The Ruler of Darkness

The landscape of the Valley of Sin was vastly different from typical slums.

Unlike typical slums covered with shacks and huts, the Valley of Sin was filled with densely packed buildings.

This was because, since before the previous dynasty, this area had been a historic city center at the foot of Mount Eunhyeong.

The current Valley of Sin was densely filled with wooden structures precariously stacked on top of the stone buildings built in the past.

Therefore, this area still had paved roads, and Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon’s procession was running on those roads.

Clank-clank!

However, the path was narrowed by structures that had undergone endless expansions and reconstructions, and the side of the iron fortress, which boasted a much larger size than ordinary carriages, was scraping against the sides of the buildings, sparking embers.

Eventually, a wooden structure protruding toward the road got caught on the iron fortress.

Crunch!

The iron fortress, which had been running at a fearsome speed, maintained its speed as if nothing had happened.

Rather, the wooden structure was dragged out and collapsed as if discarded.

But that wasn’t all.

[Obstacle ahead.]

At Head Maid Jung-ah’s telepathic message, Unit Leader Hyang, who was sitting next to the maid holding the reins of the carriage, shouted.

“Brace for impact!”

The giant spirit beasts, their muscles and blood vessels vividly protruding under their skin, wriggled and rammed straight into the wall blocking the road.

With a thunderous noise, the thick wall shattered and scattered in all directions as if hit by a shell.

“——!”

Black and Yellow let out long howls, spewing white breath.

Hyang, who had raised her arms to protect her face, checked the front and narrowed her eyes sharply.

“Entering the middle reaches of the valley! Enemy spotted ahead!”

The procession had entered the area where three dark forces were engaged in conflict.

Death throes.

Murderous intent.

Weapons brandished.

Hot blood spraying into the air.

A member of a dark force was stabbing the stomach of a member from another dark force, while another member was stabbing the back of the one stabbing.

Countless members of dark forces were entangled with hostile members along the slope.

Every alley was filled with people pouring out, and the streets were already littered with corpses.

It was a scene no different from a battlefield.

“Commence firing!”

The maids began firing the crossbows mounted on the iron fortress.

With a fierce whistling sound, the members were pierced by iron arrows in groups of two or three.

Some were nailed to the wall along with the iron arrows.

In an instant, dozens of people blocking the path collapsed with holes in their body parts.

The iron arrows relentlessly criss-crossed the streets, but the number of enemies was too great, and they were still pouring out.

“Breaking through!”

With Hyang’s shout, the two spirit beasts with bloodshot eyes rammed into the human wall.

A blood snake scattered like a bomb exploding, painting the ground and walls, and fragmented human body parts flew into the air.

“——!”

The steel carriage pulled by the two spirit beasts was already a complete destruction weapon in itself.

The iron fortress rushed forward, creating a river of blood and body parts on the ground.

“Tsk!”

Unit Leader Hyang clicked her tongue.

Even though they should have been overwhelmed by the intense and horrific sight.

The members of the dark forces, far from retreating, even ran straight toward the iron fortress as if they had lost their minds.

“The enemies are intoxicated with drugs! Show no mercy and end their lives with a single stroke!”

At that moment, members wielding swords jumped from the top of the building onto the iron fortress.

The swords of Hyang and the maids flashed, and the corpses fell, bouncing off the iron fortress and rolling on the ground in a gruesome state.

On the rooftops, 4th Young Master’s subordinates were running like ghosts, catching the enemies along the route like swatting flies, but the enemies were still surging in like waves.

“Ugh!”

One of the armored carriages following behind slipped, violently colliding with the walls on both sides, and finally came to a halt.

The overflowing corpses on the ground had entangled and jammed the axles and wheels.

The two armored carriages following behind pulled the brakes to the end but eventually stopped after colliding.

Urgent telepathic messages chaotically went back and forth.

[Three armored carriages stopped! Assessing damage!]

[No loss of combat power! Emergency repairs needed for the stopped armored carriages!]

[Requesting support!]

“…”

Tang Baek, who confirmed the situation from the rooftop, stopped his movement technique.

At the same time, the enemies standing in front of him fell, scattering blood.

‘The moment you enter the battlefield, plans become meaningless, and situations are bound to change rapidly.’

His gaze turned to the iron fortress, which was still running ahead, as if awaiting orders.

And before his gaze could settle, the Eldest Young Master’s telepathic message arrived.

[Tang Baek! The lead procession will not stop! You will single-handedly subdue the enemies and buy time until the armored carriages rejoin the procession! Have the rest of the subordinates continue to secure the rooftops and follow the lead procession!]

Swift and accurate situation assessment.

Based on that assessment, the most efficient and ideal decision-making, made resolutely and nimbly.

‘Excellent.’

A smile appeared on Tang Baek’s stiff lips.

It was a smile with a strong smell of blood.

His figure melted into the air like a ghost and headed toward the armored carriages that had fallen far behind.

***

As Head Maid Jung-ah had predicted, the situation the stopped armored carriages found themselves in was no different from a tactical disaster.

Like ants endlessly swarming a fallen candy, the members of the dark forces were rushing toward the armored carriages.

“Block the enemies!”

Iron arrows fired relentlessly pierced the enemies, and the swords of the maids protecting the carriages flashed, cutting down the rushing enemies.

In the meantime, the maids assigned to the task were tending to the axles and wheels of the carriages.

“Shoot! Pour it on!”

One of the crossbows on the armored carriage, which had been firing an excessive number of iron arrows in a short period, finally reached its limit.

Twang!

A maid, struck in the face by a snapped string, fell backward, splattering blood, and was caught by her fellow maids.

