The Ruler of Darkness

A crow flapped its wings and landed on the head of a man lying face up.

During the landing, the bird’s sharp talons scratched the man’s face, but there was no reaction from the prone figure.

Because he was a corpse.

The sharp beak stabbed into the face with a thwack, and the corpse’s eyeball was ripped out along with the optic nerve.

Throwing back its head, the bird swallowed the eyeball in a couple of gulps, then glanced around.

The scene of the square was reflected in those black eyes.

The square, brightly illuminated here and there by bonfires and fallen torches, was filled with corpses.

The bird spotted someone still squirming, crawling among the corpses.

After a brief moment of hesitation, the crow flew into the sky.

The woman’s sword flashed and stabbed into his back, and the crawling man’s breath was cut off.

The man’s hand, which had been reaching out desperately until the end, fell to the ground.

A maidservant of the House of Compassion, her face splattered with enemy blood, pulled her sword from the corpse.

She looked down at the lifeless body.

‘Tenacious one.’

The underworld organization member, intoxicated by the drug Young Maiden’s Millet, had been crawling across the square with his intestines trailing behind.

“…”

With a face devoid of unnecessary sentiments, she thrust her blade into the back of the next survivor.

In the square, besides her, several other people were lined up horizontally, cutting off the breaths of enemies who were still alive and moving.

“What should we do with the enemy corpses?”

“Just leave them as they are. We currently don’t have the luxury of time…”

Maidservants’ leader Hyang conveyed Yeon So-hyeon’s intentions in response to a senior maidservant’s question.

“It is the Master’s order that there is no need for separate handling.”

The senior maidservant seemed to realize something upon hearing those words.

“…Understood.”

Hyang’s gaze turned towards the buildings surrounding the square in the distance.

Through the cracks in the roofs, small holes in the basements, and gaps in the stone buildings, countless gazes could be felt.

The eyes reflected the light from the square, glittering even in the darkness.

They were the poor who had hidden to escape the conflict.

“…”

Confirming that their gazes were directed at the corpses strewn across the square, Hyang lifted her head and looked at the night sky.

She let out a small sigh.

Flocks of birds were circling in the sky.

And today, it wouldn’t be just the birds who would fill their hungry stomachs.

***

The reason the advance base in the mid-regions was located in a position that could overlook the square at a glance was that it had repurposed a site used as a government office during the past dynasty era.

Although now the site was filled with buildings constructed by the poor.

But rather, that point acted as an advantage in establishing defensive facilities.

If not for these advantages, they would not have been able to hold out for so long in the conflict between the underworld organizations.

“…With this, I’ve finished the treatment that can be done for now, but the redness on your face may remain.”

The maidservant of the Maidservants’ Unit smiled as she touched the bandage Yeon So-hyeon had personally treated and wrapped for her.

She was the maidservant whose face had been struck when Yeon So-hyeon’s zither string snapped.

“We are always prepared to give our lives for the Master at any time.”

Yeon So-hyeon gave a wry smile.

“Even so, I can’t lose you in a place like this.”

He stood up from his seat and patted the shoulder of the maidservant, who was paying her respects and withdrawing.

“You must grow even more and be with me until the end.”

“…I will keep that in mind.”

Watching the maidservant withdraw with renewed determination, the Chief Maidservant Jung-ah said,

“She was the last urgent patient.”

Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze turned to the combat personnel of the advance base who were handling the corpses of their comrades.

Among them, some were shedding tears, some had reddened eyes, but everyone was gritting their teeth.

“…We must ensure that not a single corpse of the fallen is left behind and that they all return to their families.”

Those words were not a command directed at Jung-ah, so the response came from those approaching Yeon So-hyeon.

“Amitabha, we will personally oversee their final departure.”

They were Taengjung and Mal-ko, the leaders of the House of Compassion in the Valley of Sin.

Already acquainted with Yeon So-hyeon, they skipped the formalities and immediately began their report.

“We have temporarily set up wooden barricades at the broken defensive walls, and the handling of the injured has also been concluded.”

“For now, it seems appropriate to conclude the primary follow-up measures for the advance base to this extent.”

“Understood.”

The old men didn’t even mention Yeon So-hyeon’s hidden martial prowess or anything of the sort.

They simply gave the necessary reports.

They had experienced all the ups and downs in the past and knew better than anyone the severity of the current situation in the lower regions.

“By the way, where is one of the leaders?”

Originally, there were three leaders of the House of Compassion in the Valley of Sin.

“Ah, that guy…”

At that moment, a middle-aged man who had finished treating the injured along with the doctors was seen running over in a hurry.

