Episode 14
No matter how good my memory was, I couldn’t recall the exact date when the swarm of lesser demons had attacked.
But I could narrow it down.
It happened to the Sixth Patrol Unit right in front of us, and it took place when we were about to start our afternoon shift—that is, when the Sixth Unit had gone out on their morning patrol.
Our afternoon patrols rotated every four days. So, once I pinpointed that day, which was about two months after I arrived, it wasn’t hard to identify.
Still, knowing the day didn’t mean we were prepared.
There was no way I had the skill to face that many lesser demons alone, nor was I in a position to command others as I wished.
So, the only people I could count on were these few.
Those who might still believe the nonsense about a sage appearing in a dream, instructing us to fend off the swarm.
Bae Jong-gwan was charging in barehanded, bouncing the demons off him like pebbles, laughing wildly.
“Ha ha ha! So light! Too light!”
He looked like he was living a dream come true.
Meanwhile, I, having lost weight and not yet trained my external energy as much as Bae Jong-gwan, had to wear a steel vest to add weight and shove the demons away.
I didn’t want to resort to such a brute-force method, but since we had to push the demons back in front of the Sixth Unit, I had no choice.
As the demons were swept aside, creating a brief opening, I shouted toward the Sixth Unit.
“What are you waiting for?! Fall back, now!”
Our patrol leader, Won Cheong-won, who had been staring blankly, snapped to attention and yelled back.
“Retreat! Run at full speed!”
Then, surprisingly, he came over beside me and shouted.
“Seventh Unit! You too, fall back! That number is overwhelming!”
I was the one who knew that best.
For now, we could use the momentum from a surprise flank to sweep them away, but if the demons focused on Bae Jong-gwan, he’d be forced to stand his ground, surrounded.
But I hadn’t come here trusting only Bae Jong-gwan. I shouted loudly.
“Bi Sa-yeong! It’s your turn!”
From the rear, Bi Sa-yeong cursed as he charged forward.
“Damn it! Making me do this crazy stunt!”
Using his dazzling speed, Bi Sa-yeong streaked past the demons whose balance Bae Jong-gwan had disrupted.
Smack, smack, smack!
He slapped their faces at lightning speed as he passed.
The demons’ faces were smeared with red liquid.
It was Bi Sa-yeong’s blood.
He’d cut his palm hitting the demons as he ran through them.
One trait of these low-intelligence lesser demons was that once they locked onto a target, they wouldn’t let go.
At the Blue Dragon Corps, we trained in pairs to confuse and counter them using this trait.
They had another characteristic, too.
They were obsessed with human blood and flesh.
Above all else, they prioritized tearing humans apart.
By smearing his own blood scent on them, Bi Sa-yeong made it impossible for the demons to take their eyes off him.
The demons who’d been slapped—and even stained with blood—jumped up and started chasing him like a wild pack.
Including the mid-level demons I’d stressed had to be lured away.
“Kyaaaa!”
“Kyaaaah!”
“Raaah!”
About thirty demons thundered after him as Bi Sa-yeong screamed and ran.
“Ahhh! Seon Woo-jin! You bastard!”
I just smiled, ignoring his curses.
Everything was going according to plan.
Bi Sa-yeong might be scared, but as the top disciple of Bi Jong-mun, and after all the intense training he’d undergone, there was no way he’d be caught by mere lesser demons.
They would never catch him.
…Probably.
So, while Bi Sa-yeong drew their attention, we only had to deal with the remaining twenty or so demons.
It wouldn’t be easy, but with Bi Sa-yeong taking the mid-level demons, it wasn’t impossible.
I said to Won Cheong-won.
“Unit Leader, I think you’ll need to come in with me and help draw the remaining demons’ attention.”
He looked at me in surprise, then nodded and bravely plunged into the swarm.
His Won Gong Fist, the signature technique of the Cheongseong faction, spun like a whirlwind, knocking demons away.
Puff, puff, puff!
Following Captain Seol Poong, he was the second master among the Thirteen Generations to display such skill.
But neither of us knew how long we could hold out in there.
All we could do was hope Cheong-yeon Sojeo would quickly reduce their numbers.
“Kyaaaah!”
I caught a demon rushing at me with my Golden Claw and lightly threw it backward, then dove into the fray.
The Gale Eighteen Strikes I’d practiced sparring with Captain Seol Poong were finally ready to show their worth.
“Ughah!”
Bam, bam, bam!
I swung my arms and legs, striking and pushing back the demons like waves.
If I couldn’t block them, I absorbed the blows with my steel vest; if my hands were full, I rammed them with my body.
Unlike Captain Seol Poong, I couldn’t shatter them with raw power, so this was all I could do.
I struck demons coming from all directions, grabbed some to swing around, and glanced at my comrades.
I saw Bae Jong-gwan snatch the arms of a demon I’d thrown into the air.
“Cheong-yeon Sojeo! Got one!”
“Got it.”
Even surrounded by demons in this desperate moment, I smiled.
