Chapter 134: Geumwa Clan (1)
Chapter 134: Geumwa Clan (1)
Park Min-woo gathered his most trusted direct subordinates to secretly investigate the Goryeo Clan and the Geumwa Clan.
While he believed Wolyeong would never speak idly, he still needed to confirm the facts for himself. Officially, he maintained the status quo, treating both clans as he always had while observing them with extreme caution.
On the surface, they appeared to be model clans, clearing dungeons and cooperating fully with the Association. This made him wonder if they truly had fallen to the demons.
Early in the investigation, the subordinates tasked with the job even suggested to Park Min-woo that the information might be incorrect.
"This information came from Wolyeong," he told them.
Initially, he hadn't revealed the source, fearing it might create a bias. However, when everyone turned skeptical and suggested the investigation was unnecessary, he disclosed the truth to keep the operation moving. He decided it was better for them to look more closely, as Association staff members often grew complacent and overlooked things out of habit.
Like Park Min-woo, his subordinates held immense trust in Wolyeong. The moment they heard the information came from her, their expressions shifted instantly, and they began to reconsider everything.
The careful, meticulous investigation resumed. However, since the targets were large clans filled with Awakeners, approaching them for close observation carried significant risks, making progress difficult.
While engrossed in their investigation and meetings, Park Min-woo’s subordinates noticed a commonality: a high frequency of food supply vehicles entering and leaving both the Goryeo and Geumwa Clans.
At first, they thought the clans were simply providing meals for the Awakeners who were currently clearing dungeons with such vigor. But the size of the vehicles and the frequency of the deliveries felt excessive. Furthermore, such catering was usually outsourced to external companies; it was rare for a clan to handle it directly.
Their suspicions were confirmed when they spotted something through their binoculars. Despite the vehicles being refrigerated trailers meant for food, the boxes being unloaded were far larger than expected. They watched as boxes roughly the size of large wardrobes, all tightly sealed, were transported inside.
This made one thing certain: they had to conduct a forced search of the Goryeo and Geumwa Clan houses. It was clear that items with unidentifiable contents were being funneled into both organizations.
After receiving the report on these anomalies, Park Min-woo began planning a surprise raid. He informed Wolyeong of their plan, and upon hearing the news, Han Shin’s party decided to join the Association in searching the clan houses.
Since Han Shin and his companions were already convinced that these two clans had fallen to the demons, they felt it was best to go in and see for themselves alongside the Association.
However, they lacked the manpower to handle both clans simultaneously. It was an unavoidable reality; the Association was relatively small because it couldn't bridge the massive gap in financial compensation offered by large clans. Although Han Shin’s party had grown significantly stronger, it would be difficult to properly contain everyone if members tried to flee or took Association Awakeners hostage.
Since they had to be prepared for combat in the worst-case scenario, they decided to raid and suppress one clan first before moving on to the next.
Between the Goryeo and Geumwa Clans, they chose Geumwa first. Kim Gi-joon was an outstanding mage, and since the Geumwa Clan itself boasted a high number of mages, they decided to neutralize them first.
While the headquarters of various large clans were scattered across different locations, the Geumwa Clan’s house was located in Yeouido. Most large clans in Seoul were spread out like this. Originally, the Association’s headquarters had also been in Seoul, but after Wolyeong requested to meet in Sejong City, Park Min-woo had moved the entire headquarters there.
Yeouido was essentially the Geumwa Clan’s territory. This was a common trend among large clans; regardless of nationality or race, they tended to turn the areas surrounding their clan houses into personal fiefdoms. Centered around the clan house were the homes of clan members and facilities operated by their associates, and the clans often owned much of the surrounding land.
For this reason, monitoring the Geumwa Clan had been incredibly difficult. In a way, it was a stroke of luck that they hadn't been caught yet.
The Association Awakeners and Han Shin’s party waited in separate cars outside Yeouido. As soon as they were ready, they moved in according to Park Min-woo’s signal. They split up into several large black vans and entered through various routes.
Shortly after 9:00 AM, the sudden appearance of a fleet of unfamiliar black vans caught the attention of local shopkeepers preparing for the day. But before word could reach the Geumwa Clan, the Association and Han Shin’s party had already surrounded the clan house.
Screeeech!
Like most large clan houses, the property was surrounded by high walls. The Geumwa Clan’s main entrance consisted of iron-barred gates decorated with ornaments reminiscent of a luxury mansion. It was a display of confidence. If they had been weak or in a state of conflict where an attack was likely, they would have installed thick steel gates like a fortress. The Geumwa Clan hadn't bothered, confident that Yeouido was their domain.
In truth, this wasn't unusual. Few places were as secure as Korea, and the influence of the large clans was immense. While the Yuseong Clan held a firm grip on the number one spot, the other clans were by no means weak or unable to exert their power.
As far as the Geumwa Clan members were concerned, even the Yuseong Clan would have to bow their heads in Yeouido. It was their home turf; they knew the geography, they had their facilities, and they had traps prepared for emergencies.
However, that was all theoretical. Because Korea was so stable, it had been a very long time since the large clans had engaged in bloody conflict. The fighting had only been intense for the first five years after the portals appeared, and things had settled down much faster than in other countries. Since Korea was a region where many portals opened, the clans realized they couldn't afford to fight each other indefinitely. They agreed to cooperate and compete while acknowledging each other's spheres of influence.
For this reason, the magical traps and facilities the Geumwa Clan had installed for emergencies were useless now. They never expected the Association to launch a surprise raid and demand a search.
Seeing the attire of the Association Awakeners who had suddenly appeared, the Geumwa Clan members sensed something was wrong. One Awakener rushed out. He stood on the other side of the gate, not yet opening it. The moment he saw Park Min-woo’s face, he recognized them as Association members.
“What brings you here so early in the morning?”
Park Min-woo, dressed for the first time in a while in combat gear, had a bow slung across his back.
“We need to search the clan house. Open the gate.”
At Park Min-woo’s words, the Geumwa Clan Awakener’s eyes wavered for a split second. Though the Geumwa Clan was being consumed by demonic nature, they hadn't yet reached the point of openly admitting they were minions of demons.
However, they knew what they were hiding. They knew that their magical experiments on monster corpses could become a problem.
“Could you wait a moment? I need to report to my superiors and get permiss—”
It was a standard response, but Park Min-woo could tell he was stalling for time. He cut the man off sharply.
“That’s an order. Open the gate.”
Park Min-woo usually spoke politely to the Awakeners of large clans, but now he spoke with blunt authority. The Geumwa Clan Awakener realized the Association had come with certainty. Because they were dressed for battle, the people inside were likely already preparing for combat; he needed to buy more time.
“My, why so aggressive with the words…”
He intended to pick a fight over Park Min-woo’s tone to drag out the confrontation. But he was forced to stop mid-sentence.
Behind Park Min-woo, he saw a female knight in silver armor.
Grace drew her sword, and a silver aura of sword energy erupted from the blade. The silver energy traced lines through the air several times...
And the thick titanium bars of the gate were sliced like stalks of grain, falling to the ground with heavy thuds.
Terrified, the Geumwa Clan Awakener instinctively recoiled and turned to flee.
Thwack!
“Aaargh!”
He didn't make it more than a few steps before an arrow pierced his thigh. He collapsed to the ground, screaming and rolling in pain.
Park Min-woo had already drawn his bow and neutralized the fleeing Geumwa Clan member. With that as the signal, Han Shin’s party and the Association Awakeners stormed into the Geumwa Clan house.