Chapter 143 – Shedding Of Golden Cicada (3)

Step

Yorim and Yong Jin were walking in the forest.

They didn’t stop searching.

At first they only had to be careful of Mount Hua, but now their problems have increased.

It was important to get as much information on the movement of the main Sect’s troops well.

Swish

Seo Ryeong and Jeok Song signaled each other.

They too were monitoring the other directions and looked at a specific road which was going to be used.

“Phew.”

Songhwa was nodding off as he fell asleep on Imugi. It must have been too tiresome to use those tricks.

In the beginning they were nervous about it because of being threatened, but as soon as they realized he is young, they calmed down.

“…”

Looking back now, Seol-Hwi had a complicated expression.

Crumble

As dawn approached, Yorim moved next to Seol-Hwi.

“Captain. May I sit next to you for a moment?”

“Hmm.”

When Seol-Hwi nodded, Yorim sat down.

So, after a while, he opened his mouth.

“Do we have a way out?”

“…”

Seol-Hwi was expecting to be asked something like this. Yorim who served as a subordinate for a while now was actually in line to be a captain.

What Yorim asked… Perhaps he was now acting as a representative for the others.

“I, well, from the moment I first met you, Captain, you have always been full of surprises. And it was very fun too.”

Yorim smiled saying that.

“Among all, this mission was very special and unique. From the start you knew where Ma Taryong was being held and also annihilated our enemies with overwhelming force. I am definitely following you until the very end. And you continue to shock me with the impossible.”

“I-I am not that good.”

Seol-Hwi shook his head.

He couldn’t have known that Seol-Hwi found the optimal route only after dying and being stuck in dangerous situations multiple times.

“At the very least that’s how we see you.”

However, in the eyes of his subordinates he was a great person who was prepared for anything and everything.

“Excessive expectations will lead to disappointment. So far, it has just been luck. What if this decision is wrong and it turns out to be our last?”

“Ah, Captain. Don’t try to carry the burden on your own.”

Yorim sighed and looked at Seol-Hwi.

“You know? Our captain position was originally just an imaginary one. Track horses or investigating papers with no action in life. That was our role.”

“…”

“The ones who do the most needless tasks other people do not like doing. And that changed when you arrived.”

Yorim looked at the sky.

He spoke more quietly as he looked at the bright stars.

“We were the ones who couldn’t even lift our heads when someone came for us. The members of the Hidden Truth Corps can now hold our heads high. So, for the first time in a long while… I feel alive.”

“…”

“The weight of our duties, the enemies we face, and our strength have all changed. So I… even if Captain leads us to our deaths we will still obey.”

“Yorim.”

“It’s because we all die at some point that how we die is important. And if it means to die due to following your orders, then there must be a good reason. The captain we have seen until now is such a person. So…”

Yorim paused for a moment and held out his hand to Seol-Hwi and bowed.

“We will help you. So please share your burdens with us. Whatever it is, give us the order.”

“Yorim…”

Seol-Hwi’s eyes showed a complicated expression.

No matter how the Demonic Sect’s hierarchy worked, this was very meaningful. It wasn’t easy to see this kind of loyalty from subordinates.

“Until now….”

Seol-Hwi swallowed back the words knowing the way he lived wasn’t wrong.

He couldn’t remember when he had been trusted to this extent.

“Captain.”

Shhh

And it was then that Jeok Song and Seo Ryeong appeared.

Seol-Hwi nodded his head and saw their expressions.

It seemed like the Ghastly Troops were behind them.

“Songhwa, signal.”

“Yes.”

At Seol-Hwi’s words, Songhwa clasped his hands.

Pat!

He took out an amulet and began to write something in the air.

“I command you by the technique of True Farewell…”

Seol-Hwi didn’t know it, but this was a fairly high skill.

Even though there was a difference in distance between them, it was a tactic to make a signal clearly visible to the eyes of other Fangshi.

Swish!

After a while, hundreds of firefly-like things soared from the forest.

“Ah…”

Swish!

Occasionally shadows gathered, the beings who wore masks and covered their bodies in black robes.

When they gathered here, a whopping 30 of them had surrounded them.

“Who is the captain?”

One of them approached and spoke.

About the time when the noise of the insects subsided, the energy for chaos flowed.

In that short time…

Seol-Hwi felt a lot of pressure inside.

Due to the appearance of Ghastly Troops. However, the Hidden truth Corps excelled in scouting and pursuit, and they made sure that no trace was left behind as they moved.

However, all of their efforts looked to be in vain.

“I asked who the captain is.”

In the darkness ahead, one person asked.

Their face was covered with a mysterious mask.

“I am.”

After they spoke again, Seol-Hwi stepped ahead.

The gaze of the Ghastly Troops fell to him, and the person who asked earlier walked ahead.

They took their mask off only to reveal a woman with pale white skin.

She was uniquely bizarre and beautiful. Perhaps because of the light from the moon she looked even more pale.

Contrary to her face, her body looked swollen.

“Are you the one who gave us the information about Mount Hua?”

