I stared up at the dark ceiling and thought,
I can’t sleep.
I was definitely tired after training all day, but strangely, my mind felt wide awake.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. Dang Gyu-young tossed and turned before whispering by my ear,
“Are you asleep?”
“No.”
From down by my legs, Jegal So-so’s voice chimed in as well.
With the unstoppable force of a bulldozer and the stubbornness of a bull, she had claimed one of the Kim Ho pillows…more specifically, one of my legs.
“Young monarch, I heard people can fall asleep the moment someone rests their head on you. Were you lying to me?”
“Let’s just say today’s a special case.”
Even Seo Ye-in seemed restless, rolling this way and that.
At times like this, forcing yourself to sleep wasn’t a good idea.
More often than not, staying awake meant there was a reason for it.
So I made a suggestion.
“How about we go for a walk?”
“Sure.”
But the moment we stepped out of the annex, the walk stopped mattering.
Dang Gyu-young looked up at the sky and frowned.
“…What the heck? Why’s it so dark?”
Not only was there no moonlight, there wasn’t even a trace of clouds visible.
Our field of vision was heavily restricted.
On top of that, everything around us was deathly silent. No matter how late it was, the complete absence of even the smallest sound felt unnatural.
It was like stepping into a sealed space.
Looking around, Jegal So-so muttered,
“Feels like a formation. Qyu?”
“It’s not ours.”
Dang Gyu-young shook her head.
If it wasn’t a formation set up by the Dang Clan, then there was only one possible answer.
Jegal So-so let out a hollow laugh.
“So it’s an attack. Isn’t this a bit much? How does this happen the very day I arrive?”
“That’s why I told you to go home, but you refused even if it killed you.”
“Qyu-Qyu, is that really how you treat someone who came all this way to help?”
“My apologies, Sho-sho. Please accept my sincere apology.”
“Be more careful next time, Qyu-Qyu.”
I watched the Sho-Qyu comedy routine for a moment before finally speaking up.
“The timing really is terrible. But since we’re already here, let’s think about it positively.”
“How?”
“Once we deal with this, we can relax and have fun without worrying about anything.”
The attackers were obviously the Blood Cult, and this would most likely be the final battle.
If they were bold enough to attack the Dang Clan directly, then they had probably committed all of their forces.
Jegal So-so nodded as if that made sense.
“So basically, better to get hit with the whip sooner rather than later?”
“Something like that.”
“When this is over, you’re hanging out with us too.”
“Even if I have to make time for it.”
“Good. Then let’s finish this quickly.”
While the group’s fighting spirit flared up, Ahn Jeong-mi and the Hye-seong Group employees also emerged from the annex.
It seemed they had sensed the unusual atmosphere as well.
Ahn Jeong-mi looked at Seo Ye-in and spoke.
“Young miss.”
“Butler.”
“Wouldn’t it be best for you to retreat somewhere safe?”
She asked despite knowing full well it wouldn’t work.
As expected, Seo Ye-in shook her head side to side.
“When fighting.”
“……Understood. We’ll cover you, so please don’t overexert yourself.”
“Okay.”
A moment later, the Hye-seong Group employees’ figures wavered before disappearing entirely.
They had equipped transparent ghillie suits.
Only Ahn Jeong-mi remained visible as she stayed close to Seo Ye-in, then turned to me with a question.
“Kim Ho-nim, have you decided on a course of action?”
“The safest choice would be to regroup with the Dang Clan’s masters.”
The head of the Dang Clan, the Elder Council leader, and the Dang Il-bi and Dang Han-bi brothers were all likely fighting desperate battles somewhere already.
If we joined forces with them, both our odds of victory and survival would improve.
“However, we don’t have enough information right now.”
Other than the obvious fact that the Blood Cult had invaded, we knew practically nothing.
Which masters and combat units they had deployed, the size and composition of their forces, and their objectives. None of it.
Rather than simply focusing on blocking the enemy, understanding and stopping their intentions would be the smarter move strategically.
So my conclusion was this:
“For now, we move with the goal of regrouping, but we stay flexible and adapt to the situation as needed.”
“Understood.”
Apparently finding the reasoning perfectly sound, Ahn Jeong-mi nodded.
Next, I turned to Dang Gyu-young.
“I’ll need you to guide us.”
“Probably for the best. It is my house, after all.”
There were too many formations and hidden mechanisms installed throughout the Dang Clan to even count.
The moment the Blood Cult crossed the walls, all of them had probably activated.
If we weren’t careful, we could easily get caught up in them ourselves, so the best option was to let Dang Gyu-young, who knew the layout inside and out, take the lead.
If anything slipped past her, Seo Ye-in or I could catch it.
Before long, we began moving forward at a steady pace. Not too fast, not too slow.
Following Dang Gyu-young’s guidance, we changed directions when needed and occasionally stopped to disable traps.
As we crossed between large and small buildings alike, pale figures gradually emerged from the darkness ahead.
They were martial artists dressed in worn-out uniforms.
Standing with their backs toward us, they stared into the distance.
“……”
“……”
We immediately stopped walking because there were too many unnatural things about them.
At a glance, it was obvious they weren’t members of the Dang Clan, yet here they were in the heart of the estate.
They stood ramrod straight with every joint locked stiff.
And despite their numbers, not a single word passed between them.
Then, having sensed our presence, they all turned toward us at once.
Creeeak!
They hadn’t simply turned around. Their entire bodies rotated in place.
As though invisible hands had grabbed and spun them around.
The moment we faced them head-on, I understood the source of the unease.
Their faces were pale and half-rotted.
They hadn’t been living beings to begin with.
Talismans were plastered all over them, from their foreheads to every part of their bodies.
