---

Chapter 74

“…Huh!”

Lewis opened his eyes in a shabby room and quickly felt his neck.

Stuck, huh?

The man felt a genuine sense of relief flowing through him as he got up. Though he had often cheated death, he had never experienced something as chilling as this.

Regaining his composure, Lewis grabbed a bag carelessly placed on the desk and ran outside. The opponent was even aware of the existence of secret passageways. So, how on earth was he supposed to escape?

Pushed to the limit, Lewis rummaged through his memories. There had to be some means of escape. After biting his thumbnail for a while, he immediately turned and headed underground.

*

“I think this is the right place.”

“Really? There’s nothing here.”

Namgung Seong replied while stroking his beak to Jung Yu-jin’s muttering. It was because they were outside the city.

The dome-shaped wall surrounding the city was solid up to a certain height, but above that, it was made of magic. However, it wasn’t that the physical barrier was low.

One could obviously jump over the approximately 20 meters high wall if they set their mind to it, but it was still a hefty height even for an Awakened one to climb it unassisted.

“Are they going to dig and come over?”

“That sounds plausible.”

The two exchanged jokes while waiting endlessly.

Unfortunately for them, there wasn’t much of a reason why Yeon-woo sent them here. It was just that there probably was no other place safe enough to escape to. What kind of reaction would they have if they knew this? No one could tell.

Fortunately, according to the information Jung Yu-jin had gathered through the Church of the Omniscient God over the past month, if there was a chance, this location had been guaranteed to be the most dangerous.

Without that assurance, it would have been difficult to keep Namgung Seong restrained.

Then suddenly, one side of the ground puffed up! Naturally, Jung Yu-jin and Namgung Seong turned to look in that direction. It was at that time Yeon-woo joined them. Shar seemed tired and was asleep.

“What’s this? Are they really digging up?”

“Should we step back a bit?”

“Heh heh… What’s this? Are they not here yet… Ah, I guess they are coming.”

“Right. Shh. They might notice.”

The three decided to watch the situation from a little farther away. Hiding behind a large rock, they drew their weapons, ready to ambush at any moment. Namgung Seong and Yeon-woo had swords while Jung Yu-jin wielded a Magic Gun.

Soon, the raised earth began to stir. Most of the nearby ground overturned with the grass, kicking up clouds of dust.

“What’s this, is a prominent figure from the Dark Guild a troll or something?”

“No, I believe he’s human…”

“But why is he so big?”

Namgung Seong and Yeon-woo whispered to each other. Jung Yu-jin placed his index finger to his lips. The once noisy field was now filled only with the sound of coughing from several people.

As the dust settled, they saw about a dozen people emerging from the tunnel regardless of gender or age, all clad in shabby clothes.

And finally, the last to appear was a bald man with a snake tattoo on his head, flanked by two women with their heads bowed.

“Ah, you all have worked hard. Sorry about this, but the Academy folks barged into our hideout.”

The man’s sarcastic words left the others speechless. Indeed, this was a point at which they could grasp the relationship dynamics.

“That octopus-headed guy is that scoundrel Lewis. The others… are they human trafficking?”

“Does that mean the boss of the Dark Guild is here… But can we really take him down with just Namgung Seong and me?”

“That guy isn’t at full strength either.”

“Have you calculated everything?”

“…Ah, right.”

Boom!!!

With a sound like artillery fire, Namgung Seong’s scabbard shot forth.

The scabbard, while blocked by Lewis’s forearm and falling to the ground in an instant, successfully created some distance between the captive group and them, which was not a bad result.

Trudging forward, Namgung Seong stepped out from behind the rock with an air of foreboding.

‘In this regard, I’m not well-suited…’

Namgung was one of the most clearly traditional families among the five great clans.

That meant they couldn’t just stand and watch such outrageous behavior. Indeed, it was correct that Lewis was a despicable scoundrel who deserved to die, but it had been unexpected for them to assault in such a no-holds-barred manner.

“You guard Namgung Seong. I’ll look for an opportunity to extract the people.”

“Okay. I’m counting on you, Choi Yeon-woo.”

Jung Yu-jin stood behind Namgung Seong, ready to momentarily observe the situation. Yeon-woo thought as he waited.

“Vile scum of the Samawido! I declare in the name of Namgung, you will not leave here alive.”

“Oh, so the young master of the Namgung clan has entered the Academy? I must have underestimated him…”

Whoa, this has a very martial arts novel vibe, doesn’t it?

Yeon-woo thought to himself in admiration.

It was hard to believe that Namgung Seong, who usually seemed like a slacker, was showing such prowess. That meant he truly detested the Samawido to his core. It was no wonder he was called the head of the five great clans.

Of course, Lewis wouldn’t want to give up the advantage of holding hostages. In a rush, Lewis dove into the crowd of people. While Jung Yu-jin hastily fired his Magic Gun, Lewis dodged the shots effortlessly.

Realizing this could lead to trouble, Yeon-woo was about to use magic when he suddenly felt a drop in the air around him. Namgung Seong murmured.

“Please, just endure a little longer, everyone.”

Ah, understood. Realizing something from that statement, Yeon-woo leaped from behind the rock.

What he saw was Lewis trembling as if paralyzed.

The overwhelming force exuding from Namgung Seong was pressing down on the space around them, like a colossal sword bearing down or a prey caught under the eagle’s gaze.

Emperor’s Sword Form.

Just by adopting a martial stance, it made people kneel, revealing the Namgung clan’s powerful signature technique right there.

