Chapter 48: Demonic Alliance (2)
“That mission thing, where can I see it?”
“There’s a room attached to it. But… even if you’re aiming for 10th place, there’s no mission that gives out that many points all at once.”
“Still, I need to take a look.”
“Then come with me.”
Jang Sam opened the door.
They stepped out of the room.
Grand buildings lined up in a row came into view.
“Wow, fancy.”
“It’s the largest organization in the unorthodox sects, after all.”
That was when it happened.
Boom!
A sound like something exploding erupted from the building next door.
Soon after, one side of the wall burst open, and a man came flying out, spewing blood from his mouth.
Jang Sam’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Th-that person…”
“You know him?”
“…Isn’t that the Fourth Young Master? The Young Master’s half-brother!”
Soon, a figure emerged from the shattered wall.
A woman walked out with a ferocious aura, cracking her knuckles.
“You pervert bastard, where do you think you’re touching?”
“…Huh?”
Kim Minwoo tilted his head.
A familiar voice.
He looked at her face.
“…Seo Yerim?”
Her eyes widened when he called her name.
“Kim Minwoo! You were nearby?”
She lit up with joy.
Only then did he realize who had barged in.
Sword Sage Seo Yerim.
It was her.
“Why are you here?”
“To rescue you.”
“Why?”
“I figured your grandfather would be sad if you died.”
Wow.
He knew she liked the Sword Sage, but he hadn’t realized it was this serious.
He was impressed inwardly.
That was when it happened.
The Fourth Young Master staggered to his feet and started looking back and forth between them and Seo Yerim.
“Hah. Baek So-cheon, you bastard, did you even lay your hands on my freshly arrived maid?”
“Maid?”
“Don’t play dumb, you filthy worm…”
The Fourth Young Master glared at them with blazing eyes, clearly under some serious misunderstanding.
He was probably playing out a full-blown affair drama in his head. Soon, warriors came rushing in droves.
“Fourth Young Master!”
“Are you alright?”
“…Let go! I’m fine. Do you think this body of mine would crumble from a single slap from a mere maid?!”
Ah, so he’d gotten slapped and gone flying.
Seo Yerim’s strength must have reached a monstrous level.
‘Well, yeah.’
As an awakener called post-A-rank, her stats wouldn’t be a joke.
Just the ability scores she’d piled up through training would be beyond imagination.
“Yerim, you’re a maid?”
“Hah. I don’t know either. That’s the role I got assigned, but I ended up under some pervert bastard…”
“If you’re going to do it, be my maid. That’d be better.”
“…Wait, isn’t there an option where I don’t have to be a maid?”
“Social status isn’t something you can easily shake off, is it? Especially in this era.”
The Fourth Young Master nodded vigorously at those words.
“You worm, you talk well! How dare a mere maid slap this body of mine? You insolent wench! I’ll twist your limbs off!”
The Fourth Young Master drew his sword, eyes burning with rage.
The warriors’ auras turned ferocious as well.
Kim Minwoo stepped forward.
“But why do you keep calling me a worm? It’s annoying to hear.”
“What’s wrong with calling a lowly scum like you, who doesn’t even know who his mother is, a worm? Don’t you all think so?”
The warriors fell silent.
No matter what, he was the successor of the Demonic Alliance Leader.
They might trash-talk among blood relatives, but it was absurd for them to chime in directly.
They weren’t even first-rate warriors—just second-rate at best.
At most, they could show tacit approval.
Like, subtly sneering.
The Fifth Young Master was just a third-rate who couldn’t even demonstrate a proper martial art. He was a wastrel who drank and called for courtesans every day.
Even in the Demonic Alliance, his faction was so weak it was practically nonexistent, so there was no need to worry about repercussions at this level.
The Fourth Young Master would cover for them.
That was when it happened.
Kim Minwoo looked at his servant.
“Hey, Jang Sam.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“You saw it too, right? Them mocking me.”
“Uh… well…”
Jang Sam rolled his eyes.
It was time for the Hand of Truth.
He lightly gripped the hesitating man’s shoulder. Jang Sam’s face turned beet red from the unimaginable grip strength.
“You saw it?”
“Y-yessir! I saw it clear as day with these two eyes!”
“Good job.”
He released Jang Sam’s shoulder.
Now he had a witness.
He drew his sword.
“If underlings mock their master, they deserve to die, right?”
“But has this worm lost his mind…”
He extended his hand toward the sneering Fourth Young Master.
That instant.
“Huh?”
“What the hell?!”
Nearly thirty warriors panicked. Hundreds of stark white bones were clutching at their legs.
Stab!
“Argh!”
Weapons thrust from all sides, and five or six warriors dropped dead in an instant.
“B-block it!”
Mana rose over the warriors’ swords. Weapons swung in various arcs.
Martial arts.
‘Around level 200, roughly.’
Being martial artists didn’t mean they had off-the-charts strength.
They used mana and swung weapons just like anyone else. Just in a more refined way.
‘Then I can’t lose.’
His current skeleton horde averaged level 51, wrapped in pre-made magic set items, with average stats boosted further by bone swaps.
On top of that, they had some combat experience.
With hundreds of them ambushing from below, thirty mediocre warriors stood no chance.
Wounds multiplied on the warriors’ bodies. Even counterattacking the skeletons was futile.
Kill one, and it revived to strike back without fail.
The Fourth Young Master pointed urgently at him and shouted.
“It’s necromancy! Take out the caster first! Baek So-cheon, that bastard! Stop him!”
Warriors who had shaken off the skeletons charged with savage faces.
At that moment, Cedric, who had been waiting quietly to the side, swung his spear.
He scoffed as the warriors swung their weapons.
Boom boom boom!
