The Infiltration of the Cultivators (2)
Crash-!
The stone around the entrance shattered.
With the fragments of rock, a cloud of dust rose into the air.
Startled by the sudden impact, the goblins stumbled back.
Through the haze, four shadows could be seen walking slowly into the dungeon.
At the center stood a man in a robe, while three men in plain clothes flanked him like guards.
Jang Musa rested his sword on one shoulder and slowly surveyed the dungeon, then frowned when he saw the goblins swarming before him.
"For mere demons, you’ve made quite a convincing den."
From behind him, the robed man’s voice rang out.
"You fool. Does this look like a den of demons to you?"
Jang Musa turned his head.
"Pardon?"
The cultivator gave a mocking snort.
"Can’t you feel it? This spiritual energy."
"……."
"Of course. A martial man like you wouldn’t be able to sense spiritual energy."
He clicked his tongue.
"This place is either a spirit land, or a cavern where a spiritual vein has taken root."
Jang Musa’s eyes widened.
It was the kind of rare chance he had only ever heard about while working for a cultivation family.
A stroke of fate that most people would never obtain even once in their lifetime.
"Don’t tell me……"
"Exactly."
The cultivator’s mouth curved upward.
"This place itself is a treasure."
The robed man swept his gaze around the area, his eyes blazing with delight.
"If we seize only this place… the family can be restored."
His cheeks trembled.
Greed was laid bare across his face.
Though Jang Musa could not see it,
his own eyes were gleaming as well.
In that brief moment, the goblins reacted quickly.
Kiieeek!
Kiiek!
Hundreds of goblins surged forward, armed and ready.
Stone spears, stone axes, boar-bone lances, leather shields.
They were wielding weapons far more advanced than before, glaring at the humans with murder in their eyes.
Their ferocity was enough to suggest they would tear a person apart with their gaze alone.
The numbers favored them by more than ten to one.
But the cultivator only smirked.
"Even so, they’re still just demons."
He tilted his head slightly and said with a curl of his finger, "Jang Musa."
At the word, Jang Musa stepped forward.
Kiieeeek!
The goblins bared their teeth.
One of them sprang in first.
It gripped a stone spear and thrust with a battle cry.
Kiieeek!
In that instant, the sword slid free of its scabbard like a streak of light.
Shrring.
Flash.
Thud.
The goblin’s head fell to the floor.
The body collapsed a beat later.
Thump.
Blood spread across the stone ground.
The dungeon fell silent for a moment.
Jang Musa shook blood from his blade.
"As expected. No matter how many demons there are, they’re still demons."
He took another step forward.
The goblins advanced by one step as well.
"These things don’t know fear."
The instant Jang Musa spoke, the goblins roared back as if refusing to yield.
Kiieeek!
With a battle cry, dozens of them charged at once.
A green tide flooded the space in front of him.
Jang Musa’s expression did not waver in the slightest.
His sword moved again.
Flash.
Blood burst outward.
The leather shield blocking the way was split apart.
The stone spear shattered too, and even the boar-bone lance was ground to pieces.
The three goblins who had lunged at him were severed at once.
Kiiaaak!
Screams tore through the air.
Blood splashed across the dungeon floor.
And from the Core Room, Dohyun was watching it all through the goblins’ eyes.
In the goblin’s field of view, the sword itself could not be seen.
It was as though an invisible line had been drawn, and nothing could cross into that space.
...What is this...?
Only the result could be seen.
Even if a body threw itself forward,
its neck dropped.
Its body split open.
Fast.
Dohyun’s eyes narrowed.
This was strength he had never seen before.
Kaak-!
Beside him, Heok-o said, "A martial man."
A martial man?
"A troublesome existence that cultivators drag around with them."
You said you’d warn me when enemies intruded.
Dohyun’s eyes, fixed on Heok-o, sparked with heat.
"Someone… hid them."
What?
Dohyun quickly swept the goblins’ vision through the system.
But there were no additional figures to be seen.
"You’ve already caught the attention of a troublesome bastard, kaak."
I don’t care who it is. I won’t let it stand.
Sensing the one who had set this fight in motion,
Dohyun watched the goblins being slaughtered through their mirrored view and felt his breath catch.
The ambush had come too suddenly, and the enemy’s power was no ordinary matter.
The martial man is too strong.
Even after calculating every possibility in his head, the exchange rate was hopeless.
While Dohyun was thinking carefully, Heok-o said he should know something else.
"Kaak, there’s also the cultivator."
The human standing behind the martial man.
He was the cultivator.
He was only standing there, shouting orders,
but even now, before making a move, he was already the kind of existence that represented the strong in this xianxia world.
At that, Dohyun’s gaze sank coldly.
Dangerous.
If the martial man was already that strong,
the cultivator was beyond even being worth estimating.
