Chapter 319
Chapter 319: Heavenly City (9)
District 8, Occupation
Rumors spread faster than the color of blood.
“Did you hear? They say Irokes, who came down from Red Flag, is dead.”
“The District 4 Head? No way.”
“The Demonic Cult dispatch unit was annihilated too. Even Lee Seokjun. I heard they were crushed by a single touch from the witch?”
Whispers spread all over District 8.
In bars, in alleys, in the corners of training grounds.
At first, they thought it was a false rumor.
However, there was too much evidence.
The blood-red shower that dyed the sky.
The overwhelming pressure of the Seven Lords that crushed the earth.
And the only one who returned alive from the center of it.
“Kim Minwoo. That guy exchanged words with the Blood Witch and survived?”
“He seemed perfectly fine?”
The political landscape of District 8 flipped overnight.
Originally, this place was an arena for large guilds.
A battlefield where Red Flag and the Demonic Cult fought until they bled.
It was everyday life for dozens of people to die over a single territory.
Recently, the clashes had become even fiercer.
To the point where District 4 Head Irokes had personally come down.
The Demonic Cult had also sent Lee Seokjun.
But…….
Both had become corpses.
At the center of that disturbance was Kim Minwoo.
A super powerhouse who played with Irokes single-handedly. A monster who didn't even bat an eye in front of the Seven Lords' pressure.
“They said he was a ‘Murderous’ difficulty possessor…….”
Someone muttered.
“Perhaps, there might be Eight Lords instead of Seven Lords…….”
There were many rookies.
‘Murderous’ difficulty possessors also appeared occasionally.
But there was no one who ran wild like this from the very beginning.
Not content with uniting District 9 into one and devouring it, he cut off Irokes's neck the moment he set foot in District 8.
He returned alive perfectly fine even after exchanging words with the Blood Witch.
How many people would be capable of that.
If there were any, only seven.
The seven super powerhouses who created rivers of blood wherever they went.
Only the Seven Lords.
That shadow was seen in Kim Minwoo.
He gave off the same scent.
That aura exuded only by those who were not normal, where blood, death, and madness were entangled.
Ddubeok.
Ddubeok.
The plaza fell silent at a single footstep.
The hem of his black coat fluttered in the wind.
Behind him, the aura of death bloomed like a mist.
Four massive shadows followed behind him.
“It's Kim Minwoo.”
Someone swallowed their saliva.
“Kim Minwoo is coming!”
The crowd parted like the Red Sea.
There was no one who dared to block his path.
Gazes were focused on him, but their feet naturally stepped back.
“The ones behind him are…….”
“Bone Knight Cedric. And Hell Witch Merhen.”
Whispers spread.
The two Legion Commanders who gained infamy during the unification of District 9.
Their names were already well-known in District 8 as well.
The black knight who ground down hundreds of enemies, and the witch who burned the battlefield with terrible magic.
“But what about the other two?”
“You're way behind on the news, my friend.”
A veteran-looking trainee gestured with his chin.
“They say those two are Legion Commanders as well. On the same level as Cedric and Merhen.”
“What? Really?”
“Handsome Demon Vulcan. I heard even steel melts with a single strike of his high-heat whip. Bastards like us are finished just by getting grazed.”
“……Handsome Demon?”
"I heard he's considered incredibly handsome by human standards. But inside that…… it seems there's something terrible."
A pale-skinned man walked with a whip coiled around his waist. An arrogant smile hung on his lips.
"And over there is……."
Gazes turned toward the woman in the red dress.
"Blood Duke Olivia."
"Duke?"
"The hidden piece raid monster of District 9. I heard those four beat it down in a single breath."
"What? A raid monster?"
"Yeah. It's already famous in District 9. The hybrids in the Forest of Mist. The news that Kim Minwoo hunted down their leader."
Gulp.
The trainees swallowed their saliva.
Since they too had once stayed in District 9, they knew just how annoying of a place the Forest of Mist was.
No one even had the thought of exploring deep inside it.
From the hybrid hordes that constantly attacked, to the thick mist that made it impossible to see ahead.
The bizarre atmosphere, and the difficulty that skyrocketed the deeper one went in.
