Agency Headquarters, Front Courtyard. Yeon So-hyeon’s Side. Temporary Field Headquarters.
“We’ve captured those attempting to escape from the monitored secret passage…!” “Battle report from Detachment Four…!”
The temporary field headquarters was a whirlwind of activity. Uncorrupted Agency warriors darted frantically in every direction, the air thick with their shouts and the metallic clang of their heavy armor.
In stark contrast to this bustling scene, a middle-aged man was seated in a corner, leaning leisurely against a wall.
The reason no one bothered him, even in this chaotic situation, was that everyone knew exactly who he was.
The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword.
“Haaah…”
Seeing him not only in a slouched posture but even letting out a yawn, Field Commander Myeong of the Agency finally approached and spoke, “…Senior… aren’t you the commander of the Special Task Force, even if it’s temporary?”
“You’re doing a good job.”
Myeong made a puzzled expression at the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword’s incomprehensible, off-topic remark. “Pardon?”
“I’ve been watching you for a while now, and you’re handling things well. So well, I’d never have guessed you were a field operative.”
Field Commander Myeong, the very man who had informed Yeon So-hyeon of the Agency’ corruption, gave a bitter smile. “…Is that so? Under any other circumstances, I would consider that an honor.”
Field Commander Myeong removed his mask. The face of a man in his thirties was etched with exhaustion. “Right now, it’s not just me. Everyone… all of us are just desperately trying to clean up the mess that my brothers, my organization, have made.”
He continued in a bitter tone, “…Fortunately, those who evacuated from the enemy’s surprise attack are rejoining us, and the number of defectors is increasing, so we’re managing to get things under control, but…”
The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword nodded slowly. “I see.”
He understood the hearts of these Agency warriors, running themselves ragged in that heavy armor, a coppery taste of exhaustion in their mouths. “A commendable sense of responsibility.”
Field Commander Myeong once again asked the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword. “But as for you, senior—”
“I told you to drop that damned ‘honorific’.”
“Senior Life-Stealing Ghost Sword, is it really alright for you to just be sitting here?”
The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword shook his head as if annoyed. “All the unit leaders are handling their squads just fine, aren’t they? Has some problem come up?”
“No, it’s not that, but you’re the commander—”
“It’s just that everyone else hated the leadership position, so I’m the one wearing the armband,” the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword grumbled. “I despise troublesome duties, too.”
At those words, Field Commander Myeong looked fed up. “No, even so—”
Looking utterly bothered, the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword turned his back and lay down flat. “The Special Task Force is teeming with guys who’ve held every position imaginable and broken through every kind of chaotic mess. If I throw my weight around just because I’m wearing the armband, I’ll only get in the way of the field operations.”
Despite his annoyed posture, his voice was surprisingly calm and explanatory. “The right person in the right place. The leader acts like a leader. I just need to hold my position, and when a request comes in, I just need to handle that request quickly.”
“Ah…!” Field Commander Myeong let out an involuntary sound of admiration. The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword’s words made his actions instantly understandable.
“Field Commander, a report!” Just then, a Agency warrior ran in urgently. “A report just came in that the noise that was coming from inside the headquarters has stopped!”
Field Commander Myeong’s eyebrow twitched. “…Understood. Continue monitoring.”
After the warrior ran out again, Myeong spoke heavily. “For the external observation team to no longer hear any noise means…”
The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword’s light voice picked up where Field Commander Myeong’s heavy tone left off. “It means all combat within audible monitoring range has ended.”
The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword yawned once more and continued. “It seems they’ve gone completely inside now.”
“If they’re inside, all that’s left is the headquarters’ situation room…” Field Commander Myeong’s trembling gaze lifted to the main building of the Agency barracks. The fortress-like headquarters had always felt so reassuring… but now, that same sight was nothing short of horrifying.
“…Even now, wouldn’t it be better to send in support?”
“Support?”
