Chapter 211
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 211.
―Yoo Tae-rang is dead!
The news spread throughout the entire family, and people's reactions were varied.
"Yoo Tae-rang... is dead?"
Lee Gun-mo was greatly startled by the shouts coming from outside.
If Yoo Tae-rang is dead, what meaning does this rebellion even have?
His sword froze for a moment.
"And next is you!"
"Tch!"
There were those who had been waiting for this opening.
Yoo Jung-yeon and Cheon Jong-won. The two did not miss the moment Lee Gun-mo's focus wavered outward.
The two blades thrusting toward him pierced him and incapacitated him in an instant.
"How... could this...?"
"You will pay dearly for this sin."
Cheon Jong-won spoke coldly.
With Lee Gun-mo subdued, those who followed him also dropped their weapons.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout the family.
"Y-Yoo Tae-rang!"
"Damn it, I picked the wrong side."
Jeon Dong-heon was horrified, while Kim Rae-ho laughed bitterly.
The others were no different.
Their rebellion had failed.
"No... Heh. Now that I think about it, it was an impossible task from the start."
Lee Jae-im sneered at himself.
"It feels like waking from a dream. Was I really under some kind of spell?"
"...What nonsense are you spouting now?"
It was because they had escaped the influence of Yoo Tae-rang's trait—Ruthless Charisma.
Yoo Min scoffed.
"...Capture every last one of them. Kill those who resist—I don’t care."
Yoo Min had no intention of forgiving those who had thrown the family into chaos.
Moo-jang and Chang-yeon also began leading their subordinates to capture the enemies.
"Yoo Tae-rang is dead. There’s no point in further cooperation. Retreat."
"Yes."
The Black Shadows, realizing Yoo Tae-rang's rebellion had failed, also began to withdraw.
Jeon Soo-yeon and the intelligence officers, who had been fighting them, finally caught their breath.
"The enemies are retreating."
"Those ghosts..."
Yoo Baek-jun had told them not to fight the enemies recklessly and to buy as much time as possible.
He said they would retreat on their own.
"If we hadn’t followed those orders, the damage would have been much worse."
"True. You all stay here."
"Where are you going, Min Yi-jae?"
"I'm going to pursue them. Yoo Baek-jun asked me to do something separately."
Min Yi-jae left with those words, tracking the Black Shadows.
Jeon Soo-yeon let out a long sigh.
"Is this... almost over?"
Just as everyone thought the battle was winding down—
KAAANG! KANG!
The battle at the family leader’s residence was also coming to an end.
A woman dropped her sword, coughing up blood as she collapsed.
The standing woman also lowered her sword.
"Huu, huu...!"
Han Seong-ha gasped for breath.
As if to prove the intensity of the battle, her body was covered in wounds.
But those wounds were nothing compared to the one lying before her.
"......"
Ha Yeon-jeong lay submerged in a pool of blood. She seemed to still be breathing, but not for long.
Han Seong-ah raised her head.
―Yoo Baek-jun! Yoo Baek-jun!
A voice called from afar.
The voice of someone calling for the man she served.
Han Seong-ah smiled faintly and looked up at the sky.
"...Congratulations, young master."
A heartfelt congratulations.
* * *
The rebellion had been suppressed.
The first thing Yoo Baek-jun did after detaining the rebels who had filled the family was—
"Bring the criminals to me."
"Yes."
Punishment.
The Grandmaster—no, the former Grandmaster—Lee Gun-mo was dragged out by the people.
"You joined Yoo Tae-rang’s rebellion out of personal greed and brought great chaos to the family. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"......"
Lee Gun-mo wore a dazed expression.
Just hours ago, he had been praised as the great ringleader.
Now, he was a criminal facing punishment. It was only natural.
"It seems you have nothing to say."
Yoo Baek-jun drew his sword.
"You dared to rebel against the Sword Saint family despite living under its protection. As payment for that sin—"
"Wai—!"
He raised his sword high.
Before Lee Gun-mo could even speak—
"I will take both your hands so you can never wield the Sword Saint family’s techniques again."
SLASH!
The sharp blade severed both of Lee Gun-mo’s wrists in one stroke.
A scream of agony erupted as blood gushed forth.
"GAAAAAH!"
"Take him away. The remaining punishment will be carried out once my father returns."
"Yes!"
