“Come to think of it.”
Among those who sat in front of the bonfire, one of them opened their mouths.
He was a little young-looking boy that was old enough to technically be called a young man, but he was still yet of age.
He turned his head, tucking the hem of a blanket around his shoulder in the chilly night air. It was hard to see because of the dark, but the boy was looking at a series of collapsed walls in the distance.
“Is it really coming out?””
“What do you mean?”
When asked by the boy, another young man sitting next to him asked in response. The coolness in his voice gave the boy courage to speak up, although he hesitated a little. He had a personality that couldn’t stand being curious.
“Inside of that city.”
“Can you call that a city? It’s nothing but ruins.”
The young man shed a bitter smile. The boy’s shoulders droop at the cynical response. The boy’s name was Zhuge Aryhong.
“Why are you being so cold?”
The cynical response came from none other than Murong Chae who was in the group. Tang Ah-Hui didn’t truly understand why this boy was always so cynical to others.
Tang Ah-Hui was now technically too old to be called the Forbidden Jade Leaf; her old nickname as a young beauty from the 5 Great Families.
She should be said to be middle-aged because she was already over 40, but she was still single and had a sense of mature beauty that would still make most men fall head over heels for her at first sight.
“I was just responding like that because it was so obvious.”
“You seem to not think too much about what that did for you in the past.”
Tang Ah-Hui was smiling, but Murong Chae shot her a cool glare. Tang Ah-Hui flinched a little at the gaze, but soon she opened up her shoulders wide and proudly stuck out her chest.
“Don’t say you don’t remember. At that time, in the north…….”
“Why are you telling me that story?”
Murong Chae’s eyes expressed blatant hostility at Tang Ah-Hui. Tang Ah-Hui feigned ignorance as she covered her mouth with sarcasm.
What Tang Ah-Hui was referring to, was nothing short of taboo to speak about when it came to Murong Chae. It was the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun that had ended in a spectacular failure.
The Murong Family, which used to be one of the Five Great Families, had fallen from grace solely from that single battle.
Murong Chae’s father attacked the Wizard Guild, in his obsessive madness for revenge and had gotten himself killed pathetically.
In that, Murong Chae’s father, who was the Patriarch, had died, and nearly all of the elite troops from the Murong Family had been annihilated.
After the subjugation, the Murim Alliance was diligent and held the Murong Family accountable for their terrible actions under the Patriarch who was deceased and had left the Murong Family with practically nothing left including their honor as one of the Five Great Families.
However, it was not just the Murim Alliance that was angry with the Murong Family for their actions. Their properties were confiscated, and their martial arts scrolls were taken away.
But the real problem was after all of those actions. Most of the elite martial artists that were Peak Realm Experts of the Family had died, and the Patriarch who oversaw the inner workings of the Family had died in the attack as well in the North.
That left Murong Chae, the only one left to inherit the Family, with nothing as he was inexperienced and now the only person eligible for succession despite being thrown under the bus completely with no properties, no martial arts, and no manpower.
Unless Murong Chae was some Transcendent Martial artist at his age that could defy any common sense and attract new members and skilled people to the Murong Family, there was no way the Murong Family would have ever survived in that state.
Due to that, the Murong Family was practically nonexistent now in the public’s eye.
“Let’s calm down.”
The Namgung, Tang, Murong, and Zhuge Families. Originally, these four families of the Five Great Families were the biggest, and most influential parties within the orthodox factions within the Murim Alliance.
But instead of the Murong Family, a new family had emerged to take over their place called the Hwang Family.
A young man with a large figure and shaggy beard that looked reminiscent of a bear was part of the group as he spoke to calm down the group. His name was Hwang Myeong-Un.
Unlike his rough impression, he calmed down the chilly atmosphere with a nice and amicable smile.
“It’s understandable that Aryeong-ssi is curious isn’t it? And Chae-Hyung, don’t react too prickly.”
When Hwang Myeong-Un mediated, Murong Chae erased the hostility he had revealed to Tang Ah-Hui. Tang Ah-Hui grumbled, staring at Murong Chae.
“How dare you embarrass me like that?”
“Okay~okay, Noona.”
Hwang Myeong-Un looked incredibly old, but he was in fact several years younger than Murong Chae and Tang Ah-Hui. He and Zhuge Aryeong were not even twenty years-old. In the group, Murong Chae and Tang Ah-Hui could be considered to be the oldest, but Tang Ah-Hui did not act or sound like a 40 year-old adult in the slightest.
The four of them came to this place because of the rumors circulating that there were some recent and unusual movements in the abandoned city of Germane. The city had been abandoned for over ten years since the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun, but they all came for their own reasons.
