Urban Vagabond: Reload

The first to break the short silence were the Black Night Gang martial artists.

Furious shouts and curses burst from them.

“You cowardly bastard! Using spellcraft equipment!”

“You dare kill the boss’s adopted son and think you’ll walk out of here alive?!”

“Boss! Give the order, and we’ll tear every last one of them apart!”

Ferocious killing intent poured in from all sides.

The Black Night Gang martial artists had drawn their weapons and looked ready to rush Kim Muhyuk and kill him on the spot.

But Blood Tiger Gang did not back down either and drew their weapons as well.

Oho cracked his fingers with a series of pops and spoke coldly.

“I don’t know why you’re angry. Weren’t the rules a fight to the death?”

It was the Black Night Gang boss who had chosen a fight to the death as the rule in the first place.

Of course, contrary to her intentions, the neck that had flown was her own adopted son’s, but what, did that mean our side should have politely offered up our own necks and died?

If Blood Tiger Gang yielded any further than this, it would become a matter of pride for them as well.

The Black Night Gang boss knew that too.

“That’s enough.”

That one word from the Black Night Gang boss silenced the uproar.

The Black Night Gang martial artists clamped their mouths shut, barely suppressing their killing intent as they waited for what she would say next.

“My adopted son Jugeuk was defeated. He looked down on his opponent and took it easy, so if he died without even getting to swing his sword once, he has no grounds to complain.”

Unlike her enraged subordinates, the Black Night Gang boss, who had just lost her adopted son, wore a calm face as though it were nothing.

Instead, she stared fixedly at Kim Muhyuk behind the Blue Wolf mask.

“Also, being able to handle spellcraft equipment is part of a martial artist’s ability. We aren’t orthodox faction people, so it would be absurd to call that cowardly.”

Once the Black Night Gang boss acknowledged the defeat, Oho let that fake smile curl back onto his lips.

“Thank you for your broad-minded understanding, Black Night Gang boss. I too find your son’s death during the fight to the death regrettable.”

“It’s fine. I have many adopted sons. More importantly.......”

The Black Night Gang boss’s greedy gaze shifted back to Kim Muhyuk. More precisely, she stared as though trying to bore a hole through Phantom Dream hanging at his waist.

“That sword. Would you give it to me?”

At the Black Night Gang boss’s words, even Kim Muhyuk, who had seen every kind of human trash in the underworld, almost clicked his tongue.

They say none of the rulers of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects are sane.

Her adopted son had just become a headless corpse right in front of her eyes, and now she wanted the sword that had cut that head off.

She truly was someone who had survived for decades as one of the rulers of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects.

“I understand that you don’t use a sword, Black Night Gang boss. If anything, to a martial artist of your caliber, a weapon like this would only get in the way.”

Naturally, I had no intention of handing Phantom Dream over, so I refused indirectly.

But the Black Night Gang boss did not retreat so easily.

“It has a lovely color, so it might make a fine ornament if melted down. And I like the demonic aura flowing through the blade....... Yes, if you give me that sword, I’ll make you my new adopted son.”

At the words melted down and made into an ornament, I felt Phantom Dream tremble.

It was probably a joke, but I tapped the scabbard a few times to reassure it.

Don’t worry. I have no intention of letting anyone take you away.

Fortunately, Oho, who had picked up on my irritation right beside me, stepped in instead.

“Black Night Gang boss.”

He moved to block me and smiled gently.

“This sword is also Blood Tiger Gang property. Later on, I’ll do my best to speak with the boss and have it presented to you as a gift.”

It was an outright lie, of course, but there was no way the Black Night Gang boss could know that.

If anything, she now seemed to understand at last why such a sacred weapon would be in the hands of a mere pinnacle expert.

“......Hm. Very well.”

The Black Night Gang boss, who had kept staring at Phantom Dream with greedy eyes until the very end, finally tore her gaze away with obvious reluctance and said,

“Then let us set aside time to properly discuss the alliance.”

“We’re prepared to have a deeper conversation even today.”

The Black Night Gang boss shook her head.

