Book 10: Chapter 7: Greedy Wolf

The old town of Luoyang.

The rooftop of a building overlooking Tanryung District, one of the representative bustling streets of Luoyang.

The commander of Greedy Wolf, the former special mission unit of the Martial Alliance, was looking down at the bustling street.

Under the sunset, the street was as bright as day due to the colorful oil lanterns, and not a single shadow could be found on the faces of those coming and going on the street.

Whether the Second Young Master's side clashed with the Eldest Young Master.

Whether the Third Young Master's side collided with the Eldest Young Master.

Whether the Eldest Young Master, who returned after about ten years, stirred up all of Luoyang as if it were his own.

Whether the Luoyang Sword Family was thrown into an uproar due to the investigation of the Central Inspection Department.

The pedestrians looked indifferent.

[I report.] his subordinates gathered around him.

[As ordered, Squads One through Five are tracking the 'targets' through the underground waterways.] in any case, there were more things that could not be helped.

[Squads Six, Seven, and Eight have scattered and are continuing the search on the ground.] as masters of concealment and stealth, they blended into the shadows cast on the rooftop, and they were not even properly visible to the naked eye.

[They are people who might have that Eldest Young Master behind them. Tell them not to let down their guard just because they are wanderers playing hero.] they were the first to feel the lack of movement from the government office.

[Understood.] with a faint sound that was not even heard as it was buried in the street noise, the messenger revealed himself.

[This is a message from the Strategist Department.] it was they who were at the scene.

[Did they say the blockade of Luoyang failed?] it was not a difficult thing to guess.

[…Yes.] when one specialized in doing dirty work, knowing more only brought harm.

[I see.] he did not even ask for the reason.

[The Strategist Department has completely delegated control of the operation to the commander.] the subordinate in charge of the message bowed his head and carefully continued the report.

The subordinates who heard the telepathic message together clicked their tongues.

[If they were going to do that, they should have delegated it from the start.] his empty gaze directed toward the street.

[In the end, if this matter is ruined, they are saying they will hold us responsible.] the commander sent a brief telepathic message.

[Quiet.] the subordinates connected via telepathy immediately fell silent. […….] they were like well-trained hunting dogs.

[As always, we only need to move as ordered and achieve the mission.] the commander's gaze directed toward the messenger.

[What about additional support?] the messenger's head lowered even deeper.

[The Strategist Department has urgently reorganized the deployment of forces that were originally intended to help the government troops blockade Luoyang and ordered their movement, but…] because they were the ones who backed up others and cleaned up others' mistakes.

[By the time they arrive, the targets will have already escaped Luoyang.] […….] the commander nodded briefly.

[Nothing has changed.] his telepathic message, dry of any emotion, was transmitted to the surrounding subordinates.

[We only need to find and capture the targets.] there was no one to back them up, nor anyone to clean up their mistakes.

This city, with a population reaching millions, so vast that it was rare in history seemed to have no interest in a mere power struggle of human affairs.

However.

[To what level is the authorization for the use of force?] the commander answered briefly.

[Autonomy in judgment. If necessary, you may sever limbs or, in case of inevitability, kill.] taking advantage of the shadows, taking advantage of the darkness, in his gaze, which had reached a realm transcending boundaries, the moving figures of his subordinates were visible, even if faintly.

[…If the Eldest Young Master or his subordinates block us, how do we respond?] before they could even touch the light of the oil lanterns illuminating all directions, they vanished.

[I will personally deal with the Eldest Young Master.] the humans inside it were neither as vast nor as indifferent as the city that embraced them.

[Understood.] the squad directly under the commander's command, receiving his order, threw themselves down from the building.

“…….”

The commander's gaze directed toward their destination.

He saw a garden occupying a site so wide that it was hard to believe it was in the middle of Luoyang's bustling street.

A luxurious pavilion built in the middle of that garden.

Geumjanlu.

[The information has been updated.] the subordinate in charge of gathering information reported.

[The current owner of Geumjanlu, which was originally owned by the Lee family's merchant group, is unknown. The inn is currently closed, and the inn's staff are all on holiday.] the traces of some of the targets who escaped into the underground waterways started from Geumjanlu.

Tracking them was the task of other squad leaders, and his own role as the commander was separate.

When he reached the rooftop of the building located right in front of Geumjanlu, a report came in.

[All personnel deployment completed.] the report of the subordinate in charge of scouting followed.

[Ox-cart found in front of the Geumjanlu entrance. All shapes and characteristics match the information on the 'Ironclad Fortress'. The owner is Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.] was that confidence in his own skill?

[No activity is confirmed outside Geumjanlu.] the Eldest Young Master did not even hide his ox-cart.

Or was it the arrogance unique to teenagers?

It was time to check it personally.

The commander instructed briefly and firmly.

[Begin entry.]

* * *

The tightly closed main gate of the Geumjanlu pavilion was smashed by a single hand strike of martial arts modified for special purposes.

[Enter! Enter!] at the same time as those who were waiting leaning against the wall slipped inside without a trace, those who had been waiting at the main windows on the roofs of each floor also broke the windows and entered inside.

[I am also entering.] entering from the ceiling hollowed in the shape of the character ' was enough with just the commander alone.

He fell.

Neither lightfoot technique nor movement technique was needed.

The superhuman body of the one who transcended boundaries dropped onto the dining hall floor.

The dining table on which his body landed was smashed, and the table utensils and food that had been left there scattered into the air.

“…….”

And before those utensils could fall to the floor and break his sharp gaze captured the boy sitting leaning against the second-floor railing.

