Chapter 43

Chapter 43.

CRASH—! BOOM—!

Before dawn had even broken, a roar burst out, tearing through the pitch-black darkness.

Near the Demonic Martial Hall stood a building that, on the surface, was disguised as an ordinary merchant guild warehouse.

But its true identity was the secret base of Venom Fang Hall, the private military force of the Sagal Muk Family.

The heavy main gate shattered, and wooden fragments scattered in all directions.

“It’s an attack!”

“Who are they!”

The warriors of Venom Fang Hall, who had been asleep, hurriedly grabbed their weapons and rushed out.

But the moment they confirmed the attire of those who had broken down the gate and stormed in, their momentum froze as though it were a lie.

Black martial arts uniforms, and the character “Inspector” clearly engraved on their chests, told them who these people were.

“N-no way?”

“The I-Inspectorate?!”

“Why would the Inspectorate...?”

At that moment, the Law Enforcement Captain standing at the front rebuked them in an ice-cold voice.

“By order of the Inspectorate! Rebels, throw down your weapons! Those who resist will be executed immediately!”

The assassins of Venom Fang Hall tried to draw their weapons in panic, but once they confirmed that their opponents were the Inspectorate’s Law Enforcement Squad, they froze on the spot.

The absolute blade that protected the cult’s regulations and punished traitors.

Before that justification, the warriors of Venom Fang Hall could not draw their blades.

There was no Demonic Cultist bold enough to dare point a blade at the Inspectorate.

Because that meant rebellion against the cult itself.

“W-what is this... We are one of the Twelve Guardian Families’...!”

Just as a flustered executive of Venom Fang Hall tried to protest.

A crisp yet heavy cracking sound exploded.

SMACK—!

A man who had pushed through the Inspectorate warriors had slapped the executive across the cheek.

The one who pushed through the crowd and sprang forward first was Sado Myeong.

In his eyes, the humiliation and injustice he had suffered in the past had settled as cold venom.

“Are you the one responsible for this place?”

The executive clutched his stinging cheek and glared.

The one who had slapped him was none other than Sado Myeong.

Since the Inspector who had, until only recently, been associating with Elder Muk Wigyu had come out like this, he was dumbfounded.

“Sa-Sado Myeong...?”

But now, Sado Myeong’s eyes were filled with injustice and venom.

“That is right, it is me. Sado Myeong, whom you bastards tried and failed to poison to death.”

“Poison to death...? What are you talking about...?”

Sado Myeong ground his teeth and raised his hand once more.

The executive’s head snapped around, and blood burst from the corner of his mouth.

“How dare dogs raised by the Sagal Muk Family insult the Inspectorate of this cult?”

As though spitting out his pent-up resentment, Sado Myeong kicked the executive.

“You bastards are serious criminals who attempted to poison an Inspector of the cult and invade the Demonic Martial Hall! Kneel at once!”

“......!”

The members of Venom Fang Hall did not dare resist before Sado Myeong’s fiery rage.

As though shaking off the grievances he had suffered until now, Sado Myeong took the lead and trampled down Venom Fang Hall.

“Search every corner! Tear up the floorboards and break down the pillars if you have to, but find every last piece of filthy evidence those bastards have hidden!”

“As you command!”

The members of the Law Enforcement Squad rushed in like wolves and began dismantling the warehouse.

Floorboards were torn out, and walls were broken down.

What poured out from within was the ugly bare face of the Sagal Muk Family.

Ledgers recording bribes, murder commission requests, and even the massive slush funds Venom Fang Hall had gathered.

“Ha, these bastards have been looking down on this cult all this time.”

Every time evidence poured out, a fishy smile spread across Sado Myeong’s lips.

At this level, it was not merely Muk Yeonggi’s personal deviation, but a major incident that could shake the entire family.

“No... no...!”

Muk Yeonggi, who had been brought to the scene bound, screamed.

Venom Fang Hall, which he had spent his entire life building, was being trampled mercilessly before his eyes.

As he watched all the secret ledgers being confiscated, Muk Yeonggi’s eyes went empty.

“Venom Fang Hall... my position...!”

***

There were people watching that sight from a hill a little way off.

“Sado Myeong is doing better than expected.”

Uncheon was leisurely drinking tea as he looked down at Venom Fang Hall being smashed apart.

“......What a frightening bastard.”