“Not today. Let’s meet again tomorrow at lunch. By then...... matters over there should be more or less settled.”

She jerked her chin toward the electronic board on a distant building. The Black Heaven Society being attacked was being broadcast live in real time.

“Sounds good. We’ll come prepared so you won’t regret Black Night Gang’s decision.”

The two agreed that the next day, their working-level representatives would meet again to discuss the alliance.

For Blood Tiger Gang, it was the best possible outcome.

And it was the same for me.

With this, Black Night Gang will no longer interfere as a variable.

Unless the Eight Great Sects made some unforeseen idiotic blunder, or some major outside variable appeared, Black Heaven Society would disappear today.

Once the coordination between the two factions’ representatives was complete, the martial artists of Blood Tiger Gang and Black Night Gang finally put their weapons away.

Oho gave a courteous fist-palm salute and promised the next meeting.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I won’t see you out.”

The Black Night Gang boss stared at the backs of Oho and Kim Muhyuk as they departed for quite a while before muttering,

“Blood Tiger Gang already has that Oho bastard, and he’s hard enough to deal with as it is.......”

The man himself did not know it, but her gaze lingered a little longer on Kim Muhyuk than on Oho.

“A young swordsman who handles a sacred weapon even I’ve never seen before as though it were part of his own body. Tch. Blood Tiger Gang has gained another monster.”

The Black Night Gang boss recalled Kim Muhyuk’s movement as he had cut down her adopted son with a single sword stroke.

Even she, a supreme master, had not been able to see fully through the mist released by the cursed sword. But she had clearly seen the sword’s path that flashed for that single instant.

It was such a clean stroke that even she, after spending decades in the martial world, could confidently say she had only seen something like it a handful of times.

His current realm was not the issue.

In that sword path, the Black Night Gang boss had seen talent blazing brilliantly.

“......All of you, remember that wolf well.”

Those were the words of the godmother of the unorthodox martial world, a woman who had endured and survived for a very long time. The Black Night Gang executives listened in grave silence.

“Before long, he’ll become one of the major figures of the unorthodox martial world. Do not make an enemy of him if possible—but if you do meet him as an enemy, kill him without fail. Understood?”

“Yes!”

The Black Night Gang executives bowed their heads.

That was the moment Kim Muhyuk, wearing the Blue Wolf mask, was burned firmly into their minds.

[At the Black Heaven Society’s main base, large-scale violent winds and walls of thunder are currently occurring! It is believed that mechanism formations and spell formations have been activated, and the Martial Alliance has begun responding in cooperation with spellcasters from Mystic Hall......]

On the TV, Black Heaven Society was being hit with attacks that were practically bombardment.

Waves of fire kept crashing down onto the buildings, while storms tore through the entire area.

It looked as though Black Heaven Society was being one-sidedly overwhelmed, but the Black Night Gang boss did not think the battle would end that easily.

“That old man, the Black Heaven Society’s society leader, isn’t the sort to die quietly by himself.”

If he began his final desperate struggle, maybe he could at least drag one or two people down with him—perhaps even the Martial Alliance Leader or one of the Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders.

As one of the rulers of the Five Great Unorthodox Sects, she hoped the Black Heaven Society’s society leader would balance the scales before he died.

“Tch. I truly can’t understand it. Why is a typhoon suddenly tearing through the martial world, when it’s been quiet for decades.......”

The Black Night Gang boss could not have dreamed that she had just met the reason a moment ago.

*****

Kim Bokja supported the rear lines of the Martial Alliance together with the spellcasters of Mystic Hall.

Her role was to neutralize the spell formations and mechanism formations Black Heaven Society had set up.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA!

KRRRRRRUMBLE!

Storms, lightning, and every kind of natural disaster were unfolding right before their eyes, but the spellcasters did not look especially pressed.

Kim Bokja was the same.

If anything, she even looked a little bored.

This is easy.

To the eyes of a spellcaster, who could examine the flow of energy even more finely than a martial artist, the tangled structure of mechanism formations and spell formations looked like a puzzle problem.

Together with several spellcasters, Kim Bokja took charge of a certain sector and, under the protection of martial artists, began dismantling spell formations one by one.

