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Dokgo Yeon hid at the appointed place, regulating her internal energy after informing on the Scarlet Order—an unidentified organization scheming to attack the Hwangbo Clan from within and wreak havoc.
"Move quickly, before the Hwangbo Clan is in danger!"
Just because they are a martial clan doesn't mean they don't pay taxes to the nation.
Especially the foremost martial clan in Shandong pays more taxes than others and provides many unofficial accommodations to the Shandong Provincial Governor and other officials.
"Quietly surround the Hwangbo Clan estate. Don't let a single Sex Demon slip through!"
Renowned clans maintain close, amicable ties with local authorities. Even though the target was Shandong's strongest martial force, once intelligence had arrived, the authorities could not afford to stand idle.
'The first phase of the Sex Demon Extermination Plan is a success.'
Inside the clan, the Sex Demons gathered as planned, while outside, Dokgo Yeon had informed on them, tightening the encirclement of the Sex Demons.
Though I feared we might see unnecessary bloodshed, Sky-Soaring Lust Demon pushed forward with his plan, intent on escaping alone.
I had set the plan myself and exposed it myself. It was hard to call them victims, but every Sex Demon of the Scarlet Order who joined the scheme was going to be arrested.
'Please, escape safely.'
It would be wonderful if he escaped unscathed, but the probability converged to zero.
A battle was certain. For better or worse, some variable would trigger a fight. Dokgo Yeon's intuition told her, nine times out of ten, that a battle would definitely break out.
'There are unexpectedly many gathering.'
The government soldiers mobilized to capture the Sex Demons were numerous, but the perverted experts who had assembled to raid the Hwangbo Clan were also considerable in number.
In particular, it wasn't just the ones who had entered; there were also a significant number of Sex Demons waiting outside, gauging the situation.
"...Is this really possible?"
"When chaos breaks out inside, we just jump in. Even if it isn't the Hwangbo Seven Princesses, we can just grab any collateral-line woman or whoever."
Dokgo Yeon listened carefully to the words of the Sex Demons prowling around the Hwangbo Clan. They were targeting not only the Hwangbo Seven Princesses but even the collateral-line women of the Hwangbo Clan.
Men who didn't even truly know one of the Eight Great Families were banding together to assault it.
'How is this possible?'
Dokgo Yeon couldn't comprehend it. Shandong bordered Henan, where the Murim Alliance was headquartered; if they didn't flee quickly after raiding the Hwangbo Clan, the Alliance would dispatch reinforcements.
Yet the martial artists, as if bewitched, had become minor minions of the Scarlet Order and joined the attack on the Hwangbo Clan.
Just what were they relying on?
'The Clan Head didn't exactly display his power.'
He wasn't even acting as the Ice-Colored Demon. He had merely bluffed about a 'secret weapon' and pretended to have a hidden ace, but the Sex Demons were wholly consumed with the idea of screwing over the Hwangbo Clan.
'I need to find out.'
Why an expert who was merely first-rate would join such a plan.
Why Sex Demons were flocking in en masse and joining the scheme without the Soul-Hooking Technique even being used on them.
Why 'several tens' more Sex Demons had appeared than planned. Dokgo Yeon held her breath and scanned the surroundings.
And the moment she looked toward the clan's interior.
"!!"
Feeling as if every hair on her body stood on end, Dokgo Yeon put her hand on her sword hilt. From the direction of the clan's back gate, someone dressed as a servant stealthily slipped out of the estate.
'An expert!'
Dokgo Yeon ran across the rooftop under the cover of darkness. Clad in the black garb Bi-cheon himself had arranged, she followed the servant.
Step, step.
The servant leaped over the wall of a shabby manor. Dokgo Yeon examined the manor where the servant had disappeared for a moment, then shook her head and turned around.
'Geombung will be waiting.'
She could report this strange variable later. Since Dokgo Yeon had agreed to meet Bi-cheon at the designated spot, she immediately turned to leave the manor.
But she could not leave easily. Sensing a sticky energy behind her, Dokgo Yeon instantly drew her sword and swung it.
"Guhk!"
A masked black-cloaked warrior collapsed, his throat cut by Dokgo Yeon's blade. Having killed a person in an instant, Dokgo Yeon's expression remained unchanged as she dashed forward.
"Kuk!"
