Urban Vagabond: Reload

BOOM!

I kicked off hard enough to feel like I might smash the floor, and my body shot forward in a straight line. Metal energy wrapped around my whole body, adding explosive force to my sprint.

“You’re in a hurry to die.”

With cold eyes, Gu Jaseung watched me come, then swung his sword in a wide arc—like he meant to cut the intruder down in a single stroke.

But his blade didn’t reach me.

SCREEE—

As if slamming on the brakes, I stopped dead and leaned my upper body back, dodging his sword. The edge skimmed past my eyes by a hair.

Switch.

If metal energy hardened and strengthened the body like steel, then water energy softened the whole body overall.

I draped a blue haze over myself, and even the sudden change in direction didn’t strain my joints. I circled to Gu Jaseung’s left and snapped my sword out.

CLANG!

“Ghk!”

To Gu Jaseung’s eyes, the opponent who had charged with fierce momentum froze like a paused screen—then, in the next instant, accelerated again and swung.

An attack you could barely call a technique—created purely by tempo control.

He’s not ordinary.

Wariness seeped into Gu Jaseung’s eyes as he stopped underestimating me.

To adjust strength and speed this smoothly demanded exceptional sense and experience.

“...So you’re not some petty thief.”

As Gu Jaseung seriously drew up his internal energy, his martial robe began flapping wildly.

He was Great Heaven Gate’s youngest elder—an expert at the pinnacle level, and a man aiming for the future sect leader’s seat.

With his presence swelling, Gu Jaseung stepped in with a forward footwork pattern and closed the distance.

“Since you’re keeping your mouth shut, it seems I’ll have to sever one of your limbs before we can have a conversation.”

Heh.

Even with my face covered, a deflated chuckle leaked out. A faint killing intent gathered in Gu Jaseung’s eyes, and at the same time, translucent sword energy formed along his blade.

“You insolent bastard!”

From Gu Jaseung’s sword, Great Heaven Gate’s signature martial art unfolded—the Great Heaven Sword Art, the art that had elevated the sect to its current position.

A heavy sword brimming with discipline and power pressed from all directions, trying to trap me inside a sword zone.

It was suffocating just to watch, but I stared with sunken eyes, closely reading his sword path.

Switch again.

The spot where blue energy had flowed blurred out, replaced by golden light. From my hardened body, the condensed power detonated in one burst.

My sword found the exact point that cut off the pulse of his sword path, and I slammed down hard—aiming for maximum effect with minimal force.

KRRRANG—!

The collision shoved both of us sliding back. Our feet scraped grooves into the floor—two lines of nearly the same length.

“...!”

Gu Jaseung looked stunned.

Even if Great Heaven Gate wasn’t one of the Eight Great Sects, he was someone whose talent and skill had been recognized—becoming the youngest elder in the sect.

He’d chosen Great Heaven Gate because he preferred being a snake’s head over a dragon’s tail, but if he’d wanted, he could’ve been an elite martial artist of the Eight Great Sects.

An intruder can match me?

Even as he stared at me in shock, I didn’t stop. Switching freely between metal energy and water energy whenever I needed, I kept swinging.

CLACK-CLACK-CLANG!

Our sword paths tangled like a snarled knot. The blades were so fast their traces blurred, and sparks kept bursting between those faint arcs.

I’m getting used to it, little by little.

In the process, I was rapidly becoming more proficient at handling the Five Elements Divine Art’s internal energy. The blade grazing my clothes, the kind of danger where a single moment of distraction could take my head—those situations came again and again.

It was real combat, where extreme focus was unavoidable. The verses of the Five Elements Divine Art I’d learned in my head, the newly accepted internal energy, and my swordsmanship began slotting into harmony on their own.

Just a little more.

Gu Jaseung of Great Heaven Gate wasn’t an opponent you could call easy, even out of courtesy. Every time I met that heavy sword, my bones tingled, and one mistake could lead to an irreversible result.

But that’s exactly why it’s worth it.

I was the kind of person who felt more comfortable dancing on a tightrope. Adrenaline surged, and my senses honed sharper.

Compared to him, my internal energy was lacking—but I filled the gap with innate sense, experience crossing the line of death countless times, and mind games and reading the flow. It was something I knew very well.

“What...!”

From the opponent’s side, though, confusion could only grow as the intruder’s attacks became more ferocious and more precise by the second.

Gu Jaseung felt it—the skill of the one who’d infiltrated Great Heaven Gate was anything but normal. And instead of flaring hotter, his anger chilled, sending a shiver up his spine.

What the hell happened here?

His wariness spiked. He deployed his swordsmanship more defensively—and that, by coincidence, helped me launch even bolder, more aggressive offense.

KRRRANG!

After a hard clash, we separated and stood at distance. I briefly settled my rough breathing and checked the time.

Feels like about five minutes have passed.

Small cuts had formed, but none worth worrying about. My mask wasn’t torn, and there was no sign Gu Jaseung had realized my identity.

I’ll try this one last thing, then leave.

SSSSSS—

The air around me began to grow colder.

Metal Gives Birth to Water.

The idea that “metal energy fosters water energy” was like moisture beading on cold steel.

And the water energy I carried was rooted in Yin-Extreme qi. Rapidly chilled water energy cooled the metal energy, and the cooled metal energy, in turn, fostered the water energy even more.

KRRRKKK—!

The two energies, unified like that, dyed white and manifested an ice technique.

Gu Jaseung’s eyes widened at the white wind swirling around my body.

“Ice technique...?”