Jiangshi.
To put it simply, undead from a martial arts novel.
A weapon the Blood Cult had prepared. A hidden trump card.
In the next instant, they all stretched both arms toward us.
Creeeak!
Then, with stiffened legs, they began hopping toward us one bounce at a time.
The marksmen immediately opened fire.
Ratatatatatatata!
Bullets tore holes through their bodies and gouged deep into their flesh, but the jiangshi ignored the damage and kept hopping forward.
Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so stepped up to meet them.
Their swords slashed diagonally through the air toward the jiangshi.
Krrrk—
But instead of slicing cleanly through, the blades caught halfway as though snagged.
Dodging a swipe from one of them, Jegal So-so remarked,
“They’re tougher than I expected.”
Jiangshi were created by treating corpses with special drugs and dark magic, making their skin incredibly hard and durable.
In a way, they were like martial artists who had trained their external arts to the absolute limit.
Slash!
As if her competitive spirit had been triggered, Jegal So-so poured a massive amount of internal energy into her blade and swung.
The jiangshi’s head was cleanly severed—
Yet even in that state, it wildly flailed both arms around, clawing madly at the air.
“Wait, doesn’t cutting off the head usually end it?”
“You have to destroy the talismans.”
The force animating a jiangshi came from the magic embedded in the talismans.
Normally, only a single talisman was attached to the forehead, so decapitation would usually finish the job.
Alternatively, tearing or burning the talisman worked too.
But the Blood Cult had clearly anticipated that weakness, judging by the excessive number plastered all over them.
That must’ve cost a fortune.
Then again, it just showed how much they were staking on this operation.
Dodging another swipe, Jegal So-so quickly memorized the locations of every talisman.
The next instant, her sword flashed at incredible speed.
Shrrk!
Yellow talisman scraps scattered through the air, and only then did the headless body finally collapse to the ground.
“That makes one.”
Facing the next jiangshi, Jegal So-so wore a distant, exhausted expression.
The others also seemed to be struggling against such an unfamiliar enemy.
Ratatatatatatata!
A few jiangshi dropped under the concentrated gunfire, but most continued hopping around like lunatics as they charged at us.
Dang Gyu-young had completely given up on using her club and was focusing solely on controlling her shadow undead.
Blunt attacks were useless no matter how hard you hit them.
At least the former Blood Cult elders seemed to possess enough raw offensive power to rip the jiangshi apart piece by piece.
As we gradually reduced their numbers one at a time, another group of jiangshi suddenly appeared from somewhere else—
Hop hop hop hop hop!
—and began crazily jumping toward us.
“……”
“……”
The group looked visibly fed up but still tightened formation once more.
Meanwhile, I stepped forward and spoke.
“I’ll handle this batch. Just buy me a little time.”
We had fought the first wave together to gain experience against them, but there was no reason to keep doing that.
If there was a more efficient method, using it was the best way to preserve everyone’s strength.
The moment I pointed my staff toward the approaching jiangshi, a spiraling gale focused on them.
Whoooosh—
Most of them were dragged straight in, but some tried to hop out of the area.
However, in the next moment, the marksmen’s special rounds detonated.
Bzzzt—
Electric currents burst outward, wrapping around the creatures like a net.
Once their movements were restricted, they were dragged into the whirlwind just like the others.
As the wind continued gathering and compressing, I clenched my other fist.
Dark crimson flames blazed fiercely around it.
Then I drove it straight toward the jiangshi.
[Spiral Explosion]
[Inferno Fist]
Booooom—!
Whoooooooooosh—!
A moment later, nothing remained where the firestorm had swept through except piles of ashes.
While we took time to regroup, Dang Gyu-young looked into the distance with worried eyes.
“If we’re having this much trouble, the others must be struggling even more.”
“Most likely.”
Even Jegal So-so, a swordswoman skilled in her own right, had to properly channel inner energy just to cut through a jiangshi.
Hidden weapons and needles would probably be even less effective.
And poison obviously won’t work either.
They were already dead, after all, with their metabolism completely halted.
Considering that most Dang Clan martial artists specialized in poison and hidden weapons, these things were practically their worst possible opponents.
“And not all jiangshi are the same.”
Just as undead include zombies, skeleton soldiers, and death knights, there were several different types of jiangshi as well.
The ones we had just fought were Iron Jiangshi.
They were the most basic kind, focused solely on defense.
Their creation process was relatively simple, so they appeared in large numbers, but each individual specimen was comparatively weak.
Jegal So-so nodded in agreement.
“There’s no way the Blood Cult only brought Iron Jiangshi. This is the Blood Cult we’re talking about.”
“I’m sure they have all kinds.”
To pressure the Dang Clan experts in every possible way.
And that wasn’t even the end of it.
As the quality of the materials and magic increased, the jiangshi naturally became stronger as well.
Among them were probably some powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with an A-rank.
At the very least, they would have prepared enough to match the Dang Clan’s experts.
As the group’s expressions grew even more serious, Ahn Jeong-mi spoke up.
“Will we continue prioritizing regrouping, or shall we proceed differently?”
“I think a different approach would be better.”
At this point, it was clear that the Blood Cult’s main weapon was the jiangshi.
We hadn’t dealt with them easily either, but the Dang Clan martial artists were likely struggling several times more than we were.
As time passed, the number of injured would only continue to rise.
If we focused solely on regrouping, there was a high chance we’d end up leaving those wounded behind.
That would negatively affect the main quest, and Dang Gyu-young would lose her relatives as well.
The best course was to stop as much damage as possible early on.
So I looked around at the group and spoke.
“We’ll focus on support and evacuating the wounded.”
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