Bang!
The Narakdo pierced through the man’s back and embedded itself deep into the iron door. The man’s body, which had been writhing as it hung from the blade, soon went limp. He had not been one of the hundred greatest experts in the martial world, but he had been strong enough to crush ordinary masters with ease. His death was empty and meaningless.
Yeo Ga-hwi’s legs gave out, and he collapsed on the spot.
Yuwol didn’t spare him a glance. Instead, he reached into his robe and pulled out a small medicine bottle, looking down at Pungma’s corpse with an unreadable expression.
Then, he tilted the bottle.
Sizzle—
Smoke rose as the lightning-shaped wound began to melt away, accompanied by a foul stench.
Yuwol slowly turned to look at Yeo Ga-hwi.
“Gah!”
Startled by that gaze, Yeo Ga-hwi hiccupped. He was facing someone who would even destroy a corpse to hide his martial arts. There was no doubt about what would happen to him after witnessing everything with his own eyes.
As he trembled, hiccuping pathetically, Yuwol stepped toward him.
Yeo Ga-hwi’s last desperate struggle for survival began.
“D-Do you take me for a fool? That list of names is fake! If you kill me, my companion will send the real list to both the Orthodox Alliance and the Demonic Alliance!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“W-What?”
“It’s fake anyway.”
“Wh-what did you say? That’s impossible! I confirmed it through the Tong-eui-mun Sect myself—!”
“The Tong-eui-mun Sect members you met were all fakes. A fabrication of our Ink Dragon Corps.”
Yeo Ga-hwi stood in stunned silence, completely shocked. His hiccups had stopped as if they had never existed.
“Then… all of this was a trap?”
His voice was now trembling with tears.
“You said you only came to retrieve an item…”
“The item I spoke of… was not that item.”
“What…?”
Yuwol reached out his hand, and the Narakdo embedded in the iron door shot out, flying into his grip. The corpse of the gatekeeper that had been hanging from it tumbled down the stairs.
Staring blankly at the fallen corpse, Yeo Ga-hwi finally understood.
The ‘item’ Yuwol had come to collect was Pungma’s life.
And his own.
Tears streamed down Yeo Ga-hwi’s face.
“Please… spare me.”
But Yuwol’s response was chillingly indifferent.
“In the martial world, people die over a single silver coin. You dreamed of a fortune worth a million taels—surely you don’t find it too unfair?”
Swish!
With a sharp slicing sound, Yeo Ga-hwi’s head flew into the air.
Yuwol rummaged through the corpse, retrieved the banknote, and then slowly ascended the stairs. As he walked, he pulled something from his robes and rolled it to the ground. A small bead tumbled down the steps.
At the moment Yuwol stepped out and closed the door behind him—
BOOM!
The underground chamber collapsed in a thunderous explosion.
And then…
How much time had passed?
Rustle.
From beneath the rubble of the collapsed stone chamber, someone stirred.
Astonishingly, it was the middle-aged man in a flowery robe—the very first person who had seemingly died.
Rising to his feet, he stretched his arms wide, as if waking from a deep sleep.
Crack, crack!
The sound of bones grinding together echoed from his chest, which had been shattered by Pungma’s strike.
Hummmm—
A tremendous aura surged from his body.
It was unmistakably demonic energy.
And shockingly, it surpassed even that of Pungma and Yuwol.
Plop.
The face mask, which had perfectly imitated the expression of the flamboyant man, slipped from his face and fell to the ground.
He turned toward the iron door Yuwol had disappeared through. His back shook lightly.
He was laughing.
Chapter 3: Ninefold Demon Devouring Art
Three days later, at dawn.
Divine Demonic Sect’s headquarters in Great Sky Mountain.
In the front yard of the Black Wind Squad’s residence, the Whirlwind Pavilion, the loud voice of Bai Wei, the Fourth Squad Leader of the Black Wind Squad, rang out.
“Shit! Let me go!”
Two men firmly held his arms. They were warriors from the Command Pavilion. Standing before them, silent, was a middle-aged man—the Black Commander, who had led the Command Pavilion warriors here.
Bai Wei’s expression turned ferocious. He was a head shorter than the two men holding him, and his height was always the first thing people noticed. However, the real reason he left a strong first impression wasn’t his size but his body—his copper-toned muscles looked tough enough to make a sword spark upon impact. Even when he smiled with good intentions, people instinctively flinched, wondering, Why does he look like that?!
