Mercenary Black Mamba

The left-side bodyguard Ahmmad quickly stood next to Edel. Samdi and him called themselves Edel's royal guards, after all. The left-handed Ahmmad volunteered to become the left-side bodyguard, resulting in others dubbing Samdi as the right-side bodyguard.

The right-side bodyguard, Samdi, had preternatural quick wits despite his bear-like appearance. He slipped in among the crowd like a sneaky shadow while Ahmmad and his sharply-gleaming eyes followed after Edel.

'You dumbass. You're marked by Jin Soon now. Tsk, tsk!'

Samdi expressed his condolences to the simple-and-honest Ahmmad. That one thing separating humans from animals was that the battle between females were so much more visceral and deadly than that of males.

Getting tangled up in a fight between women – and not just any women, but women with strength – would, at best, result in mortal injuries. Samdi cared deeply for both Jin Soon and Edel. Since Jin Soon's younger sisters were here, she must be watching the proceedings from somewhere, too.

Samdi definitely did not wish to be marked by her and be subjected to her glares for the rest of his life.

*

With the opulent han-ock and its vast green lawn serving as a backdrop, the seductive charm oozing off of the Western Nine-Tailed Fox appearing solo could only be described as heart-stopping.

Even Bell Man and Jang Shin who knew Edel almost better than anyone could only stare agape, their jaws dropped to the floor. The five sisters were in a crisis mode too. Their four pairs of eyes staring at Edel began shooting flames out as if to set the foreign woman on fire.

"Is she a Hollywood actress or a supermodel?"

"So freaking hot, too! She's glowing all by herself! Look at all that glow!"

"So bloody unfair! How can anyone be so genetically superior?!"

"But this is bad, you know! She's even prettier than our own sister. Should I dump a bucket of dirty water on her or something?"

The five sisters, their eyes in a various states of dreaminess, spat out critiques matching their individual personalities. They could not even muster up the will to find fault in that absolutely stunning beauty. Shock, adoration, jealousy, worry... All sorts of emotions ran amok inside the hearts of these young women.

One beat later, the eighth van performed a showy drift while pushing across the parking lot's brick floor. The rear door slid open wide and a pitch-black shadow leaped out from the opening.

The shadow crossed the air and lightly landed about one step behind Edel. Dino was putting on a grand show for its entrance befitting of Edel's exclusive guard.

"Ack?! What on earth is that?!"

"Mommy?! It's a monster!"

Screams exploded out from everywhere. You wouldn't be a human if a buffalo-sized predator's sudden appearance failed to shock you. Dino raised its head high up and opened its maw wide.

"Roar!"

A powerful low frequency howling rocked the Eungsim-je (the House of Accepting Hearts). It was declaring that any existence daring to threaten Edel would not be forgiven.

"Dino, behave yourself. This is Lord Dubaiburupa's home." Edel gently patted Dino's head.

The big creature flinched, then nodded in understanding before lowering its posture.

"Wow!"

The eyes of the five sisters grew super-wide. The records showed that Cleopatra was accompanied by a black panther, but not in a million years did they imagine that a modern day re-imagining would appear before them. A blindingly beautiful woman, protected by a beast! What a fantasy-like sight this was.

"This world is so unfair!"

Four young women spat out lengthy groans. None of them knew that a real fantasy-like existence was sticking close to their own big sister though.

*

"What the hell is that thing now?" Jang Shin's eyes grew wide.

"It's Dino. Wakil's pet, that's what it is. But uh, was it always that big?" Bell Man replied before tilting his head in confusion. When he last saw the creature back in Djibouti's beaches, Dino was about the size of a lioness but now, it rivalled a buffalo.

"As expected of Wakil. Even his pet is something else, alright." Jang Shin muttered away while sneakily hiding his home-made explosives back in his inner pocket.

Dino certainly was strong, but individuals surrounding Mu Ssang were just as dangerous as well.

"That's an incredible beauty accompanied by an amazing beast, isn't it? Nephew, what kind of an animal is that? A predator the size of a buffalo? I can't hardly believe my eyes." A dumbfounded-looking Hamilton glanced back at Mu Ssang.

