Chapter 162: House of Slaughter (3)

Well, in terms of pure brute force, the externally-trained powerhouse Jin Cheolgwe might seem more reliable.

But if I let a guy like that—who practically exudes a fighter’s temperament—wander freely through House of Slaughter’s estate, there was no telling what kind of trouble he might cause.

So, by what wasn’t quite force but still practically was, I had Jin Cheolgwe grumbling as he returned to the Jin Clan’s main estate with the remaining bodyguards.

“Young Master, are you really going to be alright?”  

“What about?”  

With only three of us left, Gu Chil whispered cautiously.

“I wonder if we shouldn’t have dragged the guards in by force.”

“What’s this? You were so confident earlier, and now you’re saying something so spineless?”

Gu Chil’s expression turned more serious.

“It was the So Clan who crossed the line first. No matter how much they claim it’s a matter between clans, this incident reached the Elder Council. Even if we pushed things a bit, it would’ve gone through.”

“…!”

I looked at Gu Chil in surprise, startled by his smooth, eloquent words.

Even more surprising was that what he said wasn’t much different from what I had been thinking.

“You’ve got that much political insight?”

“…Well, I am the son of the Jin Clan’s Chief Steward, after all.”

“Yeah, and you’ve never acted like it before, which is why I’m asking.”

Well, regardless of Gu Chil’s newfound insight—

“It’s better without guards. If they hadn’t come to us first, I would’ve found another excuse to send them back.”

“Why?”

“It’s easier to stir up trouble when there are fewer people around.”

Neither House of Slaughter nor I had any intention of simply talking things out.

There was sure to be some sort of clash—schemes, tricks, and maybe even outright conflict.

In that kind of situation, Jin Clan’s warriors would only get in the way.

“Grab the liquor we brought. Can’t have the gift for Murder Demon getting smashed.”

“…Understood.”

Gu Chil quietly shouldered the box containing the liquor jar.

And so, we arrived at the grand entrance of House of Slaughter.

Above the gate hung a plaque bearing a majestic inscription:

[進來的人 請放棄希望]

I gave a dry chuckle as I read the words.

“Those who enter, abandon all hope… huh?”

It was the kind of thing you’d expect to see at the entrance to hell.

At this point, I was actually curious.

Just how exactly had the So Clan prepared for our arrival?

“I’ll go in and inform them first. It may take some time for them to receive you, so please wait here for a moment.”

The envoy who had brought us here said this just as—

The veins on Gu Chil and Myeong-oh’s foreheads bulged.

“Those bastards dare….”

“They’re not even prepared to receive us properly?”

This wasn’t a surprise visit. We had scheduled this in advance.

Even I had to admit—they were blatantly crossing a line.

“If they’re not going to observe courtesy, there’s no reason we should either.”

“…Young Master? What are you—”

Crack!

As soon as I drew my sword, a blazing flame of sword qi condensed along its edge.

– Infinite Realm Demon

*Boom!*

The Qi Projection burst forward in a straight line and utterly obliterated House of Slaughter’s main gate.

“W-What are you doing?!”

As the doors shattered with a satisfying crash, the envoy’s eyes went wide.

Thwipthwipthwipthwipthwip!

At the same time, hundreds of arrows began pouring toward us from within like a torrential rain.

“So they weren’t entirely unprepared.”

The problem was that this wasn’t normal readiness—this was the kind of readiness unique to the Hidden Shadow So Clan.

“Since when did House of Slaughter stop training assassins and start raising an army?”

Myeong-oh scoffed and stepped confidently in front of me.

‘What’s she thinking?’

There wasn’t much she could do without a proper weapon in the middle of this arrow storm.

But then—

“…Huh?”

Myeong-oh’s arm suddenly stretched out, and blades—yes, actual blades—began sprouting all over it!

“W-What the?!”

Even I, along with Gu Chil, opened our eyes wide in shock.

