“I will protect this one!”

‘!?’

Young Jeon was shocked at what Kang Mui had shouted out. He thought that he wouldn’t try to do anything with him being kept captive, but this was messed up!

‘Fucking coward!’

The owners of the jade plaque holders were no different from rivals. However, to act like this meant that one had surrendered to another.

Did he no longer have any pride?

‘… Is that what you are thinking?’

Kang Mui shook his head by looking at Young Jeon.

He had surely warned the man. He said that Mumu was not someone they could handle.

And with the formation destroyed, there was no other way to kill this monster. Because of that, preserving his own life was now more important.

Kang Mui looked to Mumu, and Mumu made eye contact as he said,

“… Please.”

‘Phew.’

Kang Mui’s lips were itching to smile at this. He was concerned Mumu would tie them all together as the same group, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

And Kang Mui frowned.

‘… Is this something to feel happy about?’

He wondered how they got to this point, and immediately afterwards he felt shame at the whole situation.

Mumu moved.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

The heads of the masked people were flying away with Mumu flicking continuously. The only one left now was Young Jeon.

‘… Damn it.’

When there was no more hope, Young Jeon felt despair sinking in.

He thought that following another person was the answer, but then this monster came.

And Mumu was already approaching him.

Step!

“Who made you do it?”

“…”

Young Jeon grit his teeth and stayed silent.

If he was going to die, then he wanted to keep his loyalty to the one he swore fealty to.

“Kill me.”

“You want me to kill you?”

“I will not speak about anything regarding the lord I serve, whether it is torture or anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Kill me.”

“You have a strong opinion. You might never open your mouth.”

As soon as Mumu finished speaking, he clenched his fist.

Crack!

And the muscles in his right arm burned black and swelled. The entire arm swelled to the point where each muscle was distinct.

Gulp!

Young Jeon gulped at this. Throughout his entire life he had never seen such defined muscles before. Mumu stretched his arm into the air.

Paaaang!

“Huh!”

The wind pressure which resembled a raging storm instantly made Young Jeon’s head move back, and when the wind died down, he barely managed to open his eyes.

‘!!!!’

The rain had subsided, but the sky was still full of dark clouds.

But—

‘This… what is this…’

There was a large hole right in the middle of the dark clouds, and through the gap, the sun was shining down like dawn had just arrived.

It wasn’t the light which would cause anyone would be shocked but the hole which had appeared and how it had appeared. This left Kang Mui completely speechless.

‘… He isn’t human.’

In an instant, a sense of shame took over him for trying to look good in front of Mumu. It seemed like his choice was right though.

This kid had truly gone beyond the level of normal human growth.

And Mumu looked up at the sky and said to Young Jeon,

“I will give you a choice.”

“…”

“If you don’t reveal who is behind you, I will make sure to erase your clan.”

Young Jeon gulped at Mumu’s words. Even before these words would have sounded realistic, but now they held a lot more power and certainty that they would be carried out.

‘Mon… monster…’

How could such a person even exist? His body trembled with fear, and each breath he now took felt raspy and shallow.

It didn’t seem like it would be a huge deal to destroy an entire clan anymore.

The loyalty that had stood firm until a moment ago had now been shaken. Kang Mui noticed that and spoke sarcastically,

“It seems like there won’t be any problems if you swear your loyalty to him now because he is someone with the jade plaque as well.”

“…”

“Do you think my lord is nothing? For me to switch.”

Late around afternoon—

At a secret passage located in the outer palace of the Golden Palace.

There, Man Young-ki, who was military personnel, and Geum Jong-shin, who was in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was under the Six Departments, were with someone who had a white mask on.

Among them, Geum Jong-shin and Man Young-ki were ones who sided with Yang Jung-myung. And they were known as the three powers of the empire.

Why did they gather here?

Kwang!

Geum Jong-shin slammed the table and raised his voice.

“So, the True King couldn’t be dealt with and the girl was not caught?”

This was the reason they came together.

It was because the mission of the Imperial Palace had failed.

They thought that taking them down wouldn’t be tough and invested around 30% of the hidden troops they had trained.

But then, their mission failed.

“You were so confident about becoming the general, so what is all of this?”

“Please calm down, Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

Man Young-ki tried to calm the Minister of Foreign Affairs down.

“Does it look like I can calm down? At best, he managed to drag the True King out of the northern part from where he was doing something, don’t we continue to miss all the chances?”

“I apologize.”

The person in the white mask bowed his head and apologized. And Geum Jong-shin said,

“We were openly aiming for the life of the True King, but if the situation has now turned out like this, it doesn’t seem like one which will be solved quietly.”

This was what Geum Jong-shin was concerned about.

The peaceful thoughts of the True King, that is why that man never aimed for the position of emperor.

However, if they continued to aim for his life and he managed to safely survive, he would not stand still.

“Right. Even if his powers are weakened, he isn’t a weak man.”

There were many who followed him, even two of the six departments supported them.

They could not recover the military power they lost when guarding the northern side.

If they held their spears upside down and blocked the foreign attacks all year round, it would be a civil war and a bloody river within the capital.

