Fortunately, there weren’t many warriors of the Martial Heavenly Order after I left the other tower.
Most of the forces seemed to be gathered near the tower where the test was being taken. If things went wrong, it seemed like they were prepared to go to war.
I was in a hurry and used footwork, but my heart was impatient.
At that moment, Short Sword said.
-But Wonhwi, isn’t it better for you if she dies?
‘What?’
-She aims to be the Blood Demon and is competition for you, right?
… those are not incorrect words.
However, she risked her life to save me, and if it wasn’t for her, I might be dead already.
Even if we end up facing enemies later, she would probably save me.
-I agree with his words. It is morally wrong to let a person who saved your life die.
Moral.
It doesn’t have much meaning by itself. If Baek Hye-hyang, who had saved my life regardless of right or wrong, was allowed to die, then my own sense of morals would be shaken.
-Tch. This is a rare chance.
Short Sword was grumbling, but I was already sure of what I needed to do. It didn’t take long before I saw the tower in front of me.
-What? There is no one around?
There was no one at the tower. There would normally be guards at the entrance, but even they were not visible.
In addition, the entrance was wide open.
-Seems like it was planned, Wonwhi.
I agreed with Iron Sword. It was as if the tower was asking me to come in. Actually, I could hear the voices of swords from within.
-…
It was an ambush waiting to happen.
Even if they killed their presence, they couldn’t fool me as long as they had a sword in hand.
I looked the tower over from bottom to top.
-Where could she be?
I didn’t know. The most doubtful option was the top floor.
If she was placed at the top of the tower, there was a way to head up there using the silver string. But it would be a waste of effort if she wasn’t there.
‘Should I just interrogate someone?’
It felt like it would be faster to just catch someone and ask them. I wasn’t sure if they would open their mouths, but among that many people, there was bound to be one who would speak.
-You will have to step into the trap after all.
‘…’
If I wanted her, I needed to head in. This meant that there would be a fight.
Since there was no time to spare here, I entered the tower doors without another thought.
The moment I was inside, the opened doors closed.
Bang!
The sound of the door’s locked bolt filled the air as around 40 warriors prepared to ambush me.
30 of them were first-rate warriors, while 10 of them were at the level of a master.
‘… as expected, he left people behind.’
It seemed to be enough power to be able to subdue me.
-They are many. Will you be fine?
Will it be fine?
Those who were part of the ambush were quick to surround me. Among them was a middle-aged man with a long beard who seemed to be their leader as he stepped forward.
“We prepared just in case, but you actually came.”
If this presence that I was feeling was accurate, he appeared to be a warrior who was around the level of a super master. They decided to kill me right away.
I looked at him.
“Did you know that your Lord is not the real one?”
Hearing my question, the man smiled and said,
“To risk your life for just one girl.”
Hearing the man’s tone, it seemed he knew about the fake’s existence. Well, this was a trap, but everyone was still being careful.
I shook my head,
“Right. But it doesn’t seem wise to set such a trap for just one girl. Wouldn’t you call yourself petty?”
My sarcastic tone made him frown.
I didn’t care about his feelings and asked.
“Where is she?”
“You want to know many things about a person who will die soon.”
He said this as he raised a hand to give a signal.
“Kill him right…”
“Before that, I have something to say….”
“What?”
“It looks like my helpers are here.”
Hearing my words, the man looked at me as if I was being absurd and laughed.
“You use everything. Do you think you can survive that way?”
Hearing that, I smiled.
“If you look into my eyes, you will know about it.”
“What nonsense are…”
At that moment…
“Die!”
Puak!
‘…!?’
One of the warriors stabbed the man in the neck. The other warriors were shocked at what had just happened.
“Yang Pyong. You?”
But that wasn’t the end.
“Die!”
“W-what!”
Starting with him, the warriors around me began to stab each other.
It was a situation that shocked everyone.
“W-what is this?”
The effect of the Illusion Eye.
It felt like I needed to use nearly three-quarters of my innate qi for this. I was feeling dizzy, but unlike before, I was able to endure it.
At first glance, it seemed that 13 of them were caught up in it. It would be nice if all of them could be taken down.
“This guy is a spy!”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“Shut up! Then what did you just do!?”
As those who they thought were their allies were attacking the others, those left began to suspect them. Once the technique stopped and they came to their senses, they realized they were stabbing a comrade to death.
‘Now.’
Pat!
The ones that Illusion Eye didn’t work on were the first to be targeted. In time they would notice that something was fishy.
I wondered if everything was going as I wanted until a bearded man shouted.
“Halt!”
At his shout, the warriors who were attacking each other stopped. The man then shouted in anger.
“There is no spy here! It is his spell on you! Do not fall for this!”
“Spell?”