After taking Lee Gun-mo’s hands, Yoo Baek-jun turned to the other rebels.
"Anyone else who acts foolishly will end up like Lee Gun-mo. Keep that in mind."
Yoo Baek-jun turned his back.
This was to crush the morale of the detained rebels.
To prevent any further foolishness by intimidating them in advance.
And it worked.
"The rebellion ends here... Haa, I guess we’ve passed one hurdle."
Yoo Baek-jun sighed in relief.
But that didn’t mean he could relax or rest.
Exactly two days later.
"Damn it, damn it... Ugh, shit!"
Yoo Baek-jun was buried under piles of paperwork in his residence.
The contents of the paperwork were obvious.
Documents that only the family leader could handle.
"What is this? Why am I being forced into labor right after a brutal event with no time to rest...?"
Yoo Baek-jun groaned as he signed documents without pause.
His injuries hadn’t even healed yet.
But there was so much work that he couldn’t sleep and had to keep going.
"What can we do, young master? With the family in this state, there’s no one else to handle things. You’ll have to endure."
"Grandmaster Ja-yeon."
Yoo Baek-jun frowned.
"I believe Father entrusted you with the acting family leader position, no? Why does it feel like I’m the only one working?"
Ja-yeon suddenly clutched her side and pretended to be in pain.
"How could that be? Ouch, my wounds..."
"Enough with the act."
Yoo Baek-jun let out a hollow laugh.
"Don’t try to fool me—I know you faked your injury. You didn’t do anything during the rebellion either."
"Hoho... I tried to move, you know? My disciples desperately held me back."
"Tch."
During the rebellion.
Originally, Ja-yeon was supposed to step forward to assist Yoo Baek-jun.
The problem was that her acting was so convincing that the instructors and disciples desperately stopped her from moving.
"At least I gave orders diligently. I thought I should at least do that much."
"Well, that’s a relief, then."
Yoo Baek-jun sighed and began signing documents quickly.
Fortunately, he only needed to sign them—no need to review the contents.
‘Honestly, even if I checked, I wouldn’t understand half of it.’
He could feel a headache coming on.
If he became family leader, he’d organize a team and delegate tasks to them.
‘Let me live in peace for once… just once…’
But that wouldn’t happen.
Even after the Sword Saint family’s events, the work would pile up like a mountain.
"Haa."
"Are you exhausted? Then I’ll handle the remaining tasks for today."
"Oh my, is it really okay for someone in poor health to work like this? I feel like I’m exploiting the injured..."
"Your words are sharp, young master."
Yoo Baek-jun stood up.
"As you said, I’ll leave today’s work to you. I was planning to inspect the family’s interior anyway."
"Yes, please do. You must have many things to take care of."
Ja-yeon saw Yoo Baek-jun off.
As he left the room, Han Seong-ha followed him. And Jeon Soo-yeon as well.
"It’s stifling—let’s take a walk outside."
"Yes."
As the two moved, they could sense people following them from the shadows.
Jeon Soo-yeon and the intelligence officers.
Yoo Baek-jun decided to tour the family’s interior with them.
"This is insane."
Yoo Baek-jun let out another hollow laugh.
Inspecting the family made him laugh involuntarily.
It was unavoidable.
"How are we supposed to repair all this?"
―Huh?
The aftermath of the rebellion had left the family in ruins.
It looked like a battlefield. The internal defense facilities were heavily damaged, and several residences were completely destroyed.
Among them was Yoo Moo-hak’s residence.
"......"
"Young... young master."
Yoo Baek-jun was speechless as he stared at Yoo Moo-hak’s burned-down residence.
Beside him, Han Seong-ah trembled.
"If the family leader finds out about this..."
"Stop... I know."
"I-I’m sorry."
It was too reckless.
Despite the so-called ’first-strike advantage,’ he shouldn't have used Thunder Dragon from the start.
Yoo Baek-jun pressed his fingers to his temples.
"Jeon Soo-yeon, call the dwarves. Tell them we’ll give them whatever they want if they help with the family’s restoration."
"Got it!"
Jeon Soo-yeon, who had been following behind, contacted the dwarves through her subordinates.
"Uh, they’re in the middle of a drinking party right now. Chugging beer..."
"Figures. Tell them we’ll give them as much Seolhwaju to drink as they want if they work."
"Okay, uh, um. They also said they want to analyze the destroyed magic cannons and golems and asked us to hand them over."