Each time one puzzle was solved, a spell formation was undone, and the martial artists at the front could advance more safely.

As they repeated that simple work, one of the spellcasters with them—a middle-aged man of considerable age—asked with a weary expression,

“......Have you, by any chance, professionally studied dismantling spell formations?”

“No? I only did it once at the Martial Alliance license exam site.”

“J-just once?”

At the startled reaction of the spellcasters, Kim Bokja nodded without thinking much of it.

This isn’t really any different from what I did back then, though?

Then why are the people handling the other sectors taking so long?

Is it okay if I’m the only one coasting this hard......?

A few questions crossed her mind, but Kim Bokja was not the type to suffer on purpose like certain people, so she simply did the work she’d been assigned.

Instead, once she had a little breathing room, she checked the Blue Wolves group chat.

Maybe everyone was busy carrying out their missions, because there were no new messages.

[Jiwoo: Unnie! Look at this!]

Instead, there was one new message.

It was a video from Gu Jiu, whom she had grown close to starting back on Jeju Island.

Several talismans for spellcraft were dancing on the girl’s tiny palm.

[rabbit: No way! Did you learn a wind spell?]

[Jiwoo: Yeah! I practiced the way you taught me, and it worked!]

Back when Kim Bokja had fixed Gu Jiu’s severed meridian condition, she had taught her a little out of boredom, but the girl turned out to have more talent than expected.

Of course, Kim Bokja had no idea how extraordinary it was, by her own standards, to say someone had “more talent than expected.”

To a genius, everything looked easy.

[rabbit: With just a little more practice, you could probably work at my shop later.]

[Jiwoo: Teach me more next time! Spellcraft is fun!]

Matching her pace to the other spellcasters, who were grunting and straining themselves, Kim Bokja lightly typed on her messenger with her fingertips.

[rabbit: I’ll show you next time we meet. You’re not hurting anywhere, right?]

[Jiwoo: Yeah! But I sent the video to Muhyuk too, and he hasn’t replied...... (dejected)]

The droopy little dog emoji looked cute, and Bokja giggled.

[rabbit: He’s busy right now. Once he sees it later, he’ll definitely tell you you did an amazing job.]

[Jiwoo: Really?!?]

Of course, Kim Bokja replied, then put away her smartphone.

Then she quietly stared at one point beyond the spell formation.

TA-DA!

Apricot, who had been inside the bag, poked its head outside too.

Kim Bokja stroked its soft fur, then warned the nearby spellcasters.

“Guys. Step back for a second.”

“Hm? Why?”

“I’m dying here already, so help out a little instead......”

Ignoring the grumbling spellcasters, Kim Bokja stepped to the front.

The moment she took the Blue Wolf mask out of the bag and put it on—

ZZZIIING.

A section of the spell formation distorted, and Black Heaven Society assassins burst out from inside it.

“Enemies!”

“Urrk!”

“Protect the spellcasters!”

The spellcasters, scared out of their minds by the enemies appearing right in front of them, began to run, while the martial artists standing guard farther forward hurried over.

But these were professional assassins deployed specifically to eliminate spellcasters.

Before the Martial Alliance martial artists could arrive, it looked more than possible for them to cut down the spellcasters and flee.

That is, if blue ghostly fire had not begun blooming in Kim Bokja’s eyes at that exact moment.

[Kkagwi. King Snake. Shaggy Dog.]

Her flashy accessories vibrated, and the anomalies inside them emerged to block the assassins.

After the special training they had gone through since Jeju Island, each of them was at least twice as large as before.

Kim Bokja did not stop there and lightly stroked Apricot’s back.

[Apricot.]

They had spent months together, growing familiar with each other’s energy.

Using her spellcraft, Kim Bokja temporarily amplified the Golden Winged Bird’s energy.

WHOOOSH!

The flames rising from Apricot wrapped around its body, and in an instant Apricot swelled to the size of an ostrich and let out a roar.

[Burn them.]

KYYAAAAAAH—!

The flames of a Great Anomaly poured down on the Black Heaven Society assassins.