My Dad Is the Strongest Under Heaven
Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Episode 38. What Should Never Have Happened
“I am none other than Ju Gwang-do, master of this Muho Bandit Stronghold!”
Coupled with the savage aura he radiated with reckless abandon, his appearance—reminiscent of an enormous wild boar—was terrifying enough to make the knees of any ordinary person turn to water.
The monstrous strength he had demonstrated was equally immense.
Yet even at his appearance, the White Wolf Troop showed not the slightest trace of fear.
For among their own ranks walked a monster far worse than him.
“Tsk, tsk. For a mere bandit, you certainly have a big mouth.”
Gu Tae-san stepped forward.
Ju Gwang-do’s muscles bulged as if on the verge of bursting as he huffed with fury, but Gu Tae-san merely looked upon him with utter disdain.
At that, Ju Gwang-do snarled viciously.
“In all my life, I have never once lost a contest of strength against anyone! You ignorant pup who knows not the terror of a tiger!”
At Ju Gwang-do’s boastful declaration, Gu Tae-san let out a booming laugh.
“Is that so? What a coincidence. Neither have I. Then why don’t we settle right here and now which one of us is the frog in the well!”
“Hmph! A mere wretch like you dares—!”
With those words, Ju Gwang-do lunged forward with astonishing speed, closing the distance to Gu Tae-san.
It was a remarkably swift and sharp movement, completely unfitting his massive bulk.
He raised his prized great axe high into the air and brought it cleaving down with all his might.
As if intending to split him in two with a single blow.
He struck down with such ferocity that the sound of cleaving wind roared violently through the air.
However—
Craaash!
Ju Gwang-do’s axe, which should have split Gu Tae-san’s skull in two, slammed into the ground once again.
Before anyone realized, Gu Tae-san was standing behind him.
Having missed his mark, Ju Gwang-do gnashed his teeth and raised his axe upright.
“You cowardly bastard!”
“Cowardly?”
“Yes! To propose a contest of strength and then dodge like a coward—have you no shame?!”
“Haha. In this entire world, you must be the only one who calls dodging an enemy’s strike cowardly. Are you just ignorant, or plain stupid?”
“You bastard!”
Ju Gwang-do swung his axe wider and faster, determined not to let him slip away this time.
Yet Gu Tae-san evaded that attack with effortless composure as well.
“Swinging like that won’t even graze me. A turtle would be faster than you. Tsk, tsk.”
“Shut your mouth! I’ll split your head in half! Die!”
Infuriated to the brink, Ju Gwang-do swung his axe savagely once more.
The strike hurtled straight toward Gu Tae-san’s neck.
However—
Claaang!
Gu Tae-san swung his greatsword with a single hand, blocking Ju Gwang-do’s full-powered strike. No, he deflected it entirely.
“Kuuugh!”
Ju Gwang-do nearly dropped his axe without realizing it. The shock traveling through his hands was that numbing.
‘How… Th-this makes no sense!’
Ju Gwang-do was utterly astounded.
He had never once been pushed back in a contest of brute strength by anyone, making this an entirely novel experience.
It was sheer absurdity and bewilderment.
“What? Surprised? Looks like the frog in the well really was you, eh?”
“Wh-what? You bastard! Putting on airs just because you got lucky once! Fine, I will tear you limb from limb today!”
With Gu Tae-san’s single remark, Ju Gwang-do’s shock and confusion twisted into pure fury.
Soon, he threw every ounce of his power into swinging the axe.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The axe cleaved through the air with a chilling howl.
With every massive arc, the earth gouged and trees were severed.
Yet Gu Tae-san dodged each strike with effortless ease.
“Grrrgh!”
Realizing this wouldn’t work, Ju Gwang-do unleashed his ultimate technique in a surprise attack.
“I won’t hold back any longer!”
His eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
“Great Strength Cleave (大力斬)!”
Twisting his body to the limit and whipping the axe in reverse with all his might in a single instant, the strike looked terrifying even at a glance.
That ferocious blow flew in, threatening to cleave Gu Tae-san horizontally in two.
Yet the expression on Gu Tae-san’s face as he watched the attack was utterly bored.
“Turns out you weren’t much after all, were you?”
Then, just before the axe blade could strike him—
“Haaap!”
Gu Tae-san’s eyes flashed wide, and he slashed his greatsword diagonally against the incoming blade.
KABOOOM!
With an agonizing pain that felt as though his hands were being shattered, Ju Gwang-do’s axe was sent flying into the distance, sinking deep into the earth with a heavy thud.
“Aaaargh!”
His palms tore open, blood gushing forth in torrents.
Compared to Ju Gwang-do, who trembled in agony, Gu Tae-san stared down at him with an unruffled expression.
Ju Gwang-do was now completely defenseless.
Lifting his sword high, Gu Tae-san smirked.
“Is this really all you’ve got?”
“Wh-what?”
“Then let’s end this. I’ve lost all interest anyway. Farewell, frog in the well.”
“N-no! W-wait—!”
Turning pale, Ju Gwang-do tried to shout in panic, but Gu Tae-san slashed down as if there was nothing left to see.
Splat!
Gu Tae-san’s sword slashed across Ju Gwang-do’s throat, but because his neck was so thick, he was spared instant death.
Still, the ground was already drenched with his blood.
“Gurgle…”
Death seemed inevitable.
Yet, as he foamed blood at the mouth, he suddenly began to cackle.
“Heh… hehe, hehehe!”
Laughing? While on the verge of death?
Gu Tae-san and everyone watching wore identical expressions of bewilderment.
