A large space.

The pillars were painted purple, and amazing silk was used as decoration here, which aroused admiration.

The luxurious furniture that filled the room and the surrounding jewels looked so expensive that it appeared as though this was the home of someone wealthy.

But there was something else that was even more eye-catching.

On top of the stairs, which looked fancy, there was a wide bench where it looked like there was meant to be a large throne.

Of course, even that bench was wide and made of expensive rosewood, so they couldn’t say it didn’t suit the place, but it still felt odd.

And…

A man was lying on the wide bench with his chin resting on it.

How best to describe this man?

A golden dragon was stitched on the pure white robes he wore, and rings of colorful jewels were on all ten fingers of either hand.

His hair was neatly combed so that not a single strand of hair was out of order, and there was a pure white crown on his head.

The pure white face beneath the crown didn’t have a single wrinkle on it. No one would ever laugh at the man despite his flashy and ridiculous appearance.

This was because the man was Jang Il-so, the Hegemony Lord.

“Hmm.”

Jang Il-so let out a slight sigh as if he was bored. In his lavishly decorated body were a set of bored eyes.

“And so?”

“T-The leader…”

Bang Seung’s body trembled.

Bang Seung, who didn’t lose his cool even in the face of his enemies, and Yeop Pyung were breaking into a cold sweat here as if they had met with the king of the underworld.

“ Southern Edge has close its doors, and you got kicked out of that place?“

“T-That… that, we didn’t think Mount Hua would…”

“You didn’t think.”

Jang Il-so calmly cut off his words,

“No matter how stupid you are, you cannot be this ignorant when Mount Hua goes to Xi’an. And you thought that even if they decided to stay, things wouldn’t be a problem?”

“Ye-Yes! Kill me for the mistake! I really did!”

Bang Seung, frightened, pressed his head to the ground, and his body still continued to shake from fear.

Jang Il-so waved his hand slowly,

“It can happen.”

The sound of jewelry clashing could be heard.

“Your judgment wasn’t wrong. Right, it wasn’t so wrong. Even if it were me, I would have done the same. It was a good judgment till then.”

“T-thank you, Lord.”

“But you see.”

Jang Il-so slowly raised his body.

The pure white robe long waved at the light movement of the man, and the red clothes hidden inside were revealed.

“The problem is what you did next.”

Jang Il-so smiled.

His eyes were drawn into a thin smile.

“And so you went into Xi’an in triumph and were beaten by the kids from Mount Hua… even getting cutting your tendons cut wasn’t enough, but got you also had your dantian pierced?”

“T-that…”

“Right, that cannot happen.”

Jang Il-so got up,

“But you see, Bang Seung, I don’t understand something.”

“Yes, Lord!”

And he looked down at the man.

“Why are you still alive?”

A voice that didn’t contain even the slightest bit of anger came up. It was rather warm. However, the moment he heard the voice, Bang Seung’s body began to grow cold.

“L-Lord…”

“Ah, It must have been difficult to understand when I put it like that?”

Step.

Jang Il-so’s feet moved. His walk down the stairs was also taken leisurely.

“The reason the Red Snakes moved without my permission was to bring back results, but this? you see, I haven’t blamed you for anything that happened till now, have I?”

“Y-Yes. All of that grace the Lord has shown…”

“But with all that power you have comes responsibility.”

A smile was on the lips of Jang Il-so.

How many people could say such scary things with a smile on their lips?

It was because of this that one could guess why Jang Il-so was given the title ‘Blade Hidden Behind Smile’.

“So you went to Xi’an based on your own thoughts and came back with your faces held high even after being defeated by those who aren’t even men yet?”

“L-Lord! But we have to bring our leader back somehow!”

Thud! Thud!

Bang Seung banged his head to the floor, and blood began to drip down.

“I-If we had left Leader alone…”

“Should have died.”

Bang Seung’s body went stiff.

Jang Il-so’s calm voice felt like cold blades,

“You should have just died there after the Red Snake troops were humiliated by some nameless kid. Then at least, I could have kept my head held high, right?”

“… t-that.”

“And if your death happened there, there wouldn’t be rumors going around that everyone was driven out of Xi’an by Mount Hua. I really… wish you all died.”

A coldness was in his voice.

“But why are you alive then? You should have died at the humiliation you were put through, you fucking moron, and you managed to run from there without…”

Jang Il-so closed his eyes as he noticed that his voice was raising.

And when he opened his eyes again, once again, a smile was on his lips.

“… You should have run away to a place where I couldn’t see you, if you were thinking of running. Bang Seung, Bang Seong. You should live by using your brain. Why are you this stupid? Huh?”

Step.

Jang Il-so began to move close to him and looked right at Bang Seung, who was bowing down.

“Scared?”

“L-Lord.”

Crack.

Jang Il-so stomped on the hand of Bang Seung. The sound of bones breaking was terrifying, but he didn’t groan or shout.

“It is quite strange. You mean you are more afraid of dying there than coming back here and reporting this to me?”

Crack!

His wrist was crushed.

“Bang Seung.”

Jang Il-so squatted down without taking his foot off the hand and whispered,

“Do you know why we are called the Ten Thousand People Clan?”

“L-Lord…”

“Because we scare people.”

“…”

Jang Il-so stretched out his hand and squeezed it around the neck of Bang Seung.

“Someone from the Forces of Evil shouldn’t be afraid of anything. This is why we use terms such as the word EVIL to refer to ourselves, and because of this, we cannot be humiliated. Death is better than humiliation for us, huh?”