As soon as her sword traced an elegant crescent arc, another black-cloaked warrior toppled forward, dagger in hand. Both fallen warriors had been raising poisoned daggers aimed at Dokgo Yeon.
"Not bad. Your handiwork is quite rough. ...Oh my, look at this lewd getup on this little brat. Isn't it scandalous?"
The woman who had been wearing a Hwangbo Clan maid's uniform was now clad in black martial robes, blocking Dokgo Yeon's path. Surrounded by numerous black-cloaked figures—no, demons—all aiming their swords at Dokgo Yeon.
"Reveal your identity. Who are you?"
"Isn't it common courtesy to reveal your own identity before asking for someone else's?"
Dokgo Yeon mocked the woman, imitating a certain someone. As she raised her aura and pressured the surroundings, every black-cloaked figure except the woman flinched in shock.
"...Peak Realm."
"Yeah, I know. My skin's tingling. Fine. I'll talk since all my underlings seem about to die."
Crackle. Lightning surged from the woman's body. Her black-dyed hair instantly turned gray, and she grinned, radiating an aura surpassing Dokgo Yeon's.
"I'm one of the Ten Demons of the Demonic Cult. Call me Earth Qilin Thunder Demon."
"!!"
She had run into an enemy where she least expected it. Dokgo Yeon recalled the information she had heard from Lee Si-a.
"Flying Shadow Fan Thunder Sect?"
"Oh my, you know that much? ...Now that I've identified myself, you should too, right? It won't be fun if you keep your mouth clamped shut."
The woman, Thunder Demon, drew a black rod from her bosom. Popping off its lid, she produced a neatly folded purple fan and spread it open.
"Who are you?"
"......."
With a dismayed expression, Dokgo Yeon offered her a martial salute, hands clasped.
"May the Sun and Moon's divine protection be with you. I did not expect to meet a member of the Ten Demons here."
"...Huh? Are you a Demonic Cultist?"
Thunder Demon's gaze was somewhat bewildered. Faced with an identity completely unlike what she had envisioned, and hearing Dokgo Yeon claim to be a Demonic Cult member, she seemed genuinely flustered.
"Yes. I am...."
—If you ever run into that bastard's subordinates and it gets dangerous, say this. Nine times out of ten, they'll let it slide.
—Sell me out, Yeon.
"...I serve a Void Seat that should not exist. One that does not exist."
"......!!"
With an indescribably twisted expression, Thunder Demon gestured toward Dokgo Yeon from top to bottom.
"...But why are your clothes like that?"
"It is that person's taste."
Thunder Demon was at a loss for words, and Dokgo Yeon could no longer continue, either.
* * *
"What, are you trying to fight me?"
"You bumped into me first, so why are you picking a fight?!"
Murmurs.
A spark of conflict ignited in the amiable banquet hall. The body of a man in white martial robes was smeared from chest to legs with red seasoning.
"What are you gonna do about the chili oil stink on my clothes?!"
Beneath the man, a duck roast drenched in chili oil was spilling in a mess. The white martial robes, stained by chili paste and duck grease, looked beyond hope of ever returning to pristine white.
"You spilled it on purpose!"
"Why would I?"
"You bastard, aren't you the one who got eliminated by me in the second round!"
"Bullshit. Are your eyes crossed?"
The dispute gradually intensified. The drunken men watched the commotion from the sidelines and had no intention of stopping it.
"They're not girls, yet they're fighting with words. Tsk, tsk."
"If you're going to do that, why not just use your fists?"
"To have become murim warriors and still only resort to verbal fights, tsk, tsk. To think I almost became brothers-in-law with that kind of man."
In fact, they berated the warriors and stoked their rage. They incited the dispute between the two martial artists, goading them into a violent brawl.
"Hey, everyone's drunk."
"Calm down. Aren't you ashamed to behave like this at the Hwangbo Clan's banquet?"
"Shut it! You're just here to freeload!"
"What? This bald bastard really said that?!"
The drunken warriors freely hurled insults and personal attacks at each other. They began grabbing each other by the collars in earnest and swinging drunken fists.
"Huh, what's this sudden ruckus?"
Some were baffled by the suspiciously contrived drunken brawl, but their commotion was a kind of signal.
"Calm down! What is this outrage?!"
Poof, poof poof.
Even before the Hwangbo Clan's warriors could quell those resorting to violence, white smoke began rising here and there, mingling with shouts and yells.
