Machine God with EX-rank talent (Deus ex machina)

The three hidden assailants were all at least first-rate martial artists, possibly on the verge of reaching the pinnacle. If this had been the old Dokgo Jeong, he would have had to sacrifice a limb just to barely escape with his life.

But Hyun Suho had grown significantly in just five days, thanks to Nova's help. The phrase "remarkable transformation" would be an apt description.

His mental fortitude, verified by the system as being EX-class, was far superior to that of the young and inexperienced Dokgo Jeong.

Even so, this situation was far from easy.

“Kill him quickly, and let's move on!” 

The one who seemed to be the leader spoke, crossing his arms, as the two masked men in front approached, their eyes brimming with murderous intent, swinging their swords.

Swish!

The strikes were filled with lethal intent.

They aimed only for vital spots like the neck, heart, and lungs.

Unlike his original world, there was no armor here, nor were there healing potions.

Even a scratch could be fatal.

Hyun Suho barely managed to block the swords, staggering backward as if he might fall.

Clang!

If there was one advantage, it was that Hyun Suho had been eating well, resting, and training, while these men had spent ten full days on watch, barely eating.

No matter how well-trained a martial artist was, there were limits to endurance.

This was one of the reasons Hyun Suho could block two attacks without any injuries.

The assailants, who thought they could finish this easily, seemed to be getting frustrated.

“Look at this! He’s holding out?”

“If you resist, you'll only make it more painful! Just offer your neck already!”

There was nowhere to run anyway.

The two men believed Hyun Suho to be nothing more than a rat in a trap and cleverly cornered him.

Although Hyun Suho somehow managed to block their swords with precarious movements, he was soon backed into a wall.

Confirming that Hyun Suho was cornered, the two men sneered.

“Heh! Is that the end of your struggle?”

Hyun Suho, taking deep breaths, asked, “Who are you? Why are you committing such heinous acts?”

Judging by their voices, they were likely young men.

Yet, if they were at the brink of mastery at such a young age, they weren’t just any mercenaries or assassins.

Only those who trained systematically in a prestigious sect could surpass the wall of mastery at a young age.

“What does it matter to you? Do you think knowing will let you survive here? Fine, listen well. I am….”

“Enough!” 

The man behind him cut off the one who was about to ramble on.

The front man, catching the hint, glanced back nervously and said, “He's going to die anyway….”

“There’s no time for games. Even though we’ve controlled the area, bringing down a family as old as the Dokgo clan is no small commotion.”

“Ugh! Fine, senior.”

The fact that they used the term "senior" made it clear. These men were undoubtedly from some sect.

There weren’t many sects capable of producing warriors of this caliber.

Hyun Suho scowled and said, “Could it be… the Nine Great Sects?”

Only the Nine Great Sects could train young martial artists to such a level.

It was possible for a great clan, but the term "senior" was used more by sects.

“Why! Why would a prestigious sect commit such an atrocity?”

Wolves in sheep's clothing.

The thought that one of the Nine Great Sects, normally respected by the people, had attacked them made anger surge to the top of Hyun Suho’s head.

“I won't forgive you!”

As Hyun Suho charged recklessly, the masked man deflected his sword and kneed him in the abdomen.

Thud!

“Gah!”

It was a knee strike, but it was a heavy blow imbued with internal energy.

Hyun Suho dropped his sword and collapsed.

“Ugh!”

“Stop resisting, brat.”

Even though Hyun Suho’s eyes hadn’t lost their fire, the man snorted and grabbed him by the hair, shaking him.

“Hey! Just in case, do you know anything about the Azure Dragon Statue?”

“The… Azure Dragon Statue?”

Seeing Hyun Suho’s confused expression, the man spoke in a disappointed tone.

“Figures. If even your brothers didn’t know, why would you? So it really burned up here?”

The man asked the other standing behind him, who shook his head.

“Nonsense. Do you think the Azure Dragon Statue could be destroyed by a mere fire?”

“True, that means it must have been hidden somewhere else…. That stubborn old man didn’t even flinch when his family was dying right in front of him.”

“We underestimated the Dokgo patriarch.”

“Heh! He must have known we had no intention of letting him live.”

Hyun Suho’s eyes blazed with fury as he shouted, “Father?! What did you do to my father?”

The man sneered as he spoke again, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“What do you think? Did you expect us to let him go?”

“You bastards!”

Hyun Suho struggled, but the man easily overpowered him.

“A brat who doesn’t even know his place, but still has the nerve to talk. Senior, what should we do? This is the only one left. If we take him and torture him, he might know something.”

Even though the Dokgo patriarch had hidden it well, they thought that maybe, just maybe, Dokgo Jeong might have seen or heard something in passing.

