Jugwol hurriedly arrived at the rear gate of the Chongqing Branch.
Just as the report that had flown in said, carriages were entering there.
The branch warriors guarding the rear gate were merely watching the scene, and the reason they had opened the gate was because of Jeong Hyeok (鄭革), a warrior of the Demon Extermination Squad.
The other warriors of the Demon Extermination Squad had left with Jin Hagun to rescue the Lord of Yumyeong Manor, and Jeong Hyeok had remained behind alone to bring the carriages into the branch.
“What is all this?”
At Jugwol’s question, Jeong Hyeok replied.
“They are external forces our squad requested as support.”
Jeong Hyeok answered exactly as Jin Hagun had ordered.
“You reinforced our forces without my knowledge?”
Jugwol could not understand it. Not only the branch’s own forces, but even outside martial artists coming as support were already gathering in an orderly fashion. And yet they had requested even more support here?
‘Are they planning to wage a war?’
The thought came to Jugwol naturally.
“You may be the Demon Extermination Squad, but this is still a place where I am the head. To bring in support troops without even my permission?”
Jeong Hyeok answered respectfully.
“This matter is an independent operation of our Demon Extermination Squad. Surely you know that, under the current state of emergency, the decisions of the Demon Extermination Squad take precedence over the decisions of the branch?”
Because it was true, Jugwol could not refute him, but he could not help feeling disappointed in Jin Hagun.
‘Fine, feeling slighted is one thing. But who on earth did he call?’
Jugwol’s gaze turned back to the carriages.
“It looks like they brought cargo, not troops.”
They were far too large to be carriages meant for transporting people.
Jugwol walked over and flung open the rear door of one of the transport carriages.
In that instant, Jugwol was startled.
There were over a dozen martial artists inside, and it was the first time he had ever seen so many people of such massive build gathered in one place. Those men were all looking at him, the one who had opened the door.
Of course, Murim Alliance Branch Leader Jugwol was not the sort of man to be intimidated simply because his opponents were large…
But right now, he was intimidated.
Normally, he would have immediately shouted for them to get down from the carriage and state their affiliation.
But now, pressed down by the force of those gazes, he could not say a word.
Especially after his eyes met those of one among them, he felt as though his heart had shriveled.
He had met all manner of martial artists in his life as a branch leader, but this was the first time he had ever encountered such a powerful impression.
In particular, the scar that cut across the man’s face made him feel that this was someone who had walked the path of an asura.
He was none other than the Demon Army Lord, Jang Ho.
Jang Ho was the first to step down from the carriage, and the other Demon Army troops followed after him. From the other carriages as well, the Demon Army troops got down all at once.
They were not merely large men with fierce features. They had already been elites to begin with, but after Jang Ho became the Demon Army Lord, they had become an organization of the finest elites.
Moreover, since all two hundred or so Demon Army troops could not come, those selected were the most experienced and strongest in martial arts among them. The elite of the elite had arrived.
Jeong Hyeok of the Demon Extermination Squad, who had already been given prior notice, could tell that the Demon Army was a far more powerful organization than what they had known.
And right now, they were even concealing their demonic energy. If they were not, their aura and presence would be even more overwhelming.
Jugwol tried hard to hide his shock as he asked.
“Who are you people?”
At Jugwol’s question, Jang Ho answered in a deep voice.
“We are people who have come to support the Demon Extermination Squad.”
Since he had to say the words “Demon Extermination” with his own mouth, Jang Ho was not in a good mood. But in the current situation, such things were nothing more than trivial details.
“Your affiliation?”
“None.”
Because he never imagined that the Demon Extermination Squad would have brought in demonic practitioners, Jugwol could not discern the true identities of the Demon Army troops.
‘Captain Jin, do you truly believe those bastards will come here to strike us?’
It was right then.
One of the Demon Army troops standing near the building suddenly flew up onto the roof.
Despite his massive build, he landed lightly on the rooftop. Once there, he surveyed the surroundings before nimbly descending.
“He was fast.”
At the report that someone had been there and fled, Jang Ho confirmed with Jugwol.
