Chapter 58

Chapter 58. Nine-Tattooed Dragon (1)

"An Cheollyang was defeated and the execution squad was wiped out?!"

Han Sewon shouted.

A voice came from the mirror being held by an Apostle.

"Correct."

Han Sewon was currently communicating with the "Hero of Nine Dragons" in the Spirit Realm.

Real-time two-way communication like this cost a considerable amount of money.

But the situation was urgent.

There was no other choice.

"Jegal Geum seems to be in poor condition."

"But Kang Yujin's group has joined forces with Lee Sion."

"They are now a considerable threat."

"What the hell..."

"Do not worry."

The Constellation's voice remained calm.

"Hwaseong, your headquarters, is an extremely well-designed fortress."

"If you defend it properly..."

"What is this supposed to mean?!"

Han Sewon shouted, cutting him off.

"I followed your orders exactly!"

"And this is what happened?!"

"Are you blaming me?"

"You should have given the execution squad more support!"

"At the very least, shouldn't you have prevented An Cheollyang from losing?!"

"..."

"If I'd known this would happen..."

Han Sewon's voice shook.

"I never would've rebelled against Jegal Geum!"

"I would've waited until a better opportunity!"

"But you gave the order right when monsters like these appeared..."

"Enough."

The voice from the mirror cut him off.

"I admit that I made a mistake."

"What?"

"But do not misunderstand, Han Sewon."

The voice turned cold.

"My mistake was trusting someone like you with this task."

Han Sewon flinched.

The other side was both his contracted Constellation and the sponsor supporting the Hwaseong Sect.

Unless he planned to leave the organization and contract with another Constellation...

There was no benefit in angering him.

"No."

"What I meant is..."

Han Sewon quickly tried to correct himself.

"I only hoped you might give us a little more support..."

"Enough."

"I do not want to hear any more."

"..."

"However..."

"Do not worry."

"What?"

"Now that things have reached this point, I cannot retreat either."

"Many Constellations appear to be watching."

"If you lose..."

"It will damage me greatly as well."

"Then..."

"So do not worry."

"T-Thank you."

Han Sewon let out a breath of relief.

If the Constellation kept repeating that he didn't need to worry...

Then perhaps it was safe to trust him.

"Then what should we do?"

"I would appreciate detailed instructions."

"Instructions?"

"Yes."

"If you tell me what to do, then I can give the proper orders to the other officers..."

"There is no need."

"What?"

"No."

Han Sewon looked confused.

"You won't need to give orders anymore."

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress.

A defensive fortress built using the most advanced technology available in its era.

As the Hwaseong Sect headquarters...

It had already endured many battles.

It had successfully blocked Pandemonium forces in the past.

It had also withstood attacks from coalitions of other Contractor organizations.

Because of that...

The defenders on the walls had become somewhat complacent.

Even if Kang Yujin's group attacked...

They believed the enemy would never get inside.

"Seo Juhwang Hyung!"

"What?"

"A truck is approaching from that direction!"

Seo Juhwang, the sixth-ranked member of the Hwaseong Sect, raised his head after hearing his subordinate.

"Isn't that one of our trucks?"

"The execution squad took it earlier."

"It looks like it was captured."

"Yeah."

"That's possible."

"The strategists said they'd probably try to invade from the air using the Chimera."

"Looks like they were wrong."

"Seriously."

"We spent all that effort preparing anti-air defenses for nothing."

Seo Juhwang gave orders to the defenders around him.

"Let them come close enough, then finish them with concentrated fire."

They would use the fortress defenses...

And attack at the perfect moment.

But then...

"Seo Juhwang Hyung!"

"What now?"

"W-What should we do about this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"J-Just look!"

Seo Juhwang frowned and took the binoculars.

Then he looked at the approaching truck again.

His breath caught.

"Representative Jegal Geum..."

Standing on the roof of the truck...

Was Jegal Geum.

The "Sect Leader" who had led the Hwaseong Sect for years.

His white beard blew in the wind.

His arms were folded proudly.

"C-Can we really attack?"

"But that's the Sect Leader..."

"Ugh..."

Among the officers...

The decision to remove Jegal Geum had already been finalized.