“That makes sense.”

"They killed the others too easily. If we don’t want to waste time, we should take at least one with us, right?"

The man who seemed to be the eldest among them habitually stroked his chin but stopped when he felt the mask on his face and returned his hand to its original position.

"Hmm! It's risky…."

Things had escalated to this point, so if, by any chance, Dokgo Jeong escaped or if they were discovered, their sect would undoubtedly be labeled as a demonic cult. 

Considering what they had done so far, they wouldn't be able to argue against being labeled as such. However, up until now, their sect had been known as a representative of justice.

Of course, if they had considered such things, they wouldn’t have carried out this attack in the first place.

"Fine. Then take him with you."

The man who received permission grinned as he approached Hyun Suho.

"You get to keep your life, so just come quietly."

"So that was your goal all along? The Azure Dragon Statue? Did you kill everyone because of that?"

"It's a treasure beyond your means, and such things always bring disaster. The Dokgo clan brought this upon themselves."

"...So, you’ve already gotten all the information you needed?"

"What?"

The man flinched at Hyun Suho’s suddenly sharp gaze, but it was already too late.

"Nova!"

[Releasing electrical current.]

At that moment, powerful electrical currents surged from Hyun Suho’s body, shocking the man who was holding him.

Bzzz!

"Argh!!!"

This was one of the few abilities that Nova, in its current state as a brain-linked computer, could use, much like the healing factor.

With Dokgo Jeong's current abilities, it was limited, but it was enough to deliver a significant shock to anyone in close proximity.

As the man collapsed to the ground, black smoke rising from his mouth, the one next to him shouted in surprise.

"Jin Cheol! You bastard!"

Seeing his fallen senior, the remaining man immediately drew his sword and swung it, but Hyun Suho had already snatched up the sword from the electrocuted man and was swinging it.

Clang!

A straightforward thrust from his opponent.

Hyun Suho smoothly drew a circle with the tip of his sword, redirecting the force of the attack and using that momentum to counter.

Slash!

It was a clean, precise strike.

The man, unable to believe what had just happened, opened his mouth in disbelief.

"Th-this...'Ewah Jeomok ('Flower Grafting Technique')… impossible… how could a brat like you…?"

'Ewah Jeomok' (移花接木), the martial principle of using the opponent’s force to turn their attack against them.

The 'Heavenly Sword Technique' of the Heavenly Demon Cult and the 'Taiji Sword Technique' of the Wudang Sect are techniques that apply this principle.

While what Hyun Suho used was a basic level of 'Ewah Jeomok', it was still a highly difficult technique that even well-known masters in the martial world found challenging to execute.

It wasn’t something that a young warrior should have been able to use.

The man still wore a look of disbelief as he struggled to comprehend the situation.

"You… tricked us…."

He had much more to say, but with his heart split open, he couldn’t last much longer.

Thud!

As the two men fell to the ground so unexpectedly, the one who had been watching from behind was utterly shocked.

They had heard rumors that Dokgo Jeong was exceptionally talented, but after all, he was still a youngster who hadn’t even reached the age of twenty.

Even their older brothers couldn’t stand against these men, yet here they were, defeated.

"You brat! What kind of sorcery is this?!"

His accusation wasn’t entirely wrong.

The first man had indeed been taken down by Nova’s power.

From their perspective, calling it sorcery wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate.

But the second man was different.

That was purely Hyun Suho’s own skill, drawn out by using Dokgo Jeong’s memories and potential.

In particular, the 'Ewah Jeomok' technique (Flower Grafting Technique), which Dokgo Jeong had not yet mastered, was something Hyun Suho had painstakingly practiced.

It was a trump card he had prepared for such crises, and fortunately, it worked well.

Now, the fight had become a one-on-one situation.

Hyun Suho, without fear, swung his sword at the approaching man.

Clang!

As their swords clashed, Hyun Suho smirked, taunting his opponent.

"You sure do like to talk when someone pretends to let you have your way."

At first, Hyun Suho had seemed helpless for two reasons.

One was to gauge their true abilities.

Once he was confident he could win, he acted decisively.

The other reason was to find out why they had attacked the Dokgo clan.

Since the quest objective was marked with a question mark, he had to uncover clues himself.

Luckily, these men had assumed they’d already won and revealed crucial information.

‘The Azure Dragon Statue.’

These men had attacked the clan to find the Azure Dragon Statue.

This was something Hyun Suho could figure out by sifting through Dokgo Jeong’s memories.

Actually, he had already figured it out.

[The Azure Dragon Statue brought to the Dokgo clan was placed in a flood-stricken area five years ago.]