“Kill them all!”

The senior maid, who had been temporarily delegated command authority by Unit Leader Hyang, stood on top of the carriage and shouted like a demon.

“…!”

As something appeared beside her, she reflexively tried to strike with her internal energy-infused elbow.

But her elbow stopped in midair.

Because she recognized the black clothing and the characteristically desolate face.

It was Tang Baek.

Her gaze turned to his hands, where metallic sounds were coming from.

Black chains were wriggling and quickly rewinding into his sleeves, and as if attracted by a magnet, two chain sickles returned to his hands and were grasped.

Blood drops were flowing from the ends of his twin sickles, falling onto the carriage roof.

“…”

And the senior maid realized that the surroundings had fallen into silence.

There was no intense metallic sound, no sound of flesh being torn, no shouts of the maids, no howls of the enemies, no sound of crossbow strings twanging, no screams.

As she turned her head away from Tang Baek, her eyes were filled with the sight of the heads of the enemies, who had been filling the surroundings, being severed simultaneously.

The sound of blood and flesh being torn and scattered was heard.

And with a slight delay, the bodies of all the enemies surrounding them collapsed.

Those who were close had all lost their heads, and those who were rushing from afar lay with throwing knives stuck in their heads.

Tang Baek released the sickles attached to the chains and raised one hand, and dozens of throwing knives stuck in the heads of the corpses returned to his hand.

A master beyond the wall.

The Blood Wind Executioner of the Tang Clan.

The Head Collector of the Tea Horse Ancient Road.

This was Tang Baek.

“There was an order from the Eldest Young Master to quickly finish the repairs and rejoin.”

As his monotonous voice echoed, the senior maid came to her senses and shouted.

“Leave the enemies to him, and everyone focus on the repairs!”

***

At the head of the three carriages that started running again was Tang Baek.

The chains swayed, and the necks of those preparing to ambush from the rooftops were broken.

As he ran along the wall and waved his hand, the retracting chain sickles harvested the necks of those blocking the path.

The heads of those outside the trajectory of the chain sickles were skewered on daggers and rolled behind.

The heads lost their owners and rose into the air, and the bodies collapsed, splattering blood.

All enemies along the route led by Tang Baek met their demise.

“…!”

At that moment, Tang Baek, who was running along the wall, sensed a presence and bounced his body to the opposite rooftop.

From the alley in the direction he had evaded, a procession with a carriage at the front poured out and began running up the slope.

It was the Eldest Young Master’s procession, which he thought had already gone ahead.

Because they couldn’t stop, they had taken a large ‘口’ shaped detour through the complex alleys to rejoin the three separated armored carriages back into the procession.

[Well done, Tang Baek.]

In response to the Eldest Young Master’s telepathic message, Tang Baek replied bluntly but immediately.

[It was nothing.]

He boarded one of the armored carriages, sat cross-legged, and immediately adjusted his breathing and energy.

Because he had continuously used movement techniques faster than the carriage’s speed while repeatedly using internal energy techniques, it was the perfect time for him to recuperate.

While he regulated his internal energy in just a few breaths, Jung-ah, who had assessed the front with her divine eyes, reported to Yeon So-hyeon.

“There are buildings ahead that are not on the map.”

As the saying goes, the moment one enters the battlefield, plans become meaningless, and situations are bound to change rapidly, another variable had appeared.

The map of the middle reaches, which was not included in the business plan, was either late to be updated or had errors.

“The iron fortress can ‘sufficiently’ pass through the buildings, but the armored carriages following behind will not be able to overcome the remaining debris.”

“…”

Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon uncrossed his legs and opened his half-closed eyes.

[Il-ryeong!]

At his call, Il-ryeong, who was riding in the armored carriage right behind, answered.

[Yes, Master. Give me your command!]

It was her who had joined through the procession that had returned to the Wongak Pavilion for supplies after seeing off Lady Yi Gong-nyeo as she left the Wongak Pavilion during the day.

[The front is blocked. Personally find a new route with your own eyes and lead the procession.]

[Understood!]

Il-ryeong’s figure leaped out through the carriage window, kicked off the walls on both sides of the road, and soared onto the rooftop.

Her movements were agile as if the weight of the armor she was wearing was nonexistent.

The enemies blocking the front on the rooftop collapsed, and she instantly climbed the tallest building nearby.

[The entire procession will follow Il-ryeong’s lead!]

At Yeon So-hyeon’s order, the procession began to follow the hand signals sent by Il-ryeong.

“Where is the forward base located?”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s question, Jung-ah, who was looking at the map, answered.

“If we pass the buildings blocking the front and proceed straight in the direction of travel, the square where the forward base is located will come into view.”

At that answer, Yeon So-hyeon nodded and stood up from his seat.

***

The moment the procession turned, following Il-ryeong’s hand signals to bypass the buildings blocking the road, Yeon So-hyeon’s figure on top of the carriage moved as if disappearing into the air.

In his hand that landed on the roof of a tall building was the huge Eldest Young Master’s flag that had been planted on the roof of the carriage.

The Eldest Young Master’s flag fluttered as if being torn by the rough wind blowing down from the valley.

Soon, Tang Baek and his subordinates appeared one after another around him.

“Good.”

As Yeon So-hyeon shook the hand holding the flagpole, the fluttering flag wrapped around the pole as if by magic.

It was no longer a flag but a single steel rod.

Yeon So-hyeon spoke, casting his gaze into the distance.

“From now on, we will break through to the forward base by the shortest route.”

“Understood!”

Tang Baek and his subordinates answered in unison, exuding a sharp spirit.

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