C155
"Destroy everything!"
That was the beginning.
Crash, Crash!
Windows shattered.
Woong.
Doors were blown away and destroyed.
Crack, Crack!
All things simply broke, flew, and scattered.
Although Sima Jung would have enjoyed and caused chaos like this originally, he couldn't do anything.
"Ugh."
The Pinnacle Demon seemed to weigh the same, so he sighed alongside him.
The old lunatic, driven mad by his experiments, could only gape in astonishment.
And, unbeknownst to Sima Jung, he was clasping his hands in front of him in a respectful gesture.
Young Master Kim.
His group moved without hesitation.
All obstructions in their path were destroyed.
"Aaah!"
"Run, run!"
"What's happening here?"
The members of the Silver Blue Commercial Guild were extremely confused by what was suddenly happening.
The Silver Blue Commercial Guild's branch had simply been overturned.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Suddenly, what's happening here!"
"Aaah! How is it possible for Martial Arts Masters to chase traders like us?"
Although there were people blocking Young Master Kim's group's way.
"Does anyone know anything?"
"Eh? Ugh!"
They were defeated with indifferent faces.
"It seems they might be useful."
No, they were left unconscious.
"Hmm, you seemed to be trying to escape with accounting books. What could be at stake?"
Another stun.
One by one, they took the first floor and headed to the second.
Looking out the window, Sima Jung swallowed hard.
"Aaahhh-"
"Kugh!"
A person fell out of the window.
Obviously, they were from the second and third floors.
Sima Jung remembered the man carrying a large sword and the man with half-white hair. These two, whom he had also heard were father and son, went up first.
'Now that I think about it-'
His good friend, Du Kang. He also went up first, excited. He ran up first, crashing and smashing everything in his path.
"Kahahaha! It's finally happening!"
He said that.
Even as he spoke, the Trash of the Evil Faction, Sima Jung, could barely suppress a smile.
Because of Du Kang. He thought he must be feeling a lot of pressure being under Young Master Kim.
"Too upright."
That's what he felt when he saw Young Master Kim and his group.
"Like water."
Calm, as if they weren't there. Individuals flowing with the current.
Of course, he knew that Young Master Kim's subordinates were strong.
Although he hadn't witnessed the confrontation between the Sword Demon and one of Young Master Kim's subordinates, he had seen the ruckus they caused and their traces.
However, he had the impression that they were fundamentally moderate and avoided conflicts.
'The Boss, no, Young Master Kim seems to be that kind of person.'
A group's character was greatly influenced by the disposition of its leader.
Kwah-ang!
Sima Jung shuddered at the slightly louder sound than before and looked toward the source.
Their gazes met, and the Sword Demon wearing the Bamboo Hat spoke brightly.
"It seems there's valuable information. Haha."
He picked up the safe he had ripped from the wall.
He looked around.
Starting with Choi Han, they all worked diligently and swiftly to take control of the building, not missing a single person or object.
Everything seemed so familiar.
Yes, these guys.
They seemed very accustomed to smashing and opening things.
To be honest, it felt like the touch of a craftsman.
Sima Jung, the Trash of the Evil Faction.
Honestly, he wasn't used to that kind of thing.
He was tougher than the Promising Talents of the Justice Faction, but it was also about doing things and fighting in their way.
It wasn't the same as picking a target and quickly subduing it.
Bum!
Bum!
Zas!
Look at them now.
They destroy what needs to be destroyed without hesitation.
They were professionals.
After leaving the Imperial Palace, it was also partially confirmed that Young Master Kim was from the Imperial Family.
And because he seemed so moderate overall.
Therefore, they thought they had never had to do something like this before.
That's why they expected they would summon experts from the Justice Faction, Evil Faction, and the Demon Cult to lead the front.
But it didn't happen.
"Haha. I was wrong."
With a hint of laughter in his voice, Sima Jung sympathized with the old lunatic for the first time.
Young Master Kim and his men.
They had fought before, undertaken many missions, and suffered many hardships.
At that moment, Sima Jung was the only one who could see a person who seemed to be living a different moment alone in this space.
"What do you mean by 'I was wrong'?"
Young Master Kim Haeil.
Walking calmly, he turned around and looked.
"Ahem."
The Pinnacle Demon pretended to clear his throat and avoided Cale's gaze.
"It's nothing."
Sima Jung had a feeling he knew why the Pinnacle Demon was saying that.
He had also avoided Young Master Kim's gaze.
"They are terrifying people."
He realized this.
He realized that the man who had accepted him so much, even when he was a nuisance, was actually a very frightening man.
The same applied to his group.
"I knew they were strong, but..."
The strength they showed was truly impressive.
Silver Blue Commercial Guild.
Since he realized that the guards here were as strong as the Emperor's Golden Guard, Sima Jung could feel that the Silver Blue Commercial Guild was not the real Blood Cult.
