Chapter 20 (1/2)

TL: pineapples

ED: Aa88

***

“Phew, it was difficult trying to find you. The hallways here are way too convoluted. I regret not cutting off one of your fingers.”

The man shakily approached them, pretending to be all worn out. As he did so, he saw the child’s shoulder and frowned.

“That must hurt. Will you come over here? I’ll make it so you won’t be hurting anymore.”

The child shook her head and hid behind Aku Ryun.

Seeing that, the man chuckled.

“Cute. Yes, this is the definition of cuteness. Am I wrong?”

As the distance between them shortened, Aku Ryun took a step backwards with the child hidden on his back.

He couldn’t tell if the wetness on his back was the child’s tears or his own cold sweat.

Aku Ryun didn’t take his eyes off the man while whispering softly to her,

“Young Miss, when I give you the signal, throw the red orb. Right after that, you have to enter the secret tunnel.”

The child didn’t respond.

But he could tell what she was thinking.

‘She didn’t want to run away by herself.’

Aku Ryun stretched his hand behind him to grab the child’s blood-stained hand.

“This time, I shall go with you.”

“… really?”

“Yes.”

At his terse but determined answer, the child grabbed tightly onto Aku Ryun’s hands.

Aku Ryun infused all of his internal qi into his sword.

Wooong.

The sword rang with a heavy sound. The silver blade then slowly turned bluer and bluer.

Faced with that kind of extraordinary energy, the man’s expression changed.

“Doesn’t matter. With you alone, you can’t survive. But if you’d be willing to give me the child, I’ll let you live.”

Without any intention to reply, Aku Ryun continued to feed energy into the sword.

The power felt from the sword wasn’t ordinary. It was actually already past the level at which these assassin grunts could deal with.

‘Looks like he purposely didn’t show all of his skills to buy time.’

The man’s forehead wrinkled.

“Considering your age, this is indeed very astounding . But could you be able to take us all down?  That  sword is probably going to break before you could even finish dealing with ten people. After that, are you gonna fight with your fists then?”

“I don’t need the sword.”

“… what?”

Aku Ryun forcibly thrust his sword downwards.

Startled, the man jumped backwards and raised his eyebrows.

However, even though the man gave Aku Ryun enough opportunity to attack, Aku Ryun didn’t attack.

‘What is he waiting for?’

At the moment, the man tilted his head,

Crunch!

With a terrifying sound, the sword shattered then. At the same time, the sharp blade fragments flew and scattered everywhere.

Unable to even get a chance to defend themselves, the assassins fell over without even a moan of pain.

The man then muttered in disbelief.

“Sword Breaking Art?” (The art of breaking swords and attacking multiple enemies)”

It was a technique that would’ve taken sixty years to master. It was simply unthinkable for this boy to have learned such a technique that only seasoned masters knew.

This was an absurd turn of events.

“I thought you were just a measly son of a bitch.  Turns out you’re quite special after all.”

The man laughed furiously, but then suddenly realised  that he couldn’t see on one side, nor  could he even feel his face.

Where his eye was supposed to be, was replaced by a sharp iron shard.

At that moment, he began to feel the pain.

“Euh, euh, akkkk!”

The man shrieked while grabbing his face.

At the same time, Aku Ryun yelled.

“Young Miss!”

“Yes!”

The child threw the red orb at the man.

As soon as the red orb hit the air, Aku Ryun dragged the child into the secret passageway.

Boom!

Even though they hadn’t moved very far, the passageway was still vibrating.

‘The red orb had exploded nicely.’

Aku Ryun turned his back towards the child.

“Get on my back.”

“No, no, I’m fine. I don’t want to be carried.”

The child flatly refused.

Rather now, he had to stop the child from jumping around.

“I understand. Please stop moving around .”

The child who had just calmed down searched her pockets and took out a round bottle.

“This… this is a medicine that you put on your wounds. If you rub this on me, I’ll be fine.”

When he took the bottle and smelled it, he could sense the unique smell of the Golden Medicine.

Aku Ryun poured a lot of the Golden Medicine and spread it onto the child’s shoulder.

He then tore his collar to cover the wound tightly.

“Are you all right?”

“Wow! It doesn’t hurt at all!”

Drawing a sharp breath to endure the pain, the child smiled brightly.

But even though the Golden Medicine could treat any kind of wound, it couldn’t reduce pain.

“You put it on, too. You’re hurting a lot.”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you want me to put it on?”

“……I’ll do it.”

Aku Ryun couldn’t overcome the child’s insistence then applied the Golden Medicine onto his  wound.

Afterwards, he started walking while holding the child’s hand.

The child’s hands were getting cold little by little.

‘Did she bleed too much?’

He couldn’t tell if she had injuries that couldn’t be treated even with the Golden Medicine.