Chapter 234: Ghost-Destroying Six Harmony Sword Array and Ha Won-dal-gi-2
Chapter 234: Ghost-Destroying Six Harmony Sword Array and Ha Won-dal-gi-2
By the time Undang, squad leader of the Pasan Fourth Squad of the Six Harmony Swordsmen, noticed that Seonwoo Jin had vanished, Sa Ho, the assassin of the Blood Rain Lotus, had also realized Seonwoo Jin was gone.
While the assassins' attacks focused on those six swordsmen, the man who had slipped into the shadows first and slaughtered the assassins had disappeared like a ghost at some point.
It was a situation he simply could not comprehend.
No matter how exceptional the opponent's movement technique was, he should not have been able to vanish without a trace like that unless he used something like the Phantom Shift.
Sa Ho thought this situation could not be allowed to continue.
Losing sight of the target and fighting completely unrelated people, only creating needless sacrifices—there could be no greater waste than this.
Since the battle had already begun, retreating midway would not be easy, but still, he had to pull the assassins back and withdraw.
So he, who had been observing from afar, slowly approached the area where the fighting was taking place while remaining concealed.
His plan was to send telepathic transmissions to the assassins little by little, pulling back the important combat assets first.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, someone's telepathic transmission echoed in his head.
- Found you!
'Hm?'
The moment he panicked at the transmission precisely delivered to him while he was in concealment, a sword suddenly surged up from the shadows where he was hiding.
Puuk!
"!"
Sa Ho stared blankly at the blade that had suddenly sprung from the shadows and pierced his chest.
He could make no sense of this situation at all.
Ssuuuk!
But as the blade slowly withdrew from his chest and his body collapsed to the ground regardless of his will, in his fading consciousness, he was finally able to think at the very end.
'How does this bastard use stealth techniques....'
***
'Are there any more of them?'
- Well, I sense none for now.
Following the advice of Mukrang, who could sense intent, Seonwoo Jin, having killed the assassin who appeared to be the leader, now returned to the shadows and watched the battle before his eyes while remaining hidden.
Thereupon, the sight of the assassins who had not received the retreat order hurling themselves at the Hengshan Sect's Six Harmony Sword Formation as if throwing their bodies into a grinder met his eyes.
Shwieeek!
They thrust swords from all directions.
Hwiririririk!
They hurled throwing weapons from all sides.
There were even those spraying poison.
But the power of the Hengshan Sect's sword formation that had been abandoned in actual combat—perhaps abandoned because of those side effects—the Ghost Extermination Six Harmony Sword Formation, was truly astonishing.
The defense of the Six Harmony Swordsmen rotating around Undang at their center was akin to an iron fortress.
Nothing could penetrate within their cogwheel-like movements and was simply ground to pieces.
Be it throwing weapons or people.
Titing! Tititing!
Chwaak! Puhwaak!
In a very brief span, the countless assassins who had charged at them were shredded into chunks of flesh and scattered around them.
At this, even the assassins of the Blood Rain Lotus, who seemed to know no fear, now began to show hesitation little by little.
"......."
"......."
Both the swordsmen of the Hengshan Sect, who blocked them expressionlessly like dolls no matter how much they were stirred and rammed, and the doubts about Sa Ho, who still sent no commands despite so many comrades having died, were shaking their resolve.
Now they, too, had begun to feel it.
That something was strange.
And Undang, squad leader of the Pasan Fourth Squad, immediately noticed that they were wavering.
He also knew that among the assassins in this village, there were none skilled enough to threaten them.
Undang immediately commanded his squad members.
"Scatter and exterminate them! Let no one escape!"
The moment those words ended, the Six Harmony Swordsmen shot out in five directions like arrows.
Paaat!
"!"
The assassins could not properly respond to their sudden ambush.
Especially the higher-numbered assassins who were trying to slowly pull back had no choice but to be even more startled.
"!"
Pabak!
The higher-numbered assassins, who had intended to flee anyway, now began to flee without hesitation.
At this, the collapse of the Blood Rain Lotus's assassins was instantaneous.
The lower-numbered assassins, who were already lacking in skill, all lost their will to fight upon seeing the higher-numbered assassins fleeing.
They, who had only ever followed orders, could not decide whether to keep resisting or follow them in flight.
All that awaited them was a time of horrific slaughter.
Puhwaak!
Chwaaak!
Puhak!
Fountains of blood erupted from all directions.
