heaven Alliance would do to the other three Hegemons? Then why are you still only crouching in Taiyuan?”

“……It is simply not yet the time.”

“Hmph. The reality of the Northern Heaven Alliance is that you cannot even guarantee victory against our main headquarters as things stand. Keep your bluffing within reason.”

“What did you say?”

Woo Gwang was right.

The current state of the realm was one in which the Four Hegemons of the Central Plains maintained a balance of power.

That was also why, though the four Hegemons despised one another and snarled at one another, no large-scale war had actually broken out.

“Unless some great upheaval occurs, the balance among the Four Hegemons of the Central Plains will continue. It will be the same even after ten years, I imagine. In that case, it will be difficult to make your name known.”

Woo Gwang continued.

“Our Red Blood Gang will not bind you. You just need to properly carry out the occasional orders given to you. If you go to the Northern Heaven Alliance, you will merely become an ‘obedient foot soldier,’ but if you come to us, you can enjoy wealth and pleasure. Which side is more realistic?”

“Your rotten way of thinking has not changed.”

A storm-like pressure erupted from Yeom Baek’s body.

“It is because of that filthy greed of you bastards that the martial world is rotting.”

“Is it not the way of the world for the strong to step on the weak and climb upward? We simply admit that honestly. Unlike you hypocrites.”

Woo Gwang did not back down either and unleashed a savage killing intent.

RUMBLE.

Yeom Baek’s fighting spirit as he gripped the enormous iron spear and Woo Gwang’s killing intent as he raised his sharp iron claws collided head-on in the narrow alley.

While the two experts glared and snarled at each other, Dokgo Jin stood with his arms crossed, as if the matter had nothing to do with him at all.

The atmosphere seemed explosive, but Dokgo Jin knew.

‘They are not the sort of people who would clash over something of this level.’

Instead, he was thinking about something else.

‘So this is the bearing of experts who represent the Four Hegemons.’

They were more formidable than he had expected.

Using them as a standard, he could roughly infer the overall strength of the Four Hegemons of the Central Plains.

Of course, he had known it in his head because he had seen the information Wi Geum-seong possessed, but feeling it in person was a different matter.

Dokgo Jin watched as if he had no interest in either side, but he had already decided where he would go.

Dokgo Jin opened his mouth toward Woo Gwang, who was emitting killing intent.

“Wealth and pleasure, you say.”

Just as the corner of Woo Gwang’s mouth was about to rise in expectation, Dokgo Jin’s voice cooled.

“My apologies. I utterly detest beasts that move according to their desires.”

“……!”

Woo Gwang’s face hardened.

It was no different from treating the Red Blood Gang as beasts to his face.

As if he did not care about Woo Gwang’s reaction at all, Dokgo Jin turned his head and looked at Yeom Baek.

“That said, do not get ahead of yourself. It does not mean I like you people either.”

Yeom Baek frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. For now, I will follow you, but if I dislike it, I will leave at any time without lingering attachment. If that is acceptable, I will go with you.”

That attitude of being able to leave at any time would, paradoxically, raise Dokgo Jin’s value even further.

Of course, on the surface, it was an attitude that could not have been more arrogant.

However, Yeom Baek liked that point instead.

“Good. For now, I will be satisfied that you have refused the Red Blood Gang. But once you go to our alliance, your thoughts will surely change.”

“I look forward to it.”

There was a clear reason Dokgo Jin chose the Northern Heaven Alliance.

In the case of the Red Blood Gang, it leaned toward the unorthodox side, so its relationship with the other Hegemons was extremely poor.

By contrast, the Northern Heaven Alliance was classified as being between the orthodox and unorthodox sides, and though limited, it had a certain amount of exchange with the other three Hegemons.

That point was decisive.

Even if the Northern Heaven Alliance was not connected to the annihilation of the Dokgo Family, it did not matter much.

If he rose to a high position in the Northern Heaven Alliance, he would naturally come into contact with the other Hegemons.

From Woo Gwang, the one not chosen, a sticky killing intent rose.

Crack!

The iron claws attached to Woo Gwang’s fingertips dug deep into the brick wall.

“You have misjudged, brat.”

Woo Gwang’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s as they swept over Dokgo Jin.

