Tang Soso covered her mouth tightly, still feeling waves of nausea.
'This is too much….'
She couldn't bear to look at the scene before her eyes. Holding back her nausea was difficult enough, let alone suppressing the tears.
Someone grabbed her other hand tightly, unsure where else to hold. When she raised her head, Yu Yiseol was looking down at Tang Soso with a stern expression.
"Sago…."
"…"
Yu Yiseol's face was as expressionless as ever.
But Tang Soso could tell—the cold anger was deeply embedded beneath that seemingly blank facade.
The other Five Swords were equally shocked.
"Sahyung."
"…"
Even Yoon Jong, who usually responded to Jo Gul's words as if it were second nature, couldn't speak back in such a moment.
They had clearly witnessed the Demonic Cult in the North Sea.
They felt in their bones how fanatical the group was and how cruel they could be. But this was the first time they had seen such a brutal scene with their own eyes.
Kuuk.
Yoon Jong clenched his fists until his knuckles turned pale. Blood spread from his bitten lips.
Jo Gul, who had been watching Yoon Jong helplessly, eventually lowered his head, unable to speak fully.
There was so much death around them.
Living on the edge of a sword was the life of a warrior. Though they were accustomed to death, the sheer weight of these piled-up deaths was too much to bear.
Clench.
Baek Cheon gritted his teeth. His bloodshot eyes revealed the depth of his anger.
"How…"
Baek Cheon's voice trembled like an aspen leaf. It wasn't fear of the scene—it was the uncontrollable rage boiling inside him.
"How can this…."
Even if all he saw were living people instead of corpses, it would have been a shocking crowd. How could he not be angry when so many lives were cut short?
But what truly drove Baek Cheon to unbearable fury was not the number of deaths.
It was the manner of death.
"People are…."
Baek Cheon opened his mouth and spat out the words.
"… Even when an enemy dies, we must show minimum courtesy."
Even in wars between those who could not live under the same sky and were in conflict, they would not massacre people so brutally and leave their bodies scattered.
If this were not a battlefield where everyone fought desperately to survive, they would at least have the decency to bury the dead.
That is what it means to be human, and that is the right thing to do.
No.
Even if they did not know what was right, they would not openly flaunt such outrageous acts under the heavens.
But here, there was nothing like that.
No sympathy, no pity, no hesitation, no minimum courtesy toward human beings—no last respect for the human body.
That fact made Baek Cheon's anger unbearable.
Jo Gul mumbled, barely audible.
"He's a human…."
His voice barely emerged, unlike his usual cheerful self.
"A human being can do this to another person… how though? Just how…."
As everyone fell silent at his words, a chuckle broke the tension.
Jo Gul looked toward the source of the laughter. Jang Ilso was laughing quietly, covering his mouth as if he couldn't hold it back.
Jo Gul's expression suddenly hardened.
"What… what is so funny?"
"No, nothing."
Jang Ilso shook his head.
"I guess it's because you're young warriors of the Justice faction that you speak so seriously when talking about such things."
"What?"
"It's not about how a human being can do this."
Jang Ilso's face flushed.
"Because they are humans, they do this. Only humans do such things."
"…"
"That is what it means to be human. Remember that clearly, young master."
Jo Gul's face twisted in disgust.
He felt pressured but smirked instead.
"T-telling me that, you don't look too delighted either? Why? Does the Evil Sect also get angry when they see something like this?"
He swallowed hard after speaking. Though he had snapped back in anger, it was still difficult to stand up to Jang Ilso alone.
However, Jang Ilso's reaction was surprisingly calm and composed.
"You speak of the obvious. Of course one would be angry at this, right?"
"… What?"
Jo Gul's eyes widened slightly at that answer. He had never expected Jang Ilso to respond like that.
Jang Ilso turned his gaze to the pile of corpses. His expression was cold, almost chilling.
"I'm not going to say something obvious like 'people die' or such. People are bound to die."
"…"
"The reason I am angry is… because they were my people."
Jang Ilso raised his hand and covered his face. The eyes visible between his fingers radiated a terrifying glow.
"I alone have the right to kill those within my territory. But these vile bastards who crawled out of nowhere dare to…."
He muttered softly and ground his teeth.
Then Chung Myung glared at him with cold eyes.
"You probably didn't care from the start, but now you're upset that the people were taken away?"
"Of course."
Jang Ilso glared back at Chung Myung.
"Just because it's a toy I didn't like and left alone doesn't mean someone else can ruin it. Even if I don't like it, it's mine."