“Did you have a subordinate lying in ambush there?”
Jugwol felt as if this was some sort of trick, but for the moment, he answered truthfully.
“No.”
Jang Ho’s expression grew grave.
If that was the case, it meant someone was watching this place.
It was then that more Demon Army troops moved.
Three Demon Army troops near the wall rushed toward it all at once.
Crack! Pak! Paaak!
The swords they thrust out pierced through the wall.
Blood stained the blade of the third Demon Army soldier. The man who had gone up to the roof earlier was now standing atop the wall, surveying the other side.
There were traces of blood on the ground, but no corpse.
He reported to Jang Ho.
“We lost him again.”
Men with this level of skill were watching the surroundings?
Jang Ho spoke urgently.
“They’re already inside.”
When Jugwol tried to say something, Jang Ho gestured for him to be quiet with a shushing motion.
Sensing danger, Jang Ho drew up his qi and examined the surroundings.
What broke the silence that flowed for a moment was the sharp sound of wind slicing through the air.
Shaaaaaang!
A black rain of hidden weapons poured down upon them.
“Iron Wall (鐵壁)!”
At Jang Ho’s shout, the Demon Army troops all formed up at once, shoulders touching and backs braced against one another, drawing their weapons.
Just as the hidden weapons rained down on them, they spun their swords in unison.
Papapapapapak!
The Demon Army troops knocked away every hidden weapon flying toward them.
Jugwol and Jeong Hyeok, together with the branch warriors, struck down the hidden weapons. But the branch warriors, whose martial arts were comparatively inferior, could not deflect all of them in time.
Papapapapapak!
The one who threw himself before them and struck down the hidden weapons in their stead was Jang Ho.
“Thank you.”
Jugwol expressed his gratitude. But there was no leisure now to exchange polite greetings.
With that hidden weapon attack as the beginning, screams rang out from every direction, and the sounds of weapons clashing erupted. The surprise attack had begun in earnest.
Jang Ho quickly asked Jeong Hyeok of the Demon Extermination Squad.
“Which way is the dungeon?”
“That way.”
As he ran in the direction Jeong Hyeok pointed, Jang Ho gave an order.
“Half of you follow me. The rest, help the Murim Alliance warriors!”
Because the deaths of Murim Alliance warriors were also what the enemy wanted, Geom Mugeuk had ordered them to protect those people as much as they could.
At Jang Ho’s command, the Demon Army split into two groups.
Half followed Jang Ho, while the rest ran with Jugwol and Jeong Hyeok toward the main branch building.
Jang Ho ran at the lead.
He had already received word through the Tongcheon Pavilion about what was happening here.
That was why this operation was more special than any mission before. In truth, Jang Ho had no interest in the Murim Alliance warriors or the orthodox martial world. There was only one person he cared about.
Seo Daeryong.
He had to protect Seo Daeryong, who stood at the very center of this conspiracy.
In the distance, he could see masked martial artists standing at the entrance of the building. The warriors who had been guarding the front of the dungeon had already all fallen.
Sensing that there were masked men who had already gone inside, Jang Ho grew anxious.
Shiiiiiiik.
Those massive bodies began to accelerate.
* * *
Moonlight seeped faintly through the window in the corridor.
Seo Daeryong sat on the old, hard bed and looked beyond the bars.
Come to think of it, this was his first time being imprisoned in a dungeon. He had always looked inside from outside that dungeon.
He thought that when their drinking gatherings resumed later, he would have to tell them what he had experienced. He would brag about it for ages. Just imagining the endlessly thrilling bluster made him look forward to it.
Back when I was locked up in the Murim Alliance dungeon, do you know who was in the cell next to mine?
Drip.
At that moment, he heard the sound of water falling from somewhere.
‘Is that sound coming from outside?’
But in that instant, the smell of blood stabbed into Seo Daeryong’s nose.
The moment he realized it had not been the sound of water drops, but blood drops falling—
Shuuuu.