No matter how much a demon struggled, it couldn’t escape the grip of the burly, muscular Bae Jong-gwan. Even if it was a mid-level demon.
We’d tested this countless times during patrols.
Even if the demon kicked Bae Jong-gwan with its legs, it was useless. Only claws or teeth could pierce his external energy.
So all the demon could do was open its mouth wide and scream.
“Kyaaaah!”
Then Cheong-yeon Sojeo, waiting nearby, would easily stab a sword energy into it.
A skilled strike that pierced through the roof of the mouth and into the brain.
It took only about three breaths to take down one demon, and after so many patrols, our unit had become like seasoned artisans.
We even deliberately left one demon alive during attacks to practice and experiment with fighting them.
“Technically, it was Cheong-yeon Sojeo doing the experiments, not us…”
She wanted to test how effective Bae Jong-gwan’s external energy was against demons, or how tough Bi Sa-yeong’s and my skin had become.
All this was possible because these demons were the lowest-level ma-in.
Aside from their tough skin, they were basically wild beasts driven by instinct.
Soon, new ma-in would appear, and we wouldn’t be able to handle them so easily.
But for now, I could confidently say no one in the Thirteen Generations handled lesser demons better than our unit.
“Ughah!”
I swung my body, knocking demons away, occasionally tossing one toward Bae Jong-gwan to help him build momentum.
From here on, it was a battle of endurance.
When the six peak masters, including the Thirteenth Generation Head Pungyang, arrived at full speed, the scene was strange indeed.
Bi Sa-yeong was screaming, “Ahhh! I’m tired! I’m so tired!” as he ran circles through the forest with thirty demons chasing him.
Won Cheong-won and Seon Woo-jin were struggling fiercely within the demon horde.
And Bae Jong-gwan and Cheong-yeon were calmly dispatching demons one by one, like craftsmen dividing labor.
The peak masters, stunned for a moment, quickly regained their composure and charged at the demons.
For those who could wield powerful energy like Geomgang or Dogang, even mid-level demons were just ferocious beasts.
Watching Bae Jong-gwan tear demons apart with Geomgang and crush their heads with Gwongang, Seon Woo-jin finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No one else knew, but in Seon Woo-jin’s past, except for Won Cheong-won, the entire Sixth Unit had been wiped out in the lesser demon attack.
Now, the incident was ending with minimal casualties.
A few days after the lesser demon attack, during afternoon training.
“Ugh, the smell.”
Bi Sa-yeong grumbled again as he applied external energy training ointment.
“The color’s pitch black, it’s sticky, and the smell’s awful. No wonder no one wants to learn this stuff. Ugh, seriously.”
Bae Jong-gwan and I exchanged quiet smiles watching him grumble while slathering it on himself.
In truth, since the demon attack, he’d been training quite actively.
Feeling his own growth and now gaining recognition from others, he seemed more motivated than ever.
But that grumbling mouth of his never shut.
“Look at that. If it weren’t for this stuff, everyone watching would have jumped in to train with us already.”
I replied, “Well, from what I saw, most people waited to see how things turned out first.”
As he said, several members from other units were watching us from a distance.
It wasn’t just today; over the past few days, more and more people had been observing our external energy training.
All thanks to the aftermath of the lesser demon attack.
When word got out that Won Cheong-won and I had used the Iron Fist technique to survive among a pack of over twenty fierce beasts, the team members seriously started considering mastering the Iron Fist themselves.
Of course, the ideal goal was to quickly reach the pinnacle and unleash powerful energy, but that was as distant as hoping to get rich overnight just to enjoy a fancy dinner tonight.
Even if they couldn’t immediately take down the beasts, if learning the Iron Fist could improve their chances of survival, there was no reason to refuse.
In fact, this issue was being seriously discussed even in the leadership meetings.
Their renewed interest in external martial arts came from the same reasoning.
After hearing testimonies that Bae Jong-gwan and I had knocked the beasts away with body charges, people began to reconsider what had once seemed like mere street performer tricks.
Of course, some would flinch when they saw the suspicious training elixir being applied, and then, seeing Bae Jong-gwan grinning like a maniac as he slapped himself with bamboo sticks, most would just walk away shaking their heads…
Still, there were those eager to learn.
“Hey there, friends! Hard at it again today, I see!”
With a cheerful laugh and a wave, the leader of the Sixth Squad, Won Cheong-won, approached, his long arms catching the eye.
“So, you apply that every day? Does that let you use that thing called the Diamond Rain Fist? I want to try it too…!”
A natural martial artist who had fought alongside us, he genuinely seemed interested in mastering external martial arts.
Only his entourage didn’t want him to.
Gong Jong-hwa, the Sixth Squad’s deputy leader, followed closely behind, grabbing Won Cheong-won by the ear and dragging him away.
He left us with a polite smile and a bow.
“Hohoho! Excuse me!”
“Ahhh! Deputy leader, come on! I really want to try it!”
Then, members of the Sixth Squad appeared from somewhere, each grabbing one of Won Cheong-won’s limbs and waving goodbye to us.
“Keep up the good work!”
“Looking sharp with that mud on you!”
