Chapter 616. Face to Face (1)

“Huh. They sure did a number on these folks...” Lee Hyeon-Su quietly muttered while looking at the downed defenders.

He wasn't directly following Kang Jin-Ho. That was because his level of strength would only get in the way... At least, that was according to Kang Jin-Ho's assessment.

Although that hurt Lee Hyeon-Su's pride, he had no choice but to acknowledge his shortcomings. After all, he was never a frontline combatant, to begin with.

'That's why I asked him to teach me demonic cultivation, too...'

Kang Jin-Ho seemingly said yes but showed no signs of wanting to teach Lee Hyeon-Su until now. So, Lee Hyeon-Su tried to sneakily join the 'Demon Flames' in their training, but that damn Yi Myeong-Hwan thoroughly ignored him!

Lee Hyeon-Su could understand why, though. He knew that they weren't doing this out of malicious intentions or negative emotions. Nor did Kang Jin-Ho not want to teach Lee Hyeon-Su demonic cultivation methods.

All those mastering demonic arts became violent and short-tempered. However, Lee Hyeon-Su's role meant he must never have a short fuse. Countless lives depended on him to maintain level-headedness, after all!

If he failed to stay calm and cook up a rational, logical plan of action, more people than necessary could die. And who would have to shoulder the consequences of those lives? Him, obviously!

That was why Lee Hyeon-Su knew he couldn't train in demonic arts until the situation in the Martial Assembly had stabilized. The problem with that was...

'Just when will things become stable, though?!'

Never mind stability, putting out the current fires alone was draining so much energy out of Lee Hyeon-Su & Co.! Besides, judging from Kang Jin-Ho's personality that Lee Hyeon-Su had analyzed so far... Hoping for the Martial Assembly to become more stable and settled down was a pipe dream!

Without a doubt, Kang Jin-Ho would start something new if he thought things had settled down into a relaxed groove!

'Oh, well. I also prefer that, so...'

Lee Hyeon-Su was emphatically not a fan of repeats. Humans would feel motivated when there was something new to look forward to, after all! The debut release of this chapter happened at N0v3l_B1n.

Also, Lee Hyeon-Su had a strong gut feeling that stability would not decrease his workload. Like, none at all! He was basically doing the work meant for ten people all by himself at the moment. That was because both Kang Jin-Ho and Bang Jin-Hun were absolute dummies in the administrative side of things.

With things so busy as-is, Lee Hyeon-Su would be tempted to say no if Kang Jin-Ho did offer to personally teach him demonic arts. He was already experiencing a torrid time fighting against mountains of documents and reports, so where would he find extra time and mental leeway to battle demonic arts on top of that, too?!

Not only that, but...!

“Nope, I don't want to learn anymore,” said Lee Hyeon-Su while slowly shaking his head. His reaction was understandable since he was staring at the grisly aftermath spread out before his eyes!

Just this devastation alone was enough for him to guess how brutal and inhumane demonic cultivators were. Lee Hyeon-Su didn't think he'd be able to recreate such a scene even if his target was nothing more than a human-sized doll. Such were the states of the victims that Lee Hyeon-Su thought the demonic cultivators were deliberately trying to make a statement tonight.

“And it wasn't this bad down the mountain, too...”

The battlefield in the middle of the mountainside that Lee Hyeon-Su walked past earlier wasn't this bad. Yes, the defenders collapsed down there suffered from serious injuries, but their state wasn't wretched enough for Lee Hyeon-Su to frown deeply like this.

“They sure made a mess of these people, huh...”

Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't find anyone not suffering from fractures or broken bones. What puzzled him, though, was the apparent lack of casualties. It looked like the number of the dead had decreased compared to the battlefield at the middle point of the mountain. Half of them were dead down there, but here... Despite the grave nature of the injuries, Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't find that many dead people.

'...No, hang on. How many died isn't the most important thing to remember, now is it?'

Anyone capable of beating up their fellow living humans to this state could not be sane. Due to the unique quirk of his job, Lee Hyeon-Su could 'pride' in himself for experiencing all sorts of unsavory things this world had to offer, including torturing people with his own two hands. However, this part of the martial world was supposed to be different from his side, wasn't it?

Only weirdos and perverts might be inclined to mess their opponents up this badly during a battle.

“Urgh, I don't know anymore...” Lee Hyeon-Su helplessly shook his head. Since the number of casualties had decreased, did that mean those demonic cultivators had regained their sanity? Or did they go even crazier since the victims' injuries were clearly worse now? Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't make up his mind on this situation unless he could witness them in action personally.

Gong Yeong-Gil accompanying Lee Hyeon-Su asked a question while frowning deeply. “Did they... do all this, sir?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Son of a...” Gong Yeong-Gil grimaced in shock and slight disgust. As he hadn't received any proper training from Vator yet, Gong Yeong-Gil had no choice but to join the backup squad on standby. Then again, everyone who didn't join Kang Jin-Ho's training course had been relegated to the so-called backup squad, anyway.

