NOVEL NEXT Ch. 51
The leader of the New Demonic Cult, with long black hair and wearing a black training uniform.
That was her image on the outside, but the person I saw looked a little different.
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■Name: [Namgung Soso]
■Hero Rank: [1-Star (★☆☆☆☆)]
■Innate Ability: [-]
■Description: [A Murim warrior from the Huashan Sect. Recognized for her achievements in the War against Demons as a low-grade Hero and became a 1-Star Hero, but her Hero qualification was revoked for some reason.]
■Note: [Alias, ‘Huashan Sword Dragon’]
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“…Just as I thought.”
That's why a 1-star request was attached to her.
Pfft-
Compared to the ruffians outside who just puffed up their chests and acted tough as if they were a real organization, the leader's background was quite respectable.
A former Hero who had even received a 1-Star ordination.
Of course, it seemed her qualification was revoked afterward, but that wasn't very important.
After all, she must have received the ordination because she had the skills, and while all the benefits from The Order are revoked immediately upon disqualification, her own skills don't just disappear.
Except for the fact that she could no longer carry out requests from the Constellations and receive benefits from The Order, there wasn't much difference between a disqualified Hero and an official one.
The Constellation who knew this better than anyone must have deemed at least a 1-Star Hero as a suitable target for the request.
“This is…… well.”
Panicked by my arrival, the Black Wind Squad Leader, who had been stuttering with a dazed expression, soon came up with an excuse for the leader with an incredibly awkward laugh.
“Haha…… Didn't you tell us before, Leader? To find a source of funds so we can leave the Shandong region.”
“……”
Then he pointed a finger at Jerry and said.
“That man over there in the black suit is an outsider I met in the back alleys. He handles large sums of money and is quite bold, so I thought he might be helpful to the great cause of our New Demonic Cult….”
Ssk-
The leader, who had turned her head and risen from her seat, looked this way.
A black mask covering the upper half of her face was worn over her face.
“…That one over there?”
“Yes! Leader.”
“……”
At the Black Wind Squad Leader's words, she looked back and forth between Jerry and me, then tilted her head and pointed a finger at me.
“Not this one?”
“Pardon?”
Flustered by the leader's question as she suddenly pointed her finger at me, the Black Wind Squad Leader shook his head and tried to explain.
“That one is the bodyguard he hired—.”
It seemed like the perfect timing, so I cut him off and interjected.
“…Looks like you didn't get your Hero ordination for nothing, after all.”
“……!!!”
Pfft-
“But I wonder how you got it revoked.”
And at my next words.
“Our Huashan's Sword Dragon, Ms. Namgung Soso.”
The leader's eyes wavered intensely.
* * *
Namgung Soso was extremely flustered.
Huashan Sword Dragon.
Years ago, after her Hero qualification was revoked and she left her sect, she had never once spoken that alias aloud.
And after proclaiming herself the leader of the New Demonic Cult, she always wore a mask, so she had never once imagined someone would recognize her.
‘…How.’
From his relaxed demeanor and curious eyes, she had thought there was something about him, but Namgung Soso had never imagined he would be someone who knew her past.
“Huashan Sword Dragon… Leader, what is the meaning of…”
“…Is that important right now? Black Wind Squad Leader.”
“Hup. No, it's not!”
Glare-
Belatedly realizing she had shown too much agitation, Namgung Soso gestured with her eyes for the Black Wind Squad Leader to close the main gate that U-jin had thrown open.
Creeak- Clang!
Then, trying to calm her wavering heart, she asked U-jin.
“…Who are you.”
At her direct question, U-jin gave another relaxed smile, scratched the back of his head, and showed her his medal.
“It's a long story, but for now….”
Ssk-
“Will this be enough of an answer?”
“A Hero candidate… Are you from Murim?”
“Not exactly. I'm a Plane Transcendent from the current batch.”
“……”
U-jin's answer made Namgung Soso's mind even more chaotic.
‘…How on earth does someone from a Lower-Dimensional Plane know about me?’
It was already incomprehensible that a Hero candidate knew about her, but he was even someone who came up from the Lower Plane through the Gateway Zone.
Namgung Soso couldn't fathom any scenario where a Hero candidate from a Lower-Dimensional Plane could have learned her identity.
After pondering for a moment, she realized it wasn't a simple matter she could easily find out just by asking U-jin, so she changed her question.
“…What is your business here.”
“……”
“There must be a reason you came here, mentioning my past and all.”
However, U-jin's answer to this question also failed to please her.
“Oh, it's nothing special. You called yourselves the New Demonic Cult. I was curious, so I came to check it out. I have a keen interest in the Demonic Cult.”
“……”
“To see if you have any connection to the Demonic Cult that was destroyed 100 years ago.”
“…You have no intention of giving a proper answer.”
Of course, U-jin's answer to Namgung Soso's question was sincere.
