Even if he had simply called him a drinking companion, he would have been deeply moved, but Jang Ho had added the word “precious.”
Seo Daeryong was deeply moved. Unexpected emotion from a taciturn person carried several times its usual strength.
It was truly an ill-suited thing to say in this situation, with the blood of dead masked men flowing past their legs.
“When we get back, I'll buy the drinks.”
He wanted to drink all night with Jang Ho at a courtesan house. Seo Daeryong had liked Jang Ho for a long time. Watching him sit quietly, drinking in silence, he had seemed so dashing. Even the scars on his face had made him seem more dashing.
Looking back, Jang Ho had been something of a guiding marker to him, who had wished to become a martial artist rather than an investigator.
*I want to become a martial artist like that.*
The Young Cult Leader, on the other hand, had been an unsuitable person for this. Geom Mugeuk was accomplishing things he wouldn't even dare imitate. The path he walked was one ordinary folk could never hope to follow. So for Seo Daeryong, Jang Ho could serve as a far more realistic goal.
“It would have been nice if this martial artist were with us too.”
When Jang Ho mentioned Ian, Seo Daeryong realized he missed her as well.
“You said it. Who knows where she is and what she's doing.”
Still, one thing was certain. She was likely growing stronger by the day.
“When this martial artist returns, we'll have much to talk about through the night. Both us and her.”
Their flights of fancy lasted only a moment before the two returned to reality.
From afar came the continuous sounds of weapons clashing and screams.
Seo Daeryong cried out in alarm.
“Shouldn't we hurry over?”
“Yes, let us go.”
“I'm worried the subordinates might be injured.”
Unlike Seo Daeryong, whose heart burned with urgency and wished to rush over immediately, Jang Ho was calm. He did not hurry. Today, the primary objective of the Demon Troops was to protect Seo Daeryong.
And Jang Ho had faith.
That the owners of those distant screams were all enemies.
Their massive physiques had not been forged simply by eating well. They were forged from bone-grinding effort and blood-soaked training, honed through real combat experience gained on countless battlefields.
“They'll be fine. We are the Demon Troops, after all.”
Pride in the Demon Troops, and absolute faith in his men.
Seo Daeryong was witnessing firsthand what the final mindset of a Hwangcheon Pavilion investigator or an enforcer martial artist ought to be.
“Our feeble Hwangcheon Pavilion lot will all begin hell training when we return.”
Naturally, he would take the lead in that training himself.
He had learned much fighting the masked men today. Using the Bloodwind Annihilation Blade, which consumed enormous internal energy, had felt good, but in the final fight, he had nearly died from insufficient internal energy. He had experienced firsthand how failing to regulate one's internal energy could lead to death.
*I'll train as if my life depends on it! I'll sleep when I'm dead!*
As they left that place and walked on, the Demon Troops surrounded Seo Daeryong. Standing on his toes between their massive frames, Seo Daeryong spoke to Jang Ho.
“Yesterday I was surrounded by Demon Extermination Squad martial artists; today I'm surrounded by Demon Troops. Have you ever seen such a life?”
* * *
Ju Gwol held nothing back.
He fought at the forefront against the masked men. Though he held grievances against Jinha-gun and was making faulty judgments, his loyalty to the Alliance and his care for his subordinates were second to none.
Splat!
Ju Gwol's sword pierced a masked man's throat. Without even time to wipe the blood from his face, he deflected a flying hidden weapon with his blade.
He was not a man who had secured the position of Martial Alliance branch leader through bribery or flattery.
“Watch the rear! Block the left flank!”
He roared commands at his subordinates and fought at the very front against the enemy.
Ju Gwol couldn't believe it. With so many martial artists on defense, how were they being attacked?
*Those crazy Demonic Cult bastards!*
Ju Gwol was convinced the enemies were demons. If not the Demonic Cult, there was no force that would dare commit such an act.
Furthermore, the Demonic Cult attacking a Martial Alliance branch was nothing short of an act of war.
Ju Gwol shouted to a branch martial artist who was fighting a masked man up ahead.
“Careful!”
Someone was stabbing him from behind. Surprisingly, it wasn't a masked man but a martial artist wearing the same Martial Alliance uniform.
It was too late to avoid it.
Crunch! Boom!
The ribs of the attacker shattered as he tumbled across the ground. A hulking warrior had instantly charged in, sending the masked man flying with his massive frame.
How could someone so large move so fast?
The Demon Troops were displaying movements that completely shattered the stereotype that lean men are the fast ones.