On top of that, even if they actually went in, there wasn't a single existence who had found the hidden piece.
'So there was a real boss?'
'A raid-class monster. He caught that with just those summons?'
Just how profound of a Necromancer was he.
On top of that, they heard that when he fought Irokes, he exerted power on par with him using only swordsmanship.
The more they realized Kim Minwoo's prestige, the quieter the surroundings became.
Silence descended.
Four Legion Commanders.
Each and every one of them was a combat force capable of wiping out a mid-tier guild in District 8 single-handedly.
Four such monsters.
Lined up behind a single Necromancer.
"All of those are summons?"
"Crazy……."
Gazes mixed with awe and fear.
Kim Minwoo did not care.
Stopping in the center of the plaza, he slowly looked around.
The remnants of Red Flag were gathered on one side.
Pale faces, trembling hands, those who grasped their swords but could not draw them.
Hayang flapped its wings on his shoulder.
"Kku."
A small cry echoed through the quiet plaza.
Swaaa―!
The wind rushed in.
As if delivering the sound like a megaphone, when Kim Minwoo spoke, his voice reached their ears vividly.
"From now on, I will give District 8 a choice."
Gulp.
While everyone was looking at Kim Minwoo with a tense demeanor.
He declared.
"There are two choices."
His index finger unfolded.
"One, you receive my protection."
His middle finger unfolded.
"Two."
Blue flames flickered in the eye sockets of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
"Refuse, and die."
Silence.
The sound of someone swallowing their saliva was heard.
At that moment.
"Cut the bullshit!"
A massive heteromorphic race popped out from among the crowd.
Armor engraved with a black fang pattern.
They didn't possess a Seven Lords-class powerhouse like Red Flag or the Demonic Cult. However, they were a large guild that maintained its own influence even up to Districts 2 and 3.
In District 8?
No matter how strong a guild was, they couldn't easily mess with them.
"We are Black Fang! We don't need the protection of a bastard like you!"
There was calculation in his eyes.
Red Flag.
Demonic Cult.
It was an already known fact that Kim Minwoo had turned both sides into enemies.
‘Surely in that situation, he wouldn't mess with us too?’
Besides, thousands of people are gathered in this plaza right now.
He figured that even if it was Kim Minwoo, if they joined forces.......
"Is that so?"
Piing—.
A red flash cut through the empty air.
It was before his thoughts could even finish.
The heteromorphic race's head snapped back.
A small hole between his eyebrows.
Before even a single drop of blood could splatter, he collapsed just like that.
"......."
The plaza froze.
Olivia, with her fingers aimed like a gun, harbored a cold smile on her lips.
Red blood-light bloomed over her finger like smoke.
'Crazy.......'
'That's a Black Fang executive.'
'Just killed him off like that?'
The anger that had almost risen like a wildfire sank coldly in an instant.
The one who just died was a considerable powerhouse in District 8.
But he was killed off by a single hand gesture from a summon, not even Kim Minwoo himself.
Even if everyone gathered here attacked, could they win against that monster?
Fear crushed the crowd.
Kim Minwoo smiled coldly.
"Did my words sound like a joke?"
There was no one to answer.
Kim Minwoo's thoughts were simple.
He had to devour all the districts while going up anyway.
If only to gather faith, accumulate scores, and scrape together merit points.
There was no time to persuade the resisting bastards one by one.
The time Medea bought for him.
Until the Seven Lords came down.
Quickly.
Certainly.
Trample everything and go up.
So, persuasion is done with blood and fear.
Mercy comes after that.
Kim Minwoo pointed his hand towards the sky.
"If you want, you may run away upwards. However…… if we face each other again up there, you will definitely die then."
—That's right. Because I have a good memory. I remembered everything. What you look like.
At the Hell Witch's words, everyone trembled like an aspen tree.
Mages usually have good brains.
Let alone a mage at the level of having the alias Hell Witch attached to her…….
One could know without even being told just how great that memory would be.
'Damn it.'
How many powerhouses would be able to go up just because they wanted to in the first place? Most of the existences in District 8 were staying here simply because they were exactly at the level of District 8.
