Chapter 108
Quite some time had passed since the joint operation by Baeksan Guild and Haeundae Guild to eliminate Wi Gwakdu and Bang Hyuk-min had failed.
Until then, both sides had only taken the actions they deemed necessary, but neither had ever once spoken about that day.
Then one day, Hwarang Sword, the vice guild master of Baeksan Guild, visited Haeundae in Busan.
“It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Ahn Hyunwoo, the Chief Secretary.”
It was the Western Shaman, who snapped shut the fan he had been idly waving and bowed his head.
Faced with the courtesy of the Western Shaman, who carried the air of a Taoist master, Hwarang Sword also greeted him with a smile.
“So you’re the one they call the youngest Chief Secretary of Haeundae Guild.”
“I’m merely grateful that you’ve heard of me.”
“To become the Chief Secretary of Haeundae Guild, the representative guild of Busan, at such a young age… your parents must be very proud.”
“They are very pleased.”
That was enough for pleasantries.
Without losing his smile, the Western Shaman was the first to bring up the real matter.
“What brings the vice guild master of Baeksan Guild here?”
“Isn’t there some unfinished business between Haeundae Guild and us?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a White Shadow appeared beside Hwarang Sword, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
Its appearance was slightly different from the White Shadows raised by Baeksan Guild.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Knife Rain.”
A nod.
He was none other than Knife Rain, one of Baeksan Guild’s greatest forces and the leader of the White Shadows.
His appearance alone was enough to explain why they had come.
“I will guide you.”
“Please do.”
The Western Shaman bowed his head.
Then, snapping open his fan, he took the lead and began to walk.
They stopped in front of an elevator whose doors were far larger than those of a normal elevator.
When the Western Shaman pressed the button to go down instead of up, Hwarang Sword asked with a puzzled look.
“Is he in the basement?”
“Yes. He is in the underground training facility.”
“Has he already made a full recovery?”
Ding.
The elevator arrived, and instead of answering, the Western Shaman stepped inside first with a meaningful smile.
This was Hwarang Sword, the vice guild master of Baeksan Guild and its acting guild master.
He instantly understood the meaning behind that smile.
Once Hwarang Sword and Knife Rain boarded as well, the elevator doors closed.
And then the real conversation began, the kind that could not be had in the lobby.
“It seems you’ve completely taken over the guild master position. This elevator we’re on right now… isn’t it the guild master’s personal elevator?”
“My, my. So Baeksan Guild’s informants have infiltrated our guild as well?”
“Our intelligence is simply better.”
“I wonder just how much you know. I’m suddenly quite curious about the extent of Baeksan Guild’s intelligence network.”
“Only that the guild master fell into a coma a few months ago, and that recently, the internal staff were quietly all replaced with unfamiliar faces.”
He still wore a smile, but it twitched slightly.
“Doesn’t that include you as well, Chief Secretary?”
“Hahaha, I’d heard that Baeksan Guild’s intelligence was excellent, but for it to be this good is truly surprising.”
“You’re on Team Leader Park Chung-ho’s side, aren’t you?”
At last, the Western Shaman’s eyebrow twitched.
He had tried to brush it aside by praising their intelligence, but Hwarang Sword did not let it go.
Hwarang Sword began asking openly provocative questions.
“In a way, it’s impressive for someone so young. For Azure Lake Guild, which was insignificant compared to Haeundae Guild, to swallow up the entire Haeundae Guild not long after entering it.”
“We’ve arrived.”
Ding.
The doors opened with the announcement of B4.
The Western Shaman stepped out first to guide them and then spoke.
“It seems the rumors are true.”
“Pardon?”
“Surely you’ve heard them. That Baeksan Guild’s intelligence is only exceptional when it comes to rival guilds or individuals who may become threats.”
At the Western Shaman’s blatant mockery, it was Hwarang Sword’s eyebrow that twitched this time.
“If that weren’t true, then the best intelligence network in South Korea would be Baeksan Guild, not Black Label Guild.”
“Are you… saying that in front of me, the representative of Baeksan Guild?”
“Did I strike a nerve?”
A deep crease formed on Hwarang Sword’s brow.
This time there was no roundabout phrasing. He was openly trying to humiliate him to his face.
And not just anyone, but Hwarang Sword, the man destined to one day become the master of Baeksan Guild.
Just as Hwarang Sword’s hand, trembling with anger, was about to slowly reach for the expensive sword at his waist, plated in platinum.
The Western Shaman smiled brightly and tapped his own head with his fan.
“Do not forget. This is the heart of Azure Lake Guild.”
