Kwang!
The door slammed open, and three men burst into the room.
“What? Why is there no one in here?”
And when there was no sound, they spoke,
“Who the hell even locked the door?”
“I asked them to take a break, but where did they all go?”
Everyone who came in looked confused.
In the meantime, a warrior carefully looked down at the spot on the floor.
What?
Drip
Something like water drops were falling. Wanting to find out what it was, they approached closer to take a look, and there was this red sticky thing.
“Blood…?”
His eyes widened as he turned to the ceiling, and at that very moment, something dropped down.
Swish!
As soon as the sharp object passed through his throat, he lost his life. Seol-Hwi’s curved blade cut his throat.
“What!”
“Uh!?”
Two warriors reacted to his sudden appearance.
“Euk!”
With an assassin needle stuck in his head, he slowly fell to the ground. The last warrior still alive exclaimed,
“Eup!”
In the blink of an eye, he went silent as Seol-Hwi covered the remaining warrior’s mouth with his blade aimed at their neck.
“I am going to ask a few questions… blink if you want to live.”
“…”
The eyes of the warriors held various emotions. He realized that his opponent was a great warrior and there was no point in resisting any longer.
Blink
“Fine. If you yell or do anything… you know what happens?”
Blink
Caught, he violently closed his eyes and opened them. Seol-Hwi stopped covering the man’s mouth. But by the looks of it, he had already completely lost his will to fight.
“Fine. Where is this?”
“…”
Was it a strange question? The guy seemed a little taken aback at this and slowly said,
“T-this is the place where the Soulless are made.”
“Soulless… are you talking about the ones who make them?’
“…Yes. Right.”
“But why did they get put into prison?”
“No, because the outsiders need to be deceived…”
“Hmm.”
Seol-Hwi nodded.
When he heard it, it felt right. The new Soulless appeared that this time could be considered as a secret weapon. It would be useful to keep the exact number of them and their skills hidden. That was why they were put into prison.
“Where are the new Soulless?”
“T-t-that I don’t know. This place is so diverse that there are too many rooms here…”
“You don’t know where they usually gather?”
“T-this for now, most of this place is underground. And the people to handle them are separately selected… a low rank member like me wouldn’t know many details.”
“Is that so…?”
After thinking for a moment, Seol-Hwi changed the subject.
“Fine. Then the makers lead me to those who personally direct and manage them.”
“Ah. Then, go straight past this place and take the stairs to the meeting room in the middle of the third floor… Uh?”
“…?”
Suddenly, he had a strange look.
Crack
Then a strange change took place as his face began to swell up.
“…!”
Seol-Hwi stepped back in a hesitant manner, and the man’s face swelled up as it exploded with a popping sound.
“This…”
His head exploded and splattered the area. Seol-Hwi frowned as he brushed the stains off his clothes.
Under a spell condition.
The reason the man died was clear. If they mentioned the location, then the seal that had been placed on them caused his head to explode. Probably everyone here had it.
“Still, he roughly knew the location.”
Go straight to the central room on the third floor. Seol-Hwi looked that way.
There were no people in the corridor who could be seen through the open door.
Shh
Seol-Hwi retrieved the assassin dagger and started running with the curved blade at the ready.
The hallway like any corridor was structured with one side visible. The building itself was a square mound cut in half, so the line of sight was directed to the outside.
Except for the guards standing in certain spots, there was no one who could spot him. So it was not difficult to get there.
This… I need the Heavenly Demon’s Ghost Steps.
Seol-Hwi, who had to infiltrate the room while moving on the ceiling, began to walk like a spider. There was a subtle flow of energy within the room, and after checking, he moved.
Heavenly Demon’s Ghost Steps, the greatest one where his breathing gets halted. With it, he latched onto the beams on the ceiling and entered.
Shhh
At the same time, he could hear the voices coming from the closed room.
“No. I don’t think so. If we increase our troops too much, we will become the target of the other disciples.”
The first thing he heard was the voice of a woman?
Yeorin? Was that the name of the person who blocked his path in a previous life?
“So, you want them to look weak? Do not talk nonsense. If we do that then the front line will get pushed too much,”
The middle-aged man spoke. Seol-Hwi saw this person first.
However, since the clothes on them were similar to Wudang’s uniform, it could be assumed that he was one of the leaders.
“But…”
“Now now. Either way, a decision must be made quickly. After all, there is a kid in the troops, the best one, shouldn’t we make the most of it?”
“Hmm.”
After the words of the two, their eyes naturally turned to the elderly man. Seeing him, Seol-Hwi’s eyes shook.
He could feel it, the subtle aura he felt before entering the room was from this person. He looked around on full alert, but there was another person in the room.
That person was standing in the corner. At first he did not recognize them because he held his head down, but the moment he talked, they recognized it.
That old man…
“So the Soulless demon, what level can be made?”
“…It seems that you have to use your own hands to know.”
“Speak clearly. If you don’t want to see the group known as the Ghost Troops disappear completely!”
“Ahem.”
The old man’s expression went stiff. Judging from the situation, it seemed like the important members of the troops had gathered.
“I didn’t try it, but if I can focus all my energy, I think we can raise 1 or 2 to the Supreme Demon level.”
