The Regressed Sword Demon Changes the Future

The Geumjo Guard!

It was a military force created by the Geumjo Merchant Guild, the best merchant guild in Sichuan, by gathering parentless orphans.

With such a background, the loyalty of the Geumjo Guard to the Geumjo Merchant Guild and Geum Gadong was absolute.

Naturally, Geum Hyeonah, the daughter of such a Geum Gadong and the precious jade of the Geumjo Merchant Guild, was also greatly loved by the people of the Geumjo Guard.

In their hearts, they were all Geum Hyeonah's older brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers!

But such a Geum Hyeonah had fallen head over heels for a scoundrel whose origins were unknown, and was giving off that kind of atmosphere. So Jang Baekseo had become a public enemy to the Geumjo Guard without even knowing it.

And when the opportunity arose, Bangho, on behalf of the Geumjo Guard, had picked a fight with Jang Baekseo…

"Keuk!?"

As soon as he had picked a fight, before he could say anything more, Jang Baekseo had thrown a preemptive strike!

Of course, although Bangho had picked a fight first and had raised his fist, the members of the Geumjo Guard, who had not expected that he would hit him in the face without hesitation like that, were frozen on the spot.

"Huhu, I miss it."

The main reason why the Geumjo Guard, or to be precise, Bangho, had come out in a quarrelsome manner was because of his relationship with Geum Hyeonah. But from Jang Baekseo's point of view, who had no way of knowing that fact, it seemed that they were coming out like this purely because they did not recognize his skills.

'Is it something like a pecking order?'

Jang Baekseo, who had defined their actions in that way, recalled the days when he had lived as a Sword Fiend to become the Sword Demon in the world before his regression.

'I fought a lot with those guys too.'

Originally, even memories that were like something at the time became beautified and became memories over time!

Jang Baekseo, who was loosening his fists while reminiscing about the past memories in that way, waited for the fallen Bangho to get up.

"Ugh…! You bastard!?"

Although Bangho had somehow managed to get up, his body was not in a normal state.

'How…!? It wasn't even my chin that was hit!?'

"Hey! Bangho, get a grip! What's with that look after getting hit once, you're embarrassing us!"

"Why are you making a fuss over getting hit once!? Do it properly!!"

'Damn it! Those guys don't even know…!'

Although the other members had not noticed, only Yiseon, the leader of the Geumjo Guard, had noticed what Jang Baekseo had done.

'Fist qi! And it was a pulling qi at that!'

Although it had looked like he had simply thrown a punch, Jang Baekseo had emitted a fist qi at the same time as the blow, and the pulling qi that had been emitted in that way had shaken Bangho's entire face.

In the first place, the Geumjo Guard and Bangho, who had not known about Jang Baekseo's level at all, had not expected that Jang Baekseo would emit a qi so easily.

'Well, to be able to put qi into a blow so easily, you have to be at least at the first-rate realm…'

Although Jang Baekseo's physique was good, his age could be easily guessed just by looking at his face. Who could have expected that a boy of the age of learning (15) would have reached the first-rate, no, the peak realm?

Bangho, who had somehow shaken off the blow and had taken his stance again, was about to break into Jang Baekseo and swing his fist, but.

Hwoong!

"Huh!?"

Bangho, who had thrown a punch, was once again rolling on the floor due to Jang Baekseo's grappling art, which had lightly caught his fist.

Kwaang!

Jang Baekseo's stamping foot… landed right next to the face of Bangho, who was lying on the floor in a spread-eagle position.

"Do you want to try again?"

"…I surrender…"

Jang Baekseo, who had easily received a surrender from Bangho, looked over the other members of the Geumjo Guard.

"Anyone else want to try?"

"…"

"…"

Since they had seen the sight of Bangho, who was a considerable master within the Geumjo Guard, being defeated without being able to do anything, no one raised their hand.

Only after the situation was settled in that way could Jang Baekseo be fully recognized as the person in charge of this excavation.

Jang Baekseo, who had been recognized as the person in charge of the excavation in that way, looked around this slash-and-burn farming site once with the people of the excavation team.

"Now, do you see what's strange?"

Although they had looked around once, they could not figure out what was strange or where the secret vault of the Hegemon's Fortress was hidden. So not only Yiseon, the Geumjo Guard, and the people of the excavation team, but also Jang Yuran, could only shake their heads. At that time!

"Ah! Senior Brother, I know!"

Geum Hyeonah called Jang Baekseo in a loud voice.

"Oh, did you realize what's strange?"

At Jang Baekseo's question, Geum Hyeonah nodded her head and said.

"This slash-and-burn farming site… it's too neat."