"Wh-what's that?!"
"What do you think? It's Soul-Bewitching Incense."
"Hey, hurry up and swallow the antidote!"
Those who had been committing violence directly, inciting it from the side, or quietly hiding all began popping something into their mouths, their lips twisting.
"Huhuhu, they're dropping like flies."
"Do as you're told! Right now!"
The Sex Demons whispered low into the ears of those dazed by the incense.
"I wanna fuck the Hwangbo bitches... I wanna pin them down and ravish them right now...."
"Ughhh...."
One by one, those poisoned by the Soul-Bewitching Incense thrashed weakly, their minds clouded. Every one of their groins was uniformly swollen.
"Heh heh, where are the Hwangbo bitches?"
The Sex Demons revealed their true colors and scanned the surroundings. But only those eliminated from the martial tournament were present; the Hwangbo Clan's warriors and women were nowhere to be seen.
"...Where did these bitches go?"
No one gave them an answer.
* * *
A tall building somewhat removed from the banquet hall, Hwangbo Hye-ji's room.
We observed the mood of the banquet hall through the window.
"It's about time."
I checked the state of my body here and there and stood up.
The atmosphere in the banquet hall was already at its peak, and there was no longer any reason to delay.
"All preparations are complete. The Sex Demons are starting to move in earnest, too."
"...Will this really be enough?"
Hwangbo Hye-ji sat demurely on the bed. I sat beside her and placed a hand on her waist.
"Of course. All you need to do is relax and enjoy yourself here with me."
"...I'm worried. What if something goes wrong?"
"The Hwangbo Clan Head must have already received the intelligence. By now, he's either stopped drinking... or using the situation to his advantage."
Hwangbo Yeom was already dead drunk.
Over a dozen Sex Demons had taken turns plying Hwangbo Yeom with alcohol to get him drunk. No matter how much Hwangbo Yeom pretended to sip and covertly emptied his cup, he was bound to succumb quickly to the alcohol that briefly passed his lips.
But who could remain drunk when Sex Demons have come to gang-rape his daughters!
"The Hwangbo Clan warriors are disappearing one by one. The intelligence was delivered successfully. So you need only spend intimate time with Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist."
"...While the clan is under attack, Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist spends a steamy night with Hwangbo Hye-ji."
"Exactly. And although someone named So Ju-ji is supposed to attack us...."
I shrugged.
"So Ju-ji is nowhere to be seen. There is no attacker. Heh heh."
"How could you possibly overlook your own self?"
The scheme—which had gathered the Sex Demons and even recruited more on top of that—would be utterly ruined.
They were destined to be betrayed by So Ju-ji and gain nothing. Without even realizing they had been used, they would burst the Smoke Orbs they had secretly brought.
"It should be about time they burst."
I took out a bead of the kind I had distributed to the Sex Demons. Inside the fairly large bead, like a spirit creature's inner core, a gray gas shimmered brilliantly.
Psssssh.
Smoke billowed from the banquet hall. I showed the bead to Hwangbo Hye-ji.
"Specially crafted Soul-Bewitching Incense. The moment it escapes the bead, it becomes a smothering cloud, and it instantly plunges anyone who inhales it into a deep sleep. A truly terrifying thing."
Crack. I crushed the bead containing the Soul-Bewitching Incense in my hand. Hwangbo Hye-ji momentarily flinched in surprise, but I lightly let the smoke disperse.
"By the way, this is real Soul-Bewitching Incense. Genuine, not fake, and the ones I handed out to those bastards are real too."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. If it's real Soul-Bewitching Incense, won't everyone be poisoned?"
"Of course they'll be poisoned. The Sex Demons with the antidote will move around without being affected."
Whooooosh.
The wind began to blow outside.
"However."
I spread the energy of the Soul-Bewitching Incense I had crushed into the banquet hall.
"The incense is real, but whether the antidote is real is a different matter."
If you are in there, you'd likely lose your reason and run wild alongside them.
"To make it easy to act like Sex Demons, I mixed an erection enhancer into the Spirit Pills I gave as the supposed antidote."
Amid everyone falling prey to the Soul-Hooking Technique and becoming Sex Demons, I had prepared a way to distinguish the real Sex Demons.
"Those who are still standing three shichen after being captured are the culprits."