“No.”

Seol-Hwi shook his head.

“It wasn’t me, but him.”

“…?”

“He is the one.”

Glance

The woman turned to Ma Taryong and bowed.

“On behalf of several people I would like to express my gratitude. It has been very helpful to us.”

“…”

Nod.

Ma Taryong nodded briefly and the atmosphere seemed significantly more amiable than expected. Like it could be resolved with the conversation.

“But the child of the Fangshi is moving with you?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“It is important. Hand the child over to us.”

Shh.

The woman’s face went stiff. Her eyes were shining like a viper’s as she looked at Songhwa.

I knew it.

Seol-Hwi sighed. It seemed like the politeness was all a formality, and now she was speaking to carry out her orders.

“I don’t know why, but Songhwa has been of great help to us in this operation.”

Seol-Hwi, who knew how this would end, turned.

“And he belongs to our scout unit. When someone you meet for the first time asks you to hand over a member of the crew, do you simply just say ‘yes, I will’?”

“…”

“Looking at the color of your robes, it feels like there is something more. You want to kill the child? Why?”

Seol-Hwi got straight to the point. At the words of “you want to kill” her subordinates and the woman flinched.

“…A normal person would easily pass them over. As you’re just people who helped us.”

After thinking, the woman opened her mouth.

“However, the skills the child possesses right now are huge and he will be a hindrance to what the Second Disciple has planned for the future.”

“What now? That’s funny. The Fourth Disciple, the Earth Demon and the Second Disciple, the Demon Lord are part of the same sect, right? Since when did it become so natural to kill a member of the same sect simply because they served different people?”

“Man isn’t the one who sinned but woe is who gets to act. It isn’t something to be explained, send him here.”

Seol-Hwi had already done his share of understanding and he could feel that the other party would snatch simply Songhwa away.

“…What if I refuse?”

“…”

The woman frowned.

And the frown on her pure white face made her look even stranger.

“Would you like to be punished for it? You should know what it means to fight us, do you not?”

She came out strong.

Hearing that, Seol-Hwi shifted his gaze to the combat style.

<Combat method, Turn Based Lv2>
Numerous abilities unfolded in front of him.

<Ghastly Troops Member [Yeorin]>
Body: Normal
Health: 800k/800k
Internal energy: 10 million/10 million
3rd stage of martial arts
Combat power: Unknown
Special skills: Internal Energy Absorption, Blood Lust, Self Destruction
Surprisingly the abilities of the one in black robes were shown.

<[Jeon Wei]>
Body: Normal
Health: 35 million/35 million
Internal energy: 22 million/22 million
Combat power: 29.99 million
Attributes: Infinite growth, Learning, Acceleration, External Growth, various physical and innate skills
Isn’t this the level of a Peak Demon?

Seol-Hwi felt speechless at this. A combat strength of 29.99 million.

Wasn’t this too high?

And there were so many skills?

These were people he had never faced before and in addition the combat power was enormous.

The lowest…

7 million

And there are 30 of such people around them with almost all of them being extremely talented.

Their numbers alone exceeded theirs many times over, and they are surely to be more enhanced.

Seol-Hwi looked around.

Was it because “Turn Based” had leveled up? Additional text was shown.

About the Soulless of the Ghastly Troops
– Ghastly Troops are a professional group of Fangshi. Their role is to protect their allies from behind and confuse the enemies. In case they do not have allies, they prioritize themselves.
– The reason why they have chosen to be Soulless is to be able to concentrate on their growth. Additionally various things have been performed on them to make them stronger and less tired compared to ordinary warriors.
Rank, three to ten, and weaknesses.
– They rank from a minimum of three to maximum of ten. It is said that when they reach rank nine they gain supernatural powers, and at rank 10 they are as powerful as a Peak Demon.
– Their weak point is their heads. If their heads are not broken, they continue to move. They can cut off their opponent’s bodies and will use them as their own.
Seol-Hwi checked it and asked,

“The ones in your hand are Soulless?”

“Yes.”

The woman who seemed to be their captain nodded,

Flutter

As the woman in black robe moved, a Soulless woman appeared.

Kiiik…

They all had a white cloth wrapped over their bodies.

Crack

They looked small at first, but then they would do something to their bodies, stretching them out to make their bodies larger than an ordinary human.

Basically, they are strong now. And their force could easily be felt.

Step

One, two…

Twenty-nine of them had come out, all with bandages wrapped around them. Their weird appearance made it hard to know whether they were alive or dead. With that, the atmosphere changed in an instant.

“Ahem.”

Ma Taryong who took a step back groaned.

He knew that this unit would not be easy to deal with, however everything felt so rushed up until now.

Seeing this…

Each of them seemed as skilled as him, and other than him and Seol-Hwi, no one could handle them.

“…”

Seol-Hwi’s subordinates all went stiff.

They had sensed it, the fact that even a single Soulless was stronger than all of them combined.

“Do you see how useless resisting is?”

The woman laughed.

Her tongue licked her red lips which looked like they were stained with blood.