Chapter 191: Heavenly Orchid Society (3)

The moment Il-mok’s eyes got contaminated by the sight, his alter-ego screamed at the top of his lungs.

—Cut off that hideous thing right now!!

“Motherfucker!”

He dived straight at the bastard using his lightness skill.

Swoooosh!

A strike that combined the essence of Soul-Cutting Flash and Soul-Guiding Sword techniques flew toward the Heavenly Orchid Society leader with devastating speed.

Thud!

Unfortunately, Il-mok's sword just bit into the floorboards.

As expected from a top figurehead of the Unorthodox Faction, the Society Leader had no qualm using the Lazy Donkey Roll to dodge the attack.

Moreover, even while rolling around like a pile of shit, the crafty bastard managed to grab his twin sabers.

But Il-mok wasn't fazed. After all, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult didn't consider rolling around shameful either, and more importantly, the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword wasn't designed for one-hit kills.

Il-mok relentlessly swung his sword at Society Leader Maeng Gwak who was desperately trying to get back on his feet.

Living up to its name, his Soul-Stealing sword art came in a dizzying, non-stop barrage.

What seemed like swift strikes would suddenly twist mid-path and utilize the principle of illusory sword art, and sometimes his sword would fly in a straight line while the Sword Qi curved bizarrely to target vital points.

Caught in that chaotic storm of steel, Maeng Gwak barely managed to block Il-mok's sword by alternating his twin sabers.

Clang! Clang!

And when things got dicey, he'd throw himself to the ground again, rolling around to barely avoid getting his vital spots slashed.

Having lost the initiative to the surprise attack and begun the battle off-balance from rolling on the floor, Maeng Gwak couldn't even think about counterattacking.

He was barely dodging fatal strikes, but in just a few seconds, countless cuts had already appeared all over his body.

But looking at it from another angle, this meant Il-mok had failed to kill the Heavenly Orchid Society Leader with his surprise attack.

“Guard the boss!”

"Kill him!"

The three remaining bodyguards that Il-mok had ignored rushed at him from the sides and behind.

"Tsk."

With a soft click of his tongue, Il-mok pulled his sword back from the leader and instantly bolted to the left.

"Haaah!"

As the bodyguard on the left thrust his spear with a battle cry, Il-mok thrust his sword out to greet it.

Clang!

The moment he heard the strange metallic sound, the spear-wielding guard’s face crumpled.

Clang!

In a bewildering turn of events, the deflected spear collided with the sword being swung by his comrade, creating another metallic clash.

After effortlessly shutting down the guard's attack, Il-mok was already in his face.

Shunk!

The same sword that had deflected the spear pierced straight through the bodyguard's heart.

The remaining two bodyguards also had their throats and hearts pierced by Il-mok's sword, each taken down in a single exchange.

“We’ve got intruders!”

"Everyone, get up!"

Suddenly, the air was filled with yells, screams, and the sound of ringing steel.

"I don't know where the hell you came from, you bastard, but today's gonna be your death day."

Most importantly, Maeng Gwak had also steadied his stance and regulated his breathing.

Looking at those murderous eyes and the Saber Qi continuously emanating from his twin sabers, Il-mok let out a sigh.

“You had plenty of time to kill while your lackeys were biting the dust. Motherfucker, can’t you at least put on some clothes?”

The Heavenly Orchid Society Leader was still completely naked.

"Is it because you're bald? Got no sense of shame."

When Il-mok frowned as if his eyes were rotting from the sight, Maeng Gwak's forehead twitched.

"That's rich coming from a coward who attacks in the middle of the night!"

With furious eyes, Maeng Gwak roared as the Saber Qi swirled around his twin sabers began to condense.

***

"Die!"

While members of the Heavenly Orchid Society who had noticed the attack began to emerge from all sides, a different scene unfolded here.

"Hehe. You’ve got guts, coming here.”

"Looks like you came here wanting to be embraced by this old man."

The ones approaching Hyeokryeon Seon-ah were spouting lewd remarks with gleaming eyes.

Like Il-mok and Dam Bin, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah also wore a mask, but her figure visible through the night clothes clearly showed she was a woman.

The problem was that the mask made it impossible to guess her age.

Not that it mattered. These guys were from the Unorthodox Faction that dealt in human trafficking. Even if they’d known she was only fifteen, it wouldn't have stopped them.

But despite their crude remarks, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah showed no signs of fear or shame.

Originally, Il-mok had planned to exclude Hyeokryeon Seon-ah from this operation.

It was a pest-control job, which meant killing was going to be part of the job.

Il-mok, with his 21st-century mindset, argued that this is too heavy a burden for a fifteen-year-old girl but sadly got his opinion shot down.

This was the medieval era, and their group was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, whose purpose was to punish evil through martial arts.

Dam Bin, Jin Hayeon, and the others couldn't relate to Il-mok's perspective, and most importantly, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah also stubbornly insisted on participating.

This was the child who had followed him around with innocent smiles since childhood.

Even though she had matured a bit, she was still just a kid trying to get a pat on the head from him.

That was Il-mok's image of Hyeokryeon Seon-ah, but the girl standing here wasn't so innocent.

Crack!

Before anyone could react, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah's red fingernails had pierced through the heart of the black-clothed man who'd been running his mouth.

Even as the violently beating heart spurted blood and her face was stained red with gore, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah looked at the remaining bastard with an indifferent expression.

“Anyone who gets in my big brother’s way dies.”

"What the hell—?"

He murmured with a dazed expression, but never got to finish.

Before he knew it, the girl's fingernails were embedded in his throat.

***

Jin Hayeon, who had been watching the blood-stained girl begin her massacre of the unorthodox faction members, soon turned her head away.

