Chapter 87
“I suppose you truly have no intention of resolving this peacefully with me?”
“…”
Hearing his words, my hand twitched toward my waist for a moment.
Swift Victory, the first to strike wins.
If the guy showed any hostility, I planned to immediately draw my Saber and cut off his head.
This was actually a reflection of my confidence.
I had figured the Heavenly Demon Cult would eventually make contact to retrieve the Imugi.
I had even considered the worst-case scenario where an elder would come in person.
An elder is an incredibly strong existence. Even so, I was confident I could cut down an elder in a one-on-one fight.
However…
‘This guy isn’t the main body.’
…The guy in front of me was absolutely not the Blood Demon Corpse King’s main body.
First of all, his appearance.
It had been revealed before that all Heavenly Demon Cult Elders were middle-aged or elderly. But the guy in front of me was far too young. It wasn’t like I could sense any signs of him having undergone rejuvenation, either.
If so, that meant this guy was a clone of the Blood Demon Corpse King.
“He said the Blood Demon Corpse King controls jiangshi…, could it be a living jiangshi?”
I didn’t know the exact types of jiangshi, but that seemed to be the case.
“This shameless bastard must have sent a clone first to test the waters.”
Therefore, killing the guy in front of me would be meaningless. The problem would only be solved if I found and killed the main body hiding somewhere.
“Why are you suddenly silent? You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
“Haa…”
Why did it have to be this bastard who came? I didn’t even know what Martial Arts the Blood Demon Corpse King used.
Furthermore, judging by what I was seeing now, he would stick to a fighting style of putting jiangshi at the forefront while hiding his main body.
It was incredibly troublesome.
“If a bastard I actually knew had come, I would have killed him right away…”
My chest felt stuffy at this worst-case scenario.
Or rather…
I considered a certain possibility and asked him.
“If you’re going to use force, how about this?”
“Speak.”
“Let’s set a date and have a one-on-one life-and-death duel. The winner takes what they want.”
“…”
“Please…”
In the novel, there were perverts among the Heavenly Demon Cult Elders who had a strong competitive spirit and loved battle itself.
The chances were low, but I desperately prayed that the Blood Demon Corpse King was that type as well.
“Hmm…, a one-on-one life-and-death duel…, interesting.”
“In that case…”
“However.”
“…”
“I prefer strategic games like Go or Janggi.”
But as expected, he wasn’t the type I wanted.
The Blood Demon Corpse King’s eyes curved into half-moons, as if he were truly excited when talking about Go and Janggi.
“You probably don’t know… Just how thrilled and excited my heart is right now… I don’t even know how many decades it’s been.”
“This old Warmonger Perverted Bastard…”
“Haha, I suppose I was making a bit of a fuss. Still, please understand. Ah! That’s right! Since it’s come to this, how about we set some rules?”
Rules?
It seemed this truly felt like a game to him. For me, the lives of every single one of my Subordinates were on the line.
Whether he knew my expression was rotting or not, the Blood Demon Corpse King continued with a look of anticipation.
“You must have noticed after hearing my moniker, right? I am the Blood Demon Corpse King. I know how to control jiangshi. Two weeks from today, I will lead my jiangshi and invade your Mountain Stronghold.”
“…”
“If you fend them off, it is your victory. If you fail to fend them off and I kill everyone, it is my victory. How about it? Simple and clear, isn’t it?”
As soon as I heard his words, I immediately grasped the rules of this game.
Strictly Speaking, this was…, a Defense Game.
Block it and win, get breached and lose.
The Blood Demon Corpse King was currently proposing that we play a live-action Defense Game at my Mountain Stronghold.
“…”
It was easy to say, but it was ultimately a siege. Even if the defending side had the advantage, it would be impossible to avoid taking damage in the end.
“What if I refuse?”
“Then I will attack your Green Forest day and night, from anywhere. Until you all slowly wither and dry up.”
“…”
If a siege was the lesser evil, Guerrilla Warfare was the worst.
Just imagining jiangshi appearing out of nowhere to attack Merchants and Subordinates made me feel like my blood was drying up.
As if understanding my feelings, the Blood Demon Corpse King chuckled and said.
“You realize that participating in my game is at least advantageous for you, right? You should consider it a stroke of heavenly luck that I enjoy such amusements.”
“…Ah, seriously, why did it have to be this total psycho bastard who came?”
It was truly lamentable wondering where the other honest Heavenly Demon Cult Elders went and why this bastard had to come instead.
But the water had already been spilled.
“…Understood. I accept.”
If we were going to clash anyway, it was more beneficial to have one clean siege and end it, rather than Guerrilla Warfare like he said.
Besides, this Warmonger pervert Blood Demon Corpse King even said he would take the disadvantageous attacking side in the siege.
“Yes, you thought well.”
However, seeing the Blood Demon Corpse King make such a childlike, delighted expression was incredibly infuriating.
“The date is two weeks from now. How about the Hour of the Pig for the time?”
“…Do whatever you want.”
“Haha, understood. Then I will go to your Mountain Stronghold at the Hour of the Pig in two weeks.”