Head Instructor Ma Chung clicked his tongue.

Beside him, Senior Head Instructor Yajin also nodded with his arms crossed.

Yajin muttered.

“He is cutting off one hall of the Twelve Guardian Families without getting a single drop of blood on his hands.”

And he had done it by using the cult’s public authority, securing a perfect justification so that not even the slightest criticism could arise.

At the end of the two Head Instructors’ gazes was Uncheon.

Uncheon stood with his hands behind his back, looking down impassively at Venom Fang Hall as it burned.

Yajin stole a glance at Uncheon’s profile.

“Those eyes of his... There is neither the joy of victory nor hatred toward his enemy. Only the indifference of someone who has handled what had to be done.”

That made him even more chilling.

Uncheon set down his teacup and murmured inwardly.

“This is only the beginning.”

Uncheon murmured inwardly.

The likes of the Sagal Muk Family were nothing more than a stone in the road, cleared away while passing through.

His goal was to bring down this vast Demonic Cult from within.

He could not afford to be held back by the likes of the Sagal Muk Family.

“It burns well.”

The red flames flickered in Uncheon’s black eyes.

***

The main house of the Sagal Muk Family.

The atmosphere in the luxurious reception room was more mournful than a funeral house.

“Kraaaagh!”

CRASH!

An expensive teacup struck the wall and shattered into pieces.

CLATTER—!

The teacup the family head had hurled struck the wall and shattered into pieces.

“How dare they strike Venom Fang Hall? Those Inspectorate bastards must have gone mad! Do they know how much money I smeared on them every year?”

The angry roar of the Sagal Muk Family Head shook the reception room.

At his fury, the retainers lowered their heads and trembled.

“Family Head, please calm yourself. You must not move right now.”

But the family’s strategist offered a cold, direct counsel.

“Calm myself? Small as it was, an entire hall has been cut away, and you tell me to calm myself? I should release the private soldiers at once and have them strike the Inspectorate...!”

“You must not! Their justification is too perfect!”

The strategist shouted urgently.

“The Inspectorate has secured both evidence and witnesses that Hall Master Muk Yeonggi attempted to poison an Inspector. And on top of that, the ledgers that poured out from Venom Fang Hall....”

The strategist bowed his head deeply and urged a ruthless decision.

“If you intervene now, even the main family will be branded as rebels. The main family itself may suffer the calamity of extermination... You must cut it off at this level.”

The family head’s eyes reddened with bloodshot rage.

Muk Yeonggi was a direct blood relative.

But in order to save the family, there was no choice.

Now that the Inspectorate had come at them in earnest, a clumsy intervention would be no different from suicide.

He clenched his trembling fist tightly.

After a long silence, the family head gave an order as though vomiting blood.

“......Make it something that Muk Yeonggi, that incompetent bastard, did on his own authority.”

“Family Head....”

“The main family... knows nothing of this. End it at Muk Yeonggi’s line.”

The retainers lowered their heads with mournful expressions.

The family head turned away and, with eyes gone cold, called a shadow hidden in the darkness.

“Serpent Shadow.”

SLIP. A shadow appeared soundlessly and knelt.

“It will be troublesome if Muk Yeonggi opens his mouth at the Inspectorate. Go to the prison... and send him off comfortably.”

An order to silence him.

It was an assassination order.

“As you command.”

After the shadow vanished, Muk Cheongwang glared into the empty air and muttered.

“How did things come to this... Those Inspectorate bastards... I will surely...!”

***

The situation was settled quickly.

The Inspectorate dismantled Venom Fang Hall and confiscated a vast amount of hidden assets.

The Sagal Muk Family officially released an apology statement and cut ties with Muk Yeonggi.

It was truly a perfect cutting off of the tail.

However, the internal injuries the Sagal Muk Family had suffered were deep.

“With this, we have carved away one outer hall of the Sagal Muk Family. They will have no choice but to keep their heads down for the time being.”

Gal Muheun smiled as he personally poured tea for Uncheon.

“It was thanks to you setting the board well, Hall Master.”

“There is no need to be modest. Was it not a board you designed?”

Gal Muheun came to see Uncheon anew.

He had thought only Uncheon’s martial arts were outstanding, but his ability to read and use the political situation was also exceptional.

“...A frightening child. Is he too much even for this Gal Muheun to hold?”