It was just like what we’d seen back in the ruins of the Heavenly Mystic Maiden…

Myeong-oh’s awakened form!

Her monstrous arms moved faster than the rain of arrows falling on us.

Clatterclatterclatter!

Hundreds of arrows flying toward us were swept aside in an instant, none of them even grazing our skin as they clattered uselessly to the ground.

In my astonishment, I shouted toward her.

“Myeong-oh! What the hell is that?!”

“Oh, this…? Well…”

Returning his arms to normal in a blink, Myeong-oh scratched her head awkwardly.

“It just kinda… happened, I guess?”

“What?”

“I’m serious. One day I realized I could only morph my arms. Not sure why.”

“……”

It was instinct.

Flash!

Without a word, I swung my sword and cut off the envoy’s head right where he stood.

“You-Young Master?!”

As the envoy’s head dropped to the ground in a flash, both Gu Chil and Myeong-oh stared at me in shock.

But before I could respond to their surprise,

I reached over and grabbed Myeong-oh’s arm, inspecting it all over.

“M-Master?”

“…Pale and smooth.”

“W-Why the sudden compliment?”

Myeong-oh flushed, as if slightly embarrassed.

“It’s not a compliment.”

I released Myeong-oh’s arm with a serious expression.

‘For something that turned into a monster’s arm and then reverted, it’s way too clean.’

That meant his compatibility with the awakened form was absurdly high.

“Myeong-oh.”

“Y-Yes, my lord?”

“From now on, never show your awakened form to anyone.”

“Why not?!”

He had just regained the use of such a convenient power!

I read the complaint on his face and sternly continued.

“You’d be considered a hybrid by Heaven-Defying Society’s standards, right?”

“Y-Yeah, I would.”

“You’re a hybrid who once lost her powers, and yet you can use your awakened form—freely, in broad daylight no less.”

“…!”

Myeong-oh’s face turned pale.

It was only then that she realized what he had just done.

“If you don’t want to get kidnapped and used as a lab rat by the Heaven-Defying Society, you’d better listen to me.”

“A-Alright…”

The greatest weakness of the awakened form was that it couldn’t be manifested under sunlight.

The fact that Myeong-oh had overcome that, even partially, made him a prime target—someone the Heaven-Defying Society would be desperate to capture.

‘I’m certain I extracted all the essence… so how did this happen?’

It had to be one of two things.

Either I made a mistake, or Myeong-oh’s bloodline was special.

‘I’ll definitely need to examine her body sometime later…’

The problem was that even if I did examine her, my complete lack of medical knowledge meant I wouldn’t be able to figure anything out…

‘I’ll have to recruit someone well-versed in both anatomy and sorcery.’

Someone like, perhaps, whoever is related to the Divine Demon Physique Manual I still carry in my chest?

But that would have to wait until after we handled this mess.

“For now, we need to respond to the So Clan’s invitation.”

From deep inside, I could already sense the presence of at least hundreds of people.

***

Thanks to Myeong-oh’s sudden partial transformation, things were slightly delayed.

But now, it was time for us to pass through House of Slaughter’s gate.

Step. Step.

As we walked through the shattered gate, broken apart by my Qi Projection—

Whoosh!

A thick fog suddenly rolled in, quickly obscuring our vision.

‘Not a proper formation. Just a basic field-of-vision blockage.’

Beyond the mist, I could feel countless eyes watching us.

Curiosity, hostility, murderous intent.

Gu Chil scowled at the flow of those various emotions.

“Maggots.”

“You mean House of Slaughter’s assassin trainees?”

“Yes.”

House of Slaughter didn’t treat their assassins as human beings.

They literally treated them as insects—classified and discriminated against by colors: black, red, blue, and green.

‘Disgusting.’

Judging by the vague shadows moving around us, most of them didn’t even look older than their early teens.

No, some looked even younger—practically infants drenched in blood.

