The Heavenly Demon Visits the Murim Alliance (4)
I was in the middle of streaming when I received a call from Seol-ah. At first, I wondered what could possibly be happening. People attacking Mount Hua? When I first heard it, I thought it was just some bandit gang. But since Baru was there, I figured it couldn’t be ordinary thieves, or she wouldn’t have contacted me. So I quickly ended the broadcast and rushed over.
What I saw upon arrival was a group attacking Baru with clear hostility. The moment I witnessed it, a proper rage I hadn’t felt in a long time surged through me. How dare they touch someone close to me?
If they had challenged me directly, I might have found it annoying but ultimately brushed it off. After all, there had been no shortage of such fools in my life. Having survived countless pointless disputes, I would have simply thought, Ah, another idiot has joined the ranks, and left it at that.
But these people were different. They weren’t targeting me. They were aiming for those around me. Their intention was obvious. A skilled martial artist who could secure an important position in any sect, along with a powerful dosul practitioner. They were after Baru, weren’t they?
By attacking my surroundings, they meant to warn me. If I didn’t obey them, this would be the result—so I should quietly bow my head. They had decided to harm innocent people just to put a leash on someone like me. What exactly is the Orthodox faction? What is justice? Do they truly believe that because they are “righteous,” they can do whatever they want?
Have they forgotten that it was precisely this kind of thinking that brought about a storm named me, one that overturned the entire world? What a bunch with no learning ability.
I stared quietly at the child crushed by killing intent, unable to move even a single finger. This one was just a pawn. Regardless, since he had clearly tried to harm Baru, I had no intention of forgiving him. Still, he was nothing more than an idiot carrying out the Alliance’s orders.
“Was this ordered by the Murim Alliance?”
When I asked, the bastard desperately nodded his head and stammered in a trembling voice that he didn’t know anything, that it was all Baek-il’s doing. So it really was that old bastard Baek-il. The moment he judged he couldn’t drag me in, he immediately prepared an attack. He must have lost his mind.
I didn’t need to hear anything more. I didn’t want to look at that disgusting face any longer, so I blew his head off and turned my gaze to the side.
Seol-ah was looking at me with eyes full of ecstasy, smiling. This kid probably hadn’t fought to protect Baru. She had likely thrown herself forward simply to protect Mount Hua, where I resided. That’s how fanatics usually are.
Whatever her intention, the fact that she had helped protect Baru was true. I had decided to treat her as a person until the seed either bloomed or withered away. So for now…
Ha. Yeah. I should at least say thanks.
“...Yes!”
After giving her just that one line, I headed toward the dosul practitioner in the back who had both hands raised in surrender.
“I surrender! If you spare my life, I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“You expect me to trust a dog of the Alliance?”
“I’m merely a hired mercenary. I love money, but my life is far more important. Ask me anything…”
I ignored the nonsense he was spouting and approached the dosul practitioner. The most untrustworthy creatures in the world are hyenas who claim to love money and attach themselves everywhere. The second are dosul practitioners who spout plausible words while secretly preparing tricks behind your back. There was no reason to listen to someone who fulfilled both criteria.
Since I had confirmed he was a dog of the Alliance, that was enough.
The moment the distance closed, the dosul practitioner’s expression changed instantly. He threw a talisman he had hidden in his sleeve at me. I had no idea what was contained within it, but it didn’t matter.
There was one thing I had realized after facing many dosul practitioners: in the face of overwhelming power, dosul or whatever else meant nothing.
I lightly shattered the spell with a fist wrapped in inner energy. Despair flooded the dosul practitioner’s face.
“How…?”
Was that your trump card? Then I’m afraid it wasn’t enough. If you have no more moves prepared, your life ends here.
Now then. I need to deal with the rest of them.
I scanned the faces of the outsiders who had come to raid this place. They all turned deathly pale. Normally, I wouldn’t have killed bastards like these. I don’t particularly enjoy staining myself with the blood of worthless fools.
But this time was different. I needed an example. A clear demonstration that would make people certain that touching me would lead to something horrific. For that purpose, not a single one of those who had attacked me could be allowed to return alive.
Just as I was about to step forward to take their lives, Baru grabbed my sleeve.
“What is it?”
“Min-ga. Would you leave the rest to me? I will make sure they never even think of touching this place again.”
Behind Baru as she spoke were numerous spirits standing with imposing auras. Ah, so that’s what she meant. In a way, that might be better. Since these were outsiders who wouldn’t truly die even if killed.
“Fine. Go play with them, then.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to deal with the root of this matter.”
They must pay the price for trying to touch what is mine.
The Murim Alliance, steeped in darkness, was silent. Occasionally I could sense human presence, but they were mostly outsiders doing something. It seemed everyone who actually lived in Murim had drunk themselves into sleep for the night.
In that silence, the sound of my footsteps rang out with unnatural clarity.
Thud.
The last time I had come to raid the Murim Alliance, there had been no such silence. I had stirred up far too many things beforehand, so there had been an abundance of people waiting to welcome me.
