The Heavenly Demon Wants a Quiet Life - Chapter 93
Chapter 93: Just This Kind of Guy
Seo Daegun walked leisurely.
His destination was an inn where the man who unified the Unorthodox path factions resided.
The inn itself had become their lair, meaning a significant number of Unorthodox path members would be there.
According to the information gathered by Eung Jayeop, the former leaders of each Unorthodox path faction and several highly skilled members were assembled at that inn.
If he could seize control of that place, it would be no different than taking control of the entire Unorthodox path.
At least, that’s how Seo Daegun saw it.
In any case, he had no intention of acting alone; it was crucial to prevent them from escaping.
Seo Daegun had brought along thirty warriors.
They were fighters supplied by the Golden Heavenly Alliance, all of whom had enhanced their latent potential with Blood Augmentation Pill.
He had considered bringing Go Jun-kwang’s subordinates, but Eung Jayeop had strongly opposed the idea, so he had no choice but to come with these warriors.
Go Jun-kwang’s men were likely engaged in various operations across the Infinite region, diverting the attention of the Murim Alliance, the Black Lotus, the Namgung Clan, and the Zhuge Clan.
“Well, I don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but…”
In the distance, the inn came into view. Seo Daegun grinned.
“Let’s have some fun. If these Unorthodox path scoundrels take the Blood Augmentation Pill and plunge the Infinite region into chaos, it’ll be quite the spectacle.”
As he reached the inn, Seo Daegun tilted his head.
“What’s this? This unsettling feeling…”
He had dismissed them as mere Unorthodox path riffraff, but upon arrival, the atmosphere emanating from the inn felt unusual.
Seo Daegun frowned.
“This might take longer than I thought.”
Muttering to himself, Seo Daegun stepped into the inn and took a quick look around.
He saw quite a number of tables, each occupied by burly men.
At a glance, they were clearly all Unorthodox path lackeys.
There wasn’t any immediate sense of threat, but their collective presence was more intense than he’d expected.
“What’s this? Was the Unorthodox path always this capable?”
Even if it was just the leaders gathered here, their strength was on par with that of a well-established, formidable sect.
As Seo Daegun ventured further inside, the warriors of the Golden Heavenly Alliance followed him in, flooding the space.
The men on the first floor tensed visibly when they saw the warriors of the Golden Heavenly Alliance.
It was only then that they turned their eyes back to Seo Daegun.
They realized, belatedly, that the reason they hadn’t felt anything earlier was that the gap in their abilities was too overwhelming.
A tense atmosphere swept through the inn.
At that moment, a man slowly descended from the second floor of the inn.
He was the master of the White Tiger Escort Agency.
Behind him, warriors of the Heaven Guard Corps, who had accompanied him from the escort agency, followed in a steady stream.
Seo Daegun’s eyes glimmered with interest.
“Hah, look at these guys. They’re better than I expected.”
Particularly, the master of the White Tiger Escort Agency looked like someone who wouldn’t go down easily—at least not without a hundred or so exchanges.
In other words, he was a genuine expert.
The others weren’t pushovers either. At a glance, it was clear that the warriors Seo Daegun had brought from the Golden Heavenly Alliance wouldn’t be able to handle even a few of them properly.
Seo Daegun scratched the back of his head.
“Damn. I should’ve brought a few more men.”
Though he said that, there wasn’t a trace of tension on his face.
Victory was inevitable, after all. It was just a matter of time, and the annoyance of possibly getting a scratch or two was what irked him the most.
The master of the White Tiger Escort Agency quietly observed Seo Daegun before speaking.
“If we fight here, the entire inn will be destroyed. Why don’t we take this outside?”
Seo Daegun chuckled.
“You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that. Fine. I like this inn too, so beating you all up and occasionally stopping by to rest afterward doesn’t sound too bad.”
With that, Seo Daegun turned and walked briskly out of the inn.
The thought of them trying to escape never even crossed his mind.
After all, they would know better than anyone that the more of them stayed together, the longer they could hold out against him.
As Seo Daegun exited, the Golden Heavenly Alliance warriors followed him.
The master of the White Tiger Escort Agency watched their retreating figures in silence before turning to one of his men.
“Chung-sam.”
“Yes.”
Ma Chung-sam, his subordinate, looked at him with a tense expression.
“Run to the young master immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell him that someone we cannot hope to defeat, even if we all attack together, has arrived.”
Ma Chung-sam’s eyes widened.
“Is it really that bad?”
“It’s worse than that. I can’t even gauge his strength. Prepare yourselves to die.”
There was no fear in their eyes. Instead, their fighting spirit flared as they began channeling their energy from their dantians.
Feeling the sharp aura emanating from his men, the master of the White Tiger Escort Agency grinned.
“Let’s go. Let’s fight and die with honor.”
“Yes, sir!”
The warriors of the Heaven Guard Corps let out a unified shout, their voices echoing as they marched outside the inn.
Meanwhile, Ma Chung-sam slipped out through the back door of the inn.