The heads of the five charging warriors exploded like fireworks.
The other warriors hurriedly halted.
A single move.
That was enough to tell.
“My god…”
“A m-master!”
A bone-wielding skeleton.
That one, half again as large as the others, was an incredible master.
One they couldn’t even dream of facing!
The second-rate warriors all collapsed.
[Your level has increased by 1!]
The sole survivor was the Fourth Young Master.
“Jang Sam.”
“Y-yes, sir?!”
Jang Sam stared at the bloodbath before him with bulging eyes.
He asked him.
“Can I kill him?”
“Uh… the Demonic Alliance Leader wouldn’t like that…”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. Killing warriors like that is no big deal, but killing his own son directly… that’s a bit…”
“Got it.”
He nodded and approached the Fourth Young Master. His body was already a ragged mess from all the weapons.
“Kneel.”
The disarmed skeletons forced him to his knees.
He grabbed the man’s hair and met his eyes.
“Hey.”
“Eek…!”
The stench of urine wafted up.
The floor was soaked.
“Why do you think we fought?”
The man rolled his eyes.
He slapped him across the face.
Three or four teeth rolled across the floor. The Fourth Young Master’s eyes bulged in shock at the immense force.
“Didn’t you hear?”
“I-I heard! I-I messed up! I forgot my place!”
“You won’t act up again, right?”
Nod!
The Fourth Young Master nodded frantically.
“But you, just nodding? No manners.”
Smack!
Another slap across the face.
Three or four more teeth tumbled across the floor.
“N-no, I won’t! R-really!”
Tears streamed down his face.
Finally, he was in a proper repentant pose.
“That maid, I’m putting her under me? That cool with you?”
“G-go ahead! She’s yours!”
Consent obtained.
Now for the precise reckoning.
“Alright. But earlier, you really pissed me off? Calling me a worm.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“I know, I know. Still, you gotta pay for it, so let’s just cripple your legs and call it even. You’re lucky you’re not dying, right?”
“Y-yes!”
“Tsk. Want your arms crippled too?”
“Ughhh…!”
“Stay still. Or you’ll get hurt more.”
He neatly gathered the man’s ankles.
That was when it happened.
“Fifth Young Master, you’re really going to crush them?”
A voice came from behind.
He turned.
An old man was staring right at him.
“Who are you?”
“Hoho. Already forgotten this old man’s face? I’m the Second Elder. You’ve made quite the mess.”
Substantial mana rose behind the chuckling geezer.
It was obvious at a glance.
‘A master?’
At least level 400 by stats.
The real deal.
“Elder. What do I get if I don’t crush them?”
“What? Why should I give you anything?”
“Then I’ll crush them.”
Crunch!
He crushed both ankles cleanly.
The bones shattered completely, leaving mangled ankles.
The Fourth Young Master’s face went slack as he passed out.
He flung the man’s face to the floor.
“Hah…”
The Second Elder blinked in disbelief.
“What’s the problem? This isn’t some stuffy righteous sect.”
“True… well, whatever. That’s not the point. Fifth Young Master. Come with me.”
“Why?”
“The Leader summons you.”
“Alright.”
He had to meet the Demonic Alliance Leader sooner or later anyway.
He approached the elder.
“Follow me.”
The elder’s form slid forward swiftly.
He had no movement technique, so he couldn’t keep up that fast. He just chased with skill.
Luckily, he could manage.
After Kim Minwoo and the elder left, Seo Yerim remained behind, staring blankly ahead.
The situation had ended before she could even act.
It was absurd.
‘…How is he that strong?’
Those warriors earlier.
Even the Fourth Young Master.
They had the strength to be summoned as bosses and minions in a C-rank gate. Yet they got utterly wrecked by a single gesture from Kim Minwoo.
The skeletons were beyond imagination. They fought like proper summons should.
And that Cedric guy…
‘It’d take me some time to take him down?’
If their physical abilities were equal, she’d lose for sure.
His spearwork was that precise.
A monstrous summon.
Doubts were inevitable. The picture had been of an ordinary citizen sucked into a gate and rescued.
‘Did he scheme to get in from the start?’
From loitering at the gate entrance, to getting pushed in casually despite that level of skill.
It felt like he’d deliberately set the stage to enter.
“…But why’d he leave me here alone?”
That was when it happened.
The servant called Jang Sam had approached and was clearing his throat.
“Ahem! Glad we’ll be working together. I’m Jang Sam. The Young Master’s one and only loyal retainer, whom he relies on and follows greatly.”
“…Ah, sure.”
“You said you’re a maid? Our statuses are similar, but there’s seniority based on when we were assigned. As your senior—no, that’s too formal—calling me ‘big brother’ is fine. Like ‘Brother Jang’…”
“Hey.”
“You called?”
“Cut the fake deep voice. Big brother? How old are you?”
“Tw-twenty, ma’am?”
“Forty, not twenty?”
“Wh-what? Forty? What are you…”
“I’m twenty-two, so call me ‘big sis.’ No skills, yet expecting senior treatment…”
“What? What did you just say…”
Jang Sam’s eyes bulged.
Her hand was at his throat. A chilling sharpness emanated from it.
Jang Sam’s heart raced.
‘Sh-she’s channeling sword energy into her hand?’
This maid was a master.
One beyond what a normal person like him could imagine!
“Am I wrong? In wuxia, isn’t the stronger one the big brother or sister?”
“…You’re right, big sis.”
Come to think of it, she’d sent the Fourth Young Master flying with one slap.
Jang Sam’s attitude turned polite instantly.
“Guide me. I don’t know where to go.”
I don’t know either…
Jang Sam swallowed his words and walked ahead. For now, he’d just go where his feet took him.