Yoon-seok took off his mask and walked aimlessly down the street. He came all the way here to find the Overlord of Bow, but he didn’t know if he was in Moorim.
‘I’ll have to find out if he’s here first.’
Yoon-seok grabbed the first person he saw on the road and asked.
“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
For reference, this person was an ordinary fruit seller. But the Overlord of Bow was famous, so even the ordinary citizens should know about him.
“Do you know where the Overlord of Bow is?”
The kind-looking man made a strange face. Yoon-seok asked again, wondering if the seller didn’t understand his unique name.
“Ah, I wasn’t talking about the king or palace. It was a nickname. This old man’s real name is Shama Liu…? That’s what I heard. Do you not know him?”
“…You’re crazy.”
“Pardon?”
“Get out of my way. Why the hell did a weird bastard come to me while I was working…?”
The fruit seller glanced at Yoon-seok. He then turned away and began to cart off his luggage.
“…Weird bastard?”
There was nothing strange about the question, no matter how Yoon-seok thought about it. He was even being polite. So why did he have to hear this? If the seller didn’t want to answer in the first place, wouldn’t it be better to just turn him down at the start?
“…”
Yoon-seok, who watched the fruit seller leave, concluded the weird one was not him but the fruit seller. Just like an ordinary person becomes a strange person when they enter an abnormal society, he was sure that’s what happened just now.
‘It seems in order on the outside only. This is the Black Alliance, right…?’
Yoon-seok smiled bitterly. He had to experience it to know, and now he felt he knew what the Black Alliance was like. Even a mere fruit seller could spit swear words at someone he wasn’t familiar with. How bad were the warriors? Indeed, it was reasonable for the people of Moorim to call the Black Alliance a den for villains.
‘…But let’s not be hasty. That guy might be the only one who’s weird.’
It would be false to say he held no prejudice. Still, Yoon-seok, an intelligent person born and raised in modern civilization, decided not to evaluate the whole group by only one person.
‘Let’s ask a warrior this time.’
Yoon-seok looked around in search of someone to talk to. The first thing that caught his eye was a man-eating noodle in an outdoor seat. Even without the sword hanging around his waist, Yoon-seok could tell that he was a fairly skilled warrior. Mana was radiating from his body.
‘If he’s a duelist, he’d be on the 15th floor.’
“Sorry for interrupting your meal. Is it okay if I ask you something?”
As he spoke carefully, the man slurping up noodles wiped his mouth with his sleeve and looked at Yoon-seok from head to toe.
“Your outfit is too neat to be a refugee… okay, what are you curious about?”
Despite his rough appearance, he spoke quite kindly. Yoon-seok asked, hoping that the Black Alliance might be a healthy society.
“Do you know about the Overlord of Bow Shama Liu?”
“…Of course.”
It sounded like he was asking such an obvious question. Yoon-seok spoke carefully.
“Then, do you know how to meet him?”
“…Are you kidding me now?”
“No. I don’t mean to.”
“…”
Yoon-seok’s sincere voice made the man frown. However, was it because he felt something suspicious when he noticed the sword at Yoon-seok’s waist?
Tap.
He put down the chopsticks he was holding.
“Now that I see it, you don’t look like a mere refugee.”
“…”
“You seem to be intentionally suppressing your inner Qi… you, who the hell are you?”
Yoon-seok tried to hide it somehow, but this man sensed the mana from him. Well, Yoon-seok could understand why.
[Your Magic rank rises by +6 for 10 seconds.]
It was almost impossible to completely hide it because of b Thunder Sword}, which was periodically activated every 50 seconds. No matter how hard he tried to stop it, near-infinite mana surged through him, even if it was only a small part of it that leaked out.
“Did the League send you?”
The man had his eyes fixed on Yoon-seok and was ready to draw his sword.
“No. It has nothing to do with the League, and I just came here because I have something to say to the Overlord of Bow.”
“I will make a judgment, but I believe you’re irrelevant to the League. There’s no way that the League would have sent such a crazy guy as a spy.”
Yoon-seok muttered without realizing it.
“Crazy guy…?”
All of a sudden, Yoon-seok was upgraded to a new level. Even though he asked politely, he was being insulted again.
“Answer me. What are you trying to say to the elder?”