The man understood what was happening a lot better than I thought. I thought I could just let them continue and move, but it didn’t last long.
It was a shame, but I managed to reduce their number. The bearded man aimed his sword at me and said.
“You. What is your identity? How were you able to do that?”
I then told him what he had told me.
“You will die soon, so there is no reason to know…”
“YOUUU!”
The bearded man jumped in the air and came for me. In response, I used Iron Sword to block him.
Srng!
He raised his qi to the fore and tried to cut me with his sword.
However, that was only possible if he was stronger than me. Or perhaps if he had many people on his side.
-Wonhwi, to the left!
Right, right.
I aimed at the blind spot on my left with my eyes closed. I extended my left hand and blocked the sword. At the same moment, the string flew out with Short Sword tied to it and rushed towards the stomach of the man aiming to attack me.
“Tch!”
The man changed his path and tried to hit Short Sword. However, when I lightly pressed the string with my finger, Short Sword turned and pierced his neck.
Chaak!
“Kuak!”
Sshhhh!
Short Sword went through the man’s neck and returned to my hand. The warriors were unable to hide their shock at this.
“T-the dagger turned around like it was alive!”
“How did that happen?!”
One of the basic techniques of the string was to change the direction with internal qi.
I was someone who always practiced his stealth techniques when there was free time.
I was now able to handle not just a weapon tied to it but even use a technique.
“You. You didn’t just use the sword.”
The bearded man clashing with me tried kicking me in the ribs. In response, I moved Short Sword and aimed for his ankle.
Since I’d mastered the technique of using the dagger, it didn’t matter if the attack was close or far.
“Kuak!”
Tat!
Startled, he folded his leg and pulled his sword away to avoid my attack.
I then unleashed one of my secret techniques called the Flying Shadow Sword Form.
When I pressed the string around my hand with a finger, traces appeared.
“Huh!”
The man who attempted to come in behind me was blocked by it.
This was literal. It wasn’t that it moved quickly, but it was a skill that would shine at the eyes so that the real dagger wouldn’t be seen.
Shhhh!
The dagger soon caught on it, and I pulled as it went around his sword.
“This!”
The bearded man tried to hold on by unleashing his internal qi, but I began to overpower him once I used innate qi.
Chak!
The man was dragged to the ground.
“Oh! Then I will come!”
He threw his body at me as he was being dragged. With Short Sword tied around his sword, he must have decided that getting close would give him space to swing it.
“Your thoughts were wrong.”
“What?”
I stretched out my hand to the side. The man’s sword followed my hand’s path and moved to the left.
“What?”
Puak!
Without losing sight of this, I plunged my sword into his head. The bearded man had no chance to even scream as his eyes widened in death.
“YOUUUU!”
At that moment, three warriors rushed toward me. In response, I grabbed the sword and turned my body.
At that moment, my body twisted as a sharp sword rose up.
It was the Returning Dragon Sword.
Chachachang!
“Kuak!”
“Kuk!”
All three of the warriors that were charging at me were blown back with their bodies covered in open wounds. After their leader and three skilled warriors were defeated, those who were weaker couldn’t approach hastily.
The one who seemed to be the most senior among them shouted.
“We just need to tie him down! Make time!”
“Do you think you can do it?”
Hearing their words, I opened my left eye. As I did it, my eye became clear, and the world felt a lot brighter to me.
“T-the eye?”
Chak!
“Kuak!”
The man who saw my left eye was shocked, and I cut him down. As my entire body was soaked in blood, I said to them in a cold voice.
“You brought this onto yourself.”
Thanks for closing the door. It allowed me to use my abilities.
Tatata!
I hurried up the stairs to see her. Before dying, one of them told me where she was while begging to be spared.
As expected, if there were many, then one of them had to be weak.
[T-the top floor.]
He said this, and I began to regret wasting my time. I could have just gone straight up if I had made a rough guess.
Please, I don’t want to be late.
-…
The sound of swords could be heard from above me. Not many. It must be the guards outside where she was being held.
However, as I went up to the 6th floor, there came the smell of blood.
-Wonhwi. The swords are crying
‘Crying?’
Come to think of it, the sounds that the swords were making were close to crying.
Why was it happening?
I was puzzled as I went up and became shocked.
-I cannot believe….
There were dozens of corpses strewn around.
In the middle of them, a woman with her body soaked in blood was holding a broken sword. The woman who was breathing heavily was Baek Hye-hyang.
And she was alive.
I thought she would be locked up, but she got out on her own.
“Miss!”
Hearing my cry, she turned to me. She looked at me with trembling eyes.
“You! You were alive.”
Her voice was filled with emotion as she ran.
“Kuak!”
At that moment, she stumbled while coughing out blood. I tried to support her, but she held her hand to say that she was fine.
“Are you alright?”