But the ordinary members didn't feel the same.

Until only recently...

Jegal Geum had been their respected leader.

Simply being told from above that he had betrayed them and was now an enemy...

Was not enough for them to accept it immediately.

"Damn it!"

Seo Juhwang shouted.

"What are you waiting for?!"

"Attack!"

"But..."

"Even if..."

"Attack!"

He forced the hesitant defenders to open fire.

But...

They had already missed the ideal timing.

"Haa..."

After breaking through the enemy's concentrated fire and climbing onto the wall...

Kang Yujin wiped sweat from his forehead.

"You carried that heavy mace all the way up here."

Lee Sion looked at him.

"I don't know whether to call that impressive or stupid."

"You climbed up carrying axes too."

Lee Sion used two huge axes.

She wasn't especially large or muscular.

Apparently...

She compensated with martial arts.

"My axes aren't as heavy as your mace."

"Obviously."

"Kang Yujin."

Lee Sion suddenly looked toward him.

"I should tell you something."

"I don't like you."

"Did I do something wrong to you?"

"If you hadn't gotten involved..."

"Master wouldn't have ended up in danger."

"That's not my fault."

"I know."

She frowned.

"If it were your fault, I would've already split your head open."

It seemed Lee Sion was extremely loyal to Jegal Geum.

Kang Yujin didn't particularly care.

But something else bothered him.

"Lee Sion."

"What?"

"Your language is really rough."

"..."

"We aren't enemies."

"Don't you think you're going a little too far?"

Lee Sion looked uncomfortable and turned her gaze away.

"I wasn't always like this."

"Always?"

"I didn't originally talk this way."

"But after contracting with that Constellation..."

She bit her lip.

"Thanks to his support, I became strong enough to freely use these huge axes."

"But over time..."

"My personality became more aggressive."

"And my speech got rougher."

"So Contractors can be influenced by their Constellations like that?"

Now that Kang Yujin thought about it...

The messages from the "Murderer with Two Axes" always sounded exactly like that.

Perhaps the Constellation's personality had affected his Contractor.

"It depends on the Constellation."

Lee Sion sighed.

"If you borrow a lot of a Constellation's unique power..."

"You can be influenced."

"Hmm..."

"But just so we're clear..."

Lee Sion glared.

"I'm not normally this bad when I'm not fighting."

"I'm only like this when I'm holding my axes."

Then she frowned again.

"Damn it."

"Why am I even explaining this to you?"

"No idea."

"Anyway..."

She crossed her arms.

"I still don't like you."

Then Lee Sion looked toward the truck.

It was parked in a blind spot where most attacks from the wall could not reach it.

Jegal Geum was resting inside.

He had briefly shown himself to shake the defenders' morale.

But his stamina was too depleted to fight.

"If something happens to Master..."

Lee Sion looked at Kang Yujin.

"I'll hold you responsible too."

"Maybe we should wipe out Han Sewon's faction first."

"I know!"

Even while they talked...

Hwaseong Sect Contractors kept flooding toward them.

They had already defeated many enemies just reaching the wall.

It seemed they would still have to fight for some time.

"The important officers should be inside that building."

"Then we go straight there."

"Shouldn't we wait for your companions?"

"I'm going in immediately."

"My companions also have to protect your Master."

"They won't reach us quickly."

Kang Yujin lifted his mace.

"We'll do it ourselves."

"Good."

After confirming their intentions...

Kang Yujin and Lee Sion moved together.

"The Hwaseong Sect is too weak."

"Seriously."

"Kang Yujin and Lee Sion are breaking through them with only two people."

"Don't oversimplify it."

"Right."

"Jegal Geum appearing at the beginning shook the ordinary members badly."

"The Hwaseong Sect officers didn't have enough time to convince their subordinates."

"If even a few days had passed, this wouldn't be happening."

"Then Kang Yujin was right to choose a rapid attack."

"Lee Sion becoming an ally also matters a lot."

"She knows the internal structure of Hwaseong Fortress."

"And she knows the defenders' positions."

"Come to think of it..."

"That woman is charging alongside Kang Yujin without falling behind at all."

"At least in breakthrough power, she isn't below him."

"Either way, Kang Yujin and his companions alone couldn't have broken through this easily."