To be honest, I had expected the same today. After all, since they had attacked me, they should have prepared countermeasures for failure, shouldn’t they? Yet the fact that the Murim Alliance was this quiet meant they had never even considered the possibility that their plan might fail.
When my thoughts reached that point, a laugh escaped me. They really had been looking down on me.
Well. It’s true I haven’t shown that much yet. I did defeat the Mount Hua Sect Leader, but that was something that only spread through rumors. No one in Murim had actually witnessed it with their own eyes. So they probably don’t know what kind of threat I pose.
Fine. Since that seems to be what you desire, I shall specially give you a demonstration. So watch carefully with both eyes and engrave me into your minds.
In front of the Murim Alliance building stood a child nodding off sleepily. When I deliberately made my presence known, the child woke up, blinked, and examined my face.
“What brings you here?”
“I’ve come to see Baek-il.”
“Please go back. It’s so late.”
It wasn’t an answer I had been seeking, so before the child could finish speaking, I stepped closer. I blatantly showed my clear intent to attack.
The guard drew his weapon. What he unfolded was the Dragon Flower Fist. The Shaolin fist technique that draws forth a dragon. His fist was like the maw of a fiercely charging dragon, but its speed was something a single human could easily handle.
When I lightly blocked the fist with my palm, shock filled the man’s eyes. Should I kill him cleanly? No. That wouldn’t create enough commotion. If I’m going to turn this place into a mess, doing it quietly would be meaningless.
I twisted and broke his arm, then kicked his knee with one leg, shattering the bone. With one arm and one leg equally crippled, the man collapsed to the ground and writhed in agony. The silence of the Murim Alliance was filled by a single person’s scream.
In response, martial artists who had been hiding in the darkness began to appear one by one.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“How dare you raid the Murim Alliance!”
“I’ve come to see Baek-il.”
“You bastard! You dare target one of the Alliance’s high-ranking officials?!”
The first one to charge at me was a man who had learned the Namgung family’s sword. He wrapped lightning energy around his blade and unleashed a swift sword technique, but he couldn’t handle his own speed. So I slipped into the gap of his fast sword, entered his range, and struck his pressure points, making him writhe in pain.
The next was a warrior from Wudang. True to his sect, instead of attacking recklessly, he tried to draw me in. But his Taiji was far too small to contain someone like me. I broke him along with the sword he used to block me, then struck his abdomen and destroyed his internal organs. The Wudang warrior could only cough up blood and collapse to the ground.
Next was a man from the Huangbo family. The giant, at least three times my size, charged at me without fear even after seeing the two who had fallen before him. His straightforward, honest martial arts were intense and powerful because he ignored everything else, but having no subtlety also meant he was easy to exploit.
I returned the force he shot toward me exactly as it was. The Huangbo man’s arm twisted in a grotesque manner. His scream was as ridiculously loud as his massive frame. It was suitable for causing a commotion, but the way it pierced my ears was annoying, so I kicked his jaw and knocked him unconscious.
And then the next. And the one after that.
The warriors of the Murim Alliance were like cockroaches. If I knocked one down, two would pop out. If I knocked two down, four would appear. They truly had no learning ability. I don’t understand how they fail to realize that continuing like this would only increase the number of victims.
As expected, I need to show them blood.
“Just who the hell are you?”
Just as I was thinking it was about time to start killing in earnest, a man descended from the air and landed in front of me. It was a face I recognized. The Murim Alliance Leader. Strange. I was certain I had torn this man’s throat out?
Ah. Looking closely, it’s different. He’s younger than I remember. He must be one of the previous Alliance Leader’s bloodline.
“What is your reason for attacking the Alliance at this late hour?”
“I’ve come to see Baek-il.”
“Elder Baek-il? Then you could have come tomorrow.”
“That bastard sent his subordinates to attack someone I cherish.”
The blood relative of the Murim Alliance Leader raised an eyebrow.
“Do you have proof?”
“I don’t.”
I could have made some if I wanted. That would have given me justification to condemn Baek-il. It’s not like I don’t know how a country works.
“You’re causing this kind of incident without any evidence, condemning one of the Alliance’s executives?”
“I’m sorry, but I—no, this seat—did not come here to condemn Baek-il.”
That would be far too mild a method. If I had been born and raised in the Orthodox faction, I might have chosen that approach. However, since I was born and raised in the Demonic Cult, the natural way I act is, of course, the way of the Demonic Cult.
I smiled at the blood relative of the Murim Alliance Leader, who was glaring at me with a furrowed brow, and pressed his pressure points. It was the same technique I had used against Geomseon before.
“Then what did you come here for?”
I didn’t control the inner energy that was swelling madly and simply scattered it into the air. Then I stomped the ground and crushed the world with that energy. The groans of those who had fallen to the ground and were writhing in pain grew even louder.
“I came to show an example. To let everyone know what happens to those who dare touch this seat.”