“Did you think you could put the Red Blood Gang on the scales and still remain safe? I will watch how long you last inside the Northern Heaven Alliance’s fence.”

Beside him, Do Gyeol giggled while covering his mouth with his feather fan.

His eyes were smiling, but deep within them, a chilling killing intent had settled.

“What a shame. Truly, what a shame. To think my pretty toy would make such a stupid choice. Well, it does not matter.”

Do Gyeol licked his lips with his tongue and whispered,

“We will meet again soon anyway. When that time comes, I will be the first to tear you apart. Until then, take care of that body.”

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

After finishing their words, Woo Gwang and Do Gyeol launched themselves away as if they had no lingering attachment and vanished into the darkness.

However, the thick killing intent they left behind remained like a venomous snake, aiming at Dokgo Jin’s back.

Watching their retreating figures, Dokgo Jin laughed coldly inwardly.

‘Yes, grind your teeth like that.’

The Red Blood Gang bearing a grudge was exactly what Dokgo Jin wanted.

‘The Red Blood Gang will approach me if only to eliminate me.’

He had chosen the Northern Heaven Alliance, but this would naturally create a point of contact with the Red Blood Gang as well.

His life would be threatened, but he did not care.

Everything was flowing according to plan.

***

The next day.

Dokgo Jin left Sichuan Province with Yeom Baek and Yu Seol-ah.

“Are you simply leaving Sword-Selling Street like this? It does not seem as though there are any other martial artists from the Northern Heaven Alliance.”

“That is……”

Yu Seol-ah was about to answer, but Yeom Baek spoke first.

“We have already been at Sword-Selling Street for three months. How many people do you think we recruited during that time?”

“I do not know.”

“Not one. We did not find a single man fit to become a martial artist of our alliance. Not until you appeared.”

“…….”

“That means staying any longer would be a waste of time. Does that answer you?”

When Dokgo Jin nodded, Yeom Baek urged them onward again.

“It is a long road to Shanxi Province, where our alliance is located. You have learned movement arts, I assume?”

“Of course.”

“Then let us increase our speed. Do not fall behind.”

BANG!

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yeom Baek’s figure began to race forward swiftly.

At that, Dokgo Jin and Yu Seol-ah also increased their speed.

Dokgo Jin’s movement arts were very unique.

Like other movement techniques, he sprang from the tips of his feet, but the height he rose after touching the ground was abnormally low.

Because of that, at a glance, it looked as though Dokgo Jin were gliding.

At the same time, the speed at which he moved both feet was not particularly fast.

Instead, the distance he covered in a single step was quite long.

If one looked closely, one could see a black light flash and vanish at the tips of his feet.

“…….”

Yeom Baek, who glanced back at Dokgo Jin, wore a strange expression.

‘What an unusual movement art. Was there such a movement arts technique in the martial world?’

He knew that even Ghost-Faced Wolf had failed to draw out Dokgo Jin’s full strength.

That was why he deliberately moved at a speed that would be difficult for most experts to keep up with.

He had intended to infer Dokgo Jin’s background by watching the movement arts with which he followed, but even that was not easy.

At that moment, Yu Seol-ah’s sound transmission reached him.

[Captain, why are you being so kind?]

[Hm? What do you mean?]

[You answered every question Dokgo Jin asked. And in great detail, too. Is there any need to go that far?]

[There is. Is he not the sort of man who boldly said he would leave if he did not like us?]

[Even so, I feel like the Captain of the Iron Soul Unit is being too deferential toward someone who is, at most, a new recruit.]

[What does it matter? It will not be too late to establish authority after we make him a member of our alliance.]

[Tch. Is that not too different from when you recruited me?]

Yeom Baek wore a puzzled expression.

[What are you talking about? You came to us on your own two feet, did you not?]

[In any case! You are acting so differently from usual that I am almost jealous.]

[Take it to mean that I want that man that much. And…… once we arrive at our alliance, he will have no choice but to lower his head as well.]

At Yeom Baek’s words, Yu Seol-ah’s expression brightened a little.

[Ah! I understand what you mean.]

She glanced at Dokgo Jin.

‘Right. Until he enters, I will humor him as much as possible.’

The corner of Yu Seol-ah’s mouth rose slightly.

‘Because once he sets foot in our alliance, there will be no turning back.’