Chapter 297 : Evil Cult (2)
Chapter 297: Evil Cult (2)
Ahmed had assumed the item brought was something for trade. The thought that anyone would dare bring a severed head to a meeting with him had never even crossed his mind. He leaped to his feet and bellowed.
"You insolent fools!!"
The guards in the room drew their weapons at his shout, but Il-mok maintained his composure even in this situation.
"This is Zafir's head."
When the man from the Majid Family translated Il-mok's words, Ahmed's expression shifted to one of shock as he examined the head more closely.
"...This cannot be."
The man once called the city's greatest warrior now sat before him as nothing more than a severed head. Ahmed could only stare in stunned disbelief.
Facing such a reaction, Il-mok spoke without a change in his expression.
"Do you believe me now? We were ambushed by the Omar Family. Over a hundred warriors attacked us, including this Zafir."
Only then did Ahmed tear his gaze away from Zafir's head to look at Il-mok.
"And they are all dead now. Just like this Zafir."
Il-mok's dispassionate words made Ahmed swallow hard despite himself.
Then, Il-mok got to the point.
"So? What do you think? Now that the Omar Family's power has weakened, how about you join us in punishing the Omar Family for attacking guests from the East?"
What Il-mok had been counting on was the nature of the Muslims that he had observed throughout his journey.
And Ahmed's reaction was exactly as Il-mok had predicted.
The eyes that had widened in shock at the sight of Zafir's head now gleamed with greed.
"You propose that your people and our Molk Family attack the Omar Family alone?"
Il-mok shook his head at the question.
"Wouldn't it be safer to join forces with the other houses in the council? Unless you wish to find yourself in the same position as the Omar Family."
Ahmed understood what Il-mok meant.
Just as the Omar Family had been weakened by attacking the Eastern merchants, their own strength would inevitably diminish even if they won. And that would leave them vulnerable to being devoured by the other houses in turn.
‘It's a shame to have to share the spoils, but I suppose this will have to do for now.’
Ahmed decided to form an alliance with the other houses.
"Very well."
“Then contact the other families and get ready to fight immediately. The Omar Family will find out we’re in the city any minute now.”
Realizing the situation was more urgent than he had thought, Ahmed immediately summoned his subordinates and issued orders.
Soon, several men departed from the Molk Family mansion toward the other houses, carrying letters personally written by Ahmed.
Meanwhile, Il-mok stepped out of the Family Head’s chamber and gave instructions to Ouyang Hyeok.
"Leader Ouyang Hyeok, please remain here. I’m only taking about ten of our combatants who aren't badly hurt. The rest stay put."
"There are more than twenty who can still fight. Is there a reason you're only taking ten?"
"We can't fully trust these people either, can we?"
Only then did Ouyang Hyeok grasp Il-mok's intent.
If they left only the seriously wounded here, they could become hostages of the Molk Family.
And after about fifteen minutes, those who were equipped left the Molk residence.
Il-mok also joined them, bringing only the minimum number of people.
As a swarm of armed men moved through the streets, the bustling streets of Merv froze in an instant.
People who had been going about their business hurried into their homes and bolted their doors. Mothers clamped their hands over their children's mouths.
They pushed through this bleak atmosphere for a while before encountering another armed group from the opposite direction.
Just as Il-mok had predicted, soldiers of the Omar Family had mobilized upon receiving news of their return.
As the soldiers of the two houses faced off at a distance, an old man pushed through the ranks of Omar Family's soldiers and stepped forward.
His hair was white and his face deeply wrinkled, yet his bearing and the fire in his eyes remained undiminished.
This was Arslan, the patriarch of the Omar Family.
“Ahmed! Why are you marching on my family with an army?”
In response to Arslan's question, Ahmed stepped forward to answer.
"It is the will of our council to punish the Omar Family for being blinded by greed and attacking guests who came to Merv."
"The council? Hahaha. I am a member of that council, yet I heard nothing of this."
"Why would we bother informing someone who is about to be expelled from the council?"
"Oh my. It seems you are the one blinded by greed, not I. To be deceived by the lies of infidels and dare to target our Omar Family."
Family Head Arslan maintained a facade of composure and bravado.
He wanted to hide the fact that Zafir and the subordinates who had left Merv had not yet returned.
The law of the jungle.
He knew all too well that the moment others sensed his weakness, they would devour him.
He just had one question.
‘Zafir, where the hell have you gone?’
He was trying hard to ignore the possibility that Zafir had been defeated, even though the fact reached him that the merchant who should have died returned instead of Zafir.
But his denial of reality would not last long.
"I wonder if you can still call it the lies of infidels after seeing this."
No sooner had Ahmed finished speaking than one of the soldiers beside him opened the box he had been carrying.
Inside lay the head of Zafir, the very person Arslan had been waiting for.
When Arslan's eyes shook violently for the first time, Ahmed's expression turned to one of satisfaction.
This was the man who had always wielded supreme power, acting however he pleased even within the council.
At that moment, soldiers poured in from all directions, bearing the banners of other houses and began marching.
As the other houses of the council appeared, the Molk Family Head sensed it was time and shouted.
"Punish the Omar clan in the name of God! They have disgraced Merv with their greed!”
The moment his cry ended, the soldiers of the Molk Family charged toward the Omar Family.
"Allahu Akbar!!"
Simultaneously, similar battle cries erupted from all directions.
