Chapter 37. Fierce Battle Aboard the Ship (2)
Just before he reached the stairs!
A single shadow, with the moonlight at its back, stretched long into the lower chamber.
'Are they coming down?'
Dong Bong-su immediately retreated back into the plank room inside the stern.
It was easy to hide his body in the darkness, and with the planks there, there was no worry of being discovered. If the enemy came this way, he could simply escape again through the scupper.
The danger level.
Of course, 'zero'.
Dong Bong-su slightly peeked out and observed the enemy's movements. If all three had come down into the lower chamber, it was obvious he would have trouble handling them at the same time.
'I'll change the plan.'
However.
Only one enemy came down into the lower chamber.
'Did the enemies split up?'
The other two were probably heading toward the mooring area, shining their fire flares around. If not, they were likely running about in confusion on the upper deck.
Either way, it didn't matter.
When he had been carried in earlier, Dong Bong-su had confirmed that the squad leader and squad members of the Heavenly Wind Squad wore different outfits. The squad members wore green, the squad leader wore blue.
That one.
'Green clothes.'
A squad member.
The bastard was completely absorbed in the bone fragment Dong Bong-su had embedded into the lower chamber floor. There was no need to hesitate.
Dong Bong-su took out a dagger from his inventory. He moved quietly through the darkness of the plank room.
At some point.
Peeeing-.
A thin tearing sound of air breaking echoed softly through the lower chamber.
Thud.
The dagger was embedded precisely into the back of the squad member's head.
The squad member died instantly without even leaving behind a single scream as his last words.
Dong Bong-su quietly but swiftly approached the falling squad member and put him into the inventory. It was to prevent in advance the sound that would occur when the body collided with the floor.
'Two.'
Two were dead, two remained.
Dong Bong-su went toward the wall tower stairs and threw the squad member he had just killed up onto the deck.
Thud.
As the corpse fell onto the deck, a small vibration and noise occurred.
"S-squad leader! Over there!"
Immediately after, the voice of the last remaining squad member of the Third Unit of the Heavenly Wind Squad reached Dong Bong-su's ears.
The remaining two were indeed near the bow, where the ship reconnaissance device was located.
Pat.
Dong Bong-su moved immediately.
He went back out through the scupper. And this time, instead of heading toward the ship reconnaissance area, he inserted his hand into a small gap between the planks of the ship's third deck directly from the scupper and climbed up onto the deck.
Because the scupper was located at the stern, the distance to the wall tower was ten meters, and the distance to the bow was more than twenty meters.
Using the shadow of the tall wall tower as cover, Dong Bong-su perfectly climbed onto the stern of the deck. At the stern, there was a couch commonly found on pleasure boats, making it easy for him to hide.
He was hidden in the darkness, and the enemies were still wandering around the deck holding fire flares.
Go San-gong and the squad member had moved from the bow toward the wall tower near the center of the ship to inspect the corpse Dong Bong-su had just killed.
They never even dreamed that someone was watching them from the stern.
Dong Bong-su took out daggers again. This time, two.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately threw them toward the backs of the enemies' heads. His throw passive had already reached level 8, granting a massive 40% action bonus.
Swaeaeak-!
Even though he had never learned throwing knife techniques, the daggers he threw flew incomparably swiftly.
Pat.
Clang!
Two different sounds rang out simultaneously.
The squad member, completely defenseless, had a dagger embedded into the back of his head and died instantly, while Go San-gong, the squad leader of the Heavenly Wind Squad, sensed the sound of air tearing and blocked it with foot swordsmanship honed over ten years in the Namgung Family. It was truly a hair's-breadth difference, a victory of instinct.
"There!"
Go San-gong shouted while staring toward the stern where Dong Bong-su was hiding. He did not rashly approach Dong Bong-su's position. No, rather, he retreated backward. It was because he believed the enemy was not alone.
Anyone would think the same. Who would imagine that someone alone was using the scupper to move about so unpredictably?
Dong Bong-su covertly observed Go San-gong while continuing to accelerate his thoughts.
'Three.'
With three out of four dead, only one enemy remained.
The problem was that the remaining one was the squad leader of the Heavenly Wind Squad.
To be honest, when he threw the daggers earlier, Dong Bong-su thought he could kill Go San-gong. But Go San-gong blocked it with such ease that it was almost mocking.
Can I win?
It was a meaningless question. He had already crossed the line.
He had to win no matter what.
Dong Bong-su took out the novice sword.
He carefully approached Go San-gong.
'He's higher level than me. Normally, I can't win. If I want to win no matter what, there must be a method or strategy.'
Then what method and strategy are needed?
In the end, it all converged into one thing.
'I'll use everything I have to the maximum.'
Dong Bong-su had skills. He needed to operate his skills and all techniques he could mobilize in the right way at the right time to subdue the enemy.
As he walked, Dong Bong-su began checking all the skills he possessed.
First, the active skills he currently had were.
[Three Talents Sword Art 1st, 2nd form], [Lightness Skill], [Circulating Energy and Performing the Technique]
These three.
The rest—spiritual vision, slash, thrust, throw, block, and so on—were always applied as passives.
In addition, there was the Inventory Divine Art. This was, in fact, the greatest survival technique and attack skill among all the techniques Dong Bong-su possessed.
Furthermore, the novice sword, clothes, shoes, and hood were 'supreme items' that did not exist in this place. In this New Murim Online, that is, in the martial world, no one possessed items. Only he alone possessed such divine objects.