‘What the…?!’

Lewis couldn’t hide his bewilderment. It would have been less shocking if the current clan head of Namgung was in front of him.

Such was the weight of the Emperor’s Sword Form. Even if he was just a junior from Namgung, it was absurd to think that a mere fifteen-year-old could adopt such a martial stance. It was a martial art with an upper echelon of difficulty transcending all three dimensions.

His knees buckled.

He knew that the young master of Namgung was barely holding on to the stance, let alone the bare minimums. But his body wouldn’t respond; it was the kind of martial art that could be said to be the natural enemy of the Samawido.

The mental fortitude cultivated through hard efforts, let alone the cleansed inner energy, could not even dream of being countered unless one had reached a certain realm or higher.

Yeon-woo gazed at Lewis, who was biting his gums hard enough to draw blood, in admiration of the martial signature echoing the true sect’s demeanor.

Whatever the case, the important thing was to rescue the hostages.

It was hard to ascertain how well Namgung Seong could control the pressure of the Emperor’s Sword Form, but thankfully, the pressure exerted on Lewis and that on the hostages differed by several times.

Of course, there wasn’t time to admire. Blood was already oozing from his beak as he struggled to control the overwhelming martial art.

Nevertheless, extracting ten or so people one by one with his own body proved to be an impossible task.

Even if Lewis’s pressure could be described as negligible compared to what a Achieving level martial artist endured, it wouldn’t do to tell those who were weak from being imprisoned to escape on their own.

There was no guarantee that Namgung Seong would be able to hold the pressure for that long.

While running, Yeon-woo briefly contemplated and placed his right hand on the ground.

He spread his range out in wave-like motions, the soft earth, the grass gripping the soil, the water trapped inside…

Yeon-woo, who grasped the land composition in an instant, consciously squeezed his heart.

It had been 10 minutes since the battle inside the Gate ended, and 20 minutes to reach here. The time he had to rest was barely that amount. Even with the Dragon Heart, he couldn’t replenish enough mana, and the amount he felt was pitifully low.

But he understood the technique using what he had just done. If it wasn’t enough, he would have to squeeze it out. Considering there were lives of nearly ten people riding on his shoulders, squeezing his heart didn’t seem so bad.

His role model was the 3rd tier magic, Earth Wave. Originally, it was a very combat-oriented spell that raised the ground like a wave to bury the enemy, but this time it was different.

He lowered the height and expanded the width. Even with the same magic, the greatest advantage of the Dragon Spirit magic was that it could easily change its form according to the user’s intent. With the pain of having a lump of lead placed on his chest, the ground lightly surged.

“I can’t let you go far…!! Run toward the main gate!! Ugh!!”

His chest tightened. The sensation was like a thick yam blocking his throat, making it impossible to call for support. He could only hope they would figure it out on their own.

In the meantime, Jung Yu-jin took a couple of shots from his Magic Gun at Lewis, but seeing the mana bullets dive to the ground due to the pressure formed by the Emperor’s Sword Form, he was wary of the hole from which Lewis and the hostages crawled out.

“I got all the hostages out!”

“Namgung Seong, are you okay!?”

“I’m fine. Get ready.”

Namgung Seong quietly said, swallowing the blood that had come up to his throat.

Once the energy of the Emperor’s Sword Form dissipated, the battle would begin. He hadn’t expected the hostages to be taken out as well; it seemed this was going to be a slightly annoying fight.

Just then.

“Oh? I didn’t think he’d be a Sword King, but I never expected him to not be the current clan head either. Seems you raised him quite well, Namgung.”

Feeling a chill, Yeon-woo turned around. The energy of the Emperor’s Sword Form had vanished. Consequently, he found himself in a predicament, with Lewis liberated behind him, but there was no time to fret over such trivial matters.

This oppressive sensation threatened his instincts.

Namgung Seong and Jung Yu-jin felt the same. Even Lewis was distracted. The tension that had been maintained taut shifted towards a third party, neither of the two factions.

[Huff…]

Suddenly awakened, Shar groaned. Yet, Yeon-woo couldn’t say a word to her. What lay before him was clearly that presence.

To express it literally, it was, to put it briefly… an elderly man whose fashion was very… modern. White sneakers, brown wide pants. A loose-fitting sweatshirt that reached down to his thighs, and around his neck hung a jingling silver necklace, half depicting a demon and half a deity.

Multiple chains bridged his waist and pockets, and his wrinkled right hand, pushing up the brim of a hat, was adorned with rings and bracelets of gold and jewels.

It felt strongly like a being that superbly displayed itself, as if brightly colored creatures were poison-tipped.

But above all, what stood out was the hat. A black base with the red, jagged lettering of 邪美聯主 emblazoned on it.

Of course, even without that hat, the four people present would have recognized him.

Samiryun-ju, Dooko-hyun.

In a world where countless strong beings exist, there are only three who could split it into righteous sects.

Majeobmaengju, Jin Baek-cheon.

Samiryun-ju, Dooko-hyun.

And Heavenly Demon, Wi Ji-ak.

If Jin Baek-cheon carried the ideals of righteousness and chivalry with his pure white banners,

Dooko-hyun embodied the notions of hegemony and desire as his life’s disposition,

Wi Ji-ak led the Demon Cult with the twisted ambition of painting the world in his own colors.

Though this old man before them might not be the strongest in the world, he was undoubtedly a powerhouse who could see most of the stars beneath his hands.

In a brightly tense atmosphere, only Dooko-hyun was smirking.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

 

---