It was only the 'backup' squad in name, of course. The more apt name should be more like 'corpse disposal' squad. If not, how about the 'emergency transfer service for the injured' squad?

“Wait, these guys...”

People Gong Yeong-Gil recognized were collapsed on the ground. Even if the number of martial artists in the Martial Assembly's hallways was as numerous as sand particles in a beach, Gong Yeong-Gil had called that place his home for the last twenty years. Obviously he knew who was who and could recognize people's faces.

A soft sigh leaked out of Gong Yeong-Gil's lips.

'They totally got overrun, huh...'

If this happened in the past, the ones getting overrun would've been Kang Jin-Ho's side. And one-sidedly, too.

Saying these people couldn't even put up a fight seemed apt at this point. In only around two months, the tables had turned completely. Now, the other side couldn't even come close to matching the power of Kang Jin-Ho's group.

'They got this strong so soon?'

Gong Yeong-Gil knew the martial artists getting personally 'tutored' by Kang Jin-Ho had gotten stronger. Just the atmosphere they oozed, their attitude, and all the demonic qi subtly leaking out of them informed Gong Yeong-Gil that he could never win against any of those guys in a fight. Even so, he didn't expect the gap to be this significant.

He genuinely thought he'd catch up to them one day by relentlessly running as fast as he could. However, it seemed he'd need to get on a supersonic plane if he wanted to catch up to the demonic cultivators at this point!

Allies improving their strength should be something to celebrate, but Gong Yeong-Gil didn't really feel like doing that. After groaning a little, he glanced around the scene and muttered weakly. “Doesn't look like anyone's injured...”

Lee Hyeon-Su cocked an eyebrow. “What are you on about? Can't you see all these injured people?”

“No, not them. I meant those guys. There aren't any stragglers from that group.”

“Huh? You mean the Demon Flames?”

“Eh? Demon Flames? What's that?”

Lee Hyeon-Su shrugged his shoulders. “That's what Mister Jin-Ho calls the cultivators under him.”

“...That dude has a bit of the eighth-grader syndrome in him, I think.”

“You think so, too?” Lee Hyeon-Su weightily nodded.

That 'Demon Flames' moniker was not Kang Jin-Ho's invention but a title people used back in Zhongyuan, but these two wouldn't know that. That was why they could nonchalantly toss around opinions that might stab Kang Jin-Ho painfully in the feels and make him smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in one sitting!

“In any case... None of them got left behind, sir. Do you think they are all in the main building?”

Lee Hyeon-Su contemplatively rubbed his chin. “Hmm... They can't be in a sane state of mind, so would they even look after their injured comrades?”

“T-then, that means none of them got injured while taking care of this place...” Gong Yeong-Gil grimaced again, then looked further ahead. He could see many martial artists collapsed here and there in a garden as large as a baseball stadium. 'Never mind getting injured... They totally wrecked these many people before moving on.'

The injuries he could see were so extensive and grave that he wasn't sure if these people would ever recover to full health. If normal people got hurt this badly, they wouldn't be worrying about recovery and whatnot since they would already be dead!

As these victims were martial artists, they were still alive, but... Gong Yeong-Gil grew worried that getting medical help might not be enough for them to return to their former selves.

“Excuse me, branch director...?” Gong Yeong-Gil cautiously raised his voice.

Lee Hyeon-Su glanced back. “Yeah?”

“Could they have done this deliberately? You know, to stop them from coming back for payback later?”

“Hmm...?” Lee Hyeon-Su scratched his cheek. “I think you're overthinking it a bit. Unlike how he looks on the outside, Mister Jin-Ho can be meticulous and cruel, but he's not the type to care about these random small fries, you know?”

These random small fries...? Gong Yeong-Gil couldn't hide the bitter expression on his face.

More than half of the martial artists collapsed on the ground should be way stronger than Gong Yeong-Gil. However, if they were random small fries... Then what was Gong Yeong-Gil?

“Branch Director Lee, sir?”

“What now?”

“Can I... become as strong as the Demon Flames?”

Lee Hyeon-Su turned his head at that question and looked straight at Gong Yeong-Gil.

Even the other members of the 'backup' squad silently and emotionlessly transferring the injured stopped what they were doing to look intently at Going Yeong-Gil and Lee Hyeon-Su.

What Gong Yeong-Gil had asked was something they all wanted to know the most.

Lee Hyeon-Su narrowed his eyes a little. “You're in Sir Vator's group, aren't you?”

“Yes, sir. But, uh... We only started learning the basics, you see...”

“But that's how every training starts,” said Lee Hyeon-Su while casually shrugging his shoulders. “Besides, your goal is to either become as strong as your master or him, right? That's why you're participating in the training, aren't you?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“In that case, I can give you only one answer. Even if that eighth-grader syndrome group called the Demon Flames or whatever shot themselves full of steroids, they still wouldn't even leave a nick in Sir Vator's skin.”

Gong Yeong-Gil's eyes powerfully quaked. “Seriously? Sir Vator is that powerful?”