A silent wave of death, without a single scream, was spreading in all directions.
"Hmph! They were nothing special."
Undang, squad leader of the Pasan Fourth Squad, stood with his arms folded, watching the spectacle of his squad members exterminating the assassins.
Watching the overwhelmingly dominant slaughter of his enemies, even the rage he felt at being toyed with by the bastard called Inparang seemed to ease a little.
But that was when it happened.
Tadak!
Along with a spine-chilling sensation, a small impact was felt on his back.
And his body suddenly turned rigid.
"?!"
Undang gulped.
Cold sweat erupted all over his body in an instant.
'Acupoint sealing?'
It was an absurd situation.
How could there be anyone else behind him when he had been under the protection of his squad members until just moments ago?
This was absolutely impossible.
But no matter how much he denied reality, his body still would not move.
And in that moment, a voice echoed in his panicked mind.
- As you well know, you'll have to let your squad members keep fighting. The moment any of them shows a suspicious sign, your life will end right there.
Undang could only be horrified.
Because he could clearly remember whose voice that was, heard through the telepathic transmission.
'Inparang?! How does the bastard?!'
It was unbelievable.
How could the bastard use stealth techniques like the assassins?
Stealth techniques that seemed to be of a much higher level than even the other assassins, at that.
'Could it be that the bastard's background is...?'
But this was not the time for Undang to wonder about such things.
What he truly needed to wonder about was his own future.
Seonwoo Jin instantly took Undang and deployed his stealth technique, entering an empty house.
Then, releasing Undang's mute point acupoint, he spoke as follows.
"I'm going to ask you a few things, and you'll probably be a bit more comfortable if you answer quickly."
His chilly smile as he spoke looked as horrifying to Undang as if he were seeing a death god.
***
Chwaaak!
Puhwaak!
The Six Harmony Swordsmen of the Pasan Fourth Squad pursued the fleeing assassins to the very end and killed them all.
Since that was the last order they received, there was no hesitation in their actions.
And when they could find no more assassins to finish off, the Six Harmony Swordsmen returned to the spot where Undang had originally been.
But Undang was already gone from that place.
Instead, the one standing in that spot was Seonwoo Jin.
Seonwoo Jin asked Mukrang.
'Is this really something that's possible?'
- Well. Isn't it something where it's good if it works and there's nothing to be done if it doesn't?
What Seonwoo Jin had originally intended to uncover by torturing Undang was the weakness of the Ghost Extermination Six Harmony Sword Formation.
Because he thought that if he heard detailed information about the sword formation's principles and training methods from him, he could also find its weaknesses.
But as he listened to his story, what Seonwoo Jin actually thought of was a somewhat off-track idea, slightly different from his original purpose.
When Seonwoo Jin tortured Undang, the bastard's words had been so absurd that he had asked him back like this.
'They used the Gu insect, you say?'
At this, Undang, whose spirit had been torn to shreds by the pain of the seventh stage of Bone and Sinew Separation he had tasted in that short time, hurriedly answered.
Because there was no way a man like him—who pledged loyalty to someone outside his sect for his own advancement and molested squad members who had lost their humanity to satisfy his own desires—could possess any strong mental fortitude.
'Y-yes! I ingested the mother Gu, and they ingested the offspring Gu! So they instinctively have no choice but to follow my words! Even simple commands can be conveyed mentally!'
The types of Gu insects varied infinitely depending on how they were cultivated and their intended use.
Making someone ingest a Gu to threaten their life, like the old Sichuan Assassination Gate, was the common method, but they could also be used for various other purposes, such as tracking location, seducing people, or clouding reason.
But the Hengshan Sect had used those Gu insects to turn their own sect's swordsmen into components of a sword formation.
Mukrang spoke in a dejected voice.
- The bastards of the orthodox faction... they're truly something else. Isn't this no different from what the Blood Cult bastards do? No, perhaps they actually took and used a secret art of the Blood Cult.
Seonwoo Jin had already heard from Mukrang that the pinnacle of the Blood Cult's Soul Captivation Arts was the Blood Puppet Art, which injected a Gu to control the target.
Yet the Hengshan Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, was committing the same acts as them.
No matter how much one pursued power, it was clearly an utterly unforgivable act.
Seonwoo Jin sighed in his wretched heart and asked Mukrang.
'If I remove the Gu, will they come to their senses?'
But Mukrang's answer was negative.
He sighed and said.
