"A scream...?"
At Heuk Muguk's words about screams being heard outside, Lee Rin and Gu Janghu's eyes instantly chilled.
First, they quickly extended their ki sense beyond the black market.
In particular, Lee Rin closed her eyes and unfolded Seeking Light in the Darkness, detecting outward for over a hundred jang away.
Immediately, they began to sense auras filled with sharp murderous intent, like a pack of wolves, belonging to warriors of the martial world.
However...
"... It's not just one or two."
"I can feel them from all directions—east, west, south, and north. Let's go out and confirm their identities."
Lee Rin, Gu Janghu, and the four Guardians of the Northern Sea immediately dashed outside the black market.
And there, they were met with a shocking sight.
"What in the world..."
Warriors clad in red martial robes were densely covering the treetops of the forest.
Their numbers, darting and running across the trees with-nimble lightness skill, were overwhelming.
It was a dominating scene, as if a red ocean had submerged the entire forest.
"Don't tell me, it's the Blood Cult that the great hero warned us about...?"
As Lee Rin stood stunned, Han Soweol quickly shouted,
"Miss! It seems the Blood Cult is determined this time! Hurry, get inside the black market!"
At Han Soweol's cry, everyone came to their senses and hurried back into the underground black market inside Thousand Martial Pavilion.
Fighting such numbers in an open, spacious area would have been foolish.
It was wiser to block the entrance to the black market and fight there.
That way, even a small force could stand against many enemies.
But, unfortunately, even that would not be so easy.
"Khkhkh. Where do you think you're scheming so cleverly?!"
At the entrance to the stairs leading from Thousand Martial Pavilion to the underground black market—
Seven elderly men in red robes rushed in at astonishing speed.
'Amazing movement skill...!'
'They're clearly elders who have reached the peak realm!'
Lee Rin, Gu Janghu, and the Guardians of the Northern Sea, standing at the top of the stairs, tensed as they watched the seven elders approach.
The seven elders, grinning eerily, introduced themselves.
"Khkhkhkh. Are you the Hao Sect lot who supposedly defeated our cult's agents?"
"Your skills are impressive, indeed."
"We are the elders of the Blood Cult, of the Red Blood Hall—the Seven-Blood Elders."
The Blood Cult elders let out bizarre laughter as they spoke.
At these words, Lee Rin grew more tense, as well as suspicious.
'Even the Blood Cult elders are stepping out themselves... But how do they know we're from the Hao Sect? Could there be a traitor inside the Hao Sect...?'
But she had no time to pursue the doubt.
At that moment, the Blood Cult elders unleashed their enhanced energy and charged all at once.
"Let's see the skills of the young lady first!"
The Blood Cult elders' first target was Lee Rin.
In front of her, her nursemaid Han Soweol quickly stepped in to block them.
"Protect the young miss!"
Han Soweol shouted as she unleashed a sword aura imbued with cold energy.
Behind her, three of the Northern Sea Guardians followed.
KAKAKAKAKANG!!!
With a harsh clash of steel, the first collision erupted.
But, chaaak! The side forced back was the Guardians of the Northern Sea.
"Nursemaid!"
Lee Rin quickly supported them by unfolding her Ice Lord Asura Sword Art.
Gu Janghu, too, threw hidden weapons, aiming for gaps among the Blood Cult elders.
Both were supreme experts, their skills on par with the Blood Cult elders.
However, with their opponents numbering seven, they were gradually being pushed back.
Eventually, the entrance was breached.
And immediately,
"Waaaah!!!"
As the entrance was broken through, the Blood Cult's elite swept in like a red tide.
Their numbers were staggeringly over several hundred.
"An enemy!"
"But where did so many come from?!"
A hundred Tianxia Association agents, gathered inside the black market at Jaseong's command, were left dumbfounded.
Though they hastily drew their weapons, they were nowhere near a match for the warriors of the Blood Cult.
"Blood Demon Blood Hand Sword Art, move Three—Blood River Frenzy!!"
Chuak! Chuaaak! Chuaaaak!!
"Kuaaagh!"
"Keheuk!"
"Aagh, my arm!"
Just as Gal Seo-ryeong had predicted, most of the Blood Cult elite were at the 2nd-rate level.
Yet even at that level, it was more than enough to completely overwhelm the Tianxia Association agents.
Moreover, the difference in numbers was simply massive.
The Tianxia Association agents had no chance and were swept away.
'The situation is absolutely disadvantageous... Even if Jaseong comes, it'll be impossible to stop this many... But what are those warriors doing?'
