The Ruler of Darkness

“Hey, seriously, can’t you just quit it?”

The gang leader was not in the mood to deal with more trouble. Even just by her clothes and appearance, it was clear that she was from an affluent family, but she had no intention of listening to reason.

“F*ck this.”

Eventually, his patience wore thin.

“Your warning ends here, b*tch.”

At his gesture, one of his henchmen sprang forth. Crouching low and fast, his speed seemed even more incredible. He expected to take a hit or two from her broom, but he planned to subdue her in one fell swoop.

‘Got her……!’

Jung-ah sidestepped, evading the man’s charge.

Had she moved a bit sooner, he could have adjusted his trajectory, and had she moved a bit later, she would have been caught outright.

The end of the broom she was holding had precisely pierced his solar plexus and then swiftly withdrawn. Jung-ah, who had held up her broom, swiftly struck it down onto his throat, knocking him unconscious. If it had been a sword, she would have pierced his heart or severed his neck—her stance was frighteningly accurate.

Only then did the expressions of the men change.

“She’s not just some b*tch! Show her no mercy!”

Men from both sides of Jung-ah lunged at her. She naturally stepped back, reducing the angle at which both men could attack her at once.

“Ugh!”

The punch of the man who lunged first grazed past her face. The following fist also just missed the tip of her nose. In between, the handle of her broom, suddenly shooting up from below, smashed into the man’s lower jaw.

“Kukh!”

The second man rushed in during that moment, but Jung-ah had already stepped back to create some distance.

“Damn it!”

Frustrated by her maintaining the gap, he changed his tactic. He wildly swung his hands, trying to grab her fluttering clothes. If he could grab hold of anything, he could restrict her movements. But no matter how much he tried to grasp, her clothes fluttered out of his reach just in time.

‘What kind of nonsense is this…?’

Just like the previous man’s attacks all missing, his attempts to grab her clothes only hit empty air. She wasn’t moving at an unimaginable speed like a martial artist, yet all his attacks were missing. How could this be?

“Urgh…!”

The man, who was rushing in recklessly, tripped over his unconscious colleague and fell.

‘How did she…?’

She had clearly been stepping back with him in front of her. Her eyes were focused on him, so how did she avoid his unconscious colleague while backpedalling? His head filled with confusion as a broomstick came flying into the back of his head.

“……Amazing.”

An involuntary admiration flowed from the mouth of Se-ah, who was blankly staring at the spectacle. No matter that their opponents were barehanded and only had a broom, they were no ordinary people.

Although they had not learned the ‘martial arts’ which require internal energy, these men were still the elites of the Black Bone Faction who had honed their ‘martial skills’.

As indicated by the dozens of skull tattoos, weren’t these men who had harmed dozens of people, accumulating experience and proving their skills?

“……Crazy.”

There was nothing more he could do now. The remaining leader took out a blue-edged dagger from his bosom.

“Girl. You brought this upon yourself.”

A regular person would have seen just the flash of the blade. 

But Jung-ah’s ‘eyes’ saw the blade precisely. Not just the blade, but the grain of the blade, the leather on the handle worn from use, the dirty nails uncleaned with black dirt, even the dirty pores from not washing well,

Everything was visible to her.

When she quickly brought the broomstick up to block his path, the dagger sparked and bounced off.

The second strike came in quickly.

Even though she could see everything, there was no way she could dodge all of his continuous strikes with a body lacking internal energy. But she was listening to his breath and could feel his muscles moving.

Her heightened senses made the impossible possible.

It was exhilarating.

Jung-ah realised that she was smiling without knowing it.

Seeing her smile, the eyes of the leader flipped.

“You wretched……!”

A strike that completely disrupted his breathing. Jung-ah, who had been on the defensive until then, took advantage of the brief moment when he was speaking and broke into his defense. The man who got hit in the pit of his stomach by the broomstick flipped his eyes and fell backwards.

It was a perfect thrust, both psychologically and physically.

“Heh, heh.”

Jung-ah, breathing heavily, propped herself up with her broomstick. Drops of sweat rolled down her face and fell to the ground. There was nothing she could do about her physical limits.

“Jung-ah!”

Se-ah, who hurriedly ran over, supported Jung-ah. In her sister’s arms, Jung-ah caught her breath and shook her head.

“Sister, this is, exhausting.”

Se-ah let out a hollow laugh. “I mean, did you learn swordsmanship at the house?”

Jung-ah shook her head.

“No.”

“Then?”

Jung-ah faintly smiled.

“I just ‘saw’ it over my shoulder while coming and going.”

Se-ah could not understand what that meant.

“Jung-ah, what does that mean…”

Then Jung-ah straightened up, freeing herself from her support.

“Are we still far from the corner?”

“Not yet.”

Jung-ah frowned, looking towards the entrance.

“It’s too much for me this time.”

Just then, the door opened wide, and Se-ah’s servant, who had reported earlier, rolled in all bloodied.

“Ma, Madam, run…!”

The echoing laughter of a woman came from the corridor. The piercing volume clearly indicated that the woman was a martial artist with internal energy.

