Chapter 6
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon Appears
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Jegal Jwa-seong spotted the Heavenly Demon and screamed as if in agony.
"Hurry and deploy the Demon-Exterminating Fortress Formation!"
The Murim Alliance warriors hastily formed their sword formation.
It was an absolute formation that Jegal Jwa-seong had devised with gritted teeth specifically to counter the Demonic Cult.
It was a superb sword formation that was in no way inferior to the Plum Blossom Sword Formation of the Huashan Sect or the Arhat Formation of the Shaolin Temple.
Yet the Heavenly Demon strode calmly into the heart of that formation.
It was an act that anyone would see as no different from suicide.
But astonishingly, it was the Murim Alliance swordsmen who were slinking back bit by bit.
Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.
Anyone who knew of his exploits from the Righteous-Demonic War ten years ago would be right to break out in such a sweat.
And so the Heavenly Demon entered the sub-branch without a drop of blood spilled, facing no resistance whatsoever.
The manor was ablaze.
The Heavenly Demon swept his arrogant, lofty gaze over the invaders lined up inside the manor and rumbled like thunder.
"Even the fearless know their limits. Burning down someone else's villa like this."
"Villa? Nonsense! This is firmly righteous faction territory!"
The Heavenly Demon's fury poured down on Jegal Jwa-seong.
"Scram! Since when has the Central Plains had a fixed owner? Since when has Luoyang Castle belonged to the Murim Alliance?"
Crushed by the Heavenly Demon's aura, Jegal Jwa-seong forced his mouth open.
"Wh-what about you? If we set up a Murim Alliance branch right in your Demonic Cult headquarters, do you think you'd be saying the same thing?"
"We'd welcome it anytime. We're short on neighbors around here, you see. Come whenever you like—plenty of open ground to spare."
"Damn it..."
A barren wasteland, towering mountain ranges, and harsh weather—the triad of the worst natural conditions.
The Ten Myriad Great Mountains.
Who in their right mind would set up a Murim Alliance branch there?
No one would, unless some nomadic herder from the western regions became the Alliance Leader.
"Well, that's that... You lot have no defense for your atrocities today, even if you died a hundred times over, right?"
Gulp—
"Kill them all."
"Yes, sir!"
At the Heavenly Demon's command, the Blood Wolf Corps drew their swords in unison and charged.
Thus, the Demonic Cultists clashed with the Murim Alliance.
The Tiger Bone Corps and White-Clothed Youth Corps activated their formations.
One hundred fifty men moved as one, unfolding a combined assault formation.
"Target the Heavenly Demon!"
But their combined assault formation was rendered useless by a single casual wave of the Heavenly Demon's hand.
Kkiiigiiigiiigiiik!
The weapons of those in the vanguard all bent or snapped.
Those whose weapons were damaged had no choice but to fall back, and the next line stepped forward.
But their swords met the same fate, shattering or warping just like the first.
No matter how famed the sword, if it wasn't protected by sword aura, mere metal posed no threat to the Heavenly Demon's sword control technique.
The Demon-Exterminating Fortress Formation crumbled under the Heavenly Demon.
The situation had completely reversed from moments before.
It was a one-sided massacre.
With the formation broken, the two martial units collided in individual combat.
But the gap in martial prowess between them and the Blood Wolf Corps was starkly apparent.
The Blood Wolf Corps rampaged like demons from hell, while the righteous warriors floundered in despair.
Watching the reinforcements from the main cult slaughter the Murim Alliance warriors, Number 102 said urgently,
"What do we do? Shouldn't we go help now?"
"If we go now, they'll think we're the enemy too."
"You wanna stay here forever? I'm going!"
"Hey! Number 102!"
I wanted to stop him, but Number 102 had already dashed toward the burning Luoyang sub-branch.
"Damn it!"
I had no choice but to follow behind him.
"Wait up! I'm coming too!"
By the time we reached the sub-branch, the battle was already decided.
The Blood Wolf Corps warriors roamed about, methodically finishing off any righteous survivors who still drew breath.
Puuk!
"Kuhuk! Gulp!"
Bright red blood gushed from the stabbed man's mouth.
We appeared before one of those Blood Wolf Corps members mercilessly cutting down survivors, and he halted his butcher's work to glare at us.
It wasn't exactly wariness.
More like they didn't even feel the need to be wary.
Anyway, the one who seemed the highest-ranking among them asked us,
"What business do you have here?"
His tone was as folksy as a farmer out in the fields.
Of course, what he was harvesting wasn't crops, but human lives.
"We're Shadow Squad members from this secret sub-branch."
"Members here? Proof?"
We pulled out an item known only to Demonic Cultists and tossed it to him.
It was a cheap, common portable inkstone case.
A small brush and inkwell—this was the era's portable writing tool.
But it also served as a disguised identity token.
The wood used to make this inkstone came exclusively from the Ten Myriad Great Mountains, a unique species adapted to high altitudes that grew low and stunted.
It had distinctive growth rings unlike anything found in the righteous world.
Etched on it were five mountain peaks and two cranes.
The five peaks symbolized the Demonic Cult's fifth martial unit, and the two cranes indicated rank-two assassins.
In truth, martial artists from other units didn't need to bother showing ID tokens.
They exuded demonic qi from every pore.