- Huuu. It will likely be difficult. Listening to this fellow's story, it seems the Hengshan Sect first eradicated their humanity and then easily controlled them using the Gu. So even if the Gu is suddenly removed, their eradicated humanity cannot return.
'...I see.'
It was a lamentable story.
Because according to Mukrang's words, it seemed he would have no choice but to kill them.
But then Mukrang spoke again.
- However, this method might be possible. The method of overlaying different memories onto them and then restoring them.
Overlaying memories?
At those words, Seonwoo Jin furrowed his brow.
Because he could not imagine at all how that could be possible.
He asked Mukrang.
'...Overlaying different memories onto them?'
- Yes. So, that is to say....
Mukrang's explanation was as follows.
It was impossible to revive the original personalities they possessed anyway, but it was possible to overlay new memories and let them live as different people.
- However, to do so, they must be in a soul-captivated state. The captivator must slowly invest time and effort into them with a good heart. Little by little, they must overlay memories onto them, and only when their memories and personalities are complete can they be released from the captivation.
Hearing this, Seonwoo Jin had no choice but to make up his mind.
The decision to swallow the Gu extracted from Undang using the Gu-removing medicine he had obtained back when he raided the Sichuan Assassination Gate.
Feeling the presence of the Gu sensed within his own body, Seonwoo Jin looked at the Six Harmony Swordsmen approaching him and took a deep breath.
"Huuu."
Tension rose.
The plan was not yet a success.
Because even Mukrang had not been certain whether simply swallowing the Gu would make them recognize Seonwoo Jin as their squad leader.
So it was when he was watching their reaction.
As expected, they approached Seonwoo Jin with expressionless faces, then suddenly confirmed his face, stopped in their tracks, and began staring fixedly at him.
Seonwoo Jin sighed softly and said to Mukrang.
'As you said, Elder, their humanity has been eradicated, but it seems their judgment hasn't completely disappeared.'
- Yes, this is a good thing for them, but this moment has become a bit difficult.
They were no longer approaching Seonwoo Jin but standing in place, briefly showing a reaction as if they did not know what to do.
The pull of instinct caused by the mother Gu seemed to be clashing with their memories.
But that was only for a moment.
Suddenly, the eyes of a few swordsmen began to sharpen.
It seemed that those with a little remaining humanity had probably made the judgment to define Seonwoo Jin as an enemy.
Seonwoo Jin looked at them and said to Mukrang.
'Now there's no other choice.'
At this, Mukrang sighed and answered.
- Right. There's no other choice. Though this was the one thing I didn't want to teach you.
Mukrang now began to transmit a mnemonic formula to Seonwoo Jin in a voice that sounded resigned.
It was the mnemonic that allowed the use of the Heavenly Demon's unique Soul Captivation Art—the Supreme Dignity God Eye—which Mukrang had sealed off while remodeling the Heavenly Demon Divine Art into the Mukrang Heart Method.
Upon hearing that mnemonic, Seonwoo Jin was immediately able to understand the Supreme Dignity God Eye.
This was possible anyway because the Mukrang Heart Method was a mental cultivation method rooted in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and because Mukrang had used it once through Seonwoo Jin's body before when facing the Black Blood Illusion Demon, Du Dang.
Seonwoo Jin abruptly closed his eyes and circulated the mnemonic.
The difference between the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Mukrang Heart Method, and the method of communicating between the two, was clearly visible as if it could be grasped in his hands.
That was when it happened.
Two of the Six Harmony Swordsmen finally drew their swords and rushed at Seonwoo Jin.
Chaeng! Chaeng!
Pabak!
It was a fierce momentum, as if they intended to kill him in one blow.
Shwaak!
It was that moment.
Seonwoo Jin's eyes suddenly flashed open.
At this, a brilliantly shining golden light began to burst forth from his eyes.
Hwaaak!
"!"
"!"
The charging Six Harmony Swordsmen had no choice but to halt abruptly in their tracks.
Because Seonwoo Jin's golden light was piercing through their heart-soul bonds.
Seonwoo Jin looked into the eyes of the Six Harmony Swordsmen with the Supreme Dignity God Eye and spoke to them.
"Now I am your squad leader. I am also your sole authority for commands."
A short while later, the five Six Harmony Swordsmen lined up behind Seonwoo Jin with expressions from which all hostility had vanished.
It was the moment Seonwoo Jin had unintentionally obtained one squad of the Pasan Squad, the Hengshan Sect's secret force—the Six Harmony Swordsmen.