And now, with his face contorted in rage, he truly looked like a Demonic God of Fury.
His weapon was a mighty bow so strong that ordinary experts couldn’t even draw it, earning him the title Dominating Demon Bow.
“Let go, or I’ll kill you!”
The two warriors holding him looked troubled. Bai Wei was unrelenting, and they kept glancing back and forth between him and the Black Commander.
“You can’t.”
“If you don’t let go by the count of three, I’m gonna start breaking bones! One! Two! Three!”
Thunk!
Without waiting for a response, Bai Wei slammed his forehead into the face of the warrior holding his right arm.
Blood gushed from the warrior’s forehead as he staggered back.
Bai Wei then snapped his head toward the man on his left and barked,
“One! Two—!”
The warrior flinched in terror and instantly let go, jumping back several steps.
Smack!
But at that moment, someone struck the warrior hard on the back of the head.
It was the Black Commander.
“You idiot! You just let go because he told you to? How the hell am I supposed to trust fools like you?!”
The Black Commander sighed, rubbing his temples, then turned to Bai Wei with a scowl.
Bai Wei clicked his tongue.
“So what now?”
Without a word, the Black Commander swung his hand.
Smack!
Bai Wei’s head snapped to the side.
A moment later, he slowly turned back, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
“You just hit me?”
The Black Commander repeated the words right back at him.
“You just hit me?”
Smack!
The Black Commander struck him again, sending Bai Wei’s head whipping in the opposite direction.
Demonic energy flared from Bai Wei’s body.
But the Black Commander met his gaze head-on and shouted,
“Yeah, I hit you! Do you even know who I am?!”
The Command Pavilion was the Divine Demonic Sect’s internal affairs and oversight division, responsible for investigating corruption within the sect. Along with the Scarlet Tiger Corps, they were one of the two most powerful factions under the direct command of the Heavenly Demon himself.
The Command Pavilion’s authority was so great that even the Six Demon Lords, the highest-ranking elders, had to be carefully around them.
The Black Commander, who had just struck Bai Wei, was a veteran among the Thirty-Six Black Commanders.
“Shit, so what if you’re in the Command Pavilion?”
At Bai Wei’s crude response, the Black Commander’s eyes sharpened.
“You little bastard! Just because you’re in the Black Wind Squad, you think you can do whatever you want?”
“If I’ve done nothing wrong, why are you dragging me away?”
“If you’re innocent, you have nothing to worry about. An investigation will prove it.”
“And if you lock me in a dark room and start making up crimes? Isn’t that your usual trick?”
“Oh, so you wanna go all out, huh?”
“I don’t know, damn it! Who the hell is overseeing you guys?”
The Black Commander, as if he no longer saw any value in dealing with the situation, snapped irritably at his subordinate warriors.
“What are you waiting for? Take him away!”
Shaking off the warriors’ grasp, Bai Wei shouted again.
“To hell with the Black Commander or whatever! Let’s settle this like men, one-on-one!”
The Black Commander looked at him, dumbfounded.
At that moment, two men walked out side by side from the building.
It was Jinpae of Iljo Hall and his right-hand man, Seo wong.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
At Jinpae’s stern question, Bai Wei shouted back in frustration.
“Hyungnim! Is this how it’s supposed to be? They won’t even tell me what’s going on and just try to drag me away. I swear I’m innocent!”
His terrifying face looked as if tears might start falling at any moment.
Jinpae raised a hand to calm Bai Wei, then turned to the Black Commander.
“What’s this about?”
At Jinpae’s appearance, the Black Commander eased up a little. Jinpae was the oldest of the Black Wind Corps’ captains, and he was known to act with the wisdom befitting his age.
“Captain Jin, a word in private.”
The Black Commander pulled Jinpae aside.
He whispered in Jinpae’s ear.
“A report came in about internal corruption. Even for you, Captain Jin, I can’t say more than that.”
“Internal corruption?”
Jinpae looked surprised, but the Black Commander wore an uncomfortable expression and said nothing more.
“I understand. Thank you.”
Jinpae nodded, indicating he got the message.
He turned to Bai Wei and spoke reassuringly.
“Just go quietly. Don’t worry about what comes after.”