Far off, another Demon Trooper could be seen nimbly soaring into the air and swinging his blade.
The masked man who had been throwing hidden weapons from the trees plummeted along with the severed branches.
The attackers who ambushed the Central Capital branch today were of two types: those wearing masks, and those disguised in Martial Alliance uniforms.
*These cowardly bastards!*
They had killed Martial Alliance martial artists by ambushing them from behind while wearing Martial Alliance uniforms.
Such disguises had been possible because martial artists sent as support from various branches and sub-branches were all gathered together, making it difficult to tell who was who.
At first, they had continued to fall prey to these cowardly attacks, but the tide turned when the Demon Troops joined the fray.
The Demon Troops began swiftly eliminating the masked men first. Without bothering to root out the disguised allies, they simply killed the masked ones.
The martial arts of the Demon Troops were on a completely different level from ordinary branch martial artists.
Jeong Hyeok of the Demon Extermination Squad, fighting alongside them, confirmed that their martial prowess was in no way inferior to the elite warriors of the Demon Extermination Squad. Indeed, many displayed movements that were a cut above.
And for good reason—those Demon Troops who had come here were among the best of their kind.
Right when Ju Gwol was momentarily distracted watching the Demon Troops fight.
Shhhk!
Then, he twisted his body at the attack flying from behind. He despaired.
*Too late!*
Thud!
The tip of the enemy's sword, wielded by a martial artist in Martial Alliance uniform, stopped right in front of his face. As the attacker collapsed, Jang Ho stood revealed behind him.
“Thank you.”
Earlier, when hidden weapons had rained down, he had saved Ju Gwol's subordinates; this time, he had saved Ju Gwol himself.
To his deeply grateful thanks, Jang Ho merely nodded once.
The Demon Troops who had come with Jang Ho all leaped into action at once. With their addition, the battlefield was resolved even more swiftly.
Once the masked men rampaging throughout the area were all eliminated, flushing out the hidden enemies was no longer difficult.
“Gather by branch! Gather by sub-branch!”
As the Martial Alliance martial artists grouped together, the disguised infiltrators began to reveal themselves.
The Martial Alliance martial artists and the Demon Troops joined forces to swiftly eliminate them. Taking them alive proved difficult. Those who failed to escape slit their own throats in suicide.
Judging by the utter lack of hesitation in that decision, they were clearly well-trained operatives.
And so, all enemies were either killed or had escaped.
The Martial Alliance martial artists began clearing the battlefield. The wounded were taken to physicians, and the dead were gathered in one place.
Ju Gwol let out a sigh. Had it not been for these hulking martial artists, the damage would have been catastrophic; instead, they had stopped it with minimal losses.
Ju Gwol expressed his gratitude to Jang Ho.
“Thanks to you, we repelled the Demonic Cult's attack.”
Then Seo Daeryong stepped up.
“The attackers today weren't demons. Can't you tell by the fact that they tried to kill me?”
Ju Gwol looked at Jang Ho. At the questioning look in his eyes, Jang Ho nodded.
“They truly tried to kill him.”
Could it be a self-orchestrated stunt? He swallowed the words that had almost left his throat. He still believed it was the work of the Demonic Cult. The attack had been too cowardly and too daring for it to be anything else.
If not the Demonic Cult, who in the world could dare attack a branch teeming with Martial Alliance martial artists?
“Then who on earth are these people?”
Seo Daeryong answered Ju Gwol's question calmly.
“Those who wish to sow discord between your side and ours, I would assume.”
Ju Gwol let out a soft sigh and gave an order to his subordinate.
“Thoroughly verify the identities of the dead.”
“Understood.”
Ju Gwol spoke to Seo Daeryong.
“Until the mastermind behind today's incident is revealed, you cannot leave.”
“I have no intention of leaving, even if you asked me to.”
He had to stay here until Geom Mugeuk returned anyway.
Jang Ho spoke to him.
“We will remain here and stand guard until the Demon Extermination Squad leader returns.”
“I would be most grateful.”
Having incurred a life debt, Ju Gwol's gaze toward Jang Ho was gentle.
Ju Gwol spoke worriedly to Jeong Hyeok of the Demon Extermination Squad.
“I worry whether the squad leader is safe.”
They had proven bold enough to attack a Martial Alliance branch; Jinha-gun was the one he worried for.
Then Seo Daeryong formed a strange smile and spoke.
Naturally, it was something Ju Gwol could not understand.
“He has someone following him who has sacrificed even his right arm for his sake, so he should be fine.”