There, ten Golden Heavenly Alliance warriors were stationed, ensuring no one could escape. Seo Daegun had deployed them in advance to prevent exactly such a scenario.
Of course, Ma Chung-sam had anticipated this scenario.
He pulled out a small, pitch-black orb from his pocket.
“Do you know what this is?”
With a sly grin, Ma Chung-sam hurled the orb onto the ground near the Golden Heavenly Alliance warriors.
••••
Boom!
The black orb shattered upon impact, releasing a burst of fine black powder.
The powder was so delicate that it immediately spread like mist, enveloping the surroundings in an instant.
Black Moon Sword instinctively held his breath. Eung Jayeop did the same.
Amidst the chaos, Yuk Taegu leaped out of the window with surprising agility.
Black Moon Sword and Eung Jayeop stared in disbelief at the scene.
“What the hell? Is his big move really just throwing poison and running away?”
Eung Jayeop glared at Yuk Taegu, who now stood in the courtyard, looking up at them.
At that moment, Black Moon Sword suddenly let out a blood curdling scream.
“Arghhh!”
Startled, Eung Jayeop turned to look at him.
Black Moon Sword’s face bulged grotesquely, as though something was writhing beneath his skin, before receding again. Veins swelled to the point of bursting, then subsided.
Fear gripped Eung Jayeop.
Even without breathing in the mist, Black Moon Sword had been poisoned.
Yet, strangely, Eung Jayeop felt perfectly fine.
“Arrghhh!”
Black Moon Sword, now entirely consumed by madness, began swinging his sword wildly in all directions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The inn shook as parts of it crumbled and exploded.
His bloodshot eyes made it clear he could no longer retain his sanity.
With a frenzied roar, he charged at the nearest target -Eung Jayeop.
Boom!
Eung Jayeop barely managed to block the attack, but the force sent him crashing through the window, out into the courtyard.
He twisted mid-air, desperately trying to regain balance before landing unsteadily on the ground.
As he instinctively looked up, Black Moon Sword was already leaping after him, his blade aimed straight down.
There was no time to dodge. Gritting his teeth, Eung Jayeop raised his sword to block.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Blood spurted from Eung Jayeop’s mouth as he staggered backward.
Before he could recover, Black Moon Sword collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
His shriveled body was evidence that he had burned through every ounce of his strength, dying in the process.
“What in the world…?”
As Eung Jayeop stared in shock at Black Moon Sword’s corpse, Yuk Taegu approached, flanked by two of his subordinates. They quickly surrounded him.
“I’ll just destroy your dantian,” Yuk Taegu said coldly.
Before Eung Jayeop could react, Yuk Taegu moved with blinding speed.
Bang!
“Arghhh!”
A crushing blow struck Eung Jayeop’s dantian, sending waves of unbearable pain through his body. His vision blurred as his mind went blank.
* * *
“Ha… these mosquito-like bastards. Seriously, how annoying.”
Seo Daegun frowned as he flicked the blood off his sword.
Droplets of blood splattered onto the ground.
His fierce, savage gaze swept over the surroundings.
“Nothing’s going according to plan.”
Things had gone wrong right from the start.
The first thing Seo Daegun encountered was a pitch-black orb.
As soon as the orb thrown by the leader of White Tiger Escort Bureau shattered on the ground, black powder burst out and filled the surroundings.
The moment it spread, the warriors of the Golden Heavenly Alliance began going berserk.
Unfortunately for Seo Daegun, he was standing right in the middle of them. He ended up severing the necks of his own men who charged at him.
These were the warriors he’d brought along to ensure the Unorthodox path members couldn’t escape. Killing them himself left him feeling empty and hollow.
Judging from the situation, it was clear that the warriors sent to guard the back of the inn had suffered the same fate.
What followed was a drawn-out, grinding battle.
The White Tiger Escort Bureau members used a strange sword formation that was faster and stronger than Seo Daegun had anticipated.
Still, Seo Daegun maintained the upper hand.
As time passed, the members of the Heaven Guard Squad accumulated more and more injuries. Yet, landing a decisive blow against them proved unexpectedly difficult.
With an irritated glare, Seo Daegun fixed his gaze on the leader of White Tiger Escort Bureau.
The leader, too, was drenched in blood, his body covered in wounds.
“Let me ask you one thing. What was that black orb earlier?”
Since it wasn’t a disadvantage to buy time, the leader answered readily.
“I heard your group uses some peculiar drug that bursts latent energy, so we prepared a countermeasure.”
“Ha! So that raid on the Yichang base came back to bite us, huh.”
Otherwise, how could they have prepared a counter to the Blood Augmentation Pills so quickly?
A sudden thought crossed Seo Daegun’s mind, prompting another question.
“That aside, who exactly are you people? You’re definitely not just some Unorthodox path riffraff. Judging by how you fight, you’re closer to the unorthodox sects than the righteous ones, but even that doesn’t seem quite right. I just can’t figure you out.”
The leader of White Tiger Escort Bureau answered calmly.
“We’re escorts.”
“Escorts?”
Seo Daegun’s expression turned incredulous.