The difference in combat power is enormous.
The enemy force consisted of one cultivator.
Three martial men.
His own side.
Thousands of goblins.
And himself, the dungeon master.
By numbers, it was no contest.
By combat power, it was something else entirely.
At this rate, the losses will be severe.
He scanned the inside of the dungeon.
He thought of ways to reduce the damage.
Traps.
Terrain.
Passageways.
The calculations grew complex.
Going through all of it, he gave his command.
Lead them in.
Aside from the goblin decoy unit already in battle, the goblins inside the dungeon moved at once.
Kiieeek!
They shifted according to the plan prepared in advance.
The decoy goblins altered their movements as well.
The goblins surged at the humans.
But it was not a charge.
It was to buy time.
***
The three martial men advanced in formation.
"Captain Jang, there are too many enemies."
"Jung-gyeok, hold your tongue."
"Yeees~"
Even as he complained, with every swing of the sword, a goblin’s head flew off.
Like a sickle cutting down grain, the goblins fell.
"Haaam."
The cultivator yawned.
"We’ve already killed at least a hundred, and they’re still coming."
He spoke with obvious annoyance.
"When does this end?"
Just then, the cultivator looked at the disk.
The needle was trembling.
"……Hm?"
His eyes narrowed.
"It’s moving."
"Master?"
"These vermin demons… they’ve touched the White-Shadow Life Tree."
He stomped his foot as he spoke.
"It’s over there. Break through."
Jang Musa said cautiously, "Master, there may be traps."
The cultivator’s eyes flashed.
"Are you afraid of a mere demon trap?"
Jang Musa fell silent.
"……No, sir."
"Then move."
The order fell.
The martial men picked up speed.
Kiiek!
The goblins threw themselves at them even more desperately.
In a short span of time, hundreds were sacrificed.
There were still plenty left, since their numbers were far beyond the original force.
Watching them through the Core Room, Dohyun thought about the numbers.
Come deeper.
He did not know what their goal was from the way they looked,
but the moment he saw the disk, he understood.
They’re after the White-Shadow Life Tree.
A tree growing in the middle of the forest.
It would not be hard to move.
The path the enemy would take was already decided.
The forest area.
There was already a dense section there.
Come on.
Just as Dohyun intended,
they reached that point.
Jang Musa stopped.
"Master."
A chill ran down his spine.
"This is strange."
A martial man’s instincts shone at moments of danger.
"What is?"
"……."
"Stop talking nonsense and move."
Jang Musa shut his mouth.
This was a region thick with grass.
Carefully, Jang Musa stepped between the patches of weeds.
At that instant, the grass rustled.
The goblins had hidden in the undergrowth.
They thrust out their spears.
A surprise attack.
And then.
Crash-!
The ground beneath their feet caved in.
The grass had been so dense that they noticed it too late.
A falling trap.
Beneath it stood dozens of stone spears.
Jang Musa twisted his body in midair.
The sword flashed.
Crack!
The goblin spear broke.
As Jang Musa dropped toward the floor, he kicked the ground.
Kugugung!
With that kick, the stone spears in the trap shattered to pieces.
The trap was destroyed,
and Jang Musa landed safely on the trap floor.
"I am fine."
Perhaps embarrassed that he had been caught by the trap, Jang Musa said with a slight flush on his face, "Tsk. Martial men these days have lost their spirit, falling for a trap like that from mere demons."
When the cultivator added another jab,
his face reddened even more.
For a moment, Jang Musa pressed his lips together tightly,
then kicked off the trap and came out.
***
The Core Room.
The trap had been smashed apart in one blow,
and a hundred lure goblins had died.
Dohyun’s eyes narrowed.
The calculations were becoming too complicated.
Heok-o. Are all martial men like that?
"No. That martial man isn’t especially strong."
Dohyun spoke quietly.
……I see.
A brief silence.
Then I’m the weak one.
But it still wasn’t over.
Dohyun glared at them and thought,
Let’s see how far they can go.
He still lacked strength.
He might have to take risks.
Everything depended on what those invaders chose to do.
Then the intruders reached the center of the forest.
"Found it!"
The cultivator laughed.
"If we get this, the family can be restored!"
With the White-Shadow Life Tree before him, the cultivator cheered and took a strange pouch from within his robes.
Jang Musa spoke cautiously.
"Then now that our objective is complete, shouldn’t we withdraw..."
The cultivator raised a hand to stop him.
"How can you be so foolish? Where are we?"
"....."
"A place where so many demons are guarding it with such desperation."
The cultivator’s eyes glittered.
"That means there’s more treasure."
His gaze pierced deeper into the forest.
"Everything here today will be mine."
****
The Core Room.
Dohyun’s eyes slowly narrowed.
Good. Come further in.