Book 11: Chapter 22: The Fury of the Warriors

The Luoyang Sword Family.

The Institution's Headquarters.

Rumble the faint sound of bombardment heard from afar was continuing even at this moment.

'…Bombardment in the middle of Luoyang.'

The command warrior of the Institution glanced in the direction of downtown Luoyang.

'I wonder if the Eldest Young Master is alright…'

He was none other than Myeong, the command warrior of the Institution who had sent the report on the Institution's corruption to Yeon So-hyeon.

'Well.'

He chuckled, a sound like leaking wind escaping.

'This is no time for me to worry about the Eldest Young Master.'

Clang!

Before he knew it, he deflected the enemy's sword that had approached right in front of his nose using his heavy armor.

And.

Sword Heart, Sword Ring institution Style Variation using the impact obtained from the opponent's attack as it was, he spun his body once and thrust out his sword.

Countering Sword Stance.

It was an ideal counter-sword that anyone would have admired.

But.

Clang!

In almost the exact same manner as he had done, the opponent deflected the command warrior's sword with the shoulder area of the heavy armor.

In the same technique.

It could only be the exact same appearance.

Because.

"Are you pointing your swords at your brothers of the same Institution! Have you forgotten your oath?!"

He raised his voice from beneath the mask and visor of the Institution.

"You are currently betraying the Supreme Executive Council that you must protect with all you have, and you are betraying the Main Family!"

Because the opponent was also a warrior of the Institution, just like him. "……" "……"

Only the sound of low, steady breathing could be heard.

There was no answer from the opponents.

That, too, was a sight all too familiar to Command Warrior Myeong.

For that was the Institution's rules of engagement.

"The number of enemies is too high!"

A small number of personnel who sided with Command Warrior Myeong formed an Institution-style circular formation around him. "……"

And the enemies surrounded them in a larger circular formation.

"These crazy bastards…!"

Heavy armor shoulder pressed against heavy armor shoulder, and one's back was protected by a brother's back.

If it were normal.

It would have been an endlessly reassuring and heart-swelling moment.

Since those they were confronting were also their brothers.

"The exit is right in front of our noses…"

"It seems escaping is out of the question."

The enemies were already practically completely blockading the exit of the Institution's headquarters.

"Brothers!"

A warrior following Command Warrior Myeong shouted as if coughing up blood.

"True courage is being able to boldly disobey a wrong command! Do you brothers not know that as well?!"

However, the warriors of the Institution pointing their swords at him remained silent as ever.

"…They have no intention of listening. Those bastards are already beyond saving."

Command Warrior Myeong shook his head while keeping his eyes fixed on the enemies who were multiplying all around.

"They are not following because it is a command from above, but because they lined up with the corrupt superiors for their own benefit."

"Such a thing…?!"

That was something the minority of Institution warriors following Command Warrior Myeong were also already feeling.

It was a fact too difficult to easily admit.

"…There were too many command warriors who retreated their own warriors, claiming to maintain neutrality."

In the chaotic situation of a civil war.

Rather than intervening, many in the Institution chose to take a step back immediately.

"Damn it. If only they had helped us—!"

"Oops."

The gazes of Command Warrior Myeong and the Institution warriors following him focused on the opponent who revealed himself with an exaggerated voice.

"This side hasn't been completely cleaned up yet."

The one who appeared was one of the Institution's commander warriors, a much higher superior and senior than Myeong.

"My apologies. The enemies' resistance was too fierce…"

The commander warrior shook his head.

"It's fine, it's fine. There is no need to rush so much."

A leisurely tone.

"It's almost over anyway."

The opponent already seemed confident of their victory.

"…Just how many brothers have you killed?"

Command Warrior Myeong's gaze was directed toward the sword he was holding.

Since bright red blood was still dripping from the commander warrior's sword even now.

"Brothers?"

He feigned ignorance, acting as if he did not understand what that meant.

"Stupid fools who do not know the great cause, nor what is truly for the sake of this Institution, have never been my brothers."

"Great cause?!"

Grinding sounds of teeth clenching flowed not only from Myeong's mouth but also from the mouths of the warriors following him.

"What kind of great cause is privatizing the Institution and turning it into a power group?!"