Azure Lake Guild?
Not Haeundae Guild, but now he was openly calling it Azure Lake Guild.
“Didn’t you say it yourself, Sir Hwarang Sword? That it was amazing for someone so young, for the insignificant Azure Lake Guild to swallow up Haeundae Guild. Then how do you think that became possible?”
His words seemed to contain many meanings.
In that brief moment, Hwarang Sword understood every implication and glared at the Western Shaman in fury.
For a short while, Hwarang Sword and the Western Shaman stared at each other in silence, as though something might happen at any moment.
“Hahahaha, it seems my role here is over.”
“What?”
The Western Shaman was the first to break eye contact, suddenly bursting into loud laughter.
Just as Hwarang Sword was wondering what he meant.
“The Guild Master is coming.”
He was momentarily startled by the words Guild Master, but an instant later, irritation welled up inside him.
Because the person who appeared as soon as the Western Shaman finished speaking was not the original guild master lying in a coma, but Park Chung-ho, drenched in sweat.
Park Chung-ho walked over while wiping away his sweat with a towel.
At his side hung a sword with a blue scabbard, engraved with an anchor-shaped crest.
‘So in the end!’
Thud. Thud. Thud.
As if angered, Hwarang Sword strode toward Park Chung-ho and, without warning, snatched away the blue sword hanging at his side.
Then he raised it to Park Chung-ho’s face and shouted.
“The Guild Master is still alive, and his children are alive and well! Do you think you have the right to wear this!”
At the sudden threat, the Yaksha guarding Park Chung-ho bared its fangs.
However, Park Chung-ho, who met Hwarang Sword’s gaze as if it were nothing, gestured with his hand.
After confirming that the Yaksha had stepped back, Park Chung-ho spoke as if amused.
“Did you come all this way just to ask me that?”
It was an act rude enough to justify anger.
But the moment Park Chung-ho smirked unexpectedly, Hwarang Sword suddenly realized what he himself was doing.
He turned his head and looked around.
Knife Rain, silently bowing his head.
The Western Shaman, smiling as though he found it entertaining.
And finally himself, Hwarang Sword, who had failed to control his temper and acted rashly.
“Haa…”
Coming to his senses, Hwarang Sword finally lowered his head.
“I apologize.”
“It’s fine. It isn’t mine anyway. You can have it.”
Hwarang Sword’s eyebrow twitched once more.
The sword in his hand was none other than the Blue Earth Sword, the very symbol of Haeundae Guild’s guild master.
When he was young, Hwarang Sword had once met the guild master of Haeundae Guild together with his father, the guild master of Baeksan Guild.
The two men, being close friends, had proudly introduced their children to each other, and from that day on, the guild master of Haeundae Guild had always greeted Hwarang Sword warmly and treated him as if he were his own son.
What kind of sword was the Blue Earth Sword?
Wasn’t it the sword that the guild master of Haeundae Guild, whom Hwarang Sword had long respected and trusted, cherished as dearly as his own life?
And yet now, it was being treated like something anyone could simply take if they wanted it. Indignation rose within him.
However.
“Hoo, then may I take it?”
He had to stop acting foolish.
Hwarang Sword desperately suppressed the anger threatening to burst forth and obtained Park Chung-ho’s permission.
“Go ahead. But isn’t there something else you owe us as payment?”
Park Chung-ho’s gaze shifted to Knife Rain, standing behind Hwarang Sword.
“That kid behind you. If it weren’t for us, he’d be buried somewhere in the middle of China right now.”
“That is what I came to speak about. Thank you for protecting Baeksan Guild’s precious talent.”
“Come on, surely you’re not planning to pay with nothing but words? Especially while taking the Blue Earth Sword, of all things.”
He gave it to me even though he knew it was the Blue Earth Sword?
Hwarang Sword’s eyebrow twitched yet again, but having learned a great deal from what had just happened, he did not react any further.
“What do you want?”
“Just do one simple thing for me.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s simple. Just attend an event I want you at. Attend it, sit right beside me, and that’s all. If you do that, I’ll hand over both that kid’s life and the Blue Earth Sword you’re holding for free.”
“You’ll have to tell me what kind of event it is first.”
“The inauguration ceremony for Haeundae Guild’s new guild master and… what was the other one?”
“…!!”
Hwarang Sword’s eyes widened to the limit.
But the shocks did not end there.
“Hyunwoo, what was the other one?”
“The renaming ceremony.”
Renaming ceremony…?
