As they continued moving from one battlefield to the next, supporting the Dang Clan warriors and evacuating the wounded again and again—
Boom!
Another iron Jiangshi was engulfed in flames.
The talismans plastered all over its body turned into black ash, and the creature collapsed limply like a puppet with its strings cut.
With this battle wrapped up as well, I spoke to the group.
“We’ll move again after a quick regroup.”
Meanwhile, Dang Eun-bi was proving her worth in her own way.
She wasn’t much help in direct combat, but as she had mentioned before, she was highly skilled in medicine.
On top of that, she somehow knew a few recovery skills as well, allowing several wounded people to pull through critical situations.
After finishing treatment on the last injured person, Dang Eun-bi rejoined us and then stared at me for some reason.
“…Come to think of it, it’s kind of fascinating.”
“What is?”
She subtly gestured toward the others.
“The way you’re leading everyone. I thought Team Leader Ahn or the Unnies would be in charge.”
“That would normally make more sense, considering both skill and status.”
“Yeah, but everyone follows your instructions like it’s natural, and surprisingly, your teamwork is really good too.”
Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so each added a comment at that.
“Kim Ho’s always been good at this kind of thing.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever suffered from doing what he says.”
Dang Eun-bi nodded, then looked back at me.
“That also means they’ve built that much trust in you.”
“True enough. But why bring it up all of a sudden?”
“I just realized you do have one or two good qualities.”
“Appreciate the compliment. So does this mean we can finally get along now?”
“No?”
Dang Eun-bi immediately put some distance between us with a serious expression.
Apparently, having a single good trait wasn’t enough for her to become friends with the unnie thief.
Looks like I still have a long way to go.
Leaving the minor incident behind, we headed toward the next battlefield.
Then, Seo Ye-in suddenly turned her head and stared into the distance.
“……?”
“Do you see something over there?”
“Noisy.”
With how sharp her eyesight was, she must have spotted something.
And “noisy” probably meant battle.
Dang Gyu-young looked in the same direction and frowned.
“…That’s near the Clan Head’s residence.”
The Clan Head’s residence was one of the most important locations in the entire clan.
The fact that a battle was taking place nearby carried serious implications.
There was also a high chance that the Dang Clan Head himself was involved.
Perhaps thinking the same thing, Ahn Jeong-mi asked,
“What should we do?”
Until now, we had postponed regrouping and focused on minimizing casualties instead.
But quite a bit of time has passed already.
Most of the battles had probably ended one way or another by now, so wandering around aimlessly would yield little.
And Grandpa Ghost Demon is bothering me too.
He had hurried off after saying he would settle for the next best option. If, by any chance, that meant targeting the Dang Clan’s top experts all at once—
We needed to stop it before it was too late.
So I answered Ahn Jeong-mi.
“Let’s go. At the very least, we need to confirm what’s happening.”
“Understood.”
We picked up the pace, and before long, we arrived at the “noisy place”.
As expected, it was a battlefield.
The Dang Clan’s strongest experts and the Blood Cult elites were locked in fierce combat.
There were also an overwhelming number of Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi present. It looked like they had gathered every single one they had prepared for this battlefield.
And seeing Grandpa Ghost Demon there made it almost certain.
At the center of those countless Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi stood someone drenched in blood.
Dang Gyu-young recognized him immediately and widened her eyes.
“Father!!”
“……”
The Dang Clan Head slowly turned toward us.
Judging by the countless large and small wounds covering him from head to toe, he had endured a brutal battle. One of his arms had been severed completely, and blood streamed from all seven orifices, making it obvious he had suffered severe internal injuries as well.
The one who had likely pushed him into this state was the woman in blood-colored robes standing opposite him.
She seemed to have fought together with the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi, but regardless, she was clearly at an elder level strength.
And since she wielded a massive saber, she was probably Blade Demon.
A mocking smile spread across her lips.
“So the daughter has arrived. Perhaps things are about to become interesting.”
“—!”
For one of the rare times, fury surged across Dang Gyu-young’s face.
Gripping her shadow club tightly, she charged forward as shadows exploded outward around her.
Whoooooooosh—!
Ghost Demon must have been watching us the entire time, because he reacted immediately.
As the Soul-Summoning Bell released its eerie wail—
Jingle……
Roughly half of the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi surrounding the Dang Clan Head turned and rushed toward us.
Even though she knew blunt-force attacks were ineffective against them, Dang Gyu-young charged ahead recklessly.
“Move—out of my way—!”
Baaaang—!
Her shadow club swept out in a wide arc, sending the Jiangshi flying in all directions.
Jegal So-so drew her sword and joined the fight while the Hye-seong Group shooters unleashed a barrage of special rounds.
Shweeeak—!
Dudududu!
Meanwhile, my attention was fixed elsewhere.
On the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi standing in one corner of the battlefield, its body swollen like a balloon.
The dark green aura leaking from it was almost certainly poison qi.
So this is what they were using the Poison Jiangshi for.
Up until now, all those things had done was absorb poison from the Dang Clan warriors before withdrawing from the battlefield.
I had wondered what their purpose was, but it turned out they had been funneling all that poison into this thing.
If that explodes, it’ll be a complete disaster.
All kinds of poisons used by the Dang Clan warriors tonight had likely been mixed together inside its body.
That meant a kind of composite poison had formed, and even Dang Clan experts probably wouldn’t be able to detoxify it quickly.
