Chapter 5 (2)
Chapter 5 (2)
Late at night.
"Man, this time of night is the most boring. Isn't there anything fun happening?"
"Tsk. Watch your mouth, friend. Don't you know the atmosphere among the executives is unusual right now?"
Two Jeongmumae warriors patrolling the walls of the Seoanbu branch were speaking cautiously.
"Eh, even if Sword Empress-nim is one of the pillars of the Orthodox Faction, is it really necessary to..."
"Do you think Sword Empress-nim came all the way here for no reason? It's proof that something happened that required someone of her stature to come here in person."
"Hmm... There is indeed a rumor that Golden Bug has arrived..."
"I'm actually afraid that the executives are keeping their mouths shut. If we make a mistake at a time like this, it becomes a serious problem. It's a hassle, but let's patrol properly today."
"Ahem, that's true too."
Feeling the strangely heavy atmosphere, they patrolled properly, unlike their usual behavior.
Furthermore, as the patrol was reinforced more than usual, they showed signs of being on guard against something.
-The patrol has indeed been reinforced.-
-If they've reinforced the patrol this much, the intel must be correct.-
-Plus, with the rumors about Golden Bug, they have no choice but to reinforce the patrol.-
Demonic Cult experts dressed in tight black clothing to blend in with the darkness.
Rather than being dismayed that the patrol had been reinforced, they reacted as if this was only natural.
-Blood Flying Tiger. No matter how much I think about it, I have a bad feeling. Even now, we should gather more preparation and information...-
Im Ha-yeon, alias Hwan-yo, was the only one who wasn't pleased with this situation, so she sent a telepathic message to Blood Flying Tiger, who was a fellow Guardian but higher in rank than her.
-Hwan-yo. Heavenly Demon-nim desires it. We only follow his orders. If you are a Guardian of the Heavenly Demon Cult, you should know how important this mission is, right?-
Im Ha-yeon wanted to snap back, 'Why bother taking such a useless piece of junk?', but she had to keep her mouth shut because, as a member of the Heavenly Demon Cult, she shouldn't say such things.
Having silenced her, Blood Flying Tiger signaled with his hands and carefully climbed over the wall.
-Hwan-yo.-
As soon as he crossed the wall, Blood Flying Tiger cut down the torch placed on the wall and called Im Ha-yeon via telepathy as he saw a patrol approaching.
"Hoo~"
As she carefully blew the powder on her palm and waved her arms gently, the eyes of the patrolmen went blank, and they collapsed powerlessly.
The Demonic Cult experts who followed Blood Flying Tiger quickly dragged them away and hid them in a secluded spot.
It would be easier to just kill them, but they avoided killing as much as possible to prevent any mishaps, as those sensitive to the smell of blood and killing intent might notice.
Once they created a gap in the patrol, another Demonic Cult expert climbed onto the wall and gestured.
Seuseuk-
Despite a dozen people jumping high, only a faint friction sound could barely be heard.
There were 20 Demonic Cult experts, including Hwan-yo and Blood Flying Tiger.
Blood Flying Tiger moved along the blind spots while checking the patrol route that Flame Demon had confirmed.
The Demonic Cult experts moved smoothly and reached their target location.
The branch office of the Jeongmumae Seoanbu branch.
To be precise, it was a secret warehouse that only the branch manager and high-ranking officials knew about.
'What is this? Why is it so quiet?'
Hwan-yo, who hadn't liked this mission from the beginning, was clearly flustered to see no one in the place where the most guards should have been.
Perhaps sensing that presence, Blood Flying Tiger signaled the Cult members to be on guard.
Swee-eek!
"Ugh!?"
"Keuk!"
The moment arrows flew from above, the Demonic Cult experts hurriedly deflected the arrows and scattered.
"Now! Surround the evil enemies of the Demonic Cult!"
"Waaaaah!"
At the same time, numerous Jeongmumae warriors appeared from the roof, the ground, and inside the building, surrounding them.
