novelraw Chapter 110 : Judgment (2)
Chapter 110 : Judgment (2)
Chapter 110: Judgment (2)
At Sewoon’s words, everyone’s faces stiffened.
It was only natural that they were shocked. They had been suddenly dragged into the enemy’s den.
But that didn’t mean there was any time to soothe their startled hearts.
“What are you doing! Everyone, tear off a Human-Skin Mask and put it on, then change into the enemies’ clothes!”
“Y-Yes!”
At Sewoon’s command, the Young Successors finally regained their senses and hurriedly leapt into action.
Only now did they realize how critical the situation was, and what Sewoon meant when he said this was their last chance.
In their frantic rush to press the Human-Skin Masks onto their faces and strip the enemies’ clothes, the wounds on the corpses were revealed.
The Young Successors’ eyes lit up with surprise.
‘Unbelievable. To have taken down fifteen people with a single strike.’
‘The cause of death is all piercing injuries straight through the heart?’
‘Judging by the size of the wounds, the weapon seems closest to a dagger…’
Could it be that the Captain, besides practicing Yin-Cold Qi, also had mastery in dagger arts?
But those questions quickly faded when Sewoon’s harsh rebuke followed, scolding them as if they were sluggish bugs.
“C-Captain. How shall we deal with the corpses?”
“Don’t worry. I already brought something for that.”
“What?”
Just as everyone tilted their heads in confusion, Sewoon pulled something from his robes and poured it over the corpses.
Ssshhhh!
Along with a revolting stench, the enemies’ bodies began melting away without a trace.
It was Bone-Dissolving Powder, a deadly acidic poison that dissolved even bones.
“Burn the carriage. There should be fire talismans in their belongings.”
Just as Sewoon said, fire talismans were indeed found.
The Young Successors shuddered.
There was no reason to carry fire talismans under the scorching sun.
They had planned to win favor by pretending to fix the wheels, lull them into dropping their guard, then kill them and burn the carriage to erase all traces.
—When you look at something, doubt everything and see it properly.
The words the Captain once told them resurfaced vividly in their minds.
The Young Successors now sincerely admired him.
After burning the carriage, they disguised themselves with Human-Skin Masks and clothes, then headed straight for the enemy’s main base.
There were eleven of them in total: nine Young Successors, along with Sewoon and Nameless.
Among the tense Young Successors—
‘Now I know where this is.’
Jang Sopyeong’s eyes gleamed.
As he studied the terrain, he realized it matched one of the suspected areas he had read about in the Beggars’ Sect’s reports.
‘This is the suspected site in Jungmo County.’
On the outskirts of Jungmo County, not far from Kaifeng.
Outwardly, it was nothing more than a quiet mountain village with no distinguishing features. But it was one of the places Sewoon’s information had marked as suspicious.
To be precise, it was one of three locations where Tang Hoyeol was suspected of having contact with a mysterious faction.
But because it was so close to Kaifeng, where the Murim Alliance was headquartered, it had been considered the least likely candidate.
‘…I’ll have to overturn all of this as soon as I return to Headquarters.’
As Jang Sopyeong fumed at the fallen state of the Beggars’ Sect’s intelligence, they soon arrived at the village entrance.
It looked like an ordinary mountain village with rows of thatched huts and smoke rising from cooking fires.
The only notable feature was that the entire village was decorated like a massive dyeing workshop.
Dyed fabrics were hung on wooden drying racks, while large pits brimmed with thick vats of dye solution.
[The enemy approaches. Stay sharp.]
‘…!’
Just then, the Captain’s voice sounded through telepathy.
And indeed, someone was striding directly toward them.
He looked utterly ordinary, with no distinguishing features—but recalling the Captain’s words, they studied him carefully.
‘He also has a towering Solar Blood Point!’
Like the enemies from before, it was clear that this man possessed considerable martial ability.
“Thirty-Sixth, did you confirm and return?”
A chillingly cold voice rang out.
The enemy was addressing the Captain, who was walking at the front.
This was bad.
Since he had called him specifically as “Thirty-Sixth,” it was obvious that he was personally acquainted with the original owner of the Human-Skin Mask. But there was no way the Captain could disguise his voice as well.
“Yes. I’ve taken care of the aftermath and am on my way back.”
‘…!’
‘-!!’
The Captain answered with a calm tone.
Everyone was stunned.
Because it was the exact same voice they had heard outside the carriage.
‘Hmm, it’s been a while since I used Sound Arts. Perhaps because I’ve reached complete mastery in the Transformation Realm, it’s not so difficult anymore.’
Sewoon had used the Soul-Returning Melody of the Pointing Finger, the ultimate technique of the Soundwave Lute Demon, to alter his voice.
Though he had lost the Illusory Sound Thread he once possessed before regression, the mnemonic formulas and insights of the Soundwave Lute Demon’s martial arts still slumbered in his mind.
Sound Arts were martial arts that dealt with “sound.”
Changing one’s voice into that of someone they had heard before was easier than twisting a child’s wrist.
But then, the enemy glanced back and tilted his head.
“Hmm? But aren’t there fewer of you?”
Thump.
The Young Successors’ hearts skipped a beat.
Their current number was eleven. But originally, there had been fifteen.
Since they had killed all of them, four spots were missing.
Once again, Sewoon smoothly continued the act without hesitation.
“Yes. One of them had quite a high level of martial skill. It took about four lives to silence him cleanly.”
“Haah. That’s why I always tell you to devote yourselves to training until the Day of Blood Heaven arrives. Tch. Fine, I understand.”