* * *
“There it is.”
In the direction Jinha-gun was looking stood a manor.
Currently, Geom Mugeuk and Jinha-gun stood side by side in a forest far from the manor.
It was so far that one could only make out the characters on the signboard hanging above the main gate by exerting vision-enhancing arts.
Nostalgia Mountain Villa (Xiangchou Shanzhuang).
It was a secluded mountain villa situated far from the city.
“We are currently conducting a covert investigation into that manor. The results will be delivered shortly.”
At Jinha-gun's explanation, Geom Mugeuk asked.
“How did you know the Master of Yumyeong is imprisoned here?”
“As you know, we are currently scouring Zhongjing in search of the missing Master of Yumyeong and his household. Not a single corpse was found at Yumyeong Estate, so we are holding out hope that they may still be alive. The number of people there that day was no small few. So I ordered all physicians in Zhongjing to be watched. I had reasoned that if they had been injured, they might need to purchase large quantities of medicinal herbs for treatment. In the course of that, we discovered that someone had purchased large quantities of medicinal herbs for treating injuries from a physician in this area. It was the very news his investigators had been waiting for. Judging by the types and quantities of herbs, it could have been to treat the people of Yumyeong. So we scoured the surrounding areas and discovered this manor. Furthermore, we learned that a martial artist who belonged to Yumyeong is present there.”
There was no reason to hesitate further. Whatever the circumstances, with a martial artist from Yumyeong having shown himself, they had no choice but to investigate.
“We can only hope the Master of Yumyeong and his household are still alive. Now, launch the rescue operation at once.”
“Is this operation truly a rescue, though?”
Geom Mugeuk's reason for doubting this situation was clear.
“Is it merely a coincidence that Yumyeong emerged right when Chief Seo was taken into your custody?”
Naturally, Jinha-gun harbored suspicions about this timing, but it was the only lead connected to the Master of Yumyeong. Even if it was a trap, they had to spring it.
Just then, a subordinate from the Demon Extermination Squad arrived and reported some news.
“The Central Capital branch has been ambushed.”
Jinha-gun was startled. He had expected as much, but he hadn't thought they would actually attack the branch.
“What happened?”
“Dozens on our side were killed or wounded, they say.”
Jinha-gun's expression hardened. He was enraged. An incident had erupted while he and the Demon Extermination Squad were away.
If this was a diversion? If there was nothing in that manor?
“What of the man held in the dungeon?”
“He is reportedly safe.”
Geom Mugeuk, listening in, felt relieved. Though he had sent Jang Ho and the Demon Troops, one never knew what variables might arise in murim affairs.
“The enemies?”
“They say all of them were killed.”
Jinha-gun looked at Geom Mugeuk. From the reports that Seo Daeryong had survived the ambush and that all enemies had been eliminated, he surmised the Demon Troops had distinguished themselves greatly.
“Your judgment was correct. My thanks.”
Without the support of the Demon Troops, the damage would have been incomparable. As always, the Young Cult Leader's insight proved trustworthy.
“Then this place must be a lure for us.”
He believed they had used the Yumyeong martial artist they kept alive to lure him here.
But Geom Mugeuk's thoughts differed.
“That may not be the case.”
Jinha-gun looked at Geom Mugeuk with a questioning expression.
“But what if this is the real scheme?”
Geom Mugeuk shared his thoughts.
“An attack on the branch won't trigger a war. The Main Cult and the Martial Alliance are not so fragile. But what about this? The one investigating the extermination of Yumyeong and Daejeong Gate...”
Geom Mugeuk paused briefly before adding.
“...the death of the Demon Extermination Squad leader.”
It was a matter of an entirely different magnitude from a simple branch attack. He was the grandson of the Martial Alliance Chief and the foremost candidate to succeed him.
“If the events up until now were all preparation for your death?”
The disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon exterminates Yumyeong and Daejeong Gate, and the Demon Extermination Squad leader investigating the incident ultimately meets his death at the hands of the Demonic Cult. If that is the narrative they have crafted?
Jinha-gun looked at Geom Mugeuk in shock. Moreover, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would be furious as well. After all, it would mean the disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had been dragged to a Martial Alliance branch to face investigation and ended up dead.
Tensions would spike between both sides, and if those people pulled further schemes?
“If my suspicion is correct...”
Geom Mugeuk's deep gaze turned toward the silent manor.
“Someone capable of killing both you and the entire Demon Extermination Squad is waiting there.”