“…Nice!”
“As expected!”
As soon as the old man said that, the faces of the leaders brightened. This was because their long cherished wish of raising the Soulless to the Supreme Demon level could be achieved.
“Isn’t that basically impossible?”
“What do you mean by focusing all your energy?”
The two leaders asked. Creating a Soulless was tough, and to create one of the Supreme Demon level was too much.
The old man sighed and continued.
“Songhwa has the right body of a Fengshi. It can be said that with him, one can move to Supreme Demon, no, to the peak of Supreme Demon. If that child has the right means and strength of a martial arts warrior…”
He swallowed the words and continued,
“I think one or two will reach that level. However, there is a condition that the warrior’s skills must first touch the Super Master level…”
“That is well, there is someone I saw.”
“If the material is good, the results will be right, a simple thing.”
“Right. However, the problem lies after that.”
“After?”
When the elderly man spoke like it was nothing, the old man said,
“Until now, I have never seen a case where the Soulless Demon touched the Supreme Demon level. So, once they reach that level, we don’t know what their skill would be.”
“Hmmm.”
“Maybe we can even go beyond the supreme too. Then we might see them as uncontrollable things.”
Soulless people are often treated as weapons.
And an unthinkable powerful weapon which cannot be controlled would be born. But the old man’s words were taken in a different way.
“There will be no problem about that. If we can control a weapon like that, we take the advantage in this fight. If there are any problems… Yupae will handle them.”
“Right. No matter how strong one becomes, in the end, they are just Soulless. If needed, one can control them by force.”
Everyone smiled at that, but even though the eyes of the old man were serious, he did not speak.
In an atmosphere where they came to that conclusion, he would be criticized if he chose to speak out now.
Supreme Demon Soulless huh.
Seol-Hwi held his breath as he thought it would be an unknown dangerous weapon.
There was no way such a thing could be done so easily.
Then maybe…
It must mean that Songhwa can only make them if he gives up his life.
Seol-Hwi looked at the time.
3080… 3079….
He still had time. Would it not be better to look around a little more like this and then make his move?
Then, suddenly, another thought popped into his head.
Maybe the time in front of me isn’t just a limit.
There was a timer displayed. If he hid well, the timer would finish, and he would be able to regain his original state.
But if it was similar to the other ones he had been through…
The system would not let it be so easy.
Half an hour to roughly an hour.
There was no danger now. No, to be precise there is no danger to himself.
Then who was this timer for?
Songhwa?
That was the answer. Perhaps as time passed the life of Songhwa would be at stake.
If nothing is done at this rate, the young boy will be consumed by making Soulless.
What can I do? Should I act now?
It was when Seol-Hwi was thinking about the reason—
Bang! Thud!
“Leader! Leader!”
Came the urgent voice from outside the door, and Yeorin raised her eyes and then asked,
“What is happening?”
“L-looks like there is an intruder on the first floor. I am letting you know.”
“Intruder?”
They all looked expressionless as they turned to one another. The elders came out first and the leaders walked out in turn.
As a result, only the old man was left in the place.
“…”
The old man who was alone looked at the door slowly and had an odd expression as he said,
“You people don’t know what terrible monsters will be born.”
Mumbling to himself, it seemed like he was lost in thought.
“No, what… maybe that is right. If you are going to die, make sure to take it all down… akuk!”
And his eyes stopped as Seol-Hwi dropped down.
“Shhh!”
Seol-Hwi hurriedly covered his mouth ,and the old man did not even try to shout.
“I am here to help.”
“…?”
“These people want to make Soulless Demons… well, fine.”
Seol-Hwi closed the door, and catching his breath, he asked the old man,
“Songhwa, where is Songhwa?”
“…That child?”
“At this rate, they will make a monster at the cost of that child’s life. Of course, it has to be stopped.”
Seol-Hwi’s face held fear.
“…”
The expression on the old man’s face changed oddly.
“Songhwa… how do you know?”
“There is no time to explain. Just know that this is the end. Dong Ryong.”
“…?!!!”
When his name was said, the old man looked surprised. He was the one who raised Songhwa from a young age.
He previously came to know about the fate the Fangshi could read.
“Reverse Heaven. It is said that there is a price to break the laws of heaven, reviving the dead and breaking the will of the living. But I don’t think it is just today’s one. Songhwa is not the one who has to pay the price.”
“H-how can you know…?”
“That is what you said before. You said it was rather natural for Songhwa to follow me since I am one who defies fate. You might not remember it, but we spoke several times.”
Seol-Hwi explained everything in a short time. He could not tell them to simply trust him.
To do that, he would have to explain everything, but he did not know if this would make sense, and he did not have time.
“Now you have one of two choices. Either let Songhwa die to these people or bet on the chance of him being saved with me, whom he would see for the first time.”
“…”
“I know it is difficult to understand. However, decide now. If you want to save Songhwa, the longer you take to decide, the more time is wasted.”
“…”
The old man looked down, and then said looking at Seol-Hwi,
“…Please follow me. It will be safer to get to your destination if you come with me.”
He bit his lip as he made his decision and turned around.