Perhaps because he couldn’t defy Jinpae’s words, Bai Wei sighed in resignation and allowed himself to be taken away.
Even as he was dragged off, his mouth didn’t stop running.
“I’m innocent! You lot better brace yourselves. You three! Get back home right now and spank your kids’ butts a few more times while you still can. If I’m found innocent, I’ll skin you alive and bury you right here side by side! I swear to the heavens, I’m innocent!”
And with that, Bai Wei was taken away by the warriors of the Command Pavilion.
Watching him go, Jinpae muttered with concern.
“That bastard’s temper will cause a mess even after he’s locked up. He’ll end up shouldering a crime he didn’t commit… We need to get him out fast.”
Hearing this, Seo wong scratched his head awkwardly.
“Hmm… That might be a little difficult.”
“Why?”
Seo wong hesitated for a moment.
Sensing something, Jinpae pressed him.
“You know something, don’t you? Spill it!”
With a resigned look, Seo wong answered.
“Well, isn’t it obvious?”
Jinpae stared at him, and suddenly, realization dawned on him.
“Don’t tell me… That bastard actually took money?”
“…Yeah.”
“Damn it. How much did he take?”
“Seems like about three thousand nyang.”
“What? Three thousand nyang? That crazy bastard! Since when did you know about this?”
“…Last month, during their squad’s gathering, he invited me and a few of my guys to a big drinking party. Bai Wei got drunk and let it slip. Said he took some under-the-table money from the Xing’an branch lord during a previous operation. The guy was desperate to join the main headquarters.”
Jinpae turned to look in the direction Bai Wei had been dragged off, wearing an incredulous expression.
“So that bastard took three thousand nyang and still shouted about being innocent? Just what kind of sky was he swearing his innocence to?”
“Well, technically speaking, he’s not guilty. Baek Captain isn’t the type to interfere in appointments. He just took the money and kept his mouth shut. He didn’t ask for it first.”
Jinpae exploded.
“You idiot! How is that any better? That bastard. If Elder Yu finds out, he’s dead meat.”
Seo wong pouted and muttered.
“You always go on about Elder Yu when he’s not around, but in front of him, you grovel.”
“You—!”
“Haha, just joking. But did Elder Yu return already? That was quick.”
“He barely stepped inside before getting summoned.”
“To where? The Command Pavilion?”
Jin Pae shook his head and silently raised a thumb.
At that moment, Yuwol was stepping into the Heavenly Demon Palace’s lord’s office.
As he entered, Bi Unseong greeted him warmly.
“Oh, Elder Yu, you’re here.”
Inside the room was also the Grand Strategist, Sa Dobin.
After offering a respectful bow to Bi Unseong, Yuwol gave Sa Dobin a slight nod.
Sa Dobin returned it with a friendly smile.
“Come, have a seat. It’s been hot lately. You must be exhausted.”
Bi Unseong grasped Yuwol’s hand and guided him to a seat.
“Where are you coming from?”
“There was a dispute between Seokcheon’s branch and the dispatched Ghost Shadow Unit.”
“I see. Was it resolved properly? Well, since you went yourself…”
“Seokcheon agreed to yield.”
“Haha. That must have pissed off Dugu a bit.”
Dugu was the master of Seokcheon.
At that, Sa Dobin interjected cautiously.
“He probably expected this outcome anyway. Making a fuss was just his way of asking for attention.”
Bi Unseong nodded.
“Shall we find him a position in the inner ranks next year?”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Now, have some tea before it gets cold.”
Yuwol took a sip. In the sweltering summer, the taste of hot tea had its own charm.
“And here.”
Yuwol pulled out a ledger and a fake registry from his robe and handed them to Sa Dobin.
Slipping them into his own robes, Sa Dobin quietly asked.
“Who was it?”
“It was Senior Pungma.”
As if he had expected this answer, Sa Dobin simply nodded.
“We might be in for a bit of trouble.”
He was referring to the Demon Sword.
“I’m prepared.”
Bi Unseong, who had been quietly drinking his tea, feigned ignorance. If the Seokcheon operation was a public mission, Pungma’s case was a secret one, led by Sa Dobin. Naturally, Bi Unseong knew about it, but publically, it was a matter of discretion.
Setting his teacup down, Bi Unseong casually asked.
“By the way, have you met our Seol yet?”
