episode_0121

121. The Beginning of the Family’s Ruin.

The swordsmen and men in black who sprang from beneath the ground crossed swords. Though hidden by masks, the men in black were clearly flustered.

Incidents happen at the night market several times a day. Where money gathers, people are bound to flock. And among them, there are many who are less than human.

The men in black guarding the night market thought it was nothing this time as well. Until the ground suddenly began to rumble.

‘Should have cut their throats earlier.’

Clang!

The man in black, swinging his sword as he fell from the ceiling, thought so. These guys, each one is unusually skilled. No matter how bad their relationship is, the Cheongseong Sect and the Emei Sect wouldn’t commit such senseless acts.

They must be a group of cunning black magic practitioners.

At that moment, a suspicious movement was caught in the corner of the man in black’s vision. The two men who had first entered the night market were leaving.

‘Where do you think you’re going!’

The man in black gritted his teeth and grabbed a dagger. And threw it. From the conversation earlier, he knew they were heading to the Tang Clan. He couldn’t possibly let those suspicious men go.

Whoosh-

A total of seven daggers drew strange curves, aiming for the two men’s throats.

Immediately after, the sound of something being cut was heard from somewhere. The man in black felt his vision floating away. His neck had been cut.

In his fading vision, he saw one of the men waving a fan to block the daggers. In the end, the man in black’s actions were meaningless. He should have just stayed and guarded the night market…

Thud-

The moment his severed head hit the ground, he lost consciousness. It all happened in an instant. The man in black’s wide-open eyes were fixed on the two men until the very end.

***

Whoosh, whoosh-

The wind brushing past his ears stung. Johan gasped for breath as he moved his feet.

Sama Han is a master. That means he also possesses top-notch skills in lightness techniques. A master isn’t born from excelling in just one thing.

Fortunately, the distance between the smithy and the Tang Clan was not that far. The two arrived at the front gate of the Tang Clan in an instant.

Sama Han took the lead and shouted.

“I’ll clear the way!”

Swoosh-

A cold sword cry rang out. Immediately, Johan’s vision was split in two, top and bottom, by a white flash.

Boom! Crash!

The two men kicked down the shattered gate and entered. By now, the other side couldn’t possibly not notice.

There were warriors guarding the gate, as well as many Tang Clan martial artists wandering around the estate. One of them shouted loudly.

“Who goes there! How dare you intrude on this place!”

“Where else would it be? It’s the Tang Clan.”

“What… Keheuk!”

The warrior who had shouted clutched his neck and collapsed. A beat later, a thin line of blood spurted from his neck.

The two continued endlessly inward. It wasn’t that there weren’t people blocking them along the way. But most of them were unskilled. Occasionally, there were those with noteworthy martial prowess.

“Kkeuaaaak! Emei Sect! Request assistance from the Cheongseong and Emei Sects…!”

Still, they were no match for Johan and Sama Han. A new gate appeared before them, and they smashed it once again.

“This is the inner quarters now. Keep your wits about you.”

“Yes.”

Immediately after Johan replied, a roar was heard from somewhere.

“You bastards!!! How dare you cause a ruckus in the Tang Clan’s front yard!”

And something flew towards them. Johan was flustered. At first glance, it seemed like five hidden weapons were flying at him, and even if he blocked four, he would still be hit by one.

It was on a different level from any hidden weapon technique he had experienced so far. Johan let out a battle cry and waved his fan.

Whooooosh-!

Four hidden weapons lost their power and fell to the ground. Nevertheless, one remained. The last one was reaching for Johan’s heart.

Fortunately, Johan was not alone. As Sama Han reached out, it gently settled into Sama Han’s grasp. Sama Han spun it around and threw it back.

Clang!

At the end of a blurred afterimage, a middle-aged man with a stubborn impression stood with a dignified posture. Unusually, the middle-aged man was one-eyed.

Sama Han smiled and said.

“Hehe, Tang Clan bastard. Long time no see.”

“Hoseon! What brings you here!”

“Couldn’t I come? You still have one eye left, don’t you? Hehehe.”

Sama Han playfully stroked his eye area. The middle-aged man’s face turned red.

“Im-, immediately! Kill that bastard! And those two, request support from the Emei Sect and the Cheongseong Sect!”

Following the middle-aged man’s orders, two warriors scattered in opposite directions. Johan had no intention of letting them go. Johan crossed his hands and spread his fingers wide.

His fingertips flashed with blue light.

Piiiiiiing-

Ten lines of blue light swam through the air. At the end of them were the Tang Clan warriors who were running away diligently.

