Chapter 68: A Late Introduction
Episode 68
A Late Introduction
"What the hell? Why isn't this bastard coming back?"
The senior blacksmith spat out a string of curses at the missing junior assistant who had disappeared with a sword in hand.
The lunatic who had vanished without a trace still hadn't returned even after an unreasonable amount of time had passed.
At first, he thought the kid might have gotten lost, but by now, he could've repaired every single weapon in the training grounds and still had time to spare.
The senior blacksmith glanced to the side and saw the mountain of weapons waiting to be repaired.
"Haa..."
A sigh escaped his lips.
At this point, it looked like he'd have to go himself.
He considered dumping the task on another junior assistant, but they were all already busy carrying repair orders for other senior blacksmiths.
With no other choice, he reluctantly stood up.
He planned to head to the Great Forge Master's furnace and, once there, vent his frustrations before kicking that damn rookie out the moment he returned.
But the closer he got to the Great Forge Master's furnace...
"......Huh?"
The senior blacksmith sensed something unusual.
It was too quiet.
The sound of the Great Forge Master's hammer was completely absent.
Normally, on days like this—when the Great Forge Master returned from an external assignment—he would be even more frenzied than usual, throwing himself into his work as if compensating for the time stolen by trivial matters.
But today...
What the hell?
Something was definitely off about the Great Forge Master.
"This... this is?"
"No... Impossible."
"Who the hell could've...?"
The Great Forge Master was muttering incomprehensibly, his eyes dull and clouded, like a man possessed by a ghost.
The eerie sight sent a chill down the senior blacksmith's spine.
Then, his gaze landed on the object clutched in the Great Forge Master's hand—
A practice sword, one of the many the blacksmiths had been repairing.
Instinctively, he realized that this was the reason for the Great Forge Master's fury.
But who the hell would dare leave their own work in the Great Forge Master's space...?
Ah!
The image of that damn rookie walking away from the Great Forge Master's station flashed belatedly through his mind.
Just then, the Great Forge Master suddenly whipped his head around and glared at him.
Startled, the senior blacksmith froze as the Great Forge Master abruptly demanded:
"You."
"Y-Yes?!"
"Who left this here?"
"Th-That... I-I didn't! It was th-that new junior assistant who just—"
"......Junior assistant?"
BANG!
As the senior blacksmith cowered, the door to the forge burst open with enough force to nearly shatter it.
A group of warriors stormed inside.
Under normal circumstances, such an intrusion would never be tolerated—
But the sheer intensity radiating from them silenced any objections.
"Where is that bastard Unhui?!"
"......!!"
Hearing the rookie's name from their lips, the senior blacksmith felt his vision blur.
The Murim Alliance's Grand Conference Hall
Azure Dragon Hall
'What the hell is happening...?'
Seated at the head of the hall, the Murim Alliance's Chief Strategist, the "Omniscient Scholar" Jegal Hoon, was reeling from the sudden crisis.
With the Alliance Leader absent, he had been forced to hastily convene an emergency meeting.
A massive rectangular table dominated the hall, with Jegal Hoon seated at its center.
"A spy infiltrated the Alliance's headquarters in broad daylight?!"
"How the hell does that even happen?!"
"Moyong Family Head, how could you let the outer defenses become so lax?!"
To his right, the Elders of the Elder Faction roared in outrage.
"How is this my fault?!"
"The responsibility for vetting new recruits and verifying their backgrounds was transferred to the Hwangbo Family Head's jurisdiction!"
"And after slashing personnel under the guise of cost-cutting, you dare shift blame when problems arise?!"
To his left, the Leader Faction's Elders fired back.
Meanwhile, the three neutral Elders—
"Heh heh... Quite the spectacle. A complete mess."
—were represented solely by the Beggars' Sect Leader, the "Drunken Madman" Hong Il-shin, who lounged on a mat spread across the floor, cackling as he watched the chaos unfold.
As the Drunken Madman had said, the meeting was an utter disaster.
Despite the unprecedented situation—an unidentified spy infiltrating the Alliance's main forge, and the Great Disciple of Mount Hua being ambushed—
The Elder Faction was less concerned with uncovering the truth and more intent on exploiting the situation for political gain.
"Ahem! More pressing than these trivial details is the fact that the Alliance Leader is absent during such a crisis!"
"Exactly! If the Namgung Family Head hadn't acted swiftly to secure the spy, who knows what could've happened?!"
Rather than investigating the incident, they were framing Alliance Leader Yoo Jin-hak's absence as the real problem.
At that moment, fury flashed in Jegal Hoon's eyes.
'So this is your game, Namgung Myeong... You're using this to overthrow the Alliance Leader!'
As the man hailed as the Murim Alliance's greatest mind, Jegal Hoon instantly grasped the hidden intent behind the Elder Faction's accusations.
Yet Namgung Myeong merely smiled amiably under Jegal Hoon's glare.
CREAK—
Just then, the doors of Azure Dragon Hall swung open.
A group of Enforcement Hall warriors, clad in black uniforms with the character for law emblazoned on their shoulders, marched in escorting a prisoner.
Leading them was the "Ruthless Blade" So Mun-gyeong, head of the Enforcement Hall.
"Chief Strategist, we have brought the prisoner."
So Mun-gyeong bowed respectfully to Jegal Hoon.