At some point, the Blood Cult elite began to act strangely.
Instead of finishing off the subdued agents, they merely blocked their acupuncture points and left them alive.
They did the same to the black market merchants and the civilians—only sealing their acupoints so they couldn't move.
At a glance, it seemed as if the Blood Cult was showing mercy to the defeated, which was uncharacteristic for a cult notoriously deemed the most deranged in the Central Plains.
But in the next instant—
Pshuk! Pshuk! Pshuk! Pshuk! Pshuk!
The Blood Cult's sorcerers appeared, and their sorcery began.
They stabbed long, mysterious needles into the fallen agents and civilians.
As the needles pierced them, the victims' eyes rolled white, their bodies convulsed, then went limp.
A red talisman was then affixed to their foreheads.
"Move quickly! The Blood Sacrifice Grand Art works best on the night of the red full moon!"
A mysterious statement from a Blood Cult elder.
But anyone could see that the Blood Cult was preparing some bizarre sorcery.
'Whatever they're planning, we have to stop it!'
Lee Rin leapt from one black market stall to another, dashing toward the sorcerers.
However, the Blood Cult elders shielded the sorcerers, preventing Lee Rin's sword from reaching them.
The same was true for Gu Janghu and the Guardians—no matter how much they moved over the stalls to target the sorcerers, they were repeatedly blocked by the elders.
At that moment—
[White horned mask. Release us. Then we'll lend a hand.]
Heuk Muguk sent a telepathic message to Lee Rin from inside the iron cage.
Naturally, Lee Rin couldn't readily follow his suggestion.
He'd been an enemy only the day before—now he was offering to help?
How could she trust that?
[Or do you wish for annihilation by foolishly hesitating?]
Heuk Muguk sent another telepathic message.
In fact, he wasn't wrong.
If this kept up, Lee Rin's group would be wiped out.
"Tch...!"
At last, Lee Rin, seeing no other way, dashed to the cage.
She snapped the lock with a clang, hurried inside, and broke Heuk Muguk's chains.
"How dare you!"
Just then, a Blood Cult elder followed and swung a blade charged with enhanced energy at Lee Rin.
Lee Rin whirled to defend herself in haste.
But at that instant—
PUH-EOOK!!
Heuk Muguk dashed over like lightning and kicked the Blood Cult elder in the abdomen.
"Keheuk!"
Groaning, the Blood Cult elder was sent flying backwards.
Truly living up to his reputation as a would-be overlord of the unorthodox faction, Heuk Muguk's martial arts were outstanding.
'... For great hero Jaseong to have subdued such a man in an instant...'
As Lee Rin mumbled to herself, Heuk Muguk quickly picked up a sword from the ground and barked,
"Don't just dawdle! Hurry and unlock Kang Ryong's and Dokgo Yeon's chains! No, all of us experts from the three unorthodox sects!"
With that, Heuk Muguk plunged into battle with the Blood Cult elder before him.
Taking that opportunity, Lee Rin dashed to Kang Ryong and Dokgo Yeon.
"Khkh. Things are getting exciting. Release me now. I'll kill even more Blood Cult dogs than Heuk Muguk will."
True to his battle-maniac nature, Kang Ryong spoke with eyes glittering with madness.
"My Thousand Snake Formation is the optimal weapon to deal with that many Blood Cultists. But you'd better not expect to use me for free."
Even in this situation, Dokgo Yeon sought her own benefit.
Lee Rin released all of them from their cages.
Not only that, she freed all the Black Star Sect, Poison Valley, and Twin Dragon Clan experts who had been imprisoned in other cages as well.
As a result, the one-sided battle began to reverse.
"You filthy dogs of the Blood Cult! How dare you raise your swords against us!"
The might of Heuk Muguk and Kang Ryong was beyond words.
As those vying for the title of overlord of the unorthodox, they displayed overwhelming martial power even against the elders of the Blood Cult.
The swordsmen of the Black Star Sect, the martial artists of the Twin Dragon Clan, and the Guardians of Poison Valley were the same.
Being elite experts selected by their sects, most were first-rate, capable of facing ten Blood Cult warriors at once.
Above all, Dokgo Yeon's Thousand Snake Formation exerted tremendous power.
HWI-III―
At the sound of Dokgo Yeon's flute, a thousand venomous snakes emerged.
From between the cracks in the black market walls, under the stalls, near the entrance—everywhere.
Unobtrusively, they bit the Blood Cult warriors' ankles with venomous fangs, injecting poison.