“Fools… marching into your own… graves without even… knowing it…”
Ju Gwang-do pointed a finger at the White Wolf Troop, grinning.
Even as dark red blood gushed relentlessly from his chest and mouth.
The sight sent a chill down the spines of all who saw it.
“All of you… will re… gret ever coming… here. You will all die… gurgle.”
Before long, his heavy body collapsed completely onto the ground with a thud.
For some reason, his face looked filled with immense resentment.
Just what had his parting words meant?
Was it merely a dying curse born of spite? Or was it…
Now that he was dead, none could ask him.
In any case, the leader of the Muho Bandit Stronghold, Ju Gwang-do, had met his end.
Yet as Yeo Woonhwi watched the scene, his eyes had narrowed.
A sense of unease told him something was terribly off.
Meanwhile, Gu Tae-san finished severing Ju Gwang-do’s head and held it high.
“The stronghold master’s head is taken! The rest of you remnants, throw down your weapons!”
Normally in such a situation, the surviving bandits would lose all will to fight and cast their weapons to the ground of their own accord.
Surrender was the standard course.
However—
“Pant, pant!”
Not a single surviving bandit threw down their weapon to surrender.
On the contrary, they gritted their teeth and gripped their weapons even tighter, as if refusing to give up like this.
It was truly bizarre.
Looking closer, their faces were pale with sheer terror.
Being terrified in such a situation was only natural, but the problem was that their terror did not seem directed at the White Wolf Troop.
“At, at this rate, we’re all, all going to die. Every one of us.”
“Ugh, ugh. Ever since that day, everything went wrong. Everything. Damn it. Dammit!”
Incomprehensible ramblings spilled from their mouths.
“What, have you all lost your minds as a group?! Surrender, or do you all want to die together on this very spot?”
Even when Oh Chae-mu yelled once more, the reaction remained unchanged.
Leaving bandits alive went against the law of Peng Mugang, Patriarch of the Paeng Clan, but in a non-combat situation where remnants surrendered, handing them over to the authorities was prioritized over indiscriminate slaughter.
Though the Paeng Clan’s way was to show no mercy to bandits, decapitating men who had lost all will to fight was an unpleasant deed regardless.
Above all, it was unbefitting of the Orthodox faction.
In those cases, the punishment was left to the authorities.
Yet faced with this, even Oh Chae-mu was at a loss for what to do.
A situation like this had never occurred before.
It was at that moment.
BOOOOM!
The innermost building of the stronghold exploded.
The blast was so massive that the ground itself seemed to tremble.
As if an earthquake had struck.
Naturally, every gaze turned toward the massive explosion.
And in that very instant—
“Tsk. Who dares disturb my afternoon nap?”
Without anyone noticing, an old man had appeared right amidst the members of the White Wolf Troop.
‘When did he…!’
Oh Chae-mu’s eyes widened.
He was an old man with a genial, smiling face.
Yet, for some reason, a sinister aura emanated from his figure.
Chilling to the bone.
Hmm?
Suddenly, Oh Chae-mu caught sight of a bizarre red birthmark on one side of the old man’s cheek.
Oh Chae-mu’s eyes widened to their limits.
Why was that man here…?
In the meantime—
“Hey, old man. Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?”
Gu Tae-san, who was closest to the old man, frowned and approached him.
Oh Chae-mu screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Tae-san! Get back! That man is—!”
“…Eh?”
But the old man moved first.
He casually waved a hand, and in that instant—
BOOM!
Gu Tae-san’s body was hurled across the clearing at terrifying speed and slammed into the opposite wall.
CRASH!
“Kuh-hurrrgh!”
Gu Tae-san collapsed on the spot.
From a single gesture of the old man’s hand.
“Oho, I intended to kill you in one blow, yet you have quite a sturdy frame. Hehehe.”
Simultaneously, a massive, viscous aura poured from the old man’s body, creeping unpleasantly across the entire surroundings.
“You damned geezer!”
The moment Gu Tae-san fell, the entire White Wolf Troop charged at the old man like lightning, as if by unspoken agreement.
“N-no, stop!”
Oh Chae-mu reached out and shouted, but it was already too late.
The old man spun lightly in a circle, and in the next breath, every member of the White Wolf Troop was sent flying in the same manner as Gu Tae-san.
Nearly all of them lost consciousness or collapsed, vomiting mouthfuls of blood.
Fzzzzzt!
Seizing the briefest opening, Do-gyeong’s arrow flew straight for the old man’s head, but—
Crack, snap.
The incoming arrow shattered into pieces in midair, and immediately following, Do-gyeong was struck full-force by an invisible burst of qi, collapsing to the ground.
“Waaaah!”
Unable to contain his rage, Oh Chae-mu swung his saber with everything he had.
Yet the old man caught the blade between two fingers with effortless ease.
Then, with a light flick of his other hand, the saber shattered to pieces as Oh Chae-mu was sent flying backward.
“Kuuugh.”
Oh Chae-mu barely managed to push himself up before vomiting a handful of blood.
“Guh-hurk!”
Just like that, everyone was brought down.
It had truly happened in the span of a single breath.
“Yes, yes. Hehehe. It is just as well; I was growing bored anyway. Having these foolish bandits capture people for me to slowly tear to pieces was getting rather dull.”
The old man’s genial smile deepened.
Yet that smile was horrific enough to freeze the blood.
“…The Extreme Evil Laughing Demon (極惡笑魔).”
The moniker slipped from Oh Chae-mu’s lips.
It was the name of a supreme arch-villain who had drenched the Murim in blood decades ago.
Indeed. The one thing that should never have happened had just befallen them.