That’s the only way I’ll find out exactly where and how this place is rotten.
“K-kill him! He’s the enemy!”
At the captain’s shout, the Guard Corps troopers charged at me.
Their swords flashed so sharply it looked like they might slice me to ribbons at any second.
But not a single blade so much as cut the hem of my clothes.
THUD THUD THUD—.
CLANG CLATTER THUMP—.
The troopers went flying in every direction, not even knowing what had hit them.
Watching that, the captain straightened his sword and glared at me.
“You dare cause a disturbance in Heavenly Martial Castle. You must really be dying to die!”
“I know. That this is Heavenly Martial Castle.”
“People will be swarming here any moment! You think you can walk out of here alive?”
“I don’t care.”
I slowly walked toward the captain.
As if I thought he was nothing.
His expression twisted at that.
“Don’t look at me like that!”
With a voice full of long-pent resentment, the captain charged.
THUD—.
He thrust his sword with all his strength, but that became the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness.
“Ugh!”
Clutching his heavy head, the captain pushed himself up.
His body felt weighted down, as if he’d had a nightmare.
“Damn it... I really need to cut back on the drinking...”
He tried to stand up on his heavy body, but the floor under him wasn’t soft—it was hard.
“What the...?”
When he looked down, he saw the floor of the Hall of Righteous Swords, paved with black stone.
“Why am I here...?”
When he lifted his head, he saw his subordinates, heads buried in the floor at an angle with one leg sticking up.
What the hell are those idiots doing?
Just then, a face appeared right in front of the captain’s nose.
“Gah!”
He jumped back in shock and, seeing who it was, remembered.
“Y-you... You’re the one from that... from my dream...”
No, not a dream?
“The captain sure took the longest to wake up.”
The captain still hadn’t fully come to his senses and just babbled.
He’d thought he’d had a nightmare, but it wasn’t a nightmare, it was reality.
How much time had passed?
It felt like he’d been out for quite a while.
More than that, why hadn’t anyone come?
After all this racket?
He couldn’t make sense of it.
“Why? Is it weird to you that your men or the people of Heavenly Martial Castle haven’t shown up?”
The captain nodded before he even realized it.
“I deployed a Void-Sealing Formation. Even if someone heard the noise and came in here, we wouldn’t show up to anyone else’s eyes. They’d just think they made a mistake and walk back out.”
“T-that kind of...”
“If you’re a martial man of Heavenly Martial Castle, shouldn’t you not be doing this kind of thing?”
“Are the martial men of Heavenly Martial Castle not human? All humans have greed. Isn’t that human nature? I simply acted according to my nature.”
“Mencius said it. If a person lacks the heart that knows shame, they’re no different from a beast. You claim to act according to your nature, but you don’t feel ashamed of it. That makes you no different from a beast.”
That was a refreshingly new kind of attack.
He’d lived his whole life as a martial man, and now here came Mencius.
What was I supposed to say to that here?
I’d rather just fight with fists or blades.
There was no way to win with words.
“Urgh! S-stop talking and just...”
“Use our fists?”
I raised my fist.
Right.
He remembered now.
That fist was what knocked him out.
So even fists were out of the question?
No.
Maybe it was just because he’d let his guard down.
The captain spoke,
“I formally challenge you to a duel. Earlier, I only lost because I was careless.”
I let out a small snort.
“Fine. Get up.”
I gave the captain time to get up and get himself together.
Then I tossed something to him.
“What’s this?”
“Tiger-Heart Pill. We should fight properly so you don’t complain later.”
Is he making fun of me?
The captain glared at me.
“If you’re not going to take it, give it back.”
After glaring for a moment, he quickly tossed it into his mouth.
He needed every bit of strength he could get right now.
The captain trusted me.
He knew I wasn’t the kind of man to pull some cowardly trick.
When I showed no hesitation in giving him the pill I’d brought, some of his anger faded.
If I beat him to a pulp just enough to turn him into a decent person, he’d be useful to Heavenly Martial Castle.
The captain took a deep breath and began circulating his inner energy.
The pill’s medicine spread quickly, and he almost had his energy flow tangle from surprise.
It wasn’t an ordinary Tiger-Heart Pill.
It was a pill far better than a Tiger-Heart Pill.
“W-what is this? This isn’t a Tiger-Heart Pill!”
I grinned.
“It’s better than a Tiger-Heart Pill. I never gave it a proper name.”
“It’s not a Tiger-Heart Pill?”
“I figured you wouldn’t believe me if I said it was something I made myself.”
He’d been deceived—just in a different sense.
The captain let out a short laugh.
“I am Dong Gwang, captain of the Guard Corps. I ask for your guidance.”
“Just call me a guest of Heavenly Martial Castle.”
“You can’t even tell me your name?”
“Earn my approval. Then I’ll tell you.”
Irritation clenched in Dong Gwang’s teeth at my taunt.
He was determined to earn that approval.
Raising his bluish-glowing sword to eye level, he glared at me and filled his legs with inner energy.
He meant to close the distance in an instant and cut my body.
VMMM—.
The moment the sword vibrated—
BOOM—.
Dong Gwang’s body shot forward toward me, and at the same time, he thrust out his arm.
“Shattering-Qi Wave Shock!”
SWASH—.
A massive crescent wave filled the room and rushed toward me.
There was only one direction I could dodge.
Dong Gwang aimed for that spot and prepared his finishing blow.
Sure enough, I moved that way.
Got you!
Shattering-Qi Wave Shock was bait.
The real move was this.
“One-Point Violent Shatter!”
ZRAAANG—.
A powerful sword-aura shot straight toward me.
There was no space left to evade.
BOOM—.
Got him!
Or so he thought—right as my figure blurred and vanished.
“Huh?”