The authenticity of the rumors were unknown, but if anything, the group had already done their own research and figured it might be the remnants of the so-called Blood Alliance that was made up by the leftover Unorthodox martial artists of the Sama Order.
The Blood alliance was an emerging force that suddenly emerged five years ago. The leader of this alliance referred to himself as the new Bloody Heavenly Demon.
After the Sama Order was disassembled over time of Sima Ryunju’s public disappearance, the Bloody Heavenly Demon gathered small and medium-sized Unorthodox Sects that had previously belonged to the large umbrella of the Sama Order in order to form the Blood Alliance.
But the remnant Unorthodox factions from the old Sama Order were not the only force that was included in the Blood Alliance.
After Kim Jonghyun’s two massacres in the North and South, the Dark Wizards were expelled from the Wizard Guild including the demolition of their Tower.
Their treatment was terrible no matter where they went and there were cases of Dark Wizards being stoned to death in public just for learning Dark Magic in the past; even if they didn’t associate with the title anymore, they were condemned.
The public sentiment was uniform in their thinking of “We don’t know when the next Kim Jonghyun will arise from the hordes of Dark Wizards”. Because of their condemnation and lack of funds, protection and overall public image, the Dark Wizards looked elsewhere for support.
The Blood alliance naturally gained the favor and recruited these Dark Wizards en masse to become a more solidified power in Eria. They were based in Hadras, the city where the Sama Order was located in the past, and as a group, they had yet to make any largely radical movements as of yet.
However, the fact that the Bloody Heavenly Demon won the favor and was sheltering the Dark Wizards was offensive to the Orthodox factions that had lost so much due to Kim Jonghyun. The Unorthodox and Orthodox Factions of Murim had already been at odds for an incredibly long time, but under the Sama Order, the Unorthodox were neatly categorized as pure martial artists. The Blood Alliance was made up of several different factions and shameful presences to the Murim Alliance.
Although the information was not exactly reliable, it had definitely been confirmed that something fishy was going on in Germane and the Blood Alliance was the prime suspect.
Many of the people who were spotted as Dark Wizards were seen entering the city limits of Germane and the Murim Alliance would not just let this be if there was something worth investigating.
“But… Hyung, what exactly is so important inside of Germane for the Dark Wizards to gather like this?”
“What do you mean? That city has been inhabited by several ghosts and wandering souls since the massacre ten years ago.”
When Zhuge Aryong asked, Hwang Meyong-Un replied as if he had been expecting the young Zhuge Aryong to be curious.
“Tens of thousands of people died in that city ten years ago”.
Ten years ago…. A horrible massacre had taken place in Germane.Kim Jonghyun, who was once a human, had completed a transformation that allowed him to turn into a Devil prior to the massacre and had joined hands with Volander, one of the Five Black Stars of Predator. As a result of them going wild in order to bring the necessary amount of sacrifices for their ritual, thousands of lives had been lost.
“I know that much. But… I still don’t know exactly what happened in that city.”
Hwang Bo-myung grumbled with a snort. He was not very interested in such gossip but ended up explaining it to Zhuge Aryong.
“Ten years ago, King Kim Jong-hyun committed a massacre in that city. However, in the end, the Saint of the Holy Church, the Paladins and Holy Knights, and the other mercenaries and other groups involved eventually stopped Kim Jonghyun and the legion of Death Knights.”
That’s how the rumor went.
“However…. The Ghost Spear, who played a big role in the subjugation….”
After saying that, Zhuge Aryong fell silent for a while at Hwang Myeon-Un’s words.
At the name of Ghost Spear, Zhuge Aryong thought of the older brother he once had. His name was Zhuge Taeryong… not only that but…. Zhuge Aryong looked towards Murong Chae.
Murong Chae lost his entire family to the Ghost Spear in one way or another. However, contrary to Zhuge Aryong’s expectations, Murong Chae’s expression was not that bad.
No, to be exact, it would be right to say that Murong Chae didn’t show any of his true feelings.
“……The Ghost Spear on that day suddenly went wild. He lost his reason and started running around trying to kill everything in sight like a madman. The Holy Church and other combined forces of mercenaries along with the Holy Saint were tired from the battle against Kim Jonghyun and could do nothing against him. They were forced to retreat…… The last thing they saw before retreating was the army of zombies that were filled with rotten meat from the deceased being torn apart and eaten by the Ghost Spear who was trying to eat everything he killed.”
“Uh…”
Zhuge Aryong trembled as he heard the words. He remembered hearing that the Ghost spear ran wild. But eating the corpses of the zombies? He hadn’t heard of that before.