"Keok?! M-my body's not moving!"
"These damned sorcerous snakes!"
One by one, Blood Cult warriors bitten by the snakes collapsed from poisoning.
At this point, it almost seemed as if Lee Rin's group could overturn the crisis.
But—
"... No matter how many I cut, it's endless. The Blood Cult keeps pouring into this black market."
"How many of you dogs are there, Blood Cult!"
After nearly a shijin of intense fighting, Lee Rin's group was once again forced onto the defensive.
Just as Blood Cult leader Chu Hyul-gwang stated before, two thousand Blood Cult elites had been deployed to this black market.
So no matter how many they cut down, enemy reinforcements continued to pour in.
In contrast, there were only about thirty experts from Black Star Sect, Poison Valley, and Twin Dragon Clan.
Even counting Lee Rin's group, their forces didn't reach forty.
As the situation grew more dire, Dokgo Yeon quickly shouted to Lee Rin,
"Give me my Ten-Thousand Death Soul Powder, quickly!"
"Ten-Thousand Death Soul Powder? What's that?!"
"The gourd bottle you froze!"
"It's not here!"
"What?!"
Dokgo Yeon's face twisted in despair.
* * *
At that moment.
Jaseong, having met Gun Hanmaek at a secret Tianxia Association branch, was now making his way back to the black market.
'I used Gun Hanmaek to summon all Tianxia Association agents here. If I just wait a bit, more reinforcements will gather at Thousand Martial Pavilion.'
But as Jaseong raced through the woods, leaping from branch to branch, his movement skill suddenly paused.
CHUK—
He had spotted bloodstains scattered here and there.
Blood spattered on leaves, on the dirt, and on tree trunks, all bright red.
'This...?'
Jaseong's expression hardened.
Judging by the amount, a large-scale battle had occurred.
Furthermore, the tracks all led toward the black market.
'Can it be...?'
With an ominous feeling, Jaseong activated Seeking Light in the Darkness.
SWAAA―
His energy spread out like thin threads a hundred jang away.
Right then, Jaseong's face stiffened.
He had sensed the vicious energy of Blood Cult warriors attacking Thousand Martial Pavilion's black market.
'Lee Rin, Gu Janghu...!'
Jaseong immediately used the Shadowless Body Technique at full power, flying toward the black market.
Finally arriving, he saw a devastating scene.
Countless Blood Cult warriors swarmed around Thousand Martial Pavilion.
The red tide of their ranks easily numbered a thousand.
And beneath their feet spread an even more horrific sight.
People captured from the black market were laid out in rows.
Long needles were driven into their napes, red talismans stuck onto their foreheads, trapping their souls.
Around them, the Blood Cult sorcerers stood in formation, chanting eerie incantations.
"Blood Killing Heaven Soul, ten-Thousand Ghost Summoning...."
"Life Soul Escape, blood Sacrifice Rebirth...."
Under the moonlight, these evil incantations sent vile tremors through the air.
It was the nightmare of ancient martial arts—the summoning of jiangshi.
Under the red full moon, the scene resembled a hellish landscape.
What was Jaseong to do now?
Facing a thousand Blood Cult warriors was too much for one man.
It would be utterly impossible for him alone to defeat so many.
However...
—Sob! Thank you so much! I will never forget this favor my whole life!
—Jinlyeong! We can go home now! Back to our hometown!
Jaseong spotted those who had become sacrifices to the Blood Sacrifice Grand Art.
Among them were civilians who, after being sold as slaves to the black market, had been rescued by him.
Seeing them, Jaseong's old memories surged forth—
The people of the Red Light District who helplessly died in a bloodbath wrought by martial artists, and even the final moments of his eldest brother and sister-in-law.
The instant he recalled those memories, his hand reached for his sword hilt.
'... There is no other way.'
Jaseong drew his sword.
Not his broken elder brother's blade, but the Wicked Flame Sword—the Evil Path Association Leader's Seal.
Srrrrng!
The black blade of the Wicked Flame Sword gleamed coldly under the red moon.
Advancing with the sword in hand, countless thoughts ran through Jaseong's mind.
'If I delay any longer, the civilians before my eyes will all become sacrifices to the Blood Cult's sorcery. The comrades fighting inside the black market will become sacrifices too.'
STEP STEP—
'Above all, the seventh Heaven's Mandate: Salvation. It was a call to save people by blocking the Blood Cult's sorcery.'
STEP STEP—
'So, let's wipe out every Blood Cult bastard in front of me. Even if I must burn my own vital energy.'