Rumors had already spread widely throughout the cult.

“If you touch Uncheon of the Demonic Martial Hall, an entire family gets smashed.”

“A monster backed by the Life-and-Death Exalted One, the Demonic Martial Hall Master, and even the Inspectorate.”

Uncheon now held a status that made him no different from a “true power” of the Demonic Martial Hall, rather than a mere warrior.

“I hear Sado Myeong has returned to his post. He said he wanted to greet you separately.”

“I will meet him.”

When he came outside the office, Sado Myeong was waiting, dressed in splendid official robes.

The moment he saw Uncheon, he bowed deeply at the waist.

“I will not forget this grace.”

Sado Myeong’s eyes were sincere.

Uncheon had not only saved him from the threshold of death, but had even allowed him to make a splendid return, so he could only be a benefactor.

“And this is....”

Sado Myeong held out two boxes he had brought with the Deputy Chief’s permission.

They were part of the spoils discovered in Venom Fang Hall’s secret vault.

One box was piled high with silver coins, while the other was filled with medicinal herbs and Medicinal Pills that gave off a medicinal fragrance.

“If you ever need the Inspectorate’s blade, tell me at any time. I will help as much as my strength allows.”

Sado Myeong was sincere.

Uncheon grasped the hand he offered and thought.

“I have gained a sturdy connection in the Inspectorate.”

At the same time as striking the Sagal Muk Family through the stratagem of borrowing a knife to kill, he had also created a firm connection within the Inspectorate.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone.

After Sado Myeong withdrew.

Uncheon took some of the spoils he had received from Sado Myeong and sought out Ma Chung and Yajin.

Ma Chung was lying on a bed, wrapped in bandages, and his eyes widened at the money and medicinal herbs Uncheon held out.

“Wh-what is all this?”

“Shall we call it a dividend on your investment?”

“Ha! As expected, my eyes were not wrong! Thank you, Uncheon!”

He had plenty of the foolishness befitting a newly appointed Head Instructor, but he had stood on Uncheon’s side from the beginning, so his contribution was great.

Afterward, Uncheon offered medicine and spoils to Yajin as well, but unlike Ma Chung, he refused.

“I am fine. What I need is neither wealth nor medicine.”

Yajin’s gaze sank deeply.

“I have no doubt that you will climb higher... so it is enough if you don’t forget my contribution today.”

Yajin had chosen the future over an immediate reward.

It was indeed dignity and ambition like him.

“Understood.”

“Heh heh... For now, the Hall Master is holding you in his arms, but... when that vessel becomes filled and overflows, consider the Shadowless Killing Sect. I will see you again.”

He left a brief farewell and vanished like a shadow.

Lastly, Uncheon headed to the Inner Archive.

It was Baek Rihyeon’s turn.

When he held out the remaining medicinal herbs confiscated from Venom Fang Hall, Baek Rihyeon’s eyes rolled back.

“These medicinal herbs are...!”

When Baek Rihyeon saw the rare medicinal herbs confiscated from Venom Fang Hall, he was on the verge of dancing with joy.

“Uncheon! No, Lord Uncheon!”

The way Baek Rihyeon looked at Uncheon had changed.

It was a gaze that went beyond respect, with even a little fear mixed in.

Baek Rihyeon had watched Uncheon’s scheme and martial arts from closer than anyone.

“From now on, just tell me if there is anything you need! I will tear up the floor of the Inner Archive if I have to and find it for you, so you just focus on your training, Uncheon! Got it?”

Uncheon had unintentionally gained even a subordinate he could order about in the Inner Archive.

***

That night.

After everything had been settled.

“This is only the beginning.”

Uncheon looked up at the night sky above the Demonic Martial Hall.

Countless stars were shining as though they might pour down.

“To bring down not the likes of the Sagal Muk Family, but the great evil called the Demonic Cult, I must become stronger.”

He stepped over the half-burned banner of Venom Fang Hall.

Uncheon’s gaze turned beyond the night sky, toward the higher peak of Cheonsan, where the Demonic Cult’s main headquarters stood.

Time flowed on without stopping.

The season changed.

The red autumn leaves of the Demonic Martial Hall fell, and a cold wind began to blow. Before long, white snow covered Mount Gonryun.

And then, the day he had promised the Life-and-Death Exalted One dawned.