Only the Mad are My Rivals.
Outside the Narak Inn, the riffraff had set up a siege.
Among them were even some familiar faces.
Behind me, Dongbangyeon was glaring at the back of my head.
I stood still, as if inviting an ambush, and took in the faces I hadn't seen in a long time.
It was a pointless exercise to confirm that this one was a subordinate of the Gambling King, and that one was too.
Amidst the riffraff, someone asked Dongbangyeon, "Are we going to die?"
As Dongbangyeon passed by me, he replied, "Gather everyone at the arena."
"Everyone?"
Dongbangyeon shouted, "All of them, without exception!"
Turning back to me, Dongbangyeon said, "What are you doing? Let's go."
I walked alongside Dongbangyeon towards the arena.
Some were going to call more people, but quite a few had surrounded me as we headed to the arena.
In the meantime, a group from the alley and those drinking outside the inn stood up, mixing with the ordinary guests and the remaining riffraff, quickly filling the street.
As the numbers grew, Dongbangyeon laughed.
"It's too late to regret now."
While walking beside Dongbangyeon, I spotted a familiar street vendor and cleared a path by hitting a few heads before pulling out a silver coin from my pouch.
"Sir, just one bingdang."
The vendor handed me a stick of bingdang with a surprised expression.
As I gave him the coin, he hurriedly opened his change pouch.
With the bingdang in my mouth, I said, "Keep the change."
"Oh, yes."
Sucking on the bingdang, I followed Dongbangyeon.
"Wow, it's been ages since I had bingdang."
As I made slurping sounds, Dongbangyeon sighed and cursed, "You idiot."
I couldn't hear the words of someone who was about to die.
By the time we arrived at the arena, ordinary spectators and gamblers unrelated to the Gambling King had gathered.
A common soldier who appeared from somewhere followed Dongbangyeon and asked, "What's going on? We agreed to fight tomorrow."
Dongbangyeon replied, "Shut up."
I pulled out the bingdang and added, "Shut up, you ordinary soldier."
Dongbangyeon addressed those following him.
"The Narak Society will kill this man in the arena."
I responded to Dongbangyeon's words alone, "Why? Do you want to make a grand entrance at the end? You foolish idiot. It's a mess because everyone is calling themselves a king. Is this the trend nowadays?"
I passed by, slapping the face of someone who was frowning at me.
"Get out of the way, you bastard."
The man who got slapped did a somersault and fainted as soon as he hit the ground.
I had successfully dealt with one without drawing attention.
As soon as we entered the arena, the riffraff spread out to the sides, and I headed straight for the center, loosening up my body.
Looking towards the entrance while doing a warm-up exercise called Jianghu Gymnastics, I noticed moths disguised as humans flocking in.
Not only in the arena but also in the stands, gambling-obsessed spirits gathered.
Then, as if a beacon was lit, the arena brightened, and the stage became increasingly illuminated.
I preferred it dark since I fought alone.
However, as the beacon circled the arena, it became as bright as day.
In such light, I could fight better.
An onlooker asked the common soldier, "What is going on? You need to explain."
Having heard a rough account of what happened to his subordinates, the common soldier replied, "Just watch today. This fight isn't about money."
"What fight is it that we can only watch?"
This time, I clapped my hands to gather attention.
"Listen up, everyone. Some of you may know, and some may not, but the highest authority here is the Gambling King."
Dongbangyeon shouted, "Shut up!"
If told to be quiet, I would only speak louder.
"The Gambling King is the owner of the Narak Inn. I will fight against the entire Narak Society, including the Gambling King. If I die, you can continue to be toys for the Gambling King. If I win, everything belonging to the Gambling King will be mine."
As I revealed the identity of the Gambling King in this place, Dongbangyeon's face turned bright red.
I pointed at him.
"That bastard is also a subordinate of the Gambling King. How can a king be someone else's subordinate? If it were a fair fight, he should have died long ago... He must have a long life."
I pointed at the more than a hundred subordinates of the Gambling King.
"I will give you one chance to live. The scary ones go up to the stands. Is there anyone?"
I withdrew my finger and scratched my nose.
"If not, then so be it."
In truth, I wouldn't kill them all.
If they were part of a cult or a higher organization, they would fight to the death.
However, a group gathered around gambling wouldn't be that ruthless.
Only the mad are my rivals.
Seeing the moths swarm like plum blossoms, I suddenly pulled out the black cat and slowly unfolded the plum blossom sword technique I had learned under the plum tree.
Since it wasn't a clearly refined technique yet, I moved as I intended.
Suddenly realizing that the light and cheerful mindset I had when thinking of the plum blossom sword technique didn't fit this situation, I gained another insight.
I concluded that I shouldn't use the noble plum blossom sword technique to kill gamblers.
There was no particular reason for this.
Dongbangyeon's voice rang out.
"Kill them."
Turning my head, I saw the moths gathering like ants.
I looked at the approaching ones, then put the black cat away and welcomed them with bare hands.
Bare hands originally meant having nothing, but in my case, it was different.
I wrapped my left hand with the spirit energy to make it bare-handed, while my right hand lightly clenched into a fist to make it empty-handed.
My family had been poor since I was young, but I was a man who succeeded with bare hands.
I calmed my mind and began to strike my enemies with the heart of a fighting rooster.
The heart of a fighting rooster is simple yet profound.