"Did they capture them both?"
And then, Choi Han and Lee Soo Hyuk managed to subdue the guards in two swift moves.
After that, it was the same scene when they entered the building.
Since then, experts from the Silver Blue Commercial Guild had appeared on the upper floor, but even those strong individuals had been crushed.
"They crushed everything."
Especially one of them had been beaten to death by Du Kang's fist.
And he realized.
"That guy was letting me win too."
Du Kang wasn't fighting seriously during their training.
He was just warming up his body.
"Crazy bastards..."
He blurted out without thinking and quickly shut his mouth.
However, the reason he shut his mouth wasn't in front of him.
Kim Haeil.
No matter what was happening around him, he calmly ascended to the second floor.
Of course, there was no one to stop him.
-Human, I will protect you!
Raon, who had become invisible, shouted.
Seruk.
Kuwong.
Kwaang!
The others were already there, cutting, smashing, and blocking.
Lee Soo Hyuk, Choi Jung Soo, and Choi Han.
Whether by specific order or turns, they destroyed the obstacles that could have hindered Cale.
"Ah, it's comfortable."
Cale muttered sincerely as he ascended, not in a hurry but not slowly either.
Then, he found Ron coming down the stairs.
He asked:
"Was he up there?"
It was a question without a direct object, but Ron answered faithfully:
"I only captured the manager."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
The brief response made Cale nod his head.
"I'll have to go down."
Cale descended the stairs he was ascending.
And then, he looked around until he reached the point where the stairs to the first floor began.
He grabbed the door to a small storage room next to the stairs.
-I'll open it for you!
When Raon spoke, Cale stepped back three steps.
And then, the door broke.
Kwajik.
The door bent due to the pressure of Mana and flew to the side.
Cale lifted the corner of his lips as he looked at the door leading to the basement.
"As expected."
Ron stepped forward.
"I'll go first."
"Mm."
As soon as Cale gave his permission, Ron quickly headed to the basement.
Kkiik. Kkiik.
Then, Cale followed him below the narrow and old stairs.
And as soon as they descended into the basement, they saw someone trying to escape through a narrow tunnel amidst small flames.
And as if to protect that person, 5 Murim Martial Artists drew their swords at once.
Chaing, Chaing!
These warriors were different from the ones they had faced so far.
If the guardians were on the level of the Golden Guard, these individuals seemed to have enough strength to be leaders of the Golden Guard.
Above all, the guy trying to escape.
He seemed quite strong.
-Human! The guy trying to escape has a lot of documents on his chest!
Raon urgently spoke once again.
-Human! And there are explosives everywhere here!
Basement of the Silver Blue Commercial Guild.
It was quite spacious, but there was very little room for someone to move.
Because it was filled with explosives.
"Hmm."
Cale looked around calmly.
"So, you're the real manager here, right?"
The question Cale had asked Ron about who was upstairs referred to the manager who ran this branch.
But the manager on the third floor was not that person.
In other words, he wasn't upstairs.
The answer, then, was downstairs.
Although it was said that the Silver Blue Commercial Guild didn't have a basement, wasn't it obvious that that was a lie?
Cale muttered as he assessed the amount of explosives.
"If you, as the manager, try to escape, the five who were protecting you will set this place on fire."
He nodded.
"It seems they intended to die as well and were willing to kill everyone in this building and in the vicinity. If that happened, the resulting chaos would make all the evidence disappear."
If this amount of explosives were to go off, the Silver Blue Commercial Guild building could consider itself fortunate if only its basic structure remained.
"That's why, despite making a lot of money, the building seemed weak."
Regardless of how much Cale and his group could smash, there was a limit.
Does it make sense for a single punch from Toonka to open a hole in the wall?
'Oh, that might also be possible.'
Cale hesitated for a moment but thought that Toonka was an exception and continued.
He asked the middle-aged-looking man who was about to flee.
"Do you know me?"
The man didn't respond.
He hunched over, silent.
"I see that you do know me."
That silence said it all.
"So, is the Blood Cult really the Blood Cult?"
No one in the enemy group reacted to his casual voice. Especially the five Martial Artists, whose faces were completely expressionless.
"Impressive."
Cale was a little impressed.
Despite not properly assessing the situation amid this sudden situation, they were ready to flee if they were discovered.
Moreover, they were not afraid to die.
"They are definitely Cultists."
Cale clapped softly and then sighed.
"Are you trying to pull a Molotov cocktail from your chest right now, aren't you?"
Even the man who seemed to be in charge here pulled a firebomb from his clothes.
"Do you also want to die here?"
Finally, the manager spoke for the first time.
"So what?"
He said indifferently.
"The explosives here are set to go off with the slightest impact."
Thump. Thump.
At that moment, vibrating sounds came from above.
The manager smirked mockingly.
