Chapter 97

“What the- what is this?!”

Like a tiger’s roar freezing my body, chills run down my spine. I feel like a mouse in front of a cat.

‘It’s not just noise! My body… my will… is breaking…!!’

The deafening roar echoing in my head causes the cultists of the Blood Church to cover their ears one by one, kneeling down.

[Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek-!!!!!]

“It’s useless. I’m sending it directly through the sound waves.”

Sima Family Head coldly watches the cultists fall one by one.

An area attack targeting only enemies, excluding allies.

Thanks to the Sima Family’s secret martial art, Nanggo Shinkong, which conceals internal energy at a civilian level, precise control of energy makes this possible.

…And the Ten Thousand Swords, Gongpo, who silenced the cultists in sync with its master.

Kiek-! Kiek-! Kugegegegegek-!!

(Master-! Master-! Look at the enemies rolling on the ground!!)

Pugege-! Puge! Kieeeeeeeek!!

(I did well, right? Praise me! Oil me up!!)

The sword starts making noisy, shameless cries.

“……”

Sima Family Head narrows his brows as he looks at Gongpo in his right hand, his eyebrow twitching.

‘…Here we go again.’

Usually too scared to even come out of its sheath.

But as soon as it gets a little active, it becomes arrogant and starts making a racket.

“I’ll take care of you later. Be quiet.”

Kieeeek~ Kieeeek~!!

Anyway, Sima Family Head, who doesn’t skimp on rewards for excellent subordinates, promises a reward while frowning.

“Kueuk- Block the energy!!”

At that moment, some skilled cultists block the sound waves, regain their composure, and charge.

While the advantage of Gongpo’s screams transmitted through sound waves is the ability to distinguish friend from foe, the disadvantage is that the sound can be cut off.

Blood Fury Technique

A small amount of demon blood, given by their god, Blood Demon, is used to enhance their physical strength.

The cultists’ eyes turn bloodshot, their fangs sharpen like beasts, and their muscles swell.

They charge at Sima Family Head, ready to sacrifice flesh and bone, but…

Ttak-!

With a light flick of his finger, the sacred flames of Baehwa Church burn the demons.

Sacred Fire Spirit Technique

A divine technique passed down only to the Fire Maidens of Baehwa Church. A symbol of the saintess.

Sima Yeonghwa’s beautiful red eyes, incomparable to the cultists’ bloodshot eyes, glow with a cold light.

“…Did you let your guard down because the enemy was weak?”

She smirks arrogantly as she speaks to Sima Family Head.

“A thank you would suffice.”

“…It was unnecessary meddling.”

Sima Family Head frowns and mutters, then activates a trap he had prepared earlier for a well-dressed cultist fleeing towards the forest.

As the clouds covering the sun pass, the hidden strategy is revealed.

Nanggo Shinkong – Thunder Shadow Energy

Since when? The shadows of the attackers and Sima Family Head’s shadow were connected.

“Keu, keuek-!?”

Without a chance to react, black lightning rises like a spear from the fleeing cultist’s shadow, piercing his body.

In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, one of the ways to win a war is “Swift as the wind, quiet as the forest, fierce as fire, immovable as a mountain.”

A famous teaching, but there are actually two more characters.

Thunder (雷), Shadow (蔭).

A fighting style used most effectively by the strategist Sima Yi during the Three Kingdoms period.

When Meng Da betrayed Shu and tried to rejoin Wei in Shangyong, Sima Yi sent a letter to Meng Da to make him hesitate, then without informing Cao Rui, gathered his troops and swept Meng Da’s forces like lightning.

During the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan, the governor of Liaodong, when many troops gathered to stop Sima Yi’s army, he said, “The enemy’s main force is here, so their base at Yangping must be empty.”

With this miraculous calculation, he immediately launched a capital run and easily suppressed Gongsun Yuan’s rebellion.

Conversely, when devising strategies, he lowered himself endlessly, hiding in the shadows and waiting cautiously.

He wore women’s clothes to provoke Zhuge Liang and even acted like a senile old man to deceive the Cao family.

Hiding in the shadows, concealing himself, and when the opportunity came, striking like lightning to kill the enemy.

In that sense, Thunder Shadow Energy is a secret martial art of the Sima Family that well represents this character.

…Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s literally a shadow lightning.

“I’ve been thinking, this isn’t really lightning, is it?”

Yeonghwa tilts her head, looking at the black energy spear that pierced the enemy.

