While the giant was lying on the floor, bleeding.

The people, drunk on the festive atmosphere, sang and danced.

The man who was dancing more cheerfully than anyone else in the center of the commotion suddenly wiped the expression from his face and looked at a man who had just entered the shop.

It was a man wearing a hat pulled down low, and when he received Dofang's murderous gaze, he grinned.

The man's face was hidden in the darkness from the nose up because he was wearing a hat pulled down low.

Only his mouth was visible.

A mouth that was smiling like a waning moon.

"...."

Dofang, who had been looking at him for a moment, jumped down from the bar he had been on and slowly walked towards him.

Dofang created a smile again.

"Friend, it seems you're one of the flies who wants to challenge me after hearing my fame that has spread throughout the city. The provocation was quite good. No, it was excellent. I was almost angry. But do you know? Provocation requires preparation. The determination and skill not to be torn to pieces by the opponent who is angry at the provocation. As far as I can see, you don't seem to have either of those."

The man replied, picking his ear.

"You talk a lot."

Throb.

For a moment, a vein popped on Dofang's temple, but he forced a smile and suppressed his anger.

It wouldn't have mattered much if he had gone along with the other's pace, but his pride wouldn't allow it.

He threw his head back and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"

And then he looked at the unidentified man with a relaxed smile.

"Yes, I admit it. It's been a long time since I've had such a provocation. Is it the first time since that guy threw himself off the cliff? I don't know where you heard that story, but you used it in the right place at the right time. Excellent!"

Compared to his lengthy speech, the opponent's reaction was concise.

"Hey, has-been."

"Has-been, has-been?"

"Stop talking and come at me. Or are you scared?"

Dofang looked at the man with a blank face for a moment.

To shake him up so much with just a few words.

He was no ordinary guy.

The guts to come at him even after knowing his identity was not ordinary, and such a high-level provocation?

Was there another talent like this in the Maia Kingdom?

As Dofang hesitated for a moment, the man pulled one corner of his mouth into a sneer and opened his mouth again.

"I heard that the guy who fell off the cliff and died. He was a silver rank?"

Dofang's hand flinched.

"For Sherwood to be torn apart by the death of such a bug. They were weaker than I thought, weren't they?"

For a moment, his hand flashed.

A blade hidden in his sleeve flashed out and was caught between his fingers.

Dofang's lips curved into a line.

"Friend. Your tongue is quite sharp, isn't it? Haven't you learned that you'll be stabbed to death if you carelessly make fun of the dead? I'll have to chop that three-inch tongue into pieces so you won't blabber anymore."

The man simply countered Dofang's murderous threat.

By wiggling his fingers.

"Try it."

Sharp gazes were exchanged between the two.

The singing of the people who were drunk and merry receded like a distant noise.

The man grabbed the hilt of the sword at his waist, and Dofang grabbed the knife hidden in his sleeve.

The moment they were about to rush at each other.

The door burst open and a group of fierce-looking men rushed in.

"Begin!"

They looked for someone as soon as they entered.

And then they found the giant lying on the floor, and after checking his condition, they drew their swords.

At the murderous sound of a group of people drawing their swords, the people who were singing and dancing were startled and retreated.

They pointed their swords at the people and asked.

"Who... who! Who is the bastard who lost his mind and did this to Begin?"

Before anyone could say anything.

The man with the hat pulled down raised his hand and pointed at Dofang.

"This bastard!"

Dofang looked at him with a dumbfounded look.

"No, this bastard?"

The gangsters from the back alley with blades in their hands quickly surrounded Dofang.

With Dofang in his fancy clothes standing in the middle of all the dark men, he looked like the star of the stage.

"Did you kill Begin?"

Dofang admitted.

"Yes, I personally took that giant to the pier. He was a rather rude friend."

The men became furious.

"...This bastard dared to do that to Begin!"

"Where did you come from? Did the butcher send you?"

"No, you don't need to answer. I'll pull out your fingernails one by one. I'll make you desperate to talk."

Dofang sighed slightly and asked for their understanding.

"Friends, I'm sorry. If you want, I'll send you after him, so can you wait a little? I have a guest. It'll be over soon."

But of course, it didn't work on the men who were blinded by the death of their colleague.

"Kill him!"

Dofang clicked his tongue briefly.

For a moment, his figure blurred...

The men who were rushing at him collapsed almost at the same time.

It was in the blink of an eye.

They collapsed on the floor, gasping and clutching their necks, with their eyes wide open as if they couldn't believe it.

There was no bloodshed.

It was just that the moment the blade flashed, they became rotten logs and collapsed.

Dofang, who had taken care of them in an instant, habitually flicked his butterfly knife and looked at the man who had snitched.

"Friend. You have to take responsibility for your actions, right? No one likes a snitch."

The man scratched his cheek.

"That's true."

"Shall we try again?"

The moment the two took their stances again.

A noisy sound was heard from outside, and the door burst open again.

"I heard there's a guy who messed with our Parselson Street's Tramy gang!"

"Come out right now!"

"It's war!"

Dofang sighed.

"They're coming in a line. It would be faster to just go and destroy their base."

The man opposite him said, as if throwing it out.

"Need help?"

Dofang looked at him.

The man shrugged.

"To warm up. I'm not that busy either."

"...As you wish."

The Tramy gang members, who had found their family members lying in the shop, drew their blades and immediately rushed at the two.

"Kill them!"

"It's war!"

The two men took care of the fierce-looking men in an instant.

Dofang glanced at him fighting as he was taking down the guys.

He didn't even draw his sword, and he leisurely dodged the Tramy gang's attacks, poking them here and there with his fingers.

Strangely, those who were poked like that fainted on the spot.

'What is that...'

It was a magical attack at a glance, but it was definitely not magic.