The enemy shook his head with a sigh, then continued.
“Then, everyone head to your assigned sectors. If more pests appear, deal with them the same way.”
“Yes.”
“Thirty-Sixth.”
“Yes?”
“You have another task. Come with me.”
“Understood.”
The Young Successors sent worried glances toward him, but Sewoon followed the enemy without hesitation.
At the same time, he sent them telepathy.
[Scatter and identify the total number of enemies in the vicinity, then report back.]
The Young Successors, reminded of their resolve by Sewoon who had volunteered for the most dangerous role, scattered in all directions.
The enemy, taking Sewoon along, slowly began walking toward the lone pavilion built at the center of the village.
At a glance, Sewoon realized this was the core area of the outpost.
“Damn it. Being a Captain is exhausting me to death. Ever since joining the Blood Cult, I feel like I’m the busiest man alive.”
“Yes, it’s been even more so recently.”
Captain, was it.
Sewoon’s eyes gleamed.
The Blood Cult’s Great Captain was already at the level of complete mastery in the Supreme Peak Realm.
That meant this Captain before him must at least possess martial prowess at the peak of the Supreme Peak Realm.
It seemed this man was the one in overall charge of this place.
“There were times when I was just unrivaled in the unorthodox murim that felt a lot more comfortable.”
“But you’ve become far stronger now than you ever were back then, haven’t you?”
“Keuk-keuk, true enough. The Blood Cult is insane. It’s filled with terrifying powers beyond imagination.”
At that moment, the Captain paused, gazing at the pavilion as he spoke in a low voice.
“Especially, that ‘Abomination’ below, which has devoured countless people, is the most dreadful of all.”
What had he recalled?
Fear flickered in the Captain’s eyes.
Then, Sewoon’s ears were filled with successive messages through telepathy.
[East side, nine men.]
[West side, seven.]
[Captain. South side has seven men.]
[Ten in the north!]
Adding them all up, there were thirty-three demonic practitioners in total.
Swaaa!
Sewoon spread his senses wide, checking if it matched the reports of his subordinates.
“Then the Elder is working underground?”
“Huh? What are you talking about. The Elder left at dawn to attend a meeting with the Four Elders.”
“Ah, right. That’s true.”
“Wait a second… Wasn’t it you four of Thirty-Sixth who even escorted him to the mountain gate? How could you forget—”
“Well, I’ve been found out, huh?”
“?!”
As Sewoon suddenly spoke in his own voice, shock flashed across the Captain’s eyes.
The man instantly drew up his demonic qi.
Sshhk!
But Sewoon’s hand moved faster.
A red line appeared across the Captain’s throat as Sewoon’s hand-blade grazed past.
Thud.
Then, his head rolled to the side.
[Eliminate all enemies.]
At the same time, Sewoon’s command echoed into his subordinates’ minds.
Pabat!
Sshhk!
“……!!”
“Ghk!”
Groans of pain erupted everywhere.
As blades suddenly struck from behind, the demonic practitioners couldn’t even react properly and collapsed one after another.
“An intru—!”
One of the enemies belatedly realized what was happening and tried to raise an alarm.
Puk-puk!
But with a chilling sound of piercing, he too fell helplessly.
On his chest, the wound bore the mark of a vertical slash.
The Young Successors marveled as they glimpsed the faint traces flashing across the battlefield.
‘Blades of ice, wrapped in Yin-Cold Qi, are being launched in every direction!’
‘His control is unbelievable!’
The Captain’s main martial art, the Yin-Cold Qi Art, was once again revealing its brilliance.
The Young Successors were convinced Sewoon was annihilating the enemies with ice techniques.
But in truth, it was nothing of the sort.
Even with ice arts, this level of manipulation was no different from psychokinesis, and thus impossible.
The reason Sewoon created such an illusion was only one.
It was the same power he had used to wipe out the enemies outside the carriage in an instant—Invisible Dagger.
‘Sixteen. Seventeen.’
Like a streak of lightning, Sewoon darted through the ranks, cutting down enemies with the Invisible Dagger.
In such an open field, the potential of the Invisible Dagger was truly limitless.
‘None of them have even reached the peak of the Supreme Peak Realm. The consumption of Innate True Qi is practically negligible.’
With his complete mastery in the Transformation Realm, the qi consumption against opponents of the lower realms was drastically reduced.
Puk!
Puk-puk!
The sound of piercing rang again and again, as more enemies collapsed powerlessly.
Compared to the kills made by the Young Successors and Nameless together, Sewoon’s number of fallen enemies was far greater.
‘So this is what it means to reach complete mastery of the Transformation Realm!’
‘To think we dared to challenge a Captain like this…’
‘If he had wanted, we could have been in the same situation as these enemies.’
As a chill ran down the Young Successors’ spines—
Thud.
At last, the final demonic practitioner fell with his eyes wide open.
Without the slightest sign of fatigue, Sewoon addressed the gathered group.
“All external enemies have been eliminated. Now, only those inside remain.”
“Inside?”
“Yes, beneath this pavilion. That is our target.”
“……!!”
Their eyes gleamed as they turned to the pavilion.
But only for a moment.
Soon, they respectfully addressed Sewoon.
“Please give the order to enter, Captain.”
They now openly called him Captain.
There was not a shred of doubt left in their eyes.
“Move in.”
At Sewoon’s command, they aligned themselves in order and began to march forward.
This was the first stride of the Jecheon Unit under his lead.