‘…To think my role is that of a babysitter.’

Unlike Dam Bin and Il-mok moved independently, she was in charge of supervising two people.

“Hahahaha! That’s it, keep coming! I’ll give you all a spectacular show of my skills as a send-off to the afterlife!"

Worse, one of them was a complete attention whore. The second their cover was blown, he started yelling his head off while chucking hidden weapons everywhere.

"Could you keep your mouth shut while fighting, Young Master Baek Cheon?"

True to her babysitting role, she nagged at Baek Cheon and let out a light sigh.

Still, she knew it couldn’t be helped. This was a surprise attack launched without knowing the exact location of the Heavenly Orchid Society Leader.

The personnel distribution was meant to prevent anyone from getting seriously injured or killed if they happened to run into the Society Leader while moving separately.

True to her White Hand Demonic Art, she quickly cleared her mind of distracting thoughts to press her palms together and draw up the cold energy stored in her dantian.

Because she looked so defenseless, the bunch who'd been intimidated by Baek Cheon and Hyeokryeon Seon-ah came rushing at her in a group.

The moment the black-clothed mob got within close range...

Jin Hayeon separated her pressed palms and spun in a circle like a dancer waving a fan.

The frost energy she had been compressing between her hands was finally set free, erupting outwards and following the path of her dance.

Crackle.

Every single one of those who had been approaching her froze solid where they stood, their eyes bulging wide from the intense pain they felt throughout their bodies.

Jin Hayeon looked at those who had frozen solid with severe frostbite all over their bodies with indifferent eyes, then swung her palms in succession.

Thud!

With every dull thud, another frozen body exploded into pieces.

It didn't even feel like people were exploding; it was more like something non-living shattering into bits, like hitting a frozen slab of beef with a mallet.

After wiping out a dozen thugs in the blink of an eye, she continued swinging her hands with cold energy swirling around them.

Those who got hit by her palms had their organs freeze and died on the spot.

As Jin Hayeon continued eliminating the scums who had been leading the human trafficking in Gansu Province alongside Hyeokryeon Seon-ah and Baek Cheon...

Clang!

For the first time, opponents who could actually block them appeared.

“Who the hell do you crazy bastards think you are, coming here?!”

"Hehe. The damage you've caused today will have to be repaid with your bodies."

Armed men with dangerous auras emanating from their weapons appeared.

***

As the Heavenly Orchid Society's scoundrels were running around the vast estate in panic from the sudden attack...

Slash!

"?!"

The pupils of a man following behind dilated at the bizarre sight of his comrade's body suddenly being cut down.

Thanks to the blood spurting from his comrade's body, the man belatedly realized why his colleague had died.

"Wire...?"

The moonlight, reflecting off the blood, revealed a black thread tied to the roof tiles of a pavilion.

But figuring out what killed his comrade wasn’t going to change his own destiny.

“You catch on faster than I’d expect from someone of your caliber.”

The moment a woman's sweet voice was heard, he felt a strange stinging sensation in his neck, like being bitten by an insect.

Lowering his gaze at the bizarre sensation, the man saw the black thread that had pierced through his neck.

After that, she hunted down the Unorthodox scums with wires like a spider hunting with its web.

Whenever the woman stepped, the scums limbs and necks were chopped by the spider web that Dam Bin had laid out.

Slash!

"Gasp!"

But then.

Clang!

The only woman among the scums managed to successfully block Dam Bin's wire with her sword.

Not only that, she followed the thread back to its source, pinpointed Dam Bin's hiding spot, and immediately launched an attack.

Swoooosh!

Dam Bin dodged the Sword Qi flying toward her with light footwork and spoke with an enigmatic smile.

"Judging by your skill, you must be the Vice Leader."

"And who the hell are you?"

Dam Bin answered leisurely.

"Just a servant who serves a great person."

“A common whore has no business being here.”

But Dam-bin just took the insult in stride. Her faint smile never wavered, showing her age and experience.

"Then may I ask why you, Vice Leader, are in the business of selling fellow women as prostitutes?"

“That’s hilarious. You really don’t get it, do you? This is a dog-eat-dog world. The strong take what they want from the weak. Gender has nothing to do with it."

When she heard the Vice Leader's confident answer, Dam Bin's smile deepened.

"I see. I guess you’ll have no complaints.”

"Complaints?"

The moment the Vice Leader asked...

“When I take your life from you.”

Countless black threads exploded into the air around them.

The entire time they were talking, Dam Bin had been secretly spreading her black threads all over the place.

"Coward!"

The shocked Vice Leader quickly raised her sword to gather her Sword Qi.

Judging by how easy she handles the Sword Qi, it’s obvious that she has reached the end of the Peak Realm.

The black wires that touched the Vice Leader's Sword Qi were cut as easily as straw.

But for every thread she sliced through, ten more seemed to take its place.

Slash!

Slash!

The Vice Leader repeatedly cut down or blocked those wires with her Sword QI, swinging her blade covered in sword silk non-stop like she was clearing away actual spider webs.

And yet, for some reason…

Even though she easily cut down the wire, the Vice Leader felt increasingly like a butterfly trapped in a spider web. Struggling desperately, only to end up tangling itself deeper.

And the moment the Vice Leader swung her sword again to cut through a bundle of wire...

Shunk.

A single, fine black thread shot out from Dam Bin’s extended right hand and went straight through the Vice Leader’s heart.

The pain hit her a second later. She looked down and saw a wire penetrating her heart.

"Cough..."

She choked up a mouthful of blood and spoke with a desperate voice.

"P-please spare me..."

However, what came back to her was a cold sneer.

Heh.

It was the very same sneer she used to give the women she sold.