He had never heard of magic that worked that way.

Then...

'Black magic?'

"Die!"

Swish!

Even when Dofang was distracted for a moment, his hand moved on its own and took the Tramy gang members to the pier where the boatman was waiting.

After that was taken care of, the man dusted off his hands and gestured towards the door.

"What are you doing? Let's hurry up and finish this and fight."

"...Alright."

Dofang followed the stranger out the door.

Although he was a stranger, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

'What is this feeling?'

A tingling feeling of almost knowing but not quite tormented Dofang.

Dofang threw off the feathered hat he had been wearing crookedly and followed him, ruffling his hair.

That day.

The underworld of Milgard, the capital of the Maia Kingdom.

One of the giant forces of the underworld that had been in charge of one axis.

The drug lord Tramy's gang was annihilated.

By just two men.

***

Squeak...

The door opened, and two men came out, dusting off their clothes.

"It didn't take as long as I thought."

"I know. We work surprisingly well together."

Through the crack of the door that opened as they came out, the inside was vaguely visible.

It was a scene of chaos.

After taking care of the Tramy gang, the two men straightened their disheveled clothes for a moment.

The man frowned as he dusted off the bottom of his pants.

"Damn it. I was careful not to get any blood on me."

"...."

"No, Master. It's been a long time. Isn't it because that Dofang guy was swinging his knife? I didn't even draw my sword on purpose so as not to get any blood on me."

"...?"

"Ah, really? My acupressure skills have improved quite a bit, right? Hehehe. It was fun to mix not only the blood acupoint but also the sleep acupoint and the paralysis acupoint. It's fun to use this in a real fight."

Dofang stared blankly at the man who was muttering to himself.

'Isn't this guy completely crazy?'

Dofang felt even more familiar.

Dofang said to the grinning stranger.

"Hey. Have we met somewhere before?"

The man pulled his hat down further, avoiding the answer.

"I don't know."

With a meaningful word and a corner of his mouth curved like a waning moon.

Dofang's sense of déjà vu only deepened.

Dofang was lost in thought for a moment, and the moment he looked around.

The man's attack flew at him without warning.

Dofang immediately rolled forward and dodged the attack.

The man muttered with a voice full of laughter.

"Carelessness is forbidden."

Dofang shot up and glared at the opponent who had launched a surprise attack.

"You're a fearless bastard. It was an excellent surprise attack."

The opponent answered briefly.

"I didn't ask."

Throb.

Dofang felt anger swirling in his heart, which had just calmed down.

But he forced it down and said in a calm tone.

"I've changed my mind. I won't kill you. Instead, I'll make you beg me to kill you."

The man just smiled slyly.

"Come at me."

Before Dofang launched his body, he saw the sword in his hand.

He had never drawn his sword while fighting until now.

And when he saw him draw his sword for the first time... it was a sword that was strangely broken in half.

'A half-sword?'

Dofang doubted his eyes.

Because he had never seen a crazy guy who carried around a sword that was broken in half.

'A swordsman with a half-sword. I've never heard of it.'

At that moment, a red aura shot up from the guy's half-sword.

"...!"

Dofang's eyes widened as if they would tear.

For a moment, a nickname he had heard somewhere in passing came to mind.

'No, I might have heard of it.'

Ashuban of the Half-Sword.

'...Ashuban?'

At that time, he had paused for a moment because it was a name he hadn't heard in a long time, but he had soon let it go.

It's not like that guy is the only one with the name Ashuban.

He had also vaguely heard a rumor that Sherwood had risen again.

But he didn't believe it.

Because there had been a time before when some pathetic guys had stolen the name of Sherwood and set up a mercenary corps.

But, is this all a coincidence?

This terrifyingly familiar feeling. The appearance of a swordsman with a half-sword named Ashuban. The sudden news of the re-establishment of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps.

'No way?'

Even as he chided himself that it couldn't be.

A single ray of hope that had suddenly sprouted tormented him.

'Is that guy really dead?'

The roar of Gustan, who had been crying out at the cliff that had taken him, came to mind.

—No, it can't be. He's not a guy who would die in a place like this.

—There's no way that guy would have gone so in vain. That's right.

—Ashubaaaaan!!!

Hope is a truly tenacious thing, and the moment he saw even the faintest possibility, he couldn't let it go.

'Come to think of it. Did I see that guy die with my own eyes?'

The voice of reason shouted at him that the guy had fallen from the Mist Cliff, where no one had ever returned alive, and that he wasn't this strong.

But Dofang couldn't hear it. No, he ignored it.

'It's really Ashuban. That guy?'

His thoughts didn't last long.

Because the guy rushed at him, swinging his sword.

Instead of dodging, Dofang hurriedly created an aura and wrapped it around his knife.

Clang!

His hand trembled.

Dofang saw the red eyes flashing under the hat.

Ashuban's eyes were not red.

Of course, because he had been swinging his sword late into the night, they were bloodshot and had a reddish tinge, but they definitely didn't flash with such a clear bloody light.

Nevertheless.

'I have to check.'

Dofang had to check.

Even if the single ray of hope that had suddenly appeared turned into despair, he had to check.

Why was he wearing a hat pulled down so low in the middle of the night?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Dofang exchanged blows with the guy and looked for an opening...

Swish!

He swung his knife like lightning.

From bottom to top.

The guy dodged the knife by a hair's breadth by tilting his head back.

But.

Sssak—

The hat he was wearing couldn't dodge Dofang's sword strike.

The hat that was covering half of his face slipped off, and his face was revealed under the faint moonlight.

"...!"

Dofang's eyes widened as if he couldn't believe it.

"...Ashuban?"

"Ah."

The man belatedly fumbled with his head where the hat had been, and then he frowned.

"Damn it."

(End of Chapter)