It meant they couldn't run away.
"I will give you one day. Go and pass it on. All guilds that do not come to this plaza by tomorrow morning will disappear."
The panicking crowd quickly scattered.
＊ ＊ ＊
It was three seconds later when the first knee buckled.
"I s-surrender!"
It was the vice master of the mid-tier guild, Iron Blood Clan.
He was someone who had expanded his influence in his own way under Irokes, but right now he was lying face down with his forehead touching the ground.
When one person collapsed, a chain reaction occurred.
Two, three, ten.
The sound of kneeling echoed throughout the plaza.
"Please spare us!"
"We too, we will also receive protection!"
Fear was faster than an epidemic.
The death of the Black Fang executive from a moment ago was embedded in their minds.
A single hand gesture from Olivia.
That was all.
A top-tier powerhouse of District 8 collapsed with a hole pierced between his eyebrows.
Resistance?
It wasn't even funny.
However, not everyone fell to their knees.
"Cowardly bastards!"
A rough shout erupted from one side of the plaza.
It was Makson, the guild leader of the 'Blood Demon' guild. Although not directly under Red Flag, he was someone who had grown seasoned in District 8 under their patronage.
"Changing masters in just one day? You guys are worse than dogs!"
Behind him, dozens of subordinates drew their swords.
A momentum of a fight to the death.
It looked quite plausible.
Kim Minwoo gestured with his chin.
"Cedric."
The Bone Knight stepped forward.
His black armor gleamed under the moonlight.
Hwiiing—.
The spear cut through the empty air.
Makson's eyes widened.
He tried to block.
He raised his sword.
Peok.
But the spear tip had already pierced through his heart.
"Kkeu, eok……."
Makson's body was lifted up while skewered on the spear.
His feet flailed in the empty air.
Blood flowed down the spear shaft.
Cedric indifferently swung his spear.
The corpse was thrown down in front of the subordinates.
"Who's next?"
Silence.
The swords of the Blood Demon subordinates fell to the ground with a clatter.
At the same time, east of District 8.
Kwaaaang—!
A building was engulfed in flames.
It was the headquarters of the 'Black Snake Union'.
It was a place that had locked its doors, declaring they would hold out to the end.
Vulcan stood in front of the flames.
The high-heat whip swayed languidly in his hand.
"Haha! It's finally getting a little warm."
Screams erupted from inside the building.
Those who broke the windows and jumped out.
But before they could even touch the ground, the whip wrapped around them.
Chiiiiik—.
The smell of burning flesh spread.
"You can't run away, though."
Vulcan clicked his tongue.
Behind him, the unit of Dragon Tooth Soldiers were lined up.
Their blue eye sockets simultaneously turned toward the building.
"Bug-like bastards just sneaking glances."
The whip cut through the empty air again.
"That's a bit ill-mannered."
In the west, Merhen moved.
A magic circle unfolded in the empty air.
Jjeojeok—!
Jjeojeojeojeok—!!
A massive glacier swallowed an entire guild whole.
'Ten Thousand Swords Society.'
It was a place run by a close aide of Irokes.
Merhen tapped her staff.
Between the tightly frozen building, corpses frozen at the entrance could be seen.
—Idiots.
Throughout the night, flames soared all over District 8.
Screams echoed.
Blood flowed.
And dawn.
Kim Minwoo stood in the center of the plaza.
The sun was rising.
A blood-red morning glow dyed the sky.
Hundreds of people were kneeling in the plaza.
Those who had declared they would hold out last night.
Now, every single one of them was bowing their heads.
"You guys will be incorporated into the Money Talks Guild. By any chance, do you all believe in a religion?"
"……R-religion?"
"If you don't have one, believe in one from now on. It's called the Death Cult, and the god is me."
"……Yes!"
Ttiring—.
[District 8 power distribution has been updated.]
[1st in Influence: Money Talks Guild.]
[The Scales of the City calculate a new equilibrium point.]
[Benefits will be provided!]
[In the Merit Point Shop, 'Faith Orb' is generated!]
Hayang flapped its wings on his shoulder.
"Kku! Kkukku!"
It was the prelude to occupation.