'I knew the feeling was strange! But where did the information leak from? Flame Demon, I don't like that fatty, but he wouldn't make the mistake of leaking information, would he?'
Im Ha-yeon had fought a lot with Flame Demon, who was in charge of the intelligence department, because their personalities didn't match, but that didn't mean she denied his ability.
Even though he looked like a fat pig with only a strong appetite, Flame Demon knew how to run an organization better than he looked, so he had succeeded in entering the core of the Demonic Cult by achieving numerous merits in the intelligence department.
After all, being a high-ranking official in charge of information isn't something you can do just by having strong martial arts.
-Blood Flying Tiger.-
-I know. When I give the signal...-
"I see some familiar faces."
Just as Blood Flying Tiger and Hwan-yo were trying to find an escape route via telepathy, a familiar voice reached their ears.
"Blood Flying Tiger, Hwan-yo. It's been 20 years."
"Sword Empress...!"
"Tch... My luck is terrible. Of all people, the Sword Empress."
The ill-fated relationship between the three began 20 years ago when the Demonic Cult invaded the Central Plains.
In her mid-30s, having mastered all of the Tae-eul Heart Three Forms, she learned that the Demonic Cult was invading the Central Plains.
At first, she naturally had low recognition, but as she proved why the Tae-eul Sword Sect could not be ignored through her skills, she became a presence that even the Demonic Cult could not ignore.
Since then, she was officially invited by the Orthodox Faction and stood out in numerous important battles, eventually rising to the position of Sword Empress by slaughtering countless Demonic Cult experts.
At the time, Blood Flying Tiger and Hwan-yo, who were in lower positions rather than Guardians, fought the Sword Empress along with their colleagues, but most of them had to drink the bitter cup of defeat.
The problem was that the Sword Empress alone was not an easy opponent, but there were countless warriors and Jeongmumae experts supporting her.
"If you've come, it must mean that 'that item' we discovered is the genuine article."
"Sword Empress! How dare you steal Heavenly Demon-nim's divine object! Aren't you ashamed to call yourself a member of the Orthodox Faction!"
Blood Flying Tiger, who had strong loyalty to the Heavenly Demon, shouted in indignation.
"Steal? We discovered it by chance too. And wasn't it an item your Heavenly Demon threw away and ran off with in the first place?"
As she said that, the Sword Empress reached behind her and held up the handle of a sword that had been cut in half.
Even to someone who didn't know much about swords, the broken sword exuded a heavy atmosphere.
"Heavenly Demon Divine Sword...!"
Blood Flying Tiger could not suppress his excitement upon discovering half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword, the symbol of the Heavenly Demon Cult and the proof of the Cult Leader's legitimacy.
This was because the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword, made of Cloud Iron (an ore contained in meteorites that fell to the ground, also called Hyun-cheol), had been destroyed in half by the attacks of numerous Orthodox and Unorthodox experts in the great war 20 years ago.
Furthermore, they lost the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword during a surprise attack, and the sword, which carried the symbolism of the Heavenly Demon, went missing.
And half of that Heavenly Demon Divine Sword was now in front of his eyes.
-Blood Flying Tiger! You're not suggesting we take that in this situation, are you? If we fight these Orthodox Faction bastards here, we'll be wiped out!-
However, Hwan-yo, who didn't have much loyalty to the Demonic Cult, didn't want to die a dog's death in a place like this.
-Keuk...!-
-Just confirming that the Orthodox Faction bastards have the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword is a huge gain! Retreat for now!-
"Retreat! Move!"
"How laughable! Do you not know why I blabbered on and on to you?"
Cheocheocheok!
In the end, Blood Flying Tiger and Hwan-yo, who chose to retreat, became one point and tried to break through the escape route, but other warriors blocked the direction they were trying to break through.
When the two saw that and tried to lead the Demonic Cult experts to break through in another direction, they moved their positions there.
The Sword Empress had intentionally dragged out the conversation to give them time to prepare.