"That’s fine."
Magic cannons and golems.
The ones Yoo Tae-rang had used.
"Damn it. If it weren’t for those, the family wouldn’t be in this state. The gnomes developed them, right?"
"Yes, both are related to magical engineering, so the gnomes must have developed them."
"Capture them all and bring them here. I won’t feel satisfied even if I grind them to dust."
"We’ve already caught them trying to escape and locked them up in the detention room."
Jeon Soo-yeon grinned.
Yoo Baek-jun looked at her with slight surprise, then nodded.
"You’ll make a fine intelligence chief. I like it."
"Intelligence chief... promotion..."
Jeon Soo-yeon beamed.
Yoo Baek-jun patted her on the back.
"Work hard. Your promotion is right around the corner."
"Yes, sir!"
Jeon Soo-yeon smiled brightly and returned to her post.
Yoo Baek-jun wore a satisfied expression.
"I made a good decision in picking this person."
"Young master..."
Han Seong-ha sighed beside him.
"I don't know what an exploitative employer is, but I think it might be similar to you."
"If they’re working willingly, what’s the problem? I’m just motivating them."
"If you say so..."
Yoo Baek-jun chuckled.
Restoring the family would take time.
There were many injured.
At least the elves made treating the wounded easier, but...
"Let’s go to the detention chamber. There are people I want to see. Were there many casualties?"
"Not excessively. There were casualties on both sides, ours and theirs. Though you did give orders..."
"It couldn’t be helped."
If you don’t kill the enemy, you die. In such a situation, who would listen to orders to minimize casualties?
Yoo Baek-jun understood.
"Still, given the scale of the rebellion, the number of casualties is miraculously low."
"That’s a relief, at least."
Yoo Baek-jun entered the underground detention room, greeted by the swordsmen.
Inside, many were imprisoned.
Swordsmen, gnomes, and key figures of the rebellion, including Jeon Dong-heon.
"How’s life in detention?"
"......"
Jeon Dong-heon kept his eyes closed.
The others—Han Shin-ok, Lee Jae-im, Kim Rae-ho, and other swordsmen—remained silent.
"If you’d picked the right side, none of this would’ve happened. Tsk, tsk."
"...What will you do with us?"
"Who knows."
Yoo Baek-jun shrugged.
"I’d love to execute you all right now, but I need to report the situation to my father first."
"So you’re sparing us for now."
"Pretty much. But..."
Yoo Baek-jun smiled coldly.
"Don’t expect to leave this detention room alive."
He had no intention of letting the traitors live.
Yoo Baek-jun turned to the gnomes next.
"Release us at once!"
"How dare you treat us like this?! We are envoys sent by His Majesty! Locking us up is outrageous!"
"What kind of nonsense is this?"
Yoo Baek-jun scratched his ear.
"Am I hearing things?"
"No, young master. They’re trying to save themselves by claiming to be envoys."
"Wow, what a cheap trick..."
Yoo Baek-jun glared coldly at the noisy gnomes.
"You’re the non-humans Yoo Tae-rang brought. There’s no chance you’d ever follow me."
With dwarves around, gnomes were unnecessary anyway.
No chance of loyalty.
"Whether you’re envoys or not, you aided Yoo Tae-rang by providing magical engineering products that destroyed the family."
"That’s—!"
"This isn’t something we can overlook."
Yoo Baek-jun lowered a sound barrier to block the gnomes’ voices.
Jeon Soo-yeon approached him.
"What should we do, young master?"
"Hand them over to the Hunter Association. It’s too burdensome for us to handle."
A rebellion had occurred, and many had died within the family.
The Hunter Association, already hostile toward the Sword Saint family, would seize this opportunity to attack.
It was too risky to execute non-humans like the gnomes.
However—
"Make up an excuse that the magic circle malfunctioned and have them transported through Seoraksan mountain. The most treacherous part of the mountain."
"You mean...?"
Yoo Baek-jun smirked.
"If they’re attacked and killed by monsters during transport, who can complain? Seoraksan mountain is a monster’s paradise."
"Young master..."
Jeon Soo-yeon sighed.
"You’re truly wicked."
"Hey, ‘wicked’ is too much. I’m just considering the worst-case scenario. Anyway, make sure it’s done."
"Understood."
Yoo Baek-jun whistled.