As the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword snickered, Field Commander Myeong quickly added. “Didn’t you tell me that Grand Young Master himself went in?” Myeong’s voice was full of worry. “I, too, have heard the rumors of his martial prowess, and I even heard that ‘Sword Sovereign’ is with him. However…”
He trailed off. No matter how much the Sword Sovereign had dominated an era, he was too old now. And no matter how great the Grand Young Master’s martial skill was, he was still too young. “It’s not just me; all the Agency warriors are worried—”
“Pffft…!”
Hearing that, the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
“Puhahahahahaha!”
“Senior…?”
At the Life-Stealing Ghost Sword’s explosive laughter, not only Field Commander Myeong but everyone around turned to look with puzzled expressions.
“Puhahahahaha…!”
The Life-Stealing Ghost Sword was laughing so hard he actually fell over backward onto the floor, still unable to stop.
***
Agency Headquarters, Main Building, Situation Room.
A sticky silence dominated the space.
Everyone remaining in the situation room held a position high enough to be called a core member of the Agency. But, as if they had all reached an unspoken agreement, not a single one opened their mouth.
Anxious gazes wandered through the empty air, lacking the courage to meet each other. The silence only grew heavier as people opened and closed their mouths without speaking.
“Damn it!”
Kwang! Unable to stand the atmosphere any longer, the Vice-Chief slammed his fist on the table and shouted,”When the hell is the report going to come in?!” His face flushed crimson as he yelled, spitting fire.
“It’s been ages since the combat noise stopped…! Did they block them? Did the enemies retreat?!” He beat his chest in frustration. “Didn’t they say there were two enemies at most?! Why is there still no word from the scout team that went to check the defense line—!”
“Now—!” The Agency warrior in charge of communicating with the scout team shot up to his feet and yelled. “A report transmission is coming in from the scout team!”
The gazes of everyone present focused on him. A thin thread of hope hung in those stares.
As the report transmission dragged on, the warrior’s face grew darker and more ashen by the second. The Vice-Chief’s patience snapped. “Just say what they’re—!”
“Defense line reconnaissance results…” The warrior receiving the transmission forced the words out, his lips trembling. “Discovered numerous casualties, incapacitated, and fatalities…”
The sound of people sucking in their breath hissed from all corners.
“Confirmed… collapse of the entire defense line. The warriors defending the line… are effectively annihilated.” The warrior relaying the report collapsed into his seat. “And… confirmed two individuals who appear to be the enemy.” The warrior covered his face with his hands. “…The scout team’s transmission cut off after that final report.”
One by one, the personnel in the situation room lowered their heads.
“N-No. That’s impossible…” The Vice-Chief shook his head, his face dumbfounded. “It can’t be. It just can’t be.” This situation was incomprehensible to him. “For the entire defense line to be breached by just two people! That’s impossible!”
All those Agency warriors. The Command Masters who had crossed the wall.
“…All of them… were annihilated by just two people?”
Did the Great Supreme Retired Patriarch, who’s been lying unconscious like a corpse, return?
With a stunned expression, he continuously shook his head, denying a reality he couldn’t comprehend. “I-It’s a lie! A false report! S-So, organize another scout team! Go confirm it again—!”
His incoherent rambling was cut off by the voice of the Agency Chief, who was gritting his teeth. “…They’re here!”
They’re here? The moment the Vice-Chief turned to the Chief with a stupid look on his face…
CLANG—!
With a deafening roar, as if a thunderclap bomb had exploded, the thick steel door of the situation room was blown to pieces.
“…!”
Thud—!
Those standing near the entrance didn’t even have time to scream as they were torn apart by the shrapnel of the exploding steel door.
“Boom, Boom…!”
Following the phenomenon, which was akin to an explosion in an enclosed space, visibility was completely obscured by the dust that filled the situation room.
“Ack…!”
“S-Someone, h-help…!” The room filled with the coughing and screaming of those with little to no internal energy, but Ziiing— with the agonizing, eardrum-splitting tinnitus that followed the blast, almost no one could properly hear them.