"Another fool is here."

At the shout of an Institution warrior, the commander warrior clicked his tongue in a manner as if looking at a pitiful thing.

"Do you not know the saying, 'A true warrior must be able to wield the power they possess'?"

The commander warrior swung his sword, splashing blood on the ground.

"Our Institution. Despite having such immense power, has never once wielded it properly."

"What on earth does that…?!"

To take the golden rule of the Sword Family regarding the martial arts of warriors.

And distort it by applying it to the pursuit of private power, the commander warrior's words left the warriors speechless.

"Even if that is so, was there a need to make such a despicable surprise attack?"

"Despicable surprise attack?"

At Command Warrior Myeong's words, the commander warrior shrugged.

"Who was the one who requested help from the Supreme Executive Council and prepared a despicable surprise attack first?" "……!"

Myeong's complexion stiffened.

Since it was hidden under the mask, the opponent could not read his face as it was, but.

"Yes. You were first."

The commander warrior, who had spent his entire life in the Institution, sneered as if seeing right through Myeong's mask.

"And your older brother was just as stupid."

He giggled and provoked him, but Myeong did not fall for it.

His cultivation was not so shallow that he would fall for a mere provocation.

"It was an operation conveyed only to those I was sure I could trust, yet it leaked…"

Just as Myeong said.

To help the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon and the Supreme Executive Council, he was carefully gathering like-minded comrades.

Yet, it seemed that story had somehow reached the ears of the enemies.

"It seems the Institution was rotten beyond my expectations. But I will ask one thing."

Myeong clicked his tongue and asked.

"Assuming you suppress all of us. Just how do you plan to clean this up?"

While inducing the opponent's words like that, he gave instructions to his subordinates.

[Thoroughly guard the direction you are in charge of. The enemies will push in with a surprise attack the moment they find a gap.] the circular formation constructed by the Institution's heavy armored warriors, who were the elite of the elite, was at a level that even warriors of the same Institution would find burdensome to break.

If it were not burdensome, the enemy would have long abandoned the act of provoking Myeong and rushed in.

[I will drag out time as much as possible. If battle begins, you guys must also hold out as much as possible. Reinforcements will surely come…!] the commander warrior laughed.

"How do we plan to clean it up?"

"Well, that's easy."

"Easy?"

"Once this is over, the report to the Supreme Executive Council will go up like this."

He raised his hand and pointed at Command Warrior Myeong and the Institution warriors following him.

"That we, upholding the noble will of Command Warrior Myeong and his older brother, the former Director of the Institution, fought against the corrupt elements within the Institution. And that we won." "……!"

"But that Command Warrior Myeong unfortunately died in action during the noble battle!"

He laughed as if he could not contain himself.

"You guys, who will die here today, will remain as the corrupt ones of the Institution."

The commander warrior pointed his raised finger back at themselves.

"And we will become the heroes who fought against you corrupt ones and protected the Institution!"

It meant they would swap the corrupt faction and the reform faction by taking advantage of the closed nature of the organization that was the Institution.

"Do you think such a loopholed, hastily made plan will work properly?!"

Myeong shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I have already submitted the list! No matter how much you cover it up and distort it, someone will eventually uncover the truth!"

"There is no need for a fellow like you to worry about that…"

That was because, if the Second Young Master crushed the entire force of the Eldest Young Master.

And thus the reform forces within the Luoyang Sword Family clustering around the Eldest Young Master collapsed.

Whether it had loopholes or was hastily made.

The plan was bound to work.

"At this point."

The commander warrior of the Institution chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

"No matter how much you drag out time, you must have realized by now that no reinforcements will come, right?" "……!"

At those words.

The complexions of the Institution warriors surrounding Myeong turned dark.

"Let's end this now."

Just as Myeong had dragged out time, the commander warrior of the Institution had also bought time in the same way.

"Commander, as you ordered, we have gathered as many troops as possible."

The front yard of the Institution's headquarters was now packed with an overwhelming number of enemies.

"Good. Kill them all."

As the commander warrior of the Institution raised his sword, the Institution warriors surrounding Myeong and his subordinates began to tighten the siege all at once.