The next moment, a masked man appeared before the bars as if sliding into view.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
As though he had been given an order to kill, he hurled hidden weapons into the dungeon without a single word.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
The hidden weapons that flew through the bars embedded themselves in the bed. Seo Daeryong had already flipped the bed over and blocked the front of the bars.
‘They’re just going to kill me without a word?’
Seo Daeryong was dumbfounded. If they were going to kill someone, shouldn’t they at least look him in the face and say, “You are dying for this and that reason,” before killing him?
Sword qi flew toward the bed that had blocked the hidden weapons.
Shiiik!
The bed was split in half along with the iron bars.
And from between the falling halves of the bed—
Swaaaak!
A strand of saber qi surged out and flew.
Because the masked man had let his guard down, assuming Seo Daeryong’s internal energy had been suppressed and that he would have no weapon, he could not dodge the attack.
Puaaak!
The incoming saber qi split the masked man’s body apart, and he collapsed.
Seo Daeryong swung his saber once more and completely severed the bars.
The moment he stepped out of the dungeon—
Swaaaae! Swaaaak!
Sword qi filled the corridor, surging toward him.
Crunch.
The great saber embedded itself in the ground.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwak!
Some of the sword qi collided with the great saber, while the rest brushed past it.
Seo Daeryong had used the saber, infused with internal force, as a shield to block the sword qi. It was a defensive form often used by his master, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
‘These lunatics!’
Even when they had released his suppressed internal energy and returned his weapon, he had thought, surely they would not go so far as to attack a Murim Alliance branch. But they really had attacked. This enemy was beyond common sense.
The masked men who had launched the sword qi charged toward Seo Daeryong. Their momentum as they rushed in with their swords thrust forward was tremendous.
Seo Daeryong threw himself back into the dungeon. It looked as though he had been frightened, but that was not why he retreated. He had judged that fighting inside the dungeon would be more advantageous than fighting in the narrow corridor. In a confined space, a saber was more disadvantaged than a sword.
The three masked men who rushed in were skilled in coordinated attacks.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Seo Daeryong swung his saber and knocked away their sharp thrusting attacks.
They pressed him hard without giving him a chance to counterattack, but Seo Daeryong blocked the torrent of attacks well.
Compared to the finest elite warriors, he could not be said to have much real combat experience, but Seo Daeryong had one thing that could stand in for that.
Desperate effort.
While training, Seo Daeryong had often made this vow. He could have any regret before he died, but this one regret, at least, he would never allow himself to have.
‘Ah, I should have trained harder.’
The result of that effort was now unfolding.
His body moved before his mind. The movements he had trained and trained came out on their own.
The moment Seo Daeryong staggered under the fierce assault, the masked man on the left did not miss the opportunity and rushed in, thrusting his sword.
Seo Daeryong displayed nimble footwork and regained his balance.
Shiiiiik!
Paaak!
Seo Daeryong’s saber cut off the masked man’s neck. It had been Seo Daeryong’s feint to draw his opponent in.
Seo Daeryong did not miss this chance now that their coordinated attack had collapsed.
He pressed forward fiercely and cut down the second masked man. In the process, blood sprayed from his arm, but from the beginning, it had been a move made with the resolve to give flesh in order to take bone. Once their coordination collapsed, the fight proceeded according to Seo Daeryong’s will.
Paaak!
Seo Daeryong cut through the torso of the third masked man.
Seo Daeryong in that moment was not the timid and cautious investigator. He was the intelligent and daring martial artist, Seo Daeryong.
After dealing with the three of them, Seo Daeryong stepped out of the dungeon.
In that instant, Seo Daeryong’s expression hardened. From the far end of the corridor, masked men were rushing toward him in a swarm. There were many of them.
If this dungeon had been breached so defenselessly, then outside, fighting must have broken out everywhere as well.
The masked men charged in with a momentum that disregarded death.
Seo Daeryong did not avoid them. He poured the internal force he had drawn up into his saber.
Seo Daeryong’s saber trembled once with great force, and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s unique martial art unfolded.
Heaven-Extinguishing Demon Saber Art, Third Form.
Saber-Extinguishing Blood Wind (滅刀血風).