The boy was leisurely chewing fruit while being served by a woman who looked as if a fairy had descended.

“Hey.”

The boy glanced at him and said.

“I will make the Third Young Master's side pay for all the property damage that occurred, so be prepared.”

The hunting dogs of Greedy Wolf, who had charged in through the main gate and windows, revealed themselves one after another.

[Fourth floor, corridor all clear. Checking individual guest rooms.] or had he already achieved the subtlety of Returning to Simplicity at that age?

[Third floor, corridor all clear. Banquet hall discovered, entering.] was the rumor exaggerated?

[Second floor, identity verification of the Eldest Young Master and the head maid of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment completed. Conducting additional search.] the kind of realm heard of in rumors was not felt at all.

[Searching the first floor.] amidst the confusing telepathic messages coming in, the commander looked at Yeon So-hyeon.

“Eldest Young Master.”

His deputy stepped forward.

“Cooperate obediently. Otherwise—”

Boom!

In an instant, an explosive sound like a falling cannonball erupted from the hand the commander thrust out.

“……!”

His deputy realized late that if it had not been for the commander's arm blocking in front of his head, his skull would have been blown away.

“…….”

They could smell a sweet and sour scent spreading around.

'…It was the latter.'

That Eldest Young Master must have already realized the subtlety of Returning to Simplicity.

Because the thing that struck his own hand, the commander's hand, to the point of tingling was the apple Yeon So-hyeon was chewing.

[You take charge of the command on-site.]

[…Understood.] the deputy, who grasped with that single move that he was absolutely no match for the Eldest Young Master, retreated quietly.

Boom!

The commander's hand flashed once again.

This time it was not even fruit.

Yeon So-hyeon's Hundred-Step Divine Fist had targeted the retreating deputy's head.

Boom!

This time, it was the Finger-Flicking Divine Art.

The deputy threw himself and hid behind a large stone pillar.

“……!”

The cold sweat dripping from his forehead fell onto the marble floor.

“We have fully grasped that the Eldest Young Master enjoys using Shaolin's martial arts.”

Meeting the commander's emotionless eyes, Yeon So-hyeon twitched his eyebrows and opened his mouth.

“Kill him.”

“Loyalty.”

His head maid, Jeong-ah, who bowed her head to him, threw herself below the railing.

The commander's thick eyebrows also twitched.

[Survive on your own capability.] it was the price of carelessly running his mouth to the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family.

[U-Understood…!] although Jeong-ah unfolded her movement technique and agilely passed by the commander's side, he could not carelessly intervene.

'If I show my back, I will be hit.'

In front of Yeon So-hyeon's gaze.

Because he was feeling as if he were exposed bare-bodied in front of the aim of a fortress cannon.

“Without a single word of conversation.”

His lips parted.

“No matter how much the opponent committed discourtesy, your actions are excessive, Eldest Young Master.”

Behind his bleak voice, the metallic sound of his deputy parrying Jeong-ah's sword echoed loudly.

“We will withdraw once we receive the targets we are chasing.”

“Conversation?”

Yeon So-hyeon's lips twisted.

“Just because a dog knows how to babble human words does not make it a human.”

The commander's lips also twisted.

However, it was different from the sneer created by Yeon So-hyeon's twisted lips.

It was boiling killing intent showing through his thick skin as an expression.

“…Hunting dogs sometimes bite humans, Eldest Young Master.”

His hand crept toward the long saber slung on his back, his fingers twitching.

“Dogs do not recognize status in the human world.”

Yeon So-hyeon relaxed his posture from leaning his back and lowered his feet below the railing.

The sneer hanging on the corner of his mouth grew deeper.

“Even if it cannot recognize status, a dog that does not recognize its master must be killed.”

Although the commander's mind was stretched to the limit like a drawn bow, his body relaxed in contrast.

Natural body stance.

It was a method worthy of a master who transcended boundaries.

“Eldest Young Master. You are not my master.”

As the commander's hand drew closer to his long saber, internal energy also flowed into Yeon So-hyeon's hand holding the railing.

“No.”

Yeon So-hyeon said.

His arrogant gaze, carrying infinite self-confidence, looked down at the commander.

“I am the destined master of the Sword Family.”

What a grand declaration.

At those words, in an instant the commander of Greedy Wolf almost accepted Yeon So-hyeon's words.

“…….”

He held the hilt of the long saber and twisting his grip on it, he thought.

'Is this the first son of that Sword Lord?'

The Swordless One.

The sharp qi flowing from the entire body of the teenage boy, who did not even have a sword resembled a famous sword renowned under heaven.

It was to the extent of giving goosebumps.

“…….”

“…….”

The short moment when Yeon So-hyeon's and his gazes clashed in midair and sparks flew.

Boom

As the fourth-floor railing broke, a member of Greedy Wolf wearing night clothes flew through the air.

[Ambush!] it was the member who was searching the fourth floor.

[It's an enemy ambush!] almost simultaneously with that, those who were searching each floor were ambushed.

Those who revealed themselves while ambushing Greedy Wolf were people wearing colorful masks.

Those who remained, except for those who were escaping outside Luoyang through the underground waterways because they were wanted.

“Hahaha!”

The Spring of Luoyang.

The heroes who had been hiding launched an ambush at the most appropriate moment.

“Ugh…!”

The one falling through the fourth-floor railing gathered his senses in midair and corrected his posture.

And the moment he landed on the first-floor floor.

“……!”

He realized that he stood on the line of fire right before discharge.

And that his landing would be the signal flare for the clash between the Greedy Wolf commander and the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon, those with martial arts of a level he dared not estimate.