"How absurd."

The commander warrior giggled and laughed.

"How does the Supreme Executive Council, whose eyes and ears are already blocked and hands and feet cut off, plan to send what troops?"

"How would they send them?"

The answer came from behind him.

"By sending them like this." "……?!"

As the commander warrior quickly turned his head, he saw the figure of a single person standing atop the main gate of the Institution's headquarters.

"Who is it?!"

"…This is the problem when you rest for too long."

Sighing, that person revealed himself in the light of the bonfire illuminating the front yard.

"Whether it's these bastards or those bastards, none of them can even recognize my face properly."

Short-cut hair.

A middle-aged man with a frighteningly fierce impression, appearing to be in his fifties.

He wrapped his sturdy body in a uniform.

There was no way the commander warrior of the Institution would fail to recognize the appearance of that characteristic uniform.

"…The Special Task Force directly under the Elders' Hall?"

The middle-aged man wearing the Special Task Force uniform sighed.

"As expected, it is the uniform they recognize, not me."

As soon as he finished speaking, swords were drawn from his sides and back.

Form, Sensation, Perception, Formation, Consciousness.

Even after seeing the five swords freely roaming the empty space while letting slip their names.

"Telekinetic Sword Control?!"

There was no one in the Sword Family who failed to realize his identity.

"It's the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword…!"

"The most ferocious sword of the Sword Family…!"

Astonished voices burst from the Institution warriors who made up the siege.

"That man is the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword who was called the Blood God Archdemon?!"

"The Nightmare of Jiangnan…!"

"I definitely heard he was dead?!"

To the extent that the warriors of the Institution, who strictly maintained silence during combat operations, could not help but shout so.

The name of Life-Snatching Ghost Sword was like a legend within the Sword Family.

"Yes. You recognize me at last."

Showing a satisfied smile, Life-Snatching Ghost Sword lightly moved his feet and descended to the front yard.

"…So it was Senior Life-Snatching Ghost Sword."

The commander warrior of the Institution raised his sword and asked Life-Snatching Ghost Sword.

"But what business does the Special Task Force directly under the Elders' Hall have with the Institution? By the Sword Family Code, the Elders' Hall cannot intervene in the affairs of the Main Family—" life-Snatching Ghost Sword cut off the commander warrior's words.

"I don't know such difficult things. What do I care?"

"A warrior of the Sword Family does what they are told…"

As he continued speaking, a smile filled with murderous intent and madness hung on his face.

"And kills when told to kill."

Indeed, a domineering momentum.

To the extent that the many Institution warriors who made up the siege flinched and trembled all at once.

"…Ha. They called you the Five-Sword Madman. It is truly a momentum worthy of your reputation."

However, the commander warrior did not back down despite that momentum.

"Even if Senior once shook the Four Seas with your name, what can you do all by yourself at the headquarters of the Institution?"

That statement was true.

For starters, the commander warrior himself was an expert who had crossed the wall.

And in the Institution's headquarters, which was not ashamed to be called the active-duty elite of the Sword Family, there were many such experts.

"All by yourself?"

Life-Snatching Ghost Sword sneered at the commander warrior.

"Do I look alone to your eyes, you bastard?"

Simultaneously with his words, figures began to reveal themselves one after another atop the walls of the Institution's headquarters.

"As for me."

They were all wearing the same uniform as Life-Snatching Ghost Sword.

"I hate trash like you guys the most in the world."

All of them, just like Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, had eyes burning with rage.

"While we were outside, losing eyeballs, fingers, and even limbs…"

Someone had lost both eyes.

Someone lacked a right hand.

Someone had an empty left ankle.

"While devoting ourselves to fight the enemies and raising the name of the Sword Family."

They were all people who, just like Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, had sacrificed themselves for the Sword Family.

"Inside, trash like you guys treat that name as if it were your own and try to wield it."

The Special Task Force directly under the Elders' Hall.

A group of warriors who had dedicated everything, devoting themselves to the Sword Family, and wishing to be used for the Sword Family until the very end.

"Even worse, you bastards who failed in protecting the Patriarch, which was the single most important mission…"

Their rage descended upon the Institution.

"You all die here today."