But Jegal Hoon couldn't respond immediately—
'What the—'
Because of the prisoner's condition.
The Enforcement Hall hadn't merely bound the captive—
His wrists were shackled.
His ankles were chained.
His face was concealed beneath a restraint that covered his eyes, ears, and mouth, leaving only tiny holes for breathing.
"Hall Master So! The Snow Spirit Stone restraints?! Those are reserved for demonic cult leaders guilty of mass slaughter!"
Snow Spirit Stone, mined in minuscule quantities from the Arctic's frozen lands, was an ore imbued with extreme Yin energy.
Restraints made from it were supremely effective—but inflicted near-torturous agony on the prisoner.
They had been banned after Yoo Jin-hak became Alliance Leader.
Jegal Hoon raised his voice in protest, but So Mun-gyeong replied with the same emotionless demeanor befitting his epithet.
"My apologies, Chief Strategist, but Elder Namgung has already approved their use."
"......!!"
Jegal Hoon's eyes trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
Had even the Enforcement Hall's leader fallen into Namgung's grasp?
"Tch. He's obviously a spy from the Dark Faction. No different from a demonic leader."
"It's too early to conclude he's a Dark Faction operative! Torturing someone before their guilt is proven makes us no better than the Demon Sect!"
"What?! The Demon Sect?!"
Hwangbo Geon sneered, and Jegal Hoon's eyes blazed.
As the man flinched, Jegal Hoon pressed on.
"The background documents submitted for entry into the main forge were full of holes. Normally, verification would've begun immediately after his placement as an assistant. But his claimed origin—Kaifeng—was so flimsy it wouldn't have taken half a day to debunk. It's almost as if he wanted to be caught quickly."
"Tch. He's just an idiot who messed up. What's so strange about that?"
"Then how do you explain what he did after entering the forge?"
"What's there to explain? He just repaired some practice weap—"
"He forged a divine artifact and left it at the Great Forge Master's station."
"?!"
"He what?!"
"Made a divine artifact?!"
Even Namgung Myeong couldn't hide his shock at Jegal Hoon's words—
Because the Great Forge Master, Dong Cheon-rip, had confided this only to Jegal Hoon.
"Gr-Great Forge Master... Is this true?"
"Did he really... forge a divine artifact?!"
The Elder Faction's eyes burned with greed.
Even as leaders of the Nine Great Sects, the mere mention of a divine artifact reduced them to this primal state.
As the hall waited in tense silence for the Great Forge Master's response—
The man himself, present as a witness, gave a stiff nod.
A collective gasp swept through the room.
"You see now? What spy would infiltrate only to benefit the enemy?"
"......."
"Moreover, the Great Disciple of Mount Hua wasn't 'injured while moving.' He was unconscious when the Enforcement Hall arrested the suspect carrying him."
"......."
"Once Elder Cheon returns from checking on his disciple—"
"Hmm... How strange."
A voice cut Jegal Hoon off.
Namgung Myeong, who had remained silent until now, fixed Jegal Hoon with a chilling gaze.
Though he wasn't channeling any energy, an overwhelming pressure filled the hall.
With a single sentence, Namgung Myeong seized control of the room.
"The more I listen, the more it sounds like the Chief Strategist is forgetting the facts and spinning delusions."
"What are you—"
"In the Alliance Leader's absence."
Namgung Myeong interrupted.
"A spy breached the Murim Alliance's security."
"......."
"The spy attacked the Great Disciple of Mount Hua, yet we have no means to contact the Alliance Leader."
"......!"
"In fact, none of us even know where the Alliance Leader is or what he's doing."
"......!"
"With such glaring facts before us, why does the Chief Strategist keep defending the spy?"
"That's not—"
"Are you spinning fantasies to cover for the Alliance Leader's failures?"
"Namgung Family Head!"
"Since when has the Alliance Leader's seat been one for leisurely travels?!"
"!!"
Though his words were venomous—
Namgung Myeong played the part of a loyalist deeply concerned for the Murim Alliance.
"If this man is truly a Dark Faction spy or a demonic cultivator, we Elders cannot stand idly by!"
"......And what exactly do you intend to do?"
The Peng Family Head of Hebei, Peng Tae-san—one of the Alliance Leader's staunchest supporters—glared with fiery eyes.
But Namgung Myeong brushed him off effortlessly and continued.
"Times have changed. If the Alliance Leader has lost his past wisdom and can no longer fulfill his role... We must establish a new order in the Murim Alliance—"
"Hmm... I waited out of respect for my elders, but this is going too far."
"!!"
An uninvited voice abruptly interjected.
The hall's occupants froze, their shock giving way to dread.
WHOOSH—
CRACKLE—
Every warrior in the room drew energy from their dantian, their gazes snapping toward the source.
The center of the conference hall.
The prisoner's face, previously concealed by restraints, was now fully visible.
While everyone had been distracted by Namgung Myeong and Jegal Hoon's argument—
The prisoner's restraints had vanished without a trace.
But they soon understood why.
"You—!"
"My apologies for the late introduction."
HISS!!
A dark green mist of poison erupted from the prisoner's body—
Dissolving the shackles on his wrists.
The chains on his ankles.
"I am Tang Se-woon, rightful heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
And the Human-Skin Mask in an instant.
The Venomous Tyrant of Sichuan.