Chapter 285

How dare you do this to my Disciple!

I only paid him back in kind. That settles the principal, so consult your Guild’s leadership about the remaining compound interest.

……You bastard.

I’ll take that as your agreement.

I will never forget what happened today.

That was the conversation we’d had only a few minutes ago.

Lee Jungryong had left after delivering that final line, every word dripping with killing intent.

He had administered emergency treatment with a potion, but Park Jihoon’s wounds were too severe for potions alone to heal. With his Disciple in that condition, he must have been in a hurry to get him treated.

“Phew.”

Once Lee Jungryong’s presence, which I could still sense in the distance, disappeared completely, a sigh of relief escaped me.

“Man, that was exhausting.”

The moment I released the tension I’d held on to until the very end, all the strength drained from my body.

I was tired. My clash with Lee Jungryong had left me with a slight Internal Injury, but the mental exhaustion was even worse.

I really caused one hell of a mess today.

Today, I had made an S-rank Hunter recognized throughout the world and a colossal Guild my enemies.

It had been a precarious tightrope walk with a sheer, bottomless cliff as the stage.

Lee Jungryong and I had met in the middle of that tightrope, and in the end, he had been the one to back down.

He had no choice. I hit him exactly where it mattered.

People with a lot to lose were bound to fear danger.

If the tiger known as Lee Jungryong—or the tiger known as Ares Guild—were to fall, the mountain lord’s¹ honor would hit the ground, and its carcass would become an excellent meal for the animals of the forest—in other words, its competitors.

Of course, the cleanest solution would’ve been Silencing the Witnesses, but…

Lee Jungryong knew I wasn’t an easy opponent.

A single clash had confirmed that he held the upper hand, but it had also been enough for him to realize that the wolf before him posed a genuine threat.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and thought.

Three steps.

Today, I had taken three steps back against Lee Jungryong.

But today’s three steps would soon become two, and before long, two would become one.

And after that…

I’ll surpass you.

I had never seen any documentary where a wolf defeated a tiger one-on-one, despite what I’d told Lee Jungryong.

But I had the potential to grow without end. Just like my epithet, the Hidden Dragon.

By then, my Guild and I will both be stronger than you ever imagined.

Revenge for Im Kkeokjeong wasn’t the only thing I had gained from this incident. I had also secured a golden opportunity for the Peace Guild to grow.

If we had been frightened into backing down when the Black Hunter first attacked, the Peace Guild would have remained just another mid-sized Guild. But because we had fought back, we had won both revenge and compensation. What came next would depend on Team Leader Choi.

He’ll handle it well.

A conversation I’d had with Team Leader Choi several hours earlier suddenly came to mind.

“What are you planning to do?”

“Hard to say. If my hunch is right, I might see red, and even I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Are you thinking of storming Myeongdong Guild?”

“I can’t promise I’m not.”

Song Song had called me crazy after hearing that, while Butler Kim had only stared at me in silence.

But Team Leader Choi had reacted differently.

What he said went far beyond anything I’d expected.

“Then go.”

“Excuse me?”

“To Myeongdong Guild. Go smash the place up and turn it upside down. Ah, I’m not telling you to collapse a building in the middle of Seoul and kill people. If you go too far, we might end up using a prison as our Guild house.”

“……I thought you’d try to stop me.”

“I would have, if you weren’t Jin Taekyung. I would’ve racked my brain for some other solution.”

“Then why?”

“You may look reckless at first glance, Mr. Jin, but you always act with the worst possible outcome in mind. And you always bring back the best possible result.”

“Are you really sure about this?”

“I intend to make the Peace Guild the greatest Guild in the world. If we back down when one of our Guild members has been attacked, we can never become the best in the world.”

“Then you really want me to…”

“Do it. Whatever happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

Team Leader Choi’s final words still seemed to echo vividly in my ears.

“I trust you, Mr. Jin. Perhaps even more than I trust myself.”

I had repaid the boundless trust he’d placed in me.

I had given Park Jihoon more than Im Kkeokjeong had suffered, and I had tacitly secured apologies and compensation from enemies no one could dare approach.

The greatest Guild in the world, huh?

Remembering Team Leader Choi’s bold ambition, I let out a quiet laugh.

I took out my phone and made a call.

Someone answered almost before it had begun ringing.

“Yes. This is Choi Minwoo.”

Team Leader Choi. The man himself.

“I have a lot to tell you. Where should I go?”

“Mr. Jin! You’re alive!”

“……?”

“I thought you were dead. Is this really Jin Taekyung?”

“…….”

You said you trusted me more than yourself, you son of a bitch…

“Jihoon! Wake up!”

A master’s anguished cry for his young Disciple rang out alongside hurried footsteps.