“Is everyone here like this?”
“…If you don’t answer me right away, I will cut you down.”
The man put his hand over his hilt. Yoon-seok didn’t know.
“…Why did this happen again?”
“What are you talking about!”
“Do I have no choice but to live as a demon follower for the rest of my life?”
“Demon follower! No way, you were sent by the Demon Sect?!”
When the man drew his sword and shouted, the people around them freaked out and moved away.
“D-Demon?!”
“Not only did you kill the Bloody Sky Delusion Sword, but you also broke into the Alliance! Does the Demon Sect intend to become completely hostile to us?”
Yoon-seok sighed. He tried to solve it somehow with a conversation, but…
“Guards! Call the guards!”
The Black Alliance’s warriors were already rushing in. Yoon-seok understood why most demon followers preferred to smash their opponent first. As always…
Whoosh-!
He needed strength so people would listen carefully. Even if you wanted a non-violent conversation, even if it was possible, if he didn’t have strength, he wouldn’t be able to get there.
‘Yeah, it was right to do this from the beginning.’
He was in a position to recruit the Overlord of Bow as a teammate, so he tried not to get into a fight until they met, but…
Yoon-seok didn’t think it was possible to persuade them through conversation. Besides, he couldn’t take back killing the Bloody Sky Delusion Sword. It would be better to make them kneel quickly like the King of Steel.
“W-what inner Qi…!”
When Yoon-seok released his mana, the man froze.
“Where is the Overlord of Bow?”
“…”
“Is he in the Tower? Or somewhere else?”
“Do you think I will tell you…?!”
Despite the fear that his body would explode at any moment, the man showed a wonderful spirit. The only problem was that he was the type of person who showed his true feelings on his face.
“Seeing you say that it looks like he is nearby.”
“…!”
Yoon-seok made a guess, but it looked like he was here.
“I should’ve done this earlier.”
Yoon-seok was amazed again. He could figure it out in ten seconds like this.
Tuck.
Yoon-seok released the mana that was squeezing the man’s body. He no longer needed information from him. As soon as he released his mana, he felt a huge presence approaching from afar and at a very fast pace.
‘The report may not have been delivered yet, but the action is quick.’
Yoon-seok raised his sword towards the empty air.
And that moment-
Bang-!
They deflected something moving at the speed of sound.
* * *
A middle-aged man collided with his raised blades, but Yoon-seok smacked his lips as if he was disappointed.
‘It’s not the Overlord of Bow.’
Sensing the unusual force, he expected it to be the Overlord of Bow, but he was wrong.
‘Perhaps this man is the head of the Black Alliance. The one that is said to be his sworn brother.’
Taash-!
Yoon-seok pushed him away and widened the distance. Although it was a quick exchange, he knew this was no easy foe.
“Who are you to make a fuss right in front of our Black Alliance?”
“I’ve never made a fuss.”
“Hahaha! You’re a funny guy.”
The head of the Black Alliance laughed coolly at Yoon-seok’s complaining. He was different from the image Yoon-seok had imagined when he heard that this man was the Bloody Sky Delusion Sword’s sworn brother.
Yoon-seok thought he’d look more like a villain, but he held himself with dignity.
“I am Zheng Tian. What is your name?”
He seemed to know the basic courtesy of introducing oneself first, so Yoon-seok answered honestly.
“My name is Choi Yoon-seok.”
“I see, so you are the Heavenly Destroyer. I can’t believe you came before I went to see you. Should I say I’m lucky?”
He was smiling, but it was a pretty lukewarm reaction. Yoon-seok thought he’d attack right away when he found out who he was.
“Anyway, seeing that you came all the way here, it must be a cockroach from the League that killed my brother.”
Oh, was it because he thought the League was trying to drive a wedge between them? Yoon-seok, recalling his promise with the Sword Sovereign, quickly corrected his misunderstanding.
“No. I’m the one who killed that bastard.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
If so, Yoon-seok would say the same thing again, but fortunately, he didn’t have to.
“…Hahaha! Huahahahaha!”
The head of the Black Alliance suddenly began to laugh. However, it was not a pleasant sight. His lips were smiling, but his eyes weren’t.
“It seems that you are looking down on our Alliance.”