His whole reason for coming to the Shandong Peninsula was for his 8th bucket list item, [Finding Traces of the Demonic Cult], so there was no other reason.
However, from Namgung Soso's perspective, it was difficult to take U-jin's words at face value.
The Demonic Cult?
What was there to know about such a group?
In Namgung Soso's mind, it was a group that had been completely annihilated a long time ago.
Of course, it was true that Namgung Soso herself had named this organization the New Demonic Cult, but that was an expression of her will to expand her power against the rotten Murim Alliance, just like the Demonic Cult of the past.
There was no direct connection between that Demonic Cult and this one.
No, to be precise, there was one connection, but she was certain that U-jin couldn't have known about it when he came.
‘…That can't be it.’
Because the fact that she had come to possess that item was a secret known only to Namgung Soso herself in all of Murim.
Above all, Namgung Soso didn't even believe U-jin's earlier introduction of himself as a Plane Transcendent from the Lower Plane.
It might be different if he were a seasoned Hero candidate who had experienced the War against Demons in the Upper Plane, but a Plane Transcendent from the current batch would be a fledgling who hadn't even been here a month since coming up from the Lower-Dimensional Plane.
Far from having an interest in the past of a nation like the Demonic Cult and searching for its traces, he was a small fry who had never even witnessed the War against Demons with his own eyes.
If he really was a Plane Transcendent from the current batch, there was no way he could show such a relaxed demeanor.
Therefore, judging that U-jin had no intention of answering her question properly, Namgung Soso inhaled, circulated her internal energy (內氣), and warned him.
“…Speak when you feel like giving a proper answer…. It would be best not to be too late.”
Pfft-
“…That's a faster way to talk. But—.”
As Namgung Soso slowly took a martial arts stance, U-jin pointed a finger at her.
“You should probably draw your sword.”
Of course.
“How arrogant…. I'll decide that for myself.”
To Namgung Soso's eyes, U-jin's remark looked like nothing more than a bluff.
“Well.”
I mean.
…at least, until this moment.
“Suit yourself.”
Paaat-
* * *
U-jin made the first move.
Paaaat-
Stomping his foot, U-jin clenched his fist and charged straight at Namgung Soso.
Namgung Soso had intended to laugh and deflect the foolishly straightforward attack, but she couldn't.
Tuk-
“……!!!”
Because almost at the same instant she leaned her body to the right, U-jin kicked off the floor and changed direction as if he had anticipated it.
The attack itself wasn't particularly fast, but the timing was bad.
Having moved without a shred of doubt, her center of balance had already shifted.
Namgung Soso had no choice but to cross her hands to block U-jin's attack.
However.
“……?”
She crossed her hands in front of her face just in time, but the expected attack from U-jin never came.
Instead.
Chiiing-
A familiar metallic sound rang out, along with a feeling of emptiness at her waist.
Swish-
“Take the sword.”
“……!!!”
“Your alias is the Huashan Sword Dragon, isn't it?”
Instead of throwing a punch, U-jin had drawn the sword from Namgung Soso's waist and held it out to her.
“……”
She could have been angered by the act, which was akin to toying with her, but she surprisingly accepted the sword obediently.
The reason was simple.
She had realized it instinctively from the battle of wits just now.
That U-jin was not an ordinary Hero candidate, just as she had expected (?).
“…You will regret this.”
Pfft-
“So arrogant.”
“……”
“I'll decide that for myself.”
Twuk-
Instead of replying to U-jin who threw her own words back at her, Namgung Soso took a step back and readjusted her grip on the sword.
And.
Paat-
This time, she took the initiative.
A vertical downward slash.
As U-jin fluidly dodged the slash and lunged forward, she immediately took a step back and slashed horizontally.
“Hmm….”
With U-jin's relaxed exclamation as a brief pause, another exchange (一合) took place.
What followed was a repetition of similar exchanges.
Namgung Soso was the attacker, U-jin the defender.
If there was any difference, it was the gradually increasing speed.
Swaaek-
Before long, Namgung Soso's sword strikes were moving at a speed that the naked eye of an ordinary person could not follow.
…although U-jin's relaxed movements hadn't changed at all from the beginning.
Just as Namgung Soso's breathing started to become a little irregular after several exchanges,
U-jin's low voice assessed her.
“Your fundamentals are certainly solid thanks to your good background—.”
“……!!!”
“……but I can also see why you became a low-grade.”
And at the same time.
Twuung-
An unexpected event, something that hadn't happened until now, occurred.
U-jin deflected her vertically descending sword to the side.
“……!!!”
He didn't use any particular weapon or technique.
He simply intercepted the trajectory of her incoming sword with his crossed palms, pushing its path aside.
Having lost her balance to the unexpected variable, Namgung Soso hastily drew up the mana within her body.
Kwaak-
And her rapidly accelerated sword stabbed into the floor, allowing her to regain her balance.
But by then, it was already too late.
Twuk-
U-jin's hand was taking off her mask.
“…You just died once. Right now.”