“It’s just taking a straight form to pierce the enemy quickly.”

It’s not just swirling; it’s the process of materializing formless energy that makes it look like lightning.

“Then why is the energy black?”

“Because it’s easier to hide in the darkness and ambush the enemy.”

Actually, it’s not the shadow stretching out, but Sima Family Head releasing black energy from below, connecting with the enemies’ shadows.

Not lightning, not shadow.

Yeonghwa narrows her pretty eyes as she looks at Thunder Shadow Energy.

After making the enemy let their guard down, Nanggo Shinkong tears through their defenses. Thunder Shadow Energy sneaks in the darkness for an ambush.

“I’ve always thought this, but the Sima Family’s martial arts are all dirty and petty. It shows the founder’s personality.”

“……”

Well, even as an ancestor, it’s hard to say Sima Yi had a good personality.

“Evil Faction martial arts are all like that. Efficiency over enlightenment.”

Sima Family Head casually agrees.

Originally, lightning is something that falls from the sky. A symbol revered in Taoism.

Martial arts that actually control lightning are extremely rare, and currently, the Namgung Family’s Heavenly Thunder Energy is the only one.

Anyway, that’s not important right now.

Sima Family Head picks one of the cultists subdued by Gongpo’s screams and puts a knife to his neck.

“Talk. Who sent you?”

He doesn’t think these lowlifes could have accurately tracked his movement and ambushed him.

Someone must have given them information.

“W-will you spare me if I talk?”

As expected, the cultist stammers, ready to confess.

“I’ll spare you. But first…”

There’s one important test left before making a deal with Sima Family Head.

“Do you have family? Parents, siblings, spouse, children?”

The cultist, not understanding the unexpected question, shakes his head.

“…No.”

Thud-!

At the same time, Sima Family Head’s blade cuts his throat, and he falls dead.

“Negotiations failed. I don’t trust people without family.”

Those with nothing precious, nothing to protect, can turn at any moment.

They might give false information to cause confusion.

Since he knows there’s a mastermind, he can find out the rest himself.

He never intended to spare them from the moment they attacked.

“Finish them.”

At the master’s command, the Sima Family’s assassins finish off the subdued cultists one by one.

As the situation here is almost settled, due to the Blood Church’s disruption.

“…Is it okay not to go help Merchant Leader Poong?”

Worried about Poong Ran, who followed Poong Baek to the front where trouble broke out, Yeonghwa cautiously asks, but Sima Family Head is calm.

“Poong Baek will be fine. He’s the merchant leader now. He was originally from the Outer Martial World…”

Recalling when they first met, a faint smile forms on Sima Family Head’s lips.

Poong Baek often says Sima Family Head has changed a lot, but from Sima Family Head’s perspective, Poong Baek has changed a lot too.

“He’s a man who rose to the rank of General of the Fifth Grade in Goryeo with just his kicking skills.”

In Goryeo, military officers were soldiers who rose through merit in war or warriors directly appointed by the king.

…So, while they might not know much about systematic military strategy.

Each one is a human weapon.

“Sigh…”

A sigh escapes Sima Family Head’s lips as he looks at the cultists’ corpses.

When he had Iron Dog Unknown and Iron Peng Poong Baek by his side, no one dared to touch him.

But lately, he’s been neglecting the underworld, and all sorts of trash have been coming at him.

Instead of Poong Baek, who’s busy with merchant affairs, Jang Sam-pung, who inherited the name Iron Peng, is just fooling around, and there’s a lot to deal with.

“Why would someone like that… leave his hometown and be under a ruffian like you?”

Yeonghwa’s rude question. But no matter how you dress it up, Sima Family Head is a ruffian, so he answers readily.

“I heard his wife was a fairy? A Gandharva. He had to leave Goryeo when it was discovered.”

***

At the clearing in front of the carriage where the Blood Church’s attack took place.

Whirlwind Kick

Poong Baek finishes off the last cultist who tried to withstand his kick and counterattack by blowing his head off.

Then he immediately turns to check on his daughter, Poong Ran, who followed him.

“Ran! Are you okay? Are you hurt?!”

From a fierce warrior to a parent.

“…My back was cut, but only my clothes were torn, so I’m fine.”

At Poong Ran’s words, Poong Baek checks her back to make sure there are no wounds.

“Phew…”

A sigh of relief escapes.

Except for the cute wings under her shoulder blades, resembling her deceased mother, her back is clean and unharmed.