“I-I’m a bit late!”

The reason his appearance particularly stood out was that he had blond hair and blue eyes.

He was a person of mixed race.

“I pay my respects to the Eldest Young Master, the leader of the House of Compassion!”

Even while panting for breath, his pronunciation and paying of respects were quite impressive.

“So you’re the one named Johann who was recently promoted to an executive.”

Johann bowed his head.

“Yes, I am Priest Johann of the Rusty Brotherhood faction of the Order of Friars Minor.”

Indeed, in his hand was a rosary.

“Priest Johann. I heard that you serve those in the lowest places, just as you serve your Lord. I, Yeon So-hyeon, the leader of the House of Compassion, welcome you beyond the differences in faith.”

For some reason, Johann, who had come from a faraway place of origin, smiled compassionately and shook his head.

“Beyond faith, you say. The teachings of the Fairy of Medicine are not very different from the words of the Lord, so being able to serve in the footsteps of the saints is the path of true glory.”

Hearing those words, Mal-ko slightly smiled and said to Taengjung,

“…A priest who serves the God of a monotheistic religion speaking of the Fairy faith. He’ll also be excommunicated if he returns, just like us.”

At those words, Taengjung, trying to hold back his laughter that was about to burst out inappropriately for the situation, frowned and quietly chanted a Buddhist prayer.

“…Amitabha.”

At that moment, a member of the advance base ran over and reported,

“The preparations for withdrawal are all complete.”

Upon that report, Taengjung asked Yeon So-hyeon with a hint of concern,

“…Is it really alright for all of us to withdraw?”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“Of course. I came here personally in the first place to deploy all of you to the scene in the lower regions.”

On the highest roof of the advance base, the huge Eldest Young Master flag brought by Yeon So-hyeon was fluttering.

As long as Yeon So-hyeon remained here, the underworld organizations would never be able to directly target the advance base.

They could neither attack the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword House nor occupy the advance base while ignoring Yeon So-hyeon alone, who had displayed martial prowess of an unfathomable level.

“You know well what you have to do once you go down to the lower regions, right?”

The leaders of the House of Compassion all nodded without exception.

“We need to gather and unite the poor who are cooperative with the House of Compassion and restore order.”

“If we go directly, we can sufficiently persuade and disperse the mob committing looting.”

Even without Yeon So-hyeon giving separate orders, they knew what they had to do.

They were capable individuals.

“Good.”

Yeon So-hyeon glanced at the position of the stars and calculated the time.

“By now, the underworld organizations in the mid-regions should have all retreated.”

Just then, the sound transmission of Il-ryeong, who had returned from a forced reconnaissance, was heard.

[Master, the safety of the escape route has been secured.]

“Commence the withdrawal.”

Yeon So-hyeon did not reprimand the leaders of the House of Compassion for being isolated in one place.

This situation was an exception, difficult to anticipate, and he surmised that the leaders themselves were sufficiently reflecting on it.

“We will follow the leader’s orders.”

They immediately began moving without further words.

“Withdraw! We’re withdrawing!”

The convoy of armored carriages that Yeon So-hyeon had generously brought could sufficiently accommodate the personnel of the advance base, even if it meant enduring some discomfort.

[Priest Johann.]

At Yeon So-hyeon’s sound transmission, Johann, who was about to board a carriage, looked back.

[In the North, firearms are controlled to be exclusively used by the military.]

Johann touched his chest with a startled expression.

[But from now on, use them freely in necessary situations. I will take full responsibility.]

Upon that sound transmission, Johann deeply bowed his head to Yeon So-hyeon and boarded the carriage.

The Maidservants’ Unit also followed the convoy from behind with lightfoot technique, leaving only the minimum number of personnel.

Il-ryeong was in charge of leading the convoy.

Yeon So-hyeon, who had watched the convoy leave the square until the end, said to Jung-ah,

“…Find the safest place within the base. A place where no one comes and goes.”

Jung-ah hastily guided him.

She had already grasped Yeon So-hyeon’s condition through her Golden Eyes.

“Eldest Young Master.”

At the bleak voice, Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze turned behind him.

There stood Tang Baek with an expressionless face.

“I will also stand guard together with the Chief Maidservant.”

For a moment, Yeon So-hyeon silently gazed at him without saying a word.

Perhaps he had read something in Tang Baek’s eyes, which lacked even a shred of emotion.

After the chilly valley wind passed by, Yeon So-hyeon’s mouth opened.

“…Permission granted.”

***

Yeon So-hyeon sat cross-legged in the deepest part of a building that was once part of a government office in the past.