It was classic Sixth Squad—tight-knit and lively.
Though, that unity mostly served to keep their leader’s antics in check.
After the Sixth Squad passed like a whirlwind, the Third Squad members strolled by on our side.
No matter how far away, you could always recognize them.
Their leader was none other than Dang Yeo-eun of the Dang Family Sword Peak.
Her cold, intelligent beauty seemed to shine alone among the crowd.
Her followers trailed behind her like shadows.
“That’s Lady Dang.”
“Lady Dang, huh.”
“Wow, as expected.”
We, in the middle of external martial arts training, found our gazes drawn to her without realizing it.
It was almost instinctive.
Though we saw her daily, her beauty never failed to impress.
I wanted to claim, with all my heart, that our deputy leader Na Seo-yu was the most beautiful, but with eyes in my head, I had to admit defeat.
The only one who could rival her in looks might be Je Gal Seo-yul of the Cheon Hye Sword Peak, whom I’d seen before.
Just then, a well-built man walking right behind Dang Yeo-eun suddenly smiled and approached us.
“Pleasure to meet you! I’ve always seen you around but only now get to say hello!”
He was Myeong Sa-hyeon, deputy leader of the Third Squad, a man bold enough to openly declare his admiration for Dang Yeo-eun by serving as her deputy.
He was well-liked and, since Dang Yeo-eun tended to keep people at a distance, he effectively acted as the squad’s real leader.
With a friendly smile, he spoke to us.
“To be honest, I used to think you were wasting your time.”
Hmm, that was understandable.
Even I, as a friend in my past life, had thought the same.
“But you’ve proven otherwise. Your training is truly worthwhile.”
He bowed respectfully and apologized.
“I wanted to apologize for underestimating you, even if only in my heart.”
As expected, he was a straightforward man.
We bowed back and assured him it was fine.
Then, with a mischievous grin, he whispered conspiratorially.
“And between us, if the chance arises, I’d like to learn external martial arts from you. Though, my goddess might not approve.”
At that moment, Dang Yeo-eun called out to him from a distance.
“Deputy leader! Aren’t you coming?!”
Feigning surprise, he smiled at us and whispered.
“See that? Our goddess is more possessive than she looks. Well, I’d better go. Until next time.”
As he turned to leave, I instinctively called out.
“Deputy Myeong!”
“Hm?”
“Ah, nothing… Just take care of yourself. I hope we can train together someday.”
“Hmm? Ha ha ha! Thanks! I hope so too!”
He laughed heartily and ran toward Dang Yeo-eun, who waited with an exasperated expression.
I watched them with heavy eyes and couldn’t help but sigh.
In my past life, he had died.
Killed by the sword of the woman he loved—Dang Yeo-eun.
She had no choice but to kill him after he was possessed by the Blood Sect, turned into a puppet.
Though I wanted to warn them out of pity, I didn’t know the details of how or when it had happened.
All I knew was that Dang Yeo-eun had personally killed him and had since fallen apart.
Everyone in the Thirteen Great Clans thought Myeong Sa-hyeon was blindly chasing after Dang Yeo-eun, but that wasn’t the whole story.
After having to kill him with her own hands, Dang Yeo-eun lost her mind and, for reasons unknown, ended up as the consort of Mayu-gyeom, the Third Squad leader.
Treated almost like a plaything…
Her last image—sobbing in despair after Mayu-gyeom’s betrayal and defection to the Blood Sect—remained vivid in my memory.
She wasn’t the flawless ice goddess everyone thought she was.
As I couldn’t take my eyes off them, Bi Sa-young teased me with a smile.
“What’s this? Jin, do you have a thing for Lady Dang too? This won’t do. Give it up. Unrequited love only poisons the heart.”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“Not at all. I wouldn’t dream of having feelings for Lady Dang. I just want to talk to her a little…”
Honestly, I wasn’t indifferent.
With the beast pack attack behind us, the iron beasts would appear soon.
They couldn’t be cut with sword energy or broken with fist power.
To deal with them, I needed Lady Dang’s help.
But since I had no connection with her, I was unsure how to approach her.
Misunderstanding my words, Bi Sa-young looked serious.
“Huh? Really? You liked her enough to just want to talk? You held back because of your comrades?”
Her wild leap in logic caught me off guard.
I was about to protest with my mouth wide open.
“Ah, no. That’s not…”
“What? Really? Jin, you’re in love with Lady Dang?”
When Bae Jong-gwan joined in with a loud voice, I should have realized.
Rumors travel fast.
And misunderstandings should be cleared up early.
Suddenly, Cheon Ju-eun, our squad member, approached from behind, shocked.
“What?! Did you just hear that? Sunwoo Gongja is in love with Lady Dang?!”
She said this to Na Seo-yu and Cheong-yeon.
My vision went white.
“No, no! Cheon Sojeo, I mean! That’s not it!”
But as I tried to explain, all I saw was Na Seo-yu’s pitying gaze.
“Ugh!”
Unable to speak the truth, I could only look up at the sky in frustration.