“Yup. He fought evenly against Mister Jin-Ho at one point, too.” Lee Hyeon-Su coolly nodded. Although he did exaggerate that a bit, he wasn't technically lying here.

“Oh...!”

“Obviously, everyone's talent or training rate differs, so I can't give you a definitive answer on this topic. However, as far as aptitude is concerned, you might be on a better boat right now. It's just that you all got off the starting line later than those guys have. That's all."

“I see. Thank you, sir!” Gong Yeong-Gil deeply bowed to Lee Hyeon-Su.

However, Lee Hyeon-Su could only tut in his mind.

'This is why martial artists are a hopeless bunch...'

A normal person would be horrified and saddened by the sight of so many injured people. However, these dang martial artists didn't care about who was injured and whatnot and only focused on the strength required to pull this event off.

Even if martial artists loved fighting more than filling their tummies with good food and preferred a good cultivation manual over money... Wasn't this kind of behavior a bit too much? Especially in this situation?

'Well, it's not like I don't understand where they are coming from...'

Lee Hyeon-Su glanced back to the members of the backup squad still climbing up the mountain. The number of these martial artists was nothing to scoff at.

'...Because they were never meant to be the backup squad, after all.'

These people had been demoted to the so-called backup squad only because Kang Jin-Ho said he didn't need them. The original plan was to deploy all these folks as combatants. According to Lee Hyeon-Su's calculation, these many people were necessary to minimize serious injuries or avoid needless waste of combat forces while quelling the mutiny. But then...

The Demon Flames took care of everything on their own.

Lee Hyeon-Su obviously knew they received personal tutoring from Kang Jin-Ho. And their subject of learning was that demonic cultivation method Lee Hyeon-Su had translated into Korean.

Lee Hyeon-Su organized this combat force according to what he understood from the manual and the potential improvements in strength of the demonic cultivators. But their actual power had completely surpassed Lee Hyeon-Su's expectations by a wide margin!

'Demonic arts can be this terrifying, huh...'

As it turned out, demonic cultivation methods didn't just make the cultivators look like murderous psychopaths constantly leaking demonic qi. They had become too strong. Far too much, actually! So strong that without Kang Jin-Ho around, controlling them would be impossible!

'Well, if things go sideways and out of my hands... I should consider begging Sir Vator to step in.'

After all, a well-placed finger flick from Vator should be more than enough to bring back home any wayward sanity instantly!

“By the way, branch director?” Gong Yeong-Gil asked Lee Hyeon-Su again.

“What is it now?”

“Shouldn't we, you know, search for more hospital beds at this rate? I think there is only enough room for half of the injured here.”

“...Yeah, you're right.” Lee Hyeon-Su grimaced and roughly scratched his head.

Since he knew there would be lots of injured people tonight, he rented out several hospitals. The number of beds should've been sufficient since Lee Hyeon-Su made ample preparations just in case. But his new problem was that almost no one here got away with only light injuries. Practically everyone here was at death's doorstep, and the space in the ICU was extremely limited, after all!

Lee Hyeon-Su groaned loudly. “Urgh... I'll call around and find more hospitals. In the meantime, you take charge of calling more ambulances, okay? We can't possibly take all these people to hospitals in regular cars.”

“Understood, sir. I'll hire several more private ambulances.”

“Okay. I'll leave it to you,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

After leaving the command to Gong Yeong-Gil for the time being, Lee Hyeon-Su turned his attention back to the mansion. That was when...

“Kkuwaaaaahk?!”

One of the windows shattered, and a figure of a person was thrown outside.

“Urgh. Gimme a break...” Lee Hyeon-Su facepalmed in helplessness.

This whole event began under the justification of cleaning out all the bad apples stinking up the Martial Assembly. Even if that was the case, was there a need to 'clean out' a person, quite literally, like that!

'Welp. I guess Mister Jin-Ho's decision was right, after all.'

If Kang Jin-Ho hadn't phoned ahead and warned people to run away if they wanted to save their hides... Never mind finding more hospitals, Lee Hyeon-Su would've been busy setting up a field hospital here instead!

'What a relief that the other two locations have been taken care of without any issues...'

As expected of Vator and the former knight, Wiggins! Since the matter on this side was deemed more important, Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't assign too many people to the other two locations. So, he had no choice but to ask a lot from Vator and Wiggins. However, those two men dealt with the situations on their sides without suffering a single mishap. It seemed Lee Hyeon-Su's worries were all for nothing.

“Well, if the overseas forces had attacked us before Mister Jin-Ho joined our side, we would've been sitting ducks.”

Sure, Kang Jin-Ho was responsible for some of the 'friction' with the overseas forces, but his presence had undeniably strengthened the Martial Assembly. No one would argue against that. Also...

Lee Hyeon-Su fixed his glare at Lee Jung-Geol's private mansion.

Soon, the two men would come face to face with each other. The final step in washing away the Assembly's past to create something new was about to begin.