Silence descended.

And the sound of sweat falling to the floor was so clear.

All held their breath, fearing the sound of breathing would piss Jang Il-so off. And desperately looked down as they covered their mouths.

“But… I don’t understand. There is nothing more humiliating than what you did. If so, then should I just make you go out naked and dance on the street? Is that all?”

“L-Lord…”

“There is nothing to be that scared of.”

Jang Il-so chuckled.

And with that smile and soft voice, a little hope formed in Bang Seung’s eyes. But it went out of his eyes faster than it had entered.

“Isn’t the end going to be the same?”

Crack.

At that moment, Jang Il-so grabbed Bang Seung by his neck and twisted it, as if trying to tear it away from the body.

Chaaaak!

Blood began to sprout from his throat.

“Aaaaacccck! AAAACCCCKKKKK!”

Bang Seung screamed in pain, holding his throat, but Jang Il-so just continued to smile, looking at his clothes stained with blood and Bang Seung struggling.

“Quite interesting. I never thought the day would come when I would be humiliated like this.”

“L-Lord! H-help me….”

“Tear him.”

“Yes!”

“Tear him from limb to limb and feed him to the dogs right now!”

As the guards tried to move, Jang Il-so smiled and said,

“He cannot die until he sees his body being eaten by the dogs. If the guy dies before then, I will make sure to see your bodies torn apart.”

“Yes!”

The guards began to drag Bang Seung out with pale faces.

“AACCCKKK! Lord! Lord! Save me!!!”

The screams echoed around the place, but no one glanced at him as they knew a similar thing would happen to them if they did.

“Tch. These were expensive clothes.”

Jang Il-so looked at his clothes, stained with bloody splatters.

And watching this situation, the military leader, Ho Ga-Myung, asked,

“Do you want me to call the cleaners?”

“Don’t bother.”

Jang Il-so waved his hand,

“A thing which is spoiled cannot be restored to its original state even after washing.”

Jang Il-so took off his blood-stained long white robes and threw them on the floor.

“Fame and reputation are the same. No matter how carefully it is built, once it turns dirty, it never is easy to recover. Right, Yeop Pyung?”

Yeop Pyung was kneeling in the corner as he helplessly raised his head.

Having lost his dantian and his veins cut from their limbs, he was no longer what he once was.

Seeing his unsure eyes, Jang Il-so shook his head.

“This guy too…”

“L-Lord…”

As soon as Yeop Pyung spoke, Jang Il-so stopped talking,

“D-do not look down on Mount Hua…”

Puak!

Yeop Pyung, who was kicked by Jag Il-so, rolled on the ground.

“Dogs which come back without results don’t get the right to bark.”

Jang Il-so pointed to Yeop Pyung and said,

“Do not kill him. Death is freedom for him. He should live and experience all kinds of humiliation. Use him as a slave to set an example to all.”

“Yes.”

“Take him.”

“Yes.”

After Yeop Pyung was dragged away, Jang Il-so climbed up the stairs with a different walk from before and sat on the bench,

“Those idiots.”

Ho Ga-Myung, noticing the change, spoke cautiously,

“What would you like us to do?”

“Are you asking because you don’t realize?”

Jang Il-so shook his head. A strand of hair continued to fall onto his face,

“Kill.”

“Mount Hua is in Shaanxi now, and Shaanxi is ours. Besides, Mount Hua isn’t too far from the Henan region, it will be dangerous to attack.”

“I know.”

Jang Il-so looked at his fingers and said,

“And we are in a confrontation with those Green Forest bandits.”

“Yes.”

“Tch tch. Those fucking Forces of Justice factions would join forces with their enemies if they see a profit coming, but us Evil factions can never do that.”

“Honestly, there aren’t many troops to set aside. And realistically…”

“Which is why we kill them.”

“…”

The rings on his finger were making the clear sound of metal.

“There is no gain, just loss.”

“Ga-Myung. Ga-Myung. Why are you speaking so foolishly? Money isn’t all there is to gain.”

Jag Il-so slowly raised his hand and took off the crown on his head,

“The important thing is to be able to make money in the future. If rumors spread that we got disgraced by Mount Hua, who isn’t even among the Nine Great Sects, would people be afraid of us? That is when we face actual loss.”

Kukuku!

The pure gold crown was crumpled.

“The situation, you see, becomes worse if we start to look like easy targets because of our situation. And if we constantly pursue pure profit, then our clan will collapse. But people fail to realize that when your reputation fails, then profits fail too. We have to use our head, Head.”

Jang Il-so stretched out his hand and waved it,

“Gather all those who are left.”

“Send them to Xi’an?”

“Why there? I don’t need money anymore. The important thing is to recover our name and the reputation we lost.”

“Then…”

“Yes,”

Jang Il-so smiled,

“Home. Send them to Mount Hua. I heard it is a beautiful mountain place and is said to be the steepest peak.”

He couldn’t wait for the autumn leaves to come to stain them in blood.

“Ah, tell them to cut off the heads of Mount Hua men and bring them in a cart. Also, don’t touch the Righteous Sword or Divine Dragon. I want to hear them screaming in pain.”

“Yes.”

Ho Ga-Myung bowed his head.

Everything was being done exactly as ordered because Jang Il-so was like a king to them.

After a while, he lay down on his bed.

“Mount Hua… Mount Hua, huh.”

A smile crept onto his lips.

“Wouldn’t it be a pretty nice experience to burn twice in just a hundred years? Hahahah.”

The laughter echoed in the hall.