Surrounded and panicked, the Omar soldiers were slaughtered.
“Clear a path! Move!”
Arslan’s confident façade vanished like smoke. He was already running away, hiding behind his guards.
Il-mok had been watching the Muslims slaughter each other while casually swinging his Ascension Sword. He did not miss the sight of Arslan fleeing.
‘Time to make my move.’
Realizing that the tide of battle had already turned, Il-mok launched himself into the air with a burst of lightness skill.
It was around noon.
With the sun positioned at the center of the sky behind him, Il-mok's figure cast a massive shadow over the battlefield.
Feeling the scorching heat of the sun at his back, Il-mok drew up the internal energy from his dantian while still in midair.
The demonic energy surged through his veins like a wild stallion, rushing into his Ascension Sword to form the Sword Thunder.
Zzzzt.
It felt weird.
He was forcing the energy to go haywire, but it didn't hurt him at all.
On the outside, the power looked like it was out of control, but it obeyed him perfectly.
‘So this is what they mean by "where the mind goes, the energy flows."’
Il-mok can now perfectly control his energy. He swung the Ascension Sword toward fleeing Arslan who was urging his subordinates to go faster.
CRACKLE!
With a sound like hundreds of birds taking flight, the energy gathered on the Ascension Sword plunged down like a bolt of lightning.
And before the Sword Thunder touched the ground.
BOOM!
The Sword Thunder shattered, and hundreds of shards of Sword Force scattered in all directions.
The area directly struck by the fragments of Sword Thunder was devastated, and nearby, a blood-red sandstorm mixed with human flesh whirled violently.
After the crimson sandstorm subsided, nothing living remained.
"......"
The battlefield that was filled with chaos a moment before fell into silence.
Tap.
The only sound remaining was the soft noise of Il-mok landing back on the ground.
‘I'll need some practice.’
Il-mok swallowed his disappointment inwardly.
The Sword Thunder exploding at the end had not been his intention. Maybe because the energy was too unstable, it had run amok and burst on its own once the distance increased.
Pushing his disappointment aside, Il-mok looked at the soldiers who were frozen in place and gawked at him.
"Those who surrender will be spared."
The reason Il-mok had gone to the trouble of using Sword Thunder to kill Arslan was a show of force.
Rather than grinding through the battle slowly, overwhelming them with a single devastating display was actually the way to minimize casualties.
Furthermore.
‘Now, no one will be foolish enough to get greedy.’
It also served as a warning to the other houses that had temporarily allied with them.
And Il-mok's purpose had been achieved perfectly.
The survivors of the Omar Family began to drop their weapons one by one and kneel on the ground after having witnessed such overwhelming slaughter.
‘…To think that the leader of those infidels was a Great Warrior.’
Ahmed of the Molk Family, who had orchestrated this attack felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
***
After subduing the Omar Family, Il-mok and the patriarchs of each house gathered for a meeting.
Since they had seized all of the Omar family’s assets, they needed to discuss the distribution of the profits.
Normally, this would have been a meeting hall filled with shouting, with each side claiming they had performed better or suffered more damage, but today the atmosphere was strangely subdued.
All the Family Heads were watching Il-mok's every move.
The monstrous swordsmanship Il-mok had displayed at the end refused to leave their minds.
Moreover, in terms of merit, Il-mok was undeniably the greatest contributor to this battle.
It wasn't simply because he had killed Arslan.
From the very beginning, it was only because Il-mok had killed Zafir and over a hundred warriors first that they had the opportunity to raid the weakened Omar Family.
And Il-mok was well aware of this fact.
“As you all know, we were the ones who inflicted the greatest damage on the Omar family, including killing Zafir and Family Head Arslan. We plan to return here to continue trading in the future. We will not be greedy and will decide to only take three parts of the Omar family’s assets.”
There were five houses present at this meeting, and including Il-mok, six parties would be dividing the assets.
Taking thirty percent meant Il-mok was getting double a standard share, but nobody complained.
Considering how much he did, he was actually being generous.
“Oh, and one more thing. Since you’re going to sell the Omar survivors as slaves, just pay us our share of their value in gold and silver. We don’t want slaves. Lastly, the goods we sold to the Omar family were ours to begin with, so we’ll be taking those back.”
"!!!"
Only then did the patriarchs realize why Il-mok had made such a seemingly generous concession.
The Omar Family had spent a considerable sum to purchase those goods, and now he was simply taking them all back.
At this point, what he called three parts was actually closer to five parts of the assets.
The patriarchs exchanged glances with complicated expressions, then soon accepted reality.
When Il-mok crossed his arms as if he had taken everything he needed and stepped back, the patriarchs finally began shouting earnestly.
How long did this exhausting struggle continue?
After a tedious battle of wits, the meeting was heading to its end when Il-mok who was meditating in the background suddenly clapped his hands and drew the patriarchs' attention.
Clap.
"Well then, the five of you here must now be the wealthiest men in Merv."
When Ohalak and the man from the Majid Family translated Il-mok's words, the patriarchs looked at him with puzzled expressions.
“So, instead of dragging everything to the market, why don't I just sell my goods to you right here? What do you say? It’s a perfect chance to buy rare porcelain and silk from the East.”
The Family Heads’ eyes widened in horror.
‘He... he's a demon.’
‘He's worse than that damned Arslan!’
Il-mok was robbing the locals blind right in their own backyard.