Of course, he wouldn’t come alone. Judging by the way he spoke and the Aura I felt from him, it seemed certain he could control quite a large number of jiangshi.
When I made a dismal expression at the bleak situation, the Blood Demon Corpse King stood up from his seat as if he had said all he needed to say.
“Then I will see you in two weeks. It will be a very enjoyable day.”
“Hold on…”
“Hmm?”
And I called out to stop the Blood Demon Corpse King, who was giving off the nuance of leaving.
“You called it a game…, but actually, if you think about it, this is a war too. Isn’t it?”
“That’s right. It might be a bit grandiose to call it the Great Demonic War, but this is definitely a war.”
“When fighting a war, one naturally needs war funds. Therefore.”
Swish-, shwaaak-!!
“…!!”
I immediately drew my Saber. And then…
“Leave the money behind. You motherfucker.”
…I immediately swung it and cut off his head.
“Kya, kyaaaak-!”
“…Wh-what-!!”
The Blood Demon Corpse King wasn’t the only one surprised when I suddenly swung my Saber.
The other guests eating nearby also jumped up in surprise at this sudden situation.
Step-.
However, I didn’t care about the chaotic situation and approached the guy whose head had been cut off.
When I cut him, I didn’t feel the familiar sensation in my hand.
It was a slightly harder and more unpleasant sensation. As expected, the one I had been talking to all this time was a jiangshi.
Still, perhaps it couldn’t move anymore once its head was cut off, because even as I approached, it only trembled and showed no other movement.
Then…
Rustle-!
“…!”
The jiangshi’s severed head turned toward me.
And then…
“I will definitely…, turn you into a jiangshi…, with my own hands.”
…After throwing a shitty curse at me, it closed its eyes like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Sigh, what a load of bullshit.”
I let that curse go in one ear and out the other, and searched through his clothes. Unfortunately, it seemed the 100 Gold Gwan was all the cash he had brought here.
“Still, well…, 100 Gold Gwan is nothing to scoff at.”
For money obtained for free, it was an absolute steal.
Smacking my lips for a moment, I put his banknotes in my pocket and looked around…
“…”
“…”
…The guests were looking at me as if they were looking at a crazy Murderous Fiend.
“No, it’s not. This isn’t a person, it’s a puppet, a puppet.”
I hurriedly explained, but the way the people looked at me didn’t change.
Because the jiangshi’s quality was so outstanding, from a distance, it truly looked like a person had died.
“Son of a bitch…, he put a lot of effort into making this.”
My admiration for the jiangshi’s quality was brief; I called over the Subordinates and Attendants who were just blankly watching from the side.
“Hey, don’t just stare at it, clean this up.”
“Y-yes, sir…!”
Then, I left the jiangshi’s corpse to them and headed out of the Pavilion. I didn’t have time to make excuses.
Every minute and second was precious. As soon as I came out of the Pavilion, I shouted at my surroundings.
“Dongryong! Bangsam! Jeokyeom! No, fuck, if there’s any Executive nearby, anyone come here!”
Right now was exactly the time they would be patrolling the Mountain Path. Praying that one of them would hear my voice, I infused my Internal Energy and shouted.
And soon after…
“Leader, did you call?”
…Hearing my shout, Dongryong came over.
“Yeah, Dongryong. We’re fucked right now. Hurry up and bring Doraemon.”
“I’ve been wondering for a while, but who on earth is that…”
Frustrated by Dongryong’s dumbfounded reaction, I instead lost my temper and said.
“Who else! The Haomun Leader! Hurry up and bring her!”
When the situation was hopeless and I had no idea what to do, there was only one person to call.
Haomun Leader, come quickly.
We’re fucked.
* * *
At my desperate call, the Haomun Leader immediately ran over to me.
“Hmm…, jiangshi, you say…”
And then she pondered the issue with me.
After hearing the whole story from me, she must have felt the severity of the situation, as she frowned and asked me.
“How many jiangshi can this Blood Demon Corpse King control?”
“Since he brought up the word 'war,' the number of jiangshi he controls won’t be small. At least a few dozen, maybe even up to a few hundred.”
“…From what I’ve heard, jiangshi are beings revived through Dark Arts, so unless you cut off their heads or completely destroy them, they cannot be eliminated. If there are hundreds of such beings…”
That’s right.
I definitely felt it when I cut that guy myself just now. Those jiangshi bastards…, their defense and durability are considerable. Their flesh is so hard that unless you infuse a certain amount of Internal Energy, you won’t be able to cut them easily.
Except for the Executives, the rest of the Subordinates would probably struggle to face the Blood Demon Corpse King’s jiangshi even in a one-on-one fight.
“…If it simply comes down to Melee Combat, the casualties will be huge. What should we do about this?”
“Hmm…”
Hearing my words, she closed her eyes for a moment.
And when she opened them again shortly after…
“For now, how about we call in a Mechanical Formation technician?”
“Mechanical Formation?”
…True to her role as a budget Doraemon, she brought a solution along with her.