Chapter 135: Geumwa Clan (2)
Chapter 135: Geumwa Clan (2)
Whew... I couldn't help but feel a bit tense.
This was my first time fighting against other people. Until now, I had only faced monsters and demons, and I’d expected it to stay that way. I never imagined the day would come when I’d be fighting Awakeners from a large clan in the middle of Seoul.
The Geumwa Clan’s headquarters consisted of several buildings centered around a five-story, ivory-colored circular tower. Since Kim Gi-joon was a mage, I suppose that made sense. No matter how I looked at it, it reminded me of an Ivory Tower.
On the surface, the building looked perfectly fine, but I felt a sense of repulsion and dissonance radiating from it.
The demons definitely had a hand in this.
It wasn't just me feeling under the weather. I realized I’d have to control my strength to some extent. The sense of discomfort and wrongness grew so strong it stirred a faint murderous intent within me, making me feel incredibly unpleasant.
Suppressing that feeling, I advanced across the large garden. The Association Awakeners standing in front of me split like the parting sea, scattering toward the surrounding buildings as planned.
Naturally, our group headed for the central Ivory Tower.
Laysia was the one coming inside with me. Outside, Yujin-noona and Grace were tasked with handling anyone who tried to flee or any interference from the outside. Since the interior would be cramped and our priority was subduing the Awakeners rather than killing them, we had arranged our forces this way.
The Association Awakener at the front grabbed the handle of the thick iron door and tried to pull, but when it wouldn't budge, he shouted, "It's locked!"
"Open the door. We are here to inspect the Geumwa Clan’s headquarters," Park Min-woo said, looking directly into a CCTV camera.
[Attempting such a forceful search is an insult to our clan! We refuse!]
The voice of a furious young man echoed out. It didn't sound like it was coming from a speaker... was it a magical device? The voice likely belonged to Kim Gi-joon.
"Geumwa Clan Leader! If you have nothing to hide, open the door!" Park Min-woo, who had been using polite honorifics, suddenly switched to a harsh, informal tone.
I could feel Kim Gi-joon’s reaction shifting beyond mere anger; he was projecting clear hostility toward us. Anyone with half a brain could feel it—he was signaling his intent to fight.
Hmm... but come to think of it, the Ivory Tower structure actually worked in our favor. As an Archmage specializing in water-type magic, he could have caused devastating damage by taking the high ground and raining spells down on us, but the building's design made that difficult.
Of course, there were windows, but they were small and didn't open fully. It seemed the building had been designed strictly around the "Mage's Ivory Tower" concept, but in this situation, it had become a sort of prison for him.
Well, it worked for us.
Park Min-woo and Kim Gi-joon continued their verbal sparring, but it was a waste of time. I stepped forward and pulled my warhammer from subspace.
The warhammer, made of sleek silver metal, was a weapon I had grown very familiar with. To me, having drawn upon the Power of the Dragon, a door like this was hardly an obstacle.
Gripping the handle with both hands, I swung the hammer horizontally at the thick, reinforced metal door.
CLANG!!
Amidst the ear-splitting screech of metal clashing against metal, the firmly shut door was obliterated. The right side of the door was embedded into the wall, while the left side’s hinges shattered, sending the panel flying inward.
★ ★ ★
"What on earth...!"
Kim Gi-joon couldn't hide his absurdity at the sight unfolding on the CCTV.
Contrary to Han Shin’s assumptions, the Geumwa Clan’s Ivory Tower had been built with meticulous care. In fact, portions of the top floor walls were designed to slide open, allowing magic to be unleashed. The reason he hadn't done so yet was partly because they were still arguing, but mostly because he trusted the defensive power of the front gate.
The exterior walls of the Ivory Tower were sturdy enough to withstand missiles and high-level magic; the entire structure had been designed with the assumption it would be attacked. Most importantly, after recently acquiring the Ego Artifact Raulo, Kim Gi-joon had learned a new way to imbue objects with magical power. He had used the corpses of monsters he’d collected to reinforce the tower's defenses.
The front gate was no exception. He had taken extra care with the thick titanium doors, priding himself on the fact that the entrance was even more durable than the walls.
And yet, that knight in silver armor—the one they called "Knight"—had pulled a warhammer out of nowhere and shattered that very gate with a single swing.
"How is this possible...?"
"Prepare for battle!"
The executives gathered with Kim Gi-joon were equally stunned. Some cursed in disbelief, others questioned what they were seeing, while the quick-witted ones moved to intercept the intruders.
There was a moment of chaos, but they all knew they had to prepare for combat now. They had to kill the Awakeners who had entered the tower.
The Geumwa Clan Awakeners were unaware that their minds were being gradually warped by demonic nature. They didn't yet realize that the demons were responsible for their change, but they felt no hesitation at the thought of killing the Association Awakeners.
If there had been even one person among them capable of normal reasoning, they would have found it strange. But there was no such person here. Everyone had become crueler, more violent.
Neither Kim Gi-joon nor the clan members expected the front gate to be destroyed so quickly, allowing the enemy to pour in. Fortunately for the Geumwa Clan, they had already ordered their members to prepare for battle and had stationed them at key points.
"Gah!"
"Block them!"
"What the hell are those monsters?!"
The problem was that Han Shin and Laysia were tearing through the Geumwa Clan members like an unstoppable tide.
Crunch!
"Aaaargh!!"
Han Shin grabbed the wrist of an Awakener lunging at him with a sword and snapped it backward, shattering the joint instantly.
Clatter!
As the sword hit the floor, the sound of breaking bone echoed again.
Crack!
He kicked the man's left knee, snapping the leg, and slammed him into the ground. Even for an Awakener, the pain of shattered bones was difficult to endure. Furthermore, the destructive power of the body arts Han Shin performed with his dragon-empowered physique was staggering.
Laysia, who was also busy knocking down and subduing the clan members in front of her, watched Han Shin with admiration. It had only been about a month since she started teaching him body arts, yet his movements were incredibly clean—almost unbelievably so.
It was one thing to perform well during practice, but maintaining such precision in a real life-and-death struggle was a difficult feat. Like Grace, Laysia had always thought Han Shin had a talent for combat, but seeing him exceed his teacher's expectations with such rapid growth filled her with a sense of pride.
Thwack!
"Guh!"
Laysia struck the last Geumwa Clan Awakener on the first floor with a palm strike to the chest, sending him crashing into the wall. He was a massive warrior, but he collapsed unconscious, foaming at the mouth after a single short cry.
He had been wearing thick plate armor, but the metal was now deeply dented in the exact shape of Laysia’s palm. She had controlled her strength so that he only suffered a cracked sternum and a few broken ribs; had she hit any harder, his heart would have exploded.
The Association Awakeners, who had barely had a chance to fight, found themselves primarily occupied with binding and tending to the fallen Geumwa Clan members as Han Shin and Laysia cleared the path ahead.
Since they needed to interrogate the clan members later, they actually had to worry about the enemies' wounds worsening and causing death.
"Uuugh..."
"Aaaah!"
Just moments ago, these Geumwa Clan Awakeners had been glaring with murderous intent. Now, they were whimpering like kicked puppies, screaming in agony whenever an Association member touched their injuries.
"These guys really got a crash course in manners."
"Tell me about it. They were looking at us like they were gonna eat us alive a second ago."
Aside from those heading to the upper floors to continue assisting Han Shin and Laysia, the Association Awakeners joked with one another as they escorted the captives outside.
They had been incredibly nervous when the atmosphere turned toward combat. A clash with a large clan inevitably meant casualties.
But seeing Han Shin and Laysia subdue the first floor in an instant had eased their tension and sent their morale soaring.