“So boring. Where has everyone gone that there are only such pitiful bugs left?”

Se-ah knew that voice.

“…Geumju.”

The one who strode in through the open door was a beauty, dressed in flamboyant clothes and heavy makeup. The woman’s clothes were all bright red, and even the color makeup on her face was all red, making her impression incredibly intense.

And behind her, three individuals with various appearances revealed themselves, all fully armed.

All three of them, seemingly covered with black skull tattoos even on their faces, were undoubtedly martial artists.

And the corridor was filled with the ordinary members of the Black Bone faction.

“Oh, what’s this?”

Geumju, who had appeared in a good mood, looked down at her servants who were passed out on the floor.

And from the pieces of broomsticks Se-ah and Jung-ah were holding, she figured out the situation and raised her hand to her forehead.

“I’ve been feeding and nurturing these as elites…”

The sleeve of one of the three standing behind her, who was wearing a robe, fluttered.

“…….”

Jung-ah quickly blocked Se-ah, but the posture of the one in the robe had already returned to normal. The fortunate thing was that the attack was not directed at them. The needles that sprang from that sleeve were embedded in the acupoints of those who had fainted.

‘I couldn’t react at all…!’

Jung-ah bit her lip.

Her ‘eyes’ had sensed the sign and she could see that what was flying was needles, but the difference in speed was so great that it was meaningless. It was the limit of an ordinary person without internal energy.

If those needles had been directed at them…

“Geumju, what the hell is this?” Se-ah, who stepped in front of Jung-ah, swept up her hair and asked in a soft voice, “You know there will be consequences for doing this.”

Geumju shrugged her shoulders.

“The hospitality here is quite poor. They didn’t even offer me a cup of tea.”

Then one of the Geumju’s servants standing in the corridor jumped in. And he found a tea leaf at the spot where Se-ah and Jung-ah had been sitting. It was the tea leaf that Se-ah had specially prepared for Jung-ah.

“…As guest, you’re joking right?”

At Se-ah’s words, Geumju chuckled. “Usually you pretend to be smart, but your brain seems to have hardened all of a sudden.” She crossed her arms and continued speaking, “If I was an enemy, not a guest, would you still be standing there so nonchalantly?”

Se-ah swung her tobacco pipe. “Judging from your tedious talk, it seems you’re not here as an enemy.” She then snatched a tea cup from Geumju’s servant who was brewing tea. 

Such audacity left the servant dumbfounded, only able to stare at her. 

“Go on then.” Se-ah sat cross-legged in the chair, savoring the fragrance of the tea. 

“Hah. Really.” Geumju gave a hollow laugh. “I wish our kids could learn from your guts.”

As Geumju snapped her fingers, the robe fluttered once again. Then, several needles whizzed by, sending few strands of Se-ah’s hair flying.

Yet Se-ah didn’t even blink, she just glared at Geumju with her one remaining eye.

“Tch.”

Geumju clicked her tongue as if she was bored and got to the point.

“Recently, a lot of our decent pups have been getting attacked frequently.”

“Isn’t that the price for aggressive expansion?”

“But I strongly feel that you are behind these attacks.”

Se-ah looked at Geumju with a look of incredulity.  “….Did you cause all this commotion just because of that feeling?”

Geumju waved her hand. “No, I heard a little story.”

Se-ah took a sip of her tea and replied, “Stories are generated wherever there’s a mouth.”

Her calm demeanor made Geumju grit her teeth.

“Do you know how I could find you exactly at this moment when your defenses were down?”

Se-ah put down her teacup and re-lit her tobacco pipe. The smoke she exhaled dispersed towards the ceiling.

“Spying, I guess.”

Geumju wagged her finger. “No, no. Don’t dodge the subject.” Her voice was smooth and calm. “You’re saying that I, Geumju, managed to secure reliable information, aren’t you?”

The tea in the teacup vibrated subtly with the resonance of her voice containing her life’s story. 

“That means I no longer have to be manipulated by childish playgroups like yours.”

Her imposing aura seemed to weigh down the entire space.

“So?” Se-ah sighed nonchalantly. “Did that ‘real deal’ intelligence group say I’m the mastermind?”

“Not quite. But there’s something wrong with what you said….” Geumju rummaged through her broad sleeve and pulled out a round badge. “This is not some ‘real deal’. It’s the most powerful place in Luoyang, Henan, and in the entire Central Plains.”

The round badge made of metal and shining brightly had four letters embossed on it, Luoyang Sword House.

“Sword House Bronze Token…?!”

The one who exclaimed the name of the object was Jung-ah.

Geumju looked at Jung-ah strangely. “You recognize this? Who are you?”

“……”

But Jung-ah just kept her mouth shut. 

“Well, whatever.”

Geumju shook the Sword House Bronze Token in her hand towards Se-ah.

“Now you understand, right? Why I’m causing such a commotion just on suspicion? Why I don’t worry about the aftermath even after causing such a mess?” Geumju grinned broadly, showing off her white teeth.

“Can I have a look at that?”

A familiar voice suddenly echoed.

Jung-ah’s face brightened at the sound of that voice.

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