At those words, the people around them tilted their heads. To say that it was neat, this slash-and-burn farming site was too dirty.

Right now, the buildings were messily collapsed and broken, and there were all sorts of trash, such as household goods and things whose original form could not even be guessed, scattered around.

Anyone could see that it was far from the word 'neat'…

"Correct. You're smart, as expected! Can you tell me in more detail?"

"Huhu, you're too kind. Senior Brother. To be precise, it's the arrangement of the houses. The arrangement is too orderly."

At those words, Yiseon also exclaimed 'Ah!' as if he had realized something.

It was literally true.

It was not a planned city that the government had planned and built, and there was no need to organize the districts. But the arrangement of the houses in this slash-and-burn farming site was too neat, just as Geum Hyeonah had said.

As if it had been planned and built under the leadership of one person from the beginning!

"Correct. That's because this slash-and-burn farming site… no, this place disguised as a site, was artificially created by the Hegemon's Fortress."

Saying so, Jang Baekseo entered the house in the center of the slash-and-burn farming site.

The arrangement of the houses in this slash-and-burn farming site basically imitated the character '品' (product). And in the center of the houses arranged in the shape of three squares, there was only one house site that was out of the '品' character, and that was this house.

Jang Baekseo, who was standing in the center of the house, whose outer walls and ceiling had already collapsed and disappeared, revealing the inside, stamped his foot with all his might.

Kwaang!

For a moment, the remaining foundation of the house flew away from the impact.

And at the same time, from under the dug-up earth…

"A door!?"

"I-is it really the Hegemon's Fortress's…"

A huge steel door revealed itself.

Leaving Geum Hyeonah and a few members of the Geumjo Guard on the ground, Jang Baekseo, Yiseon, and twelve members of the Geumjo Guard, including Bangho, opened the steel door and went down to the basement.

At the end of the marble stairs, which they had descended, relying on the torches held in their hands, what revealed itself was a long corridor whose end could not be seen.

"…Wow…"

"Amazing…"

What caught their eyes were the huge paintings that were decorated on both sides of the high-ceilinged corridor.

The paintings, which were different from the style of the Central Plains, used much more colors than the paintings of the Central Plains and were also vivid.

As they were walking along the long corridor, looking at the paintings.

"Another door…"

"Is the treasure inside here?"

A huge steel door revealed itself.

"…I'll open it. Just in case something happens, be prepared to fight!"

Although Jang Baekseo knew the information of the world before his regression, he did not know exactly what kind of traps were hidden in this secret vault.

The information he knew was the location of this secret vault and that the martial artist who had conquered the secret vault at that time was at the peak realm.

'Tsk! I should have robbed it once then…'

In the world before his regression, Jang Baekseo had not been able to explore it because he had been in a hurry due to the Righteous-Demonic War, even after finding the secret vault.

Thinking that there was no point in regretting the past, Jang Baekseo, who had shaken his head, soon pushed open the door.

Fortunately, there was no lock or key on the door, and when he pushed it with force, it opened easily.

What had revealed itself in that way was a huge circular room.

The night-luminescent pearls that were studded all over the circular ceiling were faintly illuminating the entire room.

And on the walls of such a circular room, twelve doors were attached at regular intervals.

"Oh ho ho! Amazing, isn't it?"

"This… it would be a jackpot just by taking those night-luminescent pearls, wouldn't it?"

"Ah, really… but what are those?"

But besides the room structure and the night-luminescent pearls, there was something else that caught their eyes…

'Steel dolls?'

To be precise, it was like a statue of a human wearing armor.

Although it was a sight that was reminiscent of the Terracotta Army at a glance, the difference was that these were all made of steel.

Such steel dolls were filling the large circular room.

What was particularly noteworthy was…

"I've never seen this kind of armor in my life…"

"Really… is it the armor worn by the barbarian tribes of the frontier?"

"No way? How can the barbarian tribes of the frontier make and wear armor made of iron from head to toe?"

The armor that the statues were wearing was completely different from the style of the Central Plains. It was armor made of iron from head to toe.

"For now, don't touch them with your hands and just look around the room with your eyes. If you find anything special, please report it to me or Yiseon…"

Although the others were just admiring it, Jang Baekseo, who had come into contact with various cultural styles in the Demonic Cult before his regression, was different.

'It resembles the style of the Western Regions… but it's not exactly the same… was it influenced by the North Sea side?'

But what stimulated Jang Baekseo's mind more than that was the unprecedented energy that was filling this entire circular room.

'It's an energy similar to when using a formation… but it's definitely different from a formation.'

As he was looking around in that way, Jang Baekseo's eyes suddenly caught the patterns carved on the circular ceiling.