The saber qi extending from the blade flew forward in a whirl.
The masked men saw it: several separate strands of saber qi spinning as they flew toward them.
Whoooooong!
In the narrow corridor, it was a whirling attack that could never be avoided.
Papapapapapak!
The bodies of the charging men were shredded and scattered.
Even Seo Daeryong, who had unleashed the martial art, was shocked by its power. The Saber-Extinguishing Blood Wind he had used in actual combat for the first time was truly tremendous. But just as its power was great, its consumption of internal energy was extreme as well.
He had already consumed a great deal of internal energy blocking the sword qi earlier, and after unleashing Saber-Extinguishing Blood Wind as well, he felt the strength drain from his entire body.
“Whew.”
Seo Daeryong let out a sigh and examined the corpse nearest him.
‘Who in the world are you people?’
The reason he had made himself bait and allowed himself to be captured was to find a clue through them. Were they assassins? Hired vagabond warriors? Or…?
It was at that very moment.
Whoosh!
A dagger flew swiftly toward Seo Daeryong.
Clang!
Seo Daeryong’s blade trembled after knocking the dagger aside. The inner force imbued in the hidden weapon was tremendous.
Seeing the relaxed gaze of the masked man walking toward him, Seo Daeryong knew.
‘This one is the leader.’
Strength entered the hand gripping his blade.
The masked man who appeared to be the leader did not say a single word either. As if he were merely doing the task assigned to him, he rushed at Seo Daeryong.
Clang!
A heavy impact traveled through Seo Daeryong’s arm. The opponent’s inner force was overwhelming his own.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
The only reason Seo Daeryong could hold out at all was because of his martial arts. The Heaven-Destroying Demonic Blade Form, more refined and powerful than his opponent’s techniques, was making up for his lack of inner force.
But inner force was not the only thing in which his opponent was superior. His swordsmanship was precise, and his combat experience was abundant, so he did not easily reveal openings. On top of that, the corridor was narrow, putting Seo Daeryong, who used a blade, at an even greater disadvantage.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed from Seo Daeryong’s arm. But he had no time to tend to the wound. The masked man thrust his sword without pause, aiming for Seo Daeryong’s vital points.
But Seo Daeryong was not simply taking it.
Spurt!
Blood also sprayed from the masked man’s body under Seo Daeryong’s blade.
‘You bastard! Bait may get eaten, but it doesn’t die easily!’
Seo Daeryong was afraid even as he fought, but at the same time he felt a strange thrill. So this was why martial artists wanted to die in battle—that thought came to him.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Seo Daeryong was being pushed back little by little.
At last, he was driven all the way to a dead-end wall. Blood sprayed from his other arm and his side as well.
‘Even if I die, I should at least see Master before I go.’
And the person who came to mind at the final moment was Geom Mugeuk.
‘Thanks to you, Young Cult Leader, I lived a splendid life!’
Swoosh!
The instant the flying sword was about to pierce Seo Daeryong’s throat—
Kwahhhhng!
One side of the wall burst apart, and the masked man was slammed into the opposite wall.
Seo Daeryong saw it.
Someone had broken through the wall and sent the masked man flying.
In that fleeting instant, the masked man had tried to twist his body and block the attack, but the person who came crashing through the wall was far stronger and faster than him.
The one who had driven a sword into the masked man’s heart was twice the size of an ordinary person.
A person Seo Daeryong could never fail to recognize.
“My lord!”
The one who had saved him was none other than Jang Ho.
“Fortunately, I was not too late.”
Their gazes met in midair.
Seo Daeryong was so shocked and moved that he did not know what to say.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the person who said he would come would be Jang Ho. Behind the broken wall, massive figures stood lined up like a folding screen. Stalwart and dependable.
Who would have thought those huge frames could look so welcome!
Seo Daeryong said to Jang Ho with trembling eyes,
“You just missed your chance to become the right arm.”
At that, Jang Ho grinned. Never had that smile and those scars looked as impressive to Seo Daeryong as they did today.
“Being the right arm would be nice, but I could not lose my precious drinking companion for it.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 502