The clan had an Azure Dragon Statue that had been passed down through generations.

It was a treasured object that had originally been displayed in the patriarch’s room.

Five years ago, when a flood devastated a nearby village, they moved the statue to the riverbank.

They believed the Azure Dragon would protect the village from floods, like a guardian deity.

If these outsiders were looking for an Azure Dragon Statue, that was the only one.

"I don't need you anymore."

"You brat! How dare you be so arrogant!"

Two of his comrades had already fallen, but the man thought it was simply because they had been careless.

No matter what kind of sorcery or poison was used, he was confident that if he kept his eyes open and prepared himself, he would not lose.

With that determination, he began to put more force into his sword strikes… but the battle went in a completely different direction than he had expected.

Clang!

The Dokgo clan’s traditional swordsmanship, Dokgo Swordsmanship.

It’s a high-level sword technique composed of twelve forms.

It had been passed down through the clan for hundreds of years, refined over many generations to its current form.

However, according to Nova’s vast database, the current Dokgo Swordsmanship was lacking in many ways.

[Originally, the Dokgo family descended from the Dukgu tribe of the Xianbei. They used a tyrannical martial art that made warriors across the land tremble in fear.]

This was information Hyun Suho had learned from Dokgo Jeong's memories.

When the Dokgo clan integrated into the martial world, they wanted to erase their origins as barbarians.

As a result, they intentionally suppressed the barbaric and warlike spirit in their martial arts.

While their swordsmanship became more sophisticated as they intended, it also lost much of its original, storm-like ferocity.

Nova suggested restoring it to its former state.

They eliminated three defensive forms from the original twelve, transforming the technique into an entirely offensive martial art.

The new swordsmanship was not only a mix of the original Dokgo Swordsmanship but also included techniques from Dokgo Jeong’s memories and the swordsmanship of the Nacheonryeo.

The result was a resounding success.

The spirit of the nomadic tribe that once ruled the great plains was now fully imbued into the sword.

As the storm-like slashes came from all directions, the man gritted his teeth and desperately swung his sword.

Clang! Clang, clang!

He was swinging his sword with all his might, feeling as if his arms would break, yet he was the one being pushed back.

The man, who until now had thought there were few of his peers who could match him, couldn’t believe what was happening.

“It must be sorcery! How could this be possible without sorcery…?!”

The strikes came from angles he couldn’t have imagined.

They were too straightforward to be called ambushes and too varied to be called secret techniques.

He wanted to believe it was all an illusion, but the force he felt through the sword was too powerful and real.

Hyun Suho spoke, channeling Dokgo Jeong’s anger.

“Apologize in hell.”

“W-wait…!”

Sensing his imminent death, the man shouted in a last desperate attempt, but Hyun Suho pressed down with all his strength.

Boom!

As the powerful sword strike was unleashed, the area where the man had stood was left in ruins.

The man’s body was so mangled it was unrecognizable.

It was clear why the Dokgo clan had restrained themselves, refining their swordsmanship to avoid such a brutal display.

If this kind of swordsmanship was used openly in the martial world, it would surely be labeled as heretical.

Hyun Suho looked around, confirmed that no one else was coming, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

"I expected some level of difficulty since it’s a 7-star quest, but… this is too much."

The difficulty had been hellish from the start.

Even though he had grown stronger with Nova’s help, he would have been doomed if he had faced two of them at once.

If he hadn’t quickly dealt with the first two through a surprise attack, he would have been killed or dragged away like a dog by now.

“It’s the Mount Hua Sect.”

He had intended to conceal his identity, but the man’s swordsmanship gave it away.

It was undoubtedly the Plum Blossom Swordsmanship, the main technique of the Mount Hua Sect.

Among the Nine Great Clans, the Mount Hua Sect was one of the top-ranked, and they were the ones who had attacked the Dokgo clan.

At that moment, Nova spoke.

[Being captured by them might have been the real start. If it weren’t, the difficulty level would have been at least 10 stars.]

“Really?”

Now that he thought about it, they did say they were going to take him alive.

They probably intended to imprison him in a place like Mount Hua’s secret dungeon and torture him to extract information.

“So does that mean I messed up the quest?”

If being captured was the intended route, killing all of them could have been a mistake.

[Since you already know the exact location of the Azure Dragon Statue, that’s unlikely. You probably just took a shortcut.]

As if confirming Nova’s words, a new message window appeared.

◆Quest

The End of Vengeance

(Difficulty ★★★★★)

▷Objective: ??? Defeat

“…The difficulty dropped to 5 stars.”

Thanks to taking an unconventional route and achieving an exceptional feat, the difficulty had dropped by two levels in real-time.