"I guess you could say they're lucky."

"Can we really call it luck?"

"What do you mean?"

"Could this all have been arranged?"

"Arranged by who?"

"The S-rank Constellation contracted with Kang Yujin."

"What rank was the man I just defeated?"

"Fifth."

"No wonder he was strong."

"Who was the one who defeated that strong man in one strike?"

Kang Yujin kept moving while speaking with Lee Sion.

The enemy resistance had definitely grown fiercer after they entered the building.

Of course...

Against Kang Yujin and Lee Sion...

It was pointless.

They broke through so easily that even the watching Constellations barely reacted anymore.

"So where is Han Sewon?"

"He wasn't in the deputy leader's office earlier."

"Then..."

Lee Sion opened the innermost door.

"He'll be in the leader's office."

They entered a fairly spacious room.

Display cabinets along the walls contained artifacts that looked valuable.

Jegal Geum had probably collected them.

"..."

A man who appeared to be Han Sewon sat behind the desk.

His forearms rested on the tabletop.

"Kang Yujin."

The moment Lee Sion saw his face...

Her voice became low.

"I'm sorry."

"But from here..."

"Leave this to me."

"..."

Without even waiting for his answer...

Lee Sion stepped forward.

"Han Sewon."

"..."

"Your plan to steal the Hwaseong Sect failed."

"Master is safe."

"Almost every officer following you has already fallen."

"Now..."

Her voice grew harsher.

"All that's left is you."

"You'll pay for betraying Master."

"..."

"Why aren't you answering?"

"Nothing to say?"

Han Sewon remained silent.

Lee Sion frowned.

"Fine."

"..."

"I only need to split your skull."

Then...

She charged.

Without hesitation...

She swung her axe toward Han Sewon's head.

But...

"Pathetic."

Just before Lee Sion's axe smashed his skull...

Han Sewon extended one hand.

That alone changed the axe's trajectory.

Lee Sion lost her balance.

Then...

BOOM!!

Her body was launched across the room.

She crashed into a display cabinet and shattered an expensive-looking piece of pottery.

She fell among the debris and didn't get up.

"Is that all?"

The man spoke calmly.

"I heard you were Li Kui's favored Contractor."

"I wondered if you'd be exceptional."

"But you're merely capable of brief bursts of power."

"You..."

Kang Yujin stared at the man now standing from the chair.

"Who are you?"

"..."

"You're not Han Sewon."

Kang Yujin had never met Han Sewon before.

Even so...

He instinctively knew the man in front of him was not truly Han Sewon.

"Who are you?"

"Interesting."

The man slowly walked forward.

"To notice immediately..."

"Perhaps you really do have good instincts."

He walked past the display cabinets.

"Have you ever heard of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends?"

"What?"

"Celestial demonic stars described in Daoism."

"Long ago..."

"One hundred and eight heroes were born carrying the energy of those stars."

Pride filled the man's voice.

"In other words, the power of stars descended into earthly humans and gave birth to us."

"..."

"And because of that..."

Strange energy radiated from him.

"All of us possess Constellation Skills reflecting that nature."

"Constellation Skills?"

"They allow us..."

The man's eyes sharpened.

"To descend our existences from the high Spirit Realm into the bodies of our Contractors on Earth."

Kang Yujin remembered what Lee Sion had told him earlier.

Borrowing too much of a Constellation's special power could even affect a Contractor's personality.

"This..."

The man smiled.

"Is what happens when that ability is pushed to the limit."

He removed his shirt.

Across his body...

Energy shaped like nine dragons twisted and writhed.

"I'll introduce myself, Kang Yujin."

"..."

"Constellation Name: Hero of Nine Dragons."

"Guardian Star: Heavenly Subtle Star."

"Title: Nine-Tattooed Dragon."

"True Name..."

"Shi Jin."

Then he took a longsword from one of the display cabinets.

"I borrowed the body of one of my Contractors, Han Sewon..."

"To personally finish this matter."

The fighting spirit pouring from him was incomparable to Jason's when Kang Yujin had fought him before.

Shi Jin raised the sword.

"Nine-Tattooed Dragon Shi Jin will face you himself."

"Come."