The two warriors were startled by the bizarre sight. Sorcery! It was truly evil magic!

“Wait!”

Someone cried out desperately. But the magic missiles were not sentient beings. They pierced the two warriors mercilessly.

The middle-aged man’s eyebrows twitched as he watched the scene. And biting his lip, he shouted.

“…As the head of the Tang Clan, I command! Use any means to escape the Tang Clan! And inform the Cheongseong Sect and the Emei Sect! Hoseon has come!”

Perhaps understanding the head’s resolute cry, the Tang Clan warriors’ spirit became sharper. Then, they each turned around and kicked off the ground.

Now, only the head of the Tang Clan and a few warriors remained. Probably the elite forces of the Tang Clan. Johan surmised.

Sama Han sneered and opened his mouth.

“Tang Clan bastard. You’re going to fight well with those underlings. Already senile at such a young age, or what?”

“Even if it’s you, Hoseon, you won’t be able to withstand a joint attack from the Emei Sect Leader and the Cheongseong Sect Leader. Where are you putting on airs?”

“Puh, Kkhahahahaha!”

Sama Han laughed, shaking his shoulders. He pretended to wipe away tears and said.

Before he knew it, his expression had turned cold.

“Do you think I wouldn’t have thought of that? Hey. Sorcerer.”

“Yes.”

Johan flicked his fingers with a blank face. Then, the entire perimeter defining the Sichuan Tang Clan began to burn red.

Fire Wall.

There’s no separate skill. It’s just a spell created by shaping the form of the flames in various ways.

Thanks to that, the warriors who were trying to go outside were flustered. No matter how much they were gradually deviating from being human, the element of fire was a phenomenon that instilled fear in humans.

Someone shouted.

“What are you doing! Have you forgotten the Head’s orders! Charge immediately!”

The one who shouted wasn’t just a loudmouth. He confidently kicked off the ground and flew towards the wall of flames.

Wiggle-

Then, the barrier seemed to ripple once, and soon it emitted a beam of crimson light. A red straight line in the form of a cylinder met the human.

“Kkeuaaaaaak!”

“Heok!”

“What is that!”

The warriors, who were about to run forward with the strength of someone’s shout, stopped walking without realizing it.

Throwing hidden weapons, slashing people with swords, stabbing people with swords. To warriors, human death was a very familiar process. But even for them, the sight of a person being roasted alive was not an easy thing to see.

Instinctively, they couldn’t help but feel repulsion. The Head’s orders were absolute, but their lives were also definitely precious.

The Head, who noticed that fact from afar, frowned.

“You’ve brought a strange one. Is that an otherworldly guy who’s been appearing these days?”

Hoseon twisted his lips maliciously.

“Why? Never seen an otherworldly person before?”

“Heh, as if. Hey you!”

Whoosh, the Head flicked his tongue and threw a hidden weapon. It was a kind of ambush.

Hoseon drew his sword and deflected it. Immediately, he opened his eyes wide.

Crackle-!

A white thunderbolt was seen approaching, twisting its amorphous body.

At the origin of the thunderbolt, a blond, non-Korean man was reaching out his hand.

‘A sorcerer! And similar to the cult leader!’

Even if nothing else, his speed was superior to the cult leader. Sama Han judged so and leaped backward.

Bang!

His clothes were slightly scorched. To shrug off the joint attack of the Tang Clan Head and the sorcerer with just this much damage.

The Head was newly aware of Sama Han’s power.

The Head puffed up his chest once more. And shouted.

“What are you doing! Quickly kill that old monster and the sorcerer!”

Warriors wearing dark green uniforms charged at the two. But Johan’s gaze was directed at only one place.

The magician who had just fired the thunderbolt. In Johan’s opinion, that guy was the most dangerous, excluding the Head.

Johan instinctively realized.

‘He’s a skilled person at least on par with number one. No doubt.’

The thunderbolt from just now was a spell that even Johan couldn’t ignore.

The two magicians’ gazes met in the air. The lightning magician raised the corners of his mouth.

“Nice to meet you. To think I’d meet a fellow here. Why did you come here?”

Smash-

Johan shrugged his shoulders as he smashed the head of an approaching warrior.

“Our goal is always the same. To go up there. You know that, don’t you?”

“Heh, that’s right. You fell into a force called the Black Society. Unlike me.”

Zap, crackle-

The lightning magician bloomed a pure white flower on his right hand.

Thanks to that, his right face was brightly lit, and conversely, his left face was deeply shadowed.

“So you’re going to die here.”

Rumble-!

Pure white lightning covered Johan.