The Blood Cult had clearly prepared this with great ambition.
Better get rid of it beforehand.
So I briefly spoke to Seo Ye-in.
“The pot.”
“Here.”
The moment she handed over the Immortal Pot, I kicked off the ground toward the bloated Jiangshi.
Several Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi blocked my path and attacked, but at that instant I activated Blink and appeared right in the middle of the enemy formation.
Then, once the bloated creature entered range, I held the pot forward.
[Severed Space]
A space like the night sky opened and swallowed the creature whole.
Ghost Demon’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected development.
“What—?!”
As he shook the Soul-Summoning Bell and pointed at me, the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi swarmed over, swinging every kind of weapon imaginable….swords, spears, whips, clubs.
I narrowly dodged their attacks but eventually realized there was no way to avoid them all and activated [Ghost Dance].
Swish……
Then I returned to my original position.
The two elders seemed genuinely rattled by what had just happened and momentarily stopped moving, causing the battle itself to fall into a brief lull.
Ghost Demon stared at me in admiration.
“The insight to grasp an opponent’s intentions, the bold decisiveness, the ability to act without hesitation… every aspect of you is extraordinary.”
Then he gave Blade Demon an order.
“Leave the Dang Clan Head be for now.”
“What a shame. I wanted to take his head.”
“He’s already little more than a walking corpse. The important one is that boy.”
Blade Demon had apparently witnessed what had just happened as well, because she readily agreed.
“That brat is no ordinary child. He’ll become a major obstacle to the cult’s great undertaking.”
“He already has. The Blood Sword Commander, the Shadow Commander, even the Illusion Demon fell to him.”
“……!”
“He must die. Even if we must bury our bones here to make it happen.”
Soon after, it felt as though not only the two elders but also every Blood Cultist and Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi on the battlefield had turned their eyes solely toward me.
Even so, I spoke in a calm tone.
“Before we start, let me ask a few more questions. I got distracted earlier checking my romance fortune.”
“……”
Ghost Demon blinked as though dumbfounded.
Then he burst into hearty laughter before replying.
“Kekeke……. Very well. Someone like you has certainly earned the right. What else are you curious about?”
“This great undertaking of yours. Did it absolutely require attacking the Dang Clan?”
“Of course.”
Ghost Demon nodded and continued.
“The martial world is like an enormous Gu jar. Do you know this? Poisonous creatures are unexpectedly docile. Even when gathered into one place, they do not fight at first.”
“……”
“But with just a slight stimulus…. like lightly shaking the jar, they begin biting, killing, and devouring one another.”
“……”
“If the Dang Clan falls, a huge power vacuum will emerge in Sichuan. Everyone will rush in to seize it. An age of chaos will unfold.”
“And after that?”
They hadn’t come to conquer Sichuan itself, nor would they sacrifice elders and military forces merely to stir up some disorder.
At my question, Ghost Demon looked even more pleased.
“As expected, your eyes already see beyond that. In times of chaos, masters are born. Just like within a gu jar.”
“So this whole thing was done just to create stronger masters?”
“Exactly.”
Hearing that much, I finally understood why the Blood Cult wanted to eliminate the Dang Clan.
Even if they targeted the second, third, or fourth strongest factions, nothing in the balance of power would truly change as long as the number one remained standing.
Still, too many vague pieces remained, so I continued asking.
“And what do you plan to do with these masters once you create them?”
“If one wishes to create an even stronger gu, then naturally it must be placed into a larger jar.”
“So you’re feeding them to the Cult Leader.”
“Quick to understand. Endless life-and-death battles against countless worthy rivals….that is the path toward the Cult Leader’s ultimate goal.”
EX-rank.
And since no one had ever reached it before, the word “first” would forever stand before the title.
Hard to resist becoming the undisputed number one.
Even in a game, people would lose their minds over that kind of achievement.
But this world was reality.
It meant being remembered throughout history forever.
Their Cult Leader becoming the first EX-rank and the strongest under heaven?
No wonder the Blood Cultists were willing to throw away their lives so recklessly.
Still, a question came to mind, so I asked it directly.
“Then wouldn’t it make more sense to let me live? You’re confident you can handle a rival, aren’t you?”
“Keke……. Perhaps. But you are an exception. You have interfered with this Cult’s plans far too much. It would benefit the great cause if you disappeared here.”
At that moment, unexpectedly, Seo Ye-in stepped forward.
“……No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“Kim Ho, home……. can’t disappear.”
Maybe because she spoke more than usual, Ghost Demon seemed to fully understand her sloth-like way of talking.
“Keke……. So you are one of the children from the Hye-seong side. Do not worry, the Cult Leader plans to visit that place as well.”
“……!”
“Perhaps it would be more beneficial to eliminate even you here. It might provoke that Chairman fellow.”
“That makes me angry…….”
“I believe we have spoken enough. Let us begin.”
Jingle…….
As the Soul-Summoning Bell rang once more and the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi began to move again—
Swoosh…….
Seo Ye-in’s gray hair gradually bleached white, becoming filled with a dazzling radiance.
Then, in that state, she raised one hand above her head.
Whoooooooosh—!
A pillar of light shot upward, instantly shattering the formation that had covered the Dang Clan.
As if that were not enough, it scattered even the dark clouds and revealed the night sky.
Bathed in the starlight pouring down from above, Seo Ye-in spoke.
“Ultimate Skill.”
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