Park Tae Seop, the Guild Master of Myeongdong Guild, followed close behind Lee Jungryong and stared at his back in surprise.

Did Lee Jungryong have this side to him?

Park Tae Seop had watched Lee Jungryong for many years.

During the Great Cataclysm, he had merely thought of him as someone who was strangely difficult to approach.

But after the war ended and Ares Guild was established, Lee Jungryong seized real power within it. Only then did Park Tae Seop come to understand his true nature.

Hard as steel. Sly as a viper. A man who committed acts that would make others shudder without the slightest hesitation.

That was Lee Jungryong in Park Tae Seop’s eyes—a man he never wanted to face as either an enemy or an ally.

So he’s human after all.

But the strange impression Park Tae Seop had felt vanished without a trace the moment they emerged from the long corridor and entered the hall.

“Welcome.”

“……!”

The speaker was a middle-aged man. His movements were as crisp and disciplined as a soldier’s, and even his black suit couldn’t conceal his supremely trained physique.

The same was true of the twenty men and women standing behind him like iron towers. Each wore the emblem of Ares Guild over their chest.

I didn’t sense any of them.

That wasn’t the only shock awaiting Park Tae Seop.

He looked past the middle-aged man and spotted roughly a hundred Myeongdong Guild members sprawled across the floor. His eyes widened.

“What is the meaning of this…?”

The middle-aged man answered in a dry voice.

“We merely put them to sleep with sleep magic. For now.”

For now.

The words carried a clear implication. At the moment, they were merely asleep under the influence of magic.

But they could just as easily be put to sleep forever.

Park Tae Seop was about to shout in fury when—

“Is there a problem?”

Lee Jungryong slowly turned around.

The instant Park Tae Seop saw his face, he realized how gravely mistaken he had been.

It was all an act.

Lee Jungryong’s face was devoid of emotion, his eyes deep and cold. There was no trace of his hurried footsteps or the anguished cries of a master fearing for his Disciple’s life.

An icy chill crept up Park Tae Seop’s spine.

“Guild Master Park.”

There was a blade hidden in Lee Jungryong’s gentle voice. It was as though venom dripped from the viper’s tongue every time it moved.

“Was it about twenty years ago? One day, you came to me and dropped to your knees without warning.”

“……!”

“Do you still remember?”

“……Of course.”

Park Tae Seop clenched his teeth.

How could he possibly forget? Nearly twenty years had passed, but the desperation he’d felt then remained etched into his bones.

A string of massive business failures, debts totaling an enormous sum, and the looks people gave him as though they were staring at a failure…

To Park Tae Seop, it had been a living hell worse than the Great Cataclysm.

After being turned away by countless acquaintances, he had finally sought out Lee Jungryong.

Lee Jungryong had gazed down at the kneeling Park Tae Seop and asked him a single question.

If I help you, what can you do for me?

Park Tae Seop had answered without hesitation.

Anything.

I like that answer.

What would have happened if he hadn’t said those words?

He had asked himself that question hundreds, even thousands of times over the past twenty years, but it was meaningless. He had already come too far to turn back.

No favor came without a price, and he had been forced to commit every manner of crime for Lee Jungryong.

By the time he came to his senses, he was already being dragged along by a leash around his neck.

“Whenever I look at you these days, Guild Master Park, I can’t help thinking about that day. Everything you said when you came to me back then is beginning to sound hollow.”

“How could that be?”

“No, that’s simply human nature. No matter how much someone owes you, they soon forget their gratitude and begin piling up complaints. Save a man from freezing to death, and he changes his tune the moment he warms himself by the fire. What can you do? Ha ha.”

“…….”

Despite the upward curl of his lips, Lee Jungryong’s eyes were as cold as ice.

When Park Tae Seop lowered his head, his expression rigid, Lee Jungryong continued in a gentler voice.

“I only brought it up because I hope we’ll continue working well together. Your Guild members will be perfectly safe, so don’t worry. Isn’t that right, Team Leader Seok?”

The middle-aged man responsible for Lee Jungryong’s security, Team Leader Seok, answered in a flat voice.

“Of course.”

“Well, I should be on my way. I’ll see you again.”

Pat, pat.

Park Tae Seop stood frozen as Lee Jungryong patted him on the shoulder and walked away.

Inside the descending elevator, Team Leader Seok spoke.

“Shall I take care of him?”

“Who? Ah, Park Tae Seop.”

“Yes. His expression looked rather uneasy.”

“That man’s every thought shows on his face. He was obedient enough for the first few years, but once he got warm and well-fed, he began entertaining other ideas.”

“He knows too much. He also handled this incident so poorly that the fallout reached you, Vice Guild Master.”