“Which escort bureau is it? Is it some ‘Number One Under Heaven’ Escort Bureau or something? You really expect me to believe mere escorts are this strong? Do you think I’ll actually buy that nonsense?”
The “Number One Under Heaven” escort bureau was the Yellow Dragon Escort Bureau.
From Seo Daegun’s perspective, these people were on par with the Yellow Dragon Escort Bureau, if not superior.
“Whew…”
Seo Daegun quietly steadied his breathing and carefully unleashed the energy coiled within his dantian.
A calm yet oppressive voice flowed from his lips.
“Are you backed by Byeok Taesan?”
The leader of White Tiger Escort Bureau remained silent. If there was one question he couldn’t answer, it was this one.
Of course, it was all too easy to guess.
Seo Daegun muttered with a mix of regret and a hint of anger.
“I should’ve killed that guy first.”
“You think you can kill him?”
A voice came from behind, causing Seo Daegun to turn around slowly.
He clenched his teeth so hard it seemed they might shatter.
“Byeok Taesan…!”
Before he realized it, the Heaven Guard Squad members who had been fighting him retreated in an orderly manner and lined up neatly.
They all bowed deeply to Byeok Taesan.
“Greetings, Young Master.”
Byeok Taesan nodded once in acknowledgment and took a step forward.
Behind him stood Ma Chung-sam, maintaining a deferential posture.
Alongside him were Cheon Kyungwan, Yoo Seoyeon, Heavenly Divine Healer, and Needle Master, their eyes gleaming with interest.
Heavenly Divine Healer scanned the surroundings, confirming the bodies scattered on the ground.
“Those guys… they’re exactly what I thought. Isn’t that right, Brother?”
“Yeah, looks like it. They took that strange pill, burst their latent energy, and died.”
“Could you use a bit more refined language? Honestly, no sense of dignity.”
“Wanna find out what it feels like to be ‘refined’ with my fist?”
Heavenly Divine Healer changed the subject.
“Anyway, it seems there’s only one of them left. Did we really need to bring everyone here?”
“You’re telling me. We should’ve gone to the Rogue market instead.”
Hearing this, Seo Daegun’s face twisted in frustration.
“Ha! Don’t tell me you knew about that too? This is like playing in the palm of Buddha’s hand.”
Heavenly Divine Healer responded with a slightly awkward expression.
“Uh… honestly, not quite to that extent. It just kind of turned out this way. Actually, you guys were just really unlucky. Of all places, why’d you have to mess with there and here?”
As he spoke, even he seemed to find the situation absurd, chuckling as he finished.
Seo Daegun glared at Heavenly Divine Healer with cold eyes. He turned his neck from side to side, loosening it up.
Gripping his sword tighter, he slowly circulated his inner energy, spreading it throughout his body.
He focused especially on his legs and sword, infusing them with power.
“Looking at this, it seems I won’t be walking out of here alive.”
At Seo Daegun’s muttering, Heavenly Divine Healer grinned and shook his head.
“No, you won’t die. Guys like you who know too much don’t die so easily. You know that, right?”
Seo Daegun glanced around.
The ones he had been fighting earlier were already formidable, but the newcomers were even stronger, each one of them a powerhouse.
Of course, if they came at him one by one, he was confident he could take them all down. But there was no chance they’d do that.
A bloody light flashed in Seo Daegun’s eyes as he fixed his gaze on Heavenly Divine Healer.
“If that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll take at least one of you with me.”
Heavenly Divine Healer flinched.
“Don’t tell me… that one’s me?”
“Blame your mouth for that.”
Before the words had fully left his lips, Seo Daegun kicked off the ground and shot forward like a bullet.
Seo Daegun moved so quickly that only a few people could track his movements.
Heavenly Divine Healer’s eyes widened as if they might tear apart.
In the blink of an eye, Seo Daegun was right in front of him, and in that fleeting moment, memories of his life flashed through his mind.
Smack!
Crash, thud!
Heavenly Divine Healer stared blankly at Seo Daegun, who was now sprawled on the ground.
Byeok Taesan was suddenly standing in front of him.
Seo Daegun’s cheek was a bloody mess.
Byeok Taesan glanced at Heavenly Divine Healer, sighed, and shook his head in disappointment.
He then slowly walked toward Seo Daegun, who was twitching on the ground.
Byeok Taesan’s foot lightly tapped Seo Daegun’s dantian.
“Urrgh!”
Seo Daegun vomited blood like a fountain, as if his insides were being torn apart.
“Take him away.”
At Byeok Taesan’s command, Ma Chung-sam and the Heaven Guard Squad members rushed over, subdued Seo Daegun’s pressure points, tightly bound him, and carried him off.
Byeok Taesan’s gaze shifted to the wounds on the Heaven Guard Squad members, his expression indifferent as he commented offhandedly.
“You’ve been injured.”
The moment he spoke, the White Tiger Escort Chief and the Heaven Guard Squad members froze in place.
“By someone as pathetic as that.”
A creeping sense of unease began to rise among them.