"… Such a brat."
"What's wrong with that?"
Jang Ilso's eyes sparkled with laughter.
"Adults are just children who can't say what they want because they worry about how others see them. I'm just a little more honest about my desires."
Jang Ilso looked straight at Chung Myung and chuckled.
"Unlike anyone else."
Chung Myung shook his head, uninterested in arguing with Jang Ilso. The scene they had just witnessed made him feel sick to his stomach.
It was a familiar sight.
It might be shocking to others, but it was all too familiar to Chung Myung.
Baek Cheon, staring at a delicate hand sticking out from the pile of corpses, turned his gaze away as if he couldn't bear to look any longer.
"Don't ignore it."
But Chung Myung's cold voice pierced Baek Cheon's ears without fail.
"This is a world where the Demonic Cult holds power."
"…"
"It's just Hangzhou now. But if the Demonic Cult swallows the entire Central Plains, this scene will be seen all over."
They should understand too.
Why did they have to fight so desperately?
Why did their ancestors risk their lives without hesitation to stop what would come next?
"So we have to stop them here."
As Chung Myung bit his lip, a group of people quickly approached from afar.
"Sahyung!"
"… I know."
The disciples of Mount Hua looked tense. At a glance, there were quite a few—no, many.
'Is that the enemy?'
Everyone instinctively drew their swords.
But at that moment, Desolate Gold Elder, who had been silent until then, stepped forward to greet the approaching group.
"We greet the lord!"
As they drew closer, several warriors from an unfamiliar group knelt and bowed to Desolate Gold Elder.
"What is the situation?"
"They're still deep in Hangzhou."
"Right."
"But…"
"Hmmm?"
The one reporting raised his head, his eyes trembling slightly.
"In the past few days, unidentified people have appeared and joined us one after another. There are three hundred of them."
Desolate Gold Elder's face hardened.
"Three hundred?"
"Yes!"
His mind raced.
The High Priest had destroyed the Black Ghost Tower, but the presence of cult warriors around the High Priest had seemed unusual then.
'Three hundred of those?'
The current situation inside Hangzhou was unknown. For now, they assumed there were many warriors and had brought all available Black Ghost Warrior troops.
"This is unexpected."
He never thought more people would join.
No, with common sense, it was obvious. If they planned to use this place as their base, adding more people was natural.
The fact that he missed that meant Desolate Gold Elder had lost his composure.
Desolate Gold Elder was quick to calculate and quick to admit his mistakes. He looked at the 500 troops gathered before him, then back at Jang Ilso.
"… There seems to be a problem, Alliance Lord."
"Problem?"
"The number of pirates is greater than I initially estimated."
"Hmm. So?"
"… I think it would be better to retreat for now. This isn't an enemy we can handle by rushing in."
At those words, Jang Ilso's eyes curved strangely.
"This is… disappointing, to say the least. Even though you lost an arm, I didn't think Desolate Gold Elder would become such a coward."
"I am being extremely calm right now."
Desolate Gold Elder growled through his teeth.
"The Alliance Lord hasn't faced that monster yet, so you can say such bold things. To be honest, I'm not sure even if everyone here rushed in, we'd catch that monster. If the Alliance Lord's 'sword' doesn't work right, we might all take a huge hit."
Jang Ilso frowned.
He couldn't tell if it was disappointment in Desolate Gold Elder or if he was taking the words too seriously.
Desolate Gold Elder looked straight at Jang Ilso and continued.
"You only have one life. Even if you prepare thoroughly, it's never enough now."
Jang Ilso was about to respond.
"You speak such nonsense."
A cold voice cut through his words. Jang Ilso turned to see Chung Myung smiling.
"What are you trying to say?"
"You still don't know, you still don't get it."
"…"
"What is this place? Who are we dealing with?"
At that moment, Jang Ilso's gaze, which had been fixed on Chung Myung, slowly shifted. His eyes focused on the land where corpses were strewn, beyond that.
Chung Myung's clear voice rang out.
"Know this clearly, you stupid morons of the Evil Sect."
A ferocious smile spread across his face, which had looked cold until now.
"This is the Demonic Cult. From the moment you face them, there is only one choice: kill. Or…"
The voice, filled with killing intent, felt ominous. Chung Myung's appearance resembled a scarred beast.
"Get killed."
Soon, the dark group appeared where Jang Ilso had been staring.
The Demonic Cult warriors, radiating an ominous aura that made his fingers tingle, gathered.
Along with the thick darkness covering the eastern sky.