For the first time, emotion entered Team Leader Seok’s voice.

Anger.

Seeing the man’s unwavering loyalty, Lee Jungryong smiled faintly.

“Leave him alone for now. We’ve only just started tasting the dish. Of course it’s still bland.”

“Excuse me?”

At that moment, the elevator doors opened with a ding.

Lee Jungryong continued as he walked.

“I’m saying I only gave them a little prod. I wanted to see how they would react.”

“Then…?”

“You occasionally underestimate me. If I had truly set my mind to it, would I have entrusted the job to half-baked fools like them?”

Team Leader Seok let out a low exclamation.

“You anticipated all of this.”

“I’ve barely taken a single spoonful to taste it. If it doesn’t suit my palate, I can always add some salt and pepper.”

“As expected of you, Vice Guild Master.”

Lee Jungryong smiled gently at the admiration in Team Leader Seok’s eyes.

But his true thoughts were different. There was something he couldn’t reveal even to Team Leader Seok, his right-hand man.

Jin Taekyung is no ordinary bastard.

From the beginning, it had been the Peace Guild that bothered Lee Jungryong, not Jin Taekyung.

Even if he had personally intervened, he couldn’t guarantee that something like this wouldn’t have happened. After all, he wasn’t the sort of man who used a cleaver meant for cattle to kill a chicken.

It was certainly efficient, but if an unforeseen variable appeared, the entire plan could go awry.

Who would’ve thought there was a wolf hiding among the chickens?

Lee Jungryong rubbed his tingling wrist.

For a moment, he had felt tremendous heat and power radiating from the young man. It was far too strong to dismiss as some fresh-faced brat’s cute little display.

He knew how to control mana properly. Where could a man who was only an F-rank Hunter until recently have learned…?

He did have a fairly good idea.

After finishing that thought, Lee Jungryong addressed Team Leader Seok.

“Keep a close eye on Jin Taekyung.”

“Don’t worry. If he becomes a nuisance, I’ll deal with him personally.”

Team Leader Seok had always been reliable. He was a born fighting prodigy and the finest of all the youths Lee Jungryong had personally selected and trained. His skill was beyond question. Even a high-level ranker like Park Tae Seop was no match for him.

But a question suddenly occurred to Lee Jungryong.

Was Team Leader Seok really superior to Jin Taekyung?

“Team Leader Seok. No, Go Jun.”

His form of address had shifted from the man’s position to his name.

Team Leader Seok understood the meaning immediately. If he had lacked even that much perception, he could never have become Lee Jungryong’s prized Disciple.

“Yes, Master.”

“Hmm. It’s nothing. I entertained an absurd thought for a moment.”

Lee Jungryong clicked his tongue softly and walked out through the main entrance.

Five men and women were waiting outside the building, dressed in robes covered with elaborate patterns and carrying staffs.

“We greet the Vice Guild Master.”

“Those outfits are certainly gaudy. Can’t you dress a little more ordinarily?”

“They’ll look ordinary to everyone else.”

They were A-rank mages under Lee Jungryong’s direct command.

Just as the oldest-looking mage had said, not one of the hundreds of people hurrying along the sidewalk paid them any attention.

None of those people even knew that an incredible battle had taken place directly above them—one that had nearly brought down a high-rise building.

“This is why magic is so convenient.”

The mages had used brute force to blanket everything within a radius of roughly two hundred meters² with illusion magic. Only the handpicked A-rank mages of Ares Guild could pull off something on that scale.

They would remain there and maintain the illusion until the entire aftermath had been dealt with.

“Good. Use that convenient magic of yours to make sure no rumors get out. If anyone looks dangerous, use mental magic to tamper with their memories.”

“Yes, sir. Understood. But that man is badly injured.”

“Ah, him?”

Lee Jungryong glanced at Park Jihoon, who was being carried on the back of a Hunter from his security team, and casually tossed out an order.

“Treat him just enough, then dump him somewhere.”

If he died, so be it. Even if he recovered, he would not be able to properly use even half of the skill he currently possessed.

Lee Jungryong had no interest in collecting spent batteries. He already had countless others. All he had to do was replace this one.

Still, he was useful at the end.

Through Park Jihoon, Lee Jungryong had confirmed the extent of Jin Taekyung’s ruthlessness.

Once blood had been drawn, he should have killed him. If Lee Jungryong himself had been in that position, he would have done so without fail.

You couldn’t take that one step.

What did it matter if he cut off both arms and carved the man’s body to pieces? As long as his enemy still drew breath, it wasn’t complete revenge.

It was nothing more than venting his anger.

That half-measure will come back to poison you someday.

Lee Jungryong let out a derisive chuckle and climbed into the waiting car.