Demon Summoning

Han Man-ok still had the most life in him. Not because he was the highest-level Player among them, or the most skilled. Sly bastard. He kept his voice raised—taunting Jin-soo one moment, rallying his disciples the next—while his movements grew steadily smaller. He was saving mana and stamina for a duel.

If the Peak masters are wiped out, Sahyeol Gate's prestige takes a serious hit. Han Man-ok had no doubt already weighed the damage to the sect against the profit he stood to gain. And in the end, he chose the profit.

The wisest choice would have been to admit defeat and beg Jin-soo for mercy, or simply run. That path offered nothing to gain and everything to lose. But if he fought to the bitter end and won, even with every Peak master dead? Han Man-ok stands to profit enormously. He could sweep up Jin-soo's points and items along with those of the fallen Peak masters. A mountain of points did not make a man stronger by itself. Gear, though—that's another matter. With enough points, arming oneself in high-level items and inflating one's combat power was always possible.

The way he's looking at Baekcheonsingeom is anything but ordinary. Greed had soaked into those eyes. A martial artist trained in the saber, and still he coveted Baekcheonsingeom, a blade that carried Skill Nullification. Of that, Jin-soo was certain. Well. He has reason. Alongside the Heukcheon Demonic Sword Jin-soo had wielded before his Regression, Baekcheonsingeom stood as one of the mightiest divine weapons in the Tower. And while he's at it, he seems to be eyeing the Blood-Sucking Sword and the Black Dragon's Cursed Armor Set too.

Han Man-ok could put himself first because he had already decided that even if Sahyeol Gate withered and collapsed, it would have nothing to do with him. This is a man who meant to wage all-out war on Changseong Gate, make one enormous score, and walk off to the 201st Floor. Only the target had changed, from Changseong Gate to Jin-soo. The plan itself held. And he had not drawn it up alone.

"This is madness! At this rate we're all going to die! Sect Leader Han—don't tell me you mean to kill us on purpose!"

"A Transcendent Peak expert should have been yours to face alone from the start! The losses would've been far smaller! Sect Leader Han, you bastard! You mean to get the rest of us killed and keep the spoils for yourself?!"

"You vicious demon! Worse than a beast! You're a monster wearing a human face!"

"Fall back! If we stay like this, we're the only ones who'll die! Sect Leader Han, put everything you have into holding him off!"

The ten-odd Peak masters who had already died by Jin-soo's hand had been part of that plan as well. Two more had fallen since, leaving Sahyeol Gate with a mere four Peak masters still alive.

So they do have some sense of timing. Far, far too late. What good was calling out Han Man-ok's lack of commitment after two-thirds of their strength had already been erased? Or did they hold their tongues on purpose until now?

The four who remained had been just like him—glancing sidelong, dragging their feet. They might well have watched their comrades die with nothing in their heads but so long as it isn't me. And now that their own turn had come, they were sinking their teeth into Han Man-ok. They were in it with him from the start. Black-hearted, the lot of them. It was entirely possible.

"What nonsense is this?! I have been giving everything I have! You mean to pull out now? Would you set free a tiger we have already caught?!"

Han Man-ok, of course, refused the four Peak masters outright.

"Hah! You meant to borrow the Blood White Sword Demon's blade to clear us out, and now you play the innocent!"

"We won't be used by you any longer!"

"You're a Transcendent Peak martial artist, the same as the Blood White Sword Demon! Thirteen Peak masters even joined the assault under the Sahyeol Eight Trigrams Formation! And yet he was still alive when nine Peak masters had died—unless you intended it, that is impossible to accept!"

"Fight the Blood White Sword Demon this instant! If you don't, our blades turn on you, not him!"

At their shouts, Han Man-ok's face twisted into something wretched.

"Have you lost your minds? Have you not felt the Blood White Sword Demon's skill with your own bodies? I did not spare him on purpose!"

"Hah. And you expect us to believe that now?"

"We're done. We're pulling out!"

"You finish the Blood White Sword Demon yourself!"

"Otherwise we will not let you walk away from this!"

Jin-soo watched the standoff like a man at a fine show, interest bright in his eyes. They're actually pulling out. The four matched their steps and eased backward.

What now? With fewer enemies, his choices had doubled. He could follow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the original plan—drop the four first, then Han Man-ok—or reverse it and finish Han Man-ok before turning on them. Stick to the original plan. If the enemy split, the correct move was to use the split. And taking those four down first makes the work easier. Chasing one man was simpler than chasing four who had already run.

Jin-soo launched after the four as they tried to break from the field. As expected. He isn't really trying to stop me. Han Man-ok only went through the motions of a block.

"Why me, of all people?!"