‘Damn it… No matter how many times I see this, I just can’t get used to it.’

Gu Chil scanned the area, watching the ambushers with his bow and hidden weapons at the ready.

“I don’t see any top-ranked Black Insects. Looks like they’re preparing something separately.”

“They’re probably further in.”

From deeper within, I could sense the aura of an overwhelming martial master.

It wasn’t likely to be Murder Demon, so probably that one named Jeok Rua or whatever.

Gu Chil let out a sigh, tinged with a bit of sympathy.

“Shall we kill them all? Attacking an envoy is more than enough justification for a full purge.”

Even if the enemy numbered in the hundreds, they were just trainees.

And to make it worse, releasing fog like this was a poor move.

If it came down to it, Gu Chil and Myeong-oh could turn this whole place into a sea of corpses in a flash.

“No. Don’t kill a single one.”

“…Excuse me?”

My decision was firm.

“The best way to humiliate House of Slaughter for treating us like this is to reach the clan head without killing a single one of these things.”

“Ooh!”

“True.”

I didn’t know what Jeok Rua was thinking, pushing those kids toward me.

But whoever you are, lady, you just made a massive mistake.

“Neutralize all of them. Don’t kill a single one.”

“Understood!”

Gu Chil and Myeong-oh immediately leapt into action.

But unlike me, who had ordered non-lethal action, House of Slaughter’s larvae screamed as they charged at us.

“Kill them!”

“If we kill them, we can leave this place!”

“They said we could live rich forever!”

For the first time, I felt genuine emotion coming from them.

The name of that emotion was madness.

‘So they promised them wealth and freedom if they kill us?’

Most House of Slaughter assassin trainees, except for a select few, were born from the lowest rungs of the cult.

Their desire for wealth and freedom must be overwhelming.

But—

‘Something’s off.’

I frowned, staring at those rushing toward us.

‘They were trained as assassins…’

The first thing any assassin should do is erase their emotions.

And yet, there wasn’t a trace of that here.

Whether positive or negative, that kind of raw, chaotic emotional swirl was a disqualification for an assassin.

Gu Chil must’ve noticed it too, because he clicked his tongue.

“Ridiculous. So-called assassins who can’t even regulate their basic emotions.”

“……”

There’s nothing strange about people craving desire.

But controlling that desire is another matter entirely.

Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!

As a few throwing daggers sank cleanly into their shoulders, the trainees who had been charging in began to panic.

“A-Are those instructors?!”

The grim reapers who always drove the trainees to the brink of death.

The fear etched into them by those instructors wasn’t something that even Gu Chil or Myeong-oh could shake off easily.

And yet, to think they were falling into such disarray!

“How did House of Slaughter end up like this?”

Gu Chil bit his lip softly, sighing.

This wasn’t change.

It was decline and collapse.

“Have they even forgotten the bare minimum pride of being the darkest corner of the Heavenly Demon Cult?!”

Though he had long severed ties with House of Slaughter,

Gu Chil still had a sense of pride in the place he came from.

Then it happened.

“So what if they’re instructors?! There’s only two of them! You think two people can take on this many?!”

It seemed one of the trainees had risen to the position of leader among them, because a voice began ringing out from somewhere, stirring the others.

“This is our chance to take revenge! Bring out all your hidden weapons! Attack all at once! Haven’t you learned the one and only thing that lets the powerless overwhelm the few—is numbers?!”

Like a virus, that voice began to infect the crowd.

Just as venomous intent began flickering in the eyes of a few trainees—

Gu Chil stepped in front of the boy.

“You’re not wrong.”

He landed squarely in front of the boy who had just riled up the others.

“You’re making a sound argument… but whether martial artist or assassin, no one follows a mutt that only barks loudly from behind, kid.”

“…!”

“Judging from your look, you must be one of House of Slaughter’s branch line. What number are you?”

The boy in red robes opened his mouth almost reflexively.

“N-Ninety-five.”

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