Although it was not clearly visible due to the faint light of the night-luminescent pearls, when he focused his energy on his eyes, the patterns were clearly visible.

For a moment, a shiver ran down Jang Baekseo's spine.

"Why is that there…"

At that time.

Click!

"What, where!?"

"Uh, uh uh? N-no, I was just trying to open the door because there was a door…"

When he looked back, he saw Bangho, who was turning the handle of one of the doors on the wall.

And at that moment.

Kwaang!

The door through which the party had come down closed by itself with a 'bang', and a thick steel lattice came down over it.

"Oh no…!"

But the strange event did not end there.

Creak!

Creak!

"…Don't tell me?"

The armor dolls, which they had thought were just simple statues, suddenly began to move!

"Gather in the center!!"

"Gather in one place! Hurry!"

At the command of Jang Baekseo and Yiseon, the twelve members of the Geumjo Guard, who had been scattered in all directions, gathered in the center in an instant.

"You idiot, Bangho!!"

"I knew it when you picked a fight with Young Master Jang!!!"

"Oh, that idiot…!"

Bangho, who had been cursed at a lot, came up, wiping his tears in his heart.

"Y-Young Master Jang, I'm sorry, I…"

"No, it's okay. We would have had to open the door to get the treasure anyway. It was something that was bound to happen."

"Y-Young Master!!"

Bangho was moved by the sight of Jang Baekseo, who was defending him with a calm face, even though he had picked a fight with him and had been beaten up one-sidedly in return.

But Jang Baekseo had no time to react to such a reaction from Bangho.

Because the steel soldiers, who had been moving little by little with a creaking sound, were now rushing at them with a movement that was no different from that of a human.

"They're coming!"

Thus, the fight between Jang Baekseo, the Geumjo Guard, and the steel soldiers began.

"Sword qi! Use sword qi! And aim for the limbs, not the neck or the abdomen, and cut them!"

The fight with the steel soldiers was very fierce.

In the first place, although the steel soldiers had the appearance of humans, they were, of course, not human. Even if you cut their necks and pierced their stomachs, since they were not real people, they would, of course, not stop moving.

To stop their actions, you had to either break them into pieces or cut off all their limbs.

The problem was that the strength of these steel dolls was not ordinary.

Clang!

"Keuk! It's hard to cut even with sword qi!!"

"What are these things!?"

These steel dolls were strangely hard, to the point where it was hard to cut them even with sword qi.

Sreung!

Unlike the others who were struggling, Jang Baekseo's sword was easily cutting off the limbs of the steel soldiers.

Kwaang!

Likewise, Yiseon, the only transcendent master among them and the leader of the Geumjo Guard, was also butchering the limbs of the steel dolls without much difficulty.

Thump.

"It seems the leader has also noticed. These guys…"

"Yes, they are clad in some unknown energy. That's why it's hard to cut them even with sword qi."

As they were exchanging information in that way, Jang Baekseo suddenly noticed something strange.

'What is the difference between the moving steel dolls and the non-moving steel dolls?'

Among the dolls, there were moving dolls, but there were also as many non-moving dolls. And another question was…

'How on earth did a single peak master rob this secret vault in the world before my regression?'

Currently, the excavation team, which was a mix of thirteen peak masters and one transcendent master, was struggling like this. But how had the peak master of the world before his regression conquered this place alone?

Then, suddenly, Jang Baekseo noticed something.

'The excavation team has fourteen people, including me, and the total number of moving dolls is one hundred and sixty-eight… don't tell me!?'

Jang Baekseo noticed that the total number of dolls that were attacking them now was the number of their members multiplied by twelve.

'Is that so… the number of steel dolls that attack increases according to the number of people who enter!'

If that was the case, it was understandable that a single peak master had conquered this place in the world before his regression.

If it was this wide and there were many steel dolls to use as shields, even if the sword qi did not work well, it would not have been that difficult to run around and deal with them one by one.

'The problem is that there are too many of us…'

No matter how good the movements of the steel dolls were, they were no match for a martial arts master. But if that number exceeded a certain number, the story changed.

Because the aspect of the fight changed from the realm of martial arts to the realm of war.

'Wait, war?'

Then, suddenly, Jang Baekseo realized that the movements of these dolls were quite systematic.

"Don't tell me…!"

Jang Baekseo, who was looking around in that way, was soon able to find the existence he was looking for.

-…

A steel soldier who was clearly different from the other steel soldiers, wearing a splendid armor and being about a hand's breadth taller.

"Oh ho ho~? So you were the leader!"

Jang Baekseo's eyes shone fiercely.

(End of Chapter)