But Shadow Squad elites were different.
Due to the nature of their missions, Shadow Squad members trained from childhood to suppress their demonic qi, making it weaker than other cultists'.
And since we were only rank-two assassins, ours was even fainter.
The Blood Wolf Corps elite examined the inkstone case and asked suspiciously,
"Hm. So why'd you come from over there?"
"We were returning from a mission when we saw the sub-branch in trouble and rushed over."
"Let me see that mission order."
"Burned it the moment we saw it."
"Hm, is that so? What kind of mission was it?"
"An assassination."
"Hm, really now?"
His tone felt off somehow.
"Mind helping finish off those still breathing over there? You can handle that much, right?"
"Of course. It's our specialty."
No matter that they were a higher martial unit, the way they kept addressing us informally while we used honorifics already felt like they were looking down on us.
We slaughtered every last righteous survivor without mercy and entered the manor, where more finishing blows were underway.
Jegal Jwa-seong, who had fought to the bitter end, lay collapsed, missing his right hand and left foot.
"Y-you Demonic Cultist... Heaven's wrath... will..."
"Shut your mouth and go quietly."
The Blood Wolf Corps captain cleanly severed his head.
Shwick—
The Heavenly Demon asked the captain holding Jegal Jwa-seong's head.
"All done?"
"Yes, sir! Vice Leader."
"What's with those two?"
The Heavenly Demon's gaze fell on two ragged young men dressed in completely different colors.
"They claim to be Shadow Squad from this branch. Said they were out on assassination and just got back."
"Didn't you understand my orders?"
"Pardon?"
"I said clearly to clear out everything still alive."
"Ah, yes, sir!"
"Hm. Come to think of it, we haven't issued any assassination orders in the last three months."
The Blood Wolf Corps captain instantly grasped the implication and glared at the two young Shadow Squad assassins, spitting out a rage-filled command.
"You filthy traitors! I'll cut your heads off right now."
This was my first time seeing the Vice Leader in person.
'So that's the Vice Leader, the Heavenly Demon?'
His name had drilled into my ears as the cult's supreme master.
But something about his presence felt off.
A chill ran down my spine—not a good sign at all.
And there wasn't a single sub-branch servant in sight.
'All dead?'
We'd been close to many of them, and thinking they'd all been killed brought a pang of sorrow.
But soon I witnessed something shocking.
Inside the manor building, Blood Wolf Corps cultists were butchering injured Shadow Squad members.
"......"
'Wh-what? What am I seeing right now?'
I stared at the Heavenly Demon in a daze, only to find him glaring right back at us.
With a thoroughly displeased expression, no less.
'Gah!'
At that moment, the Blood Wolf Corps warriors around the Heavenly Demon all turned their predatory stares on us.
Their eyes brimmed with killing intent.
It was like tossing live rabbits into a pen of starving wolves.
Alarms blared in my head.
My instincts screamed at me to run.
"Run!!"
I shouted the word and fled with every ounce of strength I had.
"Hah! Quick-witted fox, aren't you?"
"If it were a fox, it wouldn't have come back here in the first place."
"F-forgive me, Vice Leader. My thinking was shortsighted."
"No matter. This'll make for an entertaining rabbit hunt. Go fetch their heads. We need to make an example of what happens to traitors. Salt them and hang them at the Gates of Asura back at headquarters."
"Yes, sir!"
The Blood Wolf Corps.
These bastards were fiends of the world.
Such reliable allies before, but as enemies, they were the worst possible foes.
Number 102, still not grasping the situation, sent me a transmission demanding answers.
-What the fuck! Why are they attacking their own side?!
-Shut up and run!
-Where to!
-Riverside cliff!
-Cliff? Why there!
-That's our only shot at surviving!
-You lunatic! How do we jump from there!
-Just jump and shut up!
I had no time to humor his objections.
The crisis sharpened my judgment instead.
Suddenly, the full picture clicked into place.
'From the start, ignoring the sub-branch head getting butchered, letting the righteous attack the Luoyang sub-branch—it was all a trap! To create a pretext for wiping out their main force. We were just bait!'
A miraculous equal exchange: fifty Shadow Squad elites for thirty percent of the Murim Alliance's core strength.
Plus the timely arrival of the Heavenly Demon and a top-tier unit.
No way this was all coincidence.
Rage trembled through me.
'So we were just disposable pawns to use and toss when convenient!'
The metallic tang of blood filled my tightly clenched mouth.
"Herd them that way!"
Whoooosh!
A barrage of hidden weapons sliced through the air toward us.
Poison hairpins, black needles, hawk blades, flying rings, throwing stars, leaf knives, even Blood Wolf darts— a colorful arsenal rained down.
I never knew the Demonic Cult used such a variety of hidden weapons.
A curse escaped my lips.
"Quit throwing, you bastards!"
The distance between us and them was closing fast.
Even with my advanced lightness skill honed for scouting missions, the skill gap was too vast—they were catching up.
-At this rate, they'll nab us! Use Inner Power Explosion!
Even Number 102, superior in lightness skill, felt the threat from the encroaching Blood Wolf pursuers and nodded without protest.
We'd used Inner Power Explosion not long ago, and firing it off again so soon—I wondered if our bodies could take it.
The backlash would be worse than before.
But anything beat dying right now.