When he turned his head, he saw that I’d suddenly moved to his side.
“Form-Shift Displacement?”
That was a movement art that only Absolute-Boundary experts at Mystical-View level could use.
“A Mystical-View-level master!”
From the beginning, he’d never been dealing with someone he could hope to match.
He’d thought he’d let his guard down because I looked like some scholar.
He’d been wrong.
It was the other way around—I was the one going easy on him.
The fact that he was still alive was lucky.
CLANG—.
Dong Gwang’s sword fell to the floor.
Watching my movement, he lost all will to fight.
“I’ve lost.”
How was he supposed to win against someone who could use Form-Shift Displacement?
Even his tone automatically turned respectful.
On top of that, there was some unknown formation, so he couldn’t even run.
“Where’s my sword?”
“At my house. I liked it so much I got greedy without thinking. I’m sorry. I’ll return it to you right away.”
I studied Dong Gwang carefully.
“Hmm. You’re not bad.”
Not bad in what way?
He was curious, but he held it in.
“You should’ve just been honest from the start. Don’t you think?”
Dong Gwang stayed silent.
“All right, then let’s begin.”
Dong Gwang tilted his head.
Begin what?
At the same time, his subordinates, who had somehow gotten back up, stood there trembling in fear.
What the hell?
Why did this feel so ominous?
“W-what are we... What are we beginning?”
“Training.”
“Sir?”
“I’m going to carve it into you so deeply that you’ll never again be swayed by injustice.”
When I said that with a wide grin, Dong Gwang stumbled backward.
“I-I’ve come to my senses! I-I will never be swayed by injustice again!”
“It’s easy to say that. There’s one thing I’ve realized in my life so far: words don’t work.”
“T-that’s absurd...”
In Dong Gwang’s shaking pupils, my fist flew toward him.
*****
“When you see injustice?”
“We stake our lives and uphold what’s right!”
“And if you give in to injustice?”
“We’ll meet again!”
“That’s right! If you give in to injustice, we’ll meet again. Look forward to it. When that day comes, you’ll find out that everything we did today was child’s play.”
Dong Gwang and the Guard Corps troopers just wanted this moment to end.
He was only here as a guest of Heavenly Martial Castle—once he left, it would all be over.
All they had to do was humor him for now.
“I told you I was a guest of Heavenly Martial Castle, didn’t I?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Whose guest do you think I am?”
Something seemed to flash through Dong Gwang’s mind.
“You said you were a guest of the Heavenly Forge, if I recall.”
“Nope.”
“Then whose invitation did you come on?”
I grinned and pulled an identity plaque from my robe.
“You know what this is?”
The moment they saw the plaque I took out, Dong Gwang and the Guard Corps troopers’ pupils began to shake violently.
“T-that’s... i-isn’t that the Lord of the Castle’s... identity plaque?”
“That’s right.”
“N-no way. The one who invited you was the Lord of the Castle?”
“Yup.”
Everyone there was horrified.
“He’s my grandfather. Now you get it, right? We can meet again anytime we want.”
Dong Gwang and the troopers’ faces crumpled into near-tears.
“When you see injustice?”
“We stake our lives and uphold what’s right!”
“And if you give in to injustice?”
“We’ll meet again!”
“That’s right.”
When I tucked the plaque back into my robe, Dong Gwang asked,
“If you’d shown that plaque from the start, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Then how would I have found people like you?”
“Sir?”
“Since I’m here anyway, I figured I’d help Grandfather out. And to do that, people can’t know who I am. Don’t you agree?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“Why do you think I’m telling you this?”
“Don’t reveal your identity?”
“Correct. If my identity somehow gets exposed, I’ll know it was your doing, and then we’ll reconvene. Clear?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. And let Yeomhwa go. From what I can see, he hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Yes, sir! We’ll release him immediately!”
“Good.”
When I lifted the formation, other people came in.
“Huh? Captain! You’re in here?”
“Hm? Yeah. What is it?”
“The High Marshal of Arms is urgently asking for you, sir!”
“Huh? Got it. I’ll go now.”
“Are you going like that, sir?”
“Huh?”
At his subordinate’s words, he looked down at his clothes and flinched.
He was in rags from how much I’d hit him.
When he saw his clothes, the memories came flooding back and sent a shiver up his spine.
“R-right. I’ll change and head over right away.”
“Yes, sir!”
After the subordinate left, I spoke.
“I’m coming too.”
“Yes, sir! T-then... safe travels!”
“Oh, and who were the ones who framed Yeomhwa?”
“The Process Overseer in the Main Artisan Court ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) is... my younger brother.”
I let out a small snort.
“Bring all the ringleaders to Yeomhwa’s house this evening. Got it?”
“Understood.”
“Planning to protect your brother?”
“Not in the slightest!”
Protect, my ass.
Right now, he was about ready to sprint over and stomp his brother flat for introducing him to a demon.
And now the demon was asking for him.
There was no way he wasn’t going to bring the guy.
His brother needed to experience this too.
Only then would his anger ease a little.
Of course, once his brother was done getting worked over, it would be his turn.
He’d make sure it wouldn’t be too bad.
He’d just get hit enough to let off some steam.
Watching Dong Gwang smirk to himself, I was convinced he had no intention whatsoever of protecting his younger brother. I let out a short laugh and left the room.
As soon as I went out, Dong Gwang let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Haah! I almost died.”
“Couldn’t agree more, sir.”
“To think he was the Lord’s guest.”
“Not just a guest, his own blood grandson.”
“Shh! Quiet. If that gets out, we’re dead.”
At Dong Gwang’s words, everyone clamped their mouths shut.
“Later... when there’s no one else around, we’ll talk among ourselves.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have to go right away, so you lot go and release Yeomhwa immediately.”
“Understood.”