What if Blood Flying Tiger didn't react?
There was absolutely no way that would happen.
Because she had intentionally shown him the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword to prevent that.
'It's dangerous! We can't break through if we save our strength!'
Im Ha-yeon judged that if she fought half-heartedly, she would be surrounded from front and back and die, so she poured out all her strength without holding back, becoming one point with Blood Flying Tiger to try and break through the encirclement.
"Catch them!"
"Blood Flying Tiger and Hwan-yo! If we catch those two, the Demonic Cult's strength will be greatly reduced!"
"Those in charge of the encirclement, hold your positions! Do not move without orders!"
The Jeongmumae warriors in charge of the encirclement were instructed to act defensively, allowing their colleagues in the back to coordinate attacks.
And the warriors in charge of the coordinated attacks were mostly those with aggressive martial arts.
"You running dogs of the Demonic Cult! I will execute you here!"
Among them was Hong Seol-rin.
She, who had caught the Sword Empress's eye, was chosen as one of the warriors who could be in this spot.
Thus, the battle between the Demonic Cult members and the Jeongmumae began.
"Hoo-haam~"
Ah, so bored.
Isn't anything going to happen?
Standing guard at the back gate, I felt bored and yawned wide, squatting down.
That aside, the moonlight is really bright. Was the moonlight always this bright?
Living in modern civilization where you can get bright light just by flipping a switch, I realized for the first time that the moonlight was this bright.
Well, I have the power of 100 Angong, so I must be able to see well even in the dark.
The atmosphere is definitely killer.
If I were to enjoy a boat ride on West Lake in this atmosphere, it would be quite fun even from a modern person's perspective.
Since I've entered the Murim world, shouldn't I go to West Lake in Hangzhou?
West Lake, which shows beautiful scenery in any weather, is visited by many tourists even in modern times and is one of the World Heritage sites designated by UNESCO.
It's not called the city of romance and pleasure for nothing.
Once I learn martial arts and reach a level where I'm not lacking anywhere, I'll pull off one big thing and enjoy myself to the fullest in a place like that.
If you have power, you can earn money anytime, right?
Let's earn big and spend big.
Here, there are many ways to earn money by killing people, so the possibilities are high.
"...Wait..."
"Catch... let go..."
"Hmm?"
At that moment, shouts as if chasing someone were heard from afar in my ears.
I get a feeling, I get a feeling!
The feeling of an event!
I hid my body in the shade cast by the moonlight and kept my breathing as quiet as possible.
How much time had passed like that? The voices of those chasing someone approached closer to me.
Honestly, looking at it purely statistically, the probability of the key figure of this event appearing in front of me wasn't very...
Thump!
"Ugh...!"
It came? It came!? Really? For real?
Someone with the physique of a woman wearing tight black clothing fell from the roof.
Who is it? Who could it be? Who is it?
Anyway, even if it's a famous person, I have a high chance of not recognizing them because I lack information.
'Still, if I search the body, wouldn't something useful come out?'
Who knows? Maybe they have a treasure map or an item that allows you to obtain a miraculous medicine or martial arts if you satisfy certain conditions?
Just in case, I drew my sword and approached the woman who was writhing on the ground.
"Eek!"
"Ugh!?"
The woman, with her upper body hunched over, sharpened her fingernails and swung them as if to slash my body, but I was able to dodge it narrowly.
She's incredibly fast.
But thanks to that, I understood.
That she's an opponent I can't win against no matter what I do if we fight in a normal state.
But that's exactly why now, when she's weakened, is my chance!
"Keuheuk!"
As she swung her arm at me, the woman grabbed her side and groaned in pain.
Looking closely, her side was deeply slashed, and blood was soaking through her clothes.
"Don't... what?"
"Ah?"
The moment the woman's face, who had threatened me not to come closer, met mine, we both froze for a moment.
"Im Ha-yeon?"
"Jincheon?"
Why is she here?
I was momentarily stunned by the shock of seeing an unexpected face.