"Of course, even if I don't throw a Molotov cocktail, these explosives will explode due to any disturbance that occurs soon."
Then, he stared at Cale.
"Young Master Kim. I guess you were really following us."
Cale also stared at him. The manager's smile grew bigger and darker.
Smile~
Cale smiled.
"Are you trying to buy time?"
Then, he looked over the manager's shoulder.
"It looks like one of them has already escaped."
Then he turned to Ron.
"Go and catch him."
"Yes."
The manager adjusted his posture at the sight.
"I can't allow that."
Raon exclaimed.
-Hey, Human! This manager is stronger than most of the Elders of the Justice Faction! Elder Ho Songyi would lose in five rounds!
That strong?
Cale was a little impressed.
"Hmm."
The manager laughed.
And then he shouted.
"Detonate the explosives!"
The five swordsmen. Their swords headed towards the pile of explosives.
And the manager looked at Ron, who was approaching.
"In this situation, the explosives can only explode."
At that moment...
"How absurd."
Cale muttered nonchalantly.
-Don't worry, Human.
Raon shouted brightly.
The swords of the swordsmen headed for the explosives at the same time.
Boom! Boom! Kwaang!
And then they were repelled.
"Gruah!"
"Ugh!"
Groans escaped the lips of the five as their bodies were pushed backward.
The explosives were firmly wrapped in a translucent black shield.
-Hey, Human! Even if you hit them from all sides, that shield will protect the explosives!
Hmm, alright.
Cale nodded calmly and spoke to the manager who was looking at him.
"Oh, you can also throw that Molotov cocktail. Although it won't reach the explosives."
Creak. Click.
At that moment, someone descended the stairs. It was Choi Han.
Cale told Choi Han.
If this guy could take down Elder Ho in five rounds, Choi Han would do it in no time.
"Let's buy some time with that guy."
"Yes."
Curse.
Suddenly, as the manager cursed loudly.
Cale heard Ron's calm voice as he entered the tunnel.
"Oh no."
"What's wrong?"
Just as Cale was about to ask unintentionally.
Ron pointed inside the tunnel.
"Are there explosives here too?"
It was at that moment.
A smile appeared on the manager's lips.
"Hahaha!"
He laughed as he threw a Molotov cocktail into the tunnel.
So fast that neither Ron nor Choi Han noticed.
"Everything will collapse! Only the Blood Cult will remain standing!"
The manager laughed and swung his sword toward himself.
He had an appearance as if he were about to die.
The other swordsmen also pointed their swords at themselves.
They had the appearance of not fearing their own death.
Churr-
At that moment, a chilling sound filled their ears.
Something was shot into the tunnel faster than the Molotov cocktail.
When the sensation of speed made the enemies' spines chill without them even realizing...
"Phew."
Cale sighed.
"Usually, you can't use a Molotov cocktail if it's wet."
Of course, the Molotov cocktail had also been blocked in front of the water before that.
Tsk-tsk.
The water appeared, blocking the entrance to the hideout like a wall.
-Shall I use a little force too now?
Hearing the voice of Sky Eating Water, Cale nodded.
"Alright, they haven't come out of the tunnel yet. Let's give them some water."
Since the tunnel was narrow, it would be easy to fill it with water.
Cale nonchalantly aimed several water spears at the tunnel.
Creak. Click.
When the Pinnacle Demon carefully descended to the basement and encountered Cale, she asked in a cautious tone.
"So, how is it going?"
Without appearing worried at all, Cale responded to the cautious tone that seemed to be trying to find something out.
"Very well."
Yes, let's go with that.
Easily, effortlessly, overwhelmingly.
The Three Factions (Justice, Evil, and Demonic), the Imperial Family. With four powers on his side, Cale planned to make the fight against the Blood Cult a breeze.
'Isn't it 4 to 1 even without me?'
Well, I like it a lot.
It's almost a fight at the level of the entire Central Plains against the Blood Cult.
Even if the Blood Cult was very strong, would they be stronger than the entire Central Plains?
If that were the case, they wouldn't have caused any mischief; they would have fought openly, right?
Since they couldn't, they had to work behind the scenes.
Cale smiled at the idea of fighting the Blood Cult with the entire Central Plains as allies.
-Oh, Human, it's been a while since I've seen that smile!
Haha.
Cale laughed heartily at Raon's words.
-...Hmm. Are you going to make everything collapse, Human?
He ignored Raon's suddenly shaky voice.
'Finally!'
Cale's feelings were simple.
He had endured a lot in the Central Plains.
Yes, he had handled everything nicely and amiably, solving problems and avoiding fights as much as he could.
But now, it was no longer necessary.
"Hahaha—!"
Cale's joyful laughter filled the basement room. He didn't worry about how the Pinnacle Demon and the Blood Cult followers would see him.
-