To explain, it means to strike wildly at a high level.
I dodged knives and swords, avoiding whips and spears.
If I saw an enemy's shoulder, I would strike their blood point, and if I saw their eyes, I would poke them with my fingers.
If I lowered my head and saw someone's foot, I would strike the top of their foot.
Bam! "Gah!"
I pushed away attacks that seemed impossible to counter with sheer force.
I jumped up, stepping on someone’s shoulder, then stepped on someone’s head, kicking the face of the surprised one before landing.
Still, it was busy.
I often had to lower my head and pulled my shoulders back to dodge swords, shooting energy forward with both hands while kicking away those approaching from behind.
They were inexperienced in group fighting.
"Pitiful fools."
Moreover, since the masters weren't stepping in, those who rushed in first only received a kick or a punch but rolled on the ground too obviously.
However, their screams were vividly desperate.
"Gah..."
"Ugh!"
One guy, after getting hit in the abdomen, clutched his belly and looked like he was about to faint on his knees.
He didn't faint immediately, but his will to faint was evident.
When I nudged his head, his eyes rolled back, and he fell sideways, pretending to faint.
A sigh escaped me.
How should I describe this atmosphere?
The riffraff were fighting half-heartedly because they valued their lives.
I was only hitting them lightly without swinging a sword.
The realization under the plum tree turned into a strange understanding.
Since I wasn't brutally killing them, the riffraff slowly began to grasp the situation and fought chaotically before collapsing on the ground.
They were surprisingly impressive.
Seeing the situation, Dongbangyeon seemed to find it amusing and shouted, "Get out of here!"
Dongbangyeon stood where the top masters who had been active in the martial arts gambling lined up.
Only thirty or forty of them were rolling on the ground, yet their expressions showed they were already flustered that their turn had come.
I even knew most of them.
I knew how they fought and what kind of personalities they had.
The important thing was that some of them were those I had to beat to death.
Suddenly pulling out the black cat and charging forward, surprisingly, a few started to flee.
I watched the fleeing ones and chased after the evil-faced ghost who had committed violence and rape in a past life.
I clearly showed my intent to only beat one.
The terrified ones quickly opened a path, leading to a chase between the fleeing evil-faced ghost and me.
The evil-faced ghost pushed people aside, shouting loudly.
It was a cry asking why they weren't helping, but his misdeeds made even his companions frown, so no one responded.
I leaped into the air, stepping on someone's shoulder, and swung the black cat at the back of the fleeing evil-faced ghost near the entrance.
I deflected the evil-faced ghost's jagged knife with the black cat and swiftly struck his vital point.
Then, I decapitated the evil-faced ghost with the black cat and turned around.
Hearing the sound of the headless evil-faced ghost hitting the ground, I looked around the arena.
"... There were more people to kill. Hey, you over there, get out of the way. You, I said move, you bastard."
As I looked around with the bloodied black cat in hand, unlike before, the riffraff moved around like fish avoiding a predator.
Suddenly charging forward like a madman, a collective scream erupted.
They were more afraid because they didn't understand why I was choosing to kill people.
Yet, I couldn't explain the reason for choosing to kill.
I spotted the one who often killed fellow gamblers for trivial reasons, Yisooja.
This time, without realizing it, I pointed my finger at Yisooja.
"Hey, you with the small eyes. Come here."
Yisooja widened his small eyes to the maximum and began to use lightness skills towards the nearby spectator stands.
As I ran, I picked up a fallen leaf blade from the ground, leaping into the air at an angle and throwing the leaf blade with fierce momentum.
In an instant, the red-glowing leaf blade shot out due to the spirit energy, piercing Yisooja's back and embedding itself in the wall.
With a cracking sound, Yisooja finally collapsed to the ground.
Only then did Dongbangyeon, realizing that all his subordinates were a bunch of useless rabble, fly in with his twin swords drawn.
At that moment, I swung the black cat continuously, creating sparks that danced in the air every time my weapon clashed.
Then, a fan held by the common soldier pushed in from my waist.
As I deflected Dongbangyeon's twin swords and stepped back, a force pushed in from behind.
I stomped the ground as if it were my enemy and leaped high into the air.
The evil-faced ghost's and Yisooja's companions had joined in.
As I shot straight up, Dongbangyeon, the common soldier, and the two who had ambushed me gathered near my landing spot, holding their weapons.
Seeing their antics, I clicked my tongue.
Did I look foolish?
I grabbed the black cat with both hands in mid-air and curled my body, spinning like a top caught in a whirlwind.
With both hands, I ignited the spirit energy, infusing it into the black cat.
Flames in the shape of blades shot out in all directions like a rain of flowers.
The latecomers who had ambushed me were already riddled with red holes all over their bodies, dying.
Dongbangyeon and the common soldier struggled to fend off the blade-like energy pouring out like a memorized chant.
This was an attack technique I had improvised during my frenzy, but in reality, it was just a wild display, so I hadn't given it a special name.
After causing a ruckus, maintaining silence was good for setting the atmosphere.
I knelt on my left knee and left hand on the ground, slowly lifting my head with the black cat extended horizontally.
I stood up as if to say something, slowly sheathing the black cat, then without saying a word, I unleashed a strike that severed the common soldier's neck, who was bleeding all over.
Thwack! The common soldier's head soared high into the air.