"It's a subspecies of the now-extinct Dinofelis. I captured it back in Ituri's jungles."

"Aha, Ituri, I see!" Hamilton nodded in understanding.

Even now, fauna and flora no one had ever heard of or seen before were being discovered in the mysterious jungles of Ituri. An imposing creature like that could easily call that place its home.

*

"What was that noise?" Jin Soon, who was in the kitchen draining blood from ribs, asked Kamdoong.

[An insolent little kid is raising a bit of fuss, that's all.]

A disinterested-sounding reply rang inside Jin Soon's mind. After imprinting her blood into his database, Kamdoong could send her telepathic messages now.

"A little kid? What kind of a kid can make a noise that loud? And I thought I heard Mal Soon's screaming, too?"

[The invincible Eastern Swordsman is there, so why are you worried?]

"You're being noisy. Don't you know the saying that a woman's curiosity can even kill a cat?"

Her curiosity now genuinely piqued, Jin-soon took off the cooking gloves and headed to the main hall.

[No, it's actually 'curiosity killed the cat', not 'a woman's curiosity killed the cat', you know. Besides, I'm not a curious cat.]

Kamdoong grumbled while trudging along behind her.

Jin Soon's expression hardened when she got there. A figure of a semi-exposed beautiful Caucasian woman walking on the lawn like a trotting robin slammed hard into her view .

'That's Rudrey Edel?'

Jin Soon's eyes narrowed to slits. Women possessed a supernatural power of instinctively recognizing a potential love rival. Just one glance was enough to figure out that the Caucasian woman was 'Edel' from Ali the old man's explanation. Blood rushed instantly to Jin Soon's face as if she'd been riding a roller coaster.

*

Hadong-daek (auntie from Hadong), stupefied by Edel's appearance until then, glanced back at Jin Soon standing by the main hall. Her oldest child was wearing a pair of Levi's that tightly clung onto her shapely buttocks and the gap between her thighs, and a thin T-shirt that allowed her chest to protrude noticeably.

Even though Jin Soon did not expose any of her skin like the vulgar Western Nine-Tailed Fox, her attire amply displayed her superior figure for all to see.

As expected of a daughter whose good character was already well-known in all nearby villages since her childhood; a girl who did not give her mother any troubles during her birth!

Hadong-daek normally chided her daughter for the girl's uncouth dress sense, but right now, she felt rather relieved by it. With that much, that girl had no reason to cower before the Western Nine-Tails.

[Her refreshing and friendly facial features are like the midsummer breeze from the valleys of Wolsong Mountain. The line extending from her swan-like neck down to her deer-like shins is reminiscent of a blue dragon ascending to the heavens. Her firm hips and abundant chest are as dynamic as a white tiger! Her pelvis is light yet wide, so surely she can even support Mount Tai!]

Those words were not spoken by some vulgar lowlife, but the great old monk himself.

"Of course. Even the well-versed great monk acknowledged her as a pure masterpiece, so that Western Nine-Tails doesn't even stand a chance!"

Missus Hadong-daek filled the void left behind by slight inferiority with the great old monk's favorable evaluation. To her, titles like an esteemed daughter of an aristocratic house boasting lengthy history, the goddess of the mid-Africa, the angel of N'Djamena and the Lady of Novatopia meant nothing.

No, that woman was simply the Western Nine-Tailed Fox threatening her daughter's position. The eternal truth about an arm always bending inwardly remained true with Hadong-daek.

*

Edel, who was skipping across the lawn, suddenly came to a halt. This feeling of her temples being tightly suppressed... It felt like a wild predator was hiding in a forest and glaring at her. A chill ran down her spine. Her urgently-darting eyes eventually came to a stop.

A slender Eastern beauty standing proudly was haughtily looking down from a tall Oriental-style floor. That figure that filled Edel's view like some kind of a zoomed-in image. Edel instinctively realized that the worst obstacle in her life had finally made its entrance.

Until the 19th century, the British aristocrats married between cousins. One of Europe's most prominent royal houses, House of Habsburg, declined everyone because of relatives marrying each other. Uncle Ombuti said that even he was unsure whether that woman was Dubai's real younger sister or a lover. However, in case of uncertainty... That woman was 100% his lover.