It came out as a crushed groan. Gu Jaseung’s gaze wavered—and for the first time, he stepped back.

What? You were fighting fine—why are you retreating?

Coldly speaking, there was no reason for Gu Jaseung to retreat in this fight.

Even if my skill had leapt forward, it wasn’t to the point of overwhelming a Great Heaven Gate elder.

Meanwhile, Gu Jaseung was in a position where just dragging time out would tilt things further and further in his favor.

“W-Wait. Just a moment!”

Then Gu Jaseung opened his mouth, his face suddenly more anxious than before.

“When I saw you using that strange internal energy, I first thought you were from the unorthodox side. A thief who came to steal this sect’s martial arts or treasures. But this ice technique...”

And he’s even speaking politely? Something’s here.

I didn’t answer. I simply stared at him with a cold gaze.

If I let him keep misunderstanding on his own, he’d talk by himself—that was my judgment.

And that reaction seemed to give him some kind of certainty.

“...As I thought.”

Even though no one else was listening, Gu Jaseung lowered his voice to the utmost and continued.

“Did you come from Sun and Moon Gate?”

Sun and Moon Gate?

I was startled by the unexpected question, but I didn’t let it show.

Asking whether an illegal infiltrator in your own headquarters came from Sun and Moon Gate....

My head spun, and I drew a conclusion for what this situation could mean.

The odds are high that the upper layer of Great Heaven Gate my master suspected is Sun and Moon Gate. Even if not, at minimum it means the two are tightly connected.

After a brief pause, I lowered my sword and shifted into a tilted stance.

“So you had some sense, after all.”

I answered in a gravelly, altered voice, then casually shoved a hand into one pocket.

I did it to find my phone and turn on the recording function.

Gu Jaseung’s expression hardened.

“Why is Sun and Moon Gate doing this?”

“Are you asking because you truly don’t know?”

“...If you give me instruction, I will listen.”

At him bowing his pride first to ask, I hesitated briefly, then prodded.

“Ghostshade House.”

Gu Jaseung flinched. Not missing it, I spoke in a slightly stiffer voice.

“And the Martial Alliance.”

“What are you talking about....”

There’d been a clear reaction when I said Ghostshade House, but his response to the Martial Alliance was subtle.

I couldn’t guess exactly how far Great Heaven Gate’s involvement went. So I raised killing intent and pressed with momentum.

“You shamelessly ask back? If a dog fails the mission its master gave, it should be punished.”

“Ridiculous!”

Gu Jaseung shouted in fury at the insult—comparing his sect to a dog.

But I didn’t react. I waited for the opponent who’d fallen into my provocation to spit information on his own.

“We failed? Absurd. You’re the ones who failed at the license exam without accomplishing anything—weren’t you?”

“...This is our sect’s responsibility?”

“If anything, we’re the ones who should be angry. Do you have any idea how hard we worked to erase the traces left behind in the Martial Alliance? If you had even a shred of decency, you’d start by thanking us!”

As I watched Gu Jaseung—face red, pouring out his speech—I prayed my phone’s recording had captured it properly.

After a stretch of silence, I let out a long sigh.

Then, with a voice steeped in thick killing intent, I said,

“Since when did a sect like Great Heaven Gate get to stick its neck up so stiff in front of our sect?”

“...!”

Trembling with rising rage and humiliation, Gu Jaseung’s body shook.

Not at the level of the Eight Great Sects, but still—an elder of a famed mid-tier sect.

No matter how close Sun and Moon Gate and Great Heaven Gate were, what I’d just said was an outrageous insult.

If it’s now, I could do a proper life-and-death duel.

For a moment, I imagined fighting Gu Jaseung at full power—then clicked my tongue and decided to save it for later.

This is enough for today.

Time was tight, and I’d also just come up with a plan better than fighting him.

If conflict breaks out between Sun and Moon Gate and Great Heaven Gate, digging into them will get easier.

For that, it was better if Gu Jaseung amplified the misunderstanding himself.

As a leading candidate for Great Heaven Gate’s next sect leader, his influence inside the sect would be large.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. You lot are nothing but expendable tools we can replace anytime.”

“...Even if you’re from Sun and Moon Gate, I won’t endure any further humiliation.”

Gu Jaseung raised the sword he’d lowered and glared at me with killing intent.

I chuckled—and instead, sheathed my sword.

“I only came to deliver a light warning today. I trust you understand well enough now.”

I turned and walked slowly down the corridor on purpose—when Gu Jaseung’s voice came from behind me.

“What is your name?”

“You don’t have the right to know.”

Gu Jaseung only glared savagely at my back. He didn’t recklessly chase.

Good.

After confirming his presence had completely faded behind me, I exploded into lightness technique at full power and escaped the building.

WEEEEEEEE—!

Intruder! Find the intruder!

There’s someone suspicious over there! Chase!

I saw fire engines and police cars responding to the flames, and martial artists running in with lightness technique.

Barely slipping past them, I didn’t breathe out until I’d reached a safe place.

“Whew....”

If I’d been even a little late, the encirclement would’ve been woven too tight, and I might not have gotten out.

But my expression was bright.

I was satisfied with how much real-combat experience I’d built against a pinnacle expert.

“And I think I won the bet with my master too.”

[If anything, we’re the ones who should be angry. Do you have any idea how hard we worked to erase the traces left behind in the Martial Alliance? If you had even a shred of decency, you’d start by thanking us!]

After checking the clearly recorded voice on my phone, I started thinking about what wish I should ask my master to grant—then headed to the place we’d agreed to meet after escaping.