His face was pale without a hint of blood.

“Huuu…”

Beside him, a lantern was burning, but for some reason, it couldn’t illuminate the surroundings at all.

Because the dark energy seeping out from his body was distorting and twisting the entire surroundings.

‘This is the limit of the internal energy I can currently use.’

It was common sense that internal energy was finite, but in Yeon So-hyeon’s case, it was a bit more special.

[Why didn’t you devour them? If you don’t fill your stomach now, you may starve to death like this.]

[Foolish Yeon So-hyeon. How long do you think you can endure?]

Voices like the grating of metal were pulsating within him.

Those voices seemed as if they would tear through his insides and crawl out at any moment.

[Ah, what about our grievances?]

[Please, avenge this pain upon them!]

Sorrowful voices were endlessly echoing in his ears.

The phantoms of the vengeful spirits shown by the Dark Heavens Scripture were endlessly continuing.

“Huuu…”

Yeon So-hyeon suppressed the boiling demonic energy that was inversely proportional to the depleted internal energy.

He was circulating and cultivating the Sheep’s Ewe Cultivation Method he had modified to the extreme.

In his mind, the internal energy of the Sheep’s Ewe Cultivation Method, which had become thin, was burning white-hot as if screaming, desperately guarding his mind.

As the internal energy was consumed, the protection of his mind had also weakened.

“Huuu…”

However, soon, owing to the depth of cultivation and mental strength that were second to none, he was able to reach his deepest self and ultimately fall into a state of selflessness.

And as the artificially formed upper danjeon opened due to that, his mind began to forcefully attain a state of clear tranquility.

How much time had passed?

The overflowing demonic energy from his body gradually began to subside.

“…”

It was a skill that could be said to be something only Yeon So-hyeon could do, even if it was presumptuous.

***

On the rooftop of the building where Yeon So-hyeon was, Tang Baek’s sharp gaze was flashing like a stone statue, guarding all directions.

Strange and ominous energy could be felt from beneath the roof, but he only twitched his eyebrows for a moment.

“…”

Rather, he further heightened his senses and energy to strengthen his guard so that no one could approach.

‘Trust…?’

Jung-ah, who had been observing him for a moment through her Golden Eyes, thought.

‘…Was there something that connected him with the Master?’

Among those she had observed so far since opening her Golden Eyes, the one with the heaviest mouth and firmest mind was none other than Tang Baek (of course, excluding her own master).

“…”

Moreover, it was a guard permitted by the Master.

Therefore, Jung-ah simply guarded the entrance to the building where Yeon So-hyeon was cultivating without showing any signs.

After a while.

Her eyes flashed golden in the darkness.

[Unknown personnel approaching!]

Simultaneously with her sound transmission, Tang Baek’s sleeves fluttered.

Three pitch-black flying swords precisely pierced the spot where Jung-ah’s gaze was directed, becoming rays of light.

“Oh my.”

No, it seemed as if they had pierced through.

“…Oh dear, oh dear. As expected of the Eldest Young Master, even the accompanying personnel are extraordinary.”

It was a man’s gentle voice.

But the energy hidden within it was enough to give goosebumps.

“…”

The three flying swords Tang Baek had thrown were grasped by a hand that seemed to have popped out of thin air.

It was a strange, glossy glove made of some kind of leather.

Recognizing the glove at a glance, Tang Baek’s complexion changed.

“Vast Bright Deer Skin…?!”

The owner of that glove was so astonishing that even Tang Baek’s complexion, which rarely showed any change in expression, transformed.

“It’s been a while, Tang Baek.”

A middle-aged man who appeared out of thin air as if emerging from behind a pillar smiled at Tang Baek.

His features were gentle, yet there was a hint of something sinister about him.

“How…?”

Tang Baek frowned as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes upon confirming the middle-aged man’s face.

“Why are you here?”

Jung-ah’s expression also changed at the other party’s answer.

“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost. Is it that strange for me, Tang Gwi-hu (Tang Ghost Fox), the ‘Deputy Clan Leader of the Sichuan Tang Clan’, to be in Luoyang?”

In the moment Tang Baek was briefly shaken, Jung-ah was able to read the thoughts that surfaced to his surface.

‘Deputy Clan Leader, Tang Gwi-hu. The head of the Shadow Squad, the intelligence organization directly under the Clan Leader of the Sichuan Tang Clan.’

Jung-ah clicked her tongue inwardly.

‘An opponent who should never be trusted.’

Although this uninvited guest was not an enemy, he was not an ally either.

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