“I am fine. I just overdid it a bit while getting out of the seal on my qi and suffered some internal injuries.”
Was this the reverse blood flow?
Did she actually change the flow of qi in her body?
Just her being alive was fortunate.
“… I am glad you are safe.”
“I wondered if you would die from the wound… cough.”
She coughed out more blood, showing the severity of her wounds. Her face was stained with blood, yet her skin looked pale.
I immediately moved to support her. She then sighed and pulled me tightly with one arm while leaning close to me.
-What is she doing!
I wondered what to do, but she spoke first.
“Looking at you, you must have killed many to come here.”
Actually, my face was as blood-stained as hers. She took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Warm. So warm.”
There was a hint of relief in her voice. After being close to me for a while, she then moved and asked.
“Where is he?”
Was she talking about the fake?
“… He is fighting against the Invincible Wind God.”
Now that I rescued her, I think we had to go see him.
But then she put on a sly smile and said,
“Nice. I wanted some payback.”
That was very much like her.
I knew that I should never lose my temper against such a monster.
“How will you pay them back?”
At that question, she pointed her finger.
“I found interesting things up there.”
In the meantime, other armed forces had appeared and camped in front of the tower of the Shadow Storm Eight Classes, which now looked like a battlefield.
They were the other four of the Dual Martial Forces.
Warriors led by Wong Cheo-il, the head of the Neptune Order, and Guyang Gyeong, the head of the Annihilating Martial Order, had surrounded the tower. Thanks to that, the fierce fighting had stopped.
“Phew… phew…’
The fake Chun Mu-seong didn’t take his eyes off Jin Song-baek even then. He was quite surprised at the man’s stronger skills.
He thought that he had an edge because he had crossed the wall to become a Great Warrior ten years ago, but Jin Song-baek was holding his ground.
Now, the plan would end with one person dying.
‘This is a mess. If it had gone according to plan, I would have given poison to this man to make him weak.’
This all happened before the plan could be carried out, and it was all because of that one man, Haun.
If he hadn’t shown up, then he wouldn’t be this twisted.
Wang Cheo-il, the head of the Neptune Order, shouted.
“Lord Chun, you will have to explain this matter!”
“What do you mean? It isn’t fair for Lord Chun alone to explain what happened at this tower!”
Guyang Gyeon sided with the other man. The reason for this was because they each had their own allies to respect and would stick to that.
‘Now that it ended up like this, we might need to go ahead.’
The fake Chun Mu-seong, who was glaring at Jin Song-baek, spoke first.
“To the two lords. All of this seems to have happened because I lacked virtue.”
Jin Song-baek shouted.
“Do not try to fix it in that manner. It is he and not us who started the war. No, strictly speaking, the one there….”
“Are you going to insist that I am fake again?”
“Fake?”
The two lords frowned at this, and even Jin Song-baek frowned at hearing the man himself bringing this up.
He didn’t think this would be openly spoken about.
“That man is not the real Chun Mu-seong. The real one is being trapped in his hand.”
Boom!
‘What is this?’
‘Is there really a real one that was caught?’
This caused an uproar.
His secret was revealed in front of countless people, yet the fake shouted as if it didn’t matter.
“Nothing but lies. The old man discovered that the person this man wanted as a successor was a descendant of the Blood Demon. I also found out that he killed my disciple and asked the person related to Blood Sect to be released.”
“Descendant of the Blood Demon?”
Once again, the atmosphere became a mess.
The descendant of the Blood Demon was not something that could be overlooked by anyone.
‘This man.’
Only then did Jin Song-baek realize what was happening. He was now trying to turn around the situation using falsehoods.
He was a cunning man till the end.
“Lord Jin. Are you protecting the one who killed the disciple of Lord Chun?”
At Guyang Gyeong’s question, Jin Song-baek answered.
“My lords, do not be fooled. The man is now trying to lead the situation by covering it up with another lie.”
“What do you mean by that? Then let us do this. I have proof that the one I captured is the descendant of the Blood Demon. What does Lord Jin have?”
The fake one laughed.
Huan, who was witness to what happened in the basement, must already be dead at the hands of his men at the tower.
Even though they said that he was skilled, there was enough power there to kill him.
‘Huhuhu.’
Now, how can the man prove it?
If this was done well, this could be used as a chance to throw out this order in one go and clear it all out. Instead, it seemed that this situation was a blessing in disguise.
‘You should have stayed here, boy, instead of going to save the girl. This man, Jin Song-baek, is a fool.’
He was laughing, but Jin Song-baek smiled as he looked elsewhere.
‘What?’
It was the first time he saw this man smile like that, so he turned his head in puzzlement…
“The proof is here!”
‘What?’
He was startled at the familiar voice and turned to see Haun approaching them with a skinny man on his back.
‘H-how is that man?’