The Peak master Jin-soo had marked let out a strangled gasp and scrambled to move his feet. White sword aura burst from Baekcheonsingeom, stretching long as a whip and cracking toward him.

"Hiiiek—!"

He saw the whip of aura coming, wrenched himself around, and swung. Once, the blade held. Twice, it held. The third was beyond him. The four had already scattered in search of their own survival, and the Sahyeol Eight Trigrams Formation had come apart. Alone, he had nothing like the strength to meet Jin-soo.

The whip of sword aura sheared the man's body in two.

"Aaaagh!"

Had Han Man-ok truly stepped in, it might have ended differently. He only feigned a block, and the three Peak masters who should have been pressing him were too busy getting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clear while their fellow died.

Kkami. Watch Han Man-ok. There was a chance the man would run, so Jin-soo left the watch to Kkami and launched after the three Peak masters Sahyeol Gate still had. They had split, each making for the nearest lodging. Trying to reach a safe zone. He had no interest in making extra work for himself.

The curses stole their sight and bound their feet.

"Ugh! I can't see! A curse?!"

"Damn it—he had backup. Let go of me!"

"Urk! My head's splitting. My body's too heavy."

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠curses came from Jin-soo's own hand. His mana and mental stats both stood at 1,622, and the three Peak masters had already emptied mana, stamina, and mental strength in a fight balanced on the edge of death. That was why the curses sank in so cleanly.

A few holy-affinity healers, and they wouldn't have fallen this emptily. Players out of Moosung favor martial artists far too heavily and scorn every other class. Had the Sahyeol Eight Trigrams Formation included healers, mages, and shamans, the fight would have been far more troublesome. But Sahyeol Gate had no healer, mage, or shaman fit to stand in a battle of this level. That was safe to assume. They pretend to honor them, on the surface. The contempt leaked through anyway, and any healer, mage, or shaman with real ability had little choice but to avoid guilds from Moosung.

Few things wound pride like a subordinate—lower in level, lesser in skill—meeting you as an equal, or quietly looking down. That deep-rooted disdain Moosung Players held for healers, mages, and shamans had not been pulled out by the root even on the Tower's upper floors. How much worse, then, on a lower floor like the Tower's 200th Floor? Well. It made the work easier for me.

Jin-soo cut the three of them down as they thrashed—one slash, a second that opened flesh, a third that punched through. It was almost effortless. He didn't run.

He had posted Kkami to watch on the chance of it, but Han Man-ok, Sect Leader of Sahyeol Gate, had stayed. If anything, he seemed to think Jin-soo might be the one to flee. He had planted himself where he could seal the way out.

"Just you left. Let's finish this."

"Hmph! Bluster will not work on me. Spare yourself the wasted effort."

Confidence sat thick on Han Man-ok's face. He did not appear to be considering defeat as a possibility at all.

"And what, exactly, are you so sure of?"

Jin-soo asked because he genuinely wanted the answer. They had already crossed blades. Han Man-ok had to know Jin-soo stood above him. Does he think my mana and stamina have dropped? Even that would not be enough to close the gap between them. He's sitting on a hidden move. And he trusts it completely. Jin-soo was not merciful enough to wait for him to play it.

He surged in, Baekcheonsingeom and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Blood-Sucking Sword sweeping together. Pure-white sword aura and blood-red sword aura tore up from the blades and burned like torches.

In that instant the bracelet on Han Man-ok's wrist flared a vicious blood-red, and a vast magic circle spread across the empty air. A summoning circle? Jin-soo held the Summoner class and its skills. He knew the circle for what it was at a glance. Before his eyes, the souls of the dead Sahyeol Gate Players were dragged into it.

He swung Baekcheonsingeom at the circle and brought the Blood-Sucking Sword down toward Han Man-ok's head. Both remained utterly whole. Linked. The summoning circle and the man wearing that strange bracelet were already as good as a single body.

From the circle blazing blood-red, something that was not human began to take shape.

A demon summoning circle. Called through that bracelet? No ordinary item. Jin-soo's eyes fixed on the bracelet at Han Man-ok's wrist. One of the two beads set into it shattered where it sat. A consumable. The other bead was still intact. It looked as though the thing could be used at least once more.

The blood-red circle winked out. In the same breath, the demon stood complete. A low tremor rolled through the ground, and a wave of immense mana and crushing presence spread in every direction. Strong. This is no demon you summon by offering up a handful of souls. He must have been feeding it the souls of high-level Players and monsters for some time already.

The demon turned its eyes on Han Man-ok.

"That one's death," Han Man-ok said, and pointed at Jin-soo.

The demon's gaze turned to follow.

"A most simple matter."

Its mouth split wide, and teeth like the teeth of a saw came into the light.