Just by wearing these items, a difference of one or two levels could easily be narrowed.
Step, step, step, step.
Within a few steps, his attire completely changed.
He put the black clothes and mask he wore as a Nameless Martial Hero into the inventory and changed into the novice set.
Immediately, his stats increased due to item equipment.
Wooooong-.
He immediately used the Circulating Energy and Performing the Technique skill. His attack power and defense were enhanced as well.
Preparations were complete.
Now, all that remained was to fight and win.
A few seconds later.
Dong Bong-su finally stepped out of the shadow of the wall tower and fully revealed himself under the moonlight.
Indifferent eyes, a lean frame, and a slightly tall height compared to his small body.
Anywhere you looked except his eyes, he was Sosam.
"You are!?"
Go San-gong was startled upon seeing Dong Bong-su finally reveal himself.
The reason was simple. Though not familiar, he had seen Dong Bong-su not long ago.
Though his clothes had changed, he was easy to recognize.
He had a frail-looking body unlike that of a guest visiting the Namgung Family, and he had clearly witnessed him being carried by squad members of the Second Unit of the Heavenly Wind Squad into the Guest Hall of Heaven earlier.
"Why are you…?"
At Go San-gong's question, Dong Bong-su indifferently tossed out a single sentence.
"For the Namgung Family."
"...…"
Killing the Heavenly Wind Squad members in such a horrific manner for the sake of the Namgung Family?
From Go San-gong's perspective, it sounded like utter nonsense, but Dong Bong-su's words were true.
If the Namgung Family survived, he survived too. The method was a bit extreme, but he was leaving behind his best possible 'advice' on this ship.
"You crazy—"
Just as the last word 'bastard' was about to come out of Go San-gong's mouth.
Pat-!
Dong Bong-su's attack began.
From Go San-gong's perspective, it might seem cowardly, but to Dong Bong-su it was natural, and something he had already decided the moment Go San-gong began asking questions.
Fair play?
There is no such rule in a fight.
If there were, wouldn't that be even more ridiculous?
A fight is for winning. Does the method or means matter when winning? Especially when lives are at stake, talking about cowardice is even more absurd.
Most things he encountered here were tolerable, but formality—that one thing alone did not sit well with Dong Bong-su.
A fight is not a sport. No matter how much formality you dress it up with, a fight is just a fight.
Pababak.
[Lightness Skill L1:5 Proficiency: 47.75%]
A martial art that lightens the body. By learning Lightness Skill, one can jump higher and run faster.
Current applied level: Lv.5 (The player can adjust the applied level of this skill.)
Jump power bonus: 50%
Movement speed bonus: 50%
True energy consumption per second: 5 JP
Dong Bong-su's Lightness Skill had now reached level 5, granting 50% bonuses to both jump power and movement speed. His movements while using Lightness Skill were completely different from before.
In addition, with level 2 Circulating Energy and Performing the Technique active, his attack power and defense bonuses reached 60%. Not only his movements, but also the power of his sword was incomparable to when he had slaughtered the Third Unit of the Heavenly Wind Squad earlier.
Swaeaeak-!
The novice sword sliced through the air and flew sharply toward Go San-gong's neck.
The form he used was the second form of the Three Talents Sword Art, Straight Piercing the Yellow Dragon, which he had steadily practiced and had now reached level 4.
[Three Talents Sword Art Second Form: Straight Piercing the Yellow Dragon Lv.4 Proficiency: 45.7%]
A sword art commonly found in the martial world. Even ordinary people without internal energy can learn it.
Straight Piercing the Yellow Dragon is an enhanced version of thrust.
All action bonuses of this skill are related to the proficiency of related skills and whether sword energy or sword force is being used.
Current applied level: L1:4 (The player can adjust the applied level of this skill.)
Thrust range bonus: 4%
Thrust attack power bonus: 4%
Thrust casting speed bonus: -3%
True energy consumption per use: 60 JP
Clang!
Go San-gong was no easy opponent. Despite Dong Bong-su's sudden attack, he swiftly raised his sword and deflected the novice sword.
Immediately afterward, he counterattacked Dong Bong-su.
Having trained his sword for ten years in the Namgung Family, his sword momentum was formidable, and the sword ring was quite sharp as well.
The form Go San-gong used was Heavenly Wind Sword Ar First Form, Heavenly Wind, Flowing Clouds.
Heavenly Wind Sword Art was the secret sword art of the Heavenly Wind Squad, a heavy sword style that struck the opponent like raging winds from the sky.
Among them, Heavenly Wind, Flowing Clouds specialized in horizontal strikes and was the fastest form.
Huuwoong-.
As if the wind gently drifted over clouds, Go San-gong's sword swept toward Dong Bong-su's waist.
Dong Bong-su was still unable to properly regain his posture due to the recoil from deflecting Go San-gong's attack moments earlier, and thus was not in a condition to block the technique head-on.
In that situation, Dong Bong-su forcefully twisted his wrist and pointed the tip of his sword downward.
As a result, a vertical block stance was formed, with the sword tip facing the ground.
The block passive, having few opportunities to be used, was at an extremely low level compared to other skills—only level 2, with a 5% action bonus.
Pachang!
Go San-gong's sword, perfectly horizontal with the ship's deck, collided with Dong Bong-su's blade at a ninety-degree angle.