“He, the Ghost Spear, has a strong stomach apparently. What happened after that?”“After reorganizing their troops after retreating, the Holy Church went back to Germane to subdue the mad Ghost Spear who had lost all his reason But…… when they arrived, there was nothing left within the city of Germane. What they saw after coming back were thousands of corpses from zombies and the other deceased from the battle with their innards missing and limbs strewn about like planks of wood.”
“Where did the Ghost Spear go?”
“I don’t know, but…… Presumably, when the Holy Church retreated from Germane. There were traces of a new battle. Someone had likely challenged the Ghost Spear and they had fought, leaving traces of an immense fight behind.”
“So, you’re saying that the Ghost Spear died in that battle?”
“Nobody knows for sure. The Holy Church tried to recover any traces of what might be his body but they couldn’t differentiate the corpses laying around that well and none of the corpses gave them a definitive answer as to whether the Ghost Spear was dead or not.”
“But since then…?”
Zhuge Aryong fell silent as he listened intently for Hwang Myeong-Un’s reply.
“The city of Germane where nothing but the corpses of the dead and lingering remnants of fear and dark energy remain, has become a ruin of death where nothing can live. It is said that no plants or even small animals can live or grow. It’s been 10 years since then, and it’s said that the poisonous energy of death and dark mana has decreased, but it’s still to an obscene degree where a normal human would lose their mind in less than seconds by just approaching.”
“So…isn’t there still a chance that the Ghost is still there?” (T/N : He doesn’t mention the Spear in the name here on purpose I think since it forms a misunderstanding)
“Yes, I would assume so. Lots of people who had passed by Germane over the past ten years have claimed to have seen ghosts and banshees since thousands of people had been murdered in cold blood there. If they had any spite against how they died unjustly, of course their spirits would materialize in the form of ghosts and what not.”
“I don’t know about those Ghosts or spirits, but are there any other forms of monsters or undead that have been sighted?”
Morong Chae, who had been listening to the conversation in silence up until that point, opened his mouth.
“Monsters will definitely come to this place from time to time. Although average human beings cannot stand the ominous death energy and remnants of fear based mana since it is like poison to them, it is the exact opposite for any kinds of monsters. Wouldn’t you know that much already?”
Murong Chae questioned Zhuge Aryong with an annoyed look. The Zhuge Family had settled in a city in the South called Devon, so the Zhuge Family should definitely have enough knowledge about monsters and the like since they were based in the South.
“……I know just how dangerous and cruel a monster can be. However, if the Blood Alliance is showing interest in that city…… and if the Dark Wizards they gathered are doing something in that city….. Don’t we have an obligation to stop them from whatever they are trying to do? Perhaps they are trying to re-enact the same thing that King Kim Jonghyun tried to do 10 years ago when he gained the powers of a True Devil.”
“It’s no use.”
As Murong Chae said this, he turned away with a bitter expression as he got his blanket and turned to sleep as it was getting late.
“Even if you have an obligation and believe in the power of your family and what not, it’s all over if you end up dead.”
Murong Chae knew this down in his heart as he said it. It never mattered if one was dead. He had been devoting himself to martial arts day and night, every single day, for the past ten years to revive his fallen family from grace.
Even after breaking through to the Pinnacle of the Peak Realm, he felt that it was completely insufficient when comparing himself to the power of the Ghost Spear and the other forces that day.
After becoming confident in himself, Murong Chae decided that eventually he would knock on the doors of the other Great Families in order to get approval and reinstate the Murong Family as one of the Five Great Families of Murim once more.
But he would not be able to do any of that if he died.
Murong Chae closed his eyes, falling asleep, recalling the death of his late father.
When the sun rose, the group maintained its attitude and vigilance as they moved toward the gates of the dead city, Germane.
They had a simple goal : To find out what was going on inside of the City walls and to investigate the suspicious behavior of the Dark Wizards that were seen gathering in the area.
If their mission was deemed too dangerous for them, the group had already agreed to retreat beforehand if things went awry and would report immediately to the orthodox factions in the Murim Alliance.
Before entering Germane, Tang Ah-Hui distributed medicinal pills to everyone in the party.
Even if it was ten years after the mass destruction and massacre that had taken place, the thickness of death energy was still too much for them if they stayed in the area for too long.
‘I can’t believe I have to be acting like this at my age while still doing missions.’
Tang Ah-Hui wondered about her situation since she had not gotten married. Because of it she was still doing missions with a younger generation despite being much older than them,
‘If this really is all there is after this, I should go back and get married maybe and try to become an elder or the Matriarch.’
With that thought, Tang Ah-Hui pushed her share of the medicine into her mouth.
Little did she know, the moments that had made her the most embarrassed in her life, pissing her pants as a grown woman… The biggest reason she had decided not to get married…. Tang Ah-Hui would be doing it once again in just a few hours.