“Now that this happened, we must kill him by mobilizing all the troops, even the military is needed. If we delay…”

“Calm down, Minister of Foreign Affairs. This could be his trap.”

“Trap?”

At the words of Man Young-ki, Geum Jong-shin looked shocked.

What trap?

He said,

“You might not know because you haven’t mastered martial arts yet, but if it’s the forces we sent to kill him, then they can destroy around four small and medium sects in one night.”

“And they didn’t bring any results?”

“That is the problem.”

“Problem?”

“Didn’t you listen to the commander of the Hidden Troops? At the hands of just one person, the troops were annihilated and even the captain lost his life.”

“And this is serious?”

“Because there are just five people in the current Murim who have such power.”

At those words, Geum Jong-shin titled his head.

“Five? If you are talking about the Four Great Warriors, then I can understand, but five?”

“It’s not clear yet, but recently there is said to be a new warrior who defeated a few of the Four Great Warriors.”

“A new warrior?”

“I don’t know the details myself, but they are calling him the Warrior of Super Strength. One important thing here isn’t that there are four or five people.”

“Then?”

“The problem is that someone of that level intervened.”

The one who answered this was the white masked commander of the Hidden Troops, who had been silent up until this point.

Geum Jong-shin frowned and looked at him.

“How long will the troops take to come?”

“If such a person is protecting the True King, it cannot be resolved without the intervention of two warriors with the Highness and me.”

“… Is that so?”

At his words, Geum Jong-shin’s face turned serious. It was true that he saw the practice spar of the warriors at the founding ceremony of the hidden troops.

It was such a fierce fight that the ground had been cracked. Seeing that for the first time, he realized how dangerous these people were.

“As said, if there is a warrior skilled enough next to the True King, no matter who he is, we cannot hastily touch him. And the True King even sent back the troops we sent without hurting them. And this would mean?”

“He is saying he can handle anything?”

“Yes.”

“Huh…”

Geum Jong-shin sighed at this.

Then should they give up such a good chance because the True King has a hidden card to use?

If not, this was enough to spark a civil war. And it was then—

Tatatak!

Someone hurriedly ran to their spot and knelt to report.

“This is urgent.”

“What is it?”

“His Highness the True King and the princess have just entered the Imperial palace!”

‘!?’

All of their expressions changed right away. They were expecting them to return back to the place they were ruling, so why come to the palace which is like the tiger’s mouth?

At this, Man young-ki said,

“It looks like we still have a chance.”

The inside of the palace is completely their territory.

At the same time—

At the office of the guards of the palace.

“What? The True King entered the palace?”

At this unexpected news reported by an official, Oh Muyang stood up from his seat.

‘Does this mean the hidden troops of the palace failed?’

This was unexpected. He thought that by now they would have received the news of the death of the father and daughter.

So he asked,

“Has this been confirmed?”

“Yes. This is the report relayed from the outer palace walls.”

“Hmm.”

Oh Muyang stroked his beard.

If the assassination failed, then it meant that the opponents had a hidden card to use, but them coming here was odd, and the irregularity was still unknown.

‘Why enter the palace?’

If he managed to live through their ambushes ,he should have returned with his daughter. So why? Why come to the place where his life is at most risk?

He couldn’t understand the meaning behind it. Since the assassination was done openly and had failed, he should have realized that it was an attempt from the palace.

‘… Is there something he believes in?’

Otherwise, there was no reason he would come here.

Oh Muyang frowned.

‘Maybe… the Southern Blade of the Emperor intervened?’

The man’s whereabouts have been unclear and unknown to many that the palace sent people to find out where he is.

But if he was the one who intervened, still… even if it was him, he alone cannot stop the Hidden Troops of the Palace like that and bring the True King to enter the palace.

‘Is it really him?’

Oh Muyang wasn’t sure but he was convinced so. Because he was the only one who sided with the True King and was a member of the imperial family and one of the Four Great Warriors.

‘This is a mess.’

He was someone who even the emperor didn’t carelessly touch. No wonder he hated this.

‘Wait, if the princess was also brought into the palace, did the plan to kidnap Yu Jin-sung fail?’

Oh Muyang was waiting for the news of the death of the True King, and if he and the princess entered safely, then the mission he gave must have failed.

At that moment he saw someone wearing a blue official uniform at the entrance.

‘Young Jeon?’

It was Young Jeon, the successor to the Wicked Spear clan which was one of the Eight Evil Families.

He held a strong appearance whether or not he failed the mission. And he approached and said,

“What happened? I heard the news that the True King had enr…”

“I apologize.”

Young Jeon bowed his head, annoying Oh Muyang.

“So a failure.”

He could already tell from the bruised face.

“I apologize.”

“I get it, just report what hap…”

“I apologize.”

“Why do you keep saying you…?!”

At that moment, Oh Muyang went silent.

It was because a rough-faced middle-aged man entered the office, and judging from the clothes he had on, he was no member of the palace, but an outsider.

“Who the hell is that man who is coming here without the guards…”

“Did this man order it?”

“Y-yes Lord.”

‘!?’

At those words, Oh Muyang’s face went still.