Sparks exploded between a pair of black eyes and blue eyes. Jin Soon's eyes were clearly black, but upon a closer inspection, they were actually the so-called 'phoenix eyes' (monolid eyes) with hints of crimson streaks in them. Edel's blue eyes were typical Caucasian upturned eyes. One gave off an air of dignity, while the other was innocent and adorable-looking.

On one side was a wild aster that lived through all sorts of ups and downs and even had to sooth her hungry tummy with water in the past. On the other side was an esteemed daughter that enjoyed a sheltered life of a flower in a greenhouse. Even in terms of their natural personalities, Jin Soon was an amazonian, while Edel was tender and kind.

So much so that the latter even gave up on avenging her father's unfair death and tried to heal the wound in her heart by performing charity works. Her irises began shaking precariously after being subjected to a firm, unyielding glare.

'Samdi, help me!'

Edel looked around for Samdi's figure. Even her breathing became heavier, faster. She felt like passing out from the lack of oxygen. Her eyes finally spotted Samdi among the crowd, busy crouching and making himself small.

One glance was enough to tell her that he was clearly hiding. Dubai was far away, still in the middle of greeting his guests. Feeling like she was abandoned in a desolate wasteland, loneliness and sorrow began flooding Edel's heart.

The vast Eungsim-je fell into a state of eerie silence. Once Edel stopped walking, the Novatopian people walking behind her also came to a stop. Bell Man, Hamilton, Jang Shin and the five sisters all held their breaths. The atmosphere felt like a bomb ready to go off.

Someone nervously swallowed their saliva. That set off a chorus of nervous swallowing to rise up from here and there.

*

Kamdoong sneaked out from in between Jin Soon's ankles. It lightly jumped up and settled on her shoulders, then scanned the crowd with a pair of arrogant eyes.

A few humans recorded fairly high numbers in the scouter's reading, but they were mostly on a similar level. But the one with probably the highest number was cowering away for some strange reason over there.

'Why is Jin Soon being so weary of these humans?'

Kamdoong followed after Jin Soon's gaze. At the end of that gaze was a fresh young white woman. According to all the knowledge Kamdoong had acquired so far, she was a 'beauty'.

'Aha. So, this is a battle between two females trying to claim the invincible Eastern Swordsman for herself!'

Having analyzed the situation, Kamdoong glanced at its friend sitting over yonder by the 'toetmaru' (narrow wooden porch) by the sarang-che (a detached building for menfolk in han-ock). He didn not seem to be minding this much. Kamdoong silently nodded at that.

The Teacher enjoyed something called dramas, staged plays of human lives, appearing in a low-tech device called 'television'. Their contents were mostly of the 'makjang' variety (slang for soap operas) where human females used all sorts of twisted means to claim successful males for themselves.

Kamdoong could not quite figure out why someone as incredible as the Teacher was so obsessed with staged plays saddled with such obvious storylines and even more obvious endings. Those dramas were not worth wasting time on, but even so, they did teach Kamdoong one valuable thing — the problems of females had to be solved by females.

*

Dino discovered Kamdoong and became deeply tense. Its spine arched up while its handspan-long fur stood stiffly on its end too. Having become a very intelligent creature these days, Dino instinctively realized that the opponent was a very dangerous existence.

"What a rude little punk!"

Kamdoong was dumbfounded. In its current life, the Teacher smacked the poor thing around at any given opportunity, but there was no changing the fact that Kamdoong used to be the king of the Hollow Earth teeming with horrifying existences.

After reaching the surface, even some random nobody dared to get on Kamdoong's nerves now. The Teacher always said that a rude punk deserved a good beating. The staring contest between Jin Soon and Edel somehow morphed into Dino's challenge against Kamdoong.

Jin Soon shifted her gaze over to Dino. That huge beast emitted an incredible aura. A tiger or a lion could not even compare to it. One swipe from that creature's front limb as thick as Eungsim-je's pillar might even knock out an elephant, too.