Slosh—, slosh—.
The body parts of those torn asunder by the steel door fragments, which had stuck to the ceiling and walls, began to fall to the floor.
Thud—, thud—.
And yet, amidst that pandemonium, from beyond the dust-shrouded visibility, the sound of two people’s footsteps approaching resounded clearly.
The Vice-Chief, who had barely managed to circulate his internal energy thanks to the Chief’s warning, clutched his spinning head and somehow forced himself to his feet.
“…Remarkable power.”
“It’s a martial art called the Roaring Thunder-Piercing Cannon.”
The voices of two people reached his ears.
“I took what the previous family head of the Yang Clan used and have now completely improved it.”
“As expected, you are amazing. But perhaps…”
“I will have it delivered to your Martial Arts Academy through a person, as usual.”
“Thank you.”
…Roaring Thunder-Piercing Cannon? The previous head of the Yang family? What in the world are they talking about? As the Vice-Chief swayed, still unable to regain his senses… Two people emerged through the thick dust.
One was a boy, the other an old man. However, the old man’s appearance, as if he were assisting the boy from behind, clearly looked like a hierarchical relationship, not one of grandfather and grandson.
“This one?”
“He is the Vice-Chief.”
The moment the boy—Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon’s blood-splattered face—wavered slightly in the Vice-Chief’s vision…
Boom.
A shockwave exploded with enough force to make him wonder if his abdomen had just burst open.
“Eeeek…!”
The instant the Vice-Chief vomited stomach acid and bent his back like a shrimp…
Thud.
A second fist, launched without any presence or preparatory motion, shattered the Vice-Chief’s jawbone.
Crack.
With just two strikes, the Vice-Chief’s eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness and collapsed.
“The Roaring Thunder-Piercing Cannon is an extremely flexible martial art. A key feature is that it can be used in the form of a hidden force, just like this.”
“Hooh.” The Sword Sovereign murmured in admiration, looking around. The dust had largely settled from Yeon So-hyeon’s assault on the Vice-Chief, revealing the neutralized individuals still twitching on the floor.
“It seems my business here is finished.” The Sword Sovereign’s gaze swept the room, brushing past the Agency Chief as if he weren’t even there, and he turned. “Well then.” Though the old man’s body was covered in wounds, large and small, and etched with an exhaustion that went beyond his limits, his footsteps alone were light. “I will take my leave now, Grand Young Master.”
As the sound of the old man’s footsteps gradually faded, the Agency Chief swallowed dryly and forced himself to straighten his sitting posture. “…This is all your responsibility, Grand Young Master.” He tried to speak confidently, but why did his voice come out so hoarse? “You are the one who ruined this Sword clan! If only you hadn’t secluded yourself back then—!”
“Is that all you have to say?” Yeon So-hyeon strode toward him, a faint smile playing on his lips. “Because I, on the other hand, have many things I need to hear from you.”
At that moment. “Ack…!” The Chief suddenly coughed up blood.
Seeing him vomit dark, dead blood, Yeon So-hyeon’s eyebrow twitched. “…You took poison?”
The Agency Chief spat black blood from his mouth, his eyes wide as he glared at Yeon So-hyeon. “I will neither repent… nor beg for forgiveness…!”
“Is that so?”
Is it the effect of the poison? An uncontrollable chill made his body tremble. It’s so dark around me.
“I don’t know what you came all this way to get from me…!” (As expected, he had an inkling that Yeon So-hyeon had gone to such personal trouble for a specific reason.) “But now… you will never hear anything…!”
“Do you think so?”
The Grand Young Master’s smile, seen through his dimming eyes… The mouth forming that smile… seemed to be stretched far too wide.
“But you’re wrong.”
For some reason, the Grand Young Master’s voice sounded like boiling metal.
“Death will not be your escape.”
Creak.
The Grand Young Master’s mouth gaped open, revealing rows of sharp, serrated teeth, like those of a shark. “You… will be given an eternity to confess the truth and beg for your sins.”