“It’s not exactly like that, but…”
“There is no need to obey the law for a ruffian like you. Don’t even think about returning alive. Your pretentious position as Co-Sect Leader won’t work here.”
“I see.”
Yoon-seok nodded as if it were someone else’s business, and that made his foe even angrier. It was exactly what Yoon-seok wanted. If it was the head of the Black Alliance instead of the Overlord of Bow, he didn’t need to hold back. Rather, it was advantageous to make him angry. However…
“If I don’t kill you quickly, there will be damage to the civilians. I’ll probably need some help from the elders.”
The moment the head of the Black Alliance threw something into the air-
Whoosh-!
An arrow fell from the sky. It was the Overlord of Bow Shama Liu’s arrow, which looked like a harpoon rather than a proper projectile.
Bang-!
Although he successfully avoided it at first, Yoon-seok felt tense. The head of the Black Alliance and the Overlord of Bow. It wasn’t that he didn’t consider the situation in which the two of them worked together, but…
‘Where the hell is he?’
No matter how far he expanded his senses, he couldn’t find the Overlord of Bow’s location. Moreover, the head of the Black Alliance’s ignorance was also more than expected.
‘…He’s annoying.’
Yoon-seok was a little annoyed. If only they had told him where the Overlord of Bow was, he would have visited without anyone knowing.
‘…Should I just step back for now?’
The full-fledged battle hadn’t even started, but Yoon-seok was deeply concerned. He wondered if he should carry out Plan B, assuming things didn’t go well.
‘But even if I called her, it would take quite a while…’
“Infinity Blade.”
A transparent black aura formed over the Alliance Head’s sword as Yoon-seok considered his options. Judging by the command, it seemed to be one of the abilities from the Tower, but it was quite unusual. Yoon-seok’s intuition shouted it was dangerous.
Whoosh-!
Yoon-seok stepped back. What was he missing?
Slash-.
The blade cleaved through him. No, it was just a shallow cut.
“…”
But Yoon-seok’s vigilance grew. He recovered quickly, but his skin was cut through. This meant the head of the Black Alliance could destroy the indestructible. It was impossible for Yoon-seok to even scratch the Dimensional Muscle so easily.
‘…Maybe it’s not just a skill.’
Was it just because of the effectiveness of the skill? Like the Sword Sovereign, who cut down an Invader, like Cheon-ma that emitted a tidal wave that couldn’t be explained. Could there be something in that blade that could not be explained?
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
Come to think of it; it’s always been like that. It started with the Overlord of Bow, who nearly killed him while he was in the state of b Demonify}. All of the rankers from Moorim had something more than skills.
‘Let’s get out of here first.’
Yoon-seok made a quick decision. The ranking of the head of Black Alliance was 12th, the same as Lavan or the King of Steel. Hence, he thought it would work somehow if he fought against them. However, in reality, it was completely different.
Whoosh-!
One-on-one might be a different issue, but it was unreasonable to deal with the two at once.
Bang-!
No matter how much he concentrated on avoiding the head of the Black Alliance’s blade, it wasn’t easy because of the arrows that ignored space to reach him.
“Hahahaha! Where did that confidence go?”
“Is it so exciting for the two of you to fight me together?”
“Demon follower, you’re exaggerating!”
Yoon-seok concluded. To press down on them with force, he should at least bring a back-up and match their numbers.
“Hahaha! Do you think you can run away?”
As Yoon-seok promised to meet them again, the head of Black Alliance persistently pursued him.
But then-
“I will catch you alive, and I’ll make you feel the Five Body Parts Technique…?”
A shadow cast over the vast ground as if a solar eclipse had started. And at the same time-
—Five Body Parts Technique, you say?
A deep voice resonated through the world.
—It’s not bad, but it’s not good enough.
Although the principle was simple, it was one of Moorim’s ascent techniques, which couldn’t be dreamed of with low levels of inner Qi.
“T-this voice…?”
The head of the Black Alliance reflexively stopped moving.
“How can…?”
—Should I show you the Hundred Styles of Separating Bodies?
“Look. Elder, are you listening?
—To properly show you what happens when you dare to touch what’s mine.
“I think we’re in trouble.”
The 31st Heavenly Demon of the Demon Cult, Zheng So-wol. She arrived…
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