“Ah, right. The ceremony where Haeundae Guild changes its name to Azure Lake Guild. It won’t take long, so don’t worry. Everything will be done in one place. You only need to be there for an hour.”
Each one was a bombshell large enough to shake the entire nation.
Contrary to the confidence he had come with, Hwarang Sword could only stand there and listen to one shocking revelation after another.
Stunned, Hwarang Sword looked back and forth between Knife Rain and the Blue Earth Sword, then slowly turned his head to Park Chung-ho.
Park Chung-ho merely shrugged with endlessly cheerful ease.
Looking at him, one thought occurred to Hwarang Sword.
‘He is an extremely dangerous man.’
Park Chung-ho.
The ambition in his eyes would never stop here.
It would not end with merely devouring Haeundae Guild.
Certain now that this man would one day become a great threat to Baeksan Guild as well, Hwarang Sword slowly clenched his fists.
‘Baeksan Guild will be different. I’ll show you why Baeksan Guild is Baeksan Guild. This shame, this humiliation… I will repay it all without fail.’
= = =
After Hwarang Sword left, the Western Shaman went to find Park Chung-ho.
Seeing Park Chung-ho’s satisfied smile, the Western Shaman smiled as well.
“It worked well.”
“It seems we picked the right man. He had plenty of useful information.”
On that day when Baeksan Guild and Haeundae Guild joined hands to obtain the [Legendary Title].
Park Chung-ho, who had attended as Haeundae Guild’s representative, had not gone there just to talk about that one matter.
Of course, that had been the main purpose, but there had been another task of equal importance as well.
To lay the foundation for bringing down Baeksan Guild, just as he had brought down Haeundae Guild.
“The Seoul branch manager, was it?”
“His name is Seo Hwan-do.”
On that day, while riding the elevator up to discuss the alliance, Park Chung-ho had used the Western Shaman to make a move on Seo Hwan-do, the manager of Baeksan Guild’s Seoul branch.
He had assumed that, given his rank, the man would know many of Baeksan Guild’s secrets.
But what was this?
It seemed the goddess of fortune had smiled on Park Chung-ho.
“Kukuk, to think the very first one would be a relative of the owner’s family who’s been with Baeksan Guild for such a long time.”
“We were lucky.”
“And he had no clue, going on and on about how amazing Baeksan Guild’s intelligence was… Kukuk… I thought I’d die trying not to laugh.”
“He has a fiery temper. He’ll definitely try something.”
“Hyunwoo, wasn’t that why you deliberately provoked him? Since Baeksan Guild is so solid that we can’t strike first, I thought you were trying to make them start something against us.”
The Western Shaman smiled.
“That’s right. It seems you’ll do just fine without me now.”
“What a sad thing to say. Shouldn’t you and Yaksha stay with me for life? I’m even planning to bury you on either side of my grave. Don’t you like the sound of that?”
“Not in the slightest. The only guild master I will follow for the rest of my life is the Azure Lake Guild Master.”
Then the Western Shaman’s smile vanished in an instant.
No matter how one looked at it, everything had unfolded according to Park Chung-ho’s side’s plans.
They had finally swallowed Haeundae Guild, the symbol of Busan, and though it would take time, it also looked like they could proceed against Baeksan Guild, the symbol of South Korea, without issue.
But there was one thing.
One thing Park Chung-ho’s side had failed to take care of.
“The holder of the [Legendary Title], Bang Hyuk-min.”
Park Chung-ho’s delighted expression immediately hardened.
“What should we do about him?”
The one and only problem they had not yet resolved instantly soured Park Chung-ho’s mood.
“Bang Hyuk-min…”
Park Chung-ho, who had clenched his fist in anger, suddenly appeared in front of the opposite wall and threw a punch.
Kung!!
A speed incomparable to before, strength great enough to leave a clear fist mark in the steel wall.
And finally, the sword-blue flame that flared up from his body.
“The next time I see him, I will tear him to pieces no matter what.”
Had he undergone an awakening?
Park Chung-ho, who had suddenly grown far stronger, glared at the photo of Bang Hyuk-min pinned to the wall before returning to where he had been standing.
He merely glared at it.
Fwoosh!
The suddenly surging sword-blue flame, as if far hotter than ordinary fire, instantly reduced Bang Hyuk-min’s photo to ashes.
“Hyunwoo.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
“Keep an eye on the Divine Power Unit. They went through all that trouble to take that bastard Bang Hyuk-min, so they’ll definitely try to use him for something.”
“I’ll make sure I won’t take my eyes off them for even a second.”
“Just let him try leaving that unit. I’ll go find him myself.”