'There are just too many extraordinary things happening around Mu Ssang, aren't there...'

A sigh inadvertently leaked out of her lips.

"How is she so calm?!" Edel was greatly taken aback by that.

Just what kind of an existence was Dino?! She almost got a heart attack first time she saw it. Yet that woman was glancing at the enraged Dino as if it was a mere little kitten. A little bit of sadistic desire to see that woman's expression cramp up began mushrooming within Edel's mind.

*

The peanut gallery became utterly confused. Only Missus Hadong-daek, the five sisters and Jang Shin had no clue to Dino's mightiness. That's why they could not understand Dino baring its fangs at a little cat.

'T-this is bad! That's definitely Kamdoong!'

Samdi was the only one sweating bullets inwardly. He was now blaming himself for hiding like a coward, but it would not look good to make his appearance at this late stage. The strong recognized other strong creatures. That cat perched up on Jin Soon's shoulder was a cat only in appearance. Without a doubt, that existence had to be Kamdoong, the one Wakil said was as strong as him.

Dino was fairly strong, but no way in hell it could match up to Kamdoong. Jin Soon could be a rather scary woman. If Kamdoong indeed was siding with Jin Soon, then Dino and Lady Edel were in a big, big trouble.

Dino, no longer able to withstand the tension, leaped forward. The lawn caved in as its huge figure flew across 10m in the air.

Kamdoong fired off a directional soundwave. A horrifying sound that could not possibly have come from a cat's vocal cords suppressed Dino's roar.

The atmosphere tumbled. The low-level E.L.F., its output held back somewhat, squarely struck Dino pouncing down from the air.

Dino fell like a goose shot down by a bullet. It staggered back up to its feet and glared at Kamdoong.

Kamdoong fired off another more vicious E.L.F.

Dino was flung away like a rotary tiller hit by a runaway dump truck. It flew towards the direction of where the cars Ombuti and Co. had arrived in were parked.

The huge figure slammed into a van, causing the vehicle to destroy the lawn and bounce away like a kicked soccer ball.

"Ah, Gonggong, that fool! Destroying a perfectly-fine car and all. Tsk, tsk!" Monk Dae-woo spectating the show from below tutted softly.

He wanted to witness how Jin Soon would deal with the other woman in her beau's life, but two insignificant creatures popped out of nowhere to start a fight instead.

*

"Huuuuh?!"

"Oh, my god!"

"Awww, how pitiful!"

The crowd shuddered at the impossibly-to-understand scene happening without any warning whatsoever. Actually, a huge beast crumpling like a piece of toilet paper by a black cat's roar even proved to be comical, too.

"Dino!" Edel cried out in shock.

The 'Dino' she knew of was unrivaled, unbeatable. Not even Ahmmad the swordsman or Sun WooHyun the martial art master could beat the creature. Dubai and Samdi were the only two people capable of suppressing Dino.

"Dino, don't give up!"

She could not even tell what had pummeled Dino just now. All she could do was to cheer on from the sideline. She tightly clenched her fist and waved it around energetically.

Dino sprayed out on the lawn staggered back up to its feet. Its master had tasked Dino with protecting Lady Edel, after all.

"That punk's got some pretty strong bones, doesn't he!"

The invincible Eastern Swordsman divided people into four categories. One, the common folk capable of telling a pile of crap from doenjang (Korean soybean paste) with their eyes alone. Two, the sensible hoodlums that could immediately tell the difference with just a whiff. Three, yangahchis (gangsters) working for someone who realize the difference after a brief taste. And finally, the irredeemable animals that could not tell the difference even after having a taste.

Such animals were beyond the help of gentle guidance, so he posited that they needed to be beaten up to an inch of their lives first.

Kamdoong's internal generator raised his output. Kamdoong was planning to turn that beast into a pile of meat paste in one hit.

"Kamdoong, you mustn't kill it."

But then, Jin Soon drained all the fun out of it.

[Damn it. Fine, I got it. I'll beat that thing up and transform it into a more sensible person... No, I mean, a more sensible animal.]

